One Active Dead Fellow

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:6

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3

So, according to the Bible there was this period of forty days when a man raised from the dead appeared to more than 500 people. Paul tells us the numbers while Luke wrote in the Acts of the time period. That's a serious crowd and one active dead fellow! Of course, raised to life again, the resurrection, means that He was not dead, but alive. And just to take the tale a bit further out there, it was an angel who asked, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5). And it is this story from the Bible that causes many to refuse to believe. So... the part they have the most difficulty with is not so much about faith, but about believing eye witness testimony? It does seem to all come in a package: if one believes in Jesus first, then one believes all the testimonies too. If another one believes all the witnesses first, then it follows that the one will also next believe in the One they bear witness of, Jesus the Christ.

And we pray for those who choose to believe neither of them!

Bucky

We Are But Sheep

Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
    --Matthew 26:31

Attacking the sheep has been popular among the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this age for a long time. We should expect no different in our time. Not only are we easy to strike, but we tend to go astray with but a slight puff of evil winds. As sheep we are afraid, weak, focused on feeding ourselves, and not always aware of the danger lurking nearby. We also have a Shepherd, and one who has been struck once. 

On the night of our Lord's arrest, His disciples were scattered like the sheep they were. The sheep still tend to scatter and be scattered, but the Shepherd will not be struck again. As the hymn goes, 'He is risen from the dead and He is Lord!' We look to the Lord Jesus our Shepherd to return us to His green pastures. And to those who would scatter us to be devoured we say, "Have you met my Shepherd?" 

Better than a stout big brother, the Lord Jesus our Shepherd!

Bucky

Running To Safe Ground

There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  John 12:2

A supper, or dinner for some, and Martha the servant does her thing. But this is some supper, for the man, Lazarus, had been dead for four days, buried in the family crypt, and is here alive to eat, drink, and tell us of life after the grave? Except that Lazarus is not the biggest elephant sitting down to this meal. Jesus, the one who raised Lazarus from the dead, is there with them. So, who do you really want to talk to and ask questions of?

Quite a few people would answer, "Martha!" Why? That is safe ground. No rising dead people involved, just serving a meal to some guests who dropped by.  Safe ground and safe, denying, explanations for things that shake the ground under our feet is the desire of many. Otherwise they must face a man dead for four days and raised to life again. Does Lazarus have to die again after that? What if he doesn't behave  himself according to the Law during that extra time he got? And what happened to the guy who had the power to raise a dead man to life again? Jesus and Lazarus raise questions of an uncanny nature, and for some it's just safe to go back to Martha serving an evening meal. 

Martha would of course point us back to Jesus, the One who is the Life and the Resurrection!

Bucky

Expectations

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Luke 24:2

Those disciple men may have been slow to get going, but the women got up at the dawn burdened under a certain expectation. This is not surprising given the usual progression of death - funeral, burial, spice 'em up a bit for the smell, and eventually we move on from the dearly departed - had gone on since they were little girls. Then someone went and moved the body, and they were perplexed. And then that unexpected question came, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" How does one answer a question like that?

It is at times like this that an old expectation meets the new wineskin of Jesus with a sort of wet splat. When the women ran to tell the disciples, they too would have one of those I'm-missing-something feelings. It was a strange morning all around, except that Jesus had told them repeatedly what was going to happen with Him. But that old what-we-think-we-know monster had them firmly in its jaws.

Have a great Easter week! Our condolences go out to our Catholic brothers and sisters on the passing of Pope Francis,

Bucky

Directionless Intention

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28

A set of shelves needed to be moved from the garage, and as I finished disassembling them and stacked the pieces (after vacuuming off the creepy tenants that had survived our mild winter), I realized that I had an intention to move the shelves but no real direction. Shelves invite stacks of stuff, and I don't want more in my basement this year as one of my goals remains to simplify, simplify, and simplify. That is not redundant as this simplification involves garage, main floor, and basement. The goal must be broken up into three parts as I have through no fault of my own entered the first floor of that building known as Old. This lack of direction brought to mind the disciples again on this day.

In their time this week, this day would be the Sabbath after Jesus died on the cross and was buried by Joseph and Nicodemus. The disciples had made their way back to the upper room and probably barred the door and stationed their more capable members to stand guard. Not that any of them were old and weak like me, they having just followed their rabbi in a tramp of some three years over Galilee, Syria, Judea, and parts of Samaria. However, on this day they had no direction. The women were preparing spices and fragrant oils for the body of Jesus, but these eleven capable men were not sure what to do after the Sabbath. How can we know this? Well, the next morning it was the women who got things going by taking their grave mixture to an empty tomb. The Bible does not say it, but we would not be surprised if the Mary's did try to get some of the men to go with them. 

A bit chilly here this morning, I hope your Easter warms up!

Bucky

He Told You

Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Luke 23:56

Resting gives much time for thinking, and each year at this time I wonder what those who had followed Jesus for 3 years or more were thinking on this Sabbath. Were they doubting like Thomas, denying like Peter, or just plain lost? We know from the scriptures the disciples and other followers had been scattered at the arrest of Jesus. However, at some point they began to gather again from the four points of the compass to which they had fled. And they waited. Did anyone mention the three days Jesus had spoken of before this all happened? Were the religious authorities satisfied at the death of Jesus or were they coming for the rest of the gang? That morning after this Sabbath rest held a great many questions for the followers of the former rabbi from Nazareth. And then someone came back and said that she had seen Jesus, the risen Lord!

No doubt that woke 'em up!

Bucky

Believe Him

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40

One of the many 'faith tests' in the scriptures comes from those days and nights we count on our fingers from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday, and come up short in our counting. We can talk about Passover and what day of that week it began, or how the crowds in Jerusalem necessitated an extension to maybe Thursday, or this, that, or the other thing. We might even discuss how our day names come from pagan deities. But a couple of things about the Crucifixion of my Lord Jesus and His Resurrection come to mind. Counting on my fingers and naming days will not save me, but believing my Lord Jesus will. Therefore I suggest: believe Him.

And we went rejoicing in our faith in Jesus!

