What's Next? - April 13th

You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/2973701569352515/

So… Resurrection Sunday not as bad as you thought huh? So what happens next? I always thought there should be more time between the birth and the crucifixion/resurrection of Jesus. Because what do we do with the rest of the year. Christmas and Easter are big days in the religious calendar but there are only around 4 months between the two and let’s be real, there is much to do getting ready for these big days.

Anyhow, so what’s next? Have you ever been on a road trip? I don’t do traveling well but when I travel, I like to plan, prepare, & schedule. I don’t like to fly by the seat of my pants. I want control of my destiny, boy did I sign up for the wrong vocation.

One of my favorite movies is a children’s movie – Cars. It’s all about a race car, Lightning McQueen, who gets lost on the road to a race, and he ends up in Radiator Springs on the infamous highway Route 66.

I like this movie for many reasons, and one is the great song that Rascal Flats sings – Life is A Highway,        I love that song.

But here’s the summary of the story, Lightning McQueen – a race car - ends up doing time in the little town and realizes that there is more to driving, than just getting from point a to point b or winning a race. By the way, race cars don’t need headlights, lol. He also realizes that there’s more to this little town and there’s more to life than the flash of being a racing star.

Lightning McQueen is on a quest, to win the coveted Piston Cup. But something happens and he discovers along the way that the journey is as important as the destination and as important as winning the race. Over the next few days, we are going to take a look at what happened next, what happened after the resurrection.

Matthew 28:1-10 (NIV) After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”  So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Stop for just a moment and think about the ladies at the tomb. Matthew gives us a clue that they were going to do what was required of them, but in their heading to tell the brothers that Jesus had indeed risen, they were afraid and yet full of Joy.

It’s hard for us to understand because we have over 2000 years on this side of the resurrection. We have over 2000 years of Christian Faith, and study and thought about all of this. Could you imagine what they thought, could you imagine what they felt? And before they get to the Disciples before they reach the Brothers, Jesus meets them.

Did you ever stop to think why? They obviously believed the angel, they saw the guards who fainted. Why would Jesus meet them? I believe the answer is in the scripture.

His first word is greetings, shalom – peace – settle down right? His appearing probably shocked them, they were already shocked. But they were on a mission and Jesus needed to settle them down. Well, yes and no.

You see the shalom that Jesus gave was different than before, it was more than settle down and be at peace. It was a peace that only He could give them. It was a complete peace, because His work was finished and the sacrifice had been made. Now they could be made complete, in and through Him.

I love their response to His blessing of shalom. The first thing they do, is to bow and they grab His feet, and they worshiped Him. An appropriate response.

And then Jesus sends them on their way to the Brothers. to the Disciples and repeats the angel’s instructions, go – tell them to go to Galilee.

Sounds like a simple thought here, but that word go is a bit different in the original language. The word used there is not simply go over there. It’s not simply leave home and go do something. It’s a command to discipleship. It’s the same go that

Jesus will use in the Great Co-mission, just a few verses later when He appears to the rest of the Disciples. It’s not a go and do, it’s a command to disciple.

These ladies are the first evangelists, do we understand what Jesus was doing? It’s moments after the resurrection, and here is Jesus fulfilling more prophecy. He is pouring His Spirit on the sons and daughters. Jesus is sending these ladies out and having them disciple the brothers. The ladies are discipling the Disciples – in the resurrection, the Good News – the Gospel. The angel at the tomb in the garden had told them the same thing. But there is such a stronger sense that Jesus is being intentional here. It is not just mere coincidence, that He meets them in the Garden. Which is another interesting side note. This tomb, was the tomb that we read about that was nearby in a garden.

Think about this, when sin entered into this world it entered in through a garden. When the answer to sin, the solution of sin entered into this world. He exited the grave and entered into this world resurrected through a garden. He meets the ladies in the morning in the Garden on the day after the last day of the week.

The seventh day was the last day of the week. And the first day of the week, was like the first day of creation. And this first day is here to signify new life new creation. All of this is wonderful insightful thought and there is so much in just these few verses. I could write books of sermons here just about these few thoughts.

But just stop and think about this, we are His Church, His bride, and we have a job to do. We are to be going – and we’ll talk more about that tomorrow…

I know that right now not many of us are going anywhere. We might go get groceries or to a  doctor if we are sick.  We are only going out for the necessities, but that doesn’t change what happens after the resurrection. We need to get going spreading the Good News, however that looks.

Where's the Good...? - April 10th

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It’s called Good Friday and all over the world, people are getting ready. In the past under what I would call normal circumstances, we see many Good Friday services that have different emphasis.

But if you’ve grown up in church, we all know the story.  Jesus’ sham of a trial, Pilate washes his hands of the matter. They release a known violent criminal, all so they can crucify Christ upon the cross. Jesus speaks and says significant things from the cross, but in the end it’s nothing that anyone does to Him that causes His death. The Bible tells us that He willingly gives up His spirit.

Because it was almost time for the sabbath to start, the people asked Pilate to have those hanging legs broken to speed up the deaths of the men being crucified. You see crucifixion kills, not because of blood loss or trauma, it kills because of the position the people are put in physically.

As I understand it, in crucifixion the legs are bent with one foot placed over the top of the other and nailed to the upright with a large spike. It’s put there so that the one being crucified can find relief from the process of death momentarily by pushing on the spike. You can relieve the pressure put on the chest and lungs created by the position of the arms, which are nailed on the cross beam allowing breath to be taken in between the times that one could muster the strength and willpower to push up  on their nailed feet.

At this point, the lungs begin to fill with fluid, and in essence the person dies from asphyxiation. You drown from the inside, from the fluid filling your lungs. If you break their legs, they can’t push up to breathe and they die quicker – they drown quicker.

The Bible tells us that when the soldiers went to break their legs, to cause death quicker, they got to Jesus and He was already dead. The soldier pierced His side to prove this and blood and fluid (water) flowed from his chest.

John 19:38-42 (NIV) Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

There a couple of things here that I’m not certain we are fully aware of. Simply because we do not understand the customs of the Passover, sabbath, and how death was viewed back then.

First – do we understand all of the parts of this? It was a special sabbath, because it was the sabbath of the Passover. When we look here, we notice that all of this started on the sixth day of the week. It was actually the day before the sabbath which is Thursday sundown.

Jesus last day on earth alive, as the sun set over Jerusalem starts Thursday evening. It’s that evening when Judas is sent out to do what must be done. And now everything in the Gospel story is focused on Christ’s suffering and death. They place Him in the tomb all before sunset on Friday. Why – because it’s the sixth day and it all has to be done before the seventh day.

Now let’s look at this for just a moment, the sixth day is the same day that humanity was given life in the beginning – the day that God created and breathed into humanity.

Genesis 2:7 (NIV) Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

So on that sixth day, God breathes into humanity a special breath, the breath of life that causes humanity to be different from the rest of the creation. Humanity becomes living beings different from other created things. It’s on this sixth day that humanity is given life.

And now, fast forward in history, on this sixth day there is suffering and death. The death of the Messiah is all done on the sixth day. And the plan of the redemption of the human race is coming to its apex, Jesus dies for our sins - for our guilt for our fall.

Here’s another thing, not many of us go to a cemetery to look for hope – except this is where we Christians find hope, in the empty tomb! A cemetery is a place of death and loss and grief. And yet, we find hope in an empty grave. It’s because our logic is backwards to the kingdom.

Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

That’s why we must come to a place of death and loss to find our hope and future. Only those who come to the place of the end can enter into a new beginning.

And that begs the question, what in our lives must end? Whatever it is we can bring it into this tomb today and wait – we wait for the new to begin.

Today – there is no song at the end, only silence – heartbreak – sorrow… There will be no devotion tomorrow, it’s a special sabbath that I believe we need to understand a bit better. The void and silence when Jesus was in the grave on that sabbath.  The despair that the Disciples experienced on that sabbath. Jesus descends to hell and takes possession of the keys to Death, Hell, and the Grave…His end is our beginning. But it wasn’t until the first day of the next week, that we see the FirstFruits of the resurrection… Today is quiet, full of sorrow and grief, but remember – Sunday is coming.

Betrayal - April 8th

you can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/218516186232718/

How many of us can say that we have at one time or another felt as if we had been betrayed. Unfortunately as a pastor, I can say that I have experienced it on more than one occasion. Jesus was not sheltered from this either.

John 13:18-30 (NIV) “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.  Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Jesus has just shared the Passover meal with His disciples and it was different to say the least. Jesus had made the meal all about Himself and it seemed more about something to come rather than something to be remembered. And then towards the end of the evening, Jesus warns them of the betrayal that would befall Him. But why did it have to be this way? I guess the real question is did it really have to be this way?

 Was betrayal the way God designed it? None of the writers let us in on this and why it was this way.  Except that when you think about it, what hurts more than betrayal? If Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, or as John the Baptist said The Lamb Who would take away the sin of the world, why wouldn’t Jesus encounter sin at its worst, absolute ugliest, shameless fundamental nature.

And that is what betrayal is, sin. When we look at sin from a New Testament biblical perspective, we see an attitude of willful action.  You see when circumstances come to pass out of ignorance or accident they truly are not willful acts.

But sin truly is the knowledgeable and intentional rejection of the good God who has graciously created and sustained the entire world. And what other word than betrayal expresses the very character of sin?

