Day by Day

[Soldier4Christ]

"They Don’t Get It"

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:6-7
   

Last week, according to a story carried by MSNBC, a priest in New Franken, Wisconsin removed his church organist and choir director from her duties. It was the priest’s decision that the 50-year-old lady was involved in an occupation inconsistent with the teachings of the church.

Now, this devotion is not going to go into detail about what this woman was doing or the priest who tried to get her to stop doing it. Let us sum things up by saying this is a priest who thinks the Holy Spirit was serious when He inspired John to write, “if we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

What is amazing about this story is how some public personalities have reacted to what happened in the Wisconsin parish. For example, the hosts on a nationally syndicated women’s television show seemed to take considerable issue with the priest’s decision. One thought it wrong for the church to probe “into your life in terms of how well you can do your job.” Another took the criticism to another next level and asked, “Why can't someone who is a hooker at night ... on Sunday go to whatever church or temple and try to get spiritual?"

If I understand this correctly, the priest is not allowed to correct or even be concerned about one of the members of his parish, but media personalities are given free license to condemn the priest for his caring. What a world we live in when those who have been called to take care of the Savior’s flock are criticized for doing so. What a sad commentary it is when people are told they can live one life during the week, and then pick up another as they go to church on Sunday and “try to get spiritual.” Brothers and sisters, these things ought not be so.

It is far better, as John says, to walk consistently in the Light of our Savior. We, who have been cleansed of our sins by the blood of Jesus, know that His grace is not a gift that is confined to Sunday mornings when we go to church. God’s forgiveness that is so dear to us dare not be something that is thrown off on Mondays, so we can pick up our real lives. Indeed, joy in the Lord’s love is something that permeates every moment of every day the Lord gives to us.

No matter what some TV personalities might say.

[funtainventures]

i quite agree with Pastor Roger. Hypocrisy makes mockery of the gospel and unbelievers are finding it more comfortable to deny the truth.

[Soldier4Christ]

Not only to deny the truth but to not even know what the truth is. When those in the church do not abide by the word how can unbelievers ever know the difference.

[Soldier4Christ]

"No Evening News"

But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you … This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Luke 21:12-13 (excerpts)
   

This devotion is not about Paris Hilton. You may be surprised by that since the news media seem to be filled with nothing but news about Paris Hilton, her driving, partying, court appearances, prison sentence, etc.... This devotion is not about her.

Instead, this devotion is about a Chaldean Catholic priest named Ragheed Kani. Because Ragheed doesn’t come from a rich family, and his life was lived in the service of the Savior and without scandal, his story hasn’t been widely told. Indeed, before this moment, you may never have heard of Ragheed. I hadn’t until a brother pastor sent me his story. It’s an account I’d like to share with you.

Ragheed was pastor at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul, Iraq. On June 3rd, he had just finished leading Sunday morning mass when a group of gunmen opened fire on him as he stood in front of his church. Ragheed and three of his church leaders were killed. Hours after the murder, their bodies were still lying in the street because people were afraid to recover them.

In a world where the short-term jail sentence of a hotel heiress is front-page news, I thought it right to give Ragheed a last opportunity to witness to you. Jesus’ words, “they will lay their hands on you and persecute you” were very real for this servant of the Savior. Although his life had been threatened and his church bombed, Ragheed felt it was important for him to keep sharing the story of salvation with the lost. If I were to say this decision cost him his life, he would probably correct me. Most martyrs would say witnessing to the Savior is not a decision. They would all agree they have no choice but to share the Savior with the lost.

Indeed, the narrative of the Savior who gave His life so that all who believe on Him might have life, is the one story that must be told in every land, in every generation and no matter the cost. It makes no difference if you live in a country of comparative religious freedom, or in a land where following the Savior can cost you your life. The trust given to Christ’s people remains the same. We must share the glory of what God has done for us in His Son’s life, death and resurrection. This is our opportunity to witness.

AMEN!

[Soldier4Christ]

"Protected in All Thy Ways"

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Psalm 91:11-12 (KJV)
   

Police dispatchers are prepared for just about any situation. Even so, last Wednesday around 4:00 in the afternoon, the person on duty in Paw Paw, Michigan was unprepared for what he initially thought was a prank phone call. Who can blame him? Nobody, not even the most seasoned veteran, ever expects to get a frantic phone message that begins, “You are not going to believe this. There is a semi-truck pushing a guy in a wheelchair on Red Arrow Highway.” Phone calls from other concerned citizens confirmed the first message. A man buckled into his wheelchair was being pushed down the highway at 50-miles-an-hour.

