Consider it Great Joy

“Consider it great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2-3

Every time I start to read James these two verse stop me in my tracks.  I will re-read them several times amazed at what I am reading.  Because my first thought is always James must be crazy!  How can he say this especially knowing that James was the leader in the Jerusalem church. He had experienced and had personally witnessed terrible persecution and yet he says it was able to say what he experienced brought him “great joy”.  How and why would he say that?    

As I reflect on this thought its impossible not to take inventory of my own life.  I have experienced pain and sorrow, not near the scale of James, but I have seen my friends and family suffer pain and loss.  I know in the midst of the “moment” the last thing I want to do is rejoice!  I think to understand James we have to take a step back and try to see from his perceptive.  He says the reason we should rejoice is because the testing of our faith produces endurance.  Wait, he said testing?  Does this mean God knew about this?  Does this mean God allowed suffering?  Why would a loving and just God allow me to experience suffering?  There has to be a reason, right? 

James continues his thought and says suffering produces endurance and he continues in verse 4…”But endurance must do its compete work, so that you be mature and complete, lacking in nothing”.  James is not looking at the moment but he is looking at the result of the moment.  He is seeing through the immediate pain and uncertainty to the other side of the event and how it will change us.  How difficult times give us strength and matures our faith, makes us complete and lack nothing.  In other words in the future when we face similar or God forbid greater suffering we can stand under its pressure knowing we have been here before.  God got us through it once He will get us through it again.  I can know that, with certainty.

Here is the reality we all face, suffering is a part of the fallen and broken world we live in.  Sin is the issue, the result of sin is suffering and death.  The beautiful thing is God did something about it and one day he will put an end to pain and suffering forever.  He sent is Son into the world  to suffered.  He didn’t have it easy, he suffered all the way to the cross and carried its shame.  He was hung on a cross, a place for thieves and murders.  He was placed there by the very people he came to save—He used their sin for good.   Nothing is wasted in the economy of God.  He uses ever hurt, every event to build and strengthen our in faith in Him.  In this quest He is relentless, and this gives me “Great Joy”.  I am never forsaken, never forgotten, even in the darkest moments He walks with me, He talks with me along the narrow way.  He imparts his salvation to me and I can know this, He lives, He lives, He lives in my heart and I can face any situation with confidence and surety, knowing my faith is in Him.

-ps            

Jesus Challenge

 “What is Jesus to me?”  He is my Lord, He is my Savior, and He is my Rock and Redeemer.  He pursued me, sought me when I was a stranger, and bought me, with his own blood!  He is the Creator, for everything was made by Him, for Him and is sustained by Him.  He made the stars and placed them and gave each one their names.  He is my Shield, my Refuge in times of trouble, when the world crumbles around me, when the arrows of the enemy fly in my direction He protects me.  He is solid ground for which I can plant my feet. 

In Jesus I am free, I am free to be what I was made to be, for my purpose is found in Him.  He empowers me with His word and He sends the Spirit to comfort, train and to guide me.  Through Christ all the relationships around me find their place.  My relationship with my wife is sweeter, my love for my children deeper and I see my neighbor in a new light. 

He saved us, He is the kindness of God displayed for the world to see, He is love, truth and grace personified.  He rescued me not because of my works of righteousness, but through the Holy Spirit, who convicted me of sin, righteousness and judgment and pointed me to Him who can alone save me.  The Father poured out this Spirit abundantly through Jesus Christ my Savior so that, having been justified by His grace I become a heir with the hope of eternal life.  Everything I am is because Christ. 

His grace overwhelms me—to think He would die for me is too lofty for me to comprehend, it’s beyond my reach to grasp.  He has awakened me to a love that surpasses everything I can know, my sin, my failures, my triumphs all rest in his sure hands, for which I gladly give to him.  He is God in flesh, full of glory and truth, the Bright and Morning Star.  He is my Shepard, the Bread of Life, and The Living Water.  He is the Author and Finisher of my faith and the Alpha and the Omega, who has and always existed.   That is the Christ I think about and for which I am thankful for. This is the Jesus for whom I worship and adore.    

Maybe you have read these thoughts I have written and I hope God has spoken to your heart.  I want to challenge you. There seems to be a lot of challenges going on to raise awareness to certain causes of late, so I want to jump on the bandwagon and I simply challenge you to sit down and write out what Jesus is to you and share it with someone.    

