He Restores My Soul

“Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.”  Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

Hey, life is tough!  As Isaac Watts’ hymn asks, “Is this vile world a friend of grace to lead me on to God?”  No it is not.  It is a world filled with sorrow and sin and every corruption that fallen man can create.  Yes, there are beautiful gardens and mountain streams and bouncing babies.  There are those things and we should give thanks to God that he has provided such refuges from the constant bombardment of sin.  But that assault continues daily and pretty things and happy things can refresh us only for the moment.

Jesus says there is a better way.  “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”  Jesus comes to us in His word.  He comes to us in prayer.  He comes to us in the means of grace and offers to us the refreshment of our souls and not just our bodies.  He pours His strength, His holy being into our empty and weary souls and says to us, “Here is the restoration for your daily lives.” 

Precious Shepherd, Revive my soul today from the fount of Your strength.  Amen

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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He Leads Beside Still Waters

“This righteousness will bring peace. Quietness and confidence will fill the land forever.” Isaiah 32:17 NLT 

Our inner city neighborhood is not a particularly quiet place.  There are frequent police sirens, neighbors arguing violently late into the night, boom boxes and car stereos blaring and all the noise of urban congestion in general. On the surface it is not always a place of safety, quietness or peace, but the God of still waters still resides here.  The Shepherd is where the sheep are.  

Still waters mean the confidence of peace, quiet and safety for the sheep. God has the same thing in mind each day for the sheep of His pasture, the children of His promise; those redeemed by His grace. He calls us to a quiet place with Him in His word and promises.  He calls us to peace for today and eternity through faith in Him. He calls us to the safety of His presence.  The still waters may be found in an old neighborhood in an old city as much as in the quiet of a country place. God’s peace is sure and true anywhere the redeemed of the Lord may dwell.

Precious Shepherd, Thank you for the peace for Your still waters wherever we may be.  Amen. 

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Lying Down in Green Pastures

“They (God’s goodness and plenty) drop upon the pastures of the wilderness” Ps 65:11-12

I may live in a crowded old neighborhood in a crowded old city but I am a country boy at heart.  I remember from my childhood the vast, to a child, open field of waving green grass behind our house.  I still love to walk through prairie grass and slip into some pasture beyond just to enjoy the beauty and fragrance and peace to be found there. 

Green pastures mean a different kind of refreshment to sheep.  It is lush food that will refresh and strengthen their bodies.  It is food safe from the many weeds that can be toxic to sheep.  It is abundant food compared to the sparse dry grass of desert places.  All of this is what God gives us in His word.  Our spiritual bodies will be strengthened and refreshed.  We will not confront any errors that will endanger us.  It will be sweet to the taste and easy to chew as cud (meditate on). It is an abundant and endless supply of goodness for us, the sheep of His pasture. 

Precious Shepherd, Thank you for the abundant pasture provided for us in Your word.  Amen.    

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I Shall Not Want

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19 NKJV

What did the shepherd boy David want when he was sitting on the hillside singing this song?  He might have wanted someone with him because shepherding is lonely work. Jesus said, “I am with you always.”  He might have wanted protection from bears and lions.  The book of Job says, “The Almighty shall be thy defense.”  He may have wanted strength for the hard work he did each day.  Isaiah said, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”  He may have wanted a good night’s sleep so he sings elsewhere, “I will both lay me down in peace and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” 

When God asked Solomon what he wanted he wisely answered that he needed wisdom from God to do his task.  If all we want is the lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes and the pride of life, we will be disappointed with God.  If what we want is what we need, however, we will find Him never to fail.  Praise God that in and through Him we are truly never in want. 

Thank You, Almighty God, that You are the sure provider for the sheep of Your flock. Amen.  

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The Lord Is My Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep” John 10:14 NKJV

God is often depicted in Scripture as a shepherd.  One of my favorite passages is found in Isaiah 40:11, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”  His compassionate care for the sheep of His pasture is clearly evident here.  Jesus said, “I know my sheep.”  He is intimately acquainted with us from both the standpoint of God and man. 

