Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Cost of Discipleship

Matt 10:38,39 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."


 

These were tough words that Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He was laying it down. He was being up front with them. He was telling them what it was going to cost to be His follower, and this was it: It was going to cost them their lives. The implication was not: "You have to die to yourself." The clear word was: "You are going to die. Get ready. If you are not willing to die, then you are not worthy to follow me."


 

John MacArthur makes a good point in his study Bible. He said that this is Jesus' first time that He ever brings up the word cross to His disciples. He had just given them a dissertation on how they will be hated and persecuted and now He is telling them that they have to pick up a cross. The picture in His disciple's minds would be Roman crucifixion. They had seen it. They saw criminals put to death by the Romans on the cross. They knew what a gruesome death it was, and Jesus was telling them that this was their destiny. (He didn't tell them at this point that it was His destiny first.) He told them that they had to get their focus right. He was telling them that they needed to get eternity cemented in their minds. If you want to live life here and get all you can here, then really you are going to lose your life. But if you are willing to give up your life here for the sake of Christ, you will gain life.


 

I am sure that these guys were so pumped about following Christ, they heard this but it did not register. How do I know? Because when Jesus was crucified, they all ran for their lives…except for John. They said: "I want my life. I don't want to be arrested. Get me out of here." But then something happened a few days later. Jesus came back to life. A picture of what He was talking about losing your life and gaining it was standing right in front of them, eating with them, talking with them. This solidified their commitment.


 

This was it. This was the cost of discipleship. Jesus was not beating around the bush and His guys knew what they were getting into. Jesus was killed because of His message and each one of His followers was martyred except for John who lost his life in exile. Why? Because they had a different perspective. They had an eternal perspective. Their physical lives were no longer important to them because they looked at them in the light of eternity…real life.


 

The cost of discipleship still applies today. Jesus is saying to all of us: "Be willing. Be ready. Let go of the stuff that you cling to on earth. Fix your eyes on Me. Have an eternal perspective and follow me even if it costs you your very life."


 

I know a lot of persecuted Christians throughout the world understand this, but I wonder if we in the U.S. get this? I wonder if I get it? We may see.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Moved with Compassion

Matt 9:36 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

When I read this verse I think to myself: "Where is my heart? What do I really care about?" There is no question where Jesus' heart was at…with weary, scattered people. As He went about all the cities and villages teaching in the synagogues He saw the multitude. The word for multitude means a crowd, a group of ordinary, common people who gathered together without any order. When Jesus saw this, when He saw masses of people who were living without any direction He was moved with compassion. He saw weak, tired out people who were just thrown out there, leaderless, clueless, purposeless, dumb sheep and His heart, His inner man was moved. He wanted more for these people. He wanted them to really live. So what did He do? He told His disciples to do something about it. He told His disciples to pray for laborers to bring in a harvest. Really what Jesus saw was a group of people who were hungry. A mass of people who were just waiting. A multitude of people who were just ripe for the picking. He knew that everything was ready, but there had to be other people who would bring this harvest in, so He told His disciples to pray about this situation. (v37.38)

Frankly, that is where it starts. That is where the heart comes from. He was telling His guys to develop a heart for people and it starts with praying. Praying that God would develop people who would reach people. Why did Jesus tell His guys to pray like this? Because He knew that if they prayed for laborers, they would develop a heart to become laborers and they would be the ones who would reach the lost, clueless sheep.

My problem is that my heart is not like this. Why? Because I don't pray like this. Sure I care about people, and I want to see people brought into the kingdom, but am I really moved with compassion over my neighbors, my clients, others that I know? It is clear, this world is clueless. This world is filled with sheep who need a shepherd. This world is filled with weak, tired out people who are just thrown out to live life and they have no idea how to live it. Just look around. We are messed up as a culture. Why? We are dumb sheep. But there is a harvest. There are people out there who are just waiting to hear about hope…and I need to pray. I need to pray for laborers. When I do, I will be moved with compassion and become one.


 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The Deeper Need

Matt 9:2b "Son be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

Here is the scenario: Some people had compassion for a guy who was paralyzed. They probably knew him well. Who knows, it may have been a family member that some in the family thought that Jesus could heal. Anyway, some people had compassion for this guy. As a result, they carried this man on his bed to Jesus. Their expectation (from yesterday) was that Jesus would also have compassion on him and heal him of his paralysis. Interestingly enough, Jesus saw their faith…their expectation, and He did something else. He said: "Son be of good cheer…". Great words. "Be of good cheer." The next thing you would think would come out of this Healer's mouth would be: "Get up and walk." So here are these people, and here is this guy, both expectantly waiting for Jesus to heal him, to say, "Be of good cheer, get off your bed and walk" and Jesus says: "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you." They may have thought: "Hey. Wait a minute. That isn't why we came. We came for healing. We came for restoration. We came for freedom from this bondage." Exactly. Jesus knew why they came and He did something that would bring healing, that would bring restoration, that would bring freedom from bondage…he forgave this guy's sin.

Isn't that like me? I want something so I go to God and I ask. He answers, but He answers in a way that I don't expect. He answers in a way that I don't understand initially. He answers in a way that touches my deeper need, not my perceived need. And that is what happened here. This guy had a deeper need for forgiveness. His main problem was not his paralysis. His main problem was his sin. And Jesus took care of that. (It just so happened that this caused a stir resulting in Jesus confirmation of His deity as well as physical healing for this guy. Jesus knew this was going to happen, too.)

What is my deepest need? My deepest need is my need for forgiveness. My deepest need is my need for restoration. My deepest need is my need for cleansing, and purity, and being right before God. My deepest need was accomplished on the cross. God knew my deepest need and He did something about it. He sent Jesus to live and teach and then die on the cross. He sent Jesus to shed His blood so I could have forgiveness. He sent His only Son to be the perfect sacrifice for my sin so that my deepest need could be met. Thank you Lord, that I am clean in your sight because Jesus said: "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you."

