They Didn't Listen - Do You

 “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  – Isaiah 53:6

Tell me what will happen tomorrow?  What about next week?  What about next year? and the next 5 years?  You can easily answer these questions to some degree.

Now, tell me what will happen in the year 2526?

If indeed you took a stab at it and tried to predict what might happen 500 years from now, there is no way you would have the specificity or details that Isaiah revealed in Isaiah 53.  It was written 500 years or more before the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Yet, it specifically calls out the things that would happen to this man.

The story of God’s plan of salvation was foretold precisely to the leaders of Israel, long before they brought charges against Jesus Christ. 
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;” (v.5)
“he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,” (v.7)
“By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  Yet who of his generation protested?” (v.8)
“Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin” (v.10)
“After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” (v.11)

We move about our daily lives and carry on as if all is well.  The bible is the Holy Word of God.  Written over the course of thousands of years, but intricately woven together with precision and accuracy that could never have been contrived by mankind.  What God revealed to the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah was ignored when it actually happened 500 years later.  Here we are 2000 years (or so) later since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we are lost sheep, following our own way.  Jesus told his disciples about the end days.  Paul, through several letters, told those who would listen about the return of Christ, and Daniel, Zachariah, Ezekiel, and John captured the prophecy of the end times in many places throughout the Bible, yet how many of you actually believe that Christ will return at any moment and usher us into eternity?  Are you living like He could return while you are reading this?  What are you going to do when that prophecy comes to fruition?  You’ve heard it told a thousand times, you know we’re supposed to be living as if it could happen at any moment, yet we continue to live as if it’s just a nice story.

I’m challenging you today to think about the Bible as more than a book of stories, but as the Word of God.  Handed down and given to you that you might become educated and know what is to come, so you will not be caught off guard on that day of reconciliation.  Our Lord is coming just as He promised.  I want to be ready on that day, even if it’s today.

Refreshing and Life Sustaining

 “But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.”   –John 4:14

Eleven pounds, in 9 days, mind you.  Earlier this year, when I stopped drinking soda (pop), white chocolate mochas, and Arnold Palmer’s (lemonade/iced tea mixed), and drank only water for nine days, I lost 11 pounds.  Tell me once again how important water is to a person’s daily diet.  I remember watching the movie “Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, and it’s uncanny how important the symbol of water is throughout the movie, but none more so than in the last scene.  I won’t spoil it for those of you who have not yet seen the highly recommended movie, but the last scene depicts the essence and importance of water in the existence of mankind and all of creation.  In the creativity and imagination of C.S. Lewis, a wall of water separates the world of Aslan and the world of Narnia.  Now refer to Genesis 1:2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Water was there before any other thing.  Before the earth was formed, before there was light and darkness, before there were stars in the sky, water was.  Were you aware that there is significantly more water inside of the Earth than what we see on the surface (oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes)?  We require it to live.  The Earth requires it to sustain plant, vegetation, and animal life.  The planets require it to sustain balance in the galaxy.  The next time you pick up a glass (or bottle) of water, consider that it was created before there was time or any other thing.  It has recycled itself, through every living thing for centuries and millennia.  It surrounds you in the air as humidity, invisible to the eye, yet present nonetheless.  Don’t believe me, set a glass of ice water on a counter and within minutes water bubbles will form on the outside of the glass through condensation.  We didn’t create the bubbles, they were formed from what exists around us.

Jesus Christ told the woman at the well, He was the living water.  To drink of this water meant she would never thirst again.  Are you thirsty for the truth in this world of misguided deception?  Are you thirsty for rest from the busyness of life?  Are you thirsty for love in a world filled with anger and sorrow?  Come and drink from the well of life – the Savior Jesus Christ.

