The lasting value of a gift

I remember as a small boy wanting a 10-speed bicycle for Christmas.  We lived in a rural town  and school was about 4 miles away. There was no bus service in our town so I rode my bike or walked to school. If the weather was bad, my mom would drive me to school.

The other gift I really wanted was a crystal radio so I could listen to the Dodgers play.  The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and I wanted to listen to the games at night and on the weekends.

On Christmas morning, there were three gifts under the tree. There was a 10-speed Schwinn bicycle, a Heathkit Crystal radio and a bible.

I was excited … in that order.  The bike would get me further and faster. The radio, once I put it together, would open my world of sports even more. The bible would go on the shelf.

The bike lasted about three years. The crystal radio became obsolete the next year with the transistor radio. The bible, the Word of God, has been with me for a lifetime. 

What gift will you give this year?

What gift will you receive this year?

I Want ...

For the past eight years, we have been going into a Mall during the Christmas Season with our HoldingCross kiosk display.  The Lord put it on our heart that The Cross is central to the story of Christmas and so many people forget that as they scurry to purchase gifts for one another. 

In the mall this year again, we hear many conversations as people walk by. 

I want …

She needs …

We need to get …

One person walked up to our display on Friday, stared at the Psalm 23 WordCube and broke down and started crying. Noticing he was visibly upset, I walked over to him and was silent waiting for him to speak.  He said, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  I know that in my heart but it is so hard right now to believe that. You see, I’m homeless and have been out of a job for a long time”. 

After hearing his story, I went over and picked up a black walnut HoldingCross and handed it to him. I said it would be cold tonight. The forecast was for sub-30 degree weather. I encouraged him to hold the cross as a reminder of The Shepherd and His presence in his heart to keep him warm.

The next morning, I came to open the booth. The stranger with the story from the day before was there waiting for me. He had a big smile on his face and seemed anxious.

Before I could say anything, he said, “Good morning Jack! I have something to share with you. Last night, I left the mall just holding that cross. I was planning to walk to the shelter for the evening. On the way, there was a “now hiring” sign at a local grocery store. I filled out an application for work and talked with the manager. They hired me!  Praise God!  I start work in three days!  When I got back to the shelter for the evening, I could hardly contain myself.  I opened that little scroll paperwork that came with the cross and read every word. You were right. Even though it was cold outside, my heart was soooo warm.”

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

When sheep lay down to rest

Over the years, I've learned allot about sheep. Although I've never owned a sheep or belonged to a 4-H club raising sheep or even been around sheep except at a county fair or zoo, I've picked up a few traits of sheep that apply to my own life.

When sheep lay down, they rest and they sleep.  They don't lay down unless a number of things happen ... here's a short list to consider;

• When the shepherd is present, they feel protected, safe and can lay down.

• When there is no strife among the sheep, they can lay down.
• When the irritants of the day like flies and insects subside, they can lay down.
• When they are fed and watered, they can lay down.

David knew the way of the sheep. He watched them and cared for them.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; 
He leads me beside quiet waters.


Psalm 23: 1-2

The Holiday Season

This time of year can be hectic. The holiday season has somehow been transformed from a day of thanks to Black Friday, from a morning of Joy and worship to a day of football and parades and tinsel, from a season of preparation to a season of frenzy.

Take the time to be refreshed and renewed this year. Simplify. Slow down. Pray more.

Give the gift of YOUR time to someone. Reach out to a hurting world.

When you are tired of the busyness and feel like you have no time, give your time to another.  It's counter intuitive but is is the the way God works.

Proverbs 11:25
"He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

What will you do with the next 61 days?

On November 1, there will be 61 days left in the year.

There is another 61 for you to consider … Isaiah 61.

The Year of the LORD's Favor

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD

for the display of his splendor. 

During the next 61 days, live with that promise.
During the next 61 days, reach out to others with that heart.
For the next 61 days go into the world and heal the brokenhearted, preach the good news to the poor and proclaim freedom to the captives.
Go, in Jesus Name. Amen.

Jesus Saves

In downtown Los Angeles, on Hope Street, stood The Church of the Open Door. It stood there for seventy years until it was demolished in the late 80’s after some severe earthquake damage. R.A Torrey founded it. Louis T. Talbot and J. Vernon McGee were senior pastors there. It was in the heart of the city. Some even said it was the soul of the city. What I remember was the sign on the top of the building. In big, bold, red neon, the sign declared JESUS SAVES.

