Saved and Given A Purpose

201 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 1:9, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,” (2 Tim 1:9) One of the things I love about Paul is he often starts writing about a certain subject, but then the name of Jesus pops up and he immediately goes off on a tangent of praise and declaration of truth about Jesus! We saw this in several places in 1 Timothy and we see it again here. I think it's just added proof of the Holy Spirit moving the pen of the writers of Holy Scripture. 2Pe 1:21 says, “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” One of the Holy Spirit's responsibilities is to shine the spotlight on Jesus and He seizes that opportunity at every chance He gets! Here Paul is writing about the sufferings, trials and tribulations that await the followers of Christ in this world and the Holy Spirit interrupts him and says, “let me tell you more about this Jesus!” First of all, He saved us! But not only saved us, He gave us a purpose in life, a calling! This salvation and this calling is not based on our performance or works, it is by sheer grace. This portion of Timothy mirrors that great passage found in Eph 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God had a plan from the very beginning for saving the world by grace through faith in His Son Jesus, and He has put a call on all His saved children to be a part of the plan to bring that saving message to the world. This is the good work that God has prepared for us beforehand! It's called the Church and this church is made up of various people with various gifts that are to be used in carrying out the Great Commission, which is our great calling. This church, built by the saving work and calling of Jesus Christ is so powerful that even the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it! Are you a believer! Praise God! For you are not only saved, but God has given you a purpose with eternal consequences. Let us explore our duties as we let His word minister to us, to prepare us to minister to others!

Tap Into the Power That Is In You

200 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 1:8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,” (2 Tim 1:8) Another therefore! So, what is THIS therefore “there for?” It's here because God has given Timothy and all believers the indwelling Holy Spirit who casts out fear, and replaces it with power, love, and a sound mind! And because we have this indwelling Spirit of God, we are able to overcome any fear associated with being a follower of Jesus. This word “ashamed is the same word Paul used in his declaration to the Romans in Ro 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” The power in the gospel that overcomes fear of going all in with Jesus and therefore resulting in salvation, is the same power that enables us to share in the sufferings and tribulations that will come our way as we seek to continue following Jesus. These sufferings and tribulations are brought about as the devil, the world, and our flesh seek to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. The power of God keeps us through these various trials. They can be as trite as something not going the way we planned or as major as throwing someone to the lions unless they renounce Jesus. This power enables those so stressed to persevere. The power is in you in the form of the Holy Spirit! Tap into it whenever you need it lest you find yourself ashamed of what really matters. Jesus said in Lu 9:26 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels. Being ashamed of Jesus and His words means you regard Him and His words as vile. And if something is vile, you do not want anything to do with it. How ironic, that at the very moment when we need Jesus most, (during our faith testing trials and tribulations) we don't want anything to do with Him! (Ask Peter!) When those moments occur, I pray the Holy Spirit will bring these words in 2 Timothy to mind, and He will cast out our fear and fill us with power, love, and a sound mind!

Even the Lightning Obeys

The Ten Commandments won't budge! Written in stone by the very finger of God and engraved in the hearts of all men. They are boundaries set by the Creator Himself who knows a thing or two about boundaries! Last time we talked about the boundaries of the seas, but there are more of course! Spend some time reading Job 38-40 if you ever start to question the authority of God. You will read among other things how the very jagged path of a flash of lightning is predetermined by God! Job 38:25 says, "Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt,” and in Job 38:35 we read, “ Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, 'Here we are!'? Even the lightning says “Here I am God, what is it that you would have me do? And God says, I want you to make a sharp turn to the right then the left, then left again, then right, then land real close to this guy named Martin Luther. He needs a little scare! And this budding law student on his way to the university at Erfurt, was knocked to the ground by the near miss and vowed at that moment, “ I will become a monk!” and he did, and well you know the rest of the story. God not only speaks orders to His creation in nature, but He speaks to the crown of His creation, (you and I) in the Ten Commandments and says, “This is what I would have you to do!” Yes with the opening words of the Bible in Gen 1:1, we have all the credentials God needs to call the shots! “In the beginning, God! Col 1:14-17 speaks of Jesus as the “Son of God's love: 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (first born not speaking of birth, but rather of birthright, we might substitute the word “ruler” here. He is the ruler over all creation. And guess what? Rulers have rules, and we find ourselves staring again at those Ten Commandments that won't budge!) 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Created through Him and for Him should be enough for us to willingly obey Him! But if it's not, then think of what He willingly did for you and I in order to spare us the death penalty that our disobedience deserves! It is through Him that we have “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,” His love for His creation will not budge, and His Ten Commandments won't budge, let us submit to His love and commands with glad hearts, assured that He truly loves us and in His perfect wisdom, knows what is best for His creation!

