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