September 3, 2017

The Fourth Man

“So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisors crowded around them.  They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was smell of fire on them.”  Dan. 3:27

In basketball there is the first player on the team that comes off the bench when the coach waves him or her into the game.  This person is known as the “sixth man.”  That player, though not a starter, plays a very distinctive and important role in the team. 

And so in the Book of Daniel we find three members of the Hebrew team, so to speak, who have been thrown into a blazing furnace at the order of King Nebuchadnezzar.  The heat is increased seven-fold to get the job done.  The king will not have people disobeying him.  We read in chapter three of Daniel that the guards bringing the three men to the furnace are killed by the heat, yet Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego escape from the furnace completely unharmed.  The king is astonished and notices that though three men were in the furnace, he saw four walking around.  The fourth man is considered by Christians to be the Lord, the Messiah, who protects His faithful servants.

Are you going through a trial where the heat feels turned up seven-fold?  Does the situation feel like it is affecting those around you?  Do you feel like there is nowhere to turn?  Friend, you have the One who came off heaven’s bench and entered the game known as your life.  He plays a very distinctive and important role.  He is the fourth man in that furnace and He is the first one to stand with you, by you, and come to your rescue.  You will – I cannot emphasize this enough – you will come out of this fire unharmed.  For the Lord your God will be with you.

September 2, 2017

Praise Through Suffering

“Praise (eulogetos) be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”   1 Peter 1:3-7

Below is the pattern we can discover in this passage:

·         Blessed be God and Jesus

·         God has given us new birth and an imperishable inheritance

·         The inheritance is being kept for us in heaven

·         We rejoice now, while we await that future inheritance

·         While we wait, we suffer grief in trials, to produce the reality of our faith

·         Our proven faith from such trials results in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed

Before going any further, let’s be very clear on an important point: this is not Peter’s invitation to suffering.  Rather, he is stating that in following Jesus, suffering will come.  It is the way of the cross.  We do not have to go looking for it; it will come to us.  When it does come, it is producing something inside us – our faith.  It is producing faith, deepening faith, and refining faith.  Your faith, having gone through the refiner’s fire of trials, is more valuable than gold!  As you go through the trials and storms of life and your faith grows – your faith points to Jesus and “fits upon Him” praise, glory, and honor.  The word for praise here is “epainos.” 

How many trials of suffering have you experienced?  Have you thought about some of them as ways to establish and grow your faith?  Have you considered that each time you walked in faith during those trials, it brought praise and glory and honor to God?  Is there a trial you are facing right now?  Is your faith “fitting praise” on the Lord?

September 1, 2017

You Are My People

“I will plant her for Myself in the land; I will show My love to the one I called ‘Not My loved one.’  I will say to those called, ‘Not My people, you are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God. “   Hosea 2:23

The prophet Hosea was given a daunting task by the Lord – marry an adulterous woman and have children who are not faithful.  Gee, that make me pause the next time the Lord prompts me to speak an encouraging word to a stranger!  Hosea obeys God’s instruction and in so doing, brings a message to Israel.  God’s very own chosen people had engaged in adulteress behavior and been unfaithful to God.  In fact, chapter one of Hosea gives us the names of Hosea’s children: Lo-Ruhamah (not loved) and Lo-Ammi (not my people).

After a period of punishment for disobedience, God will allure Israel back to Himself.  The last half of chapter two in Hosea focuses on God’s amazing capacity for tenderness, mercy and forgiveness.    He will take Israel back, just like Hosea takes back his wife after she has been unfaithful to him.  Hosea buys her back and ultimately, God buys Israel back through Jesus.  He does so in order to work through Israel to offer salvation to all who call upon the name of the Lord.

God promises to plant His chosen people in the land.  God promises to show His love to those who rejected Him.  God promises to reclaim His people and He predicts the people will reclaim their God.

Does this strike a familiar chord within us?  For many of us, we rebelled against God and all things authoritative.  We went our own way – and God let us.  When we finally reached the end of ourselves and turned to Him (for the first, second or third time), He was there – unchangeable and unflappable by what we did.  It shifted to now focus on what we would do.  He gathered us in His warm embrace.  We got a new name: God’s people.  We were loved by God.  In turn, we laid claim to God.

Both Paul and Peter reference this great Old Testament truth that became a reality in Jesus the King – the King not just for Israel, but King of the entire creation.