The Greater Tsunami of God's Grace

The Ten Commandments won't budge! Written in stone by the very finger of God who made all things. But why should we obey Him? Who gave Him the right to tell us how to live? Why is it necessary to have these limits put on our behavior by a set of rules? It is necessary because it is good!The Laws and boundaries set by God are for our own good! We can see this in His acts of creation. For instance, it was for our own good that God established limits to the sea. Pr 8:29 says, “When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command,” If you don't think these assigned limits to the sea aren't beneficial, then you ought to go back to the great tsunami of 2004. I am writing this devotion on the 12th anniversary of this tragic event, a day when God allowed the sea to transgress His command. An estimated 240 to 280 thousand people lost their lives as a result. I wonder how many of us made the connection between the deadly danger of the sea transgressing God's commands and our own deadly acts of disobedience against those Ten Commandments that won't budge. The Bible tells us of the deadly consequences of our disobedience in Ro 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death,” That's the price that must be paid for transgressing the boundaries set by God. Death was the price paid by over a quarter of a million people in that tragic tsunami, and a similar fate awaits all those who do not deal with the wage demanded by God for their sin. Thankfully the story doesn't end there. The rest of Rom 6:23 says, “ but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Not everyone died in that tsunami. There were some accounts of miraculous survival as well. Dare we say that this serves as a reminder that the gate to eternal life is narrow, but broad is the way that leads to destruction! (Mt 7:13,14) Sin threatens us on every front, but God says you and I don't have to be swept up in it. He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and pay the wage on our behalf. Overwhelmed by our own sin, but the tsunami of God's grace is even greater! Let His gift wash over you today as you acknowledge your need for a Savior and receive Jesus both as your Savior and Lord!

Me Obey Him?

In this series, I am borrowing heavily from a book written by Pastor B.A. Maurer in 1951 called “The Ten Commandments Won't Budge.” The title of the book comes from a James Russell Lowell couplet that goes like this: “In vain we call old notions fudge And bend our conscience to our dealing The Ten Commandments will not budge And stealing will continue stealing.” I found it interesting that Maurer didn't just jump into an exposition of the Ten Commandments but rather began his book at Gen 1:1, “In the beginning, God.” Well played Pastor Maurer....well played. After all if Someone or something is going to come around and start to tell us how to live our lives, He better have the authority and the power to do it. How about some credentials here! You call Yourself God, where are Your credentials said the pot to the Potter!And the very absurdity of that statement ought to be all the credentials we need, but apparently mankind needs more, even those who profess to believe in God need more as God seems to constantly remind us in Scripture that He was here first! Indeed.....In the beginning....God! It's not by accident that the Gospel of John starts with the same three words...”In the beginning,” only this time Someone else is included in the picture with God, and that Someone is Jesus Christ! He is referred to as “the Word,” the divine expression of God, who was with God and was God. He is, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father as we read in Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Quick question, Did God after a certain period of time say something like this? “I think I'll add something to My bosom and call it My son!” Or was the Son in His bosom from all eternity? It is as we state in our Nicene Creed, “Jesus Christ is “the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.” Further, in his commentary on Proverbs 8, Paul Kretzmann writes, “this entire section clearly speaks of the divine wisdom in a most peculiar sense, as personified in the person of the Word of God, Jesus Christ!” With that in mind, listen to these words beginning at Prov 8:22, “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, (When? At the beginning!) Before His works of old. 23 I have been established from everlasting, (From when? Everlasting!) From the beginning, before there was ever an earth. (Before there was what?) 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, (Brought forth, not created but brought forth from the bosom of the Father) always there, but not yet called upon to participate in Creation!) When there were no fountains abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills, I was brought forth; 26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primeval dust of the world. 27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there, When He drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 When He established the clouds above, When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, 29 When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Yes! In the beginning....from the get-go! God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, by whom all things were made! Me? You? Obey Him! You better believe it! Ro 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" 35 "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?" 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

