Here in the Dark

I will give you treasures of darkness, riches in secret places, so that you may know I am the LORD, the God of Israel who summons you by name.  Isaiah 45:3 (NIV)

There have been times in my life that I can only call “Golden Moments.” These times are where Christ has summoned me by name and revealed Himself in the simplest of ways.  I recall one when my firstborn grandson was three. Jaren had quietly moved from the vicinity of the living room while my attention was on my TV program.  Whenever a three-year-old is out of sight and all is quiet, there is cause for concern.

I immediately began searching for him and as I walked down my darkened hallway gently calling, “Jaren, where are you?” I found him standing at the front bedroom window gazing out at the street lights.  His little voice replied to me as he continued his window watch, “I’m here in the dark, Pepaw.”

It was one of those wondrous moments when Jesus chooses to “tap” us on the shoulder and whisper something wonderful.  It was an instance of perception that was both inspiring and sweet.

As we walk through our own times of trial and darkness, how comforting it can be to know He is there with us.  When we find ourselves feeling our way along a dark path, we might ask, “Lord Jesus, where are you?”

He will speak a reply that comes with all power and authority; “I’m here in the dark,” and summon you by name to follow Him.

Jesus, thank You that You will never leave us or forsake us, in life or in death. You are faithful, even to the end of the age. Amen  

Ken                    

Temporary Insanity

“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today-every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes-for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 12:8-9

We sometimes become so caught up in our journey’s trials and tribulations we lose sight that this “here and now” will soon become “there and went.” It’s easy to overlook the fact we are only pilgrims passing through this one shadowed valley in our eternal existence.

But as real as our pain and suffering is now, it is only temporary. Our greatest hope is the life we now live, is lived by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:29).  Moses, speaking to the twelve tribes of Israel, talks of seeking the place God chooses where He will put His name for His dwelling place (Deut. 12:5). For the Israelites, that was in the Promised Land.  For you, that’s in your heart and life.

This life offers no permanent solutions. Some of you reading this may be so overcome with grief and pain that you may be contemplating putting an end to it all.  I would ask you to stop and reconsider.  Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. At one point in my life, it looked to me as the only way I could stop the pain.  Thankfully, the Lord put someone in that instant who kept me from it.  If you’re perhaps there, you have not arrived here by accident.  If you are contemplating it, wait 24 hours and things might look very differently tomorrow.  There’s a Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number in your area.  You found me, now find them online and call them.  Don’t be afraid.  These folks are there for you and will hear you with understanding and empathy.  They won’t judge you.

This current life is not forever.  If we only have Christ in this life, we would of all people be the most miserable for believing a lie.  But it is not a lie, for Christ is risen from the dead (1^st Corinthians 15:19-26). 

With all the insane developments we see now we can rest assured it remains a temporary insanity.  The Lord has promised his wayfaring children a precious heritage and guardianship.  In the forty years He led the Israelites in the wilderness He kept their clothes and sandals from wearing out (Deuteronomy 29:5). Take heart and trust He’s right there with you in your darkness.  He has perfect night vision.  He will never leave you or forsake you, and He remains as good as his word (Hebrews 13:5, 13:8). 

Ken

Demonstrated Discipleship

Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. 2^nd Timothy 2:15 (Amplified Bible)

In our last devotional thoughts, I talked about what defines a disciple of Christ.  Today let’s look at what demonstrates it.

These are:

Obedience.  That means allowing Him to be Lord of your life. “If you love Me, you’ll do what I command.” John 14:15

Fellowship. Finding a church with believers who hold to solid Biblical Scripture and doctrine, for encouragement and so much more (Hebrews 10:25).

Study.  Examining and learning the Word of God and becoming rooted and grounded in the love and hope of the Christ (2nd Timothy 3:16, Ephesians 3:17).

Prayer & meditation.  Developing a regular ‘quiet time’ where you can get alone, immerse yourself in the word of God, giving reflection on knowing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through meditation and prayer (Philippians 4:6, 1^st Thessalonians 5:17).

These are not exhaustive, of course.  God has revealed in Scripture He desires to have a personal relationship with us, telling us we can know Him in a very real and vibrant way.

Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, trusted Christ and learned from Him after his conversion, for an estimated 14 years before he was called to the work the Lord called him to in Acts 9:15.  We come to faith in Christ in a moment, but live for Him for a lifetime.

He calls us to just be obedient to His words and to do what He commands and learn of Him.  He will do the rest (Matthew 6:33).  Discipleship is a personal calling, different for many, yet in faith and obedience, the same for all. Trust Him and find growth and maturity in Him and with other believers. 

The German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, summed it up nicely when he said, “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”  In truth, there’s no other way it can be said.

Ken

Your Greatest Commission-Discipleship

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

All life is about growth from the cradle to the grave. While God’s plan of salvation includes the forgiveness of our sins, Jesus calls us to be His disciples and says, “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). This is becoming His disciple and growing and maturing in your Christian experience.

What defines a disciple of Christ?

• ·      Knowing, Showing, and Growing.  Knowing Him as your personal Lord and Savior by having asked Him to forgive your sins and govern your life.

• ·      Showing your faith through water baptism.  Baptism by total immersion doesn’t save you from your sins. It is a symbolic act that shows your life is buried in Christ. Coming up out of the water symbolizes being resurrected in to a new life in Him.  It is a confession of your faith in Him.

• ·      Growing in your faith by learning and doing what Jesus commands.  He says of Himself, “Take My yoke [calling] upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

It's not just praying a prayer to Jesus; it’s living your life for Jesus. “If you love Me, you will obey My commandments.” But there’s a difference between being saved that happens in a moment, and being a disciple of Christ, which happens over a lifetime. 

