Friday the 13th

1 John 3:11

¹¹This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

 

A very simple message….a message that has been carried throughout the Bible, and is still the driving force behind the Word today. Love one another. As it rolls off the tongue it sounds easy enough, but when we try to put it in to action, we see that it can be a daunting task. Who gets loved? Everyone….that is a lot of love, and the very reason that it is repeated so often in the Bible. For most of us it is a struggle to love the ones in our life that we really love, let alone love those that are indifferent, or even have ill feelings toward us. Yet that love must be extended. That is why it is important to realize that love, like so many things in life, is a choice. We choose who we show love to; we choose how those around us effect us. No one can steal our love, our hope, or our faith, but we can easily choose not to share it. Once again we are forced to look within ourselves. It is not the world around us and the way we are treated that makes us love less; it is the fact that we allow those around us to manipulate our feelings. People around us do not cause us to not show them love. We choose not to do it. We justify it with phrases like “they don’t deserve my love”, or “they are to mean, or spiteful, or hateful to love”.  Is this how Christ shows us love? Is this the example He left the world? I think not! Christ did not allow the world to dictate his actions, and we should strive to emulate that example. Don’t let the world rob you of the greatest gift any of us can give, Christ’s love. We will be hurt in this world, but that is no cause to withhold love. Christ gave his very life in the ultimate expression of love, let us each work to live a life of love. Let us work to show love to all of those around us. We choose, we decide, the gift is ours to give, or to lock away. Make the choice to love. Love the Lord, love life, and most importantly, let us love one another.

 

Have a great weekend, and God bless,

 

Brian

Thursday the 12th

1 John 3: 1

 

¹How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

 

 

I find it no surprise that I come to this verse this morning. I had a suspicion confirmed last night that a friend of ours just does not believe in God, in any way shape of form…..The same thought kept crossing my mind as the information was relayed to us, I thought “well, they just don’t know” They don’t know the love, the peace, the fulfillment that comes form having God in their lives. They don’t get the idea of salvation, and forgiveness that can only come from Christ. So, I look inward, what can I do, what can I say to make a difference and change this person? I always come to the same conclusion that Spurgeon did. I cannot change anyone, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. I can put the information out there, I can extend the offer, I might change a persons  mind, but I cannot change their heart. So what do we do when we are faced with people who will not listen? The only thing you can do with anyone who is convinced of something……show them otherwise. All of this talk of loving others, of serving others, this talk of loving God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves, it has a very specific purpose, it shows the world God’s love. It gives the people who do not know God a glimpse of what true love looks like. I am reminded of St. Francis of Assisi who said “go out and proclaim the Gospel of Christ to everyone; use words if you must.”  We might frame our Faith in Christ with words, but it is our actions that speak the loudest. It is easy to spot an active family member in Christ. They are the ones everyone says “man, I want some of what they got!”  Let us all strive to be that type of person. Not just because it makes us feel good (and it does), not just because it allows us to radiate God’s love onto the world (and it does), let us do it so that others who do not know God might have a chance to open their hearts to Him. Let us be the ones that people want what we have! May we all have the strength to let our actions be our words instead of trying to make our actions fit our words!

 

Peace,

Brian

 

Tuesday the 10th

1 John 1: 9

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The saving Grace of God. Sin is something that it constantly looking for a way into tour lives. Maybe I dwell on it to much sometimes, but feel compelled to bring it to the forefront because it is a struggle that we deal with daily. It seems the more righteous we grow, the more devout we become, the more the temptations of sin bombard us on a very personal level. However here the writer reminds us that there is always hope, there is always a lifeline. There is a way for us to right our wrongs, and find shelter in the storms of life. That lifeline is the forgiveness of the Lord that comes from the confession and repentance of sin. Have you ever felt like you are just making one bad decision after another? Maybe you feel that your life that was clipping along so well has turned for the worse? Maybe you see that the choices you are making today, are not the choices that you once would have made……one transgression easily leads to another. It is all too common to look up and ask “just how did I get here so quickly”. We must remember to ask for that forgiveness as soon as we realize we have stepped off the path, not tonight, not tomorrow, not Sunday in church. Ask for that healing forgiveness to enter your life right now. You will find yourself purified, you will give yourself the opportunity to feel the grace of God surrounding you. While it would be easy to say don’t sin, we know that we all miss the mark form time to time. Grab a hold of the promise that the Lord has given you, accept daily the gift that was given by Christ at such a high price. Let us all confess our sins and receive the healing gift of forgiveness from God.

May the Lord strengthen and protect you,

Brian

Monday the 9th

1 John 2:1

 

¹My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

 

It is Monday and I am reminded of a sign that hung in a friends kitchen when I was a kid. It read; Lord today is a good day, I have not raised my voice in anger, I have not belittled, or deceived anyone, my heart is full of joy, and I am thankful for this day……..but Lord, I am about to get out of bed, and I am going to need your help after that!

 

We are not going down this path alone, we have a companion that walks beside us, sometimes even carries us. When we sin, He is there, not looking down upon us, not pointing His finger saying I told you so, He does not shout at us in frustration “ you will never learn”. HE patiently waits for our repentance, then speaks to His Father on our behalf. It is a comfort to know that all of our shortcomings, all of our inequities, when laid at the foot of the cross, are forgotten. Honestly it is that knowledge that gets me out of bed in the morning with a smile on my face. You see, with Christ as our mediator we are victors. We are winners today, tomorrow, and every day that follows. We have our strength and our salvation in Jesus Christ. We are not perfect, but with Christ at our side we find redemption from this world. Sin is everywhere, it hunts us down relentlessly, however with our Savior at our side through this journey, we are strengthened, our resistance to sin is elevated, and in the event we do stumble, Christ is there, dusting us off, and helping us up. How blessed we are to have such a gift, how much must God love us to give us His Son, not as a lawyer, not as an advisor, but as a brother, and friend! We all might stumble here and there, but those of us that walk with Christ will always find forgiveness through Christ; he is our defender, our brother, our friend, and our salvation. Won’t you call on him today? Ask him to walk with you, ask him to heal you, ask him for the forgiveness that you so desperately want and need. After all, He is the Righteous One!