The work of a shepherd is exhausting.  Jacob said of this work, “In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.”  The psalmist tells us that the Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps but that His watch care is constantly over His children.  We have a blessed Lord who is our shepherd.  He knows us, carries us, feeds us and watches over us day and night.  We have such abiding comfort in just these five simple words.  We can rest in Him.

Precious Shepherd, Grant me the peace found in being a sheep of Your pasture.  Amen. 

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Forever, Amen

And the truth of the LORD endures forever. Psalm 117:2 NKJV

Our meditations on the Lord’s Prayer have daily revealed to us the great treasures God has given to His people.  Each phrase has revealed a jewel that adds great value to our daily walk with God.  That is no less so in what we find at the end, a simple word that means so much and assures us of such great promises.  When Jesus pronounced the Amen He wasn’t just telling us to open our eyes and get on with our day; He was making a powerful declaration to His Church.

Amen means “So be it”.  In the modern vernacular it could be expressed by saying, “All the goods promised are signed, sealed and delivered.”  Jesus said that the jewels of this prayer are true and that He had put His own stamp of authority on them.  “Count on it”, He says. We can carry these jewels with us every day, hold them in our hands, use them and remind ourselves that we are not paupers.  We are repeating to God His very own words and promises and God’s word is true forever.  Amen. 

Precious Father, We thank You for this precious casket of jewels and please help us to treasure them as we should.  Amen.  

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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And the Power and Glory

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  Revelation 4:11 KJV

A childhood discussion about super-heroes always comes to the concluding question – if super hero A got into a fight with super hero B, who would win?  In ancient pagan religion there was often conflict between the gods.  When two gods go to war, which is going to win?  What actually happened in these conflicts was that man always lost.  But joyfully there is but one true God and He is all powerful and He wins.  In His victory He offers man to win with Him. 

This one true God has the power to defeat all man’s enemies.  He has given us the treasure of His Son to defeat for us the enemy of death.  He has given us the treasure of His Spirit to defeat in us the power of the flesh.  He has given us the treasure of the promise of the resurrection from the dead and eternal life forever with Him in heaven.  Who wins?  Our blessed Triune God wins!  And with Him, all who believe in His Son will also win.  To Him be the glory forever. 

Precious Father, Grant us joyful confidence in Your victory for us today.  Amen.  

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For Thine Is the Kingdom

“Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.”  Psalm 145:13 KJV

What do you give as a present to a person who has everything?  Whatever you may give him he may already have a dozen of already and each of better quality than your gift.  No treasure that is brought to him can match the treasure he already has.  We would have to think long and hard as to what treasure we could bring as a gift to such a person.

God does have everything.  He is the Sovereign of earth and heaven.  The psalmist said that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  What can we bring to One who has it all?  We can bring Him the gift of praise.  We can bring Him the gift of proclaiming to everyone His eternal honor.  We can bring Him the gift of ourselves as truly humble servants of His kingdom.  Our life springs from the eternal King and so we can give back to Him that which is most precious to us – ourselves.  

Precious Father, Truly all things are Yours, including us.  We give You this day ourselves as the greatest gift we can bring.  Amen.

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But Deliver Us From Evil

“The Lord is my refuge and my fortress” Psalm 91:2

The wealthy and prominent often spend vast amounts of money on security.  We live in an evil world and they know that they are targets.  Good security is expensive.  God has promised us security in Him.  That is a gift of immeasurable value. We need His security because we live in an evil world with the very prince of darkness as our chief foe.  Satan is described for us as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  He has been described as the chief thief and the murderer of body and soul.  God says our only hope against this adversary is God Himself.

I was doing a ride along with a friend of mine who was a police officer. We went on a call to a home with a vicious dog.  As we approached the house I stood behind my friend.  He was much bigger than I and he had a gun.  It was assumed that such protection might be needed.  God is much bigger than my friend.  He alone can deliver us from the evil one.

Precious Father, Help me to confidently stand firmly in the shadow of Thy protection. Amen.  

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Lead Us Not Into Temptation

“More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold” Ps 19:10 NKJV

David declared that the Law of the Lord was better than fine gold.  God’s Word is a rich treasure and all who seek in it will find valuable gems beyond measure.  One gem of God’s grace that we find there is light.  The psalmist said, “The entrance of Thy word gives light.”  Lights can be used for a certain area, like a flashlight along a path, or as the beacon of a searchlight that casts its beam afar.  The Law of God does both.

