November 11, 2024 -- Matthew 5:2-12 -- Guided by God

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:2-12 ESV
 
Does your life really matter? How you answer that question is huge. It has implications for every area of your life. There are radical secularists, the prophets of today, who teach you are merely evolved pond scum. You are here by chance. You are the result of random evolution. When you die there is nothing. Those who follow Jesus know this to be a hideous lie, straight from hell, meant to keep you from fulfilling your purpose. Jesus declared those who know Him to be blessed. It is not something they earned. This blessed condition springs from knowing Him and results in the believer fulfilling the purposes for which he or she was created.
 
The humble, or poor in spirit, are blessed because their ego and pride do not get in the way of fully receiving the Kingdom of God.
 
The ones who mourn over their sinful condition and hate the many ways in which their every intention of doing good keeps getting thwarted and they find themselves in so many messes. They’ll be comforted because in the confession of their sinful condition the help of heaven is wedded to their weakness. Their sins are forgiven. They rise to follow Jesus.
 
The meek are the ones who though they have strength to do so, do not use their words or their abilities to manipulate others or try to get their own way. The meek submit their will to the care of God and willingly offer the use all their talents, gifts and abilities to bring glory to Him Who rescued them from the power of darkness and brought them into the Kingdom of Christ our Lord.
 
When you belong to Jesus, you’ll find your desires change. Your interests are purified. Your hobbies are used to bless others. You are hungering to live a way radically different from how you lived before. Your desires can only be fulfilled in knowing Jesus more fully and more perfectly and well, just knowing Him more.
 
As you read through these beatitudes (that is just a fancy way of saying the lists of blessed’s) you’ll realize you have been made into a new creation in Christ—the old desires and sinful lusts and hidden agendas are being exposed as fraudulent ways of living which hijacked any chance you had at a fulfilled life. The more you empty yourself of old lusts, old desires, addictions and life-controlling issues, the more of you is available to walk in the blessedness which Christ has in store for you. The Holy Spirit, living in you, is bringing you more fully into faith-filled obedience to Jesus.
 
It is hard work, actively, daily subduing the impulses of your past life. The fact that you recognize lingering disobedience in yourself, and impulses that are out-of-alignment with God’s design for you are signs that the Holy Spirit is taking charge of your life. What is exposed to the light of Christ can be disposed by the Spirit’s work in you. The Spirit’s goal is to work cooperatively with you to bring every area of your heart, your mind, your actions and your attitudes into submission to Jesus so that, with the Psalmist, you can declare, the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places (Psalm 16:5-6). Staying within the bounds of God’s plan and design for me is the place of greatest blessedness. There will be trials and hardships, but all of this will be used like hammer blows in a forge to shape more perfectly for the purposes God has for you.
 
Prayer
 
In the back of my mind there is the niggling question “do I really matter”? It is crowded out by the thought that perhaps God is busy with other people, but I am not a high priority to Him. Thank You, Father in heaven, for the words of this passage which show me the many ways in which You bless Your people in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the Spirit Who is working in me and aiding me to expose the places where the deeds of darkness linger so that these words, attitudes, and actions can be disposed of. Thank You for this new life which is mind in Christ. Thank You that my life matters to You and I am precious in Your sight. Thank You for the people who will be influenced by my life, exposed to the work of the Redeemer in my life, someone who they know. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/z-yJ3xMVUDI?si=nVFWDOrLr1ga8sd_ Whate’er My God Ordains
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 10., 2024 -- Ephesians 2:1-6 -- Raised to new life, not zombie life, but real life in Christ

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…
Ephesians 2:1-6 ESV
 
One of the strange quirks of ministry is how often I am exposed to dead bodies. Family have requested me to be present as a much-loved member of the family was dying. For about fifteen years I was a police chaplain and I’d be privileged to go on ride-alongs. There were a couple of times when a 911 call came in and the officer I was accompanying was required to go to a place where a body was found.
 
There is something so strange that happens when a living, breathing person becomes a corpse. When the animation of life is suddenly gone, there are so many changes that take place. It is obvious one who is dead can not be revived. Why focus on this? Because before God took hold of us, we were dead in the putrefying work of sin. We were utterly unable to do anything for ourselves. I love that disjunctive word “but”. As you read along the description of death, but God (Who is infinitely strong, merciful and great in love) would not leave His child in the grip of death. It is the love of the Father for His chosen people which raises them from death to life.
 
Can God love me? This passage answers with a resounding YES! God has shown you His immeasurable love in Christ, raising you from death—not like in zombie movies or like a Frankenstein monster kind of life. When the Father raised you from death to life He broke the stranglehold of sin. Though sin may remain, it doesn’t reign anymore. He Who raised you up in Christ will also continually vivify you by His Spirit. He made you alive, so that you can fulfill the holy purposes for which He created you.
 
Why mention this? You are loved. That is the reason believers go to church as well. In exuberant thanksgiving to God, it is our ardent desire to praise God and bless Him for bringing us from death to life in Christ. When a saint sins, it is powerful to confess that sin and know, from the tip of your toes to the very top of your head know, that God is not done with you yet. He is making you holy, all of you, holy. You can state it this way, He is working in you so that you will one day be wholly holy. It won’t happen in this lifetime, but when Jesus returns, or when you lay down your mortal remains at death you will immediately, in the twinkling of an eye, find yourself with the saints around the throne worshiping Jesus. Confirming the love of God, which is greater than your doubts, greater than your past, greater than the sinfulness which still lingers and occasionally leads you astray (but only as far as the restraining grace will allow).
 
Saints sings hymns and sing Psalms (putting to music the 150 Psalms of the Bible) and spiritual songs because the Truth of the Father’s love given to us in Christ and guarded in us by the Holy Spirit must work itself deep into our soul, crowding out the lies of the Devil. You want to sing. You want to express such love divine. Since He raised you from death to life, you desire to use your life to bless Him and thank Him and as you contemplate Him in song, grow in love toward Him, the soul’s reward and the heart’s joy.
 
Father in heaven Who is like You? There is none and nothing in all the universe comparable to You. You are compassionate, rich in mercy and steadfast in Your great love. Thank You for the life You give us in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the Spirit Who is leading us in all Truth. When I falter in my confidence, lead me to confess my sins and turn from them. Let Your Spirit’s voice drown out my fears and insecurities and remind me that I am deeply loved, in Your love that is steady, true and never-ending. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/EMvfX-ajxA4?si=tKcNG3Vxm0zSQaFz My Soul Finds Rest (Psalm 62)
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 9, 2024 -- II Thessalonians 2:13-17 -- Drawn to Jesus, like iron to a magnet

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
II Thessalonians 2:13-17 ESV
 
Secrets. Think about all the secrets you had to keep while you were welded to sin and chained to life-controlling behaviors. You’d lie about how you spent money. You’d lie about how you spent your time. You’d lie about liking people to manipulate them into giving you what you wanted. You’d lie to yourself. All the while your own selfish desires, directed by the Devil and the world were crushing the life out of you. How do you break this pattern?
 
Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy were together as Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians. First, when you submit your life to the care of God, you find yourself in true, deep, honest community. That is modeled by the fact these three men were together. It is exemplified in the fact that they know the Thessalonians so well they can write directly, addressing their strengths and failures. They write to strengthen what is good and to expose what is yet sinful.
 
The lies that once ruled you must be exposed. What is exposed can be deposed. Christian friends, who themselves know the power of old sins and wayward lusts, will not let you fall back into old patterns and habits. They know the power of sin…thanks be to God, they know the greatest power Who is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
 
Second, believers are “firstfruit”. The Thessalonians were among the first believers. Their example inspired others to believe. As you note in the blessing at the end of today’s passage, the grace of God established them in every good work and word. When you believe, your life becomes a powerful influence for good in the life of others.
 
The late theologian John Gerstner noted that being a Christian is like being a magnet for Jesus. Those who God the Father appointed for eternal life in Jesus Christ are like iron. When you, who know Jesus, pass by those who do not yet believe, you’ll see that by Spirit’s power in you, you pull them to Jesus, just like a magnet pulls up iron. God has appointed such persons for life, and God has appointed you to be the means through which He saves them. It is privilege and joy for all involved and brings glory to God. Be prepared for the fact there will be people in your life as well who are not pulled up from worldliness toward Jesus. They are hardened against God and refuse the Gospel.
 
