North America, have we missed the time of God’s coming?
Just as Jesus said to Jerusalem “If you had only known what would bring you peace, I can’t help but wonder if we have also become a nation that Jesus weeps over? But we have fallen so far and so hard. We celebrate sin and teach evil to our children, we turn our backs on what is right and say to Jesus that we don’t want Him to he our king we would rather be our own heros and masters. Just as Jesus said in His parable about the Minas (a parable we don’t tend to quote) “those who did nothing with what I gave them will have all taken from them, but those who rejected me as King, bring them before me and slay them at my feet.” (This is a bit of a paraphrase because the verse is long. See Luke 19: 11)
We hear too often the statement that real Christians don’t beat people down with the Bible but that we need to show love only. We are loving people right into he’ll by not teaching the truth. If people feel beaten by true Biblical teaching (not personal opinions) that means they have something in their lives that needs to change; in truth, we should all have sections of the Bible that make us feel like we are being accused, and that make us feel uncomfortable and unworthy, because we all have stuff in our lives that separates us from God, stuff we need to change. We are never going to be worthy of God, but that’s why Jesus had to sacrifice Himself, because we couldn’t make it on our own. That doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want, we must grow and change as we draw closer to Him- we can’t simply accept the Minas and think that’s enough. When I was a kid we were always told, ‘read your Bible and pray everyday.’ It got to be a catch phrase. But that is how we grow what we have been given. Tithing and volunteer work. Mowing your neighbor’s lawn. Dedicating your life to missions. Little things for some of us and big things for others are ways to grow what we have been given. God gives much to those who are going to give out much, little to those who will give out little, nothing to those who give out nothing and to those who reject Him He will give death. This isn’t a cuddly, happy topic. But sometimes we need the tough stuff to be said because we need to get back on the right track. I don’t want to be a nation, a city or a person who Jesus weeps over. I want to be a good and faithful servant, though I know I’m not many days and that I fail often. The point is. Do you love Him enough to keep trying? Are you working at growing your relationship, your Minas? Or are you letting it sit and become stagnant as our world goes by having missed the coming of God to us?
Scripture:
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” Luke 19
Category: Jesus
Mother, you are important just the way you are!
Mother, you are important just the way you are.
I had the misfortune of seeing a movie the other day that delt with a mom who suddenly decided to go after a career instead of raising her child. There’s nothing wrong with a mom going after a career, that part wasn’t the problem. The problem was that she chose to do this because her sister told her that a woman who was satisfied with being nothing more than a mother was underachieving. In that moment my mind went, ‘I see now. That’s where it began.’ The falling apart of the country’s fabric I mean. Women are now told that it’s no longer okay to be happy just being a mommy, if that’s your dream as a little girl you’ll get shot down as not stretching yourself enough. This is false. We need our moms in this and every country. We need them as moms. Having a job too is fine, but if all you’ve ever been and all you’ve ever wanted to be was a mom there is nothing wrong with that; in fact, you’ve chosen one of the hardest, most underappreciated, and totally unpaid positions out there. But you chose it because you are special. You didn’t just want a baby to play with and then you’re done and want your own life, you wanted to be someone’s mentor, caretaker, teacher, and friend. You chose a job where someone else’s life is always put before yours. A job where you are solely responsible for guiding and maintaining another human being. You have chosen to be more than just another money seeking career woman. You have chosen to be someone who gains nothing but the love of a child and never gets payment nor awards. Except perhaps a paper cut out of a ribbon with a misspelled ‘#1 mom’ written on it, and if you are like my mom then that paper cut out ribbon is more precious to you than any golden trophy could be. You are amazing mothers, just the way you are! Don’t feel like you are less because you chose a job that leaves you without a pension. Don’t feel small because you wear old holy soles instead of seven inch high heels. Don’t forget that God designed women to be mothers. Not all choose that path and some God plans to be His workers in a different direction then motherhood and that’s fine. But we must never look down on those who have been chosen to fulfill the role of mommy. Being a mother to your child makes God smile, because you are following His plan. The world needs strong, praying mothers. Don’t doubt the importance of your role! We need you.
Happy Mother’s day! 😊
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Jeremiah 1:5-8 NLT
Jeremiah is such a perfect example of someone threshing weat in the wine press, except he was in the wine press emotionally. He wasn’t depressed or anything, but he looked around and saw all these great men of God who happened to be older, probably much older, than himself and he did what we all do when we look around instead of looking up- he saw his inadequate state. God says to do something and we look at the other people doing the same thing or similar things, and we realize that compared to them we don’t have the same level of: schooling, training, strength, courage, popularity, Talent, and so on. But then God reminds us: ” you must go where I send you and do as I tell you, and do not be afraid of them for I will protect you.”