The Third Use of the Law

The Ten Commandments won't budge. They are written in stone with the mighty finger of God. That same finger that flicked aside another stone that was not suppose to budge, namely the stone that had been rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb of Jesus and sealed! And when that stone was rolled away to reveal the empty grave, it announced to the world and the devil and his demons that the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, the payment for our sins was accepted by God! The death of Jesus on the cross appeased the anger of God against all who have broken the Ten Commandments, the resurrection of Jesus was the proof that God accepted His sacrifice for the sins of the world. 1Jo 2:1,2 says, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation (the appeasement) for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. With our debt being paid and received by faith in Jesus Christ, we can now begin a journey of living and loving in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as we seek to employ the Law and it's third use, namely as a guide for the regenerated man. This use instructs those who have been saved by grace through faith in the how to's of loving God and neighbor. It cannot save us, only show us how to love God and neighbor in God-pleasing ways. As a guide, it's like a Sherpa in the Himalayas, it can steer us clear of pitfalls that could indeed endanger our eternal safety. Or have you not heard that idolaters, murderers, liars, fornicators, thieves, etc will not inherit the kingdom of God? Knowing the Ten Commandments of God will help the believer to steer clear of these damnable pitfalls. Thank God, the Ten Commandments won't budge! They are there to curb sin in this word! They are there to show us our sin and need for a Savior, and they are there to serve as a guide for the regenerated, born again believer in Christ. They don't drift that we may not drift. Like a lighthouse they keep us on the course of proper love of God and neighbor and guard us from the deadly shoals of sin, that threaten to shipwreck our faith! Thank You Lord for Your Law! May it ever serve it's purposes until Jesus returns. May it drive us to the cross often as we see how far short we fall in loving You and others. Forgive us for all our trespasses, all our violations of Your Law, and give us a new resolve to seek to obey in order that we may truly love You and others in Jesus Name, Amen

Do Not Bury the Ten Commandments Under the Glitz and Glamour of the World

The Ten Commandments won't budge. Written in stone by the finger of God and traced by that very same finger on the hearts of all men, these commands are not meant to be looked at as strict rules, rather they are to help us answer the question: What can I do to love God and my neighbor. Jesus point blank told us in Joh 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. With this in mind, you can see why the devil works overtime to keep the commands out of our schools and the public square! He wants people to forget how to love God. He wants them to love him instead, and the result is with every act of disorder and violence in this world that is contrary to the Ten Commandments, the devil IS worshiped and loved. Are the Knights of Columbus and Judge Moore the only ones who seem to understand this tactic of the devil? You've got to appreciate their efforts to keep the Ten Commandments that won't budge, on public display! It is understandable to see why the enemy of our soul and the enemy of God seeks to have them removed from public view, but beware when he starts to succeed in removing them or burying them in the church! Remember Josiah and his uncovering of the Law when he cleaned the temple. (2 Kings 22) The Ten Commandments had been tossed aside and exchanged for the trappings of the world. Let us not fall into the same trap in the church today! We ought to be asking ourselves, “ Have we gone for glitz, glamour, trends, and messages that simply paint love of God and neighbor in broad generalizations?” When love is spoken of in general terms rather than the specifics of the Ten Commandments, confusion, and an acceptance of sin is apt to follow! We sing “I love you Lord,” but have no clue what it means....it's just kind of a feeling isn't it? And the Law of God is shrouded under a blitz of ear-tickling sermons and feel good songs. Where are you Josiah! We need you! We need to be reawakened! Pray that the immovable Law of God will be found again, read again, and cut us to the heart again as we see how far short we fall of loving God and our neighbor. Help us to rend our garments and cry out to Jesus for our salvation for He is our only hope! He is love! He loved God and men perfectly! He kept the Ten Commandments perfectly and then paid the price for us, who can't. Do you want to know how to love God and your neighbor? Here it is: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet. Only a liar could say that he kept these commands perfectly, and we all know the place reserved for liars on that day! We are desperately bad, covered with the foulest guilt and we have no hope in our own merit! It is the nature of sin (as we said at the beginning) to ruin, kill, and destroy! How deep our fall How black our record! How desperate our plight! How imminent our doom as being foreshadowed by current events! Common honesty puts the words of Paul on our lips: Of sinners I am chief. The good that I would I do not; the evil that I would not, that I do; O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Can worse misery, can blacker doom be imagined! No wonder Josiah wept and tore his garments! Without God, and without hope, cast into outer darkness, where there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth! Thank God that we need not stop on this note of black despair. Thank God Paul did not stop there, but followed his words of frank and honest confession , of unreserved self-humbling, with a triumphant word of hope: “I thank my God through Jesus Christ my Lord!” Just because sin is so black and damnable and we are so hopelessly caught in its toils and so helpless against it, divine grace in the person of God's own Son came to the rescue of our helplessness and sought and saved the very lost. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us not despise that gracious gift, but today receive it anew! Believe it anew, and then let this new found love of God break forth in your life as you seek to treasure His commands!

