Not A Ho Hum Event

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

What is my attitude toward participation in the Lord’s Supper? Do I look forward to it, or just dutifully go through the motions. I was forced to examine myself on that issue today as I was reading in the first chapter of Joel.

Joel speaks of a plague of locusts so bad that the entire land was stripped bare. It was so bad that the there was no wine or grain for offerings! Joe 1:9 The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD; The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD.

Imagine a land so devastated by disaster that there would be no wine or bread available for the Lord’s Supper! Would you miss it? Would you mourn with the priests of Joel’s day?

How would it affect your attitude toward participation in the Lord’s Supper. I don’t care how your particular church  “does communion,” but one thing I do know, it ought not be a “ho-hum” event for the Christian.

The Body and Blood of Christ given for you for the forgiveness of your sins! Let that truth sink in as the Lord gracefully comes to you every single time at the table with that assurance!

Participation in this expression of God’s love for you is essential in your Christian walk. Jesus put in this way in Joh 6:53-56, “Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

 

It's not that the Lord’s Supper is necessary for salvation, but your participation is a sign of the spiritual life deposited in you at your baptism, and a reminder that Jesus is abiding in you.

 

I don’t know about you but that fact alone makes me not just want to come to table.... I'd just as soon run if I could!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Original Sinner's Prayer

 Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Most of you hearing or reading this today have heard of “the Sinners Prayer.” The late evangelist Billy Graham would ask people to come forward at his rallies and say the prayer that went something like this:

 

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.”

 

Spoken from the heart, this is a powerful prayer, acknowledging our own sinfulness, and the price that Jesus paid to forgive our sins. It also expresses our desire to repent (turn from our sins) and follow Jesus as we invite Him to be the Lord  of our life.

 

This morning, as I was reading in the Book of Hosea, I stumbled across a couple of verses that might be called the “original; sinners prayer.” Follow along with me and see if you don’t agree.

 

Ho 14:1 O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; (This prayer is for the backslidden, those who have walked away from the faith, and are caught up in sin. God invites them here to “return” to the Lord

 2 Take words with you, When you return, take words with you! Say a prayer! A sinner’s prayer! And return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, (By Your grace, forgive our sins!) For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.

 3 Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, You are our gods.' (We acknowledge that we are not saved by our good works)  For in You the fatherless finds mercy."  (We rely solely on Your mercy. Amen.

 

The whole prayer may sound something lie this: Father God, I am a sinner who has strayed away from You and I am in need of Your forgiveness. I acknowledge my helpless estate and plead for Your mercy and grace. By Your mercy forgive me of my sins. Help me to return to You! In Jesus name, Amen.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Inquire! Inquire!

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 21:11 The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" 12 The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!"

 

I find myself back to the Book of Isaiah today, having been going through it verse by verse, I last left off with the “burden against Babylon.” In verses 11 and 12 a new area that God is going to “unload” on. The city of Dumah! This city was a city founded by the Ishmaelites and now located in the territory  called Seir which was the land of the Edomites.

 

All these “ites” can be confusing, and quite frankly it would take too much time in a short devotion to give you all the background.  Let’s just turn to  Ps 137:7 to see why the “Lord was going to “unload” on them!

 

‘Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!"”

 

These people were cheering the Babylonian captivity of Judah and basically chanting for Jerusalem to be razed to the ground! Not exactly a way to get on the good side of God! You don’t cheer over the destruction of Jerusalem; you do what Jesus did. “He wept.”

 

This person crying out to the watchman (Isaiah) is evidently an Edomite who concedes that “they have it coming/” He wants to know what the prophet can tell him about this judgment? What will it be? How long will it last?

 

The prophet replies, “Look, if you are really interested and concerned, feel free to ask, but the answer I will give is you need to return! You need to repent! You need to come back to the Lord.

 

The message is the same for you and I! Morning (relief from night) comes with repentance! Are you sincerely concerned about the judgement of God? Then call out to Jesus. Ac 2:21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Building A Mansion

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

I have been re-reading the classic “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it and if you haven’t read it in a while, again I highly recommend you pick it up and go through it again, one chapter at a time, and be sure to bring your marking pen!

