Sometimes The Story Is Essential

Her noise shall go like a serpent,
For they shall march with an army
And come against her with axes,
Like those who chop wood.  Jeremiah 46:22

In our verse selected for this morning, you have...a need for the story behind it because the verse alone raises far more questions than it answers. John 3:16 is a story in itself, but for many Bible verses the story is essential. Who is this 'her' for example, and is that one of those 'they's' that crop up in conversation with the conspiracy theorists? Axes? Does that mean this army is assaulting a forest for firewood? If we read further into the prophecy in Jeremiah, we learn that this foretelling is against a specified pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. No worries over looking for signs of the end time then, this took place more than two thousand years ago. It is one of those interesting prophecies the Lord sent though. One in which it would appear to be a potential advantage to that pharaoh if he were paying attention through his intelligence network to Jeremiah's words. The pharaoh could tell his army quartermaster to take steps to blunt those axes by a type of shield or armor and gain an advantage in combat. However, we who read the prophecies in the Word also know that the word of God is sure. And if one should like to blunt the axes foretold of the Lord, then repentance and prayer are the ways to go. Pretty well sums up the methods any should use to blunt the fear of the apocalypse as seen in the Revelation. 

Turn to the Christ!

Bucky

Not A Prince Yet

It is better to trust in the LORD
​​Than to put confidence in man.
It is better to trust in the LORD
​​Than to put confidence in princes. 
  --Psalm 118:8-9

To place one's confidence in man is to place a heavy burden on a poor creature who is born in weakness and sin. It isn't that most of mankind intends to be untrustworthy, but often we answer to more than one boss in the earthly matters. And even without a boss involved, we have those physical and mental needs that might get in the way. We might also run into that weakness we are to boast of and fail for that reason. And there might be that streak of unwillingness that rises up from time to time. It relates to the message from yesterday: Save myself in my weakness? Ha, it is to laugh! And now you want me to save you as well? It does seem that we need a powerful savior. I think God's Son will do just fine; trust in Him!

Princes will have to answer for themselves. I haven't been a prince yet.

Have a happy Friday as we rejoice in Jesus!

Bucky

Save Myself?

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16

On Tuesday evening I opened several boxes and managed to slice open my finger on the last one. It had not happened for quite some time, but there was the reminder in that moment of bleeding. Yes, I am often amused that the temptation to save myself comes at times, and I cannot even save my finger from a knife that I am wielding with my other hand. Letting my right hand cut my left hand did not occur to me when Jesus told us to give without letting one hand know what the other is doing. Then Paul wrote our verse for today.

At first glance it seems that Paul wrote to Timothy of a way to save both himself and others who hear him. Whoa! Major doctrine difficulty it would seem. Wait, it is with the instruction to continue in 'them'. What is this 'them'? Reading further in the story both before and after the verse, we find that the self Paul wrote of had a particular gift given to him. Though not specifically named, we can gather from the story that this gift was none other than the Spirit of God who comes to us at salvation. In bearing witness with the Spirit in him, Timothy could save both himself and those who heard him. There is no major doctrine shift to worry over, in fact the doctrine we use is mentioned just after Timothy's self where the gift of the Spirit resided.

Let us continue in the Spirit in us and the doctrine we have been given!

Bucky

Friend To Friend

So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Exodus 33:11

To be a servant of the Lord is indeed a high calling and worthy to pursue, but here in this verse today we see a higher calling that Jesus gave to His disciples in John 15:15. Joshua, the servant, did not depart the tabernacle. Moses got to meet the Lord face to face. It may be that at that time in his journey with the Lord, Joshua was not capable of a face to face meeting or of being a friend to the Lord. We may go through a time or season of life with Jesus where servant is the more appropriate calling and job title for us. However, I think our Lord Jesus longs for each of us to become friends with Him as soon as possible for each of us. He will not, in any case, force anyone to walk with Him as friend before we are ready. Fear not! The Lord will make your growth in Him match exactly the pace and timing you need to meet His perfect standard.

Praise to God for that day when all who believe shall meet the Son as friends in the clouds of His glory!

