When I Forgive – September 1, 2009

When I Forgive

Ezekiel 16:62-63

Jim Stephens

09-01-09

 

Scripture:

 

62 And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silence and shame when I forgive you of all that you have done, says the Sovereign Lord.  (Ezekiel 16:62-63 NLT)

 

I really don’t enjoy reading the almost pornographic description of Judah’s sin and idolatry in Ezekiel 16.  C’mon God, this is the Bible!  What if kids read this stuff!

 

This is the history of God’s chosen people seen through God’s eyes:  Helplessness, mercy, sin, grace, more sin, much patience and more mercy, more sin, much patience and more grace, the inevitable consequences of sin, Forgiveness!

 

God’s emotional involvement with his people really shows through here.  He moves from compassion and mercy through hurt, disappointment, and anger to patient, settled, steadfast, forgiving love.

 

I’m thinking of some friends whose twenty-something son is living a life of wasteful, rebellious, self-destructive sin.  They have spent sleepless nights, been called to the police station in the dark hours, driven many miles to rescue him, prayed every prayer they can think of, and stood by helplessly as he goes away again.

 

I’ve learned much about God’s Father-love by watching them be loving and stern, gentle and firm, frustrated and patient, angry and forgiving, discouraged and hopeful, restoring and releasing, and finally simply waiting and trusting.  What a happy day it will be when their son finally returns and can fully receive his place in their love!

 

22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

 

Prayer:

 

Father, I’m speechless when I think of your tender mercies, your steadfast love, and your great faithfulness.  I know you are sometimes angry and disappointed in my selfishness and short-sightedness, that you are both firm and gentle in your instruction and correction, and that you are steadfastly loving and enduringly patient with me.  When you once again rescue me from myself and forgive me from your heart, I’m speechless!  Thank you.  Speechless.  Amen.

You Will Feel Better – August 31, 2009

You Will Feel Better

Ezekiel 14:22-23

Jim Stephens

08-31-09

 

Scripture:

 

22 Yet there will be survivors, and they will come here to join you as exiles in Babylon. You will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and then you will feel better about what I have done to Jerusalem. 23 When you meet them and see their behavior, you will agree that these things are not being done to Israel without cause, says the Sovereign Lord.  (Ezekiel 14:22-23 NLT)

 

Ezekiel had been given the responsibility for delivering many hard and unpopular messages to the Israelis – to those still in Jerusalem under Zedekiah’s rule, and to those like himself already exiled to Babylon.

 

Now God accelerated the pace and he was instructed to tell the people that it was too late for repentance, the prophetic warnings of judgment given through many years by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the other godly prophets were about to be fulfilled.  Ezekiel had the unpleasant assignment of saying, “Time’s up!”

 

But God so loved Ezekiel that he felt the need to explain himself – almost to justify himself – to his prophet.  So he said, “You will see.  You will feel better.  You will agree.”  Amazing!

 

God really cares about those who serve him.  God cares about you and me.  He may have to give us tough assignments.  He may have to lead us through things we cannot understand or even agree are best for us and for others.  But we have this assurance:  If we trust him now, in time we will see, we will feel better, and we will agree that his way was best.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, I know that you are good and gracious and merciful.  I know that you don’t take pleasure in the pain of your people.  I know that you only lead us through the dark valley when it is a necessary part of the journey.  Until I see, I will trust.  Until I feel better, I will trust.  Until I understand and agree, I will trust.  Amen.

A Door Into Heaven – August 30, 2009

A Door Into Heaven

Revelation 4:1

Jim Stephens

08-30-09

 

Scripture:

 

Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”  (Revelation 4:1 NLT)

 

Today I read from Ezekiel 8-11 and Revelation 4, descriptions of visions God gave to Ezekiel and John, two men exiled far from their homes.  Ezekiel was a young man in Babylon and John an old man on the Greek island of Patmos, a thousand miles and five hundred years apart. 

 

In the visions described here, both men were carried in the spirit to the Temple of God, Ezekiel to the Temple in Jerusalem and John to the eternal Temple in Heaven.  Both men saw God’s glory, saw fantastical beasts and angelic beings.  They were given a glimpse into the supernatural spiritual realm that surrounds worship – visible only with eyes of the spirit.