Finally, look for opportunities to serve God. In your addictions and guided by the stranglehold of former sins, you looked for opportunities to indulge yourself. Now, as a new creation in Jesus Christ, look for opportunities to express your new life in Christ by blessing, helping and serving the people He has placed in your life. Interestingly, the more you serve, the more God uses you to build up the body of Christ. The more you serve, the more you’ll be confirmed as His beloved daughter or son. What a glorious, magnificent God we serve. Blessed be His Name, now and forevermore.
 
Father in heaven, it is hard to really see myself as I am, a person attracted as iron to a magnet, drawn to Jesus. I confess even as I am drawn to Him, I still look behind me to old paths and wicked ways. By Your Spirit working in me, open my eyes to see the ways in which I can bless the people You have placed in my life, thereby drawing them to Jesus and simultaneously confirming the good work of salvation which You are bringing into full effect in every area of my life. Father in heaven, send Your Spirit in ever greater measure to increase my love for Jesus, so that I see Him as the Rock of my salvation and the anchor of my soul. Thank You, gracious God, for the people You’ve placed in my life who have by their actions and care towards me, made Jesus real to me Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/a91_3VYRiZo?si=QLtV9aSULaLWXPtV “Fill Thou My Life”
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 7, 2024 -- I Timothy 1:18-20 -- What do you really believe about yourself? Now who are you in Jesus?

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
I Timothy 1:18-20 ESV
 
Dear family in the Lord Jesus Christ, off and on through these regular devotions we have been walking the path of the Overcomer’s 12 steps. This is material I teach in one Federal Prison and one Provincial Jail. The 12-Step material is the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the original material was Bible-based. Overcomers has adapted the steps so that they do, once again, reflect a Christian-based recovery. Those who do not have problems with alcohol, or drugs, things usually linked with 12-step programs do, still, have life-controlling issues, or sins. It can be gluttony. Or anger. Gossip. Sexually motivated sins. The fact is, Christians must, daily, struggle against their sin nature. 
 
Step One
I admit I am powerless over the issue controlling my life.
 
Step Two
I acknowledge my belief that God, the source of all power, restores me on my journey to freedom from addictions and life-controlling issues.
 
Step Three
I decide to submit my life to the care of God as he guides me.
 
That third step is today’s focus. On Day 20 of the Overcomer’s Workbook, the student reads
     What we do is always rooted in what we believe. When we are
     stuck in a pattern of doing things that harm us, it is because of
     how we think about ourselves, our actions, and our worth. If
     you believe you are not worthy of safety or that you deserve the
     pain you are experiencing, you will not be as motivated to find
     a way out of your circumstances.
Overcomers Workbook, Day 20, page 49
 
Look at the dynamite of Scripture. It explodes all your false beliefs about yourself and then reveals who you are in Christ. Timothy had prophesies spoken over him. You have the eternal decree of God—from before the creation of the world, God chose you in the Beloved, Jesus. You are precious, chosen of God.
 
God has given you the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of this new life. You do not have to go back to the old sins, the former patterns of wickedness. You are not captive in Satan’s prison, you are now alive in Christ and have a freedom that is new to you, wonderful, and kept for you in heaven. This fact is sure because Jesus, the Captain of your Salvation, is seated at the Father’s right hand, praying for you. He is guarding your new life in the throne-room of power, where the Devil can never snatch you from the embrace of the Father.
 
On the basis, not of your success or failure in walking with God, but on the basis of Jesus’s perfect life, His sinlessness, so that He is the accepted sacrifice before God, the One that atones for all your sins—past, present, and future—you have confidence to rethink who you are. You are not defeated. You are no longer in the domain of darkness, the Father has through Jesus, brought you out of the darkness and placed you in the Kingdom of the Son He loves. He Who is mighty has the power, the will and the love necessary to guard you in your new life.
 
You fight your battles by praising God. Sounds weird, right? The weapons of our warfare are not ordinary, human tools. But as we sing to God, blessing and praising Him, our minds are conformed to the newness of life that is ours in Christ. As we pray to God, the Spirit, Who guards this deposit of new-life-in-Christ within us, engages our attention, our mind, our action and our soul so that we turn away from sin and towards Jesus. By the way, that is why I almost always link a Christian hymn or song to these devotions. To encourage you to explore your walk with God through music. Learning these hymns and spiritual songs displaces the all-too-influential blather of the worldly music that is currently infesting your mind and the more you listen the more it is corrupting your soul.
 
Holding faith means you examine your words, your thoughts, the actions you are about to undertake and ask yourself, is this what a soldier of Jesus would do? I am a soldier in Jesus’s army. If what I am doing is wrong, ask yourself “Why would I fight for the Devil, who hates me and seeks to destroy my life?” The wily old Devil holds up shiny charms to distract you and hisses out lying promises to get you to collude with him. Every single time he speaks, he lies. According to Jesus, lies are his native language. So, holding onto your faith, you expose the lies of Satan that have long deceived you so that you are heart, soul, mind, and body serving Jesus.
 
Be warned. There are many all around you, people who seemed to be faithful and true, who make a shipwreck of their faith. In Timothy’s day there was the example of Hymenaeus and Alexander. No doubt you can think of people who seemed to be doing fine, acted like those who are members of the family of God, and then one day went rogue and started firing against their own side. How do you know you are not, like them, about to go rogue? Well, you hate your sin. You feel convicted when you commit them. You experience shame before God and want to be cleansed.
 
Today, tear down the lies that would hold you captive. You have decided to submit your life to the care of God as He guides you. Then let Him guide you. Ask the Holy Spirit for help. Stay close to Christian friends who keep you accountable. Change the music you are listening to and get connected with some good, Christian music that burrows deep into your soul so that you are motivated to find a way out of your circumstances through the overcoming victory that is already yours through Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfector of your faith.
 
God, all too often I can’t seem to lift my eyes to You. I know I’ve failed. Again. I confess to You, I have failed too many times to count. Jesus, You promised You are a doctor for those in need. Like a doctor You have been sent by the compassion of the Father to minister His healing to those who are sick of heart, mind and soul. Jesus, heal me. Spirit, lead me from the ruins of my past and the smoldering wreck I make of my life and bring me to the fortress of Jesus’s redeeming grace. Lead me my whole life through. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/QPX5tt480Q8?si=5zqCKtgtrBhxKI1D “Lead Me, Guide Me”
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 6, 2024 -- Psalm 37:3-5 -- All In for Jesus!

 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LOD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
trust in him and he will act.
Psalm 37:3-5 ESV
 
There are three commands piled up one after another here. The first is to trust in the LORD. When sinners turn from their sins and find Jesus to be their Rescue and Salvation, there is such relief. Inevitably, it is short lived because they are familiar with wicked habits and dishonest thinking to be renewed in this glorious salvation requires the believer to disentangle himself from old ways of thinking. It is a daily decision, responding to the imperative here as you preach to your heart and declare: “today, I will trust You, the Living God, Who saves me”.
 
The second command is that odd, hard to explain phrase, delight yourself in the LORD. In the past your addictions and sins led you down sinful paths where you’d secretly indulge in something you knew was destructive, but like a moth to a porchlight, you threw yourself against that light, damaging yourself more and more with each clash against the glass casing. Now, knowing the LORD is wholesome, the source of all good, in fact He alone is what your heart truly desires. How often have you stood in front of the open door of the fridge, having overindulged in sweets and snacks, feeling full, but still needing something. Protein. Nourishment. The foods didn’t satisfy, and your body is telling you ‘you need something different’. When the believer delights himself in the LORD, all his past overindulgences are proven to be empty calories, useless treks towards emptiness and shame. Ah, but God, Who is infinite, Who is greater than all your imaginings, He Who made you knows you were made to know Him, love Him, and in worship find all your satisfaction in Him alone. Delighting in Him brings you in line with the purpose of your creation.
 