Over the years, big glass skyscrapers were built all around that church. At night, you could see the reflection of that sign from several vantage points due to the reflections of the many glass walls surrounding the church. It was simply amazing. In my early days as a new Christian, I would listen to J. Vernon McGee preach. I heard sound doctrine, solid gospel and honest conviction.

Last week I heard a message from another radio pastor who has gone on to be with the Lord. Adrian Rogers. He was saying something I had not heard anyone say before.

“Oh yes, Jesus saves”, he said. “It is what he does. He saves sinners like you and me”, he went on. I’ve heard that and know that. I’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus.

What was different was this … He said “many people declare that they have been saved by Jesus. The problem is they have not made Jesus the Lord of their life. Lord is WHO He is and saving is WHAT He does.

The question Pastor Rogers put plainly was this … Is Jesus Lord of your life? If not, why not? Is He Lord of your marriage and job and children and finances or is He recognized as simply the one who saved a wretch.

I’ve been chewing on that thought for a few days now. The conviction of the Spirit has been gnawing at my heart.

Thank you father for sending your Son to save a wretch like me. All I am and all I have are yours, Jesus. Forgive me for the things I have done and left undone without you being considered Lord of my life. Be the Lord of my Life each day and each moment and each breath. Thank you Jesus for who you are ... King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen and Amen.

God's Provision

This morning I was reading in Exodus again. This time I was in Chapter 16. It didn’t take long for the Israelites to go from the Song of Moses – praising God – to the grumbling hoard in the middle of nowhere.

They grumbled about bitter water and God provided sweet water. They grumbled about food and God provided heavenly nourishment. They grumbled about amount of water and God provided abundant water.

Amazing grace.

Think about it for a moment. How much manna per day? Two and a half million people were given an omer (roughly two quarts per person) of manna per day. That’s five million quarts or over 208 thousand bushels of food PER DAY. Talk about the abundant blessing of God’s provision and it wasn’t for a day or a week. It was for 12,500 days!

They even got tired of manna and grumbled about eating meat and God provided quail.

WOW.

Thank you Lord for your provision.

Help me Lord not to take your provision for granted.

Open my eyes to see your hand in everything you provide.

Soften my heart to not be hardened with feelings of entitlements but songs of praise.

Give me grace to do what you have called me to do this day with gratitude and thanksgiving.

In Jesus Name I pray.

Amen

The Song of Moses

Chaos to Peace
Bondage to Freedom
Many Idols to One God
A People to His People
Eminent Defeat to Ultimate Victory

Many say the familiar story in Exodus of the Hebrew people leaving Egypt, slavery and idolatry to the temporary promised land seems to be so long ago and so irrelevant to today. May I offer some relevance?

“They cried out”, it says in the text. Notice scripture records they didn’t even cry out to God … they just cried out. But God heard the cry of the people. Our God hears!

After the 10th plague, they left Egypt. The Egyptians gave them gold and silver and fine linen to GET OUT. How odd is that? The Hebrew’s were going into the wilderness. Where would they use the gold and fine linen out there?

They were led by a pillar of smoke and fire. They walked three days, leaving the tomb of bondage in Egypt and ending up at the Red Sea - the Sea of Reeds. Behind them was an army of destruction. Where they were was at the edge of the Abyss. On the other side was the wilderness of unknowns. Trapped!

On that third night, did they wonder if they made the right decision? Over two million people made the decision to follow Moses and leave their homes and security and things they knew. They had seen the finger of God work in the plagues. They stayed up all night “watching” the Angel of Death pass over their home and exact death on the households of Egypt. Here they were again … at night … watching. What would happen now?

At midnight, Moses stood up and walked to the edge of the sea. As instructed by God, he stretched out his staff over the sea. The East wind blew like never before. The sea rolled back. God provided a way. Only two minutes before, what looked like a trap and destruction, now became a path and a destination. The wind … the Ruach … blew and the abyss became dry land. Destruction by men became salvation by God.

In the middle of the night 2.5 million men, women and children along with all of their flocks and herds and possessions walked across the dry land in the middle of the Sea of Reeds. The wall of water was on both sides of the pathway. They were in “over their heads” now. There was no turning back. There was full commitment. Either God will save me or I will surely die!

