The End of October

Having not written for awhile, the following will be a potpourri of reflections. Galatians 6:7 states very clearly that God is not mocked, and whatever a person sows that will he also reap. In other words our actions, decisions, words, or lack thereof, have consequences. A relative of mine, diagnosed with diabetes, declined to modify diet, take prescribed medicine or otherwise take care of himself. The result? He went into the hospital, had emergency surgeries, suffered much, and will take awhile to recover. Another chooses to use the "wisdom" of the world rather than the wisdom of God. The results are already apparent. This is tragic yet seems to be the only way that most will ever learn, if at all. God has gone to tremendous effort to give us the wisdom to live our lives in a way pleasing to Him, and beneficial to us, in a Book now accessible to virtually everyone. Even those who cannot read can listen to recordings. The vast majority of the peoples of the planet now have the Bible in their own language. Yet the majority of those who identify as Christians, in my observation, do not read what is so freely available, and if they do, they don't receive its teachings. In John 8 Jesus makes a very strong statement. He says, "Whoever is of God hears ( in context, does or practices) the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." (v. 47 ESV) I suspect the reason for this is a lack of surrender to the will of God, reflecting our innate rebellion. Saying a few words in a prayer or getting wet (baptism) does not make one a follower of Christ. This requires surrender of the will, or in Biblical language receiving the Lordship of Christ. ( Romans 10:9, Luke 6:46, Romans 14:9, John 14:6 etc.) Why has God provided this wisdom through Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ( Colossians 2:3), to us? Because of His great love for us. He did not leave us as orphans. ( John 14:18) God the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. ( Acts 5:32) My appeal to those who may see this post is read and receive the words of God. No one else will ever love or care for you as much as He does. "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ( Romans 5:5b)

Prayer Meetings, Songwriters, and...

Last week I was invited to a prayer meeting with a campus ministry. Six of us prayed. I was very impressed by the way in which they, some staff, and others, students did this. We read Psalm 34 together and used this as a launching pad for our individual prayers. In contrast to most prayer meetings that I have attended, the leader did not dominate, and the group did not spend the vast majority of the time discussing prayer requests rather than actually praying. Instead we prayed steadily for a solid hour, taking turns as we were led. At the end I expressed my encouragement for these things and was invited to return. Thank God for serious people in His Kingdom. Also last week participated in the initial week of a midweek study using a book titled "True Worshipers," by Bob Kauflin. Among the questions asked were what type of corporate praise experiences had we had during our walks with Christ. This brought me back to my first eleven or twelve years in the Lord during the Jesus People Movement. God brought me into a group with a number of gifted songwriters. Although they wrote new lyrics for CD's, all of our corporate worship was simply putting the Scripture to music. In those days we used the KJV exclusively, but to this day I remember many verses and passages of the Bible because we sang them so many times. I take this opportunity to thank those brothers and sisters for their labor of love for us and for me. Some examples of the Scripture set to music by these brethren include Psalm 34:1-4, 89:1, 61:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-3, and Luke 9:23. Also in this last week God has been reminding me that as He has not given up on me, I should be patient and not give up on others. Finally one of the brothers whom I am working with in discipleship has recommended that I write a book on that subject. My initial thought was that there are many books on Christian discipleship. However, as this brother has written a book, which I helped to edit, he may be hearing from the Lord. I will continue to pray and seek counsel about this.

Two Blind Men

This morning I had the privilege and joy of fellowship in the Word with two other brothers. We looked at an incident in Matthew 9. The passage reads like this, "And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud,'Have mercy on us, son of David. When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then he touched their eyes, saying 'According to your faith be it done to you.' And their eyes were opened." ( Matthew 9:27-30 ESV) Some people can tell you many fascinating things about the Bible. They have lots of knowledge. Some people are wealthy, others well educated. There are differences in our physical appearances and personalities. We say one person has a good sense of humor but another is cold. But Jesus assesses people on one thing only- their faith. This passage provides one example of this. Think about these two blind men. They have heard about Jesus, at least enough to know that He is of the lineage of David. They are bold enough to cry out to Him for healing. But He does not respond. He does not stop and heal them. Instead He continues on His way. We do not know how far he went. Was it two minutes, two hours or longer? The blind men could have given up. They could have said, "Jesus doesn't care about us. He's too busy." But they keep following. He enters a house. They go in also. I doubt that it was their house. Even though Jesus has not responded they are determined. Their faith is producing action. Now Jesus questions them. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Their response is instructive. "Yes, Lord." Not "maybe," or "I hope so." And they acknowledge Him as Lord. Jesus does not say, "I'll do this for you," or "no problem." He brings it back to their faith yet again. "According to your faith be it done to you." He knew that they had faith because they had been exhibiting this all along, following on the road, going in the house, and responding to His question. "Without faith it is impossible please Him, because everyone who comes to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him." ( Hebrews 11:6) Jesus is searching for those who will believe Him.