Pentecost Sunday 2023

Acts 2:1-21 KJV; Pentecost Sunday; The beginning of the Season of Pentecost. Empowered by the Holy Spirit we go out to share the Good News that the Church might grow and be edified.

Refining Fires

Zechariah 13:9; The refining fires are necessary. Standing in them cannot be avoided. Yet, God is with you in them.

Things Could Be Worse; Repent!

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

                                                                                (Numbers 21:4-9 KJV)

Life can be a major struggle even as getting to the promised land was a struggle for the Israelites. The path that God leads us on is not always as easy as we would like it to be. We don't get everything we want and we are often not willing to make the slightest sacrifice to reach the desired goal. 

God had led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. When they did not have the food that they desired, God sent them quail and manna to eat every single day. But, they didn't particularly like the manna that they called "light bread" and they complained. So, the Lord sent serpents to bite the people to apparently teach them that they had not had it so bad. Things could be worse. Sometimes, it is most beneficial to be thankful for what the Lord has provided us with. 

As multitude died from this pestilence the people woke up and repented of their sins of complaining about God and what He had given them. The Lord told Moses to make a serpent made of brass and hang it upon a pole; that if anyone was bitten by a serpent they should look at it and they will be healed. And... it was so.

Humankind continues to take the gifts of God for granted. We speak against Him often. We act against His will continuously. Simply put, we take Him for granted. Yet, all who would repent of their sins against Him; all who would turn to the cross of Christ, to Christ who was hung on the tree for us, will be forgiven their sins and be made whole.

Maybe it's time to quit complaining and thank God for what He has given us. Let us never take the good gifts of God for granted but be ever grateful that He has released us from bondage; He has healed us, by the blood of Jesus the Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Standing Inside The Fire

Cassie Standing Inside The Fire
Photo by Uncle "John Arthur Photography"

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zech 13:9 KJV)

When she was younger, I called her Sassy Cassie. She can still be a bit sassy. She, as most of us do, has fought the refining process as well as she could. Thankfully, God is patient and loves all of his children; continuing always to soften our hearts toward Him that we might live abundant lives in Him. The refining is not easy on the person that is being refined or on anyone around them. But, it is better to withstand the fiery ordeal of refining then never to step inside those refining fires. It is better to withstand the refining process while young so that as we grow old, we can joyfully say, "The Lord is my God."

For most of her life, I have reminded Cassie to "live life." Life is much more pleasant when we get up and actually experience the awesome life and all the gifts that God has given us. Focus on truly living life in Christ and you will know joy and peace.

Garth Brooks reminds us in his song:

Standing outside the fire 

Standing outside the fire 

Life is not tried it is merely survived 

If you're standing outside the fire

Do not fear the refining fires. God is with you even in those fires. Live life!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Every Knee Shall Bow

It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”  Hebrews 14:11 NIV

I am looking for that the day when every knee shall bow. That is not to say that every human being will love the Lord; but, that there will not be one human being who will be able to say that He is not God. Today, many refuse to believe. They will not honor, nor love, nor worship Him. There are also those who say they believe; but, take His great love for us so lightly that one would not be able to tell if they are Christians or not.

I get very weary of witnessing the bowing down of the multitudes to false gods. Fortune, fame, and ego being just three of the countless false gods that are lifted up. I get very weary of the lifting up of the "good works" that people have done. Without the help of the one true God, there are no good works. The glory for a follower of Jesus always belongs to God. We can do nothing. We are nothing without God.

Consider Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusal to bow to the golden idol that Nebuchadnezzar had made. They knew that there is only one true God. They were so loyal to Him that they refused to bow down to this golden calf even as they knew that the penalty for not bowing to this false idol meant death in the fiery furnace. They were not afraid to live or die for the Lord. And, they did not die. The Lord protected them even in the flames of the fiery furnace. They lived as witnesses to the power of the one true God. Only to Him would these three bow.

One day, every knee shall bow. Some will bow out of reverence and love for our awesome God. Others will bow out of sheer fear as they acknowledge Him for the first time. They will bow as they finally acknowledge that He alone is God.

May God open our ears and eyes and hearts and minds so that today we will acknowledge and worship, in reverence and love, the one true God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Fiery Furnace Before False Gods

  

   Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
   Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” (Dan 3:14-18 NRSV)

Two of my favorite readings for Holy Saturday are the stories about the dry bones being raised and the story about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into a furnace because they refused to bow down to the gold idol that King Nebuchadnezzar had made. They chose to be thrown into the fiery furnace before they would bow down to a false god. They survived the fire. In the end, they were commended and promoted by Nebuchadnezzar for being willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. They refused to compromise their faith. They would not bow down to any other god than the one true God.

As pastors and leaders and servants of God's church here on earth, we have to be careful that we do not compromise our faith in God in order to please others. We cannot make for ourselves mini-gods. I call them mini because they are worthless. But, in reality when we choose something other than the truth; when other things become our objects of worship other than the one true God, we are attempting to replace god. We can try all we want. God will always still be God. We cannot change or compromise that truth. Just as He saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace, He is with all who love and worship Him through every fiery time.

It would be a very detrimental choice for us to choose to compromise the truth causing anyone, including ourselves, to bow down to man-made gods in order to try to save themselves.

I did a word search in the NIV, the NKJV, and the NRV. I could not find the word compromise anywhere. It did come up in The Message translation of the Bible in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
So leave the corruption and compromise;
    leave it for good,” says God.
“Don’t link up with those who will pollute you.
    I want you all for myself.
I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
The Word of the Master, God.  

May God grant us the strength and courage to worship no other gods no matter if it is friend or foe who would have us bow down to anyone or anything other than Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Refined On The Way

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside."  (Job 23:10-11 NIV)

Unlike Job, I would dare to say that none of can say that we have kept to the way of the Lord without ever turning aside. There have been moments in all of our lives. "As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
    there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one. (Rom 3:10-12)

Job was an amazing man who was always faithful to the Lord according to most interpretations of the story. I have never been able to fully accept this. I've been around. I know people. I know me. I have a very difficult time accepting that anyone is that righteous. He may have closely followed. He may have even kept to his way without turning aside. But, I wonder if he ever stumbled on the path and was in need of being picked back up by the Lord. If he had not; if he was perfectly righteous to begin with why would he say that was he was tested he would come forth as gold?

Job was tested and when he was he did; after all, question God.  He was not at all happy about the trials that God was allowing him to be tested with. He was quite grieved. We too become grieved when put through trials and testings. We become grieved when we walk through fiery ordeals. But, just as Job did, we need to remember that the fires are meant to refine so that once we have walked through the fire we will come out more pure than even silver or gold when they have been refined.

Be careful to stay on the path. You may feel like you are stumbling and falling; but, be assured the Lord will lift you up. According to the prophecy of Daniel: "Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time." (Dan 11:35)

    I will refine them like silver
    and test them like gold.
They will call on my name

    and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.

(Zech 13:9) 

God's Peace - Pr. J