Think Carefully About Jesus - Hebrews 3:1

"And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest." The Hebrews writer is preaching about Jesus to people who are already believers. So thinking carefully about Jesus is something Christians should do according to the Hebrews writer. But haven't we already done this when we believed and received His salvation? Giving careful consideration to the person of Jesus--who He is, what he has done, and why He has done it--is important for believers. Focusing our thinking on Jesus is a primary means for growing and persevering in our faith. Greater understanding leads to greater appreciation. The more you know about Jesus, the more you value your relationship with Him and thus, the bigger your faith becomes. Think carefully about Jesus and grow in faithfulness. "For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ" (vs. 14).

Go Back To Go Forward - 1 Kings 19:15

"Then the Lord told him, Go back the same way you came..." Sometimes we can lose focus on how God is working even though He has done many extraordinary things in our lives. The prophet Elijah seemed to lose his focus when Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him. Elijah was in such fear for his life that he fled to the wilderness even though he had just called fire down from heaven and called on God for rain that ended a three-year drought in Israel (vs. 18:39, 43-44). In spite of these and many other miracles that God performed through Elijah, he seemed to grow confused and despondent about how God was working through all that had happened or was happening in his life: "Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die" (vs. 4). After Elijah finished complaining, God told him to go back the same way he came. God renewed Elijah's commission and directed Elijah to retrace his steps back to the place where he had strayed from God's mission and to move forward from there. So if you become confused or don't understand about how God is at work in your life, follow the strategy that God used with Elijah--go back to go forward. Go back to the place in your life where you know God was at work and move forward with God from there.

Praying For Rain - 1 Kings 18:42-44

"But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, Go and look out toward the sea. The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, I didn’t see anything. Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea. Then Elijah shouted, Hurry to Ahab and tell him, Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!" During this time of drought in our land we would do well to learn from the prophet Elijah how to effectively pray for rain. In the prophet Elijah's time there had been severe drought and famine in Israel for almost three years. Elijah prayed that God would send rain and end the drought. There's several lessons in this story we can learn from Elijah about prayer. First, Elijah knew it was God's plan to send rain and end the drought (vs. 1), but for God's will to be enacted still seemed to require the intercessory prayers of Elijah. Second, Elijah didn't just pray once and it rained--he prayed repeatedly and persistently (vs. 43). Third, Elijah expected his prayers to be answered each time he prayed (vs. 43). And, fourth, Elijah was obedient and took action--he demonstrated his faith--once God's plans started to unfold, by warning King Ahab about the impending rainstorm (vs. 44). Notice, that taking action was the last step, not the first. Elijah didn't take action until he had prayed and knew God's will. So, the formula for effective prayer is intercession, persistence, faith, and action/obedience. And remember, you take action after, not before, you have prayed and know what God's will is. Let's pray for rain!

Real Life - Colossians 3:1,3

"Set your sights on the realities of heaven...For you have died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Every once in a while we need to stop and remind ourselves that the life that we live in this world is not our real life. It's sort of a virtual reality and eternal life is our real reality. That's why Paul admonishes us to "think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth" in verse 2. Then, do you mean that all that I'm going through in this life doesn't count for anything? No, I mean that if you have set your sights on God's reality and you are united with Christ, then everything you are going through in this life takes on significance; God gives it meaning; it counts for eternity!. God is storing your life and saving it up for your eternal life. So, this present life is a preparation for your eternal life. When your life on this earth ends, it is the end of the beginning of your real, eternal life. You may think that all this "reality" stuff sounds pretty arcane and mysterious. No, it makes perfect sense. If you have died to your sinful life through trusting Christ as your Savior, then it's only reasonable that you have been raised to new life in Him because He has been resurrected to eternal life. And not only has He been resurrected, but He sits at God's right hand and He is saving up your life for eternal life with Him. "And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory" (vs. 4).

Christology For Dummies - Colossians 1:15-20

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross." In the series of short declarations in these verses, the Apostle Paul presents a concise yet comprehensive theology of Christ--a Christology--that you don't have to be a biblical scholar or theologian to understand or appreciate. These declarations present a clear conception about the divine nature of Jesus and Paul may have been quoting from the verses of an early Christian hymn. In these verses Paul presents Jesus as the supreme Creator and Redeemer. Through His incarnation, Christ became the visible image of God. Because of His divinity, He is supreme not only over the realm of humanity but over all existence in the spiritual realm. In fact, Christ is both the one through whom all things were created and the goal of all creation. He is the essential unity of all His redeemed people. God has chosen to reveal Himself fully in Jesus Christ. Therefore, seeing Jesus and understanding who He is means seeing and understanding God. In other words, Christ is sufficient for all our knowledge of God. And through Christ, God has reconciled everything to Himself, thus, establishing His authority and rule over all creation, both in the spiritual and the earthly realms. Now that's a theology of Christ that is plain enough for us dummies to understand and even make us want to bow down and worship Him!