Bucky

If Only They Had Been Told

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. John 14:10-11

Wednesday morning of Passion Week, and we wake up to wonder where Jesus and the disciples were at that time almost two thousand years ago. It is quite possible that at least one of the followers of the Christ were pondering the verses we read today on that morning long ago, maybe Philip the one who had asked to be shown the Father. Although the timing of events to days of the week can be difficult for us, it may be that at this point even Judas was still one of the boys, Jesus had not been arrested, and the big booting out of Rome would happen any day now, they thought. But, Jesus had already spoken the Word, and all was going according to God's plan. The happy moment of the triumphal entry was a couple of days back, and soon those things Jesus had said more than once would come to pass would begin. The disciples of Messiah woke up to begin their day.

They were told, but they did not understand.

Bucky

Not The Usual Week

A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.  John 16:16

Holy Week and Passion Week are names for this week before the Easter holy day. But back in the day that it was lived, the week was simply another Passover celebration. In the same way that it is difficult for someone close to the action to come up with a clever name for the time, so it was with the disciples when Jesus threw out this statement in our verse today. They were completely baffled by what Jesus said, even though this was not the first time that He had told them what was to happen to Him in the coming week. The twelve disciples could not brainstorm a memorable name for the week because they could not yet understand that His prophecy was quite literal and immediate in its fulfillment. They would not have long to wait though. As we like to say, by this time next week they would understand. 

Well, except for Judas who did not give himself the time to see the fulfillment, and maybe Thomas who just had to have that physical encounter first.

Rejoice in the Risen Christ this week!

Bucky

We Still Have Prayer

Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
  -- Psalm 27:9

David the king of Israel had his conflicts too. And, he turned to God in prayer. While we also work to settle our conflicts with one another, we too must turn to our Lord God in prayer. This current conflict we face is not the first time God has heard the prayers of two or more of His children who all believed themselves in the right. Nations, including this one, have fought civil wars with believers on both sides praying to God for victory. We are not always in the right, they are not always in the right, but God alone is always in the right. Therefore, as long as we all go to God in prayer, resolution will come to us all by His sovereign grace.

The road we must walk to get there may not be easy though...

Bucky

Judge Over You?

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” Luke 12:13-14

We ask at times the question, what would Jesus do? And the scriptures do give the answer to us, probably more often than we may think. In this case one brother asks the Lord to take his side in a civil matter. Jesus doesn't. There goes an expectation down in flames! You mean the Lord Jesus did not come to take your side or mine? Nope, sorry. He came to do as His Father in Heaven told Him to do. So, does that mean Jesus left civil matters up to us to work out? Oh yes, and even a commandment on that to make every effort to come to a settlement before we are drug into court. Plus, if to court it must be, then we have commandments on cloaks and tunics, and turning the other cheek.

Working things out between us works! Especially when we do it in His love.

Bucky

Listening To Us

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25

It began when Jesus was but 12 years old in Luke 2, this thing of people listening in to the Good News that He brought. Or, you might say it began with Sarah listening in as the angel told Abram she would bear him a son way back in Genesis. People will keep their ears open for news that concerns themselves and their future. In our verse for today, some prisoners had a new thing show up in the midst of their tedium and they listened. How we talk and what we speak of will be heard by the world, and we must be careful of what we say. If we sound much like the world does, then they will quickly tune us out as more irrelevant noise. And in our age, this ability to tune out excess noise grows with each passing moment and generation. So, if we gripe and moan over things like everyone else, why would they listen to us? If our speech is rife with those worldly words and phrases, why hear us? But if we sound different from the other prisoners as Paul and Silas did, then we have a good news message going out to the world.

Therefore, rejoice in the Lord always!

Bucky

Territorial Turf Talk

Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. 2 Corinthians 10:16 NLT

From the distance of time it is possible to think of the mid-first century as a time of lovely cooperation in the early church with mutual support among the followers of the Way. We almost hate to find out that they were people much like us. At the point of our verse for today, Paul the apostle has to address some territorial turf talk in the church. Because with the Roman authority coming down on them, the Jewish religious leaders trying to end them, and all the other dangers of life on the road in the first century, why not trash talk your fellow Christ-ones too? It seems here that Paul must answer and defend himself against accusations of taking credit for another's work. Boasting, work, territory? Is this some sort of sales competition?

Alas, some days the greatest danger to the Good News is the lips in the church itself. May God have mercy on His sheep!

Bucky

Simple Instructions

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.  Matthew 24:4

Throughout the gospels we get simple instructions from Jesus that are so awfully difficult to implement every day and every moment. This particular response from our Lord today came from the disciples asking about our Lord's return and the end of days. We are interested in those things as well. The whole Covid thing may have helped to bring about that resurgence in what is called eschatology, or study of the final events in human history. Which is an interesting study given that we only have prophecy to go on and those signs. It's not like we can look at those events in hindsight after all. Taking heed that no one deceives us means that deception will run rampant in this area, and it may come from well-meaning people too. 

So carefully and scripturally study the end times prophecies, and with much prayer! 

Bucky

The Others

But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13:8

It's April and that means spring is underway, in some places more than others. That is my painfully obvious observation today for those readers currently living under big rocks. As for you others, we can see from our verse for today that it is not a bad thing to be an 'other' sometimes. Of the seeds the farmer planted in the four soils parable, these others fell on good ground and produced a bumper crop. Not all the same though. It seems that even in the good soil there were differences in circumstances for each of the seeds. But then the little plant popped up from the soil, looked around and said, "Good soil? No way, I must be planted among the thorns!"

We must trust the Farmer, our Lord Jesus, no matter what it looks like from our view.

Bucky

The Annoyance Test

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. James 1:2,3

Head down, mind bent on the task at hand, and an interruption arrives. Grr, and thus begins the testing of your faith. It is not persecution or even scoffing, but it is the annoyance test and how often ya fail at it! Sometimes it does seem as if the Lord God has provided a particular person or several to specifically get on that side of you most likely to react with annoyance. It is a personality quirk, a mannerism, a habit learned from another region or nation, that seems to burrow under your skin of peaceful intent and disrupt all manner of inner workings leading to annoyance, and if you are not careful, an outburst of anger or even rage. It is not hard to imagine that someone has died from causing annoyance at some point in the story of us.

Why us though, have we not already believed in Jesus? Well, that is the point, dear believer! According to James, the trial that just walked in your door to cause that annoyance is a part of the fertilizer applied to the soil of the heart to grow the Spirit's fruit of patience in us.