Now, I think about this world's need. I think about all of the stuff that is going on and our desire to help those who are in Japan and the Middle East and even in our country as we see things go down. Our desire is to provide assistance. To give food and water and money and the basic necessities of life. We should do this…but we need to look deeper. We need to look beyond the perceived need and aim to resolve the deeper need…the need for forgiveness…the need for restoration…the need for salvation. When we give food to people in need (and I think that this is going to happen more frequently in our country in the future) we need to do so with the intent to meet their deeper need…their need for forgiveness through Jesus.

God, keep us focused on the deeper need.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Expectation

Matt 8:13b "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."

Expectation. When you look this word up in Websters it means: " the state of looking forward, to anticipate, to consider probable or certain." When I was a kid I loved Christmas morning. (I still do.) The night before, I would go to bed expecting that when I got up there would be gifts under the tree that I would be able to open and that I would like. When I got up in the morning, I was not disappointed. I was right, and there were gifts of cool things under the tree. (Sure, I got that occasional bummer of a gift, but that was the exception, not the rule.) I looked forward to Christmas morning. I anticipated what I would see and get. I was certain that this was going to happen the next morning.

This guy that came to Jesus was really an amazing Roman. He was a centurion who had a sick servant. This centurion loved this servant and so he did the only thing he could think to do to resolve his servant's problem…he went to Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. Jesus heard his request, offered to come with him and heal his servant, and this guy did an amazing thing. He believed that Jesus did not even have to come to heal his servant, all He had to do was speak the word. What faith. What belief. What expectation. This guy knew in his inner man that if Jesus said "Be healed" it would happen, no matter what the distance between the healer and the healee.

So Jesus said to this guy: "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." Jesus knew this guy's heart. Jesus knew that this centurion's heart was full of expectation. He knew that the centurion expected to go back home and find his servant healed. He looked forward to it, he anticipated it, he was certain of it. So much so, he walked away with confidence…and it happened.

This is a real challenge for me because I find that sometimes my expectation quotient is lacking. Do I expect to go to heaven? Yes. But what else do I expect God to do…so much so that I walk away with confidence? Do I expect Him to meet certain needs? If I do, do I live like it? Do I expect Him to work in people's lives? If so, do I give up worrying about stuff? Do I expect Him to work out plans? If so, do I let go of control? My problem is that I rely on me too much and I don't give God room to work. I think that if it is going to get done, I will get it done. The Centurion was not like this. He knew he could not get this done. He was helpless and he relied upon the One who could meet his expectations.

What a lesson for me.


 

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Rob Bell


Matt:7:13,14 "Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it. "



This really is a sad verse. Jesus is telling his guys that there are two options…two gates to walk through. One gate leads to life and the other gate leads to destruction. When you look up the word life in the Greek it means: "life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever." (Strongs) When you look up the word destruction it means: "utter destruction, ruin, perishing, the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell." (Strongs) Now we have to remember that the One who is preaching this sermon is Jesus…the eternal God. The One who made it all. The One who knows everything. And the fact is this: There is eternal life and there is eternal destruction. The sad part is that there is eternal destruction and that it is going to be the majority of people who walk through that gate. Only a few are going to find the narrow gate that leads to life. This really makes me appreciate what God has done for me. Why am I one of the individuals who was able to find the narrow gate? Why am I not included in with the majority? The amazing grace and mercy of God in my life.



Now, I know that there are many who have a difficult time with what Jesus is saying here. The thing is, there are alleged evangelical leaders who doubt Jesus' words. I say alleged because these guys are not evangelical at all. They are not Biblical at all. I read this week about Rob Bell, the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids) who just wrote a book called Love Wins. The premise of the book is that love wins out…that there is no way that a great number of people will find themselves in a place of eternal destruction. His thought is that some may even find their way to heaven and not even trust Christ. The idea that only those who have put their faith in Christ will be in heaven he calls:"misguided and toxic". In other words, Rob Bell knows more than Jesus does. Even though Jesus said that there is a place of destruction and many will go that way, Rob Bell says: "No, this is wrong." He is saying that Jesus is wrong. He is saying the Bible is wrong. He thinks that Gandhi will be in heaven even though he may never have trusted in Christ as his rescuer. Frankly, it is not those who preach what Jesus preached who are misguided, it is those who embrace the pabulum of this teaching.



The weird thing is this. The words that Jesus spoke after He gave this warning are: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." V15 The teaching that Rob Bell is espousing is false teaching. It is unbiblical. It directly contradicts what Jesus said and it ignores the fact that Jesus had to die for something…and that something was the eternal destruction that Jesus warned about. If there are other ways to heaven and I don't have to put my personal faith in Christ, then Jesus would not have had to die. His death was a stupid move on His part if this is the case. I mean, go the way of Gandhi or some other good works effort. Jesus did not have to suffer and die on a cross if there is another way to get to heaven and avoid hell.

What did Paul say about this? "...if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." Gal. 2:21 No. The reality is this: Jesus had to die and only those who put their trust in Him for their salvation will be in heaven...the narrow way, not the Rob Bell way.



I thank God that He chose me. That he bought me with His blood. That I have the assurance of eternal life. Now my heart has to beat for more people to find the narrow gate.


Friday, March 25, 2011

Persistence

Matt 7:7,8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."


