Author Archives: revjaf

EVERYTHING BELONGS TO HIM!…Job 41:1-11

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I feel sorry for Job.  He’s called ‘blameless and upright’ and ‘the greatest man among all the peoples of the East'(Job 1: 1,3).  Yet God allows him to endure the most horrendous losses imaginable.  Job has had to ‘verbally fence’ with his wife, those three ‘friends’, that young know-it-all Eliphaz.  Finally, the Lord speaks.  God has the last word, as it should be.

God speaks ‘out of the storm'(Job 38:1).  Maybe you’re in a storm of sorts right now.  Life is turbulent.  Even sunny days feel cloudy and dark.  Reading Job 41 we hear the Lord comparing His strength with Job’s weakness.  God’s the Master, Job the servant.  Like you and me, under His lordship.  Job 41: 11–‘Everything under heaven belongs to me.’

He owns it all.  Nothing that exists anywhere, at any time, is other than God’s own possession.  Especially when times get tough, when questions override answers, we need to be reminded of who God is.  He’s without limits.  Lord of all.  Everything is His.  Genesis chapter 1 tells us that all creation has come from His hands.  All of it.  Start there, believe that first chapter of the Bible, and we’ll know who God is.  Lord of All.

When I accepted Jesus into my heart, I became a child of God as He promised(John 1: 12).  That relationship will last for all eternity.  The Bible is crystal clear that God truly loves us with a love known only to Him.  His love forgives freely and willingly.  Gives and gives, and then He gives some more.  He gave His only Son for us.  I wouldn’t do that.  Jesus died for us.  You couldn’t do that.  He rose in victory over the ultimate enemies of Satan and death.  We can’t do that.

All…for His own!  Which is so hard to grasp with the feeble fingers of our minds and hearts.  If we are His, and everything belongs to Him, can we not sense what comes next?  We can trust Jesus.  With every aspect of our lives.  With every prayer that seems to go unanswered.  With every uncertainty of health and wealth.  We can cast all at His feet, relaxing in His arms, with confidence and peace.  ‘Everything…belongs to me'(Job 41:11).

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for being the God who you are.  We love you and trust you no matter what.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

THERE’S GOT TO BE MORE!…Judges 10: 1-5

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I’m reading the book of Judges in the Old Testament.  One of your favorites?!  ‘Judges’ were leaders chosen to help Israel follow the Lord.  After Joshua’s death, the nation faces a power vacuum.  Quickly the people turn away from God, reject Him and worship idols.  Things go terribly wrong for God’s people.  I wonder why?!  Israel cries out for help.  God provides leaders, the judges.  A few have familiar names–Gideon, Deborah, Samson and Samuel.  But many do not.

Like the two from today’s reading.  Tola and Jair.  Who?  What did they do to help Israel?  We know little about them, though they ruled collectively for 45 years!  Of Tola, we only know the names of his father and grandfather(imagine a name like Dodo!), and that he was of the family of Issachar but lived in the hill country of another family, Ephraim.  That’s it.  After leading Israel for 23 years, he died and was buried in Shamir of Ephraim.

Then comes Jair of Gilead, east of the Jordan River, between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee.  Judge for 22 years.  Has 30 sons, rides 30 donkeys, controlling 30 towns.  Died and buried in the town of Kamon.  That’s it… again!

Don’t we want our lives to count for more than that?  There’s got to be more.  Looking in the mirror of life, I’d like mine to count for more than stale, bare-bones facts.  Remembered… for living for the Lord?  No reference to God is mentioned with the names of Tola and Jair.  How sad.  I hope that’s not said of me.  You too?  Of course.  Remembered… for loving the Lord.  For sharing Jesus with others.  For giving to missions where I couldn’t or wouldn’t go.  Far from perfect, but knew the Perfect One to go to for forgiveness and renewal.  Had a few tough breaks, some of his own making, but who ended better than he began.  Ended well for the Lord.  That’s how I’d like to be remembered.

With those godly goals in mind, I know how to live.  What decisions help or break them.  How about you?  Looking to the end will help you focus on how you live your life now.  How would you like to be remembered?

