Begin Again - Hebrews 2:18

Hebrews 2:18 Because Christ himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (NIV)

I’ve already broken several of my New Year’s resolutions, so I can’t even keep up with my own standards. Like most of us, I start off with the best of intentions but quickly get distracted or even too comfortable to follow through with my self-imposed promises. I guess I can reset my determination and begin again – hopefully, I will resolve to accomplish all that I want to achieve this year.

Today’s verse reminded me that this is what Christ offers us each day – a fresh chance to begin again. When we fall into temptation and fail to keep God’s commands, Jesus gives us the grace to pick ourselves up and start once more. He doesn’t do this either from a smug and self-satisfied position of knowing that He is perfect; He forgives us because He understands what temptation is like and how prone we are to fall prey to our own selfish and sinful ways.

So, today is a new day. Christ offers all of us the opportunity to begin again. He not only understands our personal struggles, but He is absolutely able to help us let go of our sinful past, acquire His grace today, so we may walk with Him day by day. We are not fallen failures, we are forgiven sinners; we are not cast aside by God, we are embraced by His patient and enduring love.

Application: Allow yourself to be forgiven by Christ for anything you have done. Let this be a new day of restoration in your forever relationship with God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Savior who completely understands our struggle to keep God’s commands. Grant us Your grace and show us a better way to live our lives. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Come and join us for worship on Sundays at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome 😊

Today’s image is a Communion drawing for the New Year. If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: New Year.

Devotion on Grace: The Gift of Grace - Matthew 20:15

Matthew 20:15        Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?

            Today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 20:1-16) has nothing to do with workers’ rights, shrewd employers, or salary compensation; it’s all about the grace of God and how He freely and independently chooses to bestow it upon anyone that He selects. Grace belongs to God, so when He blesses someone that we think doesn't deserve it, then we need to ask ourselves this question: who does deserve God’s grace?

            Of course, the honest answer to that question is no one deserves God’s grace, otherwise it would simply be a meritorious award or an honorary gift. We all for short of the standards that God expects of us; we all sin on a daily basis, so if God simply gave His grace to those who deserved it, no one would experience or know of God’s grace ever again.

            It’s because God is gracious that we can begin again each day with a clean slate. It’s because of God’s grace that we can turn away from our sin and turn toward His love. It’s because of God’s grace that we can live our lives not under the fear of judgment and wrath, but with the joy and gladness that only grace can bring. As the old hymn emphatically states, grace is absolutely amazing!

            Perhaps you still feel guilty about something you did in the past, or some wrong that you committed which hurt someone else. Maybe you regret something that you said or did which disappointed God and still makes you feel ashamed. Perhaps you believe that you cannot be forgiven, so all you deserve is God’s wrath and eternal punishment for a horrible sin in your life. To tell you the truth, every Christian feels that way; every church person knows that reality; every follower of Jesus has experienced those kind of faults and failures.

            However, because God is gracious and because He wants to give grace, we can all be forgiven and restored, pardoned and accepted of anything and everything that we have ever said or done. There are no limits to God’s grace when we come to Him humbly and sincerely seeking His pardon. When we acknowledge our sinfulness before Him in prayer, He gives to us His grace through Jesus Christ, His Son and our Savior.

Questions for personal reflection

What is the biggest regret in my life? Am I willing to confess it to God, in order to receive His grace?

Prayer:           Lord Jesus, You are the instrument of God’s grace and the channel of His mercy. We know that we do not deserve such a wonderful and amazing gift. We thank You for sacrificing Yourself so that we may be given God’s amazing and absolute grace in our sinful lives. In Your Holy Name, we thankfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to make a comment or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Nativity drawing for kids. It’s called “Babushka Nativity.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Nativity.

4 Minute Devotions: Indiscriminately Kind

Why is God kind to the ungrateful and wicked? What is it about grace that is so amazing?

Podcast version here

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Years ago, I had to make pastoral visits to a highly successful businessman who was dying of cancer. We talked about life in general and how the world had changed throughout the years. The man expressed his sincere faith in God, but often wondered why some wicked people became rich, whilst faithful people remained poor. He had seen this happen time and time again in the business world, which made him question God’s wisdom in dealing with the world. Surely, if people were loyal to God, He would bless them? So why did so many good people fail to become successful?