The Scripture tells us that Jesus was troubled in His spirit so much so that He warns them and then confusion sets in.        They don’t see it, they misinterpret why Judas was sent off into the night to accomplish.

I bring all of this to our attention first so that we can remember what Jesus was experiencing in His last few days while journeying toward the cross.

Secondly, I believe that this time today, this holy week can be a time for each of us to reflect and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us so that we will be better equipped for the Holy Spirit to work through us for those around us.

Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV) Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

And if you remember anything from today, remember this: any betrayal that you or I have experienced is nothing compared to the betrayal that Christ experienced for us. This tidbit of information helps each and everyone of us to deepen and strengthen our faith in Christ. Knowing that He has experienced everything we have experienced, and that He who lives in us has indeed overcome the world.

Remember - April 7th

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Do you ever forget things? There’s a running joke meme on Facebook where someone calls forgetting why you walked into a particular room and doing something else until they remember why the new multitasking. But seriously do you ever forget important stuff? I sure do, and the more I try to remember, it seems like the further from my mind the thought runs – and I mean it runs!

I’m terrible or actually really good at forgetting where my keys are constantly. Don’t believe me,  next time you talk to someone I work with, ask them how often I leave my keys, water jug, tablet, Bible, or iPhone just laying around somewhere. If it can be laid aside, misplaced, or dropped, then I’m your guy – it’s like I posses a superpower in loosing and forgetting things.

Deuteronomy 27:1-8 (NIV) Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commands that I give you today.  When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.  Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.  And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster.  Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them.  Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.  Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God.  And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up.”

In one of the commentaries I read this concerning this passage of Scripture:

“…laws are a collection of communal policies and practices that constitute a political framework for a people of memory.”

And then later on in the same commentary they gave another way to explain what this book of Deuteronomy is to us, what this represents to the Body of Christ today;

“…what this collection of policies and practices are attempting to accomplish is that they are endeavoring to shape the identity of the people.”

Repeatedly through this book (Deuteronomy), you hear the word remember or the phrase do not forget repeatedly.  And I believe rightfully so. There is a significant transition happening here. Not just the leadership of the people, which had been almost exclusively through the relationship

Moses had with God – remember Moses stood between the people and God in everything, but also they were ending their time in the desert.  And this time of transition, was a time where God called His people to remember what they had learned.

Remembering is a huge part of our lives even today.  I recently was talking with one of my new and dear friends the other day about the place where I was born. And how the music of one of my grandmothers shaped me. How I learned to play lots of instruments, and sing harmony by ear by pickin’ and grinnin’ in my grandparents kitchen, living room, or on a warm summer evening on their porch. Usually till it was far to late to be up for as young as I was.

We remember lots of things, we remember traditions. We remember where we put our keys, (well only if I hang them where they go). We remember occasions, like birthdays and anniversaries.  There is an entire company that has devoted their bottom line to helping me remember. They make these little note pads that have sticky stuff on the back which you can post everywhere.

We have reminders in our smartphones in our smart watches, our computers run calendars for us and on the occasion that I forget my wife Bobbi and our Office Administrator Jane often help me to remember.

And, right now that we are all working from home I’m being left to my own devices. And I think everyone who has worked with me will admit that is a bit concerning to say the least.

And I guess forgetting isn’t such a bad thing, I mean the older I get the more I forget, but at what cost? You see we have a task to remember, just as God wanted His Children to remember back in Deuteronomy. God was making certain that His Children wouldn’t forget how they got to the Promised Land. He wanted them to remember that He indeed had been faithful to them, that He had delivered them and made good on His promise.

So here is where God asks them to build an altar. Altars were common place back then, they weren’t as pretty as they are today. Mostly they were to catch your eye      not always in a pleasing way, but in a way to be noticed by others – like – hey what’s big pile of rocks over there? Here in this story they were to celebrate being delivered from Pharaoh’s army, freed from slavery of Egypt.

Joshua 4:4-7 (NIV) So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,  and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’  tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

In the same way, we are coming upon a time of year where it is common to begin to remember probably the most important part of history – the most significant part of history: the suffering and death of Jesus.

Now – please stay with me for a moment, the last few days leading up to the crucifixion was also part of a celebration of another remembering. It was the celebration of the Passover. And this time – would be the last. You see there would be no need for another sacrificial Lamb – Jesus was the final Passover Lamb. He would be sacrificed for all of humanity, for you and for me.  So as you go through your week, this week leading up to this – definitely different Easter season, remember…

Scripture - April 6th

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Where do you usually turn when you’re overloaded? What do you do when you’re exhausted, depleted, or overloaded? Do you prop your feet up and veg out in front of the TV?  Do you sleep more or try to catch up on sleep? Those things may rejuvenate you physically or even intellectually, but it won’t rejuvenate you spiritually.

The antidote for overload is not how to better manage your time or tasks. It’s not about how to do things in a more efficient manner so you can get more things done.  That’s not the problem.  The problem is that we need rest.

Remember we talked about sabbath and part of sabbath is about taking time off from the everyday activities and just resting. But resting is not just physical, it’s intellectual and spiritual.  You see when we overload, the solution is not a what, it’s a who: Jesus. Jesus didn’t say, when you’re overloaded go to church or come to youth group. He says – come to Me. If you want rest and renewal, the peace you are seeking in a sabbath rest, in the person of Jesus Christ.

One of the primary practices of sabbath is Scripture reading. I get it, we should be reading Scripture on a daily basis, even if just 5 minutes a day. Just like we feed our physical bodies daily, we should be feeding our souls daily as well. I would assume that you don’t eat food once a week and that your one meal is prepared fully by someone else. I think that would be a poor assumption.

Part of being a Christian is a responsibility to nurture our relationship with God.  Let me explain it to you like this. Our spiritual lives are like the all you can eat buffet. In the past I’ve loved eating at the all you can eat buffet.  And if you think about it, in the all you can eat buffet, there is a lot of food sitting around already prepared for you. And that is        just like your Bible that is sitting at home gathering dust – there’s a lot of food already prepared for you.

I know, I know, I know…the thing is simply this, the food is ready – but you have to get up, grab a plate and utensils, fill your plate with food all by yourself. When we take time every day      to feed ourselves physically but not spiritually and then we wonder why we make the choices we make and we end up in circumstances that we’ve led ourselves into. Sometimes I simply want to say “REALLY?!?!” You didn’t see that one coming?

So – the art of reading Scripture, especially on the sabbath is something we can all do. And it’s something that is crucial to our spiritual formation and development.

2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

That last sentence is fairly important because it includes all of us – not just pastors or the Sunday School teachers, board members, deacons, or elders, it’s for every single Christian.  Scripture is important and it needs to be part of our daily lives.

One of the wonderful unique characteristics of Scripture is that it can be new – and yet the same. Have you ever read a familiar passage and all of a sudden, something jumps out at you? You’ve read this Scripture before but it seems to be a new understanding, the Word speaks to you in a fresh powerful, life-changing way.  That’s the beauty of having the Author – God’s Holy Spirit – living in our souls. He can share with us in a moment what He intended us to know about Him (God) what He has revealed to all of humanity, because He lives in us and through us.

That’s why when we go to the Bible to look for life’s answers to the tough questions; Who is God? Who am I? What is God’s plan for my life? We can know we will indeed find the answers. As we read and allow the Holy Spirit to disciple us through the Word, we come to new understandings of Who God is. We recognize that we are in tremendous need of God’s grace. Not just for salvation, but to live the holy life Jesus calls us to live. And that we are in need of His sanctifying grace, which results in our behaviors to more accurately reflect God the Father.

Reading Scripture is primarily about discovering Who God is and listening to God telling us who He wants us to become. Simply put it’s this – that we would lay our lives down and submit to Him completely.

I believe that we often go through life wishing we could hear God speak to us directly. I wonder if we realize that we actually do hear Him speak to our hearts and lives when we open the Bible and read it. Or that we hear Him speaking to us when we hear a sermon preached or when we are joining in a discussion of a Bible study. We need to more fully realize we are hearing God right then and there through His Word, and that He is speaking the language of our souls.

Sabbath - April 4th

You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/604160676846710/

Most of us have busy lives and right now the busy has changed and shifted in certain ways. Now the busy is because we are homeschooling children and working from home. We aren’t going out very much if having any outings at all.

No matter your situation, this stay home to slow the curve plan is not slowing our busy lives. I think I am on more meetings on zoom on a weekly basis than I attended in a whole month in person when we were up and running – simply because you can schedule a meeting and attend from the comfort of your own home.

I say that to say this, we live hectic lives moving from one thing to another. And it happens that when we do this we rarely take time to rest. We rarely take the time necessary to connect with God in truly intimate ways. We were meant to rest we were meant for sabbath.

Now sabbath doesn’t mean we just take a day off from our normal work, it means we actually rest. I say this because when we take a normal day off, there are chores to do tasks we want to accomplish. When we take sabbath, or rather, when we observe the sabbath, we don’t do those things either. So let’s think a bit about our sabbath keeping practices.

What does the word sabbath mean to you? What does it mean to practice sabbath? Think about that as we go through our devotion this morning.

