The Hope of Perfect Health

Acts chapter 3 tells us of a forty-year-old man being healed who had been lame and unable to walk from birth. He was well-known in Jerusalem because he had asked for help at the temple gates for years. So, you can imagine the excitement that burst forth when people saw him leaping and dancing before their very eyes.

When the apostles Peter and John approached the temple gate, they stopped to respond to this man’s plea. Peter told the man that they had no silver or gold to give him, but what he did have he would. With that he told the man in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene to “WALK!” The immediately Peter reached down and grabbed the man, and as the man was being pulled to his feet, his ankles were strengthened such that he could do the very thing that amazed the masses.

Peter then challenged the gathered crowd to repent or change their minds about Jesus, speaking of the example of the man…. “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.” (Acts 3:16, NASB95) The “perfect health” spoken of was not found in his new-found physical condition, but in his being eternally made whole by faith in Jesus who had done both.

In this life everything fades. But when something happens to us or someone we love; many find themselves challenged to their very core and struggle in knowing where to turn.  But in Christ we have great hope. Our God can and does heal according to His perfect will, but more than that He has promised to all who believe through His Son eternal wellness or perfect health that goes far beyond our temporary. God is good. He is our help, and He will not fail. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters - 07/12/2019

Unchanging in the Face of Change

The prophet Isaiah wrote and is quoted in the New Testament these words, “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6–8, NASB95)

We live in a time where truth is viewed by many as relative and the Bible is held to be outdated or archaic. That position stands in stark contrast to what the Bible says about itself. While everything around us changes as we see demonstrated in the annual process of farming wheat or raising livestock. They all have their season and we in response move on from one to the next. We even see this in our own lives and our families. Much of Sherman County stands on generations of hard-working people who have gone before those who are now as their descendants continuing these cycles of work.

All that we see around us is temporal, and it is so easy to then think that even that the unseen must be changing as well. But God and His Word stand in stark contrast. While the wheat might mature and be harvested and our loved ones go before us, God and His Word stand enduring and unchanged. This unchanging-ness means that the truths of His Word are reliable and applicable, that His promises are the same today as when they were made, and the hope of which it speaks is not wishy-washy but certain. The question for each of us is, “How are we going to respond?” This includes the salvation it declares as only being found by faith in His Son—Jesus Christ and the hope that endures for those who believe.

This was originally posted in Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters on June 21, 2019

Happy Father’s Day

“For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thessalonians 2:9–12, NASB)

In this passage as Paul is writing to the Thessalonian believers he expresses as a spiritual father many of the traits that we treasure in our own fathers and to which end fathers can seek to be with their own children. No longer in their presence, Paul reminded them of the example of labor and struggle as he put in the time both night and day to do what was necessary for their benefit. In this case, Paul labored for his own provision, but in the case of the father and his family it pictures the diligence that is necessary to tend to the needs of the family as he sets an example of work and perseverance.

There is also the example of teaching. As Paul taught them about God and how to walk before Him, so does the father in the family have the privilege and responsibility to pass on what he has learned to train up his own children both in life and hopefully in their lifelong relationship with God.

Lastly, there is the example of exhortation as a father to a child who encourages them to walk in a manner worthy of who they are and the God who loves them. Fathers have the awesome privilege of setting a pattern for life and encouraging their children as they move forward in the path set before them. We also have a heavenly Father in God who desires we seek Him as He does this for us.

This was originally posted in Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters on June 14, 2109

“Quick to Hear”

“This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:19–21, NASB95)

Verse 19 is a favorite verse of mine in counseling because it works in two incredible ways. The first, and primary one, is in relation to our hearing from God before responding to others or even trials in our own lives. When we take the time to listen to Him and reflect on His truths hidden in our hearts (Psalm 119:1,11), we recognize in that moment how good, loving, powerful, faithful and wise He is. It is in looking to Him for His wisdom and trusting in His strong hand that we then can rest in Him in any situation, respond in His ways, and rest in His peace. It is this peace of His that we receive that calms our hearts and holds back our own anger. It is in relying on Him and what we know of Him that He works in us to lift our worries, bring the healing to our bodies and the refreshment to our bones that we read about in Proverbs 3:8 or the rescue which gives rest for our souls.

