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One of the ways God describes his people is as a flock of sheep… not as a gaggle of geese or a herd of cattle for instance.
The human/animal bond between sheep and a shepherd is very advanced. The sheep are dependent upon humans… much more so than geese or cattle would be.
The sheep’s best method of defense is to “flock” together… to circle up and depend upon each other for defense. Of course the best defense for sheep is a caring shepherd.
Sheep have economic value to the shepherd. The shepherd doesn’t just have sheep because he likes sheep. Their wool can be gathered to make fabric, they provide milk which can be converted to cheese and butter and of course they provide meat.
The church is compared to a flock of sheep because of their dependency upon the great shepherd Jesus Christ and also because of their dependency on the human shepherds of a local congregation/church.
Christians like sheep depend upon each other for their defense against Satan and his agents and of course depend upon their shepherds for defense.
Christians like sheep have an economic value to their owner. God doesn’t just have Christians around because he likes Christians. Christians have a spiritual economic value to him. In Ephesians 2:8-10, God saves us by his grace, (the free gift of Jesus Christ) but we were created (in a relationship with Jesus Christ), to perform good works.
God provides shepherds to his flock so they can be spiritually nourished through his word. That spiritual nourishment builds faith and faithful Christians in turn live sacrificial lives through the performing of good works for the benefit of other Christians and the world.
In this New Year work hard to attend every service you possibly can because in that “flocking” together we build relationships and find opportunities to serve each other. Get involved with the congregation. We grow together by shared experiences. Cast fear and doubt away and remember what Jesus told his disciples… if you just had a little bit of faith you could move mountains.
Let’s move a few mountains in this upcoming New Year.
I have failed at growing Avocados for many, many years and that’s not an easy thing for me to admit because I fancy myself as a bit of a Horticulturist. I would buy an Avocado tree which costs about $50… plant it, water it and fertilize it. Invariably in relatively short order it would die and I would be very frustrated and vow never to waste another $50 on an Avocado tree. Eventually though, because I’m an optimist, I would try again but had the same results.
Finally I did some research and understood that Avocado trees grow up in a forest where they are shaded and protected and that tropical forests get consistent rainfalls. You see we live in South Texas and those young trees were getting scalded by the sun and I couldn’t water them as much as they liked.
So I bought another Avocado tree and I planted it under some larger trees put it on a drip irrigation system. Voila! That tree is into its third year now.
Growing Christians… first of all every human being in this world is a little bit different and some are a whole lot different. When they step out of the waters of baptism they all have the same basic needs like an Avocado tree has basic needs… soil, water and sunlight… but those needs have to be in the right proportions for that specific individual.
Every new Christian has to become grounded in God’s word so they can know what God expects of them. In addition, every new Christian needs to build a social relationship with other Christians so they can learn from good examples. And they need these things in the right ways and in the right proportions.
You might lose a new Christian if you over/under fertilize or over/under water him. You might lose a new Christian if you set him out in the hot South Texas sun and don’t have older more mature trees to protect him.
Christians like Avocado trees need to be monitored on a regular basis… look for wilted and dropped leaves. You might think your irrigation system is working only to find out that the batteries have failed.
You can’t just hand a new Christian a Bible and tell him to attend every church service he can and figuratively pat him on the bottom and turn him loose. Care, protection and monitoring must be given to every single individual Christian.
You can lose a $50 Avocado tree from time to time but woe be to the one who loses a new Christian due to laziness and neglect.
Here are a few notes that I’ve written in my Bible over the years
- The branch that bears the most fruit bends the lowest.
- The central feature of Satan’s power is pride.
- Is a religious practice consistent with who God is and with his character?
- How we understand the Bible depends on the lens we look through… It cannot be understood? Old Testament is of little value? Is the New Testament a pattern?
- The first Law of physical life is self-preservation. The first Law of spiritual life is self-sacrifice.
- Most denominations are the same morally and only differ doctrinally.
- When we withhold joy we reveal a darkness of heart.
- Anger distorts reality, creates extreme emotions and leads to harmful behavior.