I would have to say that last night was an amazing night at our men's Bible study. James MacDonald was teaching on the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit of God works in our lives. When he was done we did what we normally do and had a discussion. It was kind of slow at first, but then something happened. It really picked up steam when our conversation started to center on people that we know who do not know Christ. I think it began when a question was asked about how we see the Spirit of God working in our world today. That lead to a discussion on what has happened in Japan, and that somehow lead to what is happening in our country and the economic situation that we find ourselves in, and that lead to a discussion about how we, the church, the body of Christ are the only ones who have hope. We are the only ones who should have stability. When it all comes crashing down around us, we are the ones who should be able to say to the world: "Look. Here is the answer…it is Jesus. He gives hope. He provides stability. He meets needs. He insures your eternal destiny." Well, that lead Doug Daugherty to tell us what he asked the Lord to do for him on our retreat last weekend…that God would make him bolder about his faith. Now there is a prayer. "Ask and it will be given to you." That then lead to Dave Wible to talk about a list that he created of people who needed to know Christ that he put in his Bible years ago. He told us that out of 100 names, 98 of them had come to faith. Then we were challenged with a story about a guy who was praying for his children and how he was impressed that he was the only guy in the world who was praying for his kids. This was shared with a group of men and they then shared names of people that they wanted to pray for and now a bunch of guys are praying for a bunch of people whose names may have not been lifted up to heaven other than by one or two other people. Now God is being bombarded with names from all kinds of guys who care.


The challenge for us was: Why don't we do this? Why don't we create a list of people who need Christ and everyone start praying. "Ask and it will be given to you." Let's start to repeatedly go to God and give Him names. Don't give up. Don't let up. Why? "Ask and it be given to you." Don't just stop there, though…"Seek and you will find." But don't just stop there. "Knock and it will be opened to you." Ask, seek, knock. Why? Because, as we were reminded last night: "You have not because you ask not." We need to keep asking. God needs to see our hearts. We need to be persistent and then watch what He does.



Thursday, March 24, 2011

Don’t Worry

Matt 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."


 

If I had to pick a verse that I would claim as my life verse, I think this is it. Why? Because I remember when I was attempting to pass the bar exam many moons ago and I was having difficulty. God reminded me back then: "Glen, pursue Me first. My kingdom. My righteousness. And then watch me work." After I got my priorities straightened out, then I saw what He did.


 

The thing is, this lesson is easy to forget. We get so wrapped up in everyday living that we start to run after other things. We run after money (v19-21). We are concerned about our needs..what we will eat, what we will drink and what we will wear. (v25-32) We worry about what is going to happen in our economy and we start to get a little frantic. I mean if you listen to the prognosticators in the next year gas will be $11 a gallon. Milk will be $10 a gallon. Eggs will be $4 a dozen. I just heard this yesterday…something called America's Economic Armageddon. Frankly, if you soak yourself in this stuff you will go crazy worrying. Jesus told His guys and He tells us: "Don't worry. The way that you insure that all your needs are met is not by buying gold and silver and dumping your stocks. The way that you insure that all of your needs are met is to seek, to desire, to crave My kingdom and My righteousness. When you do this everything else will come. All of your needs for food and clothing will be met."


 

I wonder if we really believe this? Do I? I know that I woke up this morning telling my wife that we need to think about stocking our freezer because of what I heard yesterday. This may not be a bad idea. It may be smart to prepare…but I can't get consumed by it. I, instead, have to be consumed by the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I have to be consumed with the eternal, not the temporal. I can't worry about tomorrow (v34)…I have to pursue the eternal today.


 

So what am I going to do today that will show that I am running after His kingdom and His righteousness first? How will I practice law that will make it an eternal endeavor? How will this affect my conversations, my actions, my attitudes? If I seek God's kingdom and His righteousness absolutely first, every day, food and clothing will be there when I need it. He promised.


 

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Temptation

Matt. 6:13 "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen."


 

It is actually kind of weird. The very thing that the Spirit did with Jesus, Jesus tells us to pray would not happen to us. In chapter 4 we read: "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Jesus was lead into temptation. He was taken to the wilderness for the very purpose of being tempted. Not so with us. We need to pray that this not happen. Not only should we pray that God deliver us from sin, but we need to pray that He deliver us from temptation and the schemes of the evil one.


 

Jesus knows what we are like. We are unlike Him. He was able to be battle Satan effectively. We can as well, but we are humans and we fall. We sin. We succumb to temptation. Paul knew this: "No temptation has taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will, with the temptation, make a way of escape, so that you can endure it." I Cor 10:13. As my pastor says: We sometimes can't avoid birds flying over our heads, but we can avoid them making a nest in our hair. It is going to happen. We are going to be tempted, but we can even avoid that if we ask God to not lead us there. If we ask Him to deliver us, to rescue us from the evil one. Satan is tricky. He knows where we are weak. He knows our soft spots. I need to ask God to firm those soft spots up and rescue me from the tendency to give in.


 

Frankly, I don't hear people pray like this very often. In fact, I don't pray like this very often. I wonder why that is? We think we can handle it on our own? We are just oblivious to the arrows that are shot at us? We/I have to open my eyes and realize that Satan is out to devour us. He wants to take us down. We need the strength and power of God in our lives. We need what comes next: For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and glory forever. Only God can handle this stuff and I need to rely upon Him, not me.


 

This is God's kingdom. He is the One who rules and is in control. This is God's power. He is the One who has the might to deliver us. This is God's glory. He is the One who will be exalted, forever. Amen. So be it.


 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Forgiveness

Matt 6:12 "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."


Forgiveness. It is an amazing thing. I know that I hate it when I screw up. I hate it when I sin. I hate it because I know that I have disappointed God and I have violated what I believe. Not only that, but I hate the conviction that I have to deal with. It really is not any fun to be convicted of sin. I thank God for it because I know that He is working. I know that He is living in me. I know that I am His kid, but it still is not something that I enjoy. And then the guilt. The guilt that I deal with when I sin is crazy. It can eat you up.

That is why this verse is so beautiful: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I need to let that sink in. If I acknowledge my sin before God, because of His faithfulness and because of His righteousness He will deal with it. He will forgive it. And He will do something that is totally amazing…He will cleanse me from all unrighteousness. That is all unrighteousness. Not just some of it, not just a part of it, not just a little of it…all of it. Praise God! It is gone. Conviction is gone. Guilt is (should be) gone. (I say should be because I know that I like to keep beating myself up over what I have done, but God does not.) Totally clean. Totally forgiven. Amazing.