Prayer:  Lord, we genuinely want to live for you.  That our lives matter, not only for the here-and-now, but for eternity.  For you!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

TIED UP IN KNOTS!…Acts 18: 18-22

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As a new believer, I struggled with knowing God’s will for my life.  Wrestling with the tiniest, itsy-bitsy decision.  Do I tie this shoe lace first or the other?  Tied up in knots!  I was miserable!  What does God want me to do?  How can I possibly know what He wants?

You know what has helped?  God’s Word… listening to what’s going on inside its pages.  Hearing the dialogues of the Bible.  How God’s people interact with Him and He with them.  Here’s a hint:  stop worrying… start enjoying the Lord.  Stop being so picky and perfectionist as if God is ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness.

Acts 18 is a helpful passage.  The Apostle Paul  is in the city of Ephesus, teaching about Jesus the Messiah.  The Ephesians can’t get enough.  They beg him to stay longer.  ‘Don’t rush off.  We have so many questions for you.  Show us more of the Bible.  Please!’

You know what Paul says?  ‘No!  Got to keep moving on for the Lord’.  I would find that hard to say.  Is this not God’s will?  Stay longer and do more for Him?  Paul says ‘no’, but does make a promise that IF it is the Lord’s will he shall return to them.  ‘…I will come back if it is God’s will'(Acts 18:21).

The word ‘if’ is most significant.  A little word with a large impact.  ‘If’ shows our confidence in God, that He always knows what’s best.  We pray for His will to be done… and then move forward.  Not looking back(hard to do!).  Not second guessing(sometimes harder!).  Going with what’s inside us as put there by the Lord.  Confident, unfettered and flexible.  Doing this-and-that ‘if’ God so wills it.

Navel-gazing Christian life is no fun.  Tied up in knots!  Not sure what to do.  Conflicted and confused.  Know what I mean?  God’s will for each of us is to ‘glorify Him and enjoy Him forever’.  That wisdom, found in the ‘Westminster Shorter Catechism'(1647), remains profoundly true today.  Simply enjoy Him.  Listen for His voice in the Bible.  Live freely.  Love Him.  Again… ENJOY Him!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for your guidance.  The freedom we receive from following you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

A MORE COMPLETE PICTURE…1Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 2:1, 9,13 and Colossians 4:10

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The Bible passages for today round out the picture of Barnabas, the ‘Son of Encouragement’.  A role model, yet with flaws like the rest of us.  One of the many things I love about the Bible is its honesty.  No candy-coating or ‘spin’.  Truthful from cover to cover.

Take Barnabas, for example.  He’s hardworking.  In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul mentions that he and Barnabas work for a living.  Paul was a tentmaker.  Barnabas too?  We don’t know.  They didn’t live by handouts.  Were hardworking men.  The same for us– men and women, doing what the Lord has gifted us to do.  With discerning generosity for those who need our help.

In Galatians,  we see Paul and Barnabas as a team–‘…this time with Barnabas'(2:1) and ‘…gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship'(2:9).  Barnabas is a team player, an encouragement to the Apostle Paul.  Someone he could count on when the chips were down.  Paul and Barnabas–like one name!

Unfortunately, neither was perfect.  Unlike me and thee, and I’m not sure about thee!  Remember they had a huge argument, splitting their team in two.  I’m sure both felt they were right, with the other being wrong.  Paul was not afraid to air his opinions even with the chief apostle, Peter.  Galatians 2:11–‘…Peter…I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.’  Not only Peter, but Barnabas is due criticism.

What’s happened?  Peter would fellowship with the new Gentile believers until the old guard ‘Board of Elders’ shows up, and then he snubs the ‘newbies’ treating them like second-class Christians.  Paul shakes his head in disappointment when he sees Barnabas also backing away from his Gentile brothers and sisters.  Paul lets those hypocrites(v.13) have it with both barrels!  What about us?  Avoiding someone?  Looking down on those who make us look bad?  Like I’m something special and they’re not much at all?

One final reference to Barnabas in the Bible.  Colossians 4:10.  The Apostle Paul mentions that Mark is with him.  And that he is Barnabas’ cousin.  Mark, the same one that Paul wanted no part of.  Now, he’s matured, committed, solid for the Lord.  The investment by Barnabas has paid hefty dividends in Mark’s life.

