“They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
--Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)
Psychologist and the “feel-good” preachers and teachers of positive thinking attribute the majority of our problems to the lack of self-esteem and low self-concept. To overcome the negative conditions in our lives they say we simply need to change our negative “self scripts” to positive ones. After all they say, even the Bible says, “As a man thinks so is he.” (taken out of context when applied in this fashion).
Perhaps the Apostle Paul was unaware of the power of negative self-scripts. He called himself a "Wretched man…least of the apostles…the foremost sinner.” And these are statement made after his conversion.
Ken, are you saying that I shouldn’t think positive thoughts? Not in the least. In Philippians 4, Paul tells us to “dwell on the good, pure, and noble things.” But Paul also tells us that everything that is lawful for us is not profitable (even though it may appear to be so).
As Christians the focus should never be on who I say I am. The focus should be Christ, period. It is who He says I am that matters. It is the changes wrought by the power of His Holy Spirit that will bring about lasting, powerful and positive change in your life.
Have you struggled to find joy, peace and freedom? Do you long to have a real reason to be thankful this season? Look to Christ and listen to who He says you are!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
It Will Happen
Joshua 6:14 "And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days. 15 But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner...16 And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!
Maybe your life seems like the same thing over and over again. You get up and do the same thing every day. But if you will continue to follow after God and seek him with all your heart the Bible tells us that everything you have need of will be given onto you. Maybe you find yourself in a perpetual state of sin. Never stop fighting against it. Never make peace with it. The demons of hell tremble at the thought of a man or woman who is passionate about God no matter what their circumstances.
When you get passionate about God your circumstances don’t consume you and sin doesn’t control you. Your circumstances become your calling and it is a call to those who are broken and contrite. It is a call to those who know that to praise the living God is to experience the very manifestation of His presence. It is a call to those who refuse to be cloaked in the death garb of sin any longer. It is a call to those who are tired of man centered means. It is a call to those who pant for God as the dear that pants for the water brook. It is a call to those who will fight the good fight to the very end. It is a call to those who are purified that they may present themselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. It is a call to those who are holy because the one who calls is holy. Yes, there is a call which causes the demons of hell to tremble because they know that it is a call to the chosen of God, the elect of God from every tribe and every tongue who know longer fear the curse of death bur fear God alone.
There is a call which causes demons to tremble because they have heard that call before. It is a call that transforms mortal men into immortal warriors. It is a call to those who will heed its warning, that transforms mere men into the terribly awesome image like that which those demons have seen before. Therefore, they tremble for the last time they saw the image their gates could not prevail against it.
Will you name your Jericho? Will you call it by name? Will you call it what it is? Will you nail it to the cross today. See God has put it in your hands. Don’t say you have no strength to overcome. When we say we have no strength to overcome that is an offense to God and an insult to the blood of his Son. You walk in obedience to what God tells you to do. He will give you the strength.
Name your Jericho! It may be a sin that you have tried to deal with all by yourself The Bible says, "confess your sins one to another". There is a reason for confessing one to another. It solidifies what you know you must do. Then all week you march around your house and wherever you go you continually remind your spirit that God has put it in your hands and now that it’s in your hands it’s up to you to lay it down. Take dominion!!!
All week you stand against your Jericho. It may be depression or fear or doubt about what God can do. But you stand against it. It has no power over you. YOU stand against it. And you continue to stand waiting for the answer whether it takes 7 days or 7000 days. Never give up, never give out, and never give in. Be always looking toward that day when the Lord tells you to shout because he has given you the answer. He has been glorified in your faithfulness and your Jericho has fallen and the promises of God have been fulfilled.
Maybe your life seems like the same thing over and over again. You get up and do the same thing every day. But if you will continue to follow after God and seek him with all your heart the Bible tells us that everything you have need of will be given onto you. Maybe you find yourself in a perpetual state of sin. Never stop fighting against it. Never make peace with it. The demons of hell tremble at the thought of a man or woman who is passionate about God no matter what their circumstances.
