Fully Reconciled

 

“If your brother [or sister] sins against you, go and show him [or her] his [or her] fault, just between the two of you. If he [or she] listens to you, you have won your brother [or sister] over. But if he [or she] will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he [or she] refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he [or she] refuses to listen even to the church, treat him [or her] as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

—Matthew 18:15-17

“This must be one of your most favorite topics. You write about it often.”

Of course, you are correct. It is a favorite topic of mine. Or, at least it has become a favorite topic of mine over the last decade or so. Nevertheless, I must seriously ask you, “Has anyone among your circle of believing friends ever taken an evil action against you?” By that I mean, has any single one of the people around you who profess to believe in the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ ever lied to you, or lied about you, or spoken hurtful words to you, or spoken harmful words about you, or taken some hurtful action against you? In other words, has another believer ever sinned against you?

If you answer “No!” to this question, I suggest you might well represent one of the most fortunate people on earth. Virtually all of us, at some point in our lives, have had another believer lie to us, or speak ill of us, or take action against us, or in some other way commit a sin against us.

The question: “What do we do when another believer sins against us?”

The Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post represents one of the most often-quoted and least-followed commands of Jesus in all of the Bible. As usual, Jesus’ teaching seems quite clear. He offers four specific and distinct steps when another believer sins against us:

1. Go to the one who has sinned. Show that one what he or she has done. Wait to see how he or she responds. If that one confesses the sin asking for forgiveness, repents of the sin, and expresses a willingness to provide restitution when this can be done, then the party sinned against should extend forgiveness and treat the matter as concluded.
   
   
2. If the one who sinned does not confess asking for forgiveness, nor repent, nor expresses a willingness to provide restitution when this can be done, go once again to the one who sinned and take one or two other believers with you and confront that one for a second time. If he or she confesses the sin asking for forgiveness, repents of the sin, and expresses a willingness to provide restitution when this can be done, then the party sinned against should extend forgiveness and treat the matter as concluded.
   
   
3. If the one who sinned still does not confess asking for forgiveness, nor repent, nor expresses a willingness to provide restitution when this can be done, then make a report to the whole body of believers. This will offer the one who sinned the opportunity to receive the wise counsel of the entire church. If that one confesses the sin asking for forgiveness, repents of the sin, and expresses a willingness to provide restitution when this can be done, then the party sinned against should extend forgiveness and treat the matter as concluded.
   
   
4. But, if the one who sinned refuses to repent and seek forgiveness, then Jesus instructs the church to excommunicate that one in the hopes that separation from the body of believers will bring that one to full and absolute confession, repentance, restitution, and restoration.

You can clearly see why very few individuals, and even fewer churches, have the courage and tenacity to actually employ this potent instruction from the King of Kings. In our current society with its sociological norms and its propensity for divisions of almost every kind, it takes a willingness to go way out on a limb to actually confront a person when that one has sinned against you. It takes even more courage to follow through with the second, third, and fourth steps of this process.

But, whenever a believer, or body of believers, puts to use this very wise teaching of Jesus—confession, repentance, restitution, leading to full reconciliation—an increase in harmony among believers and within the church, along with a heightened effectiveness on behalf of Christ and His Kingdom, will often come to pass. It’s clearly worth the effort.

So, if we have one or more Christian people who have sinned against us and have breached the brotherly and sisterly relationship we must have with each other in the Lord Jesus Christ, we absolutely must lovingly, carefully, prayerfully put Jesus’ teaching on this matter to good use. For nothing surpasses the joy that comes from true reconciliation.

Is this a big issue for me? Yes, it is. And, it should be for all of us, as well.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Marking Time or Bearing Fruit?

 

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.

—Colossians 1:6b

“No matter what we do, no matter what we say, we will never belong!”

The frustrated words of my dear friend, Jerry, cut through the song on the radio as we drove out of the parking lot at work on our way to lunch. The nature of our jobs at the insurance company where we worked often put us on the “other side” of various issues from many of the individuals with whom we worked.

As fire protection engineers, our job required us to evaluate the relative hazards at each insured property. Sometimes our assessments prevented eager underwriters from writing the insurance on a particular facility. And, for those facilities already on the books, our recommendations sometimes forced the underwriters to approach the existing insureds with some mandatory new requirements.

We had become “buzzkills” before that word even existed in the vocabulary. As a result of our profession, even within our own company, most colleagues treated us as outcasts. No one wants to become an outcast. Everyone wants to belong.

Have you ever thought about the fact that Christians—literally “Christ’s-ones”—belong to an enormous group of individuals that reaches back in history more than 2,000 years? If you identify with the Lord Jesus Christ and accept the truth that He died for you on Calvary’s cross, so the shedding of His blood would pay the penalty for your sins, and if you accept the truth that His resurrection from the dead has secured your place for all eternity in heaven, then you belong to a worldwide fellowship of likeminded believers.

The question for this fellowship—and for each individual gathering of believers in a local church—derives from the Apostle Paul’s statement in the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post. Of the church in Colosse, Paul declares:

“All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you...”

The question each one of us, and our churches, must ask: “Are we bearing fruit and growing?”

Some years ago, an individual, who at that time was a priest in the Anglican Church of North America, wrote these prescient words:

I firmly believe that the heart of pastoral ministry is Spiritual Formation—exhibiting, encouraging, and enabling Christlikeness in people’s lives. Moreover, and perhaps more pertinently, as a pastor at this stage of my own pilgrimage, I am committed to the idea of the church as both the agent of the Kingdom of God and as a compassionate community in which people feel loved and accepted and where they are enabled to heal and encouraged to grow.