I really couldn’t answer that question, but I asked him to take time to read over Psalm 73, which deals with the problems of a faithful, religious person becoming upset with God because the proud, brazen, and wicked seem to get all of the breaks. After reading the psalm, the businessman seemed to understand God’s ways a bit better, and he let go of his doubts.

If I had remembered, I would also have included today’s verse in our conversation. God is kind to both the ungrateful and the wicked. We might think that to be unfair, unreasonable, and ungodly, but it reminds that God is in control. His ways are not always our ways; His thoughts are not always the same as ours.

Why does God do this? Because He can, and because that’s how grace operates. Grace is applied to the least deserving; if it was only give to the good, then it would be called reward or merit. That’s what makes grace so amazing and so divine. We couldn’t do it – we would favor the good and cast aside the bad, whereas God applies His grace in ways that we do not understand and to people whom we would never accept.

The older I get, the less I know about God. Not because I forget, but because He is infinitely more than I can ever comprehend. That is both amazing and wonderful to me. How about you?

Prayer: Lord God Most High, we often underestimate Who You are and what You can accomplish. Your ways are often mysterious to us, so we need Jesus to positively reveal to us Your love, Your mercy, and Your grace. As we journey together in faith, teach us more about Yourself. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

4 Minute Devotions: More than We Deserve

God's grace is astonishing. Even although we do not deserve it, He makes us co-heirs with Christ. A short reflection on Romans 8 v 17.

Podcast version here

Evelyn and I had to sign a couple of financial forms the other day, designating our children as co-heirs. I guess we’ve reached that time of life when we have to think carefully about our future. It’s not easy to process internally, because it involves thinking about a time when we will no longer be in the world and our children will continue with their own lives. What we wanted to ensure was that our finances would be shared equally amongst them, should anything ever happen to us.

Romans 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

It’s not a very happy subject for a devotional, but it is an important one. What we leave to our children expresses how much we love them. Now a stewardship orientated pastor would use this lesson to get people to thinking about how much they should leave to the church, as an expression of their love of God, but that’s not what this text is about.

What Paul is describing is the grace of God. Think about it: Jesus does all the hard work of laying down His life for our sins, of giving up everything so that we might be forgiven. You would think that because Jesus does this, He would inherit all of God’s blessings. And yet God’s grace goes beyond that, because He makes us co-heirs with Christ.

Some people don’t get it when they first glance at this passage. They don’t understand how profound a blessing this is. We, who are wretched and unholy compared to God and Christ, become co-heirs of everything that God has to offer. We, who once were sinful creatures, become the joint heirs of heaven, earth, and the whole of creation. It is astounding. It is astonishing. It is amazing.

Prayer: Lord God, we know that we do not deserve Your grace. We perfectly understand how unworthy and unholy we actually are. And yet, through the abundance of Your love and by Christ’s sacrifice, we are destined to become the heirs of everything You have made. This is so remarkable that mere words cannot express our delight. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Daily Devotions: Seasoned with Salt

I gave up salting my food years ago. I felt like all I tasted was salt and no matter what type of food I ate, it was too heavily layered in salt for me to get to the heart of the taste. It was hard to do without salt at first because everything tasted different, but I persevered and eventually, after about three weeks, food started to taste wonderful. I discovered that most foods have their own salt in them anyway. Adding more sodium chloride to my plate was doing nothing for the food: all it was doing was clogging up my arteries and increasing my blood pressure. I hardly take salt with anything now, and feel better because of it. Who knows how high my blood pressure would be right now if I continued to salt my food?

Podcast version here

Bible Verse of the Day

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

In Paul’s time, salt was important for food because it not only seasoned it, it also preserved it. Roman soldiers were paid with a monthly allowance of salt, which is where the word ‘salary’ originates. In Paul’s time, salt was both an important and essential commodity, which is why he urges Christians to season their conversation with the salt of grace. Even in his time, too many Christians were unyielding and judgmental. For the Gospel message of Christ to be received by pagans and heathens, Paul encouraged Christians not to forget the healing and inspirational message of grace.

There’s an old story told about two pastors in London, England, who were holding revival campaigns at the same time. One of the campaigns was always crowded; the other only managed an average attendance. A reporter went to both meetings, listened to the preachers, and thought that they expressed the same Gospel message of repentance, judgment, and salvation. He wondered why both preachers didn’t have the same large gatherings, so he asked a couple of people what the difference was. They replied: “Both evangelists preach the same Gospel message and talk about judgment, but the more successful preacher seasons his words with grace.”

