Category Archives: Bible Stories

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November 11, 2024

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Bible Stories, Family, Friends & Fellowship, God's Grace & Love, Holy Spirit

IMMANUEL

“And be sure of this,” He promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:20 (NLT)]

My mother’s father abandoned his family when my she was five; neither she nor her brother saw him again. When I learned this as a youngster, I couldn’t understand how any father could do that. How could he not care about the children he left behind? Didn’t he want to know the beautiful woman who was my mother?

People come in and go out of our lives. Some people leave abruptly as did my grandfather and others just fade away. Either we move or our friends and neighbors do and we eventually lose touch with one another. While we lose some people to the moving van, others depart in a hearse. In this world, even our closest relationships are only temporary.

As Christians, however, we have one constant person in our lives: Jesus. When prophesying His arrival, Isaiah called Jesus Immanuel, meaning “God with us” or “God is with us.” As fully God and fully human when He walked the earth, Jesus was, indeed, Immanuel. But, because He was confined to the limitations of time and space in a human body, Jesus couldn’t be with everyone at once.

Unable to be with people in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Cana, Bethany, Ephraim, Jericho, and Samaria at the same time, Jesus walked more than 3,000 miles during his three-year ministry. It was in Capernaum that He drove an evil spirit out of a man and healed both Simon Peter’s mother and the paralytic who came through the roof. To raise the widow’s son, however, He had to be in Nain and, when He healed the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda, he was near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. He healed those ten lepers somewhere along the border between Samaria and Galilee, had to go clear across the Sea of Galilee to the Gerasenes region to heal the demon-possessed man, and was north of Tyre and Sidon when He was approached by the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus couldn’t be with Martha, Mary, and the dying Lazarus in Bethany while He was with the disciples a day’s journey from Jerusalem. When He lived as a man, Jesus was only Immanuel, “God with Us,” to those who were physically near Him.

When Jesus died on the cross, He didn’t leave us alone the way the spouses of so many of my friends have; He returned three days later. When He ascended into heaven, He didn’t lose touch with us as often happens when people move. He certainly didn’t abandon us the way my grandfather did to his family. Although Jesus died, rose, and ascended into heaven, He never really left us because He gave us His Holy Spirit! His Spirit is with every one of us, all the time, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. No longer confined to a body or limited by time or space, Jesus is, indeed, Immanuel: God with Us.

The best news is that, unlike my grandfather who never came back for his children, Jesus will return!

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. [John 14:16-18 (NLT)]

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November 7, 2024

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Bible Stories, Forgiveness, God's Grace & Love, Salvation: A New You

THE RANSOM

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. [Mark 10:45 (NLT)]

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. [1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT)]

squirrelGod took Heaven’s best—the Lord Jesus Christ—to redeem earth’s worst! [Billy Graham]

What if you were held hostage and no one cared enough to pay your ransom? There was a black comedy in the 1980s called Ruthless People in which that happened. After a young woman is cheated by her contemptible boss (played by Danny DeVito), she and her husband decide to retaliate by kidnapping her boss’s wife and holding her for ransom. What they don’t know is their vile nemesis doesn’t want his wife returned. In fact, the despicable man was planning to kill her himself to gain control of her family fortune! Hoping the kidnappers will finish her off for him, the husband deliberately disobeys all of the kidnappers’ ransom demands.

The inept kidnappers find they have more than they bargained for when their victim (played by Bette Midler) turns out to be a foul-mouthed mean-tempered shrew. In the dark of the basement, however, the hostage wife sees the light and both her disposition and physique make a vast improvement. She bonds with her kidnappers over their common enemy and the three exact revenge upon her contemptible husband.

Fortunately, as Proverbs 13:8 points out, “The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened,“ so, unless we’re ultra-wealthy, the likelihood of our being held hostage for ransom by a kidnapper is pretty slim. We needn’t fear coming up with the ransom money or, worse, having a spouse unwilling to pay to get us back! Nevertheless, both rich and poor can be held hostage by sin.

While we associate a ransom with kidnapping, in the ancient world, a ransom was the price paid to buy a slave’s freedom and it was the slave-holder who determined the price and received the payment before releasing the slave. We once were slaves to sin and Satan was the one holding us hostage. It was God, however, who determined the payment amount and received the ransom and it was His Son who paid that ransom. Some 2,000 years ago, Jesus paid the price that secured our release from bondage. His blood redeemed, freed, and rescued us from sin, death, and hell. Jesus gave His life in payment to save us from the wrath of God and it is by our faith alone that we receive His gifts of atonement and forgiveness. No longer prisoners, we are free to leave sin’s captivity; all we need is faith in Him for the door to freedom to open.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands they don’t have to remain prisoners. Perhaps, having grown accustomed to wallowing in sin, guilt, and shame, they’ve fallen prey to what is known as the Stockholm syndrome and begin to have positive feelings—even compassion—toward their captor. Perhaps, not believing the price was fully paid, they’re still trying to pay their own ransom with works. Then again, maybe they just can’t believe that God would love them enough to sacrifice His only Son for them. Whatever the reason, they remain prisoners of their own free will.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving us enough to pay the ransom that released us from captivity to sin.