Not an Illusion

 “So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”  – John 20:25

I have always found optical illusions interesting.  The fact that what we know to be true is challenged by what we see with our eyes.  This causes a conflict in the brain to try to comprehend what is beyond logic and knowledge.  You have seen the optical illusions displayed in art galleries or shopping malls, which depict an impossible geometric image.  For example, the Penrose Triangle, which appears at first glance to be a normal 3D triangle, yet when you look more carefully 2 of the 3 legs of the triangle do not actually intersect based on our knowledge of how they should intersect.  Perhaps you've seen artwork where steps appear to lead upward, yet when you follow them to the top, the surface is actually on the same planer surface as the bottom of the staircase.  Our knowledge, logic and understanding of this world is in a 3 dimensional perspective.  There is height, width and depth to everything we look at.  Our eyes and brain are able take in the images we view and rationalize them into something we are familiar with. 

So it was with Thomas.  He knew that Jesus had died on that cross.  He knew that he had been buried and the tomb covered with a stone.  Everything he knew about life, death and resurrection up to that point was based on human thinking and comprehension.  He was limited by what he knew, and when the disciples explained to Thomas that they had seen the risen Savior, he could not transition to a comprehension of what that meant based on his experiences up to that point in his life.  I propose that Thomas did not suffer from a lack of faith.  Even though Thomas (Didymus) had traveled and associated with Jesus for quite some time, he had not fully comprehended the deity of who Jesus Christ was.  He had a hard time getting beyond the logical knowledge of Jesus the man to see Jesus as God.  In Matthew 26:61, Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers that he will rebuild this temple in 3 days.  In John 14:1-6, Jesus tells the disciples that He will go to the Father and prepare a place for them and then return to take them with Him, and he tells Thomas specifically in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Thomas had a hard time comprehending the completeness of what Jesus was telling them though.

We do the same thing today.  We limit our acceptance of what God can do based on our understanding from a human perspective.  We see a problem and look at it from a human perspective with limitations and restrictions.  When we take a Godly perspective on a situation and accept that God is truly omnipotent and sovereign, we immediately realize that absolutely nothing is beyond His capability, if it is within His will.  Just because we want something to come to fruition doesn’t mean that God the Father wants the same thing.  It may seem completely logical and normal within our thinking, but from His vision of the full cycle of life He has a better perspective.

Like Thomas, we must accept that God can do whatever He wants to do.  We must be able to accept things in life without fully comprehending them.  Most of all, we must learn to trust that God’s plan is best for us, and the sooner we decide to align to His plan the more fulfilling our life will become.

The Complexity of Creation

 

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding"  Job 38:4

Think, don’t react, just think for a moment about everything around you.  Take a look at the trees, the bark on the trees, the heartwood and sapwood inside of the tree, the budding flowers as new leaves are formed, the roots stretching far underground and of course the leaves on the trees.  It draws nutrients from the soil, water from earth and from the sky, carbon dioxide from the air and distributes all of this throughout the entire ecosystem of its structure so that every part gets exactly what it needs to survive.  Its branches grow toward the light, its roots extend in every direction to provide strength and support, its leaves fall off and are recreated, and each one is unique in its design.  Tell me who designed this infrastructure and ecosystem so perfectly.  Was it Pascal, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Aristotle, Socrates  . . . . .   You get my point, right? 

We know the formula for water, but can we create it?  Can you tell me how to create a single grain of sand or dirt?  Where do I go to learn how to create wood? 

There is a Creator of everything that makes up this incredible sphere called Earth, and the universe around us.  He spoke it into being.  There was nothing but an expanse. He spoke, and it began.  He is the only one who has created water, soil, and air.  He formed the trees, the rocks, the mountains, and the depths of the oceans.  He created light from nothing to shine through the darkness.  The perfection of everything around could not just happen in such intricate detail to sustain itself in perfect harmony. 

Why do we continue to believe that we are here simply by happenstance?  We were created by God with unbelievable, intricate detail as well.  There is nothing about you that is not known by Him.  He has created to do amazing things.  It’s time to recognize that God is God, He made you perfectly, and He doesn’t make mistakes.  Today is your day to make use of everything He has given you.  Ready, Set, Go!

