Something Grand Comes

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.  Luke 1:7

We do not know from the scriptures how they knew it was Elizabeth, but between Zacharias and his wife they could not produce a child. The story would not be quite the same if God had selected from among the Israelites a couple who had already produced a dozen children but hadn't had any for a few years. A late surprise blessing has happened to many a couple through the ages. It is like God wants to set the stage for His works with a bit more difficulty than the norm. This of course we know from many stories in the Bible. Daniel wasn't lowered into a den of kittens; that wouldn't be much of a story. Some of us might even consider that a bit of Heaven. Instead we read a grand story of famished lions, a concerned ruler, and an angel. Wonders indeed! 

So, if your circumstances seem a bit strained, perhaps God is preparing your story for His grand entrance and a mighty work. 

Marvel and wonder fill your works, O Lord!

Bucky

Just A Little Star

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:1-2

It must have been quite the shock for Herod the king to be told by these travelers that the King of the Jews had just been born somewhere out here in his kingdom. And this birth had special significance, it being announced by a star seen way out East and all. Perhaps these wise but somewhat naive men from the east thought that all Jerusalem would be celebrating this birth, but they in effect told Herod, "You ain't the real king, ding-a-ling!" They also could not know of the doubts concerning Herod's ancestry and that he reigned only at the pleasure of the Roman occupation forces. This little star over Bethlehem generated a question that hit Herod like the proverbial arrow to the heart!

For us, that little star resting over a house in Bethlehem signified the human birth of the Son of God, the King of kings! Let us be merry as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Bucky

We Are Fruit Filling

Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob;
​​Israel shall blossom and bud,
​​And fill the face of the world with fruit.
  -- Isaiah 27:6

We read of the fruit of the Spirit in Paul's writings, but is that the prophecy here in our verse today? It may be part of it, but that fruit may be literal too. The phrase, those who come, speaks of persons and peoples to us. As the Israelites are already rooted in Jacob, it would seem that others will come too. Those who believe in Jesus, such as you and me, will also take root in Jacob and produce fruit that fills the face of the earth. Did you want to think of yourself as the fruit filling of faith this morning? By that odd metaphor we are in the baking stage of this pie of faith, and there can be some conflict as we bake and boil together in this fruit filling. Even as we bump up against one another in this hot mixture, let us recall the words of Jesus and love one another!

Now go and have a fruitful day in Christ!

Bucky

The Season Has Come!

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

Some might think it too early to begin writing about Christmas, but Isaiah and Micah didn't think so way back in their day. Hundreds of years before that first Christmas day, these two prophets began spreading the good news of the coming birth of Messiah. Micah named the place and Isaiah gave us several names to call the coming Savior. We like to start the season with this prophecy from Isaiah about a Child and a Son. It was Isaiah who also gave to us that holy name by which we have come to know God's Son, Immanuel, which is literally translated God-with-us. On a night some centuries down the road of time, Immanuel would be announced to shepherds by angels, and the joy of the Christmas story rolls on through many more centuries.

Have a merry Christmas season in Jesus our Lord!

Bucky

Being Thankful

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16

A grateful attitude, or gratitude, is essential to begin the Thanksgiving holiday. Some among us have already traveled to their celebration destination and others are on the way. I will travel just a few blocks tomorrow for my celebration of thanksgiving to the Lord. For those doing the hosting this year, you deserve thanks too! Let us not, in our happy delight, forget to give the most and best thanks to our God and Savior this Thanksgiving.

Thank You, dear God for Your Son, Jesus!

Bucky

A Powerful Promise

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.  John 14:12-14

As the long-time readers of this devotional will know, I once tried to use this passage to ask for something I did not need and that was likely not in line with God's will for me. The experiment showed that I could not even ask the thing due to a restraining influence in me. So, due to the recent pushback from several quarters on the Rapture theology or Dispensationalism, I wondered how so many could have faith in Christ that the Rapture will happen. And there was this passage of scripture. The Rapture can happen in the twinkling of an eye, as Paul tells it, because so many who believe in Jesus have asked in His name for this to happen. Does this go against the will of God? I should think not, as He is not willing that any should perish and God desires that all should repent and come to Him. Does this leave room for some to endure to the end and be saved as in the Olivet Discourse? Yes indeed. Could a person have faith in Jesus for salvation and not believe in the Rapture? This would tend to explain how two can be working together in a field and one taken while the other is left behind, since with any two people both could believe in Jesus. 

So, some believe and use our Lord's powerful promise in one way, while others who believe use it in another way, and yet both are called by the Lord to do this? Sure, the Lord has a variety of workers in the field! 

