Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Exod 14–16
Chronological Order: Gen 28:1–30:24
Jesus Revealed
We saw yesterday Jesus withdraw from the crowds to mourn the loss of His relative, John the Baptist. Unfortunately for Jesus the crowds followed Him and upon arriving at His get-away He was compelled to minister to their physical and spiritual needs. The point of my post yesterday was that we need to persevere through our difficulties and pain in order to meet the needs of those that need us. I made the point that it was perfectly acceptable to mourn our losses but we must not do so excessively.
Today we see that after meeting the needs of those that depended upon Him, Jesus finally did send the people and His disciples away so He could be alone to pray and restore His soul. We absolutely need these times of restoration in the presence of God. To truly be restored we need to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of life, we need to withdraw from all distractions, and spend quiet, one-on-one time in the presence of the Father.
Now Jesus had sent the Disciples out on a boat ahead of Him but the wind was against them and so while they had been gone a while, they hadn’t gotten all that far. Jesus came to them walking on the water. Imagine your response had you been there and looked out to see Jesus walking toward you on the water. I would think each of us would be filled with conflicting feelings of awe and dread. People don’t walk on water. Jesus was giving His disciples a powerful demonstration of His power, His deity. Jesus showed that He had authority over creation itself.
Now most of us focus on the part of this story where Peter has enough faith to step out of the boat and walk on the water to Jesus until he becomes frightened by the wind and the waves. This is an important part of the story but it isn’t the most important part. The important part is that Jesus is the Son of God, that He has authority not only over human kind but over all of creation. It was Jesus who walked on water and made it possible for Peter to do so as well. It was Jesus whose presence calmed the sea. This is the important part to remember.
We must start with who Jesus is. If Jesus is not who He says He is you should not submit to Him, you should not worship Him. If He is who He says He is then we know that He has the power to do what He has promised to do. We know that we have hope. Having settled the issue of who Jesus is we can now look at the lesson of Peter. Peter desired to come to Jesus and Jesus made that possible, but when Peter took His eyes off of Jesus he began to sink. What was Jesus’ response? Jesus took hold of Peter. Peter let his eyes lose hold of Jesus but Jesus took hold of him.
Jesus tells us later that no one who God the Father places in the hand of Jesus the Son will be lost from His hand. Even when we stumble and lose hold of Him, He will retain His hold on us. Jesus’ words here are important as well “You of little faith, why did you doubt”?
Why do we doubt? Why is our faith so little? It is because we take our eyes off of Jesus. In that moment we forget who He is. Brothers, our time in the Bible, our time in prayer, our time in worship are all intended to help us keep our eyes Jesus. This time is intended to help us grow our faith. It does so with revelation of His power; revelation like we see in this story where He walks on water. Has He revealed who He is in your prayer life? He has in mine. Has He revealed Himself in your time of worship? He has in mine. I am not bragging. I’m attempting to assure you that Jesus does reveal Himself for who He is. He is God incarnate. As the disciples said to Him after he revealed Himself in such a powerful way “Truly you are the Son of God”.
Never forget who Jesus is. Don’t take your eyes off of Him!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Gen 35–36
Chronological Order: Job 31–32
The Eye Doctor
When Adam & Eve decided they wanted to be their own God, mankind and all of nature fell with them. Ever since mankind and nature has been sick and getting sicker. In today’s reading we see Jesus healing the sick and even raising the dead. He came to restore all of creation back to right relationship with God. This is why He is called the great physician. Of course, each person that would be healed had a part to play. They each had to believe that He was who He said He was and that He could heal.
The father of a dead girl believed that if Jesus laid His hands upon her she would live. The woman with the 12 year discharge of blood believed that if she only touched His garment she would be healed. Then there were the two blind men who cried out for Jesus to heal them of their blindness. Notice how that went down:
Matthew 9:28-30 ESV
“…’Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened…”
In each case of healing we saw that faith in who He is was a requisite for healing. Their healing was accomplished according to their faith. Healing the blind is a significant as well as symbolic act on the part of Jesus. Most people inhabiting the Earth today are spiritually blind. They cannot perceive the truth of the One True God and the only way to salvation. Jesus can open their eyes. To do so, however, the patients must come to the doctor. That is where you and I come in.
