Category Archives: Salvation: A New You

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April 18, 2015

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Faith & Hope, God's Grace & Love, Holidays & Holy Days, Holy Spirit, Nature, Salvation: A New You

RESURRECTION FERNS

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I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. [Psalm 143:6 (NLT)]

The question was asked, “How did the message of “Resurrection Day” [Easter] impact you specifically this year?” I never answered. The last two weeks have been hectic and, unfortunately, I allowed the busyness of life to keep me from feeling Easter’s complete impact. We had house guests until the day before Easter. After they left, laundry, cleaning and prep work for Easter dinner kept me from prayer and preparing my heart to receive the next day’s message. Easter morning arrived and we rushed to church where I took over 200 photos for the church website. Returning home, I had those photos to edit and post before our six dinner guests arrived. About the time the house was again clean and I’d nearly caught up with everything that hadn’t been done the week earlier, we had a second set of house guests. It wasn’t until today that I finally gave serious thought to how the Easter message has impacted my life.

We took a walk in the swamp this morning and I saw the resurrection ferns. Two days ago, when we walked the same boardwalk, the ferns’ fronds were brown and shriveled. While I reassured my guest that they were not dead, I’m not sure she believed me. It rained last night and I wish she could have seen the ferns this morning. Within thirty minutes of receiving rain, those shriveled leaves uncurl, green up and look “good as new.” Because of last night’s shower, the resurrection ferns in the swamp were lush and lovely today.

The Easter message is one of resurrection and renewal. Just as the rain water gives new life to the ferns, the living water of the resurrected Christ brings new life to us. The ferns, however, will again shrivel in the heat of the day; once we receive the Holy Spirit, we can thrive and blossom, even in hot dry spells. Jesus defeated death and by His power, we can defeat life! I have drunk of his water, been refreshed and renewed, and will never thirst again!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for taking the shriveled bits of our lives and making them new again. With your living water, there is no need to wither and die. By the power of your Holy Spirit, we can always flourish in your garden!

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” [John 4:13-14 (NLT)]

Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.” [John 7:38 (NLT)]

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April 13, 2015

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God's Grace & Love, God's Promises, Salvation: A New You, Today: Make it Count

ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going. [John 14:1-4 (NLT)]

apple-sirenWI281webJust hours after its introduction, all models of the new Apple smartwatch sold out. Delivery is at least two weeks away and many customers will have to wait six weeks or more before receiving their new purchases. While all the Apple stores have the luxury Edition models on display (priced from $10,000 to $17,000), they can be tried on at only twenty-one stores. That limitation didn’t seem to deter buyers because, within forty minutes, the rose-gold Apple Watch Edition was sold out until July. It appears that people aren’t even concerned about the first-gen shortfalls of this new technology (like a battery that barely lasts a day); they just want one now. In fact, demand is so high that the new devices are already being resold (above the list price) on EBay. Admittedly, this new tech/fashion accessory is remarkable and far superior to the two-way wrist radio that Dick Tracy wore in the comics when I was a child. What I find interesting, however, is Apple’s marketing strategy. I’ve read that Apple spent $38 million in advertising this product and yet they didn’t produce enough watches to fulfill the expected orders. I admire Apple’s understanding of the simple economic concept of “supply and demand:” a limited supply creates a high demand!

What would it have been like if Jesus had a marketing department like Apple’s? They probably would have advised him to reconsider telling people there were more than enough rooms in his Father’s house. What if He’d said only a limited number of rooms were available, God’s house would soon be completely booked, and it would be a long time before any more could be offered? Would people have waited hours in line for his blessing so they could claim a coveted reservation in heaven? Would some have resold their spots for a profit?

Before its release date, when still officially unavailable to the public, singer Pharrell Williams was spotted wearing an Apple smartwatch on “The Voice.” If Jesus had a marketing department like Apple’s, they might have selected a few Judean celebrities and arranged special meetings for them with Jesus. Think of the buzz around Jerusalem if a well-known Pharisee or the wealthiest wine merchant had become one of Jesus’ followers. Plenty of people would have wanted to get on the Jesus train then! Instead of the rich and famous, however, Jesus had a disparate group of ordinary men and women as his followers: people just like you and me.