How would you feel, if I gave you a time out. I know that often we look at a time out as a form of punishment, but in this case I believe we can see it as a time to stop the chaos or put a halt to the chaos in your life. This could be a time where we break free from the daily routine. Sabbath isn’t something that is forced on you, it’s actually a gift from God.

In reality God is not asking us to do this if we feel like it, His Word tells us that sabbath is designed for us that we would be able to function the way God intended for us to live. Our tendency is to think I’m ok, I’m working from home, I really don’t need a sabbath. WRONG!!!

When we use that thought process to wriggle out of sabbath, we’ve bought into a lie that says we aren’t doing enough. There’s always more to be done. Now, as a pastor I had to come to the realization that I’m never going to get “caught up” with my work.  There’s always going to be work to do. And it was very difficult for me to realize this. You see I like to make a list for the day, and cross all those things off my list.  If I miss one or heaven forbid more, then I didn’t accomplish anything that day.  However, ministry is full of interruptions, in fact Jesus did most of His ministry while being interrupted on His journey to the cross.

And please don’t confuse this with procrastinating. We are not putting off until tomorrow what could or should be done today. What we need to change, is our innate thought we are so tied to our schedule that we cannot make room to leave something tomorrow. I firmly believe that WORKING FROM HOME MAKES THIS WORSE!

Here’s what I’m thinking, we are not to busy, important, or needed, that we are not able to take a rest. What it tells me – is that we’re too scared; too scared to relinquish control of time. We want to so manage our time down to the last waking moment of the day because we think if we aren’t busy things are going to fall apart. And we need to remember that Sabbath is a gift not a burden. Remember during Jesus’ time it was put onto the people as a burden.

Matthew 12:1-14 (NIV) At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

The reality is that we all need rest from the demands of the world and the good news is that Jesus offers us this rest. Sabbath is not going to elbow its way into our lives, we have to make room for it.

Silence & Solitude - April 3

You can find the video here:  https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/2587648524816271/

There is a lot of sound going on around us on a daily basis. Noise or music or tv it seems as if we are bombarded by sound throughout the day. I believe, even more so today, that we need to be conscious and practice silence and solitude.

This is a practice that has been handed down through generations. Christians have found silence and solitude as Means of Grace that were extremely important. God has over the history of the Church worked through these Means of Grace shaping and forming the disciple’s life.

Now – if you have ever experienced     a relationship of great depth, then you know that it requires that you spend considerable amounts of time together. That time isn’t necessarily productive time working or talking. In fact you don’t have to do anything, it’s just an opportunity to get to know one another.

In many ways that’s what silence and solitude does for us. They allow us to simply rest in the presence of God. We can sit with God with no agenda, or action, nothing but simply sitting in the presence of God.

Like I said earlier, silence and solitude are not part of our normal society or culture. We have devices near us at almost every moment of our waking life that will create sounds or noise. We even have machines to make noise to sleep with if you like.

I often wonder why – me included - we don’t like silence. Are we afraid of what we might find if we have to stop for a moment and not be distracted by sound or noise? What will happen, might God then speak to me? What might He say?

I believe that in those times of silence and solitude we find out who we truly have become. It’s in those moments we are the most honest with ourselves and we do find some things that,

well, we simply may not like. It may be we find some attitudes, tendencies, or habits that may go against who God has created us to be.

My good friend Rev. Janine Metcalf wrote this about silence and solitude – you can find it in the book The Upward Call. She calls her chapter about silence and solitude Meeting God Through Blessed Subtraction.  Here’s what she wrote.

“There are times when, under the guidance of the Spirit, we should withdraw from convivial fellowship to be alone with God and silent before Him. Sometimes we withdraw (without ado) from the table where our daily bread is served, focusing on prayer and God. At other times, we may go on a fast from the entertainments and pleasures that so many seek. We may, under the leadership of the Spirit, subtract the popular materialism that makes acquiring things look like the blessing of God.

All these things melded together produce what is often called Christian simplicity.  In our journey toward wholeness or holiness we can look at the roadmaps left by 20 centuries of saintly living.  Those pilgrims practiced blessed subtraction, and they hand that heritage on to us.”

There are times that we indeed need to take things away – and just sit in silence and solitude.

I believe that everyone who has practiced these Means of Grace took their lead from our example Jesus Christ Himself.

Mark 1:9-12 (NIV) At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

There are other occasions that Jesus went off to be alone.  Early on in His ministry Jesus heals a leper, He tells the leper not to say anything to anyone.  And then Jesus instructs the leper to go and present yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices that Moses commands for your cleansing. And Jesus does this as a testimony to the priests. Luke writes this

Luke 5:15-16 (NIV) Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed

You know if Jesus did this often, and He was our perfect example of discipleship – both by being discipled and by discipling – then we need to be doing this often, it needs to be with regularity.

The great writer Henri Nouwen notes that “without solitude it is virtually impossible to lead a spiritual life.”

Why…because solitude frees us, it frees us from our bondage to people and our inner compulsions.  Silence and solitude frees us for love for God and compassion for others. When we allow God to empty us of our own selfish tendencies, we are much more able to seek the best for others, offering true compassion and empathy to those around us. 

You want to know what it means to love your neighbor as you love yourself.  It’s about looking upon others with compassion.

Prayer & Meditation - April 2

You can find the video here:  https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/153322955980429/

Good morning – Just so everyone is reminded, but April is Autism Awareness Month, and I want to give a special shout out to my grandson Collin – today is World Autism Awareness day – Your my boy CJ, papa loves you!

The last couple of days, we’ve talked about sacred space and we’ve talked about sacred time. But what do you do in that space and time?

Today I want to talk briefly about prayer and meditation. Now I know that most if not all Christians know they need to be praying and meditating on God and His Word. The Bible tells us we need to be praying continually and meditating on God and His Word both day and night, that’s a pretty steep order.

So this thought about spiritual disciplines can be a bit intimidating sometimes.  I really like how John Wesley talked about them, he called them Means of Grace.

You see it is through these Means of Grace, that God can actually do the work He needs to get done in our lives and through our lives. This is God’s plan – to work in us and through us to get His message, plan, will, all of the above – accomplished here on earth.

As we begin to process some of this, we begin to understand that we truly are the hands and feet of God. We are His solution to the problems here on earth – we are His hope on earth. But before God can work through us, He must first work in us to bring us to a place where His love can flow freely through us to those around us. That’s where the Means of Grace all come in. And today we’re talking prayer and meditation.

Prayer is one of those things we believe we should just completely understand it right away. I mean, you’re a Christian right? So you should understand all there is to understand about prayer right? Well, I wish it were that easy. Even the Disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Luke 11:1 (NIV) One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

If the ones who were closest to Jesus needed to learn how to pray, why wouldn’t we need to learn how to pray? We need to approach prayer with the same humility of the Disciples.  And we need to approach the Means of Grace in that same humility.

So, what are the obstacles in your life that keep you from spending time with God in prayer? Prayer is simply communication with God. And communication with God is about both talking and listening, just like in any other line of communication we have.  Sometimes we are vocal, other times we are silent, sometimes it’s both and then there are times where we don’t know how to pray – and the Holy Spirit living in us and through us prays on our behalf and we simply sit together with God and don’t need to say anything - we just know that He knows.

There are many examples in the Bible of people who had regular conversation with God.  Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Daniel, and many others spent time in prayer communicating with God

So what should we say to God? Well I like to first look through the book of Psalms. It’s literally a book of prayer and worship. There’s praise in Psalm 145, confession in Psalm 32, some good laments in chapters 22 & 69, and there is even time for thankfulness and commitment to God in Psalm 25.  Psalms is a great place to start learning about prayer and reading others’ prayers to God, it will help you get your bearings.

There’s also time and place for supplication.  And supplication is just a big word for requests.

1 John 5:13-15 (NIV) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

And let’s be clear about this.  It isn’t like you jump up in Santa’s lap here and ask God for some things.  You notice in this part of the Scripture it talks about asking for things according to the will of God.  Folks, because of the fall of humanity and what we call original sin, the will of every human is distorted – it’s broken.  When you come into right relationship with God, He begins to restore and basically line our will with His.  In other words, if our will is not in the right place when we ask for something – I’m pretty sure the answer will be no. 

I believe that God always answers prayers. And there are some times those answers may not get to us in the time we’d like. Read Daniel chapter 10 and t will be much more clear to you – this is an entire lesson in itself so we won’t go into detail. My point is this, god hears our prayers and He answers our prayers. Sometimes those answers may not be what we want to hear. Sometimes they are no,  wait, or not yet but He still hears our prayers. And sometimes like in Daniel 10 we can see the answers to those prayers were stopped or stalled by the adversary.

So let’s look a moment at meditation.  Because if prayer is communication with God, then meditation is communion with God. Basically it means just hanging out with God. The idea behind meditation is that you push aside all of the distractions, craziness and stress of the world and you rest in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

And let me say something here – I believe strongly and have a very strong opinion about.  Some people have this outlandish idea that meditation is only a tool of some eastern mystic religions. NO IT’S NOT!!! Eastern religions have taken it and distorted it and made it into something it’s not supposed to be.  Meditation is simply taking a moment in time, to focus on the attributes of God.

Joshua 1:7-9 (NIV) “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Lectio Divina is an ancient practice of meditating on Scripture. By focusing on a small passage or even part of a verse at a time you ask the Holy Spirit to begin speaking to you through the very words you are repeating.  I have used this for quite some time and I believe that Jesus still disciples us today speaking through the Word of God to our very souls.