Bucky

We Need That Advocate

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:2

We're set, the whole world is saved! Out of context, many think that this statement covers everyone for all time, and from that no one needs to do any of that repentance stuff or ask after salvation. In the verse preceding this one, John speaks of our advocate. If we need an advocate, it is likely that someone wants to bring us to trial. If anyone should refuse the advocate, how will he or she stand at trial before the Holy One? On his or her record of right and wrong? Better have the satisfaction of the Law ready before it rolls over that record. And that is of course what a propitiation is, an appeasement of what God's justice demands of our sin; a satisfaction of the penalty the Law demands. Both are embodied in the Advocate, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him, it is like that game where the avatar cannot go through the door without the key in hand.

Don't wait, have the Advocate on your case before the trial begins!

Bucky

Free To Be Free

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36

Jesus pointed out to the sons of Abraham before our verse for today that they were enslaved to sin. However, by way of solution, Jesus did not say that when they quit sinning they would be free. In reading the scripture story, one would think the obvious solution to sin would be to not sin. Yet the setting free of the enslaved ones was given to the Son instead. And the Son takes such authority upon Himself in making us free that we who recognize authority, as the centurion did when he caused the Son to marvel, almost gasp with the audaciousness of it. However, to the One who has been given all authority this is not audacious at all but part of His place and person. Do we begin to see a difference between us and the Son? And yet, the Son comes to us not as conqueror to enslave us to a different master but as Savior to set us free to be free. By the Son, we are now free to look at sin and say to it, "I don't need you!"

Great is the Son of our Lord God!

Bucky

Why So Sad Today?

So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?” Genesis 40:7

If it were the first day of their imprisonment, Joseph would have no reason to ask after their sadness. However, verse 4 tells us that they had been in jail for a while. And therefore Joseph in looking after the butler and baker wonders why today they are so downcast in spirit. It would seem that mere incarceration under Joseph's care was not enough reason to be sad all the time. We know this story from our youth in many cases as it is a popular one for Sunday School. The two officers of the ruler had some rough dreams in the night and they were troubled by them in the morning. As it turns out, one would have good reason to be sad.

Today, this verse pointed out to me the position some are put in over us and we ourselves have at other times . No, not the pharaoh, but Joseph, who was given the task for a time of looking after these two men from Pharaoh's household. In a few months or years, Joseph would be placed in charge of an entire kingdom, but looking after just two men was enough for today. Any of us today might be the administrator of the kingdom, the caretaker of two persons, or the one being looked after. Paul reminds us that from whatever position we are in this day to do it as unto the Lord. For the one being looked after, that might be the tough job of being forthcoming for the reason behind our sadness. Some of us know that is not always an easy thing to do.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Bucky

Born Wicked

An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. Proverbs 29:27

The proverb for today's verse might explain why you are at odds with someone. My prayer for us is that we are found on the righteous and upright side of the proverb, and not among those others. What am I saying? Would there be any doubt? If I may take us back in time just a little bit, some a little bit more than others, each of us were born into the wicked and unjust side of things. It wasn't your fault or mine, it simply came as an inheritance with our human birth. Along came Jesus and He told Nicodemus in John 3 that each of us must be born again. That was the only solution to the little problem we were born into, and it confused Nicodemus mightily. Without the Bible and discipleship, it would confuse us quite as thoroughly. Born again? Was the man trying to be funny? Praise God that His Son Jesus knew exactly what He was saying and exactly what the born wicked needed for salvation. And He did it too!

Rejoice in our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Grateful To God For One Another

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father.  1 Thessalonians 1: 2-3

In a world where the news for today seems rather bad, we look to God in gratitude for each other. Jesus our Lord basically told the disciples on Mount Olivet that the things they heard, and now we hear, in the news are going to happen many times. Wars, rumors of war, earthquakes in various places...yup, sounds quite like the news for this morning. This tells me that God the Father knows exactly what is going on today and we continue to wait on Him. We can take the bad news because of the Good News of Jesus Christ! We are the manservants and maidservants of our Lord Jesus awaiting His return at the time God our Father has set for this great event. Perhaps it looks a bit darker outside because our Lord is about to do the unveiling for us. 

Have faith in our Lord Jesus, and give thanks to Him for each other this morning!

