Samuel Gets A New Robe

Samuel was ministering before the LORD, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.  1 Samuel 2:18-19

The final day of 2020 brings with it all manner of ill news to report, but I'm so tired of ill news (Yes, especially my own.) that I want to write about something cute. And cute little Samuel must have been each year in his new robe lovingly made by his mother. We long to see the boys and girls dressed up in their new clothing each year, and most parents miss those years when their children were so little and cute. It is such a great event in life that the Bible records Samuel's experience for us just as Israel's great line of kings is beginning. 

Have I mentioned this cute scripture before? Have I looked to this new beginning during another illness at the dark time of the year? Yes, it seems that I have, but all the more reason to remember the Lord and those new beginnings! Like many of us, I hate that this joyous time of the year seems to bring illness to households as we are shut up together inside due to the weather. Is it any wonder as we look at this life of illness and pain, especially this past year, that our Lord Jesus gives to each a new robe? It is a great event in the Revelation when the saints under the altar are given their new robes and told to wait just a little longer until their number is fulfilled. Ah, there, the Sun is breaking over the garage. It is a new day in Christ the Lord!

Amen.

Bucky

Letting It Go

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  Philippians 3:13 NLT

The year we wind down in these next two days will find few people wanting to hold on to it. Seldom has a year been more fitting for Paul's action in our verse for today, "Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead..." When asked to review the events of this passing year, many will close that book with a sound thump and look up to Jesus our Lord for what is to come. I'm not much of a prophet when I predict that this statement of Paul's will come up many times in New Year's messages to us. Praise God for Paul and all that he had to work to forget in his past. His message is good for us as we look with hope to a new year. 

The events of this past year crowd into my mind, wanting another mention in print. Can events become addicted to the media like people do? As the Lord is my strength, we will look ahead to the glory of Jesus our Lord to come! 

Rejoice in Christ!

Bucky

Can A Person Evolve Into The Christian Life?

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  John 3:3

Stand still and read for a bit and words such as ev0lution and evolve will float by in the media and in text. There are some who believe that the way to the kingdom of God is to evolve into a better version of themselves. These have this lifetime improvement program going on that will surely cause evolution to occur given sufficient time to become a righteous person. Sounds good! However, that does not fit any conceivable interpretation of two important words in our verse for today; those would be of course, "born again." 

In evolution theory it is the succeeding generations who reap the benefits of those who went before them. Should a person achieve some place in life where fittest might apply then the next generation, assuming he/she can find a fittest mate, becomes somehow fitter still. But that is not the one person being born again, that's a genetic copy who gets to be fitter than fittest, or something like that. We as persons get one shot at this thing, and Jesus just said that this one life is not fit to enter the kingdom of God by stating, "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." One life and it won't work to save us no matter how much we try to evolve into good? We are in trouble! 

It's a good thing our Lord Jesus knows how to get that rebirth going for all those who believe in Him! 

Love in Christ,
Bucky

P.S. Still recovering at home with a little horse in my throat and quite a few sneezes in my honker. 

Trusting Jesus

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.  Philippian 2:19

Those who thought Jesus a blasphemer because He forgave the sins of the paralytic must have been doubly incensed when they heard about one of their own, Paul, trusting in Jesus and calling Him 'Lord'. Letters in those days likely remained no more secret than they do now for famous people. Of course, Paul's letter to the church at Philippi was no secret and Paul's faith in Jesus he shared far and wide in speech and in writing. Those of Paul's race who did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah would have been no less angry, and they would have quickly reached for their stones. A thing they did to Paul on at least one occasion and probably several others. But even the rock-chuckin' Jews of Paul's day could not keep him down, and the apostle continued to trust in Jesus by faith and wrote of it to his Philippian congregation. 

Why do I come out from Christmas with a trusting in Jesus devotion? My post-Christmas letdown has been a bit more physical than usual this time as I have been feeling sickly since Saturday afternoon. Is it the Big Bad of 2020, Covid-19, or is it one of the myriad of other bugs that had their press snatched away by that popular scare du jour? The symptoms do not match all that we are to look out for, but they are miserable just as the body's reaction to most coldses and fluses is for us.

Pray therefore for one another and for me, as we travel this road trusting in Jesus our Lord!

Bucky

Merry Christmas To All!

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
-- Luke 2:13-14

Can you think of a year when the human race needed this message more than this one we are struggling with right now? Well, yes, the one in which it happened as God's timing is always perfect. Can you think of a group better suited to receive the message spoken by the heavenly host than those looking for the return of the Christ right now? Well, as we know that God's wisdom is deepest, then these very shepherds in the scripture passage were the best suited in all of humanity to receive this message. So, does that mean that we are better or worse than a bunch of smelly shepherds living out in a dark field?

Of course we know that it is not about that at all. The story of Christmas is about the birth of the Christ child. The heavenly host began just the way we should with, "Glory to God in the highest!" And the host concludes in a way that we can hardly believe: peace on earth and goodwill toward men. What a glorious message of hope the Lord Jesus brought to us, even as He lay in a manger as a little child. 

Glory to God in the highest!

Bucky

The Eve of Christmas

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  John 20:19

Anticipation of the great event might explain part of the evening before celebration, but that explanation might leave one unsatisfied. In searching for a reason to celebrate the evening before Christmas, this verse in John comes up as a cause to celebrate an evening. Jesus appeared among them at evening and said, "Peace be with you." This event might just remind us of another announcement of peace received in the darkness which could well have come during the evening hours. But would not that announcement come during the day of the great birth? Why yes, that would be the literal answer. What I seek is an excuse to celebrate before the day of the event, as opposed to confessing to 'just can't wait'! 

Perhaps a week-long celebration of our Lord's birth?

Merry Christmas Eve!

Bucky

Christmas Time Unbelief

Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.  Luke 2:17

Few stories in the Bible offer as much opportunity for unbelief as the Christmas verses in Matthew and Luke. Shepherds out in a field with sheep is no problem for anyone because that is something still practiced today - though the shepherd may have a pickup and a camp trailer, perhaps even a dog or two. But when it comes to the glory of the Lord shining 'round about them and a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and singing. Well, let's just say some will find that difficult to believe. It is far easier to call into question the mental ability of the shepherds, than to believe their tale of angels and a holy birth. And speaking of births...

And then there was Mary. 

"Mom! Dad! Guess what? The Holy Spirit has overcome me! I'm gonna have the Son of God!" 

I'm not even a parent, much less a parent from Roman Judea about the time of, oh, Zero A.D. and I can see an opportunity to call the young daughter I thought I knew something along the lines of, maybe, nutty as a fruitcake? 

Much of the Bible makes unbelief so easy. Praise God for His Spirit who gives us the ability to believe in Him! 

Bucky 

Suddenly, Angels...Everywhere!

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  Luke 1:11

The title may have led you to await the story of the shepherds and their sheepers out in a dark pasture, but it seems that suddenly, angels were everywhere for a few months to a couple of years in Judea. Foretelling prophecy had been put on leave for about four centuries, but suddenly the angelic messengers were abroad in the land. And who knew where they might show up, in dreams, in a young lady's house, out in the pasture, or even by the right side of the altar of incense in the Temple. To his credit, Zacharias did not drop his censer or otherwise embarrass himself in the moment, but startled he was. Zach was chosen by lot to burn incense in a restricted part of the temple and someone standing by the right side of that particular altar was not what his training would have led him to expect. What a great story Zach would have to tell everyone gathered outside in prayer though! Oops, too bad he ran his mouth in unbelief to an angel of the Lord. A silent priest, now there's a novel message!

Praying for a merry and joyous Christmas for all of us this year!

Bucky

The Appointed Time

But the woman conceived, and bore a son when the appointed time had come, of which Elisha had told her.  2 Kings 4:17

The Lord our God is on schedule. Sometimes to us it may seem as if the Lord operates on a cause and effect sort of basis and that much of His schedule depends upon whether a person does the right of the wrong thing first. Eighteen times in the Bible the Lord speaks of an appointed time, and seven (of course it is!) of those usages are prophecies. Other instances of prophecy don't use that exact wording but use phrases even more exacting such as, "prepared for the hour and day and month and year..." God's schedule goes all the way to the end times and He is on time and on target as we like to say. 

Today, we use the verse in regard to a young woman who had not known a man, and one week before the appointed time she may have felt some concern. For us the week before Christmas Day is one of delightful anticipation with just a bit of rushing about to get every gift purchased for the big celebration of our Lord's birth. Mary also faced the one week prospect of our Lord's birth, though we must admit that she was more intimately involved than any of us. And her concern? It might have been a concern for where the blessed event would take place. As we know now, the event occurred in a stable and the holiest of babies was laid in a feeding trough for animals. What an honor for the beasts! What a chance for us to trust that is exactly what the Lord our God wanted in time, place and space. 

