August 24, 2025 -- Matthew 4:1-11 -- Enduring temptations to the point of victory in Jesus

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Matthew 4:1-11 ESV
 
Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ realize the temptations of Jesus are so foreign precisely because your heart and mind and affections are used to the perversions of the world. The reason believers gather for church is to hear the word of the Lord, to recognize the standard of His glory and to realize how perverseness and compromise have infected all their thinking.

1. Recognize you are trained in compromise, something as simple as “how are you doing?” is not properly answered with “I’m good”. That is a common perversion of speech that is so widespread the correct response is now jarring. The correct response is “I am doing well”. When presented with the word of God, we are presented with a jarring response which goes against the widespread misunderstanding of what is good.

2.  The fact that Jesus withstood the temptations of Devil proves His great power as your Savior. One commentator, preaching on this passage, noted that one marathon famous to Australians goes right past his house. The runners go out by his house and then return near the end of the race past his house once again. He saw one runner who’d run out but was being driven back in a car. He’d been defeated by the race. He succumbed to the temptation to quit. He knew some of the power of temptation, but he didn’t know how bad and how powerful temptation could be, because he yielded before temptation was at its worst. Many Christians fall early into the cycle of temptation. The full might of the tempter and the awful mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional toll of temptation is unknown to them because they have not fully resisted. This makes Jesus your mighty Captain of Salvation. He Who has withstood the onslaught of the evil one to the very end, knows the wiles and schemes, the battle plan and the persistence of the enemy and He resisted Him. Therefore, He is Your shield of faith. Therefore, His is the One Name you can call upon and find salvation. When temptation hits you up, you can cry out to Jesus because He fully understands the weight of it and its undertow threatening to send you into the waves of chaos and shark-infested waters. He is the Rescuer from the present evil-age, sent by the Father to gather to Himself weak and wounded and weary sinners. Do not be ashamed to go to Him. While there is time, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to cry out to Him and find help in your present hour of need.

3. To worship the Lord is, among other things, to give Him

   1. your time. Read the Bible. Pray. Spend time talking with other Christians about what is important. Share with your family members, in your ordinary, daily conversation, the perfections of the LORD.

   2. your money. But it is my hard-earned money. Not so fast. The commitment required of those who belong to the LORD is 10%. Why? Think of how generous He has been to you—your very life and eternity are in His hands. You are now, yes today, adopted as His beloved sons and daughters. People pour out their treasures without thinking about it for themselves. Clothes. Concerts, Games, toys. Your wallet proves your worship.

   3. your praise. Sing to the Lord. Tell others of His greatness. As you tell others about your favorite book or movie or concert, with greater enthusiasm speak to others the wonders and the blessedness of your God.

 
Prayer:
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Prayer is Psalm 19:13-14 ESV
 
https://youtu.be/zmt5VNnrJIM?si=hoOfNnAFtB6K7Ddl I Stand Amazed
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 22, 2025 -- Matthew 6:9-13 -- Decide to submit your will to the care of God as He guides you

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
 
A dear friend of mine has joined me in working through the Overcomers material. Overcomers is a Christian-12-Step recovery program. It is used in Christian drug and alcohol recovery centres and is an effective tool to help men and women find freedom from life controlling issues. Often drugs and alcohol mask other issues, like gambling, anger, violence, hatred, sexual sin, over-eating, laziness. I challenged my friend to join me in the 90-days of Overcomers and dig deeper in our Christian faith. (It is my privilege to teach this material in two prisons and to rejoice as men gain freedom in Jesus and victory over besetting sins). Today, as part of the explanation of Step 2 (which is “I decide to submit my life to the care of God as he guides me”) the commitment is to intentionally and through-out the day, put Jesus in charge of your life.
 
In the explanation of this step, the Overcomers Workbook instructs students:
God did the work of making our freedom possible through Jesus. The Holy Spirit works within us, to strengthen us to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Our job is to listen and submit to God’s commands…Olympians have coaches that help them stay fit, disciplined, and ready to compete. Talent and excitement are rarely enough to produce a winner. The job of the coach is to teach the talented athlete the skills and mentality that they need to win. In the same way, when you choose to make Jesus the Lord of your life, you will be able to fight the battle for recovery AND win the battle because you are listening and learning from the best trainer!”
OVERCOMERS (WORKBOOK), Canadian Bible Society, 2022, page 46
 
Christians must continually submit themselves to Jesus and recommit themselves to Him. Our enemy, the Devil, is organized in his attempts to throw you off course and cause you to sin. The world is hostile to Jesus and exerts both subtle and overt pressures to keep you from walking in close fellowship with God. Your own fleshly desires and past sins can easily reassert themselves and lead you to sin.
 
Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them to pray. Notice that the pattern of Jesus’ prayer. The priority in the life of the Christian is to worship God, first and worship Him only. Sins and diversions in your life result in offering inappropriate worship. For example, you are enraged, that is becoming disproportionately angry, because you are protecting your egos and worship your opinion. Or you are lazy spending time on video games or binge-watching TV when you are called to submit yourselves to Jesus and be active in serving Him.
In the very first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught His followers that the priority of one’s life is to praise and glorify the Father. He is worthy of receiving the sacrifice of your time, your talents, and your treasures. Closely following is the petition that the Father’s will be carried out on earth as it is in heaven. “Thy kingdom come”; that is, rule us so by Thy Word and Spirit, that we may submit ourselves more and more to Thee; preserve and increase Thy church; destroy the works of the devil, and all violence which would exalt itself against Thee” (The Heidelberg Catechism, LORD’S DAY 47, A. 123).
 
Father in heaven, You are worthy of all my time and attention and focus and love. As Jesus taught His followers to pray, so I pray, let Your will be done on earth, in Christ’s body—that is the Church—and Your will be done in my life with the same zeal and joy and glory as it is carried out in heaven by Your holy angels and the saints who are before the throne of Jesus. Spirit, lead me, because the moment I rise from this prayer I know I’ll be assaulted by temptations to swerve from such holy obedience. Such temptations will press against my commitment from within myself and strong temptations will assault me from the world and the Tempter. Thank You, Lord of Glory, for bringing me safe this far, and work out Your salvation in me, so that I will be arrive to those eternal shores where sin, death and the grave are defeated forever and I will, with full-joy, wonder, reverence and freedom worship You in spirit and in truth. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/FSHe-kibZDg?si=ABjoVbQ60935T--S Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord
 

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August 21, 2025 -- Romans 3:9-11 Are you amazed by grace?

