Soul Value

         I had a chemistry class in high school probably in 1956 or thereabouts.  The teacher, Mr. Wells came in and was telling us some facts about various elements and then made the statement that the human body, if it could be reduced to its basic elements, its  value would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.87.  The value in today’s world might be up to around five bucks due to inflation or even a tad more.  Wow!  That’s not very much money for such a complex organism.  The value however, is not based on what that compound of elements can do but what it would take to make it up.  No one can take the same amount of elements and make them into a human being that can function as we do today.  Obviously, there is a great difference on what God can do and does do and what man thinks that he can do.  Mark 8:36 says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

     The Lord Jesus Christ points out that the value of a human being is not in what it takes to make one, but the value of the soul.  In this discussion, Jesus compares the wealth of the world to that of one soul.  The idea is that if you were able to accumulate all the wealth of the world and yet lose you own soul in the end, you would lose everything.  We are living in an age when we can create robots to do certain tasks around the home such as the “Roomba” which vacuums your floor as it slowly travels around the house gobbling up pieces of cereal, old macaroni, a few pet hairs and maybe a few of your own.  You can take your computer and actually print a 3D object and you can paint it and look at it and you can make parts with your printer that actually come together to make another object.  None of them have a soul.  Our creations fall way short of that but they are cute to look at and occupy some of our time to make them.  Man’s desire to accumulate things in his lifetime is quite evident in the amount of “estate sales” that you can find in any location.  People die and they leave behind all that they have accumulated.  Valuable coins, shotguns, furniture, antiques, old gas pumps, glass eggs, buttons, tools and the list goes on and on.  What happened to the former owner's soul?  That is the question that should be addressed.  Just sit in your chair and look around you at the possessions that surround you right where you are at this present moment.  I can look at five book cases, racks of software CD’s, music CD’s and components, chairs, a desk and a lot of pens and pencils and of course the electronic devices just in this one room alone.  When God calls you home and sooner or later, He will do just that.  When that takes place, the things of this world will mean nothing.  The possibility of losing one's soul should be the greatest concern ever.  Our 70 odd years are but a drop in the bucket when compared to eternity and the decision that you make in this life will affect your eternal state.  Easy words to say, but they have a lot of impact.  One doesn’t like to think about that possibility and often put it off to a more convenient time or say that they will make that decision when the time comes.  Quite often, when God calls, there is but a split second and you don’t even have time to say, “oops.”  It’s not about the $1.87 cents worth of chemicals that make up your body, but your soul which is going to be around forever in one of two places, heaven or hell.  It’s as simple as that.  Where will you be?  Praise God that He has provided for the eternal state of the soul.

Pills and Prescriptions

            I once had a rubber pill about the size of a softball, but pill shaped, red and white.  It was a hand squeezer to strengthen your muscles.  I take about ten pills in the morning, two pills at noon and three pills in the evening plus Tylenol should I need it for pain.  Do you ever wish you could find a gigantic pill that would fix everything? Wouldn't it be nice if there were pills for loneliness, frustration, sadness or discouragement? Well, God has given us, not a pill, but His own Son as payment for our sin. This should be the same thing as a pill for us, because it has the remedy for all of our problems.   He has not only given us the pill, He has also given us His personal prescription on how to administer the pill in our own lives.  The prescription is the Bible.  It is amazing how much brighter the light is the closer you get close to God. It is like when Isaiah was so close to God that he realized how sinful that he really was (Isaiah 6). I went to the eye doctor just a few days ago,  and had to have my eyes dilated. Boy, was the light ever bright after that. The doctor gave me some special plastic to put around my eyes under my glasses. The truth was, without the plastic, I was not able to behold the light that was outside. The same thing is true about God's holiness. The closer you get to it, the more blinding it is.  When you turn on a really bright light, it exposes a lot of things that you may not know exists.  Things that we thought were white turn out to appear almost dirty in comparison. It has been rumored that Martin Luther called John 3:16 the "Golden Text of the Bible." "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In some sense, that is the pill that cures everything. But, for some, it is a hard pill to take. Some feel that they have to do something in order to inherit salvation. They feel that they have to do some penance in order to earn their way into heaven. Yet, as Isaiah 64:6 says, "All our righteousness is as filthy rags..." So, with nothing else to do to earn salvation, we must depend solely upon the finished work of Christ on the cross for our sins. If you are frustrated, lonely, sad or discouraged, turn to Him who has done it all for you. Your spiritual eyes will behold the brightness of God's holiness and you may say as Paul did, "...for I am the chief of sinners."  Praise God for His Holiness.  God has given us the pill and He has given us the prescription.  Now all we have to do is take the medicine that He has prescribed.

