Proverbs 25:21-22 – “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22 For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”  NKJV

It is a difficult thing in the realm of human emotions to extend a hand of love to someone who has set out to hurt you or has hurt you.  I’ve had Church people tell me, “I don’t get mad I get even.”  I had a preacher tell me, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times and I’ll destroy you.”  He felt that he was following the directive of the Lord to turn the other cheek and once he had turned both cheeks he was at liberty to take matters into his own hand and respond in kind.  Somehow, I find that incompatible with the overall directives of the LORD and the Bible.

Here we are instructed to feed a hungry enemy and give water to a thirsty enemy.  I can tell you from firsthand experience that is incredibly difficult.  This can be expanded beyond the basic needs of food and drink.  Jesus told us to love our enemies.  I hear Christians say, “I love them but I don’t like them and want nothing to do with them.”  I have often wondered if I can truly love someone I truly do not like and abhor their presence.  There are those who have demonstrated their vileness and willingness to do harm whom we find in need.  How do we respond?  How did Jesus respond to those who sought his death?

The second portion of this is fascinating.  I recall a dear old saint telling me that by doing the first part of this directive we got our pound of flesh because God would burn them up as a result.  As a young minister I found that a very difficult interpretation for that would seem to indicate that God was authorizing vengeance and retaliation.  I know the Old Testament taught an eye for an eye but when we get to the New Testament we find our LORD instructing us to love our neighbors and love those who sought our hurt.  I sought the LORD to better understand.

Let me suggest that when we view the Day of Atonement process, the high priest would take his censer, fill it with coals of fire, put incense on it and the result was a sweet-smelling aroma.  As I contemplated that the thought that came to mind is that the coals of fire are the conviction of the Holy Spirit and when we place the incense of acts of love and kindness even to an enemy there is a sweet aroma that rises.  It may not be immediate and the heart could be so hard it never happens but the likely result is that our act(s) will open the door for the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and burn inside the heart of that one deemed an enemy.  It will produce a condition like that of Paul on the Damascus Road where Jesus said, “It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” 

If I give blow for blow, reviling for reviling, insult for insult I will drive a wedge that will make it difficult to overcome.  However, if in the process of my hurt I extend the kindness, graciousness and love of Christ I provide the LORD with a pathway to bring conviction to the heart.  My act of kindness and Christian charity will burn in the heart and mind of that one.  They may view me weak and laugh at my acts but it will be difficult for them to totally dismiss my response.

God bless you as you go through this day!

Proverbs 19:19 – “A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; For if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.”  NKJV

I cautiously suggest we read this slightly different to garner what could possibly be a more full understanding, “Great wrath will suffer punishment; for you rescue from it, you will have to repeat the process.”  Understand, I tread lightly here for I do not want to add to or take away from God’s word.  My singular objective is to grasp the full meaning of the truth presented.  If we only focus on a hot tempered man we will miss the larger view of intense anger, rage and wrath that is in the heart.

We know from scripture that we are instructed to discipline children and the Bible emphasizes the danger of stubbornness in the heart.  We are repeatedly warned of the dangers of wrath, anger and rage.  We are in James 1:19-20, “…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  I have a friend who is incredibly hot tempered and he justifies it saying, “It is my Irish coming out.”  No!  It is not just your ethnic heritage it is a condition of heart that needs to be addressed.

Most of us have hot buttons that can be pushed and once pushed anger, sometimes intense anger, rage or wrath spews forth and we say or do things we frequently regret.  A person given to temper will never lack conflict.  A child that is undisciplined will develop into a man or woman who is undisciplined and often given to fits of temper if they do not get their way.  Wrath incurs woe and reaps the fruit of that action which could rightly be rendered punishment.  A heart that is unchecked by the Holy Spirit and gives place to wrath will not learn by intervention (rescue) it will only change by the transforming power of God’s love.

The cure for a hot temper is not punishment or intervention by others it is a transformation of the heart by the Love and Grace of God.  It is a heart problem not just an attitude or personality disorder.  Its roots are in self-centeredness and an attitude of entitlement or the enthronement of self as the center of one’s universe.  We must dethrone self and enthrone our LORD and as John the Baptist said, “He must increase but I must decrease…” 

In children the need for repeated correction and discipline is required to shape the will and point the heart toward the tugging of God’s Holy Spirit.  It is required that we teach our children discipline and self-restraint so they can function productively in society.  Most of us have learned that flying off the handle produces no good result.  Oh, it may make us feel good for a moment thinking we set someone straight but in the long term it only drives wedges and provides fuel for feuds, divisions, discord and creates an environment or atmosphere of conflict.

God will always chastise His children not because He desires to punish us but because He loves us and wants us to overcome the battle of the flesh and walk in a manner that manifests His character, nature and heart.

May the Lord empower you to overcome the flesh as you maneuver through this day’s obstacles and opportunities!  Blessings!

