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"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Month: January 2018

It Was, And Is, A “We” Thing…Luke 23:34

January 21, 2018 /

 “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

So, here’s the question: Which them was Jesus referring to when He asked the Father to forgive them?

I wasn’t standing among the crowd that day, but that fact didn’t limit Jesus’s knowing that on a particular day and time, some two thousand plus years later, I would need His prayer—His forgiveness. And so, would you. It wasn’t necessary for us to be standing there as witnesses.

Love knows no limits…

There is no such thing as time and distance where love is concerned. Ask any parent—they’ll tell you the same. When it comes to reaching the child they love, nothing can stop them.

How much more God?

How much further reaching is the one that fashioned us in our mother’s womb—knows our every thought, and the number of each hair on our heads? The One who knows not only the moment He predestined us to be born—to live, but knows also, the exact millisecond He will ask for our breath to be returned to Him…

So, as Jesus hung dying on His Cross, just who was He asking the Father to forgive?

Was it for Pilot’s succumbing to the blood-lust of Caiaphas the high priest and his followers? —John 18:12-28. Maybe it was for the thief hanging beside him—the one chiding Him to, “Come down off your cross?”— Luke 23:39. Or, maybe He was asking the Father to forgive those underhanded religious leaders who had Jesus dragged, in the middle of the night, in front of some of the scheming and self-serving Sanhedrin. As if the cover of darkness could hide the darkness within them! —Mark 14:53-65. Or, is it possible that Jesus asked this forgiveness for the amped-up many who stood crying out to Pilot for His Blood? “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”, can you hear their malevolent cries…? —Luke 23:21. Was He asking forgiveness for the soldiers whose hands were still wet with His Blood? —John 19:18. Or, perhaps it was for those who’d been hunched over at the foot of His Cross, throwing dice for His clothes? —John 19:23-24.

More, Scripture tells us that this same Jesus that prayed this prayer as He hung dying, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. —Hebrews 13:8.

Thus, inferring that His desires, His intentions, remain the same also. Those being, in this instance, intercession and forgiveness. So, with that in mind, I would posit, and Scripture points towards, Jesus—in addition to each of those souls listed above, was praying in fulfillment of Scripture for you and me too. “…Because He [willingly] poured out His life to death, And was counted among the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore and took away the sin of many, And interceded [with the Father] for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:11-12; emphasis my own. He was praying for the whole of humanity who—as with those above, had no clue—didn’t fully understand, the import, the weight of their sin. Nor did they understand what was being accomplished on that Cross…

Neither do any today who deny Jesus…

They’ve no understanding the far-reaching implications of their choice. If anyone in that blood-thirsty crowd, on that fateful day, had any idea that their words, spoken in frenzied mob speak, would bring about the death of the very Messiah they had prayed for—one must wonder if they wouldn’t have run around just as feverishly; physically covering up the mouths of any one shouting, “Crucify Him!” Who in their right mind would want to put to death the very person they had prayed would come and save them? That would be the equivalent of a drowning man refusing the life-saving buoy thrown to him…

“Mercy here!” but the drowning man gulping, says “Thanks, I’m good, I can swim!”

Yet, many that day did exactly that. Why? Because their help didn’t come the way they anticipated it would. Didn’t say, speak, look like, what they thought it would. So, they reject it. No, they made sure this “impostor”, this false Messiah, this blasphemer,  would never come back to tell His imprecate tales. And, for those in authority who were threatened by Him, afraid that if He succeeded they would fail—lose out. His being sent away wasn’t an option. They needed an end to Him and all He stood for. “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

All the while Mercy was praying—extending to “all who would”, the opportunity to be forgiven…

“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”—Hebrews 10:17 (Also see: Hebrews 8:12; Isaiah 43:25; 1 John 1:9; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Psalm 103:11-12).

The good news is some, that fateful day, heard Jesus’s prayer—and said yes to His unfathomable offer of mercy and forgiveness of their sins. And, as I said at the start, I believe though you and I weren’t standing among those in the crowd that day—Jesus saw us.

