DEVOTIONAL Thoughts on Isaiah 55:10-11
The Bible says that the rain and the snow do not return once they fall. That’s something  I acknowledge and have known but never pondered. So it is with Gods word in that itself does not return but what does return are the results of what was sent. Some collect rain in a barrel but God has an abundance and needs no store of water. Yet there are times when rain seems less plentiful and there are dry times. In our lives we experience dry times. It was never because God’s Word wasn’t there to fall upon us but it was because we haven’t desired to receive it. When it rains the ground is softened and so the hardness of our hearts need softened but the water of the word. Note that a God doesn’t take back His word that our hearts may again grow hard. He sends everything for effect. Do you notice the purpose for which He sends the Word in your life? Though we do not always know the purposes of God we know that what is sent from God He doesn’t want or take back but wants to soak in as rain. Beautify as snow and make us moldable and full of gift and blessing to share. When a gift is given it does not return. Pass it on and look for more!

The Proper Approach To God in Prayer

John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

2 Kings 19:19

Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

One of these days we are going to find ourselves in a tough situation. Its going to be as hard as the day the armies of Sennacherib, King of Assyria surrounded the city of God's people. But for most of you, life may very well pass by with little tough times. No matter. Prayer is the daily focus we must have in our lives if we are to be close to the Lord.

God's people often pray hard when there is something hard to pray about. Yet no matter what our level of difficulties are, prayer needs to be just as serious, deep, sincere and directed in our most prosperous day as in our most perilous day!

When I think of prayer I think about King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19. The situation was grim. The opposing armies encamped around the city were fierce, ready, willing to destroy just as they had done all the neighboring city states in the area. They were bold to brag on two points, 1. They did it all themselves, 2. They conquered all the gods who were supposed to be mightier than they.

Now when you come to a situation in life that looms just like Hezekiah's enemies, what shall we do. Here is the formula, and is not a magic one or any such thing, its just the proper response to tribulation before our God, lest we try to handle it ourselves.

Let's see the problem,

1. Assyria was the most powerful nation at the time, eating up as many vulnerable people they could.

2. They had all the means to carry out all their threats.

3. They taunted anyone with any allies other than themselves

4. They outnumbered any opposing force

5. They described in detail what they would do to anyone who was for them or against them

In Short, they wanted to be ruler over everything.

Let's see the players

1. Sennacherib, devout worshipper of Nisroch, the god of the Assyrians, confident in himself and his power.

2. Hezekiah, devout worshipper of the Jehovah God, the God of all Creation, confident in HIM and and HIS power

What did Hezekiah do?

1. He heard the taunting of Rabshekah and Sennacherib.

2. He received the letters and took them to the house of God

3. On His Knees--No, the text doesn't say it, but anyone who is submissive to God does so, thus He laid the accusations out before the Lord

4. He desired that all the world would know by the defeat of the most powerful army, that it was THE LORD who is God alone in the Earth.

5. He was confident in the answer given him by the prophet Isaiah.

So how does all this relate today,

Simply, Satan is still Satan. When we find ourselves in tribulation, his first move is to try to dethrone our image of God and His power in our lives. This is what life on his end is all about, to discredit God wherever he can and cause God's people to turn from Him. This is what the Assyrians did, they stood outside the city walls and attempted to demoralize the people to weaken their resolve to fight. Satan will attack us, cause fear and doubt to surround us on all sides and let us "know" its hopeless, God has left us, there is no use to call on Him or anyone to save you or me. I have first hand knowledge of this and I have faltered listening to Satan. Interestingly noted that Hezekiah instructed the people not to answer the taunting of the enemy. Such we are taught in Scripture to resist the Devil and he will flee from you, James 4:7

The problems we face are real, just as the army encamped were real. The problems are not going to go away on their own unless God acts on our behalf. Here is where we get down to business. Hezekiah did the right thing, the thing we oft neglect, he took all the care cast upon him and went straight to the Source, God, the Only One who could ever help them.

