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What moorings keep you tied to Jesus?

Posted on June 15, 2015 by | Comments Off on What moorings keep you tied to Jesus?

mooringsThis past Sunday evening, our pastor was preaching about winning souls to Christ and how it is the responsibility of every Christian to share the gospel. As he continued, my mind began to wander. For some reason, the Lord kept bringing my mind to this verse: The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel (Joel 3:16). This morning I decided to see what a couple of my Bible commentaries said about this verse, and each one highlighted the phrase, “the Lord will be the hope of his people…” One of the commentaries defined hope as being a place of repair or a safe harbour. 

I do not know when my fascination with ships started, but I have always loved seeing them. While stationed in Germany I took several river cruises in a half-dozen European nations and was always amazed at how efficient the crews were in securing the boat to the dock. Each mooring rope had its specific place where it had to be secured to hold the boat in the desired location. If only one of the moorings were out-of-place, then the ship wasn’t secure and could come lose from the other moorings. I began thinking about how this relates to our faith in Jesus – what are the moorings that keep us tied to Him?

Christians have His promise

The first mooring we have is the promise from Jesus: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand (John 10:27-29) and All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out (John 7:37). There is nothing like knowing that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the apostle Paul rejoiced and encouraged other Christians by reminding all, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) and For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12).

Because of the nature of our understanding and of what we see in society, we have a hard time understanding, and at times, accepting the Biblical teaching that if we are a child of God then nothing can separate us from His love. But that is exactly what the Bible teaches. We only see the things around us through a limited view. It is hard for us to comprehend such a love for us when many of us have experienced abandonment by parents, siblings, friends, and spouses that we thought would always love us. Whereas our understanding of love often comes with a conditional tag, God’s love toward us is unconditional. Jesus even shared the extent of His Father’s unconditional love for humanity: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). The apostle Paul explains this unconditional love in perhaps the clearest way it could ever be expressed: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

With God loving mankind enough to send His Son to die for our sins, how could He ever allow those who accept His Son, Jesus, and their Lord and Savior, to become separated from Him? Jesus taught: Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows (Luke 12:6-7). One of our moorings that secures us to the Lord Jesus Christ is His promise to us.

The moorings of fellowship

If having the promise of the Lord is not enough of a mooring that fastens us securely to Him, there are other moorings the Lord has created. One of the greatest joys of our salvation is the fellowship it brings with the Lord and with others who have also accepted Jesus as their savior. The book of Acts contains the first mention of this: And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42). This fellowship that is being described is what we have come to think of as Christian fellowship – a time of prayer, rejoicing, singing, breaking bread, and all done with a singleness of heart and of thanksgiving towards God (for a complete scriptural defining of fellowship, please see Acts 1:14 & 2:46, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 4:2, and Hebrews 10:25).

By our nature, humankind are social creatures. For the lack of a better description, we are hard-wired to seek out those who have a like mind to ours and to spend time with them. Each year, many in our nation will travel across the country to spend the holidays with loved ones. Some of us will even make plans to meet with family and friends throughout the year just to spend time with one another. As Christians, we still have the need for fellowship with those of like mind and heart – the need to fellowship with other Christians and with the Lord Himself. This is important in securing us to Christ and I believe this is one of the reasons the apostle Paul wrote, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). No, I am not saying that we need fellowship with other Christians to save us or to maintain our salvation. We need the fellowship because it strengthens our faith, it encourages us to be more Christ-centered, and it can bring focus into our life. 

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The sincerity of the cross

Posted on March 30, 2015 by | Comments Off on The sincerity of the cross

sincerity of the crossThe sincerity of the cross is something I have been thinking a lot about since the beginning of March as Palm Sunday approached.  Within the various strands of Christendom this week is known as “holy week.” Beginning on Palm Sunday, Christians around the world pause their busy schedules and focus on the love that Jesus had for all people – But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). This morning, as I was watching some local news, there was a segment on how some Christians spent Palm Sunday and there were two things that immediately stood out – the number of people who are only sincere about their faith around this time of the year and how the world marvels in their misguided understanding of the cross.

The cross demonstrates the sincerity of God’s love

There’s an expression that we often hear both in politics or when we are involved in any team activity that goes “we all must have some skin in the game…” We all understand what that expression means and how right it is to many things in life. A marriage will not work unless both the husband and wife are committed, have the same goals and vision, and are willing to work together. There also must be demonstrations of the sincerity of love and compassion within the marriage that not only shows the level of commitment but the seriousness that both man and woman have within the marriage relationship. The cross is that demonstration of God’s sincerity; it is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for man. There are a few verses in the Bible that help convey this level of love that God has for mankind: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13), Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16) and of course, And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour (Ephesians 5:2).

No matter how the world tries to distort the message or cloud the meaning of the cross, the sincerity of the cross always wins out. The cross is the demonstration of a sacrificial love that I can scarcely comprehend. I think of what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome: For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life (Romans 5:6-10). Paul is exactly right; how many of us would be willing to sacrifice ourselves or our children for a neighbor, even if we thought that our neighbor was a righteous person? We are often willing to sacrifice an afternoon to help a neighbor we thought was deserving of our help; we do not waste our time on those we do not think are worth the effort. We’ve all heard the expression, “I wouldn’t give them the time of day…” yet not only did God do just that, he sent his Son to take our place and to atone for our sins. The sincerity of God’s love, when we truly understand what the cross means, becomes incontestable. God was demonstrating His love for us through the sincerity of the cross.

