Father’s Day Song

My daughter, Reagan, recorded this song for me for Father’s Day. Reagan’s Song

Dealing With Authority

This is a recent sermon I gave for our HonorWorthy Living series. I hope it intrigues and challenges you as it has me.

podcast

Losing and Failing – by Scott Willborn

It seems it is in our failures that we learn life’s most important lessons and grow. Nobody wants to fail, but the only person who has never failed is someone who has never tried. Failure is part of life. It is something we all have to experience from time to time. The key, however, is how do you respond when you fail? How do you respond when life doesn’t go as you planned?

Winning, losing, succeeding, failing, these are all concepts that we begin to learn as children. Playing games is something all children do, and quickly we learn there are winners and losers. During our childhood we try many things, music, sports, and different hobbies. Again, we quickly learn the joy of succeeding in the things we do and that empty feeling when we fail.

While it is important to keep winning and success in perspective and learn how to do both with humility, it is even more important to learn how to handle defeat and failure, as well as the lessons they can teach us.

The first lesson in losing, in failing, is to take personal responsibility and not blame other people or anything else. Whenever we lose or fail, it is always easy to sit back and make excuses. Some of those excuses may even be valid. However, rather than investing the time and energy into finding excuses why we lost or failed, it is far more productive to look at the role WE played in our loss or failure.

You learn nothing by blaming someone else or making excuses. When you sit down and are honest to look at yourself, at the choices you made that contributed to your loss or failure, then you are able to learn from the mistakes you made and hopefully not repeat them in the future. We can all learn much from our losses and failures in life if we will simply be honest with ourselves and take the time to analyze our thoughts and actions so we can identify what we did wrong.

The second lesson in losing, in failing, is to not let our loss or failure paralyze us from trying again. Some people become so devastated by losing, by failing, that they simply refuse to try again. Losing and failing are part of life. The only people I have met who have never lost or failed are people who have never tried. You can’t be afraid of losing or failure. Nobody likes to lose. Nobody likes to fail.

However, you will never win unless you also lose and you will never succeed unless you also fail. Rather than being paralyzed by losing and failing, let them motivate you. Learn from your losses and failures so that you don’t repeat the mistakes and poor choices you made that led to them. Instead of losing and failing making you weak, they can make you strong.

The third lesson in losing, in failing, and the most important is this, THERE IS NO FAILURE WITH GOD! In the process of serving the Lord, we will always have times and experiences when we feel in our flesh that we have failed, that we have let the Lord down. That is a lie from the pits of hell! THERE IS NO FAILURE WITH GOD! You can’t fail when you are serving the Lord. The only way you can fail is to NOT serve Him! God uses our obedience and faithfulness in ways we will never see or understand until we get to Glory. The reality is, when we are yielded to the Lord, God uses our lives to do incredible things that we never even realize.

I submit that the greatest things you will ever do for God you don’t even know you did them until you get to Heaven. Those are the things you do each day simply by being obedient and faithful. God will give us a little feedback along the way since He knows our flesh is weak and needs encouragement. However, the vast majority of what God does in and through our lives we will never fully comprehend in this life. Don’t forget, our job isn’t to know everything that is going on; it is simply to be obedient and faithful. God can use a willing and yielded vessel!

Losing and failing are simply part of this life. Things often don’t go as we planned. THAT IS LIFE! How we respond to losing, to failing, when things don’t go as we planned is the key. Never forget, God is on the throne. He doesn’t take naps, or go to the bathroom, or take a break to eat a sandwich. God is on His throne at all times and nothing happens apart from God allowing it to happen. The vast majority of the time we lose or fail is because of the choices we made. God gave us free will, and God allows us to make the choices that lead to our losing or failing. Again, the key is how we respond when we lose or fail.

Our first response should be prayer. Pray for God to open your heart, give you wisdom, and show you why you lost or failed. Then you need to pray for God to give you the strength to overcome your disappointment in losing or failing, and help you to move forward. Lastly, you need to seek the Lord to guide you so that you don’t make those same poor choices again.

