"The Real Hero"

"Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matt. 20:28) Jesus gave His life as a ransom for us. He voluntarily allowed Himself to be taken captive and laid down His life in order to save us from eternal doom.

On January 13, 1982, one of the worst snowstorms hit Washington, D.C. in decades. It caused all traffic to halt and created a large traffic jam on the Arland D. Williams Memorial Bridge. This is the bridge that spans the Potomac River. The heavy snowfall closed the Washington National Airport three-quarters of a mile away. Among the affected was Air Florida flight 90, comprised o 74 passengers (including three infants) bound for Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was about an hour and forty-five minute delay and finally the plane took off at 3:59 p.m. The jetliner headed north and made a small right turn. The path of Air Florida Flight 90 presumed a 700-foot clearance over the bridge. At 4:01 p.m., the flight was unable to stay airborne, with the nose raised and the tail down, it crashed into the bridge. The aircraft struck seven occupied vehicles, sheared one top off another automobile and crushed four other cars. The impact ripped out 180 feet of railing before plunging into the icy water that was about 30 feet deep. The plane vanished under the water except for a small tail section, which had separated from the body of the aircraft and afloat. Motorists were injured and killed and all but six of the passengers on the plane were dead. Five passengers and one flight attendant climbed from beneath the icy waters on to the wreckage of the tail section.

Rescue was made by the crew of the National Park Service helicopter. They lowered a line with a ring on it to one gentleman in his 50's. Instead of seizing the lifeline himself, he passed it to another survivor. He did this four more times as the helicopter would return. On the sixth return, the crew noticed that the man was gone. His name was Arland D. Williams, Jr. and he perished beneath the icy waters. Today, the bridge is named after him which used to be called the "14th Street Bridge". Arland D. Williams, Jr. gave up himself for complete strangers to live!

We read of such and it amazes us and sometimes shakes us how someone could do this. There are war stories of heroic efforts, saving lives. We are touched by them. But how little people consider the debt paid by Jesus Christ. He didn't just die...He died our death. He knew what lay ahead and was going to experience separation from God, something that He had never known. The scourgings, the beatings, the mockings and nails were all meant for us but He gave Himself as a ransom so we could live. The eternal consequences that we faced were placed on Him. He took our place and God showed all the world His judgment on sin through His Son. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) In all this, many just walk on by, little care or concern, not realizing that without Christ man will pay for their own sins and it will be a horrible, horrible fate. We are moved by stories of man and rightly so, but we should be moved by Jesus because He rescued us from eternal doom which should make Him the real hero in our lives!

"It's Not About Us"

There is more and more a shift in religion to honor and promote ourselves. Personal testimony for the Lord and the great things He has done in our lives seems to invade our talk and assemblies. Some use the term "witnessing for the Lord." "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake." (II Cor. 5:4) Paul made it abundantly clear that we do not preach our own commitment or holy lives! Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the Savior! Jesus is the One that atoned for our sinfulness. Our changed lives are no substitute for the atoning life and death of Jesus Christ. That means we are not to offer our moral and spiritual attainment as proof of the cross. It is not our transformed lives that make the cross the moral and spiritual center of the universe! The cross, the death, burial and resurrected Christ is what creates our transformed lives as a witness to the true center of this universe. It's all about Jesus and Him crucified!

There is nothing wrong with thanking the Lord God and speak in gratitude for the way He has brought about change within us. We should thank God and praise His name for the wonderful blessing and gift He brought about to us in His Son. But that thankfulness is not to be a substitute for what life is really about or our worship. What transforms us and shapes our lives is the mercies of God shown to us in the glorious Lord (Rom. 12:1-2). The gospel of Jesus and Him crucified is what makes sense of our lives but our lives do not validate Jesus Christ!

Too many are carrying things to make people look at us! A little here, a little there and man becomes the center while claiming it is about the Christ. Christ gave the glory to His own death. We are not to proclaim a deed but the man, the person Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5). Look closely at His gift and what He offers. Look at the commitment on our behalf and the power to change and transform that comes from His life. Therein you and I will find all the reason to give thanks, praise His name knowing it was His redeeming blood that, His guiltless and perfect sacrifice that makes us anything. It's all about Jesus and nothing else!

