Month: September 2024

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…
Ephesians 3:20

After four years on the mission field in the jungles of South America, we were ready to return to the United States on a four-month furlough. Plane reservations were made (though not paid for) and tentative dates set. However, the necessary funds just weren’t coming in. It looked like everything was going to fall through.

It wouldn’t have been difficult to cancel the reservation for tickets, or even send out a form letter explaining that we wouldn’t be coming back after all. The hardest part for me was telling my five-year-old son that he might not get to see his grandmother.        

That night my little boy prayed, “God, give us lots and lots of money, just like Zacchaeus. But we’re not going to give it to the poor people, ‘cuz we want to go to the States.”

The very next day, the Mission Aviation Fellowship plane flew into our village bringing mail, and with it, more than enough money for tickets and expenses. I was elated and rushed to tell my son the good news of God’s faithfulness.

This was the child’s prayer that night: “God, don’t send any more money, ‘cuz now we have lots.”

My first reaction to his words was the strong urge to cram a sock into his little mouth. A little later, I was able to chuckle at his simplicity, but now, the innocence of his wisdom just puts me to shame.

It was clear in the prayer that my son felt free to ask for more if a need ever arose again. He demonstrated a greater knowledge of “Him Who is Able to Do exceedingly abundantly” than I did at that time.

Over the years, my eyes have seen Christ do marvelous works time and time again, but my little boy saw Him through faith.

August 22

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Jesus Christ is extreme grace. He is Full of Grace; He is grace on steroids. That having been said, most people don’t understand simple grace much less grasp its full concentration. To explain it, I’ll use an illustration that comes from the jungles of Ecuador.

Dangerous animals live in the rainforest. Anacondas, jaguars, and scorpions come to mind, but few have heard of the most dangerous of them all – stinging caterpillars. They’re everywhere! Once I was walking on a jungle trail when I brushed against some low hanging branches. A “chinicuru,” as the Indians call it, fell down my T-shirt and it rolled down my back leaving a raised, painful burn that lasted for hours. I really don’t like these things!

On another occasion, I went to visit a Quichua family. When I got to their thatched hut, the parents had already gone to work in the garden leaving the twelve year old in charge of her five younger siblings. I came unexpectedly, so I caught them in the process of torturing a chinicuru. They had formed a circle with the coals from the kitchen cooking fire and they put the caterpillar in the middle. Whatever direction it turned, it would burn off the venomous bristles that covered its body.

As the only adult present, not to mention a missionary and ambassador of Christ’s love, I felt that I should say something, but I didn’t. I wanted to see the awful beast burn. Did I mention that I hate those things?

Now, if I wanted to save that ugly worm, I could have reached my hand down and let it crawl up my finger to escape the danger. However, if I did that, I would have gotten burned, ……. twice! Once by the fire and once from that stinging caterpillar. But I would never do that. I’ve been stung too many times. Who would ever do that? The only One who could possibly do something like that would be the critter’s Creator. Saving it, He would allow it to transform into the beautiful moth that it was designed to be. But if the Creator did that, He’d have a love for the unlovely that would be so intense, you’d need a new word to describe it – let’s call it Grace.

The human race has rebelled against God and is much more dangerous than stinging caterpillars, yet Christ died on the cross so that we could live. Jesus clearly is Full of Grace.

August 23

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 6:27 (NASB)

In Isaiah 44:6 the LORD, the King of Israel declares, “I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.” Two verses later He adds, “You are My witnesses,” meaning that if people would only open their eyes, this truth would be self-evident.

The prophet then focuses on the foolishness of man-made gods: “Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses” (Isaiah 44:9). People try to put themselves or things they love in place of the True God. They woefully fail. If they were being honest with themselves, they would see that, too.

But the general population is too proud and self-absorbed to admit that they have created for themselves a pantheon of false gods, and they deny the one and Only Wise God.