Hold On

“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved." – Acts 27:20

  I’ve heard a story of a lab experiment in which 2 sets of rats were each lowered into separate tubs of water.  The first set drowned within an hour.  The other set of rats was taken from the water periodically and then placed back in.  They swam for over 24 hours to survive.  Why?  Because there was hope that they might be saved.  

Oftentimes, hope is all we have to hold onto when troubles and storms come up in our lives.  Financial difficulties, death of a loved one, loss of a job, and raising teenagers are all examples of life events that can spin you into a tumultuous storm where it often feels like you are swimming for your very life.  So many times, we can’t see the ending, there is no light to guide our way, and it seems as though our prayers are falling on deaf ears.  This is a classic tool of Satan to bring doubt into your relationship with God the Father.

Is there a limit to the amount of grace and mercy that God will provide?  Is there a breaking point at which God says, “That’s it, I’ve tried to be reasonable, I’m done with you.”?  The answer is no.  God’s love is immutable and unchanging.  He cannot love you one day and not the next.  His grace is not something that is available to you today, but tomorrow it’s taken away.  These characteristics of the Lord are infinitely available to you and can be trusted even in the most difficult of times.

Hope in the Lord is based solely on the belief that His promises are true, despite what the world has placed before you.  It is the faith in Jesus Christ's redeeming blood and His promise to return one day to bring us to heaven.  Life for a non-believer is absolutely hopeless.  For where do they turn when life takes a turn for the worse?  When strife and trouble are piled all around, and there is no avenue of escape – whom do they turn to? 

In Acts 27, Paul’s voyage and shipwreck are described in great detail.  Paul’s strict confidence, hope, and trust in the Lord’s promise that he would stand before Caesar in Rome kept him focused on the end game.  When others on the ship were ready to abandon ship and take their chances against the storm alone, it was because they had no faith in the Lord and no hope of salvation.  Paul ended up in Rome months later, safe and sound, and spent 2 years there.  At this time, he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon while under house arrest.  His hope in God’s faithfulness brought forth some of the greatest writings in the New Testament.  Millions of people have since come to a relationship and a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ's love and grace because of this storm in Paul’s life.  What does God have in store for you after the storms in your life?  Hold onto the hope of His love and grace, and let’s find out.

Rules Of the Road

 “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal.” – Exodus 20:13-15

Of the 10 Commandments, these three are the most recognizable or quotable.  Why, you might ask?  Simple – there are immediate consequences, established by the law of the governing body overseeing your community.  If you murder, you go to jail; If you commit adultery, you end up in divorce court; if you steal, you go to jail.  So, because mankind has placed punishment and consequence behind these commandments, but not the others, are they more important?

We look at the other 7 commandments and cannot trace them to an immediate consequence or legal limitation on our lives.  Yet, I propose that they hold equally as much importance as these three because all 10 impact your eternal life.  What is it in mankind, then, that would incorporate these 3 into our legal system and not the others?  Did early governing bodies believe that they came up with the laws against murder, adultery, and stealing on their own?  Is there somehow a belief that these laws did not stem from the recorded scriptures in Exodus?

Imagine a society where these were not the law.  What value does a life have?  What value do love, marriage, or a family have?  What stops me from taking whatever I want from whomever I want?  You can see how these specifically address how we must interact with others around us and establish the universality of righteousness.  If one were to abandon these 3 commandments as if they never existed, one would have the self-centered freedom to take the life of another whenever one felt the need.  Life would be centered around the individual and whatever makes them happy, rather than the goodness of the body of mankind.  Can you imagine a society of selfish, arrogant, and lawless existence? 

