EXCITEMENT

April 14, 2017 | lindamowles

Do you remember the last time you were excited about something … I mean, really excited?

I came across this picture of my young grandson who was clearly excited about something that he saw. The focused expectation that is plastered across his face is priceless.

There are many events that trigger excitement in our hearts. A soldier returns from a long deployment. A student leaves from home for the first year at college. From the parents’ perspective, excitement reigns when that same student returns home. A young couple experiences the birth of their first child.

One example of excitement that we have on a daily basis is Snickers’ excitement to get into the backyard. Despite her diminutive height, She jumps higher than the door knob, with her tail wagging and her sister trying to stay out of her way!

In the Bible, and even today, a time of widespread excitement is the Passover celebration. It is the feast that reminds the people of Israel when God acted mightily causing Pharaoh to release them from bondage in Egypt. The night of the last plague, the people were to kill a lamb and put its blood on the door frame of their homes. Then, the angel of death passed over the country and killed the first-born in each home; but the angel “passed over” the houses that had blood on the doorway.

While Passover is a time of solemn remembrance, it is also a time of excitement. This was true even in Jesus’ day. The people were excited … on the day we know as Palm Sunday, they were going to Jerusalem to celebrate their deliverance from bondage.

Not only that, they had just found the One who they believed would be the Messiah, the One who would crush the dominance of Rome, and the One who would again lead the people, militarily, to a kingdom such as David had ruled over centuries before.

They were so excited that they put their garments on the ground and waved palm branches shouting “”Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” It was a parade with the only “float” being Jesus, riding on a donkey’s colt. Read John chapter 12 for the whole story.

In my mind’s eye, I envision the people jumping and screaming, rather like Snickers. Going full-out, no holding back, excited to the core.

When they were praising Jesus as King, they did not know that at the end of the week they would be screaming again, but this time it would be “CRUCIFY HIM” as Pilot stood wondering what he should do with this innocent man, Jesus.

Rather than taking the high road and releasing Jesus, Pilot succumbed to the demands of the people on that Thursday night. He let the mob determine justice and he, quite literally, washed his hands of the whole thing. He sent Jesus off to be crucified. Read Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the sinless Son of God, was put to death to pay for the sin that each of us has committed. Dr. R. C. Sproul says this about sin:

Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying “God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.”

The slightest sin is an act of defiance against cosmic authority. It is a revolutionary act, a rebellious act in which we are setting ourselves in opposition to the One to whom we owe everything. It is an insult to His holiness.

The week started with the people joyfully screaming in honor, blessing and allegiance to the King, the One riding into Jerusalem on a colt.

The week ended with the people again screaming but this time their malevolent demand was for the murder of this Man; He was not simply to be killed, they demanded that He be killed by crucifixion.

Sin and evil, Satan, appeared to have won the battle. Satan knew people disobeyed God – he caused Adam and Eve to sin in the very beginning. The pure Son of God was going to die this ignominious, excruciating and humiliating death, and Satan thought he would then have full sway in this world.

Instead, the pure Son of God voluntarily went to the cross, not in payment of any sin that He committed. Rather, He endured Calvary in payment for my sin, and for yours. By His death, He spanned and closed the chasm that had existed between man and the Holy God..

Because He lived a perfect life as required by God’s law, because He committed no sin, His death paid the price that the broken law incurred and that a just and holy God demanded. Sin could not be forgiven and forgotten unless God’s justice was satisfied.

This is what the cross accomplished. Justice was meted out and now forgiveness could be granted. Jesus Christ died … but Satan did not win the victory. On the first day of the week, the tomb was empty because Jesus rose from the dead. And, he lives today, even as He is in heaven interceding for each of us before His Father, the Almighty God.

Now that is something to be excited about!

Father, I pray that these words would be used to prick the hearts and minds of those who read it. I pray that Your Spirit would work in each of our hearts so that we would reflect our Lord to others. I thank You for the great give of grace and salvation that has been given to us through faith in Your Son.

