The Baby With Four Names

By John Stallings


There are lots of people with three names.

Among them are, Sandra Day-O'Conner, US Supreme Court Judge, Jaquelyn Kennedy Onasis, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tommy Lee Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Ray Cyrus, James Earl Jones, and Sara Jessica Parker.

Of course we can’t forget those with one name like Madonna, or Cher or Elvis.

One of the many important decisions confronting new parents is, “What shall we call our baby?” Most new parents spend hours debating this question. We all realize that names matter. Shall the new baby be named after his father, his uncle, a favorite friend? Should he be given a name that happens to be popular at the moment? Or one that simply sounds good?

Charles Phillip Arthur George

Names are important because once you pick out a name the child will be stuck with it for a long, long time! Babies have no voice in the selection of their names. They have to live with them — to live them down or live them up.

Every so often you’ll run across a person with multiple names, such as Charles Phillip Arthur George Windsor. That’s sounds odd until you discover it’s Prince Charles. If you say that’s a heavy load to lay on a baby, remember He’s royalty and He needs a long name.
So it is with Jesus.

Even before His birth, He was a child with many names. The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years before He was born, prophesied that Messiah would have four names:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

We know that there are many other names for Jesus; however this verse reveals four of those names. Each one features an aspect of His character. They teach who He is and how He can help us. One of our beloved carols is cast in a plaintive question:

“What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?”

Listen to Isaiah’s divinely-inspired answer. These four names speak to us about wisdom, power, security, and assurance. The first name is…

1. WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

Literally this title means “a wonder of a counselor.” It speaks of the wisdom of his plan. The word “wonderful” means “astonishing” or “extraordinary.” The writers of the Old Testament used it for acts of God which man cannot understand. The word “counselor” means “advisor” or “ideal ruler.”

There are several professions that make their living giving advice to others but they can’t claim perfection. Psychiatrists routinely make $150 (and sometimes $350) an hour for their counsel. Much of it is good, some not so good. But the Lord goes to no one for advice. And when anyone comes to him, He gives them the counsel they need.

He is therefore the perfect teacher and the ultimate counselor. This gives us insight into his working. His plans are not our plans, His ways not our ways. He will accomplish things beyond human comprehension and He will do it in ways we cannot fathom. He will do the greatest work ever accomplished and He will do it seamlessly. A violent death would not be man’s way to victory but it was God’s plan and our Lord carried it out perfectly.

As the Wonderful Counselor, He gives great direction to His people. Those who follow him will not walk in darkness but in the blazing light of day. In this tiny baby we see all the wisdom of God wrapped in swaddling clothes.What Child is This? He is the Wonderful Counselor. Then He’s the…

2. MIGHTY GOD

This speaks of the “Power of Accomplishment.” It is first of all a statement of deity. The baby born in the manger is not just the Son of God; He is also God the Son. All the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the ancient creeds declare, He is “very God of very God.”

That can never be said of any mere human baby. Something else is important in this title. The word translated “mighty” is the word gibo, which means “strong one” or “the powerful, valiant warrior.” Thus the term “mighty God is actually a military title. He is the God who fights for his people! At the Incarnation, God took the form of human flesh. That’s why one of his names is Immanuel–God with us.

Now take the first two titles together and what do you have?

As the Wonderful Counselor — He makes the Plans.
As the Mighty God —He makes the plans Work.

All of his wonderful plans will be carried out with all of God’s infinite might. There is in this little baby’s arms flailing around in His crude bassinet all the strength of Deity. The power of God is in those tiny fists. He has strength which is divine. The omnipotence of God is at His command. Whatever He desires, He is able to achieve.

Carl Sagan Meets Jesus

When we meet Jesus, we meet God. If He is not the “mighty God,” then we are deceived and it is blasphemy to worship him. There is no middle ground here.

If He is not God, we are fools to worship Him. If He is God, we are fools not to.

Some time back renowned astronomer Carl Sagan died. He is best remembered for his famous PBS series called “Cosmos” in which he evangelized for his evolutionary views, especially the notion that the universe is billions and billions of years old. He repeatedly said that he didn’t believe in the afterlife. However, he also said he wasn’t an atheist because he didn’t know enough to rule out the possibility of God. I would argue that God never gave a human being the power to be a real atheist, but that’s another article.

Carl Sagan is an evolutionist no longer. And at this moment he is neither an atheist nor an agnostic, for he has met the Mighty God whom he refused to worship in this life. Despite his great learning and his notable achievements, Carl Sagan died a fool’s death because he would not bow before the Babe of Bethlehem.

HERE’S THE REAL REASON MANY PEOPLE RESENT MANGER SCENES IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE…

Banning manger scenes or other Christmas scenes from public places has nothing whatsoever to do with being “politically correct” or offending people of other religions. Let’s do a post-mortem on the real reason some people fight so hard to call Christmas trees “Holiday trees” and say “Season’s greetings,” or “Happy holidays” taking all mention of Christ out of Christmas.

Christmas is the great dividing line of the human race. No wonder some people want all mention of Christmas expunged from our public schools and from our public life, indeed from human consciousness. They understand that Christians believe Christmas is based on the belief that at Bethlehem, God Incarnate slipped out of timelessness into time, to land in the arms of a virgin girl. Now, if this is true, then unbelievers have problems.

When a person says there is no God, rejecting Christianities tenants, they are telling themselves they can live like the devil then die like a dog. How “very nice” for them. They want to believe that at death, that’s it, it’s over. They’ll never be faced with standing before a Holy God being judged based on what they did with their life, and especially what they did with Jesus.

These “atheists” may never darken a church door. They can live their lives and never open a Bible. They never have to even hear the name of God or Jesus Christ except in cursing. But once a year, here comes Jesus again. And that’s every year, for about a month. More toasters will be sold in Jesus’ name than any name in history. More turkey and Ham will be sold in His name and more money will be spent in His name than any other name. The only way these folk could escape it would be to leave the planet.

Now, if they’re not careful they’ll hear Christ’s name coming out of their own mouth, and we couldn’t have that. A manger scene isn’t only about a cute little baby. Who could be offended by that? The entire world loves a baby. But baby Jesus is different. If you accept that manger scene then you’ve got to accept that God exists, the miracle of the virgin birth, and the rest that goes along with it. This is too painful for them because when you extrapolate it out, you’re faced with things like- one day giving account for yourself to God and then issues like what your eternal address will be, - heaven or hell.

If we take out manger scenes and the name of Christ, we’ve erased some of the best gospel preaching imaginable, and to these people that’s a good thing.

In this tiny baby we see the power of God sleeping on Mary’s lap. What Child is this? He is the Mighty God. He is also…

3. THE EVERLASTING FATHER

In the Hebrew the phrase is literally “the Father of Eternity.” This speaks of the purpose of his coming.

He is before, above, and beyond time. He is the possessor of eternity. He is eternally like a father to his people. This is not a statement about the Trinity, but about the character of our Lord. All that a good father is, Jesus is to his people.

Because He’s like a father, -caring for his people. Because He owns eternity, He can give us eternal life. That’s so important for those of us who live on this sin-cursed planet. No one lives forever. Sooner or later we will also find our own place in the graveyard. We’re not immortal, but transitory. We’re here today, gone tomorrow. A dead Christ will do us no good. Dying men need an undying Christ.

Here’s a key phrase: He is a father forever! That’s important to me because I had a father, but not a father forever. I had a father, but he is gone now… He was a very good man, but he was not a father forever. . I am father to daughters but not a father forever. I will someday pass away. All human fathers must go. But Jesus is a father forever! He’ll outlast the stars in the heavens.

When our children need anything, we run to help them. If they cry, we go. If they want us, we will come to them. We would never kick them out. They belong to us. They are ours, in a manner of speaking. What we are in a poor way to them, Jesus is in a perfect way to all who believe in Him.

In this tiny baby we see the love of God sleeping in a stable. What child is this? He is the everlasting Father and he’s also…

4. PRINCE OF PEACE

The phrase literally means “the prince whose coming brings peace” This speaks of the effect of his coming. This final title is the climax of all that has gone before. The word “prince” means something like “General of the Army.” It speaks of his high position. The word “peace” speaks of his basic nature.

Recently I read that there are more wars raging right now than at any time this century. All over globe there are ethnic conflicts and tribal wars. Closer to home not a day goes by without word that someone else has been murdered in America. We see so much killing that it no longer surprises us—or even bothers us.

In Florida where I live, just this week a man, embittered because his wife had lost her teaching job went to a school-board meeting intent on killing several school board officials. The video has been played over and over with the warning about its violence. He was a very angry man but thankfully a bad shot and was gunned down by officials. This video will probably go viral on YouTube.

We’re practically immune to violence because we live in a violent world.

Isaiah 9:6 tells us that God’s plan for world peace is focused on a one person—a baby asleep in a manger in Bethlehem. He is the ultimate man of peace.

· In the past, His coming made peace with God*
. In the present, those who come to Him find peace in their heart when Christ comes in.
· In the future, His second coming will usher in a kingdom of peace. There is no peace today. -So much strife and bloodshed. He is not a failure. We are.

Christ is no warrior, no greedy conqueror, and no empire builder. He came to bring peace. He did. He does. He will.

In this tiny baby we see the peace of God welcomed by angels and shepherds. What child is this? He is the Prince of Peace.

In this one verse you have the four names of Jesus. This is what they mean to us today:
If you are confused…He is the Wonderful Counselor.If you are weak…..He is the Mighty God.If you are scared……He is the Everlasting Father.If you are disturbed….He is the Prince of Peace.

You never know what may happen in the world because a baby was born. No doubt the Innkeeper didn’t know who he was turning away. Even Mary couldn’t fully imagine what it all meant that night. But that baby born in Bethlehem has become the centerpiece of human history. We even divide time itself by his coming—B.C. and A.D.