Speaking your delight to God, praising Him and singing to Him, doesn’t stroke God’s ego or like some puny, Greek god, maintain his existence. Or, like all those silly Santa stories, there is something like a “believe-o-meter” out there which when tipping higher gives him greater power. What stuff and nonsense. No. God the Glorious, Compassionate One, is always, perfectly in community as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He needs nothing. However, people made in His image, are complete when salvation joy of the heart is expressed to Him. Delighting in God, confirms Him to your souls as the Deliverer from the strongholds of death, the Resurrection and the Life, Who alone is can satiate your heart, mind and soul.

As you trust in Him and daily decide to make Him all your delight you will find it easier and easier to recommit your way to Him. It is a decision you make at every temptation, “I have decided to follow Jesus, I will not engage this temptation but will now again recommit my way to Him”. What a glorious promised is appended to that, “He will act”. The hook in the temptations will be exposed. The ugly conclusion of your sins will be evident. God will act so that you can not help but walk in purity and joy—the result of obeying commands to trust in Him, to delight yourself in Him and continually recommit your way to Him means He will act in ways that are obvious to you. (For He is always acting for your good, His hand of mercy and kindness have always been drawing you closer to Himself).
 
Trust leads to delight. Delight leads to commitment. Seeing God act as you commit yourself to Him leads to deeper trust. He is healing you. He is teaching you a whole new way of living. Ah, submit your life to the care of God and know He will guide you in all truth, all delight and make committing yourself to Him all the more reasonable and evermore intensely desirable.
 
Oh God, salvation and righteousness are found in You alone! You are the stronghold of Your people in bad times, and You are the resort of eternal pleasures here and now and forevermore. Triune God, help us so that what we are in Christ will blossom and our trust in You will fill every decision. Spirit, clarify our vision so that it is obvious it is only in full, willing obedience to God, and in Him only, one finds the fountain of life and the river of delights. Jesus, You poured Yourself out, unstintingly, Your whole life, suffering, and death bringing glorify to God and You opened the way for believers to be called sons and daughters of God. Help us to start fresh every day, every time it is necessary, to commit ourselves to You alone, by the Power of Your Spirit living in us, and this to the glory of the Father. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/mtUVJiDsFvQ?si=biK31qWOZqVfU_-k Sing Hallelujah to the LORD
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 5, 2024 -- II Timothy 2:1-7 -- Three powerful illustrations to encourage believers

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
II Timothy 2:1-7 ESV

The Apostle Paul writes to encourage Timothy. Timothy, he states at the start of this letter, is “my beloved child”. Timothy is a man whom Paul mentors in the Christian faith. For believers to grow in the freedom Christ gives, so that you do not fall back into addictions and life-controlling sins, means you continually submit your life to Jesus. This is an intentional commitment made and renewed constantly. There are so many forces and pressures seeking to pull you away from obedience to God.

Consider the three illustrations Paul gives in the short passage. Soldiers do not question their commanders. Where the captain commands them to go, they obey. The well-being of the unit and the outcome of the war depends on each soldier acting upon their leader’s every command. So it with believers following Jesus. He sees the complete battle. He knows the tactics of the enemy. You know what Jesus commands you must do, for your own welfare, for the good of the unit and for the whole battle. How can you possibly do your part? It is by His Spirit in you, by the Word and through the instruction of fellow Christians. That is how you submit your life to Jesus in the chaos of life’s battles.

An athlete has a coach who demands his athlete eat right, sleep enough and train hard. The coach can seem harsh and unyielding, but he knows the only way to get the best performance out of the athlete is to push where the athlete is lazy and to go easy where the athlete might be hurt. The coach knows the power of restorative rest after a hard work-out. Jesus is such a coach. He knows what it takes so that those who follow Him do not give up, burn out, or for lack of training miss out on the prize, which is the crown of life.

Think of the illustration of the farmer. There is a huge amount of patience needed in the life of a farmer. He plants the crops, and it takes months of weeding, months of scaring off the animals that would eat the tender plants before there is the benefit of harvesting the crop. It can seem so long, but the patient farmer knows the cycle of the seasons and has a history with the faithfulness of God. He persists in doing all that is necessary so that the fields bring forth their produce.
The believer who ponders these illustrations, gains better insight into the work of Jesus Who leads His people in triumphal procession, presenting believers unblemished before the Father. It is hard work. There is nothing like it in all the world—submitting oneself to Jesus, daily yielding yourself to Him, with the full expectation He will guide you to overcome in the battle, He will coach you and at he proper time award you the crown of life, He will give you the produce of the rich harvest at the banquet of life in eternity.

Beloved in the Lord, do not give up. Press on and know God our Father has appointed Jesus to direct you and gives you the Holy Spirit so that in all things you can overcome.

Father in heaven, thank You for Jesus Christ—the Captain of Salvation, the Coach extraordinaire and Crop-blesser. I confess how often I want to run from the battle or make excuses to get out of hard-training and I have oh-so-little patience to do the work necessary over the long-haul so that a harvest of blessing will be reaped. Spirit of God, bless me so that today I will turn from wrong and make every effort to please Him Who enlisted me in His holy service. Father, the promise of the Bible is when you start a good work in us, You will see it to completion—how I need that assurance today. Amen.

https://youtu.be/tstRfOGGgpQ?si=iUZ6gQylw8W-v2AZ Lead On, O King Eternal
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 4, 2024 -- Psalm 119:66-67 -- To what or whom are you submitting your life?

Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments.
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
Psalm 119:66-67 ESV
 
After a sinner has admitted he is powerless against sin and then acknowledged God alone is the source of all power Who restores him on his journey to freedom from addiction and life-controlling sin, the next, critical step, is submitting one’s life to the care of God. Ah, this step is a doozie.
 
Consider the way in which worldly people talk today. When you say something that expresses your belief, the response might be, “I respect you for following your truth”. What a load of hooey! There is Truth. Capital “T” Truth because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). Prior to submitting myself to Jesus, the Truth, I was tossed this way and that way, by all the competing claims of the world. So were you. Or perhaps so are you right now. Tossed and turning like a ragdoll in the undertow of the world’s waves and endless parade of new fashions overtaking old ones.
 
Whatever the world, or your peer group, or even your own misguided, undirected mind tells you is important, you want to rush out to buy, or do, or say, or wear. If you do not submit your life to the care of God and constantly seeking His guidance, you are a ping-pong ball batted back and forth by every whim of what the world calls important today, or tells you is good (even though common sense says it is completely idiotic) or what the world is trying to parade as true for today. It is exhausting. It was what got you into the hot messes of sin that you always go back to.
 
If you think about it, really pause and go deep, notice how often you have impulses to do something. You are about to buy something; you realize it is based on a commercial you saw. You want the latest phone, which you can’t afford, because you’re still paying for last year’s latest phone, but, sigh, people around you have it. You see friends casually making out and know they are doing things you shouldn’t speak of, and they shrug it all off and say they’ve done nothing wrong. You wonder, maybe this making out thing isn’t as bad as the preacher, or the Bible, or your parents say it is…But then, your parents may have told you the importance to telling the truth, when to the added confusion of your mind, they lie about your age to get you cheap seats on the amusement ride. You begin to realize that so much of what guides your decision-making comes from flawed sources, compromised experiences, and out-right lies.
 
The Psalmist knew the intentions of his heart and the seemingly-out-of-nowhere impulses of his mind were topsy-turvy. He didn’t trust himself to know the truth. In his prayer he asks God, “teach me good judgment and knowledge”. Whatever the world offers is tainted by the Devil, who is the father of lies, who constantly teaching worldly people to speak his language. If you want to become a native speaker of all that is good and right and honourable—so breaking the pattern of self-governance and selfish addictive behavior—you must submit your mind, your core beliefs and your actions to God.
 
Why is this bit about “affliction” included in today’s passage? To be perfectly honest, most of you (and if I am perfectly honest, I have to include myself in this) will stubbornly try doing things your own way. Even if that way has been unsuccessful 100 times out of 100. Any miniscule, fleeing sign of half-success, you’ll latch onto and launch yourself headlong back into ruin. The LORD uses the consequences of your bad actions, He uses disciplines, He uses suffering to grab hold of your attention and then teach you wisdom in the secret heart. The Father in heaven is endlessly patient. Loving beyond measure. Committed to your growth in holiness in the way of Truth, because He has drawn you to Himself through Jesus Christ, Who is your Rescue-Story, Your Redeemer, and in Him you bring glory to the Father.
 
