July 4, 2011 … Standing In Grace

Passage of the Day: Romans 5: 1 – 2 … 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

My Journal for Today: What an incredible truth we find in today’s verse related to the assurance of our salvation. Christ dying on the cross and His resurrection ushered in the New Covenant and allowed any, who are willing to receive Him as Savior/Lord, to have direct access to God’s throne of grace. Now, on this Independence Day, should we celebrate the ultimate in Independence, especially since the Lord is fully willing to dole out that grace in abundance, the grace that frees the captives to anyone (see Luke 4: 18), … anyone who would, in faith and obedience, stand with Him as proclaimed in the text for today from the Apostle Paul.

I embolden the world STAND above from Rom. 5: 2 because John MacArthur in Strength for Today on this date called my [our] attention to the origin of this word to help us understand the freedom we have in our relationship with Christ. In the translation from the Greek, our translated English word “STAND” comes from the Greek word, “histemi,” which not only implies standing, but also means being in a stance of balance and certainty. And that is what faith, or obedient belief in Christ, provides for the true Christian … standing as a faithful disciple of Christ. Christ’s finished work gives us the grace to be able to stand strong and to be free in our relationship with our Lord. And nothing we can do can detract from our ability to stand, balanced on the ROCK which Christ has provided for us (see Romans 5: 10). And isn’t it the ultimate in spiritual irony that we must surrender out lives, as slaves to Christ’s lordship, to allow Him to set us free through His saving grace.

It is through God’s grace that I was saved; and it is in His grace, i.e., being able to “stand” on the Rock of His enabling grace, that sustains me and frees me. Christ was the preeminent freedom fighter as we celebrate our freedom on this July 4th. Again, in Luke 4: 18, we read of Christ proclaiming, from the prophesy of Isaiah [see Is. 61: 1 – 2], that His mission in life was to proclaim the freedom of the gospel and to set us free from our shackles of sin. Prayerfully, I will always be able to stand with my Lord in the freedom He won on the cross and as He was raised from the grave; and I must choose to stand with Him in the balance of all I think, say, and do until that day He sees fit to take me home to be with Him so that I will attain that ultimate freedom in glory. There is no greater assurance I can have than to know that my freedom is eternal and that it is totally free for me in Christ.

My Prayer Today: I stand with You, Lord … free! Amen

June 19, 2011 … Integrity Never Stands Alone

Passage of the Day: Daniel 3: 24 – 25 … 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, O king." 25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

My Journal for Today: This Old Testament [true] story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire with “the Fourth Man” we now know as a THEOPHANY, a visual appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ. And for this humble student of God’s word [yes, me!], who journals here, it is a true incident which reinforces God’s promise that He will never leave me, nor forsake me (see Deut. 31: 6 or Heb. 13: 5) … no matter how “hot” the circumstances might get. As a Christian, I never stand alone!

Nebuchadnezzar, from his pagan mindset, had to be “blown away” when these boys came out of the fire, their clothes with no evidence of having been burned. First, he was definitely impressed by the spiritual integrity of the three young Hebrew boys. But the king couldn’t let it drop. He had to put the boys into the furnace to retain his kingly pride. But then, he must have flipped out to see the boys survive, dancing in the flames with a supernatural appearance of a “Fourth Man,” whom he perceived and described as “a son of the gods.” Nebuchadnezzar was not yet in a place where he could see Christ as the Fourth Man in the fire, as “THE Son of God;” but this Babylonian King was getting there.

I remember in my own life when I saw the workmanship of God in the lives of others. Christlikeness was shining from them. It was undeniable; but in my agnostic, humanistic mindset at the time, I was unable to see the truth – only a shadow of the truth. And like Nebuchadnezzar, I could not humble myself to receive God’s grace being made evident before my very eyes. It finally took my own brokenness to open my eyes, which later was the case for King Nebuchadnezzar.

