Truth

 Truth as a Person,

Today, there seems to be a cloud around what truth is.  As we watch life unfold, it seems clear that humanity is crying out for the truth, and is in search for it. The question is, how do we find truth and what does it look like?  Scripture reveals where to find truth in the following passage.

"Jesus answered, "I am the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, NIV).

"Jesus talked a lot about truth.  Note how often the word occurs in the gospel of John.  When he spoke about truth, Jesus spoke in personal terms.  You will remember that he refused, much to the dismay of many people, particularly the philosophers, to speak of truth in abstraction, as though it existed in itself.  He wanted to relate truth to himself and to his Father in an existential way.  He even went beyond that; he ultimately identified truth completely with himself and his Father.

The temple authorities, troubled by Jesus and wanting to know the truthfulness of his message, challenged him.  He responded, "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God" (John 7:17).

Jesus thus affirmed the truthfulness of his own teaching in terms of relationship to his Father.  Sometimes we would like to translate that answer into "Anyone who does the truth will certainly know it."  But that is not the way Jesus spoke or thought.  We should never be fooled.  There was no truth for Jesus apart from the Father.  Truth was simply the Father's will.  Thus personal categories are appropriate when we speak of truth because the ultimate categories are all personal.  Ultimately, Jesus is the truth.

If we develop a love affair with the truth and pursue it far enough, we will find the truth.  When we find it, we will have found Jesus and that he is the one we need.  The shortcut to it all is found in his simple words, "Come unto me." Have you come?" (Kinlaw, June 17).

    Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

I am sending you!

    It is incredible how God wants people, He wants us, to be involved in His plans and purposes.  I have been thinking of the life of Moses and how God used him as His instrument to free people from Egyptian slavery.  The Lord said to Moses "Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharoah that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt" (Exodus 3:9-10, NKJV).

    As you dig deeper into these passages you can see that Moses understands he is not capable to do this on his own power.  God called Moses anyway.  Moses recognized, that apart from God, the task was too big.  Moses is one of many Old Testaments examples, that demonstrates a completely surrendered life God.  When we realize we are wholly reliant on God, and uncapable in our own power, that is when God uses us most effectively.  God called many people throughout Scripture to be instruments of God's plans and He is still calling us today!

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21, NIV)

    Dennis Kinlaw wrote something that spoke to me and I hope it speaks to you as well.  "The Good Shephard commands his sheep to follow Him!  Following Christ is an all-engaging commitment of one's life and heart.  Jesus says that this is how it must be; he must be the leader and controller of one's life.  Therefore, we must have holy hearts.  The human desire is to manage our own lives; we are hesitant to release control because we might face unexpected demands or unpleasantness.  But we are never safe until we have taken our hands off the control knob and have forfeited our right to ourselves, so that Jesus is in full control.

    If Jesus gains the right to spend us the way he pleases, there will be miracles in our lives.  Just as he broke five loaves and two fish, providing food to the multitude, so there will be fruit in our own lives.  We will live as Jesus, who gave up his life for his sheep.

    For every person there comes a day when Jesus says, "Follow me."  Have you come to the place where you are ready to be a living sacrifice?  Let Christ spill you, use you, and pour you out in the way he pleases.  Let Jesus give you to whom he will.  Take your hands off your life, and let him put his hands on your life.

    There is a world out there.  Jesus has shown us the way to win it: his Father sent him to lay down his life.  Now he is sending you" (Kinlaw).

References

    Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

Reliant on God

 “10. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:10-11, NIV).

    Moses was born a slave, placed in the river as a baby, and was found and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Moses had quite the story right out of the gate.  After Moses had grown up (40 years old), Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew.  The short story is Moses killed the Egyptian.  Instead of cheering and thanking Moses, the Hebrews mocked him for killing the Egyptian and Moses ended up fleeing for his life. 

    The passage quoted today is 40 years later.  This is the moment where God spoke from the burning bush.  As this story unfolds we see that Moses did not feel worthy, or able, to answer God’s call on his life.  We see Moses runs out of reasons to avoid God’s call on his life, and he does go to Egypt.  We ultimately see, Moses is used by God to free the people from Egyptian control at the age of 80.  Moses gets to see God move in incredible, and miraculous ways for the rest of his life.

    What strikes me in this story, is that when Moses thought he was fit to accomplish things on his own, he failed, and ended up a long way from where he wanted to be.  However, when he felt unfit for the task, God used Moses in mighty ways.  God transformed Moses’s life when he completely surrendered to God’s will.

    How often do we try and take control of situations in our lives on our own?  How often do we try and rely on our own strength instead of His?  As we face each day, as we face each challenge, maybe we should think about one of the key points in Moses’s story.  It is when we realize we are wholly reliant on God, and uncapable in our own power, that God uses us most effectively.  Transformation happens when we surrender ourselves, and wholly let God lead.

Triumphal Procession

 

Triumphal Procession

Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. (2 Corinthians 2:14).

“The fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is spread in the earth through us.  To some it will be an aroma unto salvation; to others it will be an aroma that leads to death because they reject him.  Who is equal to the task of spreading that knowledge?  Paul tells us how to meet such a task; “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”  Many scholars agree that Paul mixed his metaphors: the first half of the verse seems to deal with the Resurrection (the triumphal procession), and the second half seems to deal with the Cross (fragrance comes only through crushing).