Now go out there and be annoyed!

Bucky

Where Do We Seek Comfort

And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand.  1 Samuel 18:10

Saul and a distressing spirit, we know where that spear will go at least one time! Here in this verse we find a couple of methods or means we use to seek comfort in the world, music and weapons.  Comfort, we need it in this disturbing world. Many ways and means have been used, but all of them will need to be used over and over again. And that includes prayer. While prayer to God our Father should be our first recourse to comfort, we cannot get by with just one. God wants to hear from you and me, so He made it so that one quick prayer dashed off to Him like a quick text to someone we don't really want to talk to won't do it for constant comfort. 

So seek out the deep prayer, the immersive prayer... the prayer where we don't fall asleep, maybe? Although useful at bedtime, the falling asleep prayer should not be the only one we keep with God and His Son each day. Prayer training? Yes, it may seem strange, but if we want to get better at a thing, we need to train.

Have a prayerful week in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Not Understanding

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. John 12:16

The triumphal entry into Jerusalem and our Lord's last week before His death on the cross, and His disciples didn't get it. John confesses some years later in his gospel writing that the group of disciples who had been with Jesus for so long, did not understand Him. One of them would even die shortly of a guilt-ridden conscience gained in actions that show he understood Jesus least of all of them. So... how are we doing at understanding our Lord Jesus?

To borrow a line from Paul, there is therefore now no condemnation from us to those long ago disciples since we are still working on understanding all there is of our Lord's Word just as they did. Our only advantage is that some of it already happened, and those disciples were kind enough to pass it on down to us.

Love and joy to you in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

Wine, Folly, And Wisdom

I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. Ecclesiastes 2:3

Wine and folly? Whoa, king, better ease up there! In the Bible there are many to-do's, but sometimes we come upon a to-don't. It may be better for us to see how King Solomon with his famous wisdom came out in this experience before we take up wine and folly together. It takes little experience with wine to know that too much of it brings on folly, and then wisdom is out the window! Solomon likely knew all that before he began this experiment. Read on in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs to see what the king discovered in his God-given discernment about many of the earthly things we seek out.

God's love and mercy to you,

Bucky

Remember His Name

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
  -- Psalm 20:7

It may be easy for us to remember all of the things we have trusted in this life that have let us down. Or perhaps that list has grown too long to recall every one of them. Of all the names we have forgotten in this life, there is one we must remember: the name of the Lord our God. His name is Jehovah, but in prayer Jesus said to address Him as 'Abba'. We need His name since we do not just pray, we pray to the Lord our God. Some in the movies and shows just toss a prayer out there. We want the Lord our God to answer, and not just any old spirit who happens to be floating by when we toss one up. And so Jesus started us with, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." (Matthew 6:9)

Have a wonderful prayer, or two or three, with our dear Father God today!

Bucky

Save The Gentiles?

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  John 3:17

Saved: a lot of people in our Lord's time thought that this meant rescue from the Romans, followed by a return to prominence on the world stage. But Jesus did not come to replace one empire with another. He came to save God's world. And the Lord's people were rather shocked to see this meant saving the despised Samaritans, the Roman occupiers, and all manner of Gentile dogs. That does not mean our canines, but the 1st century Judean derogatory term for our Gentile ancestors. To the people of the covenant, it was bizarre, strange and just plain weird that one claiming to be the Son of God would want to save them, people not even of the Law.

But for our part, we are glad and grateful that Jesus came to save all the world!

Bucky

God So Loved

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Yesterday's message was pretty horrible, so I thought to remind us all of that central statement of the Bible. While there are many difficult prophecies yet to be fulfilled, God's love by way of His Son gives to those who believe just what we long for, everlasting life. We need to go back to this frequently as our watch on world events for signs of the end is a wearisome task, and we shall see horrors come to pass. When this happens, recall God's love and His Son, Jesus the Christ. Note that God's love and His gift came before we believed.

When that belief came, we rejoiced in Him!

Bucky

A Plague Comes

And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem:

Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
  -- Zechariah 14:12

Horror movies have nothing over the Bible for sheer horror. This plague was portrayed, with all its horror, in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark when an evil Nazi dude looked in the opened Ark of the Covenant. We might think we will like it when the bad guys get their just desserts, but this may just be too much to wish on anyone. Prophecy is not about what we or the prophet likes or dislikes. Those who received the word of God had to foretell some tough things. However, contained in this prophecy is the key to avoiding it: Don't fight against Jerusalem!

Seems almost too simple! Rejoice in the Lord always,

Bucky

The Hope Of Believing In Him

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. John 17:20

One of the great battles of all times comes in trying to turn human hearts to belief in Jesus. We read of the fight in our Lord's first disciples when He told them plainly that He would be given to the Gentiles, killed, but rise again. The disciples heard it, paused for a moment, and then wondered how to gain a prominent position in His new kingdom. They didn't believe in Him, and they couldn't yet believe His words. So, if these special twelve could not believe, what hope do we have? In this little bit of our Lord's prayers on that night before He was given up to the religious authorities, we read that those disciples would continue to spread His good news and that there would be those who will believe through those words.

Praise God, we are willing to believe in Jesus, His Son!

Bucky

God Is Just

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3

John 3:16 speaks of God's love and believing in His Son for eternal life. This verse speaks of knowing God and His Son Jesus for eternal life. Therefore we understand that knowing and believing in God and Jesus must be closely related. And indeed, without believing in Jesus it seems that a reading of the Old Testament will leave one feeling that God is mean. However, with belief in Jesus we read and see that it is God's justice that many confuse with meanness. With the Law of Moses, Israel made a contract with God. And everything the nation suffered was a consequence of their sin or punishment according to the terms of their contract. Repent and be restored was the message from God by way of the prophets for hundreds of years. Then God sent His Son, and still most of Israel would not believe. We enjoy a time when Gentiles will believe in Jesus, but God is not done with Israel just yet.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Bucky

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Working In Us

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  Philippians 2:12-13

Working out our salvation will not work without the work of God in us. Thar' be a lot o' workin' in that thar' verse! Yup, a pirate more than many occupations might recognize the tremendous amount of work that goes into taking a lost sheep and making it a warrior for the gospel of Christ. Paul speaks in another letter of taking up the full armor of God, and who has ever heard of an armored sheep? Clearly many changes will be effected in and on those sheep to become fully armored warriors wielding the sword of the Word. 