Herein, the writer of those words displays a critically important emphasis on “Spiritual Formation”— or what some call “Christian Formation.” I submit that a key element of personal spiritual fruitfulness and growth rests in each individual’s efforts at “exhibiting, encouraging, and enabling Christlikeness” in himself or herself and in others.

So, how are we doing? Are we taking steps to exhibit, encourage, and enable our own Christlikeness? Or, are we simply marking time? And, what about our churches? Does the gathering of believers to which we belong—and to which we give our support—exhibit, encourage, and enable Christlikeness in its members? Do our churches reach out to a lost and dying world with the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ in an effective and life-transforming way? Or, are our churches marking time—standing still with little or no forward motion on behalf of Christ and His Kingdom?

If we consistently spend more time talking about our favorite sports team, our favorite television program, our favorite movie, our favorite restaurant, our favorite vacation spot, or any other worldly distraction than we spend talking about the amazing things God does in our lives, then perhaps we need to make an adjustment. Likewise, if our churches spend more time dealing with internal issues where our pastors, or governing boards, or members draw battle lines against other members they do not favor, perhaps our churches need to make an adjustment.

After all, we belong to a worldwide fellowship. We need to seek and find individual spiritual fruit. And, we need to seek and find local, national, and global spiritual fruit. Both as individuals and as a worldwide body of believers, we are either “growing” or “going.”

What shall we do? Shall we continue to mark time? I say, “Let’s grow! Let’s bear fruit!”

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Unconditional Love

 

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.

—Colossians 1:3-6

When you go to your mailbox to retrieve your daily mail, do you stand right there and look through the mail to see what you’ve received? I do. I can’t wait to see what “treasures” await me in the daily mail.

Sometimes, an interesting catalog of electronic gadgets has arrived. Sometimes, I receive a magazine that I particularly enjoy reading. Sometimes, I spot a bill to pay. While I can’t say that bills bring any joy, at least I know that by promptly paying the bill I will avoid any late charges.

Sometimes, among all the other mail, I will see a personally addressed letter. I always quickly look at the return address to see who’s written the letter to me. If the return address does not disclose the name of the sender, then I immediately open the envelope to discover who has taken the time to write to me and to read what that one has to communicate.

Getting mail can become the highlight of one’s day. At least in the world of those of us who have stepped back a bit from the daily grind, receiving mail becomes a lifeline to the world.

Imagine the thrill that the Christians at Colosse must have felt when they received a letter from the Apostle Paul. His reputation had certainly preceded him. His work on behalf of the Kingdom of God had become well known. People held a particular fascination with Paul because many of them had heard the terrifying stories of his earlier days—when he was known as “Saul of Tarsus”—and had gone about persecuting believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then, they had heard about a miraculous encounter Saul had on the road to Damascus that changed him completely. From that time forward, with a new name and a new attitude, Paul became an amazing servant of the very One he had previously hated.

So, here comes a letter from Paul. And, what does he write to the Christians at Colosse? Well, you can read those opening words in the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post. Please take note that Paul commends the Colossian Christians for:

“…your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints…”

Imagine such a commendation! I don’t know about you, but when I read those words I am prompted to examine my own heart to determine if Paul could write those words to me. Would Paul commend me for my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the love I have for all the saints—that is, my fellow believers?

That first part? Well, I certainly have walked with Jesus for a long, long time. And, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I have put all my faith in the power of Jesus’ resurrection. But, that second part? I guess, with more than a little embarrassment, I have to confess that I sometimes find it very hard to love all the saints.

I have trouble loving the saints who have taken direct action to harm me. I have trouble loving the saints who have spoken lies about me, or have treated me in an unkind way. I have trouble loving the saints who have taken a profoundly different view of Scripture, or theology, or salvation, or sin, or repentance, or virtually anything else that I consider so very important. I have a hard time loving the saints who judge me without even really getting to know me. And, on and on… I am embarrassed and ashamed of my inability to lay aside the hurt that I so often feel and turn my wounded heart toward love. I know this is not what God expects of me.

I am also very ashamed that I am way too critical of my fellow believers. In fact, increasingly as I get older, I find myself loving my brothers and sisters in Christ less and less. I am reminded of a silly little poem that a dear saint of God shared with me many years ago.

To live above
With saints we love,
That will be glory!

To live below
With saints we know,
Well, that’s another story!

So, as I read Paul’s opening remarks to the Christians at Colosse, I am convicted by the Holy Spirit of my own lack of love for all the saints. May the God of Mercy and Grace continually remind me that, even though I am myself completely unlovable, He has chosen to love me and send His Precious Son to die for me and to forgive my sins. How can I fail to respond to God’ great love for me? How can I not lay aside the hurts that I feel so deeply and open my heart in order to love all of my fellow believers?

What about you? If you do a personal check-up and seek to apply Paul’s words to yourself, what results does your self-assessment show?

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Bless the Giver and Receiver

 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

—John 3:16-21

During the last year, did you celebrate your birthday? I surely hope that you did. And, if you did, what gifts did you receive?

As much as you enjoyed receiving those amazing gifts, I know a secret about them. That’s right. I know a secret about each gift that you received. Do you want to know that secret?

Okay, I’ll tell you. Here’s the secret: the ones who gave those gifts to you enjoyed giving the gifts every bit as much as you enjoyed receiving them. That’s one of the truly neat things about gifts. They bless the receiver and they also bless the giver.

