HOW AM I DOING, LORD?

Our life is a gift with one chance to do it right.  An accident on my regular bike ride last week brought some soul searching. How am I doing, Lord? 

It could have been much worse, but I realized after it that one second can change everything.  It was the regular twenty-mile route on a clear, perfect day.  A chain-link covered ramp was just ahead.  I hurried up because a biker waited for me at the top.  It is a covered bridge across a river.  But at that moment as I reached her, my handlebar touched her handlebar and maybe her hand as well.  The next second I was hitting the chain-link fence at the top of the ramp head on and went down hard.  It took a second to realize that it really happened.  I got up, turned and faced the other biker and said, “It was my fault.  Are you alright?” She said the same thing to me twice.  I was fine; she was, too.  She rode down the ramp and was gone.  I turned to my bicycle still jammed against the fence, picked it up and coasted down the other side, but the chain was off, the gears had “jammed” and the front tire was damaged.  My next decision was to turn around, try to make it home without being rescued by my permanent, dependable rescuer.  Eric, my husband, has rescued me a few times.

This time, I managed to move the chain back on and limped the five or six miles home.  The bike was not totaled, the shop mechanic assured me…but the wait for it to be assessed and fixed and returned emphasizes my incident that changed everything.

I wondered out loud to my husband today, “Was God saying something to me?” “It could be.” But what I know is that life can turn a corner when you least expect it.  Incidents can happen that change the future, even the present.

A couple of places in Scripture came to me that night. They are contrasts.  One is a warning, one a mystery.

In Matthew, just before John baptized Jesus, he confronted Scribes and Pharisees who put on a false pretense of getting right with God (their hearts were deeply opposite).  John the forerunner of Jesus told them, “Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:10. How am I doing, Lord?

But a mysterious verse in Ezekiel 47:12 lifts the spirit to hope. “And all trees for food shall go up by the torrent, on its bank on this side, and on that side. Its leaf shall not fade, nor its fruit fail. It will bear by its months because its waters come out from the sanctuary. And its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing.” Does my life “bear good fruit”?

So, to end this introspection here is a thought.  Live every day with dependence on our Creator, Jesus Christ.  He has promised “I will never leave you or forsake you.” He will go ahead of me and come behind me.  I am His.

"Do not fear, nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, will be with you. He will not fail you nor leave you."  (I Chronicles 28:20).

ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?

Are you born again?  "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us..." (Titus 3:5)

When a friend told me, “I don’t think people in our Church know how to be born again” I was taken aback.  It took a few months to realize the seriousness of her statement.

Then I thought about another Church we were part of.  For two years, the Class we participated in seemed to grow cold, meaningless.  I wondered why.  Another friend told me after we left that the Teacher had given a pop quiz, and nobody knew anything.

 There is eternity ahead for every person.  This is the most important truth in your life. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:20) All of us “are in the same boat.”

 But you can be born again! 

 Do you know that Jesus, Son of God, came as a perfect sacrifice, died for your sins and mine, rose again (proving He is God)  He showed Himself to 500 at once after He rose from the dead.  "And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth, therefore go and teach all nations...’" (Matthew 28) “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life…” (I John 5:13) 

 Believe your God and Savior, Jesus Christ… “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9).  Believe in Jesus: that is faith.

Then, eternity with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is yours…forever.

 

A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS WROTE TO ME; I WROTE BACK TO HER

 

The letter came out of nowhere to our mailbox.  I don't know her and her name is not familiar, yet she wrote a personal letter introducing me to the Jehovah's Witness religion.  Maybe she will write again.

Here is my response: 

Dear...,

It is interesting that you sent this letter, handwritten.  Kind of rare now days.

 Yes, I have several Bibles…as our children grew up, we read the Bible together with them every day.  Now as seniors, my husband and I have continued, but the difference is:  Now we have time to discuss it, think it through and internalize the message of Scripture more thoroughly.  I am certain of eternal life!

 "Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6)

 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18) 

 "And there is salvation in no other One; for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

Often, I find that “doing good works” is what people hope will get them to heaven.  Then, that means, we can say to God, The Judge, on Judgment Day, “Look what I did.” But: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" (Titus 3:5)

"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:14,15) 

Then signed my name...

This seemed to be an opportunity to "preach the Gospel" ...maybe she will respond. 

AND THEN WE CAME TO LEVITICUS

It is amazing!  Eric and I started at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis again.  Then Exodus, and now Leviticus.  All my life it has come before me again and again.  Growing up, my parents read the Bible with us every day.  Then, when I married Eric forty-seven years ago, we were on our honeymoon traveling by car to Franklin, Tennessee.  We got out of the car by a flowing river, shade trees all around and my new husband opened the Bible and we began reading, there by the side of the road, sitting in all that natural beauty.

 

And so, the habit I had known all my life, we began on the first day of our marriage. I am thankful to him.

 

But Leviticus was for me a Book to get through.  I sort of knew that the symbolism was important, basic, foundational theology, but I took it for granted.

 

When we got to this Book again yesterday, Eric prayed that we would gain new understanding, and that we would grow from reading the Book of Leviticus this time.  It is happening. 

 

It describes the perfect animal sacrifice of a bull for the Priest who sinned without knowing he had, and a bull for the whole congregation when they sinned in ignorance.  This told us that the Priest was responsible to set the tone, the example of right standing with God.  The “people” also shared that accountability. The perfect animal pictured Jesus, "...he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Hebrews 9:26) He did “no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth..." (1 Peter 2:22)

One of my hobbies is nutrition, the subject of nutrition is here too, in Leviticus.  Don’t eat fat, or blood “It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” (Leviticus 3:17) The New Testament carries a related command; “…abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if you keep yourselves, you shall do well.” (Acts 15:29)

 

There is a downward trend today in our Country.  Confession of our sin is not on our minds.  And a trend toward food that is not nurturing our best health.

