Don't Let Failures Keep You From Witnessing

            Key Principle #2: WITNESS (part 2)

²¹ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us ... one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection. ” ... ²⁶ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles."          Acts Chapter 1 

 

        It is this passage of Scripture that has led to an erroneous division in clergy (those who make a living as a minister) and the laity (those ministers who earn a living other than through the church). The word “lot” is kleros from which we get clergy, so whenever we read “the lot fell on Matthias,” it could also be said, “and the clergy fell on Matthias.” But as we see in Acts 1:8, it’s not just the clergy who are to be witnesses for Christ, but everyone who receives the Holy Spirit, or in other words, all Christians.

       As we saw in the previous blog, some use the excuse of "not being a member of the clergy" to not be a witness. Look at what Robert Coleman said about the division of the clergy and laity in his book, The Master Plan of Discipleship:

Biblically speaking, we cannot define clergy and laity as mutually exclusive terms…Radical distinctions between the pulpit and the pew did not develop until well into the second century. The word kleros…has the meaning of “a share, a land received by lot, or inheritance.” …When the reference is to recipients of God’s promise as the church, the terms relate to all believers who have received the inheritance of Christ (Acts 8:21; 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 4:13, 14; 8:16; Gal. 3:18, 29; 4:1, 7; Eph. 1:11; Col. 1:12; 3:24; Titus 3:7; Heb. 6:17; 9:15; 11:7,8; James 2:5; 1 Pet. 1:4; 5:3). In the New Testament usage of these term, then, everyone in the church is a clergyman or an heir of God. (pg. 11)

         But there are other reasons people use which keep them from witnessing.

 

 Don’t Let Failures keep you from witnessing 

        Not only should we not let excuses keep us from witnessing, but we should not let our past failures keep us from witnessing. Look at Peter. He was the disciple who whenever he didn’t know what to say, he said it anyway. Peter was a go-getter and Jesus liked that, but even go-getters get gotten at times by some type of failure.  

        During the 10 days of waiting and praying after Jesus ascended to heaven, Peter had to have been reading through the Old Testament, especially the Psalms, which still is so inspirational during times of affliction and sorrow. He obviously turned to Psalm 69 because that was what he quoted about having someone take Judas’ spot in Acts 1:20.  

        Here are some of the verses that gave Peter comfort. 

¹ Save me O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. ² I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I have come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying, my throat is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for my God. 

        Now don’t you think that was a great passage for Peter to read? During the past three and a half years, Peter had proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, swore he would never deny him, yet only a few hours later, he swore he never knew the man. The Bible says after the third denial, he, like the Psalmist, wept bitterly. All the disciples were grief-stricken by the events and by Jesus’ absence. Death is devastating. I don’t care who you are and how much you know that they are "better off in heaven" and free from suffering, still, death is absolutely devastating. The Psalmist said he cried so hard that his throat went dry and he couldn’t even see. There is no shame in crying over the things that God cries over.  

        Let’s read some more from the same passage which Peter read in Psalm 69:

⁵O God, You know my foolishness and my sins are not hidden from you. ⁶Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me. Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel...¹⁹You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; My adversaries are all before You. ²⁰Reproach has broken my heart and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 

        At this point of loneliness and sadness, Peter turned his thoughts toward his own failures. He may have been isolated and ostracized from the other disciples. It probably sunk in to him how lonely it must have been for Jesus to have suffered and have all to forsake Him. The fisherman apostle undoubtedly continued to read this Messianic prophecy in the next verse, Ps. 69:21. “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” 

        Peter’s heart must have leapt out into his throat from his chest when he read this, knowing that Christ had also been given vinegar to drink on the cross. Psalm 69 then speaks about calling out for vengeance on those who betrayed him. Who else was a greater betrayer than Judas himself? Talk about a gruesome, painful death, Judas’ own bowels had bloated and spilled out after he had hung himself in remorse of being used and tossed away by the devil himself. No wonder Peter quoted Psalm 69:25 and applied it to Judas. “Let their dwelling place be desolate. Let no one live in their tents.” 

        Peter failed Christ, but was restored by Him. Judas, on the other hand, failed Christ but didn’t repent and did not experience the restoration, but rather the wrath of God, culminating in his death. As the Psalmist said, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” (Ps. 69:28) 

        If you have ever failed (is there anyone that this doesn’t apply to?), learn what Peter learned: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity” (Prov. 24:16). The righteous fall just like everyone else, but they get back up again. Jesus restored Peter. Don’t let your past keep you from living your future for God and don’t let your failures keep you from being a witness to God. By the way, who was it that wrote this Psalm? Oh, yeah, David. Not David the adulterer, David the murderer, David the liar. David, the forgiven one. David, the man after God's own heart, even when it was broken.

        Judas was overcome by his remorse and died. Peter, on the other hand, overcame his remorse and lived to be the leader in the church. If you have failed and you feel like you are the chief of all sinners, look at Peter. Look at Paul, who coined the phrase, “the chief of all sinners.” And ladies, look at Mary Magdalene, who was likely a prostitute, although we are not for sure. We do know that seven demons were driven out of her, yet she became a close follower of Christ.  