Behind the shield of faith the making of a warrior continues,

Bucky

So He Is

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. John 13:13

My searches for a verse tend toward the even numbered chapters in John, so I made some effort to not avoid the great food in the odd numbered chapters the last couple of days. Here is one for today that refutes again the old argument that Jesus never said he was God. One must stretch it to the breaking point to avoid the "for so I am" part of this verse. Some folks will do it though. This verse for today is part of that great lesson the Teacher and Lord gave to us for seeking to be servants, and not just any servant but the lowest of servants, the foot washer. It is not hard to imagine that most Christians know the servant lesson, but have in mind for themselves a place as the chief servant, or head of the vineyard for an absent owner, or maybe a position similar to their ideal job here in this life. No, the lesson clearly was to do the lowest jobs, like the one the Son of God did for His disciples that night.

It is not an easy lesson to put into practice!

Bucky

Cast Out

They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out. John 9:34

Our verse for today comes from the story of the man blind from birth, healed by Jesus, and cast out of the synagogue by the Pharisees. Now getting cast out of the synagogue was a bit more serious than we are used to. If we were cast out of one church even in a rural town, we could go to another one. We would also maintain membership in various clubs around the town. We might even take up college classes to further our education. For the formerly blind man, the synagogue was all these things rolled up into one. Losing his membership might also make it difficult for him to find work, which he could now do. But since this man now has new knowledge, he could do as the Pharisees suggested and become a teacher from the Word of God! Hmm, okay, maybe suggestion is a strong word for what they said. Is it just me, or does anyone else think it would be funny for the Pharisees to find the formerly blind man teaching Scripture classes in the town square?

There are times when a casting out is the start of a new and wonderful thing for us, especially if it comes from having Jesus open our eyes.

Blessings to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

The Guide

For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death.
  -- Psalm 48:14

In something you have not done before it can be a great help to have a guide. In the circumstances of the world one may choose to be a mean guide and teach by hazing or mocking, but I think most of us would prefer the knowledgeable guide who teaches patiently with kindness.

A ship comes to mind as an example of what can be an intimidating situation. If a person comes from a rural town, a cruise ship may be the largest structure he or she has seen in this lifetime. Plus lurking in the dread part of their mind will be the knowledge that once the ship casts off from the pier, there will be some supports left behind. On the first cruise it can help to have a guide; someone who has taken the trip before, maybe even several times. That guide will know things that we need to learn this first time out.

And that is where our verse today comes to us. The Spirit given by Jesus is now our guide on this first time through life. God will guide us back to Himself by way of His Son.

Guided in Him!

Bucky

The Better Word?

And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. John 14:29

John 14 remains one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. However, my favorite does not mean that it is better for me than say, John 13 or 15. We can read even in our verse for today that something our Lord foretold had to come to pass before the disciples would even believe it or in Jesus. Thus even as a favorite chapter of mine, it does me no good if, like the disciples, I do not believe.

It has come up a lot lately in discussion that some think parts of the Word of God better than others. Again, while one of us may have favored verses, passages, and chapters of scripture, that alone does not make them better than our less favored books or stories in the Bible. I like the Christmas stories every year, but without the horrors of the scourging and the shame of our Savior on the Cross, what good would the Nativity do for me or anyone else? We have the better word, it begins with Genesis and reads through the Revelation, and in it all is Jesus our Lord!

Thank You, dear God, for Your Word!

Bucky

Yet Who Knows?

For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

It's a famous verse, been used here before, in many sermons and devotionals, and in a movie or two. What do we like about it? Perhaps it is the uncertainty Esther had to face with only faith in God to help her. She was queen and yet she did not know whether the king would hold out his scepter or let her go to her death. No doubt that moment in the movie had a dramatic pause for a little tension building. Faith is a difficult journey with lots of those moments of uncertainty. Most of them do not involve mortal peril for us, but a lack of faith certainly holds spiritual peril for us (pun certainly intended).

Believe in Jesus, and at times you will face the delicious pain of uncertainty!

Bucky

The Only Stranger In Jerusalem

Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” Luke 24:18

Now there is an interesting thought, the only stranger in Jerusalem being the Son of God, the One who wants to save Jerusalem. But in verse 16, it tells us that their eyes were restrained from seeing the risen Lord Jesus. Cleopas is astounded that this stranger on the road, who inserts himself into their conversation, doesn't seem to know anything about what went on there the past few days. As we read of Jesus after His rising on that Sunday morning, we might just detect a bit of fun going on. He appears to the gathered disciples behind locked doors, he disappears from a meal faster than He entered it, He provides another miraculous catch of fish on the Sea of Galilee, and just pops in and out all around Jerusalem for 40 days. Well, if He had a bit of fun, then He certainly deserved it in my estimation. While He did it though, He also opened the eyes of the spiritually blind to the scriptures concerning Himself.

Keep on reading the Word, He will become clear to you as well!

Bucky

A Fair Wind Blowing

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

Accustomed to the hyperbole and bombast of the social media age, I tend to marvel at how the writers of the Bible present remarkable events in rather unremarkable language. But then one thinks about it. The Word became flesh. Imagine for a moment that every word you or I spoke became a little creature hopping about the house. Little living beings that need care and provision to continue their little lives. It would shut a person up right quick! Okay, now that I have weirded out our Monday, John has some more words for us in this verse for today. 

God's word has glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, John writes. Glory would of course be quite remarkable. And the only begotten of the Father is full of a couple of things we need in this age, grace and truth. The Word of God seems a precious gift now, not unremarkable at all. And still the language is calm, peaceful even, and not like what we read these days in political discourse. 

A fair wind blows from Heaven, let us catch it in our sails!

Bucky

The Word Was There

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Hebrews 11:7

In yesterday's message we saw how the number of instances of the word faith pointed to its importance in the New Testament. Included among those are the stories in Hebrews 11, such as the one about Noah we read today. That faith as a word did not occur many times in the Old Testament does not mean that active faith was not there. What Hebrews 11 points out to us is that while no one may have said, "faith" at a particular time, they showed faith in the Lord God by believing what He said and acting on it.