God doesn’t abandon you when you lose or fail. You are not alone. He is there with you each moment, so reach out and allow HIM to comfort you and give you His peace. God is with you in the good times and bad, through victory and defeat, through success and failure.

As long as you know Jesus as your Savior you can never lose or fail and if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, you can never win or succeed. As long as you know Jesus, no matter what may happen, no matter what the setbacks in life you may experience along your journey, no matter what your defeats or your failures may be, you will always win and be successful! YOU ARE ALWAYS A WINNER AND A SUCCESS BECAUSE OF JESUS!!!

The Silence of the Lord – by Paul Keeler

The Silence of the Lord

Psalm ten begins with the words, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” It seems to be an age old question among those who follow the Lord. Why does it seem that during the most challenging seasons of our lives, God’s presence and voice can be so elusive?

After all there are numerous promises throughout the Word that God is faithful to those who seek him. If we back up one chapter to Psalm nine we find the words, “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.” The Word states that God has never forsaken anyone who has sought him. That’s a serious track record covering generations and generations of God seekers.

Recently I had a question about a product that I bought from a fairly reputable company, but my phone calls and emails were not answered or returned. The company that promised great customer service went silent on me. I was frustrated and disappointed that no one from this organization was willing to take the time to communicate with one of their customers. I felt unimportant, knowing that if I had more influence I would probably have had my questions answered and my needs taken care of.

It’s easy for the lies of the enemy to feel true when God is silent. When we are anxious, frustrated or worried the enemy finds an opportunity to tell us that God is silent because he doesn’t really care, or he’s too busy, or we aren’t important enough. Maybe if we were more holy, prayed more, or were more obedient we would have more influence and God would respond to our cries.

The truth is we never come to God on our own merits. We come in the name and position of Jesus Christ. No one has more influence with God than Jesus. Jesus alone has the privilege of entering into the presence of God and through him we have been given this privilege as well. The reason that God is silent has nothing to do with our value, our position, or how much we are loved. There are times when God is silent because we have unconfessed sin, but if we have repented of sin and God is still silent, there is a reason. God has not abandoned us or forsaken us. God is waiting on us.
That’s right, God is waiting to see how we will respond to his silence.
Will we panic as the disciples did on the boat that endured the storm? Will we confidently trust that he knows and cares about our situation? Will we run to another source of comfort? Will we wait on him, right back? In our society we are accustomed to information on demand, but God works a different way. He allows us to wait. Faith is fashioned in the crucible of waiting. Everything within our immature flesh cries out, “But I want it NOW!” We justify and rationalize why we need answers and direction now.
God is not moved by the urgency of our need. God is moved by faith. God responds to the confident follower who spends time at the footsteps of God knowing that there is no other answer. When challenged by Jesus if he wanted to desert with other disciples, Peter responded, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Do you believe and know today that Jesus is the Holy One of God? Do you believe and know that you are loved by God and that he cares about your present situation? Do you believe and know that only God has the words of eternal life? Then patiently wait at his feet, seeking his presence and displaying new levels of faith. God will not be silent for long, your willingness to wait on him, will move him to respond to you. After all, his word promising that he will not forsake those who seek him must remain true.

Paul Keeler

It’s Over at 40

26 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
31 “‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 32 But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. 33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.
34 “‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!”
36 The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the LORD with their bad report—37 were struck dead with a plague before the LORD. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.
39 When Moses reported the LORD’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. 40 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us.”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the LORD’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD.”
44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah.

This is the conclusion of a great story of Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. One would think they would be gung ho, ready to get into their Promised Land. But that was not the case. Not only did they whine their way through the Sinai Peninsula now they were ready to stay just outside the borders of the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and to them. After all, the 12 spies scouted out the land and saw how great it was, but 10 of them reported that it would be TOO hard to beat the people of the land. Forget that God promised to send angels to drive the people out of their way. Forget that the plagues of Egypt only affected the Egyptians and forget the whole Sea of Reeds parting for the crowd. And who remembers the manna (food) from heaven, the quail every morning and water from a rock in the desert. The people of the land were TOO big and strong for God to handle. Obviously this did not make God very happy.

