What a Slam Dunk by Jesus Looks Like

The other day I was reading in Matthew and I was struck by the account of how the various religious leaders had all joined together to brainstorm how they were going to cause Jesus to stumble in some way by the questions they were so diligently formulating and preparing. If you think about it, this is in itself pretty funny because these so called religious gurus were going to actually attempt to match wits with the Son of God, who in actuality, is the one who gave them the very intellect they were so arrogantly going to use against him

This particular account is found in Matthew in chapter 22:15-46. The beginning of this story in vs.15 says that the “Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entangle him.” The first group to be sent to Jesus was the Herodians who were a particular sect of Jews that embraced the entire subjection to the Roman’s rule over them. They were loyal to Herod and made it their business to persuade and coerce people to pay their taxes to the Rome. It only seems natural then that they would approach Jesus with a question that was most dear to their own heart concerning the payment of taxes to the Romans.  They carefully worded their question which asked, “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”

Jesus, of course saw right through them asked, “Why are you tempting me, ye hypocrites?” The text says in vs.17 “But Jesus perceived their wickedness…”, so they were exposed immediately as were their motives.  In verses 18-19 Jesus tells him to bring him a penny and to read the inscription stamped on it and to verify whose image was shown. The Herodians responded that Caesar’s image was on the coin whereby Jesus responds by telling them to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”  I love verse 22 when it says “When they heard these words they marveled and left him, and went their way.” I think that it is pretty safe to assume that “With their tails between their legs “would have been an accurate rendition.

“Substituting for the Herodians are the Sadducees,” might have been the announcers call for this home town game.  The Sadducees were a smaller sect of religious leaders and scholars who believed that there was no resurrection.  Wanting to take full advantage of their knowledge, they chose the subject of the resurrection.  Their question centered on a bizarre hypothetical situation dealing with the obligation of brother to father children for a brother in his family who had died without having children. The Sadducees wanted to know whose wife she would be in the resurrection after having survived the marrying and dying of seven brothers. Now, keep in mind that this is a Jewish sect that does not believe in the resurrection, so you can see how hard they are trying to find something that to snare Jesus with.

Jesus answers them in verse 29-32 telling them that they did not know the scriptures and that God was not the God of the dead, but the living, and that in heaven people don’t marry or are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.  Verse 33 is probably where the coach would call a time out because it reads “And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.”  The religious leaders were in the last few minutes of the game and had to come up with a good strategy if they were to be victorious.  I would have loved to have heard that strategy session as I am sure that there was much desperation in their voices.

Well now the Pharisees send in their star player, who was a lawyer.  I think it is interesting that Matthew includes this little piece of information. You also have to think that this Matlock or Perry Mason type of character held high hopes for the Pharisees since the Sadducees had been silenced. Guess what type of question the lawyer asked? A question dealing with the law is exactly where he focused his question for Jesus.  Verse 36 states that the lawyer asked, “Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? “  Jesus answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment (verse 38) and the second is like unto it.  Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. Verse 40 continues, " On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

In the closing seconds of the game, Jesus asked them a question(vs.42), “What think ye of Christ?  Whose son is he? They say unto him, “The son of David.”  Verse 43 Jesus says “How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying , (vs.44) The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies they footstool?”  Verse 45 Jesus continues, “If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?”  Game over! In tennis the announcer would say “Game, set, and match to Jesus!” Why?  Verse 46 holds the answer.  The verse reads, “And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. I say that is pretty emphatic and represents a humiliating defeat for the religious leaders.

