He Gives Life

 Act 17:28,25
For in Him we live, and move, and have our being;..seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things..

He is all in all. With our whole being we make Him Lord of our Life. We live because He lives and provides us with all that is needed to survive on earth, and life beyond the grave. No one holds their own destiny. We make choices that determine our destiny, but our life is ultimately in the hands of God. The breath we take daily is given to us by our Creator, who determines when we will take our last. We live each day thinking there will always be a tomorrow, but out of nowhere, like vapor, it is gone. A tragic accident, a heart attack, or cancer makes its way into our life, and we are now counting the days. We don’t hold the number of days, we can only hold on to Christ who is our life, even in death He is our substance and our being. 
As my wife and I walked around the cemetery on the mountain side of Morrison to start making arrangements for our burial place, I was made aware of the certainty of death and the unpredictability of life. Gravestone markers of people of all ages. I wondered how many knew Jesus. Did they have eternal life that only Jesus can give?
 There are many teachings out in the world that give false hope. Paul faced this in Athens, where images of false gods were erected throughout the land. He acknowledged that they had been blinded to the truth, but He preached Jesus, and admonished them to repent. We still live in a day of many false gods. We who are born of God, and have life in Christ, have the answer to the truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and life, and He alone can take that which is dead and give it life and life everlasting.  

The Sacrificial Lamb

 1 Peter  3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit,

The observance of the death of Christ is recognized today, Friday, the end of Passion Week. As Christians, we celebrate this special day with thanksgiving that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins, renting the veil of the temple in half, giving us access to God, closing the chasm between man and God.  The week follows the Jewish Passover, which changes from year to year depending on the full moon after the spring equinox. The Passover occurred when the death angel came and killed all the firstborn in Egypt. The Jews were spared this death if their house had the shed blood of the lamb stricken over the door post of their home. The blood, signifying Jesus’ blood that was shed on Friday of Holy Week, covers our sin and the penalty for sin that we owe. He paid the debt that we could not pay. He was the sacrificial lamb who took on the wages of sin for you and me. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is life eternal because He died on the cross and became the substitutionary lamb of God.  It would appear to be a sad day for those who followed Him, grieved that their Messiah was being nailed to a cross between two thieves. But Christ, who willingly gave His life, said, “It is finished.” The songwriter pens, “It is finished, the battle is over, it is finished, there'll be no more war, it is finished, the end of the conflict, it is finished and Jesus is Lord.” The victory has been won. The good news is that Good Friday is God’s gift to us, and Sunday is coming!

Take Up The Cross

 Mark 8:34
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

I have heard this scripture often used to describe people who have been going through difficult times. “This is the cross that is given to you to bear.” Bearing your cross goes deeper than going through your own personal hardship. 
Everyone, both Christian and unbeliever, goes through hard times and unwanted burdens in life. But, the cross that Christ refers to is a “death route” experience. The cross symbolizes death to self and all that is unholy. To take up the cross daily is an act of purpose and submission. Taking up the cross is telling God that you are submitted to His will and His plan for your life. Whatever that may bring, your heart is totally surrendered to Him. A true follower of Christ will make decisions that will often require him to deny what he wants and do what is best for the kingdom. Jesus said, “Come after me, and follow me.” Many follow Him for the loaves and the fishes, but turn aside when faced with having to pick up the cross. Such demands are too high of a price to pay. The things of this world, the creature comforts, and the approval of others is just asking too much to give up. 
Taking up the cross does not necessarily mean that one lives in poverty or without the enjoyments this life provides, but it does mean that one is willing to relinquish their hold of them to follow after Him. Our Christian journey will take us to a fork in the road. The cross lays at the crossroad. This is a place in your life where a decision is made to take up the cross and let God take full control of your life. Jesus asked this of the young man, “One thing you lack: go your way, sell everything you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”- Mark 10:21. Unfortunately, this young man had a lot of riches and was not willing to take up the cross and surrender himself to God’s plan for his life.