Amen! Welcome, Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Feeling Grinchy

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.  1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Do you feel a little like that Grinch fellow from the animated show? The darkness at this time of the year and the overflow of holiday spirit can get to some folks and cause a certain irritation. They may come to resent the Christmas season. Paul chips in by telling us in the scriptures that love does not do that. Great, now I'm in trouble with the law of love too? Take a deep breath, rest easy dear self, Paul was not laying down another law. Had the former Pharisee wanted to plant more laws he could have brought out a few of the hundreds of 'traditions' the Pharisees had added to the law of Moses. No, the first thing that we do is to remember that love goes with God and that though we may get down a bit God's love does not look at us with irritation or resentment. We recall too that any time we need some growing of the fruit of the Spirit, we have only to ask that our love or patience or kindness be grown some during this time of the year. 

Rejoice in the One who loves us!

Bucky

Just Come On In

 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!  Luke 1:28

There must be something about Gabriel that elicits a different reaction from young women than would happen with a man. I'm not suggesting experimentation in this area, but if a man of the world just walked in on a young woman, he likely would not have time to speak the full sentence before various reactions would take place. A piercing shriek is still not unusual though it might be replaced with loud shouting in these later years. A quick photo or video on the smart phone might be forwarded to the police before the man could even speak. And in this age there is the possibility of blows, kicks, and even gunfire before 'rejoice' is even out of the lips of the intruder. That Mary listened to the full greeting of Gabriel shows to us that something special happened here in our verse for today. 

Of course I write a bit facetiously because surprise is still a good way to freeze someone in their tracks even in our time, and it allows time for an even more startling greeting. The words young Mary received by way of greeting from this stranger would tend to stop most anyone for a good troubling. Nothing in the scriptures warned Mary that this day, an angel of the Lord, would just come on in to her home and deliver words of wonder to her. Complete surprise is one way the Lord gains our undivided attention. 

Good news! There is a certain snatching away that will be a complete surprise to us one day soon. 

In Christ,

Bucky

What Need We?

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? Mark 14:63

Christmas brings to mind requests for what we need, and so a search of those three words in the Bible should bring up an interesting verse about asking for our needs and maybe a few wants as we often do at Christmastime. Three verses in the New King James version use those words with each other and each verse is turned into a question form such as Mark reports in his gospel account, and all three verses are from that same incident. The high priest of the Israelites wanted his next Christmas to be one without Jesus, the Christ. And each year we lament how well that high priest's wish was fulfilled in this world. 

However, the One standing trial there in that moment when the high priest ripped his attire is the One we need at Christmas and any other time. What need we? We need the Lord Jesus, the Christ. On a starry night outside of Bethlehem, the ancestral home of the kings of Israel, some shepherds were among the first to hear the good news of the arrival of God's Son. The greatest of gifts began the first Christmas in the manger of a stable. 

May we rejoice this day in the Lord's Christ!

Bucky

Do Not Give Up Hope

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13

Many cartoons, photos, and other artistic creations have shown an opinion of this year, and I would not want to be known as 2020 right now. However, it came to me this evening that the year is not over yet, and I do not mean that ominously. The Lord our God has more than enough time left in 2020 to lay down a great work of His own that overshadows all that has gone before. A great miracle of the Lord may take a mere moment or it may happen over the 20 remaining days in this year. And what a contrast that would be with this year up to now! Of course, one of the most faithful things we can do in these remaining days of the year is to not give up hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Endure in a grateful spirit as our Lord leads us to the end of 2020, and rejoice in the Lord always!

Have a blessed and joyous finale to 2020 in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

Of The Ol' Family Tree

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1

One of the more remarkable things to come early in the Christmas tales is the genealogy of our Lord Jesus. It is remarkable in this world that He had one! It is easy to think of Jesus as some sort of demigod that just came down in a blaze of glory. (There was a blaze of glory, but it was presented to some shepherds out watching sheep in the night.) Our Lord Jesus, the King of kings Himself, had a family tree. And like many of us act, He was born in a barn. Alright, so it was a stable because barns hadn't been invented yet. But, but, genealogy, born, did you mean to say the Son of God was human? Yes! Even to the point of having not one but three genealogies: Mary's, His mother; Joseph's, His adoptive father; and of course that short one, God the Father - Jesus the Son. 

Did you grow up with a father who was not your birth father? So did Jesus. Did you have to move a couple of times as a child? So did our young Lord God in His little human body. Did you die and rise again to surprise your friends meeting in a locked room? We'll just have to leave that one to Jesus. One day He will bring us home to share in His new life! 

Have a lovely and loving Christmas in Christ the Lord,

Bucky

A New Christmas

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Sometimes, it seems almost, a little, difficult to write about the first Christmas and its coming anniversary when we anticipate with grateful joy this new Christmas. Another way to put it, writing about our Lord's first coming seems to pale a bit for us when we anticipate His return to meet us in the clouds of His glory. A couple of weeks from tonight we begin the celebration of a new Christmas, but it is looking toward that old Christmas. It isn't wrong by any means, but we have this anticipation of a reunion with our Lord in a much closer time than two thousand and a score of years in the past. In the world of today that we see through the often twisted lens of our media sources is it any wonder that the imminent return of our Lord Jesus might seem, well, imminent? 

This new Christmas where the Good Shepherd gathers His sheep so swiftly from the world seems just so, what is the biblical term? Oh yes, it seems so AT HAND! He is coming soon! 

Bucky

God With Us

He will pass through Judah,
He will overflow and pass over,
He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.  Isaiah 8:8

Immanuel, a name of Jesus we do not use nearly enough. A search in God's word shows that the more famous verse from Isaiah 7 is the first time, and it is quoted in Matthew, but then there is only this lesser known verse in the next chapter of Isaiah. We are not the only ones who do not use Immanuel very much. Perhaps it is something that does not come naturally or easily to us and thus requires much practice and effort. This fits in with the fruits of the Spirit and the joy of the Lord. The good things promised by our Lord do not come easily to us and our fallen birthright. Grumbling and complaining come more swiftly to us in the test than do songs of praise and worship. Fleeing from fear is easier than facing it. And as unbelief is our natural state, many find it far easier to maintain than the faith in Jesus that saves life. Ah, but what joy to say the name and know the meaning of Immanuel! Gladly will we practice and work toward the knowing of His holy name by saying it often with respect and devotion. Immanuel, God-with-us, how we love to hear the name of our Lord Jesus! 

Merry Christmas in the love of Immanuel!

Bucky

A Gift For Us

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

Yes, it is time to write about the greatest of gifts God gave to us, His Son. The names of this Child point to someone rather special. Not just anyone will be called Wonderful or Counselor, but that doesn't narrow it down enough for our Lord's prophecy. We have Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, and these names can belong to only one was born and given. While some in the end times will try to make them fit another, only Jesus carries these names with lawful authority from His Father, God. 

Therefore, each day unwrap a little of that greatest of gifts by the study of His Word. Reveal a bit more of the gift through sharing His good news with a friend. Open the gift a little further in prayer. And of course, rejoice in the gift of God since that is what the Giver of the Gift longs to see in us. 

Have a rejoicing Christmas this year!

Bucky

Changes In The World?

In his wisdom, the LORD will send great disaster;
he will not change his mind.
He will rise against the wicked
and against their helpers.  Isaiah 31:2

On Sunday morning, I joined the church service when the live event posted to Facebook and shortly my mother joined us from her home which is hundreds of miles away from our little town. Yes, Sunday morning services are changed somewhat from just a short time ago. We had a virtual turnout of 15 on the event at one point, which is the most I have seen thus far. Great changes have swept the world, but are they permanent? Is this but a test from the Lord which will soon be completed and things ease back toward what we have become used to doing? Wisely, I think,  many have said that there will not be a return to what we did and where we were before this began earlier this year. Those changes are not all bad. Many churches did not consider an event broadcast of their services each Sunday and are now doing so. I look forward to many live Christmas services this year that would have been resisted by many last year for various reasons. What was the province of the megachurches with their access to professional level personnel and equipment has become commonplace in the small churches using what they have and putting the good news of Jesus Christ out there for all. 

Praise the Lord,

Bucky

All The More Reason

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.  Matthew 5:44

Made it through another tough anniversary. No, not an ex-spouse from an ex-marriage as many observe each year. My anniversary is first from Beirut, Lebanon where Marines gave their lives for our country on that day in 1983, and then a more personal anniversary from a Friday in 1998. On that day I had one of those temporary homes that we have here on this earth and I was trying to make the trip from far away. Twenty two years later, I still have not made it back to that home. But that is another story. 

This morning, I was met with the opportunity to pray for a group of people I do not know and whose problem does not affect me at all. The thought came to me that this is all the more reason to pray for them. I have nothing at stake in the problem or the resolution, why should I care? And this is of course where we are called to care, love and pray.

Imagine a state governing body has passed a law wherein the governor, the legislators, and all government employees are allowed by this law to kick puppies into the path of any vehicle they choose and for this the puppy-kickers receive a bonus on their paycheck. Most everyone would pray for and even work for the ending of such a terrible law. No faith in the Lord's Christ would be needed for such an effort. Now imagine a law has been passed that prevents only a few wealthy folks far away, none of whom you or I know, from buying another toy each of them really want. Do you care that they acquire yet another toy? No, probably not. And yet, this might be all the more reason for us to pray for them.

