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Alive or Just Here – How Will You Live in 2022?

Jack London once wrote, “the proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

Think about those words for a moment.

What great thing was ever accomplished by those for whom the priority was to save their own skin? Consider for instance, Madame Currie who among other things, discovered radium and was a pioneer in the study of radioactive isotopes. Her efforts led ultimately to an illness which took her life but her discovery is still used today in the fight against cancer as an ingredient of Radon gas. Hers is one example if a life which was not wasted.

She epitomizes the phrase, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

As I write, I have another person in mind about whom it can be said that he lived and the life that he lived was not wasted. I read something about him yesterday on a marquee while travelling back from a day on the coast; the marquee read: “We use duct tape to fix everything – God used nails.” Of course the “man” the sign was referring to was Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God and points at the life of the God – man. Jesus has ALWAYS existed but not as a divine couch potato or otherwise uninvolved deity. He was born into the human race but existed before His birth; more than that He was born to die and He lived to set men free from their bondage to sin and eternal separation from God. He expended His 33 years of life for the sake of every human being. His life was not wasted and the life He lived, He lived unto God His Father. His life made an eternal difference.

London’s quote rings remarkably similar to something Jesus once said:

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24–26)

Jesus’ words here call us to a constant dying out to a way of life characterized by self-preservation at all costs and a coming alive to the will and purposes of God. In other words, He does not merely call those who follow Him to exist as Christians, He is calling them to live the life of a Christian. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is full of what living like that can look like in the extreme. But even in the torment of the flames as some of those martyrs were burned for their faith in Jesus Christ, they looked, as Jesus did, to the joy that was set before them. As Jesus concluded His thoughts in that short passage He did so with a reminder that today’s choices carry eternal consequences.

As we enter into a New Year, it is important for each one of us to ask ourselves, “am I alive or just here?” Staring at our phones into the world of social media or watching the plethora of reality TV shows available on Netflix, YouTube, Prime or HGTV etc; are you spending more time watching others live their lives than you are living your own? Your answer will also cast light on the greater question of your life’s purpose. We have not been given life to merely be consumers of everything we see – we have been given life and especially spiritual life CHRISTIAN, to make a difference just like Jesus. Consider the words of Paul in light of his life in Christ:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The new life that believers have is to be lived in a new way and for a new reason. Through His Holy Spirit, Jesus indwells every believer and sits on the throne of control that we once occupied and now our purpose is His plan and the accomplishing of His will. Did Paul occasionally deviate from the plan or attempt to retake control of his life? Any time we sin in essence, we are attempting to retake control of our lives and thus the need of a constant or of a daily dying out to our self-will is necessary.

Looking back on 2021, how did you do? Did you draw nearer to God or drift away a little or a lot? Much like a leaf driven by the wind on a pond’s surface is always moving, you and I are never stationary in our life of faith, we are always either drawing nearer to or moving further away from God. Has your faith become stronger in the wake of all that this last year has thrown your way or has it faltered. I ask because before we move forward we ought to take stock of where we’ve been and the lessons we learned or still need to learn for tomorrow. I have learned some hard lessons this year and still have some things to learn – God is patient. Once more, Paul offers us something to think about even as we enter into 2022, we find them in (Philippians 3:12-15):

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”

Pressing on is the mindset which Paul expects every Christ follower to have as they set their faces to what lay ahead of them. But I invite you even now while keeping your eternal hope set firmly in your minds eye, that is the hope (or confidence) of seeing and dwelling with Jesus for eternity to live each day, one at a time for the purposes of God. Each day is as clean a slate as a New Year is and just as unknowable nevertheless press on – the prize is yet before us and the souls of friends, family, coworkers, and strangers hang in the balance. Draw nearer, press on and press into Him who has made abundant life available to you.

Happy New Year!

Remembering the Unforgettable

    

It takes a special person to be a soldier – they leave everything behind to fight for others…they risk their very lives for the cause of freedom, hope and ultimately peace.  Memorial Day commemorates those who fought and fell paying the greatest price for freedom that anyone will ever pay – on this day we remember the sacrifice, we remember the blood.  We remember the faces and the lives of people who were not only prepared to give all for their country but who also did give all.

You know, when I think about it, those who paid the ultimate price for the freedom we enjoy as Americans are in certain ways much like Christ.  They left their homes like Jesus did, for a strange place. They traded their normal attire for a uniform – Jesus traded heavenly perfection for a human body. They gave their lives for a just cause: the deliverance of those in bondage – our troops delivered men from the bondage of men; Jesus delivered men from the bondage of sin; both paid the price of freedom with their lives. 

