Do You Believe?

“And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  John 11:26

It seems almost disrespectful if asked of a pastor of a church, a televangelist, or even neighbor Bob who goes to that church down the street. However, perhaps we should be asking. Jesus did. Jesus asked Nathanael, and then promised that he would see greater things. Jesus asked of some blind men and then healed them. Jesus asked of another healed blind man after the Jews had cast him out. And finally our Lord asked His friend Martha in our verse for today. Do you believe? 

It was a big thing to ask. Martha's brother, Lazarus, lay dead in the tomb. All the words we want to use for the former Lazarus were there: cold, stiff, corpse, expired, kaput... maybe some of those slang words hadn't come into common usage quite yet, but you get the point. And here Jesus asked Martha if she believed what He said. Lazarus was no more. Jesus contradicted all that we think we know about the passing of a person, and then asked, "Do you believe this?" And later on, we know what happened in the story of Lazarus. 

As Jesus might say: Blessed are those who believe in Him without seeing Lazarus stumble out of the tomb bound up in his graveclothes.

Bucky 

A Scriptural Beatdown

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth...  Exodus 34:6

The past several weeks on Tuesday mornings we have studied the word 'abomination' and its plural through the scriptures. And what a scriptural beatdown we have experienced in this study. The same may be said of the students in the class, I suspect, but I for one am ready to move on to the good news of Jesus Christ! For today, we go way back in the story of Exodus, the place where all those laws about abominations began, and we see the Lord, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth. Wait, didn't that stuff begin with Jesus in the New Testament? Wasn't God, like, really mean back in the day? Ask Moses, he saw the Lord and heard the Lord's proclamation in this verse and the next one. Do you believe the Lord? Read what the Lord says about Himself as He comes before Moses. Longsuffering in the Lord's proclamation of course meant patience with the Israelites and their inclination toward lawlessness; a thing we might have some familiarity with in our age.

Therefore, the good news for us today is that the Lord was and is our hope in His mercy, grace, patience, goodness, and truth! Have a great day in Christ,

Bucky

Thinking Of Forty Years

And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.  Exodus 16:35

It seems...no, it seems like a long time ago even now. Forty years ago, graduation from high school was months behind me and the first semester of college was in progress. It was that time in life when a person thinks he or she knows so much but the older folks tolerate them until a little struggle in life teaches us how little we actually know. Now, think of all that time eating manna bread, manna pancakes, manna mash, manna-meal, or maybe manna could only be made into little loaves of bread and that was the food for forty long years. Manna muffins anyone? We might think of the wide variety of meals we have tried in the past forty years and compare that to eating one thing, morning and night, for all of those years. It is a bit easier when several life milestones happened those forty years ago. 

Each day on the journey brings us one day closer to meeting Jesus!

Bucky

Be Ye Careful...To Love

Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God. Joshua 23:11

Read about the word 'careful' in the law and one will find many commands to be careful to observe and be careful to do. The law appears to be a place to be careful. Yes, it is, and easily we are weary of being careful all of the time. We have a nature born to sin and a tempter pointing the way to that abominable destination. Being careful to do and to observe the many laws, it becomes easy to see how the Pharisees stumbled in their way. How could one see the Savior when carefully observing all the laws and the days and then the hundreds of traditions added to the law?

"Picking the tithe from my herb garden one morning, I tripped over a man healing the blind. Who could He be? Why was He in my way?" the Pharisee said to the scribe.

Yes, my friends, I would rather be saved in Christ than to carefully observe every law and tradition. Joshua in his farewell address to Israel gave them a final 'careful', and it is in our verse for today. Jesus gave us the law and the prophets in two greatest commands to love, and the first says the same as Joshua's final careful heed: Love the Lord your God!

Amen! Have a great Friday in Christ!

Bucky

Your Yes And Only Your Yes

But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Have you ever been asked to do this thing, and been asked if you know how? Of course you have. And responding with a hearty, "Yes!" you attempt to go out the door. However, the world, it seems, does not like to let your yes be yes, and a lengthy instructional lecture on how to do this thing is soon endured. Didn't you just affirm that you understood the thing? Why the instructional lecture? Will the world not let your 'yes' be 'yes'?

