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

A Few Child Questions

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. Luke 18:17 and Mark 10:15

How much do you suppose this child can pay for the kingdom of God? How many good works will this child do to enter the kingdom of God? What sort of valuable service will the child be able to perform for entry into the kingdom? So, why are we trying so hard to earn, buy or deserve our way into the kingdom of God? We receive it unearned, unmerited, and purchased by the Lord Jesus alone.

Let us rejoice in the Lord always!

Bucky

A Child Is Born

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

So, one day I wrote about the humanness of Jesus in a down to earth way, but then I feel that guilt it brings and must bring out the divine. After all, how does that baby poop fit with the Prince of Peace? We get both in Jesus of course, and my little mind struggles to encompass them together in one little child. Would the Magi have bowed down to the Child if they had to change His soiled swaddling cloths? They had better! And so must we. Jesus is both the human son of Mary, and the glorious Son of God. Yes, my earthly mind threatens to rebel over that. The problem is not then who Jesus is, but with the earth-born mind. It is no wonder then that we must be reborn in the Spirit of God. When even the thought of the Christ Child as both God and little human baby sets up such a clash for us, we need God's Spirit in us to help us.

We may never figure it out, but we will know He is!

Bucky

Changing The Divine Diapers

And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.  Luke 2:40

Early on a cool morning in Bethlehem, Joseph the carpenter awakened and sniffed the air. 

"Holy... gag! Mary, I think the Son of the Most High needs to be changed again!"

"No way, it's your turn," Mary said, "And I told you that street vendor's meat looked sketchy, but you fed it to Him anyway." 

The divine child giggled from his new crib and made another stinky deposit in the holy swaddling cloths. 

Like our verse for today, we may be tempted to summarize the infancy of the Christ child and move on to the parables and miracles. Mary and Joseph had to be there, and like many new parents, they may have occasionally fed the newborn Son of God something a bit spoiled by mistake. But wait, the newly-reborn Christian might say, didn't God make some provision for that? Maybe we aren't comfortable thinking of the Christ as a human child with all the usual stinks and messes. But human He was and human He died on the cross to save us. 

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas!

Bucky

The King Asks

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.
  --Matthew 2:6

If you turn back to Micah 5:2, you will find as I did that this quote is not exact. We can give the priests and scribes a break though since they did pretty well. When the king asks, it can be tough to quote a verse exactly verbatim right on the spot. But they did say 'shepherd' in there, didn't they? Could this have anything to do with a group of shepherds around Bethlehem who saw a great thing one night? Knowing the scriptures and having quotes ready for the situation may help us and others. However, it comes down to what testimony we bear, and the shepherds bore it well by just telling their story. Marvelous and miraculous things happened to the shepherds, and then there were these folks following a star. Testimonies will pile up about Jesus, because in these latter days there are yours and mine too. If a king asks, we must tell him our story.

Have a merry Christmas week! 

Bucky

That's Nothing!

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

Last night the football game moved along quickly enough that I was still up at the end of the first half. There, I got to see a play that the announcers said happens (or is successful) only about once every half century. As I was pondering that privilege, I could almost hear all the friends of Jesus saying, "That's nothing! Every year we celebrate a thing that only occurred once in all of history." Yes, and what a celebration it is! But speaking of turnarounds, both teams I rooted for last night had the lead when I retired to my reading, only to both lose the games by morning when I got up. This Child is gone from us again, but what do you suppose the 'morning' will bring? Those prophecies in this verse for today do not seem to be all completed just yet.

Have a merry Christmas season in our hope for His return!

Bucky

Came To Pass It Did!

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.  Luke 2:1-3

A decree goes out from the governing authority. Sometimes it may be just interesting, other times completely dull, but once in a while a decree affects everyone and everything. This one from the Caesar was one of those everyone decrees. Joseph and Mary might appreciate the convenience of an online form, had they known about it, at least until all their data was stolen. In their case with the Internet some years in the future, it meant a journey of some distance from their hometown of Nazareth to the little town of Bethlehem. Of course from the scriptures and angelic messages, they probably knew the trip to Bethlehem was a thing going to happen. The decree just helped Joseph move it along, since men sometimes need a little push in the direction they should be going already. 

And in Bethlehem that wonderful birth came to pass and our Savior was born. 

Bucky

Great To Have A Guide

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  Matthew 2:9-10

You are almost to a place, but in an unfamiliar land; GPS doesn't exist yet and maps will come in a few years or so. Someone has kindly pointed out the road to Bethlehem, but that is all you have to go on to find one child who was born sometime in the past couple of years. (Give us a break, it took the party that long to arrive after seeing the sign watched for over centuries.) Well imagine your relief and joy to have that sign you saw back home turn out to be more than you thought it was and you now have a sure guide pointing to the house you want to find! Well, one of these days we all want to find a place called Heaven, and maps or GPS will not help us. But what we saw in Christ when we believed will turn out to be that sure Guide who will return to lead us home, His home and ours. 