Bucky

What Are You To Me?

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?  1 Thessalonians 2:19

Golly, it seems that my writing has been a bit dark and down on things as of late. Today is Friday, and it just does not seem well to continue down that dark path this early morning. Aha! Sneeze attack, and  you know what that means. Yes, when the powers of darkness want to stop my writing, I must be on the right track! It's a sort of opposite encouragement, but they do it over and over again. 

Our verse for today speaks to a reunion Paul, Silas, and Timothy looked ahead to with delight. Jesus, the brothers and sisters in Christ, and you and me, all reunited in the time our Lord will bring us to His home. What a joy! Even one who is more inclined toward solitude (to put it mildly) such as myself, does not want to meet Christ all alone. We want that holy communion one with another and our Lord Jesus and going on forevermore. What rejoicing! To some of us, a great crowd and the noise of it here on earth is a terrible burden, but we have faith that will not be the case when so many, as in a multitude too great to count, are gathered together with our Lord in that great day of His reunion. So, our word of the Lord for today is to look ahead a bit with Paul, Silas, Timothy, and one another to that great day of our reunion in Christ!

Amen.

Bucky

Great Is The Name Of The Lord!

So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks. Judges 8:21

The secret from yesterday's message is out now, the 'he' who ordered young Jether to kill was none other than Gideon. And we also have a lesson from the two men standing trial before the judge: Don't issue proud 'you do it' commands to the judge, because the judge just might take you up on that offer. Gideon did. One might imagine other proud rulers standing before the judgment of the Lord on that last day, and perhaps they will use similar proud words to gamble eternity before the Lord. It may be one of our brothers and sisters in Christ who cannot consign the proud one to the flames of the outer darkness even with the memory of his or her beheading in mind. And the proud earthly ruler may turn to the King of kings and say something like these two did, "You do it yourself!" Too easily would they confuse the loving patience of our Lord with weakness.

Great is the name of our Lord! Jether was too young and too afraid, but Gideon and his 300 had been with the Lord God of Israel as He defeated tens of thousands of Midianites. With a few last words available in this life, why not inquire of this God who so easily defeated an army so large (about 135,000) with so few (300)?

The King of kings returns to us soon!

Bucky

Called Above His Ability

And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. Judges 8:20

The story around the verse for today is interesting for its lessons, but this one moment recorded for all time in the Word shows us an important lesson as well. Here a father issued an order to his firstborn son that was above his ability. The child was too young to be called upon to kill two men by way of execution. He was afraid. He was also disobedient to his father. Young Jether was in one of those corners the world likes to place around us. A critic would say that the youth should not bear a sword he was not prepared to use. It may be that the Jether's father did take away the sword until the youth had matured enough to use it upon command of the king, oops, I think that is 'judge' at this point in Israel's history.

The point for us to learn on this day is the promise made in the Word that God will not call us above our ability in resisting temptation. We may feel at times like that youth, but our Lord has given us the strength to stand firm against those fiery darts of the evil one.

Stand ready to obey our Lord God!

Bucky

P.S. A special treat today, my Marine buddy Kevin shows us how to kick back and have fun in retirement: (you may need to copy and paste into your browser)

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/retired-nj-police-officer-saves-cashier-who-was-held-hostage-inside-store/2922686/?fbclid=IwAR3Uw-Agidc2oxL43r4mcuR7wzpVdaSAMHLR_J5YX-ADjDu56cWc6j0L4Bs

Is Israel Still Important?

“And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.  Ezekiel 36:23

You do not need an answer from me to the title question: The Lord has answered that quite well in our verse for today. It would seem that the scattered tribes of Israel are going to see a heart change within, and all those nations to which Israel has been scattered will witness the change as well. To be hallowed is to be consecrated and made holy; to be honored. It is distressing to think that Israel has not done this already, but perhaps like us they cannot do this for themselves. It is a great and good work of the Lord that changes the heart of sinful man, and the way He does it is through His Son, Jesus. That might well be a clue as to why Israel has profaned the Lord's great name. Unbelief in the Lord's gift of salvation, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, certainly does not hallow the name of God. 

Praise God that His Son is the way for us to hallow the name of our Lord! 