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.

Romans 3:9-11 ESV

Paul is writing to the people belonging to Jesus who lived in Rome. Some thought Jews were better off, perhaps less in need of grace, than were non-Jewish people (Greeks or Gentiles). Oh, Paul’s not going to let anyone get away with that kind of thinking. All are people are under God’s wrath, guilty because of their sin.

Dr. M. Kruger, Charlotte RTS, noted there are three ways this text speaks of the pervasiveness of sin. That is total depravity for all who are not “in Christ”. NB: total depravity does not mean people are as sinful as they could be, but that sin infects every area of life.

·       First actions are corrupt; that no one can fulfil God’s righteous demands as they are contained in the Law.  People do not automatically act in ways that are honorable, noble, true or holy. In fact, just the opposite is true.

·       Second, minds are corrupt. No one understands. In fact, without the life-giving, light-giving work of the Holy Spirit, people remain darkened in their sins.

·       Third, the will is corrupt. No one, of their own accord, seeks God. Sure, there are people who claim to be “spiritual”, but all they’re doing is building a spirituality based on their own desires and ego. That has nothing to do with the way of God, the Blessed One, Whose Son is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Why mention all of this? Believers are to be taught, reminded and informed through their own studies of the Scripture of their utter wretchedness and the great grace God has poured out on them.

Amazing grace that is what the Holy Spirit applied such that sin-darkened minds are illuminated, lifelong sins and addictions are broken and the warped desires of the flesh are brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In Him, one’s sins are forgiven. In Him one is made new. In Christ one is adopted as a beloved son or daughter of the Living God. By one’s union to Christ the Holy Spirit changes the desires of the heart so that action, mind and will are directed toward Jesus and this to the glory of God. Believers still sin. They still fall down. But the good news is that they don’t stay down but are lifted once again into renewed holy service to God. Whatever mess we confess is blessed by the redeeming work of Jesus. The Father has punished our mess of sin at the cross of Jesus; the Father and the Son assure our blessedness by the sealing presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer.

Again, are you amazed by the grace of God? Are you thunderstruck with wonder at the grace God the Father has shown you? Are you welcoming other grace-drenched brothers and sisters in Christ? “Does your soul shout out: Who is like our God so gracious, so compassionate, so faithful in loving-kindness?!” Truly there is none, no other, like the God of Glory, rich in mercy, overflowing with compassion and faithful in showing covenant kindness to His people. Amen.

Blessed be Your Name, Father in heaven. Great and extravagant is the grace You have given in Jesus. Spirit of God fill our hearts, minds and mouths with the praise of God and so that endless thanksgiving flows from every part of our lives in acknowledgement of the new life that is ours in Christ. Spirit of the Living God, enlarge our capacity to receive others who, like us, having been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of Your Son, O God, are amazed by grace. Amen.

https://youtu.be/KKo3T0j9qqo?si=cDvF6DTa_W_NxYHD Amazing Grace - My Chains are Gone

August 19, 2025 -- John 1:12 -- Adopted as sons and daughters of the Most High God

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

But to all who did receive Him [Jesus], who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God…
John 1:12 ESV
 
I wonder something. Do you, dear fellow believer, understand how significant it is that through faith in Jesus Christ you are a beloved son or daughter of God? J. I. Packer, the well-known Canadian theologian wrote:
 
“You sum up the whole of New Testament religion if you describe it as the knowledge of God   as one’s holy Father. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. ‘Father’ is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.”
J. I. Packer, Knowing God
 
This is Jesus’ longest prayer in the Bible; it is found in John 17. It is called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. Read and ponder some portions of it and based on that reading, consider if what J. I. Packer said is true.
 

• “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 17:1-3

• Righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:25-26)

 
The concluding prayer is the Lord’s Prayer as it is found in the contemporary English translation called the Message:
 
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty! Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13 MSG)
https://youtu.be/PCa8RxaOPW8?si=NvYG-LJODcdlhmWP Baba Yetu — the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili
 

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August 18, 2025 -- Matthew 4:1-4 -- Does God really see me?

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:1-4 ESV
 
In a very real way, when Jesus answered the tempter’s first temptation, “If (or better since) you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” He was making a double reference. Jesus’ beautiful response was a quotation “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” Deuteronomy 8:3. However, it applied equally well to what the Father had just said to Jesus, “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Jesus was able to withstand every temptation and stand with His Father, passing every test, because He knew in His soul that He is truly loved by the Father.
 
Think of how many trials and struggles you succumb to because you wonder, in the chaotic turmoil of your heart, when no one is looking, you wonder, “God, do You see me? Can You love me?” Those are the very questions the tempter whispers. In view of the magnificent work of Jesus, Who withstood all the devil’s lies and passed every one of the Father’s tests for faithfulness, we can be fully assured that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus has achieved for us a righteousness that can withstand the all the devil’s lies.
 
Father in heaven, sometimes the whispers of the enemy seem louder than the demonstration of Your great love given so perfectly in Jesus Christ. By Your Spirit, cause the word to be the megaphone that drowns out the enemy’s lies. Answer our soul’s questions. You are EL RAAH^, the God Who Sees Me; You so loved the world that You sent Jesus. Seal Your answers to our longing souls. Amen.
( Genesis 16:13 )
 
https://youtu.be/FX6u6ULIdmk?si=mvXOc0lrNNQVJbcN Here Is Love
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 17, 2025 -- Genesis 5:21-27 -- The impact of a faithful parent

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:21-27 ESV
 
Okay, okay, I know, genealogies are boring. But they are recorded in Scripture because they highlight the unfailing mercy of God. When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they should have died. But God set aside His wrath. He showed them mercy, waiting until the day He poured out His just anger and holy wrath on Jesus. So, every single person who is born is a sign that God is so merciful, patient and loving.
 