Father in heaven, there are competing messages, all kinds of conflicting versions of what is true and important, but today, teach me wisdom in the secret heart. By Your Spirit, apply the Word and plant it deep in me so that I will daily, become more fully submitted to You through its guidance. What I am praying is teach me to know Him Who is Truth, and humble me to submit myself to Him, and from that place of submission live out the Truth of Jesus in every area of my life. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/aH1Wn4fTiBs?si=askVaIJy_O1CIm7u “Speak O Lord”
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 2, 2024 -- Ephesians 5:15-18 -- Be filled with the Holy Spirit

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…
Ephesians 5:15-18 ESV
 
My time. Free time. Down time. You know all the expressions. The point of the passage is that all time is God’s time. He oversees it all and those who know Him, choose to follow Him every moment of the day. I don’t know about you, but that is one tall order. I am not sure how to accomplish that! Look how the passage helps steer your life.
 
First, on your own, you are unwise. Every time there is a choice between doing good in service to God, for fulfilling your own desires, guess what, you are likely to put God in the back seat of your life. We are, by nature, unwise, sin-filled and without God’s restraining hand, we are plotting a course towards evil.
 
Second, the days are evil. Think about something like Halloween. It is just kids play, right? Hmm. Probably not. You are playfully introducing your children to the world of witches and demons and play-acting. It is an invitation to make evil and all that is demonic seem inviting and fun. Basically harmless? No way! Then look at how evil is celebrated in the world in other, obvious ways. Infants are killed in the womb, and it is celebrated as a mother’s choice. Her body. her choice as the incoherent logic of our world. It completely ignores that fact that men and women are made in the image of God, therefore, their body and their children belong to Him!
 
Third, believers can be filled so full of the things of the world, that they are oblivious to the commandments of God. Such bloatedness makes them too lazy to do what God commands. They welcome the opportunities to ingest the things of the world, but then are too full to drink deeply from the well of salvation. The will of the Lord, as it is clearly expressed in the Bible. It is the pathway of life. It is life and salvation and ultimately true joy. However, many believers compromise it, so that the clear commands of God are softened, changed, in places ignored, exchanged so that believers can live a more comfortable Christian life in the world which hates God. Christians seek to live sort of in obedience to God, a manufactured obedience that suits them, rather than conforming themselves the will of our God.
 
The passage is clear, believers are not to be intoxicated by wine or beer. Nor are their lives to be filled with other things that will crowd God out. Binge watching TV. Shopping to excess. Gambling. Video gaming. Board gaming. Partying. Endless eating out. Notice that there are a few things in that list which are okay in moderation, in appropriate small doses, but clearly are wrong when they take over one’s life. Sin does that. The Devil is always trying to hook you in and take more and more of your time, your thought life, your attention and if possible, draw you away from God.
 
Fourth, excess of anything is debauchery. That is a loaded word. Simply, when you are getting tanked up with anything other than God, you are acting in “unsavedness”. That is what debauchery means, unsavedness, excess, wastefulness. Debauchery is taking the precious gifts that are yours in Jesus Christ—forgiveness, the demonstration of the Father’s love, walking in newness of life, joy, and stomping on these. Saying, God, you’re not good enough for me.
Finally, be filled with the Spirit. Ah, dear brother and sister in Christ, the Spirit’s role is to lead you back to Jesus. Jesus, Who is praying for you by presenting His wounds to the Father and saying, Father, as You decreed from before the beginning of time, so now act in mercy and love, apply My righteousness to this sinner seeking You so that he knows himself to be Your son. Father, draw this wayward daughter back to yourself, based on Your decree of love which is founded on My life poured out for her.
 
Being filled with the Spirit is prayerfully asking for help when confronted with hard choices or temptations. Being filled with the Spirit is leaning on Christian friends to help you when times are tough. Being filled with the Spirit taking time to read the Bible and meditate on it. What does it mean for me? For the people of God collectively? Being filled with the Spirit is an invitation to deeper, richer life with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
 
God You are the source of all Power in my life. I confess how much I just want to do what I want to do, with no reference to You or Your plans and purposes for my life. Time after time I see the mess I make of my life, and I still wind up in the same, dumb and broken places I was before. Thank You that You are patient. You are near. You are the Faithful Father Who delights to forgive His people to the great glory of Jesus Christ, and You, Almighty God are the restorer of the broken hearted, who, by Your Spirit, are led onward on the great journey of salvation. Blessed be Your Name.
 
https://youtu.be/2CJT-6nsl8c?si=0n_5NQzriPTRxEg_ Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God
 

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

November 1, 2024 -- Psalm 16:1-2 -- Who is your truest friend?

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
   in whom is all my delight.
Psalm 16:1-2 ESV

One of the strangest, most disorienting experiences of having moved from Ingersoll, ON to Moncton NB is the loss of deep friendship. While Carolyn and I lived in Ontario, we had a ready supply of good friends, church friends and deep friends. Deep friends are the ones on whom we could call at any hour of day or night and know they’d answer and care for us. Or, whenever they called us, we were ready to help in any way that was needed. Now, when a church service is done, many people speak with us, and are nice to us, but rarely, very rarely, do we ever receive a post-church dinner invitation. There are no “spontaneous friends” here, who will call and say, “I’m coming over”. Or who are ringing the doorbell, unannounced. To be fair, God has preserved some wonderful friendships in Ontario. Whenever we visit, we know we have an open invitation. Blessed be the Name of God, our strength and song!

Why mention this? Consider this Psalm. King David noted that first and foremost God is his refuge and his LORD. A refuge is a place you run to when troubles surround you. A safe place when enemies are attacking. You feel surrounded and hope is at a low ebb a refuge is a place where you can be restored and refreshed. God is the LORD—a tower of strength and the sole source of salvation. He coordinates all things so that His people will be built up in this precious faith.

Now, notice what he writes about fellow believers. They are the saints in the land, in whom is all his delight. Fellow believers experience God as the strength of their lives, the Captain of Salvation Who guards the soul and equips His people with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Fellow believers prop one another up in the way of God. Fellow believers are part of God's salvation plan. They interfere with your plans when you are bent on evil. They celebrate victories. They cry in the dust with you when it seems everything has crumbled to the ground.

When we have admitted our belief that God is the source of all power and that He is restoring me on my journey away from the chains of sin and the siren songs of temptation, it is important to know who He has placed in your life. Fellow Christians are the people who stand with you when your strength has failed. Fellow Christians help pick you up when you all others would mock. Deep Christian friends are those whose love for God is an inspiration. The saints, in whom is all your delight, will not abandon when you are in the mud of former sins. They are the iron sharpening iron, calling you back to faithfulness. They are the ones, crying with you, holding on to the hem of Jesus’s robe, asking Him for mercy and the much-needed fortitude to get up and start traveling forward again on the journey of salvation.

Over the last number of months Carolyn and I realize that God has broken our circle of close friends and disrupted our readily available supply of invitations so that our hearts and home can be open to the people He is placing in our life. Since moving to Moncton, and starting all over finding friends, we have found we have time for people who are new Christians. We have a hunger for socializing and there are post-incarcerated Christians who are starved for true friendships, with whom they can walk knowing they have also been and are being restored on their journey to freedom in Jesus. Our lives have been immeasurably enriched. Thanks be to God for the faithful friends who stay in touch. Thanks be to God for the new friends He has gifted to us.

God, my Father, Who is kind and patient like You? There is no one and nothing else in all creation that is like You! Thank You for the new life You give me in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the Spirit You have sent to live with me, guaranteeing the salvation of Jesus Christ will be perfected in me. Blessed God, thank You for the deep friends You have given who stand with me even when every one else runs away. Thank You for new friends whose friendship is delight as together we walk in the light of Your salvation, journeying to freedom from sin and life-controlling issues. Amen.

https://youtu.be/R8mLTdQQXg4?si=Tu6YHmkHCGKn9jU6 Shane and Shane Psalm 16 (Fullness of Joy)

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 29, 2024 -- Matthew 6:7 -- Power to change your life

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,
for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Matthew 6:7 ESV

All the power Christians need for their walk with God is supplied by God Himself. Jesus invites His followers “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7 ESV). So, how should we ask God for the help we need so that we will be restored on our journey to freedom from addiction and life-controlling issues?