The Egyptian army followed in hot pursuit. If this is a natural occurrence, then surely they would be able to follow the Hebrews through the sea. They had their own gods. Their god of Horace – the god of war – was providing a way. What happened to the Hebrews was they believed. What happened to the Egyptians was they assumed. The Hebrews were saved; the Egyptians were destroyed and lost.

At the break of dawn, after that third night on the edge of destruction, salvation came. The Hebrews were given a “new life”. They were taken out of the grave and resurrected. Laying on the shoreline of the sea was the rubble of the mighty chariots of Egypt and the dead corpses of horses and men. Standing on the shoreline was a people – God’s people – singing and dancing.

“I will sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously
The horse and rider thrown into the sea.
The Lord, my God, my strength, my song,
has now become my victory!”

Does this story have any relevance today? Are you battling with the slavery of addictions? Is the comfort of this culture baiting you with the idols of this culture? Is your life wandering about with no direction? Are you being chased by the chariots of your past? Do you feel like your back is against a wall and there is no escape? Are you just crying out?

Read Exodus chapters 12 thru 14 again. Read it slowly. Put yourself, your family, your job, your predicament into the story.

Then read Exodus 15.

Some scholars say that the beginning of the “kingdom of heaven on earth” happened when God chose a people and the people chose God. He “reigned” as their King. I believe God’s kingdom has no beginning and no end, but this certainly was a seminal event.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, there are two songs that we should practice and know by heart. One is the Song of Moses and the other is the Song of The Lamb. You see, we will be singing these for an eternity. Read Revelation 15:3 and then remember regardless of your apparent situation, our God reigns and we can sing and dance. To God be the glory forever and ever.

Gethsemane - The Oil Press

The Mount of Olives lies across the Yoshafat Valley and is about 260 feet higher elevation than the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. It was from this vantage point that David fled from Absalom and wept. It was from this place, Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem.

Just below the Mount of Olives is the place we westerners call “The Garden of Gethsemane”. More accurately it was the place where the olives were processed from the harvest. The olives were picked and gathered for fruit, lighting, lubricating oil, health care and anointing. The oil press in ancient days was stone. This stone press was called a gethsemane.

The process of extracting oil from the olive fruit was fairly simple. You put the olives into the basin of the Olive crusher. The Olive crusher had a mill stone that would have a beam that rolled the stone over the olives to “crush” them. Once crushed, the pulp would be put in baskets. These baskets would be placed under the Gat (a place for pressing) shemanim (oil). This Gatsemanim stone would then press down on the crushed olives and extract the oil.

Jesus went to the place where olives were harvested to be “crushed”. The weight of the world was the mill stone. The weight of the sins of the world pressed down on him just like the rock slab pressed down on the baskets of olives.
The Gospel of Luke states that the sweat of Jesus was “like drops of blood falling on the ground”.

Jesus took on the full weight of our sin – yours and mine. He was pressed down.

Somehow, that image of the Gethsemane experience of Jesus makes my burdens seem lite and my yoke easy.

The Awe of God

Last weekend, our pastor made a comment in his sermon that has stuck with me all week. The text was in Luke 9:28 thru 56 but the part I have been pondering was verse 43 …

And they were all amazed at the greatness of God (NIV)
And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. (KJV)
And they were all astonished at the majesty of God. (ASV)
Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power. (NLT)
They all shook their heads in wonder, astonished at God's greatness, God's majestic greatness. (Message)
And all were astounded at the evidence of God's mighty power and His majesty and magnificence. (Amplified)

Greatness, Mighty power, majesty – how do you describe God as He works in your life?

One of the translations offered a specific word that intrigued me. AWE. I can’t count the number of times I’ve said “we have an awesome God”!

Consider this … we live between the AWE-SOME and the AWE-FUL of life. There are times when our lives seem to be FULL of bad things happening. There are other times when we have glimpses of SOME wonderful miracles or answers to prayers.

In either case, God is worthy of our AWE!

War? - What war?

Growing up in the 60’s on the west coast, there was so much talk about peace not war. There were so many slogans, like make love not war. There were so many people against everything rather than for anything.

Fast forward to today.

One of the least understood items we make is our WordCube – The Armor of God.
The whole idea of putting on armor. Even the concept of going to war. We want somebody to protect us. We want somebody to keep us safe. We want someone to make us more secure. We want something to make us feel like we won’t be in harm’s way.

So many lies and so little time.

