"Every Hair, Every Throb, Every Drop"

  His name was Connell, an Irishman that was sentenced to death at Northampton in the year 1741. There was a minister by the name of Philip Doddridge that tried to helped Connell because Philip believed that Connell  was not guilty of the crime of which he had been convicted. It took a lot of time and money but Philip dug deeply into the case and proved beyond a doubt that Connell was a hundred and twenty miles away when the crime for which he was convicted happened. The sad part was the judgment in the case could not be reversed.

  Before setting out for the gallows, Connell was asked if he had any last requests. Immediately Connell asked as the procession headed to the gallows that they pause in front of Philip Doddridge's home. The request was granted and as the procession passed Philip's house, Connell knelt on the minister's doorstep and expressed a deep gratitude for the man who had tried to save him.

  "Mr. Doddridge, every hair on my head thanks you; every throb of my heart thanks you; every drop of my blood thanks you! You did your best to save me but you could not!", Connell cried out. 

  We too had the sentence of death, but not just any death. A complete separation from God for all eternity. And our death is deserving. We aren't innocent but guilty and our sins prove that. Yet Jesus came and at a great expense and trouble paid our debt taking our place. If we believe this with all our heart don't you want to express your gratitude? Do you find yourself with the words of Connell: "My Lord, My God, every hair of my head thanks you; every throb of my heart thanks you; every drop of my blood thanks you! You SAVED me from death by removing my sins in your death!" How do you really feel about the death of Jesus on your behalf? 

"Lest We Forget God"

  It's one of the most seductive parts of our souls. We see it so many times and it's heart breaking. Israel was known for it over and over. The early church was warned about it and we see it happen. As we gain in knowledge or we become a little lazy and start embracing others and their ideas, whether through reading, listening to some broadcast or just friends. 

  God speaks to Moses in Deut. 8 telling them how the people are stubborn and they turn aside from listening to the voice of the Lord through His word. Moses said they turned aside quickly. We come to the Hebrew writer speaking warning us to not harden our hearts and provoke the Lord as they did back at that time (Heb. 3). When the Lord speaks there is only one of two things happening: (1) We heed with reverence and love moving us deeper into His things or (2) We harden our heart and not take things seriously moving away. Blessings from God can end up being our curse!! Why? Because we get too comfortable and in that comfort arrogance can set in. Here we find ourselves in great need of a Savior. Our hearts are humble seeking His presence. Salvation comes. We rejoice. Praying and listening to the word of the Lord is a top priority. Then something slowly begins to happen. As blessing flow and we are lifted completely out of the mire we take a nose dive! We start fading in our resolve. We allow other things around us to take our attention and love. Yet somehow we can't see what is happening. Our love for the Lord begins to wain and we take it easy. We don't admit that but then we just don't have that same fire, that same resolve. Our lives adopt other thinking and ways. It's all a slow process but we move that direction. 

  God wants our best as He has our best at heart. It's up to us to not get trapped in the thought processes of those around, of those we love. We must keep looking and listening to the Lord. The Hebrew writer was correct in his inspired letter that we must not provoke the Lord God by hardening our hearts when He speaks. Today, do you have the same commitment and fervor you once had? If not, take inventory quickly knowing that the road you are on could end in heartache. "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God." "For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end."

"Past or Future?"

  Jesus loved Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. But when Lazarus falls sick and dies, Jesus says He was glad He wasn't there! (John 11:15) Jesus knew all along Lazarus was going to die and Jesus deliberately stayed away to show His disciples the glory of God. 

  Jesus approaches Bethany, the home of the family, and Martha comes to meet Him with these words: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus responds: "Your brother will rise again." Martha takes the conversation to the future: "I know he will rise again the resurrection on the last day." Jesus tries to teach that He is the resurrection and the life.