And then, Jesus took it one big step further. He said to pray for those who throw rocks at us, have us thrown in jail for our testimony, even have some of us killed because of the name of Jesus! You might think that those things do not happen here in this civilized land of religious freedom, and be correct. But our Lord said to pray for those who tell lies about us, try to stop our worship services, prevent the pastor from endorsing a political candidate, or even say that thing about how Christians are all hypocrites! Are we to pray for them too? All the more reason, our Lord has given to us, to pray for those who hate. 

Have a great weekend in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

Take Heart, He Comes Again!

“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  John 16:22

In the immediate sense, Jesus spoke to His disciples about that time between His death on the cross and His resurrection when they would sorrow. He assured them of His return from the grave and their joy. However, we who live so many years later also see a fulfillment in the time of faith and not seeing our Lord each day by sight, and that great time when He will meet us in rejoicing and our joy will not be taken away, ever. Sorrow almost seems a constant companion to us in this age, but Jesus truly is our constant companion through His Spirit. One day though, His wonderful gracious majesty will come to get us from this place of sorrow and give to us a joy that will leave us singing in awesome joy, "Immanuel!" 

So, take heart followers of our Lord Jesus, He comes again!

Bucky

Rest Or Sloth?

‘Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.  Exodus 31:15

A cold and cloudy day yesterday, but the silver lining was that I got the chance to try out my new quilt that is a gift from my sister. Comfy and cozy, I didn't want to get up after lunch and return to work! The quilt was just right for a little early afternoon warm nap. A little rest at the right time is good for us, but how much rest before we are lazy and slothful? One day each week under the law was quite simple: no amount of work was allowed upon pain of death. The Sabbath, 24 hours, one entire day from sunset to sunset. How well have you or I done at doing no work of any kind for a 24 hour period? On the other hand, we might take too many moments on the other six days stretching them into hours when work should be underway. 

It seems a balancing act that is tough to solve. We need rest, but we need work too. If a person has rested so long that a gurney or crane is needed to remove them from the house to the hospital, then yes, most of us can tell that the rest went on too long. Many of us in our lifetime have erred in the other direction and gone to work or school with an illness that should have kept us home resting. Some have even carried out their death penalty by working themselves all the way to that fatal reward. Was he or she selfless to the point of death, or just unwise and driven by guilt and shame to avoid proper rest? We have one of those questions where each of us must go to the Lord and ask Him! 

Praise the Lord for any and all of those questions that bring us to Him and His word for instruction!

Bucky

You Shall Make...Boxer Briefs!

And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs.   Exodus 28:42

Aaron and his sons had holy duties to perform before the Lord, and they had some human needs too. In this case, the Lord ordered some boxer briefs made of linen for His priests to wear. One can almost hear the other folks in the congregation saying, "Hey, where do I get me some of those?" And a new segment of the clothing industry was born. When we fail to pray over needs that we might think are too private, basic, or worldly for the Lord our God to pay attention to, then we fail to give Him the chance to provide for us in all our needs. The Lord here makes sure the priestly pudenda are covered, and that Aaron and his sons are comfortable in their duties. Jesus gave to us His Spirit to dwell in us, and God knows our every thought. So, what need do we have that is too base or dirty for our Lord to provide for upon our confession and request? 

Thank You dear Lord our Father for Your kind and loving provision this day,

Bucky

He Has What We Need!

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

We may be startled when we first learn in John's gospel that the word of God came to us in a person, the only begotten Son of God. The surprise awaits us though, for the Word is full of grace and truth. He has just what we need, grace and truth! 

Reading the Old Testament, one might expect the Word of God to come down in righteous anger and holy judgment. Certainly the case is laid out that the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve have fallen hard since that first trespass back in the Garden of Eden. But no! The Word comes to dwell among us full of grace and truth. 

Awaiting the end of more than four centuries of silence in Judea and the regions of the former nation of Israel, one might expect some stern words to come down from above when the drought of the word is lifted by God. After all the drought began through their hardened and unbelieving hearts. And indeed for a moment that seems to be the case as John the Baptist and the Lamb of God speak those words in Matthew, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" As it turns out though, the King of kings did not come down to condemn but to save the world, His world, and He came full of grace and truth. 

If we live still expecting that  holy smiting, perhaps we should look up and see the grace and truth of our Lord Jesus. And like that Thanksgiving dinner last week, reach out and take a hefty portion of grace and truth from Him! 

Love in Christ the Lord,

Bucky

Blameless, Get It?

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.  Genesis 17:1

We read our verse for today and think of all the work it will mean to become sinless before God. Did God send His Son for nothing? Are we ever to be capable of such a feat of clean living? The Lord said, "be blameless." Like Abraham who went before us, we need a covenant, an agreement with the Lord, in order to become blameless before Him. And that agreement is indeed a meeting of unequals.

Yesterday morning, I got out there with my great new idea for some Christmas lights on my house. Magnetic hooks. Yes, my siding is steel and my gutters are steel and the place where I thought would work best, the soffit, uh, is not. Strike 1. Moving to the siding, I found it to be painted of course, but it is also textured from the factory, and so the magnetic bond was weakened. Strike 2. The bottom of the gutter or the fascia maybe? Aluminum fascia. Strike 3. The gutter turned out to be too flimsy. Strike 4, and I'm way out. It seemed like such a good idea in here where I tried it on stouter metal. The magnets were more than strong enough, it was that base metal that defeated me all around. 

Yes, you can see that Jesus is more than strong enough, in fact He is closely related to the Almighty. We are that flimsy base metal that needs strengthening to make a successful bond together with our Lord. So much are we insufficient for the task that He must rebirth us and start over to make new material. Praise God that along the way He gets rid of that coating of original sin and the texture of worldly living as He makes us new in Christ. Now, when we appear with our Lord Jesus before God, we will be blameless, get it? 

Praise God for His Son's great work in us!

Bucky

A Devotion of Thanksgiving

Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?  Psalm 10:1

A security alert on the BLB web site this morning, and so I will type in the verse for today from a copy of the Bible in my possession that gets little consideration. The cover through simple human error is on upside down, and so it sits on my shelf unused most of the time. However, the cover is not the Bible, the words of our Lord are the Bible.

Today is our annual feast of thanksgiving to the Lord our God. We do this in 2020 in a time of trouble. Many of us will dine alone with the Lord, who would not usually do so on Thanksgiving. Our brother in Christ gave a sermon Sunday in which he employed the word dichotomy several times. Here is another one for us: how can we dine with the Lord in giving Him thanks this day and yet not dine with Him? Paul said in Philippians 4 that the Lord is at hand, be anxious for nothing. Yet, when I reach out my hands to both sides, no Lord! But He is with us always, the word of the Lord says so in Hebrews and at the end of Matthew. If the Lord were here constantly, then all our talk of the good news of the Second Coming is just plain silly. The disciples saw the Lord Jesus ascend from the Mount of Olives and the angels promised He would return one day in the same manner. So, if this has not happened yet, how can He be here with me as I dine? And yet I know in my heart that He has never left me or forsaken me, just as He said in His word! We live this dichotomy all the time; being unable to reach out and grasp His divine hand, and yet able to speak with Him and know His presence in our heart. 

Thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for the wonder of knowing and being with You always! 

Bucky

Enter With Thanksgiving

“And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will. Leviticus 22:29

The day before Thanksgiving is a great day to offer thanks to the Lord for all He has done for us. Just offer it of your own free will. Do not give thanks because the pastor said you had to last Sunday morning. Do not give your grateful sacrifice because someone wielded the whip of guilt on your spiritual backside yesterday. No, God wants our sacrifice of thanksgiving to be of our own free will. 

Gratitude, thanksgiving, and gratefulness are good works that are good for us, and as such that can sometimes seem like a smack from the staff of the Good Shepherd driving us toward giving thanks or else. We bear a wrong picture of our Savior if we think such thoughts, for He does not drive us to do something He wants done from free will. 

Thank You, Dear Lord, for the gift of Jesus our Savior!

Bucky

Just Toss One

 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”  Matthew 4:6

There are those times we think we recognize a fellow believer in Christ because he or she tosses one out there - one of what? A Bible verse. Well, there was this person who tossed one at Jesus back in the day; so tossing around a Bible verse or two may not mean all that we hope it does. It is notable that our Lord was tempted in the wilderness with verses from His own word. The intent of the heart means much in the usage of our Lord's verses from His Word. There are those who would try to gain the money from our pockets by the usage of verses from the Bible. These may want to fulfill a church need, or they may just be those wolves who want our money. Our Lord told us to be wary in this world. The one tossing out the verse may want to share the good news of Jesus, or be one of those working for that tempter who met Jesus in the wilderness. We will need the discernment of our Lord's Spirit to know the difference. 

Thanks is given to the Lord that He provides His Spirit to us without reservation!

