Full of Grace

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

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

          Dangerous animals live in the rainforest. Anacondas, jaguars, and scorpions come to mind, but few have heard of the most dangerous of them all – stinging caterpillars.

          They’re everywhere! Once I was walking on a jungle trail when I brushed against some low hanging branches. A “chinicuru,” as the Indians call it, fell down my T-shirt and it rolled down my back leaving a raised, painful burn that lasted for hours. I really don’t like these things!

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

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

          Now, if I wanted to save that ugly worm, I could have reached my hand down and let it crawl up my finger to escape the danger. However, if I did that I would have gotten burned, twice! Once by the fire and once from that stinging caterpillar.

          But I would never do that. I’ve been stung too many times. Who would ever do that? The only one who could possibly do something like that would be the critter’s Creator. Saving it, He would allow it to transform into the beautiful moth that it was designed to be. But if the creator did that, He would have a love for the unlovely that would be so intense, you’d need a new word to describe it – let’s call it Grace.

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

Him who is from the Beginning

I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.

1 John 2:13

One of the few perks about being old is the right to say “been there, done that.” I went to school in the 1950's before ballpoint pens were invented and we still used fountain pens. I ate at McDonald's restaurants before they served 50 million and I remember the introduction of the Ford Mustang back in 1964. When young people today think these things have been around forever, I feel like him who is around from the beginning.

The Apostle John addressed the church fathers as the oldest and wisest men in the assembly. They had been around for a long time and could certainly teach the young people a thing or two. But John needed to remind them of their true sense of maturity; they knew Him who is from the Beginning.

The Lord Jesus was around before the wheel and the campfire was invented. He existed before the earth was formed and before the very first star got fired up. Before time began, there were no reference points to the universe, but things still happened back there. The angels, principalities, and powers were created and God sat on His throne. Christ was around back then too, but it is just called “Eternity past.”

When God finally got around to making matter and energy, time was invented simultaneously. The moment that happened is called “the Beginning.” Christ got the clock ticking. He was Him who is from the Beginning.

*see also 1 John 2:14; 1:1

Blessing

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

           "Blessing" has been defined as God’s favor and protection, but it’s more than that, even though it’s really hard to understand in this sin-cursed world. Sometimes, when I don’t understand something well, I look at its opposite and if I can comprehend that better, I just turn it around.

          A curse is the opposite of a blessing and after the fall, all of creation was cursed. Cancer, sickness, aging, and violence didn’t exist in paradise. Plants and animals were re-created to show the effects of the curse and since then, it’s been hard to focus on blessing.

          The jungle is a beautiful place with hundreds of species of orchids and a menagerie of colorful birds, but it’s exactly where I’d go to demonstrate the effects of the curse. There, most plants are poisonous, parasites are numbered in the thousands and all the bugs are big, and bite.

          In my opinion, the Bullet Ant is the personification of the curse. These terrible predatory creatures are just under an inch long and inflict a sting that is comparable to being shot with a bullet. On the 4 point Schmidt sting pain index, they are rated 4+. Someone on the internet described it as, “Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3 inch nail in your heal.” This description is a little melodramatic, but they nailed what it feels like.

          These ants are common in the jungle and wander alone so they are really hard to spot. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I really dislike these critters. One crawled up my pants leg and bit me three times before I could kill it. I hurt so bad that I couldn’t walk and had to crawl back to my house just using my hands.

          The extreme opposite of that is blessing. It is something planned for and perfected by God for the creation He formed in His own image. This is a far cry from having good luck or good fortune; it is everything good that God has given to a repentant sinner. The bottom line is this: Jesus Christ did not come into the world to bring us blessing …He is Blessing.

Fortress

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2

I’m really into castles though I’ve never really been to one. I’ve taken virtual tours online and checked out books from the library. Sometimes as a kid, I’d lie in bed at night and fantasize about owning a thick-walled castle. I’d pretend that the enemy would surround the place; they’d be yelling, screaming and shooting arrows, but I would be reclining in my four poster bed away in some high tower and then, I’d fall asleep.

