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Psalm 23   The Lord is my real Boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace when chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray before I speak and to do all things without murmuring and complaining. He reminds me that He is my Source and not my job. He restores my sanity every day and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in everything I do.   Even though I face absurd amounts of emails, system crashes, unrealistic deadlines, budget checks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating supervisors, and an aging body that doesn’t cooperate every morning, I will not stop – for He is with me!   His presence, His peace and His power will see me through. He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me. He claims me as His own, even when the company threatens to let me go.   His faithfulness and love are better than any bonus check. His retirement plan beats every 401K there is. When it’s all said and done, I’ll be working for Him a whole lot longer and for that, I bless His Name.                                                 –  via mikeysfunnies.com               Indeed, the Lord is our Shepherd where ever we go and in whatever we are engaged.  Many of us have experienced the work place situations presented in this “psalm.”  Others have found such circumstances on athletic teams, in classrooms, in public service, etc.  The world is often a difficult, demanding and unforgiving place, but the Lord has promised to help us cope with what the world throws at us and bring us through to a peaceful place.             He will indeed overflow our cup if we just hold it out for Him.                                                             ><>  Jeff

1 Timothy 2:5-6             Following the death of a loved one, you have probably heard someone make a statement similar to this: “Well, I know she’s up there right now and is going to do all she can to help us out down here.  She’ll be looking out for us.”  Heard something like that?  Have you ever said anything like that?  Hmmm?             Where people get such notions I personally do not know.  Wishful thinking?  Unbearable grief?  Religious beliefs not found in the Bible?  Tradition?  There is nothing in God’s holy book which even remotely supports such an idea.  The body of the deceased goes into the ground, and the spirit of the deceased returns to God to Hades, the place for the spirits of the dead.  It is worthy to note that when Saul had the medium at En-dor “bring up” Samuel his response was “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” (1 Samuel 28:15).             Some religions hold that after certain pious persons die they can be given some special status whereby they can intercede with God and affect events on earth.  Mary, Jesus’ mother, is also seen by some to be able to do this.  Again, we find nothing in God’s word to support such beliefs.             The scripture is plain.  “...there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”  He has mediated a new and better covenant between man and God by means of His blood.  Jesus has been designated as High Priest, and He is the One who continually makes intercession for His people (Hebrews 7:23-25).  Jesus is also our Advocate with the Father whenever we sin (1 John 2:1-2).  He lived a life without sin and overcame death through His resurrection.  Jesus, and only Jesus, has “earned the right” to be designated by God as mediator, intercessor and advocate for humanity.             Just before the cross, Jesus said this to His disciples: “...if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.  Until now you have asked for nothing in My name...” (John 16:23-24).  He was anticipating His place as mediator and intercessor between God and mankind.  We come to the Father through the Son, and through the Son only.  He is the only One qualified for the job.                                                             ><>  Jeff

Deuteronomy 6:1-12             Before Israel crossed into the promised land, they were warned about the dangers they would encounter among the Canaanite nations and also the dangers that would arise due to the Lord’s abundant blessing.  Moses instructed them to teach all his words “diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”  God was to be spoken in the home.  In doing this, two things would result (at least).  First, the Lord God would receive the glory due Him.  Secondly, not only the children but the entire family would continually keep God before them as the One who protects and sustains them.             Moses’ instruction is sound and wise, even for today.  How many Christian parents actually speak “God” in their homes?             When the day is beautiful, the sun is warm, and a nice breeze meanders its way through your neighborhood, who gets the credit?  Is it simply a lovely day which the meteorologist on TV happened to forecast correctly?  Is Mother Nature the one who is thanked?  Or do you acknowledge that God has blessed you with a glorious day?             When someone in the family has been ill, and they have made full recovery, who is praised in your home?  Is it the doctor?  The medication?  All well and good, but does God receive any credit for a healing or for making such medical marvels possible?             When one of the children needs corrected, how is it done?  Is it strictly your rules that were broken and your heart which was grieved?  Or was God brought into the conversation as Someone who also had a vital interest in what happened?             When one of the kids wins a competition or gets an award, who is credited?  Is it only because of the child’s hard work and talent, or is the Creator of us all also acknowledged for His gracious gifts?             If we walk with God, we also live with God.  When the storm comes or the rainbow graces the sky; when there is plenty or when there is just enough; when the birds sing or when the wolves howl - is God spoken?  Is He praised and thanked for the blessing?  Is He looked to and called upon for relief?  Is God spoken in your home?                                                             ><>  Jeff

