Category Archives: Truth

Powered Up by Hope

Leave a reply

Why is it that some people complain all the time, while others seem to boost the spirits of those around them?  Why are some folks suspicious and grumpy and others just seem happier on the inside?  One of the differences is an attitude of hope, a joyful, optimistic expectation of good things coming. 

But what is the best object of hope?  I’d say it’s heaven.  Paul once told some people he had heard about their “…faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.  –  (Colossians 1:5)

Don’t misunderstand: these were no Pollyanna types with saccharin-sweet, vapid smiles, aimlessly drifting through life by pretending things would be better in heaven.  This was no “pie in the sky, by and by” crowd.  These were people bearing up under the harsh realities of vicious persecution.  But with hope from which their faith and love sprang forth!

So, how could they, or we, know that hope for heaven is anything more than wishful thinking?  Jesus tells us, in the strongest and simplest terms, that’s how..  Speaking of heaven, He said,

“…if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”  –  (John 14:2b)

That is my favorite line in the Bible.  Jesus didn’t lie to people, fostering false hopes.  One of His trademark expressions was, “I tell you the truth!”  Following Jesus comes with real hope, hope for eternal life in heaven.  If it wasn’t so he would have told us.  And hope just makes everything else better.

Real Wealth

Leave a reply

Do you want to be wealthy?  The secret  is feeling like you have enough.  Wealth is not measured by the numbers you see when you check your bank account.  It is measured by how contented you are.  It does no good to have lots of money, as so many do, if you feel poor and continually stress about not having enough.  Far better off are those who own comparatively few possessions and yet feel truly contented.

Here are the words of one such person, the apostle, Paul:

“… I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  –  (Philippians 4:11b-12)

Paul lives with joy and confidence, the attitudes we assume go with having wealth.  It’s because he knows the secret to contentment.  If you learn that secret, you, too, will feel wealthy. And what is the secret?  It is trust, trust in God’s love and ability to provide.  Paul says:

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” –  (Philippians 4:13)

That kind of trust doesn’t come from merely memorizing that verse and quoting it.  It comes from developing an ongoing awareness of God’s presence and His interactions in the details of our lives.  A good way to strengthen that awareness is to ask God to show Himself to us in tangible ways.  We can ask Him to make us more aware of His presence as we go through our day.

God loves to answer prayers like that.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  –  (Jeremiah 29:13)

And as He does, you will grow in trust, contentment, and the realization of how truly wealthy you are in Him.

Let’s Get it Straight

3 Replies

The Burning Man festival prides itself on escaping the constrictions of rules and laws.  And yet, when they construct the enormous, fanciful structures, they pay strict attention to the laws of physics and safe engineering.  They have a committee to inspect all the vehicles of odd design to be certain they are safe.  Go out into the wilderness and indulge in all kinds of wild and crazy excess, but even out there, there are some laws you ignore to your own peril.

One of the metaphors in the Bible for those kinds of laws is a plumb line.  Builders know that if you don’t build walls perfectly plumb (straight up and down), eventually they will topple; your whole building will lie in ruins. Almost plumb doesn’t work.  Plumb means perfectly plumb.  Consider these verses from Isaiah:

  So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:  “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
  I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line…  –  (Isaiah 28:16-17a)

If a nation or people wants their “house” to stand, they must build it plumb with justice and righteousness.  History has proved this repeatedly.  Therefore, what does the future hold for a country who complacently chooses leaders who are known for dishonesty and greed? 

It would be good for the people of that country to realign themselves with the “foundation stone” laid by God, Jesus Christ.  He is tested and true.  “The one who trusts (in Him) will never be dismayed (by the collapse of his or her “house.”).”

Bribing God

Leave a reply

Remember this song?

I’ll give you jewelry and money too
That’s not all, all I’ll do for you
Oh, if bring it to me
Bring your sweet loving
Bring it on home to me
                                                    (Sam Cooke – Bring It To Me)

Great song, but lousy concept.  Because you can’t buy love.  The Beatles almost had it right with “Can’t buy me love…”  But, even in that same song they sang:

I’ll give you all I’ve got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
But what I’ve got I’ll give to you
                                                          (The Beatles – Can’t Buy Me Love)

Bribing someone to love you is illogical on its face.  And yet, the default posture we humans adopt before God is this:  I’ll pay whatever You want if You will love me.  That is the core idea behind all man-made religions.  Here’s an example from the Old Testament book of MIcah:

6 With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  (Micah 6:6–7  –  NIV84)

God already and always loves us like a father.  Imagine if one of your children got the idea you didn’t love him and offered to pay…   It’s offensive, isn’t it?  God does not need for us to pay Him with any of His possessions.  So then, what does He want?  This:

8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.  (Micah 6:8  –  NIV84)

God wants us to stop hurting  one another and ourselves.  He wants us to live with a humble awareness of Him, Who gave us life, Who made this world and Who knows how to live in it.