King David had a thing for fortresses too, and they also helped him sleep at night. Five times in the Old Testament David calls God his fortress and then adds to that several other terms that communicate defensive positions. David wasn’t just paranoid; bad guys were really out to get him, but the bottom line was that he felt safe when he was close to God.

Living in a dangerous world, tragedy can come into everyone’s life at any time. Many people are afraid to leave their home or meet new people. Bound by fear, they are paralyzed to venture out past their comfort zone. They can’t be spontaneous; they’re too afraid of what might happen.

Believers who are “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10) have Christ as their fortress and “fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4). There is a peace and attitude of security, because they know that God is in control. Nothing, absolutely nothing can happen in the life of a child of God that isn’t His will. There’s great confidence in that. It enables us to live life to the fullest.

If, and when, bad things happen to good people, God is still in charge and allows this for a greater good. Scoffers mock God when this happens and say, “See, God can’t save you from harm!” The fact of the matter is that the Lord can and does protect His saints. The mockers will never understand the peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7), because they have never even spent one day in the security of Jesus the Fortress.

  

Cover from the Tempest

A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, ....
Isaiah 32:2

They call it a rainforest for a reason. By definition, a jungle receives over 100 inches of rain a year. Where we lived in Ecuador, S.A. we got 200. Down there we had a rainy season and a rainier season. Actually, it rained every day. During rainy season it would rain 15-30 minutes per day and during January and February it might rain all day long for days at a time.

The jungle people went barefoot or wore plastic boots. They often used Elephant Ear leaves as umbrellas or covered themselves with a six foot square piece of plastic sheeting. Nobody likes staying out in the rain, so even native South Americans sought cover from the tempest. They generally stayed in their thatched huts while it rained and wove baskets or made hammocks.

We had sheets of galvanized roofing on our house which didn't have to be replaced as often as the woven palm branches of the Indians' houses, but the metal roof was much noisier in a storm. The sound would keep visitors from the United States awake at night, but I found it to be relaxing. The steady pouring of the rain drowned out the harsher noises of life and it was a great calming effect to realize that I was dry and warm inside while the wind, rain, and cold were on the other side of the wall. Many, many nights, I fell asleep listening to the falling rain.

Jesus is like that. There is the feeling of safety and security while abiding in Him. The storms of life and winds of time wear a body down, but enjoying fellowship with Christ dissolves the stress and calms the soul. He is the believer's hiding place from the wind, and Cover from the Tempest.

Just and the Justifier

To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:26

          Many years ago my family lived in a small Quichua village in Ecuador SA. Our house was separated from a Christian school by a short path that ran about 500 feet through the jungle. I’d make the trip from home to school several times a day and even our two year old son, Stephen, would often go back and forth.

         
         Once as I was studying in my office, I heard my son give off a horrifying scream, I instantly knew what was happening. Ants!!

         

I ran as fast as I could and saw him standing in a swarm of army ants. I picked him up and immediately started ripping off his clothes as I ran back to the house. As soon as I touched my son, the ants started biting me too, but that didn’t matter. Those ants could kill a toddler, but I planned on hurting them more than they hurt me. We bathed my boy in cold water and then he cried himself to sleep, but he was safe.

         

The next day, I went out with a five gallon can of gasoline and poured the liquid down every ant hill I could find around our house. When I lit one hill, I could hear the flames moving back and forth under the ground and then a plume of flame would shoot up from another entrance. I could hear the fire working its destruction under my feet. I know that I killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of ants that day, but I felt no remorse and no pity. Those ants had attacked and could have killed my son! They tried to hurt me! They were not going to hurt my family again. What I did was just.

         

My justice protected my loved ones, but nearly wiped out the offending creatures. If I had love for the ants and could speak their language, maybe I could have warned them of the fiery judgment that was coming. If I could have saved them from their destruction, I would have been their justifier, because I would have given them a way to escape. Of course, that part didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean that what I did wasn’t just.