  Martha flees to Mary telling her "The Teacher" was there and Mary came and met Him with these words: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 

  We can see how people in situations feed off of one another. The words of these two sisters were identical in what they said and thought. We do the same today. We feed off of one another and many times what we say in situations is not the best. Here both sisters are stuck in their thinking about the past. Their minds draw off the past and when Jesus points to the present of Him being the resurrection and the life, Martha's mind set goes to the future. What do we learn? Too many times people either live the past or deal with what may lay in the future. The past creates pain. The future creates uncertainties. What many fail to do is live in the present. Lives become wasted. Too much past and too much future while very little present. "If I had only done..." becomes many thoughts when encountering something. "Next time I'll..." for the future. And standing right in front of us in the present is the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life and we miss Him finding little help or comfort for our present need. We don't move forward today because we are stuck in mind-sets that aren't helping.

  When one reads John 11 account we find Jesus looking at the weeping Mary and Martha along with the rest of the Jews with them and it moved Him and troubled Him. Because of tears over the death of Lazarus? Not hardly! Jesus intentionally stayed away knowing Lazarus had died.  Jesus wept! What troubled Him so? Jesus arrives at the tomb and asks the stone removed. As Martha questions this decision, the words of Jesus penetrates to give us what troubled Him so and caused Him to weep: "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" Jesus was troubled and moved in spirit while weeping because no one was listening to what He was saying!!! Simply put, these sisters He loved did not believe His word.

  When we find ourselves in situations, we must stop dealing with "what if's"! And we must stop reaching to "Maybe someday"! We need to live in the "now" listening to the voice of Jesus today! There is where we will find rest for our souls and ability to make progress in the present. Yesterday is gone! Tomorrow will care for itself! Today is the day for us to walk with the Lord.

"Addressing God"

 I don't know if it bothers you but too many speak of God in terms that are demeaning. God should be exalted! Our Creator, Redeemer and Savior yet many a preacher/teacher make God out to be their "chum" or their "good buddy". Then goes the conversations they have with God their "pal". In this comes a dialogue that is less than reverent. It is almost a joking conversation to listen how some address and even speak to God.

  I once heard many years back a fellow addressed God in the assembly of the saints as "Heavenly Dad"! As it seems more and more are putting their own ideas into their approach to God, the less reverent we are becoming not realizing who He really is. He is not "the Big Man Upstairs"! It is time we do a little searching ourselves and see what is meant when we see our adoption as His children and crying out "Abba Father." (Rom. 8:15) Maybe our assemblies wouldn't be so "coffee" friendly!

  God's greatness and glory are so beyond anything we can ever realize. That should create within us a rejoicing with trembling. "Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling." (Psa. 2:11) The Hebrew writer reminds us that since "we received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe." (Heb. 12:28) 

  To waltz into the presence of God with an attitude of a buddy system is out of order. At the same time we don't need to grovel into His presence either. One is an insult and the other is tragic ignorance. God is our Father who loves us so much and wants us with Him. For that we rejoice. But that's just it, He's our Father, not our pal! Rejoice in His love while enjoying His salvation. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil 2:12) 

"Grace Is Greater"

  "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death. even so grace would reign though righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 5:20-21) 

What do you know about yourself? Feel like the Lord won't have you when you have struggled so much with sin? It makes us ashamed. It makes us down-trodden. It beats on our conscience and sets foot in our thoughts. We want to overcome but yet fail so miserably and often. You may find yourself thinking the Lord completely rejects you because you struggle against this power called sin. 

  Grab hold of Jesus with all your heart. Grace always outdoes sin!!! I didn't say that. The Lord said that and His grace will always outdo sin. Next time you sin and think about giving up, look to the Lord Jesus and find grace is greater. There is a reason to live for the Lord!!! There is a reason to confess. His name is Jesus, the giver of grace!

"Called To Faith"

  When will we learn that those in Christ Jesus are not in the same line as those outside! I avoid the usage of the term "Christian" many times because the word is so misused and distorted that everyone calls themselves a Christian. I like the term "in Christ Jesus" better because that's when and where we were united with Jesus and pointed to Jesus. To those in Christ Jesus there is not a program that's tailored to make society better. While it is true that those in Christ will make a difference in the lives of those around, it's not about a program or being nice. It's all about faith in Christ Jesus!

