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Psalms 3-4

When you look back on the stories of King David you can see how he was known for his courage, military strategy and leadership.  I mean, he did take down a giant in Goliath.  He was a shepherd who became the King of Israel and led them through “The Golden Age” of prosperity.  Like any man, though, he had his flaws, but was one of the best at asking God for forgiveness and seeking His guidance throughout all of his life.

I personally could read Psalm 3 over and over again.  In Psalm 3:2 he says, ‘Men are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”’  This makes me think of when people say, “Stop worrying about what other people think about you.”  It is something I say way to often to my immediate family and friends.  And so often I catch myself ‘worrying about what someone else says about me’ when I should be asking God to bestow glory on me and simply lift up my head like David did.

Then in Psalm 4, David references how those against him see the glory in his life and shame him for it.  They all seek false gods and ask who will show them any good.  But instead of David shaming them, he prays for them.  He prays to the Lord that they will all seek out righteousness in Him and make the right sacrifices to Him.   If only I could be as conscious of this as much as David was.

The two Psalms are reminders to us.  When we get caught up in the day to day and we hear others comment about personal, professional, and spiritual lives in a negative way for no good reason……our first reaction is not reciprocating in the same manner back.  It gives us a reason right then and there to give thanks to God.  It is a reminder that ALL of our good comes from Him, and we reciprocate by asking God to love and watch over our neighbors so that one day they start doing the same.

2/18/24 – Psalms 1-2

Many times, the Bible calls us to walk in righteousness. After hearing our call, it is only natural for us as Christians to fall into a frantic search. What is righteousness? What must we do to achieve it? Can we truly achieve it? The synchronization of these two chapters happens to point us to the answer. Psalms 1 points us to the law, and Psalms 2 eludes to the perfect fulfillment of that law that came to save us from our inability to execute it. 

Psalms 1 starts by defining what a blessed man is, he “walks not in the counsel of the wicked” and “his delight is in the law of the Lord”. The author says the blessed man “is like a tree planted by streams of water”. The law nurtures him, replenishes him, and gives him all that he needs to grow and prosper. The wicked however don’t adhere to these ways, and the author declares they are instead like “chaff in the wind.” The Psalm concludes, “for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

It is clear that the law is good. We are to delight in the law. In the case of the Israelites, the law was given to them to set them apart as God’s chosen people and guide them toward the Lord. It is sacred to them, when they follow it the Kingdom prospers and it falters when they stray away. We must follow it to be righteous before the Lord.

But the problem since the beginning of time has been that people don’t fulfill the law. We have all failed to practice the law perfectly, we are all wicked in the eyes of the Lord. This is partly what Psalm 2 highlights. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his anointed.” The world is full of wickedness, the rulers do not delight in the law, and they plot against those who do. But something (or someone) is coming. “As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.” The Lord has a plan. 

In summary, Psalms 1 recognizes a beloved standard to keep, while Chapter 2 acknowledges how the world has fallen desperately short. However, that is not the end, the Lord has prepared a king. We are lucky to know this king. He shall enter into a broken world to live a perfect life. He shall commit the ultimate act of love, dying on a tree on our behalf. The author says of him, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” 

The psalmists unknowingly speak of the antidote to our unrighteousness. Though we cannot fulfill the law spoken of in chapter 1, Jesus can and did. If we wish to walk in righteousness, we should plant ourselves close to him like a tree by a stream of water. Only while being in him and accepting his gift of grace can we be in righteousness, in no other way could we come before the Father than through him. He is the law fulfilled, we must look to him and his example in everything we do. Only by doing this may we walk in righteousness!

When Jesus first called His disciples, He found them as fishermen, casting their nets into the sea. Yet, He saw something greater in them. “Follow Me,” He said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19). With this simple yet profound invitation, He transformed their purpose from gathering fish to gathering souls for the kingdom of God.