Back to the Basics

The title reflects a very common adage that is rooted in wisdom. This phrase is often used in athletics, music, and just about anything which requires a foundational understanding of whatever it is you are striving to be better at. I find it so interesting that our sports heroes will go and seek out instruction on how to swing a bat, or shoot a jump shot, or even make a putt when they are in a slump. They will seek someone to help them fix something that is not right about the results they are currently getting. That is, they go to a professional teacher who will inevitably go back to the basics and fundamentals. John Wooden, the coach of the UCLA Bruins basket ball program, for years, was known to literally tell his players exactly how to put on their socks and tie their shoes. Why? In this simplistic approach to the basics, the results were that following this advice would eliminate blisters on their feet.  Building foundations is so important in mathematics as an example. You start with addition, subtraction, and continue to build on what you have learned to as high a level of your ability to comprehend. A person does not start with Quantum Physics before he has learned his multiplication tables, or for that matter, simple addition and subtraction. In the same way Paul tells us in Romans that we are first nourished by the "milk of the Word" and we will grow to where we can understand the "Meat of the Word." Paul, in essence is saying we must have a foundation before we can build our understanding of deeper or higher things, if you will, which we learn the more we grow.
I have been privileged to share with some new believers this same approach and I loved just having the opportunity to explain things as clearly and simple as I could with the desired result always being that the individuals were getting it.
 So, what did the "Basics" of being a Christian look like in these cases? I asked this young man I was sharing with who is Jesus Christ, and he quickly responded that He was "my savior." I proceeded to ask him "What does that mean?" His response was that he didn't know. Our conversation continued and I asked the first of two of the best questions you can ever ask someone and that is " persons’ name, do you know for certain that when you die, you will go to heaven?" The response I received was "I don't know." My next question went something like this..."person's name, suppose that you were to slip on the ice as you climbing the steps of your house right now and you broke your neck, and you are now standing before God who asked you "Why should I let you into my heaven?" What are you going to say? Again, the response I heard was "I don’t  know." I shared with him that he was only going to have one shot at this getting into heaven and I didn't think God was going to be too interested in hearing "I don't know." So, from these few questions I was able to see that this individual could speak "Christianese", but he didn't really understand the words he was throwing out, such as Savior and that he did not know for sure that he had been saved and would go to heaven.."
I now had the joy to share the things that I felt God was leading me to share and we started in the book of John and the first four verses.  As the young man was reading, I stopped him frequently and asked him if he understood what he was reading.  For instance, verse 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  We went over this slowly and I asked him to tell me how many Gods are there.  He correctly replied “One.”  So what is this verse saying was my question to him. He told me that the Word is God, and the Word was with Go and the Word has always been in existence.  He was getting it as we slowly read through these precious verses! I again asked him about how many Gods there were…he correctly answered again “One.”  As we read farther, verse 3 tells us that the Word created everything ,and nothing was made that didn’t come from Him.  “So, who created the world?”  I asked him and he said, “The Word.”  I asked, “And who is the Word?” He replied, “God.”
We then skipped down to verse 14 of chapter 1 of John and it says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory (as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.”  I shared with him that the Word is Jesus Christ. WOW! Thank you Lord for reminding me of this wonderful truth and for the opportunity to help someone else learn about You!
Our conversation then went to what I call the “Non-Negotiables” of our Christian faith.  The first one concerns the necessity of the virgin birth and why it can in no way be diminished in its importance to who Jesus Christ is.  I Was able to show him in Romans 5:17-18  how sin entered all of the human race through one man, Adam, and that righteousness was made possible for all men through one man, Jesus Christ.  I asked him what does the term “Virgin Birth” mean and he could not tell me.  So, I asked him what his understanding of a virgin was. He replied, “A woman who has not had sex.”  “Exactly”, I said and how is it possible for a virgin to be pregnant with a child”? He told me that it wasn’t and we were able to talk about the only way for that to happen was it to be a supernatural birth, which of course Jesus’ birth is.  I further was able to explain to him that the reason that Jesus Christ was sinless and the perfect sacrifice for our sins, once and for all, is because he was not born with a sin nature which is inherent in all mankind because of Adam’s sin, but rather from a virgin, Mary, who the Holy Spirit impregnated.  We talked about the reason that Jesus Christ was called the “Perfect Lamb of God” in John 21 and why he would take away the sins of the world.  The individual I was sharing with was getting it and I was excited and thanking God the whole time.
We concluded by going to 1 John 5: 11-12 which says “And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son. He who has the son of God has life, and he who does not have the Son of God, does not have life”.  I shared with him about the two questions that I had asked earlier, and how he could use them in the future when he was sharing Christ with someone, and how he could know immediately if that person was a Christian or not, based on their answers.  I went on to explain that the first question concerning a person knowing for absolute certainty that when they died they would go to heaven is a great precursor to the second question because it zeroes in on what the person is believing in their understanding of the requirements to get into heaven.  I explained to him that unless the second question answer has a reference to Jesus Christ being their Savior or something concerning Jesus’ death for our sins, the person with whom you are talking is not a believer or doesn’t understand the message. Period!   If someone starts telling you about their church attendance, tithing, or that they have never done anything real bad, or anything else other than Jesus Christ paying for their sins and offering this gift to you by His grace and mercy…they are not believers or they don’t really understand the requirements of getting into Heaven, which is only by Jesus paying the debt for our sins by taking our penalty upon himself on the cross.
My last question to this individual was “persons’ name, “Do you know for certain, absolute certainty, that you will go to heaven when you die”? His answer was “Yes.”  I then asked him the second question again, “persons’ name”, “Supposed you were to die right now and your next waking moment was standing before God, and he asked you, “Why should I let you into my heaven”? What are you going to say to Him”? His response was “Because Jesus Christ paid for my sins on the cross and I am saved because of what he did, and not anything I can do”.  HALLELUAH!  My parting words to him were, “Never, ever forget this.”
This was my back to basics or Christianity 101 or whatever you want to call it.  I hope soon you too will have this precious opportunity to share your back to basics with some. God bless!