Praise God for His Son! 

Bucky

Where Will Ya Be Born?

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:  Matthew 2:4-5

Had you been around in 1564 you might have asked me where I would be born, and... Of course we know that is nonsense. However, in the case of Jesus it was told by the prophet Micah hundreds of years before His birth where the Christ would be born. And that, my friends, just leaves me kind of flabbergasted. What does one say to that and many more prophecies of Messiah that all came to pass on that one night in Bethlehem? Let it be and praise to God for the birth of His Son, Jesus!

Bucky

A Troubling Christmas Tale

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

Things in Jerusalem have been mostly calm for a while, and then one day these men from the East come to town with their question. They seem to have expected Jerusalem to be celebrating this birth. The current king, Herod, stands there thinking, "Wait, what?" It would be a comical scene if they hadn't reacted in a murderous way.

The message of the wise men prompted a troubling of the mind in Jerusalem. The people in power liked things the way they were. Suddenly here come these guys with their talk of a special star and a new king. Troubled minds soon thought up a troubling solution and a young family had to make a midnight journey to Egypt to escape the child-murdering soldiers of Herod.

Not the most charming part of the Christmas story!

Bucky

And Suddenly

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Luke 2:13

As if the appearance of the angel on a dark night in Judea along with the glory of God shining all around them were not enough of a scare, the multitude of the heavenly host gives those shepherds an 'and suddenly' to go with their fright. Take that you shepherds abiding in the fields by night! Both the angel and the host had wonderful messages of great joy for them, but both were quite startling in their arrival. Those shepherds were going to believe, they never stood a chance to do otherwise. And suddenly their testimony was spreading throughout the region.

Rejoice in the shepherd's story,

Bucky

Naming The Boys

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.  Matthew 1:21 Two sons, two people told to not be afraid, and both given names to apply that their parents might not otherwise have chosen. The names for these two boys were chosen by God and sent by His special messenger. Names can be, and probably are, much more important than we realize in this age. John, with no name like that among his relatives, would go on to prepare the way for the One coming whose sandal strap he was not worthy to loose. Jesus would do as the angel said and save His people from their sins. These two boys were linked from an early age, before both were born in fact. One boy not worthy, and one boy found worthy in time to open the seven-sealed scroll as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And if I may say it this fine morning,

Great is the name of our Lord!

Bucky

Those Shepherds

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:8

Snoopy might write, "It was a dark and clear night." But for us it was a picture of people going about their job in the hours of darkness we call night. A normal night, not one to expect anything world-changing to suddenly happen as you were just about to fall asleep. What was it about those shepherds that would bring out the hosts of heaven to celebrate? One thing those shepherds likely had was storytelling. Here was a group who would first pay attention and then tell the story. Plus, these shepherds would come and see the Christ child in Bethlehem. We don't know how far out of town they were that night but they did go, and then they praised God when they had seen. Their testimony was simple and their obedience immediate. But what was it about those shepherds? They probably had nothing special in terms of pretty faces, strong bodies, or brilliant intellect, but they were available when the time was right. Plus they obviously were not worried about what people might think when they told their story.

Have a shepherd-like day, and watch out! We might be just going about our usual business this week when...

Bucky

Put Her Away?!

Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. Matthew 1:19

In our age the combination of those words sounds a bit extreme, put her away secretly?! Mary received a visitor from God, one Gabriel, messenger of God by trade, angel to us. Joseph was before his dream apparently told of the impending arrival by Mary. And that brought about a conundrum - what was he to do about his unfaithful wife-to-be? That there was a procedure in place for this under the law or tradition means that it had happened before. Joseph not wanting to make a public example, that is shaming, of Mary is admirable, but in this case it was not enough. And thus Joseph gets the first of several dream messages from angels of the Lord. Mary, unfaithful by appearance, was not at all unfaithful to the Lord her God. It is interesting that the message does not command Joseph to take Mary and complete the marriage, it tells him to not be afraid to do it.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21

Without fear, Joseph was able to do the right thing.

