A Serendipity—God Reaching Out To You

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able
to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think,
according to the power
at work within us,
to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
forever and ever. Amen.

A Serendipity—God Reaching Out To You[

Any serendipity
is God reaching out to you
because He loves you more
than you have ever guessed.

You get so busy every day
as you rush along your way,
you hurry right on past His
parables of love.

You must listen carefully,
open wide your eyes and see
surprises for your delight
each one a gift of love.

He opens wide His loving arms
for those who open their own
and welcome His forgiving
embrace, His own true love.

************

Well, some of you may be asking, “What in the world is a serendipity?” That’s a good question. And that question has a fascinating answer. An eighteenth century British writer, Horace Walpole, coined the word, inspired by a Persian fairy tale, “The Three Princes of Serendip.” He explained serendipity as an accidental but delightful discovery. For instance, I was washing dishes one day, looking out our kitchen window, and alerted my wife, “Look, there’s a butterfly enjoying our flowers.” And even as I paused, while we gazed at the lovely sight, a hummingbird joined the butterfly. Now, seeing the butterfly was a surprise, but seeing the hummingbird right there with her, enjoying ours flowers also, quickened our hearts with joy. That’s a serendipity. 

Sir Alexander Fleming
serendipitously discovered
penicillin upon returning
to his lab after a summer vacation.

You might have heard how Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928 was shocked to find mold interfering with the growth of bacteria in one of his Petri dishes. That mold received the name penicillin and has saved the lives of millions worldwide since then. By God’s Grace, that was a serendipity. In fact, I believe true serendipities are acts of grace as God tweaks our noses, so-to-speak, in the midst of busy days to get our attention and remind us of His great Love. Our beautiful pair of visitors, a butterfly and a humming bird dancing among our flowers as we washed our dishes one day, certainly spoke, even sang to our hearts of God’s beauty in nature and His Love for us. This “Holy Spirit Surprise” certainly called our hearts toward worship. But that raises the question; can anything God does as the Father, Son or Spirit, truly be a surprise? The answer is: Yes!  God is so great that He constantly stretches our minds, hearts and souls to comprehend more and more of His glory. May our eyes always be wide-open and eager for the next serendipity He brings our way.

Romans 11:33-36
Now to him who is able
to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
forever and ever. Amen.

Imagine the thrill of seeing two whales jumping out of the ocean together as if they were synchronized swimmers. Imagine the creative power of God who made whales and every creature unique in nature so that all who see them must marvel at His glory. Imagine also the wonderful variety of saints who serve and worship together in any local body of Christ’s church. Each saint is being sanctified to play God’s assigned role in completing the perfect body of His Bride to see His Kingdom one day established in the New Heaven and New Earth. We should, then, be always looking expectantly upon our fellow saints-in-the-making to see the serendipity for the world they have been recreated to become.

Never Ignore A Serendipity
Never get in such a hurry, 
never grow so preoccupied,
never let worries overwhelm you,
never get so self-absorbed,
never let this old world distract you,
never let your woes blind you,
never take a pass on God’s glory.

. . .  and the very best serendipities of all are found in God’s Word, of course. If you have been reading your Bible for years, you know it happens . . . you find yourself reading a familiar passage once again, and there it is—God opens up a meaning, an insight, a word of encouragement you have never noticed before . . . a serendipity delivered straight from God’s heart to yours. He is so glorious, every word of Scripture opens up layer after layer of meaning. He is so loving, His Spirit directs you to such meaning, such insights, and such words of encouragement as you need for that particular day and beyond. Yes, serendipities in the midst of your everyday life, are blessed reminders of how true His truth is, and how powerful His strength is, and how beautiful His love is. Keep your senses ready, keep your soul seeking, and get ready to praise the Lord!

Next week we will look into particular serendipity scriptures which delight and enrich those who seek out God’s Truth and His Riches within His Word. In the meantime,  keep your ears tuned, your eyes wide-open just like a toddler in God’s Household faithfully trusting in our Heavenly Father to guide you as you discover serendipities even today. Amen!

Jesus Seeks Us One-By-One

JESUS SEEKS US ONE-BY-ONE

John 15:4
What man of you,
having a hundred sheep,
if he has lost one of them,
does not leave the ninety-nine
in the open country, and go after the one that is lost,
until he finds it?