Someone you can think of who needs a second chance?  A helping hand?   An encouraging word?  Be a Barnabas to them.  Be a ‘Son or Daughter of Encouragement’!

Prayer:  Lord, help me to be an encouragement to someone today.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

COULD BOTH BE RIGHT?…Acts 15: 36-41

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Could both be right?  Paul and Barnabas have had a huge blowup over taking John Mark on their second missionary journey.  Mark had deserted them on the first one.  Left them high and dry, sailing back home.  Take him with us again?  ‘No way’, says the Apostle Paul.  ‘Let him grow up first’.  But Barnabas, the ‘Son of Encouragement’, wants to give him a second chance.  Who’s right?  Could both?  Does one necessarily cross out the other?

Let me apply this to my own life.  I’m thinking of when proverbial doors were slammed right in my face.  My job as pastor came crashing down all around me.  Devastating, and not only for me.  I imagine the Apostle Paul would have advised me to take time off.  Find a new career.  Cool your heels.  Check the pulse of what you really want to do.  Find out what the Lord wants for you.  Grow… before you go.  Get closer to Him after the doors have closed.

Paul would have been absolutely right.  After this happened, outside the four walls of a church, I began to grow somewhat by fits-and-starts.  Not an even path.  Never for the likes of me!  Slowly but surely(and don’t call me Shirley!), I was drawing near to Jesus.   Need time off and away?  To sit at His feet?  To hear Him… and to talk with the Lord?  Pray…read your Bible…heal?  Do it.  Take the time.

But Barnabas was right, also.  I thank God for those who gave me second chances…to serve the Lord Jesus.  Like a Roman Catholic priest, a local hospital chaplain and dear friend, who took some criticism for having this Protestant– me!– preach at the Catholic hospital service two weeks after exiting through the back door of my old church.  He told me to ‘get right back on that horse’!  He was Barnabas to me.  Gave me that second chance, when I never even asked for it.  I’m so grateful.

And the local Christian television station that hosted my weekly program of testimony and evangelism for over five years.  No longer bound behind four walls of a church, my ministry reached into two counties in our state.  And then, those fourteen years, I loved pastoring a church in that same town.  Now… a different person.  Now… preaching, teaching, encouraging missions and evangelism, Bible studies, prayer groups.  Now… sitting at the Lord’s feet.  All in that same town!

Grow in Him.  Give and receive second chances.  Do you wonder what the Lord can make of your life?  Wonder no more!  Grow in Him.  Get close to Jesus.  Watch the Lord open windows and doors for you…for others…for Him!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for second chances in life, and time to get close to you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

THERE’S TROUBLE BREWING!…Acts 15: 36-41

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There’s trouble brewing!  It began when Paul and Barnabas sailed from the island of Cyprus for the Turkish port city of Perga.  In Acts 13:13 the writer Luke tells us that John Mark ‘…left them to return to Jerusalem.’  If that’s all we know, we’d think that nothing is out-of-the-ordinary.  Maybe John Mark has other commitments?  A message to take home to the Apostles?

A few chapters later in Acts, we’re told that something has broken out between these missionary partners, Paul and Barnabas.  All because of John Mark.  You see Paul wants to travel back to the towns where new believers need encouragement and teaching.  Barnabas, the ‘Son of Encouragement’, would certainly have said a hearty ‘amen’ to that!  But here a discovery is made.  John Mark did not just go home or take up a new mission.  No.  The Bible says that ‘…he had deserted them'(Acts 15: 38).  Deserter!  John Mark, who happens to be Barnabas’ cousin, has abandoned them.

Can you imagine?  Luke says ‘they(Paul and Barnabas) had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company'(Acts 15: 39).  A major blow-up.  ‘Take John Mark with us?’  ‘Of course’, says Barnabas!  ‘No way’, says Paul!  Swords are sharpened.  Words are spoken.  Happens only in the early church?  Don’t you wish.  Happens today more than I can count, and I’ve never been good at math!  I’ve witnessed a few sickening church battles.  Sometimes the disillusionment lingers for many years.   Dead… but refusing burial.  Others have failed us, and we have failed them.  In church, no less.