Later in the book of Daniel, Chapter 4, we read of how God humbled Nebuchadnezzar to the point that this powerful king could only look up and see God for whom He really was (is). And Nebuchadnezzar finally declared THE LORD to be the one true God [see Daniel 4: 37]. And though under different circumstances, that is what happened to me as well. God had to take me to a place of complete brokenness and humility so that I could (and did) ask for God to give me His saving grace. And like I believe it happened for Nebuchadnezzar, I was saved.

As I’m meditating on this passage of the day again, it all reminds me of the joint messages coming from 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9, which relate truth to believers that our faith in God will allow Him to visit our weakness with His strength and provide “a way where there seems to be no way,” as the words to the old hymn attest. And like the three Hebrew boys, our deliverance from the fires of this world or into the next, whatever is God’s will, is always a matter of our obedience and trust, i.e., our Christian integrity, which activates God to be there in the midst of our fires.

My Prayer Today: You are there, Lord, when I need You. Amen

April 19, 2011 … A Soldiers’ Saving Response

Passage of the Day: Matthew 27: 54 … When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely He was the Son of God!"

Also in Mark 15: 39 … And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard His cry and saw how He died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

And in Luke 23: 47 … The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."

My Journal for Today: In this passage, recorded in three of the synoptic Gospels (see above), we read of the power of God through the life of Jesus to overcome any set of circumstances and even personal/cultural traditions to draw the lost to Himself.

In this scenario, we see a Roman Centurion, who didn’t likely have an understanding of Jewish beliefs or traditions; nor, before this fateful day, did he care for this man, Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Centurion was charged to crucify there on Golgotha. And prior to that horrible day, this soldier certainly didn’t believe that this man was the “Son of God” or the “King of the Jews” as the sign on the cross mockingly declared above Jesus’ head that day.

But then, on this fateful and God-ordained day … the Centurion became a witness to the God-Man being put to death on the cross; and he heard Jesus say things like, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And as a dreadful night-like darkness descended over that place in midday as well as the earth shaking, God opened the eyes of the Centurion to see that this man, in Luke’s version, was “a righteous man,” not a criminal. Mark and Matthew reported the man to say, “Surely this man was the Son of God;” and in that moment (according to Rom. 10: 13), that Roman soldier very likely could have become a saved man forever. We don’t really know his heart; but we can hope for his soul; because anyone, according to the truth I just cited, who sees himself as a sinner in need of a Savior and repents, believing and declaring Jesus is his Lord, will be saved.

Something like that happened to me on April 13, 1983, when God took the blinders off of my eyes. Like the Centurion, up to that day, I had been anti-Christian. Like the centurion, I had a position of some influence in my culture; and in a very real, emotional sense, I set about “crucifying” Christians wherever and whenever I could. Yet, as God did on Golgotha, He used a special pre-ordained set of circumstances to bring me to a place where I could see and hear the truth about the power of Christ to be my Savior and Lord. And on that day in April of 1983, I was led to declare that Jesus had to be the Man Whom He claimed to be. And like I hope was the Roman soldier, I, too, was saved from my self forever.

I really believe that I will see this Centurion in heaven one day. And I pray that all who read this will be with us there as well!

My Prayer Today: Thank you, Lord, for the grace that saves even blinded soldiers. Amen

April 15, 2011 … Reaching Out to Others

Passage of the Day: Luke 23: 43 … 43 And Jesus said to him [the repentant thief on the cross], “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

My Journal for Today: This incident, captured by Luke in today’s passage, is very personal for me, which I will explain below.