Matthew 5:17-18             For various reasons, many people continue to question whether some of the events recorded in the Old Testament really happened.  They believe that some are legends which have grown out of real events but over time have been embellished to supernatural proportions.  Others are believed to be pure myths which were fabrications of men’s imaginations to explain various phenomena and happenings in life.             Did God really create everything from nothing?  Did God create the world in six days?  Was there only one man and one woman in the beginning from whom all people descended?  Was there a great global flood which destroyed all living except one family and all the animals aboard a large boat?  Were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by fire and brimstone?  Did the Red Sea really part for the Israelite nation to cross on dry ground and escape the Egyptian army?  Did David kill a giant with a single stone from a sling?  Was Jonah in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights?             Although we could present numerous arguments to support the veracity of the Hebrew scriptures (as they are often called), we want to put forward this one.  There is one individual who would have known whether or not the things recorded in the Old Testament were true.  He was Jesus of Nazareth.  Here’s the thought.  Jesus was the word of God become flesh (John 1:1-3, 14).  He was truth embodied (John 14:6).  He came to testify to the truth (John 18:37).  If any person would have known that what was written in those scrolls was not true, it would have been Jesus!             In the gospel of Matthew alone, we find Jesus quoting from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 1 Samuel, Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Hosea, Jonah, Zechariah and Malachi - all Old Testament.  If He had known any of them to contain error, would He not have told the scribes?  Since truth was so central to Him and His mission, would He not have corrected the mistakes?  Yet, He let every book and every word stand, and affirmed that everything in them would be accomplished.  Do you stand with Jesus?                                                             ><>  Jeff

Mark 12:28-34             People have different views of God.  These views are taken from bits and pieces of thought drawn from a conglomeration of sources: mythology, old wives’ tales, speculations of religious thinkers, catechisms and creed books, your parents’ teaching, one’s own musings, etc.  The picture which many people have of God is a patchwork of ideas and concepts, many of which are contradictory and unsupported by the Bible.             Who is God to you?  Is He like the ER doctor?  Whenever you get into trouble you come running to Him to fix it - illness, financial difficulty, family problems, etc?  You don’t pay much attention to God unless you get into a panic mode - then it’s time to look Him up!             Who is God to you?  Is He a being to be worshiped in a building?  You “go to church” once or twice a week to stay in His good graces.  You pay your respects, sit through the service and leave Him within those four walls until next time.             Who is God to you?  Is He like a genie in a bottle?  Whenever you want something, then you put on your best prayer face (maybe a rug, shawl, rosary, prayer book, etc.) and ask God real nice.  Maybe you even make some promises to Him if He will give you what you want.  But otherwise, God is not part of your daily living.             Who is God to you?  A harsh taskmaster who doesn’t want you to be happy?  A judge who keeps track of all you do wrong?  A Santa Claus who just passes out gifts and laughs off everything bad?             Who is God to you?  It truly matters that we have the correct view of God, the one presented in His book.  Otherwise, we cannot have the right relationship with Him.  The scriptures confirm that God is the Life-Giver and Creator of all things, even ourselves.  He is spirit and exists outside of creation.  He is all-powerful and all-knowing.  He is love.  He is holy.  He is good.  In the person of Jesus, God entered His creation to save us and to draw us into a covenant relationship by His blood - to offer eternal life to every person.  God loved us to the death in order to give us life.  He calls us in turn to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Who is God to you?                                                             ><>  Jeff

Ecclesiastes 12:11             Here we go with another serving of the sayings and quotes I’ve collected over the years.  Read, ponder, enjoy and be blessed!   >                    When an honest man discovers he is mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or cease to be honest.   >                    Beware.  Nothing breeds trouble like success.   >                    We’ve drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.                                                 – Paul Harvey   >                    Everybody has their weaknesses.  Perhaps the worst weakness is being unable to see one’s own weaknesses.   >                    The heavens declare the glory of God, but the streets declare the sinfulness of man.                                                 – Marvin Olasky   >                    Two things in life I have learned: 1) There is a God;                                      2) I’m not Him.   >                    Blessed are those who can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.   >                    Helping the thinker believe.  Helping the believer think.                                                 – Ravi Zacharias   >                    You are not finished when you lose.             You are finished when you quit.   >                    God is in the restoration business, not the replacement business.  Thank God!                                                             ><>  Jeff