Yes, you or I may be full of understanding in our estimation of that thing, and then we may run into one of the most humiliating of circumstances, the request for instruction because the thing we thought was so well understood turns out to not be quite like that thing we vowed we understood so well. Vow, what vow, we might ask? Oh, the one where, frustrated with the glacial pace of the lecture of knowledge we think we knew already, we blurt out something like, "As God is my witness, I know everything about this thing, and will do it as soon as you stop lecturing me!"

Uh, oh, might have just called God to witness my great humiliation... Jesus said don't do that.

You may have a different history to call upon, but in my case a lot of embarrassing moments might have been avoided if I had just not done what my Lord Jesus said for me not to have done!

Love in Christ!

Bucky

Just Ignore It

​For I acknowledge my transgressions,
​​And my sin is always before me. Psalm 51:3

This psalm comes out of the story of King David and Bathsheba, a famous royal scandal during the golden age of Israel. David, it appears, tried the old 'just ignore it, and it will go away' trick for the great sin hanging over him. However, Nathan the prophet received a word from the Lord and he presented that sin to the king in a story about a little lamb. Not only was the sin not going away, but the consequences would soon visit the king's family.

Yes, a story about a little lamb. The Lord does like to remind us of His answer to our great sin!

As we know in our journey with the Lord, we cannot 'just ignore it' when it comes to our transgressions. Forgiveness is needed and, as it was with King David, forgiveness is also swift from our Lord when we confess. The psalm would come in time, but after Nathan laid out the sin to the king, he had but one thing to say, "I have sinned against the Lord." (2 Samuel 12:13) The consequences would come through the years for David, but one thing the Lord said that stands out to us: "The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die."

How does the Lord do this? Well, it's that little Lamb who takes away the sin of the world!

Bucky

Something's Coming

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.  Revelation 13:1

In a little over a month is the celebration of Halloween. No Halloween horror show can compete with Revelation 13 though as not one but two beasts come up on the earth, one from the sea and one from the earth itself. The beast from the sea will be given great authority, but not over one particular group. This beast and its minions will also defeat the military power of the saints, and indeed this may be those who will fulfill the number of saints under the altar in the fifth seal revelation. However far this beast is allowed to conquer, there are those written in the Book of Life of the Lamb. Though these may be defeated in war and made martyrs for the Lord, they are not taken away from the Lamb who keeps them forever. 

The second beast will be a charlatan showing signs and wonders to the world, and deception is its game. Once again those whose names are written in the Lamb's book need not fear this beast. Though both beasts together are a scary thing, we have but to look to the Lamb. Yes, when we read in this chapter the descriptions of the beasts and think about a lamb...well, faith is a marvelous thing! We know by faith that this lamb is not just any old sheep's offspring set against the two horrible beasts. We know something about this particular Lamb!

We know by faith!

Bucky

Bringing Them Back To Love

You have wearied the LORD with your words;
​​Yet you say,
​​“In what way have we wearied Him?”
​​In that you say,
​​“Everyone who does evil
​​Is good in the sight of the LORD,
​​And He delights in them,”
​​Or, “Where is the God of justice?”  Malachi 2:17

The final book in the Old Testament gives Israel a call to return to God before the drought of the word came upon them. And a nation far gone in so many ways from the Lord gets the word of repentance right in the heart. The outward ways of offering, weeping over the altar, atonement sacrifices, and others, are all negated by hardened hearts and proud spirits. Good thing that age has passed, eh?

It would be easy in this age to learn that the sacrifice of Jesus satisfied the demands of God's justice, fulfilled the law, set the sinners free, and then fall to the temptation of lust, or greed, or hatred, or any other thing the flesh of the once-born desires seeing that it now has some sort of pass to commit iniquity. Down with the devious and deceptive heart of the old sinner! Up with the love our Lord gave to us by way of those two commandments that He said were the law and the prophets. We are free in Christ to obey Him out of love. The redemption of the cross frees us to love Him and one another.

Have a loving day in Christ!

Bucky

Admitting To Failure

​“Come now, and let us reason together,”
​​Says the LORD,
​​“Though your sins are like scarlet,
​​They shall be as white as snow;
​​Though they are red like crimson,
​​They shall be as wool.  Isaiah 1:18

It's Thursday morning, and you didn't see a message from me yesterday. It was not a memory lapse or even a technical issue; it was a failure on my part. It was not that I didn't work at the message with a Bible passage or verse, edit the prose by eliminating what was not needed, or come to a final conclusion. The conclusion did not logically flow from the earlier arguments. As an example, the first two paragraphs might be about how to prepare breakfast at home, and then I conclude with a nice point about how great supper is at a restaurant. You may see a bit of confusion on the part of the reader when such a thing hits the digital presses. Running out of time, I did the necessary tasks to get ready for work, and then still had no inspiration how to save the mess I had made of yesterday's devotional message. Why should I even worry over such a thing? The first part of the verse for today is my reason.

