The Scarlet Thread.

What did Abraham, Moses, and David put their faith in—sacrifices? The blood of sheep? Did they believe their good deeds got them into Heaven, or did they believe that God required faith? Does the Old Testament speak of Jesus?

Yes. The Old Testament looks forward to Jesus, just as the New Testament looks back. He is the center of it all. The blood of Christ is the “Scarlet Thread” that runs through all 66 books of the Bible, beginning in Genesis when God sacrificed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve, a sign that one day Jesus would die to cover our sin.

One simple rendering of the Gospel is called the Four Spiritual Laws, and each of these truths is supported by the Old Testament:

  1. God loves you and created you to know Him. (Read about Adam and Eve in Genesis 2-4, not to mention all the other stories.)
  2. Man is sinful and separated from God, so we are unable to know Him. (“All we like sheep have gone astray, every one of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord God laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. –Can you believe THAT is in the Old Testament?)
  3. The only way to know God is through the death of Jesus, which paid for our sins. (See Isaiah 53:6 above; see also Psalm 65:3 “Only YOU can atone for our rebellions.” –David KNEW that good deeds and sacrificial lambs would never be enough. Only GOD could atone for sin.)
  4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (Genesis 15:6 says “Abraham believed God would save him, thus he was credited with righteousness.”)

Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice. Help me understand and explain the gospel to others. Thank you that our Old Testament heroes looked forward to the coming of Christ and put their faith in Him the same way we do. Thank you that salvation never changes because You never change. You are “the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

ΑΩ

Scandals in the Church.

Every week I read about ministers embroiled in scandals, usually involving sex, money, or an abusive leadership style.

Imagine:  God chose YOU.  He gave you preaching gifts, leadership, the ability to tell a great story, and He put a fire in your belly to share His Good News.  In the beginning, it was great.  People showered you with praise.  They joined your church, brought their friends, and never stopped telling you how special you were …  and one day you looked at yourself in the mirror and smiled: 

Yeah.  I AM handsome.  I look great in these clothes.  I AM funny and charming.  I could have any woman in this church.  They’d be lucky to have me. 

You committed the sin of Lucifer—staring in the mirror admiring your gifts when you should be kneeling before the Throne praising the God Who gave you EVERYTHING!  You are nothing without Him.  But who wants to think about that?  You picked up your pride and stroked it like a little lapdog every day, until it grew so large it devoured you. 

I support a simple rule for Christian leaders who receive criminal convictions involving sex or fraud: love them but bar them from the ministry for life.  My real concern is for those who will never come to Christ because they were hurt by that leader’s sins.  Wasn’t your whole life dedicated to lifting up the Name of Christ?  And now you buried His Name under the mud so severely, even those who never go to church struggle to comprehend your actions?  (Imagine: the preacher did things so heinous, the lost can’t even relate.)

Dear God, may my life—my WHOLE life—bring You Glory and Honor.  NEVER let me bring shame to the cause of Christ. 

If you’re in ministry, frame this prayer of David and PRAY THESE WORDS DAILY:

“Do not let those who put their hope in You be disgraced because of me, Lord God of hosts.  Do not let those who seek You be humiliated because of me” Psalm 69:6.

ΑΩ

Pride.

It’s driving an amazing car and feeling the stares of strangers. It’s wearing your newest outfit and being complimented sincerely. It’s hearing your name spoken and every head in the room turns to look, their hands clapping. It’s being congratulated by teammates and hearing the roar of the crowd.  It’s walking on stage and hearing the audience reaction—and seeing the synchronized lifting of 4,000 camera phones, tiny shields to record your every move.

Sometimes it’s private moments: folding a fat wallet and stuffing it in a pocket.  Holding your baby, dreaming of its future. Walking an intelligent dog. Riding a spirited horse.  Summitting the peak of a challenging mountain. Or rocking on the porch, enjoying your home.

