Walking With Jesus

The Secret of Joy

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” (Matthew 13:44 NLT)

What treasure are you seeking? Is it financial? Relational? Educational? Mental? Emotional? _________(you can fill in the blank)? Whatever it is, what’s it worth to you? There’s a lot of wealth in the city in which I live. Multimillion dollar houses are tucked away behind gates designed to protect against intruders. Cars that cost more than I made in five plus years when I was working, crowd our busy streets. These are often the “treasures” we pursue, thinking they will fill the emptiness of our soul.

The implication of the parable Jesus told in the verse above was the man wasn’t necessarily pursuing this treasure but found it during the course of his normal activities. That’s often how Jesus is “discovered.” Often in the futility of chasing something temporal, we happen onto that which is eternal.

As we peruse the activities of our day-to-day life, we’re thrust into the realization that circumstances change, but God doesn’t. The writer of the Hebrew letter confirms that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” It may vary from person to person, but many of us don’t find Jesus because we’re searching for Him. He finds us most often in the changing landscapes of our daily lives.

Like Solomon, we try everything to find lasting happiness and joy, only to be disappointed by the trinkets of this world. But, ultimately, by God’s grace, we discover the Treasure is Jesus and find it a small price to trade everything we are or ever hope to be just to know, love, and serve Him.

Elisabeth Elliot was right when she said: “The secret of joy is Christ in me, not me in different circumstances.” Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27: “For God wanted them (us) to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.”

If you’re a Jesus follower, have you ever tried to calculate the value of the gift of His presence living in you? Have you ever sought to compare the privilege of being forgiven, cleansed, freed to become a brand-new species of being like no other that’s ever existed, with anything this world can offer? Think of the most valuable gift you’ve ever received, knowing you’d give it away in a heartbeat to have what you’ve found in Jesus.

When I attempt to define the word “joy,” it occurs to me that true, Biblical “joy” isn’t brought about, isn’t a byproduct of anything of this world. Imagine closing your eyes in death and opening them in the presence of the same holiness, goodness, perfection, kindness, mercy, love, and grace that fills your heart and motivates your life as you experience Jesus on earth. Only now you don’t only sense His presence, you see His face!

This isn’t a passing feeling or temporary euphoria, it’s your new reality. There’s no way to describe what you’re feeling; you haven’t had any opportunity in your life on earth to give expression to anything like this because you’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s all new, fresh, exciting, moving, beyond the power of words to explain.

You’re in the eternal presence of the living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom you’ve read about, talked about, prayed to, loved, and served, but you never dreamed or imagined how joy-filled your new heart would be or how you could ever in a million years feel this light and free and alive!

He IS the secret of joy! Not only for this life, but for all eternity! He IS the Treasure worth selling all you own to have!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Your Pain Has Purpose

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.’” (Revelation 21:4 NLT)

Heaven, a home with God forever, is hard to imagine, isn’t it? Every day we’re reminded that life on earth is temporary, but, especially when we’re young, we tend to believe we’re invincible and life on earth will never end. That tends to change dramatically as we age.

Today I changed the filter in our water system, a chore I’ve completed many times, but it took me much longer today because I couldn’t remember how I did it. Water was spewing all over the place and I was begging God to help me figure out what I was doing wrong. He did, but not before I’d made a big mess. Every time I knelt to try to reattach the filter housing I got a charley horse, first in my right leg, then my left. Pain is my near constant companion in this season of my life, but did you notice what that pain caused me to do?

Who did I beg for help? The Lord! He’s my constant companion, literally, and I can’t imagine not being near Him. That’s the joy and cause for my anticipation of being with Him for all eternity. Heaven would hold no appeal to me if Jesus wasn’t going to be there.

Rosaria Butterfield nailed it when she said: “A life outside of Christ is both hard and frightening; a life in Christ has hard edges and dark valleys, but it is purposeful even when painful.” This is a very sensitive topic, so I want to tread lightly, but from my perspective and based on my understanding of what the Bible teaches, God never wastes a problem.

Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” And please understand, Paul is not saying that God causes everything. He doesn’t cause a driver to go 100 mph on a city street and slam into a family of six, killing them all. He doesn’t cause people to become addicts, murderers, or rapists. That’s ludicrous and an insult to a holy God.

So, why does Paul give us that assurance? Perhaps C. S. Lewis says it best: “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (The Problem of Pain) We are so distracted by the busyness of life that we tend to ignore the pain of others, but not when it knocks on our door.

So, the question remains, what is the purpose of my pain? The obvious answer is “to point us to the Lord.” But crying out to the Lord to “fix this” isn’t exactly the purpose. On some levels pain is like the red light that is designed to have us stop at an intersection. We can ignore it, but usually at our peril. Or we can allow it to fulfill its purpose.

Ultimately the purpose of pain isn’t to make us suffer, but to enable us to see and understand that we are finite, frail, and inadequate to deal with pain on our own. It’s designed to point us to Jesus and find strength, healing, help, and adequacy in Him. I realize that some reading this may be mad at God for not healing someone, or not saving them from an accident or illness. And I get it. Every member of my immediate family has preceded me in death, but, gratefully, each one of them had a personal love relationship with the Lord and I will see each of them one day in full health and without pain.

Regardless of where you are in your walk with the Lord or what you’re going through right now, I can assure you based on the Word of God and my more than 60 years of personal experience as a Jesus follower, it’s a lot better to go through pain and death with Jesus than without Him.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

How God Judges

“You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you…” (Luke 19:22a NLT)

What comes first to mind when you think of God’s judgment? Is God’s judgment to be feared once you’ve yielded your life to Jesus? What is God’s standard for judgment?

In Hebrews 9:27, the writer says: “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him.”

George Müller, a great man of prayer, wrote: “God judges what we give by what we keep.” That idea has real merit! Think about what we tend to keep – hold onto: money, grudges, forgiveness, love, hatred, revenge, possessions, people, habits, sins – the list is long. In my mind’s eye I envision a tightly clenched fist, squeezing that which belongs to ME! “It’s MINE!” I can almost hear those words in a thousand different scenarios.

As a pastor I stood in the presence of a lot of people who had suffered severe loss. They dealt with their loss in a lot of different ways. Some were quiet, introspective, gentle as the Lord seemed clearly to embrace and comfort them. Others were visibly angry at God and the world, for taking “what’s MINE!” Whether a person, a possession, a position – in whatever form the loss came – neither God nor anybody else had any right to take it away. Healing can’t easily come to a spirit of bitterness and hatred.

What does any of this have to do with judgment? A lot! The Bible is clear that to a large extent, what we get is based on what we’re willing to give, including judgment. In His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus spoke to all areas of our lives, primarily from the standpoint of taking initiative. From the Beatitudes in the beginning of His message, He essentially is saying: “Take the initiative by being humble, by hungering and thirsting for justice, by being merciful, by having a pure heart, by seeking peace, by accepting persecution for doing right.”

Then He hones in and makes it very personal when He talks about being salt and light, by obeying God’s laws, by controlling your temper, by controlling your thoughts, and on and on. What’s my point? There is no judgment for those who judge themselves. When we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus and seek with everything within us to allow Him to model His life in and through us as He modeled His Father’s life in and through His life, we illustrate in living color how magnificent Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross really was.

Please read Isaiah 53 with tissues in hand, in order to understand what real judgment looks like, the kind of judgment we deserve, but won’t suffer because “He bore our sins!” Because of Jesus and what He did in our place and on our behalf our “judgment” becomes our opportunity to be proactive in loving, giving, serving, forgiving, healing, helping, and on and on as we follow in the footsteps of our Savior.

Judgment is only an issue for someone who hasn’t yet given their life and allegiance to Jesus. And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for? You think Satan cares about you? Do you honestly believe if you had all the money and all the trinkets this world could offer, you’d be happy? Please stop believing the lies of the devil and let the Holy Spirit open your eyes and heart to Jesus.