- When we’re justified it’s like we have never sinned.
- Good deeds, without confession, is self-promotion.
- The oldest son had not been sick with sin, had not lost his reputation and had not lost his self-respect… his younger brother (the Prodigal Son) had.
- God’s grace was the free gift of Jesus Christ.
- God’s grace; over emphasized by some, under emphasized by others and misunderstood by many.
- Two ways people become believers… through logic and through emotion. The reality is we need both.
- Baptism is not the finish point… it’s the starting point.
- Because I can only do a little… I do nothing.
- Service is manifested in menial things.
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Luke 19:41-44 tells of Jesus entering Jerusalem where he would be crucified in less than a week. As he enters he starts crying… not for himself but for the citizens of Jerusalem. As he entered he saw children playing, mothers tending their children, old men sitting at the city gates, and people busily engaged with living their lives.
But Jesus saw something else, he saw about 40 years into the future and saw what the Roman soldiers would do to these very same people… besieging the city, starving the people, slaughtering the men, raping the women, bashing in the heads of the young children, and carrying the few survivors into captivity.
The prophetic vision of this horrible calamity caused Jesus to cry but also caused him to want him to help them. His help started with offering faith to them. Faith that he was the son of God. To those who believed in him he gave ample warning of when to get out of town and leave Jerusalem and save their lives.
He also sent his Apostles for 40 years after he died to work miracles and teach. The reality is that when the Roman soldiers surrounded Jerusalem to destroy it, the only people left in the city were those who totally rejected him.
God sent the Roman armies to punish Jerusalem and the Jewish system for crucifying his only Son. It was a well deserved punishment and yet Jesus, as he viewed the happy people of Jerusalem, cried for them.
I have to believe that as Jesus looks at us today he still cries for those who are going to end up in the fires of Hell. Ample warning has been given and the punishment will be well deserved but he still sheds tears for those condemned souls… as should we.
Let’s do the best we can to reach Heaven but let’s also, like Jesus, care so much about others that we do whatever we can do to persuade them.
During the reign of Joram King of Israel (2 Kings 5) the rival King of Aram had as Commander of his armies a valiant warrior named Naaman. Naaman didn’t know it but God had blessed him and through him made the King of Aram very successful. However, for all of Naaman’s (God given) success and riches and honor he was humbled with the disease of Leprosy. No matter what he achieved he was still Naaman the Leper.
Through the advice of a young Hebrew slave girl he traveled to Israel to be cured by the great Hebrew prophet Elisha.
Naaman with his entourage and fabulous wealth traveled to Jerusalem and came to the door of Elisha’s home to be cured.
Elisha did not even answer the door, instead he sent a messenger telling Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River and he would be cured. Naaman was furious at this treatment and said,
“I thought that he (Elisha) would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy”.
One of his servants talked him down from his great anger and Naaman calmed down, went to the Jordan River, dipped in it seven times and was cured. And said,
“Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.”
Naaman’s experience reminds me of how man’s sins are washed away in the waters of baptism. Naaman had no faith in the power of Elisha he just came out of curiosity and great hope. Elisha didn’t manage Naaman’s expectations. Naaman expected some big deal to happen for him. After all he was very important and had an incurable disease. But a servant reasoned with him and just enough faith grew in Naaman to cause him to follow God’s instructions. When he saw the results his faith grew.
The same thing happens for humanity today. We are inflicted with a horrible, incurable disease… our own sins. The great cure is the blood of Jesus Christ available to us in the waters of Baptism. It doesn’t require great faith to be a Christian, just enough to lead us to that first step. As with Naaman the great blessings that come with being a child of God causes our confidence and faith to grow
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What if Naaman had said, bring me a pitcher of water from the Jordan River and sprinkle it on me seven times? What if he had dipped six times instead of seven? What if he had chosen a different river?
The answer is he would still have leprosy because faith requires obedience to God’s instruction. So too Baptism for he remission of sins.
In Luke 22:1-34, we read of Satan’s activity with two of Jesus’ disciples
- Satan entered Judas. Note that Satan did not have to ask permission to enter Judas… he just did. Presumably because Judas’ heart was not right to begin with. Judas immediately began scheming with the Chief Priests on how to hand over Jesus.
