Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

CHOOSE JESUS

Posted on May 13, 2020 by randscallawayffm

I’m sure all of us are getting weary of media advertisers telling us how weary we are “in times like these”, in these uncertain times, etc. It’s time to turn away from what is wrong to what is right, good, helpful and…the Truth.

Turn off the messages of doom, despair and agony and read about real help of hope, peace and comfort.

PSALM 121 (New Living Translation)

I look up to the mountains—

does my help come from there?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth!

3 He will not let you stumble;

the one who watches over you will not slumber.

4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel

never slumbers or sleeps.

5 The Lord himself watches over you!

The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

6 The sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon at night.

7 The Lord keeps you from all harm

and watches over your life.

8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,

both now and forever.

He is God…and we are not. Our help comes from Him. All belongs to Him. So, let go and let God overwhelm us with peace this day. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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LOVE IS ON THE WAY!

Posted on May 12, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Hey Jude!

Our spiritual communities are as susceptible to disease as our physical bodies. but it is easier to detect whatever is wrong in our stomachs and lungs than in our worship and witness. When our physical bodies are sick or damaged, the pain calls our attention to it, and we do something quick. But a dangerous, even deadly, virus in our spiritual communities can go undetected for a long time. As much as we need physicians for our bodies, we have even greater need for diagnosticians and healers of the spirit.

Jude’s letter to an early community of Christians is just such diagnosis. It is all the more necessary in that those believers apparently didn’t know anything was wrong, or at least not as desperately wrong as Jude points out.

There is far more, of course, to living in Christian community than protecting the faith against assault or subversion. Paranoia is as unhealthy spiritually as it is mentally.

The primary Christian posture is, in Jude’s words, “keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ.” All the same, energetic watchfulness is required. Jude’s whistle-blowing has prevented many a disaster.

Jude, (The Message)

1-2 I, Jude, am a slave to Jesus Christ and brother to James, writing to those loved by God the Father, called and kept safe by Jesus Christ. Relax, everything’s going to be all right; rest, everything’s coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way!

Fight with All You Have in You

3-4 Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license—which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.

Lost Stars in Outer Space

5-7 I’m laying this out as clearly as I can, even though you once knew all this well enough and shouldn’t need reminding. Here it is in brief: The Master saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Later he destroyed those who defected. And you know the story of the angels who didn’t stick to their post, abandoning it for other, darker missions. But they are now chained and jailed in a black hole until the great Judgment Day. Sodom and Gomorrah, which went to sexual rack and ruin along with the surrounding cities that acted just like them, are another example. Burning and burning and never burning up, they serve still as a stock warning.

8 This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glory dragged in the mud.

9-11 The Archangel Michael, who went to the mat with the Devil as they fought over the body of Moses, wouldn’t have dared level him with a blasphemous curse, but said simply, “No you don’t. God will take care of you!” But these people sneer at anything they can’t understand, and by doing whatever they feel like doing—living by animal instinct only—they participate in their own destruction. I’m fed up with them! They’ve gone down Cain’s road; they’ve been sucked into Balaam’s error by greed; they’re canceled out in Korah’s rebellion.

12-13 These people are warts on your love feasts as you worship and eat together. They’re giving you a black eye—carousing shamelessly, grabbing anything that isn’t nailed down. They’re—

Puffs of smoke pushed by gusts of wind;

late autumn trees stripped clean of leaf and fruit,

Doubly dead, pulled up by the roots;

wild ocean waves leaving nothing on the beach

but the foam of their shame;

Lost stars in outer space

on their way to the black hole.

14-16 Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: “Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth.” These are the “grumpers,” the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead.

17-19 But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: “In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.” These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There’s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!

20-21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!

22-23 Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.

24-25 And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.

HOLY PAUSE

Who are those in your life who have the uncanny, relentless ability to suck the life from your souls just by being around them?

How do you cope with those who want to argue, keep a record of your wrongs and remind you of them often?

GOING DEEPER…

Not only are God’s saints set apart, but they are also preserved.This means “carefully watched and guarded.” The believer is secure in Jesus Christ.

God is preserving the fallen angels and the apostates, those against Christ, for judgment, but He is preserving His own children for glory. Meanwhile, He is able to preserve us in our daily walk and keep us from stumbling. God will help us!

God in His mercy does not give us what we deserve. Instead, He gave our punishment to His own Son on the cross.

Because of Christ’s work on the cross, believers enjoy peace. The unsaved person is at war with God and cannot please Him (Rom. 8:7–8), but when he trusts the Savior, the war ends and he receives God’s peace (Rom. 5:1).

He also experiences God’s love (Rom. 5:5). The cross is God’s demonstration of love (Rom. 5:8), but His love is not experienced within until His Spirit comes into the believing heart. As the believer grows in his spiritual life, he enters into a deeper relationship of love (John 14:21–24).

Certainly those who know Christ as their Savior enjoy a unique position. They are called BY God to be set apart FOR God that they might enjoy love WITH God.

The name Jude (Judah) means “praise,” and he was anxious to praise God and rejoice in the salvation God gives in Jesus Christ. But the Spirit of God changed his mind and led Jude to write about the battle against the forces of evil in the world. Why? Because it was “needful” for the church. The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground. Jude wasted no time in identifying the enemy.

How could false people get into true assemblies of the saints? The soldiers had gone to sleep at the post! The spiritual leaders in the churches had grown complacent and careless. This explains why Jude had to “blow the trumpet” to wake them up.

Should the whistle or trumpet be blown today to wake up sleeping churches?

Do we pretend not to see it allowing others to be hurt and drawn away from Jesus?

Our Lord and His apostles all warned that false teachers would arise, yet the churches did not heed the warnings. Sad to say, some churches are not heeding the warnings today.

The point Jude was making is that God judges those against Christ. Therefore, the false teachers who had crept into the church would also one day be judged. Their seeming success would not last; God would have the last word.

Do you believe God will judge them in the end?

Murmurers and complainers (v. 16).

Jude 16 completes the description and emphasizes even more why they are so dangerous: they are out to please themselves by taking advantage of others. This reminds us of Peter’s statement (2 Peter 2:14), “A heart they have exercised with covetous practices”. The Phillips Commentary translates it, “Their technique of getting what they want is, through long practice, highly developed.” They give the impression that they are out to help you, but they are interested only in gratifying their own lusts.

Complainers cause people to become dissatisfied with life. While each of us should do all we can, as God enables us, to improve our lot in life, at the same time we must be careful not to criticize God’s Providences or hinder His plans.