         

The Lord Jesus Christ is both Just and the Justifier of the believers. He not only has judged sin, but has also taken that judgment on Himself so that His people can escape the wrath of God to come. 

Him who is True

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:20*

Many years ago, when I was suffering from a case of buyer’s remorse, a wise man told me, “Salesmen are a part of everyone’s practical education.” They teach you not to believe everything people say and or trust that they have your best interest at heart.

Over the years, I’ve been scammed by telemarketers and have bought things on the internet that weren’t as described. However, the worst are the “free downloads” for checking for computer viruses. With one click, I once added dozens of pop-ups, malware, and advertisements, but was told that I could get rid of them all for $29.99. The result of this practical education is that I never do business over the phone, nor do I download anything from the internet. It seems that you can’t trust anyone anymore.

Salesmen, politicians, advertisers, and even preachers often lie or twist the truth to gain advantage over people. At that point, I can only trust Him who is True. I can believe Christ’s promises and the Word of God. When I’m in doubt, I go over in my head what I know for sure.

I know for sure, sin is destructive. No good ever comes from pornography.

I know for sure, the love of money is the root of all evil. I don’t need get rich schemes.

I know for sure, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I don’t need to glorify myself.

I know for sure, I should owe no one anything but love. I don’t want the loan “I deserve.”

I know for sure, trials and tribulations are part of the Christian life. I reject the health and wealth gospel.

Lord Jesus, you are the only One I can trust, because you are He who is True.

*see also Revelation 3:7

Sanctification

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:30

Today’s title is an extremely important one, even though I don’t remember ever hearing anyone preach on it. Jesus not only became our redemption and justification, He is also our sanctification.

Too many Christians today are still spiritual babies. They’ve been attending church for years, so they should be ready to teach others – aint gonna happen! Most don’t have enough doctrine in their head to fill a thimble, and far too few could even give a definition of sanctification, must less tell you how it applies to Christ.

During the summer, I teach grade school kids at Christian camps. When I ask them who knows how to spell “sanctification” all the home-schoolers raise their hands. So my job is to teach the public school kids. I lift up my hand and one by one put up a finger as I spell “sanctification: C-L-E-A-N, sanctification.” I’ll do this three or four more times during the lesson and when I’m finally done, the public school kids have gotten it. The home school kids on the other hand, just want to argue with me that the word starts with an S followed by a whole bunch of letters.

The Apostle Paul describes a long list of nasty lifestyles that typify those who are not going to heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). He then goes on to say: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God.”

There is no way that we can save ourselves. It’s a miracle and the Lord has to do it. In the same way, we can’t clean up our own act. Christ has to do that too. The grace that saves is the same grace that transforms a person from self-destructive behavior. Jesus is not only our Savior, He’s our “Sanctification: C-L-E-A-N, sanctification.”

Babe

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2:16*

 When my family lived in Ecuador, S.A., Christmas was a big deal, especially in the underdeveloped rural area where we lived. There, the people were so poor that no one got presents, but each school child in the country received a small bag of candy sent in from the governor of each province. Christmas there was not December 25, but whatever day the grade-schoolers had their program and the goodie-bags were handed out.

In the jungle, the schools almost always presented a living Nativity. An open front thatched roof hut was made with bamboo poles. The stable was full of animals (chickens, turtles, monkeys, iguanas, and dogs). School children played the roles of Mary, Joseph, angels, wise men, and shepherds and the school teachers surveyed the parents to find a suitable “volunteer” for baby Jesus.

The babe that was chosen usually was a newborn wrapped in swaddling. This not only served as a diaper, but the tightly wound length of cloth made the infant feel secure so he’d sleep for hours. The new candidate for baby Jesus was laid in a box of fresh banana leaves, where he lay quietly until the commotion of the program was over. He was supposed to be the main attraction of the day, but was almost forgotten when candy was given out.

