Mission Faithwalk

              I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)                 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.    I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,    and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3: 7-11)       ...

                  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ( Hebrews 12:1-2)                 Another of those well-loved passages. We imagine ourselves in a spectacular race, as spiritual Eric Liddells with our heads thrown back, crossing the finish line and winning the gold. We imagine the audience consists of God, plus the angels, plus the Christians who have gone before us, and maybe some Christians alive around us. And we think we need their applause and cheers (and we may well be right!) What we don’t tend to consider is that our audience isn’t limited to those listed above. It also includes the demons, our enemies, and those who are wondering what’s going on. ...

                   Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.   When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”   But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”  Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son...

              Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me. (Psalm 119:18-19)                  Hikikomori (Japanese): Pulling inward; shutting oneself in.                 I seem to keep coming back to the idea that wisdom is dealing with reality as it is rather than as we want it to be. And in Scripture, we find wisdom that goes even a little deeper, not only describing how reality is, but also how it was designed to be. In the past month or so, I’ve also read at least part of two books that sound alarms about the direction things appear to be going. I have always felt like an outsider, so the mention above of being a stranger on the earth is nothing new.            ...

                     Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. (Psalm 112:5)                 Are you as generous as you suspect you should be? Do you lend freely (expecting no interest or even repayment? As you absolutely just in all your dealings? Does your answer change when we change the subject from money to time, opinions, skills, expertise, help, equipment, or some other thing that you value?                 These are exam table questions, and my answers are No, no, no, and yes. I think I am more generous with things other than money. The point of my questions isn’t to make you feel guilty. They are questions we all need to take to God and let Him work in our lives. Our evaluations are likely to be based on bad sta...

                  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective . (James 5:16 NIV) I got a phone call almost an hour ago, asking me to help someone by writing a devotional that was, in a sense, an ad for the prayer walk meetings at our church on Wednesday nights from 6:30-7:30. Her target audience is people who have survived cancer, if I remember correctly. I expanded it a little to include people are might feel too sick, too weak, or too incapacitated in some other way, and the verse above came to mind. I liked the result well enough to decide to share it with you… There are times when we need prayer. Our bodies, thoughts, feelings, relationships, circumstances, or spirits need help. We need to be on the receiving end of the prayers for one another. The prayers of others are powerful and effective, ...

                " But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 15:15-16)   She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)     This is the Gateway.com verse of the day, and it presents to us a cringy question. Who do we say that Jesus is? Yes, the good Sunday School answers all pour forth: the Son of God, the Messiah, the second person of the Trinity, God, our Savior, our Lord, our soon and coming King, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, El Roi, El Shaddai, Jehovah, Jehovah Jireh, etc. And some of our quick answers would be wrong because they are names that were always applied to the Father, and not to the Son, but we would have meant well in our mistakes. Let’s stack all the Sunday School answers on the shelf for the moment, because mo...

                   I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. (Psalm 119:30)                 I know it’s the wrong time of year, but do you set New Year’s Resolutions? Have you made promises you haven’t kept? Even to yourself? Let’s take it down a notch. Have you made decisions that you didn’t carry through? Do you fail to live up to the standards you set, or that have been set for you?                 As I read today’s verse, disappointment (AKA “Not Good Enough”) opens the door to my heart and peers in with a look of eagerness. Yeah. I’ve chosen the way of faithfulness and failed miserably every time. I’ve set my heart on His laws, until they were inconvenient. The thing is, I have also read the psalms in which the psalmist laments his failures. In P...

                     But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (I John 1:7)                 To walk with someone, one has to walk where they are walking, or one has to walk where the other is walking. A person can’t walk with someone if they are not together. If you are walking in the dark, you might be able to walk together if it’s not very dark and you happen to be close together, or if you are somehow connected (holding hands, tied together, handcuffed together etc.) In other words, fellowship is much more possible in the light than in the dark.                 The hard part is that in the light, our sins are more visible. We can encourage one another and also point out areas in need of His blood a...

                    So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)                 The first thing I notice here is that this verse never says there’s nothing to fear. The verses that precede it don’t talk about what the Israelites had to fear. They focused on what God had done for them. They weren’t to fear _______ because God had already shown He could handle the situation. But how are we to not fear? Is fearing a sin? If so, what do we do with the many times angels told people “Do not fear” Or the psalms in which someone expresses fear? One source I found suggested that the fear being described is not the instantaneous feeling when something big and nasty approaches. It’s more a long-term lifestyle. Another possibility is th...

                 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21)                 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (II Peter 3:10) According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the universe is slowly approaching equilibrium, when there will be no more energy available for us, and the universe will suffer “heat death.” This means that everything in the universe will approach absolute zero and cease to function. We often hear that the Bible isn’t a science book. It’s not. But that doesn’t mea...