From the depth of sin and sadness To the heights of joy and gladness
Jesus lifted me in mercy full and free; With His precious blood He bought me,
When I knew Him not He sought me, And in love divine He ransomed me.
[Julia H. Johnston – 1916]

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. [Romans 8:3-4 (NLT)]

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October 24, 2024

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Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, God's Word: The Bible, Nature, Trusting God

LIKE THE HYRAX

There are four things on earth that are small but unusually wise….Hyraxes—they aren’t powerful, but they make their homes among the rocks. [Proverbs 30:24,26 (NLT)] 

High in the mountains live the wild goats, and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes. [Psalm 104:18 (NLT)]

Making the point that wisdom is better than strength, the sage Agur spoke of the wisdom of ants, locusts, lizards, and sāphān. Often translated as badgers, rock-badgers, hyraxes, conies, or marmots, the animal’s exact identity is unknown but commentators suspect it to be the Syrian rock hyrax. Looking like a cross between a rabbit, guinea pig, and meerkat, these social animals gather in colonies of up to 80 individuals. Sleeping and eating together, they live in the natural crevices of rocks and boulders or take over the abandoned burrows of other animals.

Although hyraxes are mammals, like reptiles, they rely on ambient warmth to help regulate their body temperature. To warm up in the morning, they spend several hours sunbathing on the rocks together. Once warmed up, they head out to eat a little and then return to rest again on the rocks. If the sun gets too hot, they take their afternoon siesta in the shade.

Since hyraxes spend most of their time sprawled out resting on rocks in full view of any predators, these defenseless critters seem anything but wise. Looks, however, can be deceiving. Hyraxes never venture far from a safe crevice into which they can dash in an instant. Although these vulnerable animals appear to be asleep on the rocks, their eyes are open and, at the first sign of trouble, an alert is sounded.  Within seconds of that alert, these agile and speedy animals will disappear deep into rocky crevices. When hyraxes forage for food, the ever-alert animals form a circle with their heads pointing outward to keep watch for predators. I suspect it was their ability to both detect and escape peril while living openly on dangerous cliffs that caused Agur to call the hyrax “exceedingly wise.”

As a shepherd, David would have been quite familiar with the hyrax. As the likely author of Psalm 104, he even mentioned how the “rocks formed a refuge” for them. Like the hyrax, David and his men found security in the rocks and caves when they were hunted by Saul. The psalmist’s safe concealment in cliffs and caves may be the reason so many psalms refer to the rocks and cliffs as places of refuge. In Psalms alone, we find more than fifteen metaphors of God as a rock serving as the psalmist’s place of safety.

Since we’re not small and vulnerable animals who spend most of their time resting in the sunshine, what are we to make of Agur’s observation and David’s rock metaphors? Even when it looks like they’re asleep, the hyraxes never close their eyes to their enemies—the hungry lion, leopard, hyena, and eagle. Like the hyrax, Christians must be alert to their enemy, Satan—the one who prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour. [1 Peter 5:8] Despite its vulnerability, the hyrax doesn’t conceal itself in the dark like a mole; neither should Christians. Rather than hide in the dark crevices, hyraxes boldly sunbathe in the open on the rocks because they have a secure refuge in the rocks. As Christians, we can be as bold and open in our faith because we have a secure refuge in our Triune God. Indeed, He is our fortress, deliverer, stronghold, shield, redeemer, and salvation! And, like the hyrax and David, when we’re in jeopardy, we can quickly flee to the Rock! As hymn writer Augustus Toplady wrote, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee!”

No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. [1 Samuel 2:2 (NLT)]

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. [Psalm 18:2 (NLT)]

But the Lord is my fortress; my God is the mighty rock where I hide. [Psalm 94:22 (NLT)]

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. [Psalm 62:6 (NLT)]

Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. [Psalm 71:3 (NLT)]

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October 10, 2024

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Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Forgiveness, God's Grace & Love, Holidays & Holy Days

ONCE AND FOR ALL – YOM KIPPUR

He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land. [Leviticus 16:21-22 (NLT)]

While the year is 2024 on most calendars, it is year 5785 on the Hebrew calendar and the tenth day of Tishri begins at sunset tomorrow. For our Jewish brothers and sisters, it will be the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. With its themes of atonement and repentance, it the holiest day of the year for a Jew.

