Whoever Believes in Me May Not Remain In Darkness

John 12:44-46 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever see me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

My life is so much easier since purchasing the GPS for the car. It makes going to places I am not familiar with so much easier. I can punch in the address and just follow the directions. If there is a detour I can reroute around it. And if I take the wrong turn it will let me know I have done so by politely saying “recalculating”.

There are times in life where having a voice to let us know we have strayed off the path. The “recalculating” voice would be very nice. 

There is much uncertainty in how we go about our everyday lives. For example, should I take another job. This is a good example where we may worry about it being the right thing to do career wise, or for our families, or any number of other considerations. In our professional lives sometimes we have a mentor to go to that can provide us with the advice we need to make an informed decision.  We may have the blessing of parents to go to for advice on what to do in a certain situation. Failing that, we may have trusted friends we can use as a sounding board for our ideas. There is also one source of guidance that is instantly available to us. Using prayer we can go to the Lord. The words of our Lord from John 14:12-13 gives us direction and comfort. Jesus is going to the Father and whatever we ask in His name He will do.  We have our GPS, and we have the Spirit as our comforter. We have all the tools to stay on track. But we have to use them. But I would offer a word of caution. And it revolves around how often prayer is used, and when it is used. Are you in the habit of following the philosophy of when all else fails, then pray?  I have to admit I am guilty of that one too often. Or are you infrequent in your prayer?  Life can divert our attention from having time to pray if we do not make it a priority in life.  Some of us try to establish a routine that helps keep us on track with prayer. But what happens when there is a break in the routine? It can throw a person off track. We use prayer to seek our God on a personal level. We do so frequently so that we establish a relationship and dialogue with the Father. We do this often so that we can discern to voice of the Lord over the clamor of the world around us. That world that would seek to distract us, drive us off the path Christ would have us follow. We keep in prayer to drive out the darkness of this world that would surround us and keep us in a perpetual state of confusion and turmoil.  We see the Father through Jesus just as he promised. We reach out to Him in the name of Jesus. In closing, let me ask you this one question. Have you heard the “recalculating” voice in your prayers lately?

PRAYER: Almighty God, You created all things, and blessed Your children with the gift of prayer. All too often we are distracted, and diverted from prayer. We forget that You are anxiously seeking a relationship with us through prayer and study of Your Word. Help us Father in keeping on track. Guide us in our daily lives. Instill in each of us a strong faith to overcome the distractions that divert our attention from You. This we ask in the name of Your Son who with the Father and the Spirit are one God, now and forever. Amen

The Light Is Among You

John 12:35-36 so Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of the light.”

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.

Have you ever been in the dark about something.  It is that state which can politely be called “without knowledge.” Or more crassly it is known as being ignorant of a situation. As parents, we can be in this position. As a Father and husband I seem to be in the dark a lot.

“The one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.” These words from Jesus give us a glimpse into more than just stumbling around in a dark room stubbing your toes on objects hidden by the darkness. It obvious meaning, to those who understand what was really meant, is if you do not know Jesus then you are in the dark and you are lost. Believers know that Christ is the light we must follow. He illuminates our path, and guides us on this path. His caution to the listeners at the time was his time left among them was drawing to a close. And that they should draw near while they had the opportunity. If they did not, they risked being lost when the coming darkness overtook them. He had preached on the great tragedy that would befall the Jerusalem and his desire was for the body of believers to not be caught up in the tragedy. But, what about us today?  Does this same message still apply? I have to say most definitely yes! When we are in community with Christ as believers through worship, study, and prayer we have the light with us to guide us, protect us, and sustain us. When we walk in the light, we are in unity with Christ. When we step outside the light we can quickly become lost in the world full of distractions, diversions, and temptations. The sinful world beckons to us all the time. It has the call of a Siren’s song that will lead many to run aground on the shoals of sin, death and despair. But we have a beacon in the night that guides away from the perilous rocks and shallows. Death happens for those who run aground. Life happens, life eternal happens for those who walk in the light.  And staying in the light is what it is all about. While we live in the light, we believe in the light and are sons and daughters of the light.

PRAYER: Lord and Giver of Life and Light, keep us firmly in Your light. Light our path lest we fall into darkness. Guide us in your truth, that we would be set apart and holy. Our desire O God is to walk in the light of Your Son, our Savior. Keep us firmly planted on that path and in Your love. This we ask in the name of the light who was with us and stays with us through our lives, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Continued to Bear Witness

John 12:17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the dead continued to bear witness.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one…  That line is often the precursor to a story that has been told over, and over, and over, etc. And sometimes, although not very often, the story teller is sincere and wants you to stop them if you have already heard the story. But mostly it is a pro forma and not a sincere warning. You are going to hear it again, and again, and again.  Hopefully it is a story worth hearing over and over. Like a story about Jesus and not a joke about a priest, a rabbi, and a pastor.

The marvel of the John 12:17 passage is that this crowd was following him around because Jesus had called Lazarus from the grave. Lazarus walk again amongst the living. That is why the crowd was following him. How incredibly ironic it is that the greatest part of Jesus’ ministry was yet to come. It would be Jesus himself who would be called from the grave.  WOW! These people could not have had a clue. Here was Jesus walking, talking, preaching, healing and they thought that this was as good as it was going to get. If they only knew the rest of the story. You may remember Paul Harvey and his “The rest of the story” programs. The lead in part was what would draw you in to listen.  But the best part was the other half of the story. That part where wondrous things happened in a person’s life like going from an obscure childhood to fame and/or fortune.  The Jesus story is just that kind of story. If you were there, and saw his earlier miracles, you missed “the rest of the story.” When we share the story of Jesus with friends, family, and those who do not know about Christ we have the opportunity to tell the whole story. The story laid out in scripture, summarized in the Apostles Creed or Nicene Creed, or even the Athanasian Creed. The miracle birth to a virgin, healing the sick and lame, or even driving out demons are just some of the high points. He also had 12 disciples who seemed to never learn what they needed to learn. The teacher was very patient. He had no choice, he was not on his time. He was working to the Father’s timeline. And those following him had no idea what to come was the most important part. They thought they had seen all there was to see, and they shared those experiences. But the best was yet to come.

