Take the First Step

A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part 2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 5:17-26; John 5:1-15 

[This is Part 2 in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is always with you.]

 

When we visited Brazil in 1983, we saw a beggar on the street who literally had no eyes. I don’t know how long he’d lived like that; how he got himself to and from his begging spot; if he had any other support to pay for his basic needs. All I knew was that he was on the street begging.

 

We know little more than that about the paralyzed man in Luke 5. We could speculate that, unable to take care of his basic needs, that he lived a life of extreme poverty; that he lived in a wilderness of isolation.

 

I wonder how he and his friends felt when, instead of healing him, Jesus forgave his sins. Were they confused or angry? Did they feel betrayed like it was a bait and switch? Did they wonder, like the Pharisees, “Who does this man think he is; only God can forgive sins”? Or were they thankful?

 

After forgiving the sins of the paralyzed man, Jesus said this to the Pharisees.

 

^23-24 Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . .” He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: “Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.”             NLT

 

When you’re living in the wilderness… is it better to have your sins forgiven, or to be healed? Typically, Jesus meets us where we’re at.

 

By that I mean, he responds to the felt needs that we have; to the struggles that we face. If you’re overwhelmed with anxiety, he brings peace. If you’re feeling rejected, he brings love and acceptance. If you’re suffering loss, he brings comfort and fulfillment.

 

There’s a story in John 5 about another man who is described as an invalid. In this story he was laying at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem because it was said to have healing powers at certain times.

 

He had been an invalid for thirty-eight years - probably most, if not all of his life. Jesus asked him a question that seemed absurd, “Do you want to get well”? Sometimes, when you’ve had a debilitating problem for such a long time, you lose hope of ever being able to change.

 

No matter how long you’ve been living in the wilderness, or how debilitating your problem is, Jesus will meet you where you’re at. The first step is to ask him for help. Then he’ll do even more than you ask. Like the paraplegic, he’ll make you whole.

 

So go ahead – take the first step.

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

Are You a Pariah?

 

A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part 2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 5:12-16 

[This is Part 2 in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is always with you.]

  

During the height of COVID, when school was being done remotely from home, my Grandson tested positive. When his parents told him, he started crying and asked if he was going to die. He may have felt like it, since he had to isolate in his bedroom for ten days while everyone else went freely around the house.

 

Sometime later, when school was meeting in person, my oldest granddaughter tested positive. As a result, she had to stay home for a week, falling behind in school and missing out on basketball. In both cases, I would guess that my grandkids felt like a pariah.

 

For sure, the leper did! You can tell from the passage that he was desperate.

 

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”         NIV

 

Notice that the leper didn’t ask Jesus to heal him, but to make him clean. This goes back to the Exodus, when the Israelites were camped at Mount Sanai and Moses was receiving the law directly from the Lord.

 

⁴⁵ “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶ As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.      Leviticus 13 NIV

 

It’s no wonder that the leper was so desperate. He was a pariah of the worse kind; a social, physical and spiritual outcast living in the wilderness. He couldn’t defile the camp where the presence of the holy Lord resided. He had little hope.

 

According to the Mosaic Law, to be clean required not only being rid of the defiling disease, but also an animal sacrifice with the shedding of blood. Jesus provided both of these for the leper.

 

¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!    Hebrew 9 NIV

 

Have you ever felt like an outsider; like a pariah? Have you ever lived in the wilderness, outside the camp of the Lord? Jesus can make you clean. Like the leper, all you need to do is ask.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

You’re Not You When You’re Hungry

A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part 2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 4:1-13 

[This is Part 2 in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is always with you.]

  

In 2010, Snickers started an ad campaign called, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”.

The premise of this long running campaign was that, as a result of being hungry, a person turned into a different person, normally a celebrity. Then, once they took a bite of a Snickers bar, they returned to their normal self.

 

Along the same lines, a research study was recently completed and published regarding the term “hanger”. This is a word used to describe anger resulting from hunger. The article confirmed, “Results indicated that greater levels of self-reported hunger were associated with greater feelings of anger”.

 

Twelve step programs use the acronym of HALT - which stands for hungry, angry, lonely and tired - as a potential trigger for acting out. They didn’t need a funny commercial or an expensive research study to know that hunger can result in anger which can lead a person to rationalize most any behavior.

 

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.    NIV

 

Duh! If anyone could use hunger as an excuse for acting out, or giving into temptation, it was Jesus. You can imagine that he might have been angry at the whole world. So, why did the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness of Judea?

 

Like Israel wandering in the wilderness for forty years, Jesus living in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, was a testing and preparation experience for what he was going to face during his ministry.