I DIDN’T DO IT!

October 25, 2016October 21, 2016 | lindamowles

“Who … me? I didn’t do it!” Ever hear anyone say that? Have you heard your young children say that? Did you ever say that?

Birthday cake on face (C) — Yummy Birthday Cake – I didn’t mess it up!

It is a common thing to hear, especially when there is some disaster that just happened and your young children are all standing around pointing fingers at each other and exclaiming, almost in unison, “I didn’t do it?” even as the incriminating evidence is still sticking to their fingers!

Recently, our granddog Haley was exploring the backyard when she apparently decided to get up close and personal with something that had run under the house. We don’t know what attracted her undivided attention, but that is the only reason we can imagine that she pushed her way through the latticework so that she became imprisoned under the porch.

When she did not come back in the house when we called for her, our grandson found her looking out through the latticework and he had no idea how to get her out. The place she pushed through was blocked from the other direction, so she was literally stuck there.

After trying various things to retrieve her, we broke some of the slats and, ultimately, after a good bit of tugging, it folded down so she could walk out unscathed. Here is a picture of the broken lattice with her laying on the porch with that “Who, Me?!! I didn’t do it” look!

haley-and-the-porch — Who … me? What did I do?

This is virtually the same thing that Adam and Eve told God, way back long ago when they were in the Garden of Eden.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

Genesis 3:1-4.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Genesis 3:6-7.

But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:9-13.

Adam — “Who, Me? Don’t blame me … I didn’t do it … the woman you gave to me did it!”

Eve — “Who, Me? Don’t blame me … I didn’t do it … the serpent deceived me!”

Me – “Who, Me? Don’t blame me … I didn’t do it!”

You — …

Finger pointing began millennia ago when Adam pointed to Eve, she pointed to the serpent and God said “Out of the Garden!” Genesis 3:24. No matter what you want to call it, the Bible gives a name to any disobedience to God … SIN.

We read of sin in the very next chapter of Genesis where God accepts Abel’s offering but rejects Cain’s. God says in Genesis 4:7: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Did you know that according to a computer word search of the English Standard Version of the Bible, the words “sin”, “sins”, “sinned”, “sinning”, “sinful”, “sinner” and “sinners” are used a total of 423 times.

In other words, “sin” is an important concept to God because it reflects our direct disobedience to His commands. It reflects our refusal to obey Him which, in effect, puts us where God should be. And, it will bring the same punishment on us as it brought to Adam and Eve – we will be cast out from God’s presence because a holy God cannot and will not countenance a sinful creature in His presence. Judgment is the only response to our sin just as Adam and Eve experienced expulsion from the Garden.

The Westminster Confession of Faith says this about sin:

Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6.6.

However, in Romans 5:19 we read that there is hope for sinful man:

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

This promise is reaffirmed in 1 Corinthians 15 we read:

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. … Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:22, 45.

Again turning to the Confession of Faith, we read:

Man, by his fall, having made himself uncapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.

Because of Jesus Christ, we can be made alive and have a life-giving spirit. Because of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, He became sin for us. Because of God’s grace, we can be clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, thereby becoming acceptable to God through His blood shed for us.

Haley looked at us as if saying “Who me? I didn’t do anything wrong!” She well may have been following her nose and not paying attention to what she was doing.

But that same line of thought does not apply to you and me. We do know what we are doing and many times it is sin – it is direct disobedience to what God wants us to do – and that is enough to cut off our relationship with God, forever. We need to find help outside ourselves, and that help was sent from God in the God/man Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life and who took our sin on Himself, who died and was buried, and who rose again to life evermore.

Praise the Lord that He saves us through His sacrificial death as an atonement. Thank Him for His obedience to God the Father, and thank God for His mercy and grace that was extended to us. Thank the Holy Spirit for His work in convicting us of sin and of sealing us to salvation through His power.

Praise His Holy Name!

