May 14, 2025

Luke 12: 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” (NIV)

[Worry is] calling God a liar. God promises, “I will supply all your needs . . .” But worry says, “I don’t think that’s true.”*

We could pluck any random verse out of the Bible and use it to prove something other than what was intended. This verse, for example, could be misused by a lazy individual to back-up his decision not to work. Jesus clearly said not to worry about the necessities of life . . . but he didn’t say, “Do not work for them.” As someone has pointed out, Jesus was simply telling us to keep work in the right perspective.*

There are worriers in the world who, while they understand the gist of Jesus’ admonition against worry, haven’t really learned how to apply it to their lives. They send up a smoke-screen of responsibility to hide their worrying. They abide by the principle that we should pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on us. Except that’s not what Jesus said, either.

We learn from other passages that worry in general is wrong; but here Jesus is addressing a specific concern: our physical needs. We can become so involved in providing for our food, clothing, and shelter that we forget that God provides. You may go to work every day and bring home a paycheck but what do you bring to that job that God didn’t provide you? What does that job give you that didn’t originate in the hand of God?

In the next verse, Jesus continues: “Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” Don’t let worry about those physical things distract you from the spiritual. As David proclaimed in Psalm 37: 25, “I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” God has promised to provide our needs so that we are free to pursue eternal matters.

Spiritual needs ultimately outlast and outweigh physical needs; the bread of life is more valuable than perishable bread.*

May 13, 2025

Exodus 19: 17, 18 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it with fire. (NIV)

True worship cannot occur without a recognition of the personal presence of God.*

What’s it like at your church on Sunday morning as the people are gathering to worship? Do the musicians strive to provide a worshipful atmosphere with a soothing prelude, only to have it drowned out by the sounds of laughter and chatting as you get caught up with those who sit around you week after week? I have had some meaningful conversations with seatmates who I don’t get to see any other time. Fellowship is vital to our spiritual lives – but at the cost of worship?

How different would our Sunday services be if we could see the smoke from the fire of God’s presence? Would we be more reverent, more worshipful, more focused? Quieter? How about . . . on time? Someone has written: “Whenever you enter for worship, you are coming into God’s presence – every bit as much as when Israel gathered at Sinai. Sure, we’re always in God’s presence. But when we come for corporate worship, it’s different.”*

I am not inclined – nor qualified – to establish a rule about appropriate Sunday morning etiquette. Worship – even corporate worship – is a personal transaction between the individual and God. There is nothing wrong with catching up with your neighbors. Sometimes there are very good reasons for arriving late.  But do these things distract from our awareness of God’s presence? Can we be more intentional as we find our place on Sunday morning to remember that where there is smoke, there is fire?

Sunday morning worship begins on Saturday evening as we start to focus attention on God. Ask for clean hands and a pure heart to worship well. Ask for words and thoughts that are acceptable to God.*

May 12, 2025

II Corinthians 8: 7 But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving. (NIV)

God wants to give us abundant life so we can pass it on to others.*

It has been suggested that perhaps Paul is being sarcastic here. Did the Corinthian Christians really excel in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in their love for others? Or did they just think that they did? If they really possessed these attitudes, should they have to be reminded to excel in the grace of giving?

Christians often struggle with the question of tithing. The Law required that 10% of everything belonged to God. Are we still obligated to tithe now that Jesus has fulfilled the Law? You might detect a touch of sarcasm when I ask, “Do you really have to ask that?” Christian giving is about so much more than how much money we get to keep.

In the verse following this one, Paul says, “I am not commanding you . . .” He has just described giving as a “grace,” not a law. Because we have been given grace, our obligation is to give grace - grace in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, love . . . Not because we have to but because we want to.

God so loved the world that he gave . . . That’s why we should excel in the grace of giving.

The man who knows most of Christ is not the intellectual scholar, not even the saint who spends his days in prayer, but the man who moves in loving generosity amongst his fellow-men.*

May 11, 2025

Proverbs 11: 25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. (NIV)

There never was a person who did anything worth doing, who did not receive more than he gave.*

In an episode of Friends, Phoebe tries to perform a selfless deed for which she receives nothing in return. She discovers that no matter what she does, big or small, she benefits from it – even if it’s only the satisfaction of doing something good . . . thus proving what Solomon said centuries ago.