One last thought.  Eventually a payment was made for sin, the most costly one suggested above – the sacrifice of a firstborn Son.  But it was not a bribe, but a punishment that balanced the scales of justice.

And it was God Who paid.

Because He loves us that much.

Are You Ready? – Part 3

1 Reply

When punters are called into a game, it is usually an emergency.  The outcome of the game will likely be determined by how well the punter does what he is meant to do.  Therefore, the stakes are high for punters: those who consistently do well will celebrate with the rest of the team; those who do not will lose their place on the team.  The same is true for those who follow Jesus, who are meant to serve as His witnesses in an attitude of readiness for His return.

This is the concluding section of a message on being ready for Jesus’ return.  In Jesus’ parable about being ready (Luke 12:36 – 48), He said, those whose actions demonstrated their readiness, who were doing what He assigned us to do would be really glad.  He concluded His parable by talking about how devastating it would be for those who were not ready:

 

If  you haven’t already listened to the first two parts, you can hear them here: )   

Dealing with the Truth

3 Replies

How do you respond to criticism?  My first reaction isn’t constructive, I must confess.  I want to argue or fight back.  But after letting my negativity subside, I’ve discovered it often helps to ask pertinent questions, to let the truth soak in deeper and have its way with me.

If you haven’t already listened to the short audio messages I posted earlier in the week, here are the links again.  They are about how Jesus used parables to sneak past our defenses with  tough truth:

  2.  
  4.  

To let this parable have its way with you, here are some of the kinds of questions you might  ask:

  • In what sense is teaching from God like a seed?
  • What influences in our world tend to make our “soil” hard, so that His truth bounces off?
  • What is the danger of religion that focuses mostly on drumming up emotional fervor?
  • How much hard work does a seed expend in order to be fruitful?
  • If none, then what does it do?  How is the fruit produced?
  • How are your eyes and ears; do you have defenses to shield you from God’s dangerous truth?
  • If so, what will you do about those defenses?

Listen at Your Own Risk

2 Replies

When Jesus told a parable, it was a time-release gotcha, His version of a Trojan Horse.  He’d light the fuse on what looked like a nice little story and slide it right past the people’s defenses.  Too late, they’d realize His stories were aimed at them, at their bone-headed stupidity or wickedness.

As an experiment, this week I’ve edited an audio message about one of His parables into five chunks, each about 5 minutes long or so, thinking you might spread them out and listen to them during the week. You will discover His seemingly harmless story springs its trap just as effectively today as it did when He first told it.  So, you have been warned: Listen at your own risk.  Here they are the audio links.  Take your time and work your way through these chunks in order:

  2.  
  4.  

If  you are willing, let me know how you respond to blog messages in audio form.  They are more work on this end, but worth it to me, if they work for you,

Danger! Parables at Work

4 Replies

Would Jesus deliberately disguise or hide the truth from some people?  That’s a question His disciples asked and you might be surprised at the answer.  If you have a bible, turn to the 13th chapter of Matthew and listen to the audio clips below.  I’ve sliced and diced an original message into 5 bite-sized chunks, so you can fit them into your schedule flexibly

  2.  
  4.  

It would be helpful to me to know how this different blog format worked for you.  Did you have any problems listening?  Were the individual sections too long or too short?  Any other suggestions or feedback?  I may not be able to respond or post all of the responses, but please know I’ll read them and take them into consideration.

God’s Laundry

Leave a reply

Dirty socks may not understand this, as they are sloshing around in the washer, but they have nothing to fear, not even from the repeated rinse and spin cycles.  People who are gathered to God in Jesus have nothing to fear either, from the growing bloodthirstiness of ISIS, the new alliances between the evil dictators of Russia, Syria and Iran, or the hostility toward Israel that simmers in Egypt and Iraq.  God told us to expect all that, all that and more.  There’s no way for us dirty socks to know if this will be the final rinse and spin, but we can take heart in knowing that things turn out well for God’s Laundry:

This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:   “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.  On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.  On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the LORD. “I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.   Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.’  –  (Zechariah 12:1-5)

Taproot – Part 4

Leave a reply

“I command you to love me!”  That’s a non-starter, isn’t it?  The greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to love God with all your heart and soul.  But, can love be commanded?  But, instead of hearing the word, command, as a strict order to do something we don’t want to do, think of it like this: This “command” is the most important thing to remember to practice so that things will go well for you. 

God’s 10 commandments were given after He first had arranged a rescue for the people from slavery. 

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”  –  (Deuteronomy 5:6)

His commands were given to protect us from falling back into any kind of slavery.  In other words, His commands were given to bless us.

“Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”

“Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.”  –  (Deuteronomy 5:33; 6:3)

Our love for God is not grudging and forced, it is the natural response toward our Rescuer who loves us and wants the very best for us.  Our love for God is reflected in our paying attention to how He taught us to live, loving and honoring  Him by obeying.  As John said it, “We love because he first loved us.” – (1John 4:19)

The same is true of our love for Jesus, Who rescued us from spiritual slavery to live life to the fullest.