Think of the story of the fourth Wiseman. The one who did not get there in time. He never saw Jesus as a child. He never got to give his present. He got there in time to stand at the foot of the cross. Sometimes, just because you are lost, does not mean you are out of God’s will or plan.
This set of weeks leading up to Easter we are going to take a little creative licence and join the fourth Wiseman. We will be with him as he hears and learns about each pinnacle event and as he tries so hard to finally meet his Messiah.
Beginning:
The sound of the breeze through the sand as it whispers across the shoreline. Our traveler has walked many miles in search of the King. The years have stretched. His clothes have worn. His body and his camel have grown tired. Yet as he draws water for the animal to drink, probably for the hundredth time since his journey began, following a star and finding an empty stable, he hears a whisper.
“Have you heard what he is saying?” One woman asks.
“He’s probably crazy.” Another answers.
A pause. “But what if he isn’t?”
Our traveler turns and wonders if he should break the social norm and ask them what they mean. Then he hears a cry, loud and piercing. The women shake their heads and he knows this cry has something to do with their conversation. He leads his camel through the deserted streets and finds a small huddle around an oasis. There in the water stands a man, water streaming from him, eyes full of fire and laughter. He is baptizing people. But not in the way or name that our traveler has heard before. No. He is using a new authority, and at the sound of the name Our traveler shivers with excitement.
John 1:19-23 ESV
[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” [20] He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” [21] And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” [22] So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” [23] He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
And so it begins. John was the voice crying in the wilderness as he prepared people to receive Jesus. God had previously ordained John for this time and purpose. When Jesus’s ministry began, people were already starting to feel it coming, the knowledge that the Messiah was on His way and was not as far off as people thought previously. Not every ear would hear. Not every heart was ready. But many who heard believed and were ready for Jesus to come.
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Good shoes
Continuing from last week on what to bring for the spiritual journey. Last week we covered how you will need a good map. A map that shows you where to go and how to get there. Our map is this Bible and we need to know it and have it with us.
Second, you will need a good solid pair of shoes.
God says we should put on the shoes of readiness. Yet we are getting used to our shoes of readiness being more a pair of wolly toe socks then the marching boots they were meant to be.
There will be sharp rocks on the journey. There may be dangerous insects and venomous serpents. You need a strong pair of shoes that can keep up with you. Lace up those boots. You do not want to make this walk in socks.
Packing for the road part 1
Acts 17:28-31 ESV
[28] for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ [29] Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. [30] The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, [31] because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
There are so many these days who want to jump in and claim that every tiny thing is a sign of the end. In fact there have been signs of the end off and on since Jesus died, was it not Paul who said that we are now living in the last days?
We can be afraid of what we see around us or we can look to God and His word. Petra has a song called last days. They say in it, that the last days are the final craze. It’s so true. These days we have had are crazy. It feels like people are losing their common sense let alone their sanity. When walking through the valley it can be easy to look at the crooked trees and the shadows. But if you look too long you will find that you have wandered off the path after them and now you are trapped. Don’t worry. The good shepherd has had lots of practice pulling his sheep from bramble. When these days come we need to focus on Jesus and only Him. He is the light that will guide us.
You will need five things to get you to the other side of the valley. Think of this as your ‘what to bring’ list for the road.
First you will need a map.
You will hear many people and preachers tell you things that sound true, yet the only way to know if they are truly true is to listen to God Himself. Take everything you hear and test it against the Bible.
I love my Bible. It has a nice big concordance in the back where I can look up every scripture on most topics. If I hear something I need clarity on, or something that just doesn’t sound right, I reach for my Bible and find the answers God gave us. The walk can be long and everything can begin to look the same, but a good map will show you the right way. You look at it and see the trees, mountains, rivers. You can tell by the landmarks which way to follow and what to avoid. God has always been the greatest cartographer, He has given us a map that does not simply show us where to go, but also how to get there. There is no fastest route on this map, it will be a long journey, life usually is, but you will get to your destination. When you get there you will not hear, “you have arrived.” You will hear, “well done good and faithful servant.”
Don’t forget to pack your map.
Standing in the storm?
Sometimes, you have to go through the rain to see the blessings. Sometimes, you have to fish all night before Jesus tells you to throw your nets on the other side. Then after He has been in the tomb for three days and you are out on the water all night once again, with your faith wounded and your hearts broken and a man on the shore tells you to throw your nets one more time, and you know it’s Jesus, so you fling yourself over the side of the boat, knowing that you can walk on the water of He is with you. You grab Him and cry.
Sometimes, God will remind you of your first act of faith when you are in your hardest moments, so you remember how He answered you.