Of course, we also know that the wisdom of verse 19 works in our human relations as well. When we take the time to really hear not only what is being said but also pay attention to the heart, then we are better prepared to respond in a right and proper way which heads off the likelihood that the situation will lead to further exasperation and heightened anger on our part or others.

This was originally included in Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters on May 17, 2019

Thank You Moms!

This Sunday is that annual observance of Mother’s Day that keeps Hallmark, American Greetings and florists around the U.S. in business. Not intended to become commercialized, it was first established with its singular possessive spelling of “Mother’s” as a purposeful reminder of the individual nature between the mother and the child? As I thought about the impact of a mother, I thought of the apostle Paul as he set out on a missionary journey without his mentor Barnabas for the first time. Upon arriving in Lystra in Acts 16 he selected a disciple of his own to bring along with him. We read that he selected “Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.” The reason he chose Timothy was because of his reputation as one who was “well spoken of” in the community.

Later, in Paul’s last letter before his death, as he wrote to encourage Timothy, he said “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.” (2 Timothy 1:5) And the reason for this, aside from him growing in his faith was the firm foundation laid by his mother and grandmother as Paul reminded him, “and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

This weekend as we once again celebrate Mother’s Day I am reminded of the great gift and rich heritage we have because of the countless intensely personal loving, attentive, and sacrificial lives that have been given for us by moms, whether they are held tight in our memories or currently serve in the clinches of little hands.

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:” (Proverbs 31:28, ESV)

Happy Mother’s Day!!

This was first posted in Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters on May 10, 2019

The Fruit of the Harvest

Last week we looked at the unrealized potential of what a perfect wheat harvest might look like. Farming is impacted in every way by this world from the labor and threats involved to the variability and market acceptability of the end product. Similarly, man struggles like wheat. There is so much that enters our lives that have the potential for destruction. Just like the stuff that grows from the ground, God created man who He intended to rule over the earth without ailment or defect. But when man chose to disobey God, sinned entered the world and everything changed. What once was perfect and intended for life became fallen and enslaved to sin, destruction and death.

Easter is more important than Christmas, because God chose to intervene in His creation by sending His Son to go to the cross and then on the third day to rise again. The cross is where God’s wrath against man’s rebellion was satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son when He who knew no sin became sin for us. The Bible tells us that we are saved by trusting in God’s truthfulness as we accept His gift of forgiveness and life. Jesus’ death wasn’t the end. His resurrection proved His claims and His power to restore life, but this life did not extend to everything. What it did do was to give forgiveness and life to those who believe and give the power to live in a fallen world until He takes us into His presence where perfection is once again realized. The reality is that this world will perish. But not everyone will perish with it.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NASB)  -- the real fruit of the harvest

This was first posted in Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters on April 19, 2019

The Potential of the Harvest

At a recent Wednesday morning men’s study in Kent we read through another section of the book “Disciple” by Bill Clem. In it we read of the consequence of the curse of mans’ fall due to sin in Genesis 3:17-19, “Man was told that it will take pain and sweat equity to get earth to yield its harvest, and there will be thorns and thistles. There is no way for us to know how a pre-cursed garden looked or functioned, but it was surely a paradise. It is hard to imagine what fruits or vegetables would taste like in an un-cursed state.”

As a community reliant on farming for livelihood, you know the work that it takes to produce a harvest. Each year the hard work is done of preparing the ground, removing the rocks, seeding and spraying for those things that will hinder the wheat, feeding and caring for that wheat as it grows hoping for adequate water, proper temperatures, and freedom from things that threaten its outcome such as fires, infestations and equipment failures. Even with all of this, there is still no certainty that the crop once harvested will be well received in the market.

Just what is your real potential though? I’ve been told that if we were to get a June “Million Dollar Rain” that the wheat might even produce a couple of extra kernels per head implying that even what we see as good does not approach what might be perfect. Just what does perfection look like? This is a question we can’t answer because we live in a sin cursed world that the Creator of the world has also chosen to mercifully and graciously intervene in such that even in the trials, we might live with hope.

Next Friday we’ll wrap up this particular thought, so stay tuned. Be thankful for the rain, enjoy the green, pray for the sun, and look for the hope.

Originally posted in Sherman County eNews Spiritual Matters on April 12, 2019