It isn’t about what we think we can do or what we feel we are qualified for. It’s about what God knows we can do and what He qualifies us for through His power. No matter our schooling or our skill we are all inadequate for the task before us unless we have God helping us. Oh sure we might succeed on our own, but it will always be more difficult or lead to less of a great conclusion then it would have been if we had just let God use us the way that He planned to. We may all be in the wine press emotionally on some level for something, but God has a plan for all of us, one that is unique and individual to each person. When God calls you out of the wine press follow His voice. And don’t be afraid of them, for God will protect you.
Jude
Jude
This will end our four part ‘in the wine press’ series. Feel free to go back over the last three weeks to see where it all began in Gideon, to where we are now, near the end of the Bible in one of my favorite books- Jude.
In the wine press spiritually. Jude’s past right to the dating of his book and the argued over intended audience is… speculative. However, as one of my Theology Professors once said: even with legitimate doubt about the dating of Jude, a terminus a quo and terminus ad quem should be possible. What we do know for fact is that Jude was Jesus’ brother. We also know the struggle that Jesus’ brothers had with accepting Him as Messiah. Jude would have been a Jewish man who attended synagogue and learned his Torah and more than likely prayed to God. He was doing the physical acts of being one of God’s chosen people, like everyone else, but like most of the others around him he didn’t yet have a personal relationship with God- which comes through Jesus. [Now I’m going to peel away from Jude himself because, as I said before, we don’t know as much about him as we would like and I don’t wish to go on about things I’m not sure about.]
So many of us our in the wine press spiritually. On the outside we are threshing away after the harvest, doing the work we are supposed to do, yet on the inside we are in the wine press, which is not where we are supposed to be. We look like we are fully committed to Jesus, yet we still don’t have a relationship with Him. Going to Church and reading the Bible are fundamental in your Christian life, yet if you think these acts without having accepted Jesus as you savior will get you into Heaven you haven’t been paying attention to what you have read or heard. We need Him first and foremost. We need these other things that connect us to Him for sure, but they don’t mean anything if Jesus is not at our core and theirs. Bibles and Churches that have been stripped of their intended meaning and purpose to leave us with an all loving, all accepting, all roads lead to Heaven bad taste in our mouths are not going to help your Spiritual growth or your connection to Jesus, (which Jude warns against in his book). After accepting the sovereignty of Jesus, Jude became a student of the man who founded the first church – James. It would have been so hard for Jude and James to let go of the image of Jesus they had in their minds and to instead grasp the wonder of who He truly was. If my relative suddenly claimed to be God’s son I’d be checking his cup to see what he was sipping. But Jesus proved Himself again and again and we know He is God. But until you accept that and accept that you need Him as your savior no amount of Church attendance will save you. Once we get out of the spiritual wine press and start doing things the right way maybe we will have the courage and faith to say “I —- a slave of Jesus Christ,” just like Jude did.
Reflection
The moon has a dark side that is void of rhe sun’s light. But the sun has no dark side because it is the light. We have darkness in us because we have places that we don’t let Jesus into. These sides rise up and make the world doubt the goodness of Christ because His Christians aren’t perfect. But Jesus is the light and the good inside of us, He has no darkness or badness. We will always mess up no matter how hard we try to be like our Savior because we are flawed humans. But we are only a reflection of Jesus, not Jesus Himself and He does not possess our inclination toward sin. You can’t judge the sun’s warmth by standing in the dark, you have to feel it for yourself. You can’t judge Christ by Christians, we’re only a reflection and mess up, you have to experience Jesus for yourself to see how wonderful He truly is.
Saul
Saul
Saul had his own moment of leaving the wine press ( figuratively). When the Isrealites fussed to have a king like everyone else had, God chose Saul. Where was Saul when Samuel informed him he was to be king? Looking for donkeys. He didn’t want the job at first. Now I know that Saul is a contrary figure. But he was chosen by God, even if he turned from God in the end, God gave him a position of authority. But he had been found for his time, in a place of lowlyness. Not believing that God had a great time for him.
Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” 1 Samuel 9:21 NIV
But God was able to change him. To make a great king out of the least likely person.
As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 1 Samuel 10:9 NIV
It doesn’t depend on us. If we are well educated or are wealthy or have a great family background, none of that matters for God’s big plan for us. All that matters is that we are willing to say ‘yes God, let’s do this!’
Saul was planned for a time and purpose. He is also a great example of what happens when we turn from God even in the midst of following His plan for our lives. We must remain true to Him and serve Him or else He may use someone else to fulfill His plan. Saul had the chance to be great in God’s power. But He chose to try and be great in his own strength and was cast down.
