Author Archives: revjaf

A HEARTY WELCOME TO OUR GUESTS!…Psalm 39

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Such a blessing to be a guest in someone’s home.  Not always, but usually.  Psalm 39:12–‘Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;  hold not your peace at my tears!  For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers (ESV translation)’.  A sojourner, a guest.   As the song says,  ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through’.  Life is so short.  Here today,  gone tomorrow.  Our permanent address is not here in this old world.  We’re migrants passing through.

My first church was in South Dakota, in Onida at the Immanuel Mennonite Brethren Church.  It was late summer, at the beginning of harvest.  Many of the migrant workers came to church after helping harvest wheat.  They had begun in their native Mexico, coming right up through Texas, Kansas, to the Dakotas and then into Canada.  They were just passing through, working hard,  and now taking time to worship our Lord.

Like our life,  passing through, working hard and worshipping our Lord.   After seminary, I served three churches for a grand total of nine years.   That phase of my life ended with a rather loud crash.  Well, that’s that.  A chapter ended.  Probably the last chapter of that incomplete book.  But I wondered…  How?  When?  Where?  Questions I’d very quietly ask the Lord.

In the year 2000,  I received a call to pastor a little church with a big heart…right in the same town where I had been living and working for over 20 years!   Had no connection with their denomination… and no desire to be!    No credentials.  What I discovered was amazing.  I didn’t need any!  This was truly a congregational body, making all its own decisions by the vote and will of its members.  For better or for worse!  And I stayed with this church family for 14 years.

God had His plan… and I was part of it!  Imagine that!  But, time to move on and retire.   I was a ‘guest’ there with those precious people.  At the lower left-hand corner of every pay check was written this: ‘Guest Speaker’!   For fourteen years?!  That’s what it said!  Fourteen years as a welcomed guest into their lives and hearts.  Pretty good, huh?   Those fourteen years flew by.

In this life, we’re all guests when we know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  ‘Just a passin’ through’!  This is not our permanent home.  Not at all.  Doesn’t it feel that way to you?  Does to me.  So, enjoy the ride and the scenery.  Enjoy the journey.  For the next phase will be forever.  That’s why it’s called paradise.  For truly that is what it will be!

Prayer:  Lord, for hosting us in this life, we thank you.  We want to be the best guests you’ve ever had!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

 

A NOBODY? …Exodus 1 and 2 and 4: 24-26

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Who hasn’t felt like a nobody?   I remember at my 40th high school reunion, one of my classmates asked me why I didn’t graduate with the class.  What?  He and I had gone all the way from kindergarten through high school together.  Yet, he didn’t remember me after junior high.  I was flabbergasted and a bit hurt.  Was I really a nobody in High School?  Guess so…at least not a very visible classmate to him.

In reading the opening chapters of Exodus,  what struck me was the lack of names for key people.  The Hebrew title for this book is ‘Names’, referring to the opening words written by Moses.  Names are important.  Some key ones are missing.  Like the name of Pharaoh.  ‘Pharaoh’ is actually the Egyptian word for King and not his personal name.  No name given to him.  Or for his daughter, the one who discovers Moses in that tar-pitch basket, hidden among the bull-rushes.  No name given.  Only her relationship to the Egyptian king. She’s Pharaoh’s daughter.   Or Moses’ parents’ names(they are given elsewhere).  Or Moses’ sister, who asks Pharaoh’s daughter if she might need the help of some Hebrew wet nurse for the baby.  No names given… not ’til later in the story.

Bunch of nobodies?  Hardly.  Pharaoh…his daughter. These are somebodies!  But who Moses remembers,  whose identity he never wants anyone to forget, are the names of two seemingly insignificant women.  Pharaoh has issued his orders that all male Hebrew babies are to be killed.  Only the girls are to survive.  The Hebrews are not to grow in number.  Kill all the baby boys,  so Pharaoh orders the midwives for the Jews.  They can’t believe their ears.  Kill what they have worked hard to deliver: of life at birth?  Never!  They vow never to go against God’s will by killing innocent lives, even if ordered by Pharaoh himself.