The police were finally able to stop the truck and lead the doubting driver around to the front of his rig. There they introduced him to his wheel-chaired hitchhiker. Eventually they managed to reconstruct what had happened. The incident began when the trucker had stopped at a gas station. While the trucker was parked the man in the wheelchair had stopped for a moment in front of the 18-wheeler. In that moment, the wheelchair rolled back a little bit, or the truck rolled forward a little bit. Either way, the handles of the man’s wheelchair became lodged in the grill of the truck and the unlikely pair went off on their wild ride.

When I first read that Associated Press story, I began to mentally list all the terrible things that could have happened to the man in the wheelchair. “Suppose a wheel had flown off the chair? Suppose the trucker had tailgated the motorist in front of him? Suppose the driver had made an emergency stop and sent the rider flying?” I supposed a lot of things might have gone wrong. But the reality was, the worst that happened was that the man in his wheelchair had spilled his soda-pop. I supposed many things, but the reality was, as our text says, “(God) shall give his angels charge over thee.”

This reality remains. God, who loved us enough to send His Son to take our place under the law and who allowed His Son to die the death we deserved, continues to watch over and protect us. Luther knew the Savior’s empty tomb is proof that we have a Lord who, in Fatherly Divine goodness and mercy, defends us against all danger and guards and protects us from all evil. Of course, having such a God and His heaven-sent angels doesn’t give Christians license to put themselves directly in the path of danger. It does mean they are free to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

"High Standards"

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Leviticus 19:2
   

There are, I think, a number of ways to build a team of high-jumpers. The first way is to set up a program that makes people physically fit and rigorously trains them to be high-jumpers. The second way is to lower the bar, so anyone can get over it without difficulty.

According to an article in last week’s USA Today, in 2002 the U.S. Government, concerned that our nation’s youth would not be ready to enter college or the work force, created a law called, “No Child Left Behind.” This law was written to encourage excellence in America’s schools. It was designed to train the nation’s young people to become academic high jumpers. Unfortunately, that same article maintains that many states have decided to implement that law by lowering the scholastic bar in order to make themselves, as well as their schools, teachers, parents, and students feel good.

The article revealed that some locations have decided to make the tests easy enough for anybody to pass. Others have lowered the percentage necessary to receive a passing grade, while yet others have decided to coach the children on how they can take the test successfully. Short term results of this bar-lowering makes everybody look good and feel fine, but it does little to prepare students for college and work force realities.

Anyone who reads the Bible will know that God doesn’t wrestle with where He is going to set the bar for humankind. Our reading from Leviticus is plain when it says God’s people are to be holy because He is holy. That’s the Lord’s way of letting humanity know that any score other than a perfect 100% is going to receive a failing grade.

Knowing that His standards of holiness would leave behind even the best of humanity, God, in His grace, decided to help us out. No, He didn’t lower the bar that had been set to achieve salvation. As our unchangeable and perfectly fair God, He couldn’t do that. Instead of setting a lower standard, our heavenly Father sent someone, His Son, to take the test for us. The Gospels record the details of Jesus’ life and how He passed where we had failed. Jesus resisted Satan, fulfilled the law, and died the death our sins deserved, so that we might be saved.

Jesus’ resurrection assures us that the Father’s bar of perfection has remained in place, and all who believe in Him have received the passing grade that gives them entry to heaven.

[Soldier4Christ]

"You Should Know"

June 16, 2007

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?” John 3:9-10
   

About two years ago, I read an article about some young male elephants in an African game park. In human terms, we would call these elephants adolescents—teenagers. Now the article zeroed in on the fact that these adolescents had gone nuts. They were doing some very un-elephanty stuff. They’d been ripping at the rhinos and trashing and trampling the tourists.

It took a while, but park officials thought they finally figured out why these elephants had run amuck: As newborns, these elephants had been taken from a game park where they had been at risk and transferred to a new park. This park was supposed to provide everything an elephant could ever want. It was a pachyderm’s perfect paradise—except for one problem. The father elephants had not been brought along. These young male elephants had grown up without a model of how a bull elephant should behave.

