It’s going to sound so trite, but I really don’t know what I would do without her. God surely knew what He was doing when He sent her my way.

Setting the Stage

It was a difficult weekend for us. We had our annual neighborhood yard sale Saturday morning. I hate yard sales. I really do. Most of the junk we pull out to sell usually goes right back in the garage.

Then there are the prices of the items. My wife and I are opposites. She’s a Proverbs 31 woman if there ever was one. She’s very savvy about what she sells items for. Me? I’m the opposite. I hate haggling. If the offer is decent (in my mind) I’ll take it just to avoid having to put the items back in the garage.

This dynamic causes friction. Every year. It never fails. My wife goes back in the house for some reason and it’s usually right at that moment that someone comes up and offers a price for something we’re selling. After I quote it, that’s when the battle starts.

Suffice to say, this whole scene cast a pall over our whole Saturday and into Sunday. I went into my own world of irritation. Basically, I let Satan get the best of me and allowed him to whisper lies into my ear.

The Remedy

In my gloom, I realized I became disconnected. Yes, certainly, from my wife but more importantly, I had become disconnected from the source of my joy: God. One of the things I realized–and I don’t know why this obvious thing never occurred to me before–is that for the better part of my life, I’ve been seeking meaning, fulfillment, and identity in other things. What things? A job. Work. Being a husband. Being a father. Being a role model. Being a blogger. Being a musician. Whatever else.

I’m here to tell you, you will never find meaning, fulfillment nor identify in anything but Jesus!

Back to my wife being a blessing . . .

We were both reading our Bibles yesterday and in hers she came to a side-bar on healing. The mini-study was on John 5.

Jesus and the Paralytic

I’ll set the scene for you. There was a man–probably a paralytic–who had come to the Pool of Bethesda for healing. He had been stricken with his illness for thirty-eight years. The pool is where an angel of the Lord would come on certain seasons and stir up the water. Whomever would go into the pool first would be healed.

We’ll pick up the story in verse 6:

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” –John 5:6.

I’ve read this passage many times but yesterday I was struck by what Jesus asked him: “do you wish to get well?”

Amazing! Jesus gave this guy a choice: do you want to be well or do you just want to stay in your condition.

Look at what he says in response to Jesus:

The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” –John 5:7.

How many times has God revealed something to us through someone or some event and we immediately make excuses?

Wouldn’t it have been easier for the guy to just tell Jesus: “Yes, I want to get well.” Instead, he makes excuses! I was profoundly struck by what is packed into these two verses, things I have never realized before.

Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” –John 5:8.

I love Jesus. He dismisses this guy’s excuses, doesn’t allow him to wallow in self-pity, and tells him to get up and walk. The Greek term for “get up” is “ἐγείρω.” It has several meanings some of which are: “to arouse from sleep, to awake,” “to cause to rise from a seat or bed,” even “to arouse from the sleep of death.”

The Sting of Truth

After reading these passages I started thinking about the “pallets” in my life that I’ve been laying on and making excuses for. Phrases like “Yeah, but . . .” “I know how to that, but . . .” “I enjoying doing ‘X,’ but . . .”

I have to tell you, I’m sick of the word “but” in my life. It’s such a defeater. I’m not saying it’s easy to get over. I have a long way to go. But I also believe that once you identify these pallets in your life and ask God to be healed from them, then in His time and in His will, you will be healed from them.

God-willing I can share some of these with you all soon.

Are there pallets in your life you are laying on? Have you been healed from pallets in your life? Share in the comments.

May He Increase!

Today she posted “When the Work Becomes Weary.” A short excerpt:

Sometimes, those of us who have immersed ourselves in ministry or volunteer work, we can become tired.

Tired of hearing about individuals hurting themselves or others.

Of them making poor choices.

Of pain and heartache.

Prayers that appear to be unanswered or slow to come to fruition.

Sometimes you become so tired from all of it.  You wonder if you can really go on.

It’s a post I needed today because it’s how I’ve been feeling of late.

Lest I seem to my audience that I’ve always upbeat and positive, this is more of an open-heart post. I’ve had periods of “the dark night of the soul” for at least the past two years. There have been times when I thought I was coming out of it and then things grow dark again. I’ve struggled with trying to figure out if I’m confusing life’s typical trials with something that is more longer term like “the dark night of the soul.”

My family is going through some rough times financially, as I think a lot of Americans are. Some of it is a direct result of poor choices we have made and others are simply adjustments that we need to make. I’ve wondered how long God will allow us to navigate these troubled waters and then I try with all my might to trust Him with it all.

But if I’m being truly honest with myself, I will admit that there are times when I feel like chucking it all. There are times when I feel like I should just live like the rest of the world instead of holding myself to a higher standard.

Times such as these, I cling to Jesus’ question and Peter’s answer as found in the book of John:

So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” –John 6:67-68.

Jesus’ question follows right after He told His disciples “But there are some of you who do not believe” (John 6:64). As a result of Jesus saying this:

Many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. –John 6:66.

Is this how I want to live my life? Do I understand that if I make that choice to turn away, I’m saying to Jesus “I do not believe.”

No way. There is  absolutely no way.

After everything that God has shown me and lead me through, “to whom shall I go?”

Back out into the world?

Are you kidding me?

Do I want to be like a dog returning to it’s vomit? (2 Peter 2:22)

The Christian life is far from easy. Anyone who says to you otherwise is a liar. But this fleeting life with all it’s ups and downs is nothing compared to the joy that awaits us in heaven.

