Mission Faithwalk

            Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)           In Genesis 3, God sacrificed one or more animals so that Adam and Eve could have clothing. In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel sacrificed to the Lord. After that, it’s not until after the flood that we hear anything more about sacrificing. Noah sacrificed. Abram was credited as sacrificing his son. In Judges 11, Jephthah vowed to sacrifice to the Lord whatever came out of his house first when he returned from defeating his enemies. It turned out to be his daughter. Scripture does explicitly state that he killed her, but neither does it explicitly state that he didn’t. It also doesn’t state that Jephthah asked God His opinion on the matter. The sacrifice would have been a violation of the Law...

                 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save ...

              Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls . (Matthew 11:29) The topic of gentleness came to mind this morning. I’ve already forgotten what brought it to mind, but I immediately thought of an incident that took place while I was working at Sears. I don’t remember the specifics of that incident either, except that I thought, “Oh, that’s being gentle. Oh, no, Father, I don’t want to be gentle. Don’t tell me to be gentle.” The problem is that we often think of gentleness as weakness. We’re afraid that if we’re gentle, we’ll get tromped on, misused, and otherwise abused. I found a picture to go with the image God gave me of gentleness. I can’t find it now, but it was a draft horse (Clydesdale, Percheron, or Shire) standing in front of a boy who is kneeling or sitting. One strike with one hoof is all it would take for that horse to kill the bo...

                 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 2:16-17) When you try to explain something, you likely have some idea in mind of what you’re trying to say. Words come out of your mouth, and unless the thing explained is very simple, chances are good that what the other person hears (and communicates back to you) won’t be what you thought you said. At best, the person to whom you explain something will only understand part of what you meant them to understand. This is part of the challenge we tend to think God faces. He’s omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent – and love. In our finitude and brokenness, we can’t really understand any of that. We read material written from the perspective of many different cultures and because it doesn’t mesh with our own, we’re tempted to th...

                 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-20) Following this command wouldn’t be as unvarying as it might seem. There are different psalms, hymns, and (likely) songs from the Spirit for different moods. There are psalms of confession, request, gratitude, anger, wisdom sought, wisdom found, sorrow, and comfort. The thing about many of the old songs is that they focus on God and His attributes and actions. Modern versions seem to do that less. I like to listen to music and sing songs not only because I like the music but also because of the effect it often has on my mood. Granted, a pernicious mood may not change because I turn on some good old hymns, but I have experienced non-Christian music that heightened aggression and music (both...

                 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10) We must begin, again, with the understanding that this is true of any “ultimate.” If you are a natural materialist, fear of – or respect for – natural law and physical science is the beginning of wisdom. It’s wise not to jump off buildings thinking you can walk on air. No matter what you consider to be the foundation of reality, fear/respect of it is essential to wisdom. And sadly, when that foundation of reality is impersonal, not sentient, and/or distant, we tend to not fear/respect it, at least until it’s too late. I’m not saying this to disrespect God in any way. It’s just that some people put anything that is religious or spiritual into a “ ” special category that has nothing to do with reality or logic.                We should be careful in our...

              Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else,   for each one should carry their own load.  (Galatians 6:2-5)           I’m sure I’ve written about this before, and part of the discussion was the difference between a burden and a load, but it wasn’t this year. Looking up the term burden in a Bible resource, it claims this use of it refers to oppression. If we love others enough to stand with them and share their oppression, we’re fulfilling the law. The other use is as a prophetic vision. There’s another way that we use the word burden . It can refer to something we care deeply about. Some people have a burden for the...

                 A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word! (Proverbs 15:23) Don’t you love repartee? Most of the time, it’s verbal and rises above the response of “Well, yeah, your muther…” It doesn’t have to be verbal. The physical version is what makes dramatized sword fights so much fun. Repartee is the soul of much comedy, but it is also an example of an apt reply and the joy it can bring. Of course, it’s not the only kind of apt reply. What makes a reply apt is that it is appropriate or suitable to the situation. Witty repartee is only sometimes apt in real life. We sometimes see ideas like “Is it necessary? Is it kind? Is it true?” as the filters through which our words should pass, and they are bad considerations. There are some Biblical suggestions about our words being seasoned, as it were, with salt. That’s also useful. But we need to be careful. Jesus told people off. He made a lash and cl...

                 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart. (Psalm 40:8)   Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (Romans 13:1) I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (I Timothy 2:1-1) You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’   But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:43-44) I have to admit, this passage makes me chuckle a little because it was the verse of the day on Biblegateway.com the day I wrote yesterday’s post. So, we have the “I trying to do Your will…No, you’re not,” followed by “I ...