Their lack of faith slapped his Deity right in the face. So, here’s what happened:
1. 10 spies – struck dead with a plague
2. Everyone 20yo and younger will never get into the land alive
3. It’s Over at 40 – Everyone will wander in the wilderness for that many years
4. God will treat them in a manner usually reserved only for His enemies

Once again the people hang their heads reluctantly in some shallow form of repentance. But, instead of accepting the consequences, they try to supersede God by going into the land on their own. That, of course, did not work out too well.

This leaves me with a few thoughts of contemplation. Perhaps they will push your spiritual introspection as well:
Why is it that I want to do my own thing all the time?
Why do I not listen to God more, wise counsel more, my parents more?
How often do I make repentance seem cheap and my reverence for God’s will seem shallow?

I don’t know about you. But this is what I’m thinking about today.

Peace,
Pastor Tim

Jubilee

Jubilee (without the cherries) or
I promise you can have ice cream if you eat your vegetables

Some days it is hard to feel like encouraging people. I mean self-centered living is at the very hub of our existence, at least of mine. What is there to do when you don’t feel like being “Christ-like” or Christ-centered? Getting lost in a good rerun on DVR or burying my head under the blankets sounds good. Logic dictates that would be a far cry better than carrying around a me-centered attitude and barking at the locals. But something struck me in the Bible this morning that forced my hand.

I am currently reading in what some might call the biblical “wasteland” of Leviticus. As a Pastor, I would never recommend someone read Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy as a starting point. There is too much detail, too many laws, too many regulations and instructions to a society that is mostly dead today. The luxury of only reading the “good parts” is lost for one in my profession. After all I have long been a student and teacher of the Bible – the whole thing. In fact, as I think back, it was in this exact “wasteland” that I did my Masters of Divinity work. Why? Because the history of God’s interaction with creation and the nation of Israel gives insight into the character and nature of God.

Today I was reminded of God’s loving-kindness. For me that means God always has our best interest in mind. In the middle of what seems like a never-ending list of demands we can find God looking out for us. He could have chosen to let us learn the hard way, and sometimes he does. God could also let us run around crazy, using up all our resources and energy until it is depleted. God could set us on a course or path and leave us to our own devices. But he doesn’t. God is looking out for our best interests. Take the concept of a year of Jubilee:

Leviticus 25:1-13
¹ While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. ³ For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, ⁴ but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the Lord’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. ⁵ And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. ⁶ But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own during its Sabbath. This applies to you, your male and female servants, your hired workers, and the temporary residents who live with you. ⁷ Your livestock and the wild animals in your land will also be allowed to eat what the land produces.

⁸ “In addition, you must count off seven Sabbath years, seven sets of seven years, adding up to forty-nine years in all. ⁹ Then on the Day of Atonement in the fiftieth year,^[a] blow the ram’s horn loud and long throughout the land. ¹⁰ Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. ¹¹ This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own, and don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. ¹² It will be a jubilee year for you, and you must keep it holy. But you may eat whatever the land produces on its own. ¹³ In the Year of Jubilee each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors. NLT

What we only began to realize in modern times, and frankly to dismiss, is that everything, including the land, needs time to rest. God gave us the Sabbath day to rest and reflect on his goodness. God gave the Sabbath year for the land to rest and replenish the soils. God gave the 50^th year, after 7 Sabbath years, as the Year of Jubilee. During this year all land was returned to its’ original owner. All indentured servants were released from their servitude. All things borrowed or lent were returned and received. Now that’s something great. But God didn’t stop there with simple commands and no means to accomplish them.