Jesus, as God Incarnate (God Dwelling As Man Among Men), the Son of God, and the Savior of the world; did indeed live on earth among the people of Israel during what we now call the first century A.D., (in the year of our Lord). Jesus did indeed step out of eternity to live among us. The Gospel writers who bear witness to His Presence among us, give us example after example of how Jesus seeks us out one-by-one to invite us into a trusting faith relationship with Him which gives us a miraculous new birth as children of God. Let’s imagine together the brief testimonies of some of those who answered this call and found in Jesus amazing new life.

Matthew 9:9
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the tax collector’s booth.
“Follow me,” he told him,
and Matthew got up and followed him.

Jesus Called Me Matthew

Jesus called me Matthew.
His disciples were shocked that He would call me.
I had abandoned my family and my people.
I had sold my soul to the enemy.
I lived a lavish and sinful life
as I cheated my own people.
Yes, I was despised.
Yes, I was reviled.
Yes, I was alone.
Then Jesus called my name.
He commanded me to follow Him.
Amazed, I obeyed.
And nothing was ever the same.

John 4:25-26
The woman said to him,
“I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ).
When he comes, he will tell us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Jesus Made Time For Me

Though He was a Jew
while I was a Samaritan,
though He was known to be Holy
and  I was said to be fallen
Jesus made time for me.
I went to the well in the middle of the day
to avoid those who despised me
but Jesus was there waiting for me—
and though I argued in the way of our people
He lovingly offered me living water eternal
which cleansed my heart
that unforgettable day
because Jesus made time for me.

Matthew 8:2-3
And behold, a leper came to him
and knelt before him, saying,
“Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”  
And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him,
saying, “I will; be clean.”
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Then Jesus Touched Me

Not even my father,
not even my mother,
nor my brothers
nor my sisters—
not even those
who loved me
could touch me
for I was a leper—
I was unclean;
but Jesus was different,
He loved me, too:
He reached out to touch me . . .
and now I am clean.

John 5:7–9
“Sir,” the invalid replied,
“I have no one to help me into the pool
when the water is stirred.
While I am trying to get in,
someone else goes down ahead of me.” 
Then Jesus said to him,
“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
At once the man was cured;
he picked up his mat and walked.

When Jesus Found Me

I was lost in the crowd
in the midst of the suffering
desperate for healing
waiting by the pool
for the water’s stirring
for one lucky person
until  Jesus found me
and demanded
I rise to my feet
and take up my mat
and walk
and, “Praise God!
I did.”

Matthew 9:20-22
And behold, a woman
who had suffered
from a discharge
of blood for twelve years
came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment,
Jesus turned, and seeing her he said,
“Take heart, daughter;
Your faith has made you well.”
And instantly the woman was made well.

I Was Invisible

I was invisible
until Jesus found me,
my bleeding had hidden
me from peoples’ hearts,
and in the middle of this crowd
all clamoring around Jesus
I slipped unseen
to touch the hem of His garment,
and immediately
I was healed
as He felt the gift
of His power surround me
and He gave me peace.

Luke 23:42-43
And he said,
“Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.”
And he said to him,
“Truly, I say to you,
today you will be with me in paradise.”

“Today . . . in . . . Paradise”

I had never sought Him,
I had never found Him,
I had never seen
Him nor heard Him—
but now I was dying
and right there beside me
was Jesus—
I heard Him praying
for those
crucifying Him—
I asked for His Mercy
and He promised me
”Today, . . . in . . . Paradise.”

John 21:15-17
 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 
He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 
He said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

“Do You Love Me?”

Three times my Lord Jesus asked me,
“Do you love me?”
and three times
I thought my heart was breaking
until His Love broke through
and I realized
He was tenderly
forgiving
each time I had denied Him
with my three affirmations
as He opened His loving arms
and embraced and equipped me
for serving Him again.

Ezekiel 34:11-15

“For thus says the Lord God:
Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep
that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep,
and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered
 on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them
from the countries, and will bring them into their own land.
And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines,
 and in all the inhabited places of the country.
I will feed them with good pasture,
and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.
There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture
they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,
and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.”

Discovering God’s Will

DISCOVERING GOD’S WILL

Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the
great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him,
“You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments
depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus answered the question; “How do I know God’s Will?” by laying the essential foundation in listing what many call, “The Two Great Commandments.” Finding and understanding God’s Will rests on this strong foundation. His Will for each of us will always reflect our understanding of and obedience to these commands. We must love God with absolutely everything He has made us to be. Then we must also love other people, both near and far, even as we love ourself. That is, we put God first, then other people next—honoring and serving them every day we live. This is the true beginning to understanding God’s Will.