Two Secrets for a Happy Life - Philippians 4:6,12-13

In the book of Philippians the Apostle Paul shares several secrets for a happy and fulfilling Christian life. Two such secrets for happiness are found in Chapter 4: The first secret for a happy life is to overcome worry: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything" (vs. 6). The way to stop worrying is to start praying. Instead of worrying about it, pray about it. And if you pray about everything, then there's not anything left to worry about! Worry can't reside where prayer abides. The second secret for a happy life is to let God enable you to accomplish His will: "I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength" (vs. 12-13). If your circumstances are good, then rejoice and give God praise and thanks. If your circumstances are bad, then trust God for strength to persevere. The point is, the circumstances that you find yourself in don't matter so much. What really matters is that Christ gives you the strength to accomplish God's will through your life regardless of the circumstances. Put these two secrets together and you will find happiness because when you pray about everything, then God gives you the strength to do everything to accomplish His will for your life!

Deeply Rooted - Jeremiah 17:7-8

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." The prophet Jeremiah paints a beautiful word picture to describe people who lead lives of faithfulness to God! These people are like trees that grow beside a river and their roots extend to the deep parts of the river where there is a continuous source of water to nourish them. These trees are not disturbed by heatwaves or drought conditions because they are deeply rooted in the river. Jeremiah contrasts a life of faithfulness to God with a life that trusts only in human strength and ability (vs. 5-6). He says a way of life that trusts only in human ability is like a shrub that lives in the desert. It is stunted and has no hope for survival for any length of time. Taking the metaphor to its full meaning, God is the river of life and the trees planted by the river are God's faithful people and are, therefore, rooted in God's eternal life while the stunted bushes of the desert are unfaithful people or people who have no faith in God and so they have no hope for eternal life. Thus, God's faithful people can withstand the vicissitudes of life because they have put down deep roots in God--in His Word and His promises--and it becomes a source of life for them and for others as they bear fruit by proclaiming His salvation. So, don't aspire to be spiritually deep but aspire to be deeply rooted in God through His Word, the Bible.

Celestial Citizenship - Philippians 1:27

"Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ." My grandfather was born in England and came to the United States as an infant. Later in life he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. I have a copy of his citizenship papers. His certificate of naturalization says that he intends to reside permanently in the United States and is entitled to be admitted to citizenship. Citizenship is a legal concept that is defined by most countries of the world based on one's heritage or descent. In other words, you are a citizen of a country because one or both of your parents are citizens of that country or you are born on territory belonging to or claimed by that country. Most countries provide for a naturalization process for obtaining citizenship when you have not been born a citizen. Countries often require persons who are becoming naturalized citizens to renounce any other citizenships. God has devised a legal process for the naturalization of human beings into His Kingdom. By becoming a citizen of God’s Kingdom you effectively renounce citizenship in Satan’s domain, which is this world. When you become a citizen of God’s Kingdom, however, Satan does not automatically revoke your citizenship in his domain. When you become a naturalized citizen of God’s Kingdom, you still live within the territorial boundaries of the evil kingdom and your human heritage coupled with Satan’s continued temptations and deceptions combine to try to cause you to renege on your allegiance to God’s Kingdom. Fortunately, God has provided His Holy Spirit to enable and empower us to conduct ourselves as citizens of heaven and in a manner worthy of Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring eternal life into this present age—to bring God’s future Kingdom into our present reality.  In God's present and future Kingdom, the very nature and life of God lives in and through Kingdom citizens by the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit, the eternal God is ever-present with His people. "But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives" (vs. 3:20).  [Today's meditation is excerpted from my new book, The Kingdom Order: Living for the Future in the Present.]

Spiritual Specialists - Ephesians 4:7-16

"However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ....As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love" (vs. 7, 16). These verses are the opening and conclusion of a section in which the Apostle Paul describes the spiritual giftings or specialties God bestows "to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ" (vs. 12). So, we are like the construction crew for God's building project and each one of us is a specialist in some aspect of construction. Maybe you are a frame carpenter, a finish carpenter, a bricklayer, a carpenter's helper, a roofer, an electrician, or even a civil engineer (or apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher--vs. 11). Nevertheless, you are a spiritual specialist because God gives you a special spiritual ability so you can assist in this building project. However, if you don't know what your spiritual specialty is, then ask God to show you because we need your help to finish the job!

Hope Springs Eternal - Ephesians 2:12

"You lived in this world without God and without hope." The Apostle Paul is explaining how God's grace has been given to the Gentiles (non-Jews), bringing them into His family, and uniting them with Jews in a new community—the body of Christ. Formerly, the Gentiles were disdained by the Jews and excluded from the covenant promises of God. Thus, Gentiles were without God and, consequently, without hope. Living without hope is a dreadful way to live. Nobody wants to live without hope--hope for a better life, a better tomorrow, a better eternity. Hope brings meaning to everything that happens in our lives. When my wife was diagnosed with cancer, we hoped that medical treatment would restore her health. When it didn't, we hoped that God would heal her. But when He didn't, it was our hope for eternal life in Christ that sustained us. Yes, hope springs eternal; it remains in spite of the odds. So, our lives are not so much about what happens to us or what God does or doesn't do for us, but that we have hope in Him and His promises. And we must hope because we can't have faith without hope. Hope activates faith: "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see" (Hebrews 1:11). Therefore, we should always keep on hoping in God and His promises because hope helps us persevere through this earthly life by allowing us glimpses of eternity:

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast; 

Man never is, but always to be blest: 

The soul, uneasy and confined from home, 

Rests and expatiates in a life to come." 

-Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, 1733

How To Know You Are Saved - Ephesians 1:13-14

"And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him." It is the dispensing of the Spirit to believers that is the mark of incorporation into the redeemed community of God. This promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit, is the distinguishing feature of your salvation (see Luke 24:24, John 14:16, Acts 2:33). It is what identifies you as belonging to Christ--a Christian. The Spirit is your spiritual ID and membership card. The indwelling Holy Spirit makes the creative and redemptive work of God personal to us as God's people both individually and collectively. The indwelling Spirit is God's guarantee that He will give us the eternal life He promised us through the sacrifice of His Son. Our understanding and experience of God, however, often centers on God as Father and God as Son and not so much on God as Holy Spirit. But God is best known from a trinitarian perspective—God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The role of the Holy Spirit in identifying us with Christ as God's sons and daughters and bringing the presence of God into our lives is often not as well understood or experienced by Christians as is the creative work of the Father or the redemptive work of the Son. Yet, it is the active presence of the Holy Spirit in your life that affirms you are saved! Your eternal life begins when God gives you the Holy Spirit. "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).

Give Me That Old-Time Religion - Jeremiah 6:16

"This is what the Lord says: Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls." God, through the prophet Jeremiah, chided the people of Israel and Judah to repent and warned them of the terrible consequences that awaited them if they refused. He admonished them to follow the tried and true ways of God’s laws, which would lead to rest for their souls. When you come to a crossroads in your life and you are trying to determine which way to go, go the old, godly way, the tried and true ways of God. Such everlasting truths as:

In the beginning God created...

You shall have no other gods before me...

Honor your father and mother...

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

For God so loved the world...

God is love...

The greatest of these is love...

will assuredly lead you to God's will and His way and, consequently, bring peace and rest to your soul. The simple lyrics of an old southern gospel song explain it like this:

"Give me that old-time religion,
It's good enough for me.
It was good for our mothers...
Makes me love everybody...
It will take us all to heaven...
And it's good enough for me."

I think that's what Jeremiah was saying!

No Sweet Talkin' God - Jeremiah 3:4-11

"So you talk, but you keep on doing all the evil you can” (vs. 5). At the time of Jeremiah’s ministry, the northern kingdom of Israel had been captured and exiled by the Assyrians and now over 100 years later, the southern kingdom, Judah, was headed down the same road. Just as breaking the covenant had destroyed the northern kingdom, so it later destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah as well. Eventually, Jerusalem was captured, the Temple was demolished, and many Jews were exiled by the Babylonians. In both cases, the captivity and exile were God's judgment and punishment because His chosen people violated His covenant with Him. Jeremiah likened this tragedy to the break-up of a marriage relationship in which the bride forsook her husband and took up with other lovers (vs. 3:1). God warned them to return to Him or face destruction. However, the faith and commitment of His people were phony. Instead of confessing their sins, the people tried to cover them over with "sweet talk." But God saw through their pretense: "Yet you say to me, Father, you have been my guide since my youth. Surely you won’t be angry forever! Surely you can forget about it!" (vs. 4-5). God finds self-righteousness and hypocrisy especially repugnant: "And yet you say, I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn't angry with me! But now I will punish you severely because you claim you have not sinned" (vs. 2:35). God told them that the hypocrisy of Judah was more reprehensible than the faithlessness of Israel: "Then the Lord said to me, Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah!" (vs. 11). The point is, you can't fool God so you need to walk your talk. Examine your theology. The way you live needs to correspond with what you say you believe about God because how you believe is how you behave!

New Clothes - Galatians 3:26-27

"For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes." I like to wear new clothes. I like the look and feel of new clothes. When I put on new clothes, it kind of makes me feel new. The Apostle Paul says that when we are united with Christ through faith in Him, it is like putting on new clothes. In fact, when Jesus saves us and gives us His Spirit, it's like putting on a new set of clothes each day. According to Paul we should actually dress ourselves with Christ in the same say we put clothes on. "Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14). We should clothe ourselves with Christ's presence--the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus with us and dwelling in us: "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts" (vs. 4:6). So, the way to clothe ourselves with Christ is to remove our dirty clothes (Romans 13:12). These dirty clothes are the sinful or evil thoughts, actions, or desires that we think about or indulge in (vs. 4:19-21; Romans 13:13). But we are not instructed to remove these dirty clothes, wash them, and then wear them again. "Let the Holy Spirit guide you lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves" (vs. 5:16). When we put on Christ, we dispose of the dirty clothes and put on new clothes. In other words, we remove the old clothes of sin and unrighteousness and dress ourselves in the new clothes of Christ's presence by thinking about Him, worshiping Him, reading and studying His Word, and helping and serving others. "Put on your new nature, created to be like God--truly righteous and holy" (Ephesians 4:24).