The Wilds

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
Saul
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Acts 7:54-8:3 

[In this series we’ll be looking at people who lived in 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.]

  

Our youngest granddaughter Josie loves animals. Recently, my wife and I took her to a wildlife and safari park called The Wilds. They have 10,000 acres of rolling hills where wild animals from around the world are free to roam.

 

As your safari bus navigates the bumpy washboard dirt roads, the animals can walk right up to you. We had both camels and rhinoceros come within a few feet of us. My granddaughter thought the rhinos were “so adorable”.

 

Although the animals are wild, as the name of the park indicates, we didn’t observe any wild behavior per se. There was certainly nothing like the wild animal behavior that Stephen experienced from the Sanhedrin and Saul.

 

Beginning with Pentecost, the first century church was very visible. They met every day in public in the temple courts where the Apostles would perform signs and wonders and teach about Jesus. They even went from house to house proclaiming the good news that Jesus was the Messiah.

 

Crowds of people gathered from towns around Jerusalem bringing their sick to be healed. The movement was spreading like wildfire. Literally, thousands of people had believed in the Lord.

 

The Christian church was so noticeable that the religious leaders couldn’t ignore them. In fact, they were furious with the apostles’ teaching to the point of wanting to put them to death. Instead, they bided their time which came quickly.

 

While in the temple, Stephen got into a heated argument with some religious leaders. As a result, they took him before the Sanhedrin having made false accusations of blasphemy. During his defense, Stephen said something that infuriated the Sanhedrin so much that they gnashed their teeth at him.

 

Then in a blind rage, they dragged him out to the edge of the city and stoned him to death with Saul’s approved. Their illegal act of capital punishment triggered more hatred for the church. It was like blood in the water attracting sharks.

 

^1b and on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ³ But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.      NASB

 

According to the New Bible Commentary, the word ravaging can be expounded to mean “like a wild beast does to the body of its victim”. In other words, Saul was so full of venomous hatred that he acted like a wild animal. That is, until he came face to face with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

 

We all have that wild animal instinct within us. It’s in our nature to rebel against the Lord. Thankfully, Jesus wants to show us his grace and mercy to bring us out of the wilderness; out of the wilds. Like he did with Saul.

 

Paul himself said it like this when he wrote to the church in Ephesus.

 

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.            NIV

 

So, come meet Jesus… face to face.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Taxes

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
Zacchaeus the tax collector
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Lk 19:1-10 

[In this series we’ll be looking at people who lived in 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.]

 

Complaining is as American as apple pie. Typical topics include the weather, the cost of gas or groceries, other drivers and how your favorite sports team is doing. However, the topic of taxes can result in bitter complaining.

 

As high as taxes are today, it doesn’t come anywhere near first century taxes for the Jews in Judea and Galilee. According to the ESV Archeological Study Bible, the Roman tax could reach between 50-80 percent of an individual’s personal income!

 

Compounding this was who benefited from the taxes. They were mostly used to fund Rome’s World Empire or lining a politician’s pockets or, the most hated… tax collectors. These were fellow Jews who were considered both traitors and thieves.

 

It was standard operating procedure for a tax collector to pocket anything extra that he charged with no limits. They even extorted taxpayers by threatening to file a false report if the person didn’t pay what they demanded. They were also known to take bribes or grant special favors. Basically, they were unethical!

 

Jews considered tax collectors the worst kind of sinner. They were outcasts, not welcome at the synagogue. They consorted with the enemy – Rome. They lived materialistic and self-absorbed lives. They lived in a wilderness.

 

Such was the case for Zacchaeus. However, the passage tells us that Zacchaeus “wanted to see who Jesus was”. This would seem to indicate that either he had seen and heard Jesus before or heard stories about him.

 

Possibly, he heard Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying at the temple. In the parable, the Pharisee thanked God that he wasn’t a sinner like the tax collector. While the tax collector begged God for mercy as a sinner.

 

Following the parable, Jesus said something extraordinary: the tax collector would go home justified before God, but not the Pharisee.

 

Whatever Zacchaeus may have witnessed or heard about Jesus, on that day by the sycamore tree, he promised Jesus that he would give half of his possessions to the poor and would pay back anybody that he had cheated four times the amount.

 

When Jesus heard Zacchaeus, he said this.

 

⁹ “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”   NLT

 

In verse 10, Jesus was making a direct reference to Ezekiel 34 where the Sovereign Lord, speaking through Ezekiel, condemned the religious leaders of the day for not shepherding the people of Israel. And then promised them this.

 

¹² I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.         NLT

 

Like Zacchaeus, this promise is true today for you and me. Jesus will seek us out and rescue us wherever we’re scattered. Even when we’re living in a wilderness.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Cloud of Dust

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
The sinful woman
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 7:36-50 

[In this series we’ll be looking at people who lived in 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.]

  

One of the most popular characters in the cartoon strip Peanuts is Pig-Pen. A cloud of dust surrounds him everywhere he goes and he’s always dirty. Referred to as a “human dustbowl”, he could turn a white snowman into a dirty snowman.

 

Pig-Pen accepted the fact that he was dirty. Even when he tried, he couldn’t stay clean. Once, after bathing and dressing in clean clothes, he stepped outside and instantaneously became dirty. He then declared to Charlie Brown, "You know what I am? I'm a dust magnet!" 