In John 21, after His resurrection, Jesus once again meets His disciples by the sea. They had returned to their old ways, fishing through the night but catching nothing. At dawn, Jesus appears and tells them to cast their net on the right side. In obedience, they pull in a miraculous catch of 153 fish, more than they could handle. This was no coincidence. Jesus was reminding them of their true mission: to trust in Him and bring people into His kingdom.

Just as fishing requires patience, skill, and perseverance, so does sharing the gospel. Sometimes we cast our nets and see no immediate results. At times, we may feel like failures. But Jesus shows us that success in His work comes not from our own efforts but from obedience to His voice. When we follow His guidance, He provides the increase.

Jesus’ final words to Peter were, “Follow Me” (John 21:19). This command echoes through time to all who believe. To be a fisher of men is not just a call for the disciples, it is a call for us. We are to go where He leads, casting the net of His love, truth, and salvation into the world.

If we trust Him, if we obey, He will fill the net. The harvest is ready. The call remains. Will you follow?

John 18

This chapter of John’s gospel follows Jesus’ prayer for both you and I as believers in Him. Following this prayer in chapter 17, Jesus and His disciples got up and crossed over the Brook Kidron where there was a garden called Gethsemane. This garden was at the foot of the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended to heaven and where He will return someday. This scene is where Judas’ betrayal of Jesus started to materialize.

Judas, along with a detachment of troops from the pharisees and high priests came to seize Jesus and to take him to be judged before Annas, Caiaphas (the high priest), and then Pilate (Roman governor). The religious leaders found Jesus as an “evildoer” (v. 30 NKJV), but they could not put Jesus to death according to their law (v. 31). Then they took Jesus before the roman governor Pontius Pilate, persistently seeking for Jesus to be killed. The first thing Pilate asks is, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (v. 33). Jesus answers Pilate’s question in verse 37 boldly claiming His kingship and His purpose for coming to the world: to “bear witness to the truth”.

Quite possibly one of the sadder quotations found in the Bible comes after this. Pilate asks, “What is truth?” and then left before he got the answer from the Messiah himself.

God has preserved His scriptures for thousands of years so that you and I may know the truth and this is it:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3: 16-21)

God took on flesh to dwell among us, to live a perfect life, to die on a cross, and to rise again conquering both sin and death. You are not too far gone. Read Paul’s words to Timothy,

“… Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ‘However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” (1 Timothy 1: 15-16)

God is patient, He does not condemn. He does not throw shame and guilt. You haven’t strayed too far for God to forgive you. You don’t earn your salvation; you receive it as a gift. Don’t move on with your day before understanding and knowing the truth. Don’t leave without understanding it. Don’t be Pilate.

Today’s Reading : John 16

Over the last couple of weeks we have had some great experiences. The seventh and eighth grader basketball ball teams have advanced to the next level of competition from conference to regional to sectionals.  For the seventh grade sectionals, the parents rented a bus for the students to attend the competition. The student section was amazing. They gave a beat to the whole arena. The atmosphere was exciting. Everybody was in it for the team. We had such a great time. The seventh graders won that game and the crowd just erupted.  There were so much joy and excitement. 

As we were preparing to leave, a grandmother looked up at the stands and saw that there was a lot of rubbish from our section. She made a comment “this is kind of embarrassing because we are visiting another person‘s house and we are leaving a mess“. At that point, I rallied the students and we were able to clean up the student section in two minutes. We actually made it look better than it had before we came.

One of the great lessons that I received as a child was : Leave it better than you found it. This can be used at any point in your life and in any situation. The mark that you make on anything needs to be better than you left it. If you’ve been invited somewhere, clean up before you leave. If you are in a position or employment attempt to leave the organization better than you found it.  In your life when you meet people try to give them a little extra from your interaction.