One of these fabricated deities is “Mother Nature.” A number of years ago, I visited a science museum that had an exhibit titled, “Mother Nature is the Greatest Engineer.” It showed the “intricate and remarkable designs of Mother Nature” and man’s attempts to copy “her” breakthroughs in engineering. They said “she” perfected her blueprints over 4.5 Billion years, and now scientists can learn from “her achievements.”

There is even a new branch of science called Biomimicry in which researchers do reverse engineering to see what makes plants and animals able to do the marvelous things they do. Since God never patented his creation, people feel free to steal His design and then credit Mother Nature or the blind forces of evolution for the wonders of the living world.

It makes no sense that random mixing of chemicals could produce any life, but it does prove what God said: “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:22-23).

Jesus Christ is our Great Creator (Colossians 1:16-17) and the  Only Wise God.

September 22

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ” Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Isaiah 28:16 Continue reading Sure Foundation

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:17

In order to have propitiation (i.e. in order for a sacrifice to do what it was intended to do) all the pieces had to be in place. There needed to be an acceptable altar, a qualified priest, and an animal specifically created for sacrifice. But it was more than that! The legal precedent had to be established whereby there was a process for atoning for sin.

Therefore, the Aaronic priesthood and system for sacrifices was not just cute symbolism or literary foreshadowing of Christ on the cross, they were God’s way of showing how complicated it is to actually remove sin from a sinner.

The office of the High Priest was essential, both for atonement of sins and for intercession for the sinner. Unfortunately some high priests weren’t worthy of the job. Annas and Caiaphas were evil men that not only failed to recognize the promised Messiah, they conspired to have him crucified. It is hard to imagine that their offering for the people on the Day of Atonement would be accepted, because they were so far out of God’s will.

The Lord Jesus on the other hand, is the Merciful and Faithful High Priest. He is highly qualified for the job and was able to do what all His predecessors were unable to do, atone for sin once and for all. He showed mercy by freeing His people from the bondage of sin and now faithfully intercedes on behalf of the blood-bought people He redeemed. The altar was the cross; the propitiation was the blood of Christ and the Minister of the Sanctuary was our Merciful and Faithful High Priest.

July 30

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 18:18

It’s interesting! There must be hundreds of thousands of Christian churches in the world that label themselves “the Good Shepherd” but I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of one called “the Good Teacher.” Likewise, I’ve seen many stained glass windows and paintings of Jesus holding a shepherd’s staff surrounded by a small flock of sheep but I’ve never seen the Master holding an apple and a bunch of books. That might be because in our society, shepherds are better paid and more highly esteemed than teachers. 

That having been said, teachers are generally credited for preparing people for life and the Good Teacher gets His followers ready for eternal life. Jesus’ parables tell believers about what they don’t know about the Kingdom of Heaven by beginning with things and experiences that they do understand. Christ’s Sermon on the Mount began as a P.E. class; they had to climb up a mountain and get their blood circulating before they could understand the spiritual exercise of faith. He used Old Testament scripture as His text book, not only quoting from it, but by fulfilling it as the Living Word of God. 

However, more than anything else, the Good Teacher taught by example. He washed His disciples feet before asking them to do the same. Jesus was faithful to His calling even though He was despised and rejected by men. Yet, He instructed His followers that they needed to do the same. He called on men and women to take up their cross and follow Him and then was nailed to a Roman cross to show what He meant. The lesson stuck long after the class was over.

And so it is: theory is turned into reality in the lives that are touched by a really Good Teacher.

July 29

And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is
He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
Acts 10:42*

“All rise!” ordered the bailiff. The courtroom fell silent as the judge entered wearing a black robe and a dark expression on his face. The mood was unusually somber because the fate of the man already convicted of multiple murders and felonies was to be handed down. The judge cleared his throat, repeated the seriousness of the crimes committed, and then declared the sentence: Life plus 120 years without parole.