  When we speak of faith that the NT church had, it wasn't a faith of "praise the Lord" or "have a blessed day" or anything like that. I'm not trying to bash anyone who uses those phrases. I am trying to get those in Christ Jesus to focus on what faith is all about. It is about Jesus Christ Himself and nothing less. Jesus didn't walk around with those statements nor did His apostles. The NT church didn't go about speaking things like that. It was about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We aren't in the arena that social clubs, civic clubs and all these movements we see today are trying to do. It's not about making people kinder, gentler and less angry. While the world focuses on these issues and they can be socially useful, those in Christ Jesus focus becomes a true faith in Jesus and nowhere else.

  Take time and read through Hebrews 11. We call it the faith chapter but look carefully at how those listed lived by faith. Jesus hadn't come into the world while they lived but look carefully at where their faith was placed and what happened as a result. All their faith was shaped by the coming and promises of Jesus Christ! They intently listened and looked at their God who promised the coming One while leading them. These men and women committed to God in faith in terms of God's self-disclosure up to the point before Christ came but with the coming of Jesus God revealed Himself as never before. He called those Jews who were confronted with the word to commit to Jesus in a new way of faith. Listen, read carefully the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus and then pay attention to Acts 2-7 and see that the people were being called to faith while they claimed they already believed in God. They were called to faith through Jesus Christ!

  Too many speak of believing but are not living by faith in Jesus Christ. They live by what they believe is religious or some program that makes them better. Many work programs with the mind-set that the program is the life giver! Take away the program and listen to the discontentment start up. Where's their faith? That's not faith in Jesus but people try to tie it all together like that. Please, read those places I've mentioned and if you will pay close attention, you will begin to see that those in Christ Jesus live by faith in Christ Jesus and trust nothing else for their faith to rest upon. It's not just believing, it is being called to faith!

."Beyond Fluff"

  Maybe it's just me. I'm not real sure people know what the true nature of being spiritual minded and walking by faith is all about. Maybe I've missed something and that could be possible. I've missed things before but when I read how Jesus made a difference in the lives of those with faith, they worked against the norm of the people just as Jesus did. 

  In John 5 we have the healing of a paralytic. Take some serious time and read the whole chapter but one thing is for sure, this man went against what the religious people around him thought and he sided completely with Jesus despite all the ridicule. 

  Have you ever felt like you have just messed up your life completely and accomplished little? Some people battle through life feeling as if they are going nowhere. Look back over your life from this moment. Is your life half done? Is your life 3/4 done? What has your life been about up to now? Those could be questions many think about but are afraid to ask. And here comes Sunday, the resurrection day. Someone is singing from their heart "Jesus!" There is a name above all others. 

  There is simply too much fluff and syrup today! Christmas and Easter are poured over as if life is about those days. We need to move beyond what the world uses as fluff and syrup twice a year. We get the fluff and syrup in sweet sentiments we read or someone forwards us something from the internet. It's this kind of stuff that thickens the heart that keeps us from perceiving the true nature of Jesus. Don't allow all the surface stuff to blind you to the truth of Jesus as you find in His word. Look at His life carefully and take His claims seriously. There you will see how much interest the Lord takes in us. All the syrup and fluff can be blinding to the real Savior and while feeding our fleshly desires.

  The world we live in is steeped in traditions. Jesus exposed He was not part of the traditions of men (Matt. 15). The humans God created are up to their eyes in injustices and sins. But it was because of all this that Jesus came to rescue us. We have messed things up badly in our personal lives sometimes. We have distorted and bent the world out of shape in regard to the true value of what it means to be spiritual. Jesus came to bring order to a world of chaos and in the lives of mankind. Too many with all the fluff they go after and all the syrup they pour on their lives get so bogged down you would think that walking with Jesus was some sort of magic wand. We go after this and 'poof' all is well with us! We move from story to story, from certain days as our renewal and think its all well. We need the real Jesus. We need to put our faith and trust in His teachings and listen more closely to what He desires. Our focus needs to be intently on Jesus alone and let all the other things go by. Maybe the movies are having a greater impact on us than Jesus!