So, how does this relate to you and I? We know the rest of the story. We know the whole story. And we know that we are asked by a loving God to share that whole story. Who do you know that does not know the whole story? Who do you know that has yet to grasp the truth about Jesus? And lastly, what are you doing, or going to do to continue to bear witness? These area questions you need to ask yourself. Pray is needed to arrive at the correct answer. But make no mistake my friends. You need to ask yourself those questions. How else can you determine the best way to continue to bear witness for Christ? His whole story needs to be told.

PRAYER: Father, Abba, thank You for the whole story of Jesus. Thank you for the part of His life that extends to us poor sinners everlasting life. Thank You for the grace You have showered upon us. Thank You for the faith given by Your Holy Spirit. And thank You for the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. For without his sacrifice, we would all be lost to sin. We offer this prayer of thanksgiving in Jesus name. Amen.

“The Very Stones Would Cry Out”

Luke 19:39-40 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke you disciples.” He answered “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Have you ever had a bit of news that if you did not share it you would explode.  Something of importance, on some level, that you just could not keep bottled up inside. There are those among us who have a problem with that. The real problem is, that if the news detracts from the character of someone that they feel more desire to share the ugly story. Often we all are placed in that situation. When deciding to share news, we ought to first look at whether someone is being elevated by what we have to share. If not, then what is the purpose in sharing the news. If it does not serve the Lord, why share it?

The passage from Luke 19 above is one which gives me pause to stop, contemplate, and pray. “The very stones would cry out” are powerful words.  These are perhaps, for me personally, some of the most powerful words in the Bible.  Do not get me wrong, there are others just as if not more powerful. But each of us will find inspiration and motivation in different parts and different words. That is just how we are “wired”. The Spirit works within us with different gifts for one purpose. We serve the Lord. That is our purpose, our mission, our focus. The crowd was letting anyone within hearing distance know that Jesus was the King.  This obviously did not sit well with the Pharisees. It was news they did not want to hear. It was news they were rejecting. It ran against what they were teaching and professing. And so they were doing what they felt was appropriate to silence the crowd. But, that just was not going to happen. When we today look back at the activities of the crowd in the Luke 19 passage above, how does it reflect on our world today and our ministry to others? We are surrounded by those who would silence us. They would have us whisper, or be silent about Jesus Christ being Lord. They would prefer we stay inside our church buildings and not be publicly proclaiming the Gospel.  And make no mistake, there is a deliberate and aggressive effort to do just that. Satan does not want the truth of the Gospel to be shared. He has no interest what so ever in saving lives through Christ. In fact just the opposite is the case. He will use whoever, and whatever means to silence you, and I, and anyone else that would share the love of Christ with those who need to hear the Good News. There is too much at stake to shrink from our calling. So ask yourself, will the stones have to speak for the truth to be know, or will you become a participant?  The world waits for you and I to do our part.

PRAYER: Lord and Giver of Life, You and You alone are God. There is no other like You. In You alone we place our trust. Give us words to speak. Show us where we need to be heard. Guide us with Your light, that light of Christ to be the strong witnesses You need us to be. Help us to remember the reason for sharing the love of Your Son is that we were first loved. We ask this boldy in the strong name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Blessed Is He

Matthew 21:8-9 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

I remember a time, a few years back, when I was providing technical support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The company I worked for at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) had a contract to provide assistance to state and local agencies in emergency planning around nuclear power plants.  I was introduced at a meeting as being with the Iowa National Laboratory. I came up with a witty reply about “Idaho is the other Iowa.” Who we represent is important as well as how we represent them.

Who we represent in our Christian walk is very important.  As we live our lives outside of the church we worship at every Sunday, we are constantly being judged.  Our actions, our life styles, our interactions with others, and our compassion are prominently on display. We live our lives under a microscope.  Some of those examining us will be looking for the negative. Others will be looking for the positive.  In each case they will leap to judge us and hold in esteem, or ridicule, the one we represent. That is of course Jesus.  If we profess to be dedicated followers of Jesus Christ, how can we justify living a life that stands in stark contrast to the life of Christ?  Therein lies the conundrum for Christians.  We know we are not saved by our actions. We know that we are not perfect. We know that we are saved by grace through faith. And yet, those on earth we are to minister to and guide to be disciples of Christ will hold us to a standard of perfection.  So, what are we to do?  We should accept grace, and keep trying to be better. We strive to be better for all the right reasons. We strive to love others because we were first loved by the Son of God. We strive to reach out to others because the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20 calls us to that noble task. We do what we can, examining how we can do better, more effective, more capable. But we do these things with a profound sense of freedom because our salvation does not rest upon our efforts. But the salvation of those who do not know Christ may rest upon what we do. That is our inspiration. And our efforts are blessed when we come in the name of the Lord. The Lord is our guide, our inspiration, our strength and our refuge. We should not be disheartened, rather encouraged. So brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s go in peace and serve the Lord.

PRAYER:  Almighty God, we ask for you peace, and blessings today, and every day. As we go about our world serving You, we ask for Your guidance and blessings in all that we do. We ask that You would lead us where You know we need to go. We ask that our efforts would be fruitful. We also ask for Your peace that surpasses all understanding when we face difficulties. Strengthen us Dear Lord. This we ask in the name of Your Son, who with the Father and the Spirit are One God, now and forever. Amen.