We were included in His offer of forgiveness…

Cornelius, the Roman centurion at the foot of His Cross heard it—more, he received it. Listen: “Surely this man was the Son of God!”—Matthew 27:54. And the thief, the other one, not the one who chided Jesus, he too accepted Mercys offer of forgiveness, listen to his dying words: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”—Luke 23:42. So long as there is breath, there is hope. And, there was Nicodemus too, a member of the Sanhedrin. He said yes to mercy—along with his friend, Joseph of Arimathea—a secret disciple of Jesus. —John 19:38-40. Lastly, there were some three thousand who were gathered in Jerusalem. Whether any of them heard Jesus’s offer of forgiveness at His Cross is unknown—but they heard it nonetheless!Mercy reach is limitless. “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”—Acts 2:41.

And don’t forget me! I was sitting in a church pew in 2008 when suddenly Mercy said, You are mine. You’re forgiven, Now, come, follow me… And, by His grace, I’ve never looked back!

Friend, Jesus’s prayer to the Father for forgiveness is for you too…

There was a  piece of ground at the foot of His Cross with your name written on it. It’s purpose? To traverse across time and space that it might reach you today. If you’d just stand still and look up, right where you are, you’d be looking into the eyes of the One who is offering you forgiveness. More, an opportunity to go where He is and spend eternity with Him.

But, first, you must say yes to Mercy’s invitation…

Won’t you please say yes, now? Mercy has been praying for you. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”—Ephesians 1:7

The Dynamic Duo. John 6: 68-69

January 14, 2018 /

 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope]. We have believed and confidently trusted, and [even more] we have come to know [by personal observation and experience] that You are the Holy One of God [the Christ, the Son of the living God].”

They, unlike all those who’d walked away, had faith in this man, this Jesus. They believed Him when He told them that He was their long-awaited Messiah—even though some of His claims were extraordinary. His Flesh as bread to eat? His Blood, wine to drink? The power to grant eternal life! Ascending into the clouds of heaven from where He came? Yes! They believed. —John 6:1–71

But what is faith? And where did their faith—their ability to believe where others couldn’t, come from?

First, faith: In the New Testament the English word faith is used to translate the Greek word pistis. The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Word says, “Pistis is used of belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same. ‘Faith’ means trust, confidence, assurance, and belief”

Hebrews 11: 1 says it this way: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

We get a clue about why some of these had faith others didn’t possess in verse 70.

Election… God had chosen them to believe in His Son—and, for so much more.

They would be the collective womb through which His Church would be birthed and flourish. Each possessing his own unique gifting’s and contributions. Jesus said as much about these 12 a few verses back after chiding some other disciples concerning their grumbling—their speculating, over His lineage. “Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve…?

So, their faith was a gift then—an undeserved, unearned, non-repayable gift from God? Yes. Yes, it was. As all faith is.

But what of this ‘election’?

Listen to how John MacArthur, Bible scholar and Author defines this term: “…the doctrine of election simply means that God, uninfluenced and before creation, predetermined certain people to be saved.

And in Scripture, The Apostle Paul speaks of election this way in 2 Thessalonians 2:13: “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (Emphasis my own)

Just as an unborn child cannot choose to give itself life, and a dead man cannot will himself to get up and live once again, neither can we as sinful man, dead in our sins, choose to have faith—outside of the Sovereign will of God… “Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light.”  Ephesians 5:14.

Scripture abounds with references of election, those chosen by God: (Matt. 22:14; 24:22, 24, 31; Luke 18:7; Acts 9:15; 11:18; Rom. 8:29, 30, 33; Eph. 1:4, 5, 11; Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:10. See, also, Luke 10:21-22; John 6:37, 44, 65; 10:26; 15:16; 17:2, 6, 9; Acts 5:31; 13:48; Rom. 9:11, 15, 16; 18 11:5, 7, 28; 1 Cor. 1:27, 28, 30; Gal. 1:15; 2 Thes. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:1-2; 2:8, 9; Rev. 5:9; 7:10-12).

