Category Archives: The Good News of Jesus

Don’t Quit

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When I read a novel, I tend to skip those little quotes and  poem thingies at the beginning of the chapters.  Most of the time I don’t understand them; they leave me confused and feeling ignorant.  I want to say, “Enough with these inscrutable quotes! Let’s get on with the story, already.”  There are sections of the Bible that make me restless, too. In the final paragraphs of Colossians (Colossians 4:7 ff), Paul gives final greetings and instructions to specific people that don’t seem to mean much to me, 2000 years later. 

But this morning, as I read those verses, I was struck by how passionate and unstoppable Paul was.  His last few sentences are filled with words like “struggle,” “encourage,” “fellow workers,” sending,” etc.  The last verse reads:

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.  –  (Colossians 4:18)

Very likely, Paul dictated most of his letters because he had a physical handicap with his eyes.  Also, he was chained up as a prisoner. He had two good excuses to give it a rest.  But he was absolutely consumed with the urgency of telling people about Jesus.  As he wrote earlier in the letter,

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.  (Colossians 1:29)

What’s the deal?  Why was Paul so passionate?  My guess is it had a lot to do with his being personally visited by Jesus as he traveled to Damascus (see Acts 9:1 ff).  Jesus showed up, blew his mind and changed his whole outlook.  So Paul had first–hand proof Jesus knew where he was and what he was doing.

Well, so what?  What’s that have to do with us? There is a good chance that Jesus has personally visited you with proof of Who He is and has changed your whole outlook, too.  Maybe He didn’t blind you with intense light, but if you reflect on what He did do, the circumstances that led to your personal conversion, you will probably see they were arranged for you. Your Savior knew where you were and what you needed.  He still does.  He also knows what He has equipped you to do. Let the truth of that motivate you. Tell others how wonderful it is to know and follow Jesus.

But, maybe you have not experienced such a personal “visit” from Jesus.  If so, and if you are open to it, let down your defenses and pay close attention.  Jesus will show up in a way that will rock your world.  You can count on it because He knows you, loves you, and knows what you need.

Showing More than Pledging Allegiance

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Some called foul when the government took out Anwar Al-Awlaki with a drone.  They said, “It isn’t right for the US government to summarily execute one of its own citizens.  The thing is, when someone works against the interests of the country, as AAA did, inciting terrorist acts, he is no longer living as a citizen. He loses the right to the benefits of citizenship.

That’s the principle in play in this quote from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Phi 3:17 — Phi 3:21
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

In a perfect situation a citizen can expect his ‘country’ to watch his back, to send rescue. But it would be a mistake to feel entitled to such a rescue if your actions do not match your pledge of allegiance.

Worthy

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Once you have been qualified and trained as a marine, you are considered to be a “leatherneck” forever.  Which means, you are expected to live out the values and attitudes of a marine. The Marine Corps Officer’s Guide,” 1964 edition, makes it clear: “Traditions are not preserved by books and museums, but by faithful adherence on the part of all hands—you especially.”  Translation?  Since you are a marine, live like one.

Paul wrote something similar to fellow Christians:

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. –  (Philippians 1:27-28a)

What does it mean to live a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ?”  In this short quote, we see it means to confidently stand firm in what you believe without letting opposition sway you.  It also means to be joined with other believers by the Spirit of God, operating on the same page and working together to spread the good news.   With no fear.

In a team sports contest, you can generally pick the winner by observing which team plays with the most confidence and unity.  Confidence and unified hearts and minds are the essentials as well for a life “worthy of the gospel.”

For Sure

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Here’s the truth for Ann Maree, things she knows with certainty in Heaven:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

                                                           (Psalm 23)

Turned Heads and Hearts

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Come Sunday, it will have been a year, a tough year.  A year ago today, my wife, Ann Maree, was taken by ambulance to Hospice for her final struggle.  Understandably, I spend a lot of time thinking back.  Our 50 plus years of courtship and marriage were way too short.  We had some wonderful times.  We also went through some pretty big changes.

The best and most powerful change came as we individually discovered the truth about Jesus and welcomed His Spirit into our souls.  At first, the changes were fresh and exhilarating.  Gradually that excitement evened out into a satisfying and fulfilling joy.  Worry was exchanged for contentment.  There was a dramatic shift in how we saw life in this world.

As an example, Annie was good lookin’.  Yes indeed, she turned heads.  But strangely, that physical beauty was, for her, a source of insecurity.  Maybe you can relate.  But when Jesus showed her how much God loved her, that anxiety was gradually laid to rest.  It was transformed into a thorough sense of inner beauty and inner peace.  Heads still turned, but that wasn’t of as much importance.  Recently, I came across this, underlined in her Bible:

Your beauty … should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  (1 Peter 3:3a & 4b)

When folks remember Ann Maree, most of the time they talk about how she had “…the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit…”

Yes indeed.