Jesus In My life

I have been through a lot in my life, it has never been easy, I served 22 years in the Air Force, spent 22 months in the Middle East in various conflicts. Fathered 3 great boys, survived cancer, been married 26 years to the same women who is my best friend to this day, ministered to hundreds of people, sat with the dying and comforted the living. Watched, encouraged, helped, wondered, doubted, worried about the people around me. At times I have wanted to drop out of this world, run from all the hurt but I can't. I have a God who suffered also, who went through more than I can ever image, he did it because he loved me. He rescued me, called me, strengthened me, showered me with grace and mercy. He fills my life with purpose and my heart with love for others and secured my future with him as his son in eternity. 

I don't know how people pick up a newspaper, watch what is happening in the world, see others suffer and not have Jesus Christ in their life. I can't image to think this is it, that suffering and all that happens doesn't serve some kind of purpose even if I don't understand it. I'm thankful for what has been given to me, I am humbled that God would even consider me and he did far more than consider me, he demonstrated his love knowing all my sin from beginning to end and was willing, with joy to embrace the cross of my shame and die, so that I would have life in him through trust in what he did and not what I do. I stand amazed and in awe of this reality.

Call on him who is able to save you from yourself, from this world and from the sin that so easily ensnares us all. He alone can lift you out of the pit, he can free you from the mud and clay of this life, he alone can place your feet on a rock and give you footing, clean you up and place a song in your mouth and joy in your heart. Don't look for it in people and things of this world, but look to Christ, the bright and morning star, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who made the stars, placed them and named them. He is the one who can fill your heart with joy when your world crumbles around you, when your well has ran dry from the tears, he is the one who can fill your life with meaning and give you something to live for when all else fails. God is good, trust in Jesus Christ and him alone. Grace and peace be with you all.

Gospel Power

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16 ESV)  

As soon as the sun starts to shine bright things start to change.  Things that have been asleep through the winter jump to life in a beautiful display of color. Tree’s that were dormant burst into green leaves and flowers.  All of this activity takes power, mighty power and the plants know the source of that power which is the sun.  Have you ever drove past or seen a field of sunflowers?  Their oversized flowers seek and follow the sun in unison, they will start the day facing east and by the end of the day they're all facing west.  The sunflower doesn’t want to miss a single moment of exposure to the sun.  The reality is the sunflower is dependent like all plants on the power of the sun to grow and to produce fruit or sunflower seeds.  

            

            In the New Testament we see the Greek word dynamie or a variation of it used over 120 times and it means power.  You might recognize that we get our English word “dynamite” from it.  In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul says the gospel of Christ is the “power of God for salvation” to everyone who believes.  It is God who saves us and it is God who gives us the power to live the Christian life.  Think about it like this, my salvation doesn’t rest in my efforts but in the power of God who is at work in me changing my desires and bringing me into right relationship with himself and thus I believe.  This means also that as I live the Christian life, I cannot rest on my individual effort but I must rely on the power that God provides (1 Peter 4:11). 

Does this mean I just give into to sin and live the life I want and wait for God to change me? No not at all, but it does mean I need to align myself with the Son.  Like the sunflower I am dependent on God to empower me over sin, and to change the desires of my heart.  It is the power of God at work within me who changes me and makes me into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Phi. 2:13).  Like the sunflower I need to turn and face the Son.  I can do so by reading the Word of God, praying and living in fellowship with other believers.  As I stay focused on the Son, as I remain in him and him in me (John 15:4), he will change my heart and empower me to produce fruit for others to enjoy and bring glory to God. 

Are you tired?  Are you worn out by life?  Have you struggled with sin and feel defeated?  Is it because you're trying to do something you don’t have the “power” to do? I want to encourage you to turn to Christ, to trust him, to seek him in scripture and prayer.  Pray and ask him to show you how to grow closer to him. Stop relying on your own power and plug into the true source of the power, power that can change you and empower you to live for the glory of Christ. Look for ways to serve and to share the fruit Jesus has produced in your life.  Share the fruit of peace, joy, love, hope with the people around you and let it nourish their lives and point them to the Son.  Let us not be ashamed of this beautiful gospel and its power to change lives, starting with our own.                  

Burdens

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was a simple “Tinker”, in that he fixed common household wares such as pots and pans. He had a limited education and became one of the most famous writers of all time. His famous allegory “The Pilgrim's Progress” became the most read book in the English language other than the Bible.  It is impossible to know how many copies of his book were made, because once it was published without copyright laws (they didn't exist in the 1600’s) people made copies of their own and sold them for profit.  Everyone had a copy of Pilgrim's Progress, it was read by all walks of life, taught in universities and if you haven't read it, you should.  