As Christians, we can sometimes be hyper-critical of other people and are too quick to pronounce judgment, hellfire, and damnation upon other sinners. Our message becomes a tirade of self-righteousness and our hearers just turn off listening. However, if we confront sin and apply words of grace to the sinner, it will be more effective because they will be more receptive to what we have to say.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are times when we let You down with our insensitivity and poor judgments. We’re too quick to condemn other people and we make too many rash judgments about their lives. Forgive us for being so unforgiving, and graceless with our opinions. Help us to clarify what Your Gospel is all about to others, and enable us to express it with grace, patience, and love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Daily Devotions: Troubling Ourselves

I’m going to an African-American church this Sunday afternoon to preach at a special service. Black prayer week begins on Sunday and this year the African American community is focusing on AIDS and its impact on their people. I’ve been invited as one of the preachers to give a message about how poorly the Church responded to AIDS sufferers in the 1980s & 1990s, and how that negatively impacted the credibility of the Church across the world.
Podcast version here

Too many pastors and churches were too quick to pass judgment on HIV sufferers and AIDS victims. Instead of acting with compassion to those who were dying, we showed hostility and hatred which sadly is still evident in some congregations. We were too quick to say that God was punishing the gay community instead of using it as an opportunity to show the love and grace of Christ. We were too willing to create outcasts and lepers among those who were already on the margins of society.

Bible Verse of the Day

Joshua 7:25 Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today."

The trouble that we created with our self-righteousness is hard to overcome. Instead of asking AIDS sufferers and victims to seek the Lord’s forgiveness, we have to seek their pardon of our foolishness. If the Church wants to regain credibility in the world, it will have to act humbly and show contrition to those we hurt and damaged. If we cast aside this opportunity to seek the grace of God in those we treated ungraciously, then the Church will never be healed of the brokenness that we caused. One day the AIDS virus may be effectively cured, but will the Church still be the last victim of this disease?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive our arrogant and foolish ways when we become self-righteous and hypocritical. Enable us to see the trouble that we have caused to other people, other groups, and other communities across the world. Help us to seek their forgiveness and teach us lessons of humility, contrition, and grace. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

The Biggest Snitch in the Universe

It looks like the devil is the biggest snitch in the universe. According to a verse from Revelation, he accuses us before God and probably takes great delight in doing so. He knows every temptation that we have surrendered to, and every sin we have committed. He just loves it when we give in and he glories in telling God how wicked, sinful, and unfaithful we are. As I say, the devil is the biggest informer in all of creation. He knows he is going down to the abyss and so he just wants to take as many unfortunate sinners with him as he possibly can.

Podcast version here

Bible verse of the Day

Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

Jesus, however, in stark contrast to the devil, is the Supreme Advocate for His followers. He also knows all of our guilty secrets and shameful mistakes. He knows every wrong word we have spoken or deceitful deeds we have taken. He just loves it when He can stand before God and intercede on our behalf. He glories in telling God that we are one of His, no matter how wicked, sinful, and unfaithful we may have been. He is the greatest Advocate and Savior that the world can ever experience. He knows that He is going to enjoy God’s love and Kingdom forevermore, and so He just wants to take as many sinners with Him as He possibly can.

You see the difference? Well, for it to make a difference in our lives, we need to trust Jesus. We need to place our hearts and hopes, our lives and love, our future and faith into Christ’s Hands. We can’t justify our mistakes and sins before God. We don’t have that power or authority. But Christ does and He will use it effectively to restore us to God’s pleasure and to receive us into God’s Kingdom.

It’s His call to make and our choice to take – which one will we choose?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know us completely and yet You never let us go. You took up a cross and gave Your Life so that You could take away our sins and grant us eternity. Thank You for being our Advocate and Savior, our Lord and King. Help us to go out into the world today to encourage others to make that same commitment of faith and receive these blessings from You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Saving

Audio version here ... or here

Titus 3:4, 5a But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

The most enduring moment in the movie, “Saving Private Ryan” comes at the very end. Ryan, now an old man, is visiting the graves of American troops in France. As he stands before the crosses of his rescuers, he bursts into tears and asks his family, “Have I been a good man?” He wants to know if he has lived a life worthy of being rescued; he needs to know that those who died to save him did not die in vain.