Vapors

      I read a book some years back which opened with a prayer meeting in a remote village.  The participants came one by one, slowly, being very careful not to draw any attention as to where they were going or why they were going to this remote place.  It was quiet and it was in the dark.  Soon the group gathered into a circle and prayers began to be made.  At the close of the little circle meeting in that remote spot, it was noticed that there was a ring around the floor where the participants had been.  It was a ring of tears as each one had been weeping for the needs of the people.  It is quite a different scene from the warm climate controlled rooms that we utilize in our own prayer meetings.  Usually, but not always, just a few tears are shed and certainly not a sufficient amount to indicate the previous presence of a group of believers.  Adversity sometimes forces change upon people and how they function in a society that no longer allows them religious freedom.  James 4:13-15 says, “ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”  We have grown custom to our way of doing things and quite often think that they will always be that way.  After all, we live in America, the land of opportunity and freedom guaranteed by our constitution.  The most recent disease forced us to devise new ways to worship and in some cases placed us six feet apart and wearing a mask.  Temporary laws were used to limit the amount of people that could be in one place at one time and for the most part was obeyed by the local assemblies of worship.  Only a handful of worship centers defied the government mandate.  We know from the Scriptures that nothing on this earth will stop the church from being established and growing according to the dictates of the Lord Jesus Christ and certainly not the government or any other group of people, political or religious. The Lord Jesus Christ is growing His church and He has given us ample instructions in His Word as to how to do this.  We may have snickered at the idea of “drive-in” churches but now hear the honking of horns when an “amen” is warranted coming from a parking lot of cars filled with families that decided to worship that way as the pastor speakers from the rooftop of his local church.  The passage for today reminds us that the things of this life are temporary and not guaranteed for any age.  It is all up to God Who is in control.  We may say, Sunday we will go to our usual place of worship and do our ritual as usual as we have done for the past thirty years.  Adversity is coming as the Scriptures have adequately reminded us of that fact.  How long will it take to continue our practice of freely worshiping God?  Most recently, the local churches found ways to continue their worship by utilizing technology that had been developed for other purposes.  That too may be short lived and we may be back at the point of walking one by one, in the dark, to a remote designated spot, in order to pray, and that we will do because nothing will ever stop the church and the Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God that He still is on the Throne!

Commands

      I mentioned recently about the Apostle Paul using imperatives in a scripture passage.  Imperatives are not just for formal speech nor are they only Biblical.  My Mother would use them all the time especially when I was getting ready to leave the house for some activity usually involving music but she knew I would be picking up my girlfriend to go along with me.  I played in the Michigan City municipal band at an open air bandshell in one of the parks in Michigan City, Indiana.   It was about a 30 minute drive to the spot on now famous U.S. Route 20 which runs from New York to Chicago, Illinois.  As I was leaving the house, Mom would always give me the list of imperative commands.  They were not long lectures, but short instructions that were not options.  They included my driving skills, my manners, my looks and my expected time of arrival back at home.  As I mentioned, they were not suggestions, or reminders, they were commands.  These were the last minute instructions that would cover everything that had not been already mentioned.   Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  Neither give place to the devil.” 

It has always been interesting to me that the first three chapters of Ephesians do not have a single imperative command in them while the last three chapters contain about thirty-nine imperatives. Two of them are mentioned in the passage for today.  We have been exhorted to be angry and sin not and not to give place to the devil.  Hal Lindsey wrote a book in the seventies entitled, “Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth.”  Nothing has changed much since that book was written.  Satan, or the devil if you will, is certainly active today even in the lives of believers.  One might say, “especially in the lives of believers.”  Satan wants to keep every believer from doing anything that would ever promulgate the kingdom of God.  When you leave a campsite, one of the things you do is to separate the coals in the firepit or grill or pile of rocks on the ground.  Coals that are separated will soon die out while coals that remain next to each other will fuel each other until they are both gone.  Ten pieces of charcoal, once in a fire pit, will soon die out when separated and will return to a black remnant of a piece of charcoal.  If the same group of pieces of charcoal remain next to each other, they will continue to glow until they are either consumed or extinguished.  Satan wants to extinguish the believer from doing anything profitable for the promotion of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the easiest among believers seems to be anger.  If Satan can keep you angry, you will accomplish very little for God.  In contrast to the anger that quite often exists with the believers, is the list of the “one another” commands that appear here and there in the New Testament.  Such passages as “Pray for one another,” or “love one another,” or “exhort one another,” or “bear one another’s burdens.”  You get the idea.  This should be the norm for the believer rather than the anger that quite often exists in the hearts of people.  We soon find that we can keep from giving place to the devil when we are fully exercising the “one another” commands of the Scripture.  Praise God today for His instructions to us in His Word.

Job Descriptions

    When you decide to go to work, that is, to get a job, you are handed an item that is called a “job description.”  It might be verbal and it might be written out on paper, but everyone has a job description if they are working anywhere at all.    On my first job, I was given a big shovel and told, “get the corn from the wagon into the corn crib.”  That was it.  On my second job, I was instructed to wipe off every part of the metal hanging on a conveying mechanism before it went into the paint shed to be painted Allis-Chalmers Orange.  Other jobs became more complex and were written down with detailed instructions.  The Apostle Paul instructed young Timothy with his job description and it is the same job description for every preacher today.  Second Timothy 4:1-5 says, “ I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;   Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;   And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 