Though he started out as a tinker he was also a preacher and because he didn't belong to the Church of England he wasn't allowed to preach.  But that didn't stop John from fulfilling his calling.  At the age 32 he was jailed for preaching and spent the next 12 years there.  While in jail we was allowed two books, a Bible and the “Fox’s Book of Martyrs”.  With time to think he began to write his famous allegory.  In the book the main character “Christian” is walking up a road with walls on each side and the walls were called salvation, the way was hard and difficult because of the great burden he was carrying on his back. As he followed the road he claimed a hill and on top of that hill stood a cross.

As he approached the cross he could see just below it an open grave and as he neared the cross the burden on his back loosened and fell from his shoulders and tumbling into the grave where is was seen no more.  He stood there for a while to look in wonder because it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should ease him of his burden, that he had carried for so long.  He looked until he was overcome and “tears were sent down his cheeks.”  

We all carry burdens, we carry the past, and all we carry sins—what we did to others, what others did to us and it goes on and one.  And the longer we carry those burdens the heavier they get.  These burdens wear us down, tire us out, result in all kinds of disorders, diseases and if not eventually relieved will take our lives.  What hope do we have? 

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Mat. 11:28-30 ESV)

Jesus wants to relieve you of your burden, he wants to free you and give you rest!  He wants to walk along side you in this life and help you.  As a Christian we don’t have to worry about those things that once weighed us down.  As we draw near to the cross they will fell off and into the grave where our savior once laid and we will never see them again.  He has freed us to turn from sin in repentance, he has given us a new heart to serve him with ease. Live thankfully, live humbly, hopeful and joyful, for in Christ we are free.    

But God.....

“So it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:8)

Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers.  He was falsely accused and thrown into prison and was forgotten about.  He had every reason to be bitter, every reason to lose hope and to give up.  Have you been there?  Have you been treated unfairly?  Has something happened to you that isn't justified?  I cannot image what went through Joseph’s mind those years, but everywhere he went God blessed him.  In Potiphar’s house he managed everything and his master was greatly blessed.  When he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, she lie and he went to prison.  He did the right thing by fleeing from her advances and he suffered.  Have you ever suffered for doing the right thing? 

While in prison again he is used to be a blessing and the keeper of the prison puts Joseph in charge and the keeper is blessed.  When the king’s cupbearer and baker are thrown into prison, each has a dream and Joseph interpreted their dreams.  He asked them not to forget about him and to mention him to Pharaoh.  The cupbearer forgets about Joseph and he sits in prison for another two years.  It is only when Pharaoh has a dream does the cupbearer remember Joseph.  After he interpreted Pharaoh dream he was released from prison and put in charge of Egypt.  It is after this he faces the brothers who had sold him into slavery.  He has forgiven them because he sees now God’s plan all along was to save them and many others, “So it was not you who sent me here, but God.” 

We don't always understand the ways of God, why allow Joseph to suffer for doing good?  Wasn't there and easier way of doing this?   I have come one conclusion about this life and it’s not about our comfort.  When we look back through time it is out of suffering the greatest triumphs arise.  Suffering has a way of refining us and making us dependence on God out of necessity.  One thing that is clear in the story of Joseph is he never lost faith in God, in fact everyone around him saw he was blessed no matter what circumstances he found himself in.  Through the trials and tribulations Joseph’s faith was stretched and strengthened until he understood why.  In the end he was a stronger person and was able to forgive and glorify God in a pagan nation. 

What are you going through?  This morning I want to encourage you to give it to God and trust he has a plan for it.  Trust that nothing happens to you that isn’t part of God’s glory.  You are one of his children and he is looking after you and building your faith.  Trust God and his goodness, encourage other who are suffering, be a part of God’s blessing.     

I Believe

“If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9 HCSB)

There has to be a confession, do you believe?  Do you believe in Jesus Christ, have to confessed him publicly, do you believe God raised him from the dead?  Have confessed with your heart? 

Do I trust the risen Savior as my only hope for salvation?  Have I handed him my sin and trusted in his forgiveness.  How would I answer these questions kneeling before the throne of God?