When you get passionate about God your circumstances don’t consume you and sin doesn’t control you. Your circumstances become your calling and it is a call to those who are broken and contrite. It is a call to those who know that to praise the living God is to experience the very manifestation of His presence. It is a call to those who refuse to be cloaked in the death garb of sin any longer. It is a call to those who are tired of man centered means. It is a call to those who pant for God as the dear that pants for the water brook. It is a call to those who will fight the good fight to the very end. It is a call to those who are purified that they may present themselves as living sacrifices to the Lord. It is a call to those who are holy because the one who calls is holy. Yes, there is a call which causes the demons of hell to tremble because they know that it is a call to the chosen of God, the elect of God from every tribe and every tongue who know longer fear the curse of death bur fear God alone.
There is a call which causes demons to tremble because they have heard that call before. It is a call that transforms mortal men into immortal warriors. It is a call to those who will heed its warning, that transforms mere men into the terribly awesome image like that which those demons have seen before. Therefore, they tremble for the last time they saw the image their gates could not prevail against it.
Will you name your Jericho? Will you call it by name? Will you call it what it is? Will you nail it to the cross today. See God has put it in your hands. Don’t say you have no strength to overcome. When we say we have no strength to overcome that is an offense to God and an insult to the blood of his Son. You walk in obedience to what God tells you to do. He will give you the strength.
Name your Jericho! It may be a sin that you have tried to deal with all by yourself The Bible says, "confess your sins one to another". There is a reason for confessing one to another. It solidifies what you know you must do. Then all week you march around your house and wherever you go you continually remind your spirit that God has put it in your hands and now that it’s in your hands it’s up to you to lay it down. Take dominion!!!
All week you stand against your Jericho. It may be depression or fear or doubt about what God can do. But you stand against it. It has no power over you. YOU stand against it. And you continue to stand waiting for the answer whether it takes 7 days or 7000 days. Never give up, never give out, and never give in. Be always looking toward that day when the Lord tells you to shout because he has given you the answer. He has been glorified in your faithfulness and your Jericho has fallen and the promises of God have been fulfilled.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Forgiveness: An Act of Personal Self Interest
In 1990 having graduated from SEBTS I remained at the school on staff as an admissions officer. A new professor had joined the faculty. He and I became friends and started working out together. Our wives became friends. They were there for us at the hospital when our first son was born. He held MaCrae in his arms. We have pictures in MaCrae’s photo album. We were good friends. Then they approached us on getting involved in a home-based business they had started. Nothing wrong with home based businesses. Sherry and I have done some of those over the years, but we weren’t particularly interested in what they were selling personally and coming from a sales background I know it helps to believe in what you are selling. So we kindly declined the offer.
From that time forward they no longer wanted to hang out with us. They stopped eating with us. He stopped working out with me or speaking to me on campus. For all intents and purposes they threw our friendship out the window. They had passionately bought into the cult like mentality of the organization with which they were involved. They were living the mantra of many such organizations “SAY YES SAY NO GOT A GO”. In other words, I Don’t have time for friendships anymore that don’t directly impact my financial position in a positive way. Unfortunately, much of the world is that way today.
At first I was hurt, then I was angry. I could not believe that a seminary professor would allow his personal desire for wealth to destroy a friendship. But I also knew that I could not just go to him and say, “I forgive you”. Not because I didn’t want to, for I already had. But even Jesus on the cross did not look down at the people and say I forgive you, but instead he took it to His Father and pleaded with his father to forgive them.
So after several weeks of this nonsense I finally made the decision to go to him. But please hear what I am about to say. I did not go to him to tell him I forgive you. Sometimes you can do that but you have to pray for discernment in these matters. AND you need to be very careful about doling out forgiveness to those who do not think they need it. That doesn’t mean that you haven’t forgiven. But you cannot go to someone in your own self-righteousness as if you are better than they are because you are the one making the first move. If you do you are operating in a spirit of pride and on top of that you are likely to find only resentment waiting for you. Even when you have the right spirit of humility you may not be received because they may not accept that they have done wrong. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because they did not understand their need for forgiveness. Again, even on the cross Jesus did not say to the people I forgive you, but the cross was rather the avenue through which forgiveness could be found for those who knew they had a need.