God knew and knows that we will always have questions about his plans and commands. Why? We are children. We always want to know why and how and how come. So before the questions and objections could even begin, God explained:

Lev. 25:18-22
¹⁸ “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. ²⁰ But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ ²¹ Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. ²² When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year. NLT

That is just the way God is. His character always has our best interest in mind, even when we fell restricted and closed in by commands, requests, restrictions, etc., etc., etcetera. Can you grasp, even for a moment, how great of thing this is? God promised to bless them so much that they would have enough for 3 years! Not just enough for one year, but for 3 years! What does that tell us about God’s character? How much must God love us? Enough to feed us? Yes. Enough to clothe us? Yes. Enough to get us through a recession/depression/melt-down? Yes. Enough to heal us? Enough to forgive us? Enough TO DIE for us? Yes, yes, yes. There is no end to the loving-kindness of God towards those who follow him with all their heart, soul and strength.

So, when we don’t feel like encouraging one another…when we don’t feel like being “Christ-like” or “Christ-centered”…when we’d rather bury our heads in mindless movies or a warm blanket, I guess all we really need is to hear from God and point people to him. His loving-kindness will take over. What a concept…wish I would have thought of it sooner.

Pastor Tim

Know Who

Genesis 47:13-21, 25, 27-31 (New Living Translation)

¹³ Meanwhile, the famine became so severe that all the food was used up, and people were starving throughout the lands of Egypt and Canaan. ¹⁴ By selling grain to the people, Joseph eventually collected all the money in Egypt and Canaan, and he put the money in Pharaoh’s treasury. ¹⁵ When the people of Egypt and Canaan ran out of money, all the Egyptians came to Joseph. “Our money is gone!” they cried. “But please give us food, or we will die before your very eyes!”

¹⁶ Joseph replied, “Since your money is gone, bring me your livestock. I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” ¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Joseph in exchange for food. In exchange for their horses, flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and donkeys, Joseph provided them with food for another year.

¹⁸ But that year ended, and the next year they came again and said, “We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Why should we die before your very eyes? Buy us and our land in exchange for food; we offer our land and ourselves as slaves for Pharaoh. Just give us grain so we may live and not die, and so the land does not become empty and desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh. ²¹ As for the people, he made them all slaves,^[a] from one end of Egypt to the other.

²⁵ “You have saved our lives!” they exclaimed. “May it please you, my lord, to let us be Pharaoh’s servants.”

²⁷ Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly. ²⁸ Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.

²⁹ As the time of his death drew near, Jacob^[b] called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. ³⁰ When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”

So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”

³¹ “Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.  

Desperation does things to people. They don’t seem to think wisely in desperate situations. It’s hard enough to breathe much less think at times.

Everyone looks for a way out of desperate times. When our faith or understanding has dissipated, we, more often than not, settle for that which will make us the most comfortable even at the detriment of our rights.

Warnings of desperate times and desperate measures have been coming at us in America for centuries. But they have been more prevalent since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Our security and safety had been compromised, and desperate measures had to be taken. At least that’s what we were told. Some groups complained about government entrance and interference in private citizens lives. Others postulated that these measures would be the only thing that could save us from another attack.

Political winds change with the actual temperature of the bodies who vote in each election. People look to those who they believe will present the “most comfortable” situation. More government, less government, more pay, less pay, more taxes, less taxes, the mantras go on and on and on. Prudency would be the best bet. But wisdom is far from home in the halls of governments and private citizen’s homes. History is a repetitious monster at times.

So, what does any of this have to do with Joseph, the Egyptians and the Hebrews? More importantly, what does it have to do with me? Nothing…nothing unless you can read the annals of history in Genesis and realize that our choices must be carefully considered and prudently executed. The Egyptians did not have faith in any god except Pharaoh. They trusted his representative Joseph to take care of their need for food. But that trust cost them everything they owned and even ownership of themselves.

On the other hand, the Hebrews were living in Goshen, Egypt. It seems as if they had prepared for the famine for there is no mention of them selling of property or people in order to eat. In fact, the passage says that they prospered and their numbers increased greatly! And I think I found out why. In verse 31, their patriarch, their leader, bows himself in worship. He knew and had followed the one, true God all of his life. And all of his people followed along.

I am convinced the lesson of all these things is simple – know who you are trusting for your daily bread and worship Him.