Unlike Apple, Jesus made one simple offer to all of mankind: believe and be saved. Since God wants everyone to have a place with him, there is an unlimited supply of rooms in heaven. Christianity isn’t an exclusive club, everyone is welcome and there’s always space for one more. Moreover, there is just one model of salvation. The wealthy or well-known won’t get nicer rooms, be better loved, or more forgiven. Jesus wasn’t interested in impressing a few people, he was interested in saving us all.

A common marketing strategy not used by Apple was the “limited time offer.” Don’t worry; if you couldn’t get a smartwatch Friday, you will be able to get one eventually; in fact, it may be an even better version. Unlike the smartwatch, however, Jesus’s offer isn’t going to improve with time. Moreover, it is for a limited time only; we just don’t know the date his offer will expire. While God will never run out of room in heaven, we may well run out of time here on earth. Don’t wait too long!

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. [Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)]

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” [Revelation 7:9-10 (NLT)]

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April 9, 2015

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Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, God's Promises, Salvation: A New You

REBIRTH and RENEWAL

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Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. [John 11:25-26a (NLT)]

Several years ago, I would pass by an art gallery while on my morning walk. In the window was a large photograph of a forest showing dark tree trunks in the foreground and new grass on the forest floor. One day, I stopped to look at the picture more closely and realized that the black trees were actually the charred tree trunks resulting from a forest fire. This beautiful photograph was actually of a fire-devastated forest! The viewer’s eye, however, was directed to the new grass rather than to the dead trees. Called “Cycle of Fire,” the photo, rather than being depressing, was filled with hope for the new life sprouting up from the fire’s damage.

What really struck me was that a year earlier, while on a trip through South Dakota and Wyoming, we drove through several areas that had seen forest fires. My focus, however, had been on the devastation of the forests and I hadn’t even noticed the new grass and fresh growth. Until I gave “Cycle of Fire” a closer look, it never even occurred to me to see the new beginnings that can come from loss. When I looked at my old photos, however, the hope for a new forest is, indeed, there. I just needed to look for it.

Renewal is a theme in the Bible. Just as that forest was born again, so are we. Christ died, but rose again. There is always hope.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” [John 3:3 (NLT)]

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January 26, 2015

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Challenges & Difficulty, Church & Worship, Faith & Hope, Fear & Doubt, Holy Spirit, Knowing Him, Salvation: A New You

THE EVOLUTION OF FAITH

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. [John 1:12-13 (NLT)]

When we’re born again, we come into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ. This spiritual birth is a new beginning, but for some of us, it seems like we’ve had several new beginnings in our lifetimes! In my infant Baptism, my sponsors dedicated me to God and promised that I would be raised in the Christian faith. At my Confirmation in eighth grade, I made a public affirmation of those same promises and accepted Jesus. My teen years were rather troubled and I briefly lost my way. Once in college, I found my way back and once more accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Accepting Christ, however, is not quite the same as walking with Him. When my children were quite young, I again lost sight of the Lord. Serious doubts even briefly kept me from taking communion. God led me back and, once again, I ate at His table. Several years later, perhaps because I got too busy, comfortable and overconfident, I grew lax in my prayer life until a series of crises brought me back to Him.

There were times in my life when I floundered spiritually and others when I walked confidently with the Lord as my shepherd. Whenever I lost my way, once I turned back to Jesus, the Father welcomed me back into His family with open arms. Each time, I’ve been reborn in my faith and each time my faith has become stronger. I can only hope and pray that this time my faith is great enough to keep me firm and strong in my belief until my dying day.

We are so incredibly blessed to have a loving and patient Father in Heaven. Like the father of the prodigal son, He forgives us when we wander off and He patiently waits for us to find our way home to him again.

We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found! [Luke 15:32 (NLT)]

Being born again is a new life, not of perfection but of striving, stretching, and searching — a life of intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit. There first must be an emptying, and then a refilling … It is a highly personal and subjective experience, possible only if we are searching for greater truths about ourselves and God. This experience is challenging, even painful at times, but ultimately deeply rewarding. It provides answers to the most disturbing questions about our existence, the purpose of life, and how to deal with sorrow, failure, loneliness, guilt, and fear. In it, we come to know that our gifts from God are not earned by our own acts but are given to us through his grace … For me, it has been an evolutionary thing. Rather than a flash of light or a sudden vision of God speaking, it involved a series of steps that have brought me steadily closer to Christ. [From “Living Faith” by Jimmy Carter]