When God invites each of us to come together and reason with Him, it first shows to me that God is certainly not afraid of human reasoning. Secondly, it tells me that God gave to us reasoning minds and that He wants us to use them. And then the verse goes on to show us that God will save those who will come and reason with Him whether our reasoning comes to a correct conclusion or throws a curveball that ends up in the stands. And, heyo, when my 2+2 reasoning throws up a 12 one morning, it's okay to keep quiet too and try again another day.

God has sent His Son to save all those who believe in Him, and no fumble of mine will stop the grand slam from falling into the basket! Amen!

Bucky

Kind To The Ungrateful

“But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people. Luke 6:35 NASB20

Our Lord...kind to the ungrateful and evil people. Now that is not the impression we typically get from the Old Testament. Behave and be good, and the Lord will reward you greatly, we tend to see in the scriptures, and thus those who are healthy and wealthy are doing it right, we think. There are proverbs and other scriptures to support this for those who would see only this thing, certainly Job's friends would be among those who support this view. Job, for his part, couldn't figure where he had gone wrong to deserve his punishment, so he too saw this view of things in the world. So what happens when Jesus says what He did in our verse for today?

Our Lord...kind to the ungrateful and evil people. Astounding! Totally flying in the face of all religion where the kindness and rewards go to those who toe the line and follow the script. It had to be though, for the greatest of kindnesses is the redemption bought by our Lord Jesus on the cross. And not one deserved it by deed or thought or behavior. Indeed our Father God in His - what is that word we like? - lovingkindness - yes! that word- gave to all the ungrateful and evil people (that's us!) a Savior in Christ the Lord.

May we lead the saved ungrateful and redeemed evil people to rejoicing in our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Muggy Second Day

And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” Exodus 2:13

Why? Wasn't Monday a good enough reason? Oh, wait, that doesn't quite work, does it? As we have come to celebrate the Sabbath on Sundays, the first day of the work week is therefore on Monday, but for the Hebrews of back in the day it was not so. With my point ruined, I guess we'll just have to call it a day.

It is muggy this morning in spite of the cooler early temps near the autumnal equinox, but that also is no excuse to be striking one another. We worship our Lord every day, and His command to love one another does not stop on Monday morning. Yes, in some jobs, companies, or other work positions it may be a severe temptation to start a Monday that way. Perhaps it is a specific person that is the greatest temptation to strike a person on a Monday? Sorry, not a good enough reason to stop loving one another. As I like to remind myself often, Jesus did not give us a list of exceptions right after His command to love one another.

May God lead us into peace and love, one with another!

Bucky

Elijah, Noise Suppressor

Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”  1 Kings 18:37

The Law stated the penalty for anyone using false gods to prophecy, and Elijah carried it out with the help of the people of Israel. First, of course, we have that great story of the Lord doing as we would like to see. Yes, in 1 Kings 18 is the story of the sign those scribes and Pharisees wanted to see Jesus perform for them and the miracle that those who believe in God want to see done before the scoffers. God burnt up the water-logged sacrifice completely with no human hand helping Him at all. Elijah prayed and God did the sign on Mt. Carmel. Then Elijah and the suddenly willing people of Israel did the noise suppression on the false prophets we read of yesterday. No question, the people returned to the Lord in this case in stark terror of His fire. Over-awed, amazed, and in fear for their lives, they turned back to the Lord. Obviously it worked, but did this sign and miracle last and make Israel that shining city on a hill with hearts turned permanently to the Lord? 

From the histories and prophets in the Bible, we know that Israel remained divided and king after king failed to turn to the Lord and do right. So when some years later they demanded a sign from Jesus, He did not perform for them on demand. Fear only works for a brief time, though it does cause many to repent and believe in the Savior. We see in the new covenant that while Jesus saves us from our fear, shame, regret and other negative emotions that may initially bring us to Him, it is a whole different set of fruit that He would raise up in us. 

So, friends of our Lord Jesus, rejoice today in love, peace, gentleness, and many other fruits of the Spirit growing from the True Vine! 

