THE PROBLEM

We had a man come into my place
of work the other day and he immediately said, “I want to talk with the store
manager”. The store manager wasn't available for awhile, so he told me his
problem. It seems he had bought a lawnmower a little over a year ago and it
just blew the engine. He wanted the store to give him a new one or credit
towards a more expensive mower. In other words, to redeem the broken one and
make it new in some way...that was a problem…

When the manager arrived he
explained that the store policy is that we will refund or replace up to 60 days
on mowers, but the manufacturer has a one year warranty (which was also past).
I thought the manager did a good job of explaining all of this very patiently,
but it was a problem with no cheap answer to make it right. I mean, that which
regulates the transaction and responsibilities was clearly spelled out in the
papers they were given…so what do you do?

This is similar to the problem
each of us have today isn't it? We as humans are broken and unfixable by human
standards. Each of us has the problem of sin in our lives. It may not be a BIG
easily recognizable sin, but to God, sin is sin. If you don't obey his rules,
then you can't be fixed. God's word tells us that all of us sin and fall short
of God's Glory, (Romans 3:23). While we are told in 1John 1:7-10 that anyone who says they don't sin is
calling God a liar and that His Word is really not part of their lives. That is
a problem isn't it, because sin separates us form the source of life (eternally)
God himself. When we sin, we are responsible for the cost for the damage to our
lives, which is impossible for us to pay.

Fortunately, when God wrote his
rules, he wrote in a redemption clause, an escape clause if you will. It's
spelled out clearly in his rule book (the Bible) in more than one place. Places
like Mark 16:15-16 and Romans
6:1-10. We are told that the redemption we can experience is not dependent
upon our own ability, but upon the willingness of Christ to pay what was
necessary for us. What was required was a payment in blood; a payment of
sacrifice; a payment of suffering to fix what you broke and for which you were
responsible. He paid the debt he did not own, because he loves you that much!
In return he asks the you obey him and commit to living by His rules to the
best of your ability.

Now the man who came into our
store was helped with his problem. We actually gave him a loner mower until he
could check with the manufacturer. Redeemed or fixed no; we were just kind of
able to put a bandage on the sore spot in hopes he can get it fixed properly
some place else.

I see a lot of people who are
putting band aids on their lives, they cover up the sore spot, but something is
missing, something is hurting, something is lacking in their lives. It is the
healing that comes from God when we finally decide to follow the rules in His
Book the Bible. To embrace the need to sacrifice some things in our own lives,
to gain eternal life.

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

Way back in 1969 a group known as "Three Dog
Night," recorded a song called "One is the loneliest number."
The basic concept is that being alone is no fun and not something most of us
want. I was reminded of that song this week in an unexpected way.

This week I got to re-experience a young children's bible
class. My wife's helper was out of town and I wasn't teaching, so I
"assisted" with the 2^nd grade bible class. You might think
that you couldn't learn much from a class presented for children that young,
but then, you would be wrong.

The class was about a man in the bible with no friends. No
one wanted to be around him; he wasn't nice and didn't treat others very nice
either. In fact that was the main thing he was known for, cheating and
mistreating people. Besides that he looked weird, he was really short and
people probably found it easy to make fun of him because of that, but maybe
that is why he turned out to be such a mean person.

Jesus saw in this man the potential for greater things. He
turned his life around and took the pain of loneliness out of his life. And
just in case you haven't figured it out, the man's name was Zacchaeus and you
can find his story in Luke 19. He was a Tax Collector working for the Romans
collecting taxes and cheating people to line his own pockets. He was so alone
that he was looking for someone to make a difference in his life and so anxious
to find one, he even climbed a tree just to get a glimpse of Jesus.

The bible class centered on how difficult it is to feel all
alone and how you would feel in different situations. There are times we all
feel alone, we feel unloved, and unliked. On the outside we may look to others
like we have it all together. We may dress nice, we may have a good job, and we
may have things that the world says means success, but we can still be alone. You
may have none of those things and be alone and miserable because of that. Maybe
that causes you, just like Zacchaeus, to treat others in unkind ways, but Jesus
still is the answer to the loneliness and pain we sometimes feel.

Once
Zacchaeus understood how much Jesus cared, that he could really understand his
pain and loneliness. When Zacchaeus understood that Jesus really wanted to be
his friend, his life was changed as no one else could change it. He literally
became a "new man." In Luke
19:8-10 we read: "Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord
and said, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have
cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!"
Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has
shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and
save those who are lost." "

Some of the most powerful and wonderful words in the bible
are found here, "For the Son of Man came to seek and save
those who are lost." How about you? Are you all alone… are you
lost? Perhaps it's time to start looking for Jesus, even if you have to put
some effort into finding him, like Zacchaeus? 