If a false teacher can make a person critical of his pastor or church, or dissatisfied with his situation, he then can lead him astray into false doctrine.

One of the tragedies in ministry today is that some of God’s people cannot discern between “soul ministry” and the true ministry of the Spirit. There is so much “religious showmanship” these days that the saints are confused and deceived. Just as there was “false fire” in the tabernacle (Lev. 10), so there is “false fire” today in the church; therefore we must exercise careful discernment.

HOW?

How can we discern between the “soulish” and the “spiritual”? By using the Word of God which is able to divide soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12) and by paying close attention to the witness of the Spirit of God within (Rom. 8:16).

A “soulish” ministry magnifies man, but the Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ. When the Spirit is ministering through the Word, there is edification; but when the soul is merely “manufacturing” a ministry, there is entertainment or, at best, only intellectual education. It takes the Spirit of God to minister to our spirits and to make us more like Jesus Christ.

The Christian life must never stand still; if it does, it will go backward. A house left to itself falls apart. The apostates are in the business of tearing down, but each Christian must be involved in building up—first, his own spiritual life and then his local assembly.

This “building process” in the Christian life involves the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and prayer. But these things, as precious as they are, can become somewhat routine; so Jude added another factor ABIDING in God’s love (Jude 21).

We build our Christian life on the foundation of faith and through the motivation of love. But we also need hope: “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” The believer’s eyes must be lifted heavenward. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12).

The word translated “looking” (Jude 21) means “earnestly expecting.” It describes an attitude of life that is motivated by the promise of our Lord’s return.

One of the best ways to draw people away from the false teachers is to magnify all that they have in Christ and to share His love for them in practical ways. Make their salvation so wonderful and the Word so exciting that they will lose interest in the teachings of the apostates. It is not enough merely to refute the false doctrines. There must also be a warmth of love that assures the young believer, “We care for you.”

It is an open secret that false teachers prey especially on disgruntled church members.

Jude’s final words of encouragement…

If we want to keep our feet on the ground spiritually, walk straight, and not stumble, then we must yield ourselves fully to the Savior. He alone is able to guard us, but we must “keep ourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). He is able if we are willing!

It is not enough to say that Jesus Christ is “a savior,” or “the Savior”; we must say that He is “our Savior—my Savior.”

He is not only our Savior, but He is “the only wise God.” He can give you the wisdom you need to live your life to the glory of God. The false teachers boasted of their special knowledge, but they lacked spiritual wisdom. God gives wisdom to those who ask Him (James 1:5), provided they are sincerely willing to obey Him. If Christians would seek the wisdom of God in the Word of God, they would not stumble into the traps of the false teachers, but would walk to please the Lord (Col 1:9–10).

We don’t have to stumble.

If we will remember the Word, build our Christian life in faith, hope, and love, exercise spiritual discernment, and commit ourselves to Christ, then He will keep us from stumbling. Be alert! The enemy is subtle and the dangers are great. But the only wise God our Savior will keep us safe and one day present us joyfully in glory!

Our prayer…In Jesus Name, By His power in us, Amen.

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JESUS IS COMING BACK!

Posted on May 11, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Revelation – The Big Reveal

It was a tearful, expectant, excited, breathtaking joy to see a home made over by professionals who knew what they are doing. We experienced all the “feels” of those emotions, right along with the recipients, as we watched “Extreme Home Makeover”. We oohed and ahhed, laughed and cried, at the new beauty with greater efficiency.

Yes, we all watched as the old was torn down and replaced with everything new. The new renovations gave refreshing beautiful life with “curb appeal” on the outside and functionality on the inside that the old home could no longer produce. We all cheered with the home owners!

The old was gone, the new had come!

Compare these emotions to watching a person say yes to Jesus and publicly proclaim this decision in baptism. Do our hearts and minds rejoice more or less in the extreme makeover and spiritual change of a address of a life reborn?

By the power and wisdom of God’s Holy Spirit the disciples provided a new model for God’s new church. Gatherings form in turbulent times of persecution with love for Christ, fellowship with communion, sharing, and the reading of God’s Word. (Acts 2:42) Led by Peter, the “rock upon whom Jesus built His church”, a new way of worship and teaching together began first in Jerusalem and then spread to the “other parts of the world”. As Jesus ascended back to heaven, it was by His direction and authority that this would be accomplished:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20, NIV

But as gatherings are made of imperfect people, some churches needed renovations from the inside out for they had lost the original intentions for forming. They had lost “their first love”. Jesus was no longer the cornerstone upon which is church of “living stones” was to be built. Jesus was no longer at the center of worship.

John, Jesus beloved disciple, has a vision of prophecy, led by God’s Holy Spirit. His vision REVEALS Jesus once more with loving warnings of what will happen when, not if, Jesus will return to claim those whose hearts are completely His.

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV

Some will be rejoicing in worship as they have always done and others will wonder what went terribly wrong as it is revealed that their hearts for worship are not right in God’s eyes.

HOLY PAUSE

Are we, as the church today, FULLY committed to the Lord in all we think, do or say?

Are we BEING the church by being first with God through Jesus before doing anything in His Name?

Are we DOING what is right for all the right reasons…in Jesus Name?

I wonder and ponder this as we read/survey/study the final book of God’s Word to us that “directs our path” with light, revealing Jesus as Savior and Lord, the One and Only to be worshiped and adored.

Introduction to The Big Reveal…The Revelation

The Bible ends with a flourish: vision and song, doom and deliverance, terror and triumph. The rush of color and sound, image and energy, leaves us reeling. But if we persist through the initial confusion and read on, we begin to pick up the rhythms, realize the connections, and find ourselves enlisted as participants in a multi-dimensional act of Christian worship.

Haven’t you dreamed of pure-heart worship of God with Jesus Christ, fully committed to God and each other? Have you imagined no other thought than worship of God?

John of Patmos, a pastor of the late first century, has worship on his mind, is preeminently concerned with worship. The vision, which is The Revelation, comes to him while he is at worship on a certain Sunday on the Mediterranean island of Patmos. He is responsible for a circuit of churches on the mainland whose primary task is worship Worship shapes the human community in response to the living God. If worship is neglected or perverted, our communities fall into chaos or under tyranny.

Our times are not favorable for worship. The times never are: the world is hostile to worship. The Devil hates worship. As The Revelation makes clear, worship must be carried out under conditions decidedly uncongenial to it. Some Christians even get killed because they worship.

John’s Revelation is not easy reading. Besides being a pastor, John is a poet, fond of metaphor and symbol, image and allusion, passionate in his desire to bring us into the presence of Jesus believing and adoring. But the demands he makes on our intelligence and imagination are well rewarded, for in keeping company with John, our worship of God will almost certainly deepen in urgency and joy.