The Oldies but Goodies

I had a special time with Lord today and would like to share with you what happened. My time this morning was not actually in the Word, but what I got immersed in was a wonderful hymn called The Church's One Foundation written by Samuel J. Stone and the music by Samuel S. Wesley. I hope you know this hymn because it is in the category of an "Oldie, but Goodies."  I play a little guitar, but I am not very good so I don't usually allow myself to play in front of people. However, I believe that however you choose to honor God and with whatever gifts or talents, no matter how small; is sweet to the ears of our Lord and Savior. He doesn't hear this missed note, or the wrong chord, or the voice we are sure sounds like it really should be singing Away over Yonder(when you are privileged to have someone ask you to sing this other Oldie, best make sure they are not meaning that literally, like way over there). Forgive me for digressing again.  I think God hears the most beautiful music, voice, poetry, praises etc that his child, you, could ever give to Him because your heart is in the right place.
This morning I was just playing the melody of the hymn because I don't read music and don't know the chords, but I don't think God minded because of the focus of my heart and not the perfection of my playing. As I was playing I was reading the verses of this wonderful old hymn over and over and was really blessed for the time spent doing this. These old hymns are the rock bed of the church and should never be forgotten or laid to rest because they are not modern enough to bring in more people or attract more young people who lean towards newer music and praise songs. I love all of it, but I am so happy
to be worshiping a church where we have both!
I played and read the words over and over and thought to myself you don't write like this unless your relationship with the Lord is real and The Holy Spirit is just flowing out of you. The words of this hymn are beautiful yes, but they are profoundly deep as they tell the story of how anchored we are to God. Please allow me to take you on a nice calm gondola ride down this peaceful river as I describe what these words mean to me.

In the first verse, it says the Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. Notice if you will, if says one foundation, not many, only one and that is Jesus,  Next, she is her new creation, by the water and the Word. The Church is us and we are His new creation.  By water and the Word... we are baptized by water which means that we want to make a public declaration that we have been saved and that the Word of God dwells richly in us. Next, From heaven he came and sought her, to be His holy bride.  From heaven...who lives in heaven..God. He came and sought her...God came down to earth...Jesus came down. God became flesh and sought to seek his holy bride..His church. John 1-14). His holy bride and that means the church. Wait a minute. I am a sinner and I go to church, but I am also being sought by Jesus too as part of the believers that make up His church. If Jesus calls His church holy and I am part of the church, then that must make me holy. It does, but not because of anything we do, but only by His grace and mercy. We continue with his own blood He bought her, and for her life He died. Wow. This is why preachers, and pastors, other godly men who have been gifted as such can so beautifully proclaim the depth of God's riches with very few verses of God's word in a particular passage. Heretofore, I often have read fast, but not deep. Let's look at these last few words more closely also.

With His own blood He bought her...why did God become flesh in the form of Jesus...to give his blood(life) for the payment of the sins of the whole world; past, present, and future. He was the once and for all payment for the penalty of sin that we all have and He was the perfect sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God, ..no sin nature because he was born of a Virgin.  And for her(the church..us) He died . Wow, the whole beautiful good news of the bible in one verse of this famous Oldie, The Church's One Foundation.

Can you see how close to God the writers of the words and music of this hymn must have been to God.  I  am betting it is worth way way more than anything our glamorous icons of this present age, be they male or female with all of their millions made from the proceeds of gold or platinum etc, who aren't seeing what the writers of this hymn knew was more valuable, and because they knew who they were writing about,  they chose to honor him with their talents. Please don't think I am talking about the various sundry Christian artists who are on fire for God. I am talking about the non-believers who only change the world a, short time through fads, and groupies, but miss the chance to know the one who changes lives now and forever. Thank you Lord for helping me see the wisdom which only comes from You and helping me to seek You more and more each day.