Celebrating Easter on the green side of the grass

The other morning I asked a co-worker how he was doing. His
response was, "Great, I woke up on the green side of the grass." To
which I replied, "Yes, but it could have been a lot better."

I
think my response confused him and perhaps to you also, because I was thinking
it would be better to go to sleep here and wake up in Heaven!

Do
you remember what the apostle Paul said in Philippians
1:21-25? Let me remind you here: "For to me, living means living for Christ,
and dying is even better But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.
So I really don't know which is better. 
I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which
would be far better for me.  But for your
sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 
Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue
to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith."

Here we are at the time our world celebrates Easter. In
general what is this all about? It is about a renewal, it is about hope; it is
about the promise of life after death, proven by a resurrected savior.

For many people this is the only time of the year they think
about this great message that demonstrates the power of God even over death.
Death is not the end for those who have chosen to be called Christians,
Children of God, it is only the beginning.

Paul
also gives us these wonderful words on hope in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23: "But in fact, Christ has been raised from the
dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.  So you see, just as death came into the world
through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another
Man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs
to Christ will be given new life.  But
there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the
harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when He comes back.
"

I would suggest to you that this once a year holiday of
Easter, brought about by the imagination of man, is not a just something to be
remembered once a year. We are told in the scripture to remember the death,
burial and resurrection of Christ each and every first day of the week when we
assemble as God's children.

Celebrating Easter on the green side of the grass may be a
good thing to do, but how much better when we celebrate continually in the
presence of our God in Heaven!

Promises

Our Sunday morning Bible class is studying the topic of Promises to us as
Christians. We are looking at the positive side of what our Christian life is
all about. I don't know about you, but I need that reinforcement. Far too often
I seem to concentrate on the "thou shalt not's" and not nearly enough
on the positive aspect of our relationship to God. What is it that you
concentrate upon? Where are your prayers centered? Do we pray that the bumps in
the road be smoothed, or that we can endure the bumps as they come? Truth be
told, a lot of what we are willing to endure depends upon what the rewards at
the end of the journey. Often it is all about the promise....



We have a member of our family a little 7 pound dog named Chewy.
She listens to our promises and remembers. We tell her, "Go potty and
we'll give you a treat". She remembers... We tell her, "We're going
to church and when we get back we'll give you a treat". She remembers (and
if you forget she reminds you). At times, just the mention of the treat has her
wagging from the tip of her tail to the tip of her nose.



What promises from God are special to you? What is it that you remember no
matter what happens in your life? Which ones make you tingle with excitement?
There are so many verses that deal with promises. One of my favorites is Romans
8:28, where Paul reminds us that no matter what is
going on in our lives, in the end it will work out to good if we love and trust
God. Or perhaps in 1 John 1:7-10, where John reminds us, that if we are God's
child, his blood continually cleanses us from all sin. Also, no matter how we
mess up, if we will truly repent and ask for forgiveness, he will forgive us.
And of course his promise that someday we will be with him in heaven, no more
vision problems, no more hearing problems, no more body aches or failure of
body parts to respond (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). Everything is going to be brand
new and as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, "and
so shall we ever be with the Lord."

How about spending some time thinking about the promises, it
will do you an eternity of good!

INGNORING WARNING GATES

This past week at my work place they were doing some work
with a forklift, loading material about 16 feet high on racks. Company policy
is that you block the aisles on both sides of the place you are working. This
way if there is an accident and something is knocked down, no one is in danger.
I was a spotter (someone assigned to watch and make sure no customers came into
those areas). I had just put up the aisle blocking gates when two men walked
up, pushed the gate aside (with large yellow warning signs on them, which said:
"Warning! Do not enter!" and walked down the aisle. I called them
back and they were somewhat indignant as I tried to explain, but they protested
that they could not see anyone working in the aisle and didn't see any danger.

It
seems we are compelled to test limits, but not necessarily by "human
nature". In the book of Genesis we read of Adam and Eve being given one
"Don't" by God: "Don't eat of that particular fruit!" With
what appears to be only a small whispered suggestion by Satan they chose to eat
the fruit anyway.

