December 21, 2022

Matthew 18: 20 (NIV)

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Given Christ’s passion for it and Paul’s instructions to the church regarding it, we can safely say unity among believers is as important a doctrinal issue as any other teaching of Scripture.*

The last recorded words of Jesus on earth are: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(Matthew 28: 20) With that promise, he didn’t include provisions that two or three had to meet together before he would join them. In encouraging us to gather in groups of two or three, Jesus was not implying that he wouldn’t be with us when we are alone – or that a group of four or more was too large to draw him near. He wanted his followers to be together and to be united in purpose.

My church provides many opportunities for its members and attendees to come together in the name of Jesus. There is a “life group” meeting somewhere every night of the week. We have classes for adults and children every Sunday morning; and our Wednesday night program is where the church family really comes together, with a dynamic children’s program, youth ministry activities, and elective classes for adults. And we don’t just come together to learn and grow – there are many avenues of service available to put our knowledge into practice. And Jesus is there with us.

In his prayer, recorded in John chapter 17, Jesus explains why it is important for believers to be together in his name. In verse 23, we read his words: “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Our unity and fellowship testify to the world. When we love each other, we demonstrate the love the Father has for the Son and for each of us. Our community - our unity - invites the lost to become a part of the family of God.

Stay united, brothers and sisters. Jesus prayed for it and the world is lost without it!

We cannot say we are one in Christ unless we behave as one in Christ.*

December 20, 2022

II Samuel 9: 1-11 (NIV)

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness? . . . Zika answered . . . “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.” . . . So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.

Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who? Who are you?*

I have attended many training seminars on disability sensibility. One of the fundamental rules I learned is that we shouldn’t call someone a “disabled person,” but rather, a “person with disabilities.” I didn’t really get the distinction until I thought of it in terms that define me. Consider the difference in being referred to as “the lady with blonde hair” as opposed to merely “the blonde.” While the color of my hair (which is the work of a clever hairdresser) does not define me, being called “the blonde” could be construed as disparaging.

Poor Mephibosheth: grandson of a king; son of another king’s best friend; but known only for his disability. Until the day King David brought him into his household and elevated him to the position of royal prince. Suddenly, Mephibosheth is no longer an object of pity. He is no longer defined by his physical limitations but by who loves him and has shown him compassion.

How do you define yourself? Is your identity determined by something you do well or by your failures? Do you define yourself by what you look like, or perhaps by what someone else has said about you? We have been invited to join the royal household as one who belongs there. We may still have our limp or our warts or our failures, but these things no longer define us. Hear the Lord Almighty say, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.” (II Corinthians 6: 18)

The Christian life: Step 1: Learn who you are in Jesus Christ. Step 2: Wake up every day and be yourself.*

December 19, 2022

Romans 10: 12 (NIV)

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.

No one taught people of other color and cultural backgrounds to love one another like Jesus.*

Racial prejudice and distrust are ancient but lasting deviations of God’s original plan for humanity. When we look as far back as the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1- 9), we see what God set in motion when people got along too well. Their ambition strayed from God’s plan so he separated them by language. Centuries later, God further divided mankind when he told the Israelites, “Although the whole world is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19: 5 and 6) There may be more violent racial tensions in the world but the gulf between Jews and the rest of the world may be the widest in history.

God had his reasons for setting his people apart – and even going so far as to command genocide of the evil nations residing in Canaan. But what God expected of the civil/military/religious leaders as they conquered the Promised Land was not the same as what he required of individuals. Throughout the books of Exodus and Leviticus, God required that foreigners be treated with compassion, dignity, and fairness.

So now Paul calls attention to a truth that had been forgotten: the same Lord is Lord of all. The Jews and Gentiles needed to be reminded of it back then and we need to be reminded now. Christians are called to be separate from the world – different – but Jesus never intended for us to be divided along racial lines. As Americans, our accents and customs may vary according to which of the 50 states we were born in but we are all Americans. Likewise, God’s people may not speak or look the same but we all belong to him, and that common thread binds us together.

It is easy for me to love my brothers and sisters in Christ who are red and yellow, black and white, no matter what our cultural differences might be. When it comes to those outside the family of faith, it may be more challenging to see them through color-blind eyes. But the gospel transcends racial and cultural differences. Taking the gospel to all the nations is not just a challenge to overcome – it is a command to be obeyed.

God’s gospel is race-neutral. God’s commission is race-neutral. Is our Christianity race-neutral?*

December 18, 2022

Luke 19: 10 (NIV)

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Perhaps the most profound thing about Jesus’ method of discipling is its simplicity – not highly structured, but highly intentional.*

For all the seminars and workshops I have attended, I have never been able to distinguish the difference between a mission statement and a purpose statement. In Jesus’ statement here, I don’t know if he is identifying his mission or his purpose or both, but he is clearly announcing why he came to earth.

He didn’t have to look far to accomplish the first part of his mission: seeking the lost. They were all around him. They were everyone! But he didn’t just stand still and wait for the lost to come to him. He sought them out – intentionally. You might say he targeted them. He didn’t just randomly snag people as they passed by and ask them if they were saved. He taught in the synagogues (Luke 4: 15) – lots of lost Jews there. He sought and found Zacchaeus in a tree (Luke 19: 4, 5). He found Levi (Matthew) at his job (Luke 5: 27). He called Andrew, Peter, James, and John while they were fishing (Matthew 4: 18-22). And his call came to Paul as he was on his way to Damascus on persecution business.