In Plain Sight

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“Have you lost your mind?”  If the judge asks you that, your trial isn’t going well.  But when the king asked Paul that question during his trial, his response was simple.  He said, “You know what the prophets said would happen to the Messiah, and you were around to know what happened to Jesus.  I’m not crazy; I’m telling you things you already know are true.”  He wound up his argument with this:

For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.    (Acts 26:26)

“This has not been done in a corner.” 

Think how unique that is.  The origins of most religions are shrouded in secrecy or are at least confined to the personal experiences of their founder.  He says, “Trust me -I had a vision; I found a book… ”  Not Jesus.  He performed His work and delivered His teaching in public, where anyone could see and hear.  When they came to arrest Him, Jesus said,

… “Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”   (Matthew 26:55b-56a)

Two marks of authenticity:  1)The prophets said, “Here’s what God will do; when these things happen, you can be sure it is God’s Messiah.  2) When the events of Jesus’ life fit the pattern including His crucifixion, burial and resurrection, it was all done in public, for all to see.

Books like The DaVinci Code are based on the supposition that the Christian faith is based on a bunch of secret wisdom, carefully hidden from the gullible public.  Nonsense.  With Jesus, nothing was done in the corner.

By the way, Jesus said His second coming would be in plain sight, too.  Something to consider…

Too Much, Part 2

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Cramming for a final is like trying to put packing peanuts back in the box.  Put one back and two or three pop out.  Our brains can only hold so much.  There are some things too vast to fit in such a limited space.

Jesus’ love is one of those.  (If you haven’t read the previous post, scroll down to read it first)  It’s too much to comprehend, without a supernatural power boost from the Spirit of God.  But God gives that boost, not so we will have more information.  It’s not so we will have the answers to pass a test.  It’s for something that surpasses the mere possession of more facts.  Paul prays for believers to be strengthened to more fully understand the enormity of Christ’s love, SO THAT THEY MIGHT…

…  know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  –   (Ephesians 3:19b)

Read that again.  Let it sink in.  The more we know the love of Jesus, the more we become filled with the essence of God!   The “fullness of God” is manifested in the astonishing love of Jesus.  And we are meant to be filled to the brim with His “fullness,” so our lives would demonstrate His love, His essence, too.

If you are thinking, “No way I could ever pull that off,” remember, this is a prayer for God to do it!   And Paul wraps up this prayer with this encouragement:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  –  (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Too Much

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Ever feel like your head is about to explode?  Maybe it was in a class or seminar where the information was  shooting out of a fire hose.  I’ve felt that way, trying to wrap my mind around what Einstein was thinking, or figure out why my computer wasn’t working.  The first time I saw the Grand Canyon, I just couldn’t comprehend the size and scope of it.  It was too much to take in.  At times like that, it would be nice to push a button to get a mental power boost.

There’s a prayer for that kind of a power boost in the Bible.  The prayer is for the power to comprehend the vast love of Jesus!  It’s too vast, too much.  There’s no way to take it all in, without a supernatural power boost from the Spirit of God.  Check it out.  I’ve highlighted the main ideas in the prayer, but don’t dance lightly over the other stuff; it’s all important and all amazing:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, …  (Ephesians 3:16-18)

The idea is that the love of Jesus is so immeasurable, it would make your head explode.  It’s too much to comprehend without spiritual help, even for those who, by faith in Jesus, have been “rooted and grounded” in His love.  We are like seedlings who cannot imagine becoming a flower.  Or a tree.

Perhaps that is why some reject Jesus, saying His crucifixion is too cruel to be required by a good God.  Perhaps they only see the cruelty because it is impossible to comprehend the love.

More on this next time…

Know Better

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You say, “I’ll pray for you,” but then, what do you ask in your prayers?  “Lord, please bless Amy, please heal her foot…”?  Something like that?  Me too, most of the time.  That’s what makes this prayer of Paul so startling and attractive to me:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  (Ephesians 1:17)

Here’s my hunch:  When we need prayer, when we struggle or suffer or lack certainty, if we could somehow really know God as He truly is, know Him at that moment of need, it would make things much better.  It might satisfy us.  I suspect Paul understood that from personal experience.

Chew on that.  See if it doesn’t taste good and nourish.

Slaves and Sons

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How could God treat His people so differently in Old Testament times as compared to the New?  The Old Testament is full of long lists of rules and regs, along with severe penalties to be exacted upon those who break them.  The New Testament is all about grace and tells those in Christ they are free of the law.  What gives?

This is no big mystery.  The first part of the Old Testament was written for people who, for more than 10 generations, had lived as slaves.  After God sent Moses and arranged for their freedom, they obviously needed a bit of clearly defined structure.  The New Testament is about Jesus inviting us to become sons and daughters in God’s family.  For those who accept, He gives His Spirit as an internal guide, making rules irrelevant.

Ask yourself this question: Did you treat your two year old in the same way when he or she became 32?  I would imagine you began with rules, such as, “We never cross the street by ourselves.”  Later on, that rule changed to, “Always look both ways before you cross the street.”  And then, “‘Bye; Have a nice time!”

Here’s a great explanation of how God’s approach changed and why, taken from the New Testament:

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  (Galatians 4:1-7  NIV)