Monthly Archives: July 2023

Firsthand Opportunity

Posted on July 30, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 2:14-21 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
[Acts 2:17-21 quoting from Joel 2:28-32] “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“Let this be known to you” is exactly what I look for as I study because I believe the Holy Sprit teaches the timeless truth of all God’s promises given long before Acts 2 and long before today.[a]   I want to know what I believe is really mine, firsthand, not truth that someone else learned and I accepted. I write hoping you may find truth here, but if something I write causes you to question, I want you to be compelled to search firsthand too.

Joel prophesied that God said “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.  I wondered about that “all flesh” in verse 17/28 enough that I read it in 30+  versions.  Here are the words I found following the “all” in them…“flesh, mankind, everyone, people, humanity.”  It doesn’t say all believers!  What if “all” is exactly what God meant!  I saw two promises here. The first was God’s Spirit in all as the promise of opportunity.  Please don’t be fooled by the inclusiveness of that “all.”  The first promise must lead to the second.  The second promise of salvation could only become reality because of the first and there was a requirement. Peter urges us to “give ear” to his quoting of Joel’s prophecy.  It’s our firsthand opportunity to wonder and ponder God’s truth because someone else’s truth is not going to save you.  Then I wondered about the “afterward.” 

Was “afterward” Jesus?  Was this prophecy the hint of a savior who would be destroyed, then restored to provide opportunity for all?  Did Joel see the last days as the promise of a level playing field created by God’s dedicated choice of His Spirit on all?”  The undetermined number of years of Kingdom life in the mysterious last days was going to be a seesaw of many good and bad events that would culminate in the “great and awesome day of the Lord” when the requirement would be fulfilled “it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
“When Joel looked into the future, God didn’t tell him how many years would separate the different parts of the last days that he was describing. He saw the last days as all one piece. Some of what he saw was nearer to the beginning of the last days, and some was nearer to the end of the last days.”[b]   

[a] John 16:12-13 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 

[b] John Piper

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Have you Understood?

Posted on July 26, 2023 | Leave a comment

Matthew 13:51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

The lessons Jesus taught with these parables, one after another, are what He wants His trusted friends to learn and what they need to understand. They’re short stories that seem casual in their simplicity but they contain the “secrets of the kingdom of heaven”…you must want to see and hear them.  “Have you understood all these things?” 

Have you understood what it means to be a scribe?  A scribe records all decisions, actions and issues noted by the group during meetings, as well as recording significant discussion.  Have you understood what it means to be trained in a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time?  Have you understood it’s the nature of that practice that makes you like the master of a house?  In God’s kingdom you are a house and He’s built it for you to live in.  Have you understood you’re the place He’s storing treasures? Some are new.  They never existed before this training and now for the first time they’ve been discovered.  Some are old.  They are carefully kept remnants from the past that are evidence of what has already been received.  Have you understood that while you are writing your record of decisions, actions and issues in the present, Jesus is saving them all as part of His inheritance for you in the kingdom of heaven?

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Posted in Light, Matthew, New Testament, Parables, Wednesday

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Firstfruits

Posted on July 23, 2023 | Leave a comment


Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

History: Pentecost has “arrived.” 
I was surprised to learn Pentecost has it’s roots in the Old Testament.  Long before Acts was written there were annual celebrations of the harvests of two grains, barley and wheat.  The first harvest, Passover celebrated the Jews physical deliverance from Egypt and their desire to refresh their lives by reminding themselves it was God that had made the difference in them.  Barley and wheat were both planted at the same time but wheat took longer to ripen.  The days between the ripening of those two grains ended with the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot.  Pentecost/Shavuot was the celebration of the wheat harvest meant to remind them the time of wandering was over. God had provided for them a spiritual deliverance too.  He’d given them His presence in the land, a time to plant and a time to harvest.

The Harvest:
This beautiful passage begins by filling the “entire house where they were sitting.” Then the mysterious “tongues…”rested on each one of them.” I can’t help it I have to interject right here…Holy Smoke!  I read this and I thought this passage is the harvest!  These people are the firsfruits of the Bread of Life in the gathering place for those who remember the difference God has made in their lives.  The “one place“ where people can still hear a sound like a mighty rushing wind.  It’s the Church where we begin to hear the bewildering words of faith spoken by the Holy Spirit to each of us in the language we hear as our own.  We hear and finally understand “the mighty works of God,” have ripened in us.  The “day of Pentecost arrived” and we have become the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” James 1:18

“Passover may have given them their lives, but Pentecost gave them the ability to provide life for others.”a

a More History

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What Do You Think?