        So what am I saying? If you have failed in the past, just remember Peter, Paul and Mary.

 

 

 

 

Good news on book publication (kind of)

Romans 8:28 states that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes. I am claiming that on the publication of the GoJODaaT.

Crossbooks, my publisher that I have been working with for nearly a year now, has gone out of business. So why is that good news? I believe that is going to lead the book to be published by a larger publishers, either by B&H directly (affiliated with Lifeway) or another publisher such as Thomas Nelson (the publisher of my preferred translation in the book, the New King James Version).

So above is the suggested cover design and my prayer is that God will actually achieve a wider distribution than Crossbooks would have provided. Drop me a note if you will join me in prayer (I believe you have to create a log in account in order to post comments).

I will be updating my corrections to the blog over the next few weeks so that a "cleaner" reading of the devotionals will be on the internet. You may begin by going to www.johnoneday.blogspot.com .

Key Principles for the Church: # 2 - - WITNESS

Key Principle #2: WITNESS (part 1)

ACTS 1:8-26

⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

       

     Lawyers and judges say that one of the most convincing (but sometimes least accurate) evidences you can bring to a trial is to have an eyewitness of an event, depending of course on the reliability and believability of the witness.

        Luke researched the gospel and also the book of Acts by going to eyewitnesses of the events. I think it is extremely important that Luke says several times that Mary “pondered these things in her heart.” How would he know that unless he spoke directly to her?

        The use of witnesses by Dr. Luke was very important to him and it is also important to God today. God gives us dunamis power (Principle #1) for many reasons, but the ultimate reason is so that we can be a witness both verbally and demonstratively in our lives. This leads us to see that giving a testimony about our faith is the second key principle found in the book of Acts. The Greek word for witness is martyr and the English word martyr signifies the most radical form of witnessing: to testify so strongly that you suffer and possibly even die for your faith.

        If being a witness is so important and was so import to Luke and to Christ, who said, “You shall be my witnesses,” what, then, stops us from being a good witness for our faith? Another word for witness can be a testimony or a proof to the world, or in the case of Acts 1:6, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, that Jesus is who said he was. So there may be several reasons that stop us from being a witness or a proof for Christ, but none of reasons are good reasons. There are at least three reasons that come to mind why the early disciples could have used for failing to be a witness.

        Today’s blog will look at the first reason some use: Excuses.

Don’t Let Excuses Stop You From Witnessing

      Don’t let excuses keep you from witnessing. Someone has defined an excuse as "a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie." Some people erroneously think that only certain people are spiritually gifted  to witness, and others are called for other things, such as service, mercy, teaching, giving, exhortation, pew-sitting. Yes, some people think that pew-sitting is their spiritual gift. A few of those people think that they are only called to sit on a certain pew and no one else better sit there, especially a visitor.

       Someone said in a class the other day, "I can't get up and speak. I'm no Moses." I immediately said to him, "Moses wasn't a Moses either." He immediately knew what I was meaning. Heroes like Moses, or in today's reading, Peter, were not some supernatural saints. Peter was a fisherman. Moses was a shepherd. The only thing that can keep us from being a witness is an excuse.

      The gift of an evangelist is a spiritual gift, but it’s not just the evangelists who are called to evangelize. The overwhelming preponderance of Scriptures shows that it is the entirety of the body of the church who is called to witness. In the last 20 or so years in which I have served in the full-time ministry, I’ve learned one thing (well, I hope I have learned more than one thing): I came across many more people in the ten years of secular work who were unsaved than in the years of full-time ministry work I’ve done. The reason being is that when you are in the full-time, vocational ministry, almost everyone you come across is already saved. The co-workers are saved (at least for the most part). The friends that you have in the ministry are mostly all saved.

        Now it is true that when you are in the ministry you get some opportunities to see people in an unsaved environment but the situation is not as natural as it would be if you were not in the full-time ministry. Sooner or later in a social setting, and most of the time it is sooner, people will ask you, “So what do you do for a living?” and no matter how you phrase it, the people pretty soon pigeon hole you as being a minister. My great-grandfather, who was a preacher and county minister for Parker and Palo Pinto counties, would share, “Well, I sell fire escapes.” But even with that line, pretty soon people figure it out.

        It’s like the phrase I once heard about being a Texan. You can always tell a Texan, but you can’t tell him much. Well it’s true of ministers too, you can always tell a minister, but you can’t tell him much. 

        People have an opinion of you that a minister is "paid to be good' and in many cases, the ministers are over paid for the little amount of good they do. You may laugh at that, but does that mean everyone else who is not a paid minister is "good for nothing"?

        I hope you and I are both "good for nothing". I hope that your minister would be just as good if he wasn’t paid by a church as he would be if he was. But on behalf of all ministers everywhere, if you are a part of the budget and finance committee, don’t let your minister be "good for next to nothing". Pay your minister as an esteemed member of the body of Christ and pay him well because the Bible says that the laborer is worthy of his hire.