In John 16, Jesus is giving us a picture of when he will leave. He is spelling it out to the disciples how he will leave them. The experience that Christ gave to the twelve, and the disciples, and the world is … leaving it better than before he came.  Before Christ came, we did not understand how Heaven and Earth could be combined. We did not understand how the pieces of love and hope brings heaven to earth. 

Christ also gave us the reconnection with God the spirit,  otherwise known as the Holy Spirit. Because Christ enters the world in a sacrifice this creates a new opening for the Holy Spirit to be with us. Before Christ’s sacrifice, the Holy Spirit was not available to everyone. So by Christ coming and being with us, he made us better than we were before. Because Christ has come with us and the Holy Spirit is able to abide with us, we are able to be better than we were before. 

How can we share God‘s love and the experience of the Holy Spirit with others? How can we make an impact on others to be better than they were before? How can we be better from experiencing others as well? Allow God to use you and open your mind of how others make you better this week. 

Be blessed 

In John 15, Jesus tells us to go and produce fruit.  I can do that.  In fact, I’ve been preparing my whole life.

• I will work harder
• I will sell more
• I will get more followers
• I will grow bigger and be known

Then, I can be as Jesus described and “produce much,” and will make him proud.  Not really.  Those goals produce American fruit.  Jesus defines fruit differently.  Galatians 5 tells us that his fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

• I will serve more
• I will give generously
• I will mind my own affairs
• I will forgive fully – myself and others

Now, there is only one way to maintain a life with those priorities.  “Remain in me,” Jesus says.  “Seek me, come to me “Apart from me, you can do nothing.  But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” John 15:7.

What would you do when you come to the realization that your time in this world is coming to an end?  You probably grab your loved ones and spend as much time left with them as you could.  You hug them, love them, smile and cry with them and long to never let those moments go.  Jesus grabbed a bowl, put water in it and started washing the feet of those around him.  After he was finished doing this he said to his disciples, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:14-15

Does Jesus just mean to love thy neighbor and to treat those as you wish to be treated, or does it go deeper than that?  He is telling the disciples that HE is the example, the one and only example, and that through him, they should live their lives in the same manner with the same contrition and demeanor.  I know, just like the disciples knew, His sandals are impossible to fill….but we all have to do our best each and every day.

Later that night, after everyone has filled their stomachs and gotten their feet washed by the Son of God…..Jesus says in John 13:21, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”  Then picture this, the disciple Peter, as if he is sitting in class and whispers over to his classmate, “Pssshh…..ask him who it is.” Then in verse 26, Jesus says, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”  He then handed it to Judas, and Satan entered into him.

What was Judas feeling right before he was handed the bread?  What were the other disciples thinking?  I imagine some of them questioning themselves, rationalizing in their minds that they were never thinking of turning on Jesus, so if not me, then who??  Then I picture this image of a ghost-like Satan floating from the back of the room and entering Judas’ body, with a mischievous grin on his face that says ‘I got this one’.

As if that wasn’t enough drama for the night, there was a little more for one disciple in particular.  In John 13:33 Jesus says, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.  You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”  Peter asked Jesus where he was going and in John 13:37-38, “Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you.”  Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me?  I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

Peter denying Jesus has to be one of the most recognized stories from the Bible ever told.  If you remember from earlier it was Peter who was asking a fellow disciple who Jesus was talking about betraying him.  There wasn’t a thought in Peter’s mind that he would EVER deny Jesus.  That had to have crushed Peter to tears.  What was the mood of the room after that?  Was everyone waiting for a 3^rd shoe to drop?

In John, chapter 13, these are the three things that happen. In my readings of the Bible I often catch myself imagining how I would feel or what I would do in these situations.  Surely Jesus would never tell me I would deny him 3 times or I would ever betray him….Right?! I have no idea, none of us can be certain.  What we need to make certain is that we are doing the best we can to live our lives in the ways Christ did.  Jesus says, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” I pray that when we are given those opportunities to share and show our faith in God by the way we carry ourselves through everyday life, the Lord is pleased.