What child is this? He is … the Wonderful Counselor … the Mighty God … the Everlasting Father … the Prince of Peace.

“For to us”

The most important part of our verse is the first three words……."For to us” The gift of Christ is a personal gift from God to us. A gift requires a response. If I put a gift under your tree, you may acknowledge it, may admire it, may even thank me for it, but it isn’t yours until you open it and take it for your own.

Why Would God Visit Us?

Mankind has made a total mess of things. We blew our one shot at immortality—and now the graveyards are filling up. But God is not finished with us yet. Go to Psalm 8 and find these words;

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

David seems to say; why bother with people like us? We ruined Eden, you gave us another chance, and we fouled up so badly that you sent a flood to wipe out the human race except for one family. Why not just hit the delete button on the human race? Why not just admit that this was an experiment that didn’t work out? No one could blame God if He decided to get rid of us all and start over again.

David’s question comes to the very heart of Christmas—What is man that God should pay attention to us? What is man that God should care about us after we’ve failed so miserably? Why should God care about us at all?

The New King James Version renders verse 4 this way: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Why would God care enough to visit people like us? It is right at this point that we see the glory and wonder and mystery of the gospel.

Jesus visited us to become like us in his nature. That’s the Incarnation. That’s Bethlehem. That’s Christmas. He came into this world as a tiny baby, born in a stable, in an obscure village, born in poverty, unwanted by the world. He was just another face in the crowd. Few knew that He was coming. No one cared that He had arrived. Jesus “had” to do this. In order to truly “visit” us, He had to become like us.

Jesus tasted death because that is our common destiny… Jesus could not have truly “visited” us if He had held himself back from “the last enemy” that confronts us—death. In order to be fully human, He had to taste death. Jesus suffered and died because that was the only way He could save us. Only by dying could He give us life.

Jesus came to restore all that we had lost in Eden. The Bible calls Jesus “the last Adam.” One of the verses of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” calls him the “Second Adam from above.” He came to reverse the curse that we brought upon ourselves. Now in heaven He is crowned with glory and honor. One day all those who believe in Jesus will share that glory with him.

God said, “I will not leave you alone. I will not let you destroy yourself, each other, and the world I have made. I love you too much to let you alone.” So He sent prophets. We killed them. He wrote letters. We ignored them. He told us how to live—and we said, “Who are you to tell us what to do?” We mocked the God who made us, we broke his laws, we said we didn’t need him, and we made up our own gods that we liked much better because they looked so much like us.
Oh, we made a mess of things. God had every reason to kill us all. But he didn’t. He said, “I love you too much to let you go.” And after we had trashed everything, God said, “I’m coming down there so you’ll know once and for all how much I love you.” We didn’t pay any attention; it didn’t even make sense to us. How could God visit us? But He did—and He came to the world in a very strange way. He entered a virgin’s womb and came out as a baby, born in Bethlehem, a baby named Jesus, born to save us from our sins.

So He came as a baby, and when He grew up, we butchered Him, slaughtered Him and murdered Him on a cross. That’s the thanks we gave to God for visiting us. But we were wrong about everything. After we killed Him, He came back from the dead—proving that He was right all along and we were really wrong—dead wrong about everything—and still God loved us and came from heaven to earth on the greatest rescue mission in history.
He came because we blew it so badly.He came and we killed him.He died and became our Savior.

WHAT A STORY! WHAT A CHRIST!

That’s the good news of Christmas: God has done it all. The only thing left to you and me is to believe. God wrapped up his Son in swaddling clothes and said to the whole world, “This is my Christmas gift to you.”

Someone rightly called Christmas “the happiest holiday.” But it will only be truly happy for those who truly believe in Jesus. I cannot prove to you that what I have said is true. You will have to decide that for yourself. But I can say without any reservation that I have staked my life on the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the incomparable Son of God.

Christmas matters because truth matters. And the heart of the truth is that God did not leave us alone, but in our misery He came to visit us one dark night in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.

Christmas is all about who we are, and who God is, and how far God will go to reach us.

Blessings,


John


Merry Christmas!

I'm Dreaming Of A Right Christmas

By john Stallings

A pastor worked in his study all through Christmas Eve preparing for the Christmas morning service.

Being very tired he dozed off & dreamt of a world to which the Savior had never come. In his dream he was looking around his home but there were no Christmas decorations, no candles or Christmas wreaths.He walked into his study & thumbed through his library but found no books about Jesus, & the Bible he found ended at Malachi.

He noticed that the last words of the Bible were,

LEST I COME & SMITE THE EARTH WITH A CURSE.

He walked out unto the streets & found no church spires pointing heavenward.He went back inside & a knock on the door brought a request to visit a dying mother. He went to her bedside but could find no comforting scriptures, for the gospels were not there. Paul’s comforting letters that included passages about life beyond the grave were missing. There was no promise beyond the grave. Even John’s book of Revelation was not there.

He could only bow his head & weep in hopeless desperation. Two days later he stood by the mother’s grave & conducted her burial but he could give no word of changed hearts & glorious resurrections, only, “ashes to ashes & dust to dust.” It was just one long, last, final farewell.

Suddenly nearby music awoke him from his sleep & he was sobbing uncontrollably. He realized he was hearing his own church choir in the sanctuary next door practicing for their Christmas service & singing “Oh come let us adore Him.” The fact was, Jesus had come & His coming had split history in two, giving hope for eternal life to all who trust in Him.

WHAT WOULD A WORLD WITHOUT CHRIST LOOK LIKE?

Had Christ not come we’d have no New Testament, no gospel, no church, no Lord’s Day, no repentance, no forgiveness of sins, no changed & transformed hearts & lives & no hope of His eternal presence.The angel wouldn’t have told Mary, -With God nothing is impossible.The angels wouldn’t have sung to the shepherds, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to men.

One of my favorite secular Christmas songs has always been ErvIn Berlin’s White Christmas. Though it’s always been a dream of mine, I can’t say that I ever experienced a white Christmas. In the last few years that dream has faded & been replaced with the desire to celebrate each year, a Right Christmas.What does a right Christmas look like?

A RIGHT CHRISTMAS IS BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE & SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL.

Have you ever tried to explain the real meaning of Christmas to a child? It isn’t easy. There is so much tradition mixed up with spiritual truth that it’s sometimes hard to tell Jesus from Santa Claus & the Wise men from the snowmen.The very young have puzzled looks on their faces as they try to sort it all out. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight….Christmas is baby Jesus’ birthday, but I get the presents?” They end up thinking;-“Is this a great religion or what?”

THE MOST NEGLECTED CHRISTMAS VERSE OF ALL

There is one verse that for me sums up the real meaning of Christmas better than any verse in the Bible. Within this short verse we find the answer to the question, what is the right attitude about Christmas & --what is a right Christmas? Here is the verse,

---2 Corinthians 8:9: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Let’s examine this verse for in it I believe we find the essence of a right attitude toward Christmas.

A. HE WAS RICH

I read last week that Wal-Mart is the richest & most successful business that’s ever existed on planet earth. My computer even knows who Wal-mart is because it just corrected my spelling of the name.This brings up a question in my mind: “Why don’t we let Wal-mart bail out General Motors?” But I digress. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart was a “rich-en.” He was among the group of old boys who would light their cigars with a hundred dollar bill. The average rich ride first class. The medium rich charter a jet. The super rich own the jet. The incredibly rich own the airline.But Jesus Christ owns the skies. The Bible says---

HE WAS RICH!

This is speaking of what He had in heaven before He came to earth. You can take the richest men who ever lived, the most powerful rulers who ever lived, the wisest men who ever lived, the mightiest generals who ever lived, the strongest athletes in every sport, the most spell-binding orators, the greatest political leaders & any other great men on earth, calculate their wealth…power…skill…genius…wisdom…insight…& ability. Whatever that vast sum comes to, Jesus had more in heaven. No man or collection of men could touch Him. The pre-existent Jesus Christ wasn’t a pauper but a man who lived in glorious untold splendor.He Was Rich!!

B. HE BECAME POOR

When you & I celebrate a right Christmas we keep in mind the lowly baby Jesus who became poor. Exactly what does that mean? He was rich in eternity but He became poor when He moved into time. He left heaven for a remote village in a forgotten province, to join a despised race, to be born of an obscure teenage peasant girl in a stable, wrapped in rags & placed in a feeding-trough instead of a crib.But Jesus didn’t act “high & mighty.” He knew it all but wasn’t a “know it all.” He owned all the stuff but never did “strut His stuff.” He wasn’t a “name-dropper.” He wasn’t a showoff. He never asked people, “Want me to beam you into the 21st century?” Jesus could have constantly been saying things like, “I’ve got some property on Jupiter.”

But Jesus’ purpose wasn’t to show-off but to show-up. Jesus was holding the entire Universe together but you couldn’t tell it by watching or listening to Him. He wasn’t like that.Here is the creator of the universe who looked no different than the guy down the street. Jesus became poor & pitched His tent among us for a while. He didn’t Lord it over us but loved us so much He was willing to die for us. He wasn’t on an ego trip he was on a rescue mission.

A right Christmas is one that remembers that we are something special to God.Notice that Jesus became poor. You & I are made poor by circumstances but Jesus of His own free will became poor. The man who was richer than any man has ever been gave it up freely & became poorer than any man has ever been.If we have a right Christmas we’ll be remembering that the heart of it all, the heart of the gospel is that the richest person in the universe of His own free will became poorer than the poor.