        Even if it were true that ministers come across more opportunities to witness, to leave witnessing and evangelism only to the clergy would still be unscriptural and it still wouldn’t be right.

        The people who say witnessing is not for everyone are people who generally don’t want to be obedient to the Scriptures and as a result as we saw this morning, they don’t experience the full power of God. Notice that Jesus says “you shall be witnesses to me.” He doesn’t say, “You can be witnesses to me” or “you may be witnesses to me;” He says you SHALL BE witnesses to Me. You’ll either be a good witness or a bad witness but you will be a witness.

        There are those who want to be a witness in their Jerusalem, but they either don’t want to or cannot go to Judea, Samaria or to the end of the earth. You don’t necessarily have to be a goer, you can be a sender. That’s what the missionary offerings are for. In all of my missionary journeys, someone else has always helped send me in part or in whole, either financially, spiritually, prayerfully or emotionally through encouragement.

        On the other hand, there are some people who will go across the globe to be a witness for Christ on a mission trip but they won’t go across the street. They will go around the world, but not around the corner. God has called each of us to be a witness for Christ.

        Don't let a "skin of a reason stuffed with a lie" keep you from being a witness.

Empowering the Church: Spiritual Immersion

This is part four of empowering the church, a key principle for the church as a whole and individual Christians in particular.

Key Principle #1: EMPOWERED part 4

"...for John truly baptized with water,
but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now."

Acts. 1:5

The Power of Being Immersed By His Spirit

        We often are not empowered as a church and as individuals because we don’t understand what it means to be immersed with the Holy Spirit. I like the translation of “immersion” better than the word “baptized” in verse 5 because the word baptized is not actually translated from the Greek, it’s transliterated. What I mean is, the Greek word, baptizo, was not translated into an English word when the Bible was put into our language hundreds of years ago. When the Bible was first put into English, the most common form of water baptism was not immersion (that is, totally putting under water) but rather by sprinkling or pouring water over, in many cases, a baby as a form of Christening.

        In fact, the Anabaptists were persecuted not because they were against baptism, but they were against the practice of sprinkling or pouring water over babies who were not at an age to understand and become Christian believers. These Anabaptists practiced total immersion in water and it was only those who had truly professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

        The persecution of these believers was so severe that if anyone ever chose to get immersed, the established church would even condemn the believers to death by drowning. They essentially said, “So you want to be immersed, do you?”

        So in that historical setting, imagine the translators rendering Acts 1:5 like this: “For John truly immersed with water; but ye shall be immersed with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Rather than face the wrath of the established church, the translators opted to simply transliterate the word and thus coined a new English word, but it obscured a central doctrine not just on the Biblical mode of water baptism, but the theological truth of Immersion with the Holy Spirit.

        Whether you believe that water baptism should be through sprinkling, pouring, immersion, or should be taken figuratively, the church today has lost the understanding that the Holy Spirit of God is to be immersed in the believer.

        When a person is immersed in his work, or a person is immersed in a book, it means to be absorbed. A ship that sinks into the sea is absorbed by the sea and a person who is immersed or baptized in the Holy Spirit is a person who is absorbed and saturated with God’s Spirit. That’s what is so special about the second chapter of Acts and the Day of Pentecost. For the first time in human history, God’s Spirit became fused into the very body, soul and spirit of a human being. Prior to that, the Holy Spirit came upon people, only to leave when God withdrew His empowering presence from that person, generally because of sin in the life of the person.

        Since Pentecost, the immersion of the Holy Spirit is permanent. Paul said that Christ in you, Christ’s Holy Spirit immersed in you, is the hope of all glory. You can no more un-immerse God’s Spirit within you any more than you can unscramble an egg or unmix your sugar and cream from your coffee. Some people think that salvation is like vinegar and oil, you have to keep it active or else it will separate. That’s not immersion, that’s cohesion; that’s not salvation, that’s salad dressing.

       So ask yourself. Are you a friend, a lover of God, so much so that you want to be a "Theolphilus" type person? Are you waiting, even actively tarrying, for God's presence and power? Are you obeying God in all things? Are you immersed in God's Spirit? If so, God’s power will abide in you.

Empowering the Church: Obedience

This is part three of empowering the church, a key principle for the church as a whole and individual Christians in particular.

Key Principle  #1: EMPOWERED part 3

Acts 1:1-8

The Power of Being Commanded By God

        We are empowered by God not only because when we wait on God, but also when we follow His commandments. Look at Acts 1:2, “He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles. Again in verse four, “Jesus commanded them...”

        If there is anything the church and we Christians hate more than waiting, it is being told what to do. Most of the conflicts within churches are from conflicts over power and who is going to “run the church.” Excuse me, but Christ is the head of the church, not the pastor, elder board, deacon board, or budget committee. And certainly not the majority rule of a church conference. I happen to be a Baptist (a Southern one at that) and oftentimes of late it has become a litmus test on church allegiance to affirm the Baptist Faith and Message, whether it be the 1963 version or the 2000 version, as if every jot and every tittle was inerrant and was fallen out from between Revelation and the maps as the 67^th book of the Bible. I cannot affirm either version as being infallible because both contain the non-Biblical word, “democratic.” Now I’m an American through and through and was in Baptist church nine months before I was born. As one person said it, “You can call me Southern Baptist born and Southern Baptist bred, and when I die, you can call me Southern Baptist dead.” But I defy anyone to tell me where the word democracy is used in the Bible. A democratic vote kept the children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years. And after that, a majority wanted to go back to Egypt. A majority of the disciples thought Judas was trustworthy enough to keep the money bag and when he left to betray the Christ, all but Jesus thought to themselves, “Good ole Judas, he must be going off to give some money to the poor.”