Spiritually, the same can be said for many children. They have all their hearts desire, but they’re growing up without any spiritual example. Are you among those who think being a good father is teaching your children how to use a hammer and saw, how to wield a gun and clean a deer? God says you should know that’s not enough to be the kind of father He wants. The greatest opportunity God gives parents is to have them teach their children how much God loves them.

In the Old Testament, the Lord was very clear. He said, “These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up ” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). In the New Testament, a similar word of encouragement is given. The Lord says, “Fathers … bring [your children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). From their parents, children need to hear of a Savior whose hands are gentle enough to pick them up in blessing and strong enough to carry a cross to Calvary. Our children ought to know, and we should be the ones to tell them, that Jesus loved them enough to be crucified for them without complaint. In word and action, we need to tell our children of God’s great love. Nothing we can ever do will be more important.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Jesus Gave Him Back"

Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:15
   

J. Wilbur Chapman, the great Presbyterian evangelist, used a sermon to retell a story he had heard: A father came into the bedroom where his young son, his body ravaged by disease, was dying. The boy asked, "Daddy, lift me up?" The father gently put his hands under the boy’s withered body and lifted him up from the bed, just a little. "Lift me higher," the boy pleaded. "Daddy, lift me higher." The father lifted his son until he was holding the boy above his head. When he let the boy down, his son was dead. It seemed, to the father, as if he had actually lifted his son into the very arms of Christ.

That was the story Chapman told, but it is not the end of the story. After Dr. Chapman had finished his story and service, a man came to him and said, “Dr. Chapman, it happened just as you said. I went into my son’s room. My minister was with me. I lifted my son up and his weak voice came back to me in whispers saying, "Higher, Daddy, higher.” When I took him down, he had gone. But, Dr. Chapman, I want you to know, I had lifted my son into the arms of Christ long before. When he was a very small boy I taught him of a Savior's love, and told him what it means to be a Christian."

As I travel the country, I have the opportunity to see a great many children. I often wonder, "Do those children know to whom they belong?" Yes, they may carry the genetic imprint of their parents. They may have a proud family name. But do they know they are God’s sons and daughters?

It occurs to me that if we give our children the best education money can buy, all the stuff stocked on the toy store shelves, designer clothes, and the latest video games, but don’t give them Christ, those children are spiritual paupers. If we teach them how to play every team sport, impart to them all the skills they need to survive in a dog-eat-dog world, but hold back in telling them about the Savior, those children are spiritual orphans.

This is why I encourage parents and grandparents, pastors and parishes, to lift up their children to the Lord. Give them back to the one who watches over them when we cannot, who protects them from problems we don’t see, who will be with them after we are gone. Lift up your children to God who allowed His Son to die so that our sons and daughters might live.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Never Letting Go"

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:28-30
   

Years ago, a little boy in south Florida went for a swim in the large pond behind his house. His mother saw what his young eyes had missed: an alligator swimming on an intersecting course with her son. She ran toward him screaming. Quickly, he started to swim back. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. The mother lunged and grabbed her son’s arms as the gator grabbed his legs—the gator’s strength was met by a mother who would not let go.

A reporter covering the story visited the boy in the hospital and asked to see his scars. The lad lifted the sheets to give him a glimpse of his legs. Then he asked, “Would you like to look at my arms? I have scars on my arms, too. I’ve got these because my mother wouldn’t let me go.”

That, my friends, is what a mother’s love can do. Everyone understands the strength of a mother’s love for her child. Perhaps that is why, when we talk of love’s power and purity, selflessness, and surety, we do speak of a mother’s love. There is, we imagine, no love better or stronger.

If that is what we imagine, we imagine wrongly. Please, please, do not be offended. It is not my intent to question or minimize the intensity of the mother-child bond. All I would like you to remember is this: The love shown to us by our dear Lord Jesus is infinitely greater than anything we will encounter in this world. If you will, allow me to explain. While a mother’s love is directed toward her own children, Jesus’ love reaches out to everyone, no matter who they are or how unlovable they might be. A mother’s love is limited by her life span, while Jesus’ love went to the cross, into His grave, and continues—even now—to reach out to all the world. It even reaches out to you. Absolutely.

Of course you may doubt me. That is your choice. But if you would like proof of His love, I encourage you to look at the scars on His hands and feet. He got those on His cross, because He wouldn’t let you go.

