A New Direction or Not?

Fifty2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

        The New Year’s Day sermon titled “A New Direction” was an encouraging message to remain open to how God might lead us in the coming year.  A 'new' or 'alternate' direction might be just in order.  The scripture text for the lesson came from Matthew 2:1-12- the story of the Magi who visited the Christ child and return to their home a different way having been warned to do so in a dream. 

         After doing a bit of reflection on my history with 'new' versus 'old' (or 'same'), I have to admit I probably prefer the new to the old or familiar.  When I first came to Christ, I experienced being 'made new' (II Corinthians 5:17) and I wanted all of my life to reflect this change instantly.  However, it did not work that way, change had to happen on the inside first.  It was a learning process and scripture, along with the encouragement of other believers and my church were all instrumental to the transformation that occurred.  Old ways of living began to be replaced with new ones and over time-both the person I was on the inside and the life I lived on the outside were changed. 

        I desire to finish 'the race' (my life) strong in the faith even as I physically grow old and weak.  To do this, I need to continue to seek Him much like the Magi who sought to find the infant born in a manger and if there are course corrections required, I trust God to show me, as he showed the three wise men. 

           It is good to be committed to what we understand to be God's will and way-but we never want to miss the adjustments he might be asking us to make in our lives. And this may involve an alternate route. Whatever direction life takes you this year, may you draw nearer to God along the way (James 4:8 & Hebrews 10:22).  Amen.

                                              Happy New Year! 

The Gift of God

Fifty 2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

        Many of us are preoccupied this time of year with the giving and getting of gifts.  It is said in giving one becomes like God. There is the biblical principle that it is “greater to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) and certainly, there is joy in giving when it meets a need, fulfills a longing or lifts another up (figuratively or literally).  

        The scriptures are full of instructive examples of giving (and receiving); Luke 6:38 tells us “Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Moreover, in Matthew we read “Freely you have received; freely give” (10:8b).  

       God's gift accepted by faith (John 3:16) is for all who will receive it. For those who believe and place their trust in Jesus the gift sets them free. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1 & 2). Amen! Let's rejoice in the gift of God that keeps on giving. 

~* Merry Christmas *~

For God So Loved

Fifty-2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

        The minister said it may be the best known verse from the bible- John 3:16:”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. "The world" includes all of humanity -past-present-future. "The world" embodies all of us and all of our messy, stubborn hearted, idol worshipping self-serving sinfulness. God so loved that he gave. 
         This can be hard to grasp; hard to believe. It makes me think of when I was a teenager and how my parents would occasionally say to me—that they always loved me but they did not always like what I did or how I behaved. I took it a step further and actually told my children during their adolescent years that although I loved them, at a particular moment because of the way they were acting/being, I was not feeling very loving toward them. The point being, it can be a challenge to love in the face of rebellion, rejection, offense,etc. 

      God understands this. The nature of his love is that although we have repeatedly and metaphorically spit in his eye and turned our back on him-he has never stopped loving us. “While we were sinners…Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Maybe this doesn’t sound so extreme, after all the preceding verse says “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die” (Romans 5:7). Certainly there are times when someone will die for another person, but in general, it is a rare. No one, however, can die on behalf of another person and serve as an offering for their sins. Only Jesus can do this: "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed" (I Peter 2:24). God's love expressed to us through his son cancels our debts and nullifies our sins. "This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him" (I John 4:9). This love continues today, "Christ Jesus-who died--more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:24).

       There is really only one response we can have to such love - and that is to graciously accept it and strive to love others as he has loved us; “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (I John 4:12). This is how we testify to how God so loves the world.

H~O~P~E

Fifty-2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God

        Sunday’s sermon was about hope. Hope is both universal and uniquely human and does not have to be taught or learned. We start to hope as soon as we can desire something with the expectation of obtaining it. As the minister pointed out, everyone “hopes”; “hope we get the job”, “hope we get married”, “hope a loved one gets well” etc.

        Hope is an essential element of faith; a “precursor” of sorts. This can be gleaned from Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. This hope is for today as much as it is for a future life in heaven.

        When hope is lost life can be dismal. People who are without hope often lose the will to go on.  Proverbs 13:12 talks about how hope “deferred makes the heart sick”. The refreshment of one’s hope relieves burdens and lifts loads. Meditating on scripture can help renew hope-consider the following:

• I Peter 1:21: “Through him [Christ] you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”
• Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;”
• I Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
• I Corinthians 13:7: “It [love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
• Romans 5:5: “And hope does not put us to shame [some translations have ‘disappoint’ instead of shame], because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
• Romans 15:13 is a verse that can be spoken as a prayer for ourselves and others: “May the God of hope fill ___ with all joy and peace as ___ trust in him, so that ___ may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

During this Advent season, let us remember the reason for our hope and be ready to encourage others with this hope too.

… Unless a Person Be Born Again ...

Fifty-2 Sundays ~ Listening for God

       John 3:1-5: “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him’. Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again”.  “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”.