Heal the BrokenHearted

 Isaiah 61:1
… He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…

Broken hearts result from individuals that have suffered loss. We all have at one time or another experienced the loss that caused great sorrow. Tears are shed day and night and life comes to a stand still. They say that time will heal a broken heart, and to a degree the ache lessens. All loss is painful, but the loss of a son, daughter, or spouse or close friend never seems to ever go away. The pain is greater when such loss happens before death is taken before old age is reached. If you have had such an experience, I don’t pretend to fully understand your pain and sorrow. But I read of One who can heal the broken heart, that is able to bring comfort during times of sorrow. Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted, and set you free to live again. Such healing does not mean that you will no longer remember or experience sadness, but He has promised, “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” (vs3). In our brokenness, all things work together for a purpose and reason. All things work together that He may be glorified. Jesus wants to heal the broken heart and set us free to live again.

Whosoever Shall Be Saved

 Roman 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

What do we need to be saved from? Why do we need to be excused? We, creatures of humanity, born of Adam, inheriting the Adamic nature from the fall of Adam and Eve are a fallen race. Sin abides in our heart and the wages of sin is death. But, Jesus came to save us from death. He took upon Him the sins of the world, died on the cross and paid the debt that we owed. Everyone who will believe, and accept this work of Christ will be saved. Believing and accepting implies that we know that we are sinners and recognize that Jesus alone can forgive our sinful way. We confess with our mouth our depravity, and believe in our heart that Jesus took upon Himself our sins, we can be saved. The core of equity is made clear in scripture. “Whosoever” means every human being born on earth has access to this salvation. God is no respecter of person, regardless of the color of your skin, the identity of your birth, the culture of your land, or the genealogy line you come from, we all have the opportunity to be saved. God so loved the world, that He gave Son that we may be saved. We confess, We believe! We are saved.

A Living Sacrifice

 Roman 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

A living sacrifice is what God desires of us. Like Isaac who laid on the altar for Abraham ready to be offered up to God, God wants us willingly to give our entire life to Him. As Christian, we have already been forgiven of our sins and have been washed in the blood of Christ. We have already received the newness of life and are new creatures in Christ. The step of giving your body (Your life) a living sacrifice is a full surrender of all your hopes and desires. Our ambitions, goals, and aspirations are laid at the altar. Death to self, the removal of ourselves from the throne of our heart and putting God there. It is no longer our will, but God’s will be done. This is life experience and crossroads that all Christian come to. We don’t slowly present our bodies, but it is an act of the will that we present our life to God to use for His glory. This sacrifice means that we no longer live like the world. Our worldview is now based on God’s word. Our thoughts, way of Life, and behaviors are now conformed to how God wants us to live.

Alienated from God, but Reconciled

Col 1:21,22
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

It is only through the blood of Christ, the blood that was shed on the cross that we can stand before a holy God and be presented unblameable. We are all born in sin and the works of the flesh are seen in our lives at an early age. The tendency is to put self first. Many times the good work we do is done to compensate for the selfish things that we do. Balance out the bad by doing good. The works of the flesh alienate us from God, and we believe that if we do things that are kind and helpful that we can in some way get God’s approval. Works not done by faith or love for God, or anything done without the Holy Spirit is a “work of the flesh.”  The teaching that humanity is basically good, and only needs to be trained and put in the right environment to do what is right is inaccurate. We do see moments during natural disasters of people coming together to help each other. This is a natural desire of survival and a God given desire to reach out to humanity, but such actions do not negate the fact that man is basically self-centered and seeks to please and satisfy himself, disregarding God's desire. Wicked works cause a separation between God and us. Yet now, we are part of the body of Christ and no longer do the works of the flesh. We align ourselves with the works of the Spirit, and manifest the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. This is the natural desire for the person who is sanctified and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live unblamable in this present world.

