Blind Faith

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.    —John 20:29b

Seeing is believing. Many of us won’t believe anything unless we see it. This might be why many of us believe, “It must be true; I read it on the internet.” In thinking about blind faith, believing without seeing, I thought of Missouri as the show-me state. Missouri designated the Missouri mule as the official state animal in 1995. I am quite certain of this because I read it on the internet. Mules are known as durable, hardworking animals, but with only one speed, their own. The show-me label for Missourians showing them as conservative, hard-working, and down-to-earth might be interpreted by some as stubborn and mule-headed.

I heard a joke describing how determined Missourians can be. A farmer from Missouri bought a mule for $100 from his neighbor, but it died before he picked it up. “Load it up,” he told the seller. “What are you going to do with a dead mule?” asks the first guy. “Raffle it off,” says the buyer. “You can’t raffle off a dead mule.” “Sure I can. I just won’t tell anyone it’s dead.” They meet a week later and the first farmer says, “What happened with the dead mule?” “Raffled him off and sold 500 tickets at $2 each.” “Didn’t anyone complain?” asks the first farmer. “Only the guy who won and I gave him his money back.”

The Gospel of John records seven miracle signs performed by Jesus so His Disciples and true followers might believe. The first miracle sign is turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana. “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11).

In the second miracle sign, Jesus returned to Cana, the site of His first miracle. A certain royal official, whose son lay sick in a nearby town, went to Jesus and begged Him to come and heal his dying son. Jesus, either to test his faith or to rebuke the sign-seeking crowd, replied, “Unless you people see signs and wonders … you will never believe” (vs. 48). Jesus then told the man, “Go; your son lives” (4:50). The man believed and headed home. His servants greeted him on the way with news that his son was made well at the exact moment Jesus said, “Your son lives.”

At the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus greeted Thomas for the first time after the resurrection. Thomas had vowed he would not believe unless he saw and touched Jesus for himself. Jesus told him, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29b). God does not expect everyone to believe with blind faith. The Lord is at work in each of our lives everyday if we will only open our eyes to see and believe.

John describes the purpose of his Gospel in the last two verses of chapter 20, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31).

The very final verse of the last chapter in the Gospel of John concludes this theme, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (21:25). Open your eyes and see God’s wondrous works around and in your lives. Don’t be stubborn like the mule. See and believe. How blessed you will be if you believe without seeing.

David's Songs

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.    —Psalm 137:1

Many in the over 50 crowd will remember the 1972 song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, Song Sung Blue. It was an immediate hit partly because of its simple but truthful message. If you feel sad, write a song or poem about it, and you will begin to feel better. The first verse and chorus read, “Song sung blue, everybody knows one. Song sung blue, every garden grows one. Me and you are subject to the blues now and then, but when you take the blues and make a song, you sing them out again.”

Much of the ever-expanding counseling industry is based on this song’s truth. If you are troubled by an issue and feel down, talk about it with someone. Share your feelings and struggles, and you will soon begin to feel better. Christians and Jews, using the Book of Psalms as a songbook, already knew and practiced this truth and more. The themes to the songs in the Psalms are not only sad songs but include joyous songs, prayers, and prophecies, as well.

As many as 80 of the 150 Psalms were written by King David. In his life, David experienced the full range of human emotions as recorded in the Psalms. Have you had problems with your children? They cannot compare to David’s. David’s son, Ammon, raped his half-sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13:14). Another of David’s sons, Absalom, proclaimed himself king and attempted to assassinate his father, King David (2 Samuel 15). David expressed his fears and broken spirit to God in his own Song Sung Blue called the lament Psalms.

David’s songs also include songs of praise. Psalm 150 was possibly sung at the dedication of the second temple and has been used by both Christians and Jews in celebratory worship. “Praise the Lord! … Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord! (vss. 1, 6) We are exhorted by scripture, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). We can do exactly that by sharing the Songs of David in the Psalms.