Peace,

Pastor Tim

“Forgive” – Fireproof pt.5 as taught by Pastor Tim Douglas

Here is a sermon I just preached for a series at church. I know I mostly write, but this time you can listen if you wish. Peace….Tim

http://westlandbaptistchurch.org/2009/02/22/forgive-fireproof-pt5/

The Assurance of Faith – Paul Keeler

This beautiful explanation of life and death is too wonderful not to pass on. Read it closely. Let God speak to you through it. Then pass it on to someone who would benefit from it.   Pastor Tim

Dear Friend,

As I prepare my heart for my mother’s passing on from this life to the next I was inspired to write these words. I wanted to share them with you.

The Assurance of Faith

There are many questions that man has pondered from the beginning of his creation. Chief among those is what happens to our person when we die.

Some believe that life on earth is the extent of our existence, and others believe that our person carries on to a spiritual realm, of these there are many variations. In deciding what to believe a person is wise to search out the most dependable source of truth. The Bible has been the most scrutinized spiritual source of truth and continues to pass every test. It is in fact, not the words of mere mortals writing their own ideas, but the words of God impressed upon men by the Holy Spirit. The Bible has much to say about the transition from life to death to life again. Let’s examine its contents to see what light it sheds for us regarding this subject.

In the first century new Christians or followers of Christ were looking for answers to these very same questions. A disciple of Christ and later an Apostle, named John, wrote a letter explaining many spiritual truths, including this one.

He writes in 1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Notice in his writing that the operative word that affects the entire statement is the word “know”. He didn’t say hope or wish, he said know. Those who believe in the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life. How can they know? The answer is, through faith.

This is the very same faith that we place in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and the reconciliation of our relationship with God the Father. In Acts 4:12 we learn that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Only Jesus can provide eternal salvation because he alone is the acceptable sacrifice of God. Many religions have wonderful ideas concerning pious acts and moral living but where they go astray from the truth is the belief that man can through some act of his own, earn or deserve or work his way into heaven. This is foolishness.

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

It is by grace and grace alone, that we are saved, through faith. Through faith in Christ we can know that we know that we are saved from eternal separation from God. Therefore there is no reason for the believer in Christ to fear death or its consequences.

I Corinthians 15:54 -57 shows us this through these words, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The question that grace demands us to ask is, why? Why did God sacrifice his own beloved Son for sinful humanity? The Scriptures point us to the answer.

Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us.”

In a familiar verse John 3:16 the answer is once again made clear. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John goes on to say in verse seventeen, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

It was love. Love for you and me was the motivation of God’s heart in making the greatest sacrifice ever given. He surrendered Christ to pain, humiliation, torture, abandonment, and death on a cross so that you and I could have our sins forgiven, our relationships with God reconciled, and our eternal lives secured. To this fact the entire Scriptures point to. Through faith in Christ we are assured of these three promises.

Our role is to receive his act of grace by faith and to respond to his love and kindness with praise, worship and thanksgiving. We are called each day to live in the faith and knowledge that God loves us, desires relationship with us, and has secured our eternity.

The Apostle Paul the writer of the book of Romans asks the question in Romans chapter eight, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine, or nakedness or danger or sword?” He answers his own question a verse later with these words, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Nothing! Absolutely nothing can tear the one who has placed his faith in Christ away from the loving arms of God. Therefore, we do not fear death, we celebrate it. We absolutely miss our loved ones who pass on from this life to the next but we are assured through faith that they have graduated to their eternal home, and we console ourselves with the fact that we too who have faith in Christ will reside there one day ourselves. Death is but a short separation from those we love. We understand it as merely the passing away of our flesh, as our person continues on.

In his revelation from God, the Apostle John describes a picture of heaven with these words, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ ”

The assurance of heaven is the fruit of our faith in Christ. Armed with this knowledge believers in Christ know how to prepare their hearts for their passing on, and the passing on of those they love. To God be the glory.

Paul Keeler

What Do You Have to Offer?