Bucky

With Child

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.  Matthew 1:18

Foretold in Isaiah 7:14, each year we have a new opportunity to believe in the virgin birth, the prophecy of Immanuel. And there is also the chance to doubt it. The prophecy and the action both sit on a small peak. Believe and stand there with it in awe of God, or walk away down the slopes of doubt. For the anthropologist, amateur or professional, the doubt could come from observation of  human marriage. Arranged marriages leave out the boy next door, it is more likely that the neighbor's rooster was allowed into the henhouse one night, to use a barnyard metaphor. For the biologist it might be parthenogenesis, the development of an ovum from an unfertilized egg, which does not happen in humans that causes the doubt. There are a host of other reasons to doubt. Even Mary did not understand how it could work without her betrothed and the whole marriage thing. However, for those who will believe, we know that God is not worried over our likely or unlikely, possible or impossible, but works His own way in the way that He told us through His prophets. 

And His way is often astounding and awesome. 

Bucky

Tough Consequence

When someone told me, saying, "Look, Saul is dead," thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. King David speaking in 2 Samuel 4:10

That is a tough consequence in our verse for today. Consequences such as that one bring us reason to cherish our constitutional rights, the speech one in particular. The verse also gives us a lesson in not trying to glory in the death of another. What reward should any of us get for bringing the news of death?

Well now I'm down and depressed, gotta fix that right quick!

Praise to God our Father that we did receive some good news, and it is about life, love, and the joy of a Savior! Thank You, dear God for the joy of the glad tidings brought to us in Jesus the Christ!

Bucky

Telling Of His Son

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
​
 ​​“Glory to God in the highest,
​​And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
  -- Luke 2:13,14

Thanksgiving has passed, December is here, and BF-Cyber Monday email ads are still pouring in... oh well, anyway it is Christmas time!

A proud father wants to tell of his son. We call it the New Testament. The news of this Papa's coming Son was so great that He told of it for centuries before the birth by way of prophets. We call that the Old Testament. A testament is also a covenant, and the elder could not be kept, while the newer is one we dare not refuse. This Son fulfilled the elder agreement for us, while by the newer agreement He made eternal life with our God possible. The birth of God's Son was such an event that the hosts of heaven made an appearance to rejoice before the shepherds in the fields.

As we begin this Christmas season, remember the joy of God's goodwill and peace,

Bucky

Doing It Wrong

But he answered one of them and said, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?" Matthew 20:13

As the title of elderly becomes more my own, I seem to do more things wrong. Such as the time I reached to brush a few crumbs off my front with one hand and whacked the plate full of crumbs in my other hand to the floor. Truly the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing, but I think Jesus had something else in mind when He said that. When Jesus told the parable of the laborers and their pay, He wasn't speaking of my elderly fumbling either. This parable tells of some workers having a scale of right and wrong, and then placing their expectations on Him. The boss in the parable didn't go for that, and he showed to the disgruntled expectation-ers that he was not working by their knowledge of good and evil.

As one born later in the work day, I'm glad that we can work for full pay in the kingdom of God!

Bucky

They's Us!

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.
  -- Psalm 89:15

You and I may have wondered about those people stuck out in that last blizzard on the highway. Why, we thought, what need drove them to attempt such a foolish thing? Well I met one of them this week, and the statement was, "We thought we could make it." Of course they did, so did everyone else stuck with them. One of those no-one-said-ever things goes something like, "We knew we would get stuck out there in the howling wilderness between Sturm and Drang, but we went anyway." If you or I have never been stuck in a blizzard it is because we have the grace of God to thank for it. Because each time we each thought we could make it was one of those times when just another inch of snow, a swirl of vision-robbing snowflakes, or a slip of a tire was the tiny difference between making it and being one of those poor fools stuck on the highway during a blizzard. Being stuck in a society of go, go, go, is a worrisome thing for us. And, all those people stuck somewhere? Why they's us on a day we thought we could make it. 

Walk in the light of the Lord's countenance! One day it could be you or me stuck out there just trying to get where we were going. 

Bucky

Remember The Law Of Thanksgiving

And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will.  Leviticus 22:29

It's Thanksgiving week so you should be thankful! Uh, remember the law about free will? This week of our Thanksgiving holiday gives many ministers the chance to put the screws to you about giving thanks to the Lord. Sounds like the Pharisees would approve, even as they ignored a certain law in our verse for today. In keeping with God's desire for freely given thanks, the Lord's Prayer Jesus gave to us in His great sermon does not have anything about giving thanks. While some might forget that law, Jesus certainly did not. Freely giving thanks to the Lord means that I do not get to badger you into it or even subtly drive you toward it. However, writing ministers and speaking ministers alike can give testimony by example. 

Thank You, dear Lord God, for my beloved in Christ who read and hear Your word, and rejoice in You in thanksgiving this week. 