Acts 17:28 – “…in Him we live and move and have our being…”  NKJV

When the apostle Paul came to the philosophers in Athens, Greece he challenged their myriad of gods by proclaiming the “Unknown God”, who is the One True God.  As he gave his discourse and presented line upon line identifying this “Unknown God” he came to the words I highlighted for a text.

It is in this God that we LIVE.  He is life, for Jesus Himself declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life…”  He is the source of life and apart from Him there can be no true life only existence and even that is realized through Him.  As the old gospel hymn, “Because He lives, I can live also…”  Paul passionately proclaims that LIFE is through the work of this God they identify as the “Unknown God”.  Paul identifies this God as being the creator of all things and the sustainer of life.

It is in this God that we MOVE.  That is an interesting word to use.  It is the Greek [kinoumetha] and Doddridge translates it, “And are moved”.  Many Bible scholars believe that it is in the middle voice and the rendering of “and move” is correct.  Regardless of which you accept it is clear that it is from this God that we derive our strength and are in a constant state of dependence upon Him.  It is from Him that we are able to move forward in life.  We can perform no motion physically or spiritually without Him.  He is the giver and sustainer of life.

It is in this God we have our BEING.  Our continued existence is totally dependent upon Him.  Life is a gift from God and as James warned in 4:14, “…For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  There is not being without this God the Greeks identified as the “Unknown God” who to those who believe the “Only True and Living God”. 

Sadly, many do not know or recognize this God, the Living God, Creator of Heaven and Earth.  In our day of excessive tolerance and acceptance of anything and everything we miss the imperative the Holy Spirit through Paul issued.  Paul addressed the ignorance and even unbelief that created the altar to the Unknown God and said, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a don on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” [Vv.30-31]

The source of life naturally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually is God!  Without Him we could do and would be nothing.  Through Him we are “more than conquerors”.  We can do all things through His strength.  I pray that each of us realize more and more each passing moment of our total dependence upon Him.

            May God bless you richly as you go through your day!

1 John 2:1-2 – “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”  NKJV

I have a preacher friend who adds, “If we sin?  No, when we sin…”  He then usually says, “Some hold varying doctrinal views regarding grace, salvation, eternal security, etc.  We believe in backsliding as evidenced by how frequently we practice it.”  He was serious yet attempting to add some levity and call attention to the humanness of mankind.  I would tend to agree it is more likely, “When” rather than “If” for most of us of today.

The truth presented by John was not focused on “if” or “when” but the Hope of an Advocate.  We have the one who paid the price for our sin standing before Heaven’s Throne, having poured out His sacrificial blood, interceding for us.  If you can have a lawyer you want one that has influence, authority and knowledge.  You want an advocate who has standing with the court and in this case, the legitimate right to plea for leniency and mercy.  He died to obtain it and “if” or “when” we miss the mark and fall short He is there to plead our case for us.  Not to justify our sin but to identify our repentance and therefore extend the olive branch of mercy offering His blood to cover our failure.

I believe it is biblical to strive for a sinless life.  I also understand that we are flawed vessels and although we should be and are maturing in grace we still have the potential of missing the mark.  I had someone tell me once, “If you sin after you claimed to be saved it is an evidence you were never truly saved.”  They believe that once you have accepted Christ as your Savior there is no longer the possibility of sinning in your nature for you have been transformed and as a transformed being you are now incapable of sin.  If that were the case this passage would not exist.

I long to be righteous at all times and in all things yet grasp the words of the apostle Paul in his address to the Philippians in 3:12-14 where he informed them of his humanity.  He revealed that he recognized he had not reached a state of perfection but had turned his back on the past and continually reaching for the Hope in Christ.  He was pressing toward the mark or goal, the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Although he missed the mark, at times, his ambition was spiritual perfection and when he failed he did not justify it but pressed toward that which was afforded by the Cross.

I am not perfect.  I’m sure that is no shock to anyone and while I refuse to justify my imperfections spiritually with, “I’m only human” I also recognize that “if” or “when” I fail it is not final for I have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.  In Him I live and move and have my being.  I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.  I am incredibly comforted with the knowledge that I have an Advocate with the Father.

            God bless you and make this day productive!

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 – “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?” NKJV

Without intending to offend, many of us have known, been a part of or encountered Christian groups who truly believe they are the “Select of the Elect” and if you do not align your beliefs with theirs you are either not saved or 2nd class citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.  So often, groups will put particular identifiers in their declaration of who they are.  We call ourselves “full gospel” as though we had a corner on the gospel and as mere mortals could somehow capture the fullness of the gospel.  We call ourselves “holiness” and if I am not mistaken, the Bible calls for everyone to “Be Holy for He is Holy”.  We call ourselves “Missionary, Primitive, Southern, Reformed, etc.” or some other descriptor in our name as a badge of honor.  We call ourselves “The Church of…” whatever as though we are the ONLY ones who are.  I realize that I’m treading on thin ice now but consider what Paul said to the Church at Corinth on this matter.  I remember asking a group of people, “Are you Christians?” The response was, “I am this, that or the other identifying the denomination they were apart of.”  That was not the question!