John 21:4-7 ESV
[4] Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [5] Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” [6] He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. [7] That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Luke 5:3-7 ESV
[3] Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” [5] And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” [6] And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. [7] They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
Sometimes we go through the pains of a suffering we do not understand and we never truly see the reason. Sometimes we suffer and then see what God created through it. Sometimes our blessings cause our suffering. Sometimes our struggles do. But no matter what causes the pain, God has a purpose and will save you. No matter how you feel in the moment, don’t forget, ever, that God is good. He will never cause anything to happen to you that He does not plan to bring you out of, and many times He will bring something great of you.
Perhaps you will not become the deciple upon which God builds His church, like Peter.
Perhaps you will not be upright and righteous beyond any other in the Land, like Job.
But God, will bring you out and bring something great out of you!
Trust Him! He is always on your side.
Blessing too heavy
We often refer to Jesus as being in the boat and not letting the boat sink. In reference to the time when Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat during the big storm.
However, there is another painting involving Jesus and a boat.
When Jesus caused the nets of the disciples to fill to overflowing. In that instance, Jesus being in the boat (or at least close by) kept the boat from sinking from the blessings, not the storm. My mom often says do not allow your blessings to become your burdens. The fact is, our blessings are sometimes more than we can handle, and we feel like we are going to sink. When Jesus is in our boat, he will never permit us to sink. Even if we feel we are sinking from blessings, Jesus knows what our blessings entail. He knows the effort that has to go into them. When Jesus filled the nets of the disciples, he knew that there was help close by to help Peter and Andrew pull the fish in because they were afraid that the fish we’re going to capsize the boat. It is easy for your blessings to become burdens due to the simple fact that blessings don’t come without effort. There’s always something you have to put into them. But Jesus is there in the boat with you and he will help guide you. He will not let the boat roll over. He will get you through, and once you can finally haul your blessings in, you will rejoice at what God has done.
Invisible weapons
There are so many people we meet in a day. Shopping. At work. In traffic. At school.
Have you ever found that people have the comfort of speaking with you about their problems and you really just don’t know why?
I’m not a terribly social person, but I find that people often want to speak with me about their lives. Randomly. I make a point now of going to self checkouts. It’s not that I don’t care. But my response is rarely what they want to hear. “Would you like me to pray for you?” Then they get uncomfortable and we have a nice long awkward silence. But really. There’s nothing else I can do. I can talk to God and He can fix your problem, but me, myself and I not only can’t help with your problem, but I probably don’t even really understand it.
As Christians people will seek us out something about us draws them to us, and they want to talk to us about what’s going on in their lives as though we can help. The fact is we can’t help but we can talk to the one who can Jesus can help these people? He can solve all their problems and we can lead them to him. But a lot of the times people get upset when you bring God up and then I kind of wonder, well if you don’t want me to talk to God about it, then why are you talking to me about it?
I have learned a lovely thing.Praying in secret. At my job, one of the ladies said to me, I have no problem with you but i’m not into that whole God and Christian thing.I want nothing to do with it.I feel if I walked into a church.It would probably burn down because of my sins. In my mind I went, ” those are fighting words where I come from.” Verbally I just said, “okay.” People don’t always want you to pray for them, but that will never be able to stop you from praying for them. You don’t have to pray for them out loud. Jesus can even hear the thoughts of Your Heart. Pray for them in your mind. Especially if they don’t want you praying for them. They bring you they’re troubles because they don’t know who wants to go to. They realize that somehow, deep within their spirits that you have a connection to Jesus and that he can fix things, but they are afraid they are afraid to find Jesus.
They’re afraid of all he stands for and how he will change their lives. Just because you are not telling someone that you will pray for them, and just because you are not praying out loud with them. Standing there does not mean that God is not hearing you. You can pray at home on your knees. You can pray in your car. You can pray right there in that moment. Inside your own mind and soul. And God will hear. You never know when a person will have a breakthrough. And you never know how your prayers will help them, so don’t stop praying. Especially when someone tells you, they don’t want to be prayed for pray harder than even if they never know that you are doing so.
Keep Marching!
Joshua 6:2-5 ESV
[2] And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. [3] You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. [4] Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. [5] And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
https://bible.com/bible/59/jos.6.2-5.ESV
God gave us music for when the battles come. When the storms reach high and when darkness seems to encroach, God gave us a song. We have been given music that reminds us of gods holy power, his goodness, his grace, and the fact that he will never leave us.