Your judgment has already been given to Jesus. Let Him forgive and cleanse you of your sins. Please click the link below and see how you can know with certainty that you’re going to heaven when you die and have a life worth living while you’re here. https://hutchcraft.com/the-bridge-to-god

Blessings, Ed 😊

Where Do You Want to Sit in God’s Kingdom?

“But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42 NLT)

In your mind what is the most important thing you do for God? Live a moral life? Be a good steward of the resources you’ve been given? Read and study the Bible? Pray? Attend church? Serve in or outside the church? Love your family? Witness to others about your faith in Jesus?

For Mary it was to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him. The term “worship” is derived from a word that means “to kiss a hand,” and the picture it paints is of a dog licking his master’s hand. Strong’s says: “in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication.”

Worship isn’t only singing or listening to a sermon, it’s an attitude of our heart that renders preference to another’s needs or desires in favor of our own. The question I’ve sometimes asked in reference to the story of Mary and Martha is, who would prepare the meal and prepare the table if both chose to sit at Jesus’ feet? I’m confident that was the question that stirred in Martha’s mind. And I believe it’s a legitimate question.

Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem and had been invited by Martha to come in to rest on their journey. Custom would dictate that the host family, if able, would provide a meal and lodging, thus the frenzy Martha was in. She was likely the older and felt an obligation to carry out her duty as a hostess, but given the number of guests, she was counting on Mary to pitch in.

Martha’s question is fair on many levels, and Jesus didn’t discount what she was doing, He simply stated the priority is what Mary chose. How does that relate to us. There is a sense in which everything we do should be done as an act of worship. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

As I understand what Jesus said to Martha, it wasn’t so much what she was doing, but her frenzied attitude that was the issue. We can worship at Jesus’ feet peeling potatoes as easily as we can sitting in church. It’s not the posture of our body alone that determines the outcome of our worship, it’s the attitude of our heart. It’s not so much what we’re doing as why we’re doing it.

Like Martha, James and John weren’t thinking of Jesus as much as themselves when they asked if they could sit on His right and left sides in the Kingdom. F.B. Meyer wrote: “Lord, I cannot hope to sit on your right or your left in your kingdom, but permit me to sit at your feet and hear your Word.”

Where do you want to sit in God’s Kingdom? Personally, I’ve never given that much thought. In the early years of my walk with the Lord we used to sing more songs about heaven. There were some that talked about our “mansions” in heaven, but to me I’d be perfectly content with a puptent just inside the furthest border of heaven, as long as I can worship at the feet of my Savior.

In my mind’s eye I imagine if Martha had asked Jesus early on, He would have said, “Come and sit with Me. There are things I’d like to share with you. We can eat later. We’ll all pitch in, but for now, I’d love it if you’d just spend time with Me.”

That’s where I want to be when I get to heaven. Sitting at His feet, soaking in His every word. And I pray it will feel very familiar, as I make that a daily habit while I’m still here on earth.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Tim Keller: Pastor, Author, Theologian

*Today’s post is taken entirely from a BreakPoint article that appeared May 23, 2023, in recognition of Pastor Tim Keller’s passing. Having often read and used quotes from Pastor Keller’s writings, I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the Lord for his life and ministry. Additionally, I want to give you exposure to The Colson Center ministry and the invaluable contribution John Stonestreet and others who are a part of the Colson Center team make to the Christian Faith, especially as it relates to our worldview as a Jesus follower.

Last Friday, May 19, pastor, theologian, and author Tim Keller passed away. The longtime pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and author of books such as The Reason for God was known for his thoughtful sermons, calm demeanor, and a ministry that extended beyond his own denomination and even his fellow Christians to the wider world of elite society.

It’s rare, especially today, for someone to be called “a giant” by both a top theologian and a New York Times columnist. Rarer still will such a prominent figure be regularly described as unassuming, living out the exhortation of Rudyard Kipling to be someone who can “walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch.” It’s notable that even his critics, which he certainly had, have refrained from doubting his self-effacing grace and kindness for others.