• Ask, knowing He can help you. Remember the first step of the twelve, we admit we are powerless and the second step is to confess God is the source of all power.

• The passage today reminds us that we don’t need a certain formula, no exact phrasing of words as if by the precision of our words we manipulate God to doing our bidding. He is willing, loving, and able to change us from the inside out. Ask with simple words, naming your need.

• Ask Him persistently. In Luke 18 Jesus taught His followers to pray persistently and not to lose hope as they pray. Even in the asking His Spirit refines people so that they are conformed more and more to the will of God.

• Ask trusting Him that He will more willing to give than we are even willing to ask. Jesus noted that if earthly fathers and mothers know how to give their children good gifts, how much more, infinitely more, does their Father in heaven know how to give good gifts to His children!

The text today speaks of Gentiles, that is, people who are not Jewish. In the Old Testament, before Jesus walked this earth, God primarily worked through the Jewish people. They were to be a light to the nations shining the love of God. Now, through Jesus, people from all over the world are light-bearers shining the love of God to all who walk in darkness. Pray for opportunities to tell others about the recovery God is giving you. You'll be amazed to discover as you share God's healing power in your life, others will be drawn to Jesus, and Jesus's healing work in your own life will be confirmed.

God thank You for the new life You are giving me. Life in Jesus's power that proves to me there is freedom from the addictions and sinful patterns of my past. I admit how strong temptations are in my life. Be stronger still so that I won’t fall into old sins and bad patterns of behavior. Spirit lead me to greater freedom through the rising-from-the-dead power of Jesus, the Captain of Salvation. Amen.

https://youtu.be/PLpB-dE2DHM?si=ThZtcfyZxSCR_OJ1 Lead Me, Guide Me

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 28, 2024 -- Galatians 6:1 -- Staying on course and helping others to do so

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Galatians 6:1 ESV

Our life in Christ is one of growing sanctification. When the Spirit of God gets our attention, drawing us out of the cyclone of temptation, indulgence and sinful activity which characterized our former way of life, our whole life’s direction is changed. We are taken from the highway to hell (as one of the world’s songs so aptly states it) and set on the path of eternal life. Our spiritual GPS is tuned by the Spirit and informed by the Word of God. Fellow Christians assist us in letting us know what hazards might be blocking the road. With wisdom gained by experience and persistence  learned from their own trial and errors they will also urge us against taking detours into old habits.

When you are caught in sin your conscience is already seared by the Spirit and your God-directed sense of shame will be on high alert. You will need to be approached as a wounded animal, one who is hurt but still ready to strike out. That is why Paul tells the Galatians, who received this letter, to restore the wandering brother or sister in a spirit of gentleness. Not proud. Not harshly. Not show-boating your own spirituality and progress. No. But keenly aware of your own inclination to sin and waywardness, tenderly seek to win your brother back to the way of truth and obedience to Jesus. Remembering that Jesus Himself described Himself this way, “for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). What a powerful description. No wonder Christians, filled with shame and angry at themselves for taking a detour back into old sins, are able to turn to Jesus. For He welcomes them. Tenderly corrects them. Gently restores them. Helps them in their path of reconciliation with the Father and the people of God.

The wily old Devil has been in the business of deceiving believers for a long, long time. It will be just a short, slight adjustment in your own journey with Jesus to walk a little ways with a brother or sister caught in sin. Soon you will find yourself getting caught up in the very sins from which you are trying to help your fellow believer extricate himself. You'll be on an unfamiliar road that looks suspiciously like your old ways.

Yet God is merciful. He directed His servant Paul to write this warning to the Galatians, and to all subsequent generations of believers, so that warned they would be better sensitized to the enemy's wiles and temptations disguised as harmless sidetracks. Dear fellow believers, stay alert so that you and your family, and your brothers and sisters in Christ, will faithfully travel on the road of salvation, keeping true to Jesus, follow Him, Who is the Captain of Salvation.

“Father, what we do not know, teach us;
What we have not; give us,
What we are not, kindly make us
For Your Son's sake. Amen.”
~Old Anglican Prayer

https://youtu.be/eXp6XXBPiCg?si=W_wXYGqvXXHpFqQf Soldiers of Christ, Arise

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 26, 2024 -- Psalm 18:1-3 -- Testify!

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in Whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:1-3 ESV

Last night Redemption Prison Ministry held its Annual Fall Banquet in Jordon, Ontario. One of the men, Wade, who now hails from Moncton, gave his testimony. How the Lord took him from addiction and life-controlling issues and brought him to fullness of life in Christ. When believers share their testimony with other believers, the family of God is built up and encouraged. Certainly, that happened last night. On the way home from the dinner, my son, Adrian called me, to say how the testimony he heard from Wade, and the conversation with Travis, and the report Pastor Mitch gave had a huge impact. He said it reinvigorated his enthusiasm in his walk with God.

That is the blessing of sharing our faith journey. In this Psalm David speaks to God telling Him of all the Lord has done for him. Such a testimony confirms the goodness of God’s work in his life. Speaking of God’s goodness guards our hearts and minds from evil temptations. Declaring what God has done encourages other believers in our precious faith so that together we are strengthened to stand against former sins and the onslaught of unwelcome, renewed temptations. Psalm 18, as with all the Psalms, is a prayer to God. Such a prayer recounting what God has done, leads His people to praise Him and declare His goodness.

If you keep on reading this Psalm, you’ll see the variety of ways which David declares the salvation of God. It is personal. It is creation-wide. It is His salvation, taking Israel out of Egypt. The salvation of God is communal. Strange how many modern day Christians are so self-focused that their interactions with other Christians is neglected. When I was in High School, okay, about forty years ago, a common expression was “faith is personal, not private”. The point being, one’s deep faith is meant to be expressed and shared. Folks who have never considered God or His saving work in Jesus, are drawn to Him by the testimony of other believers.

Sometimes Christians grow stale in their walk with God. Reading the Bible is okay. Going to church is a common habit. When believers specifically share what God is doing in their lives, others are sparked again in our precious faith. Be prepared, wherever you are, to tell others about what God is doing in your life. You’ll notice the praises start and your heart is warmed with renewed joy in the Lord.

For these things I praise You, O LORD. In my heart and among your people I will sing to Your Name. Your great salvation has been revealed through Jesus, Your beloved Son, our King. You show Your steadfast love to Your people forever and ever. Spirit of the Living God, make us so brimmingly aware of God’s salvation story in our lives such that we are readily prepared to tell others of Your great love and salvation. Amen.

https://youtu.be/9sE5kEnitqE?si=MrDjAlH3yGoLk3lA “Goodness of God”

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 25, 2024 -- John 1:29 -- Truly taking a second, penetrating, look toword Jesus

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29 ESV

What a statement for Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist, to make. John was the forerunner of Jesus. He was preparing the people for the message Jesus brings. Notice the weight of what John told them, and by way of the Spirit’s preservation of Scripture, what his words continue to teach today.

Look to Jesus. That is what behold means. That words calls on the listener to focus his or her attention on what is coming next. It is important, significant. John called on people then and now to look to Jesus—really consider Who He Is. Look away from your sin. Look away from your practices of evil. Look away from what is not-sinful, turn from what is merely okay, and truly consider Jesus, in Whom is all perfection. In view of Who He is, our need for Him becomes so clear. 

He is the Lamb of God. All the Old Testament is now drawn together into the focal point of Jesus. All the rivers of blood, sacrifices of lambs and goats, bulls and oxen, are now ended. There is one, final, perfect sacrifice, the One upon Whom all sins are punished. The wrath of God is turned aside. That is powerfully comforting, that is the Good News of the Bible. No other sacrifice will do. No other power can erase your sins.

He takes away your sin. This is a comforting sentiment, but it is mere mushy emotionalism if you do not realize that Jesus’s atoning work heals people who are in community with Him as well. You can not claim Christ as my-chain-breaker, Who has carried away my sins, and then turn around and have an unforgiving heart towards others. Jesus works in and through and among community. If you are harboring unforgiveness in your heart, then you have not beheld Him, Who takes away the sin of the world. You are instead beholding your own interests and your own selfishness. You have made yourself a small, puny, tyrannical god.

