Our Wits' End

"They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end." ( Psalm 107:26-27 )  

The context of Psalm 107 is that the members of the community are calling one another to give thanks to the LORD for rescuing them from their distress. There are four specific accounts detailed, and my Bible commentary says, "It is gratitude for Judah's return from exile." 

Verse 27 is the retelling of sailors on an uncontrollable sea who come to "their wits' in" - the ESV footnote says in Hebrew that means "and all of their wisdom was swallowed up." 

This passage in my reading plan immediately reminded me of other "boats" in the biblical narrative on a stormy sea - Noah's ark, the little floating bassinet made by Moses's mother to protect her son from death, the Disciples' storm tossed fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. 

Another thing I learned from several commentators is that "sea" in Scripture, especially Revelation, is symbolic for the world, evil, and damnation. 

So, in these stories, we see that each boat is a vessel of salvation displaying not man's obedience or goodness, but the mercy of God, first and foremost, "in our evil plight." 

"- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." ( Romans 5:8 ) 

Last Friday as I was driving on a two lane back road to North Carolina, I was startled by a downpour from a thunderstorm heavier than anything I can ever remember driving in before. The water was accumulating on the road, but I couldn't stop or see to pull over, even if there was a place. My hands tightened on the steering wheel as my body tensed up, but I knew the best thing to do was to keep inching along through the sheets of rain with my eyes fastened firmly on the dim glow of the taillights in front of me. 

We are in empty, fragile vessels, and until we allow our wisdom to be swallowed up, we will never reach for God because we don't think we need him. Of the world religions including secularism, only the Christian faith answers all of the big questions in our hearts, swallows up the emptiness that the world attempts so inadequately to fill. The Gospel of Jesus Christ alone fits the human narrative. 

In the Christian faith we want everything to be "either, or," and it's just not that way - I think it's part of our human nature to desire this. 

By the way, regardless of what you hear, faith is not a force or a power that we tap into to get God to work on our behalf like a vending machine. Faith isn't a formula. 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen." ( Hebrews 11:1 ) 

Christianity is a reasonable faith, for sure, but reason is not enough. We must take it on faith, that is how God has designed it, meaning we don't always understand everything. If we think we can, then our view of God is entirely too low. 

Yes in Christ as believers, we are in a vessel of salvation, but these lifeboats are traveling through troubled waters as long as we are in this world. Until we come to finally rest on the celestial shores, our journey is above and sometimes through deep waters. ( John 16:33 ) ( Psalm 77:19 ) 

When we finally come to our wits' end, that's where our faith in Christ begins. And in our transformation process as believers, faith doesn't change our situation; it changes us. It changes how we look at the world. Faith isn't so much about how our story ends, but it's how we live in the stormy middle of those stories. 

"Well done good and faithful servant." ( Matthew 25:23 ) 

Ironically even though it feels at times like we are hydroplaning, we are, in fact, deeply rooted to Christ by our faith, a gift given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit to believe in Christ and to live out our lives in him as God's dearly beloved children. These faith roots keep us grounded, abiding in the vine, connected to Jesus as he promises to sustain us to the end. ( Psalm 1 ) ( Jude 24 ) ( 1 Corinthians 1:8 ) 

The flood waters around us become the very thing that allow us to experience the saving grace of God and grow into his likeness, like Moses, Noah, and the Disciples. 

In other words, it feels scary as hades, but in Christ, it's as safe as Heaven. And one fine day, my friends, you will see the glory that all of that suffering was preparing. That's a promise. ( 2 Corinthians 4:17 ) 

"Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven." ( Psalm 107:28-30 ) 

Be encouraged dear ones in his great and precious promises to us! 

Happy Wednesday 💜

T.G.I.M.

"And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." ( Galatians 5:24 )

Since yesterday was Mother's Day, I was thinking about my mom a lot. Several years before she died we started meeting regularly for breakfast since both of us were up with the chickens. I remember one day when we were sitting there sipping our coffee at Famous A's mom said, "I just don't understand all of this 'crucify the flesh stuff.'" 

I laughed so hard at her. I said, "Mom, what do mean 'crucify the flesh stuff'? That's a verse in the Bible!" 

