Ask Yourself Again

1 Timothy 2:1-10

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Timothy%202%3A1-10&version=NIV;NLT

  

What would it take to make your head turn at church? Would it be someone walking into church wearing a University of Michigan shirt? Or maybe a stripper from the gentlemen’s club down the street? Or would it be someone who is a known criminal? What would it take?

 

⁸ Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. ⁹ I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, ¹⁰ but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.         NIV

 

There you have it! When you go to church this week, the men should quit shouting at each other during prayers, and the women should not dress like the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders anymore! I don’t know about you, but neither of those scenarios happen at my church.

 

Something else would seem to be motivating Paul’s instructions about worship. Perhaps something in the culture of the day. However, because verse 8 starts with “therefore”, we only need to look at the previous verses.

 

⁵ For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. ⁶ He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. NLT

 

Therefore, when we come together to worship the Living God, He is the focus, not us. It doesn’t matter what team someone cheers for; what a person has done in their past or even the present. Nobody can out sin God’s love, grace and forgiveness. And when you worship, it should be evident in how we treat others.

 

So ask yourself again: What would it take for you to bring God’s message to your world? To show God’s unconditional love, grace and forgiveness to your family, your boss, your neighbor, or the guy who cut you off on the highway? What would it take for you to worship God with holy hands?

 

 

 

 

Chosen

1 Peter 2:4-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%202%3A4-12&version=NIV;MSG

  

What defines you? What is your identity? Is it your career or what you do such as being a parent a student or an athlete? Is it where you live? Is it some great accomplishment; or something shameful that you did? Is it a physical trait like the shape of your body or how attractive you are?

 

Whatever it is, one thing is for sure; your identity sets the course of your life. It gives direction to your attitudes, your beliefs, and your decisions.

 

In Peter’s letter, he wrote to believers that were living in a precarious time. Followers of Christ were being persecuted daily, sometimes at the cost of their lives. Peter speaks to the core of their condition… their identity. Their identity will define them because it will determine how they respond and live their lives of faith.

 

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.     NIV

 

^9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.           MSG

 

These two translations of the same verses give you insights into who you are as a believer; into what, or who defines you.

 

You have been chosen by God to tell others about the difference that God has made in your life.

       You have been chosen not because you are holy, but to be holy through God’s mercy.

        You have been chosen to be a part of the people of God; not a lone ranger.

         You have been chosen because God has a plan and a purpose for your life.

 

You are a child of God, chosen by Him to serve and to love Him. That is your identity. That is what defines you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simeon: A Faithful Servant

Christmas Character Series

Luke 2:22-40

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202%3A22-40&version=NIV;NLT

 
 

In the 2007 movie The Bucket List, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman portrayed complete strangers until fate lands them in the same hospital room.

Both men have a need to come to terms with who they are and what they have done with their lives.

To do this, they decide to complete a list of things that they want to see and do before they die… their bucket list.

 

Over the years, my bucket list has included taking a tour of Europe; hiking the Appalachian Trail; and participating on the reality TV show Survivor. A few years ago I finally fulfilled something on my bucket list; I sang a duet with my daughter at church.

 

Sometimes though, something that should be on your bucket list isn’t because it’s unexpected. Like when my granddaughter recently invited me to take her to the Father/Daughter dance. You can’t plan on something like that, but it doesn’t get any sweeter. Simeon may have had the same thought when he saw Jesus.

 

²⁵ At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.        NLT

 

Simeon had a very short bucket list. It was to see the Lord’s Messiah. When he saw Jesus in the Temple, he knew that his deepest desire; his hopes and dreams; his bucket list had been fulfilled.

 

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and the glory of your people Israel.”    NIV

 

The NIV translates verse 25 above as, “He was waiting for the consolation of Israel”. For Simeon, that was to see the Messiah. For us, it will be when we come before our Heavenly Father and hear his words, “Well done my faithful servant”. On that day, we will finally be home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magi: Persistent Servants

Christmas Character Series

Matthew 2:1-12

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202%3A1-12&version=NIV;NLT

  

Recently, my wife and I were planning to meet some friends for lunch at the Mohican State Park lodge; a little over an hour’s drive. It would be a beautiful setting in the rustic lodge, overlooking Pleasant Hill Lake in the middle of the Mohican State Forest.

There would be a fire in the stone fireplace and a twenty-five foot Christmas tree beautifully decorated.

 

Before leaving, we set our GPS for Mohican State Park… but not the lodge. Recalculation required! When our GPS said “You have arrived”, there was nothing but pine trees and hills around us; no sign of the lodge. Panic quickly set in. We found that our GPS is only as good as the settings for the final destination.

 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”         NIV

 

The Magi didn’t have a GPS, but they saw the star and knew it was a sign. Because they didn’t know precisely where to find the king of the Jews, they went to Jerusalem to continue their search. They consulted King Herod who in turn consulted the religious leaders who led them to Bethlehem in Judea.

 

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. NIV

 

To find the king of the Jews, the Magi went on a long journey. That journey started and ended with a star. To find the king of the Jews today doesn’t require a brightly lit star or consulting with a king or even a long journey.

 

Jesus continuously stands at the door of your heart knocking, waiting for you to respond. He sends the Holy Spirit to open your heart, to give you direction and then the power to follow him. You don’t need a GPS to find Jesus.