         There are nine imperative verbs in this passage that instructs not only Timothy, but every preacher that stands in a pulpit today.  One of the excuses however for the church today is that they don’t have a “pulpit.”  they change the name to a “lectern” or a “podium”  We get hung up on the semantics and therefore say that we are not “preaching.”  Well, Paul’s first imperative to Timothy was, “Preach the Word….”  He didn’t instruct him to talk, or to teach, or to converse, or suggest or have dialogue with.  He exhorted him to preach the Word.  The rest of the nine imperatives tell him how to do it.  Neither Paul nor Timothy made people feel good by what they said. They preached the Word of God with power and conviction and people were being saved by their preaching.  In a recent seminar, great preachers were asked “What is one of the greatest dangers to the church today?”  the answer from all four of the preachers was, “The greatest fear for the church today is the watering down of the preaching of the Word of God.”  Some preachers are afraid to step on someone’s toes by naming the sins of the people.  We want to be more politically correct in how we address the problems of the world and fail to proclaim the Word of God.  Nothing has changed in the centuries between Paul and today.  The Word of God still needs to be preached from the pulpits of the world, America and here in my local city and neighborhood. The eighth imperative is to “do the work of an evangelist.”  Timothy didn’t have to hit the tent meeting circuit, but do the work of the evangelist in his own location.  In other words, there are many people sitting in the churches of the world, who are not saved.  For whatever reason, they are in a church but have had no personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.  I went for years knowing the phrases to say, the hymns to sing and was still as lost as can be.  Being in a church for your whole life doesn’t mean you are saved.  As one man put it,  “Just because you sit in a garage doesn’t make you a car so sitting in a church doesn’t make you a Christian.”  If you are not being exhorted by Biblical preaching, then go to some place where the Word of God is preached.  Praise God that He has given us the job description for those that are to proclaim the Word of God.

Great Things

      What do you think about on an average day?  I mostly thought about the radio shows that I used to listen to as a child.  My life in those early years was shaped by people like the Lone Ranger and Sky King.  I would save up the box tops required and tape a quarter to the address form and send it in and then wait for the arrival of the Lone Ranger secret decoding ring. If you have ever watched the modern version of “The Christmas Story, featuring a family in Indiana, that was me.  The ring was important and it soon came with the miniature six-gun on top of it and the sliding secret compartment with the code breaker information.  It came and it soon went as it lasted about a couple of weeks.  I soon turned my attention to the young girls after I had determined that they were not going to give me “cooties” as everyone had said.  Religion was not a big feature in my life.  My friend in Illinois said that as a child, his parents drug him to church.  I never had that experience.  Church was never mentioned and I could pretty much do whatever I wanted in regard to my spiritual activities.  I could do anything except when I reached the breaking point of my Father when I informed him that I wanted to be a priest.  When my first semester stopped at Indiana University, I found myself raising my right hand in Chicago as I was sworn in to the United States Navy.  My thoughts were still pretty much on “self” but I had a concern for spiritual things but couldn’t quite get it all together.   Ephesians 3:19-20 says, “ Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,   Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” 

Wow!  What a statement.  Paul seems to be closing the book at this point, which is in the middle of what he had to say.  It makes sense now as Paul has just given us three chapters of the list of what we have just for being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. After having reviewed this list, Paul breaks out in a doxology, giving praise and glory to God for such a wealth of spiritual blessings.  Life is no longer shaped by the Lone Ranger, Sky King and the Little rascals, but by Someone far more important, God Himself.  My world has expanded from the acre and a half in Indiana to the universe and the magnificence that God has created.  God is visible in the magnitude of His creation and also in the miniscule from the design of the flower to the bombardier beetle, and microorganisms.  God is everywhere.  He reminds us of that fact in Psalm 139.  Yes, we can say as Paul did in Ephesians 3:19-20, how God can do that which is exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…”  The same God Who spoke the universe into existence has also said that “He loves you and me so much that He sent His Son to give us eternal life.”   Yes, How great is that?  Praise God for His greatness.  It is far greater than we can even imagine!

Four Pieces of Toast

       I never thought about being poor when I was a child. I always had what I needed and got a lot of the things I wanted, so figured I was as well off as most other people. Life in the 40’s was always a struggle and most people were struggling just trying to make ends meet. When I went to school, I would start off the day with a cup of coffee and 4 pieces of toast.  I don’t recall eating any eggs or bacon in the morning and we didn’t have cereal in the house. That was just the way it was.   At least, we seem to always have bread and coffee. Some would say we were poor. Maybe so, but again, we had what we needed.  Dad was a good mechanic, electrician, plumber and whatever else we needed in those days.  He changed the brakes on the car, fixed the pump in the dark on a cold winter night, built a house and later a greenhouse, a garage and chicken coop and he made do with what he had.  He also never threw away anything but kept it in a coffee can somewhere.  The Psalmist has also stated that he was poor. Psalm 86:1 says, “Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.”