The Revelation – Chapter 1

Prologue

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Greetings and Doxology

4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[b]

and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;

and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[c]

So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John’s Vision of Christ

9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[d] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

WHAT WE LEARN

Take note that John was at worship when the revelation began. It seems God speaks to us when we are fully engaged in our worship and love for Him. It is when He has our full, loving attention that He speaks to our hearts.

“Write this down!” is the direction of the Holy Spirit to John. Talk about a sermon message straight from the mind of God! This is why it is good for me to be quiet at the beginning of each new day to listen, in worship first, and then journal what God is telling me to clean up, renovate and change in my own life. Writing it down helps us remember.

GOING DEEPER

(With help from Warren Wiersbe, Commentator)

The word translated “revelation” simply means “unveiling.” It gives us our English word apocalypse which, unfortunately, is today a synonym for chaos and catastrophe. The verb simply means “to uncover, to reveal, to make manifest.” In this book, the Holy Spirit pulls back the curtain and gives us the privilege of seeing the glorified Christ in heaven and the fulfillment of His sovereign purposes in the world.

In other words, Revelation is an open book in which God reveals His plans and purposes to His church. When Daniel finished writing his prophecy, he was instructed to “shut up the words, and seal the book” (Dan. 12:4), but John was given opposite instructions: “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:10). Why? Since Calvary, the resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, God has ushered in the “last days”(Heb.1:1–2) and is fulfilling His hidden purposes in this world. “The time is at hand” (Rev. 1:3; 22:10).

Why did John use symbolism? For one thing, this kind of “spiritual code” is understood only by those who know Christ personally.If any Roman officers had tried to use Revelation as evidence against Christians, the book would have been a puzzle and an enigma to them.

But an even greater reason is that symbolism is not weakened by time. John was able to draw on the great “images” in God’s revelation and assemble them into an exciting drama that has encouraged persecuted and suffering saints for centuries.

There is a third reason why John used symbolism: symbols not only convey information, but also impart values and arouse emotions. John could have written, “A dictator will rule the world,” but instead he described a beast. The symbol says much more than the mere title of “dictator.”

In understanding John’s symbolism, however, we must be careful not to allow our imaginations to run wild. Biblical symbols are consistent with the whole of biblical revelation. Some symbols are explained (Rev. 1:20; 4:5; 5:8); others are understood from Old Testament symbolism (Rev. 2:7, 17; 4:7); and some symbols are not explained at all (the “white stone” in Rev. 2:17).

Nearly 300 references to the Old Testament are found in Revelation! This means that we must anchor our interpretations to what God has already revealed, lest we misinterpret this important prophetic book.

Wow, so we will be careful and prayerful in our reading and understanding of what god is saying to us. Keep it simple. Jesus is coming back! Our decision and commitment to Him reveals our response to the mews of His return. Do we live in fear or joyful expectancy?

“Move that bus!” There is so much more to reveal…

Dear Heavenly Father,

Reveal to us what you know we need to know as we study what you gave to John to write down. Transform us in the reading.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Blessings, Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Creation, demons, Discipleship, Embrace, Encouragement, Faith, First, God, Following Jesus, Forgiveness, Grace, harvest, heaven, Holy Spirit, Hope, hospitality, insight, investments, Jesus, joy, Leadership, Listen, lost but found, Love, marriage, Mercy, ministry, Praise, Prayer, relationship with God, repent, Revelation of Jesus, Salvation, Searching, Teaching, temptations, Thanksgiving, Training, Transformation, trust in God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, waiting on God, wisdom | Tagged anxiety, Christian, Christian Living, Church, Comfort, Conversation, encouragement, Faith, Family, Focus, Freedom, Friendship, future, Give life, Go, Gratitude, Happy, Heart, inspiration, joy, Justice, Kindness, LIfe, LIfe Lessons, Love, management, Marriage, meditation, Ministry, Motivation, Parenting, Peace, ponder, Power, Praise, prayer, Promises, Purpose, reconciliation, Relationship, Relationships, Religion, Spiritual, Teaching, The Cross, Theology, Thinking, Training, Truth, Understanding, Value, Virtues, Waiting, work | Leave a comment

GOD AND LOVE

Posted on May 9, 2020 by randscallawayffm

John’s Letters

The two most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God. More often than not, the mess people make of their lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both of these areas.

The basic and biblical Christian conviction is that the two subjects are intricately related. If we want to deal with God the right way, we have to learn to love the right way. If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way. God and love cannot be separated.

John’s three letters provide wonderfully explicit direction in how this works. Jesus, the Messiah, is the focus: Jesus provides the full and true understanding of God; Jesus shows us the mature working-out of love. In Jesus, God and love are linked accurately, intricately, and indissolubly.

But there are always people around who don’t want to be pinned down to the God Jesus reveals, to the love Jesus reveals. They want to make up their own style of love. John was pastor to a church (or churches) disrupted by some of these people. In his letters we see him reestablishing the original and organic unity of God and love that comes to focus and becomes available to us in Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord, Help us to understand what your love is so we realize how much you love us. Only then can we love like you love. In Jesus Name, Amen

HOLY PAUSE

What is love to you right now?

What does it mean to love another person?

Who is love to you? Who loves you best? Who loves you most?

What do you expect from someone who loves you?

What do others expect from us who say we love God?

After pondering these questions let’s dive in to dealing with love and God the right way…Here are the Highlights of John’s letters…of which there are three.

1 John 1 The Light

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”

“If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 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.”

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

1 John 2 – Jesus Paid for Our Sin With His Life

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

LOVE AND HATE

“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.”

“Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.”

The world’s view of “love” is temporary, fickle and not comparable to God’s unchanging forever love.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

Satan is a liar and knows nothing about love.

“Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.”

1 John 3 – Lavished Love of God

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

“…we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

“For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

“…this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”

1 John 4 Know God, Know Love

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

GOD AND LOVE ARE INSEPARABLE

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

WHAT KIND OF LOVE?

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR!

“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

“We love because he first loved us.”

WE CANNOT LOVE AND HATE AT THE SAME TIME

“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

1 John 5 – Love overcomes!

“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.”

“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

TRUTH

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

2 John – Walking in God’s Love

“Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.”

“…his command is that you walk in love.”

3 John – Encouragement to Continue to Walk in Love

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

“Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.”

“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”

So there we have it! God and Love, real love, real truth, real life, are one in the same.

Bottom line: Love is of God, not of us.