You Can Trust the Finger of God

The Ten Commandments won't budge and God has deemed them so important that He has written them on the heart of every man, woman, and child. Ro 2:14,15 remind us of that fact: “ for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) There are still people groups in the world today who know nothing of Ten Commands written in stone by the very finger of God! God deemed it vital to put those commands down in written form, because to rely solely on what one feels in his heart is dangerous ground, As the Bible says in Jer 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The heart cannot always be trusted, but you can trust the finger of God! The written version of the Ten Commandments were a special gift given to the descendants of Abraham, who would preserve them for all time. Ro 3:1,2 says, “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. The “How to's” of loving God and neighbor, need not remain buried under the hardened layers of man's heart. Because of Moses and Mt Sinai, the tablets can be placed in front of our very eyes where we can read and heed! In the Book of Genesis, after Babel, by the grace of God, the line of Shem was traced and led to Abraham. God chose to reveal Himself to Abraham, and a nation was formed that eventually had that invisible Law that was written on the heart, codified on Sinai with Moses! What a gift to the world through Israel! The Law written in stone, and coupled with the promise of salvation by grace. All because Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. God chose Israel and gave them the Law in stone. They could see it, read it, be reminded of what is in their heart constantly, their hearts either accusing or excusing them. With the Law in view externally they knew how to respond to the love of God by loving God and their neighbor. What a great advantage right? Well guess what? Even in their case, life happened, other things became more important. Religious instruction was left behind. The Israelites and their kings were being influenced by the world. The Law and promise was being obscured. It was so bad that when Manasseh took over, he and the people utterly turned away from the Lord. Setting up idol worship, sacrificing some of their own children to Molech. His son, Amon, ruled next and we are told that he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord. These people had the Ten Commandments, written in stone! Where were they? They were literally buried under the junk in the temple. It was under the rule of Josiah, when he decided to repair the breaches in the temple that the Book of the Law (which included the Ten Commandments) was found. When it was read to Josiah, it hit him right here, right where the laws were buried in his own heart, and he tore his clothes and wept! And because the second use of the Law showed him his sin and the sins of the nation, and he was broken, God had mercy on him and the Bible tells us that Josiah went to his grave in peace. Let's stop there for today and leave you with this challenge: Do you want to go to your grave in peace? Then let the Law of God do it's thing. Read the Ten Commandments. See how far short you fall of the perfection demanded by God. Then allow yourself to be broken by your sin, let the Law show you how far you have missed the mark of loving God and loving neighbor, then turn to God for mercy through faith in Jesus Christ and pray: “Lord save me!” This is a prayer that Jesus came to this earth to answer! And He says in Joh 6:37 "the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