In meditation we can also focus on the character of God.  We remember what God has done look at Deuteronomy 15:15, 1 Chronicles 16:12, 2 Timothy 2:8.  And remember because meditation is a personal connection It’s going to look different for each of us. It’s important to remember that this meditation doesn’t empty your mind. Christian meditation fills it with the Spirit of the Living God, and it leads to communion or oneness with God.

Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV) Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

As Christians our goal is to become more Christ-like, to grow in relationship with God. We cannot grow deeper in Him if we are not talking, listening, and spending time with Him. This is what God wants the most, He wants to hear from us, He wants to hear our voice, He wants to spend time alone with each of us.

Sacred Time - April 1

You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/783921168767966/

Yesterday I talked about creating sacred space. Today I want to talk about creating sacred time. Aren’t those the same? Well yes and…no.

In creating a sacred space, we sometimes must take ordinary space and make ourselves present to God.  Remember that He is always present to us, but there are times where we need to carve out some space, no matter where we are and be present with Him. In a park, at the mall, at school, on a trip, the place can be literally anywhere we make ourselves present to God to pay attention to Him.

It is true that God is always present with us, but there are times that we are not always present to Him.    And Jesus asks us no less than He asked of the Disciples, that we give to Him our lives completely. When we think about it, do we truly have anything else of value? And it only that since He loves us so much, He wants us – us – you, me, others – in fact, He wants anyone who will listen to Him and follow Him. But that requires us to carve out some time to spend with Him.        Not just now and then, regular and intentional time with Him.

Think about this for a moment, a couple years ago, I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. This was probably one of the sost discouraging things I had ever heard or experienced in my life. Mainly because it’s preventable. And in my mind I just didn’t care enough about myself to take care of myself.  I let myself get to the point of having an A1C level of 10.3. They wanted to put me on insulin, but I wouldn’t let them, I refused.

It wouldn’t be until about a year later that Bobbi came home and we together started a change of life with our relationship to food. We went from living to eat, to eating to live – I know, it’s a play on words – but a total adjustment in how we did things nutritionally.

Within less than a year, we lost significant amounts of weight and have been keeping it off. We have gotten off of almost every medication. Both of us down from literally handfuls of medications in the morning and night to one medication and now some vitamin supplements.

Now we both knew that we were morbidly obese and very unhealthy.  So our changes were so that we could be healthier, not skinny, healthier. It’s a focus, a why for how we are living our lives. Is being a disciple of Christ any different?

It wasn’t until we were faced with serious health issues that we actually made the changes needed to extend our lives.        We found motivation in our grandkids. We wanted to be able to be part of any and all of our grandkids lives, present and future. This is important, because it took and takes discipline to stay healthy. And so does living this spiritual journey of being a disciple of Christ.

We need to not only carve out space, we also need to find a rhythm to life that allows us regular consistent time to sit and be still and know God. Not just know about God, truly know Him and His love for us.

Romans 11:13-18 (NIV) I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. Did you hear that last sentence, “You do not support the root, but the root supports you.”

We need to carve out time and be present with God, in whatever space we are in so we can nurture our relationship with Him.

If I have witnessed anything during this time of isolation,      I have been witness to the desire to be self sufficient in all of this mess we are in.

When our spirituality is characterized by self-sufficiency, rather than being dependent upon God, we find ourselves further and further from Him. And the further we move away from the less our soul is consumed with a passionate desire for Him. Far too often we find ourselves scrambling to find God in the tough times, when we could have been with Him cultivating a daily, ongoing, deepening relationship with the Creator.

When it comes down to it, we want to be camels, instead of what we are built to be, and that is sheep. The sheep need the shepherd daily.  A camel can wander and not need water or food for lengths of time, because they store it up in their hump for use later. but we weren’t built for lengthy times in the desert, we were built for green pastures and still waters. We were built for that regular, satisfying access to the presence of God in our souls.

Don’t give up just because this sounds hard. It’s not – it just takes time, sacred time. It doesn’t happen overnight. I know people in their 90’s who are hungry for God and for His Word.  They are even more hungry for His presence in their lives than they were at the beginning of their journey.  And they’ve been doing this so much longer than I have. They didn’t get there overnight – it takes practice and it takes a little discipline. It all starts with us asking Him to invade our lives – Holy Spirit come.

Sacred Space - March 31st

You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/213430269926413/

Have you ever thought about creating sacred space? I get it, right now it can seem like everyone is in someone’s space, give me my 6’ bubble – social distance!

I found myself last week outside our office building, I needed something to prep for live streaming, and some workers needed to get up on the roof to do some maintenance.  And the foreman kept coming closer and closer no matter how far I backed up.  That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about creating for yourself a quiet space both in proximity and time in which you can be with God?

I love the time we have together in the mornings, this time we share.  I think that it’s great! But there’s nothing like my time with just me and God. I have to say that I kind of miss my routine of spending time with just me and God.

I usually go into the office around 8 am, and for the most part there isn’t anyone around, and most people don’t call at 8:05. But even if they did, they probably wouldn’t reach me.  I quietly go into the sanctuary, leave my phone in my office, shut the doors and take my tablet of music with me.  I spend time with God in worship and in prayer. Just Him and me.  I’m kind of missing that right now because, well, it’s not quite the same. Jesus talks about this, to some degree and Matthew records it in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:5-6 (NIV) “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This is something that our society does not do well.  I’ve noticed that often we fight to fill our days and nights with something that isn’t solitude, and I’m just as guilty as the next person with this.

But creating sacred space isn’t just about being quiet and still. It’s also about actively listening to God. Why is it that we seem to forget that prayer is not just talking to God, prayer is also about listening to what God says to our hearts. I get it, sometimes God speaks through others, sometimes it’s when we are reading His word and other times it’s when we simply sit in quiet and meditate on Him.

If you haven’t realized it yet, this journey we are all on – this life we live, is a life of change. I’m not just talking about the society and life around us.  I’m talking about the spiritual journey we are on. The spiritual journey should be a life that allows God to change us.

Now, there are moments that are full speed ahead – take that hill moments – moments where we are definitely not sitting still. But for the normal day, there needs to be a place to pause.  You need sacred space where you create an intentional place to pause, to just stop and be with God.

Take time today, to just be with God and ask yourself – and ask God – if you have truly searched after His heart.  Ask God if you have truly and honestly searched for His will to become your will.  Take time to ask God if He has the space that He wants and needs in your life, and wait for the answer expectantly.

The End of the Rope - March 30th

You can find the video here:  https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/233444014709668/

I want you to think about your life. Think about it for just a moment, take your time and think about the moments of life that have shaped you the most. How many of those times, the decisions that shaped you the most, came when you were at the end of your Rope?

What happened, did you cry out to God? That’s what happens often times when we find ourselves without any other possibility.  This is what normally happens, when we come to the point of admitting our life is unmanageable. When we have exhausted all of our other possibilities we cry out.  This is not a bad place to be, it’s uncomfortable yes – but bad no.

When we’re on the top of the world, when the system seems to work for us, when we have everything under control, what is there for God to do? Have you truly ever thought of crying out to God when everything is going great?

Often times, I’ve been guilty of saying, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”  Nothing is further from the truth.  If that were true, why would anyone need God? That’s it – now you’re getting where I’m going with this. You see, when everything falls apart, we remember the One who can put it all together because there are things that simply go beyond our abilities. And we cry out to Him.

That cry, truly is humanity admitting that we can’t do this on our own.  And, it’s precisely the first step in redemption. It’s the beginning of becoming liberated from the power of canceled sin.  Remember Jesus beat sin and death and hell and the grave – we today though can live bound to the power of canceled sin.

Go back to the beginning, yes back to the beginning again. I’ll give you the shortened version this time.  Adam and Eve eat fruit – they disobey God.  They are now East of Eden, banished from the perfect Garden.  And, in one generation we move from willful disobedience to murder.

In Genesis, A few chapters down the road, the Bible tells us about Lamech.  And the writer mentions that if Cain is avenged 7 times, then Lamech 77 times – that’s 11 times worse than before.  A few more chapters and it  gets so bad God regrets reating humanity.  So what does God do, hits the reset button – flood – the animals, Noah and family are saved.  God then makes a covenant with Noah and humanity to never wipe out the earth with water again.

But then just a few chapters later, all of the people get together to build a tower that they are convinced will make them live where the gods live.  They are actually convinced they will become gods.

And it started with fruit, then murder and other debauchery, God resets and then the entire civilization is at odds with God. It’s the opposite of the Shalom. It’s the opposite of God’s plan. The sin that started in the Garden, now affects everything – all of humanity. It seems to grow and grow worse and worse.

Many generations pass, and the Hebrew Children find themselves enslaved in Egypt. It’s here that God hears their cries.  They admit that this cannot Go on. So what does God do?       He sends in a shepherd…well – OK – it’s Moses and Aaron.  But let’s be real God’s answer does not immediately free His people. And it wasn’t immediately better for anyone. In fact everything gets much much worse before it even starts to get better.

Before Moses brought God’s demand to free the Israelites, they made a quota of bricks each day, with supplies from the kingdom.  After Moses the quota goes up, oh, and get your own straw. In other words, supply yourself with materials to build this un-kingdom.