How important it is to walk “in truth and love” (2 John 3) and hold the truth in love! To claim to love the truth and yet hate our brothers and sisters is to confess ignorance of what the Christian life is all about.

When God’s people love Him, the truth, and one another, then the Spirit of God can work in that gathering to glorify Jesus Christ. But when any member of that group, including the pastor, becomes proud and tries to take to hold full control, then the Spirit is grieved and He cannot bless. The church may outwardly appear successful, but inwardly it will lack the true unity of the Spirit that makes for a healthy fellowship.

Love God. Love Others. Love like Jesus loved us. This love is revolutionary and not of this world. God is Love.

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” –Jesus

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YOU ARE THE MESSIAH

Posted on May 8, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Letters from Peter

Peter’s concise confession–“You are the Messiah, the Christ”–focused the faith of the disciples on Jesus as God among us, in person, carrying out the eternal work of salvation. Peter seems to have been a natural leader, commanding the respect of his peers by sheer force of personality. In every listing of Jesus’ disciples, Peter’s name is invariably first.

In the early church, his influence was enormous and acknowledged by all. By virtue of his position, he was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community. And his energetic preaching, ardent prayer, bold healing, and wise direction confirmed the trust placed in him.

The way Peter handled himself in that position of power is even more impressive than the power itself. He stayed out of the center of attention, didn’t “wield” power, maintained a scrupulous subordination to Jesus. Given his charismatic personality and well-deserved position at the head, he could easily have taken over, using the prominence of his association with Jesus to promote himself. That he didn’t do it, given the frequency with which spiritual leaders do exactly that, is impressive. Peter is a breath of fresh air.

The two letters Peter wrote exhibit the qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit shaped in him: a readiness to embrace suffering rather than prestige, a wisdom developed from experience and not imposed from a book, a humility that lacked nothing in vigor or imagination. For what we know of the early stories of Peter, he had in him all the makings of a bully. That he didn’t become a bully (and religious bullies are the worst kind) but rather the boldly confident and humbly self-effacing servant of Jesus Christ that we discern in these letters, is a compelling witness to what he himself describes as “a brand-new life, with everything to live for.”

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF 1 and 2 Peter

1 Peter 1 – Trials Refine Us

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

“These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Be Holy

“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.”

“…just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

We are Redeemed only by Jesus!

“…it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

“Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (Remember, Peter witnessed this!)

“…love one another deeply, from the heart.”

“…the grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

1 Peter 2 – Grow Up!

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (Jesus called Simon, “Peter, the rock upon which I will build my church”, so it is now wonder Peter uses building stones as the analogy.)

Prophets of God said centuries before…

““See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in him

will never be put to shame.”

JESUS is the cornerstone, the One and Only in which we line up and stack our lives upon. He sets the direction. The cornerstone keeps the building aligned so that it is built correctly.

Who we are

“.

..you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

How to live as His

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

Obey those in charge

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.”

“Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.”

We follow in the steps of Jesus even life isn’t fair

“But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

1 Peter 3 – Family Life

“Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

FOR ALL OF US

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”

“…in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”

1 Peter 4 Live For God

“Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.”

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.”

“If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”

“To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Trials and Sufferings – Don’t be surprised!

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”

1 Peter 5 – God’s Care

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

‘God opposes the proud

but shows favor to the humble.’

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Know Your True Enemy

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”

2 Peter 1 – Called

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

We are called to grow in His love:

“…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”

In INCREASING Measure – (Not all at once, we are a work in progress!)

“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”

Peter saw it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears!

“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

“He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'”

“We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.”

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

ALL WORDS COME FROM GOD

“…you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2 Peter 2 – False teachers will rise up…but God knows!

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.”

God will take of them. We avoid them at all costs!

2 Peter 3 – The Last Days

“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?”

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

(I imagine Jesus leaning into God’s ear, begging Him for “one more day” so that more can be saved. That’s the kind of love The Messiah has for us.)

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” No one knows that day, not even Jesus, only God.

“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.”

“So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation…”

“…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM PETER?

It is the Holy Spirit of God who empowers and enables us to keep things in balance. Before Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was repeatedly going to extremes. He would bear witness to Christ one minute and then try to argue with the Lord the next (Matt. 16:13–23)! He refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet, and then he wanted to be washed all over (John 13:6–10)! He promised to defend the Lord and even die with Him, yet he did not have the courage to own the Lord before a little servant girl!

But when he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter began to live a balanced life that avoided impulsive extremes. What is the result of spiritual growth? Glory to God! “To Him be glory both now and forever.”

It glorifies Jesus Christ when we keep ourselves separated from sin and error. It glorifies Him when we grow in grace and knowledge, for then we become more like Him (Rom. 8:29).

In his life and even in his death, Peter glorified God (John 21:18–19). As we read these important letters, we cannot help but be struck by the urgency of the message. Evil deceivers are here! They are busy! They are seducing immature Christians! We must be guarding, growing, and glorifying the Lord, making the most of every opportunity to win the lost and strengthen the saved. Be diligent! The life and ministry witness you save may be your own!

Dear Lord,

Help us to stay diligent, wise and expectant.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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LIVING SKILLFULLY STRONG!

Posted on May 7, 2020 by randscallawayffm

James – Wisdom

Good Morning, Saints! Good Morning, Sinners!

Randy and I went to a pastor’s convention of sorts to learn from great leaders of the faith, those who had served with wisdom, those who “knew the ropes” of ministry. One particular day, we clamored to get into a packed room where one of the famous ministers would be speaking.

Max Lucado quickly walked into the room with a hearty, “Good morning, saints!” We all gave an equal greeting back, “Good Morning, Max!” Without a pause, Max then said, “Good Morning, Sinners!” You should have heard the mumbled, softer greeting of “Good Morning.” We knew we are sinners saved only by grace. That was the point of the speaker’s intention. He could have stopped right there for we were taught a great lesson. We are made holy by Jesus’ blood, not of our own. We were humbled. Hold that thought.

When Christian believers gather in churches, everything that can go wrong sooner or later does. Outsiders, on observing this, conclude that there is nothing to the religion business except, perhaps, business–and dishonest business at that. Insiders see it differently. Just as a hospital collects the sick under one roof and labels them as such, the church collects sinners.

Many of the people outside the hospital are every bit as sick as the ones inside, but their illnesses are either undiagnosed or disguised. It’s similar with sinners outside the church.

So Christian churches are not, as a rule, model communities of good behavior. They are, rather, places where human misbehavior is brought out in the open faced, and dealt with.

