Fertile Desert

On April 7, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 32: 16 -18

The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

Glory! Hallelujah! Does this strike you as good news? Or, perhaps, great news! I can even sweeten this by telling you when this is to happen. This is for you today.

The problem with many Old Testament verses is that people stumble over the timing. That is understandable. I will tell you that most of them are fulfilled in Jesus if you ever have doubt. The great thing about today’s verse is that Isaiah actually told us when this would become a reality. In verse 15 he disclosed that this change in the environment, this change in the world would come when “the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high.” Yahoo!

Jesus promised us another. In fact, he said it was better for us that he leave earth so that he could send the helper (John 16: 7). He told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they received that which was promised, or in other words, the Holy Spirit (Acts 1: 4 – 5). Then, on the day of Pentecost, the promise was fulfilled and the Holy Spirit was poured out from on high. You and I are not living in the time of which Isaiah spoke. This prophecy is for our time. We should take great joy in this good news.

Isaiah saw that because of the coming of the Holy Spirit we could live in peace and righteousness. This concept is very in keeping with other New Testament text. Paul wrote that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5: 21) and did you know that Jesus is the Prince of Peace? Additionally, when he left earth, he left us his peace (John 14: 27). Increasingly, we are seeing all of the pieces fitting together. It shouldn’t be any surprise, though, because all of this was part of God’s master plan. He knew when He whispered in Isaiah’s ear that this day would come and that what He told Isaiah would be fulfilled in our sight.

There is a key to unlocking all of this though. The key is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that he is the “Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you” (John 14: 17). It is the “in you” piece that is so revolutionary. The disciples knew of the Holy Spirit but Jesus was telling them that when he went away and sent the outpouring of the Spirit, then the Spirit would come to not only live with us but in us. This continuing presence of the Holy Spirit is a game changer. The sad truth, though, is that it is only a game changer for those who recognize the truth and embrace it. He was sent as our helper so we have to let him do his job.

In him is this peace, confidence, righteous enjoyment and all of the other great and wonderful things that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have worked to bring us. Their plan installs each of them in our lives as partners. Isaiah saw the desert turned into a fertile field. That desert is our lives and hearts. They have been renewed in Christ and we have a joyous and victorious reality to live.

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No Worries!

On April 6, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 1

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.

Is your heart troubled about something? Maybe it is something personal or maybe it is something more universal like the economy or crime levels. In any event, Jesus encourages us to give our concerns to him rather than let ourselves be tormented. He invites us to exercise our trust in Him and God to assuage our concerns and worries. When you have that unsettled feeling in the pit of your stomach because something is troubling you, stop and lean on Jesus. There is such a plea in Jesus’ voice in this passage. It sounds like a longing to take away our suffering; to take it on Himself so that we may be at peace. He is saying to us that if we will believe in God, really believe in God and also believe in Him, that we might be spared the anguish that otherwise affects people. Stop and take an inventory of your emotions. Are you worrying? Are you troubled? Use a few moments to roll the care of that issue or issues over to God and let He and Jesus carry the load for you today.

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Sun and Moon

On April 5, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 60: 20

Your sun will set no more, neither will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be finished.

The time of Isaiah’s ministry is placed circa 740 – 700 B.C. (Halley’s Bible Handbook, 2000, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, p.366). So, the question I have is, “When is the time Isaiah wrote about in today’s verse?” John 12: 46 records Jesus saying, “I am the light that has come into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not live in the dark.” When one takes these two verses together it is not difficult to conclude that Jesus is the one of whom Isaiah wrote. Jesus is the everlasting light.

If we buy into that logic then we are heirs to some other logical conclusions. Isaiah said that because Jesus, the Lord, is the everlasting light, we will have no more darkness. That is what Jesus said too, isn’t it? Our sun will set no more nor our moon wane. In other words, there is never a moment in which you do not have light. Consider for a moment, if the sun never sets and the moon never wanes then we have the greater and the lesser light at all times. Now what does that make you think of? I believe this should say to our hearts that the Father, who is represented by the sun, is always with us shining his light into our lives. Likewise, Jesus, represented by the moon never fades. He is always the full moon, the full light of our lives. His saving grace is constant, continual. He is ever shining his loving grace and the light of life on us. Every minute of every days is bathed in the warm glow of the Father and the Son.