Luke 7:23             Many people believe in a “sweet” Jesus, and some churches teach this kind of a Savior.  Such a Jesus is one who offends nobody.  He is so kind and ingratiating that He speaks only the sweetest words and accepts everyone as they are.  Yet the gospels reveal a different Jesus: One who offended many, even His own disciples.  He didn’t do this just to cause hurt but because people needed to hear the truth.             With all of the mental health problems out there today, Sweet Jesus would never tell anybody he had to hate his own life, deny himself, and take up his cross.  How insensitive.             With all of the sexual images on the internet and social media, and lewd conduct on TV and movies, Sweet Jesus would never dare say that if you look at a woman to lust after her that you’re committing adultery with her in your heart.  So unreasonable.             With the high prices and struggling economy these days, Sweet Jesus would never say that you had to forsake all that you have to be His disciple.  Would He even dare to say that it’s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?  How unrealistic.             With all the emphasis on lifestyle choices, Sweet Jesus would hardly think to recall the creation of a male and a female to remind His hearers that God made them to be husband and wife, and that two men and two women do not meet this criteria.  How calloused.             With all the focus on visual display and self-image, Sweet Jesus surely would not warn folks about parading their religion by wearing robes and such, and using special titles.  How restrictive.             With all the knowledge men have accumulated over the years, Sweet Jesus would never suggest that to devise rules which are not found in the Bible and bind them on people would be harmful and directly contrary to God’s will.  Truly out of touch.             The real Jesus, who is sweet but also salty, is revealed in the gospels.  He said this: “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”  He loved us enough to tell us the truth about ourselves and the way things are.  And for doing that, He paid with His life.  Jesus wasn’t crucified for being sweet.  He was crucified for being Jesus.                                                             ><>  Jeff

Ezekiel 14: 1-8 In the days of Ezekiel, idolatry was a huge problem with Israel, and the Lord God had some extremely strong words for His people who had “set up their idols in their hearts.”  (Please see our text.)  Even though these idols were real objects of stone, or wood, or molten images of silver or gold, they were first erected in the hearts of each person.  This is where idolatry begins and flourishes - in the heart.             As it relates to our discussion, Webster defines an idol as “any object of ardent or excessive devotion or admiration.”  We all have objects in our houses: paintings, photographs, maybe some decorative figures.  But we aren’t into giving them any kind of devotion or worship.  We may admire them for beauty or appreciate the memories they might bring, but we do not “idolize” them.             However, this is where the true danger lies.  We can and often do begin to give excessive admiration to certain persons or entities in our lives.  It’s quite easy to do without realizing it.  One of the best examples of this is, as we’ll call it, “the ol’ school spirit.”  The school wants everyone on board to champion its programs, its academics, its athletics, its everything!  This is OK, but people begin to idolize the school.  Everything about your school is best.  All other schools are inferior.  If your team loses, the other team cheated, or the officials made bad calls.  It’s excessive admiration.             We do this with political parties: send our money, vote a straight ticket, espouse every program it puts forward without batting an eye.  That’s an idol in our heart.  We can do this with companies, unions, our country - virtually anything can be idolized.             People, too.  Spouses, parents, children, our family, sports heroes, your doctor, some celebrity, et al.  Anybody can be raised to a place of excessive devotion in which they take on unrealistic qualities: only good is noted.  The faults are overlooked and/or minimized.  They can do no wrong.  “How great he is!”  “She is the absolute best!”  They now rival God in their goodness.  They compete with God Himself for our devotion, our time, our hearts.             Beware the prophet’s words.  Beware of idols in the heart.                                                             ><>  Jeff

John 11:35             As youngsters, we soon learned that the shortest verse in the Bible was “Jesus wept.”  This was a great accomplishment for little beginning Bible students, but over the years how much time has been invested in understanding the importance of that little verse?  Never has there been so much meaning packed into two words as those two recorded by John.             “Jesus wept” means that Jesus’ love was deep and genuine.  The text indicates that when He saw Mary and the others weeping that “He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.”  He was grieving with Mary, Martha and the others, but He was also grieving FOR them.  He knew their heartache.  He had loved Lazarus, but He also loved them.             Those two words mean that God had fully identified with humanity, our sorrows and grief.  God was not on the sidelines watching the battle play out in front of Him.  As Jesus, He had entered the fray with vigor, accepting the title of Captain of mankind’s salvation, ready to take on the forces of darkness to effect humanity’s freedom from the clutches of Satan.             “Jesus wept” means that now there is real hope.  Jesus has just said to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.”  Lazarus, a man like the first man into whose nostrils God had breathed the breath of life, now lay dead - lifeless.  Jesus is moved (and has planned - John 11:4 ) to preview His coming victory over death and Hades through Lazarus’ death and raising.  The time has come.  The gloves are off.             “Where have you laid him?”             “Remove the stone.”             “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”             “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me ... so that they may believe that You sent Me.”             “Lazarus, come forth.”             “Unbind him, and let him go.”             Jesus wept.   Aren’t you glad He did?!                                                             ><>  Jeff