Bucky

There Was This Noise

Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” 1 Kings 18:19

We sometimes wonder how it is that Israel could be so slow when it came to recognizing the message God sent through His prophets. Of course in studying the word we come to verses where we understand there was this noise going on in the land, a noise of 850 false prophets in this case. There were prophets of the Lord to be sure, but the queen, Jezebel, had silenced them through intimidation and murder, and those left alive were hidden in caves by Obadiah, an undercover operative for the Lord. Another wonder we may have in reading these stories comes in the form of a 'why not', as in why not silence the false prophets so the people can hear the true message? Well, the Lord tried that and He sent a big noise suppressor in the person of Elijah.

It is a big story, and if our Lord is willing, we will look at it tomorrow. The question to ponder is: did it work? Did Israel return to the Lord forever by this noise suppression?

Love to you in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

Up Jacob's Ladder

Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  Genesis 28:12

A way to Heaven! And I don't even feel the first rungs yet. As this came from Jacob's dream, there is likely as much chance of finding the bottom rungs of that ladder as there is of finding that pot of gold at the end of God's bow. Many would like to climb Jacob's dream ladder rather than face the judgment. 

Those who have achieved a certain proficiency in handling money would like a ladder with giving levels to climb. Those skilled in politics could see a ladder of more powerful positions until they attain the topmost levels. A builder might want a ladder of projects to complete and a preacher might want a standard with a number of sermons to preach. Any of us might look for a ladder to heaven that plays to our strengths.  While there is a certain efficiency to climbing a ladder that also provides a person with a job, a man told His disciples that He was the way, and the truth, and the life. Was that the sound of a zillion imaginary ladders collapsing? Why yes, I think it was just that. 

Grateful am I that the way to Heaven is in Jesus and His almighty strength, and not dependent on a list of to-do's that I would never be sure were done well enough or in sufficient quantity when the time came to meet my Lord. 

Bucky

Gaining Understanding

How much better to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. Proverbs 16:16

Have we ever set that desire for silver and gold aside in our need to pray instead for wisdom and understanding? The proverb tells us the better things to pray for. Understanding was on my mind this morning, and not understanding of myself so much, though that is a need, but understanding of that other person. Most of the time, I already have access to my thoughts and there is no mystery there. (The least of the time is when I'm wondering, "Now where did that strange thought come from?) However, the other person's thinking is a mystery to me unless their thoughts should spill out in speech, which I admit does happen perhaps more often than we would like to hear. Asking the Lord for understanding does not always occur to me, not even when I need it. And yet, how much better than lots of loot would it be to gain an understanding of why this person has done what he did or how it can be that person feels the way she does about the issue. Understanding the other person, a prayer for today!

May God grant us understanding and wisdom this day!

Bucky

We're All Guilty

And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Genesis 4:13

For many of us merely the thought of dangling a small platform over the side of a skyscraper and lowering it down to wash windows all day is enough to make the muscles tense up and the blood run cold in our veins. Pondering a moment on an eternal punishment in the outer darkness with torment causes a similar reaction and the use of Cain's exclamation in our verse for today. It should lead everyone to grasp at that one straw of hope presented throughout the scriptures, Messiah, or as we know Him by the Greek word, Christ.

We are all guilty. Born into sin, we have but one hope to change our fate away from punishment that we cannot bear and into a hope we do not deserve. The hope has a name, and His name is Jesus. All we must do to obtain this hope is to believe in Him. It seems so simple, perhaps too simple. To be born again, I just believe in Jesus? To make it easier, we might recall that none of us had anything to do with starting our first birth. The privilege of choosing to believe in Jesus to begin our second birth is quite the honor!

Praise to God our Father!

Bucky

Curdled Like Cheese?

Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese...  Job 10:8-10

Clay and dust we understand by the scriptures, and milk is how we start out in life, but cheese? Did Job feel well-aged by this point in his misery? We have an abiding respect for Job as he was righteous according to God and yet suffered terrible losses and pain for a time. Job brought all of his misery to the Lord in prayer and wondered, as we often do, "Why me?" On the other hand, Job also had such confidence in his life that he invited the Lord to prove any crime or sin of Job's before a court of law. 

We already know in our case who would be on the losing side of that trial. Paul made it clear in his letters that none of us are guiltless before the law and all have sinned. It is our transgression of the Law that brings us to Jesus for salvation. 

Praise the Lord, our Redeemer!

Bucky