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Are You Thankful?

Isaiah 10-13

In Chapter 11 of Isaiah we once again hear of God’s promise to provide a Savior.

Isaiah 11:1-5

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”

There He is – Jesus Christ!  Isaiah tells us that the Messiah is coming!  But look at this:

Isaiah 11:10-11

“In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.”

Did you notice in verse 11 that it says “the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time …”?  Jesus is the “Lion and the Lamb”.  He came the first time as “The Lamb” and will come the second time as the Lion.  The Bible talks about the descendants of Abraham as God’s chosen people.  This refers to his physical descendants but it also refers to his spiritual descendants who are adopted into the family through rebirth in Christ.  As much as I’d like to, it is a bit simplistic to say that His first coming was for the Jew and the second coming for the Gentile.  Remember this?

Matthew 15:22-26

“And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.“  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

So, Jesus does tell us that He came the first time specifically for Israel but those few verses are not the entire story.  Look at what happens next.

Matthew 15:27-28

“She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”

He came the first time primarily for the physical descendants of Abraham, the Jews, but He also provided for the Gentiles; those who have faith.  The second time He will come to recover the remnant of His people who will include both Jew and Gentile; but only those who are spiritual children of Abraham will be gathered to Him.  It will not be enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham you must be a spiritual child of his as well; you must have Christ.

And here is, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story”.

Isaiah 12:1-6

“You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.  And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

I wonder if you noticed that immediately after stating that God provides salvation these verses go on to say that the thankful, joyful, saved person is to make His deeds known in all the earth.  How often does God have to make these connections for us before we get it?  God says “I saved you – go tell others”, and He says it over and over again.  He even says it here in the Old Testament hundreds of years before that Savior has even come to save.  Are we blind to this truth?  Are we not truly thankful?  How can we be saved and not thankful?  If we are thankful how can we not tell others about Christ?

I believe we must think about this, brothers.  Do we really believe what we say we believe?  If so, how does it show?  One of my greatest fears is that at my funeral some who knew me will be surprised to learn I was a Christian.  I want people to know I am a Christian, not because I told them I was a Christian but because they could tell I was a Christian.  For that to happen I must shine the light of Christ in this dark and dying world while I have breath.  They will know we are Christians by His love that shines through us.  Feeding the lost is good.  Clothing the lost is good.  Housing the lost is good.  But what they are dying for is Christ.  By all means do the other but never neglect the Gospel.

Have a thankful day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Well, today’s reading, Genesis 33-35, takes us further along this walk Jacob is taking.  Yesterday he started to understand that all that he has, and all that he is to become is from the Lord.  He changed yesterday.  No he hasn’t suddenly become perfect.  He is going to continue to make mistakes and we will see that his sons have grown up under his worldly example and will, thus, make their own horrible choices.  Jacob, however, is a changed man.  He is on the right road now and will start to slowly make progress in becoming the man God intends him to be.

Today’s reading takes us through Jacob’s reconciliation with Esau, Jacob’s reunion with his father, the defilement of Jacob’s daughter Dinah, the bloody murder of the males of Schechem by Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi in retaliation, the birth of Benjamin, the death of Rachel, and the death of Isaac.  There is a lot going on here.  In Genesis 34:30 we see that Jacob’s concern about the slaughter and pillage of innocent people is the potential for the neighboring peoples to attack him.  His concern shows that, in this, his heart is not in the right place.  We also see, however, in Genesis 35:2 that Jacob tells his family to get rid of their foreign gods and to purify themselves.  Jacob is growing into the man God wants him to be in fits and starts.  We’ll see this pattern throughout his life.

Again, does this not sound a lot like you and me?  Now I’m not saying it is okay to sin; that God doesn’t care about sin.  In fact, the opposite is true.  God cares very much about sin.  Sin separates you from God’s presence.  He loves you so much that he wants you cleansed of sin so you can be in His presence.  That is why Christ died for you and me.  His sacrifice pays the debt of your sin.  If you have accepted Christ as your savior, however, when you stumble like Jacob did, the Holy Spirit, which now lives with in you, is going to make you feel bad about it.  This is to discipline you and help you to make different choices in the future.

I’m reminded of what Pastor Jim has often said: “We are saved.  We are being saved.  We will be saved.”  We are corrupted creatures.  We will stumble, but with Christ we are able to stand again, dust ourselves off and start over.  This process of growing into the man God wants you to be is called sanctification.  Sanctification means we are saved, we are being saved, we will be saved.

Interestingly enough, what is on my mind as I think about today’s reading is the misconception the Lost have about authentic Christians.  Have you heard the phrase “Holier than thou”?  I know a number of Lost that seem to think that Christians view themselves as better than everybody else.  What I know is that, as a Christian, I am no better than the vilest of sinners.  A mass murderer; a rapist; a pedophile; are all sinners just like me.

I’ve read the Bible through before and do you know what I didn’t find?  There is no graduated scale on sin.  We humans think that a white lie is a small thing and murder a big thing.  We excuse sin in ourselves because it isn’t as bad as the other guy.  God said “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.  He did not say “but the occasional lie is okay just as long as you don’t murder someone”.

Before a Holy God, we are all filthy.  Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean I am no longer a sinner; that I am better than non-Christians.  It means I am like everyone else, a sinner, but I am forgiven. I can take no pride in being a Christian for it is not in my power but by the grace of God that I am so.  I take pride in a God that loves us all so much that He has provided away for all, who are willing, to be with Him in eternity.  I am not a hypocrite because I sometimes stumble and sin.  Sin is wrong whether I can live a perfect life or not.  If I sin and say it is not sin when I do it, then I am a hypocrite.

I also take offense at this statement many a lost person will make: “Who are you to judge.”  It completely misses the point.  I am not the judge and never claimed to be.  God is the Judge.  Telling you the verdict of the Judge is not judging, it is warning.  “You have been judged.  You have been found guilty.  The sentence is death.”  But, as Paul Harvey used to say: “And now for the rest of the story”.  The judge came down off the bench and got up on the gallows.  He served your sentence.  All you have to do is accept His substitution.  If you don’t, you’ll have to serve the sentence yourself.

We have a loving God, both Old Testament and New, who has saved us, is saving us and growing us into the men He intends us to be, and he will save us on that day when we face Him in Heaven.  My hope is that on that day, when I see my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ face to face, He will say to me “Well done my good and faithful servant”.  I’ve got work to do if I want to make good on that hope.  I have to rely on God and His power and submit to His will.  Why is something so simple so hard for us to do?  I don’t know but with God’s grace and guidance each and every one of us can make it!  I’ll see ya there!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!