Darkness

Darkness. I used to drive most of my journey into work in darkness, but now that the time has changed the breaking of dawn has started when I am leaving for work. I have to say that I enjoy driving in the light better than I do driving in the dark. It make it so much easier to see up ahead on the road.

I had some interesting conversations with unbelievers through social media this past weekend. They were questioning the legitimacy of Christianity and things I had posted. I wouldn’t say it was an argument, but it definitely was a chance to expose some of their misconceptions. Both conversations ended because darkness was exposed by light.

I find it funny how quickly someone will leave a conversation when their path leads them down a dead end. They quickly end the conversation, and in one instance, ended the Facebook relationship all together. Unfriend, as it may be. But that’s okay, a seed was planted that may get watered later. We can “win” every battle. All we can do is let the Word of God speak for itself.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." - John 3:19-21.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”- 2 Corinthians 4:6. Let your light shine so that darkness can be exposed.

Have a great day and God bless.

Synagogue

Synagogue. Yesterday there was another terrible attack on a religious center. A month ago there was one at a Muslim mosque in New Zealand, on Easter Sunday there was one at a Christian Church in Sri Lanka and yesterday there was an attach at a Jewish synagogue in San Diego. All crimes against people of faith by someone out of hatred.

As Christians, we are commanded to love our neighbors no matter what their beliefs may be. By showing them love, we extend the love of Christ to them. We may not believe in their belief system, but that does not mean we are to hate them or do anything malicious to them. God loves them too and Christ died in their place as well. We all were once enemies of God.

God still has a plan for His people the Jews. Right now we are in what is called the “church age” but God will come back to focusing on the Jews once again after the Rapture. Our focus should be praying for those that are still lost and without Christ; Muslims, Jews, atheists and every other group of people.

The Apostle Paul, who was once a Jew himself of the highest degree, always started with his Jewish heritage when he came to a new city. “And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "’He is the Son of God.’”  And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?’”- Acts 9:20-21.

“When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.” - Acts 13:5.

“But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.” - Acts 13:14.

Paul has a deep desire for his people to turn to God like he did. We should have that same desire for the lost to turn to Christ like we have. Pray for those that are terrorized by hatred. Pray that God will turn their hearts towards Him and save them.

Have a great day and God bless.

Construction

Construction. All I wanted to do was get home after being gone for three days. After flight delays and having to wait to get a gate at the airport so we could get off the plane, I was finally in the car and on my way home. It started off just fine until I came to about 30 miles of nighttime construction. We came to a standstill as we went down to just one lane. An hour drive turned into over an hour and a half and it was after midnight when I walked through the door and I was finally home.

If we think about it, we want our Christian life to be just like my expectation after I got off the plane: just a straight smooth shot home without any bumps in the road. Unfortunately, life isn’t like that at all. There are bumps, slow downs, detours and pit stops. Each one of those delays come at just the right time and for specific reasons. God uses them to redirect us, to slow us down or to keep us safe.

James said it this way, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” - James 1:2-4.

Paul said something similar to the Romans, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” - Romans 5:3-5.

When we come to bumps, delays and detours, we can have faith that they are for our good and not for our destruction. We can use these situations to grow in our faith in God by knowing that He is fully aware of our path and the best route for us to get there safely and according to His will.

So, as I sat in line last night waiting to get through the construction zones, I turned up the radio and sang along (I am not a very good singer but by myself I sound just like one of the band) praising God for the fact that He had gotten me back home safely even though it may not have been in my timing.

Have a great day and God bless.

Fellowship

Fellowship. It’s being in harmony with one another. It’s walking hand-in-hand in agreement with someone. Fellowship is based upon being in accord with the other person that we are in a relationship with. Yesterday I wrote about our relationship as unchanging based upon our actions. Our fellowship does change based upon our actions. My children can do nothing about our relationship but their actions can have a serious impact on our fellowship.

The same is true when we become Christians. As I said yesterday, once we accept Christ as our Savior, our relationship with God cannot be changed, we are now His children. However, when we sin against God, our fellowship with Him is impacted. We are no longer in accord with His will. We haven’t lost our relationship, but we have hurt our fellowship.