The very familiar Bible passage at the beginning of this blog post contains one of the most well known verses in all of Scripture. It says:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This verse talks about the greatest gift ever given. God loves us so much that He gave us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and Lord. Anyone who believes in Him—that literally means any person, any mom, any dad, any uncle, any aunt, any grandma, any grandpa, any boy, or any girl, anyone, anyone at all, who believes in Him—will have eternal life!

Wow! What a truly spectacular gift! God, in His mercy and grace, has given us this amazing gift. And, this great gift blesses us, but it also blesses God as the Giver of that Gift. It blesses Him because He loves us so much that He wants to make certain that we will have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus. He wants to make a provision to forgive our sins, so that we can spend eternity with Him.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Do You Know Who You Are?

 

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

—Romans 8:15-17

Does anyone ever ask you any questions? Of course they do. I am quite certain that people ask you questions all the time. And, I am also quite certain that you probably ask quite a few questions yourself. “What’s for lunch?” or “Who’s your favorite football team?”

Questions offer a very important way for us to seek out and receive information. We frequently use questions to obtain information that will help us live our lives.

Sometimes questions deal with subjects that appear quite easy to answer. For example, “Hey! What’s for dinner?”

Other questions require a great deal of thought. And, maybe such questions even require us to look quite hard to find the answer. For example, if I asked you, “Who are you?” You might say to me, “I am Tim.” Or, “I am Sharon.” In other words, you might answer my question by telling me your name.

Or, maybe, when I ask, “Who are you?” you might say to me, “I am a man.” Or, “I am a woman.” In other words, you might answer my question by telling me your gender.

The Bible often can give us some very interesting answers to questions that we may ask. For example, when I look in the Bible for an answer to the question, “Who are you?” the Bible gives me this answer: “You are a child of God. You belong to Him.”

Imagine that? When someone says to me: “Who are you?” I can answer, “I am a child of God. I belong to Him.” I know this statement rings true because I have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in my heart that I do, indeed, belong to God through the resurrection power of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In October of 1956, as a nine-year-old little boy, at the end of an evangelistic service I responded to the invitation given by Rev. Oral Bradford, a visiting evangelist and chalk artist. Rev. Bradford prayed with me and I surrendered my life to Jesus. I acknowledged the sacrifice that Christ made for me on Calvary’s cross. From that day forward, right up to this very day, when I am asked, “Who are you?” I can quickly respond, “I am a child of God. I belong to Him.”

Do you know what? You can give that very same answer. If you have acknowledged God’s gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ, and I ask you, “Who are you?” you can truly respond, “I am a child of God. I belong to Him.”

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The One in Charge

 

But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

—1 Kings 12:22-24

Do you like to go out to eat? Maybe you’re like me and most of your away-from-home eating experiences take place at McDonald’s or one of the other fast food restaurants. But perhaps, on some special occasion, you’ve gone to a real sit down restaurant where a waiter or waitress comes to your table and takes your order.

Once in a while, when we go out to eat in such a restaurant, things don’t seem to go very well. Maybe we wait for a long time for the waiter or waitress to come and take our order. Or, maybe after he or she takes our order, we wait a very long time for our food to arrive so we can begin eating. When that happens, we may wonder aloud about who’s in charge. It seems when things don’t go well at a restaurant it’s because no one seems to take control of things—no one seems to be “in charge.”

One of the lessons contained in today’s Bible text at the beginning of this blog post centers on the fact that when things happen around us, we don’t ever have to wonder whether or not God remains in charge of things. God’s always in charge. Whatever happens, and whenever things happen, we can be quite certain that God is at work to bring the outcome that He wants.

At the end of the chapter preceding today’s Scripture passage, King Solomon had died. Of his two sons, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the first son had remained faithful to his father. The second son had rebelled against his father and fled to Egypt.

Upon Solomon’s death, Jeroboam returns to the Promised Land. And, Rehoboam acts on some bad advice from his peers, rejecting the recommendations of his older advisors. As a result, the people rebel, and the Kingdom becomes divided. Ten tribes form the Northern Kingdom and invite Jeroboam to become their king. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin—along with most of the Levites who had no land holdings—form the Southern Kingdom where Rehoboam reigns.

In the verses at the beginning of this blog post, Rehoboam has assembled an army of 180,000 fighting men to attack the Northern Kingdom. But, God intervenes. He orders Rehoboam and his army to stand down. God reminds them that He remains in control and He has brought about the division of the kingdoms.

God always remains in control. In fact, one of the wonderful things about belonging to God—about being His child—is that we can always be sure that He’s in charge. I hope you will remember this fact. No matter what seems to happen in or around our lives, we can always remain certain that God’s the one in charge. He graciously and lovingly controls what goes on in our lives.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Unduly Influenced

 

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

—1 Kings 11:1-13

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, the Bible story talks about how King Solomon’s wives unduly and improperly influenced him, so that he was no longer “fully devoted” to God.

Have you ever observed someone who allowed another person to unduly and improperly influence him or her? It usually happens slowly over a relatively long period of time. The “influencer” exerts subtle pressure on the one he or she intends to influence. After a time, the one under the influence begins to say things or do things that he or she might not do under normal circumstances.

I observed this first hand during the last days of my career at an insurance company. A long-time Senior Vice President decided to take early retirement. A number of candidates existed within the company who could have easily stepped in to assume the duties and responsibilities of the departing Senior VP. But, this event occurred at a time when all the popular business management literature advanced the idea of corporate reorganization.

