I Don't Hate Them...Honest! 

   Mom and Dad were faithful parents. In fact, I appreciate them even more than when I was young. 

   I also love my wife and my children and grandchildren, and my sister and all her family. I don't think in terms of loving myself, but I sure don't hate myself...just my sins.  

   Then I turn to Luke 14:26-27 and read what Jesus says is the Cost of Being a Disciple. 

   If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

   Well, that leaves me out!

   Unless the disciple Matthew can help. In verses 10:37-39, he quotes Jesus, Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 

   That's better. 

   Translation from one language to another makes the difference. Our commentary says, the word in Luke translated "hate" means "love less." Whew! 

   If we want to be a true disciple - pastor? missionary? - Jesus demands that our loyalty to and love for him be greater than every other attachment. The cost is - to give up all relationships and possessions, material things, family, our own lives, desires, plans and interests. This doesn't mean rejection of all things, but to place them at Christ's service and under his guidance.  

   This misunderstanding is also found about 430 B.C. when Malachi wrote what the Lord said to him, "Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated..." 

   Here, the term translated "hated" means only that God chose Jacob and not Esau to inherit the covenant promises, and to be one of the forefathers of the chosen people from whom the Messiah would come. 

            Jimmy

 GOD'S PREFERRED DWELLING PLACE

A writer put it this way,

"Jesus frequently chose the humble, poor, rejected and despised.

They are often the preferred dwelling place of God."

Mother Teresa said,

"We should not ask to do great things for God,

but to do small things with great love.

C.S. Lewis wrote,

"What matters, what Heaven desires and Hell fears,

is precisely that further step,

out of our depth, out of our own control."

GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

TAKING IT PERSONALLY

Jesus of Nazareth never left Palestine.

When it was time for him to leave his bodily presence behind,

He told his disciples they were blessed,

because the Holy Spirit would dwell within them

and the his presence then would spread to the world.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them.

Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine,

you did for me.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.

No one has seen God; but if we love one another,

God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

When Saul was terrorizing and jailing Jesus' followers,

the Lord spoke audibly from above, asking,

Why do you persecute me?

He identifies that closely with his people.

- John Ortberg

Can We Talk? 

   If we are like minded culturally, yes. If not, probably not.

   For eight years living in South Carolina, we were accepted into the Gideons, an organization of businessmen. They raise funds to send small Bibles throughout the world to people groups who generally have none. They also place full Bibles in hotels/motels. If you're a Christian, especially in the South, your church might host Gideon speakers from time to time. 

   Gideons ask pastors for time to speak. We did some of that speaking, and our "camp" met Saturday mornings for breakfast and prayer. Gideon wives also have important roles. 

   There are camps in some 200 countries and territories.   

   Today, there is division in our land, once considered a "melding pot." Reason doesn't persuade. Words mean whatever someone pleases. Debate has decayed. 

   If someone hates X, we are free and in our right minds only if we agree. If they love X, we are free and in our right minds only if we agree.

   It's not just the U.S. The parliament in Australia passed The Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021. 

   The title is maddening enough. The act says that people seeking Biblical counseling cannot possibly be doing so with sound judgment because "the pressures and imbalances of power involved mean that such 'consent' cannot be truly free or autonomously expressed." 

   Do we need to repeat that? I thought not.

   Christians are not going to persuade such people. But, God can talk ... the foolishness of what was preached, wrote Paul to the Corinthians. 

   Not philosophy or linguistic skills. It is the Word that is the power of God for salvation. - Romans 1:16. We have no power but the Word of God.

   Now I understand better than I did as an active Gideon, the organization's favorite verse: 

So is my word that goes out from my mouth: 

It will not return to me empty, 

but will accomplish what I desire and 

achieve the purpose for which I sent it. - Isaiah 55:11 

    

   

   

   

BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND 

   We turned the page in a magazine and there was this double-page ad for a student edition of the Reformation Study Bible. We're not recommending this Bible nor opposing it.

   We just enjoyed seeing what we believe wholeheartedly.

   The mind is a battleground, bombarded with the ideas and opinions of a fallen world. The ad says, "Arm yourselves with truth by reading God's Word, and think his thoughts after him. 

Identity vs. Personhood  

   The factors that shape us most are those we did not choose - beginning with our being, itself, writes Janie B, Cheaney in WORLD magazine. 

   We had nothing to do with our birth, our parents or grandparents, our race or country. We had nothing to do with our family's income level or physical, medical issues we might have had. 

   Children don't control what grown-ups think is necessary for us to learn. They in turn can't control what we actually learn. 

   The person I became is somewhat different from my sister, as she is from me (lucky her). 

   My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, woven in the depths of the earth.  - Psalm 139:15 

   "Identity fixes on one feature to the detriment of others," Cheaney writes. "Skin color describes a person, but it's not the person. Personhood escapes easy classification. What we are remains essentially mysterious, known fully to God alone." 

   She concludes, "Identity turns inward, but personhood expands outward. The saints in Hebrews 11 and the saints of today share one trait in common: Our eyes are fixed on things unseen. We seek not a handcrafted identity, but God's promise fulfilled - fully and finally in us, when we see him as He is." 

             Jimmy

   

God Moves in a Mysterious Way 

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform; 

He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

     Deep in unfathomable mines

     Of never-failing skill,

     He treasurers up his bright designs,

     And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

With blessing on your head. 

     Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

     But trust him for his grace;

     Behind a frowning providence

     He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower. 

     Blind unbelief is sure to err,

     And scan his work in vain;

     God is his own interpreter,

     And he will make it plain.

William Cowper (1731-1800)

Mysterious God  

   If you think the ways of God are mysterious, William Cowper knew it in the 18th century. 

   His mother died when he was six. He was teased and ridiculed by other kids. His father prevented him from marrying the girl he loved. 

   Forced to study law, Cowper panicked before his bar exam - and tried to commit suicide. After a year in an insane asylum, he was released into the care of a Christian couple. 

   He wrote poetry, and hymn writing became his therapy. Cowper often lapsed into depression. It's like his self-portrait in the "fearful saints" and "fresh courage" he wrote about in the hymn we will post here tomorrow. 

~

   Then the Lord came down in the cloud ... And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. 

   'Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' 

 - Exodus 34:5-7 

Tomorrow: God Moves in a Mysterious Way