 

In the story today, there are three main characters. A Pharisee who, following synagogue, invited the rising star rabbi for a banquet at his home. Jesus, who is the up and coming rabbi. And an uninvited guest… the sinful woman.

 

In this culture, women were expected to be married. And if you were married, it was expected that you wore a head covering to show not only that you weren’t available, but also that you were virtuous. If you didn’t wear a head covering, you were subject to speculation, gossip and likely considered promiscuous.

 

In the case of the sinful woman, who didn’t wear a head covering, she already had a well-known reputation for being immoral. When she knelt at Jesus’ feet, weeping and then drying his feet with her hair and anointing them with expensive perfume, the Pharisee judged them both.

 

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”           NLT

 

Like Pig-Pen, she was an outcast whose dirty reputation both preceded and followed her. Both of them lived in a wilderness of dust.

 

But the sinful woman had heard Jesus speak. She had heard his words of love and healing. His words of forgiveness and cleansing. His words of defiance against the religious establishment.

 

Because of this, she found the courage to break social norms. To not only walk into a banquet that she wasn’t invited to, nor wanted, but also to kneel at Jesus’ feet with unbridled emotion and touch him.

 

She looked in the mirror and saw her dust and wanted to change. She probably had wanted to change before, but now she believed it was possible because of the rabbi. By faith, she acted on her newfound hope in Jesus. The result was life changing.

 

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”  ^50b “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” NLT

 

Notice that Jesus never referred to her as the sinful woman. With his words of freedom, you can visualize the cloud of dust falling to her feet and disappearing. He has taken her out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Three Strikes and You’re Out!

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
Mary Magdalene
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 8:1-3 

[In this series we’ll be looking at people who lived in 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.]

  

There’s a saying in baseball that is very unforgiving. “Three strikes and you’re out”! There’s no room for discussion; no compromise will be made; no arguing will change it. If you get three strikes, “YOU’RE OUT”!

 

Mary Magdalene had three strikes against her.

 

Her first one was simply due to the fact that she was a woman. Women in that culture were treated like second class citizens. They had no property or inheritance rights. In fact, they were considered the property of the man in their life, whether it was a husband or a father.

 

That brings us to her second strike. Women at that time were valued for bearing children. Because of this, they were known by who their husband was. For example, one of the women mentioned in this passage was “Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager”.

 

Unlike Joanna, Mary Magdalene had no such attachment to her name. She was called Magdalene because she was from the fishing village of Magdala. This would seem to indicate that she wasn’t married and therefore had no children.

The third strike against her was that seven demons were living inside of her. According to the New Bible Commentary, “Seven is a round number, indicating the worst possible state of corruption”. We can safely assume that she was a tormented soul controlled by evil spirits.

 

For Mary Magdalene, it was three strikes and you’re out! Even though they were not of her own accord, she would have been viewed with utter contempt by respectable Jews. She would have been socially and religiously isolated. She would have been considered unredeemable.

 

But not by Jesus. For him, she wasn’t defined by those negative circumstances and experiences. She wasn’t defined by her failures or sins. Instead, he saw someone that had been uniquely created in the image of God; who had value and the potential purpose of building God’s kingdom.

 

Jesus had three strikes of his own. One in each hand and the third through his feet. In doing this, he not only took away Mary Magdalene’s three strikes, but he also took yours and mine. He made it possible for our forgiveness and redemption. Paul put it like this in his letter to the Romans.

 

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ^25a Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! ¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.        NIV

 

In the game of life, three strikes doesn’t mean you’re out if Jesus is in your heart. What it does mean though is that you’re forgiven. And, that everyday life is starting over for you with a clean slate, a new purpose and the opportunity to live life to the fullest.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

The School of Hard Knocks

A Series on the Milestones in Jesus’ Life

Matthew 3:16-4:11

 (Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%203%3A16-4%3A11&version=NIV;NLT

 

Have you ever experienced the school of hard knocks?

 

 

Maybe you went through a nasty divorce; struggle with an addiction; suffered the death of a loved one; or was fired from your job. When “trials of many kinds” come your way, they can be the school of hard knocks where you learn from the experience and grow in your faith.

 

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.   NIV

 

In a way, the baptism of Jesus was his coronation as the King of Kings. It was the commissioning of his ministry. But instead of sending him to the mission field, the Spirit lead him immediately to a place that could easily cause him to fall; to derail his ministry before it even began. He was an easy target for temptation.

 

Verse 2 has to be the biggest understatement in the Bible. After spending forty days and nights without food, Matthew wrote, “He was hungry”. Duh!!! Not only was Jesus hungry, but he had been isolated from others the whole time. He was at his weakest and most vulnerable condition. Why did the Spirit lead him there?

 

Maybe, these forty days in the wilderness were a time of increasing his faith; of coming to maturity; of preparing him for all the struggles that lay ahead. Maybe Jesus was growing in his faith through the school of hard knocks.

 

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 NIV

 

This milestone in Jesus’ life, makes it possible for us today to approach him with confidence; to experience his strength; to persevere and grow through our own school of hard knocks. This milestone brings us hope.