Unduly and improperly influenced by a new board chairman, who had come from outside the company and did not understand—and did not want to understand—the culture of the insurance company, a search began for a new Senior VP from outside the company. In no time at all, the search committee located an executive from a casualty insurer. This individual knew absolutely nothing whatsoever about Highly Protected Risk property insurance. He knew nothing about fire protection engineering or property loss prevention. He knew nothing about the culture that had heretofore made the insurance company successful for well over 100 years. But, this individual from outside the company represented exactly what the new board chairman wanted: a new face, free from the company culture, who would agree with everything the new board chairman did or said. The board hired the favored candidate immediately. And, we all had a new boss.

I will spare you—at least in this blog post—a recounting of the long term effect this decision to hire an outsider, who did not really understand who we were or what we did, had on the effectiveness and morale of the company. Suffice it to say, it became representative of a significant number of bad decisions that board chairman made. Within five years, following losses that occurred on September 11, 2001, the company had dissolved into a failed morass. Fortunately by then, I was long gone.

At least in concept, that’s not unlike what happened to Solomon in our Scripture passage for today. His wives exerted undue and improper influence on him. They turned him away from the one true God and directed him to worship their gods. As a result, Solomon lost the most important element of his life. No longer did Solomon obediently make himself fully devoted to God.

The key words are “fully devoted.” Now you may seldom hear words like those. But, even though the words “fully devoted” may seem somewhat unfamiliar to you, you already know what they mean. Let me explain.

Have you ever watched a baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, lacrosse, or hockey game? Well, true sports fans tend to become “fully devoted” to their favorite team. Whenever they talk about their team, you can hear the joy and excitement in their voices. From time to time, if no channel televises their team’s game, they may reluctantly watch another team play. But, they just don’t get anywhere nearly as excited about that game as they do when they watch their team play.

You can always tell when someone is “fully devoted” to something, or someone, by how excited he or she becomes when talking about that thing or that person. Of course, you have to guard yourself about becoming devoted to anyone who insists on exerting undue or improper influence on you. Solomon fell prey to his wives. The board at the insurance company fell prey to a new board chairman who insisted on having his way, no matter what. And, not so oddly enough, who would not tolerate any discussion or disagreement with his ideas.

As Solomon learned to his peril, God very much wants us to set aside any sense of being unduly or improperly influenced and, instead, to truly become and remain “fully devoted” to Him. In fact, He really wants us to become and remain “fully devoted” only to Him. As we all grow and learn more about God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we will also have the opportunity to begin to understand how important it is in life to become and remain “fully devoted” to Him.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

We Recognize His Voice

 

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”

—John 16:12-15

Have you ever answered the telephone at home and the person calling started talking to you like he or she knew you, but you could not tell who that person was because you did not recognize the person’s voice? This happens to all of us from time to time. We will get a telephone call and the person calling will start talking to us without telling us who he or she is. The whole time that person is talking to us, instead of listening to what he or she is saying, we are trying to figure out who it is.

Sometimes, after we have listened very carefully to the sound of the person’s voice for a while, something the person says to us, or the way he or she forms words, will let us know who it is that is speaking to us.

The Bible verses at the beginning of this blog post come from a Scripture passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit will come to them and speak to them of things that will guide them along the pathway of their lives. Jesus makes it very clear to His disciples that they will recognize it is the Holy Spirit speaking to them because the Holy Spirit will be speaking the same kinds of things that Jesus has been telling them. What the Holy Spirit says to them—not in an audible voice, but in the deep recesses of their hearts and minds—will be immediately recognizable. They will know that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to them because His words will have the familiar ring. Those words will be the very same words that convey the very same teachings that Jesus has spoken to them.

When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. How this happens is a great spiritual mystery. But, we know for certain that it does happen. The Holy Spirit is present within us to remind us of the things Jesus wants us to know and to do.

When we hear that “spiritual voice” inside us telling us what to do, we will always be able to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit by what the Spirit says to us. If what we hear is the same kind of things Jesus would say to us—the kinds of things Jesus said that we read about in the Bible—then we will know for certain it is the Holy Spirit speaking. And, that is a really important lesson we all must learn.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Most Powerful Help

 

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

—John 5:1-9

Have you ever tried to do something, but needed some help in doing it? Maybe you wanted a book from a shelf in your room that was higher than you could reach. You stretched and you stretched and you stretched. But, you still could not reach what you wanted to get down. Or, maybe you wanted to put on or take off your snakeskin boots in the wintertime. You tugged and you tugged, and then you tugged some more. But, you still could not get those boots on or off.

When faced with something we cannot do, we most likely yell, “Hey! Can you give me some help?” And, someone answers and comes to help us do whatever we wanted to do, but could not do for ourselves.

In the Bible story at the beginning of this blog post, a man wanted to be healed from some illness that prevented him from moving easily. Jewish tradition had taught hiim to believe that an angel would come and stir up the Pool of Bethesda. If he could somehow get into the pool at the moment the angel stirred up the water, he would be healed. But, he would only be healed if he was the very first person to enter the water.

As the man waits for healing, Jesus comes along. Surprisingly, Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. The man explained that he had no one to help him get into the water. Then Jesus said something that totally surprised the man. Jesus said, “Get up. Pick up your mat and walk.” The Bible tells us that the man was immediately healed.

That day this man learned a very valuable lesson. And, we can learn this lesson, too. The man learned that when he really needed help, all he had to do was ask Jesus.