As I continued to pray over this situation I came to the realization that I was one who had a need. So I went to my friend and asked him to forgive me. Some may think that doesn’t even make sense. Your friend is the one who needed forgiving. You obviously just have a guilt complex. You have already told us that you were a vandal as a teenager. Obviously you just feel guilty about everything.
NO NO NO. It was not out of guilt. I knew that I was free in Christ and if Christ sets us free we are free indeed. But the Lord had laid on my heart that this was what I needed to do. At the time I did not fully understand why or what the outcome would be. I wrestled with my thoughts that I was not the one who had done anything wrong. It was my friend who was wrong. My human intellect could not make sense of what God was saying in my spirit to do.
Finally, I went to his office, knocked on the door and stood before him. He was studying for a class. He looked up from his book and I said, "I have come to ask for your forgiveness. I have held resentment in my heart and have been angry that our friendship is not what it use to be and I just want you to know I wish you well in your business". He looked back down at his book without saying a word and I turned to go. I put my hand on the doorknob and he called my name. I turned to face him again and He said, "NO". Then he pushed back his chair came around the desk and with tears in his eyes he said< "I am the one who needs your forgiveness".
Then and there I understood why God was leading me to do what seemed so contrary. Oh the power of the cross. Then and there under the shadow of the cross a friendship was restored. Love grew where the blood fell. I walked back home singing…
It’s not my brother, not my sister but it’s me oh Lord STANDING IN THE NEED OF PRAYER.
Contrary to what our emotions or the world may tell us. The Bible teaches that it is in our own best interest to forgive. It is evidence of the grace of God in our lives. I love what Mark Twain wrote, "Forgiveness is the fragrance the flower sheds on the heel that crushed it" There are even major university studies being conducted now on many campuses on the physical benefits of forgiveness. Lower blood pressure – longer life span – more content lives. As if we needed the classroom to validate what God’s Word has already taught us.
You want to be happier, you want to be healthier? LEARN HOW TO FORGIVE! Forgiveness really is a matter of your own personal best interest.
From that time forward they no longer wanted to hang out with us. They stopped eating with us. He stopped working out with me or speaking to me on campus. For all intents and purposes they threw our friendship out the window. They had passionately bought into the cult like mentality of the organization with which they were involved. They were living the mantra of many such organizations “SAY YES SAY NO GOT A GO”. In other words, I Don’t have time for friendships anymore that don’t directly impact my financial position in a positive way. Unfortunately, much of the world is that way today.
At first I was hurt, then I was angry. I could not believe that a seminary professor would allow his personal desire for wealth to destroy a friendship. But I also knew that I could not just go to him and say, “I forgive you”. Not because I didn’t want to, for I already had. But even Jesus on the cross did not look down at the people and say I forgive you, but instead he took it to His Father and pleaded with his father to forgive them.
So after several weeks of this nonsense I finally made the decision to go to him. But please hear what I am about to say. I did not go to him to tell him I forgive you. Sometimes you can do that but you have to pray for discernment in these matters. AND you need to be very careful about doling out forgiveness to those who do not think they need it. That doesn’t mean that you haven’t forgiven. But you cannot go to someone in your own self-righteousness as if you are better than they are because you are the one making the first move. If you do you are operating in a spirit of pride and on top of that you are likely to find only resentment waiting for you. Even when you have the right spirit of humility you may not be received because they may not accept that they have done wrong. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because they did not understand their need for forgiveness. Again, even on the cross Jesus did not say to the people I forgive you, but the cross was rather the avenue through which forgiveness could be found for those who knew they had a need.