If you are feeling sad and no one seems to care, you can go to God and tell Him everything that is on your heart. If you feel uncomfortable speaking so harshly to God, go to some of David’s Songs and read them to the Lord. For example, read all nine verses of Psalm 137. You will be shocked and moved by the pain behind the words. The Psalms were inspired by God and given to human beings to recite and sing back to God. God can handle the feelings of your struggles.

If you are extremely happy but don’t want to make those around you who are struggling feel worse, then turn to David’s Songs and sing praise to God. I have found it is often much harder to share praises with folks than sorrows. When you share your bad times, people can sympathize with you and feel better about themselves. When you share your joys, it may come across as bragging and make people feel worse about themselves. Sing the songs of praise and thanksgiving in the Psalms. “Come before Him with joyful singing” (Psalm 100:2b).

No matter where you are in life: hurting and far from God or close to the Lord and filled with joy, you can express those feelings to God through the Psalms. David sang, wept, and danced before the Lord. We can, too. 

Divine Appointment

And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.    —Ruth 2:3

I spent a few days last week in the woods of western Michigan with my Uncle Joe at his primitive cottage. Uncle Joe joined the Navy right after high school. He went to basic training and then on to advanced schooling as a naval electrician. During some rough housing in the barracks, he broke his glasses. Joe’s eyesight was very poor. I always remember him wearing those coke-bottle thick lenses. When the doctor checked his eyes, he asked him how he ever got into the Navy in the first place. He was immediately given an honorable discharge.

Upon arriving home, Joe went to the courthouse to sign his discharge papers. While there, he just happened to meet an old friend who told him a steel mill in Ohio was hiring, “Just go down the hall and sign up.” Joe signed up, took an aptitude test, and was hired on the spot. Joe moved to Youngstown, Ohio and raised his family. He retired from US Steel many years ago.

Thinking about that chance meeting with his friend at the courthouse, I asked Joe if he ever thought how completely different his life might have been if the timing had been even a few minutes different. I don’t believe that moment at the courthouse was a chance happening; rather, it was a divine appointment.

The Book of Ruth tells the tragic story of Elimelech and Naomi. Famine comes to Israel. Elimelech, his wife, and two sons move to Moab to find food. Elimelech dies. Both of the sons marry, but after about ten years, both sons die leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law to helplessly fend for themselves.

Upon hearing the famine had ceased in their hometown, Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, return to Bethlehem and begin scavenging the leftovers behind the barley harvesters. Ruth has one of those chance encounters with a man named, Boaz. “And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech” (2:3).

Naomi and Ruth’s lives completely change as a result of that choice to glean in Boaz’s field. As events unfold, Boaz agrees to buy back Naomi’s lands and marries Ruth to raise up an heir for Elimelech and Naomi. If you check out the genealogy in chapter 4, Ruth and Boaz have a son named Obed. Obed became the grandfather of King David. As you may know, King David became the ancestor of Jesus.

Uncle Joe’s chance meeting with his friend was no coincidence, but a divine appointment. Joe, his family, and future generations have been changed by that one moment. Ruth, Naomi, Jewish history, and the entire Christian world were affected by Ruth’s “happening” to glean in Boaz’s field. Here again, not a happening but a divine appointment.

Think back over your past. Praise God for those divine appointments in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to those everyday chance happenings that might really be God’s divine appointments. God is at work in your life each and every day. Live expectantly and keep alert to open doors and opportunities to serve. Nothing just happens. God has a plan and a purpose for your life.

A Little Barbecue Sauce

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.   --Matthew 11:30

When my son was a toddler, he used to call my wife's way of eating a hotdog or hamburger as eating a dead bun. To explain, I have never seen my wife eat ketchup or mustard or mayonnaise on anything. She does not like the taste and that is just how God made her.

She often gets hassled by well-meaning friends, "Have you tried salad dressing?" To which she replies, "Yes I have. I don't like mayonnaise or salad dressing." Actually, she also eats her lettuce salads plain as well. Recently, in the last five years, she has begun to add just a little barbecue sauce to her hotdogs and hamburgers.