Yesterday we read of some men who had faith in Jesus the Christ and so they brought their paralytic friend to Him to be healed. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic “your sins are forgiven”, and he left on his own two feet. Do you have enough faith and love to bring people to Jesus for the healing they so desperately need? I hope so brother, I hope so.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Zealous For Good Works
Paul has said many times that we are not saved by works, but he has also said that one who belongs to Christ will do good works. Today in our reading in Titus we see a very clear statement about who we are in Christ.
Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”
God trains us, through His Holy Spirit, to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. He trains us to be self-controlled and upright. Do you see that inherent in Paul’s statement is the fact that while we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, we are still a work in progress? We are a new creature in Christ but we have to discover who we are. God’s Holy Spirit works in us and convicts us of our wrong doing and guides us toward right doing. Of course, essential to right doing is doing. We must do. Our faith is not a self-centered faith. It is not a passive faith. Ours is an active faith. We are to go and do. What are we to do? We are to be zealous for good works. We are to glorify God. We are to tell others about the good news, the Gospel.
God will purify you through the process of doing good works. Now don’t misunderstand, we should help the homeless, the hungry, the orphaned, and widowed. We should help the disadvantaged and hurting. But the thing all of these people need, above all else, is the Gospel. While there are many secular charities who try to meet the physical needs of these folks, none of them attempt to meet their spiritual needs. As Jesus said, quoting the Old Testament, “man shall not live by bread alone” [Matthew 4:4].
When we Christians do good works on behalf of the hurting and disadvantaged we must meet their physical needs, but we must also meet their spiritual needs. This is our special call. Doing nice things isn’t enough. We must share Christ. Brothers, get about doing good works that glorify God. Put feet on your faith and be zealous for good works.
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Godliness Is Not A Means Of Gain
What do you desire? It dawns on me that this is an essential question with devastating consequences for a wrong answer. There is only one right answer. That doesn’t make sense does it? I just asked an opinion question didn’t I? How can there be only one answer to an opinion question? Each of us is put together differently and faces different challenges; wouldn’t each of us have some kind of unique desire based on who and where we are?
That is human logic speaking and it actually misses a bigger picture. What I desire is a matter of what I am. Am I a child of the Living God or am I a god unto myself? If I am a god unto myself then I desire any number of things that I hope will make me feel good. If I am a child of the Living God then I desire only to obey my Lord and Savior, to be His faithful servant in everything I think, say and do. Now, before I go further let me say that I have a pain in my heart as I read those words for I must admit that not everything I think, say, and do is faithful to God’s standard for my life. Does this mean that I am not really a Christian? No it does not. I actually do desire to be God’s faithful and obedient servant. I often fail in this but God is not finished in His perfecting of me.
I can have a desire to get a perfect score on the math test and still get a few wrong when the test is graded. How do I respond to this failure? If my desire remains to be perfect in my math test taking then I will resolve to work harder to achieve my goal. On the next test I may not get that perfect score for which I toil but I’ll bet you I get a little bit closer. My advancement toward my goal is completely dependent on my desire to attain the goal.
My sense of fulfillment in attaining my goal, however, is actually dependent on my reason for seeking the goal. Do I wish to attain this perfection because I will be puffed up with pride? Do I wish to attain this perfection because it will allow me to gain a better job and thereby make more money? Do I wish to attain this perfection because chicks really dig mathematical brainiacs?
Often when we strive to achieve a goal for the sole purpose of some personal gain, we experience disappointment once the goal is achieved. We can achieve all for which we strove and find that we are still left with an unfulfilled emptiness. Why is that? I believe it is because we have struggled to fill a whole in our hearts that only God can fill. I don’t know about you but the most fulfilled I have ever felt after achieving a goal was when my goal was based on pleasing my parents. There is something about the pleasure my parents took in certain achievements that swelled my heart. I realized that those moments were so fulfilling because they were not about pleasing me but pleasing my parents.
Self-centeredness is the root of all evil – all sin. Now this sounds like a paraphrase from today’s reading doesn’t it? Have you heard the saying “Money is the root of all evil”? That saying is also a paraphrase of a verse from today’s reading. Take a look.