It is interesting also to note that Enoch walked with God. In the Greek translation, called the Septuagint, it is recorded that Enoch pleased God. Oh, what sweet and blessed fellowship must have existed between Enoch and our faithful Father! Who had the longest recorded lifespan? It is the son of Enoch, Methuselah. A few observations. Methuselah was raised by a father who pleased the LORD. He was raised by a man whose example in godliness and joy in the LORD must have been contagious. He saw modeled before him, in daily, busy, child-rearing life, how his dad loved God. I am wondering if perhaps the reason Methuselah had the blessing of such a long life landed precisely on the fact he was instructed in the fear of and delight in the LORD by a dad whose faith was glorious?
 
Parents, how you live has a massive impact on the next generation. Uncles and aunts, sisters and friends, your godly attitude and humble service to God will impact the people around you. Today is Sunday. Get to a bible-preaching, Christ-believing assembly.
 
Father in heaven forever blessed be Your Name.
Thank You for faithful dads and moms who teach their children to walk in the fear and delight of the LORD. Thank You for friends and cousins, fellow church members and leaders who show others how blessed it is to walk with God. Spirit of God, thank You for sealing to our hearts the accomplished work of Jesus and cause us, out of reverent love for our Father to walk in open-hearted, submitted, devotion to Jesus. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/MKT5BCmvmq0?si=887B0sQ7wb9pF4y0 Find Us Faithful
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 16, 2025 -- Hebrews 13:2a -- Christianity and hospitality

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers… Hebrews 13:2a ESV
 
Hospitality. Too often Christians think hosting potlucks among themselves is the hospitality which is in view. Though the Bible names one of the qualifications of an elder as one who shows hospitality (Titus 1:8), I am quite sure many Christian elders and pastors and deacons have not regularly shown hospitality as it is described in the Bible. Read what Bouma-Prediger and Walsh write on hospitality and homelessness.
In the New Testament, Jesus exercised hospitality to a most unlikely band of outcasts, rejects, and misfits. Indeed, “Christianity continues and intensifies the call to practice hospitality to the needy stranger, for Christ is present in the impoverished alien and hospitality to the poor is required of all who would enter the Reign of God.” The parable of the sheep and the goats is perhaps the most famous text in this regard. When the righteous ask the king when it was that they saw him a stranger and welcomed him, the king replies, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:40). Whenever we care for the needy, we show hospitality to Christ himself. Throughout the New Testament we find similar stories and admonitions concerning hospitality, especially to be practiced towards the most vulnerable…So important is hospitality to the Christian life, Smith and Carvill conclude, that “that practice of hospitality lies close to the center of a Christian’s life before God.”
Steven Bouma-Prediger & Brian Walsh Beyond Homelessness. Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 2008, page 301
 
How do Christians even encounter such strangers to be welcomed? Those who are in Christ are always, actively engaged in evangelism. When believers go and witness, they meet people who are in desperate need, people who are outcasts, people who are vulnerable, people who are hated. It is when Christians shift the focus from visiting only among themselves and consciously welcome strangers—newcomers to church, folks they’ve met while volunteering, neighbours who are new to the area, work mates who are not Christians but need to be exposed to Christ—their home become a place of which Jesus declares, inasmuch as you have welcomed the least of these my brothers, you have welcomed Me. Life in Christ is not safe, it is pouring out one’s life as a drinking offering to God. Spending oneself in service. It is costly to serve Jesus. Almost a year ago now, a new convert, Greg, who is in prison declared, “my relationship with Jesus is the hardest relationship I’ve ever had, but it is the most worthwhile”.
 
Faithful Father, thank You, that while we were yet sinners, You pursued us. You welcomed us. Christ died for us. Lord Jesus, Captain of Salvation, by Your Spirit, lead us to men and women who are in urgent need of true and deep fellowship, warm hospitality, kindness, so that by our hospitality their hearts will be melted by Your love, Your grace, Your kindness shown through us; who have been ourselves won to You by men and women whom You’ve appointed to find us and welcome us.
Blessed are You, Father of Mercies!
Blessed are You, Jesus, the Captain of Salvation, Shepherd of the needy.
Blessed are You, Spirit of grace, Who seals in believers all the benefits of Jesus.
Gracious God, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/jX3T5sL0pzY?si=_KEKjCeKukSzaifW Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 15, 2025 -- Psalm 113:7b -- lifted from the ash heap

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

and lifts the needy from the ash heap…     Psalm 113:7b
 
To sit in ashes can mean one is mourning. When Job’s children were all killed in one terrible and tragic day, and then his body was covered with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head (Job 2:7) he sat in the ashes. Job was described as a righteous man. By way of contrast, when a man chases sin and indulges his addictions, he will find himself sitting in ashes. Or, when one is betrayed by those who were close to him, he might describe himself as sitting in ashes. Those who are vulnerable and forgotten in our society might describe their lives as lived in ashes. I had one friend who described his girlfriend this way, “I’d like you to meet my girlfriend. She is a bit of a dumpster fire.” It is a very descriptive expression. Many months later they broke up. Looking from the outside, you’d readily describe their lives as heaps of ashes.
 
In Psalm 113, the writer begins by saying, “Praise the LORD” (verse 1) and then follows up with “Blessed be the Name of the LORD (verse 2). One of the reasons for this summons to praise is that the LORD lifts the needy from the ash heap. How does He do this?

• Our sins deserved the full punishment of God poured out on them. When a believers turns to Jesus, he learns his sins (past, present and future) have all been fully punished upon the Person of Jesus at the cross. No wonder believers celebrate the cross as both the place of Jesus’ humiliation and the place of great glory for believers. In a very real sense, believers are lifted from the ashes of punishment and ruin.

• Believers, lifted up in Christ, are transformed. The Spirit of God gives the fruit of the Spirit. Inside out men and women are so transformed that all their relationships change. The hard work of being reconciled can commence. Granted, reconciliation one Christian to another Christian should be easier; however, even a believer will strive, in so far as it is possible for him, to live at peace with others.

• Believers are lifted from the ash heap. In our world today success is measured by money, sex, status, adulation and so on. But those who are in Christ know the greatest measure of success is one’s union with Jesus. True blessedness and joy are found in a life that is lived for Jesus.

