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"And for this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you" (2 Timothy 1:6a)
I have no earthly idea what "flat hair" is, beloved, but I learned today that there is a remedy for it! I had recently told my wife that I needed to get some shampoo and her response was to give me a bottle that she already had. Imagine my surprise this morning in the shower when I grabbed the bottle and read that it was formulated especially for something called "flat hair." In fact, the bottle advertised that its contents were decidedly "anti-flat"! Now I know what you are thinking, at least those of you who know me personally or have seen my photo on line: "You don't need something for flat hair, Ron. You need something for no hair!" Cute! Really cute!
Believe it or not, as I looked at my new bottle of shampoo, the thought occurred to me that we as Christians sometimes experience a spiritual phenomenon that we might call "flat faith." Somewhere along life's way we lose the joy of Jesus. The thrill is gone and living as a Christian becomes as mundane and ordinary as paying taxes or having a root canal done. We do what we do because it is expected of us, not because it thrills us to do so. I believe with all my heart that local churches today are filled with such believers, always in the proper place at the proper time, but deep inside with "flat faith."
The solution to flat faith, according to what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, is for us to "kindle afresh" what God has given to us as a sacred deposit. The Greek word anazopureo means to "make fire alive again" in the sense of rekindling something that was burning at one time, but now no longer is. What we need to note here is that it is our own individual responsibility as Christians to keep the fire burning in our lives. And the only way that I know to do that, beloved, is to live every moment of every day with Jesus Christ ruling as Lord in our lives. It is so very simple! Walk away from Jesus Christ as your ruling Sovereign and you walk away from the presence of all the joy that God has to give you. Seek the world and its enticements and all the thrill you will know will be whatever temporary "blip" on the excitement meter whatever it is that you are chasing has to offer. Live for self and you will find no solution for flat faith!
But release every thought and word and deed into the hands of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and you will need to fasten life's seat belt, beloved, because you will be in for the ride of your life! Remember that this is the Jesus who declared that He had come to give "abundant" life to all who follow His lead. This the Jesus who has such a glorious life planned for you that you can't even imagine it all.
Got flat faith? Try God's "anti-flat" solution! Why not breathe a prayer right now and turn it all over to the King? Life doesn't get any better than that!
Ron
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sometimes a Guy Just Needs a Good Cry!
"Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5b)
We had the joy of having several of our grandchildren down for a few days this week and one of the things we enjoyed together was a trip to a fun center for children. While playing on all of that "bouncy" stuff on which adults are not allowed to go, one of my grandsons fell and got a pretty good rope burn on his bare leg. Even though his daddy comforted him and treated the burn, he still continued to cry about it. The idea for this devotional suddenly occurred to me, along with the title-thought that sometimes a guy just needs a good cry!
This past Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! But can you imagine the tears (even if they might have been fought back by those tough manly disciples) that each of them must have experienced at the thought of Jesus going to the cross? If ever there was a right and proper moment for weeping, that was it! And though we find these words recorded in the book of Psalms and not in the words of Jesus found in the Gospels, still this glorious promise surely applied to what they were feeling and experiencing. As a well-known gospel song lyric asks: "How could a night be so long?"
Their weeping did, indeed, "last for the night," beloved. Their hearts broke as they watched Him nailed to that rugged cross and bleed out His life for the sins of all mankind. The lump in each throat was large enough to choke them as they watched Mary watching her son give up His spirit for people who did not even realize that they needed a Savior. It was a long, long night and they wept all the way through it.
The psalmist's promise is simple but powerful - "but a shout of joy comes in the morning." Can you imagine what went through the minds of those women who took their spices to the tomb so early in the morning and found the stone rolled away? Can you fathom the incredulity of Peter and John as they ran to the tomb and inspected its interior, not finding any evidence of His remains in place? Can you see in your mind's eye that glorious scene when at last He Himself stood among them in that locked upper room and took the piece of fish and ate it before them? And can you still hear echoing through the corridors of history today the emotion-charged words of John and Cleopas as they looked at each other on the Emmaus road and asked, "Were not our hearts burning within us?" (Luke 24:32)?