The Apostle James writes, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says” (James 1:22).  It is not a suggestion. When we hear and do, it becomes an instruction with a promise.  The promise of growth, and sanctification that will come to define our lives in Christ Jesus.

Finally, He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you hold [believe and practice] to my teaching, you really are My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” (John 8:31-32). The whole world is in the bondage of the lies of Satan. Our choices can bring us into the harsh slavery of sin or the freedom and eternal life in the Son.  Pilate asked Him, “What is truth?”  when He stood before him.  All he needed to do was reach out in acceptance. Rely on His promises, and obey all He commands.  The First Choice of Freedom indeed.

Ken

My Lord and my God!

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29 (ESV)

Even though the Apostle Thomas had been a part of Jesus’ three-year ministry, listening to His astounding words and witnessing His miraculous acts, he was no soft sale.  He was a skeptic.

He remained a skeptic even after the other disciples said they had seen the Christ alive and well, three days after His crucifixion and death.  He said, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

Jesus appeared to them eight days later and confronted Doubting Thomas, challenging him to do what he said he would do to believe.  Thomas didn’t need to as he saw and recognized his risen Messiah, causing him to say, and rightly so, “My Lord and my God!”

After Thomas saw and believed, Jesus pronounced a blessing on all who would believe without seeing.  Some of you reading this are searching and have not arrived here by accident.  You might be unsure of who this Jesus is or how He can affect your life for the better.  Like Thomas, you might be a skeptic.

Thomas carefully weighed the outcome of the cross.  But he did as Jesus commanded, and received a shocking reality check. If you’re skeptical, I hope you will just simply believe, as he did.  He was awakened to the Reality of God’s Salvation and was led to experience it fully through the working of the Holy Spirit. He was blessed by what he saw, but for those of us who have believed on Jesus Christ in ages since, we are the recipients of a greater Grace and Blessing. 

Why not put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? If you’re skeptical ask Him into your heart and receive the greater blessing. What do you have to lose?  If Jesus isn’t real nothing will happen and you can go on with your life. But He is real and alive forevermore (Revelation 1:18), and as did Thomas, you will receive that blessing, only in a greater way, coming to say of Jesus the Christ, “My Lord and my God!”

Ken

Standing on the Sun

Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. Hosea 14:9

There was a not-so-wise astronaut who announced he and his space team were going to make an historic manned flight to the face of the sun. A reporter sensibly pointed out, “You can’t do that.  You’ll burn up.” The determined space explorer smiled knowingly and said, “Ah, we’ve already solved that problem. We’re going at night.”

I’ve never thought of solving a problem as serious as standing on the sun, but I must confess I have tried to figure many brilliant ways to push my own agenda. In those times I’ve taken my eyes off Christ, the Founder and Perfecter of my Faith (Hebrews 12:2), and every time found myself standing on the sun. This spiritual hotfoot never fails to demonstrate that choosing my own will over the Lord’s always brings on the heat.

Waiting for an answer from the Lord is probably one of the hardest things we’ll ever do. We get apprehensive and begin to fret and worry. Impatience can breed rebellion against God’s plan for our lives. When things move too slowly, or seem to not move at all, we’re tempted to try and control our destiny.

Standing still in confidence demonstrates patience. Patience with confidence brings peace. Wait on the Lord. I need to hear this reality check often myself, realizing He begins working the first second I ask. His course for any of us is far more miraculous and wonderful than any plan we can come up with. I have learned the Wheel of God often turns slowly, but it is always turning toward His perfect completion. When we take time to slow down and wait on God’s moves, we will be wise and discerning. Instead of finding ourselves standing on the Sun, we will find ourselves standing on the Son. 

Ken

Whose Life is it Anyway?

Martha said to Him, “I know that he [Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live…” John 11:24-25

You’ve got to admit that after carefully reading the words of Jesus, one cannot honestly walk away saying, “He was just a great teacher.” His fellow Jews knew this and were always asking Him if He were the Christ (Messiah). And He said, “I told you, but you didn’t believe Me.”

Historical witness tells us when answering that question to Israel’s religious leaders in the positive, their response was to shout “Blasphemy!” Then they manipulated the Roman authorities into executing Him.

But, there’s that well-worn saying, “You can’t keep a good man down.” And with authority from God His Father, He had the say when He could lay His life down, and when He could pick it up again (John 2:19, 10:18,). It was His to do with when and how He pleased (Luke 23:46). At the tomb of his beloved friend, Lazarus, after He made the astonishing declaration that He was the Resurrection and the Life, He asked Lazarus’ grieving sister the question we all must answer, “Do you believe this?”

Jesus did not come out of that grave alone.  No, the Bible teaches He was the firstborn from the dead with all supremacy (Colossians 1:18). When He exited that tomb bodily, being very God of very God, future millions, perhaps billions, who would believe on Him, followed behind.

 To crush Christianity at the start, all the religious leaders of Israel had to do was simply produce the body.  They could not, because it was not there.  There’s never been an adequate explanation how His followers could have stolen His dead body while the Roman guard detail slept.  For a soldier of Rome, being found asleep at their post carried the gravest consequences (Matthew 28:13-14).

It's called Easter, but I prefer “Resurrection Day.”  The tomb is empty.  Listen to His words; “I am the resurrection and the Life.  Do you believe me?”  If you have not already answered that, you will have to, either now or at a future time.  The Firstborn from the dead who is the resurrection and the life.  Do you believe Him? Your answer has eternal consequences for He is risen.  Yes, He is risen, indeed.

Ken