We can find in the Law the universal expectations of God’s rules for humanity.  If we follow these precepts God will lead us not into temptation.  They will be the gold standard by which a “young man will keep his ways pure.”  His Word and Spirit also light our pathway day by day.  They instruct us in the good will of God for daily living and away from the selfishness of sin.  God has offered us both His Word and His Spirit to lead us away from temptation.  He will gladly amplify its good to us as we ask Him to do so each day. 

Precious Father, Help me in Your Word today to find the way that most pleases You.  Amen

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As We Forgive Those Who Sin Against Us

“Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” Eph. 4:32 NKJV

What immense treasures we find in the jewel bag of God’s grace.  The incalculable value of His grace will continually amaze us.  Life, the wealth of peace and joy, spring from the promises He makes and the gifts He offers.  Forgiving others is one of them.  It is not a natural thing to do.  It is a God enabled thing.  His grace makes it possible. 

Consider all the wars fought and the blood feuds that have raged all because forgiveness is not in the heart of man.  Think of the lives lost and the millions of dollars expended because an offence cannot be forgiven.  All of that is our just debt to God for our sin, but He has forgiven it in Christ.  He paid the priceless gift of His blood to forgive us and to empower us to forgive others.  How often we lose the joy of life and the value of living because we do not forgive.  Christ has forgiven us and we in turn can, by His grace, forgive others and find the true wealth of fulfilled joy in Him.

Precious Father, Help us to forgive those who sin against us as You have forgiven us.  Amen.   

  The Friday (Saturday) Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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And Forgive Us Our Sins

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” Eph. 1:7 NKJV

What is the medical value of forgiveness?  The grace of God is a jewel bag of enormous worth.  That worth can be seen in an area like medicine.  Tens of thousands of people suffer physical symptoms related to guilt.  They seek hundreds of millions of dollars a year in medical attention to heal what medicine cannot heal.  The dollar cost of psychosomatic illness is astounding.

What amazing grace we find in this offer from God for forgiveness of sin.  At the cross of Calvary Jesus washed our sins away.  He carried them from us as far as the east is from the west.  Daily He offers to cleanse us from the sin that we commit.  The absolution that He offers is complete.  He cleanses us from “all unrighteousness”.  What an astounding measure of grace it is that states, “I declare you not guilty.”  That is what God in grace offers us through the blood of His Son alone.   We can receive by faith the promise of forgiveness by God and rejoice in His grace.

Precious Father, Give me calm and confident peace in Your forgiveness today.  Amen.

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Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” Matt 6:26 NKJV

How big would the jewel have to be to pay for all the meals you will eat in a lifetime?  How about for all the food people feed to the birds?  God feeds the birds, and maybe He uses caring people to help do so.  Jesus said that the birds are simply confident in the provision of God for their needs.  His provision for all creation is beyond measurement in cost.  Am I, a bird feeder, part of God’s means of provision for them?  They don’t know or care.  They just eat.

God calls us to see Him as the birds see me.  Daily there is food out for them in our yard.  Daily God promises to provide for His children.  As we pray this part of the prayer it is both a petition and recognition that God is the ultimate source of all our provision.  Whether it is bread or shelter or other needs, God is the source.  He gives strength for work and sun and rain for growth.  Our Father cares for us more than the birds of the air and the lilies of field.  We can respond by recognizing the source of all our provision.   

Precious Father, You know our needs; give us confidence in Your provision.  Amen.  

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On Earth as It Is in Heaven

“God, who made the world and everything in it, He is Lord of heaven and earth” Acts 17:24 NKJV

The jewel of this petition is a lockbox treasure for our minds and hearts.  While it often seems that the god of this world is firmly in control, the Bible assures us differently.  God is at work preserving the saints.  He is at work reaching the lost.  He is at work judging nations.  He has a divine will for this world and we beseech Him to fulfill it.  The scriptures assure us that God neither slumbers nor sleeps.  His watch care is certain and His power is active in heaven and earth. 