The letter of James shows one of the church’s early pastors skillfully going about his work of confronting, diagnosing, and dealing with areas of misbelief and misbehavior that had turned up in congregations committed to his care. Deep and living wisdom is on display here, wisdom both rare and essential.

Wisdom is not primarily knowing the truth, although it certainly includes that; it is SKILL in living. For, what good is a truth if we don’t know how to live it? What good is an intention if we can’t sustain it?

According to church traditions, James carried the nickname, “Old Camel Knees” because of thick calluses built up on his knees from many years of determined prayer. The prayer is foundational to the wisdom. Prayer is always foundational to wisdom.

There is so much wisdom contained in this short letter of James but as before we will only capture the highlights of how to live skillfully.

James – Wisdom for Living In Jesus Name

James 1 Faith Building

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

Joy?, we ask. Joy comes “in the morning”, during or after the challenge when we ask, God what are you teaching me in the trial or circumstance? Joy (and relief with peace) comes in realizing God was/is in control of the situation through it all. Eternal, inner joy settles in us when we realize the wisdom (skill) we honed in the process for the next challenge in life.

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

We are “blessed” by maturing in the character traits of Jesus who persevered under extreme criticism, slander, mocking ridicule, beatings, followed by laying down his life for ours, being nailed to a cross.

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

James 2 – No Favorites!

“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.”

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”

BELIEF AND BEHAVIOR

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”

“Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”

Sometimes our actions, driven by our faith, speak volumes!

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

James 3 – The Tongue

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”

We are not perfect. We are perfectly forgiven, and continually being perfected, being made perfect and holy only by the love, grace and mercy of God through Jesus, His Son.

“…the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

“…no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.”

Good Morning, Saints!…Good Morning, Sinners!

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

“…if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”

James 4 – Ask What God Wants

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?”

“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.”

“You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

“Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Promise of God’s Help!)

WASH YOUR HANDS! (Smiling, because of our current situation, but it fits, does it not?)

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

James 5 Hoarding Wealth

“You have hoarded wealth in the last days.” (This includes toilet paper, just saying.)

PATIENCE

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.”

“Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered.”

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (He will help us!)

“Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.”

PRAYER

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.”

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 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.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

The assumption is that people sin against each other, not just against God, and at work that is certainly the case. We face daily pressure to produce and perform, and we have limited time to act, so we often act without listening, marginalize those who disagree, compete unfairly, hog resources, leave a mess for the next person to clean up, and take out our frustrations on co-workers. We wound and get wounded.

The only way to be healed is to confess our sins to one another. If someone just shot down a co-worker’s promotion by inaccurately criticizing that person’s performance, the wrongdoer needs to confess it to the one wronged at work, not just to God in private prayer time. The wrongdoer may have to confess it to the rest of the department too, if he or she is really going to heal the damage.

HOLY PAUSE

Evaluate. Do you feel like a saint or a sinner today? Talk to God about it. He already knows and knows you. He is the best one to ask.

Need wisdom, skills for living well? Ask God. He stands ready to pour out His wisdom, insight and understanding, helping us to see from His higher perspective.

What is our motivation for confession and healing? So that we may serve the needs of others. “Whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death”. Saving someone from death is serving a very deep need! And perhaps— since we are all sinners—someone else will save us from death by turning us from the error of our ways.

We need each other. We need God. Every hour of every day.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for these words of wisdom, the immediate, applicable skills for living in ways that please you. Thank for Truth. Help us with more of You in us. Give us large doses of your wisdom today. Then help us to live it.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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SIMPLY AND SERIOUSLY JESUS

Posted on May 6, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Hebrews Highlights

It seems odd to have to say so, but too much religion is a bad thing. We can’t get too much of God, can’t get too much faith and obedience, can’t get too much love and worship. But religion–the well-intentioned efforts we make to “get it all together” for God–can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us.

The main and central action is everywhere and always what God has done, is doing, and will do for us. Jesus is the revelation of that action. Our main and central task is to live in responsive obedience to God’s action revealed in Jesus. Our part in the action is the act of faith.

But more often than not we become impatiently self-important along the way and decide to improve matters with our two cents’ worth. We add on, we supplement, we embellish. But instead of improving on the purity and simplicity of Jesus, we dilute the purity, clutter the simplicity. We become fussily religious, or anxiously religious. We get in the way.

God has the attention of more people than ever before during this world-wide quarantine period. God did not cause this pandemic but He is certainly using this circumstance for our good, for our growing and maturing, and for His glory. Those of us who have not wavered in our faith see God for who He is more clearly and love Jesus more deeply with a keen sense of His work of salvation in us. He is ready to invite us to HIS work once more as long as we realize that it is, indeed, HIS work.

It’s a great time to read and pray our way through the letter to the Hebrews, written for “too religious” Christians, for the “Jesus-and” Christians. In the letter, it is Jesus-and-angels, or Jesus-and-Moses, or Jesus-and-priesthood. In our time it is more likely to be Jesus-and-politics, or Jesus-and-education, or even Jesus-and-Buddha. This letter deletes the hyphens, the add-ons.

In 2020, the FOCUS becomes clear and sharp again: God’s action in Jesus. And we are free once more for the act of faith, the one human action in which we don’t get IN the way but ON the Way.

“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” –Jesus (John 14:6)

Here are only the highlights of this letter, but I encourage you to read it all. Later, we will go back, taking smaller bites to chew on as we go deeper into God’s revelation of Simply Jesus.

HIGHLIGHTS OF HEBREWS (NIV)

Hebrews 1 – God’s Son, Jesus

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”

Hebrews 2 – Jesus, Sent to Save Us

“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

“This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Hebrews 3 – Focus on Jesus, He is Our Hope

“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.”

“Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.”

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

Hebrews 4 – Sabbath, A Blessed Rest with God

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.”

What God says is forever…

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.”

Hebrews 5 – Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 6 – We are Challenged to Grow Up!

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity…”

To those who fall away, leave Jesus and His teachings…

“To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

“Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.”

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever…”

Hebrews 7 – Jesus, our Perfect Intercessor

“…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

“Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”

“He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

Hebrews 8 – The New Covenant

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”

“By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”

Hebrews 9 – Jesus Shed His Blood for Our Salvation

“..he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

Jesus Cleanses us from the INSIDE Out!

“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Hebrews 10 – Jesus, Once and For All

From religion to relationship…

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.”

“…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

“The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

‘This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.’

Then he adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.’

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

OUR UNWAVERING FAITH BECAUSE OF JESUS!

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Jesus – Our Blessed Assurance!

Encourage Each Other as the Body of Christ!

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Jesus IS Coming Back, you know!?!