As I continued to pray over this situation I came to the realization that I was one who had a need. So I went to my friend and asked him to forgive me. Some may think that doesn’t even make sense. Your friend is the one who needed forgiving. You obviously just have a guilt complex. You have already told us that you were a vandal as a teenager. Obviously you just feel guilty about everything.
NO NO NO. It was not out of guilt. I knew that I was free in Christ and if Christ sets us free we are free indeed. But the Lord had laid on my heart that this was what I needed to do. At the time I did not fully understand why or what the outcome would be. I wrestled with my thoughts that I was not the one who had done anything wrong. It was my friend who was wrong. My human intellect could not make sense of what God was saying in my spirit to do.
Finally, I went to his office, knocked on the door and stood before him. He was studying for a class. He looked up from his book and I said, "I have come to ask for your forgiveness. I have held resentment in my heart and have been angry that our friendship is not what it use to be and I just want you to know I wish you well in your business". He looked back down at his book without saying a word and I turned to go. I put my hand on the doorknob and he called my name. I turned to face him again and He said, "NO". Then he pushed back his chair came around the desk and with tears in his eyes he said< "I am the one who needs your forgiveness".
Then and there I understood why God was leading me to do what seemed so contrary. Oh the power of the cross. Then and there under the shadow of the cross a friendship was restored. Love grew where the blood fell. I walked back home singing…
It’s not my brother, not my sister but it’s me oh Lord STANDING IN THE NEED OF PRAYER.
Contrary to what our emotions or the world may tell us. The Bible teaches that it is in our own best interest to forgive. It is evidence of the grace of God in our lives. I love what Mark Twain wrote, "Forgiveness is the fragrance the flower sheds on the heel that crushed it" There are even major university studies being conducted now on many campuses on the physical benefits of forgiveness. Lower blood pressure – longer life span – more content lives. As if we needed the classroom to validate what God’s Word has already taught us.
You want to be happier, you want to be healthier? LEARN HOW TO FORGIVE! Forgiveness really is a matter of your own personal best interest.
Friday, March 21, 2008
What Difference Does It Make to Believe?
Luke 24:11 “And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.”
My mother shared an interesting devotional with me this week that she read in Open Windows of an event that was orchestrated last April by The Washington Post. "A man wearing old jeans, a T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap positioned himself against a wall beside a trash can just outside the METRO in the heart of Washington DC. He pulled out a violin and began to play." That part is not unusual. Many street performers can be found in major cities hoping someone will throw a few dollars their way.
What is interesting is that this violinist was not your typical street performer. It was Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical musicians in the world, whose recordings have sold in the millions. He was playing some of the most brilliant classical music ever written on a 300 year old, $3.5 million dollar Stradivarius. This is a man who has played for royalty. His concerts bring more than $100 per seat; and yet in the 40 minutes that he played more than 1000 people passed by not even giving him a glance, no crowds gathered, no one applauded. Said Bell, “it was a strange feeling that people were actually ignoring me.”
Perhaps we should cut the people who passed by some slack. After all they didn’t know who he was. They had seen this kind of thing before. Certainly he was just another street performer, an ordinary guy trying to make a living doing the best he can. Besides they were busy. They had things to do and places to go. Maybe he was good, but it was just hard to tell with iPods and cell phones plugged to their brains. Add to all this, it is just hard to believe that a master violinist would be found doing such a thing. Certainly the extraordinary would never stoop down to the ordinary. It sounds like a tall tale, another urban legend of which we have all become familiar. But the truth is it did happen; and certainly if the people had known they would have given the man and the moment the respect it deserved. Could it be that they just didn’t believe it was possible?
Just like the thousands who passed by a great violin virtuoso, so millions pass by Jesus. To the masses, in their busy pursuit of the good life, Jesus is just another man at a moment in time who happened to get some exposure in the Jerusalem Post ~ but there is nothing really more to it than that…or is there?
2000 years ago Jesus came to earth in the form of humble servant. He lived a perfect, sinless life and died on across a sinner’s death. Three days later he rose from the grave and even his closest friends did not believe. “It’s just another tale” they thought…or was it?