"What exactly does this mean because it sounds gruesome." I think that's what she was thinking. I've found this sanctification process in the believer's life to be as mysterious as it is messy. I know it is in mine. It's another one of those "already, but not now kingdom" things. We must become what we are. Mom couldn't quite wrap her mind around the concept, and yet, I believe she was doing it. 

I believe she was crucifying her flesh every time she met God in the morning with prayer and Bible reading, every time she wrote passages on index cards, reciting them to herself until the truth was driven deep and took hold. 

Every time she worshiped with her church family and sat under biblical teaching. Every time she met with her ladies's grace group and allowed other sisters to speak into her life. Every time she listened to someone's story and stepped inside of their pain. Every time she refused to give into gossip or anger or any sin because it so easily entangles. Every time she clung to Jesus in difficulties. Every time she wrote a check for the offering and to help the poor and needy or baked gingerbread for the mission yard sale and her grandkids.  

And you know what? In Christ, you're doing it too - you just might not realize it. You're indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God, and he's helping you crucify the flesh daily by strengthen your spiritual bones through these means of grace. He's helping you become what you already are in Christ Jesus. 

Keep running the race, my friend. 

It's so worth it. You'll see one day. 

Don't give up - you're doing great! 

Happy Monday! 

🌻

A blast from the past - training little Shasta with the chickens.

                                  

"What He's Done"

When I show up for a visit with my grandkids, they come running down the stairs to greet me. My oldest granddaughter jumps up into my arms and will put her head on my shoulder and just hold onto me for several minutes. And I always think to myself, "now I can die happy." lol

I believe this is a picture of how we are to love God. In the morning come running to greet him and just lay our heads upon his strong shoulder, clinging to him, thanking him over and over for all he has done for us. I think of the words from a worship song my church recently sang:

"What he's done. What he's done. All the glory and the honor to the Son. My sins are forgiven. My future is heaven. I praise God for what he's done." 

I want to be like Meadow in the morning and just lay my head on Jesus's shoulder and love him and thank him over and over for what he has done. I want the raw reality to sink in. Loving him, not for what he can give me or do for me, my goodness, but for what he has already done, loving him just for him. 

My mom didn't always get her theology straight, no one does perfectly, but she got her relationship with Jesus straight. If you knew her you know what I mean. It was a solid faith built through years of depending on him in unanswered suffering and deep darkness. I watched God transform my mother through the years. She emerged from her pain as a shining light that lit up any room she entered as she was more than willing to hold Jesus out for others.

That's the legacy my mom left to me. As a young child, she held Jesus out to me, and even though it would be years until I came to faith in Christ, my mother planted and watered her little seeds and prayed. 

And now I praise God for what he has done! 

Thanks, Mom, I miss you terribly. 💔

💜

Happy Mother's Day 🌸

Sunflowers were her favorite. 

Better than Life

"Thy lovingkindness is better than life." ( Psalm 63:3 ) 

One way you can detect if a teaching is biblical truth or false teaching is that false teachings are "me" centered. In other words, if what the speaker is selling revolves around what "I" deserve and what "I" am entitled to as a believer, if the emphasis is on what "I receive" and not on what "Christ has done," beware. 

We are commanded in Scripture to pray for everything and to pray without ceasing; however, "Jesus promised us an easy life, perfect health, and lots of wealth by his death," says no biblical text anywhere. 

Tell that to Joni Eareckson Tada who has spent the last 55 years in a wheelchair, and yet has done more for the kingdom of God than just about anyone I know. And Joni is solid - there's nothing superficial about her faith. She's just one example.  

We don't need to go looking for suffering or even like it, I mean, seriously, who likes it? Joni joked that one day God will send her wheelchair to hell. She said that when she finally holds Jesus's nail scarred hands she'll tell him,"But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair.”

Jesus told us that we would have trouble in our present life. In John 10:10, the abundant life Jesus says that he brings to us is not even in the context of money or health. Good grief. 

Jesus is better than this. 

And anyway many of the false teachers telling people that it's always God's will to heal and that one just needs to have enough faith are wearing glasses and getting pacemakers themselves. Please don't listen to that nonsense. 

The Bible is so much better than this. 

