How Do We Handle Change?

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

—2 Corinthians 5:17

Every new beginning presents a unique set of challenges. Whether that new beginning occurs on a purely personal level, or extends beyond the walls that surround an individual, every new beginning creates a moment of pause.

Songwriters have always found fertile soil on the occasion of new beginnings. Patriotic tunes evoke images of sweeping changes that can affect the lives of thousands of people. Lots of love songs talk about new romance. For example, this familiar song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, which became a hit for Mama Cass Elliot in early 1970, illustrates my point:

There’s a new world coming,
And it’s just around the bend.
There’s a new world coming
This one’s coming to an end.

There’s a new voice calling,
You can hear it if you try.
And it’s growing stronger
With each day that passes by.

There’s a brand new morning
Rising clear and sweet and free.
There’s a new day dawning
That belongs to you and me.

Yes, a new world’s coming,
The one we’ve had visions of,
Coming in peace, coming in joy, coming in love.

Not a few Christian songwriters have penned words that talk about the deeply significant changes that occur when the Holy Spirit whispers the words of Christ’s eternal love into the heart of one whom God calls to Himself. Even the Apostle Paul talks about new beginnings with an air of excitement and determination in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

Perhaps in your life, or in mine—just hours from the beginning of 2024—we stand at yet another time of new beginning. We seem to have experienced a lot of those kinds of times in the past few years. Haven’t we? It is appropriate, even healthy, to take a moment for reflection and ask ourselves, “How will we respond to this new beginning?

Over the course of my life, like many of you, I have observed lots of changes. A friend remarked recently that one of the few benefits of getting older comes from the fact that, if one lives long enough, he or she begins to observe certain patterns that seem to repeat themselves. I think that’s particularly true at a time of change.

It seems as if people respond in one of three ways to change:

• Some people relish change, look for it, long for it, anticipate it, and glory in it. For these folks, the more change the better.
  
  
• The second group of people abhor change. They do everything they can to avoid it. When change inevitably comes, they try to hide from it, resist it, flee from it, dread it, and agonize over it.
  
  
• The third group seems impervious to any change. Whether things change or whether they don’t, these folks move forward at a steady pace, following their own muse, keeping on their self-determined path, oblivious to what happens around them, focusing only on their own well-defined world.
  
  

I don’t know which category you fit into with regard to change. For the most part, I’m in the second camp. I generally dislike change. In fact, I go to great lengths to try to systematize my life to such an extent that I insulate myself from even the thought of change.

But, do you know what? Change still occurs. And, more often than not, change proves good: good for me, good for those around me, just plain good.

Does any of this resonate with how you feel about change and your response to change? If so, I think you may agree that both you and I need to take this time of “pause,” as we stare over the brink of another new beginning, and ask ourselves some questions.

• To what degree are we willing to allow God to bring about change in our lives?
  
  
• Do we understand that, in reality, He is the One who is always in control?
  
  
• Are we ready to acknowledge that He has charted a pathway for each of us that He lovingly waits to reveal to us step-by-step?
  
  
• Will we respond to His great love for us and consciously yield ourselves daily to His purpose for us, His plan for us, His perfect will for us?
  
  

I am certain we need to pray for each other. After all, with us or without us, change is inevitable. Also, history stands as a witness that, whenever we recognize that God is fully in control of all things, change is often healthy, beneficial, spectacular, exciting. life-giving, and good.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Learning How to Submit

 

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

—Ephesians 5:21

Today, I want to very respectuflly ask you to consider a word that we don’t hear very much about these days. It is the word “submit.” Now I realize that the word “submit” is not a word that most people want to consider as a reasonable part of their daily existence Nevertheless, in one way or another, most of us have had to submit numerous times throughout the course of our lives. Please let me illustrate my point with this memory:

When I was a little boy, I really did not like to eat peas. My mom told me that peas were good for me. But, when I looked at a pile of peas on my plate, all I could think of was how mushy and squishy they would be when I took a spoonful of them into my mouth and began to chew.