Pride is not all bad. There is pride that separates you from God—your Father on whom every breath depends. But there is also pride that draws you near to Him. You can be proud of God, and proud of His works.

“Some take pride in chariots and others in horses, but we take pride in the Name of Yahweh our God” Psalm 20:7.

Have you felt pride in God? Have you felt proud to be His child? Consider the feelings above—Have you walked through a crowd and realized the thrill of knowing you are a child of God, that “I am His and He is mine”? Can you stand lost in a crowd of worshippers and feel the emotion you feel in an amazing new outfit, but feel it because you are “clothed in Christ”? Remember the pride of great achievements?  Have you felt the same satisfaction because you are “crowned with forgiveness”? Can you thrill because your name is written in heaven?

1 Corinthians 1:31 “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

God, teach us to “take pride in the Name of our God.” Help us to FEEL pride in YOU, to be thrilled by forgiveness, excited that we know you, enthusiastic about being your messengers. May our pride in YOU eclipse every other thing that tempts us toward pride. May our pride in you exceed every other pride.

ΑΩ

Your Desire May Indicate Your Purpose.

It is not easy to know your purpose.

We think we know sometimes, but then it changes. So were you right before, or are you right now? It takes a lot of prayer and Godly counsel to understand why God put you here and His plan for your life.

One clue can be your deepest desires: God created you to do a task, and He designed you to find that task fulfilling—nothing else will satisfy you in the same way.

But our deepest desires are sometimes hidden. When you are young, you think you know exactly what you want in life or what it is that will make you happy. But that changes over time. Or it changes when God brings something different into your life and you discover that you enjoy the new thing more than the old. Many a teacher or coach once dreamed of a career as an artist or athlete, only to discover after that option fizzled that they were actually put here to be a teacher or a coach. But you won’t recognize that particular deep desire until life gives you the chance to experience it.

David wrote Psalm 20 which begins as a blessing: “May God answer you in the day of trouble… May He send you help….” vv.1-2. But take a closer look at verse four:

“May He give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose.”

I memorized and prayed these words for years. I pray it for each member of my family: May He give you what your heart desires, and fulfill your whole purpose. (Will you pray it for me?)

What does your heart desire? Do you know?

Dear God, reveal to me the deepest desires of my heart, and then fulfill those desires. Help me to be willing to do whatever your will might be for me. How can I serve You? How can I serve Your Kingdom? What is my purpose? Please fulfill my desires and fulfill my purpose. Help me to do all that you made me to do. Show me any sins or habits that may be blocking me, keeping me from becoming the person you made me to be.

ΑΩ

God Chose Them For You.

God makes many choices for us, including our parents.  We have no say in who raises us.  But God has His reasons, and “His ways are past finding out” Isaiah 55:9.

The Ammonite king Nahash treated King David well.  When Nahash died, David sent his officials to show kindness to the new king, Hanun, son of Nahash. 

“So David sent emissaries to console Hanun concerning his father. However, when they arrived in the land of Ammonites, the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun their lord, ‘Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn’t David sent his emissaries to scout out the city, spy on it, and demolish it?’

What should Hanun do?  Listen to his advisers, or ask himself what his father would do? He chose to ignore his father’s example.

“So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.  When this was reported to David, he sent someone to meet them, since they were deeply humiliated.” 2 Samuel 10:2-5.

No king can tolerate such a public slap in the face.  Hanun challenged Israel to a fight and God used the battle that followed to defeat and subjugate both the Ammonites and the Arameans.

The lesson is: listen to your parents.  Nahash was not perfect, but he was a skillful diplomat that used kindness to maintain peace with Israel.  His son chose the opposite and it cost the lives of thousands of men. 

Are your parents wrong about everything?  Too strict?  Mean, critical, and hard on you?  Do they use old-fashioned ideas to keep you from having fun? 

God chose your parents for you.  Sometimes God will speak to you DIRECTLY through them.  If you love God—if you trust Him—trust that He carefully selected these parents for you.  He knows what He is doing!  Stop fighting and rebelling against the people who love you the most. Let God use them to bless you.