The meaning of the “poor” conditions that the Psalmist is talking about is perhaps a bit different than material things. When I think of being poor and needy in regard to spiritual things, I am reminded about the knowledge and wisdom that we need to live this life the way God wants us to live. We know it isn’t a bed of roses and there are some thorns now and then as we travel the road of life. The Psalmist is here asking the Lord to listen to him as he explains that he is a poor and needy individual. That pretty well sums up our condition. We are poor and needy.  The difficulty in today’s world is that we may have a lot of money in the bank but we still are poor as we don’t realize it.  Our poverty is pretty well witnessed in our spiritual lives.    The rich and famous often come down to the end and realize that there is something missing in their lives.  They have missed that which is the most important.  They miss the Bible and the lessons that it teaches.  We need the Word of God to get us through everything that the world is going to throw our way. So, we can say to God, like the Psalmist,  that we are also poor and needy. When you think about it, every man, woman, boy and girl is poor and needy. You may have diamond rings, a Lincoln, a big house and all the trimmings and can still be poor and needy. That which you lack can only be supplied by God. So, praise God that He is indeed the supplier of the needs of the poor and needy person.

Convictions

      We like to think that we have convictions about certain things in this life and that we would never violate them under any circumstances.  It was about four o’clock in the morning on December 13, 1990 and I was having extreme shoulder pain which turned out later to be a heart attack.  I got my wife out of bed and we headed to the ER at Camden Clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg, West Virginia.  I pulled up to a red light, looked both ways and went through the red light.  It disturbed Diane that I had just gone through a red light but nothing was coming and I was hurting.  My conviction about never going through a red light under any circumstances suddenly turned out to be a preference.   There are differences between convictions and preferences.  Convictions don’t change while preferences may change often.    Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”  The word “purposed” occurs over 500 times in the Bible and is translated a number of different ways. One of the first times the word occurs is in Genesis 2:8 where God “put” the man in the garden.  Daniel had a mindset that was going to display certain characteristics that had been formed in his young life.  One of those characteristics was loyalty to God and faithfulness to God’s Word.  Daniel knew the laws of the Old Testament and what foods were right and which foods were wrong to eat.  He had stated that he did not desire to eat the king’s food but would rather have a good course of vegetables instead.  It was going to be a contest as to which diet would be the better one.  God blessed Daniel and his friends and they came out on top so would be getting the course of diet that they requested rather than the delicacies of the king.  It was going to be a life of trials for Daniel and his friends as they continually were faithful to God rather than to King Nebuchadnezzar.  Daniel did not just prefer vegetables, He was committed to not violating the dietary rules of the Hebrew people because they were from God’s mouth and not his own.  There are perhaps many times when we think we have convictions about certain things but then find out that they are nothing more than  preferences.  God certainly has given us many instructions in His Word and all of them should be “convictions” rather than just preferences but they don’t always turn out that way. Convictions can come about after a preference becomes challenged in our society.  You and I may have preferences about our Christian lives but there may come a time when you have to decide that your desired lifestyle is a conviction and not just a preference.  Daniel knew that his lifestyle was going to be challenged and when it came he chose God’s way over the ways of the king in whose country he found himself.  How will you decide when the time comes?  Praise  God for His direction in our lives.

Believe in God

       I was recently watching a TV show where the dialogue went, “Do you believe in God?”  The reply was, “Sometimes.”  the dialogue was not meant to be a comedy scene, but a rather serious discussion between two people.  The obvious conclusion was that the two people are not believers at all but merely two people trying to make sense of the things that are happening in their lives.  While the dialogue was merely that of an entertainment broadcast, it does reflect the mindset of many people in the world today.  They seem to want to believe in God but do not have any proof that He exists and so then just write Him off as a figment of their imagination.  There was a comic strip in the 80’s called “BC” where the lives of “cave people” were discussed.  In one strip, the main character asked for evidence that there was a God.  The following panels showed great wonders of the world, sunsets, the heavens, meteors and finally, after having observed all of these wonderful things, the character proclaims, “Well, I guess there is no God.”  He had seen the answers but had refused them because he didn’t get what he wanted or had hoped for to convince him that there was a God. Job 38:1-2 says, “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,   ‘Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?’”

     Job was man of God but had some issues as to why he was going through the calamities that had befallen him.  After all of the discourses of Job and his three friends, God finally answers him in the beginning of chapter thirty-eight.  God’s words to Job could fit the response to many of the people in the world today.  “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” 

We know that God then continued to relate to Job things that Job should have known or thought of but didn’t.  The Book of Job at this point, becomes a science book as it relates things that only God could have done from the intricate designs of the snow flake to the giant animals or the matters of the universe.  We often look at a beautiful sunset and declare that it is the result of the Master Artist, God HImself.  We observe the healing of a person and declare how God has worked in that healing.  At the same time, we wonder what is going on in the world or why God isn’t answering our prayers or basically just doing things we way we would want them done in the time frame that we would want it to be accomplished.  It is those times that many people don’t believe in God.  Let us consider the compilation of sixty-six books by 40 authors with the same unique theme and continuity over a period of several thousand years.  You all have your own copy of this unique book and it alone testifies about the existence and working of God in our lives each and every day.  Job was being accused of “words that darkens counsel without knowledge.  It is indeed a shame that we find ourselves in the same situation.  You should believe in God because you got up, breathed, ate food, moved about the house, traveled to the store, met people, talked and had enjoyed the company of people in your life, lived through another day and went to sleep at night.  Without God, none of it would have taken place.  Even, and more so in death, you believe in God because He is going to get you to your final resting place for all eternity.  We should never say, “I believe in God sometime,” but rather, I believe in God all the time, twenty-four seven, three hundred sixty-five days of the year, all the years of my life.  Praise God for His working in our lives, all the time.