I have confessed Christ with my whole heart and I have given him my life and I am saved.  The text doesn't say anything else is required of me to be saved.  The result of my salvation leads me to repentance which is the turning away from sin, but it starts with confession and belief.  I stand on the promise of the scripture for salvation, I plead it before God every day of my life.  Let my mouth continually confess “Jesus is Lord”, until I haven’t breath in my lungs to speak and let me confess it before the throne of God on the Day of Judgment. 

In this life I need this salvation, I must be saved from sin, saved from the guilt of sin, from the power of sin.  But also I must be saved from the punishment of sin and from sin itself.  It is only when I’m freed I can be the person God wants me to be.  It’s only when the Son has broken the chains of bondage to self and to the world that I can love Him with all my heart and turn to my neighbor with the same love.  It is only in Christ, I can find this freedom and it comes only when I declare and believe in my heart “Jesus is Lord” and believe that God raised him from the dead. “You will be saved” this the promise I hang onto, “I am saved” is the cry of my joy in my savior Jesus. 

This life is short and fleeting, it’s over before you know it.  You don’t get to do it again until you get it right.  You have one shot, one opportunity, to believe.  Standing before the throne of God is not the time to confess your believe…..because He is right before you.  Now is the time to confess, now is the time to believe, what are you waiting for?     

   

The Conquers

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Rev 2:7 ESV)

We are far too easily pleased C.S. Lewis once said and I think that is very true.  As a Christian we are to fight the good fight, not give up but endure.  It's the way of God to be a warrior, not a warrior in the sense of overcoming another, but in defeating the enemy sin.  We have been placed in the middle of enemy occupied territory and we are to fight.  We are not fighting with our own means but by grace, through faith in our Lord fighting through us.  In him we are more than conquerors, we are victorious children of the king.  We carry with us faith, salvation, truth, righteousness, truth, the gospel, and defend it with the word of God.  We stand our ground against injustice, we protect the innocent and care for the poor and needy.  We pray for and carry one another in love for the kingdom to come. 

Great is our King, great is our Lord.  There is nothing he cannot do, nothing that he does not know, and he is everywhere.  Everything is held together by his grace, every creature takes a breath because he first gave it to them and will take their last because he allows it.  It is in him we endure to the end, it is in him we don’t give up.  One day when your last breath leaves your body, you will depart this world and enter into the presence of this Lord and King.  If you are part of the kingdom, he will allow you to eat the fruit of the tree of life.  You will no longer suffer the pain of life, or taste the sting of death. No longer will you shed tears of sorrow, but only will shed tears of joy.  This is where I place my faith, this is the hope that carries me and the grace that sustains me. 

     

The Light of Men

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.”  (Isa 9:2 HCSB)

One of the things I have always loved about this time of year are Christmas lights.  Right after Thanksgiving you start to see people decorating their homes and everywhere you look you see Christmas lights in all sizes and shapes.  In Rocklin there happens to be what I think is one of the best displays of Christmas lights I have ever seen on Pebble Creek Drive.  If you have never gone to see the houses along the drive during the Christmas season, it’s well worth your time.  But where did this whole idea of Christmas lights came from in the first place?  What does the birth of Jesus have to do with Christmas lights?  In the Christmas story we know the wise men were guided by a great star that appeared over Bethlehem the site of our Saviors birth, but I think there is something greater than a star at work here.  The prophet Isaiah told of a time when the people walking in darkness would see a “great” light.  What could possibly be bigger than an enormous star? 

I think we have to start from the beginning.  In the Bible everything starts in Genesis and in chapter 1, all of creation including light started with “In the beginning God created”.  The another place the Bible talks about creation is the Gospel of John chapter 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. 

In the same chapter of John we find this verse “Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4 HCSB)  What is being said in these verse?  Here is what we see, everything that exist is because God created it.  Nothing exist outside of God and everything was created by the Word, the Word and God are one.  In the Word life exist, In the Word we find our being and in the Word we can know God.  The light of men is “knowing”, think about like this.  I can look at myself in the mirror with the lights off and I can image I am still in my youth or I can picture myself anyway I want to.  But once I turn on the light I see the truth, I can see the reality of what I truly look like. (Regardless if I like what I see or not!)  