August 31, 2017

Freedom’s Truth

“But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?” Gal. 2:14

Paul was not pleased with the choices of Peter and confronted him.  Gal. 2:11-13 describes the hypocrisy, according to Paul.  Here we find Peter flip-flopping between adhering to Jewish law and setting the law aside.  Paul called him out, as we find in Gal. 2:14:  “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?” After all, this is the same Peter who told Cornelius in Acts 10:34, “…In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.”  Paul is telling Peter that Peter cannot have it both ways:  he cannot ask Gentiles to live as Jews if he has lived as a Gentile (at least periodically).

Freedom’s truth means there are no longer requirements under the law that will save a soul or provide for justification.  Both are acts of grace and faith – they are gifts given by a gracious God who longs to set His people free.  Peter would eventually come to his understanding of freedom’s truth and the hope is that we will be unchained from man-made traditions and customs that bind us rather than liberate us.

August 30, 2017

Prayer as Incense

“May my prayer be set before You Like incense.”  Ps. 141:2

Often I think of Anna in the Bible.  She was a widow who spent her days in the Temple.  She was what we would call today a prayer warrior.  It is very interesting the role widows had in the days leading up to Jesus and in the early church.  In my mind I picture Anna offering her daily prayers to God and God receiving them by their scent.

Prayers and incense are found together several times in Scripture.  Prayers, supplications, requests, and intercession are a pleasing aroma to the Lord.  I wonder if each one has a distinctive fragrance.  I wonder if God instantly recognized Anna’s prayers by their aroma. 

Then I turn to my prayers and I wonder if God can detect the fragrance as I set my prayers before Him like incense.  I hope they do; I hope my prayers make their way with the aroma God desires and notices.  He knows the prayers of my heart.  May He receive them as my offering.  May He answer me as He answered Anna.  May I be found in the uncontained Temple in these later years of my life, dwelling in the house of the Lord.

August 29, 2017

Take My Yoke

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Mt. 11:28-30

Yoked is an ancient Biblical principle that dates back to the Old Testament.  Israel was yoked to the law and the law was not a light yoke, but a heavy one.  The requirements of the law consistently pointed out the sin of the people and the need for atonement.

Jesus turned that idea upside down, like He did with so many Old Testament precepts.  He desired that people still be yoked, but now the yoke was no longer to the law, but to Him.  All those who were struggling and suffering, the weary and burdened, could stunningly and simply come to Jesus.  When they came to Him, Jesus would give them rest.  He would offer His yoke, one that was easy.  His burden was light.  It was a complete exchange.

Friends, this is the offer that is available to us.  If we find ourselves exhausted from the fast pace of daily living, the workload and responsibilities, the endless series of to-do lists, there is good news.  We can come to Jesus, carrying all that stuff.  He gives us rest a yoke, and a burden.  He takes all the heavy burdens we carry and gives us instead what he has to offer.  There is then easiness and a lightness replacing heaviness and gloominess.

We can learn from Jesus.  We can learn from His gentle approach to us and His humility in dealing with us.  Our Lord doesn’t force things upon us, least not His yoke.  He offers it with kindness and goodness and love.  It is up to us to accept His offer.  When we do, we will find rest for our souls.

August 28, 2017

My Presence

“The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  Ex. 33:14

One of the ironies about prison ministry is the closer women are to getting released, the more anxious and nervous they tend to become.  There are exceptions of course, but as a rule, it becomes noticeable among the women.  After all, it is on the one hand freedom they have so longed for, and on the other hand a world on unknowns.  Will they make it?  Will they stay clean and sober?  Will they have a job, a place to live?  Will they see their children?  Will those broken relationships be restored?  It is the land of the unknown.

We encourage the women on the day of their release to be intentional about asking Jesus to take them by the hand and go with them.  It is much like this verse, and the dialogue between Moses and God.  Moses was insistent that God’s presence go with Israel.  We want the women to be equally insistent that the presence of the Lord, not confined to a tabernacle, temple, or church structure, to go with them as they leave.

The Lord’s answer provides such great comfort and hope.  Yes, He says; His presence will go with them and He will give them rest.  They will companionship on the journey and a constant reminder they are not alone.  They will be given rest – rest from worrying too much, rest in all the decision-making they find themselves doing.  They will rest in the travels through the wilderness, much like Israel.  God’s chosen people left Egypt and entered the wilderness.  God’s presence went with them.  God’s presence goes with each woman leaving prison who asks for it.