With You In Weakness

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 1 Corinthians 2:3

Thinking back on life before salvation in Christ, what was that time you behaved most poorly before the Law of Moses? For most of us it will be a time of weakness. We may easily think of moral weakness, but it is known by some that moral weakness often comes from other forms of weakness. Thieving, lying, and other sins are also known as survival skills. As in: one thinks his or her life is in danger and has no faith in God, therefore he or she will easily resort to those survival skills in a tight spot.

One strength that God can bring out of a time of weakness is a communal respect for those who suffered with us. Paul notes this to the church at Corinth in our verse for today. So, does that mean Paul was lying and stealing with them at that time? No, no, Paul went into it with his faith in Christ Jesus. If we are to avoid moral weakness during a time of physical, financial, or other weakness, we must have our faith in Christ and count on His strength. As Paul testifies to us from the Lord God:

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

His strength, our weakness - a winning team!

Bucky

Standing In Him, Laid Low In Me

Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  Hebrews 1:3

On Monday the mighty man of faith went to his annual checkup and... fell down, passed out like the switch to the lights of his electric power was shut off, left defenseless as the little lamb just born. Yes indeed, about once a decade it seems, I have a blood test that just doesn't go easily. And, while the nurse or phlebotomist searches in vain for a vein, the lights go out in Georgie's head. (To massacre the title of a classic song.)  Proof once more that I am not better than any of my fellow humans. Many of which have told they have suffered the same thing, some of them even suffering it every blood test or IV without fail. However, laid low in me, I can still be standing in Him. And you can too by faith in the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

No one is too bad, weak, evil or awful to be saved in Jesus. Come to Him this day, and faint if you need to!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Bucky

Blessed Hope

...looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Titus 2:13

Of course Paul didn't do it, the translators of the NKJV made those mondo-large, mega-comma, run-on sentences, until it seems that there is no way to cut out a little phrase, or a clause, or maybe what could be a sentence, from the paragraph, or entire chapter, of the river of words coming at us from the times of old. In the middle of one of these is this activity we are doing right now: looking for that blessed hope and return of our Lord Jesus. Not sure what your job is in the kingdom of believers in Jesus? Start right there with that one. It takes great faith to look for and wait for the return of one who has been ascended from this Earth for so long. We may hear the words of the Lord on the Internet, a television program, or a sermon on the radio, but He has not returned just yet. He assured us that we will know without doubt when He returns. We have our blessed hope in Him!

Have faith! He returns soon.

Bucky

No Food, I Hunger

But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”  John 4:32

We are fairly well attached to our stomachs. I don't think that I am going too far in stating that this morning. You may even feel it urging you to eat something at this very moment. The disciples had gone into a Samaritan village to purchase food, and upon returning were met with a perplexity. Their rabbi had food they did not know. Obviously, someone else had come along and fed Him, they wondered? Jesus stated plainly to them that His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him, and to finish the Lord's work. It was a teaching moment that the disciples and we today struggle with even as we believe in the Lord Jesus. How does doing God's will satisfy that urging feeling in the stomach? Jesus had said a similar thing to the Adversary in the wilderness even as He hungered. Those who believe in Him are to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. This last sent many disciples back to their old lives and away from Jesus. It would appear that there is something our Lord understands well that we must take by faith in Him. 

We believe, but we do not yet understand all He said to us.

Bucky

Cut It Off!

Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother and killed him.  Genesis 4:8

    The first car crash fatality in the United States happened on September 13, 1899. This date seems rather too soon to me, but I cannot argue with recorded history. With a little research into the archives, a person will likely find calls and opinions to cut it off. That is that all autos, cars, jalopies and so on must be banned for good and the good of all. This came to mind this morning as I waited for the inevitable opinion on the news or social media that all trips to the wreck of a certain ocean liner must be cut off, stopped, banned, and halted. As with all activities or devices where people get killed, it is an answer but is it the best answer?

    Those persons with means, meaning lots of loot, will find ways to explore when they can. Say no more doing this thing, and have the authority to actually stop it, and they will find that other thing to do instead. It may be that Adam or Eve said one day to their partner that obviously we must have no more sheep herders in the family as such an activity is clearly deadly. While such a cutting off would have prevented any more sheep herder deaths, we also would not have the Good Shepherd some years down the road of time. Or, we might have missed out on the shepherds abiding in the field by night when the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. 

    It is risky to stay at home, walk out the door, get anywhere near a road, or to stand still and cry over imaginary dangers. Whether diving in tin cans to the depths of the ocean or standing still in a quiet library trying to avoid all danger, we are going to face death one day. May as well let God bring good out of whatever we set our hands to do! 

Love in Christ Jesus to you!