In the Apostle John’s first epistle, he put it this way, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” - 1 John 1:6. If we harbor sin in our lives we are no longer walking hand-in-hand with God. We are out of fellowship with the Father.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” - 1 John 1:7. If we keep our sins confessed and we are walking according to His will, then we are in fellowship with God.

But what if you are out of fellowship with God right now, how do you get back into fellowship?  John gives us the answer in this same section of scripture, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9. Confession of sin puts us back into fellowship with the Father.

My children will never lose their relationship to me because they have no choice, I am their father. However, they do have a choice of remaining in fellowship with me based upon their actions. The same thing applies to us as Christians, we will always have a relationship with God but we may not always be in fellowship.

Have a great day and God bless.

Relationships

Relationships. Some relationships we decide to get into and some relationships we have no choice in the matter. I chose to be in a relationship with my wife but my children have no choice but to be in a relationship with me. I had no choice in having a relationship with my parents and sister. My children have no option but to be in a relationship with each other, they’re brother and sister and they always will be.

I will always be my children’s father and there is nothing they can do to change that. I will always be my parent’s son and there is nothing I can do to change that. My blood and my DNA will always be connected with my parents and now my children. It is undeniable that they are mine and I am theirs.

The same thing happens when we become Christians, we become a child of God and have a new relationship with Him. When we choose to accept Christ as our Savior, we become joint heirs with Christ to all that belongs to the Father. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” - Romans 8:16-17.

Nothing can separate us any longer with that relationship we have with the Father through Christ. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” - Romans 8:35. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:37-39.

Or relationship to God is secure, but our fellowship with Him can be broken by our actions. We will talk more about fellowship in tomorrow’s post.

Have a great day and God bless.

Scars

Scars. We all have them. I have sports related scars, surgery related scars, construction related scars and scars from just being stupid. I have emotional scars as well that people can’t see, but they are there, whether visible or not. All of our scars have stories that go right along with them as well as lessons learned from those same scars. I bet you have your own scars, visible and invisible, that have some pretty interesting stories that go with them.

Scars are nothing to be ashamed of, they mean that at one time we were in a bad situations and they also mean that we survived those very same situations. Scars mean we’ve been hurt and scars mean we’ve been healed. Scars mean that we have gone through battles and came out victorious on the other side. We have no reason to hide our scars because they show the world that we have overcome the worst that has been thrown our way.

Jesus was unashamed of His scars. After His Resurrection, He appeared to the eleven disciples multiple times but one of them still had his doubts until he saw Him for himself. Thomas has been given the nickname “Doubting Thomas” because of his need to see Jesus after the Resurrection with his own eyes. When Jesus appeared to Thomas and the others in the upper room, He proudly showed off His scars.

“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’  But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’”  - John 20:24-25.

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’  Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’  Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”  - John 20:27-29.

Our scars are something to be proud of. Our scars make us who we are. Jesus bears the scars of the Cross to remind us of what He did for us and He does so unashamedly. We should not be ashamed of our scars or of our love for our Savior.  By His wounds we are healed.

Have a great day and God bless.

Ashamed

Ashamed. I’ve done many things in my life that I look back on now that I’m ashamed of. Some of you who know me may understand what I’m talking about and those of you who don’t, you’ll just have to trust me. Maybe you may have a past that you’re ashamed of too. It’s okay, our past is our past and does not reflect our future. If we have accepted Christ, our past sins are separated from us as far as the east is from the west.

There is one thing that I will never be ashamed of and that is accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior. I’m not ashamed of my belief in God or in the truth of His Word. I am not ashamed of how my life has changed since He found me. I have nothing to be ashamed of in any of those things I just listed because I know that my future is in His hands.

The Apostle Paul said the same thing, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” - Romans 1:16. The Good News of Jesus’ sacrificial death at Calvary is nothing to be ashamed of. His death is what brings salvation to those who believe.

Paul told Timothy not to be ashamed of the Gospel either, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” - 2 Timothy 1:8-9.

And Paul’s final plea to Timothy should be how we feel as well, “But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” - 2 Timothy 1:12.

Maybe you have done something in your life that you are ashamed of, trust that Christ has forgiven you of your past sins and cleansed you from all unrighteousness. Never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; wear it as a badge of honor.

Have a great day and God bless.