Here’s one lesson from this story.  My take.  Don’t let troubles and bitterness brew…  Does require His assistance.  And our maturity.  Don’t allow those traumatic times to stop you in your tracks.  Learn from them.  Move on.  It takes time, I know.  More than we realize.

Let the pain go.  Someone needs to do this today.  Maybe you?  Someone else?  Share this devotional.  Why not?   Hear what God has to say… to YOU and ME!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for helping us to let go of what holds us back in life.  We need your help.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

SOMEONE WHO DOES WHAT?…Acts 4: 36-37 and Chapter 9

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His given name was Joseph.  From the family of Levi, who were priest’s assistants in Jerusalem’s Temple.  Israel was defeated and exiled by 586BC.  God’s people then worshipped in local synagogues wherever they lived.  Joseph was from the island of Cyprus, with a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles.  He was special to the Apostles.  So much so that they gave him the nickname of Barnabas, ‘the Son of Encouragement’!

Turning to Acts chapter 9, we find Barnabas in a bit of a fix.  Word has gotten around that some ferocious persecutor of the church has become one of them. Who?  Saul?  Are you kidding?  Yes, Saul himself says that on the road to Damascus, He has encountered the living Jesus, whom he now calls his Lord!  Oy Vey?   The enemy?  Now, a brother?  Maybe the arch con?  Didn’t Jesus warn us about wolves in sheep’s clothing(Matthew 7:15)?

Fear and trembling spread like wildfire.  ‘Lord, deliver us from the likes of Saul of Tarsus’!  Who could blame these early Christians?  I can’t.  The Lord heard their cries, and He answered them by bringing Saul to faith in Jesus.  But, no one wants to take a chance on him.  No one…except Barnabas!

The Bible says that Barnabas brought him to the Apostles, telling them all about Saul’s meeting the risen Jesus on that Damascus road .  Barnabas tells them that Saul, the persecutor, is now Saul, the preacher.  Here’s where I notice something special about Barnabas.  How did he know about what happened to Saul?  Not by e-mail, text message or tract.  Hardly.  Barnabas knew the whole story from the lips of Saul himself.  So what, you say?

Barnabas heard… because he listened.  He wanted to know all about Saul, so he listened to him.  Paid attention.  All ears.  When someone listens to you, and you know when they are, it can be such an amazing experience.  A level of caring and acceptance rarely felt.  Know what I mean?  What an encouragement when someone bothers to listen to us.  To hear us out.  Tune in to our wave length.  Keeping their ‘big mouths’, well, you-know-what(I’m speaking of myself!).

Want to encourage someone today?  You get the point!  Listen.  Hear their story.  Hold back yours.  That was Barnabas.  God wants more children of encouragement.  Like you…and me?

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for always listening to us.  We love you and want to listen to you as well.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

A WORTHY ROLE MODEL…Acts 4: 32-37

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Apart from Jesus, there was one person in the New Testament that I preached on most often.  Can you guess?  If it was Barnabas, you get a gold medal.  Try to collect!

He’s a worthy role model.  Barnabas.  He’s first mentioned in Acts chapter four.  Might want to read the entire chapter.  You’ll discover the church at its very beginning, at its very best.  Uniting in prayer, sharing what they owned, telling others about the Lord Jesus, no one having unmet needs.  In verse 36 we’re introduced to one of the members, who personifies all the best qualities of new life in Christ.  His name was Joseph.  I’m sure he was named ‘Joseph’ as a prayer of his parents that his life would mirror Joseph in the Old Testament.

This Joseph was a Levite.  Of the family of Levi, who served the Lord by assisting the priests in the Tabernacle and the Temple.  Servants, assistants, who stood alongside others with encouragement and help.  He was from the island of Cyprus, off the Mediterranean coast.   Many Gentiles lived there amidst a large, robust Jewish community.  He could mix-it-up with those who were different from himself.  He knew what life was like in the real world.