Keller was in his forties before he showed up on the public’s radar. Oddly enough, he went to Manhattan after pastoring a small-town Virginia church for nine years. Success in the Big Apple was by no means a sure thing. A theologically conservative pastor setting up shop in the “Babylon” of downtown New York City had all the makings of a fish-out-of-water story where the well-meaning parson was doomed to failure even before he set out.

Keller took pains to know his audience, leveraging his own intellectual rigor into sermons for his highly educated hearers. He refused to talk down, much less shout down. Nor did he attempt to make the distinctives of the Christian faith more palatable. He took strong stands on the deity of Christ, the reliability of Scripture, the resurrection, the hopelessness of secularism, and the enduring relevance of Christian sexual ethics.

From an initial church plant of 15 people in 1989, Redeemer Presbyterian Church grew to a network of multiple congregations with thousands of people attending each week. In time, his influence extended to other pastors, who were inspired by his example and teaching, and set out to emulate in their own communities what Keller had done in New York. Keller was also instrumental in cross-denominational efforts, linking like-minded Christians to share their ideas and cooperate in endeavors to enhance the presence of the Church around the world. He was a co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, a broadly Reformed network that is among the most influential voices of contemporary evangelicalism, and a central figure in a Reformed resurgence among those who became known as the “Young, Restless, and Reformed.”

He was also an original signer of the Manhattan Declaration, a Christian statement on life, marriage, and religious liberty because, as he put it at the time, “these are biblical.” Keller communicated a confidence that believers could maintain the classical faith of Christianity without being ashamed when dealing with cynical neighbors. Christians could, he believed, meet the claims of the world face-to-face because the Bible offers an accurate and holistic explanation for reality and the human condition and grounds the hope for which people are truly searching. His sermons offered a robust biblical analysis, a keen awareness and understanding of culture, and allusions to art, history, Lewis, and Tolkien.

Ironically, his critics include progressive Princeton students and faculty, who couldn’t stomach the idea that he would be honored by their school, and conservative Christians, some of whom believed his winsomeness to be weakness, and others who, as I often did in recent years, disagreed with his posture about politics and political allegiance.

Even so, Keller was a remarkable gift to Christ’s Church at an incredibly important cultural moment. Even in disagreeing, he made us better by, as St. Paul put it, “set(ting) the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity,” and reminding us that, in the end, the resurrection secures our hope for today and for eternity. As he said on a podcast near the end of his life, in his trademark thoughtful and calm demeanor, “If Jesus Christ was actually raised from the dead, if He really got up … everything is going to be all right.”

This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy D. Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org.

Have You Made Your “Not-To-Do” List?

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!” (Haggai 1:5-6 NLT)

There are seasons to our lives. Every calendar year sees winter turn into spring, turn into summer, turn into fall. In a similar way, our lives follow seasons. Childhood turns into teen years, turn into young adult years, turn into middle adult years, turn into senior adult years. But in my life, and I suspect yours, there are other seasons as well. Seasons of celebration and joy, of heartache and pain, of suffering and sickness, of gain and loss, of progress and stagnation.

The recent Covid Pandemic, the effects of which still linger, has initiated many “seasons” in our lives, some experienced for the first time. We’ve seen jobs change and come and go. Church attendance tanked and a lot of churches have closed. The stress has brought an increase in divorce and a decrease in births. Mental and emotional issues have skyrocketed, especially among the younger females.

What’s my point? Life is hard, but we often make it harder by trying to maintain the proverbial “status quo.” The popular question I’ve heard asked many times is: “When will things get back to ‘normal?’” Or asked another way: “Will things EVER get back to ‘normal?’”

One thing I’ve learned in my journey with Jesus is HE IS our new normal. Wherever He leads and whatever He instructs is “normal” for a Jesus follower. We compound the problems and extend the difficult seasons by wanting things to “be like they were.” When a loved one dies, you go through a divorce, or lose your job, there’s no return to normal. “Things” have forever changed.