        Who runs the church? Jesus. But when the church doesn’t submit to His commandments, who runs off the pastors? The church. Who runs off people who disagree with him? The pastors. Who runs off the new believers? The crotchedy old ones. Who runs off the faithful old saints? The young impudent ones. And who runs headlong into hell because the church refuses to submit to the commandments of Christ? The lost.

        When anyone in the church is empowered more and Christ, the head, is empowered less, the church itself becomes powerless. But when Christ and His commandments are affirmed and submitted to, that’s when power comes to church and its members. There once was a man who proudly proclaimed, “There ain’t anybody but Jesus going to tell me what to do!” and I applaud him for saying that, but it struck me, how do I know what Jesus is telling me what to do? Whatever it is, it sure better not contradict the clear and apparent commandments contained in God’s Word.

        When I was mentioned friendship and the John 15 passage at the beginning of the chapter, I almost didn’t want to include what John 15:14 says. But it is totally relevant on the issue of power in our lives as individuals and as the church. Look back again at the whole passage.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

        John 15:14 almost makes it sound conditional on whether Jesus will be our Friend. But that wonderful passage of John 15 is not on conditional friendship or conditional love, but rather it’s on abiding and obeying the commandments of Christ as a result of His love. He spoke about showing love to others and the joyful benefits of remaining in the love of Christ. Why is the church often powerless? It is because we fail to follow God’s commandments even though John clearly says that His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).

        Jesus is the one who takes the initiative in calling us friends. He laid down His life for us and by His grace alone are we saved in response to that salvation. We aren’t forced into obeying His commandments like a slave or a servant, but out of love we respond to His initiative.

        When we fail to obey or when we fail to wait, we in a sense disown our friendship with Jesus Christ and we lose our power. What is also true is when we fail to act in response to His grace and love, we also lose our access to His power. The disciples weren’t impatient; from all appearances they waited in faith, in prayer, and in anticipatory expectation of a great and mighty move of God. They waited in obedience to His greatest commandment to love one another by being of one accord.

        They were not disappointed.

Empowering the Church: Waiting

This is part two of empowering the church, a key principle for the church as a whole and individual Christians in particular.

Key Principle #1: EMPOWERED part 2

The Power of Waiting For God

        When was the last time you called upon your Ultimate Friend in the highest place to give you power? As you read the first chapter of Acts, you’ll see that power is not automatic, it is not guaranteed or unconditional, and neither is it instantaneous. In fact, there are times when the church has power and sometimes when it almost seems impotent.  But there are some prerequisites for the church to have power and the first one is one of the hardest for Christians to do: Wait.

        “And, being assembled together with them, (Jesus) commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father..” (Acts 1:4a). Put your finger in your Bible in Acts and check out the cross reference that ties this book back to the end of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24 and verse 49. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” The King James Version uses the word “tarry” in Luke and the Greek word is often translated as “to sit.” Now isn’t that a picture? The church has often been accused of “sitting on the premises” instead of “standing on the promises of God.” But to tarry doesn’t mean to be lazily and idly sitting around, but rather an active type of waiting, busily preparing for something great and might to come about.

        I am blessed to be married to a wonderful woman, who, at this writing, I’ve known for right at 34 years. If she’s ever left at home alone, she is hardly ever just “sitting,” she is “tarrying.” She is actively cleaning, doing a creative memory scrapbook, busily doing something. She is a Martha, constantly working and getting ready for the upcoming day, week, month or whatever. That’s what Jesus called the church to do, actively wait on the Lord for power from on high.

        The Acts passage uses a different word, unique in the New Testament, “wait for the promise of the Father.”  It combines two words, one meaning “abide, remain or stay in one place” and the second word means “around.” So in other words, Jesus said to “wait around.” While Acts 1:4 is the only place where the word is used in the New Testament, it is used in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. Check out Genesis 49:18, “I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!” There’s a longing for salvation and Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples to just hang around but to sit and expectantly await the Promise of the Father. That promise was the Holy Spirit.

        God’s promise was the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit brings with Him power from on High. Does it ever seem to you that the church is powerless? Do you feel powerless in this world? We see the advancement of the secular world, encroaching on the morals and direction of our society, in our economy, in our politics, and all the while the church becomes less and less influential in the world. Where is that “dunamis” power? The Greek word for power is of course dunamis and is the basis for the English word “dynamite” but not many churches and not many Christians could be described today as dynamic. Why? It could be that our modern church is so influenced by society that we no longer waiting on God, expectantly anticipating His power, but instead we strike out on our own.