We should do like wise. Hezekiah poured out before the Lord in this fashion and so should we:

1. Came before God in the proper manner, Humbled

2. Admitted the peoples weakness and the enemies strength

3. Acknowledged God's power and His control

4. Desired for God's glory to be the greatest reason for their deliverance

When we come to God with a problem just as similar we need to do theses things too. We cannot come on our own strength. We cannot come on our own terms. We must be Humble. We cannot bargain, barter, negotiate! We must come just as we always have been, Helpless and Humble before God. We do so and acknowledge His Sovereign Power and Authority. You see it is through the WEAK He glorifies Himself. Sennacherib thought Power came through might. He was wrong.

Sennacherib's largest mistake was to proclaim himself mightier than the God who made him, and it cost him literally everything.

So what happened to the vulnerable weak people of God? The Lord heard Hezekiah's heartfelt faithful prayer. Thus Israel never drew a sword, notched an arrow, or threw a stone. The next morning Sennacherib noticed God walked through his camp last night. All that the pagan king trusted in, was now laid dead by the hand of the angel of the Lord. To be exact, 185,000 slaughtered with no effort whatsoever. That is our God! He is Powerful, Strong To Save and is more than able to Deliver.

Look to Him in faith, knowing that no matter how fierce the adversary looks, God is Greater. Its so hard and we are tested sorely, but this life is not the end. Our Home and Hope is with Him, YET know that IN THIS LIFE, our God does Deliver, He does Save, He does do Miracles!!! To deny that, we must take a knife and remove 2 Kings 19 from the only Book God ever wrote! When you consider how God delivers and His power to heal, what Joy should be ours. I will be the first to admit that its hard even difficult to take our eyes off the visible and put it on Him. Destruction seems so real and hope so vanished. Let us encourage one another to trust in our God who delivers and come to Him Properly in Prayer. God delights in our Faith in Him (Heb. 11:6). May our chief aim be that of Hezekiah, to desire the whole world See our God by seeing the Hand of His Miraculous Deliverance. May it be so with us today, whatever we are facing, and as I write this we are facing hard times. I don't know when someone will read this, but when you do, know that our God is Greater and Stronger than all who oppose us. May we trust in His ark of Safety.

Lord, we need your Help! We are vulnerable to the attacks of the world, sickness and Satan. We come before You with humble hearts acknowledging Yourself as the only God and that we are looking to You for our deliverance as did Hezekiah. May our chief desire to be through our Deliverance is that Your Name which is above all will be clearly seen and believed on by a watching world. Make haste to help us. Cleanse our hearts from sin and may we be found abiding in You always we pray, Amen.

Being a Humid Christian

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. (King James Version)

Do you ever find yourself going outside in the summer and being instantly knocked over by the oppressive heat and humidity? I hate questions like that because the answer is obvious. Humidity is the bane of summer. The sticky, breath grabbing, profuse sweating kind of weather is not enjoyed by anyone I have ever encountered.

Yet Humidity produces one element that needs a closer look and that is its Presence. As Christians we need to have a presence among our fellow man. Too often we hide our faith and cower in the shadows hoping to be unseen and unheard. I am the backward type on the individual scene. Put me in front of a 1000 people and let my spring unwind talking about Christ. But seldom we get the privilege of talking to a large crowd and so we find ourselves in everyday life with the individual at times.

Practicing Humid Christianity does not mean to stifle one another with an overbearing voice. What we mean is to be present, not necessarily forceful. To be present is to be these things:

1. Available: To always be ready to give an answer of the hope that lies within you
2. Presentable: Witnessing a good confession in the eyes of those who are watching you (which is everybody to some degree).
3. Sociable: Not giving yourself over to undue criticism or brow beating, but showing generosity to others needs, this can be as little as listening.
4. Justifiable: When asked about what you believe, you cannot compromise on the tenets of the Bible, you cannot skimp on giving the whole Truth, for this is the Power of God to change lives. The Bible is Just and allows wonderful promises our way, but it does not placate.
5. Approachable: Does your outward demeanor turn people off? If so, work on your friendliness, no one likes a grouch.
6. Irresistible: Doesn't mean that you are pushy, but that you exhibit the character of Christ and become so contagious that others, seeing you, want what you have.
7. Practicable: Don't be so pious sounding or acting that all the person sees is yourself rather than Christ. Condescending or setting unrealistic behavior above and beyond the Scripture is not proper nor will it help anyone.