 

But even beyond this reason, there is another. By enduring the trials and temptations of living in the wilderness, Jesus is able to relate to you and to me on a purely personal and human level.

 

“Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”       Hebrews 2:18

 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.                       Hebrews 4:15-16

 

So, the next time you’re feeling like, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”, ask yourself this question: is the Lord preparing you for something? Also, keep in mind that he knows what it means to suffer and won’t judge you, but will accept you to “receive mercy and find grace”.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

Two Men and a Truck

A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part 2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Matthew 1:18-25 

[This is Part 2 in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is always with you.] 

 

“Two Men and a Truck” is the name of a national moving company. It makes moving sound so simple. Like all you need is… two men and a truck. But moving is anything but simple. Moving… is stressful!

 

After eleven years of marriage, my wife, daughter and I moved to Columbus, Ohio from Lansing, Michigan. We only knew a few people through my job. Basically, we were starting all over.

 

So, we had to find a place to live, a new church, make new friends, find new doctors, and learn how to get around the city and where to shop. The move impacted every aspect of our lives. It was very stressful!

 

Joseph, the husband of Mary, knew what it was like to live through the stress of moving. Caesar Augustus decreed a census which required, what Joseph thought, would be a temporary visit.

 

The timing couldn’t have been worse as his pregnant fiancé was due at any moment. The 90-mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem probably took four days for them to walk… his first move.

 

Then, following a visit from astrologers from the east, he was warned that King Herod was going to try and have his infant son killed. So, Joseph took his young family and escaped to Egypt… his second move.

 

Finally, he was told that Herod had died and that it was safe to return to Israel. However, King Herod’s son was in power, so Joseph had to be very careful as he moved his family back to Nazareth… his third move.

 

For the first few years of his family’s life together, the stress of the unknown must have been palpable. Joseph had to deal not only with all the logistics and changes of moving, but also with the fear of losing his son. He was living in the wilderness but not without faith; not without affirmation; not without a sign.

 

When he first learned that Mary was pregnant, even though he knew it was from the Holy Spirit, he was still going to divorce her quietly so as not to disgrace her publicly. But an angel appeared to him.

 

²⁰ “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”            NLT

 

Then the angel quoted from the prophet Isaiah about a sign.

 

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’” NLT

 

How could he protect his young wife from the spitefulness and pain of gossip? How could he protect his son from a powerful, ruthless ruler who wanted him killed? How could Joseph provide for his family when his carpentry business was continually disrupted?

 

Joseph faced living in the wilderness by faith in the Lord; faith in the Living God who was with him. And… who is with us today.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

The Way Back

A Series on Living in the Wilderness: Part 2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 3:1-20 

[This is Part 2 in a series of looking at people who lived in the wilderness. Not necessarily the wilderness of nature, but the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful. That He loves you and is always with you.]

 

In the 2020 movie, “The Way Back”, Jack Cunningham’s life was a disaster. His son had died from childhood cancer, and to deal with his loss Jack started drinking heavily. As a result, his marriage fell apart.

 

His life was spiraling downward when he got a call from his former high school principal asking him to coach the basketball team. It was a game that he loved and had excelled at, but coaching seemed impossible. Despite this, he gave it his best shot.

 

Slowly, coaching basketball looked like it would be his redemption until another tragedy occurred resulting in him falling off the wagon. Recognizing his problem, Jack went to a rehab facility and began his journey to a new life. John the Baptist had a story of redemption to tell also.

 

² … At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. ³ 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.        NLT

 

John was living in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey and wearing camel hair clothing when God gave him this message of redemption. In that culture, it was a revolutionary message that didn’t require a system of sacrifices, but a changed heart that was to be reflected by how you lived.

 

John was a prophet in the mold of the Old Testament. He called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers”. He spoke out against Herod the Tetrarch for marrying his brother’s wife. Unfortunately, this led to John’s imprisonment and ultimately to being beheaded.

 

Despite his brief, and what would appear to be inconsequential life, he had a huge impact. He had disciples who believed in him. People from all backgrounds listened to him and did what he told them to show true repentance. He spoke without fear.

 

⁴ “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!              NLT

 

This verse is a quote from Isaiah who prophesized that the Messiah would come. And when he did, it was expected that exiled Jews from around the world would also return. Israel would then be an autonomous nation, not under the oppressive rule of Rome. But John’s message was different.

 

In the movie, Jack’s wife said to him, “We can’t change the past Jack. What we can do is choose how we move forward.” In preparing “the way for the Lord”, John had this same message to show people “the way back” ... not a political message, but a spiritual one. The message is the same today for you and me.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams