23

Jump Start # 376

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 376

Psalms 119:93 “I will never forget Thy precepts, for by them Thou hast revived me.”

  We continue our look at passages from the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalms 119. It is impressive to see the attitude of love and respect for God’s word that is found throughout these verses. Keep in mind, the Bible that the Psalmist had in mind was the Law of Moses. By that, I mean the Law—and the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth. The rest of the Old Testament had not been written yet. For most of us, these books are not our strong suit. Numbers and Leviticus can be tedious to read. A lot of rules and regulations are found there. This was the Bible for this Psalmist. He loved it. It was from God. 

  He would say things such as:

  • For I trust in Thy word (42)
  • Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statues (33)
  • Thy word is a lamp unto my feet (105)
  • I love thy Law (163)
  • How sweet are Thy words to my taste (103)

  Our passage today shows us the importance of teaching the Bible accurately and completely. I will never forget Thy precepts—some lessons have a way of just staying with us. I have met people who have given up on God a long time ago. Things happened, choices were made and they quit worshipping, stop praying, and closed the Bible in their lives. But something happens. Deep inside of them, they remember going to Bible classes, or a VBS or grandma reading Scriptures aloud. It stuck with them. What they remember is a verse, or a phrase and something about that has been an anchor and a rock to them. “I always remember that it says…” and that Biblical truth has been one unchanging hope that they have held on to.

  Those that teach God’s word need to remember how important it is to be serious and accurate with God’s word. Just as the above illustration may bring people back to the Lord, I run into those who claim the Bible says things it never says. There are those assumed passages such as, “Godliness is next to cleanliness” or, “God moves in mysterious ways.” There’s a bunch of those kind of statements. People are certain they’re from the Bible, but they are not. They’ve heard others say that and they didn’t check to see if it was so.

  Memory is a unique thing that God gives us. As a person ages, the memory tends to get fuzzy. It’s amazing the images, the people, the experiences that are stuffed in our memory boxes. Often we don’t even realize they are there, but something happens are our minds are taken back to something years ago. This can be pleasant or it can be horrific.

  Remembering God’s word will help you. Knowing what God expects of you, knowing what you ought to do will keep you out of trouble and will help you make the right choices in life. That memory will keep you on course. It will enable you to teach others, because you know what God says.

  I will never forget Thy precepts…it starts with learning the precepts. Then live the precepts. Does a married man forget that he is married? Or, that he has a family? No. He is surrounded with reminders all the time. He goes home to a wife and kids. His desk has photos which reminds him. All his actions surround the family—he has to pay the doctor bill. One of the kids has a birthday coming up. One of the kids needs his bike fixed. Reminders all the time that he is married and has kids. He never forgets because his life is surrounded with family. What he does with his money reflects that he is a family man. What he does in his free time reflects that he is a family man. He never is startled by the reality that he is a family man. He knows.

  Should it be any different in our relationship with God? Dare we ever forget that we are God’s children? Our actions, choices, and decisions reflect that every day. God’s word is a part of our life, every day. Every day we talk to God in prayer. Sunday worship is something that is looked forward to and enjoyed. It is the highlight of the week for a Christian. The Christian’s routine includes talking to brethren often. It includes doing things that will help the brethren. It includes looking for ways to tell others about Jesus. Can such a person ever forget that he is a Christian? Impossible. His life surrounds God and reflects God, including how he uses his money and the choices he makes on his free time.

  I never forget that I am a family man…and I never forget that I am a Christian. Those reminders set the course of my life. They compel me to be responsible, thoughtful and godly.

  I will never forget…There are things I do forget, like the details of stories. Sometime whether something happen on a Monday or a Tuesday, I get those mixed up. But never forget who I am and what I am to do.

  I will never forget…NEVER!

Roger

22

Jump Start # 375

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 375

Psalms 119:11-12 “Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes.”

  Psalms 119 is a noteworthy chapter for several reasons. First, it’s the longest chapter in the Bible, containing 176 verses. Second, it gives us multiple expressions that describe the word of God. Words such as: statutes, ordinances, commandments, testimonies, law are just a few examples from this chapter.