Bucky

Living In Darkness

The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.  Isaiah 9:2

Matthew in his gospel shows us one fulfillment of this prophecy in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali when Jesus began His ministry there in Galilee of the Gentiles. We are another fulfillment of that prophecy. For as we have seen in the past couple of devotional messages about our sin, we too are the people living in darkness and Jesus is the great light we have seen and the great light we need. Those past two messages had us looking in toward the lingering darkness, but our Lord's dear Spirit is on that, cleansing us even as we gather virtually here this morning. 

Today, look around at the world. Is the darkness we must walk in breathtaking? What won't people do to gain power over their fellows? What won't they seek to gain in order to have their fellows worship them? How they work to have their name remembered by future generations! And there is that struggle against the shadow of death that hovers over all in this present darkness. We have a great prayer burden for the lost, and we have only a little time left to be about it. Let us pray. Having seen the Light, we now more clearly see the darkness all around. 

Praise the Lord Jesus for His redeeming grace!

Bucky

An Ancient Tribe

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  James 3:17

These days we appear to have a resurgence of an ancient tribe: the Hippokrites. So common is the malady of thinking oneself above the rules one demands of all others that anyone would think they have misread our verse for today as a command to be partial to hypocrisy. So often do we read reports in the news of hypocrisy that each of us will at some point start looking in our own backyard. Is that the smell of smoke from my woodshed? Did I take up the finger wag of the Hippokrite again? How did that happen? 

Hypocrisy is, I think, almost as easy to fall into as that one from yesterday, sexual immorality. To demand certain rules be obeyed by another and to flout them ourselves is an arrogance hardly to be believed. And yet, we may catch that smell of burning Hippokrite shorts each time we bring up the subject if we do not enter into prayer and reflection with our Lord and search out the dark corners of the heart. Several groups I have joined in this life, many by intent, but never once did I seek to join the Hippokrite army. How embarrassing to find myself in their ranks at times! 

Let us seek the Lord in prayer before we find ourselves eye plank hunting again,

Bucky

A Tough One To Avoid

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.  1 Corinthians 5:1

It is the one that caused the disciples to wonder who then can be saved when Jesus told them that the mind was just as guilty as the body. It is the one Paul could hardly believe when he wrote to Corinth in our verse above. It is the sin that tripped up David as he dallied on the rooftop when he should have been out in the field. And it got to Sodom and Gomorrah so badly that God had to destroy both cities from above. Sexual immorality has cut down so many of God's soldiers that we could list examples to each other all the day long. It is a tough one to avoid as it is bound up tightly with our fallen flesh, and the base urge for it helps us desire one another for marriage and children. It is also one of the more embarrassing sins for the church to deal with when it is published. Sometimes it is so bad that even the pagans are put off by it, and Paul had to deal with it in one of his congregations. Just the mention of it may bring to mind images that cause it, but sexual immorality must at times be preached against even in a red-faced church where it has happened. Sexual immorality is a tough one to avoid, perhaps a tougher one to resist. 

Do we wonder now why Paul would have us keep that prayer line to Heaven open all the time? Constant prayer! Amen. Come Lord Jesus!

Bucky

His Plans For Us

O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.  Psalm 40:5

A foolish search came to mind this morning as I sat to write these few words to you. The search was for the words, 'plans for God'.  What plans for God did a person have in the Bible? In the text that set of words did not occur, and we recognize that this is His way. God has plans for us, and wonderful plans they are, but we do not make plans for Him. Our God needs no counsel from us. Perfection does not look to the fallen for advice or plans. As King David said long ago, "You have no equal." David also noticed what we too can see, that it is the other way around and God has plans for us that are too numerous to list. Praise God for His numerous plans for you and for me! 

Dear Lord our God, we are glad this morning for Your plans for us and we trust You with everything we are and have in this world. Amen. Come Lord Jesus!

Bucky

More Valuable Than Sheep?

“Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”  Matthew 12:12

Confusion can easily be raised by reminding us that we are the sheep of His pasture and that the Lord Jesus is our Good Shepherd. So, where do we stand now in relation to men and sheep? Ask of the world and you may find that sheep in this age are of more value than men, and a follower of Jesus is of more annoyance than value to the world. Oh, I feel so good about myself on this fine Friday now. Of course, we didn't ask the world because our Lord Jesus gave to us an incalculable value at the cross, and He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Gladly will we stand as sheep with the Lamb of God! 

Stand ready to meet the Lamb in the sky; He comes soon! 

Bucky

Hear The Word

and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates!  Jeremiah 22:2

It may seem strange to us that the prophet had to bring this message to the king of Judah and all his servants and people. Was this not the last remaining tribes of the Israel of David and Solomon? Did they want to have their nation renewed and lifted up once more? Did they love the darkness so much that the king would lead God's people into captivity? Of course we know from the history in the Bible that even with a promised reward of blessings and national security the remaining part of Israel in Judah could not or would not keep the Law. And it wasn't even the entire Law of Moses that God told them to keep, but a part that a man in their midst a few hundred years later would state as: Love your neighbor as yourself. 

This man, Jesus, says the same thing to us today in this land. Can we lead those around us to love one another as our Lord told us to do? Do we hear the Word of the Lord today? 

Listen! The Word comes to us soon! 

Bucky

Of One Mind

All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king.  1 Chronicles 12:38

God had already sent Samuel to anoint David as king of Israel, so what is all this gathering of fighting men about? Well, it took a bit to get the nation of Israel behind their one king, anointed by God. So you might imagine how difficult it is to get a nation of independent-minded voters to gather behind the one president. As you well know, we haven't seen it since...uh, how far back can you remember? At least the great presidents in our history had the people behind them like Abraham Lincoln did? No, Abe presided over our one civil war, and a rough one it was too! All of his presidency and before was marked by harsh criticism and name calling the likes of which would remind us pretty much of right now. President Washington of course, the father of our nation had all the people behind him, surely? Right? The Tories of the War of Independence likely did not change their marching tunes right away after jolly old England loaded up their troops and went home. And a search among the national archives would likely show quite a few taking up their new freedoms to berate the first President of the United States in speech and in the press. Have we ever been the fully united United States? All of one mind? Probably not. 

One might even be forgiven for thinking that we maintain a strong military to give us the freedom to argue amongst ourselves. An election year brings this out into the open like no other year. For those of you who have served in our military, even to come home and find everyone arguing over election results, thank you for your service on this Veterans Day! 

Bucky
Cpl USMC 1983-1987

Highly Esteemed Abomination

And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."  Luke 16:15

The Pharisees saw themselves as the holiest among God's holy people. Jesus wasn't quite so impressed with themselves as the Pharisees were. Let us pray to the Lord that we do not find ourselves in the Pharisee's position in this age. Yes, we read the Word of God and we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but do we take that as a high position to look down upon our fellow humans? Do we come up with clever names that in another age would resemble the Pharisee's terms for the Gentile peoples? The contrite of heart position is of course the better one to take in our relationship with our Lord. 

It is interesting that I find the temptation to justify myself before men in my heart along with the knowledge that I cannot justify myself before God. And so I get to fail at the one and be unable to do the other. Worse would be to succeed at the first through a pile of loot, accomplishments in the world, and fame, and then to present to God by way of justification my great steaming pile of highly esteemed abominations. Many a successful sinner by the measure of the world will try just that in the final judgment. We know in Christ that only through His justification can we be made righteous in the sight of God. No reason to look down on my fellow humans, no matter their state of belief, when I too was as Paul said, "and such were some of you." (1 Corinthians 6:11)

Praise the Lord God for His grace and mercy on us all! 

Bucky

A Week of Trials

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

The testing of our patience this week has produced must at times remind us to store up our treasure in Heaven and to give all that we have to gain the Lord Jesus. Now that is a big statement. Would not this week's trials by news media rather bring us to despair and despondency over the current state of our nation? Yes, it certainly could if you love the nation and earnestly hope for its salvation. However, without giving up hope for our nation through a revival of the Lord Jesus, we might turn to see the hope we have in Christ for the redemption of His people. And His people may include a great number from those who disagree with us on a great many issues this week. Those people may of course be in deep cover right now, and quite difficult to tell apart from the lovers of darkness and the world. As our Lord Jesus has already found and uncovered a part of His treasure in us, perhaps we can continue to pray for those who are not yet uncovered and remain hidden in that field of the world. Though Jesus has already paid on the cross for every field of the world, not all of the landlords have given up their keys just yet. Let us not give up hope for those hidden treasures our Lord must soon uncover to His glory. 

To you, a Friday full of God's love in Christ,

Bucky

A Troublesome Pile of Fallen Weakness

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 12:9

Since we enjoy being critical of Brother Paul, I have one critique that occurs right now: when did Paul get to boasting about his infirmities? Where is that list of infirmities in his writings? I want to know how much I am like Paul the great apostle in my infirmities. That might give me a little comfort on a dark day when the pains of age and injury fly home to roost. I have an entire barrelful of fallen weakness to bring to the Lord as He makes perfect His strength. If Paul's list is sufficient, we might have enough together to present to the Lord! Paul may have forgotten to list his infirmities in his eagerness to tell the good news of Jesus Christ. 