                 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:3) Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;    so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” (Genesis 16:1-2)   “Lord, I’m trying to do Your will, but…” “No, you’re not.” “I am. You want me to _______, and I’m trying but You’re not helping!” Have you ever had conversations like...

                 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:12) At some point, I defined joy as the firm belief that one is cared for by someone who is capable of accomplishing that care. It’s not that there are no cares in the world but that someone will make things right. In other words, joy requires trust, which results in obedience. If you’re learning to do something you want to do, joy results from trusting that the teacher can teach you enough to do what the teacher tells you. As we read this verse, I think we’re tempted to understand it as “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.” But there is no sense in asking someone else to restore what we created for ourselves. We can do that. For David to ask that God restore the joy of God’s salvation requires that God give David reason for confidence that God can and will care for David by providing salvation that David cannot provide...

               Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)           Delight: please (someone) greatly           The first and most obvious point of interest with this verse is that it doesn’t say what we think (and want) it to say. We are told to delight ourselves in the Lord. But it doesn’t tell us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, we’ll get all the toys, power, wealth, or fame that we want. If we delight ourselves in God, then God is the primary desire of our hearts. He may be the only desire of our hearts. If we make God a means to something other than God, we’ve made a god of the something.           There’s a second point we tend to overlook. It’s not a suggestion that we sit back and let God entertain or please us. The subject of the sent...

                 Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14) When the Israelites were caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army, they had to wait for the Lord. When the Israelites wanted to cross the Jordan, the had to wait for the Lord. And as I read this verse, I tend to think that the Israelites had to be strong and courageous in facing the water and the warriors. This morning, however, I’m considering it from a slightly different angle. Through the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they grumbled, whined, and sometimes panicked. God told them to be strong and have courage more than once. I think I tend to think of this as their being strong and courageous in facing their enemies. or their circumstances. This morning, I’m trying to figure out what to do with my weekend. I want to get “everything” done. I want the trailer to sell so I ...

                 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well . (James 5:16)           Here’s the last of the prayer request ideas I’ve found, at least for now. It’s interesting that this is the only request I found that seems to focus on the body’s health. Even here, the body’s health is connected to the soul’s well-being. That’s as it should be, because the body is part of the soul. When the soul is healthy, we have a better chance of the body being healthy as well. In fact, if our body is not healthy, it may indicate that our soul is not healthy, either.           There are times when we may be tempted to think that Aunt Nelly’s cousin’s neighbor’s brother-in-law having the flu isn’t a good prayer request. And we would be right if all we ever ...

  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) OK, advanced warning. Overthinking is likely. I got back to my trailer last night after an evacuation “vacation” to my house up north. It wasn’t really a vacation. I had no water, no plumbing, and no gas – but I had electricity and got water from my neighbor’s house. I made due. I coped very well. If I’d stayed at the trailer, I would have had no water and no electric for at least a good chunk of the time. I’m not complaining. I’m setting up and recording for posterity, so to speak. I’m back, and God has blessed me with remarkably little damage. I’ve seen places with metal awnings torn off. I’ve seen where the water reached at its high mark. Work is already  underway to recover. First, the people who faced Helene and Milton need prayers, not just now, but for months to come. Some lost everything. Some lost only what was important. Some ...

                 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus.   I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.  (Philemon 1:4-6)           Have you ever partnered with or mentored (or been mentored by) someone? Undoubtedly, if you’ve had a job, been a child or had a child, you have. If you’re truly a Christian, God and your pastor (at least) are your mentors. Even if you read and apply something you’ve learned from a “self-help” book, you have a mentor. Sometimes, we are offended by the idea of mentoring because it involves submission and suggests that the mentor is somehow superior to us in essence rather than just in experience. The flesh truly is foolish in this w...

                   Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. (I Thessalonians 3:10) It would be easy to see this one as a negative thing. Paul wanted to get back to the Thessalonians to supply what’s lacking in their faith, to fix what they’ve broken, to rub their noses in their failure and whip them into shape. Not a happy idea. Now look at it from another perspective. I know lots of people in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Florida have places have been damaged or destroyed by Helene and Milton. Imagine a group of people showing up with tarps for roofs, lumber, screws and drill/drivers, and the knowledge of how to help repair the damage done by the world. Back in the fall of 2020, when I went to my park, I knew the Canadians wouldn’t be able to get there to take care of their places, so I started weeding gardens. I didn’t think, “Oh those horrible Canadi...

                 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.  (Colossians 4:12)           Oh, now here’s a prayer request sure to rankle the flesh of some. “Mature?  I’m mature! I’m over 70 (over 40, over 30, over 18)!” I’m the other way. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be when I grow up, but I understand the irritation because among the big contestants for what I want to be is “perfect,” and my failure in that rankles, too.           Put into proper context, however, the prayer request is just a little different. Epaphras prayed that the Colossians would stand firm in the will of God. This brings Ephesians 6 to mind, where, we’re told to stand firm a...