 

Both men saw worship in the Temple of God.  John saw pure, selfless, God-honoring worship in the Temple where God dwells eternally.  Ezekiel saw false, idolatrous, self-gratifying worship in the Jerusalem Temple that had once belonged to God. 

 

God gave both Ezekiel and John a vision God’s glory.  They saw the consequences of false worship and true worship.  Each was commissioned to return to the everyday world with a message that contained:

• Judgment and Restoration
• Warning and Promise
• Correction and Encouragement
• Fear and Hope

 

May God give us messengers who see through spirit eyes and bring us messages that temper warning with promise, correction with encouragement, and fear with hope.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, Help me to see through spirit eyes and not merely through the scratched, blurry lenses of my soul.  Help me to see “visions of God” and faithfully tell others everything God has shown me.  May I see clearly and speak faithfully.  Amen.

I Know… August 29, 2009

I Know..

Revelation 3:8

Jim Stephens

08-29-09

 

Scripture:

 

“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can shut. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.” (Revelation 3:8 NLT)

 

Each of the messages from Jesus to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 begins with the phrase, “I know..”  Six of the letters begin with, “I know all the things you do,” and one begins with “I know the things you have suffered.”  Only two of the letters, the letter to Smyrna and the letter to Philadelphia, don’t contain a rebuke or criticism of behavior.

 

Jesus knows all the things I do.  He speaks to me out of a complete knowledge of my thoughts, my attitudes, and my actions.  Nothing is hidden from him, not even the slightest detail.  Jesus knows all my thoughts, questions, doubts, fears, joys, and hopes.  Jesus knows all my desires, my mistakes, my disappointments, and my successes.

 

Jesus knows all the things I do.  Knowing all these things about me, he loves me with an everlasting unconditional love.  Knowing all these things about me, he sets before me the privilege of living a life of value and purpose.  Jesus loves me, this I know!

 

Jesus knows all the things I do.  He knows all about me and he will encourage me, correct me, instruct me, and direct me in just the way I need for the season I am in and for the next steps of his purpose for my life.  I couldn’t ask for better than that!

 

Prayer:

 

Father, today my prayer is the prayer of Jeremiah,  “I know, Lord, that a person’s life is not his own. No one is able to plan his own course. So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.”  (Jeremiah 10:23-24 NLT)

Your Unfailing Love To Me – August 27, 2009

Your Unfailing Love to Me

Psalm 143:8-10

Jim Stephens

08-27-09

 

Scripture:

 

8 Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I have come to you in prayer. 9 Save me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.  (Psalm 143:8-10 NLT)

 

This is one of my “Verses for Daily Reading.”  This first jumped out at me in early 1992 when we were in the transition between Jamaica and the UK.  It was a challenging and trying time for Jean and me and there were some very dark days in that season when we felt discouraged, frustrated, and unsure if we were making any progress.

 

One Sunday morning in Atlanta as I was in my devotions, God really spoke encouragement to me from this Psalm and I shared this with the congregation at the church we were with later in the morning.

 

This Psalm reminded me that it’s my privilege to approach God in complete honesty and simple trust:

 

• I need to hear a word of encouragement, Lord.  Remind me how much you love me!
• I trust you and I need your guidance for today.  Show me where to walk.
• Father, may I run to you and climb up on your lap when I’m afraid?
• Please teach me how to think like you so I will live like Jesus.
• Hold my hand as I walk this slippery, narrow path.

 

It is important to remain a little child before the good God.  Never be disheartened by your failures.  Children often fall, but they are too little to do themselves much harm.  Therese of Lisieux

 

Prayer:

 

Thank you, Father for my “Verses for Daily Reading.”  They are a continuing source of strength and encouragement to me.  I live by them as I live by daily bread.  Thank you for this Psalm of David that expresses so well how I feel and what I need.  I love you Dad, and I trust you with my life.  Amen.

