Zombie Apocalypse?

There is a new television series that we have been talking about at work. It's a show called 'The Walking Dead' on American Movie Classics. It's a show based on a comic book that came out a while back. It's actually pretty good. (If you are into horror movies, you'll like it.)

I discovered that just about any conversation can be used as a jumping off point for sharing Christ with someone.

It had to have been the Holy Spirit who brought this to mind in my conversation today. In Matthew 27:50-53, Jesus gives up His spirit. He dies on the cross. When he does, all kinds of wild stuff starts to happen. Matthew tells about dead people coming out of their graves. (Appropriate in a conversation about zombies, I guess.)

I shared this with my friend in the course of our conversation. Then Colossians chapter 1 was brought to mind. Wow! The Holy Spirit is so awesome! I told my friend that when Jesus died on the cross that day, things started to unravel because Jesus is God. He died. There was nothing holding the universe together for that moment. (Colossians 1:11-17)

God loves us so much that He would rather die and have His creation devolve into chaos than live without us. Of course, he took up His life again and restored order. He also restored the relationship that was destroyed in the garden so long ago. In doing so, He gave us (who have been restored to Him) a ministry. The ministry of reconciliation. (2Corinthians 5:17-19)

Ready to come full circle in the conversation? Those of us who believe are now alive in Christ Jesus. No longer are we the walking dead. :)

God is AWESOME!!

Fun and Excitement

I am now co-teaching a Sunday school class at church. I like it a lot.
I'm not a big fan of talking in front of people, but the people in this class are all very nice and most of them are friends that I know fairly well. That helps, but I'm still not a fan.

The part that I like most about it is the studying for class.

God specializes in blowing your mind. He can take a passage of the bible that you have read dozens of times, and show you a new layer every time. Give a new understanding and perspective on the passage and at the same time never contradict or change the meaning of what has been learned before. He just adds to it; takes it to deeper levels. It's very exciting.

One of my mentors and heroes in the faith, Mike Hasper, once discussed what it was like for him to study for a lesson. He talked about how the Holy Spirit would start teaching and about Truth spilling out of God's word.

Thank you, Father, that true understanding comes only from You and that You are the only Truth, and that Truth is absolute.

Indescribable

Lamb of God, Lion of Judah
(Luke 22:39-44, John 28:30, Revelation 5)

In the garden begging and bleeding
The Lamb of God awaits the beating
In the cold night air as demons were leaping
His friend wandered shivering and weeping (Luke 22:54-62)
On the cross broken and bent
The Word accomplished the reason for which He was sent (Isaiah 55:11)
In a vision filled with despair an elder tells John to look
The Lion of Judah steps forward and takes hold of the book


Our Sunday school class has been studying Ephesians 6:11-18. We've been looking at each part of the armor of God. It's very interesting. When we got to the part of the Sword (Ephesians 6:17), it moved me to ponder the meaning.
Every sermon I have ever heard on the armor of God, it was pointed out that the sword is the only offensive part. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
I have always assumed that 'the sword' represented the bible. The more I pondered, and the more I read, the more I am persuaded that it is not just the bible that is represented.
Read John 1:1 and John 1:14. The Word became flesh. Read Revelation 19:13. And all through Revelation, King Jesus is described as having a sharp sword coming out of His mouth.
All the other parts of the armor are protective or defensive parts. The Sword is for fighting. Of course, we have our part in the fight. We are to stand firm in our faith and our love for one another, pray and obey what we are taught in the bible. But it is Jesus...The Word of God...who fights for us. He is the one who has thrown down the accuser (Revelation 12:10-11).
It is of great comfort to me to know who it is who fights on our behalf. Who is He? He is the Great and Mighty King. Read the following passages and take comfort, be encouraged and join me in praising our Warrior King, the Lion of Judah!
Deuteronomy 32:35-43, Colossians 1:15-20, Jude 1:24, and Romans 8:26.

Inseparable

There is one thing I've noticed recently that's been on my mind. Some Christians today seem to have the idea that the New Testament and the Old Testament are separate.

I have even heard that there are some denominations who do not allow music to be played in their church services because it is not mentioned in the New Testament (not prohibited in the New Testament, just not mentioned). Seems a little odd to me.

Most of the teachings and sermons in the New Testament are derived from the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself, after His resurrection, opened up the understanding of two of His disciples using the Old Testament.
Read Luke 24:13-32.

Then there is Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. Check out Acts 8:26-39. In Acts 8:35, it starts with 'Beginning with the Scriptures...'

The account of the stoning of Stephen begins with Stephen preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, starting from Abraham. Read about it in Acts 6:9 - Acts 7:1-60

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached from the prophet Joel. (Acts 2:15-16)

Peter tells us in his first epistle that the prophets did everything that they did for our benefit now. 1Peter 1:10-12

The Old Testament and the New Testament are not separate. It is all interrelated...intertwined. The gospel of Jesus Christ is what binds them together. The entire Old Testament points to this one event, this one...visitation. The entire New Testament points out all that was fulfilled in Christ Jesus and teaches us how to live in Him. Together, they give us the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The salvation of our God!

Father,
thank you for the salvation we have in Your Son, Christ Jesus. Thank you that we can now have understanding. That we know that there aren't many paths to You, but One. Thank you, Most High God, that You gave Your only Son as a gift for us, that He holds out Hope to us. And that You have given us to Him.

Reconciliation

This is something that has weighed on my mind for a very long time. I just never could string the right words together that would communicate what I was feeling. It's one of those things that is clear in my mind, but gets garbled up before it can get through the vocal cords (or fingers).