And Jesus says that we are to do this. We are to come to God and confess. We are to come to God when we pray and say: "God, I have messed up. This is what I have done. Please forgive me." And He does.


But then look at this: "As we forgive our debtors." The word for debts and debtors actually means those who owe. It also means those who are owed punishment for a wrong they have committed. That is us. God owes us punishment for our sin…for our violation of His character and His word. But He extends forgiveness when we ask for it. And He does it in the same way that we extend it to others. Ouch. If someone has offended me, if someone has sinned against me, if someone owes me something or better yet if I have a right to take revenge for something someone did to me and I go after that, or I hold a grudge, or I am bitter or hold animosity toward that individual and I do not let it go, I let it fester, I hang on to it, then forget about coming to God and asking for the beautiful forgiveness that He offers.


Jesus was so intent on this He continued to talk about it. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Pretty serious stuff.


So I need to ask myself: Is there anyone out there that I have an unforgiving spirit toward? If there is, let it go. Bury it. Forgive them and soak in the sweet forgiveness of God.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Heaven

Matt 6:10 "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."


 

This is a really powerful part of this prayer. Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray for the Father's kingdom and His will to be done right here in this place where we live just like His will is accomplished in that place where He lives. I just noticed this. In the span of 22 words one word is repeated…heaven. I am thinking that maybe Jesus was trying to get a point across to these guys. He was probably trying to get a point across to us…think about heaven. Concentrate on heaven. Focus on the eternal. Our Father in heaven…as it is in heaven.


 

I know that I really get stuck in the temporary. I get stuck in concentrating on the here and now. What is going to happen in this country? What is the deal with the Middle East? What about Japan and the tragedy that has happened with the earthquake and the Tsunami and the nuclear meltdown? These are huge, important issues. I also get bogged down in what I have to do today…representing people, finishing a brief, how am I going to get to the camp on time? I think about my family and what scared me last night when we could not figure out where my wife was.


 

Now these concerns are not bad. I should focus my energy on this world and my work and my ministry and my family…but I need to consider them in a different light. I need to consider them in the light of the kingdom. I need to consider them in the light of God's will being done here. Just think if we really prayed this. How would my perspective change? How would my concerns change? If I said to God…"Just bring Your kingdom and please make sure Your will is done…that is all I want." I am sure that I would think differently. I am sure that I would act differently. I would not get frantic. I would not worry. I would not think the worst because I know that God is working out His will here just like He works in out in heaven.


 

The point is, as I pray this, I have the assurance that this is going to happen. I have the assurance that this is not just going to happen but it is happening. The economic mess in the US is a working out of God's will. The unrest in the Middle East is under His control. The tragedy in Japan is not taking God by surprise. And what happens with my job and ministry and family are all being working out by my heavenly Father, who loves me.


 

Yes, this part of the prayer is not just for God to do what He wants…it is to get us to think differently, to focus differently, to respond differently. I know that I need to pray this way


 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Start Here

Matt 6:9b "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."


 

I am going to spend a little time in what we commonly call the "Lord's Prayer." Actually, it wasn't His prayer at all. Jesus' prayer is found in John 17. This really should be called the disciples prayer because this is what Jesus used to teach His guys how to talk to God. In fact, it is also found in Luke 11 when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. I think it is cool that the disciples were so open. They actually admitted that they did not know how to talk to God and that they needed help, so they asked Jesus to give them direction on how to approach the Father. And this is what He said in both passages:


 

First things first: "Our Father in heaven." There are a couple of things that stick out to me in these few words. First, the disciples were told, and we are told who we are addressing. Our Father.


 

When I think about my Dad I think about how faithful he was. How consistent he was. How he really worked hard to provide for us. How he wanted to have fun with us. I think about his wisdom in some of the things he did and said. I think about his love for us and how he really wanted the best for us. That was my dad.


 

Now, as I think about our Father in heaven, I too think about His faithfulness, His consistency, His provision, his wisdom, His love, His desire, but I think about so much more…His power, His sovereignty, His majesty, His righteousness, His perfection, His mercy, His grace, His knowledge, His control, His creation, His creative abilities, His sense of humor, His joy, His gentleness, His patience…I could go on. But this is my Father in heaven. When I come to Him I need to be reminded that He is my heavenly Father. He is the One who gave me spiritual life. He is the One who gave me physical life. He is the One who is watching over me and who loves me with a love that is so great that it is difficult to comprehend. This is my Father.


 

I have to remember where He is. He is in heaven. He is not relegated to this earth. He is not confined to His creation. He is in heaven where He oversees every aspect of all that goes on everywhere. I just read that the Keplar space telescope detected 1500 planets that were orbiting around many other suns. The thing is, the Keplar only took a picture of one little place in space. In reality, if it scanned the entire sky it might discover 400,000 planets in our Milky Way. Now there are estimated to be 100 billion galaxy's in the universe. Just multiply 400,000 times 100 billion and you get an idea of how massive God's creation is…and He is my Father, in heaven, overseeing it all.


 

Hallowed be your name. The word for hallowed means make holy, purify, consecrate, venerate, be holy. This word is only used two times in the NT, here and in Luke 11. There are similar words that mean holy, but his one only is used here and one other place. Why is that? Because I think Jesus was telling us two things. First, God is holy. Even though when we approach our Father and we think of all of the other character qualities He may have, this one quality is pointed out. This one quality is mentioned. This one quality is to be lifted up in prayer…His holiness. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty." Three times it is mentioned. Why? Because God is holy. He is set apart. He is unlike any of us. He is so far beyond what we are like. He is holy. It should make us fall on our faces before Him.