First, let me say that what happened as the life of Jesus, the Christ, moved inexorably toward His death on that cross, hanging between two thieves who were also convicted to die; and Christ’s word here to one of those convicted criminals is a remarkable example of God’s prevenient and saving grace. I know, in faith and from God’s word, Christ would have equally wanted both of these thieves to be in heaven with Him as they all would die mortally that day. Certainly, both of the convicted and crucified thieves saw the same pitiful, weakened figure hanging between them with a sign over His head that proclaimed, “King of the Jews!” However, only one of the two responded to God’s prevenient calling of grace, which was available to both of them that day. Only one of the men repented and acknowledged his sin and proclaimed the truth that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Only one of the thieves was converted by God’s saving grace that day; and only one of those men are with Jesus today, awaiting His second coming and their total glorification in the New Jerusalem.

However, in that remarkable, telling moment, Jesus told the repentant thief that he would be with Him in heaven THAT VERY DAY! This encounter, probably as much as any of God’s word from the New Testament, assures me that the spirits of both of my parents, who believed/received Christ very late in their lives, are now with Jesus in heaven. And it tells me that it’s never too late, no matter the past/personal circumstances of one’s life, to heed and respond to God’s calling for salvation. It was that calling to me when I was 39 years old that led me, most certainly “a repentant thief,” to receive God’s saving grace. And it was God’s prevenient grace, being received by my father at age 76 and then my Mom, just six hours before she died, that will allow me to see them in heaven in God’s timing.

What about you? Have you surrendered, as did the thief on the cross, to the calling on your heart by Christ? If you haven’t, NOW is the time to declare that you are a sinner … that you need a Savior … and that Christ is Your Savior and Lord. God’s word promises (see Rom. 10: 9 – 13 - linked) that if you – or ANYONE - declares this before God, as did the one thief, you will be saved for eternity to be with Christ. But if you don’t/can’t before you die, you will languish forever separated from God in hell. No more need be said.

My Prayer Today: Lord, may all who read this heed your call. Amen

March 5, 2011 … The Nearness of God

Passage of the Day: James 4: 8b –[note underlined/bold portion in context] – 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

My Journal for Today: What a promise we reviewed yesterday from James 4: 8a … that God will draw near to the humble, faithful child of God who seeks nearness to The Lord in his/her life – a life of living sacrifice to a God Who willingly sacrificed all so that we, who believe and receive His grace, might have everlasting life. And the result of such closeness, such intimacy of fellowship, for the one who worships God in Spirit and in truth (see John 4: 23), is the indwelling, empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit, … the ministry that allows the believer to overcome the flesh and follow our Savior’s command (in Luke 9: 23) to deny self, take up his/her cross daily, and follow after our Lord.

MacArthur, in Strength for Today, helps me remember David’s instructions to his son, Solomon, in 1st Chronicles 28: 9, that if Solomon (or any believer) were to seek God, “… God would find [that one].” However, David went on in that passage to expound on the opposite, which is also true, “ … but if you forsake Him (God), He will reject you forever.” Now, this doesn’t mean that a saved person will or can lose his/her salvation. It refers to the truth that God cannot pour His grace into the life of one who is unwilling to humbly receive His free gift of saving grace.

And I return to the principle of God desiring to draw near to the obedient, humble son of God, which is probably best illustrated in the parable of the prodigal father whose lost his prodigal son, who had turned away from the Father and left his dad to squander his inheritance on fleshly living (read it in Luke 15: 11 – 32 [linked]). We read of the son coming to his senses, repenting, and deciding to go and confess to his Father. And when the repentant son comes back, we read of the wonderful image of this prodigal Father, Who is not only waiting for His son, but … He runs to see him and hug him and lavish all the love He can bestow on the boy who has returned to be with the Father. And of course, Jesus, in relating this story to His followers, was picturing His own, loving Father, Who will take in any confessing child of His who is willing to return to the Father and receive that love.

But as with the prodigal, though the love offering is completely unconditional, the giving of that love is conditional; and today’s verse begins to outline those conditions [see today’s verse of emphasis]. The child of God who seeks to receive God’s unfailing and ever faithful grace must be willing to first wash his hands of fleshly living. This is the repentance that is absolutely necessary for the return to the Father and the receipt of His saving grace. The prodigal son of the prodigal Father was finally willing to recognize his sinful ways, to wash his hands of that sinful living (i.e., confess, as in 1st John 1: 9), and to return to the incredible, but loving, arms of his Father.