They don’t.  Boldly… they defy Pharaoh’s sinful command.  Courageously… they put their own lives on the line.  Defiantly… they refuse to take life, but take all means to cherish it, especially with the most vulnerable.  They fear God, not man.  They obey God,  first and foremost.  And God blessed them with families of their own.  God protected them for protecting the children.  Their names are mentioned.  Shiphrah and Puah–names not to be forgotten.  Names…in the book of Names that shine for eternity.  Two women of courage and faith and action.  Two nobodies?  No way!  Shiphrah and Puah.  Remember them.  They pave the way not only for Moses…but for the Messiah as well.  And He’s the Ultimate SomeOne!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for all the names, including our own, that You know and love and redeem.  In the name of Your Only Son Jesus.   Amen.

HE TASTED DEATH FOR US… Hebrews 2: 1-9

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Can you imagine?  Jesus tasted death for us.  Ate it completely.   He did for us what we could never do for ourselves.  Hebrews 2:9–‘Jesus,  crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone’.  He took and tasted the most bitter food of all, the taste of death itself.  Jesus did that for us.

I can remember being in Sacramento, California.  My wife had learned to be a most accomplished wheat-weaver.  Off we drove to the National Wheat-Weavers Association Convention.  The last day an opportunity was given for the public to come and see their art and buy what was for sale.  Sue sold every last piece of woven wheat that she had made.  Almost all the sales were to fellow wheat-weavers, the ultimate compliment.

To top it off, we won a free dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Two free dinners?  Always tastes best when free!  We sat down in a rather posh venue for a lovely dinner to celebrate a  most stupendous convention.   I insisted that we order the most expensive dish on the menu!  Of course, why not?  Let’s splurge…after all, it’s free!  We ordered something we had never heard of before and certainly had never tasted…lobster with pasta in squid ink sauce.  Yum!  So pricey too!  But why not?  And here they come, served so well and elegantly to us, the winners and diners.

Lobster served on pasta with a black sauce of squid ink.  Sounded weird.  Looked funny.  Smelled strange.  The taste?  The worst that we had ever eaten or tasted in our entire lives.  One bite each was all we could stomach…and back the plates went.  Maybe it was how it was prepared?  We don’t know.  But, to be honest, it took years(and I mean years) to get rid of the memory of the taste of that squid ink pasta.  I can still recollect it though somewhat vaguely now, praise the Lord.  And that was decades ago.

Imagine the taste that Jesus tasted for you and me.  Of death.  What I deserved.   He didn’t.  The taste He ate, so we would never have to.  The taste of eternal separation from God. A horrid taste that would last forever.   He left the splendors of glory, to suffer the pangs of death.  To taste death..so we would not have to.

Thank Him.  Praise Him.  Live for Him.  Serve Him.  That much we can do.  That is the least that we can do for the One who tasted death for us.

Prayer:  Thank you, Jesus, for tasting death for us.  For never letting us be separated from yourself.  Thank you, again.  Amen!

HAPPINESS IS WHAT?… Luke 22: 14-23

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I was reading a book review about propoganda developed by the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.  The head of a trade-union committee says that happiness comes from materialism.  That made me stop-and-think.  Really?  You’ve got to be kidding.   Like those bumperstickers that say ‘He who dies with the most toys… Wins’!  Really?

As a financial planner for 20 years, I dealt with lots of people who had lots of money.  I can honestly say that any happiness they had could not be directly attributed to their net worth.  Not at all.   Having very little money is a terrible struggle.  Providing for a growing family increases the stress level dramatically, especially at a time of stagnant wages and increasing costs in most of the basic areas of life.  Because I have more money and things than I had 10 years ago, makes me none the happier.  Less stressed in some ways, yes.  Can take advantage of more  opportunities in life than I could when I had no extra money, of course.  But, happy?

In 1983 I found myself alone in life.  Brand new career, no guaranteed income,  on commission only.  I saw my sons every other weekend from Friday night until Sunday evening.  And then times in between, doing paper routes with both boys for many years.  Had to save for 5 years to take them back East to see my family.  We traveled to New Jersey or Florida as family couldn’t or wouldn’t travel West where we lived.

After a bit, I was making more money than I ever imagined.  Didn’t take much really to outdo a pastor’s salary!  I can tell you what gave me the most happiness in my life.  You can guess.  Being with those boys of mine.  Stocking up on food that I knew they loved.  Taping television shows we would watch together and laugh at uproariously!  I would relish looking back to the fun I had having some of their friends over to my apartment…with me the goofiest of all!  And looking forward to their next visit.

I always made it a hard-and-fast  rule to never, ever schedule anything, business or otherwise,  that would interfere with my time with my sons.  With them,  I was happy.  Can still remember the happy feelings I had then.