  Our verse today identifies one of the great reasons we need to spend time with the Bible. It is more than an exercise in reading. Reading the Bible has an impact upon our hearts. This leads to a change in behavior. The Psalmist treasured the word in his heart so that he would not sin against God.  The more Bible that is in us the less sin that comes out of us!

  The Romans were told that the basis of faith is the word of God (Romans 10:17). We simply can’t get enough Bible into us. It is more than learning facts, it is becoming that person that God wants. It is being molded and shaped by God.

  Last week we started sending our Jump Starts out through a new medium. This new way gives me all kinds of details, data and reports, some I’m not sure I wanted to know. I can now see not just how many are getting the daily Jump Starts, but I can actually know what percentage of those emails are being opened. I even can know, if I want to, who specifically reads them. Now this new information has been humbling for me and a bit hard to swallow. I learned what percentage are opening them, which means what percentage are reading them. A writer wants to be read. The ego within me makes me believe that what I’m sending out each day is worth reading and interesting enough that everyone wants to read them.  Not so. This has made me think about God. He, too is an author. He happened to write the greatest book of all time.

  God knows how many of us each day are reading His word. I wonder if He thinks, “I hoped that there were more than that?” I wonder, as I did about my writing, if God thinks, “Is there some way that I can get more to read my word?” I wonder if God thinks, “Why aren’t more interested in what I have to say?”

  I have never looked at the Bible this way before, from the standpoint of how the author feels about the number reading it. The Bible outsells all other books and most of us have more than one copy. I don’t know how many I have. I have a few favorites. I have my “preaching Bible.” I also have my “study Bible.” All these Bibles and God knows if we are opening them or not. I wonder if God thinks, “There they are, spending another restless night, tossing and turning, worrying about things that really do not matter. I can help them. What they need is sitting on the nightstand. Pick up my book. Look in it. It can help you.” But He sees that we don’t. Another stressful night. Another day begins and we are too busy to open the Book.

  There is no way of knowing this, but wouldn’t it be fascinating to know how many Bibles were opened worldwide today? How many Bibles in your community were opened today? If you knew that number, how would that affect you? How does it affect God?

  The value of the Bible is not in owning it but in using it and knowing it and following it and letting it shape your heart. In our passage today, the Psalmist “treasured” God’s word. Years later, the Gospels tell us that Mary treasured all the things said about Jesus. Mothers tend to do that about their children. They save the little crayon drawings, the home made cards, the clay figures made in art class and all things that their children give them. These are treasures to a mother. The Psalmist treasured God’s word. God’s word was of value to him.

  I’ve gotten hooked watching Storage Wars and Auction hunters. It is amazing what those people find in storage sheds. They find things of great value—if someone will pay the price. That’s the key. Something may be worth a bunch of money only if someone will pay it. The value is determined by how rare something is, how old something is and mostly, what it means to the buyer. If the buyer doesn’t want to folk over a thousand dollars for an old silver cup then that old silver cup isn’t as valuable as it was thought to be.

  What price do you put on God’s word? Not the physical Bible, but the words of God. More valuable than an hour TV show? More valuable  than an extra few minutes sleep? Value is determined by how much people want it.

  No man is poor who has the word of God treasured in his heart!

Roger

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Jump Start # 374

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 374

Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

  Our passage for today is found in the introductory section of Revelation where a personal message is addressed to each of the seven churches. The context of our verse is about the church at Smyrna. The Lord knew what was going on there, as He does in all churches. They were suffering. Unlike most of the other churches, the address concerns what is coming. It is not so much a warning, so they could avoid it, but rather an encouragement to remain true. 

  What is alarming to us as we read passages like this, is the notice of coming trouble. This is found many times in the N.T. Peter warned about the fiery trial and the suffering that the Christians would endure. We operate with the premise that when alarms go off, take cover. When severe storms are in the area and the weather folks are telling us to take cover, tornado sirens sound, we head to basements. We don’t stay and endure, we run. That’s the way we think.