A short time before Jesus set his eyes on Jerusalem and the cross and one of the last “trips”with his disciples was to Caesarea Philippi. A little history here …
West and North of the Sea of Galilee was Jewish territory. East and South of the Sea of Galilee was called the Decapolis region. This region was considered evil. It was considered pagan. This area was NOT where a good Jewish rabbi would want to go. Yet this is where Jesus took his disciples for another teaching. They went across the Abyss (the deep water) to a place of evil. Jesus took them to Caesarea Philippi, where “The Gates of Hades” was.

Pan worship was prevalent at this time. You know that four legged Grecian image … half man / half goat playing a flute instrument. The Temple of Pan was here in Caesarea Philippi where there was a deep crack in the rock where a huge spring of water gushed out. That crack or cave was considered to be the entrance to the underworld … the “gates of Hell” for the Pan worshipers there.

Along the short walk from the seashore to this “place”, Jesus asked his disciples, “who do people say that I am?”. Rightly, Peter said, "You are the Christ,[b] the Son of the living God." Here they were, going to an evil place where people worship a goat- god – and Peter declares that Jesus is the living son of God!

Jesus declares to his disciples, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[c] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it.[e] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[f] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[g] loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

The disciples were in this evil country, looking at an evil place and they were in the presence of the Son of God. They were looking at a rock with water coming out of it. There were idols. There was idolatry all around. There were probable many people who came to this place to receive water and refreshment and a spiritual event in their lives.

I think Jesus took the disciples to this unholy region, unholy city, unholy temple to make the statement …

Even here in the most unholy of unholy places – my church will stand and conquer. Even the “gates of hell” cannot prevail.

Jesus was preparing his disciples (including us) to know that no matter where were go, if we go, when we go in His name and His power and His authority, we will prevail.


The Armor of God

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Seeds, roots and fruit.

When I was young, our family lived in a rural part of Southern California on several acres of land. We had over 20 different kinds of fruit trees growing on our property. At different times during the year, different trees would bear different fruit. There was almost always some kind of fruit growing and ripe for harvest. I would come home from school and go out into the yard and pick a fresh piece of fruit and eat it ... right off the tree.

Nearly every year, we would "plant" a couple of new trees. My dad and I would drive 40 miles to the nearest Nursery Store and pick out a twig in a sack. There was no fruit on the tree. We had to trust that the sign or tag on the twig was correct and that WAS the type of fruit that would eventually be harvested.

During the spring, I would get to pick out some seeds at the Nursery Store to take home and plant for the summer garden. I would always pick out watermelon, cucumber, tomatoes, corn, pumpkin. Then I would try different seeds. One year I planted strawberries and another year it was squash and another year peppers. Then it was different kinds of watermelon or tomatoes or corn to try. I picked the seed, to grow the root to get the fruit. It was a great lesson to learn as a child. I had to water, cultivate, pull weeds, prune, keep the “varmints” out and care for the plants as they were growing in order to see the fruit and enjoy the harvest.

Is there a spiritual lesson in all of this?

Consider …

Without the seed, there is no harvest. The seed determines what type of root will grow. The seed is very small. The seed doesn’t give any indication of what the fruit will be. The seed needs to be planted in the ground. The seed needs to be watered to produce a root. The seed, once planted, is never seen again.

The root grows out of the seed. Good seed produces a strong root. Healthy seed produces faster than a weak seed. The root goes down before the stem comes up. The root provides the foundation. The root provides all of the necessities for growth. The root can be choked off by lack of water or weeds taking the nutrients away. It’s hard to “see” the work of the root for awhile. It takes faith and time to grow the garden. You have to trust that the seed was good and the root is strong.

When the stem comes up, there is so much excitement. Finally, we can see something happening. Still no fruit. Still no harvest.

There is more cultivation, more watering, more fertilization, more weeding, more care, more waiting. Still no fruit. Still no harvest.

Finally, the first fruit appears. Now it needs EVEN MORE CARE. We see the fruit but it needs to stay attached to the vine. It needs to stay connected to the root. It needs to mature. It needs to ripen until the right time.

At the appointed time, the fruit is harvested. When we bite into that piece of watermelon or tomato or orange, we finally can see and fully experience the “fruit” of our labor.

The Father made the seed and the ground and all of the nutrients needed to plant.

The Spirit plants the seed.

The Son is the root and the vine.

We are the branches.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”.

Galatians 5:22

Is the Word of God seeded in your life?

Are you rooted in Christ?

Are you growing and being cultivated?

What fruit do you bear?