The evidence of Jesus’s soul saving work is the fruit it brings in your life. When you know, in the very bowels of your being know, that you are forgiven, then you have such a light-heartedness, such exuberance that you are compelled to share His goodness with your best friend and your worst enemy. It is costly forgiveness. Jesus shed His blood on the cross, it was only by His nail pierced hands and feet, and sword-wounded body, taking away the sin of the world, that is your confident basis for faith that you are forgiven in Him.

When you forgiven, you are digging deep into the wounds of Christ. Forgiveness you offer to another comes from the inexhaustible storehouse of Jesus’s treasures of mercy, love, forgiveness, keeping no record of wrongs against you. You, who expect to be forgiven, forgive. It is the evidence that you have truly been forgiven. And you will find a peace that passes understanding as you have canceled the record of wrongs others have committed against you, you realize at a deeper, more intimate level of your own life, the debts of wrong and the graphic sins which in Christ have been forgiven you.

Father in heaven, by Your Spirit’s life-bringing work within us, empower us so that I lift our eyes from our selfishness and haughty-self-focused inclinations and truly with the eyes of faith behold Jesus. As Your people we ask You to help us to forgive as fully as we ourselves have been fully forgiven in Jesus’s Name. Amen.

https://youtu.be/OqG_iQwqEOE?si=MgTfegTkk4kPeyH5 Forgive our Sing As We Forgive

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 22, 2024 -- John 16:33 -- Facing the inevitable troubles

 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 ESV

Funny thing is, when I memorized this verse (so many decades ago) I used the NIV translation. The second sentence uses the world “trouble” where the translation quoted today has “tribulation”. The original word means “pressing together”, or pressure. It can mean dire distress, struggles and oppression. The point is, Jesus was telling His followers as much as the world hated Him, equally the world will hate those who follow Him. He spoke the truth, people hated hearing it. He revealed the false hopes of the people and they became enraged against Him. For example, the religious leaders figured if they did good works, then God would be pleased with them. The problem is, no one can be sustained in good works. Even the slightest misstep into sin will render all your good works null and void. This is how high and great and perfect is the holiness of God Who is called a Consuming Fire. His perfections are so great anything even slightly less than perfect will be burned up. The religious leaders simply did not believe Jesus and in their pride put Him (their hope of salvation) to death. 

Why mention this? It is pretty discouraging. The point is, Jesus lived out absolute perfection from the moment of His conception until His death. No word, no thought, nor any single deed was ever contrary to the will of God. Earlier in this chapter He promised His disciples that He is going to the Father—He would be betrayed, falsely accused, tried in a court that was stacked against Him, killed by the very people He came to save—and He never even thought a wicked or bad thought against anyone. He prayed, even as He was dying on the cross, crying out, “Father, forgive them”. His perfection is credited to you, who believe in Him. We are saved by good works. But those good works are yours, they are the good works, the life-long perfections of Jesus, credited to you, as He died for the sinful, wickedness of all your trespasses against God.

Now, when you know this to be true, you will face hard times. Your old patterns of sin will want to rise up and rebel. You are more familiar with bad patterns of behaviour and life-controlling issues, like lust, or anger, gossip, or complaining. So, you retreat back to those, rather than trying to stay true to God. Jesus warned His disciples. You are going to struggle. But I have said this so that you will have peace, your old sins are no match for My goodness and My perfections which I bring into the presence of the Father. Do you understand the implications of this?! You and I will be declared clean and perfect based on Jesus’s perfections. Every time you fall back into sin, confess it. Trust that Jesus has overcome the world and you are gifted with the blessing of going ahead in life wearing victory of Jesus’s perfection.

The world will sneer. Hate you. Snarl against what they wrongly perceive as your smugness and self-satisfaction. They can’t understand that it is with humble awe and thanks you are made alive with Jesus and by His Spirit’s presence in you are able to stand against all the allurements of the world and to withstand the onslaught of pressures people of the world put on you, demanding you conform to their ways. Jesus already, two-thousand years ago, foretold that such pressures and troubles would push up against you because you believe in Him. Remember, He is stronger than the world. He faced all the world’s strongest powers and penalties and kept true to His Father. That is the kind of perfection that is applied to you when you believe in Jesus. As often as you fail, remember, that is precisely the reason He came to the earth, to lift you from your failures, your sins, and all your wrong-doing and bring you, as one declared not-guilty by reason of the fact all the punishment you deserved was put on Jesus. He will bring you to the Father, as one who is not guilty, and by who by the work of the Spirit  was being in real time, each day, conformed, molded to be more like Jesus.

Father in heaven, I feel like a nearly potty-trained toddler, ripe and smelly aware of my great need to have my diaper changed. Embarrassed and so aware that I messed up again. Thank You for the accomplished work of Jesus. Thank You that as often as is needed, daily, or hourly, or minute by minute, You will apply the perfections of Jesus to me. By Your Spirit living in me, help me to be so united with Jesus that all my sins, hidden and public, will be defeated, overcome by the goodness of Jesus. Lead me, Spirit of God, so that I will desire to follow Jesus, even when I face troubles in this world. Please, give to me the peace that this passage speaks of. I ask it, based on the fact that Jesus promised it for all who believe. Amen.

https://youtu.be/1yBzIt_z8oY?si=KIHViq3T0Q6zy_vC Nobody

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 21, 2024 -- Proverbs 21:21 -- The Blessings God our Father confers on all who pursue Him

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness,
will find life, righteousness, and honor.
Proverbs 21:21 ESV

Earlier in this same chapter of Proverbs the LORD is described as “the Righteous One”; that is a helpful backdrop to understanding the proverb before us today. Whoever pursues—that is, to follow with the intention of making His righteousness your desire and goal—is committed to running farther and farther away from his own past wicked ways and thoughts. At the start of this chapter in Proverbs there is a line which is reminiscent of Judges “every way of a man is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). Now the quotation from Judges “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25b ESV). What is the significance of this? A man can’t tell right from wrong. Right and wrong are given as a gift of discernment by the Spirit of the LORD Who lives in him. If that intrigues you, know that the Spirit is nudging you. Listen.

Ultimately, to pursue righteousness, is to deny oneself and decisively putting to death one’s former desires and false ideals of what is right and wrong in favour of following Jesus Christ. He alone is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). In fact, no one can approach righteousness, no one can find the Father in heaven unless he knows Jesus Christ.

There are twin virtues which the wise person pursues—righteousness and kindness. The word kindness is a translation of that sumptuous Hebrew word hēsēd, which can be translated into about 100 English words. Words like: lovingkindness, steadfast love, love, mercy, kindness, and so on. It is the key Hebrew word that describes way the LORD our God deals with His people. It is a word so deep and beautiful that language can not capture every sense of it. It is a verbal indication of His perfections beyond comprehension and description. In eternity we will marvel at the majestic love and covenant-faithfulness of our God and still not come to the end of all He Is.

Now look at the result of pursuing righteousness and kindness—He blesses those who pursue Him beyond their expectation. He gives life. That is as Jesus describes it ‘everlasting life’, beginning here on earth with a richness and fulness that the result of being joined to Jesus Who is the source of life. He gives life that even death will not defeat. The promise is those who are joined to Jesus by baptism will with Him rise from death to newness of life. Eternity begins now for those who pursue Jesus.

The “Righteous One” will award those who follow after Him with greater righteousness than they can achieve on their own. In fact, the bible describes all our own feeble efforts of righteousness enacted without reference to Him as unclean, foul as a used menstrual rag. (Isaiah 64:6 states the uncleanness of people that graphically; so gross that editors inappropriately clean up the language there.) The righteousness (right living according to all the commands of God) of Jesus Christ will be applied to the believer and the believer’s sinfulness, uncleanness, and all his inclinations to waywardness have been punished on the Person of Jesus at the cross. Therefore believers have now, through Jesus Christ, a righteousness beyond anything they could ever have hoped to achieve. They are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Himself.