We all need faith in our Lord Jesus,

Bucky

The Earth Is Full

He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
  -- Psalm 33:5

It does not seem so when we look at the news of the day that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. That the media does not report it does not mean that it is not true. We tend to forget that it may be simply easier to report all the evil in the world. Here in our verse for today we read of two things the Lord loves, and one that He provides to all the earth. Goodness often seems so far away from us, and yet we must not be looking well when the earth is full of it. At times we may wonder how Jesus could stand to be with all the evil He saw in the earth. Maybe He didn't look at that all the time and saw something we struggle to see: an earth full of the goodness of God!

Look with new eyes in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

When We See Him

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
  -- Isaiah 53:2

The tough selection process, the professional makeup and lighting, and somewhere under there was a pretty face already. Are they not beautiful and desirable to the eyes? Yes, we live in a celebrity sort of world. According to the prophecy of Isaiah, Jesus would not even warrant a notice in the casting offices of today. However, Jesus was the living word of God made human, and once He began speaking and healing, people noticed Him. God did not send His Son with a celebrity kind of physical beauty, but He has been celebrated by many for a long time now. When we realize that so many celebrities of the day have nothing more to offer than what they look like, then perhaps we begin to understand why a worldly standard of photogenic beauty just wasn't good enough for God's Son. 

Have a happy day in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

Something So Dangerous

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

You have been handed something powerful. And maybe you and I do not realize yet just how powerful this thing is that we read and quote to one another. We fear any government or corporation having a device that discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. And yet, here is this thing delivered up to us to read and study. Weapons of all types are feared and some would pass laws hoping to eliminate all of them. And here is this thing that divides joints and marrow. And not a person among us could tell us how or where to divide the soul from the spirit. And then there is this:

But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' " Luke 4:4

So, this dangerous thing also provides life to us? No worries though, the word of God belongs to God and He will take care of His word. If someone picks up a Bible and begins shouting it to the streets it will not cause mass carnage. Nor will the word of God 'go off' and hurt someone if found lying around a house as some say a firearm may do. While the word of God does discern thoughts and intents, it does not deliver them up to a secret government database somewhere to be used against us. The word of God is of course based in God Himself and He assures that its use is in faith and love.

Rejoice in the Word of God, it is powerful!

Bucky

A Bit Of Monday Praise

Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” Revelation 19:5

I have heard that you are praising God all the time, and I just wanted to say this morning, "Keep up the good work!" You and I probably don't need any further demands on us this morning, as the Pharisees would lay on us, but we have the strength in Christ to keep on praising our Lord God. Praise tells our God that we acknowledge Him and know of our need for Him. Praise reminds us that we believe in Him and humble ourselves before Him. Each of us likely thinks we rank among the smalls this morning, but God hears the praise from all of us.

So, praise to the Lord God and Father of our Lord Jesus from all of His smalls today!

Bucky

The Hardship Of Waiting

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3

Kakopatheo is the Greek word used here as 'endure hardship' and the notes on it say that it is frequently used for the hardships of military service. Scrolling through the translations of the Bible on the ol' BLB*, some of the newer ones tend to add in the sharing part, while the King James and the NKJV are more individualized. As Paul is writing this second personal letter directly to Timothy, the former makes more sense. However, as a military veteran I also understand the sharing of those hardships together with fellow members of a unit or group. So, yes to both translations as the hardship is both individual and together. Hardship doesn't sound like much fun though.

When we mention hardship, our first vision of military hardship might be of the sweat-dripping private in full forced march mode, draped in body armor with a 60-pound pack and the platoon sergeant's dog Fido perched on top of that pack. The private is toting his rifle and dreaming of using it on poor Fido. While some of that does happen, Fido being a notable exception, much of the hardship comes from waiting. While in the military, one waits in line for many things, waits for classes, waits for formations, waits for someone upstairs to show up with orders (to put it politely), and in combat, spends a lot of time waiting for something to happen or not happen. And it does bear a certain similarity to the return of our Lord Jesus. At times we may preach, sing, pray, testify, and study the word, much of the time we are also waiting for His return.

So, you and me and the Spirit of our Lord, let us endure together the hardship of waiting for the Lord's return!

Bucky

* the website: blueletterbible.org

Are We The Biggest?

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  John 14:1

Today, I come to you from what may well be the largest sect of Christianity. Nope, larger than the Catholic or the Orthodox. Larger even than the sum of the Protestants and the many smaller cults and individuals. Yes, we are the worriers, the very ones Jesus addresses directly with His divine command in our verse for today: Let not your heart be troubled. And yet, there we are in violation of our Lord's commandment: worried. Why are we worried? The most likely causes are looking around at the world, looking at or within ourselves, or looking to our siblings in Christ for reassurance instead of looking to the One who saved us in the first place! The second part of this commandment tells it to us: believe also in Me. By this Jesus removes any doubt that He and God are One. For we know by the scriptures that to worship, trust in, or believe in any but God is to be guilty of idolatry. Therefore to believe in Jesus is to believe in God, or we are not but poor deceived idolaters. And I believe that Jesus my Lord could never command that of anyone! 

