Who Is This Then?, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Mark 4:35-41

4:35  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
4:36  And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
4:37  A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
4:38  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
4:39  He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
4:40  He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
4:41  And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

          At that moment, and down through the ages, men and women have asked, "Who is this?  Who is this Jesus?"

          He is called in the Hebrew Yeshua.  He is called in the English text Jesus Christ.  Even though Christ is not His last name, Christ is who He is, the promised Messiah (Hebrew name), the Son of the Living God.  He is the Living God come to us in flesh and blood.  He is God with us, or Immanuel in the Hebrew.

          Those are only a few of His titles.  But who is he, really?  Who is Jesus?

          If there's a chance Jesus is really not some lunatic but actually the Lord of Universe, if He really is who is says He is in John 10:10 -- " I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" -- don't we want to get to know Him better?

          After all, Jesus didn't just mouth those words, offering us life more abundantly, and then disappear into history.  He allowed Himself to be sentenced to die on the cross, and then, as the Lord of Glory who could have commanded thousands of angels to protect Him, He died a painful death on that cross.  And why did He do that?  To pay a price you and I could not pay.  To reunite us with the Creator of all things, with the God of the universe, whom by our heritage through sin we had turned our backs upon.  Are we still turning our backs on Him?  Or are we looking to learn more about Jesus, the bridge to everlasting life?  All the other bridges are out.  They don't reach to the Living God.

          Do you know Him?  I know Him, but I have known about Him for much longer.  Many people know about Him, but never follow Him.  If they had really known Him, instead of just knowing about Him, there would be a substantial change in their life.  We are told in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  Trying to change our behavior by our self, trying to make ourselves acceptable to God, trying to change who we are on our own are all dead-ends.  In Christ, we become new creations.

          Most of what we hear in church about Jesus has to do with love, with gentleness, with innocence, with servant humility.  But Jesus was also a leader, a team builder, a teacher, healer and, when the situation called for it, a cleanser of temples with a whip of knotted cords.

          What are we called to be in Christ?  Well, disciples, first of all.  The Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus spoke to His disciples, is possibly the best summary of what Jesus wants for us and from us, instructing us how to live a life pleasing to God, free from hypocrisy, full of love and grace, and filled with wisdom and discernment.  These are underscored by Jesus' words in John 14:15, "If you love Me you will do the things I say."

          Given that those are Jesus' own words, it becomes even more important then not only to know what Jesus wants from us, but what He says to us.  "If you love Me you will do the things I say."

          When should we seek those answers, regarding what Jesus wants?  When is the best time to know Him better?  If we were to look on the face of a clock to see that "right time," we would see the words "Now" in place of the hours and minutes.  Now always is the right time.  Romans 13:11 tells us, "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."  Note that last phrase, "now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."  Time is passing.  

          From the very beginning, in the first part of Genesis 6:3, we read, "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh..."  Unlike the Living God, who is forever, our days are numbered.  Our time in the flesh is running out.

          Now is the time, to believe, to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, to turn our life over to Him, to know Him better.  For once we belong to Him, time may as well stand still, for Jesus tells us in Hebrews 13:5 that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  We are His and He is ours forever, across all the events of our lives and into the ages of eternity.  For even as Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him, in John 17:21, Jesus prayed, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

          Jesus is the answer and now is the time.  He made clear for us His purpose in coming to us in the flesh when in John 14:6 He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."

          There are 200 Biblical names for Jesus.  Everything from Alpha and Omega to Bright and Morning Star, and Carpenter's Son.  Who was He?  The Author and Finisher of our faith, the Chief Cornerstone, the Lamb of God.  But most important to you and I, and to the entire human race, Jesus was the propitiation for our sins.  He is the bridge to God the Father, the Son of the Most High God, and our salvation.  I urge you to know Him better.  Amen.

Week of Worship

June 24, 2012

Invocation:  O God, who calls those who will follow along with You, show us our duty today, and give us bread for our journey.  Through Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 88 

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                1st Corinthians 2:1-13

Tuesday               Matthew 9:35-10:15

Wednesday          Matthew 10:16-23
Thursday              Matthew 10:24-33

Friday                   Matthew 10:34-42

Saturday               John 21:15-23

Sunday                 2nd Samuel 5:1-12; 2nd Corinthians 5:18-6:2; Psalm 48;

                             Mark 4:35-41 

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "O God Who Shaped Creation"

Benediction:  I am thine, O Lord.  I have heard Thy voice!  And having heard, I will go wherever You send me and to whatever task.  Only go with me, my Lord; I cannot make the journey alone.  Amen.