• There is a warning as well. The Bible is written for the people of God. His people read it and if their lives do not match what is described, they are given a solemn command to repent. Change their ways. Turn away from the fires of lust and lava of greed and molten entanglements of worldliness. It is easy to blame God for one’s troubles when it is in fact a backsliding heart which leads people from glory to ashes.

• Believers are lifted from the ash heap. When one is serving Jesus, trials and troubles, temptations and torments have lost their power over believers. Believers have holy purpose. One’s life, long or short, rich or poor, fruitful or lean, has the great purpose of serving Jesus. What might look hard and charred to worldly people, is in fact a life lived as a sacrifice of praise to God, served expending oneself with holy purpose which in the end receives God’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Master” Matthew 25:21.

 
Father in heaven, blessed are You. You are the Source of all good. Thank You that you lift ruined sinners from the ash heap and place them in fellowship with Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Thank You, faithful Father, for the work of Your Spirit, Who applies the warnings of Scripture and stops momentum of the backslider, restoring him to fellowship with Jesus. Thank You Father, for the Spirit Who brings the believer life and joy and hope and peace. Thank You, Spirit of God, for fueling and empowering this new life to take shape so that in every part, the believer, even one encountering hardship, can live praising Jesus. Spirit of Comfort, help the despairing, lonely, pained believer this day; move each one of us, Spirit of Comfort, to extend holy comfort and encouragement to those around us who are in need of it. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/NT4IvKk8Yko?si=h_C_i8gb9FjCTwrJ “Come, Thou Almighty King”
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 12, 2025 -- John 15:4 -- From homelessness to homed in Christ

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Abide in me, and I in you.   John 15:4 ESV
 
Many of the incarcerated men who attend my Bible Studies are the same people who wind up in homeless shelters after their release. There are many reasons for it:

• family members have after years of trying to help, have given up, and there is no where to go

• where the men are released is no where close to their home communities, sometimes not even their home province and they have no money to get back

• poverty

• past crime cycles have so exhausted the resources of family, friends, there is no home left to go to

• Christian community seems out of reach (unfamiliarity with the practice of going to church, not knowing any local churches, not feeling worthy, no transportation, no appropriate clothing, no disciple-making mentors to guide them, etc).

 
As a Christian who grew up in a loving home, who was part of a strong Christian church, homeless is bewildering to me. It remains so. Though I have for more than 20+ years dealt with homelessness as a foster parent. It was painful when youths graduated out of the foster care system with no supports except welfare. Now as a prison visiting pastor I am constantly confronted with homelessness. It is a massive, complex, many faceted problem.
 
I have been reading “Beyond Homelessness”, and here is a quotation that grabs me, spiritually, and inspires renewed hope.
     For Henri Nouwen, the Christian life is a journey from the house of fear to the
     house of love. As Jesus indicates in John 15, the house of love is a place of intimacy,
     fecundity, and ecstasy. But Nouwen describes our times as an age of homelessness:
     “Probably no word better summarizes the suffering of our time than the word ‘homeless.’
     It reveals one of our deepest and most painful conditions, the condition of not having a
     sense of belonging, of not having a place where we can feel safe, cared for, protected
     and loved.” In contrast, Jesus offers us a home: “In my father’s house there are many
     dwelling places,” and “Abide in me as I abide in you” (John 14:2; John 15:4). This home
     is a “place or space where we do not have to be afraid but can let go of our defenses
     and be free, free from worries, free from tensions, free from pressures…Home is where
     we can rest and be healed.” Whatever else the sojourning Christian community is (and
     there are many kinds and shapes and sizes), it is an embodiment, frail and fragile to be
     sure, of the love of God in Christ.
     Steven Bouma-Prediger, Brian Walsh, Beyond Homelessness. Grand Rapids: Wm B.
     Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008. Page 300-301
 
It seems to me so many who are in church pews have themselves experienced homelessness. Becoming a Christian has isolated them from family. Becoming a Christian means their circle of friends changed. Activities shared pre-Christ are now a violation of what it means to be in Christ. Jobs required moves to new locales. Christians, of all people, know the pain of spiritual homelessness and therefore, of all people, must be the most passionate and urgent and persistent in welcoming strangers into the place of rest and healing, the local church. The place where Christ is the Head and the Spirit applies Jesus’ reconciling work such that strangers become family and know themselves to be dearly loved sons and daughters of God. Ultimately that is the move from the house of fear to the house of love.
 
Father in heaven, thank You for Your love so rich and full. Thank You for Jesus, through Whom we intimately and intensely know Your love and discover ourselves to be home. Thank You Spirit of the Living God for grafting us into Christ so that rich or poor, sick or well, young or old, we know all things come to us not by chance but from Your Fatherly hand. Teach us, as those who are given home, safety, and protection in Christ to be a refuge to the rootless, homeless ones in our local communities. As we abide in You, Lord Jesus, cause us to be bold witnesses and evangelists to what it means to be in Christ, home, safe, welcomed, loved. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/05jKxv8ApuI?si=gPWpX7bN9eKYvWtP My worth is not in what I own
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 11, 2025 -- John 20:30-31 -- Why read the Bible?

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31 ESV
 
Why should believers read the Bible? This passage helps us understand. Here are some of the reasons we read the word:

• It connects you to Jesus.

• It is the only weapon to go with on the offensive against the enemy.

• It is comfort to the heart, mind and soul

• It is the Spirit Who makes the deep things of God known to you.

• It is richer and better and sweeter the more you read it and contemplate upon it.

• It is the source for effective praying—as you read the Psalms and read the prayers of the saints and the prayers of Christ the Captain of your salvation.

 
Spirit of the Living God, draw me to the Bible this day. As I read it, may Jesus Christ and Who He Is be to me clearer, nearer, and dearer. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/a6LC8cu03Ig?si=EkbcYgXG8EQwDIym Thy Word
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

August 9, 2025 -- John 14:26 -- The Holy Spirit -- the True Comforter

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26 ESV
 
The word “Helper” is often translated as “the Comforter”. A friend gave me a multi-volume collection of C. H. Spurgeon sermons. I have been thoroughly enjoying them. His comments on the Helper, or Comforter, are striking. Please note, in the past it was common to refer to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. Spurgeon uses that expression for the Spirit in this quotation.
 