The Ten Commandments Won't Budge Reversing the Curse

The Ten Commandments won't budge! As we mentioned last time, they are written on the hearts of all men! Godless societies have the Law in their hearts, but it gets buried deeper and deeper with the passing of time. The “how to's” of loving God and neighbor are obscured, and when that happens, love is absent, and violence and disorder and hate follow. After man attempted to make himself god at the Tower of Babel, the people were dispersed and made into nations. They spread out over the world. They carried the Law of God and the promises of God in their hearts and still do to this day! But the Word was neglected, and it doesn't take long for this generational curse to set in. Ex 20:5,6 says, “ I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Think about it, if the commands show us how to love God, then the ignoring of them produce the opposite effect, they produce hate! And this ignoring of God's commands has a generational impact, and you can see how quickly a society can lose it! So this curse of the Tower of Babel took effect on these people as they meandered away from Babel and on that first Pentecost when the disciples spoke the wonderful works of God in all these various languages to those pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem, the curse was beginning to be reversed! The wonderful works of God, (dare we say the Law and Gospel) spoken in their own language resonating with those long buried truths in their hearts and the Holy Spirit using those words to rekindle faith in their hearts! This is the mission of the church to this day! To go out and speak the wonderful works of God in the language of the people in order to bring 'em all back in! We are charged with reversing the curse! I hope your church has some sort of involvement in foreign missions! The task is not yet complete! There are still unreached people groups saddled with the curse of Babel. They are waiting for someone to come to them speaking the wonderful works of God in their own language. The Holy Spirit yearning to peel aside the layers of hardness around the heart with the proper proclamation of the Law and the Gospel! As it is written in Ro 10:15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" Let us work, let us pray, let us support the work of sending out missionaries with this Good News!

The Ten Commandments As A Curb

The Ten Commandments won't budge and in my denominational circle, we view the Ten Commandments or the “Law” as having three specific uses. We have spent the last couple of days on the Law being used as a mirror. As a mirror the Law shows us who we really are, namely sinners in need of a Savior! As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ro 7:7, “I would not have known sin except through the law.” Still another use of the Law is it serves as a curb to believers and unbelievers alike. The Law helps to control violent outbursts of sin and helps to keep order in the world Right now in America and in the world, we need to learn from this. When violence and disorder increase in the world, (as it seems to be happening today) what's going on? The increased acts of sin and violence are an indication that restraints have been removed! You've seen the courtroom scenes the person charged with the crime is led into the courtroom in shackles. Why? To keep him from fleeing of course, but also to protect others from the possibility of a violent outburst. That's what the Law does it helps restrain violence in society. I think we can safely say that the written Ten Commandments have become obscured in our violent world today. Think of what has been happening in America on the legal front as it concerns the posting of the Ten Commandments! They've been systematically taken out of our schools and the public square. And we wonder why murder, sexual immorality, larceny, and covetousness, (which shows up in our love affair with possessions) are rampant! But even though they have been removed in their physical form, believe it or not they are still present in the hearts of all men as we read in Ro 2:14,15: “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) So even though they don't have the actual stone tablets, or the Word of God in it's physical form, they have them buried somewhere in their heart, and when the written and spoken commands invade the eyes and ears of an unbeliever, they are designed to resonate. A spark of right and wrong is kindled and sin, violence, and disorder are curbed to the extent of that resonation. The harder the heart, the deeper the layers, the dustier and mustier the Bible, the less the Law has effect. You see, these commandments, get buried under the sinfulness of irreligious men whose hearts become hardened by sin, and through distraction and disinterest and the passing of time, the Laws of God are out of sight and out of mind and they are forgotten. Sometimes, even religious men in their zealousness for their “religion,” bury the intent of the commands (remember they show us how to love) under hearts hardened by an absence of the grace embodied in the gospel! Godless societies have the law in their hearts, but it gets buried deeper and deeper with the passing of time. The One true God is out of sight and out of mind, and when that happens, love is absent, and violence and disorder and hate follow. Our nation....the world....needs the Ten Commandments. We need them in our churches, our Sunday School classes, our homes, and yes if possible in the public square. It was one of our nations founding fathers, John Adams who said “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people,” No wonder there are so many public displays of these commands in our historic government buildings. The Ten Commandments won't budge as they serve to curb outbreaks of violence and sin in our world. May they resonate anew in our hearts and in the hearts of our fellow citizens in ever increasing measure.