If Jesus did rise from the grave what does that have to do with you and me 2000 years later? If one does truly believe that such an event happened what difference does it make? Some may argue that it makes as much difference as believing a Master Violinist played in the subway. In other words, it makes NO DIFFERENCE.
Yet I can’t help but wonder is there a difference between ignoring an event orchestrated by a newspaper on a cold day in April, and one orchestrated by God before time began?
Read the story of Joshua Bell in the Post
My mother shared an interesting devotional with me this week that she read in Open Windows of an event that was orchestrated last April by The Washington Post. "A man wearing old jeans, a T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap positioned himself against a wall beside a trash can just outside the METRO in the heart of Washington DC. He pulled out a violin and began to play." That part is not unusual. Many street performers can be found in major cities hoping someone will throw a few dollars their way.
What is interesting is that this violinist was not your typical street performer. It was Joshua Bell, one of the finest classical musicians in the world, whose recordings have sold in the millions. He was playing some of the most brilliant classical music ever written on a 300 year old, $3.5 million dollar Stradivarius. This is a man who has played for royalty. His concerts bring more than $100 per seat; and yet in the 40 minutes that he played more than 1000 people passed by not even giving him a glance, no crowds gathered, no one applauded. Said Bell, “it was a strange feeling that people were actually ignoring me.”
Perhaps we should cut the people who passed by some slack. After all they didn’t know who he was. They had seen this kind of thing before. Certainly he was just another street performer, an ordinary guy trying to make a living doing the best he can. Besides they were busy. They had things to do and places to go. Maybe he was good, but it was just hard to tell with iPods and cell phones plugged to their brains. Add to all this, it is just hard to believe that a master violinist would be found doing such a thing. Certainly the extraordinary would never stoop down to the ordinary. It sounds like a tall tale, another urban legend of which we have all become familiar. But the truth is it did happen; and certainly if the people had known they would have given the man and the moment the respect it deserved. Could it be that they just didn’t believe it was possible?
Just like the thousands who passed by a great violin virtuoso, so millions pass by Jesus. To the masses, in their busy pursuit of the good life, Jesus is just another man at a moment in time who happened to get some exposure in the Jerusalem Post ~ but there is nothing really more to it than that…or is there?
2000 years ago Jesus came to earth in the form of humble servant. He lived a perfect, sinless life and died on across a sinner’s death. Three days later he rose from the grave and even his closest friends did not believe. “It’s just another tale” they thought…or was it?
If Jesus did rise from the grave what does that have to do with you and me 2000 years later? If one does truly believe that such an event happened what difference does it make? Some may argue that it makes as much difference as believing a Master Violinist played in the subway. In other words, it makes NO DIFFERENCE.
Yet I can’t help but wonder is there a difference between ignoring an event orchestrated by a newspaper on a cold day in April, and one orchestrated by God before time began?
Read the story of Joshua Bell in the Post
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Centrality of the Cross
In the Garden of Eden the first man and the first woman are found clinging to a beautiful tree they thought would bring life. They looked upon a beautiful creature they thought would make them like God. They wanted the fruit they thought would bring them much joy. It is not wrong to have such hopes. We must have hope or we will surely die. The great problem that Adam had and every other human has ever had is that we spend our lives looking to the wrong tree.
Certainly a beautiful tree with its beautiful fruit in a beautiful garden can offer us more than an ugly tree stained with blood in a barren place called skull hill. The first proposed to offer wisdom and knowledge and the answer to life and joy. The second appeared to offer nothing but sorrow and death. But it is just the opposite. The beautiful tree brought death and separation from God, the despised tree brought life and reconciliation.
And so it is that everything else to which we may cling in hope of finding that for which we long for will bring us only sorrow and misery if it is not grounded in the cross. The old tree may seem the most lifeless place on earth. Though others may mock you and laugh at your utter foolishness. Though death seems the only logical outcome. Will you cling to that tree, knowing that your Father will meet you there? The first Adam brought us death in a garden of life. The second Adam brought us life in a garden of death.