The Things of this World

Job 1:21

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

How obvious it is when we attend a funeral that the person laid in the casket no longer is in possession of their worldly things. Without the life flowing blood of life, the flesh on the bones slowly decomposes and we return back to the earth. All of our striving for the things of this world are counted as insignificant compared to the eternal things of God. Society has conditioned our minds and hearts to desire the things of this world, that the things of this world will bring happiness and contentment. To a degree, they do, but they only last for a season. It is necessary that we maintain a spiritual mind set that our treasures are not of this world, but we have set our hearts on things above. We are born into this world without possessions , and we will leave this life empty handed. We are grateful for what God gives us and He desires that we be good stewards of it, but all things belong to Him, and like Job, we commit our lives into His hands, and praise Him regardless of the circumstances 

Lift Up Jesus

 John 3:14-15
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

The bronze serpent lifted by Moses was the salvation of the people. The people had greatly sinned against the Lord who just delivered them from bondage. They were still in bondage to their selfish desires. Their hearts of unbelief started to doubt God and Moses. They became impatient with the way God was doing things. For their disobedience and unbelief, God sent poisonous serpents that brought death to many of the people. Death among many brought them to the realization that their sin was the cause. The wages of sin is still death. God in His mercy made a way of escape. We live in a day where sin and unbelief is found among those who profess to be followers of Christ. They have put their faith in religion and self-reliance. Jesus is still the answer. If we only look to Jesus. He is the only one that can bring deliverance from sin. Let us lift up Jesus to a messed up world and exalt Him. He and He alone can give us eternal life.

Shadow of Death

 Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me..
Walking through the valley of life we often find ourselves traveling through dark places. Places unknown and uncertain. The shadows of death are places where we fear for our lives or the lives of others, financial uncertainty, broken relationships,  the shadows that are cast in our journey cause apprehension of what the future holds and fear that we will not be able to handle the burden set before us. We are grateful for the support and prayers of others around us, but the pain is still real and we may fear that we will not make it. The enemy is tempting us to doubt God’s love and care for us. But in the mists of the dark shadow, God is there, He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. He is there in the good times and in the bad times. He is the Great Shepherd, and He will take care of His sheep. He will guide and protect us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

Crucify Him

 Luke 23:21
 But they cried, saying, crucify him, crucify him.

A week ago, the people were praising Him, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king that comes in the name of the Lord.” Some say that these were the same people now crying out to crucify Him, crucify Him! I like to think that they were not. The crowd last were filled with hope and anticipation that Jesus would be their deliverer. I believe many of them were heartbroken to see their hopes dashed by the events that were happening. Those that were crying out for the blood of Jesus to be put to death were those who felt threatened by His popularity and the large following He was gathering.  The Pharisee, Sadducees, Sanhedrin, and many of the religious sector who were blinded by their own self righteousness and greed for power. They were convicted by the life of Jesus. The crowd last week were fearful for their lives to be identified with Jesus, and I believe, feared repercussions from the religious leaders. But, their refusal to stand up for Jesus made them part responsible for Jesus being crucified. They may not have cried out, “crucify Him!” but like Peter, they were guilty of forsaking Him. His death on the cross was necessary for the salvation of mankind. It was prophesied many hundreds of years ago. We don’t have control over the events of life and what happens tomorrow, but we can still do what is right today, and live a life that is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Many still today are nailing Him to the cross and crucify Him afresh and anew. But we can take a stand for God and take up the cross and follow Him.

Remember Me

Luke 23:42

“Jesus, [please] remember me when You come into Your kingdom!

The cry of every soul when death draws near is to be remembered. The criminal on the cross would be remembered by those around him for the evil deeds he had committed . Scripture will forever remember this man who recognized his sinful condition and called out for mercy. We all deserve to die, for the wages of sin is death. Physical death comes to all. We will all someday take our last breath, the heart will cease to beat, and our mind will no longer function. Our soul will continue to live on, and we will come face to face and be judged by a Holy God who knows our heart and desires. He will remember when we yielded to His tender love and confessed our sins. He will remember our commitment to follow Him and to obey His word, He will remember our humanity and failures in life. We desire only to hear the words, “Enter in my good and faithful servant…” Remember me Lord when I pass from this life into eternity. 