Yes, that is our loving, faithful, and ever forgiving Heavenly Father; and He waits for us with open arms, … willing to lavish His best on us when we repent and come to Him. But we have to be willing to wash our hands of selfishness and sin, allowing the cleansing blood of God, the Son, to wash us and bring us to a place where we can, in true repentance, present ourselves to the Father, cleansed and ready to receive His grace.

Oh, how I desire to be with my loving Father and to receive His grace. How about you?

My Prayer Today: I come running, dear Father, for your grace! And I feel You, running to me. Amen

2010 – August 17 – Sins of a Nation

Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 12 – 14 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 14: 12 – 14 … NIV 12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 "Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, 14 even if these three men — Noah, Daniel and Job —were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

My Journal for Today: After reading the designated Chapters in the Book of Ezekiel today from The Daily Bible in Chronological Order as well as Dr. LaGard Smith’s devotional in The Daily Bible Devotional if I had any lingering doubts that this country, One Nation UNDER God, whose motto is almost laughingly, In God We Trust, will in some way experience God’s wrath coming down upon those who have been and are mocking His sovereignty, they are gone.

However, I do find it most interesting that there is also a message of reassurance for those, of whom I count myself to be one, who stand firmly for right and take action to alert the people of THE God Who saves. But my reassurance is tempered when I see those mentioned as examples of that remnant, especially Job and Noah, who were not able to help many of their family and/or friends, who became consumed when the wrath of Satan was visited on Job and upon all but Noah’s family when God wiped the earth clean of unbelieving people via the great flood. As I’ve said and speculated in the past, “When the rains fall on the unrighteous, the righteous often get wet as well.”

It would frighten me, if I were our President, to declare that America is “… not a Christian nation.” I’m concerned that my kids/grandkids, being Christians (save maybe the youngest of our grandchildren) live in a culture that is becoming increasingly anti-Christ. But, as Job learned, and Noah experienced, God will some how save the righteous remnant unto eternity to be with Him. Job may have lost his kids to Satan’s attacks; but God kept them for Himself in heaven where Job would one day be reunited with them. Daniel’s young friends, renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, declared, before they were put in the fire of the furnace, “[in Daniel 3] 17 If that is the case [that the boys would be put in the fire], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

But we know the outcome of the latter true story. God did deliver the faithful boys; and I believe, as God did with Noah, He will deliver or take directly to heaven, those who stand for righteousness when His wrath of wrath of abandonment or death is delivered upon those who now mock Him or turn from Him into evil idolatry and wicked practices.

That is why it is so imperative that we do all we can to fulfill the Great Commission, even, and especially, in our own families, so that whenever God decides to lift his mantle of protection – by the Holy Spirit – off of this “Christian nation” in denial, those who have come to know Christ will be saved eternal destruction. Oh, we who believe and stand for Christ in these modern days of Sodom and Gomorrah may be martyred by Satan or the evil in the world; BUT … we will live on with Christ in glory because of our belief in His saving grace and the reality of His death on the cross, His resurrection, and His now sitting on the Throne of Glory at the right hand of God, the Father.

My Prayer for Today: Save us from peril, oh, Holy Spirit!! Amen

2010 – July 21 – A Snapshot of Repentance

Study from God’s Word… Isaiah, Chapters 65 – 66; 2nd Chron. 19: 37 [Is. 37:38]; 2Chron 33: 10 - 17 … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Chronicles 33: 12 - 13… NIV 12 In his distress he [the evil king of Judah, Manasseh] sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

My Journal for Today: We’ve been focusing on the prophesies and ministry of Isaiah during my devotional reading in The Daily Bible in Chronological Order and in the companion book, The Daily Bible Devotional by F. LaGard Smith, during these last weeks; and it has been a great restudy for me, … reminding me just how patient God was with his recalcitrant children in Israel and Judah; and how he sent Prophets, like Isaiah, to give His word to the people. Some listened and became part of the remnant of people led, along with the misfits, into captivity; and then ultimately redeemed and delivered by the One prophesied, … The Messiah.