 

The second reason is this. This word can also say: "Mentally consecrate your name." That is, work in my brain in such a way that I get a grasp of your holiness. If I did this, if I grabbed on to this, it would change my prayer life forever. His Name is holy. His person is holy. All that He represents is holy.


 

That is why Jesus said start with: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name." Start here.


 

Monday, March 14, 2011

Light

Matt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."


 

Daylight savings time began today. As a result, when I got up this morning it was a little darker than usual. I wanted to read my Bible so what did I do? I turned a light on. At one point the dark was ruling the room and when the light was turned on the light took over. It is kind of cool how that works. Light gets rid of darkness. It completely overtakes it. I am not sure how this physically happens…the physics of it all, but I know the practical result…I can see. Just like Jesus said in the verse leading up to this one: "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house."


 

Jesus was talking about us. It is weird, but Jesus said in John: "I am the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12 Now Jesus says: "You are the light of the world." Matt 5:14 Jesus came to eliminate the darkness. Now Jesus is telling His guys: "Your job is to dispel the darkness as well."


 

How does that happen? How do I light up a dark area of the world? Good works. Darkness is all around us. People are groping around because they can't see where they are going. They need light. They need direction. They need help. And we who have Christ living in us can provide what they need. Light. This light is revealed and the darkness is overcome when we do good works. When we perform acts of kindness. When we go totally against the nature of this world and do the unexpected.


 

I didn't think of it this way yesterday, but as I was driving home from doing some running around (you know how Saturdays are) I was coming down Mentor Avenue. Some guy was standing on the side of the road hitchhiking. Now, I have not seen a hitchhiker in years. This is kind of a lost art. No one does it anymore, I think, because our society has gotten so jaded that we don't trust people. We think that picking someone up is dangerous, and unfortunately it can be. But you know what? That is pure darkness. We start living according to fear rather than faith. Anyway, my conscience was pricked. I drove past the guy and had to stop at a red light. As I sat there I grew more convicted. The light changed, I turned around and picked the guy up. I learned that his name was Jerry. That he was from Pittsburgh and liked the Steelers. (I should have kicked him out of the car.) He lived in Willoughby and was moving to Painesville and his car broke down on his way in. He had to get to his new apartment and he knew exactly where it was and took me directly to it. As we talked I told him that I picked him up because it is what Christ would have done. As I let him out I handed him a card with John 3:16 on it. Now, will I see this guy in heaven? I don't know…but I think that the Lord smiled. I got out of my comfort zone and did something that I don't recommend we all do unless prompted to do it by the Holy Spirit. It is my hope that God will be glorified because I may have been light to this guy.


 

We need, I need, to do more of this. Not picking up hitchhikers, but physically doing good works so the darkness is eliminated. This dark world needs it.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Sight

Matt 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."


 

Another amazing promise. If I am pure in heart, I will see God! This is crazy! I will actually see God? I will see what He is like? I will experience Him? I will understand Him more fully?


 

The word for "see" is "optanomai". It is where we get our word "optometrist". It actually means: "to look at, to behold". It also means: "to appear, to allow one's self to be seen". So if I am pure in heart God will appear to me. He will reveal Himself to me and I will behold Him. Wild stuff. How does this happen? I can I see God?


 

I have to be pure in heart. My inner man has to be clean. It has to be free from corrupt desire. It has to be free from sin. It has to be free from guilt. It has to be genuine, sincere, blameless, innocent. And once again, just like yesterday where God said that if I hunger and thirst for righteousness I will be filled, so today, if I am pure in heart I will see God. This is a promise. God will do this. He will definitely reveal Himself to me.


 

The question is: Am I seeing God? Is He revealing Himself to me? If He is, then I know the condition of my heart. If He is not, then I know the condition of my heart. Kind of sobering.


 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hungry

Matt 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."


 

I love being hungry when I know that food is coming. Like right now. I am sitting at my desk eating a burger. So good. My physical hunger is being filled right now as I chomp on this burger and dill pickle. What would be tough would be to be hungry or thirsty and not know if there was anything out there that was going to satisfy your need. So many people in the world live like this. They are hungry and they thirst for clean water, but they are unsure if they are going to be able to drink cool, refreshing clean water and they don't know where they are going to get any food. And so they get hungrier...and they get more parched.

This is what I love about God. He says: "Hey if you are hungry and thirsty after righteousness I promise to satisfy that hunger. I promise to quench that thirst." This isn't a situation where God is withholding anything from us. If we want it He says: "Come to my table and eat." Jesus even said: "I have meat to eat that you do not know about." Basically He was saying: If you want to know about my food, just crave it and I will provide it.


 

The problem is not God…the problem is us. We seem to crave junk food. We don't want real food we want the stuff that is going to tickle our tongues but will leave us empty. I just think about the stuff I listen to or the things that I want or what I like to do. I get in the car. Do I hunger and thirst for righteousness or do I want to hear talk radio? Man, this is convicting to me. If I was hungry and thirsty for righteousness I would either spend time praying, or listen to great music or spend time listening to the Bible or biblical teaching. Instead, I fill my ears with Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. Junk food. Or what about how I spend my time? Do I spend it investing in eternal things…God's word and people or do I want to just chill in front of the TV or the computer screen? Am I really hungry and thirsty for righteousness, or am I just fooling myself?


 

I am finding out that the only way that this is going to happen in my life is if I ask God to do it in me. I can't drum up this desire. I can create this hunger. It has to be a God thing. In my flesh I am weak. I am just like the disciples who were supposed to watch and pray but they fell asleep. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and if I follow the flesh, I will stay empty. But a real hunger and thirst for righteousness will fill me up. I will be satisfied. I will be full. It will be rich. God has promised it…please do it.


 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Not Always Easy

Matt 4:1 "The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."