“And first, we will remark, that God the Holy Ghost is a very loving Comforter. I am in distress, and I want consolation. Some passer-by hears of my sorrow, and he steps within, sits down, and essays to cheer me; he speaks soothing words, but he loves me not; he is a stranger; he knows me not at all; he has only comes in to try his skill. And what is the consequence? His words run o’er me like oil upon a slab of marble; they are like the pattering rain upon the rock; they do not break my grief; it stands unmoved as adamant, because he no love for me. But let some one who loves me dear as his own life, come and plead with me, then truly his words are music; they taste like honey: he knows the password of the doors of my heart, and my ear is attentive to every word: I catch the intonation of each syllable as it falls, for it is like the harmony of the harps of heaven. Oh! there is a voice in love, it speaks a language which is its own: it has an idiom and a brogue which none can mimic; wisdom cannot imitate it; oratory cannot attain unto it; it is love alone which can reach the mourning heart; love is the only handkerchief which can wipe the mourner’s tears away. And is not the Holy Ghost a loving comforter? Dost thou know, O saint, how much the Holy Spirit love thee?”
C.H. Spurgeon, “The Comforter” Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 1 - 2, Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Eleventh Printing 2023, page 73
 
Joy
 
O Christ ! All thy ways of mercy tend to and end in my delight,
Thou didst weep, sorrow, suffer that I might rejoice.
For my joy Thou hast sent the Comforter,
multiplied thy promises, shown me my future happiness,
given me a living fountain.
Thou art preparing joy for me and me for joy;
I pray for joy, wait for joy, long for joy;
give me more than I can hold, desire, or think of.
Measure out to me my times and degrees of joy,
at my work, business, duties.
If I weep at night, give me joy in the morning.
Let me rest in the thought of thy love, pardon for sin,
my title to heaven, my future unspotted state.
I am an unworthy recipient of Thy grace.
I often disesteem thy blood and slight thy love,
but can in repentance draw water from the wells of Thy joyous forgiveness.
Let my heart leap towards the eternal sabbath,
where the work of redemption, sanctification, preservation,
glorification is finished and perfected for ever,
where thou wilt rejoice over me with joy.
There is no joy like the joy of heaven, for in that state are no sad divisions,
unchristian quarrels, contentions, evil designs,
weariness, hunger, cold, sadness, sin, suffering,
persecutions, toils of duty.
O healthful place where none are sick!
O happy land where all are kings!
O holy assembly where all are priests!
How free a state where none are servants except to thee!
Bring me speedily to the land of joy.
“Joy” The Valley of Vision
 
https://youtu.be/kDYjn-YdnD4?si=HHySEICBaYXGzXEg Holy Spirit Living Breath of God
 

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August 6, 2026 -- Ephesians 5:18 -- Be filled with the Holy Spirit...how?

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…
Ephesians 5:18 ESV
 
Much of my in-prison and in-community work with Redemption Prison Ministry involves meeting with men who are struggling with addiction. Interestingly enough, those who are incarcerated are often far more open and honest about their addictions and their spiritual struggles than are my Christian peers who occupy the pews of local churches.
 
Drunkenness includes addiction to alcohol, that is obvious and clearly stated, but people can be drunk with power. With anger. With gossip. With envy. Sin is an addictive drug. Debauchery is a word rarely used in general conversation. It is appropriately descriptive. It includes sexual lust, passions, adultery, pornography and so on. Sins that are rampant in our world today…and likely not nearly confessed often enough among our church members today. Once again, it is a testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit that those who are gripped by the grace of Jesus Christ realize their sinfulness and confess it, seeking to be emptied of sin and filled to overflowing with the goodness of our God.
 
Paul is making the point that it is critical for those who have been cleansed by the atoning blood of Christ—their mind and heart, now emptied of the trash of sin and the vileness of debauchery—not remain empty. The bible calls for believers to be filled with the Spirit so that they will be connected to Jesus Christ, Who is living water welling up within them.
 
Sinclair Ferguson has a clear-sighted interpretation of that command: “be filled”. I am using his material and adding to it.

1. To be filled is to be an on-going reality for every day. It is not once and done proposition. It is a day in and day out experience that should be evident in the life of a Christian. One who is filled in this way is connected to Jesus, His life coursing through one’s mind, one’s heart, one’s intentions, one’s plans.

2. To be filled with the Spirit is a command to be obeyed. Do you pray to be filled? Do you seek the Spirit with zeal? Do you read the bible, expecting to be filled? Do you meet with other Christians longing for this truth to be fulfilled in you?

3. To be filled with the Spirit is a gift of God to be received. That means your attitude and posture must be one of receptivity. If you are focused every where else other than on God and His rich blessings, then gift of being filled be not be received

Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s Study Ephesians.
 
How are you doing on that check list? Are you seeking to be Spirit-filled? Praying to be Spirit-filled? Are you receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do you conscientiously remove from your life all sinful and wicked actions which would hinder such filling? If you are struggling to understand what is keeping you dry, seek the advice of a trusted Christian brother or sister who knows you well enough to be honest and cherishes you enough to be patient and gentle in answering you.
 
Who is like You, O God, steadfast in mercy and in love? There is no one in the farthest cosmos or in the depths who is like You—You are great and worthy of all our praise. Thank You for the life that is ours in Christ. Thank You for the wonderful gift of the Spirit. Mighty God, fill us to overflowing with Your Spirit so that sin will be what it truly is repugnant to us and like a vile stench driving us away from it; fill us so that we desire more of Christ; fill us so that we will with open hands of gratitude receive the gift of Christ and His love which in turn leads us to know You, our Good Father. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/KLTu1xv2-Us?si=ZBuXZJkJcOz708iA O the Deep Love of Jesus
 

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August 5, 2025 -- John 1:14 & 15:7-11 -- Home and Jesus

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 ESV
 
 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:7-11 ESV
 
“The Word of God—this creative, calling, engendering, blessing and powerful Word—takes on flesh. This is a Word of love, and love must be embodied: it must take place somewhere and in some time.
“And not only does this Word take on flesh, it tabernacles, or tents, among us. It moves into the neighborhood and makes a home with us. So when Jesus later invites his disciples to ‘abide’ in him and in his love, he is inviting them to a reciprocity of relationship (John 15:7-11). He is, in effect, saying: ‘I have come to abide with you; I have come to make my home with you. Let’s do that together. Come and make your home with me.’ Love of this kind permeates the Gospels because it characterizes the God to whom Jesus bears witness and the Jesus in whom God is personally present.”
“The Indwelling God and the Sojourning Community” Beyond Homelessness, page 277^.
 