Bucky

Take Time To Rest

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
  -- Psalm 46:10

So, I had the verse and I was writing away when I sensed that all was not going well. In place of running with the Lord, it seemed more like I was running into Him. That was yesterday's writing. Therefore, I backed off and kept quiet. At times we think we must be in a continual performance before God, like there is some sort of heavenly quota set for each of us. And you have probably sat before a minister who has confirmed that for you. Yet, both of us (and that minister) forget that Jesus often broke away to find solitude with His Father. Our verse for today points out that God's work does not depend upon you or me. Our job in this verse is to be still and know that He is God. No writing, speaking, singing, or pounding the pavement, just a time to be still and know God more. 

So take time with the Lord to rest from your labors. 

Bucky

Somehow, We'll Know

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Mark 9:4

Would you know Elijah and Moses if they appeared to you today? Would we even know each other, if we haven't seen one another for these past twenty years? How will we know one another in Heaven when we meet with Jesus there? I do not know! But I do know that somehow Peter, James, and John knew who Elijah and Moses were in that moment on the mountain. Centuries separated the Lawgiver and the prophet from those three disciples, and yet they knew the names that went with the faces. Had our Lord chosen David and Isaiah to meet there, I'm convinced that the knowing would have been the same. And so it will go when we meet brothers and sisters in Christ who we never met on this earth due to time or distance. New name given by our Lord, new incorruptible appearance granted by God, don't try to hide, I'll still be able to find you there in God's Heaven! And great will be our rejoicing in Jesus Christ!

Bucky

The Pull Of Attraction

But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire. James 1:14 BBE

BBE, Bible in Basic English, of course you knew that already. I didn't. Occasionally I like to explore different translations of the Bible to help me understand the Word. Here is what this verse says in my usual New King James version:

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Attraction, desire, enticement, all refer to that pull of the flesh for food, clothing, water, sleep, and many other things. Hunger lets a person know it is time to eat something, but a little further down the path comes gluttony. And indeed in the passage James goes on to tell of that slippery slope from attraction to sin and on to death. And it can be difficult to know for sure whether that attraction to a person is simple lust or the sort of pull toward a person leading to love. We even confuse the issue further by telling of our love for foods and other things. As it is a test, we know that failure is an option we may fall into at times. Praise God for His mercy in those tests of attraction that we fail.

Bucky

Hey, Pray!

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12

Reading along with the story the characters come to a trap, crisis, problem, or challenge of unusual proportions, and we marvel that they do not have a better solution. Easily do we call upon those fictional people to pray to God and call upon His name. Instead they waste time worrying, fretting, arguing, fighting, and running about like those proverbial headless birds. Then life comes a calling to you or me, and we... worry, fret, argue and so on. How is it so easy for us to see the need when it is there on the book page and then be so dense when it is our turn? We need a 'Hey, pray!' from a fellow soldier in Christ, a little intervention from the beloved of our Lord. It happens to the least of us, we get caught up in the problem and forget to call on the One who has the solutions. New believers or well-experienced warriors in the challenges of following Jesus our Lord, each may suffer that temporary amnesia for prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

Therefore, be on the lookout for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and give them a 'Hey, pray!' when the need comes.

Bucky

Prayer, Quietly

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.  Matthew 6:6

From the great sermon of our Lord on the mountain, we have this instruction on prayer. And in these latter years we might parse and parcel this one verse to start in on others with more instructions. "You shouldn't pray in church!" the zealous one says to the pastor. "Sorry, but I need this room for a prayer room," the well-meaning father says as he takes over a child's bedroom. And who among us hasn't held our hands out for those open rewards? In the great sermon there are other instructions on prayer, including that manner of prayer we are to use. Also, the instruction in our verse today came from avoiding those public prayers that only call attention to the prayer shouter and caused the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Not every public prayer is or was done for that reason.

If we want to pray in the secret place, what better door to shut than the mouth, and what better secret room than that of the mind where only God will hear? Have a prayer with the Father, quietly. 

Bucky

He Makes Us

This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”  Romans 1:17 NLT

Sometimes we may fall into thinking that we have something useful to offer the Lord our God. As if the Almighty could somehow have need for an all-weaky to do something for Him. But that sort of depressed thinking doesn't take into account the love of the Lord! So, as we have nothing to offer up to Him but our old sinful selves, God gave us the Good News and set about making us into something His Son can bring home to Him. As Paul tells us, by faith we become a great accomplishment of the Lord. In other words, He makes us something. Something righteous, something grand, something wonderful in Christ the Lord who is called Wonderful. 

So heads up, Christians, and let us resume our march to the Holy City! 

Bucky

Endure Hardship Gratefully

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

While we would mostly like to avoid hardship, it is hardship that makes us most proud of our service. If a veteran can recall no hardship from their service, they probably think they somehow did it wrong or were cheated. In this world hardship seems to go with service of any type. This is not to say that service cannot be rewarding and even enjoyable at times. One way to gain reward from service is with a grateful heart. That isn't an easy thing to do. But who can help us with that? The One who saved us of course, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ!