Pastor Rick Warren had a helpful word in a recent devotional: “Whether you’re returning to life after a pandemic, a divorce, an illness, or another time of great fear or loss, don’t automatically say, ‘Well, I’m just going to do everything the way I’ve always done it.’ Why? Because hardship changes people. You’re not the same person after a trauma that you were before. Instead of returning to the same old patterns, behaviors, and habits, God wants to give you an opportunity to reset your life. There are likely some things you were doing before the hard times that you shouldn’t start up again.”

In some ways a reset or setback is a great time to start new habits and discard some that weren’t helpful. My mom was an alcoholic when I was growing up, so I’ve never spent much time in a bar, except to eat. But some have created a habit of stopping by the bar/club after work every day. Why? “Because it’s how I unwind after a hard day.” Really?

Jesus followers have to create new, improved ways of coping with change or “hard days.” And one of the best ways to do that is to create meaningful, well thought out “Not-to-Do” lists. For example, rather than spending hours on your phone or laptop, begin the day in God’s Word, the Bible. Start with a chapter a day, with a pen and pad handy to take notes or jot down questions that arise from your reading. Set aside intentional time each day to speak with the Lord about what’s going on in your life.

If you have a family or close friends, make them a priority in your “new” schedule. Addictions begin one event at a time – one drink at a time, one visit to a website at a time, etc. Break the cycle of addictive behaviors by replacing wrong thoughts or activities with “right” thoughts or activities. Every habit, both good and bad, begins in your mind. What you think about comes about. When you make the decision to change the way you think, there is absolutely no limit to what the Lord can do with your life, but you may need to “not do” some things that are hindering you.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Living Under His Authority?

“But the officer said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, “Go,” and they go, or “Come,” and they come. And if I say to my slaves, “Do this,” they do it.’” (Matthew 8:8-9 NLT)

Do you realize that if you are a child of the living Savior, Jesus, you have unlimited authority? How do I know that? In John 5 in a conversation with the Jewish leaders, Jesus tells them that He is the Son of God, which they rightfully understood Him to mean that He was God in human flesh. Though they rejected Him, He explained that God the Father, the same Father in whom they professed to believe, had given Him all authority – all the authority of God Himself.

His authority was so powerful and limitless that Jesus said: “… those who listen to My message and believe in God who sent Me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” Then, in verse 30, He shares the key to His authority: “I can do nothing on My own. I judge as God tells Me. Therefore, My judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the One who sent Me, not My own will.”

Authority is always passed down, never up. If we’re immersed in and submitted to the authority of the Lord, His authority will flow through us in powerful and miraculous ways. But we must never lose sight of the fact that it’s not our authority, but His. In John 15:5 Jesus said: “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Just as Jesus credited the Father for the things Jesus did, we must never fail to acknowledge that whatever measure of authority we have isn’t ours, but His. An observation that I’ve made as I’ve worked in many settings in my long life: “Someone who doesn’t do well under authority usually doesn’t do well with authority.”

Think of the authority the Apostles exercised after Jesus was ascended. Peter and John healed a beggar at the entrance of the Temple who had been lame from birth. When the people responded with astonishment Peter said to them: “‘People of Israel,’ he said, ‘what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?’” Paul had the same attitude as he shifted honor and credit to God when the Lord used him in miraculous ways.

Could it be that we’re not seeing more miraculous signs and wonders in and through our ministries, individually and collectively, because we’re too interested in who gets the credit? Even as I write these posts, the only glory I seek is for God. If a word I write has value to you, it’s because of Him, not me. I’m the instrument, not the author.

Ideally, that should be our attitude each day as we live our life. Paul said in Galatians 2:20: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

In the same way, as we continually seek to walk in God’s will, His Spirit flows in and through us, using our body of clay to hear His voice; to see who and what He sees, in terms of people with whom to share; to speak His Truth; to entrust the results to Him; and to give Him all glory and honor for the results. The greater measure of dependence upon the Spirit, the greater measure of authority He exercises in and through us.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Passive Obedience?