Stammering Lips

      As a child, I stuttered.  It was really bad and I dreaded the times that I would have to speak before the class at school or to recite some poem that we had to learn by heart.  Certain words were terrible with me such as the word, “radish.”  My Aunt Hattie knew about my problem as did the rest of the family but she took it on herself to at least make me say the word “radish.”  She pronounced it slowly and loud and it kept getting louder and slower as I tried to blurt out the “ra, ra ra, ra….”  I just couldn’t do it.  The stuttering plagued me in my life also while with A. T. and T. Co. and one of the difficult things for me to say was my last name, which was required many times while working on telephone circuits for putting information on work tickets.   My stuttering decreased when I decided to go into the ministry.  It seems like an impossible thing to take place, but it did.  I was able to preach and to teach the Word of God and my verbal stumbling was considerably less.  Some words would still give me trouble, but I knew how to control them and to sometimes replace them with other words.  I pretty much do not stutter anymore but I find that I now have trouble with typing the correct letters for the words I wish to put down on paper.  I have been relying on my spell checker to catch the obvious mistakes, but they often slip by.  You are probably saying that you know all of the mistakes that I make and how you have to correct them in your mind.  Exodus 4:10-11 says, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.  And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?”

Moses had trouble with speech also, or at least that is the excuse that he tried to give to God as to why he was not suited  for the task of leading the Israelites out of Egypt.  It is safe to assume that Moses didn’t want the job and was looking for anything possible that might disqualify him from doing it.  God, however, had chosen him and there was no excuse that Moses could come up with that God did not already have the solution.  We know that Moses ended up doing what God had commanded him to do.  The lesson for us is that whatever God calls us to do, He will equip us with what we need in order to do it.  When we think of clarity of speech we can come to the quick conclusion that God never stutters nor does He falter in His words.  After all, He is God.  What should amaze us is the famous grouping of words that says, “Thus saith the LORD.”  This little grouping of four words occurs some 413 times in the Old Testament. 

I hope you are as amazed about this phrase as I am.  What follows on each occasion is the fact that God says something.  It should excite us to know that God says anything but we have it recorded 413 times in the Bible.  You pretty much get to know a person by what they say and do.  I have a little email that I receive during the week that includes quotes by famous Christian leaders.  Some are quoted more than others because of what they said and how famous they are.  Spurgeon is quoted a lot and so is John MacArthur.  The prophets were saying that “these are not my words, but the words of God.”  “If you have a problem with what He said, take it up with Him.”  In the end, we can thank and praise God for His words to us and the fact that He never falters in His speech to us.

The Big Picture

             While working with American Telephone and Telegraph Company, I had the responsibility of driving a “company” car. You just couldn't step behind the wheel and drive off but had to have passed a company driving course. Not only that, you had to review that course every six months in order to keep you certification. One of the themes of the course was, “Get the big picture.” It meant that while driving down the road you had to be aware of everything that is going on around you as far as you could see both front and rear views of your vehicle. You looked for kids playing ball or other pedestrians, for wheels turned outward from a parking spot, how close the car is behind you and you had to check your review mirror at least every ten seconds or more. Along with the theme, the idea was always to have an escape route should something take place in front of you. The opposite is true with trying to manipulate a horse and carriage where the horse deliberately has blinders on to keep from being excited by the local squirrel. Genesis 3:15 says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” 

           We often focus on specific scriptures and how they will apply to our lives in a very specific way. That is good, but there is also the “Big Picture” that God has for the world and its occupants or in other words, “us.” I once thought about the most basic reason for the Bible and came up with the fact that it can be summed up in four words: Man's problem, God's solution.” It is true that this involves much in life in a very practical and real way but man had a problem due to the fall in Genesis and God had the solution to that fall. The plan was going to be worked out. We can observe the plan through the Old Testament as we see the blood line going from Genesis 3 up and until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything was pointing to Him from the sacrifice of animals for the clothing for Adam and Eve, the sacrificial offerings and feasts and the prophecies. The Big Picture can be observed in all sixty six books of the Bible and we see the continuity of the Scriptures as they bring us the information of God's working out this plan. We then, can come to the conclusion that we have a problem and God has the solution. He has the solution for our eternal salvation and he has the solution for the grief and depression that may plague us in our lives here on earth. That fact that God has control over the Big Picture reminds us that God has control over us also. I have mentioned before that I don't believe in coincidence. Everything in our lives is under God's control and nothing is going to happen that is a surprise to Him. He is just that great! Praise God today that He knows your heart and every burden that is in it. He knows and He is working.