God can use you no matter how unlikely you seem to yourself. But if you don’t honor Him He will find someone else.
Leaving the wine press
God sees you when you are threshing wheat in the wine press.
Sometimes the enemy feels too strong, so we find ourselves serving God privately and quietly and not standing up and showing people that we love him. Sometimes we’re even too afraid to tell people that we are Christians. That makes God very sad, but just because He’s sad doesn’t mean that He’s not taking care of us in the wine press. When I think of Gideon I think of someone I understand. He had been attacked, he had seen his friends slaughtered, and he was afraid. So he started doing his work away from watching eyes. I don’t blame him. Yet despite his fear and hiding God planned to use him for a great victory. It wasn’t easy either. There were times I bet he thought he had imagined the angel who had come to him. But in the end he gave his body and will over to God and God used him as He said He would.
Don’t feel like God is overlooking you because you are in the wine press, He still sees you and He still plans to use you. Even if you are failing now, even if you failed Him this very second, it doesn’t change what He can and will do through you. It may be hard, but don’t fight Him. If God has you by the waist and is pulling you out of the wine press, the only one you’ll hurt by clinging to the walls is yourself. That’s easy to say, but I know I’ve wrapped my arms around the mill stone a few times recently, the same as everyone else. But God will give you another chance. He knows what greatness you can achieve when you surrender to Him.
Judges Chpt 6-8 tells Gideon’s story for those who want to read it.
I am a sinner, but I leave that all behind me and choose to follow the third man on the hill, the one the people call Jesus.
We are all the two thieves. We’ve either asked Jesus to remember us or we have mocked Him by not believing Him. The two thieves were a physical example of the two paths to take. A sinner set free by the blood of the Lamb – or a sinner still attached to his/her cross. You can choose to follow Jesus to Paradise or you can choose to stay the way you are. He leaves the decission up to you. But only one road leads to Heaven. Only one way takes you away from death eternal. Jesus is the only way- the choice is up to you.
The reason
The reason
I was too late. She didn’t know the truth, and now she was gone. The cancer won in the end. We didn’t think it would.
Six hours we had spent together. All the time in the world. Yet never once did I speak the truth. Now it’s too late. Now she’s gone, her soul lost forever. If only I could go back. Say anything that would make a difference. Anything at all.
The reason for the death and Resurrection was so that people would be able to come to Jesus and be free from hell. We get caught up in the ribbons and the bright colors added to this day and forget, today was the winning of a battle, not an Easter parade. It’s a happy day for those who know and love Jesus, it’s a hopeful day for those who find Him, but for those who don’t believe it’s just another Sunday to stay in bed. These souls are what we are supposed to fight for. We all fail daily to spread Jesus to the world, for those who aren’t missionaries, preachers or evenagelists, it’s really hard to find the words and the moment to show Jesus to people. Sometimes a lady you met once who you pray for for years will suddenly die from cancer and you never know, was it enough? Did she find Jesus in the end?
Souls of the lost and found are the reason for it all. My soul, your soul and the wandering souls out there are the reason for the empty tomb.
He gave us everything. We need to give Him all of us in return. Don’t be half a Christian following the easy path. Serve Him and be a jewel in His crown.
I can smell it, life is returning
I can smell it coming, life is returning.
Walking through the grove of blue spruce trees in our yard I took a deep breath. The past several months of winter, the air burned and smelled like snow; today my senses were filled with warm scent of pine. It was faint, but it was there. Little by little the trees were coming back to life. I know pine trees don’t go fully dormant during the winter like Birch or Poplar, so they are usually the first you notice a difference in during Spring. Yet that doesn’t change the joy of having the trees start to show sign of winter ending.
Yesterday Jesus was killed and buried. Today He was busy preparing for tomorrow. His body lie in a stone tomb, yet His Spirit was working on the Father’s plan. He wasn’t up and walking about yet today, but there was something stirring, life was returning. Lewis would speak of it as the other world or realm and that is how I will speak of it also. We couldn’t see or hear anything happening here on Earth during the middle day of Holy Week weekend, yet in the other world- the one our souls belong to- there was a great awakening of souls who had lied in death for many years awaiting their savior to come and take the keys from the devil and bring them home. Jesus’s death and resurrection was always planned, God didn’t suddenly go, ‘oh no! The world is really bad I need to send someone to save them!’ He knew all along what would happen and was ready for it. Today was a busy day for Jesus, and though his body lay dead in the tomb, life was preparing to return to it.
Carried in the cross 