How Do We Know We're Alive?, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture:  Colossians 2:6-14

⁶   So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

⁷   rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸   See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹   For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 

¹⁰   and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 

¹¹   In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 

¹²   having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³   When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 

¹⁴   having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

          Let us talk this morning about awakening the life of each believer with the “aliveness” of Jesus Christ.

          In the Methodist Church they sing a Charles Wesley hymn titled “And Are We Yet Alive.”  But what does it mean for the Christian to be alive?       Or to be not alive?
          There’s an old story by William White about a scholar who was traveling on his way to give an important lecture when heavy rains began to fall, so heavy that the river quickly rose above the bridge and the scholar couldn’t get across.  He saw a man with a rowboat and hired him to take him to the other side.  As the scholar got in the boat, he asked, “Living this out here in the country, do you have access to a quality newspaper?”
          “I never read the newspaper,” replied the man.

          “My dear man,” the scholar replied, “anyone who doesn’t read a daily newspaper is missing out on life.  Well, you must have a library nearby," the scholar said.
          As the man took the oars into his massive hands and began to row, he replied, “I haven’t read a book in years.”
          “My dear man,” the scholar said, “anyone who does not read is missing out on life.”
          There was a long pause in the conversation as they crossed the rising water until at last the scholar asked, “What about plays or symphonies, dramas or good music?”
          With some irritation, the man answered, “As I’ve been trying to tell you, I wouldn’t mind going to plays and symphonies, but they are terribly expensive, and my carpentry business keeps me busy as I try to meet the needs of others…and to be honest, even though you might not agree…I do feel very much alive.”
          Well, just then the boat hit a stump under water, and capsized sending both men flying into the raging water.  The carpenter shouted to the scholar, “Sir, can you swim?”
          “No!” came the trembling shout of the scholar as his arms flailed about.
          “Well, then…” the carpenter said, as he grabbed an oar and pushed it in front of the scholar, “here, have my creation and learn how to truly be alive.”  And with that, the man pulled the scholar back to safety.
          Webster’s Dictionary  says that to be alive is to “have a life ... to be active and living.”
          And on the other hand, Webster says to be dead is to “have no life, lacking feeling and sensitivity, numb or unresponsive."

           Isn’t that really the message of Paul to the Colossians?
          “Be rooted and built up” says Paul.  “Be strengthened in the faith” ... “ Overflow with kindness” ... be alive, says Paul!
          “When you were dead in your sins and in your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.” he says in Col..2:14.
          And the question I most want to is ”Are We Yet Alive?”  And the response, I hope, is “We Are Alive.”
          This may sound overly simplistic, but it’s a message that is reoccurring throughout Scripture.
          Ephesians 2:4 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loves us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”
          Romans 6:8 says, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
          My favorite of all verses, Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not, I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me."
          Are we yet alive…..the answer is…”we are alive.”
          When our plans fall apart and we’re left with hopeless situations…are we yet alive…we are still alive.
          Whenever it rains when it’s supposed to be dry, and its dry when it’s supposed to rain…are we yet alive….we are alive.

          Facing challenges beyond our imagination ….are we yet alive…we are alive.
          When we disappoint, discourage, and disobey, and we search for God’s forgiveness…are we yet alive…we are alive.
          When the economy falters and our investments begin to fall…are we yet alive…we are alive.
          When we’ve lost loved ones, feeling the pain of grief…are we yet alive…we are alive.
          When the checkbook balance does not equal the bill balance…are we yet alive…we are live.
          When they break into our church and steal our microphone and sound system, our golden candle holders and break our stained glass windows… are we yet alive….we are alive.
          What's going on in your life?  Too many bills, gas too high, the price of groceries and children's clothes going up?  Whatever it is, when it gives you pause…are we yet alive…we are alive.
          Ray Stedman is pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in California, and he puts it like this…      “During each crisis, each opportunity, we need to remind ourselves that we are in the battle…a battle that is more than possible to win…
          “We are alive in Christ.  We may not be what we ought to be, but thank God, we are not the same people we once were.  We are alive in Christ!  We are raised with Him.  We have a new power at our disposal…the power of His life within us!

          “Therefore we can rest.  We can step out and say and do the right thing, and expect Him to accomplish the results.”  (From “Alive to Live”, Discovery Publishing, www.pbc.org)
          We don't have to worry about winning the victory; the victory is His.  We can relax.  We can leave the problem of solving the difficult problems in His hands, and wait upon Him for results. 
          We are alive because of our new birth in Christ.
          We are alive because of our new life in Christ.
          We are alive because we have a friend in Christ.
          We are alive because we have a new home, a new family in Christ.
          This is the way God works.
          Listen again to verses 13 and 14: “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
          Are we yet alive?  We are alive.  And because of that, the church, this church, the church that is you ….can say AMEN! 