Which leads me to introduce you to our second Superhero, Knowledge. In our Scripture verse Peter states that not only did He and the others have faith, but they also possessed knowledge of Jesus. Certainly, being Jewish and growing up hearing God’s Word taught in the Temple and spoken of at home, they’d be familiar with the Torah. They’d have been aware of hearing tell of the Scriptures that foretold of Messiah. We see evidence of that knowledge when Andrew, a fisherman, calls his brother Peter, beckoning Him to come and follow the man he believes is the Messiah. “He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated Christ). Yet, I believe, and Scripture lends to this fact, that Peter was referring not only to his knowledge of Scripture, more, to experiential knowledge in this instance. He and the others had lived with, ministered, ate, slept, talked, and, listened to every Word that Jesus spoke…

To say nothing of being present as He performed His many miracles.

Strong’s Greek Concordance defines this type of knowledge in the following way: functional (“working”) knowledge gleaned from first-hand (personal) experience, connecting theory to application; “application-knowledge,” gained in (by) a direct relationship.

Connecting theory to application. Said differently, the marriage of faith to knowledge (experiential). Their faith was solidified—reinforced, by what they knew of the Man. Their experiencing Him.

As it is with all who share in this faith…

It was this gnosis enlivened by the Ruach Breath of the Holy Spirit that enabled these ill-informed, unschooled, common men to write the beloved Word of God—The Holy Scriptures, those coveted Words each that feeds, comforts, teaches, corrects, and sustains all believers. “But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.” —Job 32:8

This dynamic duo of faith and knowledge lived so deeply within them that from its very roots grew a love so strong—a bond so indestructible, that even when faced with deprivation, beatings, and death—often a cruel and violent death, each of Jesus’s Apostles, save John, faced their violent end having firm faith that when their end was met here, their eyes would open to see His glorious face yet again!

And they did… Even John, who died at a ripe old age exiled on Isle of Pathos.

If faith and knowledge of the Living God could create in an unlearned, but believing few, a force that brought about a world change—a change in how life and living are still defined; just think of what could happen in your life, church, family, ministry, marriage, community, corner of the globe—if you, like our brothers before us, joined forces with the dynamic duo of faith and knowledge!

If you invited the Holy Spirit to do all within you that aligned with God’s perfect will for your life…

But to extend this invitation to the Holy Spirit—you first must know Him—have a relationship with Him. So, won’t you do that know—ask Him into you, please? He’s waiting. He wants to introduce you to the dynamic duo of faith and knowledge of Him. More, He wants to spend every minute of your life loving you, and blessing you, and, teaching you. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now.  But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]” John 16:12-13.

The Invitation. Revelation 19:9

January 7, 2018 /

  “Then the angel said to me, “Write,[Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me [further], “These are the true and exact words of God.”

 The wedding invitation. At one time or another we’ve all received one. Often, they arrive enveloped in vellum coverings etched by a calligrapher’s skillful hand. They hold within themselves a promise. The promise of our witnessing declarations of mutual love, fidelity, and a vow of eternal commitment exchanged between a groom and his bride.  However, those who receive this invitation are receiving so much more than mere paper tucked inside of paper. They’re being offered an exclusive opportunity at witnessing the spilling over of sheer joy. Of love. A joy born from the expectancy of the long-awaited fulfillment of a promise. A promise made long before the finely labeled invitation ever arrived…

As it is on earth, so it is in Heaven…

Yet, what that invitation doesn’t contain—doesn’t share, is the couple’s history. Everything that has led up to their nuptials. How did they first meet? How long had they been together before they knew—this is the one; my forever friend and lover?

Love is born out of relationship, out of friendship.

But then, being friends of the betrothed, the recipient of the invitation most likely knows those answers. After all, they’re friends. And friends are privy to information strangers are not…

Neither are strangers invited to witness such sacred moments—the eternal union of two souls. Invitations to weddings are reserved for family, friends—for loved ones only. Those with whom history is shared—those we have a relationship with, whether new or long-standing.

Again, as it is on earth, so it is in Heaven…

Only those that welcome God’s invitation here, today, are welcomed into Heaven to celebrate with Him eternally.