I guess the same question could be asked of ourselves, for we also have been rescued and we owe our faithful lives to the death of one man. Jesus died for our sins and we know that none of us are worthy of this grace. We may accomplish great things in our lives, we may do good things and fulfill lofty ambitions, but none of it counts against Christ’s sacrifice. We cannot do anything to make things even with Jesus. We cannot work our way out of needing His salvation. In the end, we will always owe more to Christ than we can ever possibly give. At the final moment of our lives, it will not be our goodness that will rescue us from oblivion; it will be Christ’s mercy and grace that will pull us through death to eternal life.

This is what being saved means. This is why we hope. This is why we have faith in Jesus.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, our lives are made eternal in the precious moment that we give them to You. Our souls are saved forever when we acknowledge You as the Savior of the World and the Lord of our lives. Help us to share this Good News, so that others may not worry about death, but instead they may also glorify Your goodness and experience Your mercy. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Gentle Lochiel

(Celtic Moon O'er Brigadoon" - original artwork by John Stuart)

Audio version here

Ecclesiastes 9:15 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. (NIV)

Just over 260 years ago, my hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, was surrounded by Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Highlander army. At that time, the people of Glasgow distrusted the Jacobite rebels and because they wouldn’t welcome the Highlanders, the city was almost looted and razed to ground. The order went out to destroy Glasgow and kill as many of the population as possible. There was no escape, because the Jacobite forces had cut off all of the roads and waterways. The city prepared itself for a savage assault, and its leaders realized that the government forces were too far away to help anyone.

Just as the Highlanders prepared to ransack and destroy Glasgow, one of the elderly Jacobite chieftains, Cameron of Lochiel (loch-eel), pled with the Prince to spare the city. He had been the first chieftain to support the Prince’s rebellion, and so his loyalty was not questioned. Lochiel suggested that instead of being ransacked, the city of Glasgow should be held to ransom for clothes, food, and supplies, which would enable Charlie’s army to retreat safely into the Highlands. The Bonnie Prince favored Lochiel’s suggestion and the city was saved.

After the Highlander army left the surrounding area, the city fathers made a proclamation that whenever Cameron of Lochiel or his descendants visited Glasgow, all the church bells would be rung to proclaim their arrival. “Gentle Lochiel”, as he came to be known, never heard those bells, for soon after this incident, Charlie’s army was defeated and Lochiel went into exile with the Prince, never to return to the shores of Scotland.

But to this day, the city of Glasgow honors their promise and in December of 2006, the Lochiel Camerons gathered in the city square to be welcomed and to listen to the peels of gratitude, favor and blessing from church bells all over the city.

Lochiel was a poor man, but he is remembered for the riches of his grace that saved Glasgow. In our own Christian faith, we also recognize that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was poor and lowly carpenter, chosen by God to liberate the world and to save our souls. Almost 2000 years have come and gone since His sacrifice at Calvary, but there has never been a day, a year, or century since then that His great work of deliverance and salvation has not been proclaimed, honored, and glorified. And even into eternity, as John Newton put it, “there will be no less days to sing God’s praise” to worship Christ, and to exalt His grace.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You struggled with poverty all the days of Your earthly life. You understood what it meant to have needs and to be in want. For a time, You were refugee, made homeless by powerful kings and corrupt politicians. For years, You trekked across the country, proclaiming the Gospel amongst the poor and outcast, the insignificant and exiled. And then, to crown all of Your triumphs, You laid down Your life for this poor world and all our poor sakes, so that we may experience God’s grace, be rescued from our sins, and restored to everlasting joy and favor. You are the Power of the Poor, the Wisdom of the Wasted, and the Love of the Lost. In Your Holy Name, we joyfully pray. Amen.

Grey Day

Audio version here


Acts 14:17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." NIV

This morning’s commute to work was the usual rush and traffic mess. Weaving in and out of trucks is not something that I enjoy, and being pressurized from the driver behind to speed up is something that I loathe. The sky was its usual blank grey, so everything looked mediocre. Just another day, another dollar, another drive to work.

But for some reason my heart was elated. I felt good about being alive, so I smiled a prayer to God in the midst of all the hustle and bustle.

Sometimes we take our lives for granted and forget the day-to-day blessings that God benevolently gives to us. Paul and Barnabas proclaimed to the Greeks that God had been with them throughout their history. His kindness brought them rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. Every generation had been sustained by God’s grace, even although they did not know Him.