            I pray that out of His glorious riches, He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)           As I typed this prayer, I remembered the prayer passages from the last two days. Both times, Paul prayed that the people to whom he wrote would be given power. Who does that? I suppose it makes sense because Paul saw these congregations as allies and what power he prayed for was fairly specific, but it still feels strange, dangerous, and even unnatural, at least to the natural mind. This may be because often, power means “p...

                 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:17-19) This is another of Paul’s prayers that we can use for others and ourselves. This time, the first request is for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know Him better. One of the challenges here that requires wisdom is that we generally only have three ways to recognize that we have grown in wisdom, received revelation, or know Him better. The first is that we receive some spectacular bit of wisdom or revelation. We notice that, but God doesn’t tend to work that way. The second is that we compare ourselves to...

            With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.   (II Thessalonians 1:11-12)           Ever wonder what to pray for someone? Do we all have some standard “and God bless” requests? There’s nothing wrong with the God bless prayers. They’re good prayers, but sometimes I feel that sort of prayer becomes thin and weak as I pray it for person or group after group. At the same time, I feel invasive if I start barging into someone’s life, asking them to lay bare their souls so that I can pray for their “real” needs. I know when someone asks for prayer for a third party – and another per...

           We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (I Timothy 1:8-11) I tend to like to tell people, “You are not my parents, my master, or my God.” I want to be independent. Some people might think I’m an antinomian, but they’re wrong. I don’t reject the Law or the law. I reject when others try to use the Law, the law, or their law improperly. This isn’t a political thing. We all tend to try to treat our law as The Law. We all tend to treat others as our chil...

                 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.” (I Samuel 16:18)           This won’t be long because I’ve been on the road since 7:30 this morning and it’s after 11 pm. After this one, I won’t have ready access to the internet for a few days, so I will post when I can.           But, this verse stood out as I listened to I Samuel-I Chronicles today. Saul was in a pickle. He had failed miserably and more than once, and God had rejected him as king. The Lord had been with him, but the Lord was no longer with him. So when one of his servants said that the Lord is with David, I wondered if perhaps the reason Saul wanted David around was in hopes of hav...

  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26:4)   We believe in the Father, who created all that is And we believe the universe and all therein is His As a loving heavenly Father, He yearned to save us all To lift us from the fall . . . We believe We believe in Jesus the Father's only Son Existing uncreated before time had begun A sacrifice for sin, He died then rose again To ransom sinful men, We believe We believe in the spirit who makes believers one Our hearts are filled with His presence The Comforter has come The kingdom unfolds in His plan Unhindered by quarrels of man His church upheld by His hand . . . We believe Though the earth be removed And time be no more These truths are secure God's word shall endure Whatever may change, these things are sure . . . We believe So if the mountains are cast down into the plains When kingdoms all crumble, this one remains Our faith...

                 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)   This is one of the ideas that is difficult for me. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere, all the time. This means that He can’t be far. Yes, I know. Sometimes it feels as if He’s on the other side of the universe, with His back turned, with headphones on and playing loud music. The “dark night of the soul” exists. I’d think that’s a case of perception vs reality were it not for verses like todays. And maybe it’s still perception vs reality. Some folks say things like, “If God feels far away, it’s not God who moved.” But I’m not sure that movement away from God is the problem either. At least not exactly. It’s not that God’s at location A and you’ve gone off to location Z, even if it feels like it. And in Exodus, it’s said sometimes that God hardened Pharoah’s heart, sometimes that the Pharoah hardened his heart. This s...

                 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1) Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes . (James 4:13-14) This is where I am. It’s so where I am. I’ll admit I’m a control freak. I like things to be settled. I like feeling like I am not drowning in the details of my life. I like thinking that I know what I’m supposed to be doing. I don’t know whether I actually boast about tomorrow, but “Hurry up! Not Yet!” and “Just roll with the punches” are not my favorite conditions. I’ve gotten accustomed to what I call the Abraham bit – going to a country I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean it’s comfortable. And today’s passages don’t oppose our wanting...

  “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.   “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.    When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it . (Matthew 13:44-46)   C. S. Lewis wrote that our desires are not strong enough. We are like children contented with playing in the mud in our yards because we cannot imagine going to the shore and building sand castles. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. According to the law, that treasure belonged to whoever owned the field, so the man who found it was making his acquisition of the treasure legal, but he had to sell everything he had to buy the field. It was a short-term loss of lesser possessions to gain a greater. We think we understand this, because we think we’d do it if...