That there were throughout the land "shouts of joy" that replaced the night of weeping is absolutely without question, beloved! And that is precisely what Jesus still loves to do in our lives today - turn weeping into joy! Oh, there will be weeping, no doubt. As long as sin is alive and Satan is the prince of this world, there will be weeping. But, beloved, I have good news for you - Sunday's coming! It may be "Friday" in your life right now, but "Sunday" is on the way. You may be weeping right now, but there is a shout of joy in your future! Hallelujah! Maranatha! Glory to the Lamb!
Ron
We had the joy of having several of our grandchildren down for a few days this week and one of the things we enjoyed together was a trip to a fun center for children. While playing on all of that "bouncy" stuff on which adults are not allowed to go, one of my grandsons fell and got a pretty good rope burn on his bare leg. Even though his daddy comforted him and treated the burn, he still continued to cry about it. The idea for this devotional suddenly occurred to me, along with the title-thought that sometimes a guy just needs a good cry!
This past Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! But can you imagine the tears (even if they might have been fought back by those tough manly disciples) that each of them must have experienced at the thought of Jesus going to the cross? If ever there was a right and proper moment for weeping, that was it! And though we find these words recorded in the book of Psalms and not in the words of Jesus found in the Gospels, still this glorious promise surely applied to what they were feeling and experiencing. As a well-known gospel song lyric asks: "How could a night be so long?"
Their weeping did, indeed, "last for the night," beloved. Their hearts broke as they watched Him nailed to that rugged cross and bleed out His life for the sins of all mankind. The lump in each throat was large enough to choke them as they watched Mary watching her son give up His spirit for people who did not even realize that they needed a Savior. It was a long, long night and they wept all the way through it.
The psalmist's promise is simple but powerful - "but a shout of joy comes in the morning." Can you imagine what went through the minds of those women who took their spices to the tomb so early in the morning and found the stone rolled away? Can you fathom the incredulity of Peter and John as they ran to the tomb and inspected its interior, not finding any evidence of His remains in place? Can you see in your mind's eye that glorious scene when at last He Himself stood among them in that locked upper room and took the piece of fish and ate it before them? And can you still hear echoing through the corridors of history today the emotion-charged words of John and Cleopas as they looked at each other on the Emmaus road and asked, "Were not our hearts burning within us?" (Luke 24:32)?
That there were throughout the land "shouts of joy" that replaced the night of weeping is absolutely without question, beloved! And that is precisely what Jesus still loves to do in our lives today - turn weeping into joy! Oh, there will be weeping, no doubt. As long as sin is alive and Satan is the prince of this world, there will be weeping. But, beloved, I have good news for you - Sunday's coming! It may be "Friday" in your life right now, but "Sunday" is on the way. You may be weeping right now, but there is a shout of joy in your future! Hallelujah! Maranatha! Glory to the Lamb!
Ron
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Caring for One Another
"That there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)
This past week a truly reprehensible act took place among professing Christians as those calling themselves "Baptists" protested the funeral service of a young Marine who had given his life in the line of duty. They carried offensive signs and thoroughly shocked and upset the family members as well as all those who had gathered to offer their condolences. Consequently, the church of Jesus Christ has received yet another "black eye" in the arena of public opinion because of the totally unacceptable actions of a few spiritually misguided individuals.
It is not my desire to use this week's devotional time and space merely to denigrate such actions, but to let you know that this news which has momentarily captivated the attention of the American public serves to remind us all as followers of Jesus Christ of a tremendous biblical principle that ought to be part of our relationships with each other within the body of Christ. Paul said that when one of us suffers because of some trial of life, we all join in with that suffering. We experience sumpathes, literally a "suffering with" as our hearts are filled with compassion and we seek to minister in the love of Christ to those who are hurting. Only the records of eternity will be able to tell how many people have been enabled to go on and not give up because of such loving ministry, beloved.
Nothing was said in the news report this week about those unnamed folks who stood alongside this young Marine's family, yet I am quite sure that they were there. I am convinced that for every protester outside there was at least one true friend inside who reached out in love and brought a measure of comfort and, thus, of strength to those who were bereaved. And it is that ministry which in the halls of heaven really matters, beloved. It is that sorrowing with those who sorrow and that rejoicing with those who rejoice that are the calling and the identifying mark of every true follower of Jesus Christ. Whatever political point might have been the attempt of those outside is both irrelevant and inconsequential.