1 Timothy 6:10
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils….”
Notice that it is not money that is the problem but the love of that money. Notice also that it is not the root of all evil but a root of all kinds of evil. The things we “love” seem to always be based on what those things can do for us. That is not godly love, it is self-centeredness. We love what we can gain from some thing or someone. Now some act godly for what they believe they can gain. They accept Jesus because they want Him to heal them or enrich them in some way. They “love” Christ for what He can do for them rather than for what He has already done. This is the self-centered path to an empty faith.
Below Paul gives Timothy a warning to watch out for this kind of professing Christian.
1 Timothy 6:3-9
“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Are we content with food and clothing? Is there more that we desire? Why? The things of this world cannot fill our god-sized hole. Only God can fill that hole. Having been saved from Hell, and having been granted an inheritance in Heaven, what more is there for us to want? Contentment in godliness comes when we no longer love ourselves but rather God, not for what He can do for us, but because of what He has already done for us. When our desire is no longer for ourselves but for obedience to our Savior we will find godly contentment.
If you are a Christian but have not yet found godly contentment, don’t quit. God is working on you through His Holy Spirit. He is bringing you to fullness in Christ. Keep taking the test. Keep striving to do better. One day you will find perfection and contentment in Jesus Christ.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Your Behavior Tells Me What You Believe
What you really believe can be seen in what you actually do. I don’t know about you but that statement truly hurts me. I say I am a follower of Christ. Am I? Does my behavior match my actions? Do I love other people the way God would have me love them? Do I discipline my heart and mind to reflect the character of Christ? You know when I ask these kinds of heart penetrating questions I know that the man who is under conviction will feel the sting they provoke, but a man whose mind is given over to lustful pursuits of the flesh will simply brush them aside. Our stumbles hurt if we belong to Christ.
Take Abraham. Abraham did some sinful things – the Bible records them for us. But Abraham also believed that God was the God of all and he submitted to God’s authority. We see in Abraham the life of a sinner saved by grace – a grace procured by faith in God. Why are the Jewish people the Chosen People? Did Abraham earn that position for his descendants? Some might argue that he did because he was willing to sacrifice his son at God’s command. Willing to do something and doing that thing are two very different propositions. God was not looking for Abraham to kill Isaac, He was looking for the condition of Abraham’s heart. God would never have allowed Abraham to finish the deed. God stopped Abraham and provided the required sacrifice Himself.
Abraham’s heart was in the right place but he did not earn salvation for himself or anyone else. God chose to reveal Himself, yet again, to the world through the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, for His own purpose and not for the sake of paying Abraham for something he didn’t do. Abraham believed God was who He said He was and that he owed God trust and obedience. Because he truly believed this he left his home in Haran and wandered in a land that was not his own, Canaan. He trusted God when He said that He would make Abraham’s descendants more numerous than the sands so he acted in faith when God told him to sacrifice Isaac, his only remaining son. You see, what he truly believed he acted upon.
Today Paul mentions Abraham.
Romans 4:1-5
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness”
It was Abraham’s faith, his belief, which counted as righteousness. Now you may think my point is that one cannot earn their salvation and while that fact is true it is not my point. My point is that what you truly believe will be reflected in your behavior. I have run in to a lot of people in my life who claim to be Christians but their behavior tells me that they do not believe God is righteous or that there will be a judgment. Their behavior shows that they love themselves more than they love God.
Now again, don’t get me wrong, we all stumble and I don’t wish to pile on the Christian who has stumbled and already feels convicted about his sin. I’m talking about the guy who can go around trying to have sex with any woman that will have him, drink until he is falling down drunk, treat other people despicably and have not one moment of discomfort over his bad behavior. I hear people say “you’ve got to have a little fun” as if abusing themselves and other people is fun and treating yourself and others with love and respect is a joy kill.
The thinking of these folks is just absolutely upside down. What they call fun is a disaster and what they reject is the joy and fullness of life God intended all of humanity to have. How can a person who behaves in such a sinful way think he is truly a Christian? He did not submit his life to Christ because his life has not been changed. Jesus Christ is not an insurance policy you hope you never need. You need Christ and you are either His or you are not.
