The following poem was inspired by a book I just started reading titled, “Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices” by Thomas Brooks…
Wake up, sleeping heart!
The father of lies,
Waits in the darkness,
To tear you apart.
Be alert, O my soul!
The cunning serpent,
Wily in his ways,
Seeks to take control.
Stand firm, child of Light!
The Father Almighty,
And Jesus our Lord,
The serpent they did fight.
Rejoice, O my heart!
The father of lies,
Because of the cross,
Forever WILL depart.
To know Your grace,
Is not just some fad to embrace,
Only now and then,
And thus from our memory erased.
To know Your grace,
Is to rejoice at seeing Your face,
Now and forever,
And long to always be in Your place.
Birds singing, in a cheerful creation choir.
Wind blowing, to cool a sun-kissed face.
Leaves rustling, dancing with the music.
Grass twinkling, with a dew-covered applause.
And…
People moving, going to and fro in busyness.
Do they hear?
I mean, do they really hear?
I used to be in that busyness,
But now I sit among the creation choir.
I sit and hear,
I mean, I really hear.
I sit and notice,
I mean, really notice.
I sit and feel,
I mean, I really feel.
Stop your busyness, people. Stop!
You’re missing the concert,
Creation singing to the Lord.
Birds, wind, leaves and grass…
Encore! Encore!
Over the years, I have heard people lament the lack of faith in their children/grandchildren. Sometimes the lament is centered on themselves as a parent, that there is something deficient in their own faith or practice thereof. Sometimes the lament is centered on what they did or did not do to teach them the faith. They wonder if their message was deficient or did they not support the church enough in teaching their children. Sometimes the lament is the influence of the world on their children, that the world’s voice was just too loud. Whatever the case, people are confused as to why some believe so readily and some are so resistant. For those whose children are not Christians, it is sometimes a badge of shame they wear.
But we must not blame ourselves, for salvation is something that is out of our control. The Parable of the Sower begins to teach us that (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23). Here, Jesus teaches about a sower who went out to sow seeds. Some of the seeds took root and some did not. But what is of note is that the sower nor the seed is deficient, it is the soil. As a parent, if you taught the Word of God to your children, if you brought them to a solid, biblical church, if you lived your faith in the home, it is not you or your message. But do not get me wrong. I am not throwing your children under the bus. The problem is the soil of their heart. So do not give up. A farmer who has a bad crop one year does not pack it in and quit. They work the land. Keep working the soil of their heart, being faithful with God’s Word and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit and entrust your children to the Lord.
Regal, standing tall
Swaying in the wind.
Peaceful, calm and firm.
Feeling not chagrined.
Reflect, O my soul,
Remain in His love.
Trusting in Jesus.
Saving from above.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
[Psalm 25:4-5]
How did we ever survive before Google Maps? I mean, seriously, we had to actually hold a paper map in order to navigate ourselves through unfamiliar territory. Things did get a little better when we had access to the Internet and could consult MapQuest and then print turn by turn directions. But even then, we still had a piece of paper to consult, and the only voice telling us where to turn was our backseat driver nagging us. And then, if you got lost, a paper map was little help if you did not know where you were; if you had no reference point.
Nowadays, not only do we have GPS guidance but a friendly voice to give us turn by turn directions, traffic updates, and rerouting us if necessary. It can even warn us of heavy traiffic, construction, accidents and speed traps coming up. Paper maps can not do that. Oh the joy of being guided like this 🙂
In Psalm 25, the psalmist is asking for guidance: Make me know your ways, teach me your paths, Lead me in your truth. And it never ceases to amaze me how often I try to figure things out on my own. It is almost like trying to navigate myself across the country using a paper map when I have my GPS right there. Why in the world would anyone do that? In the same way, why would anyone try to navigate this life without the Creator. Better than the most advanced GPS, God knows this creation and your life “like the back of His hand”. He is your salvation and thus He is infintely in love with you. And being that much in love with you; Jesus suffering on the cross the way he did and then rising from the dead, how can you not trust him to guide your life? Therefore…
for you are the God on my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
Wait for the Lord. He will never lead you astray.
