It's Confession Time

Colossians 3:12-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%203%3A12-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

Do you notice anything unusual about this picture? Does anything look out of place? What about the grill? Aren’t grills normally on your deck in the back of the house? But this one is on the patio in the front of a condo…. my condo.

 

For the past nine years our grill has been on the deck in the back until this year when we received a notice from our condo board that there is a state law that you can’t do that. Who would’ve thunk it? In order to comply, we moved our grill to the front patio. Problem solved right? Wrong!

 

About a month ago we received a “First Notice for Rule Enforcement” from the condo board stating that our grill was on “common property” and therefore, according to the By-Laws, must be removed immediately. Even though this is a confession, I won’t share my initial, uncensored reaction when I read this notice at the end of a long day at work.

 

Eventually, after calming down and thinking rationally, I composed what I thought was a well-reasoned and thought out letter signed by my wife and myself. It explained why we disagreed with the board’s position and backed it up with the condo By-Laws.

 

That should have been good enough for me to put this matter in the past; but it wasn’t. My anger and resentment kept poking its ugly head up from beneath the surface. Then this week, in preparation of writing this devotional, I read my verses.

 

¹² Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.           NLT

 

Darn! There are so many times it would be much easier to not be a Christian; to not have to follow Christ. I would much rather be angry and unforgiving. I prefer to justify my actions because of some perceived wrong. It’s so much easier to be angry because people don’t live up to my expectations. Then came the dagger.

 

¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.  NLT

 

It’s confession time. Do you feel convicted after reading these verses? I do. As a result, although I’m not sure what we will do about our grill, I most certainly need to change my attitude and to represent the Lord well.

 

 

 

Let Us Do the Same

1 Timothy 1:12-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+1%3A12-17&version=NIV;NLT

  

We honor people in lots of ways. It could be something as simple as opening the door for

someone or buying a meal or calling them sir or madam. It could be something more significant like an award. For example, last Sunday was The Oscars and the coveted golden statue was awarded to a number of individuals in the movie industry.

 

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.        NLT

 

When you read this verse, do you have trouble believing that Paul was really the worst

sinner? After all, he wrote the majority of the New Testament and almost single handedly spread the Gospel throughout the known world in the first century. However, previous to that, he assisted in stoning Stephen and zealously persecuted the church. Basically, Paul was a murderer and a bully.

 

¹⁶ But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.  NLT

 

Despite what Paul had done, or maybe because of it, God chose him to be an apostle. He chose him as someone who would change, not only the first century world, but the world for centuries to come. Ironic isn’t it?

 

Paul’s conversion is an example that gives me hope; hope that all that I have done or will do, can and will be forgiven. Hope that God will use me in His redemptive work here on earth.

 

Often times, our service men and women have been honored publicly by recognizing their service and sacrifice; sometimes, their ultimate sacrifice. God understands this depth of sacrifice. Because He too made the ultimate sacrifice by sending His one and only son to die, not only for Paul’s sins, but for ours.

 

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory

for ever and ever. Amen.      NIV

Paul responds to God’s mercy and grace by recognizing His ultimate sacrifice. He gives God all the honor and glory. Let us do the same.

 

 

How Do You Respond: Grace or Judgement?

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%201%3A4-9&version=NIV;ESV

 

How do you respond when… someone cuts you off in traffic and then puts on their breaks? When you feel like someone has slighted you? When your boss makes a derogatory remark about you? When your spouse doesn’t meet your expectations? Do you respond with grace… or with judgement?

 

During the first century, the Jews were steeped in the law. Grace was a foreign concept to them. As a result, Jesus had numerous confrontations with the religious leaders; Paul was beaten and persecuted multiple times; and the early church struggled with the issue of requiring circumcision.

 

There is something deep within the human heart that doesn’t want to forgive; doesn’t want to show grace; but instead wants to judge and condemn.

 

It’s somewhat surprising that Paul writes in his letter to the believers at Corinth that he gives thanks for the grace shown to them; because they show so little grace to others. The Corinthian church struggled with divisions, immorality, discrimination against the poor and many other serious issues.