Bethlehem’s Babe is also often overlooked with all the distractions of the holiday season. The focus of Christmas day is usually under the tree and not in the manger, where the Savior of the World was laid, where the incarnate God was sleeping. Angels announced Him as Christ the Lord and shepherds worshipped before Him. He was Immanuel, God with us, in the body of a Babe.

*see also Luke 2:12

Counselor

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called[…] Counselor….
Isaiah 9:6

As my boys grew up I would tell them Bible stories of David and his mighty men, hoping that this would encourage them to become men of God and get across the necessity of faith and courage or at least that’s what I had in mind.

 In eighth grade English class, one of the boys was studying heroes and was given a writing assignment to tell of something heroic that he wanted to do. He began his paper “I want to kill 1,000 men.” He went on to tell about standing up to great odds like David’s mighty men and doing what was right in the face of danger, but that didn’t matter. The teacher read the first sentence and then marched my boy off to the guidance counselor’s office and for the next five years, he had to make regular visits there even after moving on to high school.

Although the whole situation was misinterpreted, I do understand it. There are a lot of mixed up people in our world today and counselors are there to help work through those issues so they don’t self-destruct or hurt others. Human counselors are limited in how much real help they can offer. Those taking anger management classes or addiction seminars usually repeat these courses many times.

 Jesus Christ is the great Counselor and can set people free from the emotional pretzels they get twisted into. Grief, anger, depression, drug and alcohol addictions, and doubt can produce physical and emotional pain that robs people of joy and peace. Christ came to this world to take away the burdens that weigh people down. By coming to Jesus in prayer, people are able to cast all their cares upon Him

Everyone who is overloaded with anxiety can find help for their souls in the heavenly Counselor. No appointment necessary.

  

Great Light

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

Isaiah 9:2

The Lord Jesus is not a candle in the night; He’s a floodlight, searchlight, beacon, lighthouse – Great Light. That’s a lot of light, because there’s a lot of darkness out there. Since people stumble around in the blackness and live under the shadow of death all their lives, a lot of light is needed to take care of everybody’s problems.

It’s really surprising how often Christ is associated with light. He is, after all, the brightness of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3), the Dayspring (Dawn) from on high (Luke 1:78), and the Morning Star (Revelation 2:28). Add to this that He is the Light that shines in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19) and three times in the book of Revelation it says that the glorified Christ has eyes that are flames of fire. Yes, that’s lots of light.

Once I was driving on a country road on the desert of New Mexico when my oil light went on. Those were the days long before GPS told you exactly where you were and at that time I had no clue which way to go. I knew I passed a town about twenty miles back, but I could see the glow of something on the horizon. It was the city of Roswell about ten miles ahead. Eventually a car passed me to help, but the point I am trying to make is that the distant city lights let me know where I was and that I wasn’t alone in the desert. I had seen a great light.

           The verse above in Isaiah comes before the famous Christmas verse about a Child being born and a Son being given. It gives the context of why the Savior came to this world to redeem mankind. The human race was lost, scared, and groping around in darkness. He came to bring hope, direction, and a Great Light.

Him Who Knew No Sin

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

Babies sin because it’s their nature. No one needs to teach them how to lie, steal, or destroy; they are born with that ability. In fact, one of my son’s first word was a lie. He had recently turned one and still wasn’t walking or talking but he could crawl everywhere, stand up on his own, and understand lots of words.

 As my wife was cleaning one of the bedrooms, she noticed that the house was strangely silent and the toddler was nowhere to be seen. As she moved towards the kitchen, she called out, “Stephen, are you touching the stove?”

There were very few “no-no’s” in the house, but that was definitely one of them. The one year old was defiantly touching the stove and began looking around to see if Mom was around. When he couldn’t see his mother, he assumed that she couldn’t see him so he proudly answered, “No!”

The sin nature might raise a chuckle when seen in a small child, but it gets very ugly, very quickly and it is not a condition that cures itself. That old nature has to die and a new nature has to come in to replace it, if sin is to ever lose its power over us.