So, when my mom would give me some peas, I would take my spoon and push the peas over to the side of the plate. I would be very careful that all the peas stayed together in that little pile. Then, I would eat everything else on my plate, and hope that by saving the peas to the very last, maybe Mom wouldn’t make me eat them.

But do you know what? She would make me eat them every time.

Now sometimes, I would sit there and not eat those peas for a very long time. My mom would say, Dean, eat your peas.”

And I would say, “Yes, Mom.” But I wouldn’t eat them.

In a little while, my mom would say, “Dean, eat your peas.”

And, again, I would say, “Yes, Mom.” But, I still wouldn’t eat the peas.

Finally, my mom would say, “Dean, eat your peas. You cannot leave the table until you eat those peas.”

So, finally, reluctantly, even tearfully. I would eat the peas, very, very slowly. The moment I began to eat those peas, I began to “submit” to my mom. You see, I finally did what my mom wanted me to do. That’s what it means to “submit.” We submit, when we do what someone asks us to do.

God wants us to do what He tells us to do in His written Word, the Bible. He wants us to submit to Him because He loves us and because He always knows what is the very best for us. God also wants us to submit to each other, particularly in certain very special relationships, such as within the bond of marriage. Please note what the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:21-33:

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Submitting to God and submitting to each other is one of the ways we show our love and respect. Let’s determine to practice the redeeming work of submission. Doing so is definitely for our benefit.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Best Treat of All

 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—Romans 5:8

If I say to you, “Jesus loves you,” I know that won’t surprise you at all will it? As long as you have attended church, or watched church services on television, or streamed church services on the Internet, many different people have told you that “Jesus loves you.” You may have heard it from your Sunday School teachers. You may have heard it from your pastors. You may have even heard it from your mom and dad at home, or from your grandma and grandpa, or from your uncle or aunt, or from some close friend. “Jesus loves you” is a wonderful, wonderful truth.

There are some people in our community who don’t know that Jesus loves them. As sad as it is to realize that, we can take joy from knowing that God has given us the wonderful opportunity of being the ones to tell them that “Jesus loves them,” too.

Writing to the “Christ’s-ones” gathered at Rome, the Apostle Paul penned these words recorded in Romans 5:6-11:

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Sometimes, before we can tell people that Jesus loves them, we have to get their attention. We also have to be very sensitive to needs they might have and try to reach out to them and meet those needs.

Perhaps we should schedule a special event at our churches? I’m talking about the kind of event that invites all different types of people to come to our churches for an occasion where we offer them some food, some entertainment, and a chance to share with them, in a very non-threatening way, that “Jesus loves them.” This kind of an event is really an effective way of getting their attention and trying to meet some needs they might have, so we can have the opportunity of telling them that “Jesus loves them.”

By now I’m sure you’ve noticed the treats in the photo at the beginning of this blog post. In fact, if I could somehow magically watch you as your read this blog post, I imagine that some of you have hardly taken your eyes off that photo from the time you first landed on this post a few minutes ago. They really look good, don’t they? These treats have really captured your attention. I know they certainly have grabbed my attention.

In the same way these treats have captured our attention, a special event at our churches will very likely help capture the attention of people in our neighborhoods. And, as a very special bonus, inside the wrapper of each of the treats in this photo I’ve tucked a note. Can you tell me what you think the note says? That’s right “Jesus loves you.” And, you know, He really does love you and He loves me, too. And that, dear ones, is the best treat of all.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Really Good News

 

Good news about him (Jesus) spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.

—Matthew 4:24

In our current society in the United States, we are surrounded by news. We hear news on the radio, see it on television, read it on social media, and find ourselves immersed in news, even when we try to steer clear of hearing or seeing what’s happening around us. News comes to us like a flood after a drenching rain. We can hardly escape being swallowed up in the news.

It seems like most of the news we see or hear is what we can rightly define as “bad news.” Seldom do we hear or see any news that lifts us up, encourages us, or creates a sense of peace within us. It seems as if the news that buffets us is bad news.