If you behave in a way that is not consistent with what you say you believe then you don’t really believe it. If I believe that I am a sinner before a Holy God and that I will be held accountable for my sins, that I will spend eternity in a fiery pit, you bet your bottom dollar I will grab hold of salvation with both hands, and out of my love for my Savior I will do my best to serve Him, to be faithful to His desire for my life. My life will reflect His holiness.
Your behavior tells me what you really believe. If you try to be the man God created you to be I know something about what you believe. If you think obeying God is a kill joy, and fun is abusing yourself and others, I’ll know it by how you behave and I’ll know you are not a Christian. Your behavior tells me what you believe! So what do you believe?
Have a blessed day.
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Doctor, Doctor, It Hurts When I Go Like This
Yesterday when we read in the book of James we heard James say that faith without works is dead. We also know from the Bible that works cannot save you or give you life. To this day there is virulent disagreement about works and faith within the body of Christ. There are some who believe that one can lose their salvation if they don’t do enough good works. There are others who believe that you cannot lose your salvation even if you commit unspeakable sin. In my opinion both of these perspectives are a little off the mark. Before I get into that, however, let’s look at today’s reading and what Peter had to say on the subject.
Here in Acts we read of a debate among the first believers as to whether or not Gentiles needed to be circumcised and follow the Laws of Moses to be saved. After much deliberation Peter got up to speak and I love what he had to say.
Acts 15:7-11
“And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
As I’ve mentioned many times before in this blog, the Law is a yoke, an implement of slavery, which no man is able to bear in his own strength and ability. Obedience to the Law of Moses can’t save you because you can’t obey it. You are saved through the grace of God. You cannot earn salvation; if you could it would be by your own effort and not by grace. You can’t have salvation by effort and grace; it must be one or the other and as we’ve seen it can’t be by effort.
This clearly means that you cannot earn your salvation by works nor keep it by works; if you could God’s grace would not be sufficient. But what about losing your salvation? Can you lose it?
John 10:27-30
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Does that sound like you can lose your salvation? Do you think you are powerful enough to pull yourself away from the hand of God once you have been placed firmly within it? I have a qualifier in that sentence. Did you catch it? These verses in John 10 make it clear that once we belong to Jesus we cannot be lost again. The qualifier is belonging to Jesus. There are many who think they have submitted their lives to Christ who have not. They may go to church, give to charity, read the Bible and pray and yet still not truly be a Christian. You are a Christian if you have turned your back on sin and made Jesus Christ the priority in your life. This means that what He wants is more important than what you want.
When you accepted Christ were you heartbroken for the sinful life you had led? Did you realize your need for a Savior? Did you ask for forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus? Did you truly turn over all authority over your life to Christ? Have you confessed Him with your mouth? Have you been born again? If you have honestly answered yes to all of these questions then rest assured in your salvation. If you cannot honestly answer yes to these questions then be very afraid.
So the man who has submitted his life to Christ will do works because his heart compels him to do so; not out of a desire to earn or keep salvation but out of a desire to obey your Savior in great thankfulness and humility. If you say that sin is not sin and commit sin with no conviction of wrong from the Holy Spirit then you have never been saved; you only went through the motions without ever truly submitting your heart, and authority over your life, to Christ. You cannot lose what you did not have.
Now let me be clear, a person continues to stumble in sin even after they have submitted their lives to Christ. James made this clear in his book yesterday.
James 3:7
“For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”
I need Jesus Christ because I am not a perfect man. I stumble, but when I do it hurts. It doesn’t only hurt in that there are natural consequences for what I’ve done. It also hurts my spirit, my soul, because God’s Holy Spirit is grieved within me. The man who hurts spiritually after having stumbled doesn’t worry me. God will continue to work on that man until he comes to perfection in Christ Jesus. The man I worry about is the one who is not bothered by his sinful acts – that man does not have Christ and will live eternity in spiritual death.
This may sound odd brothers, but it is my prayer that when you stumble it hurts a lot. I hope it hurts so much that you don’t want to stumble again. I pray that for you because it is by that pain that I know you are saved.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Matthew 14:22–15:9