I say all of this to point out, that when we are ready to give up and turn everything over to God, Is when He shows up. When we are ready to admit that we can’t handle this part of the journey, that’s when God shows up, and we don’t always get the response we think we should or could or need.

Proverbs 3:1-6 (NIV) My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths.

That’s it – it’s that simple, trust in God.

Now – I want to explain something.  Just because we trust God does not mean we throw common sense out the window. 

There’s a meme on Facebook with Jesus knocking on a door, it’s the door with no door handle or knob.  And underneath it the caption says, “Debbie, it’s me the Lord. Listen, you need to stop telling Facebook that your health is in my hands.  You’re going to have to wash your hands and self isolate like everyone else ok?” 

I use this because God gave us a sound mind.  And sound reasoning says right now, WASH YOUR HANDS, respect social distances, and other healthy regulations and suggestions until this outbreak is over. 

And remember – God loves us and cares for us.  Maybe it’s time for you to submit this time to Him and for Him.

Poured Out - March 27th

You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/210816776903389/

Poured Out

March 27, 2020

So I started out on this journey with you, so we could all stay connected.  And also to fulfill God’s call on my life - similar to Peter – Feeding sheep.  And yet, I believe that I’m getting fed, just as much as the reports I get from you about being fed.  So this morning – or whenever you watch (or read this devotional), leave me a comment.  Let me know what’s happening in your life.  Mention what God is doing in this time.

Now, I know that often we can look at times of suffering, and for the majority of us – right now is not suffering.  It really is an inconvenience we are working from home, and we have to home school our kids.  It’s an inconvenience that we can’t have the brand of toilet paper we normally buy.  Folks, I got news for you, this isn’t suffering – not for the majority of us. But it brings up a good subject. Because I believe that God can squeeze some good out of what we are all experiencing – even if it truly becomes suffering.

I had preached on the idea of suffering and that in this life it’s not if we suffer but when we suffer.  Simply stated, Jesus told us that it would happen at some point in time.  This friend repeated something she had learned from someone who said, “I never want to waste suffering.” Whoa…I never want to waste suffering. That is a huge statement.  But it made me remember a Scripture, I read part of it the other day.

Romans 5:1-11 (NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

That word reconciliation truly means a wrong relationship that has been put back to right.  We now have right relationship with God I always like to tell people it’s good to take an internal inventory.  You know when we survey our lives, and we should be doing that not just now, but we should be looking over our lives on a regular basis.

There are times when are not satisfied where we are physically, so we probably go to the doctor or change our eating/exercise habits.  When we are not satisfied where we are emotionally, we see a counselor who can help us and sometimes a medical doctor.  When we are not satisfied with where we are intellectually we take a class, we read a book, we educate ourselves.

So why is it so easy to take care of everything else – except our spirituality?  We were created as spiritual beings.  When God created us in His image we became spiritual being. When one part of us is out of order the other parts suffer.

Go back to the beginning where God created humanity in His own image. Not two arms, legs, a head…, but in that God is  spiritual, intellectual, and In Jesus we do see a physical body.

In fact – Jesus was resurrected in that body. And when Thomas doubted, Jesus invited Thomas to feel the wounds in His hands and stick his hand in His side where He had been pierced.    Jesus had a physical body – that died, was resurrected and then ascended.

So, we are physical, intellectual, and spiritual. And we need to take care of our spirituality. Are you satisfied with where your relationship with God is at? I hope I am never satisfied or content in where I am in relationship with God, I WANT MORE. And that is why I will not ever waste a moment – even if I am suffering – I don’t want to waste suffering.

When this person explained her comment, it was that she would pray and ask God, “What can you teach me?” Another way to say this, “What can I learn even through suffering?” If you look at this Scripture we read, you can see that ultimately suffering is going to produce right relationship with God, peace with God.

And this idea of peace, is so not calm or the absence of problems. It is an ancient concept of being made complete. And that only happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to change us from the inside out.  This is what forms and shapes us into the people of God, that He needs us to be. And the reason we can have this peace, the reason we can be made complete, the reason we can be made whole, is simply this; the death and resurrection of Christ.

Think about this for a moment, this ancient idea and thought of being complete.  And this completeness being the heart or center of peace, is all encompassing.  You see this word used for peace, which means complete was used in other contexts as well.  When debts paid in full, they are complete.  When vows are fulfilled, they are complete. When conflict resolves it is complete.

And when Jesus breathed His last breath, said it is paid in full, it is finished, He made our salvation our peace with God complete.

When Jesus walked the face of this earth, He repeatedly spoke this peace into the lives of people everywhere.  When He healed He said go in peace ( Mark 5:34 & Luke 8:48). When He forgave people’s sin, He said go in peace (Luke 7:50). His parting gift to His Disciples, was giving them His peace (John 14:27, 20:19, 21, 26)

Jesus wants us to live complete, and He completes us. OK – so I stole that line from a movie, but it’s real and I bet it was in the Bible first!  Jesus truly completes us.  And through all of the tough stuff, through all of the hardship, Jesus will complete you if you let Him.

And this peace – is not a feeling, though it can manifest in that way, it is a state of being.  It is where we live when we move into that right relationship with God.  It comes to us through the forgiveness we receive from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are no longer enemies of God, rather we are at peace with the One who created us. Restored relationship with God means to have peace with God. Restored relationship with God also begins to restore our relationship with others, to live at peace with others. And today’s bottom line: we live at peace when we pour out our lives like Jesus did for us, that’s what humanity was designed to do.

Our Safety - March 26th

You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/308898436760014/

Our Safety

March 26, 2020

So we have been looking at the Lord’s Prayer, specifically the part that says, “Give us today our daily bread” And we have been talking about all the different things this encompasses. One of those things is our safety. Who do we trust with our safety? What sources will we turn to when our journey gets tough? Is your journey tough, what about this journey has you tied up in knots?

I’m here to tell you today, that God can be trusted to protect us. He has provided the ultimate protection, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Now I know that it’s hard for some of us to understand or come to a place where we are at peace with this idea. Because it is the difference between what we need and what we want.  It’s the difference between what all of humanity wants vs. what all of humanity needs, and that is simply salvation from Sin.

Often, what humanity wants is so different than that. When we are following Christ, when we are being discipled by Jesus, we have what we need all wrapped up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

No matter what happens, He is our rescue.  There is absolutely      NO hardship, pain, struggle, trial, tribulation that can undo the provision Christ gives to us through His resurrection.  Because that is the ultimate safety net.

We can endure whatever comes our way, whatever test or trial that comes our way, through the resurrection of Christ.  Simply because we trust in the One who bestows upon us the ultimate blessing. He protects us and I choose to believe He keeps me safe.

When we accept God to be the One we can trust, to be our source of safety, we can walk today, tomorrow, and any other tomorrows we have without needing to know what any of them holds.

If God has called us to take a step of faith, then He provides the way for us to step out. He provides our safety. We may not know how God is going to handle the details of the journey even at the very moment something happens, and we don’t need to because we trust God.

Faith – real faith - goes to bed tonight and sleeps deep, knowing that God is going to bring manna again in the morning. to develop that kind of faith, you have to stop worshipping other gods, (little g).

In Exodus 24 Moses treks up the mountain, he’s gone for quite a while. The Israelites are concerned that he has been gone a long time. Then, we pick up the story in chapter 32. Exodus 32:1-6 (NIV) When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”  So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

This whole thing sounds absolutely crazy.  Think about this for just a minute.  God just delivers them from slavery in Egypt.  Then God provides them with manna and quail to eat in the desert where there is nothing to eat.  And then they get worried while all of this is still going on that Moses isn’t going to come back, that something happened to him?! Are you kidding me?! The reality of the situation is that when things get tough, we want safety – tangible safety.  We want to have something we can physically hold.

It’s truly very easy to be tempted to worship the blessings instead of the One who gives the blessing to us.  It’s very easy for us to let the blessing itself become our source for safety. We receive the blessing (manna and quail or whatever God provides us today), we can see it, smell it, touch it, it fills our stomachs and we are full.  So then we begin to place our trust in the blessing itself, instead of the One who blesses us.

So let’s say that our finances are a mess for whatever reason.  We pray to God for the answer, and He sends it, just like the manna.  It is tempting to hoard it, protect our nest egg, save it, get really tight with it, and then we end up valuing it above everything else. It’s not just money that replaces God, it can be any resource we have at our disposal.

Ever since I can remember, Bobbi and I have looked at our home as a resource for God.  We have just barely gotten here to Richland, and now with COVID-19, we are being told to self isolate to slow the spread of the virus.  It is so totally unnatural for us to NOT have people over to our home.  But that is because we have always released our home to God for Him to have as a resource.  In years past, we have had unofficial foster kids, and even official foster kids in our home.  It’s just something that we feel called, if there’s room – fill them up!

Now, we could take the premise, that now we don’t have kids at home so we don’t need to open our home to anyone and just keep everything neat and tidy for us.  When the kids all moved out I realized that there is only a mess in the sink if I leave a mess in the sink.  And that is a tempting premise for me personally.  But does that show, physically show the love of God – who adopts anyone and everyone wanting to be part of His family?  Absolutely not…

Ok – back to the idea of trusting God for our safety.  Let’s jump forward in the Bible to our example – Emmanuel, God with us.  What did Jesus trust? I know sounds a lot like that question we had on bumper stickers and bracelets, “What would Jesus do?” Ugh!  I got so sick of that because it got so misused by so many people.  But, we need to ask this one – “What did Jesus trust?”