Y’all forgive me but Memorial Day commemorates the death of those who died to obtain and preserve the life, liberty and happiness of others.  It is honestly hard for me to say “Happy Memorial Day” because the joy that we now experience came at such a great price and it is the price that we must remember today.  Look at what is emphasized on Memorial Day weekend: great deals on new cars, building supplies, barbeque pits – great deals on all the makings of a great family picnic; we focus on summer vacation, graduation, some even focus on inebriation but in our celebration we forgot to remember who we have to thank for our liberation both as Americans and as Christians – fields of uniform monuments in our national cemeteries mark one group the other is marked by a single cross on a high hill just outside of Jerusalem called Golgotha and a single tomb no longer shut but wide open to reveal that it is empty;  the hero that it contained lives again and forevermore. 

Having said that, I’d like to spend some time considering the importance of milestones in our lives.

And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ” Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever. ” (Joshua 4:1-7)

[v.6] “What do these Stones Mean to You…?

     Forty years of wandering; forty years from the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea; forty years from their deliverance from the strong hand of bondage that they had been held by in Egypt by an even stronger hand; forty years of wandering until all those who were of a generation of doubt concerning God and His goodness had died; forty years to get to this moment in time.  And now, the people of God, a new generation, and a generation that had not doubted Him stood on the banks of the Jordan River standing for the first time in the land of promise.  The people had crossed over; [v.1] says And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua” – the people did not cross over in boats, they did not cross over on a bridge; and they did not wade across the river as it was well out of its banks [see Josh.3:15-17] – the Bible says that they crossed on the river bottom:

Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.”  (Joshua 3:17)

The moment the feet of the  priests bearing the ark of the covenant touched the flood swollen river it stopped flowing, piling up in a heap – God miraculously lead Israel into the land of promise on dry ground.  To commemorate the occasion God commanded that a representative of each of the twelve tribes of Israel return to the place where the priests stood, each was to take a stone from there which would be used to memorialize the event.  The memorial was to be a lasting reminder to future generations of their crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land on dry ground. 

What did those stones mean? 

  1. The stones were a reminder that God is faithful.  The stones memorialized the faithfulness of God to keep His promises.  [Num. 14:28-31] “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.
  2. The stones were a reminder that God had been and would be present.
  3. The stones were a reminder that God is mighty [see Josh. 4:24].
  4. The stones would be a source of encouragement to all people.  Set up in the next camp in which the people stayed; the camp at Gilgal [Josh. 4:20], the stones would serve as a source of hope during the difficult days ahead.  How?  Biblical history bears out that the Israelites faced many challenges during their journey – even in the context of topography, until now the people had wandered largely in the valleys of wilderness and in the desert, but now, after having crossed the flood swollen Jordan all that they could see past the plains of Jericho were the mountains of Canaan.  Their journey would be difficult but the memorial and others like erected throughout the land would serve to remind them during times of doubt and fear that, as David later wrote in [psl.60:12], “Through God we shall do valiantly.”  The monument would serve to remind them that [Rom.8:31] “If God is for us, who can be (who can stand) against us.” 

But there is something else to which these stones point not so much contextually, but rather by application; the Bible says that not only did the twelve men of Israel take up stones for the camp, but Joshua also returned to the place where the priests stood and there he erected a memorial [Josh. 4:9] which upon the final steps of the priests from the river would again be covered by the waters leaving them only evident to God; this he did before all of the people. 

What do those stones point to?

  1. Those stones marked the end of one journey…The stones in the river point to and mark not only the place where God met them and provided for the people; but it also marked the place where their old way of life ended – their life of wilderness wandering ended with that river crossing.
  2. and the beginning of another journey.  The stones on the west side of the river, in the land of Promise, erected in Gilgal pointed to new life – a resurrection of sorts.
  3. Together these memorials point to what happens in a person’s life when they come to faith in Jesus, as illustrated by believers baptism: [Rom.6:3-8].  By the working of God through the blood of His Son and the power of His Spirit, the old sinful, carnal man dies and the new man in Christ lives.

A greater than these…What does the cross of Christ mean to you?

There is a greater memorial than the twelve stones in the Jordan and at Gilgal, and that memorial is the cross of Jesus Christ.  When a believer looks at the cross they should remember the place from which they were taken and the destiny they were bound to because of their sinful ways before they believed.  When a believer looks upon the cross he or she should remember all of the miracles of God that went into their redemption – the virgin birth of Christ, the terrible suffering of Christ, and again, the blood of Jesus.  Remember what God said in [Exod. 12:13], “When I see the blood…” today as then, the blood of Jesus reminds God of His promise to forgive.  The empty cross, not an occupied crucifix, but the plain, empty cross along with a totally vacant tomb remind us that Jesus is not dead – we serve a risen Savior! 