            However, one day I found a paperback book on this passage of Scripture.  It was a doctoral dissertation, and the scholar had researched this verse and studied the Greek word thriambeuo, which is translated “to lead in triumphal procession.”  He found that it was an old Etruscan word, and the Etruscans had a very different triumphal procession from the Roman one that was led by the emperor.  The king who led the Etruscan triumphal procession through the city was the captured, defeated king.  He was spit upon and beaten, and at the end he was sacrificed to the Etruscan gods who supposedly had given the victory.  The conquering king brought up the rear of the procession.  So Paul had not mixed his metaphors.  He was picturing Christ not as the conquering King, but as the conquered King, the One who was to be the sacrifice. 

If Christ leads the procession, then he leads us to an alter of self-sacrifice, the Cross.  It is a triumphal procession because out of the sacrifice of self the fragrance of the gospel comes” (Kinlaw).

I trust this devotion has opened your heart and mind today.  Christ gave of himself sacrificially.  He literally gave His very life for you and for me.  He is the only One worthy of worship and praise.  As we follow Him, we are to put off the old self (or old man as NKJV states).  “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24, NIV).  Our former selves are to be removed, sacrificed, so that our new identity in Christ takes hold.  Shaped and molded by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

As we read the following by Isaiah, let us reflect on what Christ has done for us and reflect on our own walk with the Lord.  Are we walking triumphantly?   “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious; I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me; I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up. (Isaiah 50:4-9, NIV)

References

Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

I Will Bless the Lord

    Today I wanted to share another devotional I read by Dennis Kinlaw.  In the following devotional we see that the Psalms are full of items that we can apply in our lives today.  I trust this will be a blessing to you, as it was a much needed reminder for me today.  "Psalm 34:1  I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips".

    "It is an exciting venture to take a particular psalm and guess what in the life of the author provoked him to write it.  First, read the psalm carefully to see what it says, and then try to read between the lines, relating different aspects of that psalm to life.  The question becomes, "What kind of human condition would cause a person to write a psalm such as this?"

    One of the things I have noticed is that if we study the book of Psalms long enough, we will find a psalm for every human situation.  For moments of difficulty, moments of exultation, moments of tragedy, and moments of praise; there is a psalm that corresponds to each personal story.

    Another thing I have learned about the Psalms is that many times the psalmists give their conclusion at the beginning, in contrast to the more familiar style in which a writer builds to a climax and then presents the conclusion.  The psalmist will give the solution, and then the reader must work through the psalm to see what the situation was that brought the psalmist to that answer.  Psalm 34 is one of those psalms whose conclusion is at the beginning, and what a conclusion it is! "I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips."  Wouldn't it be great if at the end of today that was the song on our lips?  Let us make that conclusion the answer to our problem of today." (Kinlaw).

As we face each day there may be times of trial or trouble.  Let us not forgot to praise the Lord in the good times and in times of trial.  "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good;  Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalm 34:8)

References

Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

Salt of the Earth

 Hello,

    This is Pastor Jesse.  This is my first attempt at a blog and my hope is that this comes through accurately.  For my first trial run at a blog I want to share something from a devotional I have been reading by Dennis Kinlaw.  The Scripture verse he is commenting on is from Mark's Gospel chapter 9:50.

"Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another" (NKJV)

    "Some jobs in life are hateful and yet necessary.  I remember one of those from my teenage years.  In those Depression days, there was no such thing as a refrigerator.  If meat was to be kept, it had to be salted heavily.  Every fall I knew that one day I would come home from school in the afternoon and find a gutted pig lying on the back porch.  I knew there would be no playing ball that afternoon.  My job was to rub salt into the pieces of that pork as my mother cut them up.  The only thing that brightened that unpleasant task was imagining the smell of bacon frying for breakfast or the taste of ham when company came.

    One day we were having some special company for supper, so my mother took me out to the smokehouse and pointed to the largest ham hanging from the rafters.  I pulled it down, opened the sack, and laid the beautiful ham out for my mother to cut.  The big butcher knife penetrated the best portion of that ham, and I waited with anticipation to see the meat.  Then I had two simultaneous and shocking perceptions.  One was of the frown on my mother's face and the other was the most offensive odor I have ever smelled.  The ham was full of maggots.  My mother looked at me with dismay and said, "Son, not enough salt".

    I have never heard Jesus' words "You are the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13) without remembering that ham.  We live in a day in which our society is loaded with corruption.  The problem is not that evil is so powerful; in fact, evil only works in the absence of that which is holy.  Where the Holy One reigns, evil can no more exist than maggots can live in salt.  This is the reason we must be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Then we can find freedom from the corruption that surrounds us.  Even more important, the Spirit in us can be a check on the evil around us" (Kinlaw, December14).

This passage and devotion speak volumes concerning the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  His Spirit is our guide and our protection against evil.  I hope this passage and devotional brings new insight to your hearts and minds.

Works Cited

Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan:    

    Zondervan, 2002.