I love the story of the atheist who would never go to church with his Christian family. One Christmas season, his wife & children were readying themselves to go to Sunday morning service & pleaded with him to go just this once. It was a special Christmas service & there’d be beautiful music.The unbelieving man refused to go, as usual, telling his family it would just be a waste of time for him, that Christmas was just a silly old tradition about a man who never really existed.The family left for church leaving the father sitting in his recliner near a large picture window that overlooked a big back yard. It was snowing & the sight of the flakes building up on the barn behind the house was breathtaking. He thought how much it looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.

Then something happened that almost startled him out of his chair. A flock of about twenty birds, not seeing the glass window, flew right into it, leaving several of them wounded & flapping around on the ground. The man, pitying the poor birds slowly got up & walked toward the window to get a better look. He stood & watched the birds slowly regain their composure & then begin to wander around the backyard in a state of confusion.

He went & dressed & got some bread from the kitchen thinking he’d try to feed the birds if they’d allow him to get close enough.His worst fears were realized when he approached the dazed & confused birds when they fluttered away, seeing every move he made as a threat to them. This went on for quite some time & the man finally had an idea. If he could open the big barn doors, & get the nearly frozen birds to go in they could have shelter from the blistering winds & maybe live to fly again.The man slowly moved across the barnyard & opened the doors, placing the bread crumbs on the ground hoping the birds natural survival instinct would kick in. The man tried every trick he could think of to get those disoriented birds to see that life was within their reach just a few feet away, but the birds stubbornly refused to co-operate.

Finally the man, not able to stand the bitter cold had to give up & go back inside to warm himself. As he stood at the window & watched the birds, still wandering aimlessly around the yard, the thought came to him; there was only one way he could ever hope to get those birds to go into the barn, but it wasn’t within his power to do it.The only way the birds could be saved was if he himself could become a bird & join the little flock & lead them into the safety of the barn.When his family returned from church, the man shared the experience with them.

Through that visual experience with the birds God had shown him the meaning of Christmas. Bethlehem was about God wrapping himself in human flesh & becoming a man. He entered the human race & became poor like us so that we would hear Him saying, “I love you.” Immanuel—God with us.

C. THAT WE MIGHT BECOME RICH

Here is “The right Christmas” message;

Jesus became poor so that we who were poor might become rich.

Think abut that. All the riches & grace of God is available to me by virtue of my relationship with Jesus Christ. All the power & all the right standing with God are mine through Him.You may say, “You don’t deserve that.” Indeed I don’t but that’s the grace of our Lord Jesus. If I deserved it I wouldn’t need Jesus, but through my relationship with Him suddenly I’m a rich man.

The theologians have a word for it. They call it the doctrine of imputation. He takes my sin & I take His righteousness. That’s grace by association.

Do you remember the wedding of Lady Diana & Prince Charles? We saw a T.V movie about it recently. Diana didn’t exactly come from poverty but compared to the royal family, her family was poor. But now, by virtue of her marriage to Prince Charles, all the wealth, all the prestige, all the power, all the pomp & glory of the royal family belong to her. Once she was an outsider; now she has access to the Queen. Did she earn such a lofty standing? No. It was imputed to her by virtue of her relationship to Prince Charles. Imputed honor- imputed wealth -& imputed standing.

What do you call a poor girl who marries a prince? You call her “Your Highness.”So it is that when we came to Jesus we were spiritual paupers. Our hands were empty & our pockets were bare. We had nothing to offer & no claim to make. All our lives it had been, one step forward & two steps back but when we came to Him, we were fed, clothed, filled, forgiven, & crowned with every good thing.Jesus took away our rags & placed around us His own righteousness.

Everything that was against us was gone & everything we lacked we now have. All this happened because of Christmas. He who was rich became poor for my sake, that through His poverty I might be rich.The Son of God became a son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God.Again, what is a right Christmas?

A—He was rich

B---He became poor

C---That we might become rich.

And that’s the true meaning of Christmas.Only one thing remains. Have you found the Christ of Christmas & asked Him to be your Savior? Have you placed your trust in Him? Have you given up your spiritual poverty for the riches He offers to you?

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” I love this verse;

How silently, how silently
This wondrous gift was giv’n
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessing of His heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in the world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

And so He does!

May that be our experience as we all enjoy,

A RIGHT CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Blessings,

John

Who's Your Daddy?

By John Stallings


Jesus' rejection in his own hometown is a story that gives me chills every time I read it.

Jesus, fresh from a preaching and healing campaign in Galilee has returned to his boyhood home of Nazareth after an absence of many months. He left a commoner, He returns a celebrity. In Nazareth He was known as a nice, hard-working young man from a good family.

The Nazarenes had been hearing about Jesus’ exploits from almost a year on the road. They knew about the water He’d turned into wine at Cana and the paralyzed man He’d healed in Jerusalem. Now Jesus was home and the people were waiting to be impressed. The “buzz” on the street was “that boy is back in town.” The Nazareth Gazette probably ran a story entitled “hometown boy makes good.”

In the temple on the Sabbath Jesus is invited to read from the sacred scrolls and comment on the text. Nazareth would see what kind of teacher He had become. Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-5, about the Spirit of the Lord anointing him to preach good news, heal and set free.

When He’d finished reading from the scroll He sat down and said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Huh? You could have heard a marshmallow fall on a carpet.

In essence, Jesus is saying;

“I’m the finale. I’m the completion of God’s plan to save you. Everything Moses wrote about in his books, everything David wrote in the Psalms, and everything the prophets promised, all of that pointed to me. I’m the seed of the woman. I’m the son of David. I’m the suffering servant. I’m the one God anointed. In Hebrew I’m the Messiah: in Greek I’m the Christ. Are you waiting for the Messiah? You’re looking at him!”

Mixed Reaction

The reaction in the synagogue on that Sabbath was one of astonishment. Luke says they were "amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips." Apparently they had never heard Jesus as a public speaker, or teacher. His life among them had been as a carpenter, never a public figure. This was an entirely new role, and they were, as Matthew and Mark put it "astonished." Jesus "gracious words" were impressive.

But was this the astonishment of appreciation or of skepticism? At first glance, we're not sure. Maybe there was a wave of approval, followed by a low guttural muttering, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

The congregation's quickness to pigeonhole Jesus as Joseph's son shows that their paradigm was unable to view Jesus in any other context than as a member of a Nazareth family. They may have been thinking of the “scandalous” events surrounding his birth. After all, this was a small town, and people talk.

"Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” Matthew 13:54-56

The people of Nazareth were amazed but skeptical. Sure, He was good with words. But how could He really be worthy of the acclaim and adulation He had been met with elsewhere in Galilee? The congregation "took offense at him" Matthew 13:57.

A Prophet without Honor

Jesus sensed the unbelief and skepticism in the room that day. The congregation made no attempt to hide their feelings. Jesus' next comments confront this anti-faith:

"Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' I tell you the truth," he continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown." Luke 4:23

The words, "Physician, heal yourself" are plain enough. It's similar to our proverb which observes that the cobbler's children go barefooted. Probably the townspeople are applying the words to Jesus hometown vs. other towns where He had performed healings. In other words, they are saying, “you’ve healed elsewhere; how about in your own hometown?”

The skepticism in Nazareth was so pervasive that Mark records, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith." Mark 6:5-6

If your family doesn’t accept your faith, have you ever wondered why? They remember your past, perhaps, and don't believe you've changed. Jesus’ family was convinced that He was mad though they finally came around and accepted Him, - His townspeople never did. Sometimes faith is a lonely road.

Jesus speaks to them of God's Blessing on Two Foreigners

In response to his townsmen's open skepticism, Jesus refers to stories of how God blessed two non-Jewish individuals, at a time that many Jews had needs that went unmet. Jesus tells of the widow at Zaraphath in 1 Kings 17:7-24. The Prophet Elijah had stayed with her and her son during the 3-1/2 year drought that preceded his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. The widow's small jar of flour and tiny jug of oil were not depleted, though they fed the three of them for years. Later, when the widow's son died, Elijah's prayers revived him from the dead. No Israelites received such a blessing.

Then Jesus told of Naaman, General of the Army of Israel's enemy Aram, whose capital was Damascus 2 Kings 5. Naaman had contracted leprosy, and heard that the Prophet Elisha in Israel had the power to heal. At Elisha's word, Naaman had dipped seven times in the Jordan, and after the seventh time his leprosy was healed and his skin restored like that of a child.

There were many lepers in Israel at the time, commented Jesus, but only the foreigner Naaman was healed.

Jesus' clear implication was that the Israelites in these eras were unworthy of these miracles, and so God bestowed miracles on outsiders who believed. It was a not-so-veiled commentary on the absence of faith Jesus perceived in Nazareth. Outside this village Jesus had performed amazing miracles, but the unbelief in Nazareth was way too thick. Even though they wanted to see a miracle show, they were neither worthy nor ready. A prophet wasn't honored in his own hometown.

Murderous anger

As always, the truth hurts. The resentment and skepticism that seethed beneath the surface now erupted in murderous rage. The congregation rose up from their Sabbath synagogue worship intent to kill their homegrown boy. They took Jesus into custody and then they drove him out of the building and out of the village.

I’ve visited Nazareth several times and IMHO it’s the quintessence of a dreary, depressing back-water town built at the edge of a mountain. To the west the ground drops very rapidly to the fertile Jezreel Valley below. Without hearing or trial, and in violation of both Jewish and Roman law, Jesus’ townspeople intended to kill Him by throwing him over a precipice perhaps as a prelude to stoning.

I don’t know if you saw the 80’s movie Throw mama from the train, but in this case it’s—Throw Jesus off the cliff. Was Jesus justified in his judgment of their worthiness, faith, and character? Obviously He was!