Christ never had that addiction to sin. He certainly knew what sin was, but had no desire to do it. He was sinless by nature, so on the cross he swapped rap sheets with humanity. He gave mankind a clean slate and took on Himself trillions of terrible sins which he paid for with His death.

Coming to the Lord Jesus in faith means that the power sin has over sinners is broken and a new desire to live in God’s will is given to those who earlier were habitually self-destructing. They are changed all because of Him who knew no sin. 

Fountain

For with You is the fountain of life…
Psalm 36:9

Several years ago, one of my boys gave me a small, ceramic fountain for Christmas. It was in the image of a mountain scene with water moving from a top pond out a three inch water fall into a second pool and dropping another short distance into a third little lake. The sound of it was relaxing, so I kept it in the corner of my office and let it run, non-stop. However, the work of recycling a pint of water hundreds of times a day was too much for the little electric pump, so it burned out within a year.

This experience made me appreciate the engineering of ancient foundations that had no moving parts, operated using gravity and kept running for centuries. Some fountains in Athens and Corinth operate from aqueducts and date back to the 6^th Century B.C. and there is evidence that the Sumerian culture had them as early as 2000 B.C..

David plainly understood the fountain principle of a well-spring of water shooting up and giving life and energy. The prophet Zechariah also used a fountain analogy to foreshadow the Messiah: “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1). The image presented is God’s abundant, overflowing provision to cleanse His people from the contamination of sin which was made available by Christ’s sacrificed death on a cross.

In the New Testament, Jesus asked for a drink of water from a Samaritan woman He met at the well in the town of Sychar. He explained to her: “…Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13-14).

Only Christ can satisfy and fill the thirsty soul, because He alone is the Fountain of eternal life.

Head of the Body

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18

Heads are basic equipment on animal bodies. Fleas, microscopic dust mites, and even earth worms all have heads, although they may be hard to see. The head is the controlling force in all of God’s creatures great and small. The head is connected to the various systems by way of nerves, so it can regulate the heart, lungs, and muscles. Millions of bits of information are sent back and forth from the head every second to different parts of the body.

The Lord Jesus is Head of the body, the church. That certainly means that He is in charge and over the church, but the title is used to show that the church is more like an organism (a living thing) than an organization.

The human perspective views the church more in terms of the structure and hierarchy of an institution. This concept was vividly illustrated for me in a mural painted on the back wall of the Catholic cathedral in the town of Banos in Ecuador, South America.

          At the bottom of the fresco a poor peasant farmer is seen holding a rosary and kneeling before a priest. Behind him are much bigger beads of a huge rosary that forms a circle around the enormous painting. The background rosary connects the viewer’s eyes from the priest to a bishop and from a bishop to a cardinal and then the pope. As the rosary beads continue around they connect to the saints and then to the Virgin Mary and then finally to Jesus. Viewing this made me so sad, because the lesson that was being taught was that there is a lot of bureaucracy needed to get to the Lord. But the worst part was that, in portraying Christ at the end of the line, He looked more like the tail than the head.

Our Savior is the Head of the Body so is connected directly to each part. In my human body, if my little finger is cut, a message is sent directly to the brain. It doesn’t go to the hand, then the wrist, then the arm, then to the shoulder. The head is aware of what’s happening all over the body and coordinates the parts to work together.

Deliverer

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…
Psalm 18:2*

Cowboys, such a big part of my childhood in the 1950’s, have almost disappeared from the American entertainment culture. If I mention such cowboy icons as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and Hoppalong Cassidy to a young person today, I just get stares. Back then, television and movies were all family oriented and all the best programs were westerns.

One theme that I’ve seen repeated many times in “cowboy pictures” is the last minute rescue by the army. Story lines would vary slightly, but towards the end of the episode, the hero with a small band of companions would be surrounded and outnumbered 100 to 1 by a tribe of renegade Indians. When things were hopeless and the movie star had only two bullets in his gun, you’d hear a bugle call and hundreds of blue-shirted soldiers would ride over the hill on their horses to save the day. That led to the expression “Here comes the cavalry!” which was commonly used to apply to any unexpected solution to a difficult problem.