    The sermon last Sunday presented a strong testimony in support of this verse. Other verses were presented to support this verse. There was not much new in the sermon for me and certainly the idea that a person must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of God is one I accept to be true. Because I take things literally, if had I been Nicodemus in this situation, I think I would have responded the same and struggled to understand how a person could be born again.

    I started to think about the ways we respond to the things God's word tells or asks of us. Some people act on what they hear straight away. Other people delay as they consider the meaning in their mind or heart or maybe they try to bargain or argue with God about it. Other people completely ignore it. 

Consider Adam and Eve – they were told not to eat from the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” because it would cause them to die (Genesis 2:15-17). After the serpent convinced and confused ("deceived") Eve, she ate the fruit and offered some to her husband Adam. Both of them failed to respond appropriately to the instructions God had given and as we all know, there were consequences that followed. Similarly but with a different outcome, Naaman was told by the prophet Elisha to wash seven times in the river Jordan in order to be cleansed of leprosy (2 Kings 5: 9 -12). Initially he was angry and refused to do such a thing until his own men convinced him to do so and when did, he was healed.

         Abraham by contrast, accepted and obeyed when God instructed him to sacrifice his son Isaac. There was no hesitation or attempt to deliberate with God about this (Genesis 22:2-18). Likewise, when the Israelites were gathered together on the Day of Pentecost heard the Apostle Peter tell them to “Repent and be baptized” they responded and nearly "three thousand accepted the message and were baptized" that day (Acts 2:38-41).

       Many things contribute to how we respond to God. Matthew 13:1-23 (in 'the parable of the sower') identifies that the condition of our heart as a factor in how we respond. We would be wise to adhere to the words of Hebrews 3:7: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...”

         This December it will be forty years since I was “born again”. I am truly grateful to be able to say this. When I came to faith the opportunity to be 'born again' and to have my sins wiped away and a new start was an exhilarating prospect. This possibility exists today for anyone who would come to Jesus and accept what he did on our behalf (Romans 3:24). I say choose life...choose faith...choose to be born again.

Character Counts

Fifty 2 Sundays- Listening for God

         Sunday’s sermon was definitely one of the best I have heard during the past eight months of visiting different churches in the Nashville community. It was a sermon designed to be heard before the election. The intent of the message was that no matter the outcome of the election, we should be so grounded in God’s Word and our trust in Him that our faith will not stumble. This got me thinking about truth, faith and character and how they influence one another.   

         True faith has to be built on God’s Word. The scripture tells us that “faith comes from hearing the message (the Word) as spoken by Christ” (Romans 10:17) and all God’s words are true and his righteous laws eternal (Psalm 119:60).  The relationship of truth to character can be seen in what Jesus said when disputing with the Jews; although he is describing Satan, he plainly states that his nature (or character) is the result of "not holding to the truth" (John 8:44).

      The understanding of the truth is paramount to the development of faith. As the Parable of the Sower describes; “…the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it” (Matthew 13:23a). It can be difficult to love someone when you do not understand them. And we are told to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). 

     This love requires the whole of who we are, the substance of our being - our character. And character development is one of the things God apparently cares about. Consider Romans 5:3 & 4: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

         Our character as believers and followers of Christ does matter and it is on display 24 x 7. Hopefully before we ever open our mouths to share our faith, our character (nature) has left a favorable impression and been a witness to what we believe and hold to be true. 

Who’s In Charge?

Fifty2 Sunday’s ~ Listening for God (10-30-16)

         The text for the sermon was Romans 13:1-10 which addresses how we are to submit to governing bodies, pay our taxes, show respect (verses 1-7) and love others –as this how God’s law is fulfilled (verses 8-10). The preacher mainly focused on the part of the text about loving others, however the verses before that got me thinking about the election as we are now just days away from selecting a new president.

         In our democracy we get to vote for our leaders - one vote per person – and the one with the most votes wins – as long as they also have a majority of 270 electoral votes. In this country we are able to debate and disagree on political matters but in the end we all must accept the result of the election. Certainly our system of government is superior to what many live under in other countries.

         Even so, one might wonder if God works through voters who don’t share the same faith, values or opinions about the candidates or the issues at hand (this includes Christians too who don’t agree)?

         This question is a bit like, asking did God create the universe. One either believes he did or didn’t. I have to remind myself sometimes that God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8 &9) and “… in him [Christ] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

         God is in charge and that includes the outcome of the presidential election (Romans 13:1b). I may not like the result of the election and what that person does during their presidency but once again (by faith) I need to remember that they are God’s servants (Romans 13:4, 8) and my job is to respect them (Romans 13:7).

         In closing, it certainly makes sense that we should pray and ask God to give us leaders who will best serve at this time in their elected roles.  And we need to keep praying for those elected – as I Timothy 2:1-3 says: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,” Amen.

              (All scripture quoted taken from NIV unless otherwise stated).