 

There’s a need for introspection. The Corinthian church needed it, and we need it.

 

How did you answer the questions in the first paragraph? If you are honest, you could probably add some of your own more pointedly personal questions. But, no matter how deeply imbedded our struggles, God’s grace and His faithfulness will win the day.

 

⁴ I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge… ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.      ESV

 

So the choice is yours. How will you respond to God’s grace and faithfulness? Will you

show grace, or will you show judgement to others? God gave His grace to us so that we might share it, not keep it for ourselves.

 

 

(If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share the link with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

Charlottesville Justice

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015%3A50-58&version=NIV;TLB;NLT

 

On August 13 of this year, there was a deadly incident that occurred after two days of protests, counter-protests and confrontations. It ended with a young woman being struck and killed by a white supremacist who purposefully drove his car into a crowd. No matter where you turn today, the battle for justice seems to be lost.

 

The same was true during Jesus’ lifetime. He was born into a world where the invading Romans ruthlessly ruled and the Jewish religious leaders imposed their legalistic interpretation of the law, which was used to control the masses. It was used to judge and condemn. There was no mercy or grace.

 

Into this world, Jesus made a point of healing those who others would never touch. He didn’t differentiate who he loved based on their nationality, ethnicity or religion. He didn’t care whether you lived in poverty or were wealthy and powerful. He showed justice for all.

 

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”   Luke 4:18-19 NIV

 

God has instructed us that it is more important to live justly than to be religious.

 

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.   Micah 6:8 NIV

 

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, that because of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the battle for justice in our own life is already won! Now it is up to us, to share that Good News justice with the world; to show God’s love and forgiveness to those who He has brought into our lives.

  

⁵⁶ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. ⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.       NLT

⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection.   TLB

 

 (If God has spoken to you through this blog, please feel free to share the link with others.)

http://lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purging Mammoth Cave

1 John 1:1-10

 

  

^5 “This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him. ⁶ If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim.”      MSG

 

John lived continuously with Jesus for three years. Although he and his brother were known as the “Sons of Thunder” because of their temper, he was also referred to as the “one whom Jesus loved”. He had a very special relationship with Jesus; maybe closer to him than any of the other disciples.

 

It is from this dichotomous perspective of anger and love that he wrote the letter of 1 John which addresses a heresy of the day known as Gnosticism. It was a heresy that threatened the entire first century church.

 

In a tour of Mammoth Cave, when you are in the belly of the cave, your guide will turn

off all the lights. As a result, it is pitch black. There is no light in the darkness. In fact, you can put your hand so close to your face that you can feel your breath, but not be able to see your hand.

 

During the same tour, in the midst of the darkness, the guide may strike a match. That single match emits enough light for you to find your way along the trail. That small light eliminates the darkness that had surrounded you; it illuminates your path so that you won’t stumble.

 

This is a metaphor for your life. God is light; there is no darkness in Him. Yet, the dichotomy of living the Christian life is that there is a struggle between darkness and light in us. The darkness is a constant threat, but the light is always with us, ready to exhume the darkness.

 

Therefore, what can we do when darkness enters our heart our mind? We can strike a small match, and the light will purge the darkness.

 

 

 

^9 “On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.”                MSG

 

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

1 John 1:8-9; Psalm 103:8-12

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Jesus often used stories to paint a picture to teach an important lesson. One of the most important lessons for us to learn is that if we repent, that is admit that we have sinned and turn from our sin, then He will forgive us. It’s as if we had never sinned.

 

This is a hard lesson to learn. Guilt and shame can attach themselves to your soul, like a cancer, and destroy you from the inside out. Here, coupled with several scriptures, are some of my own personal stories that have helped me to paint a picture to learn this invaluable lesson.

 

For years, after we moved to Columbus from Michigan, people would make some kind of

derogatory comment about Michigan until they found out I was a Michigan State fan. Apparently, that made me tolerable. However, the point had been driven home that nothing could be further apart from a Buckeye than a Wolverine.

