Wisdom Calls

Proverbs 8:1-4 KJV Wisdom calls. We should listen.

Saved By Christ Alone

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." (John 15:16 KJV)

We do not choose God. God chooses us. God calls us. God sends us. Above all, God saves us. If we say we have chosen God it is tantamount to saying that we have done something to save ourselves. The truth is we cannot do a thing to save ourselves or anyone else. Salvation is purely a gift from God.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9)

As I was knocking on doors (cold canvassing) and inviting the people of Copper Harbor, MI to come and worship with us I encountered a man who was very excited that I was trying to save the people of the community.  No, I was not! I reminded him that only Jesus saves. I was not there to save anyone. I was there to tell people about the one who has saved us from our sins by dying for us.  

And, then there was the priest in the mostly Catholic town of Lake Linden, MI. When I introduced myself and out of courtesy let him know that I and another would be knocking on every door in Lake Linden, he didn't have a problem with it. He was not worried about it. He just asked me: What do you get when you cross a Lutheran with a Jehovah's Witness. Answer:  Someone who knocks on doors and doesn't know what to say. We both laughed. Sadly, that is the truth in many cases. Lutherans are not that great when it comes to evangelizing. The truth be told we cannot even profess the Good News in Christ Jesus except God calls us, empowers us, and sends us. The Spirit is willing; but, the flesh is sometimes cowardly and weak. Jennifer and I did knock on every door. Not everyone answered; but, every house was called upon. 

Lutherans and people of all denominations; all who have been saved by Christ ought to follow in the footsteps of Peter and Paul and all the disciples of Jesus' time as well as all who came after them in declaring: "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:10-12)

We declare it because of His great love for all people. We declare it because he loves us so much that he was willing to die that we might be saved.

Remember always that we are not saved by anything we do or say. We are saved by "Christ Alone!" 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Take Up Your Cross And Follow

"And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

                                                                            (Mark 8:28-36 KJV)

No... no... no... We cannot and should not have to endure death. We should have to endure trials. We should not have to struggle! 

Yet, we do. We do and we will. God's will for Jesus was not to have a life of ease. He was destined for death; to die so that we might live. Life is a struggle and if you think that it should not or will not be one then you probably are following a false god down a very wrong path. 

These false gods would have us strive to gain the worldly things and in the process we may, as Jesus said, lose our souls.

Life is not easy so you may as well take up your cross and follow Jesus and when you do know that the Christ is with you on the journey. That road, although it may feel like death is drawing near leads to life everlasting. That is the will of God for you. 

As St. Paul drew closely to his own earthly death he wrote these words to his fellow missionary and evangelist Timothy:

"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:"

                                                                                        (2 Tim 1-7)

St. Paul took up his cross and followed Jesus. He endured afflictions even as he continued the work of an evangelist. He finished his course when he was executed for his faith in Christ. 

He was willing to give up a life of luxury in this world and reside as a prisoner of the government so that he could proclaim the Gospel according to the will of God. He was willing to give up his body. But, he was not willing to give up his soul as he entrusted it to the love of God in Christ Jesus.

God help us to endure all afflictions and fight the good fight of truth found in Jesus the Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Will You Lay Down Your Life For Me?

Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.

Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. 

                                                                                  (John 13:26-38 KJV)

How will we answer the question that Jesus asked of Peter. "Will you lay down your life for me?"

We make so many commitments. We plan to do so much including share the love of God in Christ Jesus with all people. Yet, we often fall short. Peter loved Jesus. He fully intended to be a faithful follower. He wanted to. But, he was not ready to follow Jesus to his death. Not yet, anyway. This faithful follower would desert Jesus when Jesus was arrested and taken to his trial and execution. In the end though, Peter did follow Jesus as Peter was crucified on a cross for his faith thirty some years following the crucifixion of Jesus.

Jesus loves you so much that he was willing to lay down his life for you. Will you take up your cross and follow? Will you lay down your life for him?

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's Peace - Pr. J

Partners For Life

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
    for out of Man this one was taken.”

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:18-24

 

My husband and I had been married for about ten years and were living at the Naval Station in Rota, Spain when the photo above was taken. We will celebrate forty-six years together this winter. So, we've been together for awhile. The photo reminds me of all the up and downs of married life. Living and serving in Rota was one of our periods together when we had way more ups than downs. It was a very good time, indeed. 

 

We have not always worked like partners. Marriage can be very hard work as two individuals attempt to live out their individual and mutual callings together. We have, at times, definitely worked against each other rather than with each other. But, no matter what struggles we have gone through; no matter how many times we may have thought that maybe the partnership should end; we have always gone back to the fact that it was God who joined us together. He gave us each other to help and support one another even to the end of our days on earth. 

 

Our days are getting shorter. We are both too old to spend too much time working against each other. But, it does still happen. Even while we are one in Christ, we still have different gifts; different calls and we find ourselves going in different directions. At times like that, we've found it's best to give each other a little space to grow and serve God in the direction He calls us as individuals. We give a little space even while we continue to help and support one another. 

 

Marriage can be very difficult; but, it is also a very great blessing. God has given you a partner for life in your husband or wife. May God help us to make the most of this great gift of marriage.

 

God's Peace - Pr. J

God Turns Things Around and Upside Down.

The Way Of The Cross: In order to live one must die.

(Billboard from years past in Baraga County, MI)

"It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low." (Ezekiel 20:26 NIV)

God has a way of turning everything around. Those who think too highly of themselves will be brought down. The humble will be lifted up. That is not the way it works in this world; but, that is God's way. 

The LORD promises, through Ezekiel, that the one to whom the crown rightly belongs will ultimately wear it. The one who wears the crown was raised up in humility and reigns in glory at God's right hand. Jesus, who came to serve humankind, was willing to lay his life down, to wear the crown of thorns, and to be lifted up on the cross for our sakes. In this act of sacrifice, he was lifted to the heavenly realms, to ultimately sit at the right hand of God, our Father. The lowly has been exalted...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:1-2)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Teach Us To Teach By Example

Psalm 119:30

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." Titus 2:2 NIV

The Bible verse for the day from Bible Gateway is from Titus 2:2. I'm not trying to pick on older men. But, I wanted to remind all of us, men and women, who especially fall into the "senior" category and claim to have known Jesus for most, if not all of our lives, that we are to be examples to younger persons and newborn Christians.

So, I am using this verse to teach us all and to remind us that through not just our words; but, our actions, as well, we teach others what it truly means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

May God help us to live lives worthy of God, who calls us into His kingdom and glory. (1 Thess 2:12)

God's Peace - Pr. J