Week of Worship

June 17, 2012

Invocation:  Our Lord Jesus, Who turned water into wine as a sign of the new Kingdom, in You the old has passed away.  Behold!  You make all things new.  Give us today a superabundance of the bread and drink You provide that all our noble desires may be satisfied.  Through Your strong name.  Amen..  Amen.

Read: Psalm 84

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Matthew 3:1-10

Tuesday               Matthew 18:21-35

Wednesday          Matthew 20:1-16
Thursday              Matthew 20:20-28

Friday                   Luke 9:46-62

Saturday               Acts 7:54-8:8

Sunday                 2nd Samuel 1:1, 17-27; 2nd Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17; Psalm 46;

                             Mark 4:26-34 

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "O Church of God, United"

Benediction:  O Lord, as at Cana's wedding You filled empty jars with new wine, so I ask that You fill me.  O glorious provision.  Amen.

Of All People Most Blessed, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: 2nd Corinthians 4:13-5:1

4:13  But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture --"I believed, and so I spoke" -- we also believe, and so we speak,
4:14  because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into His presence.
4:15  Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
4:16  So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
4:17  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
4:18  because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
5:1  For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

             In the early 1800's, the poet William Wordsworth wrote, "The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: little we see in Nature that is ours; we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"

             The reviewer Mary Moorman has suggested the lines reflect a memory of Wordsworth's visit to Calais in the north of France, a lament for modern man's lost appreciation for nature, part of a group of sonnets reflecting England's unworthiness during the Napoleonic wars when so much was demanded of her.

             That opening phrase, "The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers..." would also reflect where mankind stands today among the wonders of the electronic age.  Conversation, dialogue, has become relegated to the coldness of electronic messages, the very worst of ways to communicate, bypassing any human contact, any intellectual give and take.  Misinformation and opinion pass for facts, causes and movements rise and fall upon the passions of professional word merchants and lobbyists.

             In that electronic world of Ebay and CraigsList, and others, we find the charlatans, tricksters and outright thieves continuing to take advantage of the innocent, the trusting, and the legal community has not kept up with the ingenuity of the greedy and dishonest.

             But that sly humorist of the early 1900's, W. C. Fields. said a mouthful when he declared, "You can't cheat an honest man."  Fields even used that as the title of a screenplay starring ventriloquist Edgar Bergan and his mannequin Charlie McCarthy.  It just seems elegantly appropriate that one of them was a dummy.

             The truth is human nature hasn't changed all that much since Christ walked this earth with us.  A wise old man once said, "Them what has, gets, and them what hasn't gets got."  So anyone with a mind to lament the sadness and unfairness of life has plenty to lament, feel sad, and unfair about.  For if you go about life under your own power, sooner or later you're "gonna get got", and there just isn't much that can be done about it.  Ezekiel 28:12-15 reminds us that Satan was created by God as the "pinnacle of perfection and full of wisdom" before he fell from heaven.  Those outside of Christ don't stand much of a chance against the evil machinations of Satan, and this world is full of his nonsense.

             Those who belong to Christ, however, live a very different life.  We are of all people most blessed.  

             In today's scripture, we see that Paul has absolute faith in who God is and what He can do.  After all, a God who can defeat death would see no problem with mere mortals who challenge His power and authority.  In fact, God uses those who are subject to death to bear witness to His glory.  When we read Paul's letters to the Corinthians, we see that he urges them not to let the present problems stop them from testifying to the power and the reality of God's new creation.

             Paul himself writes of the beatings, shipwrecks, and other near-death experiences to demonstrate the danger of his mission and the sincerity of his faith, detailing hardships that exemplify that "death is at work in us."  Even though death is seeming to win small victories that afflict, perplex, persecute and strike down the faithful, we know that God has already defeated death by raising the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave.  And the same God, according to 2nd Cor. 4:14, "will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into His presence."

             Because the follower of Jesus Christ knows that everything he sees in this world is only temporary, since the eternal cannot be seen, the idea that " this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure" makes perfect sense.  It gives us the solid ground to stand on as we give back to those who can do nothing for us, just for the sake of doing what is right.

             In an article for Campus Life magazine a young nurse writes of her own pilgrimage in giving to those who can't give back; learning to see in a patient the image of God beneath a very 'distressing disguise.'