Walking Away

What happened next is perhaps one of the most “unsung” miracles in the Bible. As we’ll see, this isn’t the only time it’s happened to Jesus. Strangely, though they forced Him to the cliff, they couldn't throw him over. Jesus just walked away, through the crowd, and out of town, never -- so far as we know -- to return to his hometown of Nazareth. It wasn't his time to die -that would be three years later. But the anger in Nazareth was emblematic of the kind of anger and resentment that finally killed Jesus.

JOHN CHAPTER EIGHT- ANOTHER CLOSE CALL

A man went on a long awaited vacation to Europe. Two days after he left he called home to check on his cat and his brother answered the phone. The man asked, “How’s my cat?” The brother answered, “Your cat is dead.” The man said, “Now you could have been gentler in telling me that, so as not to shock me and hurt my feelings. You could have said your cat is on the roof. Then tomorrow you could have said the fire department came to get the cat down and dropped him and your cat is at the vets. The day after that you could have said the cat couldn’t be saved and was peacefully put down. Then you wouldn’t have hurt my feelings.”

The man then asked, “How’s mother?” To which the brother replied, “She’s on the roof.”

GENTLE JESUS, -MEEK AND MILD?

Jesus didn't use that kind of subtly. He didn't "tiptoe through the tulips, nor walk on eggshells." Generally when I think of Jesus’ physical presence, I see Him holding a little lamb across His shoulders or with children surrounding Him. Other pictures of Jesus that often come to mind are Him sitting at Jacob’s Well talking to the Samaritan woman, standing before the multitudes teaching, silently facing His tormentors, or on the cross in death as He forgave those who were crucifying Him.

It’s easy to forget that Jesus didn’t write “How to win friends and influence people,” although He always spoke the truth in love. Jesus wasn’t always smooth and subtle, and definitely didn’t “tip-toe through the tulips,” either in His hometown of Nazareth or in this story in John Chapter eight. If we want to see Jesus “torqued,” and “in your face” it’s here.

It’s interesting that the conversation starts in John 8:31 with these words;

As He spoke these words many believed on Him.

So Jesus is talking to Jews who believed in Him and His message. As He speaks to them a debate ensues and it’s plain to see that the crown was in top form as far as not “getting” what Jesus was saying. Talk about confused, when Jesus told them “the truth would set them free” in typical argumentative fashion they said, “Free? We’ve never been in bondage,” conveniently forgetting the 400 years their ancestors spent in Egyptian slavery. Was that just a vacation? What about the 70 years they spent in Babylonian enslavement? Even as they spoke they were living in subjugation to a merciless, Jack-booted Roman occupation.

DON’T YOU TALK ABOUT MY MAMA!

But in verse 41 they crossed the line and said, “We were not born of fornication” an obvious slur on the conditions of Jesus’ birth.

Again he’s faced with people questioning His “spiritual paternity, or lineage.” If ever He had an “in your face” attitude, He had it when speaking to His townsfolk in Nazareth and with these people in John chapter eight.

Jesus is speaking to a group of people who were separated from Him because they belonged to another god, and were not true Believers. He figures that if they want to dabble around in “bloodlines,” He’ll lay it out for them and show them who their daddy really is.

JESUS OFFERS ONLY TWO OPTIONS

Jesus tells the crowd there are only two possibilities concerning who they are. They’re either God’s children or the devil’s children. He clearly proves these people are not able to receive Him because they were living under a different spirit and power, their “father the devil.” He tells them that they persecuted Him because of their spiritual separation. They were under the influence of their god whom He names; -“Ye are of your father the devil.” Bam, Bam, there it is.

Jesus then sets forth the evil activities of the people who were imitators of their father the Devil. They worship this false god and copied his evil ways. As proof of their pedigree, Jesus tells them that they want to kill him so that makes them like the devil, and He called them liars, the other trait of the devil. This of course didn’t thrill these folk much which is why at one point they picked up stones to kill him. It seems the attitude of the people was, “if you call us what we really are we’ll kill you.”

Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”- John 8:44-47KJV

“YOU GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY”

Several years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song entitled “You gotta serve somebody.” There are two roads, the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow road leading to life eternal. There are two masters, God or the devil. And there are two places to go when we die, heaven or hell.

There’s a popular saying that-“We’re all God’s children.” That’s true in one sense, since God made us all. But nevertheless, spiritually speaking we all have a “daddy.”

Listen to 1 John 3:10;

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither loveth not his brother.

Paul told the Galatians;

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel lings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance…

Listen to John;

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.—John 1:12-13

This verse makes it clear that unless an individual receives Christ they don’t belong to Him in the sense that their eternal address will be heaven when they die.

In John 8:43, Jesus said;

“Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my word?” That is, ye cannot bear my doctrine: it comes too close to you; it searches your hearts, detects your hypocrisy, and exposes your iniquitous intentions and designs; and as ye are determined not to leave your sins, so ye are purposed not to hear my doctrine.

Jesus then exposes the unregenerate character of the unbelieving religious person that serves
their god Satan.

THIS EVENT PARALLELS THE NAZARETH EXPERIENCE

This story closes almost exactly as the Nazareth story closed. With a huge crowd mad enough at Him to kill Him, somehow Jesus just walked away out of harms way, because as in Nazareth His time to die hadn’t come.

CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR FATHER

If you and I can truly call the God of heaven our Daddy,

We’ll have no problems trusting Him,
We’ll enjoy talking about Him,
We’ll seek to do His will,
We’ll have a longing to be like Him,
We’ll suffer willingly for Him, and we’ll obey His words.
We’ll use our father’s vocabulary,
We’ll have love one for another, [God’s kids are known by their love not their t-shirts.]

It would be a terrible thing not to know who our father is.

My father is the Alpha and the Omega, He’s the Almighty, He’s the Bread of Life and the Bishop of my soul, He’s the Christ, the Captain of my ship, the Daystar and the Deliverer who brings joy in the morning, He’s Emmanuel and the Eternal One, He’s the Father of all who trust Him and a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, He is God and the Good Shepherd, He’s the Holy One and the Horn of Salvation, He’s the great I AM and the Invisible God, He’s Jesus and Jehovah, He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He’s the man of sorrows and Manna that fell from heaven, He’s Nazareth’s Son, He’s the Omnipotent God, Prince of peace, Righteous Judge, Son of God and the Savior of the world, He’s the truth, the Way, and the Life, the Unseen hand that’s providing when we’re not looking, He’s the Voice of the Lord that speaks sweet words of life to me, He’s Wonderful, and He’s mysterious, He’s Zion’s King.

He wants you and me to stop acting like we’re illegitimate and take our place at His table and be His son or daughter.


Who’s your Daddy?


Blessings,


John

Big Boy Christianity

By John Stallings


Like many of you, the Spirit of God got a hold of my heart at a very young age. By the time I was six I realized that Jesus loved me & died on the cross to save me. So I gave Him my heart & life & was born into the family of God.

As you might expect, I had no spiritual vocabulary & no spiritual teeth. I didn’t understand all there was to know about Jesus & still don’t. If you’d put a gun on me I couldn’t have told you what repentance or faith was. I had received the spirit of adoption whereby I could cry Abba or Da-da according to Romans 8:15, but that’s about it.I think I was pretty much a normal baby, spiritually & physically.

I remember my first “little mans” haircut & remember crying to get out of the barber chair. My kinfolk never let me forget that I was so scared all I could sobbingly say was “Feet on floor daddy, feet on floor.”Though my parents never said much about it, I can imagine the relief when I slowly began to grow up, though I also have a feeling it took quite a long time. One of the phrases I can remember hearing most from my childhood was “Johnny, be a big-boy.” Come on son, be a big-boy for daddy, or mommy.”

I can also remember that sentiment being impressed on me in non-verbal, somewhat painful ways that centered on the place where I sat down.One of the reasons a baby takes so much care is because in their world, it’s all about them & their needs. They’re always getting hurt, if not really hurt they’re getting their feelings hurt & they’re always making a mess for someone else to clean up. As much as we love our babies, we have to admit that in the home, if there’s a problem, it usually centers around the babies.

Have you ever noticed that the same is true in a church? You can count on spiritual babies to be at the center of just about every church disturbance.Acts chapter 15: 36-41 gives us a rare glimpse behind the scenes into the inner working of perhaps the greatest missionary team the Holy Spirit ever put together.This little glimpse into the lives of Paul & Barnabas shows the humanity yet spiritual maturity of the two men.

Paul needs no introduction anywhere because He’s without doubt one of the icons of Holy Writ. Barnabas however isn’t as well known but it’s good to remember that his name meant “Son of consolation” or “Encourager.” It’s rather special to be named after a gift of the spirit. i.e. Romans 12:8.Barnabas was responsible for over half the books of the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 of them, & Barnabas was the man who brought Paul to the brethren in Jerusalem. Acts 9:26-27. Mark wrote one & no doubt it was Barnabas who loved & encouraged him to continue in the faith. That’s 14, over half of the 27 books.

Have you ever heard the term “kinfolk’s complex?” The word we use today is nepotism. What both terms refer to is a prejudicial, biased leaning toward family. This problem is at the root of what’s happening in this story.On Paul & Barnabas’ first missionary trip together, John Mark the cousin of Barnabas accompanied them. Somewhere along the way John Mark decided to leave the team & return to his home in Jerusalem. We’re not told the reason for his departure however some have theorized the fires of resistance to the gospel were so hot, John Mark allowed fear to cause him to tuck-tail & run.When a second campaign was planned Barnabas suggests taking John Mark along as helper. Paul promptly nixed the idea. The scripture tells us that “sharp contention” developed between Barnabas & Paul over John Mark. Barnabas says he goes, Paul says he doesn’t go. They couldn’t agree so they split up.