We must begin our plan for knowing and following God’s Will with these two essential first steps:
1. LOVE GOD with every bit of me.
2. LOVE OTHER PEOPLE in every thing I choose to think, say, and do.

In order to tackle these two supreme challenges, we must take our third step:

3. STUDY GOD’S WORD.

Proverbs 4:20-22
My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.

When we daily study God’s Word He guides us along His Way, He teaches us the truth we need, He inspires and empowers us, and He corrects us. God’s Word is filled with encouragement, warning, advice, inspiration, and correction. We need to feed on God’s Word every single day—not by hurrying through a few verses—sort of like grabbing a pop-tart on the way out the door to face the challenges of another day. Rather, we need to take time to eat a hearty, a balanced breakfast that gives us strength and energy. That is, we need to engage with the Bible—reading, reflecting, writing, and then praying about challenges the Holy Spirit brings before our heart and mind as we study. We need to rise from our daily Bible Study strengthened for the challenges coming our way throughout the remainder of the day.

4. PRAY CONTINUALLY.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.

To know God’s Will we need to share with God our heart, our soul, and our mind—trusting Him to take the fullness of all that we are, and to work in and around us to achieve His glory and our best good. We naturally breathe every minute of the day. This is necessary for our physical life.  We need to recognize that a sense of having a readiness to pray throughout the day is just as necessary for our spiritual life. We need a moment-by-moment awareness of the Presence of God all around us so that we in our hearts and minds invoke His Presence through all types of prayers. We rejoice before Him over His good gifts and opportunities to do the good He brings our way. We do pray without ceasing—we share joys that arise as we give Him thanks. We turn to Him immediately when we need strength or wisdom in the midst of the challenges that come our way. And we are quick to give Him thanks as He blesses us all day long. Surely this is what Jesus, by His own example, has taught us to do.

5. FELLOWSHIP WITH OTHER BELIEVERS.

Romans 12:10
Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.

God grows His people through KOINONIA or Christian fellowship—and as he grows them —He reveals Himself through the camaraderie and teamwork He develops within a faith family. Standing in a circle of brothers and sisters sharing our very lives together united by God’s Redemptive Love, becomes a powerful witness to the world. Jesus spoke clearly in John 13:34-35; (“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.) reminding us as His disciples how important our godly love for each other is in sharing our witness with the world. The world watches and responds in wonder when we truly live out in our lives together such godly love.

6. MAKE DISCIPLES.

Matthew 28:19-20
“Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

You know, God never said “Sit down and make disciples.” He clearly said “Go.” He sends us, so we go in obedience to His command. We are to make disciples in all nations. We cannot neglect our own home communities; but neither can we neglect those nations far from us, both in distance and in culture. He not only sends us, though; He goes ahead of us and with us. He is always by our sides. He enables us with Holy Spirit power to fulfill His Great Commission ‘lest the whole earth should be lost. So, here is the sum of it all. God knows the world needs Him.  So, He sends us into the world to declare the Gospel Good News. God has, indeed, come  among us in the Person of Jesus to call us into the whole world, to present it to all the people of the world, and to make disciples of Jesus among them who will in turn answer and obey the same call.

7.FOLLOW GOD’S PLAN

Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God has the ONLY plan for transforming each of our lives into eternal pilgrimages faithfully following Him along His pathway which will lead us Home where we shall worship, serve and adore Him forever. This is His Will for us. We discover His Will as we LOVE and SERVE Him; as we LOVE and SERVE  people around us; as we STUDY GOD’S WORD; as we PRAY WITHOUT CEASING; as we experience KOINONIA LOVE/FELLOWSHIP with other believers; as we MAKE DISCIPLES here, there and everywhere; and as we purposefully FOLLOW GOD’S WAY in all that we do. This is how we KNOW GOD’S WILL. This is how we DO GOD’S WILL.

Light And Life

LIGHT AND LIFE

John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me
will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”

During my eighteen years at Baptist High School, I came to treasure the traditions which planted the school motto: “Light and Life,” deep in the hearts of students and staff members. For me, the most powerful of these traditions took place the night before graduation in mid-July each year. The Candle-light service, arranged and directed by the school’s Old Students Association (Alumni), featured the profound symbolism of a cross lit by candles carried into the chapel by the graduating class members. They each quoted a Bible verse featuring the word, light, as they placed their burning candle in the cross. Then, at the end of the program, the incoming seniors lit their own candle from  one of the burning candles in the cross as they followed the outgoing seniors out of the chapel into the night. How beautifully the lighted candles being carried into the night represented the reality of Jesus and His guidance for both the outgoing and incoming seniors. He was, after all, the “light of their lives.”