Who would have thought that Jericho would be destroyed by music and a shout? God did. He knew it work, but it didn’t work the first time. It didn’t even work the second or the third time.I’m quite certain that by the time jerichos walls actually felt the people were starting to wonder at God’s plan. We all have a jericho, and we all have a weapon, and sometimes we wonder at God’s plan. But then we pick ourselves up, grab our instruments and march one more time, and that is the time when the walls fall. Turn your music up and keep marching.God will make a way.
I’ve got my own giants
I’ve got my own giants.
We had a pastor who used to say that you need to get out of only praying for yourself. But that’s hard. We pray for other people’s problems, but we become distracted by our own problems. Our giants are big too.
We worry over ourselves because we are on the frontline of our own lives. We don’t feel what others feel, but we definitely feel what we feel. Then, one day, a person goes through what you have been through, and you pray harder for that person than for any of the others because you understand. You have met their giants, and you know how awful they are. Sometimes, God let’s us go through things so we are prepared from the battle to help others with their battle. Perhaps God knows that we have the strength to endure with only Him, and the person we will meet will need a physical hand to hold. It’s what is grown in the battle that makes us who we are. But we get to choose if anything grows. Do we turn to binge watching TV? I know I do more than I should. Do we turn to friends? What is your escape plan for when the fight comes?
It is when we turn to Jesus that we grow. When we say, “I’m fighting through this because God is on my side!”
We say that you can do anything you put your mind to, but the fact is no, you can’t. There are things you can not do on your own. But there is nothing that God can not do. It’s when you give the battle to Him and follow behind His sword and shield that you see victory. We have our own giants. But don’t go saying that your sling and stone won the fight because you were a great shot. Or because you had better technology than the dead champion who had won countless battles and most likely met fighters as good as you and sling shots as fast and powerful. When you walk away from the fight, know it’s because God walked with you into the fight. Your giants are big. But your God is bigger.
What does it mean to trust?
What does it mean to trust?
I was asked recently how to release all one’s fears to God and to rest. In truth. I was in a dark space and the typical pat answers we usually give people did not feel like enough. I said, “I don’t really know. I’m still figuring it out.” For me. If I go out for a hike or a long walk and put on my power praise music I find the Holy Spirit’s presence drives out the dark. But as soon as I go back inside and turn the music off the clouds come again.
Recently I had a terrible case of covid. This new strain is no joke. I truly felt I would die about four times before the sun started peaking through and I began to recover. My case has been so bad that for a week I physically did not have the strength to move around much. I was too dizzy to do anything for myself and I spent two weeks on the couch watching Christmas movies and sleeping. Never have I been sick like this. Next week I have my first math exam for my college courses. It has been a terrifying challenge for me and the reason I fell into such a slump of depression. Over Christmas we were supposed to study for our exam. I couldn’t. I tried to. Really hard. But I was too sick. I couldn’t figure it out. Why would God let me get sick? Yet during this time of forced rest I learned the answer to the question I had been asked earlier. To truly let go and rest in God’s peace, you have to actually let go. Release it all. Stop striving and let it slip into God’s hands. A devotional I read once said, to rest is to trust God. We feel rest is lazy. We feel we should be doing something. But rest is letting God take over, trusting that God will take care of it all even when we do nothing. Does that mean I am not studying hard these days to make up for the time missed? No. But I am not trusting in myself for the success. I am trusting that God will help me succeed with His power. I am doing what I am doing because I trust His will. It is in His hands.
To trust is to rest in God’s peace and strength. He does not need our fear and striving. He wants our trust.
How many times
How many times has God heard me say, “I can’t go on! I am so scared.”? More times than most who know me would imagine. Fear is such a constant thing in this life. Recently, my dog started stress chewing his feet. They are raw, and I have to stop him when I see him doing this. Why does he do this? Because we have had anxiety in our household, and he reacts with a stress release. The thing is, if we don’t turn to God when fear or anxiety hits, we will turn to something else. It might be harmless like chocolate or something dangerous to our health or spiritual health. To turn to Jesus means to face the fear head on, and none of us want to do that. To give it to God means to talk about it with Him, it means letting Him know how we feel and that involves acknowledging those feelings. If we don’t turn to Jesus, we will fall into a dark place. Turning to Jesus is turning toward the light. So many things stress us out and scare us. Exams, a scary boss, a health problem, financial issues. Go ahead, Add to that list, I’m sure there are plenty are more that could be brought up. There was an old song, I believe Andrea Crouche wrote it, it said ‘give them all to Jesus. Shattered dreams, ruined hearts, broken toys. Give them all to Jesus and He will turn your sorrow into joy.’ It hurts and scares us sometimes, just going through this life, but the answer is not to find a paw to chew, we need to turn to Jesus and let Him show us the answers that He has planned.
Carried in the cross 