Ambassadors

            Washington, D. C. Has a number of residences which have been classified as "embassies" of foreign governments. They fly the flag of their own country outside of the building and it is a theoretical extension of their country. They can pretty well do what they want in their own building without causing too much of a ruckus. After we arrived in Spain, one of things on our immediate agenda was to travel down to the United States Embassy located in Madrid. We took our passports and headed down to the area and after showing our passports, were allowed to enter this piece of "America" located in the middle of Madrid, Spain. I began to speak to the people there in broken, very broken, I might say, Spanish. The man to whom I was speaking, interrupted me and said, "You can speak English here." I had forgotten that I was theoretically in the United States even though we were 6 thousand miles away from Virginia. In each embassy, there is a person who has the title of being the "Ambassador" who represents the United States in a foreign country. That principle is seen in the New Testament as the Apostle Paul speaks of a special opportunity that has been bestowed upon each and every Christian. Second Corinthians 5:20 says, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 

           Paul says in this passage that we are "ambassadors." It is a special title that has been granted to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and with this title comes certain privileges and responsibilities. Paul further explained in Philippians that we are citizens of heaven and therefore, this is not our home as such. Our home is already in a different place from which we currently living while here on this earth. As one song writer put it, "this earth is not my home, we are just passing through..." Ambassadors are also ones who have a responsibility to represent their country in what they do and say to others. The word that is used in this passage also appears in the Book of Ephesians where Paul says he was an ambassador in chains. We find that to be an ambassador is usually a very special privilege and one that is granted by the president, king, or premier of a country. It is a very special privilege and the title here on this earth is one that specifies that we are a representative of our home government. The same is true here. You and I are representatives of our "home country" which is not the state in which we are currently living or the country where we now reside, but heaven itself and we are under the authority of our Lord and Master, our King and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When you think about it, that is a very special honor but one that has been given to all of us who believe on Him as our Lord and Savior. It should provoke us to ask ourselves "how are we representing Christ today?" Praise God today for opportunity that He has given to us to represent Him in the world today.

Important measurements

            We all seem to like measuring things. One thing we like to measure is snow. When we have a storm, people take the yard stick out and plant it in the ground just to see how much snow we had. I know of some people who have fallen down the steps from the house to the patio while walking out just to measure the snow. We als have to know our height and weight every times we fill out a form and we also need to know the year in which we were born. Some computer forms have a place to scroll down to find the year in which you were born. In my case, I have to hit the button four to five times to get to "1938." Many forms will require you to put down how old you are. When we were children, we couldn't wait to get to be a teenager. Then, as a teenager, we couldn't wait until we became 18 and thereby legal to do many different things. Then, as we got older, we suddenly found that the "birthdays" seem to come much quicker than when we were children and we may find ourselves actually forgetting how old we really are. One book once started out with a statement of an older gentleman who said. "I guess I am 92 or maybe it is 93, I really can't remember." We often find ourselves wondering just how old we really are. Of course, there is no difference, it just seems that the days pass by more quickly the older you get. There is, however, one birthday that we often forget. Most of the people in the world's system are not interested in this birthday. John 3:3-7 says, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." 

           Jesus was referring to a second birth that was different from our physical birth. He must have considered it to be extremely important as He said it was a primary requirement in order to get into heaven. It boils down to this. You need to have 2 births and then 1 death. If not, you will have 1 birth and 2 deaths. Just as the fact of being born again is mentioned in the Scriptures, so is the fact that a person will experience the second death if they have not experienced the new birth. This fact, while alarming to some, or at least it should be, is also a blessing in that the person who has been "born again" knows that he or she is a member of the kingdom of God. Need something to praise God for today? Then, just think on the blessings of being born again. Praise God for the new birth. Second Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Enemies

            Some funny things have happened to me while in the ministry and perhaps I may have done somethings differently than others. I once took a position at a large Baptist church with an 86% calling. That is pretty low for beginning a new work. It was because I was being called as the youth, education and music pastor for the church. The youth had been allowed to vote in the election and none of them liked me. With them, I was 100% unfavorable. The youth didn't agree on my principles regarding the Word of God and especially my views on music. During the first year of my ministry, I could not do anything right that would please them One of the first things that I did was to dismantle the rock and roll music collection that they listened to before a lesson in the church youth room. That naturally left a very unfavorable opinion of me in their minds. I saved only one tape out of 90 which was a recording by Amy Grant. There were a few that left the church but for the most part, they came around to Biblical principles, but it wasn't fun to be there for a long time. Matthew 5:22-23 says, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” 

           We might say that Jesus is meddling at this point into the lives of the crowd. The message was comfortable when speaking about the beatitudes but gets really personal when speaking about our relationships with our enemies. Who doesn't have a few enemies here and there? During my first year in the church mentioned above, I had one woman say to me, “I don't know who you are or where you came from but I don't like you and won't support your ministry here at this church.” That was at the first house on my first visitation night at the church. I may have wanted to reply with some negative statement, but instead kept praying for the work, the kids and the parents. In about a year, the same woman put her arms around me and thanked God for the ministry that was going on in the church. What or Who changed her mind? It was God all the way. We were shifting the ministry to that which was Biblical and standing firm on it regardless of the opinions of the “enemy.” Jesus said to “love” your enemy. He used the word, “agape” at this point and you know my definition of agape love. It is righteous acts to meet the needs of another. We stood by that principle. Who among us does not have those who are considered more to be enemies than friends? No matter what you do, those people will be antagonistic towards you and your methods. You couldn't boil water to please them. It may seem easier to just not be around them but that doesn't solve much. Instead, Jesus mentions four things for us to do in regard to our enemy: We are to love them, bless them, do good to them and to pray for them. That is our proper recourse when we are unjustly attacked by those around us. Remember that it seems that if you are doing something right for God that the enemy is going to attack and many times it will come from the people that are around you. Praise God instead, for His example and teaching. May we follow Him.