King David was a warrior and he could defend himself well from the top of a mighty rock or a strong fortress, but he also knew that sometimes the battle became so overwhelming that the only thing that could help was reinforcements. God was not only David’s strength and shield, He was his Deliverer.

Life gets rough and often nothing seems to go right. Smart people have insurance policies for those hard times. However, experienced people also know that sometimes even the best contingency plans don’t work and things can still continue to fall apart. It’s at those times you feel helpless and say “Lord, please help me out of this mess! --Just one more time!” The only thing that can turn hopelessness around is a Deliverer.

The Apostle Paul was referring to Christ while he was quoting from the Old Testament: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins" (Romans 11:26,27). When troubles look their darkest, we can cry out to God and Jesus will come charging down from heaven to deliver us one more time.

*see also Psalm 40:17, 70:5, 144:2 plus five other verses

Firstfruits

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20

          I really enjoy growing a garden and I’m not really sure even why. Most years, my actual harvest is miserable and the other years I get nothing at all. I’ve had my garden trampled down by boys playing hide-and-go-seek at night and normal 110 degree Kansas summers are very hard on vegetables. When I do get a tomato plant to flower and produce fruit, I do everything I can to see that it reaches maturity. I go out every day and watch the tiny ball slowly getting bigger, then finally turn pink. I know that soon and very soon, I’ll be able to pick and eat that very first tomato. I don’t even like tomatoes that much, but a harvest of satisfaction is more than the sum of my work, time, and anticipation. It is the thrill of watching life begin, grow and become fruitful.

          Over the years, I’ve been able to strike terror in the hearts of my sons, so they know that the very first red tomato is Papa’s. They can have any and all of the rest, but that first fruit is mine.

          When God brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land, He made it very clear to them that the Land was His. They could use and enjoy it, but they were to bring Him an offering of the firstfruits every year. God gave them the land, the rain, and the increase, so the first part of every harvest was God’s.

          It was an act of faith to give God the firstfruits because once given, there was no guarantee that the rest of the crop would be harvested. A hail storm or plague of locusts could destroy all the rest. However, obedience was the best guarantee of God’s blessing and to not give God His portion was stealing from the Almighty.

          Jesus is the Firstfruits of those who would be resurrected from the dead. Christ is dedicated to God and serves as a harbinger (promise of good things to come) for believers who are awaiting the resurrection from the dead and eternal life.

Stone of Stumbling

He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 8:14

          Wichita, Kansas was a wild west town that was settled in the area just north of where the Big and Little Arkansas rivers come together. Like most of Kansas this area is flat and since it lies between two rivers, the sandy ground is about 40 ft. deep on top of the bedrock. This was great for a pioneer settlement because it meant that the water table wasn’t deep and wells could be easily dug in the soft soil.

          The section of the city with these cowboy roots is called Old Town and we own a house there that is now 110 years old. It’s not on any historical register, but it is certainly on the city inspector’s radar for old buildings he wants to keep his eye on. On one such inspection every house on the block got a notice to repair their sidewalks. Shifting sands under the surface had made them buckle and the city declared them dangerous. They were stones of stumbling and the powers in charge told us to remove them.

          The Lord Jesus is and always has been a stumbling block to those who reject Him. They find Him offensive, distasteful, politically incorrect, and intolerable. They want Him gone from their sight and their hearing. They’ll use legal action if necessary to remove this nuisance.

          Churches and individual Christians are being sued in record numbers because enemies of the cross of Christ find it profitable to bring those who would desire to live godly to financial ruin. They want anything promoting the Savior removed from the public square. They won’t walk around it, they want Him totally out of sight, because Christ Jesus is their Stone of Stumbling.