        Waiting on God is difficult because it requires patience. I like the King James word for patience, “long-suffering,” which is what the compound word in the Greek literally means. There once was a grandmother who stood to pray before her children and numerous grandchildren at the Thanksgiving meal. She gave a long and heart-felt prayer of thanksgiving for all of her little blessings she had gathered around the table, praising God that the fruit of the womb was the gift of the Lord. No sooner than she said Amen did all of the children start clamoring and clawing for the food around the table. After a raucous roar, soon everyone noticed that Grandma was still standing with her eyes clenched tight and her mouth moving slightly. “Grandma, Grandma, what’s the matter?” the children called out. “Oh, nothing, I’m just praying for the patience to handle all the blessings He’s given me.”

        God’s blessings take patience and sometimes even long-suffering to see but they will only come if we wait patiently and with assured anticipation that God will come through. Samuel Beckett was a playwright and most famously the author of the play “Waiting for Godot.” Godot (not pronounced as I heard a radio announcer say one time as “Go-Dot” but rather it is French and pronounced GO-doh). Beckett refused to say definitively who or what Godot represented but the main man in the play waits and waits for the man who never arrives. Some people have felt they have waited and waited on God and He never arrives. I wish I could say that God always comes, like the cavalry from the old westerns, over the hill just in the nick of time. If Beckett, an admitted skeptic and agnostic, wrote his play  to mock those believers who aimlessly and errantly wait on God, only to be disappointed, he probably has a lot of people in his corner. There have been times when I’ve waited and waited on God, as a train comes barreling down the track. Sometimes I’ve jumped left when I should have jumped right, sometimes I did just the opposite and sometimes I’ve been run right down by that barreling train.

        In context to Acts 1, Jesus appeared to the disciples for 40 of the 50 days prior to Pentecost and after His resurrection. This command to wait may have been given twice, first after the resurrection, as indicated by Luke 24, and again just prior to His ascension to heaven, as indicated in Acts 1. If that’s the case, then Peter and John and a few other disciples needed that second reminder but they went back to fishing in Galilee (see John 21). Sometimes we think we are obeying and waiting on God, but we aren’t really. We know Jesus appeared to the disciples, minus Thomas, the evening after the Resurrection and again a week later with Thomas present. He made other appearances undoubtedly as Paul says Jesus appeared individually to Peter and to his own half-brother, James, the future leader of the Jerusalem church. I would think Jesus would have appeared to his earthly mother, although the Scriptures don’t explicitly state that. She was among the 120 waiting in Jerusalem when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came. But the John 21 fishing trip may have come about when the disciples grew tarry-weary.

        In most cases, it is not us waiting on God, but God waiting on us to be obedient. We don’t have the power we need because we act like we don’t need His power from on High. We aren’t anticipating the Holy Spirit, we antagonizing the Holy Spirit by living like God doesn’t see our secret sins, hear our petty gossip, our cutting words, or our promiscuous language; we grieve the Holy Spirit by acting like He cannot see our carnal television shows and movies, or know our wicked thoughts or discern our selfish motives. We aren’t waiting on God, He is waiting on us.

        I wish I could say that ten days (the time from his last appearance and ascension into heaven) was the longest God ever calls us to wait. But do you remember how long it took for Abram to conceive Isaac? Or Joseph to see his brothers bow down to him and vindicate his being sold into slavery? How many years was it until Moses was used by God to draw the people out of Egypt? How long have we waited for Christ to return? How long has Israel been waiting for Jesus to restore their Holy Land to them? (See the end of this chapter for the answer to those questions). Paul says in Romans 8 that all of creation groans, awaiting the redemption of creation.

        Our family went through a struggle recently and a daughter of a missionary, Rhonda Smith, said that her saintly mother often would ask her during her rough years of her life, “Is Jesus not enough for you? If nothing ever worked out for you the rest of your life, would Jesus alone be enough for you to have faith?” Compared to eternity, our waiting on God is a miniscule portion of the smallest part of the proton of the Hydrogen atom in the midst of trillions of galaxies of vast creation of the universe. C.S. Lewis challenged us to imagine an endless sheet of paper, stretching out to eternity from the left to the right, from the top to the bottom, and then to take a pencil and mark a tiny line on that infinite sheet of paper. The beginning of that line would be the beginning of time and creation and the end of that line would be when time should be no more.

        And all the while, the guy behind us at the stoplight honks in the millisecond it takes for our foot to get off the brake and onto the gas.

Key Principles for the Church: #1 Empowered

      The following devotionals based on the book of Acts were originally written to be used as a workbook in preparation for mission trips. However, as I wrote it, I discovered that many of the lessons and the key words are not only practical and applicable for mission trips but for the church as a whole and individual Christians in particular.