The cross demands our sincerity

This time of the year, right before Easter, there are people who will be attending church for the first time since Christmas. As my pastor often jokes, many of these claim to be faithful Christians who attend every Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day, yet they sadly miss what has been paid for by the cross. While I do believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Christ, I understand that many who claim to be Christians simply do not understand their new relationship that their acceptance of Jesus as their savior brings. In some cases, I do not believe they have accepted in their heart what the head claims to know, and this can be equally dangerous. In the latter case, there is no salvation through Christ if it has not become heart knowledge; in the former case, there is no true joy and spiritual growth in the life of the believer. Just as a strong marriage depends upon a sincere commitment between a man and a woman to make it work, our relationship with God takes a sincere commitment between God and ourselves to enjoy the richness of our relationship and faith. A person can be a Christian, fully trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as their only hope for Heaven and yet can miss out on the blessings and true joy of the relationship with the Lord because they are not committed and sincere.

God has already demonstrated His commitment and sincerity to us through the cross; we now have a responsibility to sincerely commit ourselves to the relationship we have with Him. Even Jesus taught this very thing as he said, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:10) and He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21). If we want to show our commitment and sincerity to the Lord in honor of His sacrifice, then we should be willing to live a life that demonstrates our love for Him. We should desire to keep His commandments, not out of some sort of legalistic attitude as had the scribes and Pharisees and even some Christian groups today, but simply because we want to please the Lord with our lifestyle. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1) is how Paul described how we should see doing this very thing of living a lifestyle that is pleasing to the Lord. He calls it “our reasonable service” because it is. No matter what we do, our sincerity and commitment will never rival Jesus’ death on the cross but it should be the very best we have to offer to Him.

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The excitement and testimony of spring

Posted on March 20, 2015 by | Comments Off on The excitement and testimony of spring

DSCN0090Excitement fills the air at my house for several reasons. I love plants and gardening; although our last snowfall of winter was only two weeks ago, already the blossoms on the Bradford pear trees are beginning to appear. Soon, behind the townhouse where I live, a white wall of blossoms will take their place among the many other plants that will begin to leave their winter dormant state. In the air, there’s excitement with plans for weekends of warmer weather, being able to enjoy the outdoors, and all the rest of the normal activities associated with spring.

This morning, as I was filling the bird feeders in both the front and the back, I actually took a couple of minutes just to take a look around at the wonderful signs of spring. I consider myself a student of life and never grow tired of learning, especially about the God whom I serve. As I was filling the feeder in the back yard, I began to think about a verse I had read earlier this morning during my own private devotional time: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding (Daniel 2:21). It is a wonderful thought, that in this world where Christians often feel out-of-place and lost, to remember that the Lord is in control. Winter had to have an ending because God had declared each season would have its time. It doesn’t matter what the world teaches nor does it matter what man may believe; it is God that established the seasons. It was God’s plan from the beginning that each season would only last so long: And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years (Genesis 1:14). Just as nighttime always yields to the morning, winter must always yield to the spring. This should generate some excitement within the heart of every believer!

Although I enjoy snow and cold weather there are many who don’t. In conversations with people at church, I have often heard people tell me they do not like winter because everything looks dead. Nothing looks inviting, and the cold certainly does not create any excitement about being outside. In my heart, I believe that one of the reasons we have winter is for that very reason – it is a testimony of God’s grace and mercy on the world – Jesus taught during his Earthly ministry something that is contrary to what the world tells us: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:44-45). I am a firm believer that Jesus would never tell those who believe in Him to do something that He first was not willing to do. Here, he tells us to love our enemies; For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16); But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Paul understood this as well; even writing, For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life (Romans 5:10) to explain that while enemies of God, He sent His own son to reconcile us to Him. Both apostles Paul and John understood the importance of what God had done though his Son: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God (Romans 3:25), And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), and Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Knowing that God loves me (and you) so much that He would do this for us should give us great excitement!

We do absolutely nothing to deserve the changing seasons from winter to spring just as we do not deserve the grace that God has shown us. Spring serves as a reminder that there is life after death; there are blessings after great trials. I think of all the Bible stories where those who suffered through afflictions, dark nights, and storms so severe that it seemed their world would come to an end, just to witness God’s divine providence. Noah emerged from the flood with his family intact. Daniel was in the lion’s den overnight to emerge at dawn without a scratch on him and with the admiration and a new faith instilled in his king! The three Hebrew men thrown in the fire were able to emerge from that furnace not even smelling like smoke, but were blessed and became a testimony for God’s love of them. Lazarus died a beggar; when he woke up, he was in Paradise and walking and talking with Abraham and the saints of God of old! Jonah was in a whale’s belly for three days and emerged to preach his most powerful message ever from the Lord (and later squandered the chance that God gave him to continue faithful service).

Even in death, we have the promise of an eternal spring! No matter how dark your night, there will be a sunrise. No matter how cold your winter, there will be a spring! No matter what you have done in your life, there is a Redeemer! What a thought! Again, what excitement should we carry throughout the day just knowing we serve a God who cares about us!

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