Bucky

The Light Of The Son

But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” Exodus 33:20

We have just short of three hours until the summer solstice and an overcast sky. Not that I could look over at the sun and tell the exact moment of the solstice anyway. Staring directly at the Sun is not only painful but known to be damaging to the eyes as well. It was said in the days of Moses that no one could look at God and live. They had good reason to say that since God had told Moses our verse for today. In the fullness of time though, God did send someone that we could see. The disciples saw Him along with many others, and we could if He were here today as He was in their time. For a moment though, Peter, James, and John saw the Lord's Son transformed and in His glory. It is recorded that His face shone like the Sun by Matthew. Mark's description is more about the Lord's clothing. We understand that our Lord Jesus got very bright. However, we give it up to the Lord Himself when in John 8:12 and 9:5 the Lord states, "I am the light of the world."

He's the light for me!

Bucky

Sowing Confusion

I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. Exodus 23:27

Shopping for lawn mower blades this morning, I opened up my Bible to see if I could find a jug of apple cider. Before you call for the authorities to take me away for a bit of a rest, I wondered about this confusion the Lord promises to Israel. Imagine for a moment that you and I happen to be living in the promised land, the land God promised to Israel that is, and this confusion came over us. We might wake up on a Monday morning saying things such as that first sentence I wrote up there. And when Israel came to the border, oh dear, one could only imagine the terror that would make the military forces turn tail and run. For us today, this verse from those elder days simply means that we do not ever want to be opposed to God. We know already from the many who suffer mental illnesses, myself included, that the human mind's stability is not as rock-solid as one might think! And how quickly can fear overwhelm any of us with just a slight change in circumstances?

I am so glad this morning that God sent His Son to save us!

Bucky

Where The Fight Is

Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the LORD.  Psalm 4:4-5

There is a 'selah' in there, but we still do not know for sure what that word meant to the psalmists of long ago. This psalm of David that is our reading for today speaks to that place where the fight is, the bed. How often has something bothered us during the day and then been brought to the bed at night where we fret over it, grumble under it, hash it out, and worry it to weariness? We might even wake up at 3:00am to wrestle with it some more! David makes a couple of calls in the first verse and then a solution in the second. Leaving a burden to the Lord may prove a difficult task for us but is essential in those things that we cannot control. One way to place our trust in the Lord when a neighbor has hurt us is to forgive him or her, and then leave the matter to the Lord.

Forgive that neighbor and trust in God? Yow! I'm a mean one today. Give to the Lord what He wants from us and live in Christ Jesus this day.

Bucky

The Words Of A Fisherman

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

Paul had a rather dramatic conversion from one path in life to the Way. In reading about Peter through the four gospels and the Acts, we see a similar dramatic conversion story, but one that takes place over a longer period of time. This is that Galilean fisherman who would become a fisher of men and be the father of all manner of pun jokes. Good for him! No, no, Simon the fisherman likely lived as most of the lake fishers did and we know such men even today. His language was likely colored by a few phrases and words that he didn't repeat at home. We know Simon was married by the healing of his mother-in-law. The servants gathered around a fire one night knew that this man was a Galilean. This former fisherman also took the Lord, the Son of God, this one time and uttered a 'Thou shalt not!' to Him. The swift rebuke was startling even to us the readers of the Word about 2,000 years later. This Simon, now known as Peter, also wrote the words of our verse for today. What or who made this change in that man of salty language?

We know who, and His name is Jesus!

Bucky

A Testimony Of Forgiveness

I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. Acts 26:17-18

Searching for the word 'forgiveness' in the Bible brings up only a few verses in the New King James version, but most of those few are forgiveness of sins from God to us. One verse is that serious warning from Jesus about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, Yikes! As for today though, our verses come from Paul's testimony of that great event in his life on the way to Damascus. I don't know about you, but I'm glad and grateful that Jesus sent Paul to bring that message of hope and salvation to us Gentiles. By faith in Jesus, that says all we need to know about this new life Paul was sent to tell us.

We now live in Christ by faith!

Bucky

The Lord Does Valiantly

The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
  -- Psalm 118:15

He endured some tough times, but I delighted in his company every time we met. At the end of last week, our Lord called him home. This morning as I searched for just the right verse to memorialize this delightful man, this one from the psalms seemed the verse for Brent. The man was one of our Lord's sheep and his company showed it.

And so we come to that in-between place where we are sad to miss his company, and yet glad that our Lord Jesus keeps him for us. Now comes the time when all those who believe in Jesus look forward with eager anticipation to our reunion with Jesus and all those who have gone before us.

Comfort ye my people said the Lord by His prophet,

Bucky

Maintaining The Watch

Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:3

Jesus sent a message to a church in this verse we read today, and it strikes close to home with us. Look around, the things worth having in this world tend to need maintenance. Relationships, homes, cars, physical fitness, and other things need maintaining and watching or they fall apart, slip away, or just plain disappear. The less desirable things such as mold, rust, unbelief, and deadbeat acquaintances tend to show up uninvited, linger longer, and take serious effort to get rid of. A position of watchfulness when it comes to our Lord's return is one of those things that we desire to maintain. However, it is easy to fall asleep at our post. It has after all been more than 1,900 years since this message was revealed to John. The maintenance of all the other things in this life calls out for our attention. Distractions abound in this age of digital communication. And here we are writing and reading this message via digital communication!