Who Would Ever Admit To Being an Unloving Person?

The Ten Commandments won't budge! They are the “how to's” of loving God and loving neighbor. Jesus summed them up in Mt 22:36-39, “"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Now, there's a little bit of a dilemma in Jesus' summation of God's commands into the simplistic “Love God and love neighbor” formula, that was not intended. The dilemma is simply this: People have a tendency to ignore the specifics of love as spelled out in the Ten Commandments and just paint the commands in the broad brush of their own personal definition or feelings about love. Quite frankly, when we do that we create quite a mess. We seek to live by our own generalizations of love. Go ahead ask anyone what they think it means to love and you will get many different answers. Since love is defined in a multitude of ways by a multitude of people we wind up with a church that loves by feeling, rather than fact, and vaguely rather than specifically. We wind up with cafeteria style love. Picking and choosing what we want to love and how we want to love rather than loving the way God intended. I'll say it again, The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount tell us how to love specifically! Jesus was not replacing the Ten Commands with two! Get that straight. He was simply summing them up. He said in Mt 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Why is such a person called great in the kingdom of heaven? Because to be great in the kingdom of heaven is to love God and neighbor, and the Ten Commandments show us specifically how to do this! If we limit our understanding of righteousness to our definition of love,we will likely fall into the trap of works righteousness. We will fool ourselves into thinking we have been “good enough” to get into heaven. Think about it, who would ever admit to not being a loving person? So we have a whole lot of people who say they love God and neighbor and think they love God and neighbor, but if they would take a serious look at the Ten Commandments which tell us how to love God and neighbor, they would see how far short they come. And how pale our pile of works righteousness really is! And if they still fool themselves into thinking they have kept the Ten Commandments, well, there's always the sermon on the mount, or to carry it even further, the instruction that Jesus gave to the rich young ruler to sell everything he has, and give it all to the poor, and then follow Jesus. It's time to admit it, as we look at the mirror of the Ten Commandments, we can honestly see how far short we have fallen in loving God and men. Forgive us Jesus for our shortcomings. We throw ourselves at Your feet asking for your mercy and grace. Mercy for salvation from our sins and grace for the power to love in accordance with the specifics of Your Word, rather than our own generalizations!

More On the Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments won't budge! Written in stone by the very finger of God, they ever serve as reminders to us as to what it means to love God! Most of us are aware that Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments with two. In Mt 22:36, we read, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." This is so beautifully stated, and we can even see these two arenas of love expressed in the Ten Commandments. By that I mean we see what is called the First table of the Law dealing with the “how to's” of loving God, and the second table of the Law dealing with the “how to's” of loving our neighbor. In fact, if you were to do a basic English Class lesson in outlining the Law of God, Roman numeral I would be: “Love God,” and under that heading would be: A: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. B. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. C. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Then under Roman Numeral II, you would put “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and under that heading you would put the rest of the Ten Commandments. If you wanted to carry it even further, (and you should) you could probably take the teachings of Jesus from His sermon on the mount and find a place for them under the commands. For example, under the heading of “Thou shalt not murder,” we would find the matter of being angry without cause categorized in a sub-heading under murder, and under the heading of “Thou shalt not commit adultery, we would find the matter of lustful leering categorized in a sub-heading as adultery. You get the point. Jesus summed up the commands with the word “Love,” but if you want to know “how to” love God and love neighbor specifically, you need to know the Ten Commandments, and the sermon on the mount. That's the good news! We don't have to guess as to what it takes to love God and neighbor! It's right there in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount! The bad news is, as we see what it takes, we must confess that none of us are capable of loving so perfectly. That's the dilemma of mankind! We all sin and fall short of the glory of God! We all need Jesus! He is the only one who loved God and man perfectly! Thank You Lord for showing us our need for Jesus in the Ten Commandments. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins, for all those times we failed to love You and others in accordance with Your Word! Thank You for Your forgiveness through faith in Jesus and Your promise that as many as receive Jesus have the right to become Your children! (Joh 1:12)