Now this is not a list easily mastered, but it does not mean it shouldn't be worked on regularly in our lives. When we are Humid Christians, present to a needy world, these qualities will surely not make you oppressive, but Refreshing!

Pray for opportunities to be Present for someone. It may be a friend, family member, a fellow believer, etc. There are many ways to exercise the Presence of Christ, many times a Phone call or encouraging note is helpful. In all accounts, be there, be ready, be Humid.

Lord, please help us to be Humid Christians and not shrink away from this duty. Help those in shyness and fear to find courage in You. May You be pleased with us. Amen.

THE LIFE: Does the Smell Of Life Linger? Part 3 of "The"

^{John 5:24-25 KING JAMES VERSION}

²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

²⁵Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

What a glorious and magnificent thought....Death is not permanent! No promise or work of man has ever been so fulfilled in this fashion! Oh like Mary and Martha, like the Widow of Nain, like the disciples in the Upper Room, a wholesome and complete Doom was refuted.

Jesus came for one purpose, to refute Death that was the sentence upon the whole human race. But what good was it if He only talked about it? As I grow older and read the Scriptures, I find there are some points made by men, sinful and foolish most of them, that had they been in the proper timing, their observations would have been correct. My mind always goes to the one in the jeering mob at Calvary. "HE SAVED OTHERS, BUT HE HIMSELF HE CANNOT SAVE," as one puts it. Another, "HE SAVED OTHERS, LET HIM SAVE HIMSELF!" These statement are nearly the exact plan of God, BUT, for a misunderstanding of the times of the events, they lapse into utter brute and darkened understanding.

Christ planned not only to save others and Himself, but He would do it the Father's way. The key to the outsider of Faith to understand that Death, our mortal invincible foe, was not such a one to Christ. Jesus plainly told Pontius Pilate, that no man takes the life of the Son of Man. The Son of Man lays down his life AND Takes It UP again as He wills. Jesus knew as we should well understand, that without Resurrection, His Death, all the sin placed upon Him, all the insults and that awesome amount of unspeakable torture in the Praetorium meant NOTHING, unless He AROSE. You see, the statements of the foolish mockers on mount Calvary had validity, but they were not in command of the facts and procedure that must have to happen first. If Jesus never saved Himself, then others He could not save. The mob saw the cross as permanent. If the cross were the end, then their cries be justified. Jesus NEVER saw the Cross as the end, therefore, there was no need to come off of it prematurely until ALL was fulfilled concerning His Father's plan for humanity in the payment of our sins upon the shoulders of the Blessed One.

Then there is the Tomb. Cold, dank, unlovely, dark, unjust for such a One as to be its occupant. The only redeeming quality if you wish to find one is that the tomb was never before used. Christ, since birth bore the weight of more than sin, he bore the most humbling circumstances and poverty. At least now at His burial there would be a place that was, in this world's value, more than appropriate, because of the wealth that took to have it made ready. The tomb was a wealthy man's final abode, but it was not Christ's!! However, for a short period of days, that seemed like eternity to those who loved the King of Kings, it became a container for His body.

As was the custom, spices were to be delivered to anoint the dead, so that the smell of putrifaction would not be as noticeable. The tombs of the world always smell horrible. You see, you're sin may not be a literal thing to you to see, but wait until death, then sin has an odor that disrupts all others, barely to be hid as the women was wont to do. The body however took some time to leak out this horrendous odor. The Psalms tell us though that it was not planned for the Holy One to succomb to corruption (Psa 16:10). So when the women came to the tomb to perform a duty, that doubtless they had performed before on friends and family, they were were robbed of the task, gloriously!

THERE COULD NOT BE THE SMELL OF DEATH WHERE LIFE ABOUNDS!!

Plainly this, is our blessed and eternal hope, that no man taketh away.