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“In just a little while,

he who is coming will come

and will not delay.”

“But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”

Hebrews 11 – FAITH IN JESUS

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”

Hebrews 12 – Jesus Perfects us, God loves us enough to confront and correct us!

“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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

LEARN from the bad times and circumstances…

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”

“God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.”

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’”

Hebrews 13 – Do What Jesus Would Do

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.”

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure…”

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” (God will provide!)

“So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’”

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

HOLY PAUSE

Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?

Am I a part of a religious following or do I have a close, intimate relationship with Jesus as my Savior, Friend, and Lord of my life?

Seriously, evaluate.

In Jesus Name. Amen.

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THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Posted on May 5, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Some acts of unforgiving behavior in families can go for generations without being resolved. The ripple effect can cause damage to how we think, what we think and how we relate to people in the world.

As I was growing up, my parents had very specific ideas about music in the church. When other forms, like gospel from a paperback book, was introduced by another singing family the dissidence began. I remember a time of seeing this family in the store on day and my little brother looking up at my mom and dad, saying, “Why do we not like them, I forgot”. This opened up my parents eyes to how their talk at home was affecting the next generation and things began to change for the good. I was so glad as a kid, for even then I did not like disputes and unrest in my own family or in the church family. In my household they were one in the same. By the way, I like ALL music to this day that praises God and gives Him glory!

In the family of God, every movement we make in response to God has a ripple effect, touching family, neighbors, friends, community. Belief in God alters our language. Love of God affects daily relationships. Hope in God enters into our work. Also their opposites–unbelief, indifference, and despair. None of these movements and responses, beliefs and prayers, gestures and searches, can be confined to the soul. They spill out and make history. If they don’t, they are under suspicion of being fantasies at best, hypocrisies at worst.

Christians have always insisted on the historicity of Jesus–an actual birth, a datable death, a witnessed resurrection, locatable towns. There is a parallel historicity in the followers of Jesus. As they take in everything Jesus said and did–all of it a personal revelation of God in time and place–it all gets worked into local history, eventually into world history.

Philemon and Onesimus, the slave owner and slave who figure prominently in the letter from Paul, had no idea that believing in Jesus would involve them in radical social change. But as the two of them were brought together by this letter, it did. And it still does.

As we read the short story of Philemon and Onesimus, let us learn about true forgiveness and restoration with love, mercy and grace made possible by Jesus.

Paul’s letter to Philemon

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

3 Grace and peace to you[a] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 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. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus,[b] who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

12 I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

22 And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.

23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

HOLY PAUSE

We can be slaves to ideas, behaviors and thoughts of opinion that are not becoming or righteous in God’s eyes. What are some of those thoughts that might have a ripple effect in your family?

Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of Christian love followed by forgiveness. Paul was a prisoner in Rome, his friend Philemon was in Colosse, and the human link between them was a runaway slave named Onesimus. The details are not clear, but it appears that Onesimus robbed his master and then fled to Rome, hoping to be swallowed up in the crowded metropolis. But, in the providence of God, he met Paul and was converted!

A special relationship had developed between Paul and Onesimus whom he affectionately calls “my son”. In sending Onesimus back, Paul requests Philemon not to treat him as a vagrant slave, but to receive him as a Christian brother. The apostle puts himself on the line personally in behalf of Onesimus: “Welcome him as you would welcome me”. “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything . . . I will pay it back”.

In this story, we see Paul in three important roles as he tried to help Philemon solve his problems. At the same time, we see a beautiful picture of what the Father has done for us in Jesus Christ. Martin Luther said, “All of us are Onesimuses!” and he was right. We are slaves to sin and Jesus forgave us all and set us free.

1. Paul was a beloved friend of Philemon.

In his greeting, Paul expressed his deep love for his Christian friends, and he reminded them that he was a prisoner for Jesus Christ. Paul reminds Philemon who he is in Christ. In his thanksgiving, Paul described his friend as a man of love and faith, both toward Jesus Christ and God’s people. His love was practical: he “refreshed” the saints through his words and work. He also prayed that his friend would have a deeper understanding of all that he had in Jesus Christ.

2. Paul interceded on Onesimus’ behalf. (Like Jesus does for us!) Paul might have used apostolic authority and ordered his friend to obey, but he preferred to appeal in Christian love. Onesimus was no longer “just a slave”; he was now Paul’s son in the faith and Philemon’s Christian brother! In Jesus Christ, there is “neither bond nor free” (Gal. 3:28). This does not mean that his conversion altered Onesimus’s legal position as a slave, or that it canceled his debt to the law or to his master. However, it did mean that Onesimus had a new standing before God and before God’s people, and Philemon had to take this into consideration.

As you review these appeals, you can see how Paul tenderly convinced his friend Philemon that he should receive his disobedient slave and forgive him. But it would not be easy for Philemon to do this. If he was too easy on Onesimus, it might influence other slaves to “become Christians” and want to influence their masters.

However, if he was too hard on the man, it might affect Philemon’s testimony and ministry in Colosse. At this point, Paul offered the perfect solution. It was a costly solution as far as the apostle was concerned, but he was willing to pay the price.

3. Paul, the burdened Partner. The word translated “partner” is koinonia, which means “to have in common.” It is translated “communication” in Philemon 6, which means “fellowship.” Paul volunteered to become a “business partner” with Philemon and help him solve the problem with Onesimus. He made two suggestions: “Receive him as myself,” and “Put whatever he stole from you on my account.”

As Philemon’s new “partner,” Paul could not leave Rome and go to Colosse, but he could send Onesimus as his personal representative. “The way you treat Onesimus is the way you treat me,” said the apostle. “He is to me as my own heart” (Philem. 12).

This is to me an illustration of what Jesus Christ has done for us as believers. God’s people are so identified with Jesus Christ that God receives them as He receives His Son! We are “accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6) and clothed in His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). We certainly cannot approach God with any merit of our own, but God must receive us when we come to Him “in Jesus Christ.”

MORE THAN LOVE…FORGIVENESS

It takes more than love to solve the problem; love must pay a price. God does not save us by His love, for though He loves the whole world, the whole world is not saved. God saves sinners by His grace (Eph. 2:8–9), and grace is love that pays a price. God in His holiness could not ignore the debt that we owe, for God must be faithful to His own law. So He paid the debt for us! That price was His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, my sins were put on His account, and He was treated the way I should have been treated. When I trusted Him as my Savior, His righteousness was put on my account, and now God accepts me in Jesus Christ. Jesus said to the Father, “He no longer owes You a debt because I paid it fully on the cross. Receive him as You would receive Me. Let him come into the family circle!”