And one such biblical snapshot of disobedience, God’s patience, and one man’s repentance was the story of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, who became King of Judah after the obedient reign of Hezekiah. And as God’s word says [in 2nd Chron. 33: 2], “He (Manasseh) did evil in the sight of the Lord;” and for many years, early in his kingship, the young king undid almost all that his daddy had accomplished. And for his disobedience and unGodly leadership, God allowed Manasseh to be broken by captivity to the Babylonians to the point where Manasseh confessed and repented and turned, in prayer, to God. And God in His infinite mercy restored Manasseh to his kingship; and led him back to Jerusalem where he did all he could, in repentance, during his remaining years to rebuild what he had undone as king.

I don’t know about you; but I really identify with Manasseh. For over 20 years of my life, after I had gone off to college, I turned away from my upbringing in Christian roots. And God still loved and pursued me in spite of my disobedience, sinful living, and veritable mockery of my God. And God even led me into my own “Babylon,” so-to-speak, where I was taken captive by my flesh, the world, and Satan. But after all those years of abject rejection of God, the “Hound of Heaven” came after me and showed me that I could not hack my out a way in this life without Him. So, I confessed, repented, and sought the saving grace of God, just as did Manasseh. And just as The Lord, God, Yahweh, did with Manasseh, He brought me into a deep and abiding relationship with Himself; and because of that I fully expect one day to see, identify, and even befriend my Brother in Christ, Manasseh, in heaven. And that, I anticipate, being a really cool meeting.

Hey, if you’re reading along with me, let’s make a date to meet up with Manasseh in heaven and share stories of God’s redeeming grace through The Messiah. It will be a cool meeting for coffee one day in Glory, for sure!

My Prayer for Today: Lord, … thank you for reminding me and my friends of Your infinite mercy and patience in pursuing Your lost children. Amen

2010 – June 13 – The Day of the Lord

Study from God’s Word… The entire Book of Joel, Chapters 1 – 3 … Passage for Reflection: Joel 2: 1 … NIV 1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand …

My Journal for Today: This is going to be short - … maybe sweet … maybe not. The Prophet Joel said it almost three thousand years ago; and I’m no prophet; but I rely on him being one; and our DAY OF THE LORD is at hand.

No, we don’t know when that “day of the Lord,” meaning God’s Judgment Day, is to be; but we do know that if the Lord tarries; and I were to die before He comes again to liberate His Bride, the Church, my personal “day of the Lord” will be the day I die. And so, let me be a blowing today of the call of the “trumpet” (read today’s verse and then respond to the call of the shofar at this site]; and by resounding what Dr. Smith says in his devotional today … that we all must receive the call of God upon our hearts and surrender to that call BEFORE the individual “day of the Lord” in our lives. For when we die, if we have not responded to God’s shofar call, we will be doomed to the judgment discussed by God’s Prophet, Joel.

I cannot say this any stronger; and I will pray this morning that you [any reader here], as have I, receive in faith, God’s call on your heart that you repent of your sin and be saved. Because when that final shofar blows from Heaven and the Lord appears in the clouds, it will be too late for any who have died in disbelief and disobedience. We will all die in disobedience; but only those who are sinners and fail to repent and receive Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus-The Messiah, as Lord and Savior, will be doomed to eternal perdition.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that any who read this have answered Your call to salvation on their hearts and they have responded to Your shofar, receiving Your saving grace in faith. And thank You for continuing, in mercy, to sound the shofar call through Your Prophets and the pronouncement of Your Gospel in Your living Word so that many more can hear the shofar and be saved. Amen