Well, the depth of this oldie goes on and on and talks about how we can know God in the morning, in the evening, and that we the Church, can be at rest till He comes back for us. I encourage you to please, please, read this hymn and other ones that are you favorites and rest in the peace as well as the excitement that these Godly men and women of old have shared with us. I love to sing them, but I love to live them more and that is my prayer for you. Amen!

How I Mine for Gold in God's Word

The other day I was reading chapter 3 of 2 Kings and found it quite challenging to get all my facts about what was happening.  You know like who was king of what and who was going to battle where etc.  In years gone by, I don't know about you, but I would read those names, and places, and so on , so fast because it was too much work trying to really see what was happening and I really wanted to get to something that grabbed me. Again, you know like Elijah calling down fire or the Red Sea parting as Moses lifts his staff. Well, if you have been following the blog you will know part of this amazing journey God has me on is to dig and mine His word.  Trust me when I tell you that this fact alone has been life changing and makes the Word come to life in new and exciting ways...and the joy of discovering what images and thoughts God gives you is what the whole blog is about. Okay, now back to the chapter.
Please read it for yourselves and follow along with me as I try to give you a summary to save time.  This king of Moab, Mesha, has decided that he will no longer pay taxes or tribute to the king of Israel because the old king of Israel (Ahab) had died and Mesha decided not to pay anymore...kind of sounds like the way our country started. King Joram, Israel's new king, wasn't too thrilled with the idea and sought some allies to go fight the Moabites led by Mesha. King Jehoram gathers all the men he could, and he asked the king of Judah (Jehosophat),and the king of Edom to join him in battle against Mesha. Well vs 9-10 says that they wander around (the NIV version of the bible says "after a round about march; kind of sounds like a little "road trip") and after seven days the army is in deep trouble. No water for the men or the animals for this huge army. Didn't they kind of think about that as they were watching their canteens or whatever, run dry? Now the king of Israel proclaims that God has brought all of them out there to be killed. Please remember that Israel is not too credit worthy as far as saying what the Lord is going to do because they were still worshiping foreign gods.  Vs 12 says that Jehosophat (the King of Judah) inquires if there was not a  prophet of the Lord that they could go to?  Someone says that Elisha is here and Jehoshophat affirms that "The word of the Lord is with him."(vs 12)
Well as you read on you will see that the kings all go see Elisha and Elisha rebukes the King of Israel and tells him why doesn't he just go and get counsel from the prophets of his father and mother. This would be Ahab and Jezebel who are notoriously wicked and ruthless. "No," the king of Israel replied "The Lord has called us three kings to be handed over to Moab." Are you seeing this right? Joram was still claiming that he knew what the Lord was going to do even though I'm sure he has a bad track record. Stubborn or foolish...you decide.  vs 14 says basically that Elisha has had it! He tells Joram that if it wasn't for Jehoshophat (king of Judah) he would not have anything to do with him and he qualifies it by saying "As surely as the Lord Almighty lives" which is pretty harsh and strong words to tell Joram "You're wrong and shut up!  In vs15-16 we see that the word of the Lord comes to Elisha and he said to make this valley full of ditches and vs 17 you will not see or hear the wind of rain, but the valley will be filled with water which will allow you and your army and livestock to drink. Vs 18 in the NIV version says "This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also hand Moab over to you."  I love this verse because it actually struck me as funny, not only because what is said, but also the order. It is an easy thing for the Lord? Do you know anything now or before or in the future that would be "hard" for the Lord. Interesting choice of words which is then followed by the statement oh, by the way I'll hand the Moabites over to you as well.  For some reason I just love that. In vs 18, God commands them to "Overthrow every fortified city and major town, and to chop down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones."  Let's look at this for a moment. They are to take over every fortified city and major town seems to indicate every place where they might be a substantial amount of people, not every little village or community.  Next they were to chop down every good tree which I don't think that it is talking about shade trees, but probably like fruit trees that would be a food source. In addition, to destroying the food sources line of thinking, they were now to stop up all the springs and ruin every good field with stones. Not good! They would have no water, and the "good fields" were to be covered over with stones which is not too conducive to crop yields and plentiful harvest.or pasture land.
The next few verses are some of my favorite as they tell about how the Moabite army which consisted pretty much of everyone in the land that could fight were called up to the battle front to get ready for the war because they had heard that the allied kings were there to fight them. Vs 22 says that they arose the next morning and looked out across the way and the reflection of the water looked like blood which they took as a confirmation that the opposing armies had turned against each other and basically, wiped each other out. Vs 23 "Now to the plunder, Moab".  This is so cool because don't you see that they wouldn't go and get the riches and spoils of victory with their full armor and gear because there would be no need. You won't need it guys and we can probably make less trips if we are not bogged down by the excess weight of our battle gear. Hang on. It gets better.
vs 24 relates that as the Moabites rush to get the booty the Israelites rose up and the battle was on. Can you imagine being one of the officers enthusiastically encouraging your men almost in a race like fashion to see who could get there first and you hear an OOPs from you commanding officer. It might kind of give you a very sudden sinking feeling.