In
the New Testament we are given moral and ethical directives, yet people
proclaim, "You can't tell me what to do!"; "I'll live however I
want;" "I can choose my life style".  Listen to what the Apostle Paul proclaims: "Don't
you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't
fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or
commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are
thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people; none
of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But
you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

I
know that there are some who will read this and say that I am
"Homophobic", "A hater", that my beliefs are not
"Politically Correct". But please notice; it's not what I believe
that is important, but what God's Word says. When you remove the warning gates
put up by God, you "exchange the truth about God for a lie, and
worship and serve created things rather than the Creator", (Romans
1:25).You may not be able to see the danger, but that doesn't mean it isn't
there. You might be tempted to believe those who say, "The bible is old
and outdated and doesn't apply to us anymore." But ask yourself, "Does
God's word have an expiration date"? James tells us in James 1:17-18, "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to
us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never
changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us
His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession."

Maybe
you don’t see the danger, but could it be that we or our world is listening to
the whispers of Satan to just ignore the warning gates put in place by God for
our care and safety? I would suggest that perhaps we and it does.

100 Pound Chicken

Did you hear about the 100
Pound Chicken researchers have developed? They crossed it genes with a pig. Not
only is it much larger, but its eggs taste like bacon.

If you believed that little
story, you are probably gullible, because I just made it up. I have sometimes
heard folks described as being Gullible and at other times someone described as
Jaded. Just so we are "On the same page" as they say, here are the
meanings of the words. Gullible is defined as: "quick to believe
something, possibly something that is not true". Jaded is defined as:
"made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience".

I got to thinking about this the other day when in good
nature banter I heard someone say, "She's gullible, she'll believe anything you
tell her." I heard that and thought, "Wow, what a complement…
though they probably don't understand it that way". My wife is that way
too, she tends to believe anything thing someone tells her and I love that
about her. Why, because I'm not as open to that way of thinking as is she, I
may be a little "Jaded", yet, being gullible is a biblical principle.

One of the passages we often hear at weddings comes from 1 Corinthians 13:7, the apostle Paul
talking about what love means in our life says, "(Love) Beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." A
more modern translation of that verse reads this way, "Love
never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every
circumstance." (NLT)

Just so we can be reminded of the importance of these
things, take a look at the whole context of this verse. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7:

"If I could speak all the languages of
earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a
clanging cymbal.

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I
understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had
such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be
nothing.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and
even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I
would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not
jealous or boastful or proud

or rude. It does not demand its own way. It
is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice but
rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is
always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance". (NLT)

I don't know about you, but I think I need to work on that
principle in my life. I need to be a little more gullible. I need to not give
up on people, not lose faith in people, always hope for the best and because of
love, endure when circumstances don't work out as I would like. How about you?

GOD'S PROVEDENTIAL SIGHT (GPS)

Have you ever thought about God's providence and how it
works in your life? A few synonymous for provenience would be: opportune,
advantageous, favorable, auspicious, propitious, heaven-sent, fortunate, timely,
well timed and expedient.

I personally believe that God's providence works in the
lives of Christians. How, I'm really not sure, but I have seen it happen too
often, what Paul declares in Romans
8:28. That is that “all things work together for good for those who
love God”.

By way of example: This past week our oldest son had to
go somewhere to make application for membership to a shooting club. He had been
there before, but on a whim turned on his GPS and followed its directions. On a
back road he saw a car in a field, so he stopped to see if he could be of
assistance. It turned out that the man had gotten a phone call and didn't have
bluetooth, so stopped to take the call. The man thanked him several times for
stopping to check on him.

As my son proceeded he noticed the car following him,
turn for turn, right up to the club building where he was going. When they got
out of their cars the man asked what my son was doing there. It turned out that
the man was a club officer and took care of the enrollment process himself,
cutting any red tape that might have slowed things down. Could it have been
God's Providential Sight (GPS)?

Perhaps it was; when God proclaimed through Paul that all
things would work out to the good, he didn't specify that they had to be
“spiritual” things. Could it have been “just a coincidence”? Perhaps, but I
prefer to think that God watches over his people. That's what faith is about,
isn't it? Believing that God is in control of our world, trusting in him to
make things work out, even when we don't understand the how, when or why? I'm
not a big fan of "The Message" (a paraphrase of the Bible), but I
like what it says of Hebrews 11:1.
It reads, "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this
faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.
It's our handle on what we can't see."

I realize that not everything in our lives may feel like
it is being touched or guided by God. There are a lot of bad things that
happen, simply because there is evil in the world. Sometimes we choose poorly
or make bad decisions, sometimes in our mind we do nothing wrong at all, but
bad things happen. That doesn't change the fact that God is in control of our
world.

Maybe each of us should trust a little more in the real
GPS, not necessarily that little box on our dash or in our phone. Maybe we
should walk with a little more trust in God, or by Faith? What do you think?