“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8 NLT)

In Matthew 21:28-32 Jesus tells the story of two sons, both of whom the father asked to work in his vineyard. The older son said “no,” but later went and worked in the vineyard, while the younger son said “yes,” but never went. Then Jesus asked: “Which of the two obeyed his father?” What’s the point?

Obedience isn’t necessarily contingent upon agreeing to do or not do something. Obedience is the result of doing what we’re told to do whether we agreed to do it or not. Agreeing to do something and doing it are two very different things. It’s what Ron Hutchcraft refers to as “go-bedience!”

Abraham isn’t the father of our faith simply because he agreed to go to a land that God would give him. He was proven faithful because he obeyed without question and without delay, even when he didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t just agree, he obeyed.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

So, the question then becomes: “What has the Lord instructed you to do?” And if you say, “nothing,” either you’re not reading His Word, the Bible, or you’re not listening to what you’re reading. God’s Word is filled with commands, many of which are given for our protection from the evil one. For example, in James 4:7-9 we find these commands: “humble yourselves…Resist the devil…Come close to God…Wash your hands…purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world…Let there be tears…let there be sorrow and deep grief…let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.”

We read verses like these and rarely, if ever, see them as directed to ourselves. What a shame! The Bible was written to you and me, not simply to its original audiences. Until we hear words like these for ourselves, seeing them and hearing them as avenues of correction for us, they’re just words on a page. The only appropriate response to God’s directives is “Yes, Father!” Then set in motion a plan to carry out whatever He’s telling you to do.

There’s no such thing as passive obedience, only active surrender to His Spirit’s leadership. Ron Hutchcraft wrote: “Maybe your Lord’s asking you to start something, or to leave something or someone, or maybe to stop doing something, or to confront something, or give something, or tell someone about the Savior who died for them. And faith obedience steps out, not because you know where or you know how, but because you know Who. You know Who you are following. You’re following an all-powerful Lord who will never do you wrong! Would anyone who loved you enough to die for you ever do you wrong? It’s one thing to agree with what your Father wants you to do. It’s a whole other thing to start doing it. Until you do, you’re just disobeying your Father. The old song is right. ‘Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.’”

Abraham didn’t know his destination until after he began his journey. That’s true for us as well. If the Lord mapped out every step before we took the first one, there likely wouldn’t ever be a first step for us. Faith is built in the journey, not in the reading or the listening or the dreaming.

Just as Abraham didn’t always get it right, we’ll fall short in our efforts, but the beauty of Abraham’s faith is he didn’t let anything stop him until the journey was complete. The formula that works best for me is simply to do what I’m told and leave the results to the Lord. Our obedience isn’t in the outcomes, but in the intentional and deliberate steps of obedience.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Wow! What a Celebration?

“But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’” (Luke 14:18-20 NLT)

Have you ever not wanted to do something, so you made up some lame excuse? You were available, but you just didn’t want to go? Why do we do that? Jesus told the story of a great feast while He was a guest in the home of a leader of the Pharisees. As was often the case with the Lord, He let His surroundings give rise to some teachable moments.

It was in this context that He told the Pharisees, while they scurried to get the best seats, to take a seat at the foot of the table, then be honored by having the host show them to a better seat. It was also here that Jesus told those present, who were predominantly Jewish Pharisees, to not invite “your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors” but “Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”

He coupled that with the fact that “at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” Then Jesus tells the story of the great feast where in the verses above, people began to make excuse. What was His point? Why that story in that setting? Essentially, He was painting for those Jewish religious leaders, a picture of what they were doing with His invitation to come to Him for eternal life.

These Jewish religious leaders were the spiritually “poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind,” just like we are today, apart from Jesus. He was showing them that their refusal to accept the message He was bringing them from the Father they swore to love and obey, was no different than those in His story. Most people, then and now, don’t miss heaven because they don’t want to go there, it’s because they misunderstand their necessity to respond to the Lord’s invitation.