In Matthew chapter 4, we see Jesus being driven out into the desert to fast and pray by the Holy Spirit.  and at the end of His time of 40 days of fasting and praying, the Tempter comes to Him.  And Jesus is at a weak point physically, when He is put through these temptations.

Now some people want to argue some differing theological points here about the humanity and the deity of Jesus.  Here is where I land – mainly because I believe that sometimes we get so hung up in the minutia of theology that we loose who Jesus is.  Simply put, Jesus is 100% human and 100% God.  There – I get it, the math doesn’t work, but I believe the theology does.

Look at what the writer of the book of  Hebrews has said about this: Hebrews 2:17 (NIV) “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

If sin came into this world and caused separation from God our Creator through the first Adam (human), then sin would have to be dealt with a sacrifice of a perfect Adam (human).  And that is who Jesus is, He is both the, “…only begotten son…” – fully God – and at the same time fully human.

So, back to this first temptation.  It looks like it’s  about physical hunger, but really it’s about Jesus answering this same question we are looking at today, “What keeps me safe?”  The adversary is forcing Jesus to ask Himself, “Can I trust God today for tomorrow?” Now, what was His answer? It was simply, humanity does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

When God calls us to follow, we can safely follow Him, even if it is through the valley of the shadow of death, because of what… oh yeah the resurrection! The reality of our human situation is that we are not safe because we have food, clothing, money, housing, whatever resource we trust.  We are safe because we have trusted in Jesus Christ and His resurrection power.

Remember a few days ago, we talked about Paul. And Paul felt safe why?  If you remember, death did not matter to him and if he was going to continue to breathe and live, then the only thing he was concerned with was to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If he didn’t take another breath, then BONUS!!! He was going to be dancing with his Savior – Jesus - why…because of the Resurrection of Christ!

Our safety rests in one source, that source is our Savior, Jesus Christ.  When we pray the prayer,  “Give us today our daily bread,” we are placing our hope and trust in the reality that even if I do not wake up tomorrow here on this earth, I will wake up tomorrow with my savior Jesus Christ.

East of Eden - March 25th

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East of Eden

March 25, 2020

Now we see that In the beginning God…created.  In 6 days He created what we know to be the known universe. He created the sun, moon, and the stars, and everything in it, after which God created humanity. And when God was done with that we are told God said this is “very good!”

Now we know from the story that this was more than what we might think of as  modern day garden or back yard.  Adam and Eve were meant to be caretakers of this place God had created.

There were many things in this garden to look at and to eat, to discover and to cultivate. Things were different before sin entered into this world, very different.  We know that for some reason the serpent, who is described as the craftiest creature in the Garden of Eden, the serpent could speak to Adam and Eve. Oh, and trees had supernatural powers in their fruit that would have an effect on those who ate it.  At least two separate trees did.  One was the tree of knowledge of both good and evil.  The other tree was the tree of everlasting life.

When God had finished creating everything, He rested and instructed Adam and Eve not only to be caretakers of everything , but He wanted them to discover.  Now I know that we have traditionally interpreted the word subdue in this passage and that sounds like a conquering word.  but another definition, and I believe in this instance a better interpretation, is to discover.  Adam and Eve were to discover how God did all of this.  They were to discover what God designed and how all of this creation fits together.

God also gave them another command.  They could eat of any tree in the garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.  They had millions of things to do – and here’s an extra lesson – but they did the one thing they weren’t supposed to do.  If we filled up our time with the things we need and should be doing – would there be time to do the things we ought not to do?  My point is this – we could save much heartache and pain in this life if we would stick to all the things we need to be doing! Now back to our lesson today.

It’s interesting, that in light of our current world situation the question has come up,       How does evil exist if God didn’t create it? I am working on that answer, I really don’t know yet. I am not sure that It’s a simple easy answer.

For instance some say , that evil is where God isn’t. And that may be true - but it’s not a complete truth about evil – I believe it’s a characteristic of or a description about evil, but not the creation of the existence of evil.

Some may say that God did create evil. God created Lucifer, who was once a beautiful angel who rebelled against God. Since God created Lucifer, and Lucifer through his rebellion is evil, God created evil.

But I can’t find a place in Scripture, where God caused Lucifer to fall, just as God did not cause Adam and Eve to fall. So, I don’t know much about the creation of evil. But I do know that evil, in some shape or form was in the Garden. And the serpent who we equate with evil convinced Adam and Eve to disobey or rebel against God, and we call that willful disobedience or sin.

When Adam and Eve brought sin into this world. they had to leave the Garden of Eden. God was concerned that if they were to eat from that other special tree, The Tree of Everlasting Life, they would be in this sinful state forever.  And that would make it impossible for reconciliation and redemption.

Genesis 3:21-24 (NIV) The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

So, Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden and they are now East of the Garden.  The Bible is specific here to put them East.  Later in Genesis when Cain and Abel, the two brothers of the first family, have a problem and Cain gets jealous and kills Abel. Cain is sent to the land of Nod, East of Eden.

If you continue to read in Genesis, it seems as though the writer of this book has some really bad feelings about what it means to be East of Eden.  In fact throughout the entire Old Testament, humanity seems to get worse and worse the further East from the Garden they go.

The thing of it is, we are all still today, living East of the Garden. We know because to date I don’t believe anyone has found the cherubim with the flaming sword. I always thought that would be the next great discovery of  the great Indiana Jones.  Finding true west and the Garden of Eden. 

But I don’t think that Spielberg ever read any of my letters, so I won’t hold my breath for a royalty check for that idea, LOL.

Like I said, Genesis isn’t the only place in the Bible where we find that good is in the west and evil or sin is in the east. And for those of us here in the United States in this century it’s probably a cultural thing.  Because most of us don’t read our OT in Hebrew. Because if we did we would know the word Kedem is Hebrew for East. And we would draw the conclusion about a parallel with the Temple and sacrifices because the Temple was built according to Kedem.

Now the Temple had to face east. The altar of sacrifice was East, the Holy of Holies was West. Are you seeing the similarities here, everything in the Temple went from the East to the West, symbolizing a return to what is good - symbolizing a return to what is holy - symbolizing a return to our Creator - symbolizing a return to God and Eden.

Most importantly, if we understood the thoughts and ideas behind the Hebrew holy days, we would understand that on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, when the sins of all of Israel are atoned for, the high priest would offer the sacrifice on the altar in the east then walk the length of the Temple to sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies – west. Back and forth he would go all day long.

Now – I may not be able to definitively say who or what created evil, but when it comes to our predicament today, we live east of the Garden. In other words, we are not in a perfect place.      But even when Eden was inhabited somehow evil was there. And even now – after Jesus has died and has resurrected – meaning the gift of salvation is finished or the solution to the reconciliation and redemption is complete – still something is not right, we are still East.

There is a solution. God has a solution and it’s very simple.  His solution is you and me. We are here to combat evil, to turn the tides. Even in this time of great sickness God works through His people for those around His people.

No matter how bad this world gets, we are the agents of change that God has here. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, we are the CHURCH.

Fairy Tale Faith - March 24th

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Fairy Tale Faith

March 24, 2020

So the last few days, we’ve been looking back, so that we can understand today.  And I believe we’ll probably go back there again.  Nope, ha ha, I know we will.

Today I want to talk a bit about one of the questions I raised in another devotion.  Do we really believe there is a God?

We can’t just keep going on what I call fairytale faith.  Growing up in the church I heard the stories of Noah and the Ark, Jonah and the Whale (Big Fish), and one of my favorites, Daniel in the Lion’s Den – my favorite for obvious reasons, pun intended!

Many of us hear these stories, and we accept them on a level of religiosity – if that’s even a word.  We accept them even when we’re not sure what to do with them. I mean do you see miracles like those now?  The problem is that many of us think of these miracles are just like watching Pinocchio, or some other fairytale story that has a great happy ending.

You see we look to these stories, and we say – well that’s a good story.  There’s a great moral we all should follow, but do they truly represent reality?

And when we sit in that mindset we then place God as someone who we accept created the earth, and did all the things for the Israelites we read, but when it comes down to our belief, I’m going to pray hoping it works.  When it comes to providing for my daily needs I’m going to work to make that happen myself. and when we do this it truly changes who we believe God is. We become our own god (little g), our motto becomes I trust in me.

So what does it take to pray – give us today, our daily bread - and then trust that God will provide for us what we need.

And I’ve been thinking since our time together yesterday when I mentioned Paul, and where he was in his journey.  We talked about how he had gotten to the point that it didn’t matter what happened next. And that was because Paul was so committed to the cause of Jesus Christ, that he had that blessed assurance.  He knew beyond all knowing that he indeed was saved from death, hell, and the grave.

Paul wrote this to the church in Philippi.

Philippians 2:11-13 (NIV) Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.

Paul had worked out his salvation and nothing mattered more to him  than knowing Jesus. His faith went far beyond just thinking something or knowing about Jesus, to the point of believing in Jesus. It didn’t matter to Paul - he told the Philippians this.