And we also have the great privilege of praying one for another, what a loving service that is!

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you for allowing us to serve you.

Bucky

Targeted Generosity?

Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
-- Psalm 119:170

I read about a plea going out last night by way of thanks to the responders this morning. No, the actual plea was not seen or made public it seems, nor the reason for the plea except for the mention of 'fire'. You have likely seen these before on social media, and it can be frustrating to our curiosity. "What happened?" one commenter noted on the post; no doubt speaking for a great many other readers. But I get it too. People can be quite generous, even overly so, when a disaster happens. Stories of mountains of donated clothing abound in the aftermath of disasters. A family who has just lost their house doesn't need to be burdened with several hundred pounds of used clothing. So targeted generosity may be wise at such a time. If a few can take care of the need, then there is no need to ask from hundreds. Which brings us to pleading with our Lord in prayer.

We know by faith that we will receive from our Lord just what we need. And, even if we do not know the names or the story, we can plead for the needs of those the Lord knows well.

Just pray!

Bucky

P.S. My 'plea' search led me to a scripture with the highest number of digits I've ever used, I think!

Appreciating The Good Shepherd

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  Luke 15:4

In our verse for today we can easily see a great difference in appreciation for the shepherd between the 99 sheep that were left and the 1 sheep that was lost. The larger group might even go so far as to call the shepherd a traitor for leaving them behind. While the one will of course feel a great love and appreciation for the shepherd. Even more appreciation might be felt from a sheep that was lost in a tough place versus one only lost a little bit. We follow our Lord Jesus in applying this metaphor to ourselves. When Jesus found you, just how lost were you? Those lost greatly will tend to feel the greater appreciation. However, do not give up on the 99, while the Spirit helps them to deal with temptation, they too will feel a great appreciation when the Good Shepherd returns bearing that one lost sheep. And all 100 will rejoice with the Savior when we are led into His home and pasture. 

Let us rejoice in the Good Shepherd!

Bucky

Melting Heaviness

My soul melts from heaviness;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
-- Psalm 119:28

These past few months have seemed rather long due to a thing going on that I won't name this morning. Whether you are pleased or disappointed at the projected result, turn to the word of the Lord and be strengthened. Rejoice or seek relief in the word of God as you read and study. Outside my window Nature either celebrates or covers its grief in a blanket of new snow. Up in Heaven, God's throne was neither built up nor tilted down by the result of that thing I won't mention for your sake. And God's planned day for the return of His glorious Son? That day is still coming at the appointed time no matter what our feelings are this grey morning. So, to those who are happy and those who are sad:

Great is the Word of our Lord God!

Bucky

Your Own Didn't Know You

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. John 1:10-11

Tomorrow we face another presidential election. For a moment, imagine that neither of the big party candidates win and you do. While your first thoughts are still running along the lines of "Eeek! No! No!" the electoral college meets and confirms that you are indeed the president-elect of the United States. In January there is a big ceremony and, finally calmed down a bit, you take the oath of office and move into the White House. One of the first things you must do is to bring the big armored car and a few of those folks in dark suits back to your hometown for a visit.

However, things are strange at home. No one seems to care, the police leave a parking ticket on the limo, and your principal and teachers cast doubt on your claim to be president. At church, the preacher says your election never happened, and names you a fraud in the strongest terms. Finally, before you can leave town the Secret Service is forced to arrest the police chief and all the town officers when they try to arrest you for impersonating the office you know that you now hold! What sort of delusion has a hold of your hometown?

We know of course that Jesus faced a similar dilemma. The One who came to save the world couldn't get a single 'Hallelujah!' in His hometown of Nazareth. The religious authorities refused to believe His divinity all over Judea, Galilee, and other Jewish places. And, even those precious twelve followers would fail to believe until after He died, rose again, and ascended in their sight back to His Father in Heaven. Even to this day it is easier for us Gentiles to believe in Him than His own people in Israel.

Praise God that we are allowed to believe in His Son!

Bucky

You Must Seek

But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. Deuteronomy 12:5

Seeking a place was put into the Law of Moses way back in the days when Israel had not possessed the promised land yet. A search, but why didn't the Lord just tell them where to go? You do know what happens when even a righteous authority tells us what to do, don't you? A journey of seeking though, that would give the Israelites a bit of that control the rebellious heart longs to hold. Jesus told Israel much the same thing years later when on the mount He said, "Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find..." As born sinners we do not like to be told what to do, but we do like searching for treasure or a nice place to live. We love to seek for treasures in the Lord's word, but tell us that we must read 5 chapters per day and the mind finds all sorts of excuses to avoid a good habit.