When the women and later the men encountered what they thought would be a smelly tomb, there lay nothing in the air to suggest it. There are some interesting points in Scripture about what they found, and what we should find in the salvation for ourselves through Faith in Christ.

First, there was no more seal upon the tomb.
I have always thought it interesting, the act of "sealing the tomb" with a cord of some sort all held together by a big glob of imprinted wax. Now a dead man won't brake it and a live man won't be deterred from it (its not like a padlock and logging chains). Nevertheless, futile man embodied in foolish Pilate, Herod and the whole religious leader crowd deemed it worthy. It was the weakest of all the sights of the empty tomb, but it did do an important thing...namely...it showed how weak man is and how that he is no match for omnipotence. You will also remember that the sealing of the tomb was accented by soldiers. These soldiers, purported to be battle hardened, and no doubt they were, melted like butter before the angel of the Lord. My point in all of this is that your sin melts away like butter and is as binding as a glob of wax in the presence of the Saviour. There can be no defiable barriers to Grace. The first resolution for the tomb of your heart to smell sweetly with Life is to have the barriers or seals of sin eradicated. Paul wisely reminds us in Romans 8 that there is nothing that can stand between us and the love of Christ. The foes of Christ are too feeble to stand in His way. By the way, note in the final battle of this world, that Christ conquers His "foes" with the word of His mouth, and all His armies ride behind Him bearing no swords or armor...they simply are not needed.

Second, there was no odor from what was to be found.
Imagine the despair the disciple women must have felt. Coupled with their nauseating dread of what they thought to find and the putrid smell of a dead body to anoint, their mindset was anything but joyous. As noted previously, Death carries with it the most undeniable and sickening odor imaginable. You know Death by this factor and by the deterioration of its victim. When the women came to the Tomb and later the men, they expected a Smell, a Body, and a Painful Reminder. They received none of the three, save Mary Magdalene and what she received was magnificent, not putrid!
The reason why Death carries odor and can only be covered over constantly is because Sin is the catalyst for the dying process. In Adam, all die, but In Christ many shall be made alive (1 Cor 15:22). You and I have that sin catalyst, that is why we stink before the Lord in our unregenerate state. The odor of our sin can be smelled from one end of the Universe to the other just as if it were a smoldering pot under the very nose of God. So when we see the Tomb of our lives, we have odor, but Jesus left no unseemly smell behind. It is far incorrect to interpret the Righteousness of God to be a covering only, like myrhh for a dead body. The Righteousness of Jesus Christ doesn't merely cover, it eradicates! Thank God for that! Coverings, every one of them, leak out odors, but if the odor is completely eradicated, the sweet fragrance of Life is all that can be smelled, for that is all there is! When Christ redeems a person's life, our selves that once stank with sin's hangups, choices and guilt now does not smell so to God. Our tomb, once a place of death is now a sanctuary of Life, Christ's Life. Where the Life of Christ is, no loathsome odor remains. True we sin, but, the process of Sanctification is reversing the spiritual death in this life, not letting it spread. In a glorious fact, in the eyes of God, we right now are completely renewed, having only the sweet smell of the Holy Life about us. This is what the empty tomb most symbolizes: Emptiness of Death, Fullness of Life!

Third, the grave clothes were there, but not as they should be.
Yes the Tomb did leave one evidence of its short stay tennant, His burial wrappings. Why didn't Jesus eradicate them with His Resurrection? Simply to prove, that Death, even Death clothes could not hold Him. One point I have always found interesting (knowing that the Bible leaves nothing mentioned for filler or amusement, everything has meaning) is that the "napkin" or that which covered the face was laying separate and folded from all the rest of the garments. Why? Having no chapter and verse explanation, I can only add what I think may have been the reason. The act showed an order to His Resurrection. Note that the napkin was separate in its own place. The cloth could have been the first thing removed or the last, but the fact that it was removed is evident by its wearer. No plot of men would leave things laying separate or in neat fashion. Potential body stealers would actually take body and clothes in haste with them. Jesus proves He lives and He is the one that delivered Himself from the wrappings. Note also the Napkin was folded. Jesus effectively gave us the picture of the former things put away, like a retired object to its shelf. When you come to Christ, the old garments that smell of death are now put away. In this world they still remain with us, but are no longer part of our projected status as a child of God. Once we leave this world, as He left the Tomb, we leave all the grave clothes behind forever in full.