[Soldier4Christ]

"The Unexpected"

Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” John 1:50
   

Palatine, Illinois teacher and mother, Natalie Meilinger, likes to keep a close eye on her children. To make that task easier, she put a video baby monitor into the room of her 3-month-old son, Jack.

The monitor works well, giving a clear picture of all that is happening in the nursery. Occasionally, the monitor can work almost too well. As of last Sunday, the second channel of the baby-watching device has been showing black-and-white video from the space shuttle Atlantis. That’s right. Natalie is getting video from outer space.

NASA says they’re sure the video isn’t being beamed directly into the child’s bedroom. The company that makes the monitor says they’ve never heard of anything like this happening before. Natalie says she and her husband have become addicted to the ongoing scenes coming to them from above. She says they keep “waiting to see what’s next.”

Natalie’s last sentence, “waiting to see what’s next,” reminded me of a remark made by one of my Sunday School children years ago. The boy was attending class as a four-year-old and was mesmerized by the stories his teacher told him. In spring, after the teacher made it through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the student came up to her after class and said, “Teacher, I really love God. You just never know what He’s going to do next.”

Out of the mouths of babes. Truly, we are blessed to have a God who does the unexpected. His promise of salvation to Adam and Eve after they sinned was unexpected. For Him to take the complaining Children of Israel from slavery and into the Promised Land was unexpected, too. That God would send His Son into this world to keep the commandments, say “no” to Satan’s temptations, and give His life as a ransom for our redemption is beyond anyone’s comprehension. If I read the words of the Apostle John correctly, he stood in similar awe of God’s grace when he wrote, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”

The sacrifice of the Savior is something worth seeing, and something worth believing in. In a world where baby monitors pick up space TV and where anything can happen, it’s a blessed thing to have a Lord who, by grace alone, and quite unexpectedly, loves us.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Getting Worse"

They turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. Judges 2:19b
   

My mother is not an envious woman. Even so, I heard a bit of envy in her voice when I told her how much gasoline was selling for in St. Louis: $2.75-a-gallon.

Do I hear some envy in your voice too?

Mom said that it was going for more than $3.50-a-gallon in Chicago. For people on a fixed income, the skyrocketing price of staying on the road has been a difficult burden to bear. Indeed, gas prices in May caused the Consumer Price Index to shoot up faster than it has in a year-and-a-half.

Now, what I’d like to point out is this. My mother thought $2.75 was a good price for gas. Can you remember back a few years when one dollar seemed outrageous for fuel? Then, when the price went up to $1.50, we thought a dollar was a good deal. Now, almost any reader of this devotion would run right out and top off the tanks on all of his vehicles if he could find any service station with a pump price set at two dollars.

This is just one way of saying, “People can get used to things.” In my mother’s lifetime, Clark Gable scandalized the world when he left Scarlet saying, “He didn’t give a (hoot) what happened to her.” Today, foul language is common in almost every movie and television program we see. People got used to it. There was a time when almost every pastor proclaimed the Bible as God’s inspired, inerrant Word. Now, it’s difficult to find a pastor or parish where the fundamentals are still being preached. People have become used to it.

The Lord doesn’t like people to get used to sin. He doesn’t like it when one generation builds on the transgressions of the previous generation. That’s why, in the book of Judges, the Lord let people know He isn’t pleased when they turn their back and become “more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them.”

God doesn’t want us to get used to sin because, as our Holy Lord, He has never become used to it. Scripture is clear. God hates sinful stuff. He hated it enough to wipe out the world with a flood. He hates sin enough to condemn all who are blackened by transgression. He hates it enough to send His Son into this world to live, suffer, die, and rise, so that we could be divested of all our sinful stuff.

God doesn’t want us to get used to sin, and for that reason He gives us a Savior who calls us out of our sinful darkness into the marvelous light and life of His blood-bought salvation.

[Soldier4Christ]

"When The Comparison Breaks Down"

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:35-36
   

I confess it. At the airport, I was eavesdropping on a conversation between two teen-agers. I was pleased to hear one of them say, “I really love my pastor, my church, and my youth group.” The other replied, “I like my church, too. But when you get down to it, aren’t all religions a different way of worshiping the same God?”