We live in a world that is constantly on the move. Mobile. Changing jobs. Changing cities. Changing homes. What is the one thread of consistency in our lives? For the Christian it is the among-us-living Jesus. He is making His home among us and we build our lives on Him. Wherever we are, whenever we meet with other Christians we have a home-coming. There we can sigh and know we are with family—those who like us, have been adopted by God, brought in from the world of sin and darkness and given the righteousness of Jesus Christ in Him with others walk in the light of life. What a glorious relief that is. What a haven of safety.
 
^Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh. Beyond Homelessness Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008, page 277
 
O LORD our God, our hearts are restless until they find true rest in You. Thank You for the glorious gift of Jesus, Who makes His home among us. Thank You for the glorious gift of the Christian community, among whom we discern Jesus’ presence. Thank You for the glorious gift of home with Jesus, which begins now and stretches into eternity, in the New Heaven and New Earth. Spirit of the Living God, seal in us the blessed work of Jesus so that our lives and our residences become Jesus-filled-homes for fellow, weary travelers. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/8wfhhFHMgxY?si=MoFakCi7FzZbihRw Jesus is Mine

 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

July 30, 2025 -- Psalm 119:35 -- Not get this quick, but daily faithfulness

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Psalm 119:35 ESV
 
If you type “get rich quick” into your search engine, you’ll find there are pages and pages of books for sale, websites, videos, and scheme galore. How to lose weight, fast. Again, you can endlessly scroll through pages, websites, videos and self-help books. There are all kinds of short-cuts available to do this or get that done. Fix your marriage. Gullible people are aiming for short-cuts in every area of life.
 
The Bible offers a striking contrast. For 176 verses, the psalmist is dedicating himself to the path of the Lord, to His rules and precepts. While the world is calling for quick fixes, he realized that a long-steady, faithful journey in obedient service to Jesus Christ is the only way to live a fulfilled and blessed life.
 
Consider God’s pattern. There is a season of dormancy: winter. There is a season for warmth and planting and growth: Spring. A season for fruit and vegetables as the summer sun does its work in ripening fruit: summer. A time for preparing for harvest and preparing for the season of winter: Fall. Year in. Year out. Decade in. Decade out. Century in. Century out. God lovingly works His creation and cares for His people who are born, live and die. And the seasons continue. A constant, regular, steady display of His faithfulness.
 
Dear people of God, allow God to lead you. Read your bible. Pray every day. Attend church. Listen to preachers who know the word and can explain it clearly. Daily put into practice the commandments so that you will walk the path of God’s commandments. Day in. Day out. Week in. Week out. Month in. Month out. You’ll find that the pattern of obedience to Jesus Christ lived out in this way does indeed bring great delight.
 
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.
Psalm 119:33 ESV
 
https://youtu.be/FSHe-kibZDg?si=QMigMTa90oUQRntQ “Teach Me Thy Way”
 

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July 29, 2025 -- Psalm 119:33 -- Teach me, O LORD

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
Psalm 119:33 ESV
 
There is an urgency in this verse. The Psalmist prays in the imperative voice teach me! He requires the help of the Holy Spirit and the instruction of God’s written rules to be impressed on his heart. There are so many temptations in life and peer pressures which attempt to pull him from his obedience to God. At verse 25 he’d noted that his soul clings to the dust. He feels the pull towards the cravings of his sinful humanity. Unless the teaching of the LORD stands as a barrier between him and his inclination to wrongdoing, he will, as he noted in verse 29, go down a false way.
 
Recently, as I was teaching at Teen Challenge, one of the men commented, “In the bible the writers are so open about their sins and the challenges they face in life. Why don’t I hear this kind of talk in my local church?” What a great question. What an honest question that is. I wonder if regular church goers are afraid to be honest. I wonder if churchgoers have put on niceness and forgotten the fact their old nature is totally depraved. Though now a new creation in Christ, there are still in the world all around them, temptations arising within their own hearts, and alluring temptations fired at them from the demonic realms. Men who are in recovery have this preached to them all the time, but when they leave recovery, it seems the life of Christ and the required self-denial is not mentioned nearly often enough in Christian churches.
 
How frightening church can be for those who are aware of their sin, aware of the Savior’s reconciling blood by which their sins have been punished in His Person at the cross and believers are given His righteousness. Yet they do not find the soul’s hard struggle to stay pure and walk in holiness reflected among the well-dressed people in the pews. Jesus taught such a high level of required obedience, even if to look lustfully, is to commit adultery. One who hates a brother in his hearts, is a murderer. It would appear to strangers church people do not struggle at all. King David, whom the bible describes as a man after God’s own heart, wrote, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” Psalm 51:3. No wonder the psalmist cries out to God, “teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes.” The bible is far more honest and revealing of the heart’s condition than many religious people allow. Obviously, this lesson must be repeated and emphasized so that such open awareness of one’s waywardness is matched by the experience of His gracious correction and instruction and communal walking in obedience. Precious Christian, be aware that your soul’s struggle is reflected in the Bible. Be assured, there are fellow Christians who hear your pain, know your struggles and desire to walk in real, deep fellowship with you.
 
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes,
and I will keep it to the end. Psalm 119:33
 
https://youtu.be/FSHe-kibZDg?si=urLIDFWyMzCsiVjD Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

July 28, 2025 -- Matthew 2:13-14 -- Jesus, the Ultimate Displaced Person

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt…
Matthew 2:13-14 ESV
 
Have you ever considered the fact that Jesus was a displaced person (DP)? His parents, in compliance with the decree of Caesar Augustus that the Roman world be enrolled in the census, went from their hometown to Bethlehem to be registered. They lived in Bethlehem for a while after Jesus’ birth, but then His family had to flee to Egypt. The local king of the region, threatened by the news of the birth of a potential rival to his power, was about to put all the male children, two years old and younger, to death. After a time in Egypt, the holy family went to Israel again. Then were internally displaced, fleeing to Nazareth. It was a place where Jewish people mixed with Gentile people. It was a town in which the “pure” Jewish people were despised. Being a DP means:

• Jesus’ family struggled to find food that complied with Jewish laws for clean food (as was required by the extensive laws of Leviticus)

• Jesus’ family did not have extensive family ties in the area, something very important in that culture for the celebration of festivals.