Father, I pray that you would bless these words and that the readers would be encouraged, strengthened and renewed in their faith and focus on You.

OF TRUCKS, TRIALS AND TRIPS

March 17, 2016 | lindamowles

We had occasion to be traveling on the highways of our country a lot recently. If you spend any time at all on the roads, you will run into trucks. Well, hopefully not actually run into them, but you will come across them along the way. In fact, as we left a small town in Virginia, I counted over 60 trucks going in the opposite direction, on the other side of the interstate, in the span of about 20 minutes.

Trucks along interstate (C) — Trucks along Interstate 40.

The roads in East Tennessee are hilly, curvy and picturesque. Trucks that run the route often know when the road gets tricky to negotiate and, for the most part, they handle the hills and curves well, usually sharing the road with the smaller cars and vans without difficulty or incident.

Trucks going up and down hills on interstate outside Knoxville (C) — Trucks going up and down hills on the Interstate.

However, one thing that I noticed is that there are times when even strong, big, heavy trucks have difficulty climbing the hills, especially when the truck is heavily loaded and the weight is simply too much to travel at significant speed. When this scenario unfolds, the truck with the especially heavy load will move to the right lane, put its flashing lights on, and plod slowly up the incline, while the trucks coming upon them in traffic will line up behind them until there is an opening in which to pass the slower truck.

Trucks passing along interstate (C) — Trucks passing each other.

We were passing a truck loaded with heavy materials that required slow travel up the incline and I was reminded of how I can get bogged down in my Christian life when sin enters and I allow it to remain.

For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

Psalm 38:4 [ESV]

This huge truck that can easily travel at highway speed was limping up the mountain side, held back by the sheer weight of its load on the steep incline.

The writer of Hebrews warns us to be aware of sin that “clings” to us:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ….

Hebrews 12:1 [ESV]

When I am loaded down with sin, or with guilt because of past sins, I can no longer climb the hills placed before me. Instead, I am grounded and unable to accomplish the work that Christ has for me. I have effectively taken myself out of the game … sidelined and unable to properly function … I am like the weighed down truck trying to race uphill.

This thought then prompted me to recall a study that the women did at church last year, specifically, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory of the Christian life. The pilgrim was originally named Graceless but he received a new name of Christian after coming to faith in Christ. He was trying to walk in the Christian Way and was having great difficulty because he was carrying a heavy backpack that was loaded with his sin and guilt. As Christian approached the cross, he received a fuller view of Christ and the work that was done on the cross for him. It was then that his heavy backpack fell off through no effort of his own; and, as it tumbled down into the tomb, Christian felt the comfort of being covered in his Savior’s care.

David describes this condition in Psalm 51:

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:9-12 [ESV]

David had sinned … he knew that and he knew that God knew that! He prayed that God would clean his heart, wipe out the sin, be present with him once more, and restore the joy that came from the salvation granted by God.

This is the joy and comfort that Christian felt when his backpack loosened and fell into the tomb at Christ’s cross.

It is the same joy that I can have when I confess my sin and leave it at the foot of the cross.

It is the same joy and comfort that you can experience when you are released from carrying around sin and guilt that has accumulated for years (dare I say decades?)!

Praise the Lord that Christ’s work on the cross enables us to shed the weight of sin and guilt so that we can climb mountains at full speed while we do the work that He has ordained for us to do. We may be called carry heavy weights for Him, but the task will be eased when we remember that our sin is gone and that Christ and His Spirit are with us.

Jesus said:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:29-30 [ESV]

We will be yoked with Christ, each mile of the road on our trip with our Savior and Lord. We will not limp along, unable to prevail in our work. His power will strengthen and enable us to do the task. Praise His holy Name.

Father, I pray that you would forgive me when I complain about the weight of the task ahead. Help me to remember that You are with me, that your Son is yoked with me and that your Spirit will give me strength to carry on even in the face of difficulties. Help me to honor and glorify You in my life, words, deed, and worship.