The word was there, and so was the Word!

Bucky

Living Faith

Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.
  -- Habakkuk 2:4

Woohoo! My first accomplishment of note for today, I spelled Habakkuk's name correctly on the first try. A search on the word 'faith' in the NKJV of the Bible produces an interesting story in itself. Moses laments in his song that the children of Israel were perverse and had no faith. Then we see the prophet (So I don't have to spell it again!) telling us of living faith. And we read the verse and don't want to be proud, since who wants to have their soul not upright in them, but wonder how to become just. In the New Testament, Jesus brings the faith in an interesting dance of contrast between His disciples with their little faith and people popping up out of seemingly nowhere with great faith, faith that has made them well, such great faith, and more. Not to worry for the disciples though, after His death on the cross and the resurrection, faith abounds in Luke's record of the Acts of the Apostles. How important does faith become? Two times it occurs in the Old Testament, 243 times used in the New Testament. And Paul comes to that just conclusion we are looking for:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1

Have faith, and live it in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Who Can This Be?

So they watched him closely, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. Mark 3:2

All those pronouns, who can this be? We can glean a few clues without much effort. He has the ability to heal people, but is it only on one day each week? He also has enemies or competitors who want to accuse him, and they are monitoring him. With the citation of the book and verse, we can learn easily that this is Jesus being watched, and that the watchers are the Pharisees using a cloak of legality hoping to turn good works of healing into crimes. Strangely, if just one of them remembered the law of neighborly love (Leviticus 19:18), would he have wanted the suffering man to suffer one more minute, much less to suffer until the next day? Of course we know from further study that these Pharisees cared not a bit about the man's withered hand, but wanted only to destroy Jesus.

If we had nothing more to go on than these first six verses of Mark 3, we could still see that something was quite rotten in the Pharisees, and that Jesus had a wonderful healing ministry. Who can this be?

Bucky

Resting Quietly

So they answered the Angel of the LORD, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly.”  Zechariah 1:11

A report comes back from the field, all quietly resting. We would call that unusual from our experience thus far in life. There always seems to be someone enduring war around the world. Centuries from this verse we read today, our new presidential administration seems to be trying to bring the wars to a rest. Will that be a successful effort? Too early to tell, but perhaps these horsemen from Zechariah will be able to do another report like this one. However, this report came after 70 years of the Lord's anger at Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. The angel asked the Lord how long His mercy might last against that anger. We might well ask the same question of our Lord, as if the judgement of the Lord as read in the Revelation of Jesus were only held back by the great dam of His mercy. 

As with any dam failure, it may be a long time coming but it happens suddenly at the end. Maybe our prayers will help to shore up the dam of our Lord's mercy. It cannot hurt to try. 

Pray for mercy, saints of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

God Will Know

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” Mark 10:21

The rich man went home to consider for a bit, and decided to throw the big sale Jesus had told him to do. He inventoried, cataloged, priced, and hauled his goods to the auctioneer's warehouse, but then he saw that he would need part of the proceeds to repair a part of his house. He also found out that pricing goods for an auction was a waste of time, since that ain't how it works. But, there was no problem until he titled the sale, The Treasure in Heaven Sale in the advertising. Of course, people knew the story from the Bible and assumed that all proceeds would go to the poor. When the auctioneer warned the man that keeping back part of the proceeds for another purpose might cause some hard feelings, he was able to internalize and rationalize and come up with a way to justify it to himself. And the sale proceeded under that not so truthful advertising.

You will recognize a variation of the sin part of the story of Ananias and Sapphira from the Book of Acts. If you have some church in your past, you will also know how that story ends for the less than forthright couple. If not, then I'll spoil it for you, Ananias and Sapphira get buried at the end. Of course we have learned that if we are going to sell to lay up treasure in heaven, then we do it, give it, and keep quiet about it; God will know that we did it, and that is all we need.

Thank you for enduring my little story today!

Bucky

A Simple Question Of Misunderstanding

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” John 2:20

It seemed to the Jews in our verse today that Jesus had said something so far out there that they could not help but point out the obvious error in his statement. They tendered to our Lord a simple question of misunderstanding. However, we can see that this question shows just how far from understanding who had come to the temple that day these Jews were. By their question, they try to show how right they were and how wrong the Son of God was. Well when you say it that way... They did not believe in Jesus, therefore they could not understand who stood in the temple with them.

Jesus stands behind a wall of misunderstanding, holding out His mighty hand through a little hole in that wall and hoping someone will take hold of it by faith. The ignorance of the world tells us we cannot fit through that hole, but faith tells us that Jesus will take care of any barrier, no matter how strong it may lo0k from the wrong side.

Bucky

Manifesting By His Word

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” John 14:22

With Judas being another common name at the time, John makes it a point to give us a 'not that one' when identifying this disciple. After the betrayal of our Lord, I'm sure this Judas appreciated that very much. However, it is the question we want to concern ourselves with this morning from our verse.

In one sense of the word, Jesus had manifested Himself to everyone who had eyes to see Him. But by the prophecy of Isaiah 53, Jesus did not appear to be God, or even a god to the eyes of the world. To perceive the manifestation of God, Jesus gives the key in His response: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word." This is why we study the Bible with steadfast perseverance! The Bible is His word recorded for us and kept through the ages to read and study. To keep it means that we do not bury it in the backyard in a waterproof box, but we read, study, pray, and apply it to life and living.

Keep His word!

Bucky

The Translocation Temptation

So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
  -- Psalm 55:6

David felt it too, that temptation to relocate himself from the place of his problems to a place he imagines to be free from them. We have seen it in stories and movies, and we will feel it this week in the cold places thanks to the polar vortex thingy. If I/we just get somewhere other than here, then things will be all better. You may notice a certain similarity to our desire to be done with this place and in heaven with Jesus. However until His time comes for that reunion, we must learn to be content here, right where we are, and in Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We also have a mission to spread the good news of our Lord. We have place and we have purpose, let's forget that temptation to just fly away from it all. David concludes verse 22 in that fashion with:

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Bucky

Sustained By The Lord

Cast your burden on the LORD,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
  -- Psalm 55:22

Times of trouble, tribulation, and terror will come. David in this great psalm expresses several things in his complaint that would each be enough for us to cry out to the Lord. In verses 4 and 5, David's heart is severely pained within him, the terrors of death have fallen upon him, plus fearfulness and trembling and horror too! One thing we can often take away from David's anxiety psalms is a sense of maybe I don't have it so bad as I think. Of course we can also read how one of God's anointed kings had exactly what we feel at times.