Key Principle #1: EMPOWERED (part 1)

Acts 1:1-8

“Who am I that You are mindful of me? That you hear me when I call

“Is it true that You are thinking of me? How You love me/ It’s amazing

“I am a friend of God / I am a friend of God / I am a friend of God

“He calls me friend”

Phillips, Craig, and Dean

            Do you remember having friends as a kid? It seems that having friends (or even just having one really good friend) was one of the biggest needs we had as children and even into our teenage years. But somewhere along the way, the importance of friendships goes by the wayside. Many people often say that they have never been able to establish the kind of friendships they had as children. If  you saw the 1986 movie “Stand By Me” you’ll undoubtedly remember at the very end of the movie, the writer is reflecting over his childhood, even as he watches his own son spending time with his friends. The writer, played by Richard Dreyfess, types onto his computer, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

            Yes, Jesus calls us friends. “I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you,” (John 15:15). Christ demonstrated the ultimate proof of true friendship in pledging to lay down His life for His friends, and then He fulfilled that pledge on the cross. To be a friend of God is one of the greatest gifts of salvation. And Jesus wasn’t exclusive in his choice of friends. In Matthew 11:19, one of the deriding labels that the enemies of Christ attempted to pin on Him was that He was a “friend of publicans and sinners.” Wow! The social outcasts of Jesus’ day were His friends. It’s also interesting to note that not only did Jesus hang out with prostitutes, tax-collectors, and people with less than stellar reputations, he also hung out with the religious leaders. 

The Power of Being A Friend Of God

            Luke was the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles and he wrote both of the books of the New Testament to “Theophilus,” whose name means “Friend of God” or even “Lover of God.” We are told in the writings of the Apostle Paul that Luke was a physician and in the Gospel of Luke, we learn he was someone who sought to write things accurately and in order. His attention to detail is noteworthy and in portions of Acts, it is evident that he was an eyewitness himself to many of the events in the latter part of the book.

            Isn’t it amazing that when we read the Bible, we have in our very hands stories written down by eyewitnesses to some of the most amazing events in history, and here is Luke writing to you and me, and all who are God’s friend. Now we don’t know if Theophilus was a real person or a name that Luke gave to all who would read his two books. We’re never given a reason why Luke would write to a person otherwise never named in Scripture. So since we don’t know for sure, I rather like being called a “friend of God” and having a book entitled to me. So I want to invite you to curl up on your couch, turn on the reading lamp by your bed, or don your reading glasses at your desk and join with me in reading this personal and practical history lesson Luke is presenting about the early days of the church, written to us friends of God.

            Now remember, Jesus called us friends and the popularity of the Phillips, Craig, and Dean song indicates that I’m not the only one who likes being called God’s friend. And as I recall, my friends as a child, just like the ones in “Stand By Me,” weren’t perfect. We had our share of fights growing up. And as adults, my friends weren’t always there for me, and I know I’ve not always been a good friend myself. But as God’s friend, we have empowering privileges.

            The phrase of “I have friends in high places” (as opposed to that country ballad of “I have friends in low places”) conjures up an idea that having influential friends brings with it a certain degree of empowerment. The church today needs to remember that we have power from on high through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

        Some people get offended by the plethora of jokes about heaven, God, and Saint Peter at the pearly gates. If you are one of those people, I give you permission to tune out at this point. Three golfers were on a particularly difficult course which had both a hard bend and water between the tee and the hole.

        The first golfer took his shot and sure enough it landed right in the water. The golfer went up, put his club over the water hole, which immediately parted in two and the golfer went and hit his ball onto the green.

        The second golfer took a swing and the ball again went straight to the water, but stayed afloat long enough for the golfer to walk out on the water and hit the ball to sink it in the second shot.

         Finally the third golfer went to the tee, hit the ball right to the water, when a fish jumped up and caught the ball in its mouth. Immediately, an eagle swooped down, caught the fish and began to fly across the green. Suddenly lightning flashed from the clear blue sky, obliterating the eagle and the fish, but left the ball intact which then fell directly into the hole.

         With that, Moses looked at Jesus and said, “You know, I get really tired of playing Golf with your Dad.”

          You want talk about power? Now that’s power, but it's not on the golf course that we need that kind of power. We need supernatural power in the church and in our lives today. We need today to tap into that power Jesus promised would be ours in Acts 1:8,  “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” We get that kind of power by remembering that we are, like Theophilus, a friend of God.

A reminder as we approach Easter

We cannot give as He gave, 

But we can give and so save

'Twas the night before Christ was born

'Twas the night before Christ was born
by Tim McKeown

'Twas the night before Christ was born and all through the land
A tax was decreed for every child, woman and man...
Everyone went to his city. Joseph and Mary were there
In Bethlehem the city of David, with her child she would bear

Joseph, a just man, was all snug in his bed
When a dream of an angel came into his head
“Joseph, son of David, fear not when you wake from this nap
to take Mary as your wife despite all the flap:

For her Child conceived is of the Holy Ghost.
You shall call him JESUS, who shall save to the uttermost,"
So away to Bethlehem they went like a flash,
Without a place to stay and with very little cash

Now in the same country, shepherds were abiding in the field,
keeping watch o’er their flock by night, which was calm and still
When what to their wondering eyes should appear
The angel of the Lord, and they were filled with such fear

The glory of the Lord shone round about them that night
The angel brought good tidings of great joy, to relieve their fright
“Unto you is born a Savior, Christ the Lord, and a sign God chose.
You shall find the babe in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.”