Infants crave their mother’s milk. Yes, it is by necessity since they are unable to process anything else. But they also crave that milk because it is what nourishes them. Studies have shown that infants instinctively know what they need and how much. It is what helps the infant grow and develop. Yes, some are raised on formula and do just fine, but the sense is still the same here. Infants need what they need to grow. For you see, it is not good enough to simply be born, like that was some grand accomplishment in their short life. You are born, by the grace of God, and then grow and develop. That is the way of things. Who ever saw an infant stay an infant all their life.
“if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:3) IF indeed. Peter is talking to those who HAVE “tasted” the Lord. They have seen God’s grace through Jesus Christ. They know the forgiveness of their sins. They have hope in the resurrection to eternal life. They have been born; born again. They are alive and well, but it is not good enough to simply be born (again).
“Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2) Being born again, do you crave the Word of God? Do you crave to know more of God? Do you crave Jesus? Or, do you crave malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander? Nonsense! Those who are born again should not crave those things, but like most people, sometimes our sweet tooth takes over. Put them away. Throw them off. The more you do so, the more you crave what is good. And inversely, the more so drink in the Word of God, the more those evil vices become adhorant to you. This works literally with food choices and when it comes to one’s faith.
It is all about cravings.
The Lord IS good. He is oh so good, so drink up.
The following is the article I submitted for publication in the Buffalo Center Tribune, published on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
To God be ALL glory!
Following the resurrection of Jesus, two disciples leave Jerusalem and head towards the town of Emmaus, about 7 miles away. As they were walking along, trying to make sense of this wild news that Jesus may not actually be dead, that he has risen, this “man” comes along to join their journey. And then it says in Luke 24:16, “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” The “man” is Jesus, but those two disciples were kept from recognizing him. So many questions here about why this happened; why they could not recognize Jesus, but one important truth about God. The space provided for me here does not lend itself to an extensive discussion on those questions so allow me to jump to the truth.
“But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” This was not a biological response; their brains refusing or unable to accept the fact that Jesus was alive. Secular professionals could make that argument and have done so, but they are WRONG. The truth is, God did this. God is the one who prevents them from recognizing Jesus, and this points to the truth that our awesome God is sovereign.
Sovereign is a word you probably do not use a whole lot in everyday language. When you do hear/see it, or maybe even use it yourself, it refers to some kind of world leader such as a king/queen or a dictator. Sovereignty refers to supreme power with no one who can get in the way. We use this term in reference to some world leaders, but it is not entirely accurate. True enough, there may be no ONE who can get in their way in a political sense, but they do not have ALL power. Death is the great equalizer and can bring down the mightiest of rulers – well, not the mightiest One.
The word “sovereign” can only be correctly and fully used to describe our creator God, Father almighty. There is no power greater than God, not even death, for God destroyed the power of death through the resurrection of Jesus. And because God is truly sovereign in all things and in all ways, God is also sovereign when it comes to your salvation.
God kept those two disciples from recognizing Jesus because God was not ready for them to see Jesus. He had another agenda in the works as you can see played out in the following verses. God kept their eyes closed so Jesus could lead the world’s best Bible study and thus cause their hearts to burn within them. God worked salvation in their hearts and when He was ready, HE released their eyes and they saw the Truth; Jesus. What a comfort that He takes care of that which we could never obtain or earn on our own, because we are sinners. GOD works salvation through Jesus. GOD does the hard work for you. GOD gives you amazing mercy via his grace. GOD is merciful. YOU are a sinner, but God’s love overcomes. And therefore, praise be to God, always and forever, Amen.