As David continues through his psalm, we read of a desire to fly away from it all, and to wander the wilderness away from the problems the world has heaped upon him. Then he goes to anger and prays for the Lord's destruction to come upon the enemies. In the midst of this David presents a promise that we can use: "As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me." and our verse for today. Burdens of troubles will come upon us all in seasons, yes, often when the weather is flirting with extremes. I mean, why shouldn't the world's weather give us a good kick when we are crushed under other burdens?

The answer is always to come to the Lord; where we can say, "I am sustained by the Lord!"

Bucky

When There Is Slippage

But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.  Revelation 2:14

No one would pay attention to a teacher who was obviously corrupt. Er, unless one wanted to learn corruption that is. What we have today in our verse is a moral slippage in Pergamos, known to us as the compromising church. The church there did not start out corrupt, and the change likely was not obvious. They quite likely slipped down through some layers until they were teaching corrupt doctrine. When the Lord brings up Balaam, we know that money is part of this slippage, and He further mentions idolatry and sexual immorality. 

It happens in our day as well. You probably don't have to think hard to recall a church scandal in the news. Whatever sin ended up making the headline, it began with moral slippage, probably in several areas. In the old days they called it backsliding, but it comes to the same thing, a compromise with the moral laws from way back in the Old Testament. 

So, watch out! 

Bucky

Bubba's Back!

Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.  Acts 2:23-24

A few years ago, Bubba passed peacefully in his sleep at home. Bubba's relatives held a nice funeral and said farewell to the dearly departed. Then last month Bubba sent us all an invitation to connect on social media, and then a friend request! Bubba's back! 

For all the advances we can claim in this world, our most persistent 'resurrection' comes to us by way of the Internet. Profiles of the dearly departed reach out to us to reconnect and be friends. Email messages invite us to purchase things from the dead. And maybe we could let Bubba rest in peace but for those videos that website algorithm wants us to watch. 

Long before the Internet or social media, Peter preached of a man who did not remain in his tomb. He and many others testified of this resurrection through all manner of persecution. Their words were written down and published, and that testimony endured through all manner of attempts to destroy it. Today, you and I are heirs of this faith, and we testify of the risen Lord Jesus we believe in. 

Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

Waiting On The Shepherd

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. John 2:24-25

Oof, this sounds just like Jesus saw us. We are born hiding from our God in shame, just like Adam and Eve after they ate of the forbidden tree. What, you don't recall any shame before the Spirit of God began to convict you in church that time? Well yes, like these people here, we are ignorant of our fallen condition. Most of us probably thought ourselves good and decent people at one time. Perhaps we even thanked God that we were not like those other folk, the tax collectors and sinners. Until we first came to realize our lost-ness, is it any wonder that Jesus did not commit Himself to us? But once the sheep knew itself as lost... then the Good Shepherd rushed to save the little sheep.

With joy we wait on the return of our Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God!

Bucky

Go Fish

But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you. Matthew 17:27

We have many serious messages for these serious times from the Bible, but once in a while it is nice to have a story that is maybe not so serious. Jesus sends Simon fishing to get a coin to pay the temple tax for both of them. And by the use of a fishhook, Jesus only wants Simon to get the one fish, not a bunch of fish in a net. Jesus had also just explained to Simon that the Son was free from taxes. We also know that someone in the group of disciples kept the purse for their needs. We could try to list all that Jesus had to know about the fish, coin, hook, time, place, Simon, and other things to bring this all together, but we don't have all day. At this time, Jesus didn't want to offend the temple tax collectors in Capernaum. So He sent Simon to go fish, for just one fish, that was cruising the Sea of Galilee with the correct coin for two temple taxes in its mouth. I'm sorry, perhaps I'm just an odd sort of oddball, but this story always makes me laugh.

Have a peaceful and loving weekend in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

Believe Also In Him

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

Troubling things in your life? I don't even have to ask, we all have things we can be troubled over. However, we have this command from Jesus, "Let not your heart be troubled." That is not a suggestion or open to interpretation, but a command. So how do we obey this command in a world where anxiety, dread, worry, and fear are heaped upon us every moment? Jesus gives that to us next, "believe also in Me," a command to give us strength for His first command in this verse.

The disciples hearing this had grown up believing in God from their earliest childhood. Jesus here shows them that He is equal to God and that He is God. We know this because Jesus had also told them that no one could serve two masters. Jesus here was not offering another master to them, but letting them know that God stood before them as the Son of Man.

Believe also in Jesus.

Bucky

Two Powers

Now see that I, even I, am He,
And there is no God besides Me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
  -- Deuteronomy 32:39

Usually I search the Blue Letter Bible website for a verse of the day, but this one caught me when I saw their verse of the day. I note with some sadness that in trying to usurp God's place with their disobedient eating from the forbidden tree, Adam and Eve gained a couple of powers in this verse - killing and wounding. However, it was brought to their fallen hearts when Cain killed Abel that they lacked that next important power of God, making their child alive again. 

To live again is the great dream of those facing death, but only God can make us live again. But do not despair! That He will do it was shown when Jesus rose again from death and the grave. What great and difficult task must we accomplish to gain that life? Oh, just believe in Jesus, the Son of God. (John 3:16)

Bucky

Yes, You May

But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Mark 14:28

At times I will, with some amusement, read of a will or stated wish that there be no funeral after a person passes. As if that person has some say in the matter after they are gone. (Usually they do, but only because the next of kin are too polite to refuse.) After Jesus calls me home, yes, you may have a funeral or not, throw a wake, toss rocks at my coffin, or whatever you may need to mourn. Bury my rotting corpse upside down if you want; Jesus and I will laugh with you from Heaven. Speaking of Jesus, how do you plan a funeral when He speaks our verse for today? "Okay, folks, we have a short time to hold this funeral, after that He said we will have to catch up to Him in Galilee!" Chasing down the former corpse probably put a damper on their funeral plans.

He has risen, forget the mourning!