From the first day the very young members of the JSS I Class arrived at Baptist High School from all over Nigeria each year, their teachers and their fellow students welcomed them into a school where the challenge always remained; as stated in the School Mission:

To serve and glorify God
through the provision
of Christian Education
in order to produce
Christ-dominated,
highly intellectual
and servant leaders
who can take the light
and life and hope
of Jesus Christ
to Nigeria, Africa
and the world.

In classes, in the dorms, on the playing fields, and certainly in the  chapel, every student constantly heard the Gospel. Not only did they  hear the Gospel, but they experienced it as they studied, as they played, as they read their Bibles, as they prayed, and even as they experienced boarding school ups-and-downs, and strong discipline. Students and teachers at Baptist High School were certainly not perfect, but their Lord Jesus Christ was and is today and forever. During their six years at the school students had the opportunity to grow in their relationship to Him until they were ready to go into all the world and take the Good News of Jesus, His light and life and hope throughout the world. They also made Christ-based friendships that would encourage them throughout all the years of their lives. 

I wish you could hear Baptist High School students and teachers as they enthusiastically joined in singing the school song, Life and Light, written by the first principal and his wife, Bill and Audrey Cowley.

Light and Life
Light and life! Our motto always ringing;
Leading us through a life that’s filled with singing;
Light and life! God’s voice to us is calling;
Carry the light, life-giving light;
To those who need its glow.
Light of the sun! To warm all life on earth’s face;
Stirring all growth, to bring us gifts of God’s Grace;
Light of the sun! Of knowledge brightly burning;
Banishing fear; message so dear;
The truth to make men free.
Light of the Word! The gospel story preaching;
Both near and far and all God’s people reaching;
Light and life! God’s Voice to us is calling;
Carry the light; life-giving light;
To those who need its glow.

How many times we rejoiced along with those beautiful voices at Baptist High School while they sang this heart-stirring challenge to carry the light and life of Jesus into the world. This song so worked itself into the hearts of those who sang it together so often, that it has become a treasured part of many Baptist High School’s students’ and teachers’ weddings, and also funerals. In life and in death the same Jesus we sang about brought His light and His life to rejoice with us as families were founded in Him, and also to encourage us as we encountered times of grief. 

In 2018, when Becky and I were blessed to visit Nigeria and many Baptist High School old students and teachers we had served with; the Candle Light service was a real highlight for us. As we fellowshipped with these we loved in Christ so much, those we had been privileged to teach, disciple and learn from—we praised God that this great school continues to uphold her mission. Countless lives have discovered the light of Jesus during their Baptist High School years. Many of us have been blessed to see His light grow ever brighter as we worshipped, prayed, studied and played together. The school’s heart verse explains how deeply committed to Jesus and to each other current and former Baptist High School students and teachers are:

Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant
it is for the brethren
to dwell together in unity.

Every school has the opportunity and the challenge to prepare students for life. Every school faces the challenge of accepting both the opportunity and the challenge with a sense of gratitude, humility, commitment and faithfulness. Having been privileged to serve at Baptist High School, Jos, Becky and I can certainly attest to a very high level of achievement in each of these areas of participation.  We certainly give thanks to God for the part so many teachers and students have played, beginning  in the early sixties, and continuing even now in  the mid-twenties of the twenty-first century. All glory goes to God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Baptist High School Mission
To be a mission-minded,
Christ-exalting,
self-sustaining organization
with high spiritual, academic,
aesthetic, and moral standards,
reaching the school family,
neighboring communities,
and the world for Christ.

My Birthday Prayer

2 Corinthians 5:17
If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creation,
old things have passed away,
behold, all things are become new.

My Birthday Prayer

Even now, once again,
after three score,
ten and four more years
I continue to find
Your absolute goodness
and love and Your
redemption working
deep within and around
me through the Presence
of Jesus and
the Holy Spirit within
my heart redeemed
through Your Gospel Plan . . .
in Creation, from
our parent’s fall toward the
Incarnation, the
Lion of Judah and the
Lamb of God slain
reconciling me . . .
and just especially
for my own joy
just this week one
beautiful butterfly
gliding in the air
as free as could be
rejoicing among
the bright garden
of blossoms below
reminding me
how You have through
Your mercy and grace
made me brand new
now free to find
daily and eternal
bliss entrusting
my whole soul to You.