So I’m thankful for life today. I have work to go to. I have family and friends who love me. I even have a car to get stuck in the middle of traffic on a grey morning. That’s why I’m elated and really feel blessed. I guess the old hymn is true:

Count your blessings; name them one by one;
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Prayer: Lord God, there is no life without Your grace. There is no blessing without Your goodness. Thank You for what we have. Thank You for what we experience. Thank You for life, which is a precious, holy, and sacred gift. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Unyoked

Audio version here

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? NIV



Sometimes Paul reminds me of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament. They were the messengers of God who ‘purified’ the Jewish people by casting out foreigners from their community. Men, women and children were all thrown out of Jerusalem if they did not have “pure” blood in them. Paul does the equivalent here by insisting that unbelievers and Christians should never be partnered or yoked together. Paul wants to keep the faith pure; he doesn’t want any ‘outsiders’ influencing the church.

Over the centuries, this scripture has been used to shun outsiders and isolate the church from the popular community. It’s been emphasized by spiritual elitists who have used it to promote racism, abuse, and intolerance all over the world. Whatever Paul originally intended, his words have been used to justify lynching blacks, destroying families, killing Jews, and even promoting White supremacy. I wonder if Paul realized what his words would one day represent, would he have retracted them from this letter?

It seems to me that Jesus had a different mission from Paul. Jesus was constantly surrounded by unbelievers, sinners, and outcasts. His ministry tended to reach out to those who were unholy and He sanctified them (made them holy) with His love, mercy, and grace. There was nothing elite about Jesus; there was nothing that suggested supremacy. In fact, we are constantly reminded by Paul of all people that Christ humbled Himself to come among us. The Sinless One came to save sinners. The Perfect One came to die for the imperfect. The Holy Son of God came to make unholy people sons, daughters, and heirs of God’s Kingdom.

Today, we are all going to meet other people. When we do, let’s try to reach out with grace and love, tolerance and mercy. It’s not going to be easy, especially when we come across folk who are radically different from us, but with practice we will learn the art of tolerance, love, unity and peace. And aren’t those goals worthy of our Savior? Aren’t those qualities why the Church exists?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to get out of our spiritual comfort zones and reach out to those who are on the ‘outside’ of Your church. Grant us the courage to get along beside them to offer them help in times of trouble, cheer in times of gladness, and love in times of fear and uncertainty. Remind us that we were all unbelievers at one point in our lives and that without someone reaching out to us, we would never have known of Your acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Do Not Lose Heart

Scottish audio version here

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. NIV

At this time last year, our church underwent some serious trouble. One of our staff members had terrible personal problems, which in turn affected the whole congregation and created a small division. It took a great deal of focus, energy, and determination to endure and overcome the fall out. A lot of prayer was said and eventually the tide turned. We lost eight members, but by the end of the year, we still managed to have an overall gain of eighteen people. God’s mercy enabled us to carry on our ministry and mission at Erin Presbyterian. Through His grace, we did not lose heart.

Since then, we’ve undergone recovery. We’re still picking up the pieces and are only beginning to restart some projects that fell by the wayside. For the first time in a long time, we’ve let God carry us, as well as lead us. It’s been a humbling experience, but in the end it will prove to be a worthwhile one.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians so long ago, he was addressing them as someone who had been through a lot of trouble, grief, and pain. He had been beaten up for his faith, cast out of different cities, shipwrecked, and almost lynched on several occasions. He had also been arrested, thrown into jail, and was now awaiting trial. If anyone had a right to lose heart, it was Paul, but he also relied upon God’s mercy to get him through the bad times, as well as the good ones.

He was also writing to a church that had its share of problems. The Christians at Corinth were going through a cultural war, where members of the congregation were struggling with adhering to Christ’s demands, as opposed to accepting the world’s ways. They wanted to be holy, but not different; they aspired to be faithful, but not unfashionable. Paul reminded them of their special calling in order to help them get back on the right track. And even though he was hundreds of miles away from them, Paul embraced them in his heart and loved them back to the Gospel.