Reading Luke 22: 14- 15, I have a new understanding of what Jesus is talking about.  What makes Him happy?  ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you…’  The apostles with Him. We make Him happy!   What an honor!  Knowing that,  don’t you want to give Him more of your time?

Prayer:  Lord, we love being with You, especially knowing how happy that makes You.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A NEW LIFE… Genesis 38 and 44: 14-34

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I’ve given you quite a bit to read today.  Well worth the effort.  Genesis 37 begins a long section telling of the ups-and-downs of the life of Joseph.  Joseph is one of the rare characters in the Bible who is righteous through-and-through,  obeying the Lord in the face of temptions and obstacles.

Genesis 38–the story of  Joseph’s brother, Judah, the 4th son of Jacob and Leah.  Judah’s story is in stark contrast to that of his younger brother, Joseph.  Remember, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery while hatching a scheme eating dinner to make a few bucks off of Joseph.  And who is the one who hatches this money scheme?  Yes… Judah(Genesis 37: 26-28).  Why kill Joseph?  Let’s make a few shekels!

Now comes chapter 38.  Years later.  Judah is away from his family,  far away.  Living among pagans who worship gods other than the One true God.  His friends are unbelievers.  His wife is from a people that God warned them against.  ‘Who cares.  I’ll do what I want’.   Chapter 38.  It’s in your face… sin.  No candy-coating.  No excuses.  No shading or spinning of the truth.  The truth about Judah.  Lying, scheming, vengeance, excess sexual adventures way out of God’s plan for His people.  Judah is one bad dude!  No role model.

But this is not the end of the story.  Genesis 44.  Here is Judah years later, having had lots of time to examine his life.   But, miracle of miracles, the Lord has actually gotten through to him.  He’s a changed man.  Judah?  Did I hear right?  Yes,  standing before Joseph, who is now second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt, Judah begs for the lives of his family;  and is especially concerned for the well-being of his aged father, Jacob, who cannot take yet one more shock in his life.  Judah has compassion.  Judah exhibits repentance.  Judah  is a new man.

The same God exists today to do the same for us, who have strayed and wandered away, but who want to be the person God wants us to be.  We lack the inner strength and willpower.  We come to Him, asking for His help.  Regardless of your past, God can make you…and me a new person.  I’m no Joseph.  Somewhat like Judah.  But more like Jesus…because of His being in my life.  Praise God…new chance, new life, new everything!

Prayer:  Lord, there is a new name written down in glory, and it is mine!  Thank you in the name of the One who gives us our new names, Jesus the Christ.  Amen!

HOW ABOUT AN EARLY THANKSGIVING THIS YEAR?… Psalm 30

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Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  No, not because of all the food, though I will not deny that’s part of it!  But rather for the lack of Easter Bunnies, tinsel and Santa.  All the things that don’t make Christian holy-days special,  only excuses for a day off of work.  Think I’ve been reading Dicken’s Christmas Carol too many times!  Bah, humbug!   I want  to dig deeper, peeling back the layers to the actual event celebrated about our Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone.

Thanksgiving Day does that for me…a time to give thanks.  To the Lord, first and foremost–‘Sing praises to the  Lord, all you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name'(Psalm 30:4).  It doesn’t take a lot of concentration to discover what to thank the Lord for.  I think of those roosters crowing every morning when we were in Hawaii.  So early too!  Bright and early, for the sun has barely begun to shine.  Then we have breakfast of eggs… and thank the Lord for what chickens give us.  And the chicken dinner we had the other night.  The Lord’s creation for us to enjoy and be nourished by.  Told you it wasn’t all about the food!

Every night we’d go down to the beach to watch the whales that are spouting in the Pacific Ocean, jumping/twirling in the air making a big splash with their tales as they hit the water.  Thank you, Lord, for the whales.  We enjoy seeing them.  And the sunsets every night were glorious.  Different every one in some way.  Thank you, Lord, for the sunsets.

Or think of your family and thank the Lord for them.  For all His providing for us, thank the Lord.  For our friends, we thank the Lord.  For a wonderful and loving church family, we thank the Lord.  For the Bible that we can be nourished with daily unlike any other ‘food’, we thank the Lord.

I could go on and on, and probably should.  But I’ll do it on my own time.  Now it’s your turn to think of all that you would like to thank the Lord for in your life.  Have an early Thanksgiving.  Have it often.  How about all the time?  ‘…that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever'(Psalm 30: 12).  Forever seems like a long-ways off…think I’ll start right now!  You too?