 

Talk about a head scratcher. Look at this: Jesus was led by the Spirit. That's a good thing, right? I mean, this is the Trinity in communion and communication. The Holy Spirit was at work in Jesus' life in that He communicated with Him and told Him to do things, say things and go places. Jesus, being perfect, did what the Spirit led Him to do. In this instance, the Holy Spirit told Him to go into the wilderness. I wonder if this is the same wilderness that John wandered around in? It is the same word…a solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited place. Frankly, it does not sound like a fun place to go to. Maybe if you were going to have lunch with John the Baptist it would be OK, but to just go into the wilderness…Why? Here is the kicker: "To be tempted by the devil." Whoa. Wait a minute. The Holy Spirit directed Jesus to go to a lonely, deserted place for the very purpose of being tempted? Didn't God know what He was doing? Why in the world would God the Spirit ask God the Son to go to a place where He was going to be tested? But as the Spirit led, Jesus went and when He went He encountered the very thing that He went for…temptation. The devil hit Him with the big three: The lust of the flesh (you are hungry…eat), the lust of the eyes (all this can be yours) and the pride of life (prove who You are.). The result? Jesus passed the test. He came through the temptation by using the word of God to battle Satan. Great lessons for us.


 

Maybe that is why the Spirit led Him there…for us. He led Jesus there because He was a man. He had to be tempted in all points like we are, and He was, but He did not sin. He was tempted so that He knew what we go through and He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. And, He gave us a pattern on how to defeat temptation: His word.


 

The weird thing is this…the Spirit led Him into a place where we would think that the Spirit would not lead. He led Him to danger. He led Him to discomfort. This reminds me of the series that we just finished in church about chasing the Spirit of God…following His lead. It is not always going to be easy. It is not always going to be comfortable. In fact, many times it will be hard and challenging. Why? Because we need to be dependent. We need to rely on the One who understands what we are going through because He went through it. We need to depend on the power of the word of God. If Jesus had not gone into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, we would not know this…but now we do.


 

I may not like it, but I know Jesus knows.


 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Fruit

Matt 3:8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance"


 

John the Baptist was a wildman. Not only did he walk around wearing weird clothes and eating weird food, but he walked around in the wilderness shouting "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He was not preaching where the people were in the city, but instead was preaching in the wilderness of Judea. The world for wilderness means the solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited places. I wonder if he wondered who he was going to reach there? Apparently he developed a reputation because, even though he did not go to the people, the people came to him to watch this interesting spectacle of a man. The people of Jerusalem and all Judea and even the religious leaders would take a day trip just to see this guy. When they got there, they got an earful. He called these guys out. He called them a "brood of vipers". He warned them to "flee from the wrath to come." And then he challenged them: "bear fruit worthy of repentance".


 

I am guessing that the people loved it. I am also guessing that the Pharisees and Sadducees hated it. This was the beginning. This was the start. This was the messenger who came to announce who Jesus was. And from the beginning the religious leaders of the day did not like what they saw or heard.


 

Fruit. The problem was the religious leaders fruit. Not their apples and oranges, but the result of their lives. Everyone could see what they were truly like, everyone knew what their inner man was like because of what was produced in their outer life. They acted like they were spiritual but the proof of the pudding was in what they did…and it was not fruit that was consistent with a repentant life.


 

What does that fruit look like? When John said that they (we) should bear fruit that is worthy of repentance, what did he mean? We know that he meant good fruit…not rotten fruit. We know that he meant fruit that was worth keeping not fruit whose only use was to create a fire. (v10) It was lasting fruit.


 

I wonder if my life is producing good, lasting, worth keeping fruit because this is the only kind of fruit that proves that I have genuinely repented. If I have fruit in my life that is sour or dirty or distasteful…if this type of stuff flows from me then that is proof that I have never really changed…there is no repentance. But if the fruit from my life is good, sweet, beautiful it is worth keeping and it shows what I am. It shows who I am.


 

I hope I have repentant fruit.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

More Proof

Matt 2:11 "And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."


 

More proof of Jesus deity. I picture this: Mary, Joseph and Jesus are no longer in a cave or stable. Jesus was born and Joseph being the great Dad that he was, knew that they had to get out of there to a safer, cleaner environment. So, he looked around and found a place to stay. It was a house in Bethlehem. Now it is interesting to me that they did not go back to where they had traveled from originally. Instead they stayed in Bethlehem for a couple of years…living in this house.


 

The Wise men who knew how to study the night sky knew that they had to follow this unusual phenomena that was moving ahead of them. First they made a pit stop with King Herod who gave them some line about wanted to worship this child too. As they followed the star, it led them to this house. They knocked on the door and Joseph probably went to the door to see who was there. To his surprise he saw a bunch of guys with treasures. Pretty cool. I don't know what was said in that conversation at the door, but I can imagine it was something like they told King Herod…that they saw and followed the star and that they wanted to come in and present gifts to the baby who was now probably around two years old. Not only that, but they wanted to come in and worship Him.


 

Worship a baby? Why? I mean if this was just like any other child that is born into the world, why would some strangers want to come in and fall on their faces and worship Him? Now some of us have been accused of worshiping our kids, but not like this. These guys entered the house and fell down. They didn't trip on the carpet. They were forced down. They were filled with astonishment because they knew that they were in the presence of Someone that they had to get low before, so they got on their faces in His presence and they worshiped Him. Wait a minute. Didn't part of the 10 commandments say that you should only bow down to almighty God, no one or nothing else? How is it that these guys are bowing before this baby and worshiping Him? Duh! They knew that they were I the presence of God and they had to get low…fast.


 

Not only that, they gave some pretty cool gifts. Gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold was given to kings. Frankincense was incense offered up to gods. And myrrh was a spice used in burial. Jesus, this baby that the wise men worshiped was King, God and born to die.


 

I wonder why I don't fall on my face before Him? Too familiar? Too proud? No more.