Some Thoughts On Bruising

It has become my practice to include a small portion of Luther's Small Catechism in my personal devotion time and today I found myself in that portion that speaks of redemption. One of the verses that Luther quotes concerning the benefits of redemption is found in Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. The fact that Jesus was “bruised for our iniquities,” caught my attention because I am currently recuperating from knee replacement surgery. One of the ugly after affects of major orthopedic surgery is the bruising that is left behind. A great deal of violence has been done to my body and those deep purple splotches that appeared from the tip of my toes all the way up the back of my leg serve as a reminder of just how violent this surgery is! The good news of course is these bruises are temporary and with time will fade away. In like manner, sin, bruises our soul. Every iniquity, past, present, and future does violence to a soul that was meant to be pure, white, unblemished. These bruises don't fade away with time and they need to be dealt with. So Jesus comes along and He suffers a tremendous amount of violence to His body in the process of scourging and the crucifixion. How bruised His body must have been from the violence done to Him on our behalf! For it wasn't just my iniquity, but yours, and yes, the iniquity of the whole world! Even as we go through life today, we will commit sin. But we need not be bruised by it. Because Jesus died on the cross and was bruised for our iniquities we can confess our sins, knowing that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9) Imagine that! Sin violently bumping into my soul today and no mark left behind because of Jesus! How can we not bow down in thankful worship of such a wonderful Savior! I am so sorry Jesus for my sins that caused you such pain on the cross, and the thought occurs to me that the purple colors of the Lenten season are less connected to the color of royalty and more connected to the bruising that Jesus suffered on my behalf! It is the purpled, bruised body of Christ, hanging on that tree that allows God to see my soul sinless and white as snow!

The Ten Commandments Won't Budge

I saw a Facebook post this morning of surveillance video that someone posted from a local retail store. In the video, a woman is shown helping herself to a donation jar for the family of a son who is battling leukemia. She nonchalantly made room in her over-sized purse, put the jar in and walked out of the store. If there was any hint of remorse or shame on her face, I didn't see it. Whatever happened to the Ten Commandments? This incident made me think of a book I recently read, written by Pastor B.A. Maurer in 1951 called “The Ten Commandments Won't Budge.” The title of the book comes from a James Russell Lowell couplet that goes like this: “In vain we call old notions fudge And bend our conscience to our dealing The Ten Commandments will not budge And stealing will continue stealing.” Try as we may to ignore them and remove them from the public square, the fact is the Ten Commandments will not budge! Jesus said in Mt 5:18, "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” I wonder if the thief in the surveillance video had ever heard of that commandment in church as a child, or in her upbringing at home, or if she ever stopped to read them in her Bible, or areas where they may have been posted in the public square? Has she any awareness of this commandment written in stone by the Creator of the Universe? Are you aware of God's Ten Commandments? Are you familiar with them? Can you name them? How about your children? Have they memorized them and stored them up in their heart? The Psalmist encourages us to do this in Ps 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!” Spend time on a regular basis reading these commands and sharing them with your children. For they serve a threefold purpose: First of all they act as a curb, restraining evil in this world. Secondly they act as a mirror and expose us as sinners in need of a Savior, and finally for the follower of Christ, they show us how to live God-pleasing lives!

The Groanings of the Spirit

I am home, recuperating from knee replacement surgery, and I want to continue to talk about intercessory prayer. Anyone who has had any kind of surgery knows that the spirit is willing to pray but the flesh is just too tired, too hurting, or sometimes (thanks to pain medication) too much out of it to pray! Last time I talked about the Universal Pain-Assessment Tool that hospitals and doctors use to ascertain your level of pain. This assessment is useful in providing guidance for pain medication doses. A 0 on the chart is no pain, and 10 is unbearable. When you get to #5 on the scale, your pain causes you to be unable to do some activities. It's right about there that the Holy Spirit kicks in with the groanings and utterings mentioned in Rom 8:26, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Perhaps you have seen an old western movie where the hero is in a mine and and things start shaking loose and the timbers start to creek and groan. A ship's timbers will do the same thing in stressful seas, always reacting to the stress in such a way as to keep things from falling apart. They take the stress upon themselves in order to prevent a cave in, or a ship that would bust apart at the seams! This is what the Holy Spirit does for you in your stressful situation. You find yourself in such agony or dire straits that you cannot even find the words or the spirit to pray. And the Spirit comes and wells up inside you and makes perfect intercession for your hour of trial. He did it for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and He will do it for you as you lay in your hospital bed at level 5 or worse of the Pain Assessment Chart! Here's the thing about the groanings of the Holy Spirit. They won't fail! In the movies the mine almost always caves in, but God hasn't lost one yet. Don't bolt. Hang in there. Endure! This trial is only meant to accomplish something in you for your own good. And when the dust settles, you'll be able to say with Paul in Rom 8:28, “All things (even this trial) work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.”