"God Is For Us"

"What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" (Rom. 8:31) Paul penned these inspired words. Is God really for us? If He is, why do we have so many hurts? What are we going to do with our enemies? If we really knew God was for us, wouldn't that affect our minds and living? If God is for us, then who is against us?

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:32) Here is the ultimate, guaranteed proof He is for us. God gave His Son for us, freely! I read the other day where a daughter was in need of a kidney or would die. The mother "freely" gave one of her kidneys for her daughter. She said is was an easy choice. Her daughter needed blood and her mother was the exact type needed. What do you think the mother did? She had already given the biggest gift, what about this lessor? God did not spare killing His own Son on our behalf. We would do things for those who are dear to us but what about someone we don't know? Notice the difference between God and us. If God willingly gave His Son, what do you think God will do if we need lessor things? The giving of His Son was the ultimate. Supplying the rest of the things we need in our lives to get us to the end is easy! The question is do we believe it? When we entered Christ through baptism, God the Judge declared you righteous, adopted you and set you free. If God started with us here, what about our future and the things we need to continue to fight the fight? Is He still for us now?

How many times do we live like we just can't make it? I speak to many who lose heart, thinking that there is no way God would love them any longer. The beatings of their own failures and sinfulness takes a toll and they slowly lose sight the great treasure of love God demonstrated toward them. The Lord God has not changed. He is still for His children! Jesus is One who died our death, paid our price, who was raised and is at the right hand of God interceding for us! That's on-going at the present. All of heaven is focused on our salvation! God wants you there! Christ wants you there! You and I weren't brought into Christ to fail and lose our souls. We might do that because we choose to turn away from God but that's not God's choice. He is for us! He will give us everything it takes to make it and He has proved it by the giving of most precious One, His only Son! Maybe we need to stop wallowing in our doubts and fears and look God in the eyes and realize...GOD IS FOR US!

"Our Language Reveals..."

Recently while reading some blogs, I found it rather interesting that the different ones I was reading often spoke of the Lord. They spoke of Jesus as their Lord or how deeply moved they were by His dying on their behalf. One particular person had an attachment of a very moving depiction of the death of Jesus on our behalf. You might be thinking all of this isn't strange. Here's the kicker...in each of the blogs I was reading (or even on facebook), statements were made and then came a word that was not Christ-like. A profane word here or an expletive word used. Do people realize what this is saying? What are they revealing?

"From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?" (Jam. 3:10-11)

Our language comes from out hearts as the center of our fountain. If our heart is attached to the Lord there should be a life that is lived in line with Him. You sure wouldn't ever hear of Jesus walking around using an expletive word or a profane word now and then! God speaks to those in Christ, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." (Eph. 4:29) Unwholesome, rotten words have no place for those in Christ Jesus! If they do, there is something wrong with their heart. It is easy to say how much the Lord means but it completely different to see the impact of His life on ours.

We need to rethink our lives and listen carefully to what we say because what we say is something that is stored in the heart. John says, "If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." (I John 1:6) Talk does not make one in fellowship with the Lord. Your walk, where you live each and every day is the tell tell sign. James says it another way, "If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless." (Jam. 1:26) A person who uses such language has a self deceived heart. What does that reveal about your true relationship with the Lord?

"Thinking Out Loud"

I want to give just a quick post just to think outloud. Have you ever had those moments that really strikes you? You know, those moments where something hits you and it makes you take notice or make you stand for a brief time in awe? You look at the skyline late one evening and there it is...a most spectacular sunset. You can't take your eyes off of it. You look away but your eyes are back on it. You have seen other sunsets but this was not ordinary. Or maybe you were out one night and just so happen to look up at the heavens above and notice that the stars are a little different, a little more brilliant than you have ever noticed. You look up again and for those few moments you stand amazed or in awe. You were driving in a region you are not that familiar with and suddenly, you notice a beautiful waterfall and find yourself drawn to looking, maybe stopping to get a picture. It just caught our attention and we just had to turn aside to see. We all, at one time or another, have seen something that got our attention and you can't "unsee" it even though you go back to the ordinary. It just seems to stay with us. Why I have even noticed that with a baby and the precious and magnificent life that you behold or touch.