As far as I’m able to discern, the two remarkable men never saw each other again.It’s impossible to read this drama & not be moved. The encouraging thing is the break-up didn’t come over doctrine. The rupture involved a personal dispute based on a judgment call. To their credit Paul nor Barnabas didn’t allow the conflict to distract them from their respective efforts of spreading the gospel. They were big-boys & exhibited “big-boy” maturity. Too often we can act like babies when we have a disagreement.If you ever raised kids you know the most glorious day was when the kids could sit at a table & feed themselves. We knew then they were becoming big boys & girls. I think God has the same feeling when He sees His kids growing up & not reacting to a speed-bump like it was a mountain.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN SPIRITUAL MINDS & HEARTS WILL DISAGREE.

The important thing is to stay focused on the work of God. Because of the disagreement, Barnabas chose his cousin John Mark & they formed an evangelistic team. Paul chose Silas & both teams went on the road.Which team was most successful? As far as we know they were both equally successful. Some have said that Paul was just too stubborn in the matter. However we read in Acts 15:40 that the Church commended Paul & Silas, but no such commendation came for Barnabas & John Mark.Paul may have been motivated more by experience, cool logic & rationality, while Barnabas was guided by a kindred familiarity & a warm heart. Most of can relate to Barnabas here because we’ve all needed a second chance .

It’s interesting to note that later on Paul writes to Timothy & says,--Get Mark & bring him with you, for he is profitable to me in the ministry.—2 Tim.4:11. Sounds to me like "uncle barny" got some vindication here.

We're looking here at a case of brass tacks Christian maturity. We are allowed to closely inspect how God’s choice men dealt with disagreements. Let’s look at some of the aspects of the way Paul & Barnabas settled their dispute & see what we might glean & utilize the next time we have a problem with a family member, Christian friend or worker.I think you’ll agree that 95% of our problems will be less than Paul & Barnabas’ situation so let’s see how we can disagree & still be like Jesus. Let’s see what “Big-Boy” Christianity is all about.

1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION BEFORE YOU DISAGREE.

We’ve looked closely at Paul & Barnabas’ problem & see the simple story; they disagreed over taking John Mark on this missionary trip. It’s all laid out rather simply for us don’t you agree?Proverbs 18:13 says,--he that answereth a matter before he hears it, it is folly & shame to him.

The following ad was placed in a newspaper,

“Wendell Walsh has a sewing machine for sale. It belongs to the lady who loves with him.—Ph. 359-4704 Address 67 Walnut street.”The next day the following ad appeared.—“Wendell Walsh no longer has a sewing machine for sale. I have smashed it. The owner did not love with me; she’s an elderly lady who lived in my upstairs apartment. Please don’t call 359-4704, it’s been disconnected. Please don’t go to 67 Walnut Street, I no longer live there.”What a mess, & all the confusion was caused by the mix-up of two letters, I & O.

So much pain is caused on a daily basis because someone got their facts wrong. You may remember the news story about a young woman in a beauty pageant who was crowned queen & as she walked around with the crown on her head the judges started comparing notes because they knew she wasn’t the one they voted # ONE. It was embarrassing for all concerned when they had to back-peddle & remove the crown from one woman’s head & place it on the real winners head, all because of a mistake in counting.

Paul Harvey told about one of the top national credit reporters who messed up a woman’s credit & it took her ten years to get them to clean up their mistake. After all those years of suffering the credit company finally found [admitted to] their problem & the woman was given millions in compensation, but not before wrecking her good name & her emotions in the process.It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of having our facts straight before we allow our opinions to jell, especially when it’s something we are telling to others as the truth. There’ll be plenty of time to disagree, but first get the truth.

2. DON’T INFLATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ONE DISAGREEMENT.

Paul & Barnabas didn't over inflate the importance of the disagreement they had. How do I know that? As we’ve already stated, Paul & Barnabas had the love & grace to sit down, spread out a map & say, “You go here & I’ll go there.” Every battle isn’t Armageddon & it’s always wise to choose our battles.If you’re having a disagreement with someone, here are a few pointers that should help;

1. Check your motive. Is your problem a valid point or is it a personality problem.
2. Check your spiritual fruit. Love, joy, peace, etc.Don’t go into a disagreement until you know your love level is higher than the disagreement level.Read & reread 1 Corinthians 13.
3. Have you lifted this up to God in prayer? Prayer will set our hearts & minds right.
4. Have you searched the scriptures on this matter?—Do you know what the bible teaches about it?
5. If you disagree, don’t be disagreeable. Our positions don’t get us into trouble, our dispositions do.

3. ISOLATE THE TRUE ISSUE & STAY ON THE POINT. DON’T BROADEN THE AGENDA.

A couple [I’m sure all married folk have experienced this, I know I have] will be out driving & get into an argument over directions. Maybe the man will turn on the wrong street or make some other mistake the wife feels will put them off course. It’s important to remember it’s just that one corned not all corners for the rest of our lives.And it’s extremely important to remember that our mother-in-law has nothing to do with this corner.A couple can get into a disagreement over the wife spending money on clothes & & then she’ll say to the husband, “Well, you bought a new shotgun & you already had two guns.” Then the man might say, “I don’t like your old momma anyway.” Where did momma come from? Money, money, money, momma. Once it gets to this point old Satan has a heyday.

A person in church might come by the pastor & say, “I think the music was a little loud this morning. And while I’m at it, your tie was a little too flashy last Sunday.” I’ve seen this spirit get loose & go on to say, “And I don’t like your hair, your shoes, clothes, your car, house or kids.”You see what that is? It’s broadening the agenda. I’m sure you know that a church of any size will have an agenda for their annual business meeting. The meeting has to be announced far enough in advance for all the folk to plan for it. Then the pastor & deacons will take all the business of the church & formulate an agenda for the meeting.If it wasn’t done this way, you’d have people getting up during the meeting & bringing up things that would lead the proceedings way a -field. Precious time would be wasted & people would leave all dazed & confused. Centuries of experience has taught that even the best of God’s people can get into strife if meetings like this aren’t conducted in a timely, planned & deliberate way.

Paul said,--Avoid foolish & unlearned questions for they gender strife. 2 Tim 2:23. We don’t see this happening with Paul & Barnabas. As far as we know they stayed on the one issue, worked it out & never moved out of peace.

4. LEARN HOW TO BE HONEST WITHOUT BEING BRUTAL.

In John 4:7-39, when Jesus sat down at the well & talked to the woman, he could have taken the truth & destroyed her with it. She’d had five husbands & was shacked up with one she wasn’t married to. If Jesus had thrown her past in her face, she’d have shriveled up but he didn’t. He could have said, “woman, don’t go telling people you’ve been talking to me,” but He didn’t. He allowed her to act as a messenger to go into her little town & tell the story of this man who’d told her all she’d ever done. Many people came out to see Jesus & became believers because of her testimony.

I heard about a lady who mastered the art of telling the truth without being brutal. Her husband told her one day, “Honey, I wish I could be smart, educated & handsome for you because you deserve that kind of husband.” She answered, “But I don’t want someone smart, educated & handsome, I want you.”

A young man told his dad he felt everybody in the world hated him. The dad said, “That’s silly son, everyone hasn’t met you yet.

If you watch the news at all you know that in our country, you can’t do things that appear brutal. Even if a person is caught mistreating a dog or cat, they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Human nature recoils if we see a human being or animal being treated unfairly. Though I love the animals & believe in treating them with kindness, I have a problem with the fact that we can kill unborn babies with fewer problems than we have when cats & dogs are mistreated. But "don’t be cruel" is always a good motto.We shouldn’t make statements like; “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” or “you’re as strong as an Ox & almost as smart,” or “honey, I wish you’d lose a little weight, when you walk in front of the TV we miss three episodes.” It’s much better to learn to say; “I may be wrong but here’s what I think.”

5. NEVER BREAK YOUR PLOW OVER A STUMP!

This is a very “old school” illustration that comes from the farming culture. My father was raised on a South Georgia farm & he shared many philosophies with me that originated on “dirt poor” farms.My grandfather used to teach his sons that some of the richest soil had stumps growing in it. What the farmer had to do was plow around the stumps instead of hitting them with his relativity fragile plow. This might seem like a no-brainer because anyone can see how unwise it would be to intentionally use a light plow on an entrenched & sturdy stump. The stumps were deeply embedded & rock solid. If a farmer tried to pull one of them up with his plow he’d not only tear- up his plow but He’d break down the horse or mule pulling the plow. So the farmer would simply plow around stumps.

There will be “stumps” growing in every field we’ll ever work in be it the ministry or a secular business. These stumps will be of the human variety. They aren’t of themselves demonic, but Satan sets them in your path trying to get you to do or say something you’ll regret. It might be a kindly old aunt, grandmother, mother-in-law, boss, neighbor or any other person “planted” in your field.I remember in the first church I pastored there was a “stump” in the form of a little old lady who’d been in the church for fifty years. She was against me from the day I arrived in town & she’d sit in the congregation & glare at me when I preached. Looking back she was the best friend I ever had because at least I always knew where she stood & she kept me sharp. I would study and pray an extra hour just with sister……in mind. I knew she was looking for any mistake I might make & she’d trumpet it to the high heavens.I challenge you to look at your life & pin-point the stumps in your “field.” Again, they aren’t necessarily Satanic, they may be some of best folk you’ll ever meet, but God has chosen to use them to challenge, chisel, sand-paper, test your patience & polish you up.We should remember that the more serious the issue, the higher our love level must be.

Paul took the time to totally expound on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He not only tells us what love is, he tells us what love isn’t. Everything you & I do & say must be filtered through that chapter & everything good we might accomplish, even if it’s being burned at the stake, If it’s not done in love, it won't count.If you need another proof-text to show if you’re dealing in love or if others are dealing with you in love, apply James’ test;

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy.-James 3:17

If we’re going to have any friends, hold a job long or live in anything closely resembling peace & happiness, we’ll all have to plow around a stump now & then. But some gorgeous & nutritious crops are grown in some awfully stump-filled farm land.