It's like the Lord God knows us.

Bucky

Doing The Impossible

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 CSB

In Matthew 19 we are presented with the Master leading us through a series of impossible situations. Marriage and divorce, the relationship in a marriage, eunuchs - born, made, and for the kingdom of heaven, little children coming to Jesus, commandments, wealth and giving it all up to follow Jesus, and the business of those possessions. Near the end, we come to our verse for today, and it shows how among all those things of life we will run into something that prevents us from entering heaven on our own. Whether it is a commandment already violated, fear of being poor, or any of those others, we need the Savior to overcome our impossible.

God our Savior is overcoming the impossible in us!

Bucky

End The Annoyance With Finality?

The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him. John 14:21 CSB

So if good works and rules will not save anyone... hmm, works and rules, sounds like the basis for a religion there, what do you think? After writing that the rules will not save, inevitably I must take up the other side of the question. "So, no rules, then that means I get to do anything I want," says the old man of the flesh with some glee. There would come that temptation to become a law unto ourselves. It would likely go so far that the person who merely disagrees with us in an irritating fashion would face the wrath of our lawlessness. We might end the annoyance with finality.

Hold on a bit, end the annoyance with finality?!! That sounds like murder, surely that isn't what salvation brings? Jesus didn't save us to be a bunch of thugs, did He? Of course not, and as our friend Paul said, "May it never be so!" While rules, commandments, civil regulations, or even the Law of Moses won't save us, Jesus did give us those greatest commandments from the Old Testament. Both of these commandments tell us to love, and they just happen to fulfill the Law and the prophets too! That brings us to our verse for today.

Keep His commands and love!

Bucky

Making Us

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  Philippians 3:9 NLT

We have nothing to offer God, so He makes us something. It comes to us often that those who do not believe in Jesus often think they have much to offer God by way of righteousness. They are in their own estimation good people, righteous people, often and sometimes even Christian people. Here Paul the former Pharisee tells us that he does not count on his training in the law or deeds of self-righteousness but faith alone in Christ alone. I fear that for many of us too much rule preaching may cause us to go from faith in Christ back to counting on self righteousness. Let us not, I plead, trace Paul's journey in the wrong direction. 

Faith in Christ for our salvation!

Bucky

Seeking Signs

But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.” Mark 8:12

Lately I have been reading quite a few end times sort of novels, you might call them Christian adventure stories. One thing they have in common are big signs and miracles, just like the Pharisees wanted back in their day. By our Lord's deep sigh in His spirit this morning, I see that He would rather see faith from us. Faith does not require those big signs and miracles, but only the relatives of faith. Who could those relatives be? They are trust, confidence, belief, and assurance. You may even name a few more, it's a rich family. We began our faith by believing in Jesus, and continue by trusting in Him. We can even have a childlike faith with bold confidence! Jesus, after rising from the tomb, told Thomas that those who have not seen and yet have believed in Him enjoy are blessed.

Great is His faithfulness, and great too is our faith in Him!

Bucky

An Answer To Fit Any Time

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3

The disciples brought the question to the Lord and for once they may have been overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of His answer. And yet, what in the answer matched their question? All of it and none of it. The disciples, like us, probably looked for something like, 'on the third day of the month of Tebeth, after the day of the new king of Israel comes to pass, then the beginning of the end will come.' Today those who face strong difficulties in life may look for a date that comes within the next few months or years. Those looking forward to a life in marriage, career, or other events may want it a bit further out, say a hundred years after their grandchildren's time. However, Jesus gave to the disciples and to us an answer to fit any time. In Matthew 24:4-13 there comes a detailed answer that any generation of the followers of Christ will recognize as having been fulfilled. And yet, there is no way for us to tell any difference between that passage and the first five seals of the Revelation in chapter 6 as they follow the same pattern. So, what do we see now to help us? Well, it may have begun already over in another place and we have too many distractions to see it, or the end may not begin for another couple hundred years or so. It is for us a great reason to trust in Jesus every day and to endure to the end, our own or the world's.

Have a great day in Christ Jesus! (Yes, even after all that I just laid on you!)

Bucky

Heaven and a Renewal

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Revelation 21:1

We yearn to be with our Lord God and so we yearn for Heaven, but that does not appear to be our forever home. In our verse for today we are given John's witness of a renewal of both Heaven and Earth. In the next verse John gets to see the holy city, the New Jerusalem coming down onto the new Earth. It is rather amazing how little we know of our future home with our Lord. But at the same time it is also amazing what we can know from the word of God. This city was measured with a height of 1,500 miles. We are impressed by Mount Everest which at 29,032 feet is a small fraction of that or just shy of 5.5 miles in height. And so, what we can know of this amazing new Heaven and its city is also almost inconceivable to us. 1,500 miles to the top, how many steps are in that main stairway?