Bucky

Healed At The Source

Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.' ”​ 2 Kings 2:21

We are with the prophet Elisha in the scripture today, and he has come to a place with bad water. At their complaint, Elisha requests a new bowl and some salt in it. He dumps the salt in the water at the source and declares it healed. That's all they needed to do? A bowl of salt? It would be easy to focus on the salt and new bowl, perhaps even on the declaration, and forget the most important part: "Thus says the Lord." Without the word of God, a little salt in the water will make a little of the water salty. With His word, the Lord God heals the source of the water.

There are some salty words flowing from a lot of sources in our day. We need the healing of the Lord God at the source. Pray for that healing.

Bucky

The Night Watch

When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
  -- Psalm 63:6

Meditating instead of sleeping? Must be David. Why would the man lay awake at night in place of restful sleep? One reason came to me last night, one of those frightening dreams called a nightmare. By morning I don't even recall what it was that frightened me so, but it did come right at midnight. What words of comfort came to my trembling mind? I may be an empty vessel, but my Lord Jesus is a pouring pitcher of love!

There is something about a nightmare in the dead of night, a worry that awakens us at two, or that thing that just went 'bump!' in the night that brings us fearfully to God in immediate and even urgent prayer. That may be the only thing we can do in such a case as the bump is often never identified, the worry turns out to be worthless, and taking a swing or two at the nightmare is just ridiculous. Praise God that He is there for those who come to Him scared as a little child from the nothing of a nightmare. Of course when we are in a nightmare, it ain't nothing!

Have a peaceful day in Christ Jesus,

Bucky

A Story Too Good

And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob's heart stood still, because he did not believe them. Genesis 45:26

Poor old Jacob's heart stopped from too much good news. It happens throughout the Bible; good news is presented but it is too much for someone to believe. We even have a saying in these latter years about something seeming too good to be true. The problem often starts much further back with the telling of a lie, the old false witness thing. In the case of Joseph, his brothers had put on a little show with some blood and a certain colorful cloak that led Jacob to reach a dreadful conclusion. When years later he was presented with a different story of life, Jacob just couldn't take it in as quickly as he had the false news of death.

We bear a story of eternal life in Christ. Be patient with the unbelievers. For raised in a world of death, the good news of Jesus may sound just too good to be true at first.

Bucky

Ending In Death

They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.  Revelation 20:9

A thousand years of the glorious reign of Christ on this earth have passed and the deceiver is let out for a little time. The result? An attack on the beloved city and the camp of the saints. Of course it ends horribly for them. What did they think would happen? That is the nature of deception though, something else was promised to the deceived and they go forward with the assault. Why did they believe the false promise? Something important was missing in those deceived, and the deceptions of the Enemy seemed to fill up that space with a good feeling. 

From experience we can guess what that feels like - a feeling of power, being in control, deciding for ourselves what is right or wrong, and that we are pretty cool dudes or dudettes just like God. It was in other words just what Adam and Eve were looking for in that forbidden fruit. The deception that worked in Eden will be what works at the end of the thousand years. And it will end in the same death; only that this last time God is done giving the good news of Jesus His Son, and the fire comes immediately. 

Don't try to wait it out, believe in Jesus now and be filled with the Spirit!

Bucky

Shine On The Love

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

In times of outrage or extreme views it can be tough for us to continue shining the love of Jesus. In a time of gathering darkness, you may fear to light your light that feels in your trembling hand like an old D-cell flashlight, the one with the easily breakable bulb and weak batteries. However, the light Jesus gave to you is much more than that and is connected to an inexhaustible power supply in the Lord. And the darker it gets outside, the brighter that light will shine. Faith also tells us that as weak and breakable as we may feel, the light we shine comes not from us but from the love of Jesus in us. 

So let the love light given to us from Jesus shine on,

Bucky

Dodging Spears

Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
  -- Psalm 54:2

Reading the historical notes at the start of this psalm, we see that David was not writing psalms in a comfy chair by the fireside in a well-guarded palace. The anointed and future king of Israel was in hiding from the current king, Saul. And some people had ratted him out. David turned to the Lord our God in prayer. 

Our transitions of power from one president to the next, noisy as they are in the media and social media, are tame by comparison to ancient Israel. David's anointing by the prophet Samuel did not place the big chair in Jerusalem under his young buttocks. Years of fighting, running, dodging spears, and going hungry would come before David could sit on the throne of Israel. Although God had rejected Saul as king, He didn't remove him from the throne and the power that came with it. David would have to wait for quite some time for his triumphal entry. 

We await the return of the King of kings and Lord of lords. But be ready for some opposition to Him, even though He too has been anointed already. 

May the love of the Lord Jesus Christ be always on your mind,

Bucky

Both Sides Need Him

Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Luke 3:3 NIV

Okay, now that both sides have wielded the presidential pardon, can we give the rhetoric a rest on social media? No? After this last election season I wasn't sure it was possible, but now I see the effect of the word redouble on political social media posts. Since that won't go away, time to change to a quieter subject, John the Baptizer. Heh, heh, John, had he lived in our age, would have shown us the meaning of torrent when it came to social media posts. He was not quiet about King Herod's indiscretions. John did not hold back on the scribes and Pharisees either. I'm going to guess that people were not being baptized to show repentance because John told them how nice and righteous they had been living. John the Baptizer from the descriptions of him in the scriptures would I think have been melting keyboards with his posting in our time. So, if ya gotta post your politics, post 'em! But let us all remember that there is someone greater than the United States President, and we need to be posting the good news of Jesus the Christ.

In your heated emotions over politics, don't let us forget the Savior!

Bucky

A Visit To The Hometown

So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”  Luke 4:22

Although several places rejected Jesus en masse, one of the more startling comes from His hometown of Nazareth. In our verse today the hometown folks first bear witness of His reading and marvel at His gracious words. But then, doubt begins to creep in as they ask each other, "Is this not Joseph's son?" After a few more words, our Lord's own hometown tries to toss their prophet off a cliff. The murderous rage of a mob is not the sort of thing we look for when visiting the old hometown. One can imagine the day of judgment as God asks Nazareth, "You would toss My Son off a cliff?" Yikes! Wouldn't want to be in their place on that day. 

We are privileged to believe in Jesus, not everyone did or does. 