Certainty of Death

 Ecclesiastes 7:2
It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart.

Death is inevitable and comes to all that are born into this life. It is good to think about death because it reminds us that life is but a vapor, and only that done for eternity will live on. We are so focused on the here and now, the demands of our society in our culture to make something of our lives in a material way. Have a nice job, buy a nice home, and be comfortable in our space. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with wanting these creature comforts, but we don’t take any of it with us when death comes. We have our soul, which consists of our relationship to God and others. Jesus said there are two great things in life that we need to pay attention to. “ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Going to the house of mourning awakens our heart and mind to what is essential in life. As we continue to live in this world becoming a productive citizen and contributing  to our community, let us not forget that death can come at any time and only that done in Jesus name will really matter.

Overcoming the Flesh

 Gal.5:19-21, 24
 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
Overcoming the flesh (that which causes us to sin) is done when we have put to death those things that cause us to fall away from God. The flesh is put to death when we allow the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and dethrone self and self-living. We are now led by the Spirit of God to do what is right. His fruit is now manifested in our lives, not by following a set of rules, but by submitting to his will , and allowing the Spirit to direct our path. This is holiness at work in the life of the believer.

Naked I Came. Naked I Leave

 Job 1:21

And said, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

We came into this world with no worldly possessions, and we will leave this world the same. Yes, we may be buried in a nice suit or dress, and be placed in a fancy coffin, but when we take our last breath, we leave naked. We have only one possession that lives on for eternity, and it is the soul that God gave us when He breathed the spirit of life in us. “For what does a man profit, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” The words of Christ force us to take inventory of our life. What really matters? We all enjoy the things of this world and God-given desires to enjoy what is good and wholesome, but in the end it is what we have done with our lives and the choices we have made that will determine our destiny when this life on earth is over. Blessed be the name of the Lord, for He is all that matters.

The Death of John the Baptist

 Matt. 14:10, 13
 And he (Herod) sent, and beheaded John in the prison… When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart…

The death of John the Baptist did not take Jesus by surprise; it was planned from the beginning of time that John would give his life for the Kingdom of God. He blazed the trail, prepared the way for the plan of salvation. Like Jesus, John was just a man in his 30s. Surely God could have given him more years and used him to spread the news. But, even John said, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” The impact of John’s death did not go unnoticed. As a man, Jesus desired to get away into the desert and possibly remember John and go to His Father and pray. Even though Jesus knew that John would die, He bore the burden of John’s death.  It is sad when someone dies at an early age, it is natural to ask “Why?” We contemplate all the possibilities and ask God to use such a tragedy for His purpose. Go to your desert place and pour your heart out to the one who knows your sorrow and pain, and trust Him in all things

In The Shadow of Darkness

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Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;…

The shadow of darkness makes it way as we walk through the valley. We are surrounded by circumstances that mount higher than mountains. The light of His presence and glory are obscured by the clouds above. It would seem that darkness is all around us and we begin to fear what lies ahead. But even as we walk through this darkness, our faith reaches out to Him and the light begins to break through and fear is vanquished. The evil that would consume us flees. He reaches out to us with His rod and pulls us close to His side and carries us to safety. Safe in the arms of Jesus. The Shepherd of my soul. “Jesus, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, even in the valley of the shadow of darkness.

What A Day That Will Be!

Rev. 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

What a day that will be! This life is filled with tears that flow and hearts that ache. Hardship and the loss of loved ones causes sorrow and pain. There is coming a day when God will take His hand of grace and wipe away our tears. This side is heaven we will have tribulations, but the story does not end here. Those who remain faithful servants of God will someday see God cause the things of this world pass away. They will be cast away from our mind, never to be recalled. Death does have it sting, but He has conquered death and we shall live with Him forever and ever. Never to die, never to cry, all pain and sorrow cast away. Oh, what a day that will be!