 

Psalm 103

¹² …as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.  NIV

 

My Dad had an ink blotter on his desk when I was growing up. I can still remember him

blotting out the extra ink that was left after writing with his fountain pen. The blotter cleaned up many of his letters. The messiness would never be visible.

 

Isaiah 43

²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out
    your transgressions, for my own sake,
    and remembers your sins no more.     NIV

 

When I was a young boy, we took a vacation out west. One day on a mountainous road we pulled off to look at the scenery. There was a very deep ravine that you couldn’t see

the bottom, although you could hear a river below. Being a young boy, I threw a stone over the guardrail and waited to hear it hit the water. Imagine my surprise when a couple of angry men yelled to quit throwing those stones. Oops.

 

Micah 7

¹⁹ Once again you will have compassion on us. You will tread our sins beneath your feet; you will throw them into the depths of the ocean!       TLB

 

Recently, by brother and sister-in-law were visiting us. On Saturday night, as we were

getting ready to go out for dinner, my brother caught his pant leg on the toenail of his big toe and tore it off. There was a huge blood stain on the carpet. After using several different brands of carpet cleaner with much elbow grease, the stain was finally gone.

 

Isaiah 1

¹⁸ Come, let’s talk this over, says the Lord; no matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool! TLB

 

Sometimes I like to tease my granddaughter when I have a small gift for her by hiding it behind my back and ask her to choose which hand it’s in. Of course, which ever one

she chooses I quickly switch the gift to my other hand. Eventually though, she gets the gift; but in the meantime it’s great fun… at least for me.

 

Isaiah 38

¹⁷ Surely it was for my benefit
    that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
    from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins behind your back.     NIV

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. No doubt, you have your own stories that could paint a picture of how God has removed your sins; blotted them out; thrown them away; cleaned them; hidden them or… you fill in the blank.

 

The bottom line is that our guilt and shame have been nailed to the cross with Jesus, so that we might live free from sin. Can you picture that?

 

 

 

A Faith that Fails

Matthew 17:14-21

 

 

Babe Ruth was known as

The Great Bambino and the Sultan of Swat. But did you know that he had almost twice as many strike outs as home runs? 1330 to 714 to be exact! Based on these statistics, you could easily categorize him as a failure.

 

Speaking of which, here’s what Jesus had to say to his disciples when they couldn’t heal the boy suffering from seizures: ^17 “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.”                       MSG

 

The passage today is about the failure of Jesus’ closest followers. After three years, their faith was not big enough to heal the demon possessed boy. Jesus had just returned from a mountain top retreat; The Transfiguration. Knowing that the cross was waiting for him in Jerusalem, he confronted his disciples. They had failed miserably! What would they do once he was gone?

 

When was the last time you failed? For me, it is every day! Jesus explains that all we need is a very tiny amount of faith, and “nothing will be impossible for you”. When was

the last time you moved a mountain or healed a demon possessed boy? I don’t believe however, that we need to do miracles to use our “mustard seed faith”.

 

Hebrews 11 describes the faith of many from the Old Testament, none of which moved mountains. By faith, Abraham went to an unknown foreign country; Moses led the Israelites; Rahab mislead the spies. These were not miraculous acts, but the actions of ordinary people done by faith.

 

They had failures in their lives too. Abraham lied about his wife to save himself. Moses was a murderer. Rahab was a prostitute. Indeed, they had failures, but each one had faith the size of a mustard seed that moved mountains.

 

Following the list of faithful men and women in Hebrews 11 is this statement in chapter 12: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”       NIV

 

Despite having failures, God has called you and called me to “throw off the sin… run

with perseverance… and fix our eyes on Jesus”. He doesn’t call us to miraculous acts; only to obedience based on faith.

Faith the size of a mustard seed. Faith in a God who is always faithful, always with us, always loves us and always forgives us. He forgives our faith that so often fails.

 

 

 

 

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