And this is the hope I cling to: that God loves me and nothing is hidden from His sight. He knows exactly what I’m going through and no matter how dark it looks, He’s there with me.

May He Increase!

In reality, they aren’t merely a sayings, they are lies.

You see this image? That’s you and I on the right.

We stand judged and condemned before a Holy God. Jesus is in our shoes, if you are a believer. Jesus is taking what rightfully belongs to us: death. That ultimate penalty for our sins is placed upon Him. The wrath of God is placed upon Him while we are made righteous.

That is reality.

If that doesn’t strike you, what about Jesus’ own words:

“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am (He), you will die in your sins.” –John 8:24.

When Jesus says “I am,” He is calling Himself God. The “He” was added by the translators because of our English grammatical usage. Jesus is saying “I AM WHO I AM” as found in Exodus 3:14, the voice from the burning bush. It’s the same phrase He uses in John 6:20 and John 18:6.

You have a choice: face the wrath of God or believe that Jesus is who He says He is.

There’s only one way to heaven, friend. No matter how “good” you think you are, Jesus is the only way. We will all face our Creator one day. You are either going to stand condemned or righteous.

If you are not yet a believer, how does John 8:24 strike you?

May He Increase!

I’m amazed at how many times that post gets a hit. I wonder if people are really looking for a light out of the darkness.

In that post, we looked at what God told the prophet Ezekiel:

“Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.” –Ezekiel 3:17-19. (Emphasis mine.)

Recently, I had to remind my stepson that he needs to use wisdom and discernment with regard to people in his life and the lifestyle they are living.

It pains me . . . no it utterly grieves me to see young people walking in darkness. It angers me to see how Satan and his demons fool people into claiming allegiance to God but then live a lifestyle so far from what a walk with Him is supposed to be. It truly is a great deception.

Sometimes I’m confronted with things going on near to my family. I can feel Satan and his demons’ pressing down upon me and whispering lies in my ear at times to the point of asking: “What’s the use?” But then I recognize that is just what he wants: to discourage us! To give up.

It’s times such as these that I call to mind the verses:

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. –1 John 4:4.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. –Philippians 4:8.

It wasn’t so many years ago that I was a teenager and had walked away from God. That is probably why–when I see the younger crowd walking contrary to God’s Word–I get so upset. I was there! I know how lost I was and how utterly depraved I was! What is more concerning is that the time is getting shorter and shorter: the signs of Jesus’ return are becoming clearer and clearer each day.

We live in a dark age of deceit. The problem is that it is masquerading as enlightenment. The days are unbelievably evil when you view them as God views them. My prayer is that the young people will open their eyes before it is too late.

May He Increase!

For the first time in a long while, I let it sink in. I kept repeating it over and over and just let the Spirit pour it deep into my heart.

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” –Luke 23:34.

Recognize it? You probably do. It’s one of those verses that everyone knows, and I do mean everyone.

But stop and think about when the verse was said by Jesus. According to Luke 23:33, the Roman soldiers had just finished crucifying Jesus to the cross and there was a convicted criminal on each side of him. In the midst of this horrible scene, these glorious words are said:

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Forgive them . . . These guys have beaten Him, spit on Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, and now have affixed Him to a wooden cross with iron spikes. In the midst of unimaginable pain, Jesus asks God the Father to forgive them!

That alone boggles my mind. I can’t grasp that at all.

But there’s more. Jesus continues with:

“For they do not know what they are doing.”

I think most of us gloss over that part. Or, you just casually assume that Jesus is saying something like “these pagan, Roman soldiers have no idea that I’m Jesus.” Honestly, that’s what I used to think growing up. I used to think that it was Jesus explaining that the Jews at the cross knew He was at least Jesus of Nazareth, but the soldiers just thought he was yet another criminal.

No, it’s much deeper than that. Jesus is addressing all of us across time and space! Jesus is asking the Father to forgive you and I because we don’t know what we’re doing, in a sense, when we sin. And Jesus is paying for our sins on the cross.

Throughout the Bible, Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, specifically “The Good Shepherd.” (John 10:11 and other places.)

Why? What would that signify?

That we are all sheep.

We talked about this in a post about The Judgement of the Gentiles.

Sheep are defenseless, helpless, and not very intelligent animals. Sheep aren’t driven, they are lead. They are food-oriented so will tend to approach people looking for food. (Can’t help but see the correlation to the Israelites wandering in the desert complaining about the food on this last point!)

Keeping with this analogy, what if the sheep were to kill their shepherd? What would happen to the sheep? They’d die from starvation or worse yet, they’d be killed by natural enemies. If they were to kill their shepherd, we’d naturally say: “they don’t know what they are doing!”

The Bible amazes me because of how tight-knit it is. It’s a love letter about redemption. It’s purpose is to draw us to our Shepherd who feeds us (physically and spiritually) and protects us from our enemies (Satan and his demons).

And yet, what do we do? We neglect our relationship with Him. We deny Him. We turn away from Him and then blame Him for when our lives don’t turn out the way we want them to!

Don’t kid yourself. You don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t have control over your life and you aren’t master of your little universe.

Have you been living that way?

Or, Christian, have you been busy about the King’s business that you have forgotten about the King?

There’s a remedy for that. Jesus said: “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing.” Jesus paid the price for our sin so you can be freed from that debt.

If you’re a Christian, our remedy is 1 John 1:9:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What about you? Is is time for you to become more like a sheep?

May He Increase!