             "Eileen was one of her first patients, a person who was totally helpless. 'A cerebral aneurysm (broken blood vessels in the brain) had left her with no conscious control over her body,' the nurse writes. As near as the doctors could tell Eileen was totally unconscious, unable to feel pain and unaware of anything going on around her. It was the job of the hospital staff to turn her every hour to prevent bedsores and to feed her twice a day 'what looked like a thin mush through a stomach tube.' Caring for her was a thankless task. 'When it's this bad,' an older student nurse told her, 'you have to detach yourself emotionally from the whole situation...' As a result, more and more she came to be treated as a thing, a vegetable...

             "But the young student nurse decided that she could not treat this person like the others had treated her. She talked to Eileen, sang to her, encouraged her, and even brought her little gifts. One day when things were especially difficult and it would have been easy for the young nurse to take out her frustrations on the patient, she was especially kind.  It was Thanksgiving Day and the nurse said to the patient, 'I was in a cruddy mood this morning, Eileen, because it was supposed to be my day off.  But now that I'm here, I'm glad.  I wouldn't have wanted to miss seeing you on Thanksgiving. Do you know this is Thanksgiving?'

             "Just then the telephone rang, and as the nurse turned to answer it, she looked quickly back at Eileen. 'Suddenly,' she writes, Eileen was 'looking at me... crying.  Big damp circles stained her pillow, and she was shaking all over.

             "That was the only human emotion that Eileen ever showed any of them, but it was enough to change the whole attitude of the hospital staff toward her.  Not long afterward, Eileen died.  The young nurse closes her story, saying, 'I keep thinking about her... It occurred to me that I owe her an awful lot.  Except for Eileen, I might never have known what it's like to give myself to someone who can't give back.'" 

             When we are confronted by what seems impossible to overcome, that's the time to allow God to meet those needs with His divine resources, accomplishing the impossible, and usually putting us into the game to meet the needs of others along the way.  Put the impossible, and yourself, in the hands of Him who loved you first.  Amen.

Week of Worship

June 10, 2012

Invocation:  Our Lord Jesus, whose word is always authority, speak to me now, that I may hear Your special word for me today.  In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 103

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Colossians 1:15-20

Tuesday               Acts 3:1-10

Wednesday          Acts 5:1-16
Thursday              Acts 5:33-42

Friday                   Acts 9:1-19

Saturday               Acts 12:1-11

Sunday                 1st Samuel 16:1-13; 2nd Corinthians 4:5-12; Psalm 20; Mark 2:23-3:6

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies"

Benediction:  I have heard Your call to me in this hour, and I bind Your word to my heart as the guide and rule of life.  Speak to others through me, I pray..  Amen.

A Backhanded Heresy, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: John 3:1-17

3:1  Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
3:2  He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."
3:3  Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
3:4  Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"
3:5  Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
3:6  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7  Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.'
3:8  The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
3:9  Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
3:10  Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
3:11  "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.
3:12  If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
3:13  No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
3:14  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15  that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.
3:17  "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."

          There is a backhanded heresy at work in the world right now.  So that we are all on the same page, let me state here the common definition of a heresy: a belief or opinion that is contrary to orthodox -- traditional or established -- religious doctrine; an opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted.

          Actually, the world around us is full of manmade religions, religious fallacies and heresies.  Some come from ancient myths and primitive beliefs, some from unscholarly opinions, some from scholars who begin with an opinion and search out only those facts that will support their particular theory or belief.  It is a backhanded heresy because they pick and choose which words of God they will accept to support their error, and deny the rest.

          There are those in the church today who attempt to mold God into human character and make Him subservient to what we think is just and right and therefore holy.  Wanting to avoid condemning those caught up in particular sins, instead of concentrating on repentance and changing the individual, they work at changing the church to fit the latest social mores.  Homosexuality is only the latest in many attempts.

          This past week an ordained member of a Christian church that worships God wrote to me the following declaration: "A god that would require a grisly painful horrible death upon a cross for anyone much less his only son is not a god I would ever worship."  He believes, and espouses, that we gain eternal life by how we treat people here on earth, such as homosexuals.

          I want you to pay special attention to the last verse of today's text, verse 17, which states, "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."  We often hear the first part of that verse quoted, and it is true because we condemn ourselves.  Christ does not condemn us, indeed, He is our advocate before the Father if we belong to Him.  But the last part of that verse says that we are saved through Jesus Christ.  Our works, our treatment of others, do not save us.  Of Jesus, the disciple John wrote in John 1:29, " The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.'"  It is the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on that cross, in yes, "a grisly, painful, horrible death upon a cross" that has bought our freedom from sin with His shed blood.  We have that promise from the inspired Word of God Himself.  To claim otherwise, saying our eternal life is bought by our actions toward others, is merely to repeat what the serpent said to Eve in the very beginning, that God didn't really mean what He said. 