We don't have to list our infirmities one to another, God knows our every weakness already. He runs into them daily, and a rather troublesome pile of fallen weakness it is too! When Paul promised to boast of his infirmities, he was telling of his testimony. This is how I was before Christ came into my heart and saved me, and Paul does that in his letters to the churches. We do the same thing in this age by way of bearing witness to the perfect strength of Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh, and that troublesome pile of weakness? Jesus addressed that when He told us to bring the lot of them to Him, for His yoke is easy and His burden light. 

Take a few moments today and bring your weakness to the Lord, and rejoice as His strength rests on us, His saved ones. 

Bucky 

Before I Took My Post

Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians.  Exodus 14:24

Each morning we arise to take up the post for which the Lord has prepared us and brought us to this place. This morning, we all await news of a particular event that took place yesterday, though in this instance that news may be delayed. Before I take up my post on this day, I decided to write to you without looking at the news. For on this day I feel a renewed call to watchfulness in Christ. Whichever way our election goes, we are on the brink of that great thing we eagerly await in the salvation Christ gave to us. Could today be that day in which the twinkling of an eye takes place? Of course it could! 

Remaining watchful is difficult and the days that brought us so much burdensome news leading up to the election did not help. Today, the news may be even worse. I haven't looked yet because the call to write to you came first. However, the verse for today is of great comfort to us as we see the Lord watching over the camp of the enemy army, and then He acts! Certainly the camp of the enemy is troubled today and the symptoms show across our nation and out into the world. Even as we must sleep at night, our Lord remains on watch. 

Confident in the Lord's guard, I'll go to take up my post now,

Bucky

Paul Voted

Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.  Acts 26:9-10

They may have done so already, with so many early voting opportunities, but today someone may vote against everything you believe in. Paul admitted to once voting against Jesus of Nazareth. This was not for a political office of course, but Paul voted to put to death those who believed in Jesus. Yes, Paul voted against Jesus. Paul?!! So today, as some among us may vote contrary to your or my beliefs and opinions, let us take a breath and know that God can work miracles in the heart of even a 1st century Jewish Pharisee who voted against His Son. That man who wrote those wonderful letters in the New Testament of the Bible, was once firmly and zealously on the other side of the ballot. He voted that our Lord's saved ones be put to death for, of all things, blasphemy. How could Paul be so in the wrong? And yet, he had a vote. Others we consider to be in the wrong have a vote today as well. Will it cost lives? It may. Certainly it has cost many lives since 1973. May all of those who today vote to condemn innocent ones to death be one day converted fully toward the life of Christ as Paul was in his day. 

May the world have a calm day as the Spirit of God works in the hearts of many,

Bucky

Abounding Lawlessness

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:12

How will love grow cold for so many? At this time of the four-year cycle it is easy to find an example for you. Should I show an ad from the red political party to you this morning or the blue? Right, you don't want to see another political ad for as long as you may live or for at least a couple of years, whichever comes later. Weariness is the reason that love grows cold in a time of abounding lawlessness. We can only take so much of a thing that grates on our sense of wrongness before we begin to bend before the prevailing wind. The prophecy of our Lord speaks of a time when doors will be closed to the homeless and hungry, not because of a lack of love but because that loving one has been scammed, hacked, cracked, stolen from, and betrayed so often that they grow weary and love cools down to cold. This world weariness is why we need our Lord Jesus first, and each other in Him. 

For any of us to try to endure the abounding lawlessness of this world alone is like that soldier in hostile territory who tried to get some sleep with no one to guard his back. Watching it in a movie, we would say of that character, "He's doomed." 

May the Lord Jesus warm our love this day,

Bucky

Missing One?

Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.  Isaiah 40:26

As a part of my continuing mental challenges, of which there are many, I was trying to reconcile a list memorized years ago with what I thought was its number, and I kept coming up one short. As it turns out, I am not missing a member of the group. I just cannot count and recite the list at the same time. I'm not entirely sure that is a comfort. 

In Isaiah the Lord offers to one and all a comfort - not one of us is missing or forgotten by the Lord! "Lift up your eyes on high," the Lord says through the prophet, "and see..." See what? See whom? And the invitation is to see the Creator, the Holy One of Israel, God our Lord. And the comfort, if any were needed beyond looking to our Lord, is to know in faith that not one of His created things is missing. Unlike His little sheep down here, the Lord can name and count His created things at the same time, for He calls them all by name. And when I see the Lord using names in the Word these days, I no longer think of the Lord God calling out things like horse, cat, or dog, or even man or woman, but names; names like you and I use to call and respect one another. 

And all God's people said, "Great is the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!" 

Bucky

How Old Is This Thing?

With the best things of the ancient mountains,
With the precious things of the everlasting hills,  Deuteronomy 33:15

If the word in Deuteronomy speaks of ancient things, just how ancient must this Earth be? With the exact number of years denoted by the word ancient being a bit vague, I'll have to go with a hearty, "I don't know!" All I know is that sometime way back when, in the days of yore maybe, God took six days and created a lot of good things. I know because the Lord saw that they were good in His word. And on the seventh day the Lord God rested. After that the span of time gets a little tough for me to understand with one name in a genealogy representing one generation or many; and who knows how many except God? I will hazard a guess that the time between Eden and Noah, and Noah and Abraham is either a whole lot shorter or else a whole lot longer than I might think on any given day. How's that for noncommittal? Speaking of which, when it comes to the span of time between the Alpha and the Omega, I am at once content and not content to know it. The curiosity of when will this next thing will happen is intense, and yet the desire to let it rest in the Lord's almighty hands is quite strong too. 

The Rapture? What a beautiful surprise that will be in that twinkling of an eye when the Lord says, "Now!" Have a great day in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

Steady Effort In The Race

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

We have a new Supreme Court justice, and like most everyone in America you can rattle off the names of all nine of them, right? To set your mind at ease, I tried and got 8 of them. However, at infrequent times for the past couple of years, I have tried to memorize the names and so maybe that isn't so good after all. Perhaps a daily effort might produce a better result? Paul in his second letter to Timothy gives us a method to be approved by God. And it does not involve some Herculean effort for one day but a steady effort, day by day, like the workman of Paul's time. Daily Bible study, not a problem we think from the comfort of a day in the chair. And yet, Paul reminded Timothy, and the apostle reminded the disciple, and Christian mentor has reminded Christian novice, since Paul's time to study the Word daily. That daily steady effort in this race has not been so easy for us. And still, the answer to that difficulty is just a prayer away in our Lord Jesus. He loves to have us read His story and will certainly be our good help in the race.

Have a powerful day in our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Beginning Again

 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.  2 Peter 2:20

Welcome to the cold of October! And we had snow too. Some Christmas piano music seemed appropriate to the conditions outside this morning, and so I tried to play along but my ups and downs no longer seem to go in the right direction! Piano lessons as a child were provided to us but having stopped practicing and learning some decades ago, my skill at the piano is long gone. In the modern age we like to think of beginning again in areas of our life that have fallen into disuse and so I searched that phrase in the Bible and came up empty. The Word of the Lord does not seem to go there. In faith, looking at the story of Israel and the people's desire to go back to Egypt way back in time of Moses, it seems that the Lord is rather against any beginning again on this journey.

What about being born again as Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3? Is that not beginning again in this life? No, I would say not, for to begin again in this life would be to start over in a life of sin and picking up those natural skills of lying, stealing, coveting, and so on would be our lot for a second time around. And one must assume we would only get better at those things with further practice. No, being born again means to us starting on something entirely new, a new life in Christ which is in opposition to the old life of fallen sin. It is in our new faith quite frustrating to us that the old life tags along constantly trying to get us to begin that again! 

In Christ our Lord we begin anew, like a child. Amen.

Bucky

Looking To The Lord Jesus

Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.  Isaiah 59:9

It's Friday, is this the most cheerful verse I could find for today? Darkness and gloom? There are those times on the Earth when we have but one direction to look: to our Lord Jesus. For those who believe in the Lord Jesus it is easy to know which times those are. We call them 'all the', as in all the time we look to our Lord Jesus. However, for those who do not yet believe, they may need a time of darkness and gloom to remind them of the hope of the world, our Lord Jesus. It was in  darkness that the lands of Galilee of the Gentiles saw a great light. (see Isaiah 9:1-2). The dark of night as the shepherds watched their sheep was broken by the light of Heaven streaming down to the Earth. And in a time of census and taxation, confusion and travel, a couple could not find a place to stay at the inn in Bethlehem. A time of great change perhaps not unlike our time right now, and from this time came the hope of the world, our Lord Jesus. 

We  hope for light, and the Light of the world has come! Quit beholding the darkness and look to our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

My Thoughts And Prayers

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.  1 Peter 4:7

The phrase comes up a lot in our daily life as we hear of deaths and tragedies too far away for the speaker to be there immediately. Did  you ever use this in vain? Did you say it and not mean it? That is the contention of a group of scoffers I watched last night, and this morning I have to speak up in defense of the Lord's chosen ones. One called it something like the most useless and throwaway phrase in use today. I will not quote due to the actual words used in that interview. 