From John to Gaius – August 26, 2009

From John To Gaius

3 John 1

Jim Stephens

08-26-09

 

Scripture:

 

This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.  (3 John 1 NLT)

 

This morning I’m thinking about how personal God’s Word is.  In this short letter, four names are mentioned:  John, the author; Gaius, his hospitable friend; Diotrephes, an arrogant leader in the church; and Demetrius, a faithful and truthful messenger.

 

In the New Testament, six books are addressed to individuals:  Luke’s Acts of the Apostles is addressed to Theophilus – “Lover of God” (maybe to all lovers of God?); Paul’s four letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; and John’s letter to Gaius.

 

I don’t know if there’s a theological point to this, but there’s certainly a devotional point for me…

 

The Bible is God’s Word.  But it’s not just God’s Word in the broad sense, it’s God’s Word in the personal and specific sense.  The Bible is God’s Word to me.

 

I read the Bible every day following a plan that takes me through Old Testament once and through the New Testament twice each year.  I read Psalms and Proverbs each month – five Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs each day.  I read a list of scriptures that God has used significantly in my life through the years that I call my “Verses for Daily Reading.”

 

I’m not listing these readings to make a point of how much I read, but to say that I expect God to communicate personally with me with a very personal word from his Word.  I invest a significant amount of time in the reading.  I read thoughtfully and prayerfully and God communicates with me faithfully and specifically.  It’s sometimes encouraging, sometimes challenging, and sometimes confrontational.  But it’s God’s personal Word to me for the season and situation.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, Thank you for your Word – your Word the Bible and your Spirit-prompted personal word to me each day.  Help me to be faithful in applying and obeying your personal words to me.  Help me to live by the Word and the words that flow from your heart to my heart each day.  Amen.

Love One Another – August 25, 2009

Love One Another

2 John 5-6

Jim Stephens

08-25-09

 

Scripture:

 

5 And now I want to urge you, dear lady, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we had from the beginning. 6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning. (2 John 5-6 NLT)

 

Love one another.  Each of the past few days as I read through John’s first and now his second letter, I have thought and written on another aspect of this single point and have taken time to think about its application to me and to my relationship with God and my relationships with people.  The message to me has been clear and simple and focused.  God is talking to me about loving him and loving others.

 

This is not a new commandment.  The Message version says, “Nothing has changed.”  The essence and substance of God’s commandment to us – God’s will for us – is to receive his “For God so loved the world…” unconditional love and to love others like he loves us.  12 I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. 13 And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. (John 15:12-13 NLT)

 

I love God because he first loved me and I’m learning love other people.  I know I have a long way to go to love others with the kind of giving, sacrificing love that sent Jesus to die for my sins.

 

I purpose to show my love for others by being less critical and more accepting, by listening more and talking less, by speaking words of affirmation and encouragement, and by giving and serving in practical ways that make big or small differences in their lives.

 

Prayer: (Friends, will you take a moment to pray this prayer aloud with me?)

 

Father, I pray that you will work this truth into me in a way that will affect my joyful obedience to your word and your will for me.  May it affect my every relationship and my every attitude toward others.   I want to “get it” and I want to live it.

 

May grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God our Father and from Jesus Christ his Son, be with us who live in truth and love. (2 John 3 NLT)

Really, That Isn’t Difficult – August 24, 2009

Really, That Isn’t Difficult

1 John 5:3-4

Jim Stephens

08-24-09

 

Scripture:

 

3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory.  (1 John 5:3-4 NLT)

 

“Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult.”  John, what planet are you from!?  John, the entire Bible is a record of how difficult it is to keep God’s commandments!  John, how can you say keeping God’s commandments really isn’t that difficult?

 

I don’t know how this hits you, but this morning when I read these two verses it was so timely for me.  John addresses the very thing that every God-fearing person who ever lived has battled: overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil, and trying to live a life that pleases God.

 

John says, “Really, it isn’t that difficult.”  No, John, it’s only impossible!  It’s impossible without the simple truth of the next verse, “Every child of God wins this battle by trusting Jesus Christ to give the victory he has already won.”  He fought this same battle, he defeated the world, the flesh, and the devil, and he gives – as a gift of grace – this victory to those who trust him.