As we get to know more and more about Jesus, we will also learn that whenever we really need help, all we have to do is ask Jesus. His help is the most powerful, the very best help we can find.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Team Members

 

When he [Judas Iscariot] was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

—John 13:31-35

Have you ever attended a sporting event like a baseball game, a basketball game, a football game, or a soccer match? Have you ever gone to the softball field to watch your own church softball team play? I understand that on the softball field you can learn a great deal about your fellow believers. You should seriously think about attending one of those games.

If you do attend a game, or even if you watch your favorite sports team on television, you can always tell the members of the team by the fact that they all wear the same uniforms. Every one of the players on the team dresses in the same clothes. You can easily identify the team members.

The next time you attend church, look around the sanctuary. Everyone in that room will have dressed in very unique clothes. And yet, almost everyone present has chosen to join the same team. That’s right. Most all of those present belong to the same team. And, the captain of that team is the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, how can we tell when we look at each other that we belong to the same team?

In the Bible lesson at the beginning of this blog post, Jesus tells His disciples:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So, Jesus, Himself, has told us that the way we will know we belong to the same team—the way we will know that we belong to Jesus—comes from the fact that we show love for one another. Showing that we love each other by kind words and kind deeds provides the mark of someone who belongs to Jesus Christ; someone whom we call a Christian, or “Christ’s-one.”

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Given by the Father

 

Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

—John 10:22-30

 

A few years ago, the church I attended at that time held a public community event on the Saturday before Palm Sunday called God’s Garden. The event provided a wide variety of activities and craft projects for families and children that emphasized the true meaning of Easter. The many opportunities to learn more about Jesus and His sacrifice on Calvary’s cruel cross, included one truly wonderful sight. Right there in the church parking lot a pen held some sheep. That’s right. We had sheep in the parking lot! The sheep reminded the families attending the event that Jesus is sometimes called the “Lamb of God.”

One of the really neat things about the sheep occurred whenever the shepherd—who brought them to the church’s parking lot in a trailer pulled by his truck—spoke to them. No matter how much noise teemed around them, whenever the shepherd spoke—even in the most quiet and gentle voice—the sheep stopped whatever they were doing. Immediately the sheep looked up, and turned toward the shepherd, so they could be sure to hear what he was saying. It was a truly amazing thing to watch.

In the Bible story at the beginning of today’s blog post, Jesus tells a crowd that has gathered, asking him to declare whether or not He is the Son of God, that they are not His sheep. He says that He has already answered their question and even done miracles to show them He is God’s Son, but they do not believe.

“You are not my sheep,” Jesus says. Then, He goes on to say, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

You know, dear friends, that statement of Jesus presents a wonderful truth. When we belong to Jesus, we hear what He is trying to tell us through His written Word, the Bible. And, we also hear what He is trying to tell us when He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit in the depths of our hearts and minds.

You see, it’s very simple. We who belong to Jesus—who love Him as our Savior and Lord—need to listen to His voice, follow Him, and do exactly what He asks us to do in His written Word.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Breakfast Meeting

 

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

—John 21:1-19

Do you like to eat breakfast? I really like to eat breakfast. In fact, I truly believe that breakfast is absolutely the best meal of the day. Nothing compares to some scrambled eggs, hot toast, crisp bacon, all topped off with some rich slices of French toast covered with powdered sugar and lots of rich, creamery butter. Yummy! Yum! Yum! Yum! Breakfast—what a wonderful meal!

The Bible story contained in the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post describes a very special breakfast. It tells about a time, a few weeks after the first Easter, when the disciples decided to try to get back to normal after the amazing events of Holy Week. They decided to go fishing.

Now many of the disciples did not fish for recreation. Their careers—prior to leaving everything to follow Jesus—involved serious, commercial fishing. So, they naturally gravitated to fishing when they didn’t know what else to do.

Once they began to fish, an event occurred that repeated a fishing adventure that some of them had experienced a bit more than three years earlier. As they fished, suddenly they began to catch so many fish that their boat began to sink. A few of disciples, I’m quite certain, remembered a fishing trip where Jesus had told them to put down their nets on the other side of the boat. That time they also caught so many fish the boat began to sink.

Just then, they were jolted out of remembering that other fishing trip when they spotted someone standing on the shore. As they got closer, they realized it was Jesus. He had risen from the dead on that first Easter morning. Since that day, He had appeared to them and spoken with them at least twice before. And, here He was again.

Do you know what Jesus said to the disciples? “Come have breakfast,” He said. Then Jesus served them bread and fish.

After breakfast, Jesus and Peter began to talk. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”

Now, you may wonder why three times. If you think back to the hours just after the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus, Peter had drawn close to where they had set up their interrogation of Jesus. Someone accused Peter of being one of Jesus’ followers and Peter denied it three times. This fulfilled a prophesy that Jesus had given to Peter that before the rooster crowed in the early morning light, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Several weeks later, here’s Jesus asking Peter three times if Peter loves Him.

You may also find it interesting to know that, while we only have one word “love” in the English language, Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, has four words that in the English language are all translated “love”: agape—God-breathed, unconditional love; phileo—brotherly or familial love, friendship; storge—affection; and eros—passionate (sexual) love with sensual desire and longing. In the Koine Greek language of the New Testament, each of these four words has a very significant difference in the kind of love it intends to describe, compared to our one word for “love” in the English language.

The first time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, Jesus uses a form of the word agape, or God-breathed love. In other words, “Peter, do you have in your heart the love for me that only God can give you by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit?” Peter responds using a form of the word phileo. In other words, “Lord, you know that I have brotherly love for you.”

The second time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, Jesus again uses a form of the word agape, or God-breathed love. And again, Peter responds using a form of the word phileo.