What the man said may be true.

For that reason, we who believe in Jesus and pray seriously to Him for those far away must examine ourselves as Paul told us to do and make sure that when we tell someone our thoughts and prayers are with them, that we go into our prayer closet with that person in mind and make earnest prayer for them. And we shall endeavor to do this until the circumstance is resolved. Yes, our prayer list may get long. 

Do you get angry when you hear that someone considers your thoughts and prayers to be a wasted phrase? Mere words spoken to act like you are doing something and care for a person you will soon forget? Excellent! Get angry and be serious in prayer before the Lord for those who think such things as that. Like you, I had not considered that phrase to be indifferent or vain, and when I say my thoughts and prayers are with you, they are! We can be serious in our prayers in Christ, and great good will come for one another from those thoughts and prayers. For as we see in the Revelation, God considers our prayers a serious thing.  

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand.  Revelation 8:4

Oh yes! Our thoughts and prayers have great value to our Savior! 

Bucky

In Good Fallen Company

So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Numbers 11:11

Yesterday we studied a bit of Habakkuk and his complaints to the Lord. It seems from our verse for today that Moses had a gripe or two also. If you have griped to the Lord, then you and I are in good fallen company. This does not mean that we should be doing such a thing, but it is a common activity among the fallen in this world. Are we not born again? Why do you call us fallen? Paul examined this at length in his letter to the Romans and the apostle also found that he had this passenger from his old life: that old man of the flesh that plagued him with fallen lusts. It was the grace of God we gained by faith in Christ Jesus that saved us, and not the sudden and abrupt removal of our former fallen flesh. 

Well, darn! I was hoping today to write to you in perfect righteousness, but I'll just have to write in Christ the Lord instead. Of course you will see that is how we are to be presented one day before the throne of God. It is not my righteousness or yours that we need, but the righteousness of Jesus our Lord. Today we walk in good fallen company, then we will be in good risen company before the goodness of God Himself. We will also gain a better grasp on what it is to be good when we see Jesus. 

Why have You afflicted Your servant? Perhaps to remind us of the Good Servant, Jesus our Lord. Praise and glory to our Lord Jesus on this day!

Bucky

Election Relief

These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14

Paul wrote again to the Thessalonian church to tell them that the man of lawlessness or man of sin must first be revealed before the day of our Lord would come. Reading a little social media would lead anyone to believe that the man of lawlessness is pretty much any and all of our current politicians and office holders. And we know that sort of talk will likely ramp up in the next couple of weeks. So, by way of some election relief, let's talk about the true power coming to take the throne. 

We usually go with the title written on Him in Revelation 19, but here in chapter 17 He is known as the Lord of lords and King of kings. He is also the Lamb. We know that anyone who makes war on a lamb, the regular sheep kind that is, cannot be much of a warrior. However, the Lamb was the one pointed out by John the Baptist as the One who would take away the sin of the world. This Lamb was also the only one in all of Heaven found worthy to open the 7-sealed scroll that is the Revelation of what must shortly take place. And this Lamb is who the haters army of the world will attack in the end. He wins. This is evidently not the regular sheep sort of lamb, but the Lord of lords and King of kings. Which does not go without saying, for it is written in the word and bears repeating. 

Be with Him; be called, chosen, and faithful!

Bucky

And Sleepy Deserves...

Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.  Luke 9:32

We fear awakening to a ghostly presence in the room. I suppose this comes from the flesh preferring to have ghosts walk in the door from the street, perhaps even stopping to knock first. We fear awakening to the risen dead standing in our room. The flesh prefers, I'm guessing, that only living persons should surprise us with a sudden awakening in our private rooms. We fear a bright light suddenly shining in the dark of our sleep. I guess the flesh just doesn't wake up like it used to. Peter and his companions awakened to the full deal in Luke chapter 9, the glorious light of our Lord Jesus, two long dead men from their scriptures, and then a voice in a cloud spoke to them. Yes, sleepy in the wrong place deserves a rude awakening but, whoa!, this was one for the record books! Good thing Luke recorded it in his book for us to read. The miraculous went with Jesus wherever He traveled, and maybe Peter and the boys should have been ready for something like this. Would you? Would I? As our Lord comes to us once more, be ready for the miraculous. It seems He never leaves home without it! 

Praise the Lord our God for this new day in Christ!

Bucky 

No Frigid Love

And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:12 ESV

There is a concern in our land for having too large a prison population. That is of course a concern that will give birth to an impassioned debate about the why of the thing. While I am not a fan of locking people up, I also do not have a workable alternative in mind. Most places do not want to host the former way of penal colonies, and few would want to house convicted murderers, rapists, and other criminals in their homes. Another question does arise though. Are we a sort of ground zero for the increase in lawlessness? Is it prideful to think that we might be such a thing?

When we run up against such large issues in our nation, it is obvious to those who believe that God is our best and only answer. However, we run into another concern there. Do we ask God to prevent that other person from making the wrong decision while hoping that He leaves us free to decide right and wrong? Seems a bit like that ancient tribe, the Hypockritees, known far and wide for their policy of doing the opposite of what they demanded of everyone else. It may be that God has already answered our prayers for easing prison overcrowding and less crime. God had His Son tell us that lawlessness will be increased. If that time has come, then our solution is to pray that we are not part of the many. 

Lord, please don't let my love grow frigid in this lawless age! 

Bucky

The Riches We Spend Daily

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?  Romans 2:4

Paul reminds us here of the riches we spend daily from God's goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering. Sounds good! Not all of it, and what isn't comes from our side of course. God's goodness is given to us in that He wants the best for us each day and has sent the best, His Son Jesus, to be a propitiation for our sin. God's longsuffering is because we often give back to Him the worst of us. Those who should know faith, love, and joy in our Lord often give back unbelief in a critical moment. We grow angry with the Lord when He doesn't do what we want. And many other sins we give back to the One who is nothing but good to us. And then there is that center one - forbearance.

Forbearance is the time we live in. That time between the fall from the goodness God created in Eden perpetrated by Adam and Eve, and that final redemption to heavenly joy for those who will believe in Jesus the Christ. In between those times is the forbearance of God in that those who will refuse to believe are not consumed by the wrath of our Lord in His judgment against sin. That same wrath was upon us until we came to believe in Jesus and receive His forgiveness and grace. You are reading this and the Rapture of the saints has not yet come? Be glad that all of us had and still have that time of forbearance to believe. It will be some tough sailing for those who come to believe just ten minutes after the Rapture bus has left the station, and far worse for those who refuse the Lord Jesus when the judgment comes. 

It is a good day to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

Facing The Day

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

(When your mind begins to wander, skip to the last paragraph.)

This morning you are facing the day, just as I am and many others too. We may not be facing quite so difficult a day as a certain nominee to the highest court in the nation, but we are facing the day. If you watch the confirmation hearing, you may notice some people who can run a great many words into a simple question. We can be glad that we are not the one having to respond to those questions today. But is thinking of someone who has it worse today the only way we have of encouraging ourselves? Does that even work when each of us still must face the day we have today? 

When facing the day we must have an encouragement that lasts. Comparing your situation to mine, which I could tell you about at length, will only last until your situation comes upon you and causes your mind to focus on what it must. If I go on at the same length some in our Congress will today, you might be more than glad to get on with your circumstance, however difficult it might be. All of my words up to this point will serve to give us all an idea of what will go on in the questioning of the nominee today. They will try to serve themselves while stunning the poor woman with a mass of words. While it may be a good test to see if a nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States can cut through a haystack full of words to get at the actual question, the look-at-me words inserted to confuse the issue and hold up the political flavor sign all the while obscuring the question to the point of almost gibberish would tend to wear out a person. Hopefully you wore out and moved to the next paragraph before getting to this point. 

What do you need to face the day? Paul was convinced that nothing could separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord. There we have it. Cut through the blather and know the love of God in Christ. Amen. Face the day in Him!

Bucky 

Neither False Nor Silly

These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”   John 11:11

"Wake him up? The dude's dead, man!"  The reaction from His disciples today would be only different in style than what our Lord received back in the day. We tend in the flesh to see the death of that flesh as final. Jesus taught us that we only go to sleep as we await the resurrection of our Lord. This stands in stark contrast to the hopeless face of the worldly one who would advise us to experience everything we can here before all is finished. 

I have even got into a bad habit in that respect, sometimes saying, "the condemned man ate a hearty"...pizza, burger, salad, dish of veggies-  whatever final meal the man might want. (A sarcastic "yeah right!" on those last two.) This is absurd on at least two fronts: One, if I am still condemned, then I have not been saved by the Lord Jesus and I should quickly shut up with these messages as my ministry would be false. Two: there are so many more experiences of far greater delight awaiting me in eternity with my Lord that to worry over storing up one more in this land of shadows is a priceless sort of silly. As I wish to be neither false nor silly in my ministry for the Lord, then it is time to cease with that little statement. 

Dear Lord, let me be neither false nor silly in this ministry, but loving and kind. Amen.