Philippians 4:10-13 (NIV) I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

To pray this part of the prayer – give us our daily bread - means that we accept once and for all that God is real and that He cares for us.  When we have done this it changes how we handle adversity. Our cries to God move from anxiety to expectancy.

Romans 5:1-5 (NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

We can have peace – true peace, even if the circumstances of life spin out of control, because we have received forgiveness of sin.

God proved it to us all in the simple fact that Jesus died for us, while we were yet sinners.

If you are new to your faith in Christ Jesus, sometimes – even now – it can seem as if God is not there.  Things are scarce – like toilet paper & water bottles – we often cry out early in our journey, “God where are you, do you see us here, we are not going to make it?!”

Then God shows up, and over time He continues to provide for us in ways we never dreamt.  And we grow to realize that shortage doesn’t mean God isn’t blessing.  We begin to trust God’s capacity to sustain us regardless of the specifics of our situation.  It’s at that point we take hold of hope and we realize that God is able to bring us what we need for that day which can be more than merely nourishment.

When we understand that God isn’t just a fairytale and He can provide what we need to sustain us through difficult times including those we don’t see how we can get through, then this peace can take over our entire attitude in every circumstance.

Hope For Tomorrow - March 23rd

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Hope for Tomorrow

March 23, 2020

So what about tomorrow? I got through today with God’s help, so what’s next – what will I face tomorrow?

That’s a fairly expected question.  It’s seems that our society has made that something normal to ask.  And, especially in our current situation with the sickness going around, we are wondering what about tomorrow.  I posted a meme the other day, that I copied from a friend, which said this…

“Dear Everybody

       Since I’ve not pastored people thru a pandemic before, I don’t know all the answers.  But I’m paying attention to science and praying for wisdom.  Together, we’ll take courage, be patient, consider the least of these and press onward while loving our neighbors.  Love – Your Pastor.  PS – WASH YOUR HANDS!!!”

Now I believe that the PS line is actually from James 4:8 (NIV) Come near to God and He will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

That was a joke – all ya’all – you should have laughed there!!!

Seriously, Jesus spoke to this and Matthew and Luke both write it down.  Jesus is preaching His Sermon on the Mount Beginning chapter 5 in Matthew and after the “Beatitudes,” He speaks on many other subjects.  It’s a great sermon – read it you have time to do so!

Towards the end of Chap. 6,  Matthew records this section of Scripture, and I have a title in my Bible: “DO NOT WORRY.”

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV) “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

It’s easy in times like these, for us to experience worry about the problems we have.  And it’s fairly easy for us to adopt problems we don’t yet have, or even adopt someone else’s problems as if they are our own. It’s so easy to play what I call the what if game.

Now, I am not telling you that you shouldn’t be wise and be prepared for some emergency to happen – that is simply good sense.  If you live in earthquake territory, prepare for an earthquake.  If you live in tornado country, prepare for a twister to come through.

Currently, my suspicion regarding the over purchasing of toilet paper and water is that people were not prepared, and Then were scared – seriously frightened – and operated out of shear terror, buying up all the TP and H2O.

There are some wise things that all of us can do to be prepared in case of emergency.  I am going to assume that after this pandemic subsides, there will be extra water in every garage and at least one extra case of  toilet paper from Costco and an extra gallon of bleach. Do not throw your intelligence out the window. We should all  responsibly prepare for emergency. 

When the Bible talks about worry or anxiousness it addresses something that goes beyond what used to be called common sense – like being prepared for an emergency.

I often joke about one of my grandmothers.  She used to worry about a lot of things.  In fact I’m certain that none of the rest of the family needed to worry because she worried enough for all of the family.

There are 365 scriptures in the Bible, that deal with worry and anxiousness.  Which means God knew what we would need, and He put it in there so that when we need it, we could have one Scripture each day to remind us to rely upon Him, and STOP WORRYING. That’s pretty important.

Remember on Friday and Saturday last week, in our devotion I talked about TODAY.  And how to understand what God’s Word says to us TODAY about TODAY.  If we are going to understand what the Word of God says to us TODAY, we need to understand  what He was saying back then (because I’m certain there aren’t any of us who lived through the Journey in the Wilderness).

So – let’s go back – all the way back to Exodus, The Exodus. Here’s the story in my paraphrase.  Remember if you were a first century Israelite, Your identity was wrapped up in a couple of ideas. First – Child of Abraham – who had covenant with God – the  promise that God made to Abraham about how all the nations of the world would be saved through the nation that Abraham would be the father.

Now, if we grew up in church, we sang it. We sang it and did the motions. We sang it at the top of our lungs. We sang it in Jr. Church, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School, and any time us kids were getting antsy – WE SANG IT! 

“Father Abraham, had many sons.  Many sons had father Abraham…” (It gets stuck in your head now doesn’t it, just consider that my gift to you for TODAY – LOL).

The second thing, is that God delivered the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt.  It was all wrapped up in the remembrance of The Passover. As the last plague to hit Egypt and Pharaoh,        God sends the Angel of Death. They were to sacrifice a lamb, spread it’s blood on the doorposts and this would be a sign for the Angel of Death to pass-over the house, saving the firstborn of that home from certain death.  And then this caused the Exodus…mass leaving from Egypt.

Well – from Egypt they go to the desert.  And wouldn’t you know it, there were a few who just didn’t like change. Funny how we are the same way in church today, ironically funny. You don’t believe me, change something in the church, not something that’s a written rule in church but change something that’s unwritten.  Guaranteed there is a “Back to Egypt Committee” who you didn’t even know existed in church.  And just like Moses and Aaron dealt with in the desert, they will tell you it was better back then.  My experience has been that the changes today are not near as terrible as people play them out to be, and the days of yesteryear were never as good as those same people thought. 

Think about this for a minute.  The “Back to Egypt Committee” that Moses and Aaron had to deal with thought that being enslaved was better than being with God all because they got table scraps is ridiculous.  Because slavery is not living, it is simply existing.  The same way we are when we are without God in our lives – we simply exist.  But when Jesus comes into our life, and we give Him permission to craft and shape us into the person that He created us to be – that’s when we truly begin to live (we are born again, the old is new and new life begins).

Let’s get back to the story, it’s in Exodus chapter 16.  You have time to read this – you should read the story for yourself in its entirety – my paraphrase is this. The people realize they’re in the desert, they aren’t sure where the next meal is coming from, they get worried about it.  In their grumbling, they sin against God, Moses, and Aaron.  So God gives them Manna and Quail. But there’s a catch, well not really a catch – God is teaching them.        If you look at the story of the Israelites, you will see that God is always teaching them. Kind of like how we see Jesus in the New Testament, Isn’t He always teaching or  answering questions about His teaching?  Certainly.

Here ‘s the lesson for today. The Israelites just experienced the 10 plagues.  They were rescued by God from slavery, and for some reason they didn’t realize that the God who delivered them from Egypt wouldn’t know that they needed food and water.  So they grumble – I don’t me complain, or comment, or even suggest – I mean they grumble to the point of sinning.

God hears their grumbling, (that’s the Back to Egypt Committee) And so God’s solution is to teach them to rely fully on Him and every morning they have Manna to collect.  But they are to only pick up what their household needs for that day – except Friday.  On Fridays, they get to pick up a double portion so they can rest on Saturday – Sabbath.

Now wouldn’t you know that some of them didn’t obey. And they picked up and saved more than what they were told to pick up.  And the Bible tells us that the manna which was left over rotted.  It was filled with maggots.

Later on that week, each evening God sent quail to die around them so they would have meat. As if making the Manna appear each morning wasn’t enough for the Israelites.

Let me ask you this, has God provided for you today? Did He provide for you yesterday? Do you think He’s got tomorrow taken care of? Right – Jesus Himself told us do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will have its own issues/problems soon enough.

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t do what I’m doing right now, except that I have Jesus working in me and through me. This – what you see each day here during the devotion time, does not happen on my own strength. I have to rely upon Christ Jesus to get me through the next hour, let alone the next day.

That’s the real lesson here. We need our foundation to be Jesus in everything we do. Because when He is our hope and trust, everything else takes its place in the priority list

and I realize that gaining all the stockpiles of supplies is not going to get me to heaven - my relationship with Jesus is what will do that.

Jesus said that there are two things that are of the utmost importance, love God with everything you are, and love others as you love yourself. That’s another devotion for another day, and we’ll get to it - I promise.

You see our foundation has to be that we believe Jesus to be who He says He is – not was – is. And we place our tomorrows in His hands.

Enough - March 21st

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Enough

March 21, 2020

Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV) “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Probably the most famous prayer we have recorded in Scripture. If you grew up in church you memorized this prayer.  It’s a teaching from long ago, the very words of Jesus as He teaches His Disciples to pray.  And today we can learn how we should pray. It’s not just on how the Disciple’s should pray, it wasn’t just for them back then, there’s something in here for us today.

Today…now there’s a thought that we need to unpack. But to understand what is in this teaching for us today, we have to go back to then…and by back then I’m talking about the Old Testament.

Every Israelite in Jesus’ time had their lives wrapped up in the salvation story of the Exodus. You remember, when God lead His people out of slavery in Egypt?