                   For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)                 This is one of those verses I prefer to avoid. Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel. He went to prison and was eventually killed because he proclaimed it. Am I ashamed of it? I know I don’t speak it out with the boldness of a number of people I know. Even when I’m arguing with folks, I tend to debate their points rather than trying to make my own. Part of that is because I don’t consider a discussion of the gospel, or much of anything else with any depth to be possible in the thirty seconds they think sufficient to break the ice and hand out a tract. And I’m not meaning to criticize their method. I just can’t use it.       ...

                 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’    But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:20-24) You might also find it useful to read Psalm 139. We know the story. So, I’ll move on to another. A guy on a Facebook video said something about seeing if he could call her in. He shouts, “Pretty Lady” several times, and adds “come on” a couple of times. An owl (Barred, I think) flies ...

                     Th erefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (James 1:21)                 One of the things about roller coasters, movies, drugs, moral filth, an evil is the law of diminished returns. First, it’s exciting. Then it isn’t enough, so we add more. Eventually, there just isn’t enough, but in some cases, at least, walking away is impossible.                 God is the means of getting rid of the moral filth and evil in our lives and one of His main tools is His Word. This isn’t necessarily an instant, miraculous, magical transformation. It’s simple psychology. Read this carefully. Do not think about an elephant. Chances are very good that you now have an elephant stuck i...

                  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.   If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” (John 15:18-21)                 Let’s start with a pet peeve. There are people in the world who are being beaten, raped, sued, imprisoned, and killed because of their faith. They deserve our respect, our love, and our prayers. I’m not dismissing what they face. At the same time, other people are being ridiculed, laughed at, ridiculed, and cancelled/rejected. I believe they also deserve our respect, ...

                 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)                   What does the last paragraph above look like in your imagination? From tracts I saw decades ago, I got the impression some people ...

                 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)                 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)                 Give us today our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)                 Today’s first verse comes from the account of the devil’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness as Jesus’ answer when Satan challenged Him to turn stones into bread to prove He was the Son of God.  The second verse is wh...

                 “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you”…“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:17 & 27) Well, God can’t make a square circle, two to equal zero (or a google). God can’t make the universe cease to exist while simultaneously causing it to exist. It could be said that it is too hard for Him to hand His godhood over to someone who is not His equal or better. This isn’t sacrilege.  It’s simple logic. These are illogical, nonsensical, and simply definitional. There are some who try to claim that if God cannot do these things, then He is not actually omnipotent. In other words, they’re saying this verse is a lie because they raise questions about what God can’t do. Not only do they violate simple logic, but they also ignore the context in which this verse is found. In fact, after ...

                   In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:4-6)                 Can you imagine anyone saying this about you? Or about your home church? Let’s start with a definition. What would someone praying with joy look like? Did Paul dance around the room clasping his hands to his chest, just bursting with positive emotion over what the Philippians were doing? Maybe. Did he sit, looking up with a beatific smile? Maybe. Or, maybe he looked forward to praying for them because he’d heard good news.                 I pray through a list of people on an a...

                          Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.   Ephesians 3:20-21)                 It seems to me that when I hear someone talk about this passage, it goes something like this: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Amen.” Even if I’m the someone . It’s natural and normal in our fallen world to turn to our benefit and forget about the details.                 Then, when something good does happen, it’s not unusual for us to say something ...

                 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. (Psalm 135:3)                 Finally, brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)                 Many years ago, there was a documentary about Stonehenge in which acoustical engineers analyzed the structure, and determined that the bending of the drumbeats back upon the priest at the center, especially along with drugs, had a powerful affect on the priest’s brain. Other studies have shown the great influence music has on people. It can help them remember, it can calm or excite, etc. So, the notion that singi...

                   For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. (Psalm 18:31-34)                 It would be so nice to have the feet of the deer and be able to stand on the heights. It’s be really cool to be physically in a condition in which I could do battle, and to have the training to do so. But why? For my area, I live fairly near what would be called the heights. The watershed isn’t that far. The Appalachian Mountains aren’t too far from here, but when I think of the heights, I think of the Rockies. The psalmist may have had great reason for having feet like deer so that he could stand on the heights, but that’s not somethi...

                     Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35)                 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.   But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:10-13) For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to f...

                   This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. (I John 5:2-5)                 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one . (Ephesians 6:16)                 The main thing God gets out of your life is not the things you do, but the person you become. (Willard, Dallas, Renewing the Christian Mind .)        ...

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14) They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)                 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.   Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua  5:7-9)   For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities ,...