Last Sunday, I greeted a young lady at church who often feels pressured to be something she is not. I told her she just needs to be herself. Just seek to please only the Lord; perform for an audience of One. She quickly responded, "Yes, I need to find that rest." Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." God does not expect us to be someone else. God does not expect us to try to please everyone else. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It's hard enough just to be yourself and what He wants you to become; but that's all He asks us to do.

The Apostle Paul tells us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1). We are to present our bodies to God not to someone else. We are to present our own body not someone else's body. Philippians 3:14 says "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul was seeking to be all that God called him to be, not what others wanted him to be.

As Jesus lived this human life on earth, He sought to please His Heavenly Father. Sometimes the people loved Him, and sometimes the people hated Him. But, His Heavenly Father was always pleased with Him. God said at Jesus' baptism, "This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

What is the major issue causing you distress, today? Do you feel rejected and criticized by other people?  Are you made to feel subhuman because of your unique qualities? Remember who made you and who loves you most. John 3:16, "For God so loved you that He gave His One and Only Son" for you. You are loved and accepted by God because of Jesus Christ.

God created us in His image. We were not a mistake. Seek to become everything God created you to be. We need to be considerate of others and their feelings and needs, but seek to please the Lord only in everything you do . Be yourself and maybe even try a little barbecue sauce, but remember that the Lord's yoke is easy and His burden is light. Jesus has already done the heavy lifting and paid for our redemption on the Cross. Come to Him and find your rest.

Weep with Those Who Weep

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.    —Romans 12:15

One of the greatest examples of suffering is Job. Job lost all his wealth, his family, and finally his health. When three of Job’s friends heard of his terrible misfortune, they got together and decided to go console and comfort him. “When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:12-13).

Job’s friends got it right for about a week. They sat in silence and wept with their friend. When they decided they could weep no longer, Job’s so-called friends tried to comfort him with words. They tried to explain Job’s suffering with the clichés and wisdom of the day. They believed Job was suffering because he had sinned and was getting what he deserved. The book of Job gives little explanation for the meaning of suffering except it was not Job’s fault.

In the New Testament, Jesus addressed the confusion about suffering in two ways. First, Jesus taught it. In John 9, when the disciples asked Jesus if the man was born blind because of his sins or those of his parents, Jesus replied, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (9:3). Also in Luke 13, Jesus spoke about two tragic events of the day, the collapse of the Tower of Siloam that killed eighteen people and some Galileans who were executed by Pilate. Jesus teaches that those killed by the tower and Pilate were no worse sinners than anyone else.

Suffering and pain come to everyone. Frequently, it can be traced directly to stupid choices and/or the direct result of sinful behavior. Although, many times, as described by Jesus and experienced by Job, there is little or no explanation. Bad things happen to everyone. Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people.

Secondly, Jesus addressed the issue of sin and suffering by His life, death, and resurrection. God created a world where sin, rebellion, and suffering were possible. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, death, pain and suffering corrupted our world. God, Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, entered our world of pain and suffering. On the Cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Mark 15:34).  Jesus died for our sins and sin’s punishment.

God promises to filter our suffering through His screen of grace and love. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God will not let us be tested more than we can bear and always makes a way out. The Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Through His resurrection from the grave, Jesus promises a day when suffering, death, and pain will end. In heaven, all the wrongs of this world will be made right.

Until that day, how do we respond to suffering? As Christians, we are told to weep with those who weep. We do not question their morality. We simply get down in the dust and grime of their pain and weep with them. We love and support those going through suffering with the love of God in Jesus. Are you hurting today? Whether you can feel it right now or not, God really does care, and many of those around you do, too. 

Lift Up Your Heads

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.    —Luke 21:28

This week has been full of frightening news. In addition to the normal (did I say normal?) senseless shootings, bombings, and explosions, the DOW Jones industrial average fell 1,879 points in a seven day slide partly sparked by concerns about China’s failing economy. Many fearfully ask if this could lead to a worldwide economic collapse. Is this be the beginning of the end?