Finally, as if this is not enough, God the Faithful Father, heaps on His people honor. The word can also be translated as “glory”. The glory that is God’s will be somehow given in some measure to His people. In John 17 Jesus prayed to the Father that His followers would be given glory—the glory that belongs to Jesus will be given to His pursuers. What a concept that is. Such glory consists in knowing Jesus. Belonging to the Father by way of adoption. Think how the child of a billionaire revels in the worldly position such wealth confers. Now, multiply that endlessly and contemplate what it is to be the beloved son or daughter of the Righteous One Who made all the cosmos. Our Good and Gracious Father owns everything. Glory is having the Spirit of God living in you so that all the divine blessings of belonging to God are given to you and you are enabled to walk in life and godliness. In fact, you are strengthened to go ever deeper into this new life and find the boundless exuberance of belonging to Jesus and having His righteousness.

God, the Righteous One, we confess how easily we are tangled in the cares of life and distracted by our own inflated sense of self so that we do not even give a thought to Your righteousness and perfections. We confess we chase after love here and there and only find rejection. It is a lofty thing to run to You looking to find Your righteousness and endless love. Ah, Spirit of God, hold us near the spout
where the righteousness and love of God pour out
and the Kingdom of Jesus is being expanded out.
Amen.

https://youtu.be/2gSugruC1jQ?si=-JaJsIaLhlOpobG_ Good Good Father

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 20, 2024 -- I Thessalonians 5:15-19 -- How to plug into God, the Source of All Power for your life

See to it that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.
I Thessalonians 5:15-19 ESV

As believers who are “born from above” or “born again” it is striking that everything about us has changed. Our will is now submitted to Jesus. Our thoughts are being checked at the gateway of the mind before they hit the lips and cause offense. There is an intentionality in our words and deeds that was not part of our old nature.

As those who are “in Jesus”, that is belonging to Him and seeking to follow Him in every part of the day and night, we realize the ability to talk to God and live at peace with others can only be achieved if God is actively helping us. This too is part of the journey towards greater maturity in our new life in Christ. Step 2 is “I admit my belief that God, the source of all power, restores me on my journey to freedom from addictions and life-controlling issues.” (Overcomers, Step 2, page vii).

The old nature would be to repay evil for evil—and to apply greater force in retaliation so that the other person will think twice about hurting you. However, our life-controlling issue of anger has been submitted to the authority of God and by His Spirit He is helping you to return good for evil. This takes prayer. It takes a dedicated effort to talk with God and bring all complaints to Him, not taking matters into your own hands. That is prayer.

By the way, did you catch Paul (the writer of this letter) his emphasis on doing good to one another and to everyone. Believers get into verbal spats and tussles and misunderstandings. The Devil likes nothing better than for believers to get into scraps with one another so that their testimony about being followers of Jesus and therefore being different from the world is rendered to be without any merit or credibility. This is how God is the source of all power. Believers step back, before speaking, and examine their thoughts and the actions they are about to take before the throne of God’s grace and mercy  Then Christians also intentionally return good for evil in their dealings with non-Christians as well. I suppose this makes sense, we can't expect non-Christians to live according to the high standards we have in Christ. So, a non-Christian by definition a follower of the Devil and inclined to evil, needs to see how a believer overcomes evil with good. In view of Jesus’s life which was poured out for us so that we would not be acting in old, sinful patterns, we ask the Spirit to renew our minds and change the way we live and speak among ourselves and in our dealings with everyone.

Rejoicing always. This is a matter for prayer also—talking to God and noticing all the good things He has given and is giving you: new life. Salvation. Opportunities to show others the change that has taken place in you. The gift of seasons. You see God is the source of all power in your life because you take formal times to speak with Him, and spontaneously, through-out the day, you notice His goodness, His kindness, and His wondrous creation and you can’t help but tell Him how good He really is. So, you plug into God, the source of all power, at different times during the day, as your mind delights in Him and you tell Him He is good. This rejoicing in Him deepens your connection to Him. Binds you closer to Him. Throws down the influences of evil and rips up the well-worn paths of old disobedience as you chart a new course of joy in knowing God.

Perhaps now you understand “pray without ceasing” a bit better. It is both formal times of prayer, like morning Bible reading and prayer times, or prayer at meals thanking God for the food, as well as spontaneous times of telling God how amazing He really is. That is magnifying God—He is great. But when you tell Him, you are making His Name great in your own life, so that You see Him to be bigger than your worst problem, stronger than your worst fear, more persistent than your most agonizing life-controlling problem.

Giving thanks is all too easily confined to the second Monday of October. This brief passage commands the believer to keep adding to the list of thanksgiving each day, every single day that ends with a “y”. (Catch that?) why not give thanks and keep a list. One month later you’ll be awestruck by all the long list of reasons you have to thank the Lord.

Quenching the Spirit is resisting these impulses He gives you to speak with God. Quenching (or stifling) the Spirit means intentionally turning away from acting according to the new life you have in Jesus and not plugging into God, the source of all power. How do you stop stifling the Spirit’s work in you? Confess that you have been. Ask for help to hear the Spirit’s prompts in your conscience. Go to church and listen to sermons, instructing you how to live more fully for Jesus. Find Christian friends you respect and work on being accountable so that together your will grow up in the confident faith lived out that God really is the only source of all power in your life.

God, thank You for opening this conversation between Yourself and Your people through Jesus. Thank You for the Spirit Whom You’ve put in my life. Help me to listen to the Spirit, to get sensitive to the Spirit’s nudges and prompts, so that I will stay plugged into You, the Source of everything good in my life. Amen.

https://youtu.be/DXDGE_lRI0E?si=XMsMlnxO0VHWXyJz 10,000 Reasons

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 18, 2024 -- Matthew 4:17 -- Repentance, understanding what it is

 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 ESV

For the Christian life is a journey towards Jesus. That means, by the power of the Holy Spirit living within you, heading away from former sins and old habits and intentionally directing one’s thoughts, life, and actions to greater conformity with the will of our Father in heaven. I don’t know about you, but I fail. A lot. I am angry at things that should not trouble me (don’t even talk to me about people in Costco who block the aisles so that they can catch up with long stories!) exposing my own ego and my not-so-hidden-and-ungracious belief that I am more important than I am. Or, instead of forgiving and forgetting, I rehearse the wrongs (real or imagined) that others have committed against me.

Step 2 of the Overcomers material (that is the Christian 12-Step material upon which I am basing this series of devotions) has adherents state: “I admit my belief that God, the source of all power, restores me on my journey to freedom from addictions and life-controlling issues”. To turn to God means to turn away from sin and the life-controlling issues which had a choke-hold on you. Overcomers defines repentance this way: “to name your specific sin to God and ask for forgiveness. The actions that come after repentance need to include a change in behavior” (Overcomers, page 32).

Face it, addictions and life-controlling issues are evidence that people are not basically good. God created the heavens and the earth, and every single nanoparticle was good. He created Adam and Eve. At creation they were completely without sin. When they rebelled against God, they exchanged their state of created goodness for a nature that is rebellious against God. This is what believers fight against, that rebellious nature. It is called the sin nature.

Believers are a new creation in Jesus Christ. Aware that their former sins, to which they are often still drawn, must be fought. By the grace of God and the presence of His Spirit living in the heart of every Christian, there are victories. And, interestingly, when one area has been conquered and brought into submission to the Lord, there are often newly recognized patterns of behavior and thought that need to be brought into submission to God.

Elsewhere in the New Testament there is the command “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:2 ESV. This journey is one of transformation. The path of our new life in Christ (remember, those who belong to Jesus are “born again” so all that we are living and experiencing is like growing up from infancy in His goodness to crawling and toddling and walking) is one of constant growth and maturation. As long as we live, there is much to learn, to delight in. The promise is that this new life in Jesus, though one of regular, daily repentance, is also one of delight and wonder and discovery.