WHO IS IN CONTROL HERE?

February 10, 2016February 10, 2016 | lindamowles

I am in control of my life … right? Are you in control of your life? Really?

We get up, brush our teeth, go to work, come home, prepare meals, chauffeur the kids to and fro, do the laundry, mop the floor, make the beds, pay the bills, run to the post office for stamps, wash the toddler’s hands and face, do more laundry, exercise, go to the gym, ride the bicycle … the list is never ending. But, we are in control, right!?

Then there are the other obligations that we have on our schedule. Things like birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, worship at church, preparation for the children’s class party, choir rehearsal, women’s meetings for fellowship and prayer.

Thanksgiving meal new recipe (C) — Yummy acorn squash that folks would enjoy!

We take food to those who are suffering, participate in the Bible study and prayer group, leadership meetings, and work with outreach activities such as Habitat for Humanity, the Soup Kitchen, Second Harvest, etc. And we still think we are in control, right?

Of course, we would be remiss if we ignored the incessant interruptions that the smart phone provides – email, tweets, Skype, messages, not to mention phone calls (the purpose of the telephone)! And we must not forget the magnetic call of social media such as Facebook. Hundreds of our friends want to know what we are doing, minute by minute. Could I honestly post that my status is that “I am in control of my life”?

Being in control of my own life is the focus of our culture … songs glamorize the concept by saying “I did it MY way” and “I want it all and I want it all now!,” an illustration that the focus of our world is I/me/mine! In essence, we are the center of our universe. All else is irrelevant. Yet we still are running, we are out of time and energy, and, because we are so busy that we can’t squeeze another thing into our schedule, we believe that we are in control of our own life!

If we are honest, it would appear that we are slaves to the chores and obligations of family, home, society and employment! Like the little pet hamster, we are on the treadmill — running in circles with no visible exit point where we can rest, rejuvenate, relax, and refresh!

Ocean waves and beach (C) — Oregon beach with waves coming in, nonstop, with soothing sounds.

When was the last time you got off the treadmill and stopped so that you could listen to the sound of Nature? When was the last time you experienced the continual, powerful, pounding of the ocean and remembered that there is no switch to turn it off, yet the Lord could still the waves with His voice? Mark 4:39.

Colorado Rocky Mountains — Colorado mountains, awesome in grandeur and strength.

When was the last time you stopped to look at the mountain and to consider the power of Him who holds the summit in His hand?

Beautiful butterfly found in Butterfly Farm in the Cayman Islands.

When was the last time you were still enough to inspect a butterfly, one of the magnificent beauties of God’s creation? Creatures that are so fragile they will be blown away by the wind, yet they are strong enough to fly in migration across the ocean!

When was the last time you sat in a quiet room with your Bible open, reading it so you can learn more of Who God is? When was the last time you listened for the still small voice of God, speaking to you in a whisper in your soul, telling you that He loves you and wants you to focus on Him, not on the treadmill? 1 Kings 19:11-12.

Cross — Consider the cross, a reminder of the glorious gift provided to us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The very life we have, breath that we breathe, is a gift from God. Certainly, those blessings are deserving of our thanks. But even more we should be thankful for the gift of salvation, purchased at such great cost as Christ’s death on the cross, as payment for our sin. When was the last time you said “Thank you” to Him for all His blessings that He has given you, because of His grace?

Who is in control here? According to Scripture, the answer to that question is “God is in control.” In speaking to the men of Athens, Paul says it like this:

And he [God] is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.For in him we live and move and have our being.

Acts 17:25-28.

In the Psalms, David describes God in a much more personal way.

For you [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-15

God is in control and I can allow Him to take me off the treadmill so that I can do the work that He has planned for me from the foundation of the world.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

May I glorify God and His Son, Jesus Christ, as I experience the glorious adventure of life with my Savior holding my hand as His Spirit guides my path.