 

Monday, March 7, 2011

Jehovah Saves

Matt. 1:21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins."


 

Two days ago I wrote about how God does not change. I noted that the word Lord is Jehovah which means "existing One". That the Lord is eternal. He has never had a beginning and He will never have an ending and in all of that He is consistent, constant, never ever changing. I made the case that this Jehovah is Jesus because of what it says in Hebrews where it says that Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Jesus also never changes. He has been the same for all time and eternity. I didn't realize at that time that I would be reading in Matthew today but look at what this verse says.


 

This verse describes the birth of Christ. The angel is communicating with Joseph telling him what is going to happen to Mary. The angel says that she is going to give birth. And before they had ultrasound Joseph knew the sex of the child…it was going to be a little boy. Now, what do parents do when they know the gender of their child before he or she is born? I know what Michelle and Jeremy did. They picked out a name. They would not tell us the name that they picked but they knew that Maddie was going to be Madeline before she was born. Madeline Ann Underwood. What a great name for an amazing little girl. Now she is here and is blessing all of us.


 

When Joseph found out that the baby was going to be a boy, he needed to come up with a name. Back then the name that was picked was usually a family name. (See Luke 1:61) He could have named Him Joseph or maybe even after his grandpa and named Him Jacob or his great grandpa and named Him Matthan. This, apparently, was not going to cut it…at a least not with the angel who was talking to Joseph because not only did the angel bring Joseph the news that this was going to be a boy, the angel also told him this little boy's name. He said: "You shall call His name Jesus." Jesus? Where did this name come from? How did the angel come up with this one? Did the angel grab a book of "What to name your baby" and figure out which one he liked? Hardly. This was a God thing in more ways than one.


 

First, this name was given from God through the angel. I don't think that Gabriel picked out the name. It was God, the baby's Father who determined the name. And God knew why He wanted this name. Just like many times we pick names and look at their meanings (we did with Michelle and Elise) so God picked a name because of its meaning. The angel then followed up this announcement with why he was giving this name. Because Jesus would save His people from their sins. The angel was saying: "Jesus saves". Jesus delivers. Jesus rescues. Jesus pulls His people out of the pit of sin and despair and guilt and depression and eternal damnation. It is Jesus who does this. It is only Jesus who does this. This was Jesus' life goal. Right away God placed on Jesus His purpose even before His birth. "Jesus, you are born to save."


 

The weird thing is this, and this is what takes me back to what I wrote two days ago: Jesus saves. The name Jesus actually means: "Jehovah saves". Not only is the Lord, Jehovah God unchanging and Jesus is unchanging, Jesus is Jehovah because He is the One who saves. His name says it all.


 

This Lord, this Jehovah, this God, this little baby that was about to be born…this Jesus, was God in the flesh coming "so that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17


 

Lord Jesus, thank you for rescuing me.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

God is Not Fickle

Mal 3:6a "For I am the Lord, I do not change..."


 

This is such a cool verse with an amazing truth. (Not hard to memorize either.) Why is it cool? Because it is kind of redundant. "For I am the Lord." Lord is Jehovah and Jehovah means "existing one"…eternal one. So this verse says "I am the eternally existing One, I do not change." Get it? If God is eternal, if He has always been in existence, then I would think that the One who is eternal is also unchanging. The truth is this: God is the same today as He was before the world was even created. And God is the same today as He will be a million years from now. Constant. Consistent. Reliable. True.


 

Kind of sounds like a familiar verse in Hebrews that says: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Heb. 13:8 Let's see. If God never changes and Jesus never changes what does that make Jesus? No one else can make this claim. I certainly change, probably every day or more often than that. But Jesus never changes and God never changes The truth here is that this is another verification that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. They have exactly the same nature: Eternality.


 

The beauty in all of this is the fact that I don't have a fickle God. I don't have to worry that He is going to change in His love for me. I don't have to worry that He is going to fly off the handle one day because He is mad. I can trust that His love for me is the same no matter what I do. In fact, this verse backs that up. "For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed…" Thank God for that! His patience is eternal as well. Does God get frustrated with us? Is He grieved because of dumb things I do? I believe that He is, but He can't deny His character and His character is loving. His character is merciful. His character is gracious. His character is long suffering. And because of this, the world has not been consumed.


 

Just think if God did not have these character qualities, this place would have been toast a long time ago. But God is consistent and He is watching and waiting. He is the eternal God who is going to someday judge the world with fire, but Peter reminds us that He is not slacking around about this promise, but rather is exhibiting His great patience waiting for many to come to repentance. (I Pet 3:7-10)


 

I thank God that He is constant. I praise Him that He is not fickle. When I think about the dumb things I do and say any mortal would say: "Forget you." But not God. Because He is immortal. He is eternal. He never changes. Thank You.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Think Again

Mal 3:5 "'And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien-because they do not fear Me.' Says the Lord of hosts.


 

What happens when we don't fear God? We do dumb things. We ignore His heart. We become our own bosses and do what we want instead of what God wants. When that happens, look out. He will come and judge and be a witness against us. Tough, the witness and the judge are the same and it is the Holy God of the universe. I wonder why we think that we can do our own thing and forget what God wants? I mean, how can we be so pompous? But we are.


 

Look at the stupid stuff we do. Some people get involved in witchcraft. Now most of us would say:
"Sure. Those people should be judged by God." Not so fast. Look what comes next. Adulterers. Now in this society, that would include a ton of people. And God says: "I am going to be a witness against you and judge you because you don't fear me and you want to have sex whenever you want and with whomever you want." Not only that, but remember what Jesus said about lust. That is adultery. This is getting tough. Then look. God is going to judge perjurers. This actually means "false swearers". How many of us are guilty of doing this? Not just in a court of law, but of not telling the truth, or breaking a promise. Why do we do it? We don't fear God. Then look…and this is where it can get political. Against those who exploit wage earners, widows and orphans and who turn away aliens.