I was studying for our Sunday school lesson today, and I read a passage that summed up what I had been feeling.

In John 17:20-26, Jesus is praying for us. His prayer...His deep desire is for us to be one just as He and His Father are one. If it is important to King Jesus, then it should be important to us.

In our country...in the world in general...but the United States of America in particular, there seems to be quite a bit of racial tension. A great deal of mistrust between the races. This should not be so. No one should look at any other person and judge them based on any physical characteristic. (2Corinthians 5:16-21; 1Samuel 16:6-7)

We are supposed to be as one body. A body is made up of a bunch of different parts, but all function together to achieve one goal. Sound familiar? This isn't for our benefit only. As believers in Christ Jesus, we are His ambassadors. The world needs to see something in us. We aren't meant to serve ourselves and our agendas, but Christ and His agenda. We seem to have lost sight of that.

In Ephesians 3:7-10, the Apostle Paul spells it out for us. In John 13:31-35, King Jesus commands us to love one another, and gives a reason why in verse 35. There is a bigger plan here. Something bigger than us is at work. We are invited to be a part of it, if we can get focused and back on task.

The devil has come up with some really good lies that many of us have fallen for, hook line and sinker. This idea that we are different or inferior or superior in any way to anyone else because of what color our skin is....it's one of the most vicious and evil lies ever conceived in the pits of hell. It has caused some real divisions in the body. Paul warns about this in Ephesians 6:11. It's one of those schemes.

We were given the ministry of reconciliation. We are to assist in the reconciliation of men to God through the work of Christ Jesus. We need to reconcile ourselves to one another first. Jesus Himself said that a house divided cannot stand. We need to put on our armor (Ephesians 6:10-20), get focused (Philippians 4:4-7) and stand as one vast and mighty army marching for the cause of Christ.

Lessons Learned

Often in life, things occur that are difficult to understand. Everything is going along so smoothly. Then, out of nowhere...bam! It seems so random.

We are moved to ask why. Most of the time, the answer eludes us. We are faced with a choice at that point. We can either trust that God knows what He is doing and not lean on our own understanding or we can blame God and become angry and bitter.

In John's gospel, we read about someone who, along with his family, sought such answers. Someone who was born blind. (John 9:1-3) Turns out, there was a reason for it. Not a reason anyone would have ever dreamed. Just like almost everything God does, it was something no one saw coming, something completely unexpected.

This family had a special needs child. A blind son. And all the challenges that came with it. The son grew into manhood, an outcast. A man who was not even considered a man by the society he lived in. One can only imagine his day to day life in that time and culture. Then one day, Jesus and His disciples were walking by and saw him. I wonder what went through his mind when he heard what Jesus had to say about the reason he had been born blind: "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3)


This is something that those of us who are believers in and followers of Christ Jesus should remember in times of trouble, or when we are blind sided by a tragic event. What is happening may not be about me. God may be using the circumstance to teach someone else, or to help someone else see hope in their own situation.

It is vitally important that we know what God is telling us in His word, and that we live out what we say we believe. That we rejoice in the Salvation of our God, and are sensitive to the leadership of His Holy Spirit. That we are always wearing our spiritual armor.(Ephesians 6:13-17)

We are given a promise. We will be ready for the curve ball. We will be able to withstand a direct hit and remain intact. (Philippians 4:4-7) Wear that armor, trust in the Lord, even when we can't make sense of what is happening. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Restoration and Renewal

The power of God to forgive, restore and renew is so wonderfully amazing.

Every believer in Jesus Christ has seen it first hand in their lives.

No matter how hard we try on our own, we are going to stumble. We will have moments of weakness that will lead to days...even years of regret. King David had one of those moments. Out of that one moment of weakness, lives were destroyed and hearts were broken. A kingdom was torn apart.

God, in His great wisdom and mercy restored peace to the one who God Himself described as a man after His own heart. Out of that same moment of weakness came some of the most beautiful and healing psalms.

When we realize our sin, and are truly broken over it, and repent of it with a pure heart, God reveals more of who He is to us. A deeper understanding of God comes with deeper humility. Read Psalm 51.

Simon Peter is another person who understood more than most the restoring power of God's mercy. (Matthew 26:75) Peter had done exactly what he said would never happen. He denied he knew Jesus.
Later, after Jesus had risen from the grave, an angel had a message for the women who were going to attend the body of Jesus after the Sabbath. (Mark 16:1-7) Peter was singled out. "...the disciples and Peter..."
Read in Acts 1-9 what became of Peter after he experienced the forgiveness and was restored and renewed by the Holy Spirit of God. Wow!

Let's look at one more person who made an enormous impact on the world. Someone who, in the church, started out as a villain. He would become one of our greatest heroes of the faith. Saul of Tarsus. Of course, we know him now as the Apostle Paul. He took the gospel of Jesus Christ to the western world.
In Acts 9:1-17, Luke, a physician, believer in Jesus Christ, and traveling companion of Paul, tells of the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus.

Most of us won't lead lives as exciting as King David, Peter or Paul, but we do have one experience in common. We have been made new by our AWESOME God through the power of the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Thank you, Father for this new life. Thank you for restoring me. You called me, and I turned and You made me whole. Thank you for your forgiveness! Thank you for restoring me to Yourself! Thank you, wise Father for giving me to Your Son, King Jesus. (John 17:6) Please help me to think the thoughts, say the words and live the life worthy of that calling.