Most importantly, perhaps, is that when we pray for His will to be done we remember who it is who is praying.  We are praying.  We are His children.  We are asking for Him to reveal His will and power in us for His glory sake.  We are testifying of our submission to His divine plan.  We can make this petition very personal and say, “Thy will be done in me as it is in heaven.”  Then we carry this jewel of purpose with us all day long and let its radiance shine to all God’s creation. 

Precious Father, Help me today to be a willing vessel of Your will.  Amen.   

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Thy Will Be Done

“For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." Mark 3:35 NKJV

Never have rubies been found more precious than those formed by the drops of blood Jesus sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane.  They were jewels of grace for us.  He, the Son of God, innocent of any sin, faced the dread cross of Calvary and certain separation from the Father.  He who knew no sin was to become sin for us.  Yet faced with agony of body and soul He prayed, “Thy will be done.” When Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done”, He knew what it meant.

Hebrews tells us that Christ despised the shame of the cross.  He the maker of wood and iron became the sacrifice on the bloody cross for our sins.  What was His strength?  Hebrews also tells us that He looked forward to the resurrection and reunion with the Father.  Glory awaited Him and He endured the cross in anticipation of the seat at the Father’s right hand.  The resurrection and glory that awaits us is also what Paul tells us is the means to endure the shame of Christ in this life.  In the hope of Christ we say, “Thy will be done.” 

Precious Savior, Strengthen us each day to say with You, “Father, Thy will be done.”  Amen. 

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Thy Kingdom Come

“The Lord of Hosts is His Name. He shall be called the God of the whole earth.”  Isaiah 54:5 NKJV

In the Tower of London visitors can see the crown jewels behind a protective glass.  All the glory and pride of English royalty is there on display, but it is not at that particular time on the head of the queen.  There is a grand celebration at the time it is taken out and placed on her head.  At His first advent Christ’s crown was inglorious.  He was king and told Pilate that He was.  But the crown He was given to wear did not come from a mine of precious jewels but from a thorn tree.  The crowns that His brothers and sisters have worn for generations have also been crowns of thorns.

It shall not always be that way.  He shall come again.  He shall come in the glory of the Father and with the angels in heaven.  He will sweep away all the corruption of earth and set up a righteous kingdom that has no end.  Paul said that in that day we will be glorified with Him.  Until then we can let Him reign as King in our lives to the praise of His glory. 

Precious Father, Help us patiently and obediently wait for Thy kingdom.  Amen.

The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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Hallowed Be Thy Name

“Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.” Ps 113:2 KJV

Here is the crown jewel of adoration.  Nothing is more radiant, more glorious and more vibrant with life and beauty than the Name of the Lord.  As the psalmist said in another place, “His Name alone is excellent”.  Here we are at the throne of grace and we get to declare our adoration and praise and say, “Father, You are excellent.  You are perfect.  You are holy.”  All the bells of our mind are ringing out and resounding with praise at the Name of the Lord.  Our eyes are blinded by the glory of this precious jewel while our heart leaps with exaltation. 

With all the passion of our being we kneel before Him and say, “Let me make Your Name glorious in my life.”  What joy, what exuberant joy enthralls us as we give up ourselves in utter abandonment to the glory of that Name.  Every fiber of our being cries out; let the magnificence of that precious jewel glow through me.  Let its brilliance shine so brightly that I am hidden and only He is seen.  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth.

Precious God, let the glory of Thy Name shine clearly in me today.  Amen.

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Who Art In Heaven

“And I said: ‘I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God’.” Neh. 1:5 NKJV

What a priceless jewel it is to have a God who is above all.  Nehemiah saw Him as the great and awesome God of heaven.  Isaiah saw Him as the God who was high and lifted up.  He is no mere mortal or creation of mortal imagination.  He is as Moses said, God of heaven and earth.  There is no dominion where He cannot hold sway and no secret that is hid from His sight.  This is the God who asks us to call Him Father.  This is the God, the only God, who in love sent His Son to redeem us as a people for Himself.  This is the God who promises us a home with Him in His eternal heaven forever.