Heaven, a place we can know, but we don't know. Our experience is just too puny!

Bucky

The Story, Starring - A Donkey?

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written. John 12:14

Horses do not get all the big roles in the Bible, just most of them it seems. Donkeys figure prominently in a couple of big stories including the triumphal entry into Jerusalem by the future King in our verse today. The breakout role for a donkey may have been under Balaam when his donkey got to have a speaking role in Numbers 22. It is perhaps to make up for getting struck three times and threatened with death for innocently refusing to assault one of God's angels that a donkey would be chosen to bear the King of kings into Jerusalem in the gospels. However, in both cases the star was a man while the donkey had what was a supporting role. What an honor though to bear the servant of all as He went to Jerusalem to lay down His life to save many.

That young donkey deserves a medal, but it didn't save us. Jesus did!

Bucky

Opinions Are Common

Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me,
I also will declare my opinion.'
  -- Job 32:10

Listening to a rock star of decades back making known his opinion, I thought my opinion of his opinion and realized that mine was equally worthless at the least. As the old saying goes: opinions are like elbows, and everybody has a couple. If in your opinion the old saying doesn't go quite that way, then go ahead and have your opinion too. Perhaps then we should seek God's opinion. But wait! Is it even possible for God to have an opinion? As every word spoken by our Lord God is by definition the word of God, can we even call it an opinion? According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, opinion is: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Obviously the not necessarily bit is for us, while it is clear that every opinion of God would be fact or knowledge.

So, if God were to tell a joke... Augh! My mind...popping... exploding! A subject too big for this short writing this morning. Have a great day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Two Lots Of Fish

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. John 21:11

Two stories of the Lord Jesus providing a miraculous catch of fish, one in Luke and one in John. In one case, two boats are not sunk but the number of fish is not told. In the case of our verse for today, the number was counted by someone and so is the size of the fish noted, and in this case the net remains unbroken. The first case came early in our Lord's ministry at the calling of the disciples, while the second from John came after the resurrection. In both cases though, professional fishermen had caught nothing in a night of labor just before the big catch. We see the miracle of bounty and want that, but how often do we consider that the Lord also provided for nothing for a long period of time first? To spread a net and catch nothing at all could happen, once, twice, but all night? Nothing at all, not even a junk fish or two? The hand of the Lord may provide to us in our endeavors a long night of nothing to prepare us for the big catch.

Watch for Him!

Bucky

Standing On The Precipice Of History

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
  -- Malachi 4:5-6

These are the closing words of the Old Testament in the Bible. Another prophet, Amos, had foretold of a famine of hearing the words of God, and Malachi closed out the writing of the word. Centuries would pass before John the Baptizer came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but he was not Elijah. The famine had ended though, and John is the herald of the New Testament. I wonder at times though if Malachi knew that he stood on the precipice of history as the final prophet of the age? I wonder if Malachi and John met in Heaven with a 'Hey, Brother!' as the famine of the word ended with the coming of Jesus? Maybe we will get to ask them soon.

The famine has ended, as Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Bucky

You Follow Me

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”  John 21:22

Is the election over yet? Three more weeks from tomorrow? Ahhh, no, say it isn't so! The disciples took from our verse for today something that humans have looked for since their earliest times - immortality. John wrote to set them straight on that since what Jesus said was about comparisons. "You follow Me," Jesus said to Peter to remind us not to worry over God's will for others as we walk with Him. We can easily be led astray worrying over another believer's circumstance. While there are followers of Jesus who are wealthy in faith, there are also those who are just plain old wealthy. What is that to us? We follow the Lord Jesus! For most of us comparisons with other believers will not work out anyway. Living that way we will end up too much this or not enough that until we are depressed and anxious all the day long. Follow Jesus. 

To each of us He has said, "You follow Me."

Bucky

Takes Away The Sin

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  John 1:29

Has a nation ever chosen a lamb as its national animal? Perhaps a small nation who didn't want to attract the unwelcome attention of powerful neighbors with their lions, bears, or eagles, might do so. We generally do not look to a lamb to stimulate respect for our strength in others. And yet, here comes the Son of the Almighty, and John said to look at the Lamb. The Jews at that time were fully expecting the Lion to come and chase out the Romans. They got the Lamb. To those who are given the ability to believe in Jesus though, Lamb sounds exactly right. 

Gentle, humble, and Savior, the Lamb of God! 