Fortunately, there is good news available to us. We find one example in Matthew 4:23-25:

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ Good news about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Almost everyone knows Alan Alexander (A. A.) Milne’s character “Winnie-the-Pooh.” Do you know Pooh Bear? Well then, you know that Winnie-the-Pooh is a very special friend of a little boy named Christopher Robin. You probably also know that Winnie-the-Pooh lives in the forest and has a very special something that he likes to eat: honey. In fact, Winnie-the-Pooh will go to great lengths to get some honey.

As A. A. Milne writes in a story:

One day, Rabbit and Piglet went to visit Winnie-the-Pooh. They knocked on Winnie-the-Pooh’s door and waited for the bear to answer. When Pooh opened the door, Piglet said, “Hi, Pooh-bear. I have good news and I have bad news.”

“The good news is that Rabbit and I have found a very large mess of honey for you.”

“Wonderful,” Winnie-the-Pooh exclaimed.

“The bad news,” Piglet continued, “is that the honey is near the top of a very tall tree.”

“Oh,” Winnie-the-Pooh responded.

“The good news,” Piglet continued, “is that there are lots of branches near to the ground to make it easy for you to climb the tree.”

“That’s great!” Winnie-the-Pooh smiled in anticipation.

“The bad news,” Piglet went on, “is that the bark of that tree is really slippery, so you are likely to slip when you start climbing.”

“Oh,” Winnie-the-Pooh whispered, and sadly sat down on the ground.

“The good news,” Piglet said once more...

And, so it continued, back and forth. First the good news and then the bad news. First the good news, and then the bad news. Minute by minute. Hour by hour.

Sometimes, our lives can be a little bit like that exchange between Piglet and Winnie-the-Pooh. First we get some good news and then we get some bad news. It was that way for the Church back at the time, many hundreds of years ago, when the Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation in the Bible.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, first John would share some good news with the church, and then he would share some bad news. And, do you know why he would do that? He would do that so that the people in the church would learn about how God expected them to live their lives.

So the next time someone says to us that they have good news and bad news, just remember that it is probably a time when we are going to have to do some serious learning. And, that serious learning will prepare us, so that we can serve God to the best of our ability, as enabled by the in-dwelling Holy Spirit.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Acting on Purpose

 

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

—John 2:11

On this blessed Christmas Day, the Season of Advent comes to a glorious close for another year. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lord, and King. We also celebrate the reality of His Second Coming and wait in eager anticipation for His arrival. In the meantime, we can continue to seek to learn more about the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And, that’s the purpose of this blog post.

Have you ever watched anyone build something? Maybe you have watched someone remodel part of your house. Or, maybe you have seen workers building a new house on your street or working on a new office building around the corner from where you live. Or perhaps, you’ve taken notice of new construction in the center of the village, town, or city where you live. Tall cranes lift building materials, as high rise buildings extend far into the air.

It’s fun to watch people build things. Every time we pass the location where building 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.

For many years, I worked as a fire protection engineer for a large insurance company that insured large factories, as well as large shopping malls, hospitals, and other very large facilities. Many times, when I visited one of our insured facilities, I would observe new construction. And, in the manufacturing facilities, I would often watch as machines built whatever that particular factory created as one of its products. I confess that it was fascinating to see how different products were made.

Out in Appleton, Wisconsin, there is a manufacturing facility known as Pierce Manufacturing Company. Do you know what they make at that factory? They make fire engines and fire trucks. Do you know what the difference is between a fire engine and a fire truck? A fire engine carries hose and pumps water and 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 by constructing a heavy metal frame and then build all the metal compartments. You can see them place the diesel engine and transmission on the frame and mount the pump that will pump water onto a fire. 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, one of the last things they do is to paint it. And, while each fire department may have a particular color scheme, almost every fire engine gets painted red. Long ago someone decided that the color “red” represented the color of flames and so fire apparatus became painted red to help warn people of danger. The people who choose to paint the fire engine red do so for a purpose.