Father, I praise, glorify, and honor you as the Creator God, sovereign, all-powerful, and all-knowing. I thank you that you are in control, and I bow in humble gratefulness that I am yours. May I live in the fullness of life that you have provided through Jesus Christ my Savior and through the power of your Holy Spirit.

OBEDIENT LOVE FOR THE LORD AND FOR OTHERS.

November 28, 2015 | lindamowles

Obedience … it is a hard lesson for children to learn and often we, as adults, still have difficulty accomplishing it. Obedience comes easy when it concerns something that I want to do anyway. When the task being asked of us is fun or something we are interested in, obedience is not hard at all. It comes, almost, naturally!

Obeying, when doing something you are interested in, is fun!

But when it relates to something that is difficult or outside my own comfort zone, then it is hard to obey.

As a child, I remember telling my Mother that I loved her. Then, later in the day, when she asked that I do something for her, I hesitated and waited until it suited me, rather than her. At bedtime, I said I loved her and she replied: “Really? That surprises me.”

Her statement caught me off guard and my eyes teared up when I asked “Why, Mommy?” Her reply echoes in my heart even today: “If you loved me, you would do what I say rather than ignore my direction or argue with me.”

In the Gospel of John, Jesus talked about love and obedience when He said:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

John 14:15 [ESV] He continued on with this thought in verse 21:

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

John 14:21 [ESV]

So, what are Jesus’ commandments? While there are a number of things that He said we should do, they are summarized in Matthew’s Gospel where He says:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 22:37-39 [ESV]

In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes it even more pointed – incredibly, He tells us we are to have the same love for others that He has for us.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35 [ESV].

What is His love for us like? It is overwhelming. It sent Jesus to the cross as a substitute for our sin so, if we believe in Him, we could live with Him forever.

The cross of Christ tells of the magnitude of His love for us.

Do we love others like that? We can’t be their substitute for sin because we also are sinners. But, do we live our life in such a way as to put others first over our own desires and wishes?

What about starting with our family members – surely we can love like Jesus loves when we are talking about those to whom we are related! Too hard to do?

Well, perhaps we can love strangers who don’t know us, and who we don’t know. Those people we could love like Jesus loves us! Maybe, but probably not!

Well then, how are we ever going to love those we don’t like if we have difficulty loving those in the two categories above? The difficulty of it is irrelevant — the command is still there. We are to love even those we don’t like. Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:30-37.

In fact, Jesus even went one step farther — we are to love our enemies!

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:44-48 [ESV]

Obedience – we show our love for our Savior by the way we obey His commands. Not just the convenient ones or those that are easy. We are to be obedient to all of them. I recognize that we cannot do it in our own strength. Indeed, this is totally against our human nature and we need to have His Spirit flow through us to enable us to love like this. When we fail, we must confess that failure and seek His grace for the power to love as He commands.

What if people could see, on a daily basis, evidence of our relationship with Jesus by how we love others? At home, at work, at school? On the bus, the playground, the elevator? In the grocery store, the mall, the post office? Do we exhibit love to our boss or our co-workers or to the server at the restaurant? Do we show love to the person next to us on Sunday morning?

Beloved, what has been your response to His love? Has it made any difference in your life?

Do we have obedient love for our Lord and Savior? Do we obey Jesus’ commands?

Does our love to our neighbors reflect our love for Jesus? Jesus said that it will.

So, I guess the real question is

“How much do we love Jesus?”

Father, may I express my love to your Son, my Savior Jesus Christ, by ministering to those He loves, whether they may be among my friends or not. May I express my love to you, Father, by studying your Word and praying, listening to the Holy Spirit urge and direct me as I walk the path you have provided for me. Thank you Father for your love and presence in my life, and for your Holy Spirit who comforts, encourages and strengthens me. Forgive me when I have turned a blind eye and ignored pleas for assistance. Please give me grace that I may love others as you love me, through the power of your Holy Spirit and to the glory of God the Father.