Prayer:  Dear God, we could never thank you enough for all the blessings in our lives.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

LIFE CAN BE THE PITS!… Psalm 28 and Genesis 37

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Life can be the pits!  Think of Old Testament Joseph being placed into a pit.  Down you go, Joe!  Have a swell time in the well!   Then the brothers sit down for a nice meal in the desert.  After all,  getting rid of one’s bothersome family can really build quite an appetite… along with a killer thirst!  They were so famished they didn’t even hear his screams for help.  ‘Did you hear something, Simeon?   No?  Pass the camel jerky and mayo, please’!  Judah, has a better idea.  They see a band of Midianites and Ishmaelites passing by, teeming with spices for trade in far off Egypt.   These caring brothers decide to do what’s right…for them,  and sell the young lad to their distant cousins.  At least make a few shekels off the boy!

I wonder what Joseph thought when they pulled him out of the pit?  Maybe they’ve come to their senses?  God has convicted them of their sin?  No, now Joseph can see what his future holds…in shackles and slavery.  Except that the Lord was with Joseph.  The end of the story would not be in the pits but in a palace.

Psalm 28:1–‘To you, O Lord, I call;  my rock, be not deaf to me, lest if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.’  The pit. Can’t get out.  Panicky and claustrophobic.  How do you get out?  Irony of ironies,  the ones who help you out are the same ones who sell you off into slavery.  Isn’t that great?  That’s all I need.  With family like that…

I can remember when life was the pits, when my relationship with the Lord was less than it should have been.  I’m no Joseph.  No, the Lord seemed far away, but it was me who had turned aside.  It was me who had grown cold to the One who loved me and wanted me to be close to Him no matter what.  I had turned the other cheek… but not in a godly way.  More like ‘I’ll go my way and you…’

You get the picture.  Then, somehow, I started to sing old hymns that stirred me, singing them while I was alone in my apartment at night.   I began opening my Bible to hear from God, really hear from Him… and then to pray.  To talk with Him.   I was being lifted out of the pit I had fallen into on my own.  He was lifting me up and out.  ‘Love lifted Me’.  Not to sell me into slavery, but to free me up walking close to Him.  Didn’t take long.  Deliverance from a pit can be rather quick.  And I’m still freely singing His praises!  Join me?

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for being our Shepherd, looking for us, and caring for us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

MY WISH… Psalm 27

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I wish I could have earned my salvation.  Now, don’t report me to the heresy squad quite yet!  I know that my salvation is from the Lord alone.  No works on my part had any effect on my salvation.  Believe in Him.  Receive Him into your heart.  The only way.

You see I do know what the Bible teaches.  Somewhere within me is a pocket of guilt that won’t go away.  I don’t deserve His salvation and His love.  I know it’s unconditional love.  Don’t you also know that you don’t deserve it?   Wish I could have earned it and know that it’s mine because of my own blood, sweat and tears.

Is there something to be done about this?  What can the Lord do to help?  Let me be frank(even though my name is John!).  It will take work, that four-letter word.  No short-cuts.  Believe me, I’ve tried.  Here it is:  it takes less listening to ourselves and more hearing Him from His Word.  Stop cultivating our fears.  Stop listening to our debilitating thoughts, letting them have free reign within our hearts and minds.  Listen to the promises of the Lord.

Psalm 27: 11– ‘Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path…’  Listen to the Lord as He leads us on level ground.  Not rocky or dangerous in any way.  Taking a big tumble is what can happen when we encourage our doubts and fears.  Heeding His Word levels life out with peace as He promised( Isaiah 26:3).  Verse 8– “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’  My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek”’.  His face…His voice…His Word…His heart to ours is the way out of what can be a life-long ditch and sinkhole.

Less listening to ourselves, and more from the Lord in His Bible.  That takes work.  Pick up our Bibles and start studying.  But how else will we know when the Lord is talking with us?  I know of no other effective short-cuts.  I’ve looked!  I’ve tried!  Save yourself wasted time and effort.  His Word…off to work we go!

Prayer:  Lord, infuse my mind and heart with your Word, the Bible.  Help me to feed on it…continually.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

EENY, MEENY, MINA, MOE… Luke 19: 11-27

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Did I get the words right in the title?   What about that word ‘mina’?   Jesus’ parable of the Ten Minas makes us wonder what it is?  .  A ‘mina’ was equal to three months wages.  A hundred ‘minas’  was a lot of money.  That’s one hundred days income when every single days wage was needed to survive.