The Scripture passage for today is found in John 2:1-11, where Jesus performs a significant miracle at the very beginning of His formal earthly ministry. Jesus performs this miracle for a purpose. Please take note of this description:

¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ 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 ¹⁰ 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.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Here in the Gospel of John we find the story of Jesus attending a wedding at Cana. This is a really interesting account where Jesus performs an amazing miracle: He turns ordinary water into wine. Jesus did this miracle for a purpose. He acted deliberately. It’s important for us to understand that God wants us to do things on purpose. As we learn more about God, we will begin to understand that He wants all of us to live every aspect of our daily lives on purpose.

We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within all who believe in the life-transforming power of the living Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will prompt us to act with purpose. Doing so will bring glory to God and give those of us who act obediently great joy.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Bearing Much Fruit

 

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

—John 15:8

As the Season of Lent draws to a close, we continue to celebrate the birth of our Savior as a baby in Bethlehem. And, we celebrate the reality of His second coming. In doing so, we remember the reason why Jesus came to earth.

I want you to imagine with me for a moment that you are a farmer. Can you do that? Of course you can. And, on your farm you have a very large field. Your field stretches from way over there to way over here. All through this very large field you have planted fruit trees.

Now the intense hard work of planting those fruit trees was only the beginning. Starting in the very early days of spring, you had to put fertilizer around those trees. You had to make certain the trees had enough water. You had to carefully remove any weeds that might grow up around the trees and steal nourishment away from them. You had to work very hard over many months. All through the summer months and into the fall, you had to care for those trees in the hope that when the time of harvest came they would produce beautiful, juicy, delightfully tasting fruit.

Now imagine, if you were that farmer and you went out into the field at harvest time expecting to find fruit, that the first tree you came to had not one piece of fruit on it—not any fruit whatsoever. Why, you would look that tree up and down. You would move branches aside. But no matter where you looked, no fruit.

So you would move on to the next tree. You would look up and down, move branches, but—wait a minute—no fruit. Hey, what’s going on? At the third tree, no fruit. At the fourth tree, no fruit. Not one tree in all of your orchard had fruit. What a terrible disappointment. All that work, and nothing to show for your effort.

Please note Jesus’ words, found in John 15:1-9:

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

In this passage, Jesus tells us that we have to make certain our lives do not become like trees that do not bear fruit. We have to respond to the love of the Christ that occupies our hearts, through the in-dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, by living out that God-breathed love in our service to others.

Through acts of kindness, by always doing what we know is right, by sharing what we have with people in need, we show that Christ’s love lives in the depths of our hearts.

We have to always remember that because God loves us so much, He sent His Son Jesus to be our Savior. Our response to this great act of God’s mercy, grace, and love is to make certain we show His love to the people with whom we come in contact.

Every time we say a kind word to someone, we show them Christ’s love. Every time we give someone less fortunate than we are a part of what God has given us, we show them Christ’s love. Every time we tell someone that “Jesus loves them, too,” we show them His love.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Most Wonderful Gift

 

“Whoever believes in him (Jesus) 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.”

—John 3:18

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 giver and they bless the receiver.

We find an interesting example of this fact within the Scripture passage recorded in John 3:16-21:

¹⁶ “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. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ 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.”

During this Season of Lent, we must recognize the very familiar biblical account in this passage that contain one of the most well known versess in all of Scripture from the lips of Jesus:

“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. Anyone who believes in Him—that means, literally, 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 it brings Him great joy to love us so much. God 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.

During this Season of Advent, as we look forward to the return of our Great King Jesus, this reality should penetrate to the very core of our beings and give us great comfort and great joy. May it be so for you and for me.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

We Must Listen to the Shepherd

 

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

—John 20:23b

During this Season of Advent, I believe in order to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must study the broad context of His earthly ministry. Thus comes this series of blog posts that may seem more appropriate for another Season of the Church Year.

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 the culmination of Christ’s life here on earth. 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 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, 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.

A portion of Scripture captures a somewhat parallel event in the life of Jesus, found in John 20:22-30:

²² Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

In this Bible story, 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. You see, it’s very simple: we who belong to Jesus—who love Him as our Savior, Lord, and King—need to listen to His voice and follow Him.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Do We Truly Love Jesus?

 

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

—John 21:15

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 drenched in butter. Yummy! Yum! Yum! Yummy! Breakfast—what a wonderful meal!