ΑΩ

There Are No Small Parts, Only Small Actors.

Auditioning for a Shakespeare play is an adventure—you never know what role you might receive.  From a pool of college students a director might cast human roles of all ages plus monsters, ghosts, and fantastic creatures of all kinds.  Perhaps you hoped to play Fairy Queen Titania, but find yourself cast as “fairy number two.” Trying not to sound disappointed, you trot out the old cliché:

“Oh, well! There are no small parts, only small actors!”

There are no small parts in God’s Kingdom.  Some will be rich, famous, powerful, or beautiful.  Others will work in a heroic field.  But most of us will live “ordinary” lives.  Most Americans live in a suburb, drive a modest car, work a regular job, and raise two children.  But God, our Casting Director, is sovereign—these are HIS decisions.  We serve where He places us.  And “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, rewards you” Matthew 6:4. 

Consider David’s men.  Which would you be?

“Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army. Jehoshaphat … was court historian. Zadok … and Ahimelech … were priests.  Shavsha was court secretary. Benaiah … was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were the chief officials at the king’s side” 1 Chronicles 18:15-17.

If I were auditioning for a role in this play, General Joab would be my choice.  But God made me a Jehoshaphat, a historian—so much so that I have actually worn the title “historian.”  People know me as the guy that will write down all the details of who said what and what evidence they offered, etc.  God gave me both the gifts and the interest to record events and conversations. 

I could spend my life hoping to be Joab.  But if God equipped me to be Jehoshaphat, then the sooner I adjust to His will the happier I will be.

God, help us develop and enjoy the gifts and the roles you have chosen for us.  Remind us that there are no small parts in Your Kingdom. Thank You for equipping us and using us.

ΑΩ

The Lord in Heaven Laughs.

“Mann traoch, Gott Lauch” is a Yiddish proverb: “man plans, God laughs.”  God is in control.  How could He not laugh?  We plan for success, but God chuckles, allowing humbling failure.  Or perhaps we prepare for a few failures—but God laughs and sends only victories.  That too is humbling as we realize victory was not our doing, but God’s blessing. God is sovereign.

David understood that. God blessed him against a lion, a bear, Goliath, and in a string of military successes.  Then God let Saul chase the fugitive through the wilderness for years.  Later David became king and saw another unbroken string of victories—until the day his own son chased him from the throne, a fugitive once again.  Who was in control? God.  God is sovereign.

“THE LORD made David victorious wherever he went” 2 Samuel 8:6.  “THE LORD made David victorious wherever he went” 2 Samuel 8:14.  “THE LORD made David victorious wherever he went” 1 Chronicles 18:6. “THE LORD made David victorious wherever he went” 1 Chronicles 18:13.  Who made David victorious? The Lord. God is sovereign.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen keep awake in vain.  It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors, for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep” Psalm 127:1-2.

Have you failed? God is in control. Have you succeeded? Give God the credit. This truth encourages me. I always plan for great success. Yet sometimes I fail.  Maybe those failures are part of His plan for me.  Man plans, God laughs: God is sovereign.

God, You are the omnipotent king of the universe.  Help us work hard and leave the results up to you. Build our houses, guard our cities—work with us and make us successful.  But whether in victory or defeat, “may our light so shine before men that they see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.”[1]

ΑΩ

[1] Matthew 5:16.

Screenagers.

I saw my nephew reading HOMER PRICE and had a flashback of my ten-year-old self crawling under the covers with a flashlight to read that hilarious book!  Did you ever read a book when you were supposed to be asleep?  —It is one of those odd infractions parents can be ambivalent about: sure, he’s staying up too late, but hey, he’s READING! 