Suddenly there appeared with the angel a heavenly host
Praising God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest most.
And on earth peace and good will to all men.”
When the angels left, the shepherds went straight to Bethlehem.

They found Mary, Joseph, and the babe in a stable within
They laid him in a manger; because there was no room at the inn.
Now all this was done, to fulfill the prophet of the Lord
“A virgin shall be with child, and be brought forth to the world
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.”
But his other name means Savior and that name is JESUS.

Now later there came wise men from a far
They came to Herod and said “We have seen His Star.
Where is he that is born to be the King of the Jews?”
They came to worship him but for Herod ‘twas not good news.

He sent them to Bethlehem to find the Christ child
The star led them to Him as He laid meek and mild
They fell in his presence, and worshipped the king
Their treasures, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, did they bring

And when they had seen Christ, they made known abroad
Great tidings of good news of the newly born Son of God.
And all who heard it wondered at those things which were told
By shepherds and kings, by young and by old,
All these things were pondered by Mary in her heart.
This is the true Christmas story, as told from the start

If you wish to be like the shepherds and kings, then search for Christ
And be like a manger, place him in the heart of your life.
You will be a true child of God and be precious in His sight,
So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Gospel of John Update

The Gospel According to John--One Day At A TimeMount Arbol at the Sea of Galilee, where the gospel begins and ends.

Several have asked if I was going to add any more to the Prayer portrait and the answer is yes, but I am coming down to the wire on the Gospel of John for New Believers and to be honest I have had to devote virtually all of my non-ministerial hours to finish up the editing.

Being a self-published book, I have solicited other editors to help me and many have but even with that, I found myself editing and re-editing my work, trying to take out anything that is not just right.

Most recently, my editor has sent some further revisions of my revisions, so I will be busy with this and after my final copy is in, I will put in the final five sessions on prayer to complete that series (yes I hope that also becomes a published work as well).

Pray for the following

* Visual Bible will grant use of pictures from the film "The Gospel of John" to be used similarly to the way that it was used on johnoneday.blogspot.com .

* That all flaws and misteaks misstakes mistakes will be found before publication.

* That I will know the difference between preferences which don't need to be changed and the smallest details that will encourage new and not-so-new believers to grow in their faith through reading the Gospel of John.

* That God will open up opportunities that will convince Lifeway or another publisher to grant national distribution for the glory of God.

Spirit-filled, the Seventh Portrait of Prayer

     I am now on the seventh week of seven prayer portraits. Each week at my  joining hearts devotionals blog we have looked at seven Old Testament events, gleaned from them portrayals of prayer, and accompanied with them on how they were reflected in the life of Jesus.

     I hope you have been inspired to be a better prayer warrior, and as we look into the final segment, being Spirit-filled in prayer and walk, I hope you are ready to engage in spiritual battle. Ezekiel breathes life into a valley of dry bones, revitalizing them to do battle. God did that with the nation of Israel. And He wants to do that with you.

     But revitalization only come first by prayers of faith and hearing by the word of the Lord.

     I am praying for God's people to get a God-sized vision of what He wants to do in our lives, in our church, in our "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and uttermost parts of the earth." I am praying for and asking you to pray that we seek God to do what only He can do. 

Would you join your hearts together with mine in prayer for a vision for His people. 

     I believe that vision can only be seen when we pray, and not until we have prayed. It will linger long after we first begin to pray. In order to get a vision, I have written for now seven weeks on seven portraits of prayer; portraits to enlarge our vision of where God wants to take us. 

     In New Testament, Jesus loved to teach with parables and in the Old Testament there are illustrations of encouragements for us to pray. These illustrations are what I call Portraits of Prayer.

     Power in Intercessory Prayer, illustrated by Moses' hands being held up by Aaron and Hur, while Joshua engages in battle below (Exodus 17). This battleground was a resting place, a testing place, without water and filled with conflict. But God wanted to forever memorialize it as where he placed his victorious banner held high. Do you have someone who regularly intercedes for you in prayer? Do you have someone for whom you regularly pray? Begin your study on prayer here and see an Old Testament portrait in the Power of Intercessory Prayer.

      Radiance of God's Glory in Prayer, portrayed by Moses' face which glowed with the shekinah glory of being in God's presence.When a Christian has a vibrant prayer life, it shows. There is a glow about a person who has been in prayer and in communion with a Holy, Loving God. How can we Christians create in our lives the essence of what occurred with Moses? Prayer produces within us a radiant glory of God which is reflected in our lives.

     Awestruck Worship of God in prayer is seen in the vision by Isaiah as the prophet sees God's magnificence in the Temple (Isaiah 6). This depiction majestically portrays how believers ought to come to God in prayer with a sense of reverential awe and respect for the exalted King who sits in glory upon the throne. The result of an awe-struck prayer life will result in divine revelations from the Lord. When we come into the prayerful presence of the Lord, it reveals not only His majesty, but our sinful sense of being undone.