 His heavenly throne is one of power and also of mercy.  His throne is one of judgment and also of amazing love.  His throne is the seat of law and the seat of grace.  We come to this Father in heaven by His own invitation, through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, and share our hopes, our cares and needs with Him. 

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for admission to Your throne of grace.  Amen.  

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OUR Father

“No longer as a slave but more than a slave -- a beloved brother” Philemon 16 NKJV

There is another beautiful facet on the diamond of God’s grace that we find in the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer.  Actually it is the first word, OUR.  In His wonderful grace God has placed us into a new family.  We become part of His body, the Church, the bride of Christ.  The world can be a lonely place.  It is hostile to God and His Word.  We can begin to feel small and alone in this world.  But we are not alone.  We are part of that great Christian body, the Church of God on earth. 

God has placed us into a new community of common purpose.  Others also want to see the Name of God glorified, His Word bear fruit and righteousness prevail.   Within this body we find the love and support that the world cannot give.  We find a bond of fellowship and love that transcends culture, status, wealth and other human boundaries.  We come together in hope before OUR Father.  He cares and loves and hears us all.  Onesimus the slave became the brother of Philemon the owner. Together they speak to us the great joy of Christ’s body, the Church. 

Precious Father, please help me today to rejoice in your body, the Church.  Amen.  

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Our Father

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15 NKJV

Grace is like a finely cut diamond.  It is brilliant with many facets that glow and shine.  Many facets of grace are found in the Lord’s Prayer.  The first is found in just the first two words, “Our Father”.  There is the grace of adoption by God and brotherhood with Christ.  What a wonderful family we have been granted by grace.  God the Father Almighty is our Father.  Nothing is too hard for Him to do for us.  Christ is our brother.  The totality of our failed human condition is known to Him, but He receives us by grace. 

The simple word, Father, alone raises us to the ecstasy of belonging to God.  We are His children by His grace.  He sought us when we were in rebellion against Him and clothed us with the garments of heaven.  He feeds us with the bread of life and holds our hand during each moment of our daily walk through life.  He loves to hear our chatter and delights when we crawl into His lap for a close snuggle.  O dear and precious words, “Our Father”. 

Dear Precious Father, our Father, comfort us with these words of grace today.  Amen.  

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What Cost Christ? Part 5

We began with what it cost Christ for us to become sons of God.  It cost Him the glory of heaven for no permanent earthly abode.  It cost Him the worship of angels for the rejection of men. It cost Him fellowship with the Father to God’s forsaking of His own Son while on the cross.  Truly He endured the cross and despised the shame as Hebrews tells us.   

What cost for Christ was there for us?  It cost us the arrogance of our own self righteousness.  I have known many people who have not wanted to pay that cost.  They were so self assured that they were right in who they were and what they thought that they could not see sin and its judgment.  They were the god of their own mind. 

Essentially the idea is a little broader than just the god of their own mind.  The fundamental idea is that man is god which is the very central lie that Satan offered Eve in the garden.  Collectively mankind has the power to find all the answers.  Collectively through the means of politics, economics, education, science and reasoning we will create heaven on earth.  That it hasn’t yet been achieved only means there is more tweeking to do, but we will get it.  Eve wanted to be god.  The citizens of Babel wanted to be god.  Ultimately pagan worship offered everyone a chance to touch the gods through the debauchery of their practices.  What it really costs then to know Christ is the cost of admitting the utter failure of fallen man and to declare the absolutely perfection of the Christ. 

That declaration of the perfection of Christ is what leads to obedient faith and faithful cross bearing.  If something is absolutely true, then that something deserves our absolute best. Therefore it is our reasonable service, as Paul told the Romans, that we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to Christ.  We offer ourselves up daily to die daily to self.  That is the cost of being His disciple, but it is a reasonable cost because we are serving the absolute perfection of Christ.  When we take our eyes off Him we will swim in the shallow waters.  We want the easy food on the bottom near the shore and relief from the current always running against us. But it is in the shallows where we become easy prey for the wolves that prowl along the shore and the joy of serving the sublime Christ is lost in the frenzy of the ravening wolves of the world.