Friend, Jesus said that all you need to move a mountain is faith the size of a mustard seed. Even though this saying was a common colloquialism of Jesus's day, it means you have plenty of faith. If God withholds something from us, we can trust that he has a very good reason. He's already not withheld his only Son - he's trustworthy. Think about that kind of love. 

Jesus told us in Sermon on the Mount that God feeds his birds and clothes his flowers, and we are of more value to him than they are. Psalm 107:20 tells us that God has already sent his word and healed us. He sent Jesus. 

Ephesians 1:3 tells us that we have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. "Spiritual," not "physical," not in this life anyway, but most certainly in the next. What more could we ask for? 

Listen to these promises: 

God promises he will never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus died for us while we were sinners! The Holy Spirit is with us forever! We are God's fellow workers here on the earth. He equips us and will finish the good work he began in us. He will deliver us from every evil deed and lead us safely into his heavenly kingdom! ( Deuteronomy 31:8, Romans 5:8, John 14, 16-27, 1 Corinthians 3:9, Philippians 1:6, 2 Timothy 4:18 ) 

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him, deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" ( Matthew 16:25 - 26 ) 

We can't come to Jesus only if he promises to give us an easy life. The Bible tells us that it's all or nothing. And he is so worth it. 

Remember the enemy embeds a bit of the truth in a false teaching. That's how I fell for it. If we know our Bibles, he can't deceive us. I didn't know my Bible. Some false teachers are pretty slick, but they are depending on the biblical illiteracy of their audience. 

An easier way to spot false teaching is the absence of sin or repentance - and these are core to salvation. In fact, without understanding our sin and our need, and then repenting, we can't come to faith in Christ. 

I remember when I was in a word-faith church they would define sin, on the rare occasion it was mentioned, as "bad choices," "mistakes,"or "not quite living the way we should."

The Bible describes sin as full-on rebellion against a Holy God. God did not send Jesus to die and drink from the cup of his holy wrath and suffer the worst suffering in the history of mankind just for our bad choices and silly mistakes. That has to be blasphemous. 

The Bible is so much better than this. 

Jesus is so much better than this. 

You've heard the claim that doctrine divides, right? It's suppose to. It divides truth from error, light from darkness, the lies of the enemy from the truth. 

And we have to be careful not to label everyone a false teacher or enlist ourselves as the theology police. And getting prideful. One thing I hear from the Farmer on a continual basis when I start to get all fired up over false teachings: "Babe, we used to believe it too." 

"And we're still susceptible," I might add. 

This is why we must know our Bibles. This is why we must obey the command to contend for the faith, but also learn to divide the Word rightly, to examine it and handle it with fear and trembling, not adding to it or taking away from it, to test the spirits, to beg God in prayer for the Spirit of discernment, because it's a jungle out there in the world and inside of my impressionable heart. 

But Jesus has overcome the world and my heart and he's better than life. 

"Thy lovingkindness is better than life." ( Psalm 63:3 ) 

Happy Weekend! 

💜

"Stranger Things"

I've had the pleasure of sharing my testimony with a family member recently and having on-going conversations about the Christian faith with him. When I asked how he was doing with his Bible reading, he confided that it wasn't going so well. He said that the Bible was too hard for him to understand so he was just reading Guideposts. 

I get it. I didn't want to embarrass or admonish him; I just want to come alongside of him, finding ways to encourage him and help explain how important God's Word is for the believer. It's our lifeblood. 

Listen to these encouraging, instruction-filled words from the Apostle Paul to young Pastor Timothy, these words are written for all of us: 

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from who you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 

Not only does this passage support the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture, but it shows us that Scripture has the power to bring us to faith in Christ, to teach us, correct us, train us in right living, make us mature, discern false teachings, equip us for every thing we do for the kingdom of God. 

The Word has the power to transform the life of the believer. We must make every effort to get it in us. 

Here's some biblical, practical points on how to do this: 

1.) Make sure we are in a "gospel-centered" church where we can sit under sound teaching including the core doctrines of the Christian faith. How do you know if the church is gospel-centered, abiding by these doctrines?  Because a church can read from the Bible, but still deny the supernatural components of the faith, like the resurrection, Jesus coming in flesh, and miracles. 