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December 25, 2014

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Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, God's Plan, Holidays & Holy Days, Salvation: A New You

HE CAME FOR US ALL – Christmas Day 2014

ccbc-11-30j-0439redWEBPut on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. [Colossians 3:10-11 (NLT)]

Most of us probably just skim through those long genealogies found in the Old Testament. Matthew’s gospel, the beginning of the New Testament, also starts with genealogy, and for a very good reason. Since the promised Messiah had to be a descendant of Abraham and from the House of David, Matthew had to go through Jesus’ family tree to firmly establish His lineage. By doing so, he proved that Jesus’ genealogy fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s line. What Matthew didn’t have to do was mention women in his list of ancestors. In fact, women were rarely mentioned in genealogy, yet Matthew mentions five of them by name. Moreover, the women mentioned were hardly the type about which a good Jew would boast!

We start with Tamar. The widowed Tamar was done wrong by her father-in-law Judah, so she took matters into her hands and duped him into having sex with her, resulting in the births of Perez and Zerah. That’s a blemish on the family tree, to say the least, but nothing when compared to the next woman mentioned: Rahab. She may have been the heroine who saved Joshua’s spies in Jericho, but she was also a Canaanite prostitute. Now there’s a blot on the pedigree of the Prince of Peace. Ruth is the next woman mentioned. We know her as the widowed woman who accompanied her mother-in-law back to Judah. She was, however, a Moabite. Because they’d opposed the Israelites, her people had been cursed and they were never to be helped. She’s not really the ancestor you’d expect of the man who came to save the Jews. We then come to Bathsheba, the beautiful adulteress, whose husband was murdered by King David. We’ve got the plot line of a soap opera now. We finish with Mary, the mother of Jesus: a poor young girl who became pregnant before marriage!

Matthew mentions only these five women: a woman who used sex to trick a man, a prostitute from Canaan, a cursed Moabite, an adulteress, and an unwed mother! Why them and no one else? There must have been a few upstanding women along the line whose reputations were without blemish. Perhaps Matthew chose to mention them to make clear to us that Jesus came for all people: men and women, rich and poor, strong and weak, honored and disgraced, respectable and notorious, Jews and Gentiles. Sinners all, He came to save each and every one of us and to make us members of the same family! Thank you, God, for the Christmas gift of salvation for all who believe.

 In Christ there is no East or West, In Him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love Throughout the whole wide earth.
In Him shall true hearts everywhere Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord, Close binding humankind.
Join hands, then, members of the faith, Whatever your race may be!
Who serves my Father as His child Is surely kin to me.
In Christ now meet both East and West, In Him meet North and South;
All Christly souls are one in Him Throughout the whole wide earth.
[“In Christ There is no East or West” by Will­iam Dunk­er­ley, 1908]

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. [Galatians 3:26-29 (NLT)]

Wishing you and yours a joy filled holiday.  May the blessings of our Lord shower down upon you.

 

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December 3, 2014

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God's Grace & Love, Knowing Him, Salvation: A New You

THE VALUE OF ONE SOUL

For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. [1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NLT)]

These questions were posed in my grandson’s math book: “When is $1,000 too much? When is $1,000 not enough?” That made for an interesting discussion considering we had just seen an article about a gold-infused cupcake in Dubai that sells for over $1,000. While we readily agreed that $1,000 was too much for a cupcake, at least seven others who had already purchased this treat clearly disagreed. It seems that worth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Some suffer from low self-esteem and think they have little value. Others suffer from misplaced self-esteem and may over-estimate their worth based on such transitory things as looks, wealth, education or position. We’re all valuable, but not for any of those reasons.

We’re valuable not because of who we are, but because of whose we are: God’s. We’re valuable not because of what we know, but because of who we know: Jesus. We’re valuable not because of what we have, but because of what has hold of us: the Holy Spirit. We’re far more valuable than a $1,000 gold-infused cupcake or even a $4.5 million Lamborghini Roadster. Moreover, we were purchased at a far higher price: the sacrifice of God’s only son.

Thank you, Father Almighty, for seeing the value in our lives and purchasing us with your Son’s life. Help us see our worth through your eyes and not the eyes of men. May we daily grow more like Christ and become worthy of the high price you paid!

So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. [Ephesians 1:6-8 (NLT)]