6. IF YOU HAVE A DISAGREEMENT WITH SOMEONE, AND IT TURNS INTO A POINT OF SEPARATION, MAYBE NOBODY WAS WRONG. MAYBE A SEPARATION IS GOOD EVEN IN GOD’S EYES.

The bible doesn’t say Paul & Barnabas were at odds about everything & on every point for life; they just had a difference of opinion on one point. Obviously God blessed both these ministering teams.Paul didn’t write poison-pen letters to the churches against Barnabas. Barnabas didn’t send letters saying “Don’t listen to Paul. I know him & he’s a scoundrel.” They just split up “and the church rolled on.”

Some churches like to Baptize by totally dunking the individual & that seems to me to be the bible way. But when you think about it, others want to sprinkle them with water. Some want to baptize folk back ways, front ways or sideways. There was such as drought in Georgia recently the Baptists were sprinkling, the Methodist’s & Episcopals were spraying from a bottle & the Catholics were offering handiwipes. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems to me whether we squirt-em, spray-em, sprinkle-em or dunk-em, we should find a way to meet in the middle because in the final analysis, we’re all heading for the same heaven.

WHAT IS ‘BIG-BOY’ CHRISTIANITY? IT’S LOOKING FOR THINGS WE CAN AGREE ON & AS MUCH AS IS POSSIBLE, LIVING PEACEFULLY.

Let me tell you about the biggest baby in the bible.We find him in Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it-when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”

But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.But then God sent a worm.

By the dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die.”God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planter or watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”

This big baby named Jonah was mad at God for blessing & forgiving the people he’d preached to.

What a contrast to the words of Jesus on the cross;

“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.


Jonah---Not a very BIG-BOY!!


Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!


BLESSINGS,


John

Battles We Need Not Fight

By John Stallings


Perception isn’t the same thing as reality.

You know this if you’ve ever jumped to a conclusion that simply wasn’t right.

First impressions are often right, but they are also sometimes totally wrong. At times we think we know what’s going on only to discover later that we weren’t even in the ball park when it came to seeing what was happening or why someone was behaving the way they did. As a rule things are more multi-layered than we suspect. The story in Joshua chapter 22 is a case in point.

After the Jews conquered the east side of the Jordan River, Moses was going to abandon the old land, because the Promised Land was on the other side of the river. But the leaders of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh had asked if they could stay in the land they had already conquered, because it was just what they needed for their flocks.

The land was rich and fertile and there were large valleys for grazing their flocks and plenty of water. It seemed perfect. Moses agreed on the condition that they had to go across the river with their fellow Jews and help conquer the land of Canaan. After that task was completed they would be allowed to return to their own homes once more.

Canaan is finally subdued after over five years. The soldiers from the 2½ tribes had been faithful in their service and were given permission to return to their homes and families. Joshua, now their leader admonished them to love God and continue in His ways and to serve Him with all their hearts.

In that respect, things haven’t really changed much in the day in which we live. God still wants our faithful service. When He knows He has our hearts he will pour out His best on us.

The separation was an occasion of mixed emotions for everyone. The soldiers from all the other tribes had said their good-byes and there were probably numerous hugs and slaps on the back. Then the 2½ tribes left to cross the Jordan River and return to their families on other side. The soldiers could probably barely wait to get home. Their kids had now grown up and they had many stories to tell them of all the great things God had done.

THE PLOT TAKES A TWIST

As the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh backtracked east, they passed landmarks that must have brought back memories of what God had done. Happy as they were to be going home, it hadn’t been easy to say good-bye to their brothers. They were leaving behind the nearness of the Priesthood and the Tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant. They were leaving the land God had promised to bless. They were going home but somehow already missed the others tribes and began to feel isolated from the nation of Israel.

That’s probably what prompted the 2½ tribes to do what at first glance didn’t make much sense. Not only did it not make sense, it could have cost them their lives.

A MASSIVE MISCONCEPTION

Canaan is now under the control of God’s people. The tribes have each received their allotted portion of land and now they must begin, in the settled environment of Canaan, to live as the people of God; as a nation committed to be obedient to His Law. Under the new arrangements, the 9½ tribes will live on the western side of the Jordan in the land of Canaan itself, while the other 2½ tribes, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh would live on the eastern side of the Jordan.

Things were going swimmingly. The Promised Land and peace were both finally theirs. It seemed nothing could go wrong with the new set-up and then, at that very moment- it did. It wasn’t a small thing either, it was major. The tribes on the western side of the Jordan didn’t see it coming, but there it was. The 2½ tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River did it. They’re responsible. On the eastern side of the Jordan River, they built a massive altar.

What’s wrong with that? Well God had made it clear in Deuteronomy 12 that everyone in any city that built an extra altar for sacrifice was to be put to death. It didn’t take long of course for word to filter through to the western tribes that the eastern tribes had set up a new altar.

While an altar may not seem all that significant to us, it raised an alarm with the Israelites because it was clearly forbidden. In the aforementioned passage they were told to have only one altar for sacrifices, lest multiple altars lead to a falling away from God’s perfect plan for worship. Having only one altar and one place of sacrifice was a way to preserve the purity of the worship of God. It was a preventative measure to ensure that each tribe didn’t do its own thing when it came to worshiping. One altar spoke of one faith and one people. Unity! In fact, again, the penalty for building another altar was that everyone in the city which built the altar was to be put to death. This was serious business.

So, quite logically, when the western tribes heard another altar had been built they immediately thought that the eastern tribes had abandoned God and become apostates before they even got home. It’s interesting that the 2½ tribes were experiencing such joy about the great things God had wrought; the altar was built as they went home, not after they got there.

However-the western tribes were frightened. Remember how 36 people died when Achan took those few items from the tent in Jericho. Though that had been nearly 5 years earlier, they hadn’t forgotten that lesson. They must not disobey clear commands from God or the consequences would be terrible. What should they do? Were the 2½ tribes so quickly becoming “loose cannons?”

The 9½ tribes on the western side of the Jordan River decided that they had no choice but to go to war with their Jewish brothers on the east bank in order to overthrow their “apostasy and disobedience.”

In chapter 22 verse 12 we read the statement, "the whole assembly gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against their brother tribes."

At least on some level the western tribes are to be commended for the zeal to look out for the honor of God and maintain the purity of worship. The fact that they were so stirred up by what they believed was spiritual infidelity shows that they were deeply committed to God. Far too often God’s people gradually accept things that God doesn’t accept.

The western tribes were right to want to stand against sin.However, as proper as it is to stand up against what’s wrong, they were also wrong because they jumped to conclusions that were far off the mark. It appeared that what their brothers were doing was wrong, but they would discover that there was another side to the story. When they heard about the altar being built they immediately assumed it had been set up in opposition to the altar in Shiloh. Were they correct?

THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM.

That’s something all of us must guard against; the danger of judging people by their outward appearance. There’s danger in attributing bad motives to people’s actions when the very same actions could in fact be explained in other honorable ways.

Perhaps you meet a Christian friend walking down the street and wave at them. Although they seemed to be looking your direction they didn’t wave back, in fact, they seem to stare right through you. It’s easy if that happens to immediately jump to the conclusion that they are snubbing you. When in reality it might be that your friend is upset about some personal matter and is thinking about it at that moment. Far from being a deliberate snub that intense countenance could have in fact been the outward evidence of inner turmoil.

One more thing along those lines; when I was younger I had eagle eyes. I could see a person a long distance away and immediately recognize them. I’ve spotted famous people in airports that I’d only seen on T.V maybe once or twice, even when they thought they were incognito.

Because I had good eyesight, it never occurred to me that some people are born, and I say this with all love, about half blind. Out in a crowd, they have to get fairly close to you to recognize you even with their glasses on. Since we tend to judge out of our own hearts, I had to get older and in need of glasses, at least to read, to fully understand that some of those folk who didn’t seem to recognize me, didn’t really even see me. I’m just saying, let’s cut one another some slack.

It’s so easy to do what these western tribes did and jump to the wrong conclusions and pass rash judgments on others.

The Pharisees in the New Testament were often guilty of that. Consider what Jesus said to them about this very subject in John 7:24.

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (NAS)

All of us have had some occasions in our lives when if people had judged us on the way things appeared we would have been in trouble. Things aren’t always as they seem. It’s far easier for me to recall the times when others have misjudged my motives and talked about me, than it is for me to remember the times when I have misjudged others and talked about them.

THE CONFRONTATION

To show the importance that was put on this situation, the 9½ tribes sent Phinehas the priest and 10 other leaders of the tribes to speak with the leaders of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. Phinehas started off with a full head of steam. Instead of listening to the 2½ tribes he began pointing out their failures.

The fact that the priest Phinehas was included in this delegation illustrated that this wasn’t mainly a political matter, the primary issue was spiritual. It was a highly charged moment for Israel. The eastern tribes were accused of breaking faith with God, building an altar in rebellion against God and the rest of the covenant nation.

Phinehas, as their spokesman said, "How could you turn your backs on God and break faith with Him and all the other tribes? You built this altar in rebellion to God. You know how God punished us all when one chose to sin. If the land you’ve chosen is unfit for worship, you can move over to the other side of the river with us. Just don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves."

How many of us would have responded well to Phinehas? Imagine someone walking up to you and saying, "Look here you backslider, what you have done is rebellion and sin.”

The strongest word used in his attack was the word, "rebel" which means to deliberately resist God’s will and disobey His law.

On the surface of the story, there seems to be one group which is very right and another group which is very wrong. At this point it seems like things are going to go sideways but what we’re getting ready to see is a model of skillful/ healthy conflict resolution.