Look at the church's website or ask them for a copy of their statement of faith - what they believe. It should be specific, unless they are hiding something to be seeker friendly. A good standard to follow is the Apostles' Creed. I love to recite this each day; it summarizes the gospel. There's also the Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed, affirming that Christ is not a created being and the Doctrine of the Trinity respectively. 

Creeds are not extra biblical materials; they are confessions that articulate the basics of the Christian faith. Creeds were not established by our church fathers in times of refreshment, but when destructive heresies threatened to poison the church, much like today. They were put in place to protect us - sadly, throughout history, most people did not own a Bible and had to depend on the church leaders to protect them from the wolves. 

2.) Get a study Bible with a built in commentary and/or get a good lay-person commentary. I like how one pastor responded when a church member asked him what translation of the Bible they should use. The pastor said, "The translation that says, 'Love your enemies.'" 

3.)  In our gospel-centered churches, participate in a Bible study. We need to study the Bible on our own, but also with our church family. Iron sharpens iron. This is not a Bible study where we go around the circle and tell what the verse means to each of us, no, we examine the Scriptures together and see what it means to God and what he is saying to us. ( Acts 17:10-15 ) 

Tonight Pastor Atkins will begin a new Bible study at our church Harvest Ministries on Ezekiel 40-48, "Vision of the New Temple" - you are welcome to join us at 6:00 to share a meal with the study beginning at 7:00. 909 Blue Ridge Blvd., if you're in the Roanoke/Botetourt County area. 

It's funny because the first time I remember reading through the Book of Ezekiel when I finished I said to myself that has to be the strangest book in the entire Bible. I think it's mostly associated with the Valley of Dry Bones, but an ironic thing is that as strange as it was to me, one of my favorite verses now comes from this book. One I pray more than any other for my unsaved loved ones because that's another important reason to read the Bible: It's the best prayers we can pray. All of it - not just the Psalms. 

Ezekiel 36:26-27: "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules." 

God's saving initiative. 

Right there in the Bible's strangest book, God gives us his most precious promise. 

I'm excited to learn more tonight. 

Because the Bible is our lifeblood. 

💜

Righteous Wardrobe

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness..." ( 2 Peter 1:3 ) 

Today Pastor Atkins reminded us in his sermon series on faith that we are clothed in Christ's righteousness, and I have been thinking about the reality of this truth and the freedom it brings as Aslan led the way on our walk this afternoon. 

Pastor explained that in Christ, God sees us as if we obeyed all of the righteous requirements of the law, and when God's Word sinks in, it's like a light bulb switches on for us. I get that.  

I never understood the verse in 1 John 5:3: "And his commandments are not burdensome," because secretly I thought they were terribly burdensome. I couldn't obey them; no matter how hard I tried, I always fell short. 

That's why Christ came and lived the perfect life we couldn't live and now at conversion, that life is imputed to us as if we lived it. I see now that when we find the commandments of God impossible and crushing, then we are on our way to understanding the grace, mercy, and love of God in sending Jesus, and the magnitude of what he has done for us. 

Now the commandments are not burdensome to me because of the knowledge of Christ's perfect life and power in me helping me to obey, and the law becomes not a burden, but the glorious lamp from Psalm 119:105 guiding my feet in the right direction and illuminating my way on this path of faith. 

In my beautiful wardrobe of righteousness. 

Let's remember that this week.

We are clothed in Christ's righteousness. 💜

"The Silence of the Lambs"

"but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." ( Hebrews 10:38 )

A couple of weeks ago after the morning sheep count, a year old ewe came up missing. After a short search I found her standing inside of a small thicket. As I slowly approached her, thankfully, I surmised that she was in normal labor without any extra distress.  

A couple days later when another ewe was absent from the flock, I found her in an empty field licking the remains of a mineral block off the ground. After examining her eyes, gums, and weight loss, I saw that she needed to be treated for parasites. I quarantined her for a bit, and she bounced back nicely. Fortunately, hair sheep have proven to be a resilient breed in our area. 