As our Lord said, hold fast and repent - hold fast to faith in Him and repent of doubt in His return!

Bucky

Tricky Tongue

What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
  -- Psalm 120:3

Happy is the one who has perfect command of his tongue! My experience appears to prove that in an opposite way. Unhappy is the person who has a tongue that gets out of control and runs tricks on them whenever it has an opportunity. The tongue comes up often in the psalms and proverbs of the Bible, and we can see from each experience that there is good reason. However, there may well be as many benefits written of a righteous tongue as of consequences for an evil tongue. The conflict between the new spirit God has given to us and the old lusts of the flesh from our first birth show in the speech of our tongue. Fail to guard the tongue for a moment and, there it is, out come the things we would rather not have said in the spirit. Consider carefully and with the wisdom God has given, and new loving, kind, and patient things come forth from the tongue to the glory of God.

Fill my tongue with praise for You, dear Lord!

Bucky

Bear Witness

After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.  John 2:12

At first this verse for today might seem a rather dull sort of verse, a housekeeping kind of imparting of plain information. Sometimes bearing witness of our Lord's actions in this life might seem rather a boring witness. And yet, I have not had the privilege of traveling down to Capernaum with Jesus. This little trip was important enough for John to record it those many years ago. You can be assured that our Lord's mother thought it important. Some folks in Cana may have rather the Lord stayed around for a while. His brothers seem to be in the unbelieving camp at this time, for them the more exposure to our Lord and His teaching the better! 

When we bear witness of our Lord's salvation it might at first seem dull or boring to those who do not believe in Him. "He saved me," is a statement that demands a little spicing up to fill out a story. "Saved you from what?" the unbeliever asks, "Why did you need saving?" Our main job is not to dazzle one with erudite scripture explanations, blow them away with deep knowledge of mysteries from the Bible, or to prove ourselves somehow smarter. (Some will have no cause to believe that one even after they come to accept the Lord's salvation!) Is the salvation of the Lord Jesus we believe in too simple for a sharp person? Start them with accepting that Jesus went down to Capernaum with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples. 

The Son of God walked on this ball of dirt? We believe He did!

Bucky

Such A Simple Thing

For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. Romans 10:13

Paul in quoting the prophet Joel brings to mind such a simple thing in our verse for today. Call on the name of the LORD and be saved. One might ask which name to use, after all there are several names for the Lord presented in scripture. And should that be in Greek or Hebrew? Of course we can always take something simple and add lots of complication to it. The Lord will always know who is addressing Him for salvation. But, isn't there some prayer formula to follow for those who want to repent and be saved? Sure, there are several available and they are fine if a person has that luxury of time. Joel the prophet wrote to us of the end times, and from the context the time for deliverance was, or will be, perilously short on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. In that time, there may be only time to call on the name of the Lord and still they are promised salvation.

In a time of mortal peril, keep it simple and call on the Lord!

Bucky

Most Wanted Man

But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  John 12:10-11

A plot does not bear the same immediate danger as a wanted poster, but one of the powers in the land had it in for Lazarus. His crime was not living again but on account of himself. Lazarus may have borne witness in words, or he may simply have been the story, but either way he pointed to the one the chief priests really hated, Jesus. The man from Nazareth had upset them, corrected them, asked them to believe in Him as the Son of God, and now the man had gone too far and raised Lazarus to live again. The blind received their sight, lame persons made to walk, demoniacs released from bondage, and this man brought the good news of eternal life by faith in Him. Dear, dear, the horrors Jesus visited upon these poor chief priests. 

From here, reading the scriptures of the story, we want to take those chief priests aside and reason with them or something: "Dudes, if murder comes to mind as your foremost solution for a man doing good works, miraculous works, among the people, maybe you should have some second thoughts, have some third thoughts, but wake up!"  We are too far removed in time though, and if Jesus couldn't get through to them, what could we hope to do?

Rejoice in the Lord, and that He gave you the strength to believe in His Son!

Bucky

Can It Be So Simple?

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18

The teacher of Israel may have looked for some revelation of the law that he could learn and pass on to his students. And he did! However, not fitting with his world-based expectations and experience, Nicodemus was at a loss. Believe, that's it? How do we obtain eternal life? Well, avoiding condemnation would seem a great first step. Maybe it is the only step? Jesus, as we might say, freaked out Nicodemus by making it about two groups of people - those believing in the Son of God, and those not believing. This man had spent his lifetime to that point learning the law, practicing the law, and he became so proficient that he earned the title, Teacher of Israel. And Jesus said to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God for eternal life.

Believe in the Son. Yes, it is that simple!

Bucky