  Here, God was telling this church in advance, that trouble was coming. Some would be thrown into prison and they would suffer. Fleeing wasn’t an option. They were to remain, endure and be faithful, even to the point of death. This passage is often presented with the idea of someone being a Christian until he dies in his nineties of old age. That’s not the thought here. God knew some would be put to death. He told them this was coming. He allowed it to happen. Now that thought is even more puzzling to us. As parents, we try to shelter our children from trouble. You can imagine all the prayers these saints were offering to God for help, for relief, for safety, for deliverance. In God’s plan of things, He allowed His people to suffer.

  This has been a theme throughout the Bible. God’s people have suffered. They did in Egypt before God delivered them. The story of the three Jewish boys and the fiery furnace, or Daniel in the lion’s den or Joseph and his pitiful brothers, or the mother’s whose babies were killed by Herod in the days of Jesus, or the death of John the Baptist, or the death of the apostle James, or even in this chapter of Revelation, “Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, was killed among you” – this is a constant theme in the pages of the Bible.

  We pray that God will remove us from the problem. We want isolation. God wants us to endure the problem. He insulates us. There is a difference. Trials and suffering has a way of making us sure what we believe. They have a way of making us stronger. Metal is placed in fire and then the blacksmith can hammer it into the shape he wants. God places us in the fire of trials so we can be shaped the way He wants.

  This is a difficult lesson to understand. It seems prayers are not answered. It seems God has abandon His people. It seems that all is wrong. It’s not. Behind the storms come sunny days once again. Trials affect us. They leave scars on us. They make us look upward and draw a strength that only God can provide.

  The suffering Savior understands. Let’s not forget what Jesus endured. He could have stopped it but He didn’t. There was a purpose. There was an end in sight. The suffering saint draws lessons from the suffering Savior. Peter tells us that He left us an example to follow.

  Be faithful until the end. Finish what you started. Don’t quit because the journey becomes difficult. Tough times is when faith really matters.

Roger

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Jump Start # 373

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 373

Malachi 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robed Thee?’ In tithes and offerings.

  Malachi is not only the last of the Old Testament books, it is the last word of God until the coming of Jesus, nearly 400 years later. The nation of Judah had settled back into their home land. This took place after having been exiled in Babylon for seventy years. The temple was rebuilt. The walls around the city were completed. Things were settling down. But in all of this, the hearts of the people had not been fully restored. Malachi was yet another voice sent from God to encourage, remind and warn the people.

  Our verse reminds us that the people were content in not giving God all that they should. The first chapter reveals that they were offering sick, blind and diseased animals to God for sacrifice. They were not giving the best, but the worst. They were offering what no one else wanted. Multiple times throughout this book God admonishes the nation only to receive a denial back. God would say something and then the people would say something opposite. “Yet you say,” is found in 2:17; 3:7, 8, 13.

  Two great lessons come from this.

  First, it is easy to not see ourselves as God sees us. This same situation is found in Revelation. The church at Sardis had a reputation as being alive. God said they were dead. The Laodiceans said that they didn’t need anything. God revealed that they were poor, blind and naked. How is it that some can be so far off with how God sees them? Is it that we have lived so long among sin that it no longer bothers us? Could it be that we feel everyone messes up, so what I’ve done is no big deal? Sin is wrong. Sin breaks the heart of God. We need to see ourselves as God sees us. That view will humble us. It may shock us. Above all, it will amaze us that God still loves us and has anything to do with us.

  Secondly, God deserves our best. He always gives us His best. The best of Heaven was sent for us. The best of His blessings. The best attention. God is good to us. How have we treated Him? Have we let our minds wander too much during church services? Been distracted too easily by the babies? Watch too much TV…spent more time doing what I wanted than what He wanted. Those words sting, because I know they are true. I’m looking at myself. Too few prayers. Too much complaining. Too little dedication. Too little holiness. His heart is so pure and ours can be so polluted. He is so focused and we are all over the map. It’s amazing that God has anything to do with us, with me. I can understand the frustration that Malachi must have felt. It is easy to see it in others, harder to see in self.