• Jesus’ family would have been hated by the Jews, because Jesus was born less than nine month after his parents’ wedding. The Gentiles of the region would have hated them because they were Jewish.

There are various measures sociologists use to determine life stresses. The top five are: the death of a loved one, the divorce, moving, major illness, job loss. Add to that, becoming a DP is a huge life stressor, contributing to depression, anxiety, PTSD and so on. DP people are often caught in poverty and face discrimination. This means that Jesus endured the hardest of life’s experiences, He can identify with you and with me.
 
We live in a culture where people are always on the move. People move for jobs. People move from place to place because of poverty. Even those who are in their home region note that home has changed because of our mobile culture. Technology means that people are more media connected, but far less relationship connected. Jesus, the ultimate DP, understands. Pour out your heart to Him.
 
Today’s prayer is Psalm 139:1-12. Read it slowly. Pray it realizing how truly God understands the rootlessness of your life and upheaval your experience.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.
 
https://youtu.be/F2tKVqZZiI4?si=4couVfxd7j0D1YuV Turn Your Eyes/The Glorious Christ
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

July 24, 2025 -- Psalm 27:5 -- The Secret Place and Prayer

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will lift me high upon a rock.
Psalm 27:5 ESV
 
Sometimes passages like this have become familiar to me in different bible translations. I am not sure why, but this verse I remember from the King James Version: “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” It resonates for me as I think of the use of “secret places” in reference to Jesus. He went to lonely places, to wilderness places to pray. Jesus went to secret places, to pray as in His humanity He was seeking on-going intimacy with His Father in heaven.
 
In Matthew 6, Jesus taught on prayer. Believers pray in secret. The Father Who sees you praying in secret rewards you openly. The best and greatest reward is to know God as one’s loving Father Who has given the extravagant gift of salvation in Christ. Such prayer is evidence of the Spirit at work in the life of the believer. Prompting the believer to pray. Leading the believers to lonely, secret places where one can find loneliness is thrown down in the light of His presence.
 
Does prayer “work”? That is the question many ask. Some pray for healing, but do not get better. Some pray for improved financial stability and their finances tank. Okay then, what is prayer all about? From earliest days, the picture of prayer is one of intimacy with God. He Who made you, knows what is best for you. He knows why and for what He designed you. Even before you were saved, He prepared for you good works which you will accomplish when you are in Christ. From that place of intimacy with God you will have the strength and the desire to submit to His will and do as He commands. Prayer works because it connects you to God.
 
Dear Father in heaven, what a marvelous truth it is, that You have given me life and You desire to have fellowship with me. In fact, You desire fellowship with all believers who are Yours through Jesus Christ. Spirit of the Living God, what a glorious task You have, to teach us to pray, to lead us to intimacy with our Father through our union with Jesus. Spirit of God, quiet my mind. Clear out all the rushing words and crowding thoughts, so that in the stillness of secret time alone, I may learn to delight in God my Savior. Lead my heart to daily rejoicing in the contemplation of Christ. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/SQgNH-4NF0Q?si=Slq3TBnG_Sc1eXfA Beautiful Savior
 

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July 22, 2025 -- John 15:18-19 -- Crash helmets? Check. Life-preservers? Check. Okay, now preach the Gospel

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
John 15:18-19 ESV
 
Every day North American Christians have a decision to make. Will we cozy up to the culture and stay relatively safe, or will we deeply live out our faith? That means welcoming the outcast, meeting the untouchables of society? One of my favorite quotations related to the missionary endeavors of the church comes from Annie Dillard. She spent some time as a teenager in the church, but to my knowledge, is not a practising Christian. Listen to what she writes:
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently
sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of
power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of
it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets,
mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear
ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash
helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash
us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or
the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.”
Annie Dillard, from Teaching a Stone to Talk
 

• What if a murder, who really committed that crime, paid their debt to society by time spent in prison, becomes a Christians while incarcerated, what if such a man wanted to join your church?

• What if Muslim, who lives five doors down from you, were to radically encounter Jesus and learning that you are a Christian, ask to join you in your church? His family is furious. They are angry with him, and angry with the church body taking him in. There will be consequences.

 
It seems to me that church today has become gentrified. We are insensible to the depths of the raging conflict “out there” in the world. We read about it in missionary blogs and reports. But then it is safely a half a world away. We hear of persecution in the church, but that is usually reported in countries we don’t have on our cruise itineraries or in our vacation brochures.
 
Does the world really hate you as a Christian? Do fellow Christians get uneasy around you and push back against you? If not, I guess my question is, where have you compromised the Gospel to the point that you do not expect God the Warrior to do as He has always done:

• to the exiting Israelites adding heaps of hated Egyptians, who have joined the believing community. Can you imagine the chaos that would cause? Talk about having to overcome hatred of one’s enemies;

• to the conquering Israelites, adding Rahab the prostitute and her family;

• to the young Christian church adding Cornelius, the man who gave alms, but is a ranking officer in the Roman Army, the oppressors;

• to the church rocked by persecution and imprisonment adding the apostle Paul, who himself prior to becoming a Christian was Saul. As Saul he had killed and imprisoned so many that any gathering of believers likely had someone in their family or extended circle of friends who had been personally affected by Saul, now Paul. And he’s preaching!

 
But brothers and sisters, we are not of the world. When Christ called us His Own, He remade us. What we once were is not what we are. Knowing the greatness of His salvation, the on-going renovation of your soul in holiness, get ready, welcome other refugees from the tyranny of the world. If you are not prepared to be who you are called to be in Christ, stop praying for revival. God will bring despicable to your doorstep. Who else is there? Sin makes us despicable. If you are not prepared to minister to people who have all kinds of needs, wounds, traumas and baggage, stop praying empty pious words.
 