God, Source of All Power, I confess to You specifically my specific sins and admit to You generally my general sins. Generally I am lax in my attitude towards fighting those addictive patterns and life-controlling issues. Specifically, I admit to these sins (here, you can name them). Help me to hate them more and more. By Your Spirit’s power within me, assist me on the journey to complete freedom from the strangle-hold of sin. Blessed Jesus, thank You that by Your substitutionary death on the cross and Your resurrection, You have turned aside God’s anger and have given me peace with God. Help me so that daily I will deny myself, resisting all the sinful allurements that will parade themselves before me. Teach me, Spirit of God, to walk more confidently and steadily towards Jesus, in Whom is all freedom and fullness of life. Amen.

https://youtu.be/4dh02OnJpIE?si=Hv6EhU_sK454XmLT “Trust and Obey”

Copyright © 2024 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

October 16, 2024 -- Luke 9:57-62 -- Joyfully Following Jesus

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:57-62 ESV

Jesus was a peripatetic teacher. Okay, I love that word peripatetic. It means He was an itinerant preacher going from place to place. It was common in Jesus’s day for a philosopher, or great teacher, or preacher, to have disciples leave their families and homes and go with the itinerant master in order to get instructed. This passage shows the reader there was great interest in following Jesus, however, the follow-through was not great. If someone is going to follow Jesus, becoming His disciple, then Jesus becomes the Master and all other worldly concerns must be submitted to His authority.

Have you ever heard of William Whiting Borden (November 1, 1887 - April 9, 1913? He was part of the Borden family that became rich building the Borden milk empire. In 1905 Borden went to Yale. His classmates noted something different about him. He was focused in his spiritual walk. In his journal was an entry that read, “Say ‘no’ to self and ‘yes’ to Jesus every time”. At the start of his first year at Yale, he started a prayer meeting. By the end of his first year about 150 students were meeting regularly for prayer. At the end of his senior year it is said that 1,000 students met regularly for prayer. At that time Yale had 1300 students!

William felt the call to become a missionary. His friends were not supportive. His parents wanted him to go to Yale. He attended Yale, but wrote on the inside cover of his Bible: no reserves. Despite the negative influences he received, he kept his goal of following Jesus. When he graduated Yale, he was pressured to go into the family business. He didn’t. He went to Princeton Seminary. Even though his family objected and preferred he take his place in the family business. He wrote on the inside cover of his Bible “no retreat”.

After graduating Princeton, Borden determined to go to Egypt. He felt led to learn Arabic so that he could teach Chinese Muslims the way to Jesus. One month after starting his studies, he contracted spinal meningitis and died. Many people thought what a waste. He could have accomplished so much at home. However, on the inside cover of his Bible he’d written “no regrets”. What profound and beautiful dedication to Jesus he showed, “no reserves, no retreat, no regrets”. Though his earthly goals may not have been met, his greater goal of saying “yes” to Jesus every time was fulfilled.

To what is Jesus calling you? Where are you providing excuses? Where are you yielding to Him?

Lord Jesus Christ, I confess there are so many distractions pulling me away from whole-hearted allegiance to You and I make many lame excuses which always lead me into trouble of my own making. Spirit, great Gift of the Father and the Son, by Your mighty presence in me, and with Your divine help enable me to constantly submit my own will to Yours, thus empower me to cheerfully follow Jesus with no reserves, no retreat, and no regrets. Amen

https://youtu.be/e8MU9UVd8Yc?si=dlkhMDIJ8UJhqpY9 What God Ordains Is Always Right

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October 15, 2024 -- John 3:1-3 -- As those born again, we are lifted from stumbling

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:1-3 ESV

As those who both know the power of sin and the stronghold that life controlling issues have in our lives, we know God alone has the power to change us. His Spirit supplies the day to day (sometimes minute to minute) will and strength we must have so that we can stand firm against former sins and stay on this journey to Jesus. Nicodemus, one of the religious leaders, steeped in the Old Testament, ought to have known the power of God to give new life. But when Jesus spoke to him of it, the man could not understand it. That is because it is spiritually discerned.

To be born again, or born from above, means that the old nature of sin and the patterns of wickedness are defeated. Rather than trying to rule one’s own life, acknowledging our helplessness and past failure, we turn to Jesus. The Father has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus. Now the battle begins. One of my former pastors used to say, “My old, sinful self was drowned in my baptism but he is a strong swimmer and keeps popping up”. How true. Old sins, thoughts, desires will suddenly appear. The Devil is trying to woo you back with old stinking thinking. Those who are “born again” or “born from above” know these facts.

• We can bring these thoughts and temptations to Jesus, where they will be taken captive and defeated by Jesus Himself (II Corinthians 10:5-6).

• Those who confess Jesus as Lord are not left defenseless. God supplies them with heavy armour to fight the wiles and schemes of the Devil (Ephesians 6:10-20).

• When we fail in our struggles and fail into sin, God has provided the way forward in this journey. It is confession that brings us back to the cleansing work of Jesus (I John 1:7-10).

Find people in your life with whom you can be honest, open, and raw. The fight against the Devil and his allurements, is not easy. It will require all your focus, deliberate attention and even that is not enough. You must find fellow Christians to confess to when you fall. The Proverbs tell us “for the righteousness falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity” (Proverbs 24:16). Note, it is significant that the disciples asked Jesus, do I forgive my brother seven times (as often as a righteous man stumbles)? Jesus is generous beyond human understanding, He forgives and calls on His people to forgive seventy-times-seven. But this is not mere record keeping, as if there is a limit to the goodness of our God! Remember, as often as you forgive your brother or sister, you are clearing the slate, our God Who is love, is not keeping a record of wrongs!

Turn to brothers and sisters who also know the battle against sin and will help you to stand again. Pray. Trust the promises of God that you are born again, born from above, therefore all you need for this new life in Christ will be supplied.

Father in heaven, Who is like You? You are great in compassion, slow to anger, abounding in mercy! Teach us to trust that You Who cause Your people to be born again through the reconciling work of Jesus will also supply to Your children with everything necessary to live for you and to find victory in this journey. Thank You for the powerful presence of Your Holy Spirit in us and among us--the Spirit, Who steadies stumbling feet and lifts those who thrown down so that they can stand once again in vivifying work of Jesus. Amen.

https://youtu.be/S6Odk49ZvD4?si=y6GYXkbXu3bnOI-4 Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah

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October 14, 2024 -- Philippians 4:2-9 -- Thanksgiving

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness[d] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:2-9 ESV

It is so easy to miss the opportunity to give thanks to God. It is a sign of the relentless busyness of the culture that stopping for one day in the week, the day of rest, is virtually unheard of anymore. Now, a day set apart by the government so that believers (and unbelievers as well) learn to give thanks, this day must be seized upon so that gratitude flows from the lips of believers as a fragrant offering to God.

It is so easy to miss the opportunity to give thanks to God because of the petty grievances and misunderstandings that linger among the people of a congregation, as they did among the Philippians.

If perhaps you are struggling to find reasons to give thanks to God, look at your life and relationships. Are you at peace with God and the people whom He has placed in your life? Are you reconciled and prepared to be reconciled in every case of offense? Unresolved relational conflicts will keep believers from offering to God the whole-hearted praise due His glorious Name.

Do you spend time through-out your day meditating on God and blessing Him for all His goodness to you? Whenever you go through your devotions, write out the attributes of God. Consider the list of them, the length of them and His perfections. Doing so will lift you from focusing on the problems of life and instead lead you to Him Who gives you new life.

A passage such as this one from Philippians teaches believers to consider one another as precious in the sight of God. Fellow believers redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and who are so worthy of consideration and mild approach that together the body of Jesus is built up.

Give thanks and praise to God for those in your life who are agents of reconciliation.

Give praise and thanks to God for those whom He has put in the congregation where you attend and placed within the family of God.

Give thanks to God for the riches of this glorious salvation, which assures believers their names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Give thanks to God for personally. Think of all the benefits and rich blessings He has poured out into your life, given to our country, and let thanksgiving fill this day.

ALMIGHTY GOD and heavenly Father, we glorify You that we are once more permitted to enjoy the fulfilment of Your gracious promise, that, while the earth remains, seed-time and harvest shall not fail. Blessed are You, Who has given us to fruits of the earth in their season. Teach us to remember that it is not by bread alone that man lives; but that we may feed on Him Who is the True Bread which comes down from heaven, even Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; to Whom with You, O Father, and You, O Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Thanksgiving for the Harvest. DIVINE SERVICE BOOK FOR THE ARMED FORCES, 1950

https://youtu.be/9c7VaTjyuLA?si=zwkYzraW85V5VtT2 Now Thank We All Our God

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