Bucky

You Need Some Euangelion

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

As always it seems, there are plenty of bad tidings to tell of this morning, and our news media has become proficient at telling of it. So, you need some euangelion this morning. That odd-looking term I used is the Greek for gospel, which means glad tidings. You and I need some glad tidings this morning, and our Lord promises that His glad tidings will be preached in all the world. Just a quick glance at all the different religions active in the world today makes that promise quite a bit of good news all around. But His glad tidings are not just a geographic quota to be filled. There are the promises of eternal life, love, joy, peace, and righteousness. An end to sorrows, grief, despair, and sadness comes as a further promise of joy unending in our Lord Jesus. For the lonely there is the hope of close companionship, and for those in pain or fear there is an end to the old things. Why there is even talk in Isaiah of predator and prey animals lying down together with a little child leading them. 

It's about time for some good news, and Jesus is just the man for the job!

Bucky

His Way

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. Mark 9:43 NLT

In our studies of historical peoples we have read of those who prepared the corpse for a successful afterlife with horse, weapon, money, and even wives and servants. Imagine having all of this prepared for you, but no hands! Of course Jesus knew when He said this that hands don't just take off on their own to do sin. When it comes to dismemberment for preventing sin, the head would seem to be the place to start. But that causes other problems such as being rather permanent. He who has ears to hear... cannot hear when his head has departed his body. The message here seems to be about priority. Is your priority entering God's kingdom in Heaven, or is it to be with the sinners in Gehenna, that Greek name for Hell? Eternity sounds like such a dreadful long time to be in a place of fire and brimstone.

Of course we know from the Word that salvation comes by faith in Christ Jesus, and not (sigh of relief!) by dismembering our sinful bodies. Praise God for His way!

Bucky

The Start Of Something

So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.  Exodus 12:14 

Moses did not know at this time that the Lord not only began the feast of the Passover, but in time would also start the celebration of communion. It was at the Passover that Jesus told His disciples to take the bread and the wine in remembrance of Him. I wonder if there will be another celebration added to this when Jesus returns? Perhaps the celebration of the wedding of the Lamb and His Bride will take place at the Passover too. We may be looking ahead to something new that began way back in the days of Moses, or Adam! 

An everlasting ordinance for a celebration of God's work, that's wonderful!

Bucky

He Saw And Believed

Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. John 20:8

Thomas has been called by a derogatory term among believers. But it would appear from our verse for today that young John might also deserve that name. He too had to see and then believe. Due to his statement, we add the name 'Doubting' to Thomas, but all the disciples had to see before they would believe it. So, why do we in our age have to go by their testimony for our belief? That is what Jesus wanted from His disciples as well, to believe in Him because of His testimony. None of the disciples were present outside of Bethlehem when the Heavenly Host praised God. Only the Baptizer saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove on Jesus. But the disciples all needed testimony, teaching, miracles, death, and finally resurrection before they would believe. Before He ascended to the Father, Jesus imparted one blessing that none of the twelve disciples can enjoy:

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

Rejoice that we have not seen and yet have believed!

Bucky

You Will Decide

You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways. Job 22:28

Often we are told that answers to prayer may be in the form of yes, or no, or even wait. But another answer to prayer may be that you or I will need to make a decision. If we take our verse for today, all sounds good and righteous in our decision. However, after yesterday you will note that this comes from Job, and from the same chapter, which means that it is ol' Eliphaz still speaking. Oh no! Yes, Eliphaz has told Job that after he returns to God and when he agrees with God, then all will be right and happy. But that big assumption of Eliphaz still hangs out there over Job, that he was not with God already and that all these terrible crimes against the poor man are punishments.

Therefore, how does that bear on our current circumstances? An answer to prayer may be that a decision is required and God will be with us either way we go. Or, it may be that we have a sin that has put us in a place where the Lord would not have us go in either direction from where we are and we do need to return to Him. If you are standing in righteousness as Job was, make the decision and have no fear. If on the other hand, the assumption of Eliphaz is correct in my case or yours, then stop, leave the decision and come to God in prayer and repentance.

Oh, that darn context!

Bucky

Is God Invested In Us?

Can a man be profitable to God,
Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
-- Job 22:2

References to Job, such as our verse for today, must be used carefully. For many verses in Job come from those friends of his who wanted to show that he had sinned and his punishment was deserved. God, as we recall, had boasted that Job was blameless and upright. Now there is a character reference! When we read what appears to be an erudite question from Job's companions, we may want to read on before answering. For example, the very next question from this Eliphaz goes: Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? And we say, "Yes! Absolutely!" For we know that God is indeed invested in us and delights when any of us choose righteousness over sin. Just how much God invested in us can be seen at the cross where His Son gave His life to save us.

May His investment have a great return on it!

Bucky