Still another morning, I noticed a sheep off to herself under the shade of an oasis of black walnut and sycamore trees. Before I got over to her, I quickly turned and headed for the barn to grab my work gloves because I could see that she was all caught up in an old strand of barbed wire. I carefully untangled the mess without much damage to the wool, and she happily joined the flock, leaping all the way. 

Another time when a ewe was desperately baaing for one of her lamb twins, the Farmer and I found the poor little ram with his head stuck in a portion of the woven fence line, no worse for wear. 

One of the first things I learned in sheep farming is that if a sheep is missing from the flock, there's a problem. 

Sheep stay together. Another habit I've noticed is that within the flock, sheep tend to stick with their biological family group. In other words, a ewe with her new twin lambs will usually be resting or grazing next to her older girls with her new lambs and on down the generation line. Also nearby are her castrated rams that the Farmer hasn't found time to butcher and process yet.  

Sheep possess herd mentality to a fault. When one starts running in any given direction, they all follow even if that means going over the edge of a cliff. This makes field rotation either a piece of cake or a pain in my side, depending on what direction they go. You never can tell. And Great Pyrenees aren't herd dogs, they're strictly guardians. So they ensure the sheep are protected while being stupid. No sheep left behind.  

For all of the sarcasm with my sheep, the minute I'm among them, I melt. When they look to me for help or grain or in fear because they have no idea what is going on, their sheep eyes never fail to flood my heart with compassion and humble me into milk toast. I totally get why God compares us to sheep. 

The part I didn't get was church.

The flock.

I never understood how important the church is to God and should be to us. I think it's partly because of growing up in the South in our church culture where often times attending church each week was a bit like attending a a country club. Everyone dresses up and gives God their Sunday best, but after that, you keep the rest. You move through the liturgy and finally the benediction and keep on moving, never taking God too seriously. Otherwise you might look like a Jesus freak in your frills and lace. 

On the road to Damascus in Acts 9 when Saul has his radical conversion experience, Jesus appears to him and says, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Why did Jesus say that Saul ( Paul in Greek ) was persecuting him? Wasn't he persecuting the church? Yes, and when someone persecutes the church they are in fact persecuting Jesus because he calls us "his Body." In Christ, we are now his Bride, his very own Body. We abide in him - that's how much he loves us. 

And how much we should love each other. 

That's why when someone is missing from church, we need to find out why. It could be something as simple as maternity leave or as difficult as a terminal illness, a season of grief, or an entanglement in an egregious sin. Our pastors, the shepherds, depend on us, the sheep, since we do form into these small family groups doing life together.  

Loves takes many forms. 

Love looks for lost sheep. Love speaks the truth at the risk of offending. Love untangles the mess while preserving the wool. 

I'm one of those introverted sheep that has been silent most all of my life until recently when I began to understand the depth of the love of God for his flock. I also know how easy it is to wander off, and the predators that wait to gobble us up. 

Everyday I pray this hymn:

"Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God. 

He rescued me from danger interposed his precious blood.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it 

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, Oh take and seal it 

Seal it for thy courts above."

In writing with the hope of warning others about false teachers and doctrines - wolves in sheep's clothing, I have offended anyone, that wasn't my original intention. 

But then I remember that every time I've grown in my faith, it's usually come through first being offended at the truth. I've learned the truth can indeed hurt and often does; but in the long run the truth proves to be a good and needed pain. 

If I'm wrong, no harm done, right? You have at least maybe been encouraged to listen closer to what you're hearing. But if I'm right, have I kept a lamb or sheep from wandering from the flock like I've done at times? 

What lures content sheep away? Pastures that appear greener, richer, more enticing than the one they're on? Wolves in sheep clothing leading the flock in the wrong direction? Listen carefully to Paul's words in Acts 20:

"I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house testifying both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." ( 20-21 )

Paul doesn't shrink from the truth and reminds them of the gospel! That's what he taught them! That is what he said was profitable! 

Then he goes on to warn them in verse 23 that all he cares about doing is finishing his race and testifying to the gospel of the grace of God that he received from the Lord Jesus. He doesn't know what awaits him in Jerusalem - he's about to leave. He's giving them their final instructions. 

He says in verse 29 that he knows "after his departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." 

That scares the hades out of me. 

Keep listening: "and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them." 