One of God's Tools For Handling Pain

It's been a week and a day since my knee replacement surgery under the able hands of Dr Kuplic of the Orthopedic and Sports Institute of the Fox Valley. Things are going well and my first visit to the physical therapist after the surgery was very encouraging. I am very thankful to the Lord for everything that has taken place leading up to the surgery and whatever may follow. To Him be all praise and glory! Those of you who have undergone any kind of surgery are likely familiar with the “Universal Pain-Assessment Tool” which is used to help diagnose and manage your pain. The nurses constantly use this tool to find out where your pain level is at and then medicate accordingly. 0 = no pain on the scale and 10 = unbearable. I am very thankful that my pain level hovered around the 3 mark (mild on the scale) with an occasional burst to a 5 (moderate pain) when my surgical area was stressed due to physical activity. At the number 3, the patient can do “most activities with rest periods.” But at 5, the patient is “unable to do some activities because of pain.” I am so thankful that God has His own tools for addressing the pain in our own lives. One of those tools is the prayers of other believers. Remember the men who took apart a roof, so they could bring their paralytic friend to Jesus for healing? This man was in no condition to come to Jesus on his own. He was at a 5 or more on the Universal Pain-Assessment Tool, but his friends brought him to the Lord! They interceded on his behalf and “when Jesus saw THEIR faith,” He answered their prayers for healing on his behalf! There were times leading up to my surgery and hospitalization that I was like that paralyzed friend. Immobilized by fear, and sometimes wracked by physical pain I was in no condition to physically pray. To be honest, today was the first time in a long time that I was able to spend some quality time in the Word and talking to my Savior! So I thank those of you who have been praying for me. Those of you who had a tap on the spiritual shoulder to lift me up in prayer! You, by the grace of God, have helped me through a difficult time and may the Lord reward you accordingly! Job 42:10 says, “And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” I have a friend who just came home from the hospital after his own knee replacement surgery and you can be sure I have been praying for him and those times when he gets above 5 on the Universal Pain-Assessment Tool. How about you? Is there anyone in your life now facing some sort of physical, spiritual, or emotional pain that scores higher than a 5 on the scale? You know, that point where they may be unable to “do some activities because of the pain in their lives?” How about taking time today to lift them up to the Lord for His healing touch!

I'm Still Here!

I get about 7,000 views per month worldwide on my daily blog, and it's at times like these I feel I need to let my viewers know what's going on. As you may or may not know, I use this daily blog as a live on-air devotion on 919,915 The Family out of Appleton Wisconsin. Therefore if for some reason it has not been updated, it's likely due to technical error, or (more likely) I'm not at work on this particular day! It's why there is no blog updates on weekends, holidays, sick days, or vacation days. I did this so the on-air devo and off air blog would always be in sync! Right now I am in the midst of a long period of absence, as I convalesce at home from some major knee replacement surgery. The doctors tell me I will be unable to work for at least three to five weeks. Let me say first of all that I am greatly humbled to have that many viewers of my blog site, plus many more who listen to the radio station, or follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and on You Tube. My prayer is that I will always be true to the Scriptures and thereby offer words that will, in accordance with 2 Tim 3:16, be (1) profitable for others. (2) provide reproof where needed, (3) correct those who need correction, (4) provide instruction for righteous living! In the days ahead, I ask that you will all take the intercessory role of Aaron and Hur and lift me up in prayer that I may regain my strength and be back on the airwaves again, wielding the sword of the Word of God that He has by grace placed in my hand!. Ex 17:11-13 says, “ And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Thanks again for your prayers, hope to be back on the airwaves soon.