The third time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, Jesus uses a form of the word phileo, just as Peter has used. It’s as if Jesus decides to meet Peter at the place where Peter finds himself.

Although Peter could not honestly declare—at least at this point in his spiritual development—that he loved Jesus with the God-breathed love that Jesus sought, each time Peter did respond emphatically that he loved Jesus in the best way that he currently knew how. And, each time Jesus asked Peter to “feed my sheep.” Jesus was telling Peter that by serving others in Jesus’ flock of followers, this was how Peter could show Jesus he loved Him.

So, let’s remember this lesson: we can show God we love Him by doing our best to do what He wants us to do. We call this “obedience.” We show our love for Jesus by becoming more and more obedient to His will and to His written Word.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Time to Believe

 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

—John 20:19-31

One Sunday morning during the morning worship service, when I was about seven-years-old, the pastor of my home church in Bradford, Pennsylvania, called all the children down to the front of the church. We all scampered down the sloping aisles and gathered around him just in front of the altar rail.

“I want to tell you a secret this morning if you promise not to tell anyone that I told you. Does that sound okay to you? Secrets are kind of fun. We’ll just pretend that all these people sitting here in the congregation can’t hear me talking to you.

“Here’s the secret: this is the most believable time in your life. That’s right. This is the most believable time in your life. The ages that all you children have reached, right now, places you at a time in your life when you are the most likely to believe than you will ever be as you grow older. You see, the older you get, the less you will be willing to believe.”

I remember wondering exactly what point the pastor was making. But, do you know what? I’ve learned that he was right. That period of time when I was a child was the most believable time in my life. As I have grown older, I have learned over and over again that I just can’t trust what other people say. That’s part of the reason that I have become so passionate about seeking out first sources for my information.

Whenever someone, anyone, tells you something, you should ask yourself whether or not that information comes from a “first source.” Often you will discover that you are making quite a few decisions based on second-hand information. Sometimes, information comes to you third-hand, or even tenth-hand. You owe it to yourself, and everyone else, to rely only on information from first sources.

One of the first sources I have learned to trust implicitly rests in God’s written Word, the Bible. I especially find myself drawn to the first-hand accounts of real events recorded in Scripture. The passage at the beginning of this blog post contains one of those first-hand accounts. The Apostle John has written down for us the account of Jesus following His crucifixion.

This Bible passage describes one of Jesus’ disciples, a man named Thomas, who has become famous down through history as a man who was not willing to believe without seeing for himself. After Jesus rose from the grave on Easter morning, Jesus had appeared to the disciples, but for some reason, Thomas was not present. When the other disciples told Thomas that Jesus had appeared to them, Thomas said that he wasn’t going to believe it unless he saw the nail prints in Jesus’ hands and the place in Jesus’ side where the spear of the Roman soldier had pierced Him.

When Jesus appeared to the disciples again, Thomas was present and he got to see exactly those things that he needed to see in order to believe. However, Jesus responded by saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.”

So, if you happen to have children or grandchildren in your life, I want you to promise me that you will strongly encourage them to fully enjoy this “childhood” part of their lives. Tell them to enjoy the fact that, at least for right now, believing is quite easy for them.

And, for your own part, as well as for the sake of your children or grandchildren, never lose sight of the fact that believing what Jesus tells us is true is one of the most important lessons we can learn.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Priority Plan

 

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

—Luke 13:31-35

Do you realize that God has a priority plan for your life? You may think that you’re not a very important person. But, I assure you that to God you have an importance beyond your ability to measure. God loves you with His everlasting love. And, He has a plan for your life that can take priority over every other intervening thought, word, or deed. Still not convinced? Let me illustrate this truth for you.

Have you ever visited a farm? On the farm that you visited did they have chickens? Chickens lead fascinating lives. At some farms, the chickens spend all day in the barnyard walking back and forth, pecking at the ground to pick up kernels of feed. At other farms, the chickens live in wire cages where the farmer brings their food and water to them.

Mother chickens especially lead very fascinating lives. If a mother hen has young chicks, it seems as if she spends most of her time walking around in a circle trying to keep her chicks nearby. She wants to make certain those chicks stay close so she can protect them against any harm that might come to them.

Once in a while there will be one or two chicks that just seem to delight in keeping away from their mother hen. Try as she might to gather them to herself, those chicks keep running in the opposite direction.

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, Jesus talks about hens gathering their chickens. He says that He has longed to gather those He loves together like a hen gathers her chicks. But, He says, those He loves were not willing to be gathered under the protection of His loving arms.

Sometimes people today are like those chicks that keep running away. Jesus desires to draw all men and women and boys and girls to Himself. But sometimes, people just seem to keep running away from the protection Jesus wants to provide for them to keep them safe from all of the bad things in the world.

The lesson for us is that we can consciously and purposefully give our lives to Jesus. When we do that, He has promised to always be with us. He will keep us safe in the hollow of His Mighty Hand.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Absolute Truth

 

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

—John 20:1-8

“I was just so surprised!” Have you every heard someone say that: “I was just so surprised”? People usually say words like that when something happens that catches them totally unprepared.

The Bible story recorded in the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post explains that very early on a Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where the friends of Jesus had buried him late Friday afternoon. She went expecting to have a few quiet moments at the graveside of Jesus. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that the big stone that the Roman government had rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb had moved aside and the tomb was empty! Right away, she ran off to find Peter and John and tell them that someone had moved Jesus’ body.