- Satan asked permission to tempt Peter… he could not just enter Peter the way he had Judas. Why? Presumably because Peter’s heart was right and he belonged to Jesus.
- Jesus warned Peter about Satan but did not warn Judas. Why? Because Judas had sold himself to Satan. Jesus warned Peter to prepare him. Peter would become stronger because of this experience and would use it to strengthen his fellow Christians.
- Jesus prayed to God the Father that Peter’s faith would not fail. Make no mistake… it failed at the early going but it rebounded and became even stronger. Just because you fail once doesn’t mean the game is over.
- Jesus did not pray that Judas’ faith would become stronger because Judas had no faith. He rejected Jesus and sold him.
- Why did Jesus allow Satan to test Peter? I don’t know for sure but I suspect it may be due to the arguing the disciples were having about who was the greatest. I have a feeling that Peter thought he was the greatest, after all Jesus had given him the keys to open the door to the Kingdom and he had taken him up on the mountain for the Transfiguration, etc. I suspect that Peter needed to be tempted and fail to make him more humble so that he could have more compassion for spiritually weaker Christians and be dedicated to never failing again.
- Jesus called out Peter before the other 10 disciples but he didn’t name Judas as the one who betrayed him. Why? Perhaps because Jesus didn’t want the other disciples to try to stop Judas. He named Peter because Peter was the boldest and if it could happen to Peter it could happen to any of them. All Satan had to do was ask.
- Why did Satan specify Peter? Perhaps because he thought if he could spiritually cripple Peter (who was arguably their leader) the others would scatter.
What lessons can we get out of this? Satan’s powers over us are limited. He has to ask permission to test Christ’s faithful people. If Jesus allows the test he also offers his strong encouragement to us and prays that our faith not fail.
Don’t entertain sin in your hearts. It may take root and grow like a cancer until you don’t have a heart left and you do things you never thought you would and Jesus quits praying for you.
In Mt. 18:15, Jesus began a discourse on forgiveness. He illustrated a procedure for what to do when your “brother” sins against you. In short you address it privately with him and then if needed take 2 or 3 others with you and then if needed inform the whole congregation. If the individual won’t repent or ask for forgiveness then you are to sever all social relations with him.
Peter then asks the question, “how often shall I forgive my brother (who asks for forgiveness)… seven times? Jesus responds… seventy times seven times, which means that every time forgiveness is asked for… you give it.
Jesus then tells a story to illustrate the concept. A great King called a servant in who owed him 10,000 Talents. The servant couldn’t pay so the King ordered for him, his wife and his children and all that he owned be sold to pay the debt. The servant begged that the King have patience and he would pay it all. The King was moved by this and forgave the whole debt… the whole amount.
Nice story but it doesn’t end there. This recently forgiven fellow looked up a fellow-servant who owed a lot less… 100 Shillings and took him by the throat and demanded payment. This servant also begged for patience and he would repay it but no patience was granted and he was thrown into debtor’s prison.
When the King heard of this he took the first servant who was forgiven a great amount and delivered him to the Tormentors. Jesus summarizes the whole thing when he tells Peter… so shall my father do to you if you don’t forgive from your heart.
Get this… forgiveness is not an option for a Christian. A Christian must MUST give forgiveness if he is asked for it. And it can’t be pretend forgiveness it has to be from the heart.
Here’s what people do sometimes when they “forgive” people…
- They may say OK I forgive you but this is your last chance
- They may say OK I forgive you but socially it’s changed. The relationship is changed and for all intents and purposes you are forgiven in name only.
- They may say OK I forgive you but then they go around telling everyone what you did.
Folks who forgive that way are in danger of burning in Hell for eternity.
It’s not easy “forgiving from the heart”. Maybe it would be easier though if we considered the great debt that Jesus paid for with his life perhaps a debt worth millions of dollars or however much we value our lives. If we thought like that maybe it would be easier to truly forgive one of a hundred dollar debt.