Fourth, there was no defilement upon entry, or exit.

The Gospels tell us that when the women had returned from the Tomb praising and glorifying God for the Risen Saviour, the men thought them to be out of their mind. However, John and Peter, run to the Tomb in search of the Truth. John being the younger man ran ahead of Peter, but he stopped short of entry, for he was not as bold. Peter, the leader of the disciples now, came to the opening and charged inside. In Jewish culture, it would defile a man to enter into a tomb, but all that presumed upon the fact that there was a decayed and unclean body there. As Peter found out, there was no body in there. However, little is talked about this act of Faith on the part of Peter. The tomb was dark, hewn into the rock several feet so that one could not see from the outside clearly what was inside. Peter risked his own perceived defilement by believing what the Master said and what the women testified and went in and came out. The point here is that when a Tomb speaks of Life, nothing can be defiling. The Life of Christ defiles no man. You have to have corruption to defile, and none was found by any witness. Now here is a stark contrast. We are defiled, we were born defiled, and but the Grace of Christ we die defiled. So how can we enjoy Life without defilement? The answer is that when we are buried with Him (that is our sins) He transforms us into living breathing creatures that are now Holy before God. You see, the body that Joseph of Armithea had placed in the tomb was defiled, BUT not with his own sin, but with OUR sins. When He raised that body (note that the Spirit of the Lord was apart from it as ours will be when we die) He reentered it in perfect Holiness, having put away all the former sin by offering His own blood before the Father. The Cleansing Spirit rejuvenated that body that was dead with all of our sin. Thus Resurrected to Newness of Life...this is what Paul talks about in Romans 6:4. When we enter the Tomb of Christ's Death and Suffering by Faith in His finished work, we come out not with the smell of putrefaction as some worker in a slaughter house, but as pure, fresh and Holy, having no stain or evidence that sin had marred and defiled us to Death. This principle is the Justification Process. You had sinned, but now you are made Righteous as the One who made you is Righteous. We could look at this process in the same light as you look upon a child in an orphanage. Once homeless, now with a Home. The homeless do not earn their home, they have no ability. The Home of Christ is a gift to those who could not possess it without the Giver (Eph 2:8). Once you exit this earthly life, you do not leave defiled, because you were renewed before defilement could run its course, just as it failed to finish off the Saviour.

Right now where you are....does the smell of Death or Life linger upon you? Whatever you are around in the physical, its odors cling to you. If you have been with Jesus, washed in His blood, then the sweet fragrance of LIFE permeates you and is transforming you each day. If you cannot claim Him as Saviour and Lord, then you wear your grave clothes proudly, but Tragically. Your end will be rotting and decaying, no matter how good a person you judge yourself to be. Do you know what a sinner's life is like? Its like the dead body that the women came to anoint with their spices. The spices could cover the stench for a while and almost make it unknown, but there is never enough spices to save you from that which is transpiring inside. The decaying man can be changed by admitting the sinful condemnation we own, and asking that same Jesus who rose from the dead to come in to the tomb of our heart and infuse us with Life and be our Lord and Saviour.

Christian, let us refocus this season of Easter, upon NEW LIFE, not the old you came from. No one fondly reaches their noses towards the rotting garbage dump, neither should we. It is enough that we live in a garbage world, so in this world, seek other rotting corpses of sin, not to join them, but rather to witness of what the Life of the Saviour can do. Oh what the leper could tell us about being cleansed! The joy is ours just as it was his. Tell others about the only One who taketh away the sins of the world. May Life, His Life, be evidenced in you by the dying.

'Rescue the Perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus the Mighty to Save."