The book of Leviticus describes the rituals the Israelites were to perform on this holy day every year. In ancient Israel, this was the only time the high priest could come into the Holy of Holies (the innermost sacred area of the tabernacle or temple) where the Ark of the Covenant was housed. But, before coming into the presence of God and the Ark and beginning the ritual of atonement, he had to ritually cleanse himself from sin by bathing and dressing in spotless plain linen garments. The high priest then atoned for his own sins and those of his family with the sacrifice of a bull.

Two unblemished male goats were taken from the community and lots were cast to determine which goat would be given to the Lord. The first goat was sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark. This was the sin offering and made to appease the wrath of God and atone for the sins of the people. Then, having received forgiveness, the second goat was brought before the altar. As a way of transferring the sins of the people to the goat, the priest laid his hands on its head and confessed all the peoples’ sins and transgressions. This goat, the “scapegoat,” was then sent out into the wilderness to carry those sins into the wasteland. In this ancient ritual, the blood of the first goat provided propitiation by appeasing God’s wrath and the second goat provided expiation by atoning for and removing those sins. This atonement ritual was to be repeated year after year.

Without a temple in Jerusalem, there no longer are animal sacrifices or scapegoats. Nevertheless, Jews throughout the world continue to observe this holy day. When a fast day occurs on the Sabbath, it is postponed until Sunday but Yom Kippur is the exception to that rule. Referred to as the Shabbat Shabbaton (the Sabbath of Sabbaths), our observant Jewish friends will fast from all food and drink (including water) from just before sunset Friday until after sunset Saturday. Along with fasting, many Jews will abstain from wearing leather footwear, washing or bathing, applying lotions and creams, or having marital relations. Most of Yom Kippur is spent in the synagogue in intensive prayer, introspection, and the asking of God’s forgiveness for the past year’s sins. The day ends with a single blast of the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet) followed by the proclamation, “Next year in Jerusalem.”

Unlike the yearly sacrifice of goats, the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross needed to be done only once. Christ was both our sinless high priest and the unblemished sacrifice. When He gave himself up for us, Jesus took God’s wrath upon himself as His blood dripped on the ground beneath Him. When He suffered and died on the cross, Jesus was both the propitiation and expiation of our sins for all time. By dying, this sinless man took on God’s wrath—the wrath we sinners deserved. Rather than take our transgressions into the wilderness, He “removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” for all time. [Psalm 103:12] Thank you Jesus!

If you are ready to partake of grace you have not to atone for your sins—you have merely to accept of the atonement. All that you want to do is to cry, “God have mercy upon me,” and you will receive the blessing. [D.L. Moody]

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. [Romans 3:22-24 (NLT)]

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September 30, 2024

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Bible Stories, Forgiveness, God's Grace & Love, God's Promises

HE NEVER DISAPPOINTS

Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me.” … Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same. [Matthew 26:31a,33-35 (NLT)]

I think the worst thing my parents could say was that they were disappointed in me. Knowing I hadn’t lived up to their high expectations, I’d hang my head in shame as they added, “We expected far better from you.” I never wanted to disappoint them but, unfortunately, like every child, I often did.

While parents tend to envision having the perfect child—one who never disobeys, makes unwise choices, or gets a bad grade—God doesn’t operate under that delusion. Knowing us, He has realistic expectations of His fallen children. Nevertheless, while He understands that we can’t live up to His standard of perfection, God does expect us to do our best and He provides the guidance and power to do so. Even so, we’ll falter more times than we can count and, when that happens, rather than being disappointed in us, God is disappointed for us.

When they deserted the Lord that Thursday evening in Gethsemane, none of the disciples behaved much like true believers. Although the others also may have denied knowing Jesus that night, only Peter’s denials were recorded for posterity. While Jesus was being questioned, slandered, spit upon, blindfolded, and beaten, Peter was warming himself by a fire. Then the disciple who claimed to be ready to die for Jesus failed Him miserably by denying even knowing the Lord. Jesus wasn’t surprised in the disciples’ desertion and Peter’s betrayal; He expected it. In fact, He predicted it.

When Jesus appeared Easter morning, He didn’t tell the disciples how disappointed He was in them or shame them for their desertion. Instead, Jesus’ first words were words of love and reconciliation, “Shalom…peace be with you.” Then, instead of chastening them for their fear and doubt at His resurrected presence, Jesus ate with them! Rather than single out Peter and censure him for his denials, Jesus simply asked the disciple if he loved Him. Despite Peter’s previous failures, Jesus loved and forgave the man and appointed him to “feed my sheep.”