However, we must keep in mind that there is a difference between being accepted in Christ and acceptable to Christ. Anyone who trusts Jesus Christ for salvation is accepted in Him (Rom. 4:1–4). But the believer must strive with God’s help to be acceptable to the Lord in his daily life (Rom. 12:2; 14:18; 2 Cor.5:9; Heb. 12:28 niv). The Father wants to look at those who are in His Son and say of them as He said of Jesus, “I am well pleased!”

HOLY PAUSE

Is Jesus your Savior AND the LORD of your life?

Does our behavior have a ripple effect in our family? In our church family? In the world?

Was Paul hinting in Philemon 21 that Philemon should do even more and free Onesimus? For that matter, why did he not come right out and condemn slavery? This letter certainly would have been the ideal place to do it.

Paul did not “condemn” slavery in this letter or in any of his letters, though he often had a word of admonition for slaves and their masters (Eph. 6:5–9; Col. 3:22—4:1; 1 Tim. 6:1–2; Titus 2:9–10). In fact he encouraged Christian slaves to obtain their freedom if they could (1 Cor. 7:21–24).

ABOUT SLAVERY…

During the American Civil War, both sides used the same Bible to “prove” their cases for or against slavery. One of the popular arguments was, “If slavery is so wrong, why did Jesus and the apostles say nothing against it? Paul gave instructions to regulate slavery, but he did not condemn it.”

One of the best explanations was given by Alexander Maclaren in his commentary on Colossians in The Expositor’s Bible (Eerdmans, 1940; vol. VI, 301):

“First, the message of Christianity is primarily to individuals, and only secondarily to society. It leaves the units whom it has influenced to influence the mass. Second, it acts on spiritual and moral sentiment, and only afterwards and consequently on deeds or institutions. Third, it hates violence, and trusts wholly to enlightened conscience. So it meddles directly with no political or social arrangements, but lays down principles which will profoundly affect these, and leaves them to soak into the general mind.”

Had the early Christians begun an open crusade against slavery, they would have been crushed by the opposition, and the message of the gospel would have become confused with a social and political program. Think of how difficult it was for people to overcome slavery in England and America, and those two nations had general education and the Christian religion to help prepare the way.

Think also of the struggles in the modern Civil Rights movement even within the church. If the battle for freedom was difficult for us to win in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, what would the struggle have been like back in the first century?

Laws can change but it takes a change of mind to make a difference!

Christians are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13–16), and their spiritual influence must be felt in society to the glory of God. God used Joseph in Egypt, Esther and Nehemiah in Persia, and Daniel in Babylon, and throughout church history, there have been believers in political offices who have faithfully served the Lord.

But Christians in the Roman Empire could not work through local democratic political structures as we can today, so they really had no political power to bring about change. The change had to come from within, even though it took centuries for slavery to end.

Paul’s benediction was his “official signature” for his letters (2 Thessalonians 3:17–18), and it magnified the grace of God. After all, it was the grace of Jesus Christ that made our salvation possible (Ephesians 2:1–10). It was He who said, “Charge that to My account! Receive them as You would receive Me!”

Above all, preach Jesus who set us free once and for all!

Dear Heavenly Father,

We are able to come to your throne because of you dear Jesus! Thank you! Thank you for setting us free to love like you love, to show mercy like you have shone to us and to forgive freely like you have forgiven us. Wow! Help us daily to live for you, be a representative of you to others, causing a Holy ripple effect to all we encounter on this journey here and now. It’s all about you, not us.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Blessings, Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Creation, demons, Discipleship, Embrace, Encouragement, Faith, First, God, Following Jesus, Forgiveness, Grace, harvest, heaven, Holy Spirit, Hope, hospitality, hugs, insight, investments, Jesus, joy, Leadership, Listen, lost but found, Love, marriage, Mercy, ministry, Praise, Prayer, relationship with God, repent, Revelation of Jesus, Salvation, Searching, Teaching, temptations, Thanksgiving, Training, Transformation, trust in God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, waiting on God, wisdom | Tagged Christian, Christian Living, Church, Comfort, Conversation, encouragement, Faith, Family, Focus, Freedom, Friendship, future, Give life, Go, Gratitude, Happy, Heart, inspiration, joy, Justice, Kindness, LIfe, LIfe Lessons, Love, management, Marriage, Ministry, Motivation, Parenting, Peace, ponder, Power, Praise, prayer, Purpose, reconciliation, Relationship, Relationships, Spiritual, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Training, Truth, Understanding, Virtues, Waiting, work | Leave a comment

LEADERSHIP But I don’t know what I’m doing!

Posted on May 4, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Christians are quite serious in believing that when they gather together for worship and work, God is present and sovereign, really present and absolutely sovereign.

God creates and guides, God saves and heals, God corrects and blesses, God calls and judges. With such comprehensive and personal leadership from God, what is the place of HUMAN leadership?

It has been said that leaders are born. Others say leaders are shaped by their environment. According to Paul to Timothy, leaders are CALLED and EQUIPPED by God. Leaders, called out by God, are designed to humbly mentor called by God apprentices. As leaders we are to purposely and intentionally look for these “called out” people of God. When God asks us to step up to be a mentor OR to be mentored, we need to listen and act accordingly. God will equip us to equip others. It is not a matter of addition but of multiplication.

Quite obviously, leadership has to be second place. It must not elbow its way to the front, it must not bossily take over. Ego-centered, ego-prominent, leadership betrays the Master. The best leadership in spiritual communities formed in the name of Jesus, the Messiah, is inconspicuous, not calling attention to itself but not sacrificing anything in the way of conviction and firmness either.

In Paul’s letters to two young associates–Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete–we see Paul encouraging and guiding the development of just such leadership. What he had learned so thoroughly himself, he was now passing on and showing them, in turn, how to develop a similar leadership in local congregations. This is essential reading because ill-directed and badly formed spiritual leadership causes much damage in souls. Paul in both his life and his letters shows us how to do it right.

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are rich in wisdom, insight and understanding that we all cry out for as God-led leaders and mentors. It is a seminary class for leaders who train leaders who train leaders. Leaders are learners. Leaders are called by God to join Him in His work. When people say a humbled, “God, I don’t know what I’m doing” yes to God, then God begins equipping them with all He knows we will need for the journey. He does it every time. He has and is still doing this in me.

CALLED TO LEAD? HERE ARE THE PRINCIPLES:

1 Timothy 1

PAUL IS CALLED

“This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.”

PAUL MENTORS TIMOTHY

“The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.”

“We know that the law is good when used correctly.”