Revelation 5:5
And one of the elders said to me,
“Weep no more; behold,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, has conquered,
so that he can open
the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:12
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom
and might and honor
and glory and blessing!”

Seven Verses Seven Days

Seven Verses Seven Days

Seven days a week
God gifts me life
for the living,
for the loving,
for the laughing,
for the weeping,
for the serving.

SUNDAY

Best to begin,
best to proclaim
His praises,
best to embrace
His people,
best to feast
upon His Word.

MONDAY

Do it all with joy
for the opportunity
to bring Him glory
in everything you do
pointing your best
to Him who has
done it all in Christ.

TUESDAY

Whether the day seems golden
or whether the days seems gray
focus your heart on His Hand
as He’s working His best
for the supreme glory
of His Kingdom
and your good.

WEDNESDAY

Every anxious thought
along with every tinge of doubt
can open up your cringing heart
to look up to Him who cares
for you so much
He lived and died
and rose again.

THURSDAY

I am so glad
for every labor
God places on
my shoulders
as He blesses
even me working
toward His Harvest.

FRIDAY

His Love acts
remarkably
in His servants
to accomplish Justice,
as His children reflect
His mercy
while they walk with Him.

SATURDAY

Our Father be praised
for His good hope
even as He renews our strength
and gives us mighty wings
for soaring  the heavens
beyond this world’s
weariness.

Jesus Our Messiah In The New Testament

Jesus Our Messiah In The New Testament

John 1:1, 14:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God…
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.”

(A personal Word Of Explanation: Ask my wife. Ask my Mom and Dad. Ask my brother and sisters. Ask any of my close friends. Ask any of my teachers along the way [Bless their hearts!] I have always been one of those people who too often have “ . . . their heads in the clouds . . . “ So, for me my imagination has never been limited. Indeed, it has been so strong that it has made me unpredictable, to say the least. In a geometry class I might have seemed to be listening, while actually I was busy admiring clouds in the sky, birds flying by, or maybe some student running across the breezeway. Hence the pictures accompanying the scripture in this week’s blog. Don’t look for deep hidden meaning or any application that would make sense to anyone but me. Just enjoy the various views of the sky as you consider God’s Word attached to each.)

We have certainly seen the clear pattern of Scripture always pointing toward God’s Promise of a Messiah throughout the Old Testament. We have read of patriarchs, kings, poets, and prophets; all looking forward with hope, faith, and expectation to the coming of the Messiah, God’s Promised One. Only those who purposefully close their eyes to this pattern can fail to see how God has always been moving throughout history to establish His eternal Gospel Plan. He has always been moving beyond humanity’s fall toward their redemption and His reconciliation in glory. He has always been offering His Promised Land to those who answer His Call and find through Jesus, the Messiah, the welcome embrace of God’s Perfect Love welcoming them into His Kingdom, nations, peoples, tribes, and individuals. The New Testament boldly claims Jesus as this Messiah, declaring His wondrous life, His miracles, His teaching, His death, His resurrection and His ascension into Heaven—and then points us toward His victorious second coming and the establishment of God’s Eternal Kingdom—New Heaven and New Earth, the ultimate Promised Land.

Colossians 1:15–17:
“He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible…
all things were created through him and for him.”

In the Gospels we read the testimonies of Jesus as He lived out His earthly life. The longer His followers knew Him, the more they began to understand they were looking into the face of God when they looked into the eyes of their teacher and their Lord. When He spoke to them, they heard the very Word of God. When they watched Him care for the sick, they watched the very Love of God. When they listened to Him pray, they felt the very Heart of God. When they saw Him calm the storm, they felt the very Power of God. When they witnessed Him as He restored to the widow her son; Jairus his daughter, and Mary and Martha their brother, they marveled at the very Glory of God so obvious in all He did and said.

When they saw Him arrested, tried, then crucified, they experienced the shock of how much Jesus had to endure to complete His purpose in this life. Their hearts were shattered by the brutality with which Jesus was mistreated. Their minds were assaulted by the questions that arose about Jesus choosing to endure such suffering even though they knew He had the power to overcome any human threat. Their souls were crushed by the weight of Jesus’ suffering and their own failure to stand with Him. The writers of the Gospels do not hide the disciples’ confusion during these, the darkest days of their lives.