While a television show is hardly the best source of wisdom, Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. The Apostle Paul, who was no fool himself, remembered the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20: 35) No one is promising that generosity leads to wealth – although it could. But generosity with an ulterior motive is manipulation, not true generosity.

Wouldn’t it be fun to take the Phoebe challenge? Be generous and refreshing without expecting anything in return and see what happens. Can you give without receiving? Is it possible to encourage another without being encouraged in return? Can you out-give God?

If I want to get water I must give water. Though that seems a strange way of self-serving I pray you try it.*

May 10, 2025

Mark 15: 2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. (NIV)

Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to death, not upon the statements of His accusers, but upon an admission extorted from Him under oath.*

Before testifying in court, witnesses – and defendants – are asked to state their name for the record. In all of the episodes of Law & Order, there has never been a scene like this:

Clerk – “Please state your name for the record.”

Defendant – “My name is John Johnson.”

Judge – “Guilty!”

Jesus’ trial was unique because it wasn’t about his crime, it was about his identity.*  He was who he said he was, and for that he was found guilty and sentenced to death. He wasn’t offered a plea bargain – though Pilate did try to negotiate a deal with his accusers.

We, on the other hand, stand guilty as charged. But our trial is unique, too. The prosecuting attorney: God. The defense attorney: God. The jury: God. The judge: God. The defendant: Jesus. Yes, each of us is a guilty party but Jesus stood trial in our place and was sentenced to death. Because of his identity as the Son of God, we get to walk away from our life of crime. Will we also walk away from the one who paid our debt? Or will we choose to live a life that reflects loving gratitude for his choice to die for us?

We cannot justify ourselves before God, or plead Not guilty.*

May 9, 2025

John 11: 35 Jesus wept. (NIV)

While Christians don’t grieve as those who have no hope, they still grieve.*

Jesus’ dear friends, Mary and Martha, sent a messenger to tell him that their brother was sick, but he died before Jesus got there. The sisters seemed to understand that Jesus had special powers, but they also realized that he might not choose to exercise those powers on their behalf. Although they believed in the resurrection, losing their brother left them grief-stricken – and perhaps a little put out with Jesus. When he saw Mary and the other mourners weeping, Jesus was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (verse 33) 

Jesus knew there would be a happy ending – soon and later. Not only was he going to raise Lazarus from the dead right then, he knew that Lazarus would live again in eternity. So why was he crying? Because he cared about his friends’ grief. This may be the shortest verse in the Bible but it tells us everything about our Savior’s heart. He could have been smug and condescending because he knew something they didn’t know. He could have berated them for their lack of faith in him. He could have felt pity for them. Instead, he felt their pain and he cried with them. 

If you are a friend of Jesus, you are never alone in your suffering. He will never belittle you for being too sensitive. He will never condemn you for your lack of eternal perspective. When you grieve, Jesus grieves with you - just before his Spirit provides all the comfort you need. Big trouble, little trouble, he cares and he heals. He is the best friend you will ever have.

Because Lazarus called Jesus his friend, Jesus called Lazarus from the grave.*

May 8, 2025

Galatians 5: 19-21 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you . . . that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (NIV)

Sin sees the world with no God in it.*

The Apostle Paul has the knack for stirring up mixed emotions in me. This passage, while containing a list of the worst offenses against God, makes me feel kind of good about myself: my signature sins are not included here. So, I must not be so bad. But then I recall Romans 3: 23, where Paul proclaims that all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. All. That would be me. And you.

My guilty feelings are relieved somewhat by the realization that the behaviors listed here are sinful lifestyles – as opposed to occasional sin. But then there’s that troubling truth: I sin every day. So what separates my daily sins from these heinous lifestyles? Why am I not excluded from the kingdom of God like those whose “acts of the sinful nature are obvious”?

Repentance. That’s what sets me apart. That’s the difference between a sinner who sins and a sinner who leads a sinful lifestyle. Martin Luther reminds us about David, who committed adultery and murder, and Peter, who denied Christ. He says that, as bad as the sins of these men were, “they were not committed to spite God, but from weakness.”* When their sins were brought to their attention, they repented. They weren’t just sorry that they got caught – they were sorry because they had sinned against God. And they weren’t just sorry; they turned away from their sin.

My purpose is not to make you feel good about your sin. Not ever. My purpose is to remind you that sin is bad but God is good. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us (I John 1: 9). We are liberated from a sinful lifestyle so that we can inherit the kingdom of God.

There is nothing worse than to continue in sin.*