Each of us have had our moments through some event that has affected us. Each of these, even though they aren't spiritual in nature, can have a profound effect on your thoughts. For those few brief moments, there was something "holy" and we really didn't realize it. It was out of the ordinary and our senses became keen. It was...well maybe a "burning bush" that caught our attention.

Moses must have seen a lot of bushes burning in the wilderness heat but he had never seen "a burning bush" if you get my drift. That day there was nothing ordinary in his sight. It was something that took him into a different world, into noticing that ordinary was not here. Haven't you been there?

'Wasting Time or Moving Forward?"

People seem to be squandering their lives and opportunities away. The younger one is, the less they see the importance of life but I have also seen this in older adults. People just don't seem to believe their lives are really headed somewhere!

Hebrews 11 speaks of those of faith that were God approved. "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own." (Heb. 11:13-14) These faithful men and women lived a richly blessed life, even amidst their struggles because they were looking, focused on the eternal country that God promised them. As a result, they didn't fritter their lives away chasing pleasures, hobbies and other things. They didn't waste their time by lazing in bed and allowing spiritual opportunities to pass by. What about us? Our lives on this earth can be difficult and distressing but it is all part of the "going home" experience. We know we are going to die but we don't take our pilgrimage on this earth seriously. We live like we are going to be here forever with all our activities and accumulations. Our lives are weighed down with everything but God! We fill our time with innumerable obligations, involving ourselves in clubs, organizations and commitments. Our energies are used for everything and the tank is empty when it comes to spiritual matters. Our lives become frazzled from running and our faith erodes away.

It is good to believe in life after death and hope in God but we need to believe in life before death! That's where we stumble. We have a great capacity for adventure and excitement but many times that is only squandering our lives in another form of death! That's why many are not living life here and wasting many spiritual opportunities. The things we choose to involve ourselves in and what we put our efforts toward indicate what we believe! Those men and women of old welcomed the promises from a distance, confessed they were strangers on this earth because they saw their lives headed to God!! They made the most of things on this earth so they would have the most after they die. Hopeful saints do not see life the way others see life. They have a purpose in their lives by living a meaningful purpose day by day. To those dying spiritually or lost, they just exist from day to day, waiting for the next "involvement" to only find themselves separated from the Lord in the end. To the saved, hopeful saint, they live each day taking advantage, looking for spiritual gain because of their faith in the goal. "But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them." (Heb. 11:6)

"Looking For Pennies"

Too many are looking for pennies in their lives. It was told of a little boy walking down the street one day and he found a new shiny copper penny. He was thrilled finding it, especially when he realized it cost him nothing! This experience in his life as a little boy impacted him greatly and he spent the rest of the days of his life walking with his head down, eyes wide open, looking for treasures. He logged each and every treasure. During his lifetime he found 296 pennies, 48 nickles, 19 dimes, 2 half dollars and one crinkled dollar bill...total: $13.26!

He found all his treasure for nothing. But there is another side. In the process of his life-long search, he missed 31,369 sunsets, the brilliant colors of 157 rainbows, the shimmering colors of maple trees in the autumn air. He rarely noticed the clouds as they drifted by in the blue sky above moving into various forms. He didn't hear the birds sing and watch them flutter around. He missed the smiles of many and the happy faces a little children. All of these things were missing from his memory because he lived looking down, engaging his life in a search for his personal free treasure.

How many of us miss the important and wonderful things in life because of our pursuits of treasures? Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt. 6:21) What you value, what you place importance on will determine the direction of your life. If you value your career, your heart will take you into putting all your efforts there. Many fritter their lives away chasing after this pleasure or seeking a hobby they enjoy. Their extra funds go toward this and it consumes their thinking. Their heart is attached and the real things, the things that count that will last eternally are just walking on past. The saddest part is something disastrous happens in the lives of these people and they start speaking about "life" and what really matters. Their tears flow freely, speaking about what they have wasted, wishing they hadn't done what they did. They speak of turning around, making a renewed effort because where their pursuits have taken them. People that are close to them are gone and it grieves their heart they never did something, give a call or say goodbye. But time passes, slowly but surely their heart never really changed. It was just an emotional outburst and you see them headed where their heart is set...looking for pennies!