There are many ways in which we might consider the centrality of the cross for all the world, but I want to bring it down to this one point and it is a very personal matter ~ It is the centrality of the cross in forgiving those who have sinned against us.
When 5 Amish school children were killed and 5 others injured in October 2006 when a mad gunman entered the Amish schoolhouse where they were studying, the response of the Amish Community resounded loudly in the national media. WE FORGIVE! One of the Amish even said, “Perhaps it is better that this tragedy happened in our community, as opposed to the outside world, because our people are ready to meet God.”
What these gentle people have shown us in their sorrow is that there is a process for healing that is available to all. IT BEGINS WITH FORGIVENESS. Why do we drop out of church? Why do we hold grudges, why do find our lives spiraling down in bitterness and despair? Is it not because of an unforgiving heart.
But if the cross is truly the central reality of our lives we must forgive. AND YET it is not so much a demand ~ as it is the only logical response. THINK ABOUT IT FOR YOUR OWN LIFE. I KNOW IN MY LIFE. There is no one who has offended me more than I have personally offended Jesus. When you come to that reality you realize that unforgiveness in your own heart is the very rule by which you will be judged.
Some may say, "Oh but I have a right Brother Kenneth. You don’t know how others have hurt me. EVEN GOD HAS LET ME DOWN! IF God loved me he wouldn’t allow the things that have happened in my life." We may even feel justified in blaming God for our troubles. Remember man’s first impulse in the garden. Adam blamed the woman then God for giving her to him.
Jesus cried from the cross “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” You may argue, “oh but those who have hurt me knew exactly what they were doing. AND THEY DID IT JUST THE SAME. Therefore I am excused”. NO NO NO. For the flip side is this. IF we fail to forgive we do not know what we are doing. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
If we continue to hold on to unforgiveness in our hearts then we must be forewarned. We have not yet fully understood our greatest need and that is to be forgiven ourselves. We have committed treason against the king of glory. There is none righteous no not one. We all stand guilty before the Supreme Court of Heaven.
At the age of 28 I had finished seminary. I was praying for God to give me greater wisdom. But every time I prayed I felt that my prayers were not going past the ceiling. Every time I prayed a name came to my mind. "David". I knew who David was. I knew what God wanted. I wrestled with God for several weeks. "Oh you must mean the David of scripture." But God’s voice to my spirit spoke louder "DAVID". "Oh but God he doesn’t even know it was me." "DAVID", "But God that was 10 years ago. I am not the same person I was back then." "DAVID". "But God I have a reputation to maintain." "DAVID". "I wouldn’t even know where to find him." "DAVID". "But God that was another town and another time." "DAVID". I looked in the phone book and to my surprise David now lived only 2 short miles from my home. I knew what I had to do. I called David. He recognized my name immediately. I said, "David I need to come see you." He said, "well Ken you will need to come today. My bags are packed I am moving to Florida in the morning."
I got in my car and made the agonizing drive to his home. We chatted briefly and then I went straight to the point. "David do you remember when we were seniors in high school and your car was vandalized one night." He said, "yea I never found out who did that." I said, "David I know who did it. It was me. I am the one who did it. I have come to make things right." Then I pulled out my checkbook preparing to write him a check for the damages. He said, "hold on Ken. You don’t need to do that. I forgive you."
My hands began to tremble and tears began to flow. "But I was wrong. It was me I must make things right." He said, "Ken you just did." I couldn’t speak anymore. I quickly left got in my car and for 20 minutes I just sat there and cried.
The greatest gift I have ever received is forgiveness. Dallas Holmes sang a song 30 years ago. "I’m the one who spat upon the Savior. I’m the one who cursed his Holy name. I’m the one who said with all the rest crucify him. I’m the one. I’m the one to blame."