As if that wasn’t enough blessing for one day, Isaiah went on to reveal that the our days of mourning are ended. We live now in perpetual glory. The glory of God, the goodness of God has been sown in our hearts and it radiates the joy of the Lord into every fiber of our being.

The joy of the Lord is yours and darkness is no more. That is some pretty great news. Thank you Isaiah!

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My Friends

On April 4, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 15: 14

You are My friends if you do what I command you.

Jesus defined very clearly what he expects of his friends. He said that he no longer calls us servants but rather friends (John 15: 15). I do not have all the answers for yesterday’s questions but Jesus has answered one for us. His friends do as he says. What does that mean though?

At a minimum it means that we do everything in red type. If we do that, I believe we are doing well. The reality, though, is that everything in the Bible is him since he is the Word. I think we read the Bible and have good intentions. We embrace with our minds, with our intellect the things we see of Jesus in the Bible. It is quite a different thing, though, to actually live by his words. This is what his friends do however. This is the defining difference between slaves and friends but significantly this “doing” must come from our hearts. If it becomes a “work” i.e. something we must do for Jesus to love us, then we have jumped tracks and are headed on a different course all together.

Loving Jesus manifests in wanting to hear his words, read his words and ultimately do his words. Think about the person you love. Remember when you first met. You hung on every word, you did what they wanted to do just because. Friends seem to just like hanging out together. You like hearing their thoughts and they enjoy hearing yours. You share your lives. Would it really be a friendship if your only contact was reading stories about them?

Jesus wants our lives to become integrated with his. He wants us to keep him commands to us because they will lead us into success and happiness. We are going to need to change some of our thinking though. Our minds can be transformed though and that comes through the Word. If we will meditate on Jesus’ words, we will see the way. We will want to go the way Jesus points because it is a good path. Friends are not at odds with each other, they are headed on the same path in the same direction.

Jesus’ friends draw close to him and follow him in his ways. He is calling to you. “Come to me, come with me” he says. He wants to be with you. Draw closer to him today. Call him “friend.”

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Best Friends

On April 3, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 15: 13                     NIV

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Jesus demonstrated true friendship. He also defined friendship in some meaningful ways. Proverb 18: 24 says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Surely, Jesus has modeled this kind of friendship for us and, he has become this kind of friend to us. In truth, isn’t he just the best friend you have ever had?

This verse certainly brings joy and a sense of celebration to the heart but I feel snagged by it also. If a real friend is one who would lay down one’s life for a friend, then it stands to reason that we would lay down a great many other things, as well, for our friends. The most costly of these is that I may have to lay aside my agenda, my wishes and my time for my friends.

We live in an age where we are all so busy that, really, we don’t have much time for our friends. We end up with virtual friends instead of real friends. I even wonder if the word “friend” means what it used to. Perhaps most of our friends are really acquaintances. I remember, as a child, my parents having friends over to play cards. Sometimes we went over to other friends of theirs and sat and sang songs all evening. We also took weekends to go visit relatives. We don’t do many of those things today. If, as the God’s Word translation says, “The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends” how do we demonstrate our love and affection for anyone? Or have we stopped caring altogether? Our heartstrings are pulled by the affliction of people who suffer around the world, we give money to groups who rescue abused and neglected animals but where is the real devotion in personal relationships? Are we only dedicated to those whom we can keep at arm’s length. Are my very best friends those on Facebook whom I never see and haven’t seen in years? Or like one person I know, who never intends or desires to see her Facebook friends in person, are many of us learning to isolate ourselves living as islands of one or two? What does it even mean anymore to have “meaningful” relationships? Do you sometimes wonder who would care if you dropped dead?