If the 9½ hadn’t taken the time to talk to the 2½ they would have probably wiped out the 2½. The 9½ didn’t realize that the 2½ had built an alter for other reasons than the ones they [the 9½] had in mind. [Microsoft Word didn’t like that last paragraph and wanted it re-written. No way!] I’m just glad that the 2½ didn’t get defensive when confronted by the 9½. A good thing to remember is to do all possible to treat criticism as a friend not an enemy.

Proverbs 27:6 says; faithful are the wounds of a friend.

Back to our story -and Phinehas. Sometimes criticism is necessary but it produces stress for most of us. Yet some folk try to motivate people to do better by constantly criticizing them. It doesn’t work as a rule because people don’t feel they deserve it. When we set out to deal in a corrective manner , unless it’s someone directly under our authority, we’d better know what we’re doing, because as you know the person we’ve chosen to ‘set straight” at some point is going to at least make an effort to turn it around on us.

But the western delegation, showing they were honest brokers of peace, doesn’t only accuse and condemn, it makes a very generous offer. If the eastern tribes don’t think they can worship the Lord on the east side of the river, they can come and live on the western side of the Jordan. This would shrink the territory of all the other tribes. This was a marvelously generous thing to do. How were they able to make such an offer? It had to be because it had been discussed with Joshua and the other leaders before they left. In other words, as harsh as the confrontation seemed to be, there was a desire for restoration.

THE EXPLANATION

To their credit, the 2½ tribes responded in an extremely constructive way. They said; - "God Almighty knows what our motives were. He alone is to be praised. If we have done what you said we have done, then we deserve God’s punishment and more. But we didn’t build this altar to sacrifice here, or worship another God. We built this altar as a witness.” The 2½ tribes began by acknowledging a very important fact concerning the accusations made against them, - God knew the truth.

Stated negatively, they say they have not built an altar as an act of rebellion against God. Worded positively, they have built the altar as a replica of the altar before the Tabernacle at Shiloh, as witness to their commitment to keep worshipping at the tabernacle with all Israel, and as testimony of their continuing right to share in the Lord’s worship despite the river that separated them from one another. The altar stood for covenant unity, not division, for firm devotion to God, not for backsliding. The 2½ tribes had a lot of “splaining” to do and they did it from the heart. The eastern tribes focused their attention on God. They used three separate names for (God) in their response to the accusations. El the Mighty One , Elohim God, Yahweh the Covenant Lord.

The Eastern tribes utterly rejected all the accusations. In their oath of denial, they basically invited God to call them to account and encouraged Israel to put them to death if the charges leveled against them were accurate. We should be willing to listen before we rush to judgment.

What a tragedy it would have been for the 2½ tribes to have said, "We know we haven’t done anything wrong and we know what our motives are, and we don’t have to explain it to you."

When we love each other, we really do have to explain our motives and we have to be willing to accept the motives of others. This is at the heart of communication. If you often find yourself saying, - "I don’t have to explain myself,” there’s a good chance you’re walking outside of the will of God for your life, -and you’re choosing to destroy relationships.

THE RESOLUTION

When Christ is at work in our lives, we think less of ourselves and more of what’s best for everyone concerned

Each time we’re willing to say, "I’m sorry" we’re living out a little bit of the Spirit of Christ. These are words of repentance, and repentance means going in the opposite direction. The 9½ tribes went from being critical of the altar to understanding because they were willing to listen and acknowledge that their fellow Israelites had thought of something they hadn’t considered.

This incident with the 2½ tribes can teach us an important lesson. Sometimes we are inclined to fight battles that do not need to be fought. We just see two different ways of getting to the same place. Don’t take it personally that your plan was not chosen this time. If the goal is the same, and the end product is the same, then flow with the plan of others. - Even if you had the better plan. - It’s called teamwork.

Human nature being what it is there will be times when misunderstanding will occur even among Christians. The spirit and example from this chapter speaks of the proper way to resolve those clashes. You and I must be governed by our love for the Lord and we must be careful that we don’t quickly jump to conclusions about others without giving them the benefit of the doubt. In Israel’s case, a few honest, rational words prevented a civil war.

I’m not suggesting that we gloss over things which really matter, that’s equally wrong. The well-known Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, once put it in wonderful perspective when he said. .

"Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth."

The very fragile situation between these tribes ended happily. It ended well because the two groups were highly invested in truth, love and unity. They were intent on loving, walking, obeying, holding fast and serving God with all their hearts. Their commitment to be conscientious brokers of understanding and unity leaves you and me with a template to follow in our personal lives, our homes, and in our churches.

The 2½ tribes made a statement that blows me away. They told the other tribes;-“If we’re in sin, may God destroy us, because we don’t want to defile His name or hurt you.”

Love isn’t’ the absence of problems or differences. Love is a function of something higher, -our commitment -which is an act of our Will to seek one another’s’ highest good.


Blessings,


John

Things I Cannot Do

By John Stallings



1. I CANNOT FORGET WHO I AM


“Who do you think you are, anyway?”

I never did like that question. The reason I don’t like it is because it’s in the category of things that sound like a question- but isn’t. It’s a question that’s always asked when the “asker” thinks the “askee” thinks a little too highly of themselves. So knowing that, we know it’s not a question at all.

Care to hear a few more questions that are actually statements? Try this one. “And where have you been all day?” Now this question, it doesn’t matter who’s asking it, your parent or your spouse, is not—let me repeat-is not a question looking for an itinerary. What the “question” is telling you is—“Because you certainly weren’t where you were supposed to be—here!”

Here’s another one- one my mother probably asked me a thousand times; “So, Son, just how long are you planning on leaving your room in that condition—seeing that it runs contrary of the health laws of this state?”

Don’t- I’m telling you-don’t fall for that one. It isn’t a question. Heed this warning and don’t say-“Well, let’s see. Today’s Monday, Tuesday’s band practice, how about…” This sounds like a question but if you ever hear those words just remember, you’re not being asked for your schedule.

Here’s one for the married men; “Does this dress make me look fat?” Again, sounds like a question- but this is a test. Don’t hit that “tar-baby.” Husbands, learn to cry. Because at some point you’re gonna get cornered and the best thing you can do is weep these words, “Honey I really don’t know, but I do know I love you.” You’ve got to watch out for these questions that aren’t questions.

One more. “Sir, may I please see your license and registration?”

So going back to the original question, “who do you think you are” we clearly see it isn’t a question. The continuation of it would be, whether stated or not- “Because whoever you think you are, I want you to know I don’t think you’re that hot.” Trust me, this question, no matter who asks it, is never good news.

If you’re anything like me, when you’re alone with just your gut, you’ll ask yourself that question. “Really, who do I think I am?” When we have those times of introspection, often we’ll come face to face with ourselves and the masks we wear. We’ll find if we’re not careful the masks we put on to hide ourselves from others have been so effective- we don’t even know ourselves.

When we ask- “who do we think we are”- we could answer it from the point of view of the psychologist. They’ll tell us that who we are has a lot to do with something called the “genetic code.” Here’s something that a lot of folk use; -- “since my genes dictate the color of my eyes and hair and how crooked my teeth are, and to some extent my disposition and personality, I’ll just blame all my problems on my genes. It runs in my family.”

Our families will do a good job of telling us who we are. They’ll remark that you’re funny and you’re fun. They might also say they wish you’d have listened a bit more or that you are and have always been a holy terror. They might tell you that you are their most cherished possession or they may say you scare the beejeebers out of them. And there are always the teachers who’ll tell us we’re bright or that we’re average. Maybe they’ll say we’re just plain dumb, but they’ll tell us. Here’s the big one I always heard, “John has such potential, if he’d just apply himself a little more. [But he would not.”]

In the midst of all the influences, here we are in the corner staring into the middle of our soul asking the question-“Who do you really think you are? “When all these pieces of me come together, what’s the big picture?”

Knowing who we are is very important because if we don’t know, there are the voices of Ma and Pa, Jocks and Cheerleaders, Geeks and Jerks, Meatloaf Martha and Potato Salad Priscilla who’ll be glad to fill in the picture. If you’re not certain, those folks will be more than happy to tell you who you are or who you could be if you’d just…….

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

If we’re still confused we can just take a look at the things we’ve done or the things we do. We can look at our grades and try to claim some sort of identity through our scholastic achievements. If you are “ultra super cum laude” or valedictorian, you’ve got it made. Or flip it and be a school drop out. Don’t even try in life. Some people will try to claim some identity that way. Sadly, many people can’t tell who they “are” unless they’re high on some substance, and then they really know. Maybe getting pregnant will give some identity.

And none of these decisions we make by ourselves. There are the others, the advice, and the influences. Right? And there’s enough pressure in all of that to scare most of us to death. Here’s the tragic part. In this county alone, we perform at least ten funerals a day for teenagers who just can’t make it because the pressure of trying to discover who they are is just too overwhelming.

You and I can get some guidance from friends and family, strangers and enemies and everything others say about us may be exactly right. But hear this; whatever people say about us good or bad must be filtered through our core identity, -who we really are in essence. And that’s, -we are God’s creation and therefore God’s child and He’s never going to be mad at us, He’s too busy being mad about us. O, He won’t put up with too much “stuff” out of us, and He will probably take us to the woodshed now and then but He’ll always love and forgive us because we’re always and forever His Child. That’s who you are. That’s who I am. I cannot forget that!

2. I CANNOT ALLOW A FAILURE IN ONE AREA TO CONVINCE ME THAT MY LIFE IS A FAILURE.

Failure doesn’t mean that we’ve blown everything. It just means we have some hard lessons to learn.
Failure doesn’t mean we are permanent losers. It means we aren’t as smart as we thought we were.
It doesn’t mean we should give up. It means we need the Lord to show us the next step.
It doesn’t mean God has abandoned us. It means that He has a better plan.

