Category: Monday Thursday

Forever Covered: MT e47

My father had A LOT of tools.  Most men who have tools have a favorite brand. For hand tools (wrenches and ratchets and the like) my dad’s favorite was craftsman. 

He liked the fact that they were made with quality in America, but important to him was the lifetime guarantee policy.

If the tool broke for any reason you could return it.  You could have the tool for 30 years and if it breaks you simply take the tool to the store and they hand you a replacement.  The tool was forever covered.

Yesterday my sermon focus was on eternal security.  This is the teaching that if one is saved, they will never fully fatally lose that salvation.  Today I wanted to address a thought I have had as I reflected on that teaching.

I was thinking of the people we know who have been associated with the faith in some way.  Maybe they are raised in the faith, maybe they were youth group friends or something similar.  But as time passed they are no longer a part of the faith.

What do we do with that?

I have a child in which this has happened.  Brought to church from infancy, taught Bible songs, attended church camps, was even baptized.  However, a few years after high school was no longer interested in church.

He was not angry or resentful.  He would still reflect fondly on early church memories and friends.  But he was not faithful in anyway, reading or being a part of a faith family.

What do we do with that? I am n the only on. It is a tragic thing isn’t it?  It feels even more tragic because you raised this child.

The Scripture does clearly teach that if you are truly saved, you will not FULLY or FATALY fall.  You may have a season of unfaithfulness.  But like the prodigal son, there will be an awakening and you will return to the open arms of a welcoming Father.  Though this person was straying sinfully, they are still a part of the family.

If one is truly saved, born again, born from above as John 3 teaches, they are given the Spirit.  And this Spirit is the guarantee (as Paul puts it). Lifetime guarantee. The seal of God. Let us continue to pray for those away from the family.

And as it is written in Ephesians 1:5-6 it is all for His glory.

Come To Jesus: MT e46

A few days ago, I began reading through the book of Lamentations. To lament is to weep or an expression of sorrow or grief. 

In the Hebrew Bible, Lamentations is called “How” which is the first word in the book. 

“How lonely sits the city that was full of people!  How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations. . . She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks”

These opening words, referencing a widow, really hit home.  It was not long ago that my father passed away from this life leaving my mother alone.  They had been married for 69 years, has come to an end.

The past weeks I have heard and felt her weeping. She is experiencing deep sorrow and I can only imagine, the sounds of grief that only the walls the house they built, witness. 

The reason for the weeping, sadness and sorrow of Lamentations is the rebellious people of Jerusalem (the lonely city that was once full of people) are being taken into exile. 

The patience of God has come to an end. The city is being destroyed. It has come to an end.

The hundreds of years of God’s patience has come to an end.  The people are facing judgement by being exiled and their city destroyed.

The focus Monday was to encourage those in the faith or Christ.  Today, I would like to lovingly address any who hears this and you are NOT in Christ.

I am calling you.  I want you to hear me. 

On one extreme there are those raised in a church family, and you have abandoned the faith.  The other extreme are those who never sat foot inside of a church building.  The rest fit in between.  My words for you today, come to Jesus. 

God is patient.  God is loving.  God is merciful.  But for those outside of the faith, it will come to an end. 

For those outside of the faith, there will be a final day.  Just like those in Lamentations, there will be a final day, a final hour and a final breath.  There will be a day of judgement.

Being outside of Christ means, you will not have the righteousness of Jesus on which to claim.  That will certainly be a moment to lament.  Oh, how you will weep. 

If you would like to discuss this, privately and confidentially you can reach out to me at:

Believer You Are Doing Great: MT e45

Sometimes it is nice to receive a little encouragement.  It is always nice to hear a few words that you are doing great. 

Today my hope is to be that encourage for those who are believers in Christ and the focus is going to be on a passage you already know.

In Matthew, Jesus was teaching what we call the Sermon on the Mount. He was addressing keeping law when he said,

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder’ but I tell you, everyone who is angry without cause shall be guilty.”

Jesus is pointing out an issue with which we all struggle. 

The quote is pulled from a larger section in Matthew 5, dealing with keeping promises, getting even, lust and loving enemies. 

Jesus is taking law and saying, keeping law outwardly is not enough. He is pointing to a much bigger issue. 

The standard is high; VERY HIGH!  We break law in our hearts by pondering sinful things.

Here is the encouragement: Jesus kept the law perfectly for you.  He was absolutely perfect in thought and deed, which means for believers, you are absolutely perfect.  Right now, at this moment.