All the apostles loved Joseph.  They even gave him a nickname, one which fit him to a tee.  They called him ‘Barnabas’, which means ‘Son of Encouragement’!  A worthy name!  Fit like a glove, with Joseph never again called by his given name in the New Testament.  Now, and always, ‘the Son of Encouragement’–Barnabas!  He must have given a lift to all who came in contact with him.  Saw the very best in people.  Gave others a second chance.  Thought before he spoke.  Was kind rather than nitpicky and cutting.  A worthy role model?  Who wouldn’t want to be more like Barnabas?  Wouldn’t you?

Really?  Then look for opportunities that come your way.  To say a kind word.  Offer an uplifting thought.  Help someone in need.  Bite your tongue!  Tell someone about Jesus.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be like Barnabas?  What’s stopping you?  Or me?

Prayer:  Lord, we want to be like Barnabas.  Help us to be ‘sons and daughters of encouragement’.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

WHICH GENERATION ARE YOU? …Psalm 24

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Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear some reference to the different generations that make up society.  I’m a Baby Boomer, one of countless millions born after World War 2.  Before us is the Greatest Generation.  After are the X and Y Generations, the Millenials, and then who-knows-what?!  I can’t keep up!

Spending time in Psalm 24, I read this:  ‘Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob'(verse 6).  Those who seek the Lord–who want to be close to Him, hearing His Word, sitting at His feet.  Is that you?  It’s me!  Then, you and I are of the same generation.  The Seeking Generation!

When I think of the word ‘seek’, I picture someone actively searching, wanting to find out something.  On the lookout.  Works at it.  Strives.  Intent.  Have I mentioned that I bought two new Thesauri?!   Nothing passive about seekers.  Not content to be a half-baked believer.  No saint on Sunday, the devil thereafter.  No way.  Not for a seeker after the Lord.  Not for a second.

We want to follow Him.  Perfectly?  Hardly!  But our intent is in His direction.  Jesus knows that.  He knows our hearts.  What does He know about you?  Or me?  Are we in His generation?  The ones who seek Him?  Both feet in.  Off the fence.  Hat in the ring.

If not, tell Him you want to be.  That you believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life(John 14:6).  That you want to walk away from a life that in no way honors God.  Now… to follow Him.  Tell Him that.  And you’ll find yourself in ‘the generation that seeks Him’!  So, when someone asks you what generation you were born into, tell them,  ‘I’m in the Generation that Seeks the Lord!’  And that they can be also!  That’s our generation!  Even more– we are family in Jesus Christ!  ‘Such is the generation of those who seek Him…’

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for placing us securely in your family.  The family of God.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

SUCH GREAT MEMORIES!…Job 23: 8-12

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I have such great memories of the 1964-5 New York World’s Fair!  Was a teenager, who the year before had responded to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ into my life.  A brand-new believer, who knew nothing about the Bible.  When I say nothing, I sadly mean it!  Listening to the Good News on the radio, I grabbed hold of what I was hearing.  Lunged toward Him in simple faith.  That started the great journey of my life.

The next year, my Dad and I were off to the World’s Fair!  We lived maybe an hour from Flushing Meadows, where the  World’s Fair was held.  Went twelve times during those two years.  Twelve times!  My Dad loved it almost as much as I did.  He never would have gone on his own for my mother was content to stay within the four walls of home.

All those sights, sounds and smells of the New York World’s Fair!  We gawked at exhibits by General Motors, Walt Disney, General Electric, and Michelangelo’s marble ‘Pieta’ in the Vatican Pavilion.  First time for a Belgian Waffle–yummy, yummy in my tummy!

Memories still vivid.  One has had a lasting impact on my life.  It was at the Billy Graham Pavilion.  Yes, he had one at the Fair!  There I signed up for my first Bible study course, which included the gift of a modern translation of the Bible.   I still treasure it.  I thank God for Billy Graham.  He was the one I heard on the radio the year before.  Now, it’s time for getting into God’s Word.

As Job said:  ‘…I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread'(Job 23: 12).  It’s God’s Word I took away with me from the World’s Fair.  The Bible is the treasure God has given me to learn of Him and to love Him.  What could be better?  The same gift that Jesus gives to you.  Better than Belgian waffles!  Better that the whitest marble masterpiece!  The Bible…more meaningful than ever, decades and decades after the gates were closed forever on that New York World’s Fair!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for people who share Jesus.  May I be one who does that for someone else today.  In His name.  Amen.