Who is Paul talking with? The text tells us that it is the elders! The elders of the church in Ephesus. So wolves are going to come into the leadership of the church! Drawing away the disciples - that's the sheep. 

Jesus said that there would be false prophets coming to us in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ( Matthew 7:15 ) Peter said that there would be false teachers among us. ( 2 Peter 2 ) They look and sound like us, so we need to examine their fruit, Jesus told us. That's the test: "A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." ( 7:18 ) 

One day, and I know this is big talk, but one day, I want to stand before my Father as a daughter who didn't shrink back, because that has always been another weakness of mine, not speaking up, staying silent. 

Love isn't always silent. 

In the church if we replace the Gospel of Jesus Christ with destructive heresies that just help "good people" become "better people" and our focus is to help them live a better life and obey rules rather than giving them the often painful truth of the Good News, of sin, repentance, and redemption, that contains the power to truly transform their lives, then we need to know we are doing this or at the least be aware of the danger in our midst. I wished someone had warned me. 

Surrounding my property and flock of sheep are hundreds of acres of woods filled with coyote and foxes. Their footprints close to my fencing, their eerie howls, I am well aware of the danger lurking all around the sheep. Sadly some predators managed to creep inside the fencing and steal some sheep. 

That's why I was compelled to place safeguards within the flock and especially for the sake of the vulnerable lambs in the form of Great Pyrenees, livestock guardians. If a sheep still goes missing, any farmer worth his salt will search until they find the lost lamb. 

Just like our Good Shepherd. 

May we go and do likewise. 

💜 

The Oil in our Lamp

"In your righteousness, deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! Be to me a rock and refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and fortress." ( Psalm 71:2-3 )  

We hear often that we are living in the last days, and there does seem to be an air of urgency in the atmosphere that the end is quickly approaching. I'm wondering though, since no one knows when Jesus will return, he said himself included, if the weightiness we are sensing isn't so much the end of time, but the end of us. Because the Scripture tells us over and over that our life here on earth is quickly coming to an end, like a vapor, a mist, and a fading flower. 

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." ( Psalm 90:12 ) 

"Be ready," we are warned in Jesus's parable of the five virgins who had no oil in their lamps when the time came to go out and meet the Bridegroom. ( Matthew 25:1-13 ) 

How can we be ready like the five wise virgins who were prepared with oil in their lamps?

The message of Scripture is short and direct: "Repent and believe." These words are spoken by the Old Testament prophets; they are proclaimed from the wilderness by John the Baptist. Jesus taught them to those who had ears to ear and eyes to see. Paul, Peter, John, Jude, the writers of the New Testament, all proclaim the Good News of the Gospel. 

What hinders people then from salvation? 

One thing: those with ears to hear and eyes to see know their need. 

The Pharisees grumbled often that Jesus ate and associated with tax collectors and sinners. 

( Jesus ) told them, "It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17 CSB

In the "Upon Waking" devotional day 32 it asks the question, "Do you know what the difference was between the sinners sitting at the table and the sinners pointing their fingers at the table? It's that God had come to save both but only one side knew they needed him." 

Today in our church culture sadly many will not mention "buzz words" like sin, repent, resurrection, and the blood of Jesus so they can be "seeker friendly." How are we being "friendly" when we don't love others enough to tell them the truth?

Repentance shows us our need - we understand that we have not just behaved badly, but we have sinned against a holy God. People are struggling, and rightfully so, with the sin inside of themselves, seeking for help, and the Church must be "seeker friendly" in explaining that Jesus came and lived the perfect life we should have lived, but couldn't, and died the death we should of died for our sins. 

Now when we come to him - and we only come when we understand that we need him and can't save ourselves with our own good works and righteousness - we are clothed in his righteousness. His righteous life is imputed to us. Praise God. 

But we have to know we need him - that's the catch. If we think we are doing okay on our own, in our own righteousness, like the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus's day, then we will never come to him. 

He came to save both groups - the righteous and the unrighteous. The younger and the older brother. The Pharisee and the tax collector. The virgins with oil and the virgins without. 

But we must repent and believe.

We have to know we need him. 

💜

There was a farmer who had a dog. And Aslan was his name Oh. ( :