You are doing great.  You are doing superb.  How do I know this?

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

You are in Christ.  You are perfect.  You are doing great because Jesus is great!

S.D.G.

Strength in Him: MT e44

As a Christ follower, there is a passion to be like Christ.  Think again of the scene where Jesus was washing feet.   

Who cares about dirty feet? Why was this important?

They reclined at the table.  There was no sitting in chairs as we do today.  Therefore, feet were in close proximity with the head. 

Jesus was literally hours from being abandoned, mocked, tortured and crucified and he was having a meal with his disciples.  No one washed feet. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Jesus washed feet.  Then says, I have done to you, go and do.

For those who are believers, you have access to accomplish this.  How?

How do we imitate Jesus?  Do we muster this under our own strength?  Are we to buckle down and try hard?

Scripture says no. 

I can’t stress this enough.  We are not left without strength on which we can call.  As believers we are given life in the Spirit.  This is our strength!  It is from the Lord.

“Be strong . . . in the Lord and the power of His might!” Ephesians 6:10

Our strength is in Him. 

You want to grow as a believer?  You want strength to serve as Jesus served?  Pray! Our Lord is totally able and willing to help you imitate Jesus.

I can tell you this is the ONLY way I have grown.  I have had to realize I am weak.  I simply ask the Lord help me.

The great thing about this is not only will He grow you in holiness, but it is to His credit alone. 

For this is all to His glory alone – S.D.G.

Bible Heroes: MT e43

We all know that glasses are used to give us clarity of vision so we can see better.  For the next few moments the desire is to give you a better vision of Bible heros.

There have been Bible type books produced mostly for children in which, as the title suggests, there are story after story of people who did great things.  People like David, a young boy who defeated a battle tested giant named Golliath.

There are several stories of people like Esther, Samson, Moses and more of whom we learn in Scripture.  They did great and powerful things and are given the title hero.

I absolutely agree in the things that these people accomplished are amazing feates.  Feates that are hero status. But then I read in James of Elijah:

Who, “was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain and for three ears and six months it did not rain on the earth.  Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” James 5:17-18

Did you catch that?  Elijah was a man, with a nature like ours.  He was a person like you and me but God worked through him.

Seeing this was a clarifying moment.  It really helped to gain a good vision of Bible heros.  There are not multiple heros in Scripture.  There is really only one hero: Jesus.

Next time, this thought will be developed a bit further and linked to the passage of Jesus serving by washing feet.

Until then S.D.G.

Served Twice: MT e42

“For I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done to you.” John 13:15

Last time the thought surrounded this passage of Jesus washing feet and how serving can be inconvenient. When considering everything that Jesus was about to face I would have failed here.  I would have demanded service. “Come on guys!”

This was a defining moment of the inconvenience of serving.

The reason I would fail is because If I was in Jesus place, my focus would be on me and what I am about to do and what I am about to endure. 

There is no doubt what Jesus was about to face was on his mind but he did not allow that to get in the way.

Rather, he looked at the larger picture and saw a teachable moment.  He served twice here.  Once by washing feet: this was filling an immediate need.  The second time by teaching.  “I have given you an example, now go and do what I have done for you.”

The reality here is that you and I can be so wrapped up in ourselves, in our lives, that we miss these wonderful opportunities to add to the serving we are already doing. 

To be clear, this is not a pastor sharing that we need to dig deeper and try harder.  This is a pastor who wants to lead by praying, “Lord, by Your Spirit, open my eyes and soften my heart so I can serve better.” 

More on this next time. 

Until then S.D.G.

The Inconvenience of Serving: MT e41

Unusual talent that I have is the ability to look at a chip dip container and take a bag of chips and without pencil and paper, without AI or math, gauge how to eat the proper amount of dip on each chip so that when the bag is empty the container is empty.

This is important because if you have ever purchased a thing of chip dip and there is dip left over after the bad is empty, most often it sits in the fridge until it becomes a science experiment. 

Back in college there was a fellow dorm resident that was just a little off socially.  He came to talk to me one night and I was in the process of eating a bag of chips and dip.  A spirit of serving over came me so I offered some to him.  He said, “sure thing,” and then proceeded to dip his chip and use a massive amount of my dip. 

In my head I was like WHOA!  He was throwing off everything, now I am going to have left over chips because the dip is going to run out.  He continued to sit there and eat the dip for the next 20 minutes and then back to his room.