So, to me and all of us worriers: It is time to dissolve this awful sect by believing in Jesus and let not our hearts be troubled!

Bucky

What now?

You think you're better than I am,
using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.
-- Job 19:5  NLT

You think you're... and there are a host of judgments we add to those two words and a contraction to make ourselves look smart in our own eyes. When Job used it against his friends, he didn't have to read their minds as they had gone on at length telling him their thoughts. When we use the old you-think-you're, we often base our judgment on sketchy evidence and even mere wishes. Yesterday, we studied a story where the prophet Jeremiah was put in the stocks. He was humiliated but not by any sin he had done. Christians may be humiliated by persecutions, but our great lesson from Jesus and Job is that we cannot judge by the circumstances. So, when someone comes to us for help in a humiliated position, perhaps a bit of prayer would help us to avoid that rush to judgment. And maybe too we can avoid a sharp you think you're so... comment on our character. 

Wonder what made me think of this today? What did I do wrong now? Mayhap it was nothing like that at all!

Love to you in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

The Lord Loves

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous.
  -- Psalm 146:8

The Sun seems to be coming up mighty early today, we must have done that artificial time-change thingy again. As far as I know, cold viruses cannot be passed via the Internet, so y'all don't have anything to worry about this morning from me. On the other hand, the Kleenex tissues have been assaulted by me all weekend long; their little wadded-up corpses piled up in the garbage cans testify to the ferocity of the battle.

So, what else to write about this morning than the love of Jesus our Lord? As we have studied the gospels, we see that the fulfillment of this verse from the psalm is our Lord Jesus. Since you and I want to be loved by Jesus, how do we become one of these righteous ones? The good news is that those are not the only ones our Lord loves, but to become righteous we believe in Him. Obedience to the letter of the law would also seem a way, but the Israelites and especially the Pharisees in our Lord's day proved that was not enough. It is an imputed righteousness from the sacrifice of our Savior on the cross that we have by faith in Him.

Faith in Him. It will seem too simple until that faith is tested!

Bucky

Christian Compression

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13

Christian what? Hmm, yes, Christian compression. Churches can unfortunately become quite proficient at this sort of thing. The pastor presents the molded ideal of the Christian, and then compresses everyone in the congregation to fit that mold. From that compression comes striving one against another, worry, dread, anxiety and depression since all of God's creations do not fit the mold. In these later years, culture has added another form to that mold - physical comeliness. And then one may even hear that there are a limited number of molds! We often fail to recall that the Pharisees had their ideal and 600 traditions to help them attain it, and then failed to recognize the Messiah standing right in front of their upturned noses. It may be that the better one is at fitting the molded ideal of a Christian, the more pride comes to dominate that unfortunate life. And then that one comes to sound like that publican in the parable, "Lord, I'm sure glad I'm not like that awful tax collector!"

Trust in our Lord's salvation. He may grow you too 'big' to fit in a compressed ideal!

Bucky

Why Are You Weeping?

Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” John 20:14-15

First the angels wanted to know why Mary was weeping, then Jesus himself asked the same question: Why are you weeping? Not only do the questions point out that the reason for weeping has gone, but how far Mary is in what she thinks she knows from what is going on. The Proverbs tell us to never rely on what we think we know, and yet we too are in this time of weeping. We have many reasons for this, but like Mary we need to get to the 'He is risen' part. We weep with Timothy when Paul writes that he has finished the race, but Jesus is risen. We weep with one another when a beloved passes on, but...He is risen! We weep over the groaning and the dying in this world, but our Lord is Risen! At times it seems that we have so far to go to get to our risen Lord Jesus, but as Mary found, He is not so far from us.

 

Praise the Lord, He Is Risen!

Bucky

God Is Near To Us

so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;  Acts 17:27

Pardon me a moment while I upset the physicists and correctomizers out there. These past few days I got to experience a bit of the olden times as the early cold snap caught me in the middle of a window replacement project. Yes, I have five single pane windows just like our grandparents did back in the day. And one could actually watch the cold seeping in and freezing ice inside the house on those panes. Today the cold temps are to move on and we will continue the project. And Halloween is over, woohoo! Plus ten months of this year have passed... how did that happen? And, what's with that verse up there? Are you just going to babble away the morning? Beware the writer's babble! It's a thing. 

Paul spoke to the Athenians one day about a particular monument they had there in the Areopagus. And what he said here in our verse for today might cause an unbeliever to have a few hairs stand right up on end. God is not far from each one of us! Sometimes we are led to think that spooks and spectres might be close by. And maybe it's true because they like the company of God too! As we believe in our Savior, let us welcome the company of God near each one of us. 

Have a wonderful new day in God's company!

Bucky