 

The Bible, speaking for itself, is the mind of God.  It is given at great expense by “holy men of God” and carefully preserved for you and me.

 

If you keep it on the coffee table…that is good.  But if you choose to read it from Genesis to Revelation, you will grow wise and knowledgeable and you will desire from your inward being to be pleasing to God. 

 

BELIEF IS IMPORTANT

The other day, just after the 2021 election, my head was in my hands, I feared, I had dread, hope was dim.  As I laced my sneakers for a bike ride, (head down) a verse came into my soul or head; it was clear, “Said I not to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God.” It was Jesus talking to Martha after her brother died.

I went on my usual bike route and felt hope.  Since that day, as I have kept my heart and eyes open, several more “words” from the Bible have either jumped off the page as Eric and I read every morning, or a Word in the form of a verse comes into my head. 

My attempt to encourage you is here: The Word is Jesus, and Jesus is the Word.  “And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us...” John 1:14. 

Once again as I woke this morning my cell phone had two verses waiting for me. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11 

The other, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all liberally…” James 1:5.

“But exhort one another daily…“ we read this morning…living and expecting The Word, who is Jesus, to speak to us.

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK…WHAT?

 When I finished cleaning up the house this morning, I lay on the floor with a thick quilt over me.  It’s good for your posture and it’s so warm!

 

Praying, I asked the Lord if I please Him.  A Psalm came to my mind, “Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb.  Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of your heart…” I memorized this Psalm because I heard my mother say it so many times as I grew up.  It was “her Psalm” so now it is mine.  King James Version, of course, is what I always heard.  My own “version” changes the thee and thou and thyself words to you and yourself now…

 

But then I kept quoting as I lay on the floor, “…but the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace…” and I thought about Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount.  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Without looking up meek, I began to guess at the meaning of that word.  The meek do not parade themselves (I’ve done that).  A meek person is humble, (I’ve been arrogant).  The meek give room for another’s place, putting themselves after.  In traffic, I remember taking off furiously from a light a few years ago.  A man in a sporty car next to me tried to get into the one lane ahead first.  In my Explorer Sport, (much older than his sports car) I beat him.  I didn’t feel kind after that.

 

Meekness is virtue.  Meekness puts God’s will as priority and others next.  Meekness adjusts desires so that greed, envy, “self-promoting” habits and pride are overcome…at least the prayer is that these evil tendencies are conquered.  It gives room in your soul and mine for peace.  “But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the overflowing of peace.” Psalm 37:11. NKJV.

 

As I was praying on the floor, warm blanket pulled high, the words of Jesus, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” I am sure is true.  The earth is more important if it is thought of as the eternal state of the earth.  My spirit, my soul is eternal.   While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

CHRISTMAS DEVOTIONAL By Charlotte Paris

Guest Author is my sister, Charlotte The Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14; “The Lord himself with give you a sign.  A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel.” The Fulfillment: Matthew 1:22,23 “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they will call his name Jesus. The Love of God: John 3:16;  “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten SON. That whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” 2020 has been a year of turmoil, confusion, of fear and stress. For the whole world! But right now, REDIRECT how you think. Shake yourself. The beacon of Christmas is on display for everyone in the world to see right now. The light and hope that you need is right in front of you!  LOOK AT IT!  It is Waving at you. Trying to get your attention.  Don’t miss it! Look unto Him and LIVE! JESUS SAID: “I am come that you might have LIFE and have it more abundantly.”  Are you living an abundant life? If not, you might be missing a crucial ingredient. Prophecy for-told that a Messiah, a Deliverer, would come one day and save his people. That He would come into the world as a baby, born to a virgin. He would live on this earth as a man so he could understand what mankind goes through. But his purpose was not just to understand us, he came to SAVE US!  To bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful man.  Only a perfect sacrifice was good enough to do that. Only Jesus was perfect!   Because he was God in the flesh, only He could PAY THE PRICE and set us free from our GREATEST BURDEN:  SIN!  Sin separates us from God, and we needed God! So let’s get real ... on this Christmas why do we even need this baby, say nothing of ADORE him?   And what does that have to do with the stress of 2020 anyway! WELL, as it turns out, A LOT! We don’t adore him because he was a cute, chubby baby, or because the manger scene is such a charming tradition with the animals in the stable and that star above it. So, I’ll just tell you The reason I adore him.  It is because HE PAID MY DEBT in my place. He died for Me! He forgave my sins. He made me right with God. I was in bondage and He broke those chains off me.  He made it possible for me to go directly to God in prayer for ALL my needs.  He washed me clean and removed my shame. He healed my wounds. He took the pain out of my scars and turned them into trophies of His goodness. He met my needs when I did not deserve it. He smiled at me and lifted me up when I felt worthless and ashamed. He made me worthy. Now before God there are No barriers, no hinderances, no chains of guilt or fear or dread, no shame.  That debt has been paid!  Jesus paid it all when he gave his life on the cross in my place. He paid MY DEBT! He took my place!!  He said he would never leave me or forsake me. I will never be abandoned. HE LOVES ME! I want you to know that He offers this forgiveness “for free” to anyone who will accept it. Just receive it. It is the best gift ever! …And THAT is why I ADORE HIM!!! And That is the Hope needed for 2021!