Now think about this for a moment.  A few hundred years before they were enslaved, the nation of Israel was saved from famine and allowed to settle in Egypt because of a young man who had been sold into slavery by his brothers. At first Joseph had a great job, he rose to be a significant servant in Potiphar’s house.  But then he was wrongfully imprisoned.  And yet he rose again to be the 2nd person in control of the country – second only to Pharaoh himself.

His brothers come for food for the family, and he does some tricking to get dad and the rest of the family there, and it all works out and they settle in Egypt. God saves the nation of Israel.

Fast forward a few hundred years, and the Pharaoh leading Egypt now, enslaves the people.  And when Moses and Aaron show up things go from bad to worse.  Pharaoh commands them to make more bricks than they had before, it was getting to be terribly hard on the people – unbearable.  And the people were crying out to God, He had heard their cries. But before God led them out through Moses they had to endure some suffering.

And from the Exodus, they end up in the desert. In the desert some things happen, remember I said there is something in this prayer that is for TODAY -  but to understand today we have to go back…and that is where we are in the story of God.

When the Israelites were wandering around the desert, God provided for them daily. It was called Manna. Now when we translate Manna from the Hebrew into the English we might not understand this word fully as we are not Hebrew children.  The people of Israel actually ask Ma’n Hu? Which translates – what is it?

And when you read it in context it really means What is this ration? Here is what it was…it was enough for today. Remember God told them to go and gather only what you need today.

Hmmm…I wonder how hard that was for them.  For us it’s not easy because we have pantries, freezers, refrigerators.  We have bins and Tupperware and shelves. We can store food – more than what we need for today.

But what if God could speak to us in this time, this time right now, would He say to us that He has enough for each of us TODAY – not tomorrow, but for us to get through today? Couldn’t He also say that He is enough for each of us today?

We learned yesterday that Paul – in spite of his circumstance, was at peace with God and himself. Whether he took another breath or did not – all he wanted to do was to spread the Gospel, or Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection to put us into right relationship with our Creator.

It didn’t matter to Paul what happened next he knew that God was and is enough, enough for today.

And that’s where we get uncomfortable, OK – some of us are down right scared. Because this idea for us to pray to God give us our daily bread, means we are praying for God to give us enough to get through today - we will be fully dependent upon You.

Wow – fully dependent – that’s a lot to unpack. In other words the word for us today is that we need to be just as dependent upon God for our daily needs as the Israelites were for Manna. Are you doing that?

Think about it like this, to be as dependent upon God as the Israelites were in that time, we would have to go to bed with empty cupboards, freezers, fridges. Not a crumb left for tomorrow. No backup plan, soup kitchen, food bank, and we would have to trust that God will feed us again, enough for that day.

How do we do that? I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m saying that we need to be in the right mindset to be completely dependent upon God. We need to ask ourselves these questions, and we need to be honest about it with ourselves and God.

Do we really believe that God is real?

Does God truly care or love me?

Does He know what I’m experiencing?

Can I trust that God will give me enough, not an overabundance but enough for today?

The tension is this: we want to observe the miracle happening to someone else. We want to be a witness in the crowd, not the person who needs the miracle.

We don’t want to be the friend lowered through the roof to Jesus, or the lepers that Jesus heals, not even the blind crying out to Jesus as He walks by on a path.

We want to see the spectacle, we want to be entertained by spectacle, not the one in need of intervention.

And there’s kind of a problem with that because if we do not want to be the one in need of intervention, do we really want the Holy Spirit to transform us? And there’s the rub…

If we get right down to it, we don’t want to be dependent because we do not want to be transformed.

So when we say that prayer together, like we did earlier in my stream, and we get to that point of asking God for our daily bread, we are truly asking God for the opportunity to be fully dependent upon God so that He will transform us daily.

It is a risk – but not a risk that doesn’t come with a reward. You see when we are fully more completely dependent upon God, once you have let Him work in you, He will then also work through you - to touch the lives around you.

This time together – these devotions I’m starting – Coffee With Pastor Dan, is really a call to transformation. It’s a call to remember that God is truly enough.      We can have hope, faith, and trust in God that His provision for today is more than enough.

No Fear - March 20th

Find the video here - https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/249397322754036

No Fear

March 20, 2020

You know over the last few weeks things have been getting strange. With COVID-19, coronavirus, it’s just causing lots of disruption to our lives.  And I jut get a sense that many of us Christians are a bit frightened about what’s going on.

It doesn’t help that many Americans don’t trust the media, or the government for that matter.  And so there seems to be this vacuum in our lives of certainty that we as a people once had.

Paul from the Bible once found himself in a circumstance filled with uncertainty.  Probably more than once actually, but I’m only going to share one. 

Paul was living in uncertainty.  He didn’t know what was going to happen next.  I’m sure by now, you all can relate to this.

But just like Paul, if you know Jesus, we have the very Creator living in us and through us. and if you will rest in that, it truly will not matter what happens next.

At this time in his life, Paul is in Jail for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In essence, he is awaiting what will happen next – with great uncertainty. Could he be freed, or beaten again? Would he stay incarcerated, or even executed? Of all of that he wasn’t sure of what would happen next, he was sure about one thing.  This is what he wrote to the church in Philippi under these circumstances.

Philippians 1:20-21 (NIV) I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

In reality Paul has no concern if he is going to take another breath or not. The only thing he is concerned with, is pointing people to Jesus while he still has breath in his lungs.

Paul has this peace that only Christ can give us. 

When we allow the Holy Spirit to live in us and through us, we will find this peace that goes beyond all understanding.

Recently a friend of mine , Jenny Field, wrote some interesting things bout prayer and the battle of Jericho.

We read the account in Joshua 6 - This is my paraphrase – you should read it for yourself, you’ve got some time now.

The Israelites were promised a section of land by God Himself – He led them out of Egypt. They struggled because they didn’t obey very well. But finally, they got there, only to discover some people were already living there.

In fact, there was a city with giant walls and the people inside the city, well, they weren’t very kind or nice people. The city was guarded and fortified to say the least. And here are these nomadic people that God had rescued from slavery in another far off country. It wasn’t like they had Sherman tanks or any weapons of significance to handle this task.

So, what happens, well Joshua prays and asks God what to do. And God’s answer…was a bit unconventional to say the least. That actually is an understatement. 

God told Joshua to march around the city for 7 days.   No threatening talks, no calling the people out, no trying to break through the wall, just walk around the city once a day in silence for the first 6 days.

On that 7th day…God asks for something different. If I had been there I might have asked God for some picture ID because His ask for the 7th day is not any better than the first 6. In fact it seems to be even nuttier.

On the seventh day God asks them to march around the walls of the city in silence 7 times. At the end of the 7th round, shout and blow your horns – trumpets weren’t invented yet.

But you get this right? Ask any military person about strategy.  This is not your typical military strategy to overtake anything not to mention a fortified, hostile city

Now – the Israelites do not have a good track record of being obedient to God. If you read their story through the wilderness, there’s many reasons they did not get to go into the promised land when they could have.  And even Moses is excluded from entering in because of his part in all of it.  But this time they did it – they obeyed God.

They marched every day in silence, and on the 7th day they marched 7 times and then they yelled and tooted horns. And you know what happened, the walls were leveled to the ground

Right now – you might be facing a Jericho in your heart.    Whether fear of the COVID-19 virus or something else in your life that consumes you to the point that you are unable to grow in your relationship with God and others.

The people of God were victorious that day because they cooperated with God the way He asked them to.

So what is God asking of us today? We will never know if we don’t follow Joshua’s example and spend time seeking Him in prayer.

I know – that is such a Sunday School answer - but it’s truth.  I don’t understand why God chooses to work through the prayers of His people.  It seems as if He is asking us to join Him where He is at in the middle of all this interrupted life.  Not a bad idea.

Do I think God caused all of this, NOT ON YOUR LIFE OR MINE! I believe all of this interrupted life is because we live in a broken world. When sin entered into this world through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, it changed everything. Creation became something it was not intended to become, a broken world with sickness and death. And, there’s really nothing we can do about Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey. We’re stuck with it. In other words, sin entering into this world may not be our fault, but it is our responsibility to deal with sin in this world.

So, what do we do? If you know Jesus as your savior today, then you need to be on your knees asking God where He is working, and how can you help – YES HELP! God is always working and invites us to be a part of His plan here and now.

Maybe you know a lot about Jesus, but you really don’t know Him. In the book of John, Jesus prays not just for His disciples Matt, Mark, Luke, john, etc…He prays for all of the disciples that will be His throughout to the end of time. And His prayer is that we would be united, as He and the Father were united. Jesus prays that we would be so deeply united in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that it would spill over and cause us to be deeply united with each other.

Do you know Jesus? I invite you to begin to know Him today. The COVID-19 virus may never stop or completely go away. But if we know Jesus to the depth of salvation, we won’t be afraid.

Living in fear stinks – and right now, there’s lots of fear going around. Where’s my next paycheck? Oh look we’re turning into a socialist society.     Oh no something else is wrong…it doesn’t seem to stop, except when I focus on Jesus.

And I know to the bottom of my heart, that He truly is my savior, so I don’t have to live in fear. Jesus is my deliverer, my redeemer, my source in time of trouble simply because I’m His child.

You can have that same blessed assurance, make Jesus Lord of your life today simply by admitting you need Him. You need not be a slave to fear any longer.