Bucky

But, Is It A True Feeling?

Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying,  1 Kings 17:2

Yesterday, we left me feeling a little disconnected from the Spirit of our Lord. But, we must ask, is it a true feeling? In a search of the New King James version of the Bible we find 94 exact matches for 'word of the Lord came to'. No exact matches or even the combination of the words in the same verse occurs for 'true feeling'. The prophets do not appear to start their messages with anything like, "A feeling of disconnectedness came to Bubbajah and he went to the king with that message..." We may have come upon a false message, a feeling of disconnectedness may be an attack of the enemy, a lie, a deceit, in other words, it just ain't so, Hoss! For evidence we have the words of our Lord just before He ascended to Heaven to take His place at the Father's side: "and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 

On a historical note: the time and ministry of Bubbajah is a little vague, but it seems that he was a popular victim of Judahite scoffers and foretold the rise of stock chariot racing in a far land. 

Have a wonderful day in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

Just One Of Those Others

Bind up the testimony,
Seal the law among my disciples. Isaiah 8:16

Some days I get up and then sit down to write this, and I just know that the great, ultimate, classic short message of the best of the followers of Christ Jesus...uh, does not seem to be in me today. It's like the Holy Spirit has gone quiet. It is on one of those days that I recall some of the twelve disciples that did not seem to say or do anything either. They were listed with the Twelve and were apparently along for the ride. We read more about Joseph of Arimathea or Mary of Magdala than about those honored, but quiet, members of our Lord's handpicked Twelve Disciples. Of course a couple of the prophets back in the day are just as mysterious to us. We know so little about Joel that the scholars are not sure when he received his message from the Word of God. Today, I'm just one of those others, living this short life God has given and putting down a few words that point to the Lord Jesus.

Want salvation? Call on the name of Jesus.

Bucky

Leave The Older Testament Behind?

But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”  Luke 16:31

From the parable of our Lord Jesus that has a name in it, we have His conclusion in our verse for today. Sometimes it is tempting to think that we can leave the Old Testament behind, which is a strange thought given how often our Lord and His apostles quote the older testament. That would be like taking the novel, dividing the pages roughly in two and then in two again, and starting our reading in the middle of the latter half of the story. So many times is the older testament quoted in the newer story that we can't help but want to know the laws, prophecies and stories that our Lord and His followers referred to in their own stories and messages. But what about that more stunning revelation? 

Jesus said in His parable that the brothers of the tormented rich man would still not believe even if Lazarus were sent back to them from the dead! If a dead person came back with a message, it seems that any of us would give them a hearing and carefully consider the message. But according to the parable of our Lord Jesus, we would not if we did not already believe the message sent by the prophets and Moses. And yet, I feel an elephant in the room sneaking up on us. Do you suppose our Lord Jesus, the storyteller they listened to so long ago, would Himself rise from the dead and bring a message of repentance and hope? Well, that's just disingenuous, we already know from the rest of His story that He did just that!  From the conclusion of His parable though, let us not forget the older testament which was not replaced by our Lord Jesus but established by Him. 

Have a great and wonderful day in Christ!

Bucky

Smoked Out Yet?

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:16

The air quality in these parts has been difficult lately, but it didn't stop A Capella from singing in church yesterday. It is an old story from my ignorant youth. We'll just say that I once asked who A. Capella was and why he sang in this church on the way to Grandma's place all the time. If you have been feeling a little off or even a little daft lately, it may be the breathing of smoke from the western fires that is to blame. Due to drought and/or mismanagement, opinions differ, we have endured this thing as a sort of summer passage for the past couple of years. Hot, muggy, smokey weather? It must be August and the west is burning. One might think the west would be out of trees by now, if that one had no idea just how many trees there are out west. 

We might tend to think of our sin in a similar way. Shouldn't the cleansing be done by now? How long before I'm cleaned up enough to go to heaven? If we have no idea how deep and how much sin we began with, how can we know when the sanctification is done? Grace and mercy, it looks like we will need them a while longer. Grace is like the blue sky above, it always is enough to cover all the smoke from the burning. 

Therefore, boldly we go to the throne of grace!

Bucky