*see also Romans 9:32,33; 1 Peter 2:8

Sure Foundation

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: " Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Isaiah 28:16

Our home is built about 100 feet in front of a one acre man-made lake. The house itself is about six feet higher than the water to prevent flooding. In order to get that elevation several dump truck loads of fill dirt were brought in. All was done according to the architect's plan, however, over the years the ground settled and the porch has started moving away from the rest of the house.

The main house has a very deep foundation and is in good shape. The slab for the porch, however, was just poured over the tampered ground, so never really had a sure foundation. The porch has gradually pulled away from the rest of the house, leaving a 2 inch gap. I’ve filled in the crack with caulking and concrete but basically have only hidden the problem rather than fix it. To really fix it, I would need to tear out the porch and put in a new foundation.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the sure foundation for those who choose to build their lives on faith in Him. The Savior remains firm even though shifting sands of modern society  pull down the foolish ones who built their lives on the goals and values of popular opinion.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said

Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

“Keen” 1787

Light of Men

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:4

          Most Americans aren’t into cartoons as they used to be. When I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s, most homes subscribed to both a morning and afternoon newspaper. In the back of the last section would be forty or so different comic strips. It’s safe to say that the “funnies” were the how and why I learned to read. They also taught me how to recognize and interpret symbols.

         

If a comic strip character had smoke coming out of his ears, he was angry; if there was a series of Z’s over his head, then he was asleep. When there was a light bulb in a bubble over his head, it was clear that the figure had an idea.

         

Actually, I’ve seen this scenario played out in real life during my forty years as a teacher. Every now and then, I presented a lesson to a classroom of bored students, when someone actually got what I was teaching! It’s very noticeable. Their eyes lit up as if a light bulb turned on in their head. They were truly enlightened. There is even a term for this in pedagogy. It’s called an “Aha moment.”

         

The Lord Jesus Christ is the light of men in a world of spiritual darkness. Just as sightless people don’t have a clue about color or sunsets, the unregenerate are clueless about righteousness and judgment. The god of this age has blinded them who do not believe, so they can’t see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). However, that veil of deception can come down and the light of God’s holiness can come into even the darkest hearts. Through the years, I’ve seen many people come to know Christ as Lord and Savior and I can testify that there is no greater Aha moment then when someone realizes that their sins are forgiven and they have eternal life. A great spiritual light bulb turns on in their soul when the Light of Men comes into their lives.

Rock that is Higher than I

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psalm 61:2

David cried out to God when he felt afraid. Yes, big bad David, the giant killer, felt overwhelmed at times, but He took comfort in something much bigger than himself.

As strange as it might seem, I totally get what David is saying here; been there, done  that. Many years ago, I had my own secret place that no one but God and I knew about. It was my own rock that is higher than I.

Sometime during my college years, I was walking along the Chagrin River in a park just east of Cleveland, Ohio when I came upon an interesting geological formation. A huge rock, maybe 25 feet high and at least that much wide, had broken off from the cliff face behind it. A space ranging from 3-6 feet was behind it. Front and backsides of the enclosure went straight up, giving the impression of a well-lit cave. I fell in love with the place as soon as I found it and since it was really hard to see that it was anything special, few would ever find it. I scooped up candy wrappers and cigarette butts from the floor so that I could pretend that no one else in the world knew about it and I gave it a name: “Castle Rock.”

It was really peaceful there. I could be alone with my God and just think and pray. At the end of summer, just before both my junior and senior years began, I was really stressed. College had become progressively more challenging and I was afraid that I wasn’t going to make it. I was overwhelmed, so I would go up to Castle Rock (I even took lunch once) to cry out to God and find peace.

The last time I visited there was almost 50 years ago. If I went back there, I know I’d find it again (assuming my knees would hold up on the trail). That monolith isn’t going anywhere and that’s why I felt so secure hiding behind it.

In the years that followed, I never found any other place that was quite as special, but I’ve had the same feeling of tranquility many times since then. Now, I just take shelter in Jesus. He’s my Rock that is higher than I.