Helen Lemuel wrote this beautiful song that has inspired many to turn their eyes away from the ease of the world and focus them clearly on Jesus.  “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”. 

Through death into life everlasting He passed, and we follow Him there;

Over us sin no more hath dominion, for more than conquerors we are! 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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What Cost Christ? Part 4

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish.” (Philippians 3:7-8)

Jesus had said to His disciples that the conditional requirement of being His disciple was that a person must bear the cross.  He laid out some rather harsh conditions of what that meant.  Paul is a great illustration of what it meant.  He viewed all that he had in the past or the present as simply rubbish to be thrown away for the joy of walking in close fellowship with Christ and being used by Him in powerful ways.  Later in Philippians he would say that he knew both how to have much and how to have little, but that in whichever condition he found himself to be content and rejoice in Christ. 

Many Christians today find that the cross makes a fine ornament.  We wear them as jewelry, and there is nothing wrong with that by itself.  But, when we wear it as jewelry do we testify to that same cross as being the defining moment and aspect of our lives?  We put the cross on the doors of our homes or the bumpers of our cars.  The same question must be asked wherever we display the cross.  Is it fully displayed in our lives? 

Paul made another great statement about the cross and his relationship to it.  He said in Galatians 2:20 that he died daily.  That is what the cross is all about.  It is a place to die.  It is the place for each believer to die to self and to come alive in Christ to new life and then new purpose in Him.  In baptism we are to see ourselves dying to who we were as lost creatures of wrath and as we pass through the water to see how we are resurrected to new life with Christ.  Each day we are to hold that confession and renew our baptismal vow of dying with Christ and then living with and for Him.

Thomas Shepherd wrote a hymn over 300 years ago that is timeless in its expression of our call and hope in Jesus Christ.  “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?”

Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone, and there’s a cross for me.

The consecrated cross I’ll bear till death shall set me free;
And then go home my crown to wear, for there’s a crown for me.

O precious cross! O glorious crown! O resurrection day!
When Christ the Lord from Heav’n comes down and bears my soul away.

What Cost Christ? Part 3

This is our third look at the same question.  First we saw what the cost was to Christ for us to be saved.  Second we saw the cost of conviction of our sin and the need of Christ. He is not a mere ornament that we add to our life.  He is the greatest need of our life.  Now we want to look at another view of the question – “What Cost Christ?”

Jesus said that there was a cost to follow Him.  What happened to free you might be saying.  Salvation is free.  We enter the Kingdom of God all debts against us being fully paid by Christ at the cross.  So how can there be a cost to follow Him?  It is the cost of testifying to a change in brand loyalty.  If all our friends were Coke drinkers, if indeed it was a requirement to be in the group of friends to be a Coke drinker, and we changed to Pepsi, what then? 

Jesus warned that those who followed Him would find they were in disagreement with their families.  Paul noted that those who followed Christ would be in disagreement with their pagan religions and the practices of their pagan religions.  Here pagan is defined quite simply as anything outside the parameters of biblical teaching.  There is no God but God and we can only know Him through His Son Jesus Christ.  What we saw in Christ by the grace of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit was our peril of eternal damnation and our need of a real Savior.  Led by the Holy Spirit we received Christ by faith and in effect changed brands from whatever we had been. 

Not everyone who didn’t change brands will be happy with our change.  People may lose their friends, their families, their jobs and in many countries in the world even their lives.  Jesus asked the question, the question that began this whole thought process, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”  I am a writer.  Some of my books are not popular with the lost community.  It has been suggested that I hide those books and only present my “acceptable” books in order to sell more books.  I need to sell more books. Therefore I am tempted to make my other books less noticeable.  But what have I gained if I deny the truth in my less popular books?  That is the original thought behind, “What Cost Christ?”  I was at the door of a major publicity opportunity when there was a sudden need to stand up for truth or bail on truth.  Standing up can cost me a lot.  Bailing can cost me even more.  “What Cost Christ?”

This song is from India where following Christ can cost a person everything.

I have decided to follow Jesus.  I have decided to follow Jesus.  I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.

The cross before me, the world behind me; the cross before me, the world behind me; the cross before me, the world behind me; no turning back, no turning back. 

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