Well the rest of the chapter tells of how they did chase and defeat the Moabites.  They did cut down the good trees and covered their fields with stones, and stopped up all the streams. The allies chased the Moabite king to Kir Hareseth which must have been one of the fortified cities. Israels men surrounded the city and threw stones at it using slings. This struck me as kind of odd because how would throwing small stones against a fortified city do much damage. Well the King of Moab decides that maybe he could break through the King of Edom's soldiers and still somehow turn this battle around. He gets 700 swordsmen to attempt to break through, but they fail and must retreat back into the city.
vs 27 says the Moabite king then sacrificed his oldest son, the one that was to succeed him, and SACRIFICED HIM ON THE WALL. This was such a horrific event that the fury against Isreal was "So great that they left and returned to their own land. This event that caused the allies to go home may have shown that the allies of Israel, Jehoshophat and the King of Edom were regretful of having helped Israel in the first place and now they witnessed and unbelievable murder that should have never have happened. You see the Moabites were never to be decimated and totally wiped out; only brought back under submission. This idea, and the idea that a defeat in battle was often seen as an affront to these foreign gods required horrific attempts to appease their god, up to and including human sacrifice.
Well, I wanted to share how as we read God's Word, I find it helpful to get some sort of meaningful  illustration and language that allow me to understand it and think about what it must have been like. I pray that you too will be able to find new appreciation for truly taking the time to get it straight in your mind as to who is doing what. etc and then be able mine the passage for a way that it really sticks with you and helps you enjoy God's wonderful Word even more.