What a tremendous reminder, then, for you and me as believers to follow the dictates of God's Word and to seek to minister sumpathes to those who are suffering for whatever reason in life. We are truly most Christ-like whenever we do so. To care more for the feelings of others than for ourselves is simply a fulfilling of the biblical mandate that we each "regard one another as more important than himself" (Philippians 2:3). To do any less may, indeed, land us momentarily on the 6:00 news, but it will also damage the greater cause of the kingdom of God.
Ron
This past week a truly reprehensible act took place among professing Christians as those calling themselves "Baptists" protested the funeral service of a young Marine who had given his life in the line of duty. They carried offensive signs and thoroughly shocked and upset the family members as well as all those who had gathered to offer their condolences. Consequently, the church of Jesus Christ has received yet another "black eye" in the arena of public opinion because of the totally unacceptable actions of a few spiritually misguided individuals.
It is not my desire to use this week's devotional time and space merely to denigrate such actions, but to let you know that this news which has momentarily captivated the attention of the American public serves to remind us all as followers of Jesus Christ of a tremendous biblical principle that ought to be part of our relationships with each other within the body of Christ. Paul said that when one of us suffers because of some trial of life, we all join in with that suffering. We experience sumpathes, literally a "suffering with" as our hearts are filled with compassion and we seek to minister in the love of Christ to those who are hurting. Only the records of eternity will be able to tell how many people have been enabled to go on and not give up because of such loving ministry, beloved.
Nothing was said in the news report this week about those unnamed folks who stood alongside this young Marine's family, yet I am quite sure that they were there. I am convinced that for every protester outside there was at least one true friend inside who reached out in love and brought a measure of comfort and, thus, of strength to those who were bereaved. And it is that ministry which in the halls of heaven really matters, beloved. It is that sorrowing with those who sorrow and that rejoicing with those who rejoice that are the calling and the identifying mark of every true follower of Jesus Christ. Whatever political point might have been the attempt of those outside is both irrelevant and inconsequential.
What a tremendous reminder, then, for you and me as believers to follow the dictates of God's Word and to seek to minister sumpathes to those who are suffering for whatever reason in life. We are truly most Christ-like whenever we do so. To care more for the feelings of others than for ourselves is simply a fulfilling of the biblical mandate that we each "regard one another as more important than himself" (Philippians 2:3). To do any less may, indeed, land us momentarily on the 6:00 news, but it will also damage the greater cause of the kingdom of God.
Ron
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Praising God and Pulling Weeds!
"Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10a)
"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men" (Colossians 3:23)
I think we all have to agree from the outset, beloved, that for most of us the prospect of pulling weeds simply does not conjure up the thought of much opportunity to praise God! Yet I found myself in that very situation this morning as I was removing winter weeds, first from the flower bed out by the mailbox and then in the azalea bed alongside the garage. As I felt the cool dark soil staining my fingers and the pesky roots of those various weeds reluctantly loosing their grip on the soil, I realized that I was actually enjoying myself. Oh, to be sure, there was the satisfaction of seeing the flower beds clean and neat after a winter's worth of weed invasion, but that wasn't really the reason for my satisfaction and my spirit of rejoicing. It was actually the work itself, the joy of doing "what my hands had found to do"! And in that same spirit I found the pleasure of communion with God - not in a pulpit in a house of worship where I am accustomed to standing, but rather right there in the rich dark dirt of God's creation. The fact that I was on my knees the whole time certainly did not hurt that spirit of worship or communion either!
If we as Christians can know such joy and satisfaction when we are enabled to commune with God by putting our hands in the soil, just imagine the possibilities when "whatever your hand finds to do" involves the life of another human being. Imagine the spirit of rejoicing that you will experience if you reach out in the love of Christ and share the good news of His sacrifice with a neighbor or friend or co-worker. Imagine what worship you will have in store each time you are willing to leave your path of travel to unselfishly and with a servant's heart meet the need of someone whom the Spirit of God has brought across that path you are walking. One of the most well-known parables of Jesus involved soil, beloved - the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9). You see, each time that we reach into the life of another person in the name of Jesus Christ, we are "sowing" the seed of the gospel. We are putting our hands into the soil of another person's life and planting seed that by God's grace will produce an abundant harvest unto eternal life. Worship just does not get any sweeter than that!
Happy gardening!