The Gospel for Sunday, April 23 is Luke 24:13-35, “The Road to Emmaus”. This is a story that I have always been drawn to when it comes to ministry. It takes place “that very day” meaning, the day Jesus rose from the dead. This is the day that chaos had broken out among Jesus’ followers as the women had told them that they had seen Jesus alive; risen from the dead. What were they to make of this? What does all of this mean? What now? And so, two disciples decided to head to Emmaus; chatting along the way. What catches my attention is that when Jesus shows up, they are kept from recognizing him. Jesus just walks with them, enters their conversation through an inquiry and then leads history’s best Bible study with them. When they arrive at Emmuas, they urge Jesus to stay with them. When he breaks bread with them their eyes are opened to who Jesus is and then they make a beeline back to Jerusalem to tell the others.
But here’s my question: Why not make himself known right away and tell them to go back to Jerusalem where all the action is? Jesus certainly could have saved them the long walking trip to and from Emmaus. The answer is contrary to popular evangelism tactics today. And the answer is not necessarily what a lot of people want to hear because it requires effort and participation on their part. You see, it is not about the pastor coming up with strategies to attract people to come to a location. The answer is about people going out and walking with others in their journey. And this take time. Evangelism is not measured through the number of people you conviced to come to worship. Evangelism is about discipleship; leading people to know Jesus and what he has done for them.
In short, you need to walk with people, not drag them to you.
A little background information for you. Since February 2022, I have been writing daily devotions for a Facebook group that I started dedicated to encouraging people to read through the Bible. Together we read and I wrote through the New Testament. Now we are studying the book of Genesis. Recently, I started sending these devotions to people via email for those who did not have Facebook but still wanted to receive these. Devotions are made available at 6:30 AM (central time) each morning.
The following devotion is the one I wrote for today. If you would like to receive these daily devotions via email, contact me at: grillmaster89@gmail.com and I will add you to my group.
To God be ALL glory!
Friday devotions
Genesis 35
So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.
Genesis 35:2
When Jacob and his family fled from Laban, we read in Genesis 31:19 that Rachel stole her father’s household gods. And then living in the land of Shechem it appears that they may have adopted some of the gods of the land. Whatever happened and when, there are foreign gods among Jacob’s family. This is something that needs to be rectified before they enter the land of Canaan and the place where God revealed Himself to Jacob after he fled from Esau. So obviously they did so, and once there, God blesses Jacob and officially changes his name to Israel as God reaffirms the covenant with him.
But to be in a covenant relationship with God, means God being your God and that is it. No other gods. It means putting away whatever household gods you have.
“Wait a second, Pastor, I do not have any household gods.”
Well then, let’s explore this a little bit. The First Commandment, from Exodus 20:2-3, is “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” In Luther’s Small Catechism, he says this about that First Commandment, “We are to fear, love, and trust God above all things.” And so, anything that we fear, love, and trust over God is our god.
“Okay, I fear, love and trust God above ALL things.”
Really? Has there ever been a time that you chose to worry instead of praying to God about it? How about choosing another activity instead of reading your Bible? How about sleeping in on Sunday because Saturday was a late night? How about choosing to remain angry with someone instead of forgiving them? I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. Anytime we place our needs, feelings, desires first, we have made that object or even ourselves a god before God.
Convicted yet? I am, and I am the one writing this. As sinners, we possess “household gods” and it should not be so. And so, put away your household gods and come before God our Father in the name of Jesus. Put away your household gods and praise the One who gives you life; eternal life. Put away your household gods, and know true peace, joy and love. Put away your household gods, confess your sins in the name of Jesus, and God our Father will purify you through forgiveness. No other god can do that. No other god shows grace and mercy like that. None. Zero. Zilch. Put away your household gods and enjoy God your Father.
WHAT NOW: Scripture says that God is a jealous God. He does not share His glory. In essence, He does not share His sandbox with others. When God claims you through the gift of the Holy Spirit in your heart, He has put His mark on you forever. Isn’t it nice to know that God wants you all to Himself?
LET US PRAY: Holy God, what a comfort to know that through Jesus I am Yours. Forgive me of those times when I have put household gods on display in my life. Grant me repentance, for You are my God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
The Heart of a Pastor 