Matthew 24             Well, it’s finally here - the day for which you’ve been waiting breathlessly since January the 2nd.  (Well, maybe not.)  But it’s Ground Hog Day!   Whistle pig, if you prefer.  That is what my grandfather called them.  This is the day when Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob and makes a grand meteorological prediction.  If he “sees his shadow” (How would we know?!), there will be six more weeks of winter.  Otherwise, we get an early spring.  It’s all in fun, of course; a bit of American folklore.  But I do wonder if anybody takes Phil’s prediction seriously.  In this day and age, it wouldn’t surprise me.             This brought to mind the many other “Phils” out there who like to make predictions about “end times.”  You know, mashing together the prophecies from Isaiah, Matthew 24, Thessalonians, Revelation, etc., and then telling you what’s going to happen and in what order.  Right now, I have a page open in a catalog which has three books which are exactly what we’re discussing.  Two are relatively new.  It seems every couple of years, someone feels compelled to write such a book.  Usually, it’s when something happens with Israel or the Chinese Communists or Russians start to do some “saber rattling.”             The scriptures are filled with prophecies about things yet to come, and we can learn a great deal from them.  Yet, many are set in highly figurative language, and they are given to us in several different books.  This makes assembling a composite view extremely difficult at best and next to impossible at worst.  The many differing views which have been presented over time prove this point.             Even in Matthew 24, there is disagreement about the predictions which Jesus is making.  He speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem, of a great tribulation, and of His second coming.  He uses parables, and He says more than once that nobody knows the day when He is to return.             There is one prediction, though, of which we can be 100% sure.  No Punxsutawney Phil shenanigans here.  Jesus is coming back.  The King will return.  And you and I need to be ready.                                                             ><>  Jeff

Revelation 3:14-22             Last time we observed that it is unwise, even detrimental, for a Christian or a church to stay inside the comfortable confines of the various “boxes” which they construct, and that God has been instrumental in moving His people out of such “boxes” when He sees it’s necessary for them to mature and more perfectly do His will.             The church in Laodicea is a case in point.  They had built themselves a very spacious and comfortable box.  It was finely appointed, even ornate, and was furnished with everything imaginable which they thought they needed.  They were quoted as saying: “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.”  From their view inside this box, they had achieved a superior place, and Christ could do nothing more for them.  They had arrived!             The problem with this view from inside their box was that it was imaginary !  You see, they could not see themselves at all - the Lord told them they were blind!  So, instead of being able to objectively and honestly evaluate themselves in light of God’s word, they had constructed this imaginary view of themselves which, of course, was quite favorable, but not consistent with reality.             Christ tells them that they are also naked which seems to mean that they are wholly impure and are not properly clothed with Him ( Galatians 3:27 ).  Their deeds are wishy-washy, inconsistent.  They need to make up their minds if they are going to serve Christ or themselves!  He calls them to repent and turn to Him to get a true view of themselves.  They need to “get out of their box,” get the “eye salve” from Christ so they can see what they need to do differently!             Boxes are easy to construct.  Floors of self-satisfaction and pride are laid, and walls of habits, tradition and fear go up quickly.  Soon the view of Christ and His word are obscured, and honest self-evaluation becomes impossible.  Everything looks good from the inside.  But Christ has been left on the outside!             Whether an individual Christian or a church, let us tear down the walls of the “boxes” we’ve built which keep Jesus and His word out.  Only He can “build” us into what we should be.                                                             ><>  Jeff

Acts 8:1-5             We are familiar with the idea of “thinking outside the box.”  In short, it means to consider and then do something differently from what you’ve been doing.  This is to effect another, hopefully better, outcome.  To put it another way: Stupidity is to keep beating one’s head against a wall and wondering why you have headaches.             It’s easy to end up in a box.  In fact, we all live in boxes of various sorts.  For example, we all have a morning routine.  It’s virtually the same every morning.  Get up at the same time.  Coffee.  Cereal/toast.  News.  Etc.  That’s a box.  You don’t think about doing anything differently because there’s no need to.  What if something changes, however?  Suppose one of the kids wakes up sick.  Then you have to think “outside the box.”  What’s wrong?  Is it a cold or tummy ache, or do they need to go to the clinic?  Call the school.  Should I go to work/stay home from work?  Who will stay with them?  Dozens of questions “outside the box.”             Another example.  You find that you and your spouse have been very distant.  She’s been irritable; you’re judgmental.  Neither of you have been smiling much.  Same old routine.  It all seems a drag.  You’ve fallen into “a box.”  It happens from time to time to every couple.  To get out of that box, you have to think outside of it.  What do you need to do differently to bring back the real love to your relationship?  To add some sizzle and smiles?  Some purpose?  Do it!             God is a master at getting people out of boxes that are harmful to them and His kingdom.  The church in Jerusalem had gotten comfortable in a box.  The gospel had been spread in the city, and the number of men in the church was now about 5000 ( Acts 4:4 ) and continuing to increase ( Acts 6:7 ).  But the disciples weren’t budging to take the gospel anywhere else ( Mark 16:15 ; Acts 1:8 ).  So God went to work, and “a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria ... those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.”  God pushed them out of their box!             Are you in a box?  Are we?  Hmmm?  More next time.