In that society, by what power and authority does one governing body have over another to say that it is unlawful to kill someone, or to steal, or to rape, or to commit adultery?  If there is no absolute truth and righteousness, no single authority over all things, then we are free to each determine what is right or wrong based on our own choices.  Who assigns authority of one over another?  I walk down the street in this fictitious world and choose of my own volition that I don’t like someone, so I take their life, without remorse, consequence, or guilt.  It’s simply my choice to reign in authority over them at any given moment.  But, in that society, the opposite is also true, and someone could take my life just as easily.  Without a single ultimate authority, chaos ensues.

The hierarchy of authority must have a single highest endpoint.  That end point is God Almighty, and the laws He established have lasted throughout all time, as the backbone of our moral character, our hope, and our guiding principles for right and wrong.  Governments are put in place to uphold what has been deemed as righteous, but they were not the originators of the code.  If you can accept these 3 as morally and ethically just and righteous, why do we struggle with the other 7?  The 10 Commandments are all of equal importance and significance. When you accept that they are directly spoken from God, the Creator and ultimate Truth in life.  Just because you see the immediate consequence of these 3 and not the others, does not minimize the importance of following God’s word.

11.      Have no other God

22.      Do not make or worship idols

33.      Do not take the Lord’s name in vain

44.      Keep the Sabbath holy

55.      Honor your Father and Mother

66.      Do not murder

77.      Do not commit adultery

88.      Do not steal

99.      Do not lie or give false testimony

11.      Do not covet your neighbor's possessions or wife

Keep them all, and live by His word, for He is our ultimate authority and knows what righteousness is.  Mankind does not.

Nightmare Becomes Joy

 “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.” – Joel 2:28

It was a dark scene.  The skies were grey and the earth looked scorched.  Those around were standing in clothes that were torn as rags, and dirt covered their faces.  The men were in one line and the ladies were in another.  Children couldn’t be seen anywhere.  Then the line started to move forward, and I looked down.  My feet were shackled together which made walking nearly impossible, but those behind me were pushing and shoving.  I wasn’t really sure why we were in this line, but some behind me seemed anxious to move along.

As we neared the building, attitudes changed and people became very fearful to enter the room.  Stairs led up along the wall to our right and there was a smell in the air.  I struggled to step up the stairs, and lost my balance a few times.  As I reached the summit I looked across the big room to another staircase, where I saw my daughter in a similar line. 

She was with friends, dressed in rags like the rest of us, but laughing and smiling with that unbelievable joy she always presented to the world.  As I moved along the platform, she saw me out of the corner of her eye and waved.  I motioned her over and she came within a few steps.  As I reached out to take her hand, she was told to get back in line.  I yelled across the room, “Don’t give up the faith.  Whatever you do, don’t give up the faith.”  Just then I was pushed through a small door into a 3 foot by 3 foot box, and I could no longer see her.

I had heard stories about these boxes in other areas of the world, but only now did I realize what was going on.  The box started to fill with water and I realized within 5 minutes I would be dead.  The instructions from the voice outside simply said, “Deny Him.  Deny Him and it will stop.”  I screamed louder, “Don’t give up the faith” as the water rose to my chin.  I held my breath, prayed for God to receive me into His Kingdom and prayed that my wife and children would be spared this torturous death.  I could not stop thinking of my daughter in the line just on the other side of the room, let her be given a chance to live her life.  Please don’t take her at such a young age.  I closed my eyes, and felt the water consume me, and then it was over and light filled the blue skies above me.

I opened my eyes to see the face of Jesus, smiling with His arms opened wide to accept me into His Kingdom.  I couldn’t help but fear for those I loved, those I knew from my entire life.  Before my mind flashed every person I had ever known: from my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brother, sister, nieces, nephews, friends in school, friends at work, my wife, my children and grandchildren, and even brief acquaintances from around the globe.  Had I done enough in my life to reach them, to help them and to share the gospel with them? It was too late now, there was nothing more I could do, and I wept bitterly.

 

I woke this morning panicked for those I love and care about.  Please don't miss the opportunity to tell those you love about salvation through Jesus Christ.