Recently, I was considering this true and insignificant moment in life in relation to serving.  Serving is not always easy.  Most often, serving is inconvenient. 

We could spend hours discussing the examples of Jesus in serving.  They were inconvenient but let us consider one passage:

“As I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:14-15

Jesus is literal hours away from the cross yet he is serving.  Of all the people that have ever lived in the all of the world, Jesus was the last person anyone would expect to wash feet here.  This is one golden example of the inconvenience of serving.

I would like to hang out in this passage for a while but until our next time together, be looking out for opportunities to serve.

Until then S.D.G.

Build Each Other Up: MT e40

While driving to the church building a couple of weeks ago I noticed a new structure being built on one of the nearby farms.  It is easy to admire watching the progress as the building goes up.

Last week though, something was noticeable that I have not seen before.  Here is a picture of the structure and outside there are supports holding the frame in place.

What immediately came to mind is the church congregation.  The framing of this building is a visual reminder of what the church is. 

The writer of Hebrews says this:

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

This is a support passage.  All of those 2x4s all around the building are supporting the frame so it can be built up.

The Hebrews text is teaching, when you gather as a body, you are a support for each other.  This is vital.  This can’t be skipped.  When you meet you are keeping each other from potentially falling down.

Do you see your time with your church family like this?  I have heard people say, “My church is nature.” This video is too short to address how silly that is and I don’t want to get too preachy.

The point is, we are to be, in the family of God, like this.  A support.  A strength.  A stability.  All of us working together in Christ Jesus.  It is a beautiful thing.

SDG

God Gave: MT e39

When I was younger in the faith, it was really easy for me to play the hero.  When I was immature in the faith it was easy to see myself as David.  That I would go get the five smooth stones, or I would be Shadrach, Meshack or Abednego in the fiery furnace and my faith would be unshaken.

I have matured I have seen that maybe I am not so much of a hero. 

In our last time together we were in Matthew 13 where we find the parable of the “Pearl of Great Value.”  We were making a comparison that just as Jay Leno found this $10 million car in the middle of the field and it was rare and of great value (to someone), that it was a hidden treasure.

There are a series of parables in Matthew 13 of talking about the Kingdom.  There is:

  • The parable of the sower
  • The parable of the wheat and tares
  • The parable the mustard seed and the leaven

Jesus is making the point that the kingdom of heaven has a hidden value.  The main character in each of the parables that lead up to our parable of the Pearl of Great price is God.  He is the hero.  God is the hero in these passages. 

It is easy for me to say, “I have found the kingdom and I am going to give up everything for the kingdom.”  Please, I invite you, read the whole chapter.  The hero in each parable in Matthew 13 is God.  That is the main character.

It is possible that the pearl of great price is Jesus.  It is not me who gives up everything.  It is possible that this is one interpretation.  That “God so love the world that he gave His only Son” (John3:16).  God gave everything for this pearl of great price that we have in Christ.

Let me know what you think of this.  Commentators are split.  Some see it one way and others see it differently. 

In my book, Jesus is ALWAYS the hero.

S.D.G.

Great Value: MT e38

There is a man named Jay Leno, some of you know he use to host “The Tonight Show” on NBC. 

Jay has always been a car enthusiast and quite a number of people know of his collection of automobiles.

Recently, Jay came across a car that was sitting in a barn in the middle of a junk yard.  The car was worth $10 million.  It was a Mercedes and there were less than 30 of this particular car made.  The one he found was the only one of this model that had not been refurbished.

Ten million dollars for a car.  Very hard to comprehend.  It is incredible.

It reminds me of a story that Jesus told, found in Matthew 13.  It was about a pearl of great price.  Someone found it and sold all that they had to buy that pearl.

As Jesus is telling this story he is giving laser focus that there is treasure in this world.  Treasure is something that we value. What treasure is differs for each of us. We will sacrifice for what we treasure.  That is the point of Jesus’ story.

When you find something you greatly value, you make sacrifice to gain it.  Someone, somewhere will pay $10 million for this old car Jay Leno found.  They are paying that because this is the value that they place on that car. They will pay with an actual money amount.

With Christ, and His kingdom, you do not buy your way in like this. You do give up yourself.  You sacrifice yourself.

What does that look like? What is the deeper meaning of the Pearl of Great Price?

We can explore that next time.  Until then,

S.D.G.