Upon hearing her news, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves. They, too, were quite surprised, but in a different way than Mary. You see, Jesus had told them several times that He was going to die and then rise from the dead three days later. As much as Peter and John might have liked to believe what Jesus said, they just couldn’t quite accept the fact that what He said was what was going to happen. So, their surprise was as much about accepting the truth of Jesus’ previously spoken words, as it was surprise that the tomb was empty.

The lesson for all of us is we can believe that whatever Jesus says is absolutely the truth. The Bible gives us many words that Jesus said while He was here on earth. Every word Jesus said is absolutely true. That means that when we read something Jesus said, we can count on the fact that Jesus tells us the absolute truth.

The tomb is empty! It is empty because Jesus said it would be empty. It is empty because after dying for us on the cross and bearing the penalty for our sins, Jesus rose from the grave. He rose just exactly like He said He would.

“The Lord is risen! He is risen, indeed!” Those are not merely the words that we recite to each other on Easter Sunday morning. Those words represent the absolute truth that the God of all creation has sent His precious Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for our sins—a sacrifice that we could not possibly make for ourselves. As a result, the curse of Adam’s sin has been broken forever. And, all the more, God has chosen us before the foundation of the earth to belong to Himself. He has chosen us!

Not only has God chosen us, He has redeemed us with the blood of His one and only Son. And, if that is not enough, God has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within the very core of our being. The Spirit takes the four modalities of our human existence—heart, soul, mind, and strength—and supercharges them for service to God and service to our fellow human beings.

When we read something in God’s written Word, the Bible, we can count on the reality that those words are absolutely, irrefutably true. We can follow those words and do what God commands with absolute certainty. Isn’t that a wonderful way to live? Indeed, it is!

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Obeying Jesus

 

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

—Luke 5:1-11

Have you ever gone fishing? Maybe you are currently an ardent fisherman or fisherwoman. Or, maybe you remember going fishing when you were a child. Perhaps your dad or grandpa or one of your uncles, or maybe even your mom and her sisters, your aunts, took you fishing. Fishing can be a really interesting experience.

Sometimes you set your alarm clock so you can get up really early in the morning. Maybe it is still dark outside. You load the car with all the fishing poles and fishing tackle. Maybe you have that special bait box filled with a little bit of dirt and those wonderfully juicy earthworms that the fish like so well.

Then you drive off to the place where you will spend your day fishing. Maybe you get into a boat and row out into the middle of a lake. Or, maybe you just stand along the shore of a lake, or a stream, or a river. You take one of those juicy worms and very carefully put it on your hook. Then you cast your line out into the water and hope for that exciting tug on your line that lets you know a fish has taken the bait.

In Jesus’ time, the fishermen often used large nets. Very early in the morning, even before sunrise, they would row out in their boats onto the Sea of Galilee—also known as the Lake of Gennesaret—and cast their nets over the side. The fish would swim in and fill the nets. The fishermen would hoist the nets full of fish into their boats. Then, they would row for shore.

In the passage of Scripture at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Luke records an occasion when the fishermen had been fishing all night, but hadn’t caught any fish. Jesus had been standing on the shore speaking to a crowd of people. As the people pressed in around Him, Jesus asked if the fishermen would give him a ride out a ways from shore, so He could continue speaking to the people.

The fishermen complied.

Once He finished speaking, Jesus made an amazing request of them. He asked the fishermen to row out into deep water and lower their nets to catch fish. This request was all the more amazing because it came from a carpenter. Jesus, you may remember, had grown up learning how to be a carpenter from his earthly father, Joseph. So, here was a carpenter telling the fishermen how to catch fish.

On the face of it, Jesus’ request was absurd. Every fisherman on the Sea of Galilee knew that you did not catch fish in deep water. And, every fisherman on the Sea of Galilee knew that you did not catch fish in the middle of the day. To catch fish, you had to begin fishing while it was still dark, just before dawn, and you had to fish in relatively shallow water.

But, here is Jesus telling the fishermen to sail out to deep water in the middle of the day, let down their nets, and prepare to catch fish.

Do you know how those fishermen responded to Jesus’ suggestion? You might think that they laughed at Him, maybe even mocked Him. You might think that they would refuse to allow a carpenter to tell them, professional fishermen, how to catch fish. But very wisely, they did exactly what Jesus told them to do. And, do you know what happened? They caught the biggest catch of fish any of them had ever seen.

You see, when we do what Jesus tells us to do, amazing things will happen. That is a lesson worth learning.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Reacting to Words

 

All spoke well of him[Jesus] and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

—Luke 4:22-30

In the last blog post, I suggested that “The words we say have great power.” I gave the illustration of telling someone how happy he or she looked and how that would probably make the person feel very good about himself or herself. It really is true that the words we say have great power.

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of today’s blog post, the Apostle Luke describes how the people in Jesus’ hometown reacted when He spoke words of truth that they did not want to hear. When He began to speak, the people thought of Jesus as the carpenter’s son that they knew so well. To them, He was not an educated man. He had no right to give them direction. He had no authority over them. He did not likely even have anything of value to which they should listen. In fact, the more they listened to Jesus, the more angry they became.

Do you know what they did to Jesus? They chased Him out of the synagogue, down the street, and out to the edge of town. Can you imagine that? These people did not want to hear the truth that Jesus was telling them. So, instead of confronting the truth, they tried to get rid of the person telling them the truth.

Do you see what happened in this case? Jesus’ words had great power. He spoke the truth and the harsh reality of that truth caused the people hearing Jesus’ words to drive Him out of town.

It is important for us to understand that even today, or maybe I should say, “especially today,” these words that Jesus preached have great power.