Scripture records a very special breakfast, as found in John 21:1-19:

¹ Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “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.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

¹¹ 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. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵ 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.”

¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

This Bible story 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 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 the disciples, I’m quite sure, 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 their 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 the first Easter morning. Since that day, He had appeared to them and spoken with them several times. 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 English, Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament, has four words: agape—God-breathed love; phileo—brotherly love; storge—familial affection; and eros—sexual love. Each word has a very significant difference in the kind of love it intends to describe.

The first time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, He 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, “You know that I have brotherly love for you, Lord.”

The second time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, He 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, He 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 he finds him.

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 could. And, each time Jesus asked Peter to “feed my sheep.” Jesus was telling Peter that by serving others in Jesus’ name, Peter could show Jesus he loved Him.

So, let’s remember this lesson during the Season of Advent: 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 © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

That We Might Believe

 

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 20:30-31

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 exists in God’s written Word, the Bible. I especially find myself drawn to the first-hand accounts of real events recorded in the Bible. The passage of Scripture that follows contains one of those first-hand accounts. The Apostle John has written down for us the account of Jesus following His crucifixion. In the midst of the Season of Advent, we do well to remember the miraculous capstone of Jesus’ ministry. Please note this account from John 20:19-31:

¹⁹ 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!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴ Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ 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.”

²⁶ 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!” ²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ 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.

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 sword 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 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 © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Every Word of Jesus is Absolutely True!

 

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

—John 20:3-4

“I was just so surprised!”

Have you ever heard anyone say that phrase? People usually say words like that when something happens that catches them totally unprepared.

A passage of Scripture found in John 20:1-8 records this event:

¹ 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. ² 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!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.

In this Bible story, 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 soldiers 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 taken 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’ words, as it was surprise that the tomb was empty.

The lesson for all of us is that we can believe that whatever Jesus says is absolutely true. The Bible gives us many words that Jesus said while He was here on earth. Again, every word Jesus said is absolutely true. That means when we read something Jesus said, we can count on Jesus to tell us the 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 is risen! Just exactly like He said He would.

Is it strange to write about this story that may seem to many as belonging at Easter rather than in the middle of the Season of Advent. Perhaps. Nevertheless, we must always remember that the Season of Advent celebrates the coming birth of Jesus and also celebrates His return at the time of His Second Coming. Neither of these events would have significance if Jesus had not fulfilled the reason His Father sent Him to earth—namely to die in our place, paying the penalty for our sins.

We can count on the truth of Jesus’ words whenever we read them in the Bible. This includes the story of His birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. All of Jesus’ words matter, no matter what time of year it may be.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Wisest Decision

 

“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!”

—Luke 20:34

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.

The Scripture passage recorded in Luke 20:31-35 offers these words:

³¹ At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

³² 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. ³³ In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

³⁴ “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! ³⁵ 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.’”

In this passage of Scripture, 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 against all of the bad things in the world by forgiving their sins and granting them eternal life.

The lesson for us is that we can consciously and purposefully surrender 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. It’s the wisest decision we can make.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

God is Always In Charge!

 

“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 12:24

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 you go out to eat in such a restaurant, things don’t seem to go very well. Maybe you wait a long time for the waiter or waitress to come and take your order. Or, maybe after he or she takes your order, you wait a very long time for your food to arrive, so you can begin to eat. When that happens, maybe you’ve wondered aloud about who’s in charge. It seems when a dining experience doesn’t go well at a restaurant it’s because no one seems to take control of getting things done efficiently—no one seems to be “in charge.”

One of the lessons contained in the Bible text found in 1 Kings 12:22-24 gives us a good illustration:

²² But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘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.

This passage of Scripture 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 is always in charge. Whatever happens, and whenever things happen, we can be quite sure that God is at work to bring the outcome that He wants.

King Solomon had died. His two sons, Rehoboam and Jeroboam took over. 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. But, 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, form the Southern Kingdom where Rehoboam reigns. In the Scripture passage, 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 dearly loved child—is that we can always be sure that He’s always in charge. We should certainly 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 © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

 

The Israelites had wandered about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord.