I suppose that’s a strange way of leading to the theme of this devotion. Last week, in London, a man was found guilty of killing his 20-year-old daughter. The father, along with his brother and two other suspects who have fled the country, used a boot lace to strangle the girl, stuffed her body in a suitcase, and buried her in the garden.

They said their action was an “honor killing” made necessary because the girl had ended an abusive marriage, become too westernized, and fallen in love with a man who hadn’t come from their village in Iraq. Now, I know that there are those who will say, “Not every Christian home is paradise.” I agree. But right now in England, there are 100 similar homicides that are also being investigated as “honor killings.” One hundred. It’s part of a rise in Islamic fundamentalism around the world, particularly in Britain, where some Muslim communities practice Sharia, or strict Islamic law.

Do we worship the same God? While it is true Christianity believes parents have a responsibility to their children, and children owe respect to parents, I find nothing in Jesus’ words that would encourage “honor killings.” Indeed, as I read that article, I give thanks that my heavenly Father has decided to save me, rather than striking me down for the sins I commit daily. I rejoice that He has decided to redeem me, rather than send me to hell for all that I have done wrong.

Do we worship the same God? I am not an expert on comparative religions, but I have never seen any other faith produce a Savior who said, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” No other religion has a Redeemer who didn’t just say good words, but lived those words, even to death on a cross.

This is why I am thankful for the God I’ve got. I rejoice in my risen Savior.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Portrait of Fearful Disciples"

He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Matthew 8:26
   

The above question of our Savior is still a valid one for us today. Our fears have many sources: nature's devastations, the economy, the job market, health, social pressures, foreign enemies, neighborhood violence, personal guilt, and many more. Our Lord's power to still any of our restless seas has not diminished.

The storm threatening the disciples was real. They were veteran fishermen experienced on this sea. Yet they were so frightened that they said, "We're going to drown" They didn't seem to remember what it means to have Christ with them.

It wasn't the storm that awakened the sleeping Savior; it was the prayer of his frightened disciples. His response was immediate and was directed at the real problem: anxiety. He first stilled their hearts, then addressed Himself to the storm. The storms of life unsettle us because our hearts are not firmly anchored in Him.

Wherever Christ is, there life's storms become a great calm. In His presence and by His almighty power tempests turn to peace, winds of sorrow become gentle breezes of comfort, seas of doubts become quiet harbors of faith.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Praying for Others"

Brothers, pray for us. 1 Thessalonians 5:25
   

We find Saint Paul continually praying for the Christians entrusted to his care. He names them before God and fervently asks the Father to fill their needs. But Saint Paul does not stop here. He realizes that he is his brother's keeper. He sees himself as the servant of God's grace. For Paul this means that he is an agent God uses to help and keep Paul's neighbors. So a part of Paul's prayer for others is a prayer for himself. He prays, and he asks the prayers of all Christians -- "Brothers, pray for us" -- that God would give him the strength to be the answer to his neighbor's prayer.

There are times and conditions when we fervently ask God to come to our loved one on wings of healing. We beg Him to give them the courage they need for the difficult hours of their lives. We plead with him to give them strength to choose the right.

This is good, but let us pray for ourselves at the same time. We are our brother's keeper. Perhaps the courage our friend needs for his dark hours can best be given by God through us, if only we would pray God to make us strong to help. Perhaps the guidance, the understanding, and the help our friend needs can best be given by God through us.

Some of our best prayers for others are those fervent prayers we say for ourselves.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Prayers of Thanksgiving"

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1
   

Psalm 136 calls believers to give thanks for many reasons, the main one being that God's gracious love -- His forgiveness and mercy in Jesus Christ -- endures forever. Similarly, Saint Paul admonishes us to "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

How can we give thanks when we are sick, lose our job or a loved one, or find ourselves in other sad circumstances? The answer is that God still loves us. In bad times God draws us to Himself in a special show of love and reveals Himself as a mighty and merciful helper. He is there when we sorely need Him, and our problems often make us appreciate His love more.

An uplifting experience for us Christians is to begin our daily prayers with thanksgiving -- with thanks to God for His Word, for our Savior and the Spirit-created faith in Him, for our church, our family and friends, our health, hope, money, home, automobile, and other blessings. Not all Christians will have the same list of blessings, but all will have a long list. Praying with thankful hearts comes from the conviction that God is good and that His love for us in Christ endures forever.