Posted on July 19, 2023 | Leave a comment

Matthew 21:28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”

What do you think?  That’s what Jesus’s wants to know.  I think there are two unmentioned words missing here; obedience and submission.  Those two missing words have become the unusual twist I needed to ponder more about this parable.  At first glance neither son’s response to the father would be called obedient or submissive.  The first son’s response to what his father asks is “I will not.” He did not want to be obedient!  The father seems to have accepted the son’s “I will not” and moves on to the second son.  The second son’s response is to please the father, “I go sir!”  They both end up changing their minds and flip-flopping to do exactly the opposite of what they said. That is the point in my pondering where Jesus interrupted my neat little devotion about this parable with an interesting observation: this parable is about that flip-flopping not which son was more obedient and submissive.  

Our human process of life is exactly like those two sons.  It’s built of uneven flip-flopping between our words and our behavior.  God has designed a life of faith through belief in Jesus that will change our minds and offer us a dependable “way of righteousness” that can make us reliable in our obedience and trustworthy in our submission…at first glance.

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Not Forgotten

Posted on July 16, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.  15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’ 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. ESV

There are many theories about why Jesus picked 12 men originally but this replacement event may be less about maintaining a symbolic number and more about their desire to honor the leadership structure Jesus had taught them.  The mission of that original team had been clear; spend time with Jesus, learn how to be messengers of God and go out in pairs to preach the truth about Him and His Kingdom to as many people as possible.  That team-building process had been fruitful — “the company of persons was in all about 120” but that leadership team was now one short.  The important task for this group now was to fill the gap betrayal had left them with and to “let another take his [Judas’s] office.”

Matthias’s name is recorded only twice in the Bible, both times in this short passage from Acts. He may only be one of the “about 120” persons, but his name is one of only two that has been “put forward.” He’s met the qualifications Peter identifies. Matthias is “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.”  God chooses an almost forgotten follower of Jesus to honor with the title Apostle. 

Matthias walked into his future knowing that God had not forgotten him.   That title, Apostle, was a great reward for a faithful man who’d spent his life learning how to live and speak as a messenger of Jesus, not building his own history.   Matthias’s achievements have been lost in the record of human history. But the title God gave him has preserved his life for all of divine history with another small testimony — “and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”  Jesus had died, been resurrected, and ascended to heaven. Matthias witnessed that resurrected Jesus with his own eyes and heard Him speak firsthand the words of the Great Commission that confirmed everything he’d done in the past and directed the future of his life to the end of the age — Matthew 28:19:20.  

 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold,
I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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The Barren Fig Tree

Posted on July 12, 2023 | Leave a comment

Luke 13:6 And he [Jesus] told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

There are answers [?] that reveal deeper meanings in this simple story.  They all start “in the beginning” with Genesis and the three trees mentioned in the Garden of Eden; The tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil AND the fig tree.  The fig tree is an enduring symbol the Bible uses as part of its story of God’s provision [Genesis 3], peace [Micah 4], prosperity [Joel 2], and all the way to the end of the story [Revelation 6] to complete the long planned-for harvest of fruits in that vineyard.

There are two men in this story; an owner [God] with an expected result and a vinedresser [Jesus] with a plan.  The owner desires the fig tree but he relies on the vinedresser to plant and care for it.  Figs and grapes are often grown together because they both thrive in similar conditions and that’s probably what the owner wanted that tree planted. The whole point of adding the fig tree [gentiles?] to the vineyard was that it would provide additional fruit for the owner’s pleasure.  Its broad leaves would benefit the vineyard by protecting the fruit of the vine [God’s relationship with those He desires?]  from wind and scorching sun [the harsh circumstances of life?].   The vinedresser’s advice to the owner is “let it alone this year also”…I’ll dig around it, add fertilizer and give it my special attention.  It takes 3+ years for a fig tree to produce fruit [Jesus ministry was at that 3-year mark]. “Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good [salvation?]; but if not, you can cut it down.” [judgment?] “And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord”[a] to fulfill the desire of God; “the dwelling place of God IS with man.”[b] [the new Eden?]