Up From the Grave!

             My time in the ministry has lead me to many funeral homes over the past 40 or so years. I have had the honor of viewing many people laying in a casket as a family member stands by and receives the well wishes and thoughts of a long line of people who wish to convey their condolences to the family. As I have stood there looking at the lifeless body in the casket I particularly look to see if the chest moves at all. I sometimes ask myself if they are really dead. Of course, it is a dumb question. They have been embalmed and they are dead. Then I sometimes think of the account in John 11 where the Lord Jesus Christ is summoned to Bethany because one of His friends is dead. John 11:43-44 says, “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” 

           The whole chapter is devoted to this account and tells us many different aspects of the main characters especially Mary and Martha. A lot of people were there and Lazarus had been in the grave long enough that Martha declares that Jesus shouldn't move the stone away because by now his body would stink. We know what happened in the next few moments. The Lord Jesus Christ called Lazarus from the grave and he came out, alive! Raising the dead has to be one of the miracles that really gets the attention of those that are present. People may be skeptical about some miracles as to whether they are real or not, but this one shows a man, dead for four days, wrapped in grave clothes suddenly appearing upright outside of the tomb. He had died, but now he is alive. This is Who are Master is! This is the power that the Lord Jesus Christ has over even death and the grave. Not only can He cure the hiccups and every other malady known under the sun, but He can also raise the dead from the grave. He also cast out demons, made the lame to walk, the blind to see and the dumb to talk. He cured hearing disorders and issues of blood that the physicians couldn't accomplish. He walked on water and fed over 5,000 men and their families with a meager amount of a few fish and a few loaves. Most of all, He rose from the dead after being crucified on a cruel cross. His tomb was also empty and has become the symbol of victory for every believer past, present and future. Because He arose from the dead, we too shall rise. Death has no victory over us anymore. There will come that day when the graves themselves will be thrust open as the occupants rise to meet the Lord in the air and then we that are alive at that time will join them at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ for His church. As we meditate on this fact, what comes to mind today that is a concern for you? Are you concerned about a headache? Are you bothered by not having enough food on the table? Are you having trouble with a family member or a neighbor? Maybe you think that no one loves you for who you are. May we be reminded about the famous passage that Martin Luther called as the golden text of the Bible, John 3:16 which begins, “For God so loved the world...” Are you a part of the world? Of course we are and so then God loves each and every one of us, so much that He sent His Son to provide a way of salvation for us all. Your chest may not move in the casket, but one day, your body will bust out of the grave, that is, if you know Him as your Lord and Savior. Praise God today for the wonderful gift of salvation.

Real Peace

           Well, some of the books of Dr. Seuss got shelved because of some of the stereotypes he portrayed in the book. While it is true that certain people do have certain characteristics that stand out, it is not good to portray them even in a child's book. Upon arriving in Spain, I noticed that the majority of the men I came in contact with had a mustache so I decided to grow one so that I might look more like a Spaniard. I got my bushy mustache and one day was standing in the butcher shop when the butcher began to speak to me but I couldn't understand a word he said. I knew my Spanish was rough, but he was not making any sense at all. Then, he spoke again, this time in Spanish that I recognized, and asked me if I was from Germany. Here he was a Spanish butcher speaking German to a man from the United States, The funny thing is that my heritage is really German, but even though I tried to look like what I thought a Spaniard looked like, it just made me look more like a German than a Spaniard. First Corinthians 9:22 says, “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” 

          The Apostle Paul had something to say about this. He looked at people where they were and tried to fit in the best he could so that he might win some of them to the Lord. When Hudson Taylor went to China, he soon discovered that he was a foreigner to them and that he just didn't fit in. Within a few years, he decided he needed to look more like the typical Chinese man in order to not stand out as an Englishman. He then wore their clothes and grew his hair so that he had a “queue” of long hair going down his back. Hudson Taylor had a burden for the Chinese people and he would do almost anything in order to win them to the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to reap a harvest, he tried to look more like a Chinese person. The Apostle Paul was able to adapt his lifestyle in order to win some to the Lord. That doesn't mean that he became a sinner and a drunkard in order to win them, but that he took on the favorable characteristics of their life style. There always needs to be something in your life that stands out to the point that a non believer will desire to know what it is that makes you different than anyone else in their life. There may come that time when during a problem in their life, they turn to you for answers and for hope, peace and love. There are many who would like to look like a jovial, fun loving person all the time but in reality they look more like the village idiot and when the problems arise, no one wants to consult the local clown but looks for a person who has peace in their life even in the midst of discouragement and dismay. Of course, this assumes that we do have it all together in our lives. I have been reviewing some of my old memory verses, and came upon this one from Philippians 4:6-7 which says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Do you have the peace of God in your life today or are you still looking for it? This passage refers to our prayer life and if these verses are real for you, hen perhaps you do have the peace of God that passes all understanding because you are trusting in God rather than the feeble abilities of the world. Praise God today that He is the Author of real peace.