Today, you may be doubting yourself, your faith, your church, your purpose, your personal ministry and mission. Remember that God is merciful and that through Christ, He will sustain you. Do not lose heart, for remember, He who called you to do His will is patient, gracious, faithful, and forgiving.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we feel so unworthy, so unprepared, and so faithless at times to fulfill the ministries that You ask us to undertake and accomplish. We get frustrated and impatient, bedeviled and beguiled by our fears, our doubts, and our problems. Grant us Your grace to sustain us through our worst experiences and most troublesome of times. Lead us by Your love, so that we will not lose heart, nor let go of our calling. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Willie

Scottish audio version here

Romans 9:23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory (NIV)

I had a friend in High School who was called Willie. He was a good guy, who never caused any trouble nor brought any harm to anyone. We used to meet every morning on our way to school and as we walked the mile long distance, we would talk about football, television, and, sometimes, girls.

Willie was fascinated with machines. He wasn’t very academic, but in woodwork and metalwork classes, he outshone the rest of us. I liked him and enjoyed his company, and looked forward to walking to and back from school each day.

Well, one morning Willie didn’t appear and I just presumed he was sick. It was influenza season, so I just naturally supposed that Willie was back home in bed, suffering from the ravages and discomfort of the flu. But when I reached the school yard, I could tell that things were wrong. One of my other friends came up to me and said, “Did you hear about Willie? He got arrested for making a bomb. He tried to blow up the Catholic chapel!”

I was struck dumb with disbelief. My quiet friend had been a secret terrorist and I never suspected anything.

The incident was all over the news that night and in the front page of the newspaper the next day. Willie was taken away to a special detention center, where he remained for several years. I wanted to go and see him, but my parents wouldn’t allow me. They didn’t want me to be tarnished with Willie’s poor choices.

Years later, I met Willie at our local community center. He had changed, but our friendship was still evident. He smiled at me quietly and we shared some stories. We never talked about the bomb incident or his jail time. He just wanted to put all of that in the past. He had been a model prisoner and the authorities released him early. He was now working in the community center, helping troubled kids avoid the pitfalls of anger and extremism. He was at peace with himself and the world. He was a given a second chance to redeem himself and he took it.

The mercy of God has the quality of wiping out our past mistakes and granting us the opportunity to begin again. All of us are selfish and sinful; we all fall short of God’s expectations. But instead of making us the objects of His wrath and punishment, He gives us Jesus, His Holy Son, as the One who can forgive our misdeeds and restore us to God’s unending love.

Isn’t that why we call Jesus “Savior?” Isn’t that we address Him as “Lord?”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, today we remember those in prison who regret their past mistakes and crimes. We pray that You will surround them with good people, compassionate pastors, and merciful authorities. May those who choose to change their lives be given opportunities to redeem the damage they have caused and return to our communities as helpful citizens. And may we receive them gladly and uncritically back into our midst. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Dusty Shoes

Audio version here.

Mark 6:11 “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." (NIV)

I’ve only once shaken the dust off my feet where I felt I wasn’t welcome. It took place many years ago while I was still a student minister in Glasgow, Scotland. My brother-in-law, Billy, went to buy some record albums (I told you it was a long time ago) with a voucher that my wife and I had bought him for Christmas. Because he was using a gift certificate, the store owner charged him extra, even although the certificate had been purchased in the very same store. The owner said that he was not allowed to apply the discounts that the record companies gave for cash sales. Billy was being charged the full price for the albums that he wanted, not the regular price that he expected.

I was livid when I heard this and marched down to the store. I must have argued with the owner for about thirty minutes. If I had given Billy cash he could have purchased more for his money, but because I paid for a gift certificate, he was being penalized.

Usually the customer is always right, but in this particular case, the store owner wouldn’t budge. I can remember storming out of the door, but before I did, I wiped the dust of my feet in a fit of self-righteous indignation. I felt sure that God would intervene and close the store. It never happened. I think the record store, which may now sell CDs and DVDs, still exists.

When the disciples were given Christ’s instructions to wipe the dust from their feet, it was to be used sparingly. Only in those places where they were spurned or the Gospel was rejected, was this action to be taken. It was a mark of judgment upon that place. It was an eternal indicator that God’s favor had been shunned.