Ron
"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men" (Colossians 3:23)
I think we all have to agree from the outset, beloved, that for most of us the prospect of pulling weeds simply does not conjure up the thought of much opportunity to praise God! Yet I found myself in that very situation this morning as I was removing winter weeds, first from the flower bed out by the mailbox and then in the azalea bed alongside the garage. As I felt the cool dark soil staining my fingers and the pesky roots of those various weeds reluctantly loosing their grip on the soil, I realized that I was actually enjoying myself. Oh, to be sure, there was the satisfaction of seeing the flower beds clean and neat after a winter's worth of weed invasion, but that wasn't really the reason for my satisfaction and my spirit of rejoicing. It was actually the work itself, the joy of doing "what my hands had found to do"! And in that same spirit I found the pleasure of communion with God - not in a pulpit in a house of worship where I am accustomed to standing, but rather right there in the rich dark dirt of God's creation. The fact that I was on my knees the whole time certainly did not hurt that spirit of worship or communion either!
If we as Christians can know such joy and satisfaction when we are enabled to commune with God by putting our hands in the soil, just imagine the possibilities when "whatever your hand finds to do" involves the life of another human being. Imagine the spirit of rejoicing that you will experience if you reach out in the love of Christ and share the good news of His sacrifice with a neighbor or friend or co-worker. Imagine what worship you will have in store each time you are willing to leave your path of travel to unselfishly and with a servant's heart meet the need of someone whom the Spirit of God has brought across that path you are walking. One of the most well-known parables of Jesus involved soil, beloved - the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9). You see, each time that we reach into the life of another person in the name of Jesus Christ, we are "sowing" the seed of the gospel. We are putting our hands into the soil of another person's life and planting seed that by God's grace will produce an abundant harvest unto eternal life. Worship just does not get any sweeter than that!
Happy gardening!
Ron
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Securing Us...His Intent!
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6)
One more time to the well, beloved, as we drink deeply from a third and final installment in our study of this glorious verse of Scripture! We have already discovered together that saving us was God's idea and also that sanctifying us was His inspiration. But what we will learn now will wrap up this verse into a blessed triad of God's promises to us as believers.
Pay very close attention in this verse of Scripture to the qualifying phrase "until the day of Christ Jesus." Those three wonderful words - "until the day" - speak directly to the issue of our security in the hand of the Master Artist who Himself began a glorious work of grace in us and who has ever since been applying great brushstrokes of grace upon the canvas of our lives. What this term tells us, beloved, is that God will never "begin" a work in us and then go off and leave it unfinished as He attends to something or someone else. Not at all! God as Master Artist will not be satisfied until each canvas of human life stands complete in His presence for Him to enjoy for all eternity.
Because God will continue His great work in our personal lives "until the day of Christ Jesus," you and I are eternally secure in His love. Do you recall what the Spirit of God inspired the Apostle Paul to write to the saints in Rome concerning this very subject?
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, or any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39)
Thus, God is going to keep right on shaping and molding our lives until that very moment when Jesus returns and ushers us into the Father's presence. His work of saving and sanctifying and securing us will go on until we are with Him in glory. No wonder, then, that we will praise Him throughout eternity!
Ron
One more time to the well, beloved, as we drink deeply from a third and final installment in our study of this glorious verse of Scripture! We have already discovered together that saving us was God's idea and also that sanctifying us was His inspiration. But what we will learn now will wrap up this verse into a blessed triad of God's promises to us as believers.
Pay very close attention in this verse of Scripture to the qualifying phrase "until the day of Christ Jesus." Those three wonderful words - "until the day" - speak directly to the issue of our security in the hand of the Master Artist who Himself began a glorious work of grace in us and who has ever since been applying great brushstrokes of grace upon the canvas of our lives. What this term tells us, beloved, is that God will never "begin" a work in us and then go off and leave it unfinished as He attends to something or someone else. Not at all! God as Master Artist will not be satisfied until each canvas of human life stands complete in His presence for Him to enjoy for all eternity.
Because God will continue His great work in our personal lives "until the day of Christ Jesus," you and I are eternally secure in His love. Do you recall what the Spirit of God inspired the Apostle Paul to write to the saints in Rome concerning this very subject?
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, or any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39)
Thus, God is going to keep right on shaping and molding our lives until that very moment when Jesus returns and ushers us into the Father's presence. His work of saving and sanctifying and securing us will go on until we are with Him in glory. No wonder, then, that we will praise Him throughout eternity!
Ron
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