          But indeed, God did mean, and continues to mean, what He said.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is an unchangeable God; one of His primary attributes.  Isaiah 26:4 tells us that "God is everlasting."  From the Old Testament to the New Testament, we serve a God who does not change: "For I am the Lord, I change not." (Malachi 3:6), and "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17).

          In a world of ethics and morals that change and transform upon the whims of society, we have a rock solid foundation in the Word of God.  These changeable customs will often be at odds with the unchangeableness of the Almighty God.

          Have a desire to do something, but society, based upon God's requirements of us, says you shouldn't do that?  Then should we change society's understanding of what God said?  This has gone on from the very beginning of time.  What is happening now as  the inspired Word of God is twisted and reinterpreted, or even "reformatted" in computer jargon, is happening because the undisciplined desires and feelings of some segments of society run counter to what God desires of us.  So if we want our own way, to give free vent to our desires, feelings, and emotions, without retribution, we must gain, indeed, demand society's approval.  That means we must change what society understands about Almighty God.

          But there is a very telling verse in scripture, in Isaiah 55:8 to be exact: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord."  God neither thinks like mankind thinks, or acts the way mankind acts.  As early as Numbers 23:19, God told us, "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" 

          No one keeps His word like the Almighty God; no one keeps promises like He does.

          His word, His guidance to us, is for our benefit, for there is a war going on all around us, even though we may not see it.  2nd Corinthians 10:3-6 reminds us, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled."

          Men need to follow their faith, not their feelings.  Feelings will only lead us to failure.  Our faith will lead us to God.

          I submit to you that there are two actions going on here among men that are causing us real problems in this age.  One is out and out disobedience to the will of God.  The other is an ignorance of the inspired word of God, one reason contributing to the other.  Again and again I hear from those who have not studied the actual Bible, the Word of God, but have launched out on their journey on the basis of interpretations by this scholar and that scholar, each one making a living from their teachings, from their published works.  And yet it is a simple fact that the Bible is its own best commentary.  Anyone who has ever used a Thompson's Chain Reference Bible understands both the simplicity and yet the complexity of how the Holy Bible provides its own concordance and commentary.

          Down throughout history, every generation has taken a run at the Bible's veracity, attempting to use God's words to justify their own perverted behavior.  What is going on now in society is not new, and will forever continue until Jesus Christ returns for those whose name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.  Evil must struggle with righteousness, and righteousness will never submit to evil.  The key to our survival is not getting God or God's Word on "our" side, but making certain we are standing on God's side.  To accomplish that, we need to read and, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, understand what God requires from us on a moment by moment, day by day basis.  In that way we have the strength, the discernment, and the necessary resources to stand against the evil that forever attacks the people of God, and the ways of God.

          Ephesians 6, verses 11 through 18 tell us to put on the whole armor of God, in that the battle for our souls, the war that surrounds us, is much worse than we may suspect.  This is not just some flowery allusion to truth, but is solid truth as God is truth, and we need to take action on it.  We can remain safe through all that goes on around us, being strong in the Lord, in the power of His might (not in our own) for as verse 12 tells us, "...we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  Without God's might we are not equipped to survive that. 

          Get into God's Word, learn of Him, find out what is expected of you, what power and love you have at your disposal through Jesus Christ.  There is a reason we are here.  We are meant for better things, and not the chilling words found in Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus tells us, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?"  But in verse 23, Jesus says at that point He will tell them that He never knew them, that those who work evil must get away from Him.  Chilling words.  Separation from the Lord of Glory.  Forever.

          Get into God's Word, learn of Him, return to your first love, the Son of God who loved you first.  He still does.  Amen.

Week of Worship

June 3, 2012

Invocation:  Almighty and everlasting God, help us to know You in the three glorious expressions of Your being -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- that we may share in Your one and eternal glory.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 80

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Deuteronomy 6:4-25

Tuesday               John 5:19-29

Wednesday          1st Corinthians 12:1-13
Thursday              Ephesians 1:1-14

Friday                   Colossians 1:1-14

Saturday               John 16:1-11

Sunday                 Isaiah 6:1-8; Romans 8:12-17; Psalm 29;  John 3:1-17

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "Come, Thou Almighty King"

Benediction:  Keep me steadfast, my God, in faith and service, that in me the fullness of Your glory may take bodily expression.  I pray.  Amen.