I guess the nearest that we ever come to experiencing this occurs when people reject Christ in their lives. Their hearts are hardened against His words of reconciliation, forgiveness, and salvation. They don’t want to accept who Christ is, or what He says, so their souls are bereft of His grace. Instead of receiving the everlasting blessings of His sacrifice, they insist on paying the full price, which means that their souls are lost forever. That’s why it is so important to share our faith with our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends. Without Christ, they are doomed. With Him, they are saved from themselves.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we don’t like to think about salvation not being applied to everyone. We know that there are people in our lives who reject You because they don’t want to accept You in their hearts or humble themselves before You. Help us to find words and ways that will challenge and change their ideas and opinions about You, so that they may also receive the eternal gifts of love, happiness, and peace that only You can give to them. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Why?

Audio Version here.

Psalm 25:17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. (NIV)

I can remember, when I was a teenager, falling on my knees in our family kitchen and crying uncontrollably. My mother had just been taken away by the paramedics to the asylum again, after another terrifying outbreak of her schizophrenic disorder. As usual, she had not been taking her medication which, after four or five days, resulted in a frenzied attack on her family. This latest violent outburst was the last straw for me, and I just fell apart in front of my Dad and siblings. I cried out to God, time and time again, “Why are You doing this to us? Why are You allowing this to happen?” I was inconsolable and hated my life.

Emotional pain is very hard to carry, especially when you are young and inexperienced as far as suffering goes. It took me years to cope with my mum’s mental illness and there are still some moments when I wonder how our all family survived. To me, it involved the grace of God, who heard the troubles of my heart and freed me from my anguish. I still carry the emotional scars inside, but with God’s great patience and unyielding love, I have managed not only to survive, but also to find healing.

It may be the case that as you are reading this devotional, you are also experiencing some turmoil, trouble and tribulation that is wounding your soul or breaking your heart. Like the psalmist of old, cry out to God and tell Him how you really feel. Don’t be afraid to shout, rage, or weep. He’s big enough to take all of the punches we can throw at Him. He’s also merciful enough to give us the grace that we desperately need to overcome these issues.

Prayer: Lord God, sometimes our lives are filled with sorrow and over-powered with pain. Some of our experiences can damage our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls. Be near to us when we are lonely and afflicted, agitated and rebellious. Embrace us with Your love and heal us with Your grace. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

Holy Heritage

Matthew 21:38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'” (NIV)

It’s amazing what greed does to some people. Several times, in my twenty plus years of ministry, I have watched greed destroy families and friends, especially when it comes to dividing up property and possessions after the death of a loved one. It sickens my heart each time I see it occur and no matter how brazen or immoral the takers are, their greed supersedes their need to be fair and to share.

It happens on a faith level, too. Some churches are ditching their foundational beliefs in order to become more influential and powerful. They’re changing their names, denominations, and traditions for trendier types. They’re turning their venues into stadiums and cinemas, instead of houses of prayer. Each week, they lose something else in order to gain something new.

They’re driven by a power to be powerful and a need to be needed. They’re feeding the monster that they have created and some of them are beginning to splinter, divide, and breakdown. Perhaps the age of the mega-church, driven by personality and celebrity, is beginning to grind to a halt. Their towers of Babel have been built too high and people are returning to the smaller places, the safer sanctuaries, the more traditional churches.

When we kill Christ in an effort to be bigger and better, we kill our churches. The battle has always been between Christ and our culture. No matter what generation we are in, our lives are meant to be His. Anything else is unimportant. Anything else will just crumble and decay. Mega churches are nothing new – Christians built them in Europe 800 years ago and called them cathedrals. Most of them are in ruins or have very small active congregations in them now – the price of power and prestige, at the cost of people and faith.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for growing our church in recent years. We pray that each growth of a person has meant a closer journey with You. Help us to build the strengths of fellowship with one another through Your truth, way, and life. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Wilberforce

Hebrews 3:10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.'

There’s a new movie coming out today called “Amazing Grace.” It tells the story of William Wilberforce, an Englishman, who fought with the authorities for all of his adult life, trying to halt the slave trade in Britain. He was a remarkable man and, if the movie keeps to the truth, his story is one that will both inspire and challenge those who go to see it.

Wilberforce faced many years of derision from his own peers and he was treated as a religious fanatic who was meddling with the political system. He experienced a lot of hostility and humiliation, but he endured it because he knew that slavery was wrong and that his generation would be held accountable to God for this monstrous act of degradation against African people.

Just before he died, after decades of campaigning, Wilberforce won his battle. The slave trade was ended in Britain and throughout the British Empire, which at that time covered most of the globe. His success spurred on the hopes of another group of people across the Atlantic called Abolitionists, who would fight their own battles which ultimately led to Civil War in the United States.