Meditating on What We Read

This morning I was reading through both books of Corinthians and I was inspired to share the conviction that I could feel from the writer which was Paul. Paul had an experience with God different than any of the other apostles and it changed his life forever.
Paul was a very devout man, and in fact, was a religious scholar called a Pharisee.  A pharisee was someone who by the age of 9-12 had to be able to site verbatim the first 5 books of the Old Testament...Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. If you have ever read these books the memories of long genealogies with names that take several seconds or longer to try to sound out, and don't forget the detail of the laws and payment required for sins almost are painful because sometimes they are a real battle of the will to read them. Books like Numbers, if you are like me, are read speedily by skipping over those aforementioned list of exciting things to read and getting to some of the good stuff. I mention all of this because I want you to think about the dedication that a Pharisee committed his life to at an early age. I don't know about you, but that makes my brain hurt just thinking about how to actually memorize those things, let alone just skip over them in a light read.
Well, my point is this.  These words, even the difficult ones and the boring words that we think are insignificant are God inspired ...EVERY ONE! They are not what the writer probably would have liked to written about. Think about it. Writers want to wow their readers with exciting stuff.  You know, like miracles, and great battles, and victories..stuff that keeps our attention. No writer in his right mind would ever want to write something that was as seemingly boring as some of this stuff just mentioned. And you are 100% right, no writer would, UNLESS those words were not his own, but coming directly inspired from GOD. If the one and only almighty God was inspiring you to write what He was telling you, do you think that you would respond and do you think the detail might be important to get right. Duh! The Bible says that every jot and tittle is inspired. This is like a comma and a period. Again, seemingly inconsequential, but I am guessing that the various sundry writers of the 66 books of the Bible all got the message just right because God was giving it to them and it would have gotten my attention when GOD was telling me to write...every jot and tittle.
One of the most amazing proofs of the Bible's accuracy is the countless number of people who started out to convince themselves and the world of its lack of accuracy, validity, significance, and even its practicality, and their committed scholastic findings resulted in them finding themselves completely convinced. However, the convincing wasn't what they thought..they are now Bible toting born again believers..  Just briefly I want to address these: Accuracy-it is the most accurate book ever written...it has never been proven wrong...NEVER, and if you think otherwise or have some evidence to the contrary, please contact me or comment. Validity-the bible is still one of the primary resources used in archaeological findings TODAY!..and these dirt sifters are still finding sites, and tangible evidence that can be seen, held, and examined of cities, and scrolls, etc that were exactly were they were said to have been according to God's word.  Significance-The truths contained within the God's holy word is now and has been since Adam and Eve transforming lives . The person writing this today is proof of this life altering power. Practicality-the wisdom found within the word of God is there for all to enjoy and partake of the delight of learning something about the creator. A child can read and understand its simplicity. Jesus loves me..and that brings them great comfort as they begin to trust and love God and grow in this relationship. You see, this child like faith is validated in what they see in their home and how their parents value and follow the teachings of the Word.  In other words, is the wisdom of their relationship with God creating the peaceful, reverent, loving, and joyful environment that a child can grow and be loved and learn to give love.
This awesome power from the word of God is rightly referred to as "The Living Word" and it truly is. The most important message of the unifying theme throughout the 66 books of the bible which were written over a span of 1500 years by numerous men at different times, is this  Please check out John 3:16; and Roman 6:23 for yourself and see the actual words for yourself and then, you share what it means to you in your own words. My friends, nothing is more important in life, thus the reason for all caps, and your answer will either be the best decision you will ever make or the worst..and they are eternal. Whether you believe the bible or not, is not the real question because truth is truth and your unbelief doesn't mean anything. But, ask yourself ...WHAT IF I, MR./MS/ OR MRS PSEUDO-INTELLECTUAL, AM WRONG? I am writing this today because that Jesus of the bible that you may or may not believe in, is going to ask you one day...Why should I let you into my heaven? There really is only one chance and I pray you are presently confident in what you are going to say because the consequences of a wrong answer are eternal with no parole, or hearing for another opportunity to receive God's grace and mercy (Eph2:8-9), and eternity is forever and forever and forever. A person can know where he will spend eternity for sure (1John 5:11-12) and the peace of knowing for sure versus "I think I will; I hope my good works outweigh my bad things; and on and on with whatever image or conception of God you have in your mind, is ROCK SOLID because it is from God and He validates it by living in you. What are you absolutely sure of that will have eternal consequences? One last small caveat. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE TURNED DOWN YOUR LAST CHANCE TO ACCEPT CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR BECAUSE WE NEVER KNOW WHEN WE ARE GOING TO DIE! SLEEP WELL MY DEAR FRIEND AND IF NOT, MAYBE YOU HAVEN'T REALLY DEALT WITH OR THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ENOUGH ABOUT YOUR DECISION.

J O Y

Over the years I have heard myself say that many people have fun, happiness, and good times, but as a rule, few people have joy.  So, what is joy and why do I think so few people have it.

I will attempt to define joy as that peace and contentment found only in the inner sanctum of one's heart. God puts a void in every one's heart that only He can fill. We are designed by our creator and when we find out who He is, the Holy Spirit comes in and fills that emptiness.  Will all our problems be solved. No! Will everything be roses? No! Will we have everything we ever wanted? No! Well, based on the last few statements I don't see anything joyful or fulfilling about still having the same problems, etc. .  I already have them, so why do I now need God?

When one recognizes that they are a helpless sinner who must deal with a holy God, the realization of the incomprehensible sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on our behalf to remove our sin from as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12) and to cleanse us and completely remove the stain of sin, we are humbled to the point that we now know that we owe Christ our entire lives.  The very fact that we can come before almighty God and have a relationship with Him is made possible only by the grace and mercy of God. This might be a good time to look at John 3:16 which says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." The believeth here is referring to a relationship of trust and submission to God's will, not in the idea of belief in a famous person such as Abraham Lincoln. That is, we are not trusting Abraham Lincoln for anything that would transform our lives, but we do believe that he was a great man in history.  I hope you see the difference.

So, let's get back to what JOY means.  I think it means JESUS ONLY YOU!  This is what I have come to realize is the only thing in life that matters...Jesus Christ. Jesus commands our worship, but does not force it.  He tells his disciples that if anyone loves a father. mother, sister, brother, husband or wife more than me, he is not worth of me (Matt.10:37).  He wants us to want all of Him and to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind.  That is a tall order which none of mankind can or will ever live up to.  However, He does want us to desire that as we grow in our relationship with Him.