Peter’s failings didn’t define him and neither should ours. Peter denied Christ and yet he was in that room with the other disciples on Easter morning. A betrayal doesn’t have to send us away from Jesus into the depths of despair, as it did for Judas. A betrayal can bring us closer to Christ, as it did for Peter. Repentance and forgiveness turned Peter, the betrayer, into Peter, the Rock, the powerful preacher and fearless leader of the early Church!

Like Peter and the disciples, we are flawed people. As much as we want to honor and please God, there will be times we make poor choices and disappoint Him. The good news is that God never will disappoint us! Although He grieves for every one of our bad choices, He never will leave us, stop believing in us, or take His Holy Spirit from us.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. [Ephesians 4:30 (NLT)]

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Lamentations 3:22 (NLT)]

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September 26, 2024

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Sharing Our Faith

IXTHUS

And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.”… “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.” [Matthew 4:19, 13:47 (NASB)]

Fish play a prominent role in Scripture, especially in the New Testament. Jesus preached from a fishing boat, the first disciples were fishermen, and Jesus called them to be fishers of men. It was at His instruction that Peter found tax money in the mouth of a fish and the disciples netted two miraculous catches of fish. Jesus multiplied a few fish and loaves into food enough to feed thousands not once but twice! He compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a fishing net and, after His resurrection, Jesus even ate fish twice with the disciples. The frequent mention of fish in the New Testament, however, doesn’t fully explain how the fish symbol (ixthus/icthus) came to be one of the most recognized symbols of Christianity today.

Shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, the Roman senate declared that following Christ to be an “illegal superstition.” But, because Christianity was viewed as an inconsequential sect and a passing trend, its prohibition wasn’t fully enforced. After Rome burned in 64 AD, however, Christ’s followers were mercilessly persecuted throughout the empire. Depending on the emperor, for the next 250 years, they either were barely tolerated or viciously persecuted! Fearing mass arrests, trials, and brutal executions, Christians lived in fear and didn’t worship openly. The fish symbol, consisting of two interwoven crescent moons, became a secret way they could identify other believers and meeting places.

Aside from its tie-in with Scripture, why the fish? The fish symbol had been used by Greeks, Romans, and other pagans to represent fertility long before Christ, so it wouldn’t attract undue attention (as would a cross or a loaf and cup). The innocuous fish painted or etched on the outside of a house let other Christians know they would be safe and welcome inside. The walls of the ancient catacombs in Rome are filled with images of fish painted or carved there by Christians hiding from persecution. The ixthus also has been found on ancient seals, jewelry, urns, and tombs.

The fish symbol also may have been a way to distinguish friends from foes. According to an ancient story passed down through the centuries, when Christians met a stranger, they would draw an arc in the dirt with their feet. If the stranger completed the fish with a second arc, they knew they were in the company of another believer. If there was no response, the arc was easily erased by stepping on it.

The fish also symbolized the early Christian creed. The Greek word for fish is ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ) and when early Christians turned its letters (iota, chi, theta, upsilon, and sigma) into an acrostic, it became Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, which translates as a confession of faith with the words “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.”

It wasn’t until 313 AD, when Constantine legalized Christianity and promoted religious tolerance, that Christians could worship openly and no longer needed a secret symbol to identify themselves or their places of worship. Nevertheless, we see the ixthus on everything from pendants, earrings, and Christmas ornaments to car emblems, lapel pins, and key rings. Jesus’ harsh words about those who practiced their “righteousness” before men when God wasn’t in their hearts tell me that He’s no more impressed by an ixthus on our business cards or tee shirts than He was by the show of extra-wide prayer boxes, extra-long tassels, and extra-loud public prayers of 1st century Judah.

Following Christ is a great deal more than sporting an ixthus on a car bumper or having it tattooed on an arm. Jesus’ concern is our inward experience of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power rather than any outward shows of religion. Before displaying an ixthus or any other Christian symbol, we better know the risen Jesus Christ, obey Him as the Son of God, and trust Him as our Savior. Otherwise, we’re nothing more than “whitewashed tombs”—looking good on the outside but dead on the inside!

It is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men. The problem with the hypocrite is his motivation. He does not want to be holy; he only wants to seem to be holy. He is more concerned with his reputation for righteousness than about actually becoming righteous. The approbation of men matters more to him than the approval of God. [Augustine]

And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. … Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. [Matthew 23:5,27-28 (NASB)]

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