The only way you and I can properly show our great appreciation for what Christ has done for us is by living a life of forgiveness. And the greatest thing you can ever do for yourself is cling to that old tree and receive the forgiveness that God freely gives to all who call upon his name.
Certainly a beautiful tree with its beautiful fruit in a beautiful garden can offer us more than an ugly tree stained with blood in a barren place called skull hill. The first proposed to offer wisdom and knowledge and the answer to life and joy. The second appeared to offer nothing but sorrow and death. But it is just the opposite. The beautiful tree brought death and separation from God, the despised tree brought life and reconciliation.
And so it is that everything else to which we may cling in hope of finding that for which we long for will bring us only sorrow and misery if it is not grounded in the cross. The old tree may seem the most lifeless place on earth. Though others may mock you and laugh at your utter foolishness. Though death seems the only logical outcome. Will you cling to that tree, knowing that your Father will meet you there? The first Adam brought us death in a garden of life. The second Adam brought us life in a garden of death.
There are many ways in which we might consider the centrality of the cross for all the world, but I want to bring it down to this one point and it is a very personal matter ~ It is the centrality of the cross in forgiving those who have sinned against us.
When 5 Amish school children were killed and 5 others injured in October 2006 when a mad gunman entered the Amish schoolhouse where they were studying, the response of the Amish Community resounded loudly in the national media. WE FORGIVE! One of the Amish even said, “Perhaps it is better that this tragedy happened in our community, as opposed to the outside world, because our people are ready to meet God.”
What these gentle people have shown us in their sorrow is that there is a process for healing that is available to all. IT BEGINS WITH FORGIVENESS. Why do we drop out of church? Why do we hold grudges, why do find our lives spiraling down in bitterness and despair? Is it not because of an unforgiving heart.
But if the cross is truly the central reality of our lives we must forgive. AND YET it is not so much a demand ~ as it is the only logical response. THINK ABOUT IT FOR YOUR OWN LIFE. I KNOW IN MY LIFE. There is no one who has offended me more than I have personally offended Jesus. When you come to that reality you realize that unforgiveness in your own heart is the very rule by which you will be judged.
Some may say, "Oh but I have a right Brother Kenneth. You don’t know how others have hurt me. EVEN GOD HAS LET ME DOWN! IF God loved me he wouldn’t allow the things that have happened in my life." We may even feel justified in blaming God for our troubles. Remember man’s first impulse in the garden. Adam blamed the woman then God for giving her to him.
Jesus cried from the cross “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” You may argue, “oh but those who have hurt me knew exactly what they were doing. AND THEY DID IT JUST THE SAME. Therefore I am excused”. NO NO NO. For the flip side is this. IF we fail to forgive we do not know what we are doing. “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
If we continue to hold on to unforgiveness in our hearts then we must be forewarned. We have not yet fully understood our greatest need and that is to be forgiven ourselves. We have committed treason against the king of glory. There is none righteous no not one. We all stand guilty before the Supreme Court of Heaven.
At the age of 28 I had finished seminary. I was praying for God to give me greater wisdom. But every time I prayed I felt that my prayers were not going past the ceiling. Every time I prayed a name came to my mind. "David". I knew who David was. I knew what God wanted. I wrestled with God for several weeks. "Oh you must mean the David of scripture." But God’s voice to my spirit spoke louder "DAVID". "Oh but God he doesn’t even know it was me." "DAVID", "But God that was 10 years ago. I am not the same person I was back then." "DAVID". "But God I have a reputation to maintain." "DAVID". "I wouldn’t even know where to find him." "DAVID". "But God that was another town and another time." "DAVID". I looked in the phone book and to my surprise David now lived only 2 short miles from my home. I knew what I had to do. I called David. He recognized my name immediately. I said, "David I need to come see you." He said, "well Ken you will need to come today. My bags are packed I am moving to Florida in the morning."