He tells them that he could not come with a spiritual diet because of their carnality and their carnality was directly connected to sectarianism.  Do not understand me to mean that a sect, religion or group that dismisses Jesus as the Only Begotten of the Father and The Way, Truth and Life is to be embraced.  NO!  I am saying our divisions, fighting over petty doctrines of men causes more harm than good in the Kingdom.  The Kingdom of God is not meat or drink and God shows no partiality nor does He have favorites.  The strife and divisions where one says, “I’m Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Charismatic, Holiness, Pentecostal, etc.” usually provides more basis for division than unity in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I fully believe that on matters essential to salvation and the reality of God the Bible is clear.  On many of the dividing matters we tend to fight over and divide over are significantly unimportant to the overall objective of the Kingdom of God.  I am sure some will totally disagree.  For the most part, the identifiers in our names, is to attract those who agree with us more than they are designed to advance the Kingdom of God and reach the world.

We are to be the Body of Christ not isolated unrelated parts.  Can you imagine a human body trying to function where the feet said to the hands, “If you want that glass of water, then you find a way to the table…”  Imagine the eyes heart saying to the lungs, “If you want blood pump it yourself…” or vice versa the lungs telling the heart, “If you want oxygen learn to breathe…”  NO!  Each member of the human body is dependent upon and works in harmony with the other members of the body.  All the members do not look the same, they do not function the same, they do not have the same individual objectives and if they could express ideology as to what is most important I am quite sure they would give us very differing opinions.

We must stand against the wiles of the devil who desires to divide us and thereby conquer us or hinder our progress.  If we do great exploits while isolated individual groups how much more could we do if we lost the sectarianism and labored in the Harvest as a unit with a common objective of Proclaiming the Good News to the Entire World?   Of course, the various groups have a benefit.  They provide a means of fellowship with people who think alike and have the same primary objectives religiously or spiritually.  That is not all bad but allowing it to divide and cause division, strife, envy and bickering is.   All I am saying is rather than view ourselves as THE let’s consider ourselves as A.  We are not THE CHURCH we are part of THE CHURCH.  The Church belongs to Him and we are living stones within that building He is assembling.

            God bless you as you go through this day!

John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  NKJV

I know believers who are constantly seeking a “New Revelation” and while I believe I understand what they are truly seeking I sometimes feel like the new pastor who went into a church and preached a masterpiece.  The next Sunday he preached the exact same sermon and did so the next and the next week.  Finally after many complaints from the congregation the Deacons approached him and said, “Pastor, the message you have been preaching was a masterpiece the first time and okay the second but you need to get a new sermon.”  He looked at them and calmly said, “Do something with that one first.”  If we have a Bible filled with the written revelation of God, His Kingdom and purposes should we not be about doing something with what we have before we try to find something no one else has found?

Jesus spoke the Gospel in extreme simplicity here and elsewhere in Scripture.  He gives four extremely simple but profound truths in this short verse which would be well to examine.  I will hit the high points for time and space will not permit (if I could) giving an exhaustive exegesis of this passage.  Consider the declaration of the LORD:

• I Am the Way.

       Route or path.  Remember our LORD declared in Matthew 7:14, “…straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life…”  In today’s politically correct world that strives for “tolerance” and “acceptance” of everyone and everything this is anathema but Jesus repeatedly declared, “I AM THE WAY…”  He did not say, “I am A way but THE way.”

• I Am the Truth.

When He stood before Pilate, the earthly potentate asked, “What is truth but did not wait around for the real answer.”  I have heard some nationally known and recognized preachers declare that a person can be a participant of various religions and still make heaven by faithfully following their beliefs.  That is totally contradictory to the Bible and I will stand with the Bible.  God does say, “Whosoever will let Him come…”  However that coming must be to Christ and must include repentance of sin.  It is by Grace that we are saved, through faith and it is not earned.  Jesus is THE TRUTH.  He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  He is the sacrifice for the sin of the world.

• I Am the Life.

He is not speaking of natural life although that could be included for should God remove His finger from our lives we would cease as the notes on an organ once the finger is removed from the keys.  He is Eternal Life. 

• No one comes to the Father except through Me.

He is the Door to the sheepfold.  He is the gateway to the throne room of the Father.  He is our High Priest who makes intercession for us.  If NO ONE can access the Father except through Jesus what would make anyone declare that believing in Allah or Buddha or any of the myriad of gods, man has concocted gain access?  The Gospel according to our LORD and His word is incredible simple.  Jesus is our Hope!  Jesus is our Way, Truth and Life.  Jesus is our only door to the Father and the only gate through which we can enter into eternal life.

            May the LORD richly bless you as you go through this day!

1 John 3:18 – “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” NKJV

If you have ever dealt with someone who demonstrated an obvious dislike for you, did things to hurt or hinder you and spread rumors or half truths about you but would publicly say, “I love you” you will understand.  That is one scenario in which words do not match actions or attitudes and it is often painfully obvious.

Through the years of ministry I have encountered marital situations where the marriage was hanging by a thread and both parties would tell the other, “I love you”.  I believe they believed what they were saying was truth to the degree they understood truth.  If a husband/wife verbally declares, “I love you” but belittles the other, is unfaithful, fails to provide for the family as is needed their words are hollow.  I’ve observed parents telling their children, “We love you” and then proceed to berate, belittle, badger and torment them publicly and privately.  Their actions speak so loudly the words are muted.

I have worked in ministerial alliances where some within the group would continually seek to drive wedges in an effort to build a coalition elevating them to a position of prominence or advancing their particular objectives.  Honey would almost drip from their lips as they declared in group settings their “love” for those they were tearing down and those who had heard the words from both sides of their mouths knew the hypocrisy with which they spoke.

LOVE is not simply verbal, it is an action.  If I love you I will seek to do you harm.  I will not allow envy to shadow my view or relationship with you.  I will not self-promote or behave rudely.  I will not be self-serving or self-seeking.  I will not rejoice openly or in my heart when you experience setbacks or problems.  I will be patient, kind, gentle, trusting and willing to help. I will do that which I can to help you succeed even if it costs me.  I can declare how much I “love” the poor but if my effort is limited to words is that love?  LOVE is never passive and never without corresponding actions.  I would rather someone know my love by my actions rather than just hearing my words.

A man or a woman that tells their spouse, “I love you” then is unfaithful has rendered those words meaningless.  A person that says, “I love you” but spreads gossip, rumors and half-truths about another has transformed those words into meaninglessness.  Jesus said, there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for their friends.  When I read in John 3:16 that “God loves the world” I do not have to read far to see His corresponding actions that demonstrate that love.  When I read Job’s words that he made a “covenant with his eyes not to look on a woman with lust…” I understand that when he says to his wife, “I love you” he is committed to demonstrating that love.

I have had people tell me, “I love you” and knew that it was incredibly superficial and deemed the proper thing to say under the circumstances.  I have always resisted saying, “I love you” unless I truly meant it.  Understand that my desire is to LOVE EVERYONE and manifest the nature of my LORD in all that I do.  Do I succeed?  I wish but sadly, I am still pressing toward the mark and still find myself repenting.  I never want to allow my words to become superficial meaningless chatter but have them backed by the character of my heart.

            God bless you as you go through this day!

John 14:1-4 – “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”  NKJV

The Bible frequently reaffirms our hope that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to receive us to our eternal home.  When the crowd gathered outside Jerusalem on the day of our Lord’s ascension and they watched Him caught up into the clouds I can only imagine what they thought.  As they stood there watching Him ascend, two angels appeared and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up in to heaven?  This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”  Simply, He is coming back like He said!

There is no ambiguity in the promise of Jesus in John 14 it is crystal clear.  He said, “If I go…” and we know He went.  He is now in heaven and preparation for our arrival is either underway or has been completed.  His promise was, “…if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”  What a promise!  What a hope!  What a future!

In the Father’s House there is a place for us to reside eternally.  We are truly sojourners and pilgrims passing through this world on the way to our eternal abode.  Hebrews 11 clearly reveals the mindset of the patriarchs of faith.  They had the promise in their hearts and although those promises had not become natural physical realities they embraced them and owned them.  Their confession was they were temporary dwellers on earth and looking for a city and in the eyes of their faith they saw that city and longed for it.

This world is not getting better as some would have us believe.  Mankind is not becoming better he is plunging deeper and deeper into depravity.  We are in or nearing what the Bible calls “The Last Days” where evil will become more and more pronounced.  It is becoming a very dark world and many believers are crying, “Even so come Lord Jesus” longing for an escape from the destruction that is before us.  How long will He tarry?  I do not know but I know that His promise to come back is sure!

That promise is the foundation for us to “not let our hearts be troubled.”  We believe in God.  We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can trust His promise and face whatever comes with confidence that we will never be forsaken and that we can stand and rise victorious for when the enemy comes in like a flood God raises up His standard against that enemy.  In the end, we win!

I have a sense in my heart that the coming is not far off but I also remember that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.  He is not upset by that which causes us consternation and has never operated by our time tables or in our time frames.  His is an eternal calendar and an eternal clock not a man-made division of time.

May the Lord stir our hearts with confidence and hope knowing that He is coming back like He said!   God bless you as you go through this wonderful day!