Bucky

Does That Remind Us

And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.  Ruth 4:11

O Bethlehem Ephrathah, does this remind us of someone? The people said, "We are witnesses." They may not have known in the moment how far their statement of faith would go, but God was listening to them as He does for us. Israel will be witnesses once more as the end approaches. And of course, the witness who stands out among all of Israel would indeed be born in Bethlehem. The story is about Ruth, Boaz, Naomi, and the elders, but it reminds those who are attuned to Jesus of Him, as does the Old Testament many times from Genesis to Malachi. Once we believe in the Lord Jesus, we cannot but help see Him in scripture. And why shouldn't we, since John pointed out to us that He is the very Word of God made flesh. 

Great is the name of our Lord Jesus in all of scripture!

Bucky

As With That Other Thing

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Matthew 24:38-39

Last week the frozen food delivery company from Minnesota let us know they were quitting in this area. As with that other thing, we can no longer see the yellow trucks delivering to our homes. No, not the Meadow Gold trucks, if you happen to be old enough to recall those yellow things, but the Schwan's trucks. In the rural areas we can see the signs of the times by what we can no longer have delivered to our homes. The milk man gave it up years ago, then newspaper carriers, and now frozen foods. I may have forgotten some others. Letter carriers may be next. When UPS calls it quits, I figure we should just step outside and await the coming of our Lord, because as the folks out in the sticks will say, "No more Amazon packages? We're done here!"

Strangely to us perhaps, none of those things are in the Revelation, the Olivet Discourse, or any of the other prophecies of the end times. Quite the opposite actually, as our Lord states that things will be pretty normal just before He returns. We like to scan the scriptures and listen to the sermons for an announcement: next Tuesday at 4:30, be ready to go - but, we can either be ready all the time through our salvation in Christ, or not be ready at all. For in either case, the surprise will be complete, else Paul would not have used the image of a snatching away. 

Oh to be snatched away by the Lord today! 

Bucky 

Faith In The Only Way

The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”  John 3:35-36

The Gospel of John has some stunning statements in its verses, and this one today certainly, uh, one? Loving relationship from Father to Son, a gift so big that it encompasses all things, everlasting life through faith, the choice to refuse to believe and not see life, and then that wrath, there are indeed some big statements here today in two verses of John's gospel. I've done it now; the statements are so big that I'm at a loss for words. Fortunately for us, the Lord Jesus was not lost for words when He spoke these and many others telling us of eternal life. And He simplified for us in John 14 to one and only way, Jesus himself! 

So, how does someone read that the wrath of God abides on those who do not believe, and not believe? Easy, they don't believe. To choose to not believe is to refuse to take the Lord at His word and His word is the Bible. To not believe, they believe, is to opt out and, they hope, walk away to something else. The problem we see as believers is that there is no opt out - only life or no life, the love of Jesus or the wrath of God. For those who choose to believe, faith in the only Way is the only  way! 

Have a gracious day in the Lord Jesus!

Bucky

The People Love Begot

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." John 15:13

Do you trace your family back to Shem, Ham, or Japheth? Can't go quite that far back on the ol' family tree? Maybe Abraham, David, or Solomon? No king or prince graces your family planting for as far back as anyone can trace it? Bubba the farmhand and Clem the factory worker seem to repeat for centuries in many family histories. The genealogy of kings is commonly known among those families that can claim a royal ancestry, but the family tree for most of us is a bit more common in its members. It's a good thing too! We would hate to be chained to some famous family tree when the King of kings comes to take His family home. 

Even before He had gone to the cross our Lord Jesus spoke of His new family. A new nation He would raise up from a people far away. In the Revelation they come from every nation, people, tribe, and tongue. They are the people that love begot on the cross at Golgotha when Jesus died to save them from their sin. The family of Christ is those who will believe in Him (Mark 3:34-35), and we are a family that only the greatest love could raise up from the sin of the world. 

Rejoice in the Lord Jesus, my brothers and sisters!

Bucky

And The Lord God Said

And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  Genesis 2:18

Thank You, Lord! The man said. Unfortunately, the next time our title phrase comes up is in 3:13 and it is a part of that questioning the Lord endures as the man points to the woman who points to the serpent. And the story repeats to this day as each time we think things are going so well, then the next usage, chapter, or day seems to be the opposite and we are in trouble once again. The first fall seems to have cast us off a ledge and down, down the mountainside we go, tumbling and falling throughout our days. Won't someone send a savior to stop this horrible falling? 

Oh disingenuous question! We know now that our Lord did come as Savior to halt the fall of man and save him for all time. We look up and hope that our Lord will immediately transport us back up to the mountaintop free of pain, sorrow, and toil. And the Lord Jesus begins to climb the mountain beckoning us to follow Him. 

If the quickest way were the best way for all of us, then I'm sure that our Lord would transport us right away to paradise. As it seems that the lifetime journey is what is best, then we can rejoice in much time to pray and sing and minister in our Lord Jesus as we make that climb with Him. 

Great and beautiful is the Lord our God!

Bucky

Who Do You Believe?

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  1 Corinthians 5:8

This morning with the smell of battle still hanging over the land, it does not take a genius to ask, "Who are you going to believe?"  Both sides of the presidential debate last night will have used words such as, integrity, truth, and honesty. Either side will want us to believe that their candidate has these qualities and the other does not. This morning, both sides will claim victory for their debater. And we are one step closer to yet another closely divided election. As a non-affiliated voter, I see that I have not prayed enough yet for our nation. With around 330 million persons to choose from we should be able produce someone of honesty and integrity, who is also the truth. Oh, wait, I just described someone I know! 

No, sorry, it isn't Bubba from across the street, or even Milt from over yonder. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Why can't we get that guy for our president? For one thing, our Lord is already seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, not sure He would accept a mere presidency of one nation as an enticement to come down here again. For a second thing, our Lord is going to reign over the Earth for a thousand years toward the end of the Revelation. Again, our presidency which, great as that position is among us, seems to be a bit of a let down from the King of kings and Lord of lords. I guess we will just have to wait on the Lord's timing for His government. In the meantime, use your vote wisely with much prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in your request for wisdom to God. 

Who do I believe? Jesus, of course. 

Bucky

Good Sleepy Morning

Now Peter and those with him were quite sleepy, but as they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.  Luke 9:32

If you have ever gone sleepy during a pastoral prayer, or perhaps even one of your own, you have something in common with three favored disciples. As you nod off and perhaps snore a little, awakening yourself, you may awaken to wonderful things and great signs! Peter, James, and John did. This morning I am a candidate to see great and wonderful things as I have the sleepy part going on already. Those great and wonderful things must have something more than a bit of the sleepy though. Jesus is central to the miraculous as His Father our God shines in Him. 

Perhaps it was cool on the mountain as the three disciples awaited the prayer time of their Lord and Teacher. When my house is cool, as it is this morning, I notice that sleepiness is easy to come by. Does that force a great sign or a wonder from our Lord? Of course not. Most times it is not for a great sign that sleepiness comes but a more mundane reason: it is time to wake up and rejoice in the Lord! And maybe that is not so mundane after all. 

Thank You, dear Lord, for the new day to rejoice in You!

Bucky

Are They Crazy?

And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.  Revelation 19:19

We read the story and we wonder what sort of deception has caused these armies to gather against the Lord and... well, are they crazy to come against the Lord? The armies of the earth against the armies of heaven might seem a terrible mismatch already, but the Lord? And we are asking again, "Are they crazy?" Perhaps it is so, but somehow they gather because they think they can win, or their pride is so great that they must follow it down to the bitter end. And with a quick summation John sees the enemy defeated from the greatest to the least, and with that the war is ended by our Lord as His cleanup crew descends to feast. 

World War II was a sprawling war of much suffering and combat. A person could fill a library with books and references about the causes, the actions, and the personalities that populated the largest war the earth has seen to this date. The story of the World War against the Christ lasts three little verses in Revelation 19:19-21. No lengthy campaigns, no marches of suffering, just a quick victory by our Lord that is so overwhelming that all the casualties and captures are on one side. In less space of time than it takes to write about it, the war is finished by our Lord. Amazing. 

May our light shine among the lost ones lest they fall for this craziness and come against our Lord! 

Bucky

An Understanding Heart

“Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 1 Kings 3:9

A person comes to me with a problem and I want to be the hero of the circumstance, and so I immediately begin designing a solution for them. How can I hope to do this without first having an understanding heart? Solomon answered the Lord in wisdom, and the king is famous for his response in the Bible. The Spirit of the Lord had to be at work in Solomon already for him to have this sort of answer in his heart. For everyone from the moment Adam and Eve took the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil has thought in his or her heart that we know good from evil. And yet, wisdom is shown in Solomon in that he asks of the Lord to make him able to discern between good and evil. There is wisdom, a request for an understanding heart and humility before the Lord. 

Great was the Spirit of the Lord in Solomon! 

Bucky

Will He?