In fact, truth always has great power. We must constantly be on our guard for anyone who wants to suppress the truth. Whenever we encounter someone—or a group of someones—who wants to suppress the truth, we must take notice and remain very wary. No one who has pure motives ever wants to suppress the truth. Particularly, we must not follow anyone who wants to hide the truth. Instead, we must follow Jesus. His words are truth, and they have great power.

As we grow closer to God through our daily walk with Him, and as we learn more and more about our magnificent Savior, we are going to come to understand that His words can have great power in our own lives.

Jesus’ words can be released to empower our service to the Kingdom of God through the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The truth of Jesus’ words can literally set us free from sin, death, and Satan.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Word Power

 

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

—Luke 4:14-21

The words we say to each other have great power. If I met you walking along a hallway at work and I say to you, “You look very happy today.” Those words will probably make you feel good about yourself. If I say to you, “I really appreciated the stand you took in the meeting this morning. You made several really important observations.” Those words will most likely give you a good feeling inside, as well. Words have great power.

Likewise, if I speak to you in a harsh tone. Or, if I say something to you that has a biting sting to it. Or, when I speak to you, if I accuse you of bad behavior. You will likely not feel very good about yourself. And, you will likely feel very bad about me. Words have great power.

The Scripture text at the beginning of this blog post tells the story of the time when Jesus preached in the synagogue of his home town and used very powerful words. Jesus chose to read a passage of Scripture to the congregation that outlined the ministry He would have. He told them that He had come to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, the recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to declare the year of the Lord’s favor.

These words that Jesus preached had great power that day in the synagogue. We must remember that to His fellow townspeople, Jesus was just the son of a carpenter. He wasn’t anyone special. Imagine their surprise to hear such words from someone those folks thought of as just another ordinary person from their town. Jesus’ words shocked and amazed them. The people were overwhelmed by the power of His words. And, the exciting thing is that Jesus’ words still have great power today.

As we grow closer to God, and as we learn more and more about Jesus, we will come to understand that His words can have great power in our own lives, too. The truth of Jesus words can literally set us free from the power of sin, death, and Satan.

That’s why it’s important to spend time each day reading our Bibles. The more we read Jesus’ words, the more the Holy Spirit will plant those words deep into our hearts and minds. The more that Jesus’ words live in our hearts and minds, the more that what He has to say will guide us along the pathway of our lives. The more we respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the more the words we say can help, heal, encourage, and strengthen those who hear what we say. Words have great power.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Purposeful Living

 

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

—John 2:1-11

Have you ever watched a person build something? Maybe you’ve watched someone in your neighborhood remodel part of a house. Or, maybe you’ve seen construction workers building a new house, or working on a new office building around the corner from where you live.

It’s fun to watch people build things. Every time we pass the location where construction is going on, we can see something new happening. It is kind of exciting and lots of fun to watch a new building being built.

It’s fun to watch people build things in factories, too. Maybe you’ve visited a factory and watched the workers build something. It’s fun to watch how they start out with very little and add more and more pieces until whatever they are building takes shape.

Out in Appleton, Wisconsin there is a company called Pierce Manufacturing Company. Do you know what they make at that factory? They make fire engines and fire trucks.

When you were a youngster, did you have a fascination with fire engines and fire trucks? Most kids love to visit their local fire house. By the way, do you know what the difference is between a “fire engine” and a “fire truck”? A fire engine carries hose and pumps water. A fire truck carries ladders and tools. Each type of fire apparatus serves a specific purpose.

When you watch a fire engine being built, it is quite a neat experience. You watch them start with a heavy metal frame and then build all the metal compartments. You can see them place the diesel engine on the frame and mount the pump. Every part of the fire engine goes in a specific place on the vehicle and serves a particular purpose.

When they are almost finished building the fire engine, what do you suppose is one of the last things they do? They paint it. And, what color do you suppose almost every fire engine gets painted? That’s right. They paint it red. Long ago someone decided that the color “red” represented the color of flames and helps warn people of danger. The people who choose to paint the fire engine red do so for a purpose.

The Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post from the Gospel of John tells the story of Jesus attending a wedding at Cana. This is a really interesting story where Jesus performs an amazing miracle: He turns ordinary water into wine. Jesus did this miracle for a purpose. He acted deliberately.

God wants us to do things on purpose. In fact, there are a number of purposeful things God wants us to do every day. He wants us to spend time reading the Bible because it’s the way He chooses to communicate with us. Likewise, He wants us to communicate with Him by talking to Him in prayer.

God also wants us, purposefully, to always tell the truth. He wants us to purposefully verify information we receive from first sources. When someone tells us something—even when that person is an authority figure—we need to verify that what we’re being told is the truth and contains the full and complete details of the particular situation.

God wants us to show His love to others. God wants us to treat other people with kindness. He wants us to extend His mercy and grace to everyone who crosses our pathway. He wants us to give generously of our time, talent, and treasure. And, God wants us to become keenly aware of the leading of His Holy Spirit in our daily lives.

Many years ago, I first heard the following poem by Helen Kromer during a performance of the musical drama For Heaven’s Sake at my beloved Alma Mater, Houghton College. It sums up well what it means to live life on purpose.

A drop in the bucket is only a drop,
A minor and moist detail;
For a drop can’t change the color or taste
Of a ten-quart watering pail.

But if the drop has the color of love
And the taste of tears divine,
One drop, dropped into the vessel of life,
Can turn the water to wine.

You see, as we learn more about God, He wants us to come to understand that He wants all of us to live every aspect of our daily lives with purpose.

 

_{Copyright © 2020 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}