 

SB 5 is a huge issue in Ohio. Wisconsin is going through it right now as well. I understand the need to get our budgets under control and I realize that a lot of money is being paid out right now for wages and benefits and pensions. The problem is, this can be a slippery slope. If the end result is fairness, then great. But if the end result is to exploit wage earners then the Judge is coming.


 

Then another hot political issue: Immigration. Turning away aliens. This is a tough call. How do we treat people with respect, honor and dignity and care about them? This is God's heart. God's heart is that we care about those who are the little guy. God's heart is that we treat those who have no power with equity. The wage earner, the orphan, the widow, the alien. When we do we show that we fear God. When we don't, we show that we are a law to ourselves and God will stand as a witness and judge against us.


 

Obviously, as a conservative guy, this is causing me to rethink some of the things that are going on out there right now.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Teach the Truth

Mal 2:5,6 "My covenant was with him (Levi), one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear me; So he feared Me and was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity."


 

What is a covenant? It is a solemn promise…a binding agreement between parties. Basically it is a legally binding contract. If I say that I will do one thing, you promise to do another thing.


 

God made a covenant to Levi in Deut 33 where he said: "For they have observed your word and kept Your covenant." What was it? "They shall teach Jacob Your judgments and Israel Your law. They shall put incense before you, and a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar." That was what the priest promised to do. If he did it this what God said that He would do: "Bless his substance, Lord, and accept the work of his hands; Strike the loins of those who rise against him and of those who hate him, that they rise not again." In other words, if the priest was faithful in teaching the truth to Israel and maintained pure sacrifices, God would bless his work and provide abundantly for him. He would also protect him from those who rose up against him.

Malachi simply reiterates this covenant. God's desire, his promise was for life and peace for His guys. The priest was to teach and live in a way that showed that he feared and revered God. The way that he did that was by teaching truth and justice. If he did, the kept promise of God was a life of peace and equity.

Now I think about those of us today who are called upon to teach. The following verse applies to us as well: "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." V7 Pretty solemn. Pretty serious. Pretty humbling. Teach the truth. Keep knowledge. Don't avoid difficult issues. Hit them head on. Speak the truth…speak it lovingly, but speak it. Don't sugarcoat it. Don't worry whether people will be offended. Don't be concerned if you are considered intolerant. This will happen…but look what else will happen: "And turned many away from iniquity." People's lives will be changed…forever! That is a life of peace and blessing. God will keep His word.

As I get ready to talk, God, let me speak the truth, boldly, honestly, lovingly.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A Great Name

Mal. 1:11 "'For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations.' Says the Lord of hosts."

This is almost a follow up from the any questions, question that was asked through Zechariah. The Lord shall be King over all the earth…the Lord is one, and now through a different prophet, Malachi: "My name shall be great among the Gentiles…My name shall be great among the nations." This is not anyone else's name. This is God's name. This is the Lord of hosts' name. There is no wiggle room here. There is no shared greatness. This is God the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the God who at the beginning of this chapter said: "Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated." This is the same God who is referred to in Romans 9 when this quote was used. This is the God of the Bible. It is no one else. God did not stutter. He refers to His name three times in this verse. He wanted Israel to get this right. He wants us to get this right. It is the one and only true God of creation. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

And He repeats another word in this verse: "Great". Great among the Gentiles and great among the nations. The name of God is going to be great, large, intense, important, distinguished. God will be exalted. And this is the cool thing, even though Malachi is writing to the nation of Israel, he is telling them that God is not just for them. He is for the Gentiles. He is for the nations. Everyone is going to experience this. No one is going to be left out. All day long. From the rising of the sun, even to its going down God's name will be the most important thing in the world.

The problem was, the nation of Israel forgot this. They were more concerned about their stuff. They wanted to keep the good stuff for themselves and give God the leftovers. They were not offering the best to God. Instead they were giving Him the blind and the lame and the sick. They were distracted from His greatness.

The problem is, we forget this too. We get distracted. We want to keep the good stuff for ourselves too. We don't give God our best. We may think about praying sometimes, but we have so many other things to do, we can just shoot up a prayer to God when we get the time or when we absolutely need help. We feed out bodies. We eat three meals a day but we don't have the time to feed our inner man through God's word. We want something so we go out and buy it and we are not generous to others and we give God a tip at church. We are no better than these people Malachi was writing to 2400 years ago. We lose sight of the fact that God's name is not just going to be great, it is great now. It is exalted now. It is important now. This is His reputation. There is nothing else that can compete with Him.

God help me. You deserve my best. Your name is great all the time. Let me honor it all the time.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Any Questions?

Zech 14:9 "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be - 'The Lord is one,' and His name is one. "

Any questions? This verse kind of summarizes what is going to happen in the future. Zech 14 lays out how the nations will gather to battle against Jerusalem. Guess what? They will not succeed. In fact, the description of what will happen to those people sounds like it came out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Or maybe this where they got the idea.) "Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." V12

In the end this is what we will see: "The Lord shall be King over all the earth." There will not be any superpowers in that day. No king, president or emperor will rule anything. There will be only one King. One superpower. One sovereign…the Lord…Jehovah…the eternally existing One. He will be King and everyone will know it.

In that day it shall be: "The Lord is one and His name is one." In other words, God and God alone. Not only will there not be any superpowers, there will not be any other religions. Even though it may sound intolerant, there is only one true religion and it will be revealed in that day. Only one God will rule, only one God will be in charge, only one God will be worshipped. In that day only Jesus will reign. Even though this sounds intolerant one day "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that (only) Jesus is Lord". (Phil. 2) There is no other. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, Christians…we will all bow to only one King…King Jesus. And again although this sounds intolerant Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) The Lord is one and His name is one. That is it. That is all. It is best to embrace this now. Bow now. Accept this truth now.

Any questions?