[a]Leviticus 19:24
[b]Revelation 21:3

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Posted in Leviticus, Light, Luke, New Testament, Parables, Revelation, Wednesday

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Here, There & Beyond

Posted on July 9, 2023 | Leave a comment

HERE:
1 In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
THERE:
6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” NLT

BEYOND:
My first question might be yours too.  Why is Luke’s second book not right there after his Gospel?  About the second century when the church was arranging these writings into a collection we call the “canon,” the writings of Luke were separated into two parts but they didn’t become Luke 1 and Luke 2.  Luke, in his first book tells the details and events of God revealing Himself in recognizable human form of “new life.”  Jesus came into the world to be a visible example of life that was not trapped by separation from God but built on a relationship with Him. The major events of Jesus’s life happened in and around Jerusalem in that “first” book.  Those details were foundational to what Luke wrote in that “second” book.  It was that second half of his writing to the same man, that tells the story of how the God of Israel revealed his “Acts” beyond Jerusalem and beyond the Jews to reveal Christ in a new way that would offer new life to us beyond the limits of humanity.   New life within people through the Holy Spirit effectively recreating a “new body” for Himself — His Church.

My second question is about the “two white robed men” who “suddenly stood among them.”  I don’t know who they were but I feel certain their message was to challenge the focus of those “men of Galilee” who were straining to see beyond their understanding into heaven and the future.  Jesus was writing the second part of His book.  He had promised there was going to be something new…the Holy Spirit.  Here’s an interesting thing for us to ponder about that challenge.  Was their message meant to focus the apostles on the promise that Jesus would be with them again when He returned in the future?  Or was it to remind them the second half of the story was not going to be about Jesus in Heaven but about Jesus in them…“telling people about [Jesus] everywhere?

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The Watchful Servant

Posted on July 5, 2023 | Leave a comment

Luke 12:35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 

Jesus speaks the curious words of verse 39 about the Master not knowing the time the thief has chosen to break into his house.  Jesus is revealing the limitation of His human identity as “master of the house” until the moment He returns again to affirm His divine responsibility as Master over it which is equally curious.
— The Master has been away at a “wedding feast” but will return.
— The servants are responsible to the Master; t0 keep the “lamps burning” while they wait for His return.
— The servants must respond “at once” when the Master knocks.
— The servants will be blessed for “being awake” and prepared.
— The Master’s response to the servants on His return is to assume His divine responsibility as “server” to the servants.
— Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:7 ESV)

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Posted in 1 Kings, Light, Luke, New Testament, Parables, Philippians, Wednesday

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FREEDOM

Posted on July 2, 2023 | Leave a comment

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The phrase that got my attention this morning is “your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” It’s that word “hidden” that made me wonder – is it the old life, the new life, or both that’s hidden…And why?  Most of us would like at least part of our old life to be hidden. That’s where those “earthly things” before “Christ, who is your life” are. Why would that old life with those scars be worth hiding “with Christ in God?” Why not just throw them away?  Wouldn’t that be freedom?

How about that “new life?” We get to live with new realities and new options where our responses are based on transformation, not trapped in old information. Why would we want anything about this new life hidden?  Maybe God really does have a Safety Deposit Box where He keeps all the details of our progress toward freedom! It’s odd, but our scars may be part of the treasure that has been hidden by God “for” our future, not just “from” our past. God has found valuable purpose for our life even with scars.  

God’s Safety Deposit Box is where every proof of our inheritance, our treasure and our healing are hidden and protected from ever being lost. Freedom continues to grow and we continue to receive it’s dividends because God has kept every detail of our journey safe. This morning before July 4, 2023 here is the evidence of real Freedom to celebrate.

“-I have been  crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by [the faith of] the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
-For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
-So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.
-He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it!
-For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”a

a “Galatians 2:20 [“the faith of” from the old KJV],  Romans 8:2, 2 Peter 1:12, Philippians 1:6, Colossians 3:3”

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Posted in 2 Peter, Colossians, Galatians, Light, New Testament, Philippians, Romans, Sunday

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