Then He arose! The disciples could not believe it. Even the faithful women who first saw the empty tomb, could not believe it. Then the risen Jesus proved Himself to them. The Gospels again hide neither their doubts, not their utter shock as they discovered the Truth of His resurrection that changed their lives forever—and in so doing, gave them their testimony God used to change the history of the world. 

Philippians 2:9–11
“Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus did all that God had sent Him to do. He clearly taught the lessons Heaven had for Him to teach on earth. He powerfully revealed the power God’s Love displayed in meeting the deepest needs of humanity. He willingly, He purposefully, He divinely took unto Himself the sins of the world and paid the ultimate price. He shockingly rose up from the grave, defeating sin and death in one victorious proof of God’s Will for His children to accept His Gospel, His Good News.  So, as the Scripture says; it will come to pass. Every tongue will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen and amen and amen!

Hebrews 1:3
“He is the radiance
of the glory of God
and the exact imprint
of his nature,
and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
After making purification for sins,
he sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high.”

As God’s Spirit points us to Jesus, He reveals His own radiance, His perfect Light. Here is such a radiance as transforms even the darkest of nights into the brightest of dawns. We look upon all that Jesus is, through the Gospel writers, through the Holy Spirit at work in the early church, through the letters written for the building up of the various churches established by His saints, in the powerful vision granted John of the triumphant second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the establishment of New Heaven and New Earth. In all of this we witness God’s perfect purpose being accomplished and illuminated through the person of Jesus. 

John 14:6:
“Jesus said to him,
‘I am the way,
and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.'”

(Well, there goes my spacey mind again. I just couldn’t go with another picture of the sky when this verse is talking about Jesus being the way. Isn’t this is a beautiful way?) All Scripture testifies to that truth. All of my life testifies to that truth. All who know Jesus testify to that truth. We rejoice together as we find in our Messiah, our Lord and our Savior, the glorious Way to God, the powerful truth of God’s Love for us, and the exhilarating life we discover as we follow God’s Way in Jesus. 

1 Timothy 3:16
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

Surely the magnificence and power of Jesus, God come down to earth as man, is a mighty mystery—all about the nature of God. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul summarizes the Gospel message vividly: Jesus revealed the very nature of God in the flesh. The Holy Spirit upheld Him before the people who followed after Him as He preached, taught, healed; all as He lived among them. Angels observed His mighty mission of redemption. And after He died and rose again, the disciples proclaimed His Good News among the nations. Many in the world believed on Him, and after completing His mission, He was taken up into glory. 

John 8:58
“Jesus said to them,
‘Truly, truly, I say to you,
before Abraham was, I am.'”

Clearly the New Testament writers grew to understand this truth: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit; always existed in a beautiful unity of one purpose, one direction, and one glorious outcome. Every event in history has been a part of God’s eternal Gospel Plan for the redemption of His children to whom He has always been calling; and who, empowered by His Love, have responded in faith. If we have fallen with our parents from Eden, we have been raised through faith by Jesus, exemplified in the provision of God’s ram in place of Isaac on the altar at Mount Moriah.

Titus 2:13
“…waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

And so Jesus is our sure and blessed hope. We all would have despaired if it were not for Jesus. We would have perished if God had not provided the Lamb, illuminated and glorified by the unmistakable glory of  our God in the the magnificence of the life and death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We would have had no hope in a dry and weary land destined for everlasting death we deserved for our sin and disobedience before our Holy and Just God. But, as His Perfection proclaimed His Holiness and Justice, it also proclaimed His Love.

Revelation 1:8
“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’
says the Lord God,
‘who is and who was
and who is to come,
the Almighty.'”

And so Jesus will ultimately say in final triumph, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” He most surely is the beginning and the end. “I am, I have always been, and will always be. I am the Almighty. Neither sin nor death nor all the powers of sin can stand against me.” God will give the eternal victory. Jesus will deliver the eternal victory. The Holy Spirit will testify to the eternal victory. And so we read in the annals of those glorious times in New Heaven and New Earth; we, His children from every nation upon this earth, will  joyfully and wholeheartedly praise Him forever and forever and forever. Maranatha! Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

Jesus, Our Messiah, In The Old Testament

JESUS, OUR MESSIAH, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

We who live day-by-day and minute-by-minute bound by time; often find it hard to comprehend how God lives in eternity. While we live from day-to-day with more deadlines than we can deal with; He purposefully lives in eternity to show forth His glory and invites us into His loving, His welcoming, His redeeming Presence. He does this in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son, our Messiah. This is God’s eternal Gospel plan. So, for us, we start in the beginning, in the Old Testament. There we find a constant declaration of God’s Love expressed in Jesus.