Dear Heavenly Father, as we celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of Your Son and our Saviour, help us to appreciate and to live out the Life that lingers on us and that we should point others, who are dead, as we were, to the Grace of Christ. May we be living for You each day and bringing the Good News of Hope where it is not heard. Thank You for loving us so much, that a reprobate could be called a son. In thy Name we Praise Thee, Amen.

THE WAY FOR ALL Part 2 of "The" Series

John 14:4-7 (New Century Version)

⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going."

⁵ Thomas said to Jesus, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. So how can we know the way?"

⁶ Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.

⁷ If you really knew me, you would know my Father, too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him."

Are you directionally challenged? I am (sheepish slant of the head). I wished I had the exploration ability and skill of Lewis and Clark, Sacajawea, Columbus, Commodore Perry and many others. I can get to places I have memorized the route to, but unless a GPS accompanies me to someplace strange, forget it. How often I have been turned around and can't seem to figure out the right way when its staring at me! Likewise, how often do I hear someone rattle off directions and I am just as lost in the wise babbling as if I were already physically. Its an embarrassing thing physically to be lost because we don't know the way to go, but spiritually its a different matter. Different in the fact that we all have lost our way from God, in fact, we never were at any point since birth on the right track whatsoever. The physical and the spiritual share similarities and that's the topic of this series of blog postings I have entitled "The..."

Last month around Christmas time, I wrote to you about Jesus Christ being The Reason for everything we do at Christmas whether we realize it or not. This month we will look at Jesus Christ being The Way we all must go whether we realize it or not. The key condition in all of this is our awareness of our need of Him. When we are aware of Him, things aren't so confused, in fact, our eyes are opened wider and we see things that the world finds foolish. For example, do you see from last month why Christmas lights are put out? We don't put them out in such extravagance in August! There is a deeper reason that the world doesn't know. They think they are decorating just to keep up with a trend, but they don't know why they use lights in place of sticks. Only to the Christian do we understand that the tradition of lights stemmed from our Saviour, the Light of the World, who came to shed light into darkness.

Now we press on to the Way. Did you know that the Bible writers and folks for centuries did not call Christianity for its name? They simply called Christianity, "The Way." The title was never in dispute because those who knew Christ also knew that salvation cannot be given another title. Our text verse is a very simple yet profound and well known one. We have memorized it in Sunday School. But do we understand it full impact? This verse is arguably the point of dissension and hatred that man have toward the Gospel. Men like the idea somewhat of Jesus being Saviour and in times past even calling Him Lord, but to focus so narrowly on this point that only His Way can save a soul is such a bitter draft to drink that mankind makes havoc for those who propose and believer it.

So we ask three questions...

1. Why can't I have eternal life on my terms?

2. Why isn't my religion accepted by Christians as a valid way to Heaven?

3. Why must I come to Christ by faith when I cannot see Him versus having my own spiritual experience with gods I can see?

The first answer:

People have been engrossed for so long in a carnalistic culture that purports ownership and control. When God says we are overseers of what we "own" we don't really take it literally because we have a bank title, a deed, a receipt, etc that proves to the world we own or control what we go after. No one considers in all reality, until the last days of life, that all we thought we had is only ours temporarily as the Bible says. Likewise, our own mortal lives are not at our command. Sure we can take our own life by suicide although in some instances it fails. But none of us can control any facet of our lives (i.e. no hospital for me today, no car accidents, no loss of job, etc.) So if this temporary physical life is not to be had on our terms why would we think a life we cannot comprehend would be either? We are not in control here or there. You can never negotiate a loan completely on your own terms, borrow 5 million, pay off a penny a day! Likewise we cannot negotiate on our own terms with God, we have too high a debt and no resources to pay it off with, that, even if we could in time pay, He's not interested in them in the first place. We forget that we are enemies of God in our natural state. An enemy defeated as we are has no bargaining room, its either accept the terms or be annihilated, there is no threat to God that we could leverage some point with.