I got in my car and made the agonizing drive to his home. We chatted briefly and then I went straight to the point. "David do you remember when we were seniors in high school and your car was vandalized one night." He said, "yea I never found out who did that." I said, "David I know who did it. It was me. I am the one who did it. I have come to make things right." Then I pulled out my checkbook preparing to write him a check for the damages. He said, "hold on Ken. You don’t need to do that. I forgive you."
My hands began to tremble and tears began to flow. "But I was wrong. It was me I must make things right." He said, "Ken you just did." I couldn’t speak anymore. I quickly left got in my car and for 20 minutes I just sat there and cried.
The greatest gift I have ever received is forgiveness. Dallas Holmes sang a song 30 years ago. "I’m the one who spat upon the Savior. I’m the one who cursed his Holy name. I’m the one who said with all the rest crucify him. I’m the one. I’m the one to blame."
The only way you and I can properly show our great appreciation for what Christ has done for us is by living a life of forgiveness. And the greatest thing you can ever do for yourself is cling to that old tree and receive the forgiveness that God freely gives to all who call upon his name.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Evidence
When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Acts 11:23
I was in a McDonald’s a few years ago and elderly black man was working the counter. He wasn’t able to move fast and he had gotten one order wrong. A woman returned to the counter chewing him out for his poor performance. He spoke softly and apologized for the mistake as fast as he could he filled the order and said to the lady, “GOD BLESS YOU Ma’am. Have a nice day.”
I am not sure what kind of impact his words had on the young woman, but I know that I was glad and encouraged. I saw in his response the evidence of the grace of God. He had remained true to the Lord with all his heart despite the actions of others.
I remember a preacher’s sermon I heard as a young teen, when he said, “if you were standing trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?” It reminds me that grace in our lives is one of the strongest evidences of Christian character, that God is at work in our hearts.
Grace is a powerful encouraging force that leaves a fingerprint on whatever it touches. Changed lives, restored marriages, reconciled friendships, breaking of harmful addictions are all incontrovertible evidences of the presence of grace. Grace is the DNA of God. It is unmistakable.
Are you carrying any evidence on you today that the grace of God is at work in your life?
I was in a McDonald’s a few years ago and elderly black man was working the counter. He wasn’t able to move fast and he had gotten one order wrong. A woman returned to the counter chewing him out for his poor performance. He spoke softly and apologized for the mistake as fast as he could he filled the order and said to the lady, “GOD BLESS YOU Ma’am. Have a nice day.”
I am not sure what kind of impact his words had on the young woman, but I know that I was glad and encouraged. I saw in his response the evidence of the grace of God. He had remained true to the Lord with all his heart despite the actions of others.
I remember a preacher’s sermon I heard as a young teen, when he said, “if you were standing trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?” It reminds me that grace in our lives is one of the strongest evidences of Christian character, that God is at work in our hearts.
Grace is a powerful encouraging force that leaves a fingerprint on whatever it touches. Changed lives, restored marriages, reconciled friendships, breaking of harmful addictions are all incontrovertible evidences of the presence of grace. Grace is the DNA of God. It is unmistakable.
Are you carrying any evidence on you today that the grace of God is at work in your life?
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tokens of Divine Presence
"Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. " Exodus 3:12 NKJ
We look for tokens, for signs, for proof of divine guidance that decisions we make are in keeping with the will of God. The token of His presence with us is the desire we have to serve Him. If your heart's desire is to serve the Lord; there is strong evidence that you are moving in unison with the heart of God.
Moses was tending sheep, going through the ordinary routine of the day, when He had an encounter with God. Thus, it often is the case that God engages us with His purposes and His plans at a moment when we weren't looking. Moses wasn't looking for a radical life-transforming encounter. Such encounters are always instigated by the hand of God. It was God who struck the bush and lit it a flame with His presence. It is the certainty that God is with us that causes us to move in directions we had not considered before, doing things that only God could cause to happen.
Certainty in our selves and our own abilities will ultimately lead us to despair. But even if we should choose that path, at the end of our despair is the certainty of God.
Serve God wherever He calls you and all doubts will flee in the overwhelming reality of His presence with you.
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