Jesus preached to a lot of crowds but he modeled one-on-one ministry as well. His mission was to seek and save the lost and he adjusted his strategy to fit the immediate need. We might not possess his versatility but each of us should apply our gifts and strengths in fulfilling his commission to us:  go, disciple, baptize, teach (Matthew 28: 19, 20). Look for the lost – in church, at work, at the lake – in trees! Your ministry might be to the random passerby - but it most likely will be those in your sphere of influence every day.

Finding the lost is not so difficult but we can’t lead them to the Savior if we don’t have a relationship with him ourselves. Jesus showed us that spending time with the Father was the most important component of his ministry. Seek and save the lost – but seek the Father first.

[Jesus’] intimate personal relationship with the Father was the source of His power.*

December 17, 2022

Isaiah 6: 5 (NIV)

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

With revelation comes response.*

My husband was preparing an offering meditation to present in church on Sunday and he decided that he ought to get my permission before he used my name in vain. He had referred to himself as a “colossal” sinner because of his sinful past (he didn’t become a Christian until he was in his twenties); in contrast, he called me a “milquetoast” sinner. I vehemently objected to the term and demanded that he reword his description of me. Indeed, I cannot point to episodes of scandal and rebellion in my life, but I am a sinner all the same.

Isaiah saw the Lord “seated on a throne, high and exalted,” and what he saw changed him forever. Seeing the glory of God opened his eyes to the truth about himself. You also may have a dramatic testimony about how God changed your life; but with or without the drama, exposure to God exposes our sin. Even those of us who are “milquetoast” sinners.

Isaiah’s response to his new awareness gives us a template for how we should react when we have reached that crossroads of our former ignorance and our new realization. He confessed his sinfulness as recorded in this verse, and we see proof of his repentance in his answer to God’s call (verse 8): “Here am I. Send me!” Sin – recognized, confessed, and repented – is forgiven and forgotten. When we follow his example, our lives, purged of the shame, become purified vessels, worthy to serve the King, the Lord Almighty.

Did Isaiah know exactly what he was agreeing to do? Probably not. But he knew that God needed him and he answered the call. We are faced with that same moment of decision. What will you choose – repentance or rejection? Are you afraid of what God will require of you? Are you unwilling to trust him to direct your path? Or will you bravely and faithfully say, “I have seen the King. Send me.”

We cannot bring our service to God in an unclean vessel.*

December 16, 2022

Romans 8: 37 (NIV)

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Christians do not lose.*

The Apostle Paul was a masterful communicator. He had a complete grasp on his subject matter and he spoke and wrote with confidence and authority. His letter to the church at Rome is a classic example of his ability to know his audience and tailor the message accordingly.

What would have been the reaction if Paul had addressed his “more than conquerors” illustration to one of the Jewish-Christian churches? The Jews were much more familiar with the concept of “conquered” rather than “conqueror.” The Roman Christians, while most of them had probably not actually participated in military action against another nation, were beneficiaries of the empire’s might. The idea of being a conqueror would not trigger negative vibes in their minds.

For different reasons, American Christians, like the Jewish Christians, might also find that the notion of being a conqueror is a foreign concept. We won our independence but we overcame more than we conquered. So we, too, may not quite fully comprehend the implication of Paul’s words. He says that we are more than conquerors. We are the aggressors, not just the invaded nation who defended ourselves successfully. Our victory is more than victory – we are “over-victorious.”*

And what are these things that we are victorious over? We find the answer in a previous verse: “Who shall separate us from the love Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8: 35). Doesn’t that pretty well cover any adversity we might face? But in our role as more that conquerors, we don’t merely avoid becoming victims. We don’t run and hide to protect ourselves. We attack. We march into battle against trouble and hardship, etc., because Jesus is at the right hand of God, interceding for us. (Romans 8: 34) We don’t just not lose; we overcome.

Nice soldiers do not win wars.*

December 15, 2022

II Timothy 1: 7 (NIV)

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

If we ask how such a power can ever be ours the answer is that there is nothing to do but receive it. It does not come by striving for it. It comes when we cease to strive.*

If you are a person with a timid temperament, this verse may cause you to feel anxious. Relax. Paul isn’t suggesting that we have to change our personalities – we just have to enlarge our comfort zones. If we think of “a spirit of timidity” as fear instead of as a personality trait, we can allow that a timid person is not necessarily a scaredy-cat. If we determine that the opposite of “a spirit of timidity” is confidence rather than boldness, we are already moving toward grabbing hold of that spirit of power.

So what does the spirit of power give us power to do? One commentator answers: “Power to encounter foes and dangers; power to bear up under trials; power to triumph in persecutions.”* I would add that we receive power to resist temptation; to understand scripture; to go where God leads; to face tomorrow. A spirit of power is available to the followers of Christ, but we seem more inclined to hang on to that spirit of timidity. We have the potential to strike fear into the heart of the enemy but we choose to live like Barney Fife with our little pistol and the one bullet that we keep in our pocket. Instead, we could be Rambo with the heavy artillery in our hands and the extra ammo belts across our chest.

You may have figured out by now that we do not generate this power with our own resources. The Holy Spirit is the source of our power and our spirit of love and self-discipline. Why do we settle for the energy equivalent of a flashlight battery when we have the force of a nuclear power plant at our disposal? Forget about trying to be an overcomer with your own strength. When you let go, your weakness becomes your mightiness. March boldly into spiritual battle. You are armed and dangerous.

Jesus did not try to do it by himself. Why should you?*