 

Peace,

Brian

 

 

Friday the 6th

1 John 1: 8-10

 

 ⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

 

I have never understood the people, especially self-proclaimed Christians who say they are without sin. Sin is an everyday struggle, and we might not like to admit it, but none of us make it through the day without having at least one instance (if not several) where we fail to hit the mark of Christ, and as a result we sin. We are not Christians because we are so strong, and impervious we can withstand anything, we are Christians because we understand that we are weak, and without Christ we will never find the strength to survive. Christ did not freely give his life on the cross for a few sinners……he gave his life for everyone of us…..because we are all sinners.  When we march through life as if we are perfect, as if we have no sin, we are telling the world, “well Christ died for a lot of people, but not for me, I am good to go” It is the very real fact that we are all sinners that makes the blood of Christ so precious. We just are not as important as we think we are, and we are not as perfect as we often think we are. As the old saying goes, if you think you are someone of importance, try bossing someone else’s dog around. It is though our admission of sin, our acknowledgement of our struggles daily with the flesh, that we find our humbleness. Through that humbleness, we make room for Christ. Remember he did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners (Mark 2:17) It is our struggle with sin that makes us human, it is that same sin, and our repentance form it, that ties us to Christ. He is our mediator, and our savior. To say we are without sin, is to say that Christ died in vain. Let us all carry the word on our lips that yes we are sinners, and much like any other recovering addict, we will struggle with that addiction daily. With Christ we will be victorious in our lives, without him we have little if any hope for recovery.

 

God bless,

Brian

 

Thursday the 5th

2 Peter 3: 9

 

⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 

In a keystroke this post will be sent far and wide. In a matter of seconds it will be in people’s inbox and on the web. It is little wonder that many people might think in this day of instant access everything that the Lord is slow in delivering. I would like to point out that God is anything but slow. Through Moses he moved an entire sea on demand, through His Son an entire world was given the opportunity of salvation in the matter of a weekend. No, God is not slow to make anything happen. What we must realize is that there are things that must be done before He can act. The Israelites were enslaved and  His Son was hunted and persecuted before God could reveal His strength. This is the point that we as humans have a problem with. It is not the execution of God’s blessings that seems slow, it is our inability to exercise patience that proves to be the sticking point. God is not slow, He is patient. He showers us with love, with grace, and most of all, with the time we need to get our lives right. The Lord has plans to prosper each of us, we are reminded of that in Jeremiah 29:11, however we have to work to get our lives in position to receive that blessing. If we are sitting around waiting on the Lord to deliver, well, we might be sitting there for a while. Conversely, when we busy ourselves with living our lives for the Lord, it often seems like it is one blessing after another falling into our lives. When that starts to happen we see that God is anything but slow, he has just been waiting on us to get our act together. God is not looking for spectators, He is looking for those that he calls His own.  He is looking for the people who are working at living their lives as an example of His Son’s. Love, faith, compassion, hope, these are not idle words, they are very big verbs; They are best displayed by people in action. If you are standing on the sidelines waiting for the Lord to show up in your life, if you are thinking “ God, come on already!” Quit waiting, duck under the spectator tape and join the race for the crown. I promise you, God can hit a moving target……..you are easier to see when you are running.

 

May you be blessed, and be a blessing today,

Brian

Wed. the 4th

2 Peter 3: 3-4

 

 ³First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

 

1500 years, that is the span of time the Bible covers, over 400 hundred years between the old Testament, and the New……..What was true back then, is still very true now. God is still God. He has not changed, He is still the God of Abraham, Christ is still the Savior to the world. However, While the Lord has not changed, and never will, Humans are…..well human. We are always changing, there are those among us who are always looking for the next big thing, or the easiest way from point a. to point b. So yes today we have our scoffers, the T.V. is full of them, the talking heads go to great lengths to try and convince the world that their way is the way to go. They often cite this very point that Peter makes “where is this coming”, or if He is so powerful, why doesn’t He show himself. The Lord is just as present today, as He was in the days of Abraham, and the days of the Apostles. The thing that has changed is that most people don’t ask God to come around as much. They don’t invite Him and His Son into their living rooms, their families, their jobs, or their lives. More and more people are beginning to believe the scoffers. However, God is still God. He still speaks through the scriptures, and through His people today, HE still answers prayers, He still repairs broken lives, and Christ still walks with us all everyday, trying to guide, and protect. It is not God that has changed, or left, it is society that has hardened it’s heart to the Lord. It is the warped belief that the Lord will help us through the hard times, but we don’t need him during the good times. Since the beginning of time the Lord has worked for the good of the people He loves, yet just like some of the Israelites, people today say it is not enough, it does not count. I encourage everyone, don’t listen to the scoffers, instead go the opposite direction, dedicate your life to looking for God, search out Christ. If you want the promise, if you want proof, if you want to see just how present the Lord is in the world today…….then quiet the scoffers, and turn to the Lord. He will show up in your life, but you have to invite Him, you have to search for Him, and you have to be willing to follow Him. If you want to see Him, you have to open your eyes, your heart, and your mind. When you search for him, you will find him, just as Christ said,  ask and it will be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened. Search for him, then show others the way.

 

Peace,

Brian