—Joshua 5:6a

J. R. R. Tolkien—or more formally, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien—the masterful writer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College at the University of Oxford. He then became the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College-Oxford. A devout Roman Catholic, Tolkien’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ had a profound influence on all of his personal and academic endeavors. Along with Clive Staples Lewis, Tolkien was an esteemed member of the literary group known as The Inklings and had a profound influence on Lewis that led to Lewis’ conversion to Christianity.

Thousands of pages have been written about Tolkien and his trilogy. His work has been the subject of countless Ph.D. theses. Many have included a dissertation on one of Tolkien’s more famous quotations:

“Not all who wander are lost.”

In fact, a once-dear friend, who sadly has turned away from Conservative orthodox Christianity, has used this phrase in countless blog posts he has written to justify his abandonment of Evangelical Christianity and his adoption of a Left-wing Liberal—even Communistic— apostastic form of pseudo-Christian expression. But, I fear my once-dear friend has completely missed the point that Tolkien was making.

The entire quotation contains the context. And, it is important when we quote any source to make certain we retain enough of the surrounding text to include the context. The complete quotation, taken from The Fellowship of the Ring reads as follows:

All that is gold does not glitter;
Not all who wander are lost.
The old that is strong does not wither.
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”

The assertion many make regarding the shorter version of the quotation is that we cannot, and dare not, adequately judge another person’s status regarding his or her faith by merely observing outward appearances. This false premise falls flat when we view the entire quotation. Tolkien uses this poetic utterance to describe the ebb and flow of life around the group of loyal fellows, bonded together in their quest to find the ring and, ultimately, destroy the evil power that has become enshrined within the ring.

If we who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and place our faith in His resurrection power, find outselves wandering away from the truth we have been taught and the love of God that we have experienced, we actually place ourselves in peril. God always deals directly with purposeless wanderers. We see this clearly exhibited in the way God treated the errant Israelites, whom God had freed from the bonds of Egypt. Notice these words found in Joshua 5:6:

The Israelites had wandered about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Let those of us who follow Jesus keep in mind that the devil will always try to cast us out into the desert and make us wander aimlessly and without clear purpose. Satan will try to trick us into wandering from the security we have in Jesus. When tempted to wander, let’s resist that temptation. Instead, let’s cling to Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to draw us fully and irresistibly into God’s grace.

If God does indeed set us to wandering—calling us to a cause not yet fully apparent—He will always do so with a clear sense that He is leading and guiding us to the goal He wants us to reach. Thus, our wandering will have a purpose and a conviction. We will not wander merely for the sake of wandering. We will not be led to wander by our own restlessness. At least we won’t allow ourselves to leave the place where God is using us simply because we have become bored or discontent.

Our wandering in the economy of God will always have a purpose. And, it will be a purpose that God Himself defines. We will not wander without purpose, even when we don’t yet see the destination that God has in mind for us.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Fully Devoted to God

 

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.

—1 Kings 11:4

What does it mean to be fully devoted to someone or something? I believe that, among other characteristics, to be “fully devoted.” means that a person’s passion and interst rests absolutely with whomever or whatever has become the object of one’ attention.

In a biblical narrative regarding King Solomon, as recorded in 1 Kings 11:1-13, we read these words:

¹ King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² 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. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

⁴ 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. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ 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. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ 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. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.

¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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.”

In this Scripture passage, 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 or say under normal circumstances. Please allow me to describe what I mean:

I observed this first hand during the last days of my career at an insurance company, where I worked for thirty years. 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 and assumed the duties and responsibilities of the departing Senior VP. But, this event occurred at a time when all the business management literature advanced the idea of corporate reorganization—sort of an intentional mixing up of the norms of a business to achieve greater productivity.

Unduly and improperly influenced by a new board chairman, who 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 about Highly Protected Risk fire insurance. In fact, he knew nothing about fire protection. He knew nothing about the complex culture that had made the insurance company successful for over 100 years. But, he represented exactly what the new board chairman wanted: a new face from outside the company who would agree with everything the new board chairman did or said. Without consulting any of the long-term and very knowledgeable employees within the insurance company, the new board chairman immediately hired the favored candidate. And, we all had a new boss.