But if you let your phone, iPad, laptop, or television keep you up when you should be sleeping, you are foolish.  As a night owl, I fight these battles daily.  But I do respect “SLEEP HYGIENE.”  When I enter my bedroom, the light stays off, the phone goes on the charger (flipped over so no light escapes), and I go to bed and forget about screens. In bed, I cannot be distracted. 

Teenagers do not respect sleep hygiene.  Nor do twenty-somethings.  One pediatric sleep specialist calls them “screenagers,” because they have a powerful addiction to screens.  They feel a constant pull to check the phone, check social media, get a few more likes, and be sure they’re not missing out. The problem is rampant, and every night the average teen sleeps THREE HOURS LESS than he should. Are you a screenager?

Ask yourself: WWJD?

David Mathis paraphrases John 1: “The Word became flesh and slept among us.”  Mathis argues Jesus was GOOD AT SLEEPING.  He could shut out distractions (like screens), shut off his mind, and go to sleep.  He even slept during a storm—a storm so bad, waves were coming over the side of the boat.  “But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion” Mark 4:38.  Jesus did not resent sleep or consider it wasteful as we are tempted to.  He respected sleep.

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, and to eat the bread of painful labors, for the Lord gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” Psalm 127:2.

What does Psalm 127 mean?  It means GET SOME SLEEP!  God will take care of you while you are sleeping—and often THROUGH your sleeping.

ΑΩ

Is God in This?

I memorized these beautiful words years ago:

“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” Psalm 127:1-2.

If God is not in it, you will fail, so don’t waste your time. Why get up early, stay up late, and work hard all day long, if God is not in it? And if you ARE in the will of God—go to bed! He will bless you even while you are sleeping. Rest and trust Him.

The Chronological Bible places this psalm just after the story of David planning to build a temple. David says to Nathan the Prophet, “Why should I live in a palace with cedar walls while the ark of God sits in a tent?” But God says that He never asked for a temple. God reminds David of all that He has done for him:

“I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel…. [And David recognizes that he was a nobody until God blessed him]: “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?… But now You regard me as a man of distinction…. Lord, there is no one like You, and there is no God besides You.” 1 Chronicles 17:7,16-17,20.

Two truths:

God can choose anyone, no matter how humble the beginnings. Are you a failure, a loser, a flunkie, unloved, and unskilled? David was at the bottom: a shepherd. Talk about unskilled labor. But God made him KING! And David knows that—it was all God, not David.

Second, David gives up his idea of building a temple. He knows God is not in it. So he lets it go. If your plan is not God’s will, why waste your time? He will NOT bless it.

ΑΩ

Dream Deferred.

I had a mid-life crisis yesterday. I remembered things I hope to do, places I hope to visit, dreams I hope to accomplish, and thought “I’ll never make it.”  The year 2002 seems like yesterday—time has FLOWN! In another twenty years, I’ll be in my 70s.  That’s discouraging.  I have served God faithfully, but I’m broke.  I never published a book.  I never went to England. I’ve worked hard and done good things—even great things.  I’ve remained in God’s will.  But my dreams are postponed, unfulfilled, deferred.

DREAM DEFERRED

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over—

Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

—Langston Hughes.

What an achingly sad poem; I know the feeling.

David’s dreams came true: giant killer, national hero, ladies man(×1,000), poet-songwriter-musician, Biblical author (including the wildly popular 23rd Psalm), warrior, king, sire of a line of kings including the King of Kings.  But God deferred one of his dreams, telling him—NO, you will NOT build my temple.  When did I ask you for a house? Who do you think you are?  You are a man of bloodshed, not suited to building a place of worship.

“But I will raise up your descendant who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. HE WILL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME” 2 Samuel 7:12-13.

This passage gave me hope today.  If David could not do it all, why should I? David had to let one dream go—but I know it comforted him that his son would achieve it.  After all—Solomon needed his own challenges, as my children need theirs.  I don’t have to do everything.  It’s not about me. 

God, we are here to fulfill YOUR plans, not our own.  Fill us with passion for YOUR dreams.

ΑΩ