     Yearning for God's Presence in Prayer is something which every believer should have. Psalm 42 paints a portrait of a deer panting for the water, and also our soul should long for God. Do you long for God’s presence? How greatly do you yearn for Him? A deer seeks water not only in times of great drought and thirst, but also when it needs shelter from danger, when it is fighting an opponent, and when it is sick with fever and needs refreshing coolness of water. Similarly, during times of spiritual isolation, battle, and affliction, we truly should develop a thirst for God’s presence, fulfilled in prayer. 

Earnest Expectation of God to answer our prayers and should expect great things from a great God. This portrait of prayer, found in Joshua 3, shows that the priest carrying the ark of God went to the very banks of the Jordan River, at flood time no less, and put their feet into its waters and only then did God recede the water. 

     Resolution to Pray, no matter what. When you think of a Biblical story of someone resolved to prayer, especially in the Old Testament, no more vivid picture can come to mind than that of Daniel openly prayed when told not pray to anyone other than the king of Persia. Jesus asked His disciples, could you not tarry with me for one hour in prayer. What makes you prayerless? Resolve to pray, no matter what.

     Spirit-filled Prayer. In this final portrait of the Old Testament, we see that God wants to bring to life a dead people. You cannot be spiritual without prayer and you cannot have a prayerful life and not be spiritually filled as seen in Ezekiel’s Valley of the Dry Bones.

Week Six, Resolve to Pray

In week six on "Seven Portraits in Prayer", we see the portrait of Daniel's resolve to pray, not matter what. (Use the overview guide below to follow the series on how we should pray, based on seven examples from the Old Testament).

Look with me as we gain insight and encouragement to pray without fainting or losing heart in our prayers to God (see Gal. 6:9). Jesus encouraged us to pray without fail (Luke 18). 

¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thess. 1 (ESV)

     I am praying for God's people to get a God-sized vision of what He wants to do in our lives, in our church, in our "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and uttermost parts of the earth." I am praying for and asking you to pray that we seek God to do what only He can do. 

Would you join your hearts together with mine in prayer for a vision for His people. 

     I believe that vision can only be seen when we pray, and not until we have prayed. It will linger long after we first begin to pray. In order to get a vision, I am writing the next few weeks on portraits of prayer; portraits to enlarge our vision of where God wants to take us. 

     In New Testament, Jesus loved to teach with parables and in the Old Testament there are illustrations of encouragements for us to pray. These illustrations are what I call Portraits of Prayer.

     Power in Intercessory Prayer, illustrated by Moses' hands being held up by Aaron and Hur, while Joshua engages in battle below (Exodus 17). This battleground was a resting place, a testing place, without water and filled with conflict. But God wanted to forever memorialize it as where he placed his victorious banner held high. Do you have someone who regularly intercedes for you in prayer? Do you have someone for whom you regularly pray? Begin your study on prayer here and see an Old Testament portrait in the Power of Intercessory Prayer.

      Radiance of God's Glory in Prayer, portrayed by Moses' face which glowed with the shekinah glory of being in God's presence.When a Christian has a vibrant prayer life, it shows. There is a glow about a person who has been in prayer and in communion with a Holy, Loving God. How can we Christians create in our lives the essence of what occurred with Moses? Prayer produces within us a radiant glory of God which is reflected in our lives.

     Awestruck Worship of God in prayer is seen in the vision by Isaiah as the prophet sees God's magnificence in the Temple (Isaiah 6). This depiction majestically portrays how believers ought to come to God in prayer with a sense of reverential awe and respect for the exalted King who sits in glory upon the throne. The result of an awe-struck prayer life will result in divine revelations from the Lord. When we come into the prayerful presence of the Lord, it reveals not only His majesty, but our sinful sense of being undone.

     Yearning for God's Presence in Prayer is something which every believer should have. Psalm 42 paints a portrait of a deer panting for the water, and also our soul should long for God. Do you long for God’s presence? How greatly do you yearn for Him? A deer seeks water not only in times of great drought and thirst, but also when it needs shelter from danger, when it is fighting an opponent, and when it is sick with fever and needs refreshing coolness of water. Similarly, during times of spiritual isolation, battle, and affliction, we truly should develop a thirst for God’s presence, fulfilled in prayer. 

Earnest Expectation of God to answer our prayers and should expect great things from a great God. This portrait of prayer, found in Joshua 3, shows that the priest carrying the ark of God went to the very banks of the Jordan River, at flood time no less, and put their feet into its waters and only then did God recede the water. 

     Resolution to Pray, no matter what. When you think of a Biblical story of someone resolved to prayer, especially in the Old Testament, no more vivid picture can come to mind than that of Daniel openly prayed when told not pray to anyone other than the king of Persia. Jesus asked His disciples, could you not tarry with me for one hour in prayer. What makes you prayerless? Resolve to pray, no matter what.

     Spirit-filled Prayer. In this final portrait of the Old Testament, we see that God wants to bring to life a dead people. You cannot be spiritual without prayer and you cannot have a prayerful life and not be spiritually filled as seen in Ezekiel’s Valley of the Dry Bones.