 

I was reading his chapter on “Counting the cost,” and almost ran out of ink as I underlined some of his thoughts on Christ’s admonition to “Be ye perfect.”  There is much to be said in response to this admonition, and although Lewis doesn’t mention the verse specifically, this chapter could be summed up in the words from  Php 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

When God calls you to saving faith, He has more in mind for you than cleaning up your more obvious sins. You and I are,  “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.(Eph 2:10) 

Lewis quotes the Christian writer George MacDonald  who pointed out, “every father is pleased with at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm , free, manly walk in a grown up son.”

And like a good earthly father, we can be sure that if we fall, He will pick us up again.

 

One of the dangers associated with coming to Christ is once Jesus has cleaned up our obvious gross sins we are inclined to stop there and feel that now we are “good enough.”  But God wants us to continue down the road and strive toward perfection. (there’s always more work to be done in that arena before we get to heaven! Amen?

 

Lewis says “to shrink back from that plan is not humility; it is laziness and cowardice.” (Ouch) Of course we know that “the job will not be completed in this life: but He means to get us as far as possible in this life.”

 

One more quote from the chapter: When you came to Christ, Lewis says, “you thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace,”

I might add that with every step of obedience and trust, we take in the here and now is just more material for that mansion Jesus is building for you in heaven!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Evidence

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Ho 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.

 

These two verses speak volumes against inhabitants of the land. As Americans, we inhabit a land and we need to ask ourselves if these charges apply to us as well as they applied in the days of Hosea.

 

Is there a disregard of biblical truth in our society today? A lack of mercy? A general stiff-arming of God, keeping Him at a distance rather than having an intimate personal relationship  with Him through faith in Jesus Christ?

The answer to that question is found in verse 2. How are we doing with our mouths? Is there an unusual increase in cussing? Foul language is everywhere in our society. Even women are using language that years ago was reserved for sailors and the like.

Lies are prevalent as people seek to cover their sins and promote their agenda. How did those last ads in the election cycle strike you. There are so many lies, that one really doesn’t know who to believe anymore! To which I say, believe Jesus. He is the truth!

 

Killing! Not only the unborn , but senseless violence breaking out in schools, malls, theaters, parades, and other places that use to be regarded as safe.

 

How about stealing? Wrongful acquiring of goods and money! Shoplifting, looting, and lawmakers who enter congress as paupers and come out as kings.

 

Then  there’s the matter of adultery! Sexual sin that abounds in the land from pornography, fornication, homosexuality, and divorce, trampling the institution that God loves…marriage between a man and a woman.

 

All restraints of biblical morality have been shaken off by our culture and woe to you Hosea (preacher) for calling them out on it.

 

These are all evidences of a people who have shunned a personal relationship with God and settled for the ways of the world.

 

The answer? As we have said previously, there is a need for repentance and revival in the land. Let us live lives of repentance ourselves and pray the Lord use us as instruments of His grace and mercy in a land that desperately needs it!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

No Intimacy With God

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Ho 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.

 

I don’t believe this charge from the Lord is restricted to the people of Hosea’s day and I say that because the charge is leveled against the inhabitants of the land. As a nation, (the United States of America) we inhabitant a land and if the shoe fits us, (God’s charges fit us) we must wear it.

 

So what are the charges? Three of them. (1) a trampling of truth, (2) a lack of mercy, (3) a lack of knowledge of God.  In the next verse, Hosea goes on to point out the evidences of such a culture. More on that next time.

 

For today I want to zero in on the “lack of knowledge.” Because, this lack of knowledge concerning God will produce the results of trampled truth and a lack of mercy.

The idea of knowledge here is not that of head knowledge, but rather that of intimacy. The word knowledge comes from the same word used when Adam “knew” Eve and she conceived.

So the charge against the inhabitants of the land is they lack a personal relationship with God! It’s not so much a charge, but a stating of fact. The problem with the inhabitants of the land, is they lack a personal relationship with God, and we know that the personal relationship comes through  God-granted faith in Jesus Christ.

 

It’s plain to see then what needs to happen in the land to rectify the situation. We need a revival! An outpouring of the Holy Spirit to turn people from their wayward ways and back to the ways of the Lord where truth and mercy are championed.

Corrie Ten Boom had this to say about revival. If you want revival draw a circle in the ground, then step into that circle and pray, “Lord bring revival to what is inside this circle!”

 

Will you step inside that circle? Will you pray? Revival starts one soul at a time, why can’t it start with me?

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word