Two thousand plus years ago Jesus was crucified. Scripture tells us that when He breathed His last the veil in the Temple—the one that separated man from God, was torn. “But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”—Matthew27:50-51. This is the same veil that only moments before the high priest alone entered through to gain access into the Holy of Holies. Into the very presence of God. It was torn now, from a single rip, top to bottom. And this tearing signified that the sin barrier that had separated God from man had been destroyed—was eternally removed, in the solitary act of loving obedience. Through Jesus’s death on the Cross. His perfect act of love—the Sinless taking onto Himself the sin of the whole world satisfied God’s just wrath caused by His hatred of sin. Thus, allowing us to stop from continually having to offer a blood sacrifice to demonstrate our repentance of sin.

Jesus’s death on the Cross, His shed Blood, did that for us—once, for all.

Yet, Jesus knew long before He was hung on that tree, those who would accept His invitation and those who would not. Judas can testify to that. So can the 11 other Apostles. Still, despite their marked differences, Jesus loved them equally—both the loyal, and the one who would betray Him. He died for each of them, regardless. And not just for them, but for the whole world. Yes, even for those who hated Him. Hate Him still. Rejected Him. And reject Him still. We hear evidence of this in some of His final Words spoken from His Cross. Listen to what Jesus says concerning those who had cried out, “crucify Him, crucify Him”, and concerning those who had falsely, maliciously, sentenced Him to die. For the ones also, who had driven nails into His innocent flesh. “Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him.” … Luke 23:34-35.

Yet, in that very moment, in a seemingly unlikely, Blood soaked, brutal moment, a most precious paradox occurred. As life was leaving Jesus’s Body, an undeserved invitation into eternal life had graciously been extended to all who would…

However, like any invitation sent by dear friends or family—the invitation sent to all from God, through His Son Jesus Christ, must also not only be received, but opened—and, more, both accepted and responded to. Otherwise, it simply remains just another piece of paper. Another unanswered invitation that too many today have received, yet carelessly tossed aside. Buried it somewhere in a draw. Forgotten…

Their invitation from Love left unopened. Thus, it remains one-sided. Having no more value to the one who possesses it than any other shiny scrape of fine vellum…

Yet, most of us wouldn’t treat something so valuable, sent with such hope and care, such love—so carelessly…

No, we too would take care to open it, to fill it out, sending it off in a timely fashion. And, then, as a reminder to ourselves of the wonderful event it was sent to mark—we’d circle the day on our calendars as a reminder of something joyous to look forward to!

To celebrate…

Now, with that in mind, here’s my question…

If we would take such great care with human invitations sent to us, why are we so neglectful of those divinely, personally, sent us by God?  “Abide in Me, and I in you” –John 15:4. This God’s invitation to stay with Him, live with Him, walk hand in hand with Him, eternally…

More exactly, it’s the invitation that cost Jesus His very life. One that invites us to enjoy friendship with Him now, thus being assured of life eternal life with Him at the moment of our earthly deaths. Also, unlike the wedding invitation sent out by family or friends that bids us to come and share in a day of their lives, Jesus invites us to be with Him always. To walk with Him daily. To share His bountiful table, to enjoy friendship with Him, and, to stay, to abide with Him eternally. To be the recipients of His great and unending love. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.” –Matthew 13:44-46

Friend I urge you, if God has sent you an invitation to His marriage supper, run, open it, and prepare yourself! If you’ve foolishly tossed it in the junk draw of life, if it’s gotten buried under the weight of carrying a load you were never meant to —lost in the sea of the relentless daily grind, go, now, repent, and find it again!

Cry out to God in thanksgiving that what was once lost is now found!

Blessed one, dance for joy that this most sacred invitation has made it safely into your hands…

Put it in the place of prominence it so rightly deserves! And Remember, strangers aren’t invited to witness such sacred moments—the eternal union of two souls. Invitations to weddings are reserved for family—for loved ones only. Those with whom history is shared—those we have a relationship with, whether new or long-standing.

You have been chosen to attend—your presence requested!

And, as it is on earth, so it is in Heaven—

“No longer do I call you servants … but I have called you friends” (John 15:15).

Friend, if you haven’t asked Jesus into your heart today, do it now. Then, check your mailbox. Surely your invitation awaits you. Welcome!

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