Especially His: April 2015

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Whispers

Perhaps you have never strayed back to former mistake patterns in your life. Perhaps you've never found the strength to walk away from ties that bind you to thoughts and activities that would not bring our Heavenly Father glory or joy.

For me, one Easter, as I felt unworthy to even go to church, I still woke before what would have been time for the Sunrise Service that I so loved. I walked to a little bench beside a beautiful lake with my Bible in hand.

I wondered what people do who feel so unworthy they do not have the courage or energy to go to church on Easter. This day so many celebrate the amazing resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I decided I would read each of the Gospels through. By the time I reached Luke, I was feeling a bit tired, yet I was determined to continue. That is until I reached Luke 22.

It started in the same familiar way with the Passover celebration where Jesus presided for His disciples. He broke the bread, He shared the wine. He spoke the words that would have puzzled the disciples. They must have imagined He was speaking in some kind of mystical fashion.

At verse 21 my heart began to ache for Jesus, because He knew:

"'But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table.'"

Yes, the Son of Man was born to be betrayed and die in a most lonely way and because of the impatience and greed of one of His very disciples. A man handpicked by Jesus to learn from Him the wonders of a new Kingdom.

He speaks wisdom about leadership and thanks them for their follower-ship. And then he speaks directly to the impetuous Peter with unexpected and even hurtful words. Peter who jumped up to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth in the end. Peter, who spoke enthusiastically and sometimes out of turn and was one of Jesus' closest friends:

"Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

And as you would expect, Peter was quick to assure Jesus of his loyalty under any and all circumstances.

I always identified with Peter when I was a young Christian, loving his enthusiasm. It sounded like me once upon a time...so sure of my resolve in Christ, so sure that I would not choose a pathway that would shove Jesus off the throne of my life.

But I did.

As I sat on that park bench overlooking the peaceful lake and watching the sun rise, I quit reading about then as my eyes were so overflowing with tears.

The truth hurt. I was not ready to give up the pathway I had chosen to trod and wondered what this would mean for me as I walked on into more days of my life, choosing to do things my own way for now.

Then I read the verse 31 and 32 again and saw the part the Holy Spirit was etching deeply and painfully into my heart,

"...and you, WHEN once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

He wrote that just for me you realise...that it was even included is amazing for me as it is not in the other Gospels, just this one -- that I so love.

We all know the truth of this story of Peter and his undying energy for Jesus message. We all imagined the moment after Peter denied Christ for the third time and looked up to see Jesus watching him in the distance (Luke 22:61) .

I cannot imagine what Peter was thinking. I cannot imagine how painful this moment was for Jesus, who was already suffering.

After Jesus rose again and was giving last instructions to His disciples, again He turned to Peter, singling him out and asking him three times about the strength of his love for Jesus (John 21:15-17).

It was symbolic of a future hope of healing for my heart.

You see even when you do stray, even when you purpose to stay out there lost in your own opinion of what is right, He still knows your heart. He still waits...for His grace is beyond our comprehension.

This is grace. Grace that says you cannot do anything to lose His love...Grace that says you cannot do anything to get more of His love, because you have it ALL from the very moment you surrender your life into His hands once you admit you cannot save yourself. From that moment Ephesians 2:8-9 are two verses that give you hope in a new life.

Jesus knew what Peter would do and loved him still. Jesus knew what Peter would do and died for him still. This act of obedience to the Father took Peter's sin with Him on the Cross. This act brought Peter the personal forgiveness and personal gracious love that only Jesus can. It is how much He loves you and me!

On one of the flyleaves of my favourite Bibles are these words that I share with you in love:

"I'm saved because Jesus wants me to be a witness for Him.

He promised that if I tell the world about Him,

He will tell the Father about me!"

Intro Statement of Faith

Why "Especially His"? It comes from a closing statement in the WeakDay Devotions that I have been writing nearly every morning since 1999. Each day I close with this:

"Take care with love, especially His"

Although it is shared with many others around the world now, it seems each day's entry is written specifically for me and for what I am experiencing because I am, as the closing says, "especially His".

Over my lifetime I have been writing and teaching Bible-based studies and wanted a way for these teachings to reach a wider audience -- and hopefully be my legacy to a future generation. We all benefit from fellowship and good teaching and motivation that comes through prayer and reading our Bibles!

On this site you will find a variety of Bible-based and Christ-focused materials. My prayer is that they will help you grow and help you as you help others grow.

Modern-day Evangelism

Something amazing I learned as a young follower of Jesus Christ was that most of the efforts of modern day evangelism have little lasting effect, other than exposing an increasing number of people to God's Word. And as it says in Isaiah 55:11:

"So Shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

Yet, many are not ready, have hard hearts, are surrounded by influencing family or peers and they slink away into the warmth and darkness of unexpected despair.

We Need Ways

I do not minimise the value of canned methods or fancy printed tracts or little gimmicks like colourful beads strung on a leather bracelet or origami-folded coloured cards. We all need to have a way to share our faith in a way we are comfortable using.

I myself, was brought to the Cross through a tract called "Peace With God" published by the Billy Grahame Evangelistic Organisation, and I have trained in most of the methodologies for sharing my faith with another. I even wrote one that focuses on how Jesus evangelised and is based on the four Gospels.

But while being discipled under a wonderful Navigator couple (Don and Elaine Lanier) I also learned a statistic that makes so much sense. It goes like this:

"If each one of us, won one person per year to Christ, and we spent that one year discipling them in the basics, every person in the world would hear the Gospel message of Salvation in just thirty-three years."

Earmarked from the Beginning

Our lives are drawn to deciding to or not to follow Jesus from the moment we are conceived. This journey is as unique as our DNA (yes I do know about identical twins).

The journey after we come to understand the grace of the Father is furthermore unique until we die and begin eternity with our heavenly Father.

Statement of Faith

There is more to come, but want you to know just the core basics of my beliefs.

1. I believe God made man in His image and loves him and desires fellowship with him (Genesis 1:26-27, I John 4:10, John 3:16).

2. I believe there is no other way to Eternal Salvation than through knowing I am helpless against my sin nature and choice of sin. (Romans 5:6-8; 6:23).

3. There is nothing I can do to be acceptable in Heaven (Romans 3:20).

4. The only possibility is to accept the freely-offered gift of Jesus Christ paying the price for my sins by His death and resurrection. (I Corinthians 15:3-6; John 14:6).

5. I believe that the gift of Salvation is just that a gift and it is a gift by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) and because this is a gift of grace, there is nothing I can do to make God love me more than He does once I accepted His salvation and there is nothing I can do to make God love me less.

6. That my salvation is not transitory according to my behaviour and that He holds me firmly in the palm of His hand (John 10:29).

7. That from the moment of Salvation, my life is a personal journey of growth that He has designed just for me (Psalm 139).

8. That the Bible is His Word to help me grow daily. II Timothy 3:16. (The translation I use for all quotes, unless otherwise specified, is The New American Standard Bible, ©The Lockman Foundation.)