Arrival in Heaven

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.                   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV

Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks put the circumstances of our lives, both good and bad into God’s hands and help us see them through His eyes. Last night our beloved daughter-in-law Melinda slipped from this world into the presence of Jesus. And while we are overwhelmed with grief and shock, these words are promises to which we cling. Melinda has finished her race. Her battle with cancer is finished. And while that pernicious disease claimed her physical life, it could not touch her soul. That remained fully and exclusively in the hands of Jesus with whom she now lives. Nancy and I didn’t know how to process the news that came in three words. “She is gone.” Yet as sadness rolls over my heart I sense the message echo back from Heaven, ” She has arrived!”

Planting Seeds

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Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Matthew 13:8 ESV

Technology has certainly changed everything about our worship services in the 21st century. While many of the changes have been great, the issues of our hearts haven’t changed since Jesus talked about farmers planting seeds, two thousand years ago. Some days we are so busy messaging our friends that the word just bounces off us just like the seed that fell on the path. Or on Sunday we go to church, sit for an hour, and then return home with no idea of what was said. Other times we think the message was great and head home planning to start praying at five a.m. but as we drive the office calls and asks if we could come in extra early on Monday and we say yes. Other times we go through the outward motions of the commitments we have made but remain in ungodly relationships and activities. We decide that it is too hard to break away from things that displease the Lord and pass up the opportunity for a closer walk with Jesus Christ. We excuse ourselves or blame our pastor. We complain that the messages were weak and that the worship team uninspiring. But if we prepare our hearts to receive His word then guard what is planted it will one day yield a harvest thirty, sixty or a hundred times greater!

Jesus Loved Martha

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Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. John 11:5 ESV

When Lazarus fell ill, Martha sent a note to Jesus, letting Him know the situation and asking for Him to come. Martha had seen Jesus heal hundreds, if not thousands of people, so she felt sure that He would come to heal Lazarus as well. But Jesus didn’t do what Martha expected. Instead, He stayed right where He was, and while He waited, Lazarus died. In fact, Jesus was so slow, the Bible tells us, that Lazarus had already been dead for four days by the time He got there! When Martha heard that Jesus had come, she didn’t waste a minute. She slipped on her sandals and raced to the edge of the village to give Him a piece of her mind: “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” John 11:21 ESV

Though Martha didn’t mince words, Jesus still patiently listened and then offered an answer that was far beyond anything she was expecting, “Your brother will rise again.”  Her conversation, like some of the ones that I have had with Jesus, tell us that she was looking for real answers to practical problems: “My wife has cancer, my grandchildren are lost, I wish our children would visit.” It feels as if God only likes some prayers, but not others. Yet, the Bible tells us that God hears all our prayers. He is undeterred by time, space, or the seeming impossibility of the situations we are in. He comes, He listens and then He gives a surprising answer: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” Jesus wasn’t offering a Hallmark ending in Heaven for Martha. No! Jesus was right at that moment, in the nitty-gritty of her circumstances, the answer she desperately needed. Then Martha’s sister Mary came on the scene. Mary’s prayers are not original. She came with the exact same words as her older sister, yet with a difference. Martha stood eye to eye with Jesus, Mary fell at His feet. Martha received an answer, though at the moment she probably didn’t realize it. But the answer Jesus gave to Mary went beyond words. When Mary tearfully fell at His feet, the Bible offers us its shortest verse, “Jesus wept.” In that moment, Jesus pulled back the curtain on the heart of God. This was the heart that grieved over man’s violence, and selfishness before sending the flood. This heart went in search of Adam and Eve while they were hiding behind fig leaves in the garden and He is searching for you and I today. “He is touched by the feelings of our infirmities.” He comes alongside, He weeps, and then He sends an answer far better than anything we could imagine. He is God with us, listening, He is God for us, correcting, He is God, the Good Shepherd going ahead of us and leading us all the way home!

In Times Like These

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When I began first grade at Hamilton Elementary School, Erie seemed the safest place in the world. New homes were popping up all around our neighborhood, the world seemed bright and war was something we played with using plastic soldiers. But just eight years earlier, Ruth, a pastor’s wife, in our city, was shocked as she read the list of casualties from her morning paper. The war, though far away, had come home in the bodies of servicemen killed at the front and words stirred in her heart, “In times like these, we need a Savior!” Though Ruth hadn’t been formally trained as a musician and writing a song was not her goal, gradually both lyrics and then a melody came to her.

In times like these, we need a Savior
In times like these, we need an anchor
Be very sure – Be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the solid rock
That rock is Jesus – Yes, He’s the one
That Rock is Jesus – The only one
Be very sure – Be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the solid rock!

Ruth Caye Jones – 1943

Though our times and our problems are very different from the ones that Ruth faced in 1943, the answer has not changed. Jesus is still the only rock and anchor that will keep us safe through our storms. The challenge still remains, “Be very sure – Be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the solid rock! I do hope you will enjoy listening to this simple recording from yesterday at Life Care Center. Considering all the violence and turmoil of our society today, it was eerily appropriate for the fire alarm to go off mid-session! We are facing a spiritual crisis as a nation on this 250th birthday, and how we need our Savior Jesus Christ to come and be the anchor and solid rock today!