 

I battle the pressures of the world around me and the conflicts of spirit and flesh within me to please God – to keep his commandments.  I battle and I often lose.  Until I am reminded that he didn’t intend for me to win but rather to ask for and receive the victory he won – his gift of victory to me.

 

Then I repent from trying to do it in my own strength, and I repent from the wrong thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions of my losing battle, and ask his forgiveness and cleansing and I trust in his gift of grace, and I win.  I win this battle for today and I purpose to win it tomorrow the same way – by trusting in Christ’s victory for me.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, I don’t know how many times I’ll have to learn this lesson again, but thanks for the past few days in 1 John where you have re-taught me, re-minded me, and given me a breath of fresh air.  I purpose to keep applying the simple truth of honesty with you and trust in all you’ve done for me.  Thanks.

Lovinng God, Loving Others – August 23, 2009

Loving God, Loving Others

1 John 4:20-21

Jim Stephens

08-23-09

 

Scripture:

 

20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.  (1 John 4:20-21 NLT)

 

In 1 John 4:7-21, the word “love” is used 26 times.  God loves us, we love God, we love other people.  God shows his love by sending his Son to die for our sin.  We lose our fear because we know God loves us.  God enables us to love others by filling us with his Holy Spirit.  God commands us to love – from the heart – because he loves us and fills us with love so we can love.  We love God because of gratitude and we love others because of the love capacity God’s Spirit has given us. 

 

When I read this, I go through a heart and soul-searching time.  I think through my attitudes, my words, my actions, and my motivations.  I think about whether I’m acting out of love or out of obligation, responsibility, peer-pressure, guilt, or fear.  If it’s not about love, it’s not going to cut it.

 

So does that mean I have to like everyone?  Face it, there are personalities and friendships and all kinds of factors that determine who we like to be with and with whom we will build our closest relationships.  But if I find myself wishing someone ill, I’ve got a problem.

 

Does that mean I can’t ever get angry with someone?  People hurt people.  And hurt people hurt people even more.  In any interaction of relationships there will be hurt, misunderstanding, disappointment, frustration, and anger.  We get angry and we get over it.  We get hurt and we forgive – and we get over it.  But if I find myself controlled by anger, resentment, or bitterness, and wishing someone ill, I’ve got a problem.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, here I am a mature man and a mature Christ-follower and yet when I read these words from you to me through John, I feel like a little kid starting all over again.  Your Word has the ability to make me think seriously and deeply about the attitudes and motivations of my heart.  Help me to receive your love completely and give your love unconditionally.  Amen.

Real Love – August 22, 2009

Real Love

1 John 3:16

Jim Stephens

08-22-09

 

Scripture:

 

We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16 NLT)

 

John is relentless in writing to the Christ-followers of his generation about real love – what it is, what it isn’t, what it does, what it doesn’t do.

 

I think they must have had the same problem we have – the problem of wanting to keep everything theological and theoretical and making excuses when their behavior didn’t match their beliefs and their actions didn’t match their words.

 

John says if we love God we’ll do what he says and if we are God’s children we’ll love our brothers and sisters.

 

OK, I believe you, John.  So for the past three days as we’ve been reading your letter to the churches, I’ve been taking it personally – very personally.  I’m looking over my relationships with other people, starting with my wife and my children and grandchildren, looking at relationships with people all over the world (it’s amazing how God has brought them to mind these past few days), and with people in my church and my neighborhood.

 

If I’m truly what you say I am, a child of God, then I will love and not hate my brothers and sisters.  And now, in 1 John 3:16 you define real love – “Christ gave up his life for us.”

 

Real love is not merely getting along with people, or tolerating people in spite of their differences, or forgiving people when they hurt me.  Real love is to give up my life, to lay down my life, to make some degree of personal sacrifice for others.  Real love is unselfish and sacrificial.

 

I want to think and speak and act in such a way that real love grows in me and flows out from me.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, I accept with joy my “childhood.”  I am your child and you are my father and I want real love, the love defined by Jesus as love that lays down my life for others, to grow in me as I grow in Christ.  May I grow to love others like you love me.  Amen.