I’d like to share with a story so shocking that we’re still talking about it 2000 years later. It’s the story of Simon Peter’s denial of Christ.

Peter was in charge of his failure.
Jesus was in charge of restoring him.

Behind this story lies a wonderful, liberating hope-filled truth assuring us that failure is an event not a destiny. This is good news because we all fail from time to time. If we’re prepared to be painfully honest we must admit we fail over and over again.

Those who’ve failed in a great way will truly appreciate this story. This story won’t greatly move you if you’ve only failed in a small way. But if you’ve known the shame of a large failure, then listen. This story is for you.

Failure, especially when we’ve failed someone we love deeply will set our mind into a swirl of emotions.

Embarrassment…Anger…Fear…Shame…Despair. We feel dirty and unworthy because we acted foolishly. When we have hurt someone we love deeply we want to know if they still love us or have we blown everything.

Will they forgive me?
Can I ever forgive myself?

As long as Peter lived he never forgot that terrible night he denied his Lord. Tradition says that he’d start weeping when he heard a rooster crow and that he’d wake up every night and pray during the hour when he denied the Lord.

How did Jesus restore His fallen disciple? The answer is;

1. HE SENT FOR HIM.

When the women arrived at the empty tomb on Sunday morning an angel announced the good news and instructed them to-“Go tell His disciples and Peter. Mark 16:7

Peter no doubt was wondering, “Who am I now? Am I a disciple or a traitor? That’s why Jesus asked for him separately to show He still held him in high esteem.

Peter had bragged about how brave he was and how he’d never desert Jesus but how wrong he was. Under pressure, the bold disciple turned to butter. But Jesus didn’t write Peter off and put him in the “biggest loser” category. Jesus still has plans for Peter, plans to use him, and plans to give him a second chance.

2. HE MET HIM

Where did Peter go after he denied Christ? We don’t know for certain. He probably spent the next hours in a miserable prison of self-imposed solitary confinement.

I’ve had failures and have made huge mistakes in my life and I can tell you when it happens we don’t want to be around people, especially the ones who know and love us best. Having let them down, it’s painful to see them. Sin isolates and separates us from God and from God’s people.

We aren’t told where Peter was during the crucifixion on Friday or during the burial that afternoon. We can guess that he retreated to some lonely spot to replay those awful memories in his mind and beat himself up again and ask, “Why? Why did I do it? What made me think I was so much better than the others? How could I have been so stupid?

Jesus made a special appearance to Peter sometime on Easter Sunday. We don’t know where or when precisely nor do we know how long the meeting lasted, but twice the New Testament says it took place. To wit;

It’s true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.—Luke 24:34

He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. 1 Cor. 15:4-5

This is especially heartening to me that Jesus met with Peter before he met with the rest of the disciples. Aren’t you glad that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?

What amazing grace. There will be no “Perp walk,” no public humiliation. Since Peter denied Christ, things must first be settled between the two of them. With wisdom and grace Christ comes to Peter and doesn’t wait for him to make the first move.

3. HE CHALLENGED HIM.

In John 21, not long after the resurrection, Peter and six other disciples have spent the night fishing. They end up catching nothing. In the morning a man calls from the shore telling them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they’ll catch fish. They end up catching so many fish they can’t haul them all in. When Peter realizes the man is Jesus he impulsively jumps in the water and begins swimming for shore. It turns out Peter and the disciples caught 153 fish by simply obeying Christ.

If Jesus was watching the disciples from the shore all night, why didn’t he speak up sooner? Why allow His men to toil for hours in frustration? The answer is;

THEY NEEDED TO FAIL

Failure was going to be the prerequisite to success. Let the night pass and the sun come up and these tired fishermen are ready to listen to the voice of the Lord. The Lord allows us to fail in our own strength so we may learn that only by His power we will ever succeed.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said; “Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.” [Sound like any televangelists you know?] The disciples needed to fail so they could learn to depend on God for their victories. Sometimes it takes shameful failure for us to finally wake up and see our need of the Lord.


4. HE REINSTATED HIM.

After breakfast was over Peter and Jesus took a walk together. That’s the part of the story we know best.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes Lord you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”-John 21:15-17


Peter had stood by one charcoal fire and three times he denied he ever knew Jesus. Now he stands with Jesus beside another fire and is given the opportunity to speak his love for Christ three times. Peter is finally restored by the Lord. Jesus didn’t make Peter feel guilty. He didn’t humiliate him publicly. He didn’t ask, “Are you sorry for what you did?” He doesn’t make him promise to do better. He just asks one question, “Do you love me?”

There’s a legend that Peter will meet us at the gates of heaven. While there’s no biblical proof of that, it would be appropriate for Peter to be there because he understood more than others what God’s grace really means.

In the light of this wonderful story of redemption of Simon Peter and the way his life was changed by the Lord, and his failure was forgiven, you and I cannot allow our failures to ever cause us to see ourselves as failures.

3. I CANNOT ALLOW MY DREAMS TO DIE- WHATEVER MY AGE.

Everyone needs dreams.

As someone has said, if you have no dream how will you ever have one come true. Dreams deliver us to a new reality when they come true. We need to follow our dreams, and never stop dreaming, though we reach 100 years of age.

In the book of second Kings the fourth chapter, there is a great story about just such an event. It’s called the story of the Shunammite woman and her son. Elisha passed by her home so often that she and her husband built a room or prophet’s chamber for him.

One day Elisha asked her how he could repay her for her hospitality. She replied that she had always wanted a child but her husband was now too old. Elisha gave her a word of prophecy that one year from that time, she and her husband would have a son. She reacted by telling the prophet not to lie to her, showing that her faith was weak in this area.

HER DREAMS DIED IN HER ARMS

None- the- less, in exactly one year the prophecy came true and she held a son in her arms. So now we have a dream that has come true for this woman. When the child got older he was with his father in the field one day and suddenly the boy ran to his dad complaining of pains in his head. They took him to his mother and horror of horrors, he died in her arms.

The woman immediately took her dead son, cradled him in her arms and went into the room she had built for the man of God, laying the lifeless child on the Prophet’s bed. So now, this woman has seen a dream come true, held the dream in her arms, then sees the dream, her son, die in her arms.

And what a wonderful woman this is. Look at all the great qualities she has. She’s a woman with a great sense of hospitality, and a great love for servants of God. After all she had her husband built the prophets chamber for Elisha. Certainly not a bitter woman.

Though she heretofore had been deprived of a child, she was still reaching out to others and loving them. Some women would have been so bitter that God had closed their womb they would never have wanted a man of God staying at their house. This woman must have had a right spirit, as she wanted to entertain God’s man in her home and help him in every way she could. There must have been an atmosphere of Faith and Godliness in this home. And now she has been given a miracle child, and that miracle is snatched from her arms.

Look at some of alternatives she had: this woman could go into a rage, start panicking and screaming and cursing, even cursing the God who had given her the gift and now so cruelly taken it from her. She could have gone on a tirade saying, “Well I quit. If that’s what God does to you, I want no more to do with him.” Some people blame God when bad things happen to them. I’ve seen folk who never again darkened a church door after life dealt them a disappointment similar to this. But you don’t see those kinds of hysterics with this woman. Instead, she tells her husband to tell the helpers to get a donkey ready for her. He reminded her that it was the Sabbath, but that didn’t seem to register with her, she was going to find Elisha.

Nothing would deter her. We’re not told how much trouble she had finding Elisha. It probably wasn’t all that easy, but she found him and when she found him at Carmel, she ran to him to tell him what had happened. When some people have trouble, they run from God, they stay out of church and hibernate. But this woman is going in the right direction. God is always the right direction.

When she found Elisha and told him what had happened, he was so sensitive to her need that he immediately sent his servant running ahead to place his staff on the child. Sadly, when this was done it failed to raise the boy.

The situation looked hopeless until Elisha arrived. He went into the room with the child and closed the door, stretching himself on the lad. When that failed to raise the child, he did it the second time and miraculously, the child came back to life.

What an amazing story, a story that would never have happened if the woman had not been a fighter. What if she had gotten so caught up in the finality of death that she collapsed in despair? What if she had let the discouragement of her husband stop her from going even if it was the Sabbath? She could have allowed a hundred things to divert her that day and her dream would have been over. She could have gotten mad at God for what seemed like a cruel joke played on her by granting her dream son and then taking him away. She could have even been angry enough at the man of God that she would never want to see him again. She could have said, “Well, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” She could have said, “Well I’m too old now to see another miracle, that’s it for me, after all, God works in mysterious ways.” But- The violent take it by force!

This story underscores the fact that just because a dream comes, doesn’t mean it can’t and won’t slip away. If it does, we must fight with everything within us to see it resurrected. There may be something in your life today that you need to fight for. Let me ask you about your dream, - how much do you want it? Are you going to give up without a fight? You may have laid your dream up on a shelf and it’s been there for years. It perhaps has grown dusty and parched with age. But I want to encourage you to take that dream off the shelf now and allow God to breathe life back into it. Do you believe it can happen? I know it can.

In Habakkuk, God told the prophet this: “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it .For the vision is yet for an anointed time but at the end it shall speak, and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come and will not tarry.”

The writing of the vision on tables speaks of the fact that sometimes while we wait; the vision or dream may fade. If it’s written on a table, it can always be read again and refreshed. Rarely when God gives a vision or dream does He give all the details of what will transpire before it comes to pass. Our challenge is to keep it close to our hearts and never let it go.

I cannot forget that. You cannot forget that.

Nothing can convince me to the contrary, our future holds-


RESURRECTED DREAMS!


Blessings,


John