Every generation has their own battles to fight against those things that lead us away from God. In Wilberforce’s time, it was the slave trade. A generation later, it was about the exploitation of children. A hundred years later, it was the Civil Rights movement.

In our generation, the biggest battle for the community of faith is how to remain effective and relevant, challenging and prophetic without being sucked in by our post-modern culture. We spend more time watching our favorite shows than worshipping God. We spend more money on pampering ourselves than we do supporting God’s work. And we waste more of our lives, energy, and strength on things that will eventually decay and die than we do on the eternal blessings of God.

We are slaves to our own success and we don’t want to be liberated. Perhaps God’s judgment upon our generation is that we will get what we want now and pay for it later – the trouble is that ‘later’ will be too late to rescue our souls.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, save us from ourselves. Open our eyes to our spiritual blindness and make us see how fruitless our faith has become. Confront our choices and challenge our ways, so that our souls may still be won for Your kingdom. Keep us from chaining ourselves to the slavery of sophistication and success, ambition and greed. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Wood Gatherer

Numbers 15:35 Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp."

It’s one of the hardest passages to understand in scripture (Numbers 15:32-41), and it’s equally hard to believe that God would call for the execution of one of His people just for picking up sticks.

I can remember when I first read this passage. It shocked me and I felt it was so unjust of God. It also made me afraid to do anything wrong on Sundays and, for a long time, I feared God’s retribution. The whole incident made me feel that instead of being a loving father, God actually was a supreme tyrant, whose darkest wishes and oppressive whims could never be challenged nor changed.

As the years have gone by and my knowledge of scripture has increased, I now understand that the man was defying God and causing the whole community to be tainted with sin. The act of gathering sticks on the Sabbath was a violation of the covenant God had made with the whole Israelite people. By collecting wood, the unfortunate man was publicly declaring that he was above God’s laws, God’s people, and God Himself. It was a simple act, but a terrible mistake, so the consequences were severe.

Sometimes, we all take God for granted and we are in danger of treating Him with familiarity and contempt. Through our own choices, we place ourselves in harms’ way by challenging God’s ways. That’s when the grace of Jesus Christ protects us, and shields us from God’s wrath. Without Jesus, we would be as guilty and as unfortunate as the Sabbath-breaking wood gatherer. Without Christ, we would be utterly destroyed by God.

It’s a hard lesson to face first thing on a Monday morning, but it should help us make better choices. And not because we fear God, but because we are truly thankful for Christ’s mercy and grace. We may make mistakes this week and face the consequences of our actions, but at least with Jesus as our Savior we will be forgiven, and we can be restored to God’s favor.

Prayer: Lord God, we confess that we fail to fulfill our faith-based obligations and our Christian responsibilities. We know that we are going to make mistakes every day, and that we will challenge Your ways by ignoring or disrespecting Your commands. We are sorry for being so human and weak at times. Forgive us through the power and authority of Your Son Jesus Christ, who carried wood on His back and turned it into a Cross of mercy and grace. In His Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Injustice

John 18:23 "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"

It’s a terrible moment of injustice in Christ’s life. He is standing before His own people, His own religious leaders and they unfairly strike Him for insubordination. They want to show Him who is in control. They want to display their power and authority. They want to humiliate Him for upsetting the status quo and for leading the people astray. In the one holy place where Christ should have received justice, He was abused. Amongst the chosen leaders who could have been given Him mercy, He was shown wrath.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus went through all this in order to save us from our sins. Things happen to us in our own lives that cause setbacks to our plans, our hopes, and our dreams. We think of these things as being unfair, unmerited, and unnecessary. We even wonder why God allows such painful things to happen to us or our loved ones.

We should remember that the real definition of unfairness is injustice. Christ suffered because we are sinful. He was struck because we are shameless. He was battered and bruised, tortured and tormented, crucified and killed because of us. The things He went through were unnecessary, and yet at the same time, absolutely necessary because there was no other way, no other path, no other road than that which led to Calvary to ensure salvation for the world.

I hate to read about Christ suffering, but knowing me, if I had been there in the Sanhedrin, I probably would have struck Him, too. That’s why I need a Savior like Jesus. That’s why I need someone else to take away my sin. Without Him, I am nothing and without His pain, I am powerless to receive God’s grace.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Only You can redeem us; only You can restore us. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.