Yes, it is the zeal of God who will accomplish this, the Prophet Isaiah proclaims. He will come as a child, as a son. Even so, the government of God’s Kingdom will weigh upon His shoulders. He will be given mighty names: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. From the time of His coming there will be no end to His Kingdom’s growth. He personally will establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness forever.

Though Jesus comes to us as God Incarnate, God-in-the-flesh; He will be unique. He will be born of a virgin, unlike any other person in the history of our world. By God’s divine will, and by the virgin Mary’s willing obedience, Jesus comes as the one and only one like Himself. Still, in life He chooses hunger, thirst, pain, heat, cold, dirt, hard ground, sweat, difficult work, and eventually death. He endures the longest of days. He patiently teaches God’s Truth over and over again. He makes His life an open book, the Gospel to be clearly read in His actions and through His Words. Then He willingly lays down His life to open the door to faith which becomes His free gift of salvation to each of us who choose to believe and to entrust our very lives to Him. 

God declares Himself the Father of the coming Messiah. All that Jesus is and all that He does among us has arisen from the eternal gospel plan of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit acting as One. God acknowledges this overpowering truth when Jesus begins His ministry, submitting to the rite of Baptism at the hand of John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove. “And when was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.” (Matthew 3:16) God says, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Here is an open declaration that Jesus is the Messiah, the one and only Son of God, who has always been and who will always be One with the Father and the Spirit. 

The prophet Micah had the privilege of announcing the birthplace of the coming Messiah in Bethlehem, where King David had also been born. See how comprehensively God arranges for the King whose dynasty provides the lineage for the Messiah to share his humble birthplace with the Messiah. Humility befits God’s eternal Gospel plan when the Mighty One comes as the little one, whose life is immediately both precious and precarious. How fitting that the One True King Above All Kings should be born during the reign of a false and fickle, a diabolical and an unholy, wholly political king. 

The prophet Zechariah declares the joy the crowds will demonstrate as Jesus rides on a donkey, a colt into Jerusalem. Though most of Jerusalem does not recognize Him, Scripture clearly points to Him as God’s promised Messiah. We recall the nature of God’s heart displayed as Jesus pauses while He weeps over God’s Chosen City. “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44) Their Messiah is coming to fulfill every covenant promise God has made throughout their history; but even so, most will fail to recognize and worship Him. And the consequences of their failure to receive their Messiah will be terrifying.

Perhaps Judas becomes the saddest of all the tragic figures caught up in the ultimate revelation of the glory of Jesus when He is revealed through His betrayal, His trials, His torture, His crucifixion, His burial, and His resurrection. Judas’ price? Thirty pieces of silver. The price of a common slave. A pittance of a price for the precious life of Jesus. Notice in the passage above how clearly Zechariah predicted the specifics of Judas and his betrayal, and of the payment Judas received. Notice also that Zechariah accurately prophesies the actions of Judas when he realizes how disastrously his scheme has gone. “He cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.”  (Zechariah 11:13)

Even a Bible skeptic has to do some complicated mental gymnastics to explain away the shockingly accurate portrayal of the Messiah’s Crucifixion in Psalm 22. Behold the “dogs,” the Jewish leaders and the Jerusalem’s rebel spitting out taunts and curses at Jesus on the Cross. And see how they pierced His hands and His feet. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the Psalmist is inspired by God to pen these words which vividly describe Jesus and His suffering. God’s plan had always been for Jesus, the Son, to absorb all of God’s Just Wrath against sin, in this most hideous form of human suffering there just outside Jerusalem on a Roman Cross, rejected by His own people. 

Again in Psalm 22:18, the Psalmist describes how the soldiers around the Cross cast lots for Jesus’ clothing. Indeed, God chose from eternity to bear the suffering for our sin. From the Garden, to the Ark, to the Exodus, to the Kingdom and the Temple, to the Exile, to the return, even to the coming of Jesus the Messiah; God’s plan had never wavered. He would be the Redeemer of His People throughout history and throughout the world. Eternal Truth cannot be explained away. May God soften their hearts who continue to shake their fists at Heaven and God who so longs to save them from sin and theirselves.