Jesus did then as He does today, invite people who believe the “Host” is privileged to have them IF they decide to come. His generous invitation is open to all who would respond by faith, beginning with His chosen Jews, but, gratefully, when they made excuse, He opened the door to “whosoever will.”

Yet, there’s another dimension to this story that we can’t miss. Jesus loved feasts. He loved to feed people, but He also loved interacting with others around a meal. What does that tell us about our Savior? He loved a good time! He loved to be with His friends in a relaxed and casual setting.

A few verses before the ones above, a man at the dinner table with Jesus said: “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” Can you begin to imagine what a scene that will be? Millions, perhaps billions of people who have yielded their lives to Jesus, being ushered into a banquet hall the likes of which none of us can imagine. All those people, but no one is pushing or jockeying for a better position at the table. There’s a sense of awe and wonder, but the most predominant emotion is joy!

It’s a celebration, but ironically, it’s not for Jesus – He’s our Host! The banquet is His opportunity to celebrate US! It’s our “Rewards Ceremony” where He’ll call each of us forward to brag on us and to tell about times in our lives that we may have forgotten, but that meant so much to Him. A word of encouragement spoken to someone when no one else was around. Or when we gave money, we didn’t have to spare, to bless someone who needed it more than we did.

And you know the funny thing about all of this? All of these people, you’d think it would take years to greet each one – and it may! But it will seem to us that all of this elaborate celebration was planned just for us, individually, as though we were Jesus’ only guest! Wow! What a celebration!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Surrendering to Get Strong

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NLT)

Weakness is something we tend to despise as human beings, especially when we’re young. We can tolerate a lot, but being seen as weak is not one of them. Unfortunately, that attitude often carries over into our relationship with the Lord. We want to be strong in faith, strong in our witness, strong in our service, strong in our worship, strong in our love for others, strong in our _____________, and you can fill in the blank.

We see strength as an asset, as an ally, as a necessity to being a child of God, but is it? On the other hand, we tend to view weakness as a detriment, something that will prevent us from being all we were meant to be. That seems to be Paul’s attitude as he begged God on three occasions to take away his physical issue, but God said no.

There’s a quote I read, and I’ve searched but can’t find who said it. It said something like: “If I lose or don’t have something, I must not need it to do what God has called me to do.” Obviously whatever Paul’s issue was, God believed he could do whatever He called him to do without it. It’s my conviction that when we lose something, rather than waste our time bemoaning what we’ve lost, we should focus on what we have left, because that’s what God has given us to do His will.

Elisabeth Elliot said: “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.” Loss is painful and often debilitating, but out of pain and loss can come a closeness to the Lord that can come in no other way.

Think of the Cross. Think of those who sneered at Jesus:“’He saved others,’ they scoffed, ‘but He can’t save Himself! Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe Him.’” They mistook strength for weakness. My experience has been the best position to listen to the Lord is flat on my back, when I’m so weak I literally can’t get out of bed.

I related to Elisabeth Elliot when she said: “My heart was saying, ‘Lord take away this longing, or give me that for which I long.’ The Lord was answering, ‘I must teach you to long for something better.’” There are times when we ask in weakness what we think we need to be strong, when all we need is Jesus.

Strength is a byproduct of closeness to the Lord, and the only way to find Him is in surrendering our will to His. As Elisabeth Elliot said: “I do not ‘make’ him Lord, I acknowledge Him Lord.” It’s ironic on many levels that, at least spiritually speaking, we win when we surrender. The harder we fight to be self-sufficient, the further away we push ourselves from the Lord.

For a Jesus follower life is a battle. A battle, not simply between good and evil, but between better and best. And yes, of course, there are times to stand and fight for what is right and good. But the biggest battles I’ve fought have been discerning between better and God’s best. Often what’s best for me is cloaked in apparent “weakness.” Standing down instead of standing up. Staying on the cross from which I’m dying to come down and show “them” who I really am.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