Additionally, in my own life, I am working on another “Hot Topic” sermon about the Blood Moon phenomenon. The Bible tells us that there will be signs in the heavens above and the earth below before Jesus Christ returns. Three verses speak about the moon turning to blood before the end of the age (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, Revelation 6:12). Over the last two years (2014-2015), four total lunar eclipses, named a tetrad by NASA, will have occurred. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon passes completely through earth’s shadow. The sun’s rays are bent around the earth’s atmosphere leaving a red, sunset glow on the moon. The last of these blood moons will occur on September 28^th, during the Jewish fall feast season (Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles). Some believe these to be significant precursors to the return of Christ.

The people who should be most concerned about the end of the age and the return of Christ, the unbelieving world, are either oblivious to all of these things or merely shrug their shoulders nonchalantly. On the other hand, the people who should be most excited, born again believing Christians, appear the most fearful.

During Jesus’ last week on earth before His death, He taught the disciples about the future. In Luke 21, He warned of nations rising against other nations, earthquakes, famines, fearful events, and great signs in the heavens (vss. 10-11). Jesus also predicted, “People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (21:26). But Jesus’ word to the disciples then and believers today is, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (28).

Many prophecies about the return of Christ and the end of the age are accompanied by words of encouragement. Rather than being fearful, Christians should be encouraged and lift their heads up high. Our deliverance, the Risen Lord, is returning to take us home to Himself. 1 Thessalonians 4 describes the situation for believers still living on this earth when Jesus returns, “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (17). We are immediately instructed, “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (18).

Friends, we live in perilous, dreadful, and exciting times. If you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ, now is the time to call upon Him. Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, come into your life, and make you the child of God He intends you to be. If you are already a believer, lift up your head and rejoice for your salvation is just round the corner. These things are already beginning to take place. Stand firm, rejoice, and lift your heads up high. Maranatha!

Hope in the Lord

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.    —Jeremiah 17:7

People seldom get the opportunity to be in the woods during the early moments just before dawn away from artificial light and heat. I recall my first turkey hunting experience over thirty years ago. It was shortly before the sunrise, and I thought I could no longer bear the cold.

I lived on a 100-acre farm and had numerous friends who asked permission to hunt on our property. I had never seen a turkey in the wild and had never hunted them. After getting some basic instructions about where to go and how to hear gobblers in the morning, I set out very early to listen for and locate turkeys. Not realizing how cold the morning hours can become, I was woefully underdressed for the experience. As I sat quietly listening in the pre-dawn hours, the cold seemed to penetrate my very being. I learned the hard way that the coldest time of the day is the moment just before the warming rays of the sun appear.

This is also true in life as the Bill Gaither song, Joy Comes in the Morning, encourages, “Hold on my child; joy comes in the morning. The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight.” Many persons struggle with the challenges they face in life. They believe things will never get better. Hopelessness overcomes them as they begin to think they can no longer stand under the weight of their problems.

Kings Saul and David are examples of persons handling the stresses of life differently. Saul, after being rejected as king, obsessively hunted David down to take his life. During a battle against the Philistines, Saul’s sons were killed and he was severely wounded (1 Samuel 31). Saul’s response was to kill himself before the enemy could torture and kill him and desecrate his body.

Suicide never solves anything. As it turned out, Saul was still beheaded by the Philistine army, and his body hung on the wall of Beth-Shan. David’s troops were already returning from defeating the Amalekites and would surely have marched into the Philistine camps. The Lord could have healed King Saul, but rather than put his trust in the Lord, Saul took his own life in hopelessness.

King David, on the other hand, had been running for his life for years. At one point, his band of men returned home to find that the Amalekites had destroyed their city and taken their wives and families captive. “Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6). Not only was David a fugitive, his city destroyed, and his family taken from him, but now his own loyal men were threatening to kill him. Rather than give up in hopelessness, as many of us might do today, David strengthened himself in the Lord.

God is still on the throne, and there is always hope as long as we are alive. Psalm 30:5 says, “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” Many times our rescue, our breakthrough, our answer to prayer is just around the corner. We can and must stand firm in hope; the darkest hour means dawn is just in sight. “Blessed is the man … whose hope is the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:70).