He will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives,
houses crumbling to rubble. Job 15:28

From one of Job's friends, Eliphaz, comes this prediction of what will happen to the wicked man. However, along with King David and others in the Bible, we might dispute that as we have seen wicked men prosper in our times. Not that a billionaire is necessarily wicked because he or she is rich, but we have seen many a person find quick riches through wicked living. We have also seen followers of Christ fall beside us in sickness and poverty. So, Mr. Eliphaz, what's up with that? Will he really fall down to the ruined town and live where no one lives? It seems more like the wicked man gets to ruin the town by selling out to the foreign investors and then lives alone because he used the proceeds to buy the 50,000 acre ranch in the mountains. 

Of course we kn0w from the rest of the story in Job that his friends began wrong in their assumption that Job was being punished for his sins - and heinous they must have been for all that Job was suffering! As we have seen, the wicked often prosper in this world and the righteous may meet with misfortune and tribulation like Job did. However, this life is so temporary, and what comes after does not start with any pile of loot built up in this little life. Will he inhabit a lonely place? He may in the time to come if he will not listen to the warnings of the judgment about to fall on the wicked ones. We have yet a little time before the reaping of this world, warn the wicked ones! 

In Christ we live,

Bucky

When I Pray

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12

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. Romans 8:26

So, Paul says that I do not know how to pray as I ought to be praying, and God speaks through Jeremiah that He will listen to me when I call upon Him. So, does that mean that God listens to me babble along in prayer not doing very well at it? Well, yes, and praise God for His patience with this oft times babbling little praying one. With the kind permission of the Lord God Almighty, I would like to continue to practice praying to Him while He guides me in His dear Spirit to better prayers. Until the time when we can get my prayers to a higher state, I have the assurance of the Spirit's intercession for me before the Father. Therefore, when I pray I'm going for it and making my requests known to God, rejoicing in the Spirit as editor and presenter of my prayers to the Father our God. 

'nuff said about that! 

Bucky

It's Been Here

For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."  Romans 9:17 from Exodus 9:16

By now we may be just a bit weary of the smoke over us. We dare not complain though for we have heard of the suffering of those much closer to the flames. We may be just a bit tired of the drought conditions this summer. We dare not complain though because another area of the gulf coast is being inundated with too much water even now. My ancestors had a bit of a tough go... oh boy, don't go there in this offended age! For some we can never suffer enough to merit the hearing of any complaint from us. I'm okay with that, for the word of the Lord is my comfort and joy as the darkness of the world and the lawlessness of man increases upon the Earth. 

As Paul uses a statement from the Exodus in his letter to the Romans, we are pleased to see that God raises up both evil rulers and suffering saints for the same purpose - to declare His name in all the earth and to show His power in us. Let us not confuse the two though: for the pharaoh it was a hardened heart and harder lessons, but for us it is a renewed heart and a loving God. The name of the Lord our God has been here, and we live in the grace of our Savior, Jesus. 

May God's saving power shine through us today!

Bucky

Joy In Speaking?

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth,
And a word spoken in due season, how good it is! Proverbs 15:23

Now there is what I strive for! A work spoken through my typing fingers in due season is a delight and reward for my efforts. Monday morning devotional messages on the other hand seem to be among the more lifeless of my writings. As for the answer of my mouth, what person doesn't like a good snappy comeback at just the right time? Um, no, probably not what Solomon collected that proverb for. The wise king of Israel likely saw in it the perfectly timed word of the Lord that heals and encourages. The sort of word that compares to our usual words as a cool drink of water to a thirsty worker compares to the sudden deluge of ice water that causes a person to gasp in pain. Our words in our human strength and understanding often come out joyless and ill-timed. It is so bad with us that most of us fear public speaking above all other fears. 

So, how is it that God's prophets and preachers had and have such great words at just the right time? Yeah, that one is not such a tough one for us: they are God's prophets and preachers of course! It is the word of the Lord spoken or written through us that is well-timed and full of joy. Those other writings, well, those are my fault, probably the days I think that I know something. The days when the joy of the Lord shines through my writing, are of course the days when the joy of the Lord shines through! My, my, I'm really Capt. Obvious today. 

The mangy mutt next door is shouting out his 'Hallelujah' too. Rejoice in the Lord always!

Bucky

An Inheritance of Original Sin

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.  Romans 5:12

Original sin - that's totally unfair, you say, we didn't even get to commit those sins! Do you want to? Sin fulfills its payroll with a morbid coin. Why should we have to inherit what Adam did? It is like a man walking into his home when a process server approaches him. Are you John Smith owner of this house? Yes, the man replies. You are served. But, it turns out the suit is not even against Mr. Smith himself, but against his father, who had passed away some years before. The amount the plaintiffs demand from the late Mr. Smith is 40 million dollars in hard, cold cash. The son of Mr. Smith hollers out to the Lord that he should not have to pay this sort of inheritance because he did not commit the thing that the plaintiffs allege in the suit. 

There is that other inheritance again, Adam's sin. Why, we holler with indignant unfairness in our voices, we didn't earn that punishment, Adam did! 

Another little fellow with the papers shows up. This fellow finds the nephew of Uncle Mortimer Smith filled with righteous indignation, but quietly contemplating the unfairness of inheritance of original sin. The fellow was nearby and heard that shout from the younger Mr. Smith, but this time he has a court order for the paying out of a large estate. Sure, I'm that Mr. Smith, any of us might say. The little man looks up, "I'll just tear up this check for 50 million dollars then, for you don't believe in inheritance. I'm sure I just heard you tell God how unfair that sort of thing was." Oops.

We rejoice in one form of inheritance, the lots of loot kind, but are generally against the one where we inherit the sins of our fathers all the way back to Adam. Original sin is like our DNA though, we got it whether we like it or not. Like the two stories though, Jesus our Lord has obtained an inheritance that is much better and is glad to share it with the members of His family. All we have to do is what it says in John 3:16 - believe in the Son of God! 

Have a great Friday!

Bucky

No Criminal Record

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17

Yesterday, a man came into the office and led me through a search for my state criminal records, and we found the result: no criminal record. He is a bit of a gambler, so I'm wondering that he wasn't perhaps gambling on me, like hoping maybe there was a reward for my arrest? No, in the eyes of the law, I am a law-abiding clerk in a one-horse real estate office in a small town. I expect that most of the citizens of our nation would have a similar record as only a small portion of our population ever get arrested. However, imagine that as we watched the computer screen a record was returned. And what a record it was! All of the worst offenses against the law were listed, and the arrest date was something really odd, such as 10,054 BC (wild guess). Stunned, we might look at one another and ask, "How can this be?" 

As you know from our Bible studies and sermons, we all have that same record. Born: sinner; the record says, and the sentence is death. Now lots of folks want to look at the record from their personal point of view and read something like: basically a decent sort, deserving of a pass into Heaven. Paul tells us straight though. Death rules over us unless something greater should save us from this dreaded thing. The greater thing is God's grace, and it comes to us through the one man: Jesus Christ. 

Whew! The record was calling for my execution there. Thanks and glory to God and His wonderful Son, Jesus! 

Bucky

If Only

For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”  Mark 5:28

We got smoked again yesterday as the distant and not-so-distant fires combined to cover us in a gray haze. Of course, here is us in the middle looking at Sally making landfall with too much rain there, and over yonder there is too much fire, and hmm, if only we could... 

On the one hand that is just another example of fallen humanity living on a cursed Earth. On the other hand, like the woman in our verse for today, we have this great opportunity for prayer in faith to our Lord Jesus. If only, God's people would pray in the faith that gave this woman relief from the illness she had endured for years, we might see the same relief given to those facing too much flame or rain. If only we prayed in faith to the Lord, we might know the bounty of His blessing in a land where we did not get enough rain this year. If only...but God's will might be for me to endure this tribulation for another 20 years. How do you or I know that God's will is such suffering? Let us pray in faith that like the woman in our verse God's will is to heal and restore in His goodness and love!

Praise the Lord for this opportunity,

Bucky

A Consequence Between The Rows

They have spoken words,
Swearing falsely in making a covenant.
Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field. Hosea 10:4

Count on works to save yourself, and in between the rows of crops you see ready to harvest is another crop: judgment. If we try to obtain salvation through good works, we make a false covenant by bringing to the table a rotten carcass filled with the putrefaction of sin. Now this goes against the basically decent human being the world has told us we are by way of its laws. Sure there might be a parking ticket here, an expired registration there, a bit of a mistake in my favor in the tax worksheet back then, but you and me are not like that fellow on death row in the supermax prison, are we? Nah, God's word assures us that we are much worse if it is by our works that we claim to be saved. 

It was on a smoky day in September that fallen imperfection looked toward perfection, failed to see it in the haze of the distant fires of judgment, and declared by lack of evidence that it was good enough for salvation. What? How could anyone be so blind? And yet, refuse to believe in the saving grace of our Lord Jesus, we will fail to see the sin in the race of Adam, and we too risk being good enough in our own blinded sight. Only in the light of Jesus are we saved, and praise unto the Lord that in the smoky haze we live under now many are coming to the light of Jesus. 

Great is the name of our Lord!

Bucky