"Is This Not The Carpenter's Son?"

"Is this not the carpenter's son?  Is not His mother called Mary?  And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?"  (Matthew 13:55)

Yes, it is.  And this is his mother.  Let me introduce you to His brothers and sisters.  "And yet He has the nerve to say that, '....Whoever follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life'"?  Yes, He does.

We are told in Sacred Writ, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing...," that what you and I see as the most Glorious News ever to be declared throughout the Universe is, "....to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness...," and to the water cooler folk.  Central to this foolish stumbling block is, "....the carpenter's son," Jesus, this 5 foot 8, olive-skinned, with very dark hair, Middle Eastern Jew.  Some would have preferred He be Aryan, Latino, African, Asian, but alas, a Jew with no blue eyes----------- of all things!

"Is this not the carpenter's son?"  Yes.  This is Jesus, Who Himself was, for most of His sojourn walking the Galilee, a carpenter.  So, what are you saying, humanity?  "Immanuel, God with us,..the carpenter's son?"  It doesn't fit your image of a god, let alone The God?  What did you want?  What do you want?  God cannot just stand there among us, in common Middle Eastern desert garb.  Gods do not ride on donkeys; they ride on the most magnificent animal they can find.  One ancient monarch said of,  "the gods, and they do not live here among people."  Is this the "god" you want, no humanity, distant, stay out of my life, except, of course, when I need you.

"Is this not the carpenter's son?"  Yes, this is the very unpretentious Jesus, "The Word bec[o]me flesh and dwel[ling] among us...." and though I cannot fully grasp that He is, "God with us", I love Him, want to, "follow [Him,] the Lamb wherever He goes."

Father, in Jesus' Name, Glorious, magnificent, glorious reality.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

This Was Not Written "In Church"

"But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." (Psalm 59:16, NIV

The intro in the NIV says, "For the director of music.  To the tune of 'Do Not Destroy.'  Of David.....When Saul had sent men to watch David's house in order to kill him."  And we must not think that it is just David who lives under this sort of threat.

The Psalms of David were not written for Bible study classes, Sunday School quarterlies, or devotionals.  They were written in life for life, in the midst of his day to day struggle in a hostile environment, the reality of, "We wrestle...against principalities and power...."  Sometimes I wonder just how seriously we take this.

David was sort of like Patton, "I need a prayer, a weather prayer."  In other words, I need something now in this very difficult and even life-threatening moment.  Again, "But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble" (NKJV).  And notice that this worship-supplication Psalm was to be written down, so that succeeding generations, pursued and hunted by the enemy, could cry it out.

Prayer will not be a "have-to" religious obligation when we realize that much of prayer is a cry for help.  Worship, petition, entreaties, supplication, all are a part of it.  In this world of struggle, a struggle against the Enemy of man, physical, mental, emotional struggles, enter PRAYER, not high sounding, not a "How-To-Pray" prayer, rather prayers of, "Deliver me from my enemies, O God; be my fortress against those who are attacking me" (v.1). 

Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit "have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble," not when just when I get to church, or to the Bible Study, or to the praise gathering.  Right now, right here/there, when the men are outside your house waiting to kill you, "....I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy...."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that You are not a just-certain-times god.  You are God of every moment, "....Very Present...."  Amen.
**************************
Off to DC

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Are You Looking For "Easy And...Light"?

"Come to Me...and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me (or, 'Let me lead you through life'),..and you will find rest for your souls....You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you have have life." (From Matthew 11 & John 5)

When I come to Jesus, take Jesus', "yoke upon," me (for me, it is primarily the Scriptures), then and only then can I, "....find rest..."  Otherwise, life will be one constant frustration, a continual flow of anxiety, one constant restless battle with attempting to run my own life.  Contrast that with, "....My yoke."  

Jesus invites, "....all you who labor and and are heavy laden..," to, "Take my yoke upon you."  Contrary to popular opinion, this, "yoke," is designed to lighten the load, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  How so very different from our yokes and the accompanying burdens.  Now I have shared before that when an older ox and a younger ox are joined in the same yoke, the older one really does the pulling.  If the young ox stays right beside the older ox, the younger one does not feel the strain of the "load."  If life is difficult and burdensome, I'm probably either not in, "[Jesus'] yoke," or attempting to "pull ahead," or a life of, "I'll take if from here."

The statement of Jesus to those listening to His amazing claims in John 5 is, "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."  Why do so many prefer isms, ideas, "latest-teaching" fascination to, "Come to Me," to a Person, the "Personal God, Father, Son Jesus, Holy Spirit? 

Meditate on it.  The Creator, Sustainer of the Universe inviting them that day, and inviting you and me today to get in, stay in, live in, "My yoke," with and in Him.  What a life!

Father, in Jesus' Name, I have pulled far too much of life's burden over my lifetime.  I "come to [You]," anew this moment.  Amen.
******************************
* Berlin/Wittenberge Mission:  October 28-November 15
* DC: July 13, 2017

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Be Nice," Sayeth the Lord

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  (Matthew 10:16)

Or, "Don't be stupid; be nice"?

There have been too many times in my life that I have been wise as a dove and harmless as a serpent.  I have repented of this, and pray that I would only manifest our Lord Jesus' command to be the opposite, "....wise as serpents and harmless as doves." 

Webster's defines "dove" as, "One who takes a conciliatory attitude and advocates negotiations and compromise," and serpent as,  "a noxious creature that creeps, hisses, or stings."  Now I know to the "super spiritual," the words "negotiat[e] and compromise," are bad words.  "I don't compromise anything with anybody."  What eventually happens to such look-at-me-I-walk-in-truth people, however, is that they end up like "creeps, hiss[ing and ] sting[ing."  Many of such people are of those who just need to be busy, doing something, active.  What is on the receiving end of this does not really matter all that much.   

We do not "compromise and negotiate" Jesus, His Words, but there is a command in our text to have a "conciliatory" attitude and posture with others.  The dictionary uses "conciliatory" in a phrase as, "Ease the tension with conciliatory remarks."  My Dad and Mom were geniuses at this.  Compromise was not the issue, yet the Biblical admonition, however, "Be at peace among yourselves," was. 

Perhaps we could sum up our text as, "Followers of Jesus must be nice."

Father, in Jesus' Name, May I walk in all that You mean in Mt. 1o:16.  Amen.
************************
To DC, Thursday, July 13

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2