I will spare you—at least in this blog post—a recounting of the long term effect of this decision to hire an outsider who did not really understand who we were or what we did. Suffice it to say, it became representative of a significant number of bad decisions the new board chairman made. Within five years, the company dissolved into a failed morass. Fortunately by then, I was long gone. I took a handsome buyout and joined a large national consulting firm.

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 foreign gods. As a result, Solomon lost the most important element of his life. No longer did Solomon 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. Please let me explain further:

Have you ever watched a baseball game? Well, true baseball 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 baseball. But, they just don’t get anywhere near as excited about that game as they do when they watch their team play.

You can always tell 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, oddly enough, that board chairman would not tolerate any discussion or disagreement with his ideas.

As Solomon learned to his peril, God very much wants us to become and remain fully devoted to Him. In fact, God 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 © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Why Do We Attend Church?

 

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

—Hebrews 12:28-29

Have you ever wondered why we go to church on Sunday morning, or in some cases, on Saturday evening? If I were to ask each one of you why you are here today, most of you would probably answer, “Because it seemed like a good idea, for this week anyway.”

But, if we look out over this group of people here with us in the sanctuary or auditorium, we might wonder, “Why are all these other people here today?” I mean look at them. We have some little children, we have some young people, we have some older students in high school, we have some college students, we have some young adults, we have some people in middle age, and we have some so-called senior citizens. We have a whole room full of people who for some reason decided to come together in this place for worship today.

Thinking about why we come to church cuts right to the heart of what church and worship is all about. It gets right to the very most basic truth of all that the Bible has to say. It sets aside all of the frills and fancy stuff, and deals with the complete and unadorned truth.

And, do you know what that truth is? The whole reason why every one of us is gathered here in worship today, the whole reason why we even have a church, why we even have a time devoted to worship, is that “Jesus loves us, this we know, for the Bible tells us so!” That simple truth is what drives the whole of the Christian faith. Our response to this simple, yet very important, truth is why we gather for worship.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews expresses this important truth in a slightly different way, as recorded in Hebrews 12:28-29:

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”

God has given us His Kingdom. It is a glorious Kingdom that exceeds our fondest ability to imagine how truly magnificent it is. It is so far beyond anything we might conjure up in our minds that the only reasonable response we can make to the God who has given us this gift of forgiving our sins and granting us eternal life is to fall on our faces before Him and worship Him.

The fact is that in the Garden of Eden, Adam broke the relationship he had with God by disobeying God’s one and only commandment. As a result, the curse of that sin has fallen on all of us down through the ages, right to this present day. But, the wonderful part of the story is that God, in His mercy and grace, through the sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross of Calvary, has paid the penalty for our sin and restored us to fellowship with Him. This wonderful love of Jesus has brought us back into fellowship with God, both now and for all eternity.

So, when we gather in our churches to worship God, we do so as a people who have been given a magnificent gift: the gift of new life through Jesus Christ. And that, dear ones, is truly a reason to celebrate with the utmost worship for the God who loves us with His unfailing, undying love.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Help Available

 

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

—John 5:8

Have you ever tried to do something, but needed some help in doing it? Maybe you wanted a book or favorite object 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 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 you cannot do, I imagine you yell, “Hey, can you help me!” And, someone nearby answers and comes to help you do whatever you wanted to do, but could not do for yourself. But, what if no one comes to your aid?

The Apostle John shares a critically important story, as found in John 5:1-15:

¹ Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² 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. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters.

⁴ From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had. ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ 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?”

⁷ “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.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ¹⁰ and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

In this Bible story, a man wanted to be healed from some illness that prevented him from moving easily. He believed that an angel would come and stir up the Pool of Bethesda. If he could somehow get into the pool at the exact moment the angel stirred up the water, he would be healed. He would only be healed if he was the very first person to enter the water.

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 to the man 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 best help we can find.

 

_{Copyright © 2023 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}