For as Isaiah says Jesus WAS pierced for our transgressions. (He had no transgressions.) Jesus. WAS crushed for our iniquities. (He had no iniquities.) Jesus DID bear our chastisement. (He deserved none.) Jesus DID bring us eternal heavenly peace. (We had none.) Jesus DID endure the wounds that healed us. (Jesus deserved none, not even one.) Again, God’s prophet spoke God’s inspired Word pointing through the centuries to the time when Jesus would pay it all for each of us. 

Once again God uses the psalmist to look beyond the crucifixion and burial to the glorious resurrection—and again in fulfillment of God’s eternal plan. Notice the powerful phrase, “ . . . my glory rejoices; . . . “  Then, pointing to Jesus as the Son of Man, “ . . . My flesh also will rest in hope.” Speaking to the Father; “. . . You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” God will show the Messiah the path of life. And here is a central foundation truth—in God’s Presence (alone) is the fullness of joy. Not just joy, but eternal pleasures forevermore. What a powerful testimony to the coming into fulfillment of God’s eternal gospel plan—when He will be glorified and His multitudes of the redeemed, will be in His Presence forever. Hallelujah amen!

God Smiles: Flowers As His Parables

Parables as flowers, some of you may be asking? Well, parables were some of Jesus’ most effective approaches to very earthy people, inviting them into the beauty of living in God’s Kingdom. After all, Jesus did say in Luke 12:27; “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” God created the earth resplendent with beauty as a testimony to His Glory. The variety in His Creation boggles the mind. Adam and Eve had the unique privilege of living in fellowship with Him in the perfect, the original garden. I have put in my share of hours among flowers both here and in Nigeria, and though the labor is intense at times, I confess the testimony each unique blossom speaks to my soul, blesses me again and again.

I praise God that He writes His Grace and His Mercy on a wide variety of tablets. There are the heavens. There are the mountains. There are the oceans. There are the trees. There are His animals. There are His creatures in the seas. There are, above all, His own children, His children who seek His face in Jesus.

And while there is a great consistency in all He has made as He focuses our hearts, our minds—indeed, our deepest souls on His saving grace in Jesus our Savior; He amazes each of us individually in those voices which sing to us most clearly His Gospel message so that we will turn to Him in faith. For me flowers have become parables of His perfect and creative and persistent love. I can only rejoice and praise His Name.

I will borrow a line from “The Chosen,” that powerful depiction of Jesus and those He chose to follow Him on this earth; “It would have been enough.” Just before HIs arrest and trials and crucifixion began, His followers repeated particular examples of how He had intervened in each of their lives as He called them to Himself, after repeating this phrase, “It would have been enough.” Well, I would humbly add, there is so much of His glory, His splendor, His redemptive design, and beauty in every single flower, just one among the thousands He has created would have been enough; but allow me to share some of my favorites which speak so powerfully His Love for me.

A Regal Rose

God’s glory in all His perfection
declares His splendor, His grace, His delight
in all His Creation
precise, His regal rose
telling His Story,
each petal so soft,
so appealing—
so much like His mercy.

An Easter Lily

Consider the purest of whites,
the golden, the green,
displayed as His Testimony
declaring His victory
even at the end
of His darkest of stories—
yet His Love rises
victorious.

A Delightful Dahlia

See, the purple, the pink, then the white
seem somehow flowing
secure yet so free
in the breeze
just to be as beautiful
as she can be
worshiping
her perfect Creator.

Tiger Lilies

Bright as they can be
rejoicing in His Glory
who colors for all to see
their particular delight—
reflecting His passion,
His creative power
on display
His majesty proclaiming.

Just A Zinnia You Say?

You might dismiss this
common flower
seeming  just like
one more flower to see—
and yet examine
her divine design
in a trinity of shapes
and colors profound.

These Dependable Daffodils

No matter the length of this winter
nor the frost hardening the ground
these dependable daffodils
rise up and brave the cold—
to defy dreariness
shouting their first hallelujahs
recalling
His resurrection once again.

Even One Sunflower

Even one sunflower
lifting up his crown
so beautiful
a testimony
to our great God
glorious in Heaven
should be enough
for my seeking heart.

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,
but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.”
 Martin Luther