To me, the two strongest and most striking memorial icons on earth are the tomb stone and the cross of Jesus Christ… – one points to the expected end of every human ever born and the other to the only hope of eternal life with God:

  1. The tomb stone reminds each one of us that every one of us will eventually taste death [Heb. 9:27]; it reminds us of the brevity of life [James 4:14].
  2. The cross reminds us that death doesn’t have to have the last laugh. 
  3. It reminds us of the life given so that we might have everlasting life [John 3:16].
  4. It reminds us that our freedom and forgiveness came at a great cost [1 Cor. 6:20].
  5. It reminds us that even when times are their worst – the one who believes in the risen Savior is never without hope [John 16:33].
  6. [v.7] And like the stones at Gilgal, the cross stands as “a memorial to the children of Israel (and to the world) forever” – a testimony to the love of God, to the mercy of God, to the forgiveness of God, to the hope found in Jesus Christ, to God’s great grace; to the seriousness of sin and the price paid to redeem us from it.

The stones of memorial in our lives point to what God has done.

Finally, the stones of memorial in our lives point to what God has done.  God had led Israel through the wilderness and across both sea and river on dry ground; He had looked after their every need to get them where they were, and He has done the same for us – the cross being the greatest reminder of that fact in our lives and in our world today.  But not all stones of remembrance are made of rock:

  1. They may take the form of the Bible of a loved one, now gone on to be with the Lord – the lasting reminder of their love and faith toward God; holding it brings you added peace.
  2. It may take the form of a picture of your kids or spouse as they were or as they are.
  3. Your stone of remembrance might be the very child you hold in your arms.

Whatever your stone, it should remind you of the goodness of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God and of the faithfulness of God . It should remind you of the love of God and the extreme lengths that He went to in order to make redemption, forgiveness and eternal life possible for sinners like you and me.

The memorial stones of Joshua’s day were to remind the people of certain qualities of God, memorializing a great day of deliverance in their nations history; likewise the memorials to our fallen heroes are to remind us of the sacrifice of people who gave their lives, over a million strong from the beginning of our nation’s history till now, memorializing their commitment to God, country and family – remembering their sacrifice for the freedoms we hold dear. Above all, the most common memorial to Christ: His cross, reminds us that we are loved and that Christ went to great lengths to prove it, that there is hope for tomorrow, and life everlasting for all who will trust in His name. 

What do these stones mean to you?

Priceless?

Is your Bible all to you that God wants it to be?

This thought provoking question comes from one of my favorite bible teachers – Warren Wiersbe and I ask it at a time when the Bible seems to be more and more devalued especially by those who claim both to believe that it contains the very words of God and who also claim to live by those words.

So let me ask and answer the question which some of you may be thinking – “What DOES God want our Bibles to be to us?”

Well, first of all, I don’t think that He wants it so much to be a rule book by which we judge ourselves and others as much as He wants it to be like an instruction manual for living life His way. The longest Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119 emphasizes the instructional purpose of God’s word in (v 9) where the psalmist asks and answers his own rhetorical question: “How can a young man (person) keep his way pure? By keeping (his way) according to Your word (NASB95).” In other words, God gives us His word to be learned and lived so that we might overcome temptation; remember in this same Psalm, the writer declared in (v.11) “Your word I have hidden in my heart,That I might not sin against You. (NKJV)” So, one purpose of the word is to instruct us.

Secondly, the Lord wants us to value His word like a great treasure but not as a treasure which we horde, hide or store up in our hearts for our own benefit alone but as a treasure to also be given away. The Apostle Paul wrote in (Romans 10:13) that ” “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved;” but how was that faith born in them? The Apostle tells us in (v.17) of (Romans 10) “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” But the key to this is in (v.14-15) where Paul wrote:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Paul taught that the only way others will share in the treasure we have found in the Lord Jesus Christ and His word is if we share it with them.

Third, the Lord wants us to recognize the power in His word for daily living. Look again at the words of the Apostle Paul, in (Romans 1:16) he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Paul declared the gospel to everyone he could because he KNEW that the word was powerful, “more powerful than a two edged sword” he said, and able to get to the heart of matters and people (see Heb. 4:12). The word dynamite is a derivative of the Greek word used in (v.16) for power implying that God’s word can break down spiritual strongholds and lead captive men and women to freedom in Jesus.

Finally and above all, God wants us to value the Bible as a letter from His heart to ours ~ a letter of love and grace to people who have lived out of sync and in rebellion against Him. He wants us to feast on His word, believe in His word, live by His word, stand on His word, grow in His word and He wants us to obey His word.

As I conclude, it may be that you agree with everything I have written here and that the Lord has written in His word but before you nod your head at them and go on about your day, seriously ask yourself:

IS my bible REALLY ALL to me that God wants it to be?”

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