When the Hebrew people first started following God out of Egypt they really did not know a lot about him or his expectations. They had lived for hundreds of years under pagan leadership with many gods including the Pharaoh. Most of you know the whole story of how they wandered through the desert whining and complaining almost the whole time. “Where is God? I want to go back to Egypt. Give us something to worship we can see!!!” Yes, whining. When they are called the “children” of Israel it was no exaggeration. Anyone who has taken an extended car ride with multiple children understands what Moses was putting up with. These biblical descriptions were accurate!

At one point during their journey God called their leader, Moses, up to a mountain top to write down some instructions. These were the 10 commandments as well as all the laws and rules governing the worship of the one, true God. While Moses was on the mountain the first time, he was gone for an extended period of time. So, bored and a little scared, the people brought gold jewelry to Aaron the priest and he made a “god” from the gold – the infamous golden calf. They figured worship was owed to this God that brought them out of Egypt. And in the context of the pagan worship they grew up around, it probably made sense to create one to look at. But this was not the case. When Moses came down the mountain and saw the debaucherous “worship” going on he threw the commandments on the ground and demanded repentance from everyone. The unrepentant were killed. Now that’s a tough crowd.

The whole question of what real worship of this God looked like plagued the children of Israel for a long time. . It really all started with Cain and Abel bringing two different offerings to God way back in Genesis. Cain’s offering was not accepted but Abel’s was. Neither offering was the wrong stuff, but something was different between the two. Even when the Books of the Law were complete and the Hebrews had the whole counsel of God’s commands (613 of them), they still had problems following them.

Rules for the worship of God are still discussed today around the world. Everyone wants to do the right thing and say the right words. There are even ridiculously vicious arguments about the beautiful worship of God. The paradox of trying to love God and dislike our fellow humans exists throughout religions of every kind. So it begs the question -

What do I, a mere mortal, have to offer to this great and awesome Deity? Actually, you have quite a lot. I want to play off the Levitical laws regarding offerings to help us better understand God’s desires regarding worship.

Lev 2:1-10 2 “When you present grain as an offering to the LORD, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive oil on it, sprinkle it with frankincense, 2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. The priest will scoop out a handful of the flour moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this representative portion on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 4 “If your offering is a grain offering baked in an oven, it must be made of choice flour, but without any yeast. It may be presented in the form of thin cakes mixed with olive oil or wafers spread with olive oil. 5 If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made of choice flour mixed with olive oil but without any yeast. 6 Break it in pieces and pour olive oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7 If your grain offering is prepared in a pan, it must be made of choice flour and olive oil. 8 “No matter how a grain offering for the LORD has been prepared, bring it to the priest, who will present it at the altar. 9 The priest will take a representative portion of the grain offering and burn it on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. NLT

Don’t you just love Leviticus? It is so rich and full of expression and meaning, or you may wonder why we are there right now. The fact is we all have something to offer God. What you offer him will not be the same as what I offer. We offer praise to the Lord for his character. We offer thanks to the Lord for his mighty deeds and blessings. We offer surrender to the Lord for each segment of our life. We offer our time, talents and giftedness to be used for his glory. You and I have a lot to offer. So what’s the difference? The difference is condition of Abel’s offering rather than Cain’s. The difference is the words in the passage of Leviticus.

The difference is the quality of what we are offering. This is not a quality of comparison with other people, but the quality of what is available to each person. You see not everyone had the best lambs or flour or wine. Not everyone could cull a sacrifice from a stable of champion, purebred animals. But everyone did, and does, have a best of that they can offer. Everyone has the ability to give their best. Whether it is time in prayer, singing, teaching, dancing, acting, loving, caring, sharing, administrating – whatever our giftedness is, we should bring our best. It is the choice offering that is special to the Lord.

It is the choice sacrifice that smells so sweet to God. Next time you have a chance to be used by God ask yourself this simple question, “Did I give a choice offering to God today?” Only you and God will know the answer. The fact that you are even willing to ask the question will automatically put your best efforts to the forefront. Go ahead – give him the choice offerings from your life today.