Jesus says that a nobleman entrusted ten servants with a ‘mina’ to ‘engage in business until I come’ (verse 13).  We have all been entrusted with ‘minas’, valuable abilities to be put to work for the Master.  Use what God has given you for Him and His Kingdom.  The more useful, the more blessed.  The  more busy with God’s busy-ness, the more the blessed-ness flows to others.  Do what God puts on your heart to do.  You know what I mean.

By the way, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.  My writing  today is my ‘mina’ at work within His workshop.  Don’t worry about how insignificant we feel with the ‘little’ we can do.  Don’t let Satan rob you of your eternal rewards.  I’m thinking today of some dear friends. The husband has been with the Lord for a number of years.  Both loved serving the Lord.   His wife, by herself now,  has not missed any opportunity to put her ‘mina’ to work for Him.  Both loved being in church.  Any opportunity to be in God’s house with God’s people found them right there in the midst.  He was even an honorary member of the Women’s Bible Study, of which I as pastor was not!  And he got to share all the delicious goodies the ladies brought week-by-week, which I as pastor did not!

They loved visiting  our church family in times of need,  sending cards out in great number no matter what the occasion.  Always encouraging, always supporting, always loving and giving.

‘Minas’…at work.  They’re not Billy Graham and Mother Teresa.  They’re ordinary folk.  He,  a retired garbage man;  she,  a retired nurse.  Both actively working their ‘minas’ for the Lord.  I can hear the Lord saying to them, ‘Well done, good servants!  Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority…'(verse 17).

How about you?  ‘Mina’ at work for others…for the Lord?  It’s not a children’s nursery rhyme…it’s God’s business we’re employed in.  Do the best job you can…He’ll help…!

Prayer:  Lord, to do your will and work is such a privilege and joy.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

WHAT IS AN ACROSTIC, ANYWAY?…Psalm 25

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What is an acrostic, anyway?  Some psalms are acrostics.  The most famous one is Psalm 119, where the entire psalm is separated into sections of 8 verses making up 22 stanzas.  Each of the 8 verses in each stanza begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  I think I’ve lost you.  Let me explain further.  For example, the first 8 verses all begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ‘aleph’.  The next 8 begin with the Hebrew letter ‘bet’.  And so on for the entire length of the psalm covering all 22 Hebrew letters using each letter 8 times in each of the 22 sections.   The Word of God from A to Z, its perfection represented in the acrostic pattern.

The word ‘psalmos’ is from the Greek,  which translates the Hebrew ‘mizmor’ meaning ‘song’.   The Hebrew title for the psalms is ‘Tehillim’, meaning  ‘praises’.  Praise and singing… from beginning to end.  But I thought I asked you to read Psalm 25?

Psalm 25 is another acrostic–each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Unlike Psalm 119, this one is an irregular acrostic.  They don’t follow the A to Z pattern exactly.  Here the ‘w’ is missing, ‘r’ is where ‘q’ should be, 2 verses begin with the same letter ‘p’.  Irregular.  Far from perfect. Why?  Who knows?

Let me offer a couple of guesses.  David was a man after God’s own heart.  He loved the Lord… and the Lord was crazy about him!  He sought the Lord.  He poured out his heart to Him when his friends had forsaken him.  The Lord and David were close.  And yet…you know, David committed some horrible sins in his life.  Adultery, murder, lying to you-name-it.  His life in the Lord had many irregularities.   As imperfect as you can be, but lived for the Lord.  Like his acrostics.  Those poems he wrote to the Lord.

Their pattern was like the pattern of his life.  And my life.  Nothing worse than being around someone who is proud of how wonderful a Christian they are!  Who exudes their own self-righteousness.  Deliver me!

Anyone who knows me even for a few days will discover that I love the Lord, and genuinely want to serve Him.  But, I’m like David’s acrostic.  Imperfect as can be.  Surprisingly so, considering I’ve been a believer for over 50 years and a pastor almost as long.   I miss the mark of God’s standard every single day of my life.  Without exception.   Nothing to boast about.  I love Psalm 25:7–‘Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness’…

My sins make me imperfect,  but His forgiveness washes me as clean as new fallen snow.   And you too!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you that, as imperfect as I am, you love me just as I am.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.