That punishment, reported to be extremely stiff, only underscores the inadequacies of the human justice system. At best, man can only punish the living. A criminal with three consecutive life terms can be out in a week if he dies in his cell.

In preaching the gospel, Peter called Christ the Judge of the Living and the Dead in order to convict people of sin. The idea is that either in this life or the next, everyone must answer to the Lord Jesus for what they have done. The purpose is to evoke the fear of God that leads to repentance. Godly fear can be a very healthy thing.

Sometimes it seems that people literally get away with murder. They can either bury the evidence, bribe the witnesses, or find a loophole in the law. They feel that if they can escape punishment before they die, they somehow have won the game of life. Boy, are they wrong!

It’s the job of a faithful witness to declare that true and lasting judgment will finally come. Some may be successful at mocking human justice, but no one can make light of the Judge of the Living and the Dead. The message that must be proclaimed is “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

*see also 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5

July 28

For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our
Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us.
Isaiah 33:22*

Few professions on earth are more God-like than that of a judge. An artist may create something original on a blank canvas, and the president is commander-in-chief, but a judge has the power to define right and wrong and gives the final word. Politicians make laws and policemen enforce them, but judges determine what they mean and declare the winners in legal battles.

Christ is not only the Creator and Lawgiver; He is also Judge. He will judge people on three different occasions to declare who is just and who is not. No one will be able to dispute His verdict.

At the Great White Throne, the Lord judges the lost. The record books will be opened and men and women will be judged according to their deeds. Religious folks will be there as well as the notoriously sinful, but none of them will have their names written in the Book of Life. To all of them, He says in one way or another, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

Christians are scrutinized in another way, because they all must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Their works will be reviewed and rewards given or lost. Christ desires that each of His servants be found faithful.

When Christ returns to earth at the end of the great tribulation, He will stand in judgment of the nations. He’ll separate the faithful from the unjust as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The wicked will go to everlasting punishment, but the righteousness into eternal life.

The word of the Judge is final, so the guilty should fear to face Him. However, as long as the age of grace lasts, there is time to settle out of court.

*see also Matthew 7:21-23, 25:31-46; John 5:22-24; Romans 2:16; 2 Corinthians 5:10

July 27

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted
up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory?….
Psalms 24:7-8*

The Psalmist asks a question of each man and woman on planet earth. Everyone needs to know the answer, because the most important test in anyone’s lifetime will be given on the final day of judgment. Do you know the answer?

               Who is this King of Glory?

– The LORD strong and mighty.
– The LORD mighty in battle.
– The King of Kings.
– The Lord of lords.
– The LORD of the hosts of heaven.
– The one who puts all His enemies at His feet.
– The destroyer of death and the devil.
– The one before whom every knee shall bow.
– The one who is the fullness of the godhead in bodily form.
– The one every tongue will confess as Lord.
– The one who illuminates New Jerusalem with His presence.
– The maker and sustainer of the universe.
– Image of the Invisible God.
– THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

He is the King of Glory.

*see also Psalms 24:10

July 26

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.
Philippians 2:9

By its nature, fame is a fleeting thing that usually lasts just until the present record or exploit is surpassed by someone else. There are a few exceptions who stand head and shoulders above the rest, finally achieving lasting recognition. Their reward is the enshrinement of their name as the symbol of greatness in the minds of men and women. However, even the grandest of grand grow dim and lose their luster when compared to the one whose Name is Above Every Name.

Einstein …Christ is smarter.
Lincoln …Christ liberated more slaves.
Solomon …Christ is wiser.
Caesar …Christ is more historical; He divides human history.
Nobel …Christ gives better prizes.
Rockefeller …Christ is richer.
Napoleon …Christ conquered more.
Mozart …Christ has more talent.
Schwarzenegger …Christ is stronger.
Aristotle …Christ is more profound.
Hilton …Christ takes in more guests.
Kennedy …Christ is more famous.
Windsor …Christ is more noble.

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth” (Philippians 2:10).

July 25