GOD’S MERCY

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ.”

ALL GLORY TO GOD

“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.”

“Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear.”

1 Timothy 2

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

PRAY FIRST

“…pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”

“Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.”

KNOW YOUR MESSAGE

“This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For,

There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.”

“This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.

1 Timothy 3

LOOK FOR OTHER LEADERS

“This is a trustworthy saying: ‘If someone aspires to be a church leader,[a] he desires an honorable position.’ So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach.”

CHARACTER TRAITS

“integrity…respected…tells the Truth…faithful to family…humble…committed to the faith in Jesus.”

This is “…how people must conduct themselves in the household of God.”

1 Timothy 4

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.”

“…train yourself to be godly.”

“…our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.”

LIVE THE FAITH

“Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity…focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.”

“Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.”

1 Timothy 5

HOW TO TREAT OTHERS

“Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.”

“Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.”

SHOW NO FAVORITISM

“I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone.”

“Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”

1 Timothy 6

“Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them…”

“These teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding.”

AVOID THE ARROGANT

“Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.”

“Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.”

BE THE MAN or WOMAN OF GOD

“But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.”

“Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.”

USE WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO GOOD FOR GOD’S GLORY

“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.”

“Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.”

“Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”

STAY AWAY FROM ARGUING

“Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness.”

2 Timothy 1

OUR FAITH IS LEAD BY JESUS POWER IN US!

“I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.”

BE BOLD!

“This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

“…never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.”

“Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.”

2 Timothy 2

LEADERS TRAIN LEADERS WHO TRAIN LEADERS…

“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”

ALWAYS PREACH JESUS!

“Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach.”

“I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.”

KNOW GOD

“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.”

“God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”

“If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.”

“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.”

ONLY GOD CHANGES HEARTS

“Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

2 Timothy 3

AVOID THESE PEOPLE…

“You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money.”

“They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.”

“They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.”

“They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”

“They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.”

“But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are…”

REMAIN TRUE

“…everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.

“But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.”

“You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.”

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

HOLY PAUSE

Who do you trust to mentor/lead you?

What characteristics do you look for in a mentor?

What characteristics must we have to mentor someone else in the faith?

Do you believe leaders are learners?

From whom would you rather learn; one who continues to learn or one who thinks they know it all?

2 Timothy 4

“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”

Paul to Titus

CHOOSE THE CALLED OF GOD

“A church leader is a manager of God’s household, so he must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money.”

“Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.”

AVOID…

“Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.”

Promote Right Teaching

“As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience.”

“Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good.”

Do What Is Good

“Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.”

So there we have it! Leadership 101 is given by Paul to the church leaders of God’s people. God’s church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ who died for our sin, went to hell and back again to defeat death forever. He rose to life and is now preparing a place for us to live with Him forever!

Jesus…our Savior and Lord. Jesus our Hope and Future!

Preach Jesus! Become like Jesus on the journey to Jesus!

Thank you, Lord for lessons we are still learning on the road to our final destination with you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Posted in Blessings, Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Creation, demons, Discipleship, Embrace, Encouragement, Faith, First, God, Following Jesus, Forgiveness, Grace, harvest, heaven, Holy Spirit, Hope, hospitality, hugs, insight, investments, Jesus, joy, Leadership, Listen, lost but found, Love, marriage, Mercy, ministry, Praise, Prayer, relationship with God, repent, Revelation of Jesus, Salvation, Searching, Teaching, temptations, Thanksgiving, Training, Transformation, trust in God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, waiting on God, wisdom | Tagged C, Christian, Christian Living, Church, Comfort, Conversation, encouragement, Faith, Family, Focus, Freedom, Friendship, future, Give life, Go, Gratitude, Happy, Heart, inspiration, joy, Justice, Kindness, LIfe, LIfe Lessons, Love, management, Marriage, Ministry, Motivation, Parenting, Peace, ponder, Power, Praise, prayer, Purpose, reconciliation, Relationship, Relationships, Spiritual, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Training, Truth, Understanding, Virtues, Waiting, work | Leave a comment

ALL PRAISE ALL THE TIME!

Posted on May 3, 2020 by randscallawayffm

Psalm 103

In the good times, praise God. In the trying times, praise God. In the confusing times, praise God. God is the One and Only to be praised. Let’s do it. Let’s just praise God with all that is in us for God has never changed his love and compassion for us!

Let all that I am praise the Lord;

with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.

2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things he does for me.

3 He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases.

4 He redeems me from death

and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

5 He fills my life with good things.

My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

6 The Lord gives righteousness

and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

7 He revealed his character to Moses

and his deeds to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,

slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

9 He will not constantly accuse us,

nor remain angry forever.

10 He does not punish us for all our sins;

he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

12 He has removed our sins as far from us

as the east is from the west.

13 The Lord is like a father to his children,

tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

14 For he knows how weak we are;

he remembers we are only dust.

15 Our days on earth are like grass;

like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

16 The wind blows, and we are gone—

as though we had never been here.

17 But the love of the Lord remains forever

with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,

of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;

from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels,

you mighty ones who carry out his plans,

listening for each of his commands.

21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels

who serve him and do his will!

22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,

everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen! I believe!

Posted in Blessings, Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Creation, Discipleship, Embrace, Encouragement, Faith, First, God, Following Jesus, Forgiveness, Grace, harvest, heaven, Holy Spirit, Hope, insight, investments, Jesus, joy, Leadership, Listen, lost but found, Love, marriage, Mercy, ministry, Praise, Prayer, Psalms, relationship with God, repent, Revelation of Jesus, Salvation, Searching, Teaching, Thanksgiving, Training, Transformation, trust in God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, waiting on God, wisdom | Tagged anxiety, Christian, Christian Living, Church, Comfort, Conversation, David, encouragement, Faith, Family, Focus, Freedom, Friendship, future, Give life, Go, Gratitude, Happy, Heart, inspiration, joy, Justice, Kindness, LIfe, LIfe Lessons, Love, management, Marriage, Ministry, Moses, Motivation, Parenting, Peace, ponder, Power, Praise, prayer, Purpose, reconciliation, Relationship, Relationships, Spiritual, Teaching, Theology, Thinking, Training, Truth, Understanding, Virtues, Waiting, work | Leave a comment

Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

CHOOSE JESUS

LOVE IS ON THE WAY!

JESUS IS COMING BACK!

GOD AND LOVE

YOU ARE THE MESSIAH

LIVING SKILLFULLY STRONG!

SIMPLY AND SERIOUSLY JESUS

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

LEADERSHIP But I don’t know what I’m doing!

ALL PRAISE ALL THE TIME!

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