Bucky

A Little Trip To The Farthest Star

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14

During the three years or so of His ministry, the One present at the creation of the universe could certainly have explained a few things about it. How old, how far, what is that glowing thing out there? That and many other things that we wonder about today as the big space telescopes gaze into the heavens He could have told but He didn't. With but a short time, Jesus focused on our needs of salvation and redemption. The good news of the kingdom came to those dying of sin. After all, what good are the secrets of the universe to one who will not live to see it? However, if the love of God through faith in Jesus brings eternal life, then suddenly a trip of 15 billion light years to see a far galaxy doesn't seem quite so long anymore.

Eternity is plenty of time to see the farthest star.

Bucky

Happy Mourning?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Matthew 5:4

Thank you for the kind words of comfort yesterday. Today I was met with the contradiction of feeling blessed by mourning. Years ago a preacher said that we could substitute blessed with the word happy in the Beatitudes. This would change it to 'Happy are those who mourn...' which is just more contradiction than I can feel even on a good day. No doubt that preacher long ago thought himself quite clever. While emotions are complex, I think most of us could tell the difference between a happy person and a person in mourning. The blessing would seem to come from the comforting, and not from a clever word switcheroo. One mourning person can bring many together to comfort him. That's a blessing. While it is nice to be around a happy person, one cannot simply point a magic word wand at him and say, "Make it so!" 

Therefore, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!

Bucky

One Called Home

“Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Acts 7:56

Steve, one of our small Tuesday Bible study group, was called home by Jesus on Monday evening. We rejoice over him with a touch of sadness. We are glad he has gone to be with the Lord Jesus, but we also miss his presence. It is a conundrum among followers of Jesus whether we should mourn or celebrate the passing of a brother in Christ. We can of course do both as we do miss those we love and we are also glad they have ended this journey of sorrows and pain. So maybe not such a conundrum as we thought.

As for Steve, perhaps named after the martyr Stephen who spoke our verse for today, I shall miss his lovely, drawn out "Amen", and his quick response each morning as I published this little message. I have met few who carried such a load of infirmities across the finish line as Steve did with His Savior. Every time I felt a bit sorry for myself, I could think of Steve's faith and know some encouragement.

Until we meet again, rest with Jesus our Lord, my dear brother in Christ!

Bucky

Two Gathered

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.  Matthew 18:20

Therefore did they limit all church activities to the required two or three persons... Nope, that isn't the context of this verse. The number of witness, two or three, came from the law where a sinner was not to be convicted (and thus lose his life) on the word of but one witness. You and I can see how the word of but one witness could be abused for evil purposes. We have likely seen it in person or in the media when an allegation from one person has gone out to destroy an innocent life. Two or three brothers and sisters in Christ can help us avoid personal error in our scripture reading as well. It is easy to tweak a scripture to what I want it to say, and the old flesh is ever looking out for an advantage. No one around you right now? Jesus gave to us His Spirit so that we are always gathered with Him. 

Rejoice in the Spirit every moment!

Bucky

P.S. Phew! I have written and deleted a great many things this morning. Being out sick most of last week shows in a writing that just isn't flowing forth well this morning. 

Believe Me

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. John 14:11

"Believe Me," Jesus calls from the disciples, hoping that here even near the end they will believe like children all He said to them. Pure faith remains difficult for them, as it does for us, and so they have a second choice. A starting point, if you will. Believe in Him because of the works the disciples had seen Him perform many times. Of course Jesus does not want either them or us to remain in an 'or else' sort of faith. Later in the chapter, Jesus will tell His disciples that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would teach them all things. That is a nice way of letting them know they need more training. Are we any different? Our faith will be trained and tested until it is the pure faith our Lord wants for us.

Let us together learn to believe His every word,

Bucky

Let That Other Thing Go

My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
​​My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.
  -- Job 27:6

So I was thinking of an anxious time from a few years ago and those same anxious feelings began to rise up within me. Time to put that historical volume back on the old shelf and let it go! Reading from Job in our verse for today, we might ask, did Job truly live a life without sin? God said that Job was righteous, so perhaps he did have a clean past. It is also possible that when Job made his sin, guilt, or atonement offerings, he truly let go of the past and did not bring it up again. Job also knew that his Redeemer lives (19:25), which makes all the difference to us as well. Job may not have known the name of Jesus, but we do. And we hold fast our righteousness, which is Christ Jesus, and He does not let us go. What must we let go? Those forgiven sins and anxious dreads of the past. So, hold fast your righteousness and let that other thing go!

In Christ we live,

Bucky

A Gap Of Years

And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. Luke 2:42

The young boy told His parents in v49 that He must be about His Father's business, but a gap of some eighteen years comes between our verse today and His appearance at John's baptism. Readers of Luke will of course wonder what went on in those years and search the other three gospels to find... nothing. This incident in Jerusalem also gives us our last glimpse of Joseph, where we can again scan the other gospels to find nothing. In an age when we have perhaps too many details of well-known persons, this can be a bit frustrating to us. But that gap of about 18 years belongs to Jesus and His family, and we respect their privacy. Yes, I want to know more about Jesus! Fortunately, His words are more than enough to keep me occupied until our meeting with Him.

Have a wonderful day in Christ!

Bucky

Check With Scripture, Ask In Prayer

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.  Galatians 1:6-7

The Right Honorable Reverend Doctor Hermal Herferdshire, PhD, DVD, ESP, PDQ stepped up to the podium of the Most Gracious Savior of Potowatamiee Church in New Salem and gave a rousing sermon on the requirements of salvation by lifetime labor for the perfecting of the penitent soul. He needn't have bothered, the simple folks of the congregation had solid scriptural foundation from Paul's letters of the free gift of grace by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. The Rev. HH was not invited to stay for dinner. 

In Galatia, Paul's little band of Christ followers had fallen to a perverse message, one not of Christ. Paul did not marvel as Jesus did over the understanding of faith and authority that a Roman officer had, but marveled the other way, over how easily his flock of believers had fallen. Now the rather silly example I gave before points out that the person or people who came to Galatia with this false gospel probably sported some education or position that caused these new Christians to believe them without checking with Paul or their scriptures. Perhaps they did not even take that basic step we all have available to us, asking God in prayer. 

Prayer and scripture, still great ways to stay on the path!

Bucky