Mining for Gems

           I have often said that I am not a Greek scholar although I would like to have been one. My proverbial answer was, “I know a little Greek. He runs a delicatessen down the street.” The first part is true, I do know a little Greek and with the help of a lot of aids, I am able to unearth a few gems here and there. Gems take time to find as while there may be an occasional gem on the surface, most of them are hidden. We were traveling in Wisconsin in 1956 on a vacation and went to a county fair where my uncle had a cotton candy wagon in a circus. He had decided to join the circus late in life and would travel from Texas to the Canadian border all summer long. I was amusing myself that day by walking around the circus and met an older man who was looking for something. I asked if I could help. He said that he had found a quarter and if he found another one, he would be able to cover the 50 cent cost of entering the circus. He didn't seem to notice that he was missing everything by searching for that quarter. I don't know if he ever found the quarter, but he sure was looking hard for it. Galatians 4;4-5 says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” 

           Searching for gems in the Scriptures is certainly not a waste of time such as was in the case of the Wisconsin farmer. The gems in the Bible are those things that you discover by digging deeper into the Word of God day by day and which are very rewarding. The passage for today makes a comment about the “fulness” of the time. When the savior took on flesh over 2000 years ago, it was indeed the right time. It was in the right place and in the right time, with the right culture, the right politician in control, and at the right point in history, with the right language being used in the world at that time. The English language which is certainly a good language has restrictions here and there that do more to cover up the gems then to reveal them. I once counted up the different variations of a verb in Spanish and found there to be almost 146 different words that would shed a slightly different meaning in the sentence in which it was used. Such is the case in Greek. I often point out that John 21 has a discourse between Peter and the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “love” is used extensively in the Bible at that point, but there are different Greek words that were being used in the discussion. You won't see that unless you deeper in the text. While we may not be Greek scholars, we still have tools that can be used in our study such as the concordance. The words of the bible are arranged with their definition and original language with a dictionary at the end. It takes a little more time but it is worth it to find the gem especially if Jesus ever asks you, “Do you really love me more than these?” Concordances, dictionaries and even now the software programs are aids that can give us the location of the gems of the Bible. While it is true that you can rely on others to show you the gems, it is sometimes more profitable to you when you find them for yourself or at least, you can agree with what someone has already proclaimed to you. Take the time to ask questions about God's Word. Why did god say this or that and even, why didn't He say such and such. Praise God for the fact that Christ came at the exactly right moment in history. After all, it is His Story!

Reading the Word of God

            There are some things that we may take for granted, one of such items, might be the ability to read. Naturally, you get this devotion via the internet and perhaps you read it on Facebook or have your own copy. Irregardless of how you get your own copy, you must then read it. Reading is important in nearly all cultures if you want to know the answers to the questions of life. Some of those questions might be, “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” Your answers will probably depend on how much you know and how much you know will depend on whether you can read or not. Wycliffe Translators has an interesting display in one of their facilities at Waxhaw, North Carolina. It is a building dedicated to the history of alphabets and language called the museum of the alphabet. Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” 

            You may take for granted your ability to read. Some of you may be able to speak more than one language but for the most part, the majority of you all are probably English speaking people. Statistics tell us that there are about 6,500 different languages. How many different languages can you name? Some are used more than others. There are about 328 million people in the United States and for the most part, English is one of the most used by a majority of the people although we often see a lot of Spanish and French being used on the written material on a product. The important thing in all of this is that God has chosen to give us a copy of His Word written in a language that we can understand. Men and women died for the translation of that word from Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic to give us a copy of His Word. You may have your copy on your coffee table, or perhaps on your desk or kitchen table where you can get to it or where you last left it when you came into the house. The Words of God to us have been important ever since the days of Moses. God directed Moses to write down the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible and from there it grew to the now 66 books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. As we read His Word for ourselves, we soon learn the answers to the three basic questions. We can know where we came from, Why we are here and where we are going. God's Word tells us that. Revelation 1:3 is unique in that it contains a blessing for those who read and hear the words of “this” prophecy. Some have missed this blessing because they feel that the Book of Revelation is too hard to understand. God just told you to read it and to hear it and to keep those things that are written in it because the time is at hand. I have a Bible program that has different translations in it. I downloaded one called the “Chamacoco” translation simply because I know one of the men who translated this Bible for the Chamacoco people in Paraguay so that they can be blessed by reading God's Word, even the book of Revelation. The question today is, “Are we reading the Word of God that He has so freely given to each and every one of us?” A special blessing awaits those who read the Bible and especially those who read the Book of Revelation. It tells us so right in the beginning of the book. Praise God for His Word. May we all spend a portion of each and every day reading it.