You see, once we have the desire in our hearts to love Jesus more and more each day, our troubles and difficulties are often times still there, but Jesus will allow us to persevere and take one more step as we trust Him more and more. We realize that Jesus has our backs, if you will, and He will ALWAYS be there for us because of His unfailing love... God's unfailing love is mentioned throughout the Psalms and I hope that brings you as much comfort as it does me.  It is amazing to me how often we miss this, but I can assure you that God will take whatever measures He chooses to finish the work He started in you because He is faithful and He will complete the work (Philippians 1:6).

I think the JOY of I want only you Jesus is where contentment begins and ends because everything we have, or do, etc belongs to Him and we are only stewards of His belongings. Joy means abiding in Him and getting our strength and vitality and satisfaction from a person, not a thing.  Jesus Christ is real and desires to know all of us so much that He was willing to die for us on the cross. He sacrificed himself so that the penalty of sin which is death would be satisfied once and for all time. He does not ask us to clean up our lives, stop our bad habits, or try harder to live a righteous life because He knows we are incapable of that. However, He does offer the gift of salvation (having your sins paid for in full and becoming white as snow when you stand before almighty God) as a FREE GIFT.  We only have to ask Him for it with a heart of truthfulness and forgiveness and He will come into our lives.  Dear reader, I hope you will do this if you are not a believer already, and simply talk to God like you are talking to a friend asking Him to come in and take control of your life from this day forward...and have the wonderful knowledge of knowing what true JOY is!

Elijah and the Prohets of Baal

It is my hope and prayer that reading God's word will always bring encouragement and enjoyment. I have several favorite stories through out the 66 books and they just help me remember what an awesome God we worship and serve. One of my favorite characters of the old testament is Elijah, a prophet of God, who was used greatly to help Israel break away from worshiping Baal.

The story I am writing about takes place in 1 Kings 18 and tells us how Elijah has sent a messenger to King Ahab to meet with him. When the king and Elijah meet, Elijah tells the king to gather all Israel and its' prophets of Baal(450) and the prophets of Asherah(400) who ate at Jezebel's, the king's wife, table and they were all to meet at Mount Carmel. Does it seem strange to you that King Ahaz and Jezebel would have so many prophets advising them...talk about over kill and possible confusion. The prophets would have to have committee meetings to make sure they all say the same thing...kind of like our govt., but thus I digress.

Elijah issues the challenge to the people and the prophets that today they would know who was the real God and that is whom they would worship.  The challenge is as follows: the opposing prophets would take a bull and kill it and slice it up and place it on their altar, but no fire was to be started...their God would hear their requests and would burn their sacrifice.  This contest began in the early hours of the day(1 Kings 18:26) and continued till noon. All of these prophets of Baal were praying, more like pleading and begging, for Baal to answer them and burn their sacrifice, but nothing happened. NOTHING!  Can you imagine what these dedicated followers were thinking...Come on guys we are looking bad here and all the people are watching. Let's put a little more effort and power into our prayers.

Well, Elijah picks up on this minor inferiority complex(LOL) these guys are having and decides to make them feel even more stupid and powerless by taunting them. He tells them that maybe their god is sleeping, talking with someone else, is away on a trip, or just can't be bothered right now...the last one is mine and not in the text.  The prophets pick up the pace considerably because after all, their reputations, let alone their skins, are at stake. So, they begin to jump up and down on the altar, which must have been a site, and to cut themselves as was their custom.  I think the cutting helped set the tone for the commitment and seriousness of their effort...who knows, maybe a crowd pleaser.  This fiasco continues till the evening hours with Elijah taunting them the whole time. Nothing happens!

Elijah prepares his bull and places it on the 12 stones he has made as an altar. I think David Copperfield has a little of Elijah's blood for wowing a crowd. Elijah has the people pour four barrels full of water on the altar, and he has them do this two more times.  In addition, he has them dig trench around the altar which would hold approximately 13 quarts of water. The meat is soaked, the wood is soaked, and the trench is full of water and now Elijah calls upon the Lord to show the people who is really God and God sends fire down and it consumes the meat and even dries up the water. How do you compete with that? You don't.  Elijah had all the people bring the prophets down to a nearby brook and slew them all.  Can you imagine the word of mouth publicity from this event? Your grandchild on your knee and you are telling him or her about this. What a great event and what a great God we worship.