But, you, who are in Christ, rouse yourself. Don the life preservers. Strap yourself to the mast of Christ’s salvation and throw life-preservers to the drowning people of this world and brace yourself to draw them in against the wind, the storms (and keep going even against the howling protests of those next to you in the pews who will say, “but they will change us. They will affect our comfortable life in the pews.”) It will get ugly. And it will be glorious. What glory there is for those who are saved. What joy there is for the ones privileged by the Spirit of God to bring in wounded and weary souls into the glory of the Kingdom of God. You are not of the world, you are Christ’s. You have been chosen by Christ to come out from the world and serve Him and be hated by the world.
 
Faithful Father, thank You for the life that is ours in Christ. Thank You for faithful parents, Sunday School teachers, neighbours, chaplains and evangelists who went to the highways and alleys of this world and rescued us from the depths of our depravities. Spirit of God, rouse us from our slumber and lethargy and give us holy boldness and courage to welcome all those whom the Father has given unto Christ as the prize of His atoning work. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/dHLikbLXQ8E?si=FbAljrVaGcOpMVCr Not What These Hands Have Done
 

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

July 20, 2025 -- Psalm 27:7-9a -- Seek the LORD--invitation and command

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me.
Psalm 27:7-9a ESV
 
Today is Sunday. I’m wishing every one of you a blessed Sunday. Listen to the invitation and the command issued in these verses. The Psalmist is asking God to hear him when he cries out to the LORD his God. Look at the response of God. He commands the petitioner: seek! my face! It is imperative. It is a requirement. It demands that the one who cries to the LORD will get motivated, rousing himself from laziness to activity.
 
The response of the psalmist is wonderful. He responds immediately in his heart. The heart is the place where he makes the most important decisions of his life and having made them, acts on them. The psalmist responds that he will seek the LORD. The sense here is not that such seeking is a once-a-day quick prayer action. The seeking of the LORD requires intentionality through-out the day. Seeking the LORD means one is focused on Him and desiring Him above all other activities or things in life. Seek the LORD today!

• Get to church today.

• Spend time in prayer.

• Look for Christian friends and talk about God.

• Through-out the day ask yourself, in what I am doing now, am I seeking the LORD?

  
  Thank You, Gracious Father, for both the command to seek You and the promise that You will be found by those who seek You^. Thank You for the open gathering of Your people at churches and secret meetings of Your people in places of persecution. Spirit of God, assist Your people to seek for Jesus with whole-hearted determination so that through union with Him we are brought to the Father. O LORD, You are the Light and Salvation of Your people, no other treasure is as precious and glorious as knowing You. Amen.
  ^Jeremiah 29:13
  https://youtu.be/FcD9uhRC3Ew?si=zPWGRYfD2VaPclDs Go Light Your World
   

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

July 19, 2025 -- Psalm 105:4-5 -- Remember the judgments He uttered. Curious? Read on.

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Seek the LORD and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
Psalm 105:4-5 ESV

Why should the people of God, who have sought Him and His strength and His presence, remember the judgments He uttered? The Psalm spends much time expounding that very theme. The canvas is the judgment of the LORD against Egypt. God made a covenant with Abraham, that one day his descendants would possess the land. Abraham never saw that promised fulfilled in his life-time. The LORD however, Who is from everlasting to everlasting, never forgets His promises. As the people of God remember God's judgments and the ways in which He fulfills everyone of them, they are brought to their knees in worship.

The LORD rendered judgment against the brothers of Joseph for selling him into slavery. Yet God also showed mercy to the whole house of Israel. What the brothered intended for evil, God intended for good. The brothers were culpable for their wickedness in selling Joseph into slavery, but Joseph saw the hand of God in all the events that happened. In a very dramatic, beautiful scene of reconciliation, Joseph forgave his brothers.

The LORD judged Egypt for her sins. The plagues are referenced, each one was an opportunity for the people of Egypt (from Pharaoh to down to the serving girl) to repent of their sins and set Israel free. Stubbornly Pharaoh led his people to refuse the command of God until the LORD ravaged the land because of the hardness of their hearts. Still, the LORD brought His people out with joy (verse 43a). There is an additional line, a parallelism which highlights the greater mercy of God, “His chosen ones with singing” (verse 43b). There were many Egyptians who left Egypt with the Israelites, placing their trust in the Living God. They were chosen by God and so were brought into the covenant community. What a surprise. Oppressors, the former slave-owning Egyptians, becoming humble servants of the LORD along with the Israelites. (Imagine the fireworks resulting from God's gracious saving acts as these formerly disparate people are suddenly formed into one new whole!)

The greatest act of judgment, that reverberates through-out history is the judgment of God against Jesus. Though Jesus was sinless, God poured out His full wrath upon the Christ, crushing Him for the iniquities of us all. It is the judgment of God that causes believers to pause, in awe, and then praise God. For the cross is also the place where God judged every sin of every believer, and having punished His beloved Son in their place, God judged believers to be righteous, having the imputed righteousness of Jesus granted to them.

When believers contemplate the judgments He uttered, humility becomes the governing disposition in the life of believers. When believers recognize the cost of God’s glorious and righteous judgments, then they heartily and without reservation welcome other sinner-saints, who are now qualified to share in the inheritance of light in the kingdom of the Son the Father loves. The very same judgment which simultaneously punished Jesus and set you free, has been applied to others. What glorious fellowship, what joy divine, to lean upon the everlasting arms of God’s unstoppable love.

Father in heaven, just and true are all Your ways. Thank You for the glorious salvation You have worked through Jesus Christ. Blessed Jesus, a life-time of saying and living thanks to You does not even began to convey the greatness of our debt to Your lovingkindness. Thank You. Let our lives be a song of thanks, a constant memorial to Your goodness which is demonstrated in loving welcome to all those the Father has given into Your care as part of the family of God. Blessed Spirit of the Living God, break up the hard, compacted soil of our hearts that the truth of the just and glorious judgments of God will be planted deep within us and yield a harvest of praise and worship unto God. Let the contemplation of the judgments God uttered lead us to keep the commands of God and put each one into practice as a public demonstration of our life-long thanksgiving to You. Amen.

https://youtu.be/UubIQnVC4IA?si=xR2pUm74Bt6Q_kmX Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

Copyright © 2025 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.