The reality is we live in darkness, we stumble around in this life though many of us try to do the best we can, but we are in the dark.  Not knowing the truth about ourselves or the world around us.  As a result we live painfully short of God’s perfect holy standard.  In fact while we are in the dark it is impossible to know God.  It is only when we receive the light we can see ourselves as we really are and we can know the source of the light.  If you keep reading John you soon realize the Word who is the “light of men” is Jesus Christ.  Here is where it really gets good!  The Creator became a man and entered into creation and by doing so became the light by which we can truly know God.  Jesus is much more than star, He is the maker of stars!  The heavens leap into existence by His—Word, “Let there be light”.  Merry Christmas and pray you'll spend this Holiday Season celebrating the light of men Jesus Christ, and share Him with others!  

     

"Our Strength"

This week I find myself in the middle of a Seminary semester and I’m tired!  Physically and emotionally.  I’m trying to continue ministering and commuting to school about 120 miles away.  What happens in trying to keep up with all the reading I find myself sinking further and further into academics and I lose connection to the one thing that can carry me through and that is the Holy Spirit.  Once we start trying to do things in our own strength we soon lose momentum and eventually run out of gas.  I picked up a book of “The Essential Works of Charles Spurgeon” and in the back of the book he is addressing primarily pastors, but there is something here for all of us.  Here are some of the highlights and you’ll see what I mean.

   

"If we make a treaty with error or sin, we do it at our own risk. If we do anything that we are not clear about, if we temper with truth or holiness, if we are friends of the world, if we make provision for the flesh, if we preach halfheartedly and in league with errorist, we have no promise that the Holy Spirit will go with us." 

"When the Spirit of God is gone, even truth itself become an iceberg. How wretched is religion frozen and lifeless! The Holy Spirit has gone, and all energy and enthusiasm have gone with Him."

"We never go a step towards heaven without the Holy Spirit. We never lead another on the heavenward road without the Holy Spirit. We have no acceptable thought, word, or deed apart from the Holy Spirit. Even the uplifting of the eye in hope or the ejaculatory prayer of the heart's desire must be His work. All good things are of Him and through Him, from beginning to end. There is no fear of exaggeration here."

"Every Man who goes to the land of the heavenly knowledge must work his passage thither; but he must work out the passage in the strength of the Holy Spirit or he will arrive at some island in the sea of fancy and never set foot upon the sacred shores of truth."

"No, we know nothing till we are taught of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to the heart rather than to the ear"

I am drawn to Spurgeon like a moth to the flame!  I read his sermons and writings and I am amazed how penetrating his words are 130 years after he spoke them.  He lived in the scripture and sought the Spirit to guide him in a time when the Victorian world around him was in the midst of the industrial revolution and reason was the new champion.  This is the age of Darwin's new thought, God was being marginalized and for profit thousands in the greater London area was suffering.  I can't help to see but see some parallels of our world today. 

We live in the technology revolution or the information age.  We will receive millions of bits of information daily and we have to sift through this deluge of information and try to make sense of it all.  In this flood of information is a growing hostility towards Christianity and an intentional effort to confuse those who profess to believe or who are thinking about faith.  This presents a problem for those who are not grounded in their Bibles and unsure of their faith. On top of all that we are busy, busy running everywhere and going no place. How in this time do we slow down enough to even begin a relationship with God, let alone sustain one? 

We have to slow down and take the time to spend time with God.  To place the Lord first in our lives requires effort and a shift of priorities.  What I know this much is true, we will not do anything until we see the value in what we give priority to.  But the dilemma is if we have never given priority to your faith how can you know it should be a priority!  As a Christian I can do nothing apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.  John 15:5, Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing”.  I need to draw near to Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit.  Without the strength of the Spirit I am helpless.  It is only when we take the time to earnestly seek Christ in His word and through prayer that I will find the strength I need to continue. 

I need to slow down and take time for Christ, I need the Holy Spirit to help me love the people around me, to understand the scriptures and to even pray.  There is nothing I do as a Christian I do that I don’t need the Holy Spirit enabling power. It is only when I recognize this weakness that I am made strong Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9:  

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me.”

Jesus said this to start the beatitudes:

 "The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. (Mat 5:3 HCSB)

It's when we humble ourselves before God and confess our weakness to Him that we are made strong.  Its when we finally realize we cannot manage our own sin, when we acknowledge we cannot meet our own expectations, let alone those others impose on us.  When we are finally broken by the weight of it all and God picks up and enables us to do far more than we could ever imagine.  

Our faith, our ministries, our lives, everything we do as Christian's has to be dependent and empowered by the Holy Spirit, apart from Him we are helpless and our efforts are but powerless and heavy to carry.