  Robbing God. What a bold declaration. I’ve known couples that drifted apart from each other and the complaint was that they didn’t spend enough time with each other. That happens. I’ve known people to give up hobbies because they no longer had the time for them. My golf clubs and I are barely on talking terms this season. It showed the last time I played. We know this stuff. Relationships take time. Friendships drift apart if we don’t do things with each other. Same for marriages, relationships with kids, family members, and WITH GOD.

  God wants you. God wants you to spend time with Him. God wants you to want Him. He doesn’t want you going to church because of a guilt trip that someone gave you. He wants you there because you want to be there. He wants you praying because you want to talk with Him. He wants you to want Him.

  The problem in Malachi’s day wasn’t stinky sacrifices. It was hearts that really didn’t want God. That always makes a terrible worshipper. The words of Malachi are quit robbing God. It changes when I start realizing how great God is, especially to me personally. God wants your best. God wants to dwell in your heart.  You will find the relationship soaring when all this comes about. Passion, commitment, dedication, devotion are easy when you desire to give God your best.

  Now a fair question to ask, “did you give God you best this past Sunday?” Having thought about this, what would you have changed? Now, get about that!

 God is so good!

Roger

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Jump Start # 372

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 372

Matthew 5:47 “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”

  Jesus expected more from His disciples. They were to be citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven. Status quo was gone. They were walking with Jesus. They would do what no other Jews would do. As we saw yesterday in our Jump Start, they would pray for their enemies. With Jesus, they would travel to Samaria. They would seek to do good to all people. So radical was this, that the opponents started complaining. They accused Jesus of being a friend to the sinners. He was.

  Several times in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus makes comparisons. He tells the disciples to do things differently than the hypocrites do. Another contrast Jesus makes, not just in the sermon, but throughout the gospels, is to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were considered the lowest of life in the eyes of Jewish people. Having the choice of rescuing a dog or a Gentile, most Jews would save the dog first. The Gentiles were pagans. They worshipped just about anything, including the sun, moon, rivers, mountains and birds. The Jews had the Law of God. The Gentiles didn’t. The Jews thought the Gentiles were dumb, godless and faithless.

Notice how Jesus contrasts the disciples to the Gentiles:

  • And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for them many words. So do not be like them…(Mt 6:7,8a)

 

  • You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you…(Mt 20:25, 26a)

 

  • If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (Mt 18:17)

  Included in this list would be our passage today. In the context, Jesus is discussing the treatment of others. He tells the disciples to love their enemies. Don’t just love those who love you. The tax collectors do that. Then comes our verse. Don’t just greet those who greet you. The Gentiles do the same.

  The Gentiles. Those who pray to a rock. Those who have no law. Those who were not included in Israel. That’s what they do. You, who have God, the Law, the promises, do more. God expects more. Jesus adds this interesting expression, “what are you doing more than others?”

  Those of us that have been saved by the grace of God, what are we doing more than others? The others are kind, decent people. The others are good citizens of the land. Jesus wants more. Jesus expects more.

  The context would lead us to being kind, prayerful and helpful to others, not just our friends, our church family, our circle of relationships. The Gentiles do that. We do more. The context would lead us to being engaged and interacting with others outside our circle. This means doing what others won’t do. This means extending my circle of love, help and availability.

  This isn’t natural nor easy for most of us. The Gentiles seem to have it right. Love those who love you. The rest, ignore and hate. God wants better from us. This is hard. But this is what walking with Jesus means.

  It begins by remembering that God included you. We somehow think that we are so special. Not so. We think we are varsity material for God. Not so. God loved us when we were sinners. God forgave us based upon our faith in Jesus Christ. God included us. Now it’s our turn to do the same toward others.

  What do you do more than others? Great question. It compels us to look within and then get busy without. What are you doing…

Roger