I think of the people who followed Jesus. They truly loved him. He loved them with all that he had. He loves you and I with all that he ever was and willingly sacrificed his life so that we could be best friends. Are we treating him as a long-distance relationship? What would it be like, how would it feel to treat him as an intimate friend? And what is a friend anyway? He showed us ultimate friendship in laying down his life for us, but what shall I now do, how shall I express my love for him? How does a real, true friendship with Jesus demonstrate itself? And is my relationship with him based solely on what he does for me? What can I do for him or any friend? Perhaps it is not about what you do though. Maybe it is just about being with them.

There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Jesus is one. Is there another?

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Present Presence

On March 31, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Habakkuk 2: 20

But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.

This verse brought up a couple of thoughts in me. First, the further we go in our study of the Bible the more we find the connections throughout it. The first sentence in this verse screams of the New Covenant and our place in it, or more specifically God’s place in it. The second sentence reminds me of Psalm 46: 10 which teaches us to “Be still, and know that I am God” (NKJ). Let’s look at today’s verse with the insight it shines on these two thoughts.

First, when Habakkuk wrote these words, the temple of God was a building. Habakkuk was remarking about the presence of the Lord. “The Lord is here, let us be silent and listen to Him,” he might say. How much more potent are these words now that we have become the temple of God. “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3: 16 GW). In all of history, in all of time, God has never been more present in the lives of humans than He is right now. While this is true, it is hard for us to understand or have any tangible application of this truth. His presence seems remote to us and because we perceive Him as far off, perhaps just sitting on His throne in heaven, we find it difficult to be still and listen to Him. We have not developed our awareness of His presence. Therefore, we also lack the awareness that He is speaking to us. We don’t need a cloud of His presence going before us day and night because He is in us at all times. We just need to learn how to tap into that which is already true.

The interesting fact about developing the awareness of God with you at all times is to first accept the veracity of these verses that tell us that we are His temple and that He abides with us and in us. Once you do, you begin to look with more enlightened eyes. Just knowing He is there makes us more attentive. Think of it like this. If you have a house guest and you think you hear a voice, aren’t you more likely to perk up your ears because you think your guest may have just spoken to you? When we think of God as far off, then the voice that keeps speaking to us is easily ignored.

Likewise, if you accept that God is speaking to you or wants to, doesn’t the imperative to be still and silent so that you can hear become more sensible? If I told you that tomorrow at 2:00 PM God is going to speak to you, and you believe me, would that affect what you do at 2:00? Of course it would. If you believe that He is here with us and that He wants to speak specifically to you, I think you would attempt to accommodate hearing.

Well, I am telling you that if you want God to speak to you at 2:00 tomorrow, then He will. Would you rather have a 3:00 appointment? The calendar is open. You can have anytime you want. He will be there. Will you show up?

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Creative Genius

On March 30, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Genesis 1: 1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

There are many ways we relate to God. First and foremost, He is our Father. Of course, He is also the creator. All of creation came out of his love for us and desire to give us a home. One day we will all live eternally in heaven but we have a temporary home here.

God generously created this planet for us. It is tailor made for our physiology but also for our spirits. The marvels and beauty of the earth lift us and even enthrall us at times. Still, the most amazing and awe inspiring truth of all time is that the God who created this planet considers us His greatest creation. He made the earth not to be a tremendous work of art that would accrue to His credit but rather that it would be a blessing and a home for His beloved. The all-powerful creator just wanted to be a parent and He wanted to bless us with an environment that would do more than meet our needs. It is meant to provide the many joys we gain from its beauty as well as the resources we need to live.

God, the creator, knew the exact amount of gravity we could tolerate, the kind of atmosphere we need and even the gas mixture of the air we breathe. He created our bodies and matched a planet to our needs. He also knew the depth and breadth of our spirits, that simply meeting our physical needs would not satisfy all of who we are. A mountain stream, or a simple tree gives breath to our spirits and the Father enjoys our awe with us. He dwells in us and with us and loves seeing through our eyes and through our hearts.

Seeing this earth with all its wonder is a testimony of God’s great love for us. He crafted a whole planet just for us. Who has ever dreamed that big? How big is the blessing of God? As big as the whole planet! In truth, I am sure we will find it is as great as the universe. Perhaps He is making us another planet right now. Your Father is the creator of the entire universe. How does it get any better than that?

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