Another way of seeing the answer to this question is, "how are we going to make ourselves fit for Heaven?" Can we be good enough? Can someone else unction God for us? Is there something we possesses that God must recognize? Simply the answers are No, No and No. God says in His law that if any of His original 12 commandments are broken than all is broken forever. Some religions teach we can have an earthly priest pray us or buy us out of punishment. I have always found it interesting that since one blind man can't help another, why should one sinner buy for another? Then too, there is no good quality anywhere within us that God sees as fit to pay for our sins. He tells us our own righteousness is like a filthy rag (Isaiah 54:6) and there is none good not even one ( Romans 3:10). It make us look good when we can negotiate, but therein is part of the problem, salvation is not of us as Paul reminds in Ephesians 2:9. Sin has to be removed to allow entrance into a place where sin does not exist. Therefore it must be paid for by someone who doesn't have sin and that lets out every human being. Therefore we cannot come to God on our own terms no matter how honorable we deem them to be because we are not pure before His eyes, only His Son Jesus Christ can do such for us . And isn't it so grand not to have too worry about being good enough or getting it altogether without losing one vital piece or slipping up in any way? Thanks be to God we CANNOT come to Him on our own, we'd never make it.

The Second Answer:

Having worked through our own deficiencies we turn now to "divine" methods for our help. Since there has been sin, since the Fall in the Garden, there has been religions...other roads to find the same destination. It is important to note here that you, if you know Christ as Saviour, that you should never call Christianity a religion. Here is why. Religion proper works its way to God by the penance of man, Christianity paid its way to God by the blood of God's Son. Now in all seriousness, even humanly speaking, who would you given a "choice" receive from, some stranger who blasphemes you or your own dearest Son in whom you are well pleased? That ends the answer there, but I won't. Mankind is used to choices. Choices of food entrees, cars, jobs, gadgets, clothes, houses, schools, etc. Naturally the unredeemed mind thinks its okay to choose ways to God. Abraham Lincoln once said that in any great contest both sides pray to God...both may be, but one must be wrong. But when you say that you cause great offense. Man is proud of his or her religion...why...because there works within it make them feel good or important. To say that your works are no good or your belief system is flawed is like a man burning down your house after 50 years of work and stuff put into it. Any religion teaches that God can be approached in many forms, but personal work is behind it all. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost. He is the One that seeks simply because He is the One who knows the WAY. People who are lost don't know the way home, that's why they're lost.

Another reason why religions won't carry you into the arms of God is because they make things more complicated by their own rules. This is why we say they are not from God, because they don't stick to His Word. The Jews were good examples of this. The Jews had the Law of God, but they added their own to it. God must be a stand alone God from all other gods or He is No God! When we mix worldly and humanistic ideas in the soup of God's Word the result is bitter to both us and Him. Pride, its pride that tries to establish their own way. We don't want to humble ourselves to admit the obvious sin condition, so we try to make ourselves look good enough through liturgy or poverty, or good deeds to pacify our minds we are really going to be okay before a Holy God. That thought ends when we are aflame in Hell, never to return.

Don't be trapped in the web of religions no matter how sincere they may be. The equation is simply Faith in Jesus Saving Power + Nothing = Eternal Life. Christians can't accept another way because the other ways are nothing more than figments of man's twisted imagination. They no more exist than do little green men from Mars.

The Third Answer:

Now that we strip away the personal terms and the religious side of our desperation, all we are left with is Faith. Faith is a hard thing, of this there can be no doubt. The Apostle Paul in Hebrews 11:1 tells us plainly that what we have in, we hope for because it is not seen yet. Christ Himself said that He would be a stumbling block to mankind. Not that He wanted to make things difficult, but man has to grasp this concept of Faith if he or she is to be saved. It is true the disciples SAW and believed on Christ, but Jesus told Thomas how blessed are those who believe but have not seen me as you have. Faith also is a spiritual weeding out process. For a person to come to Christ they must trust Him by Faith, if they do not accept this, they perish. So when Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," He is saying that not all men will come to Him because it is a hard way and not broad and easy as men like it. The whole point of Faith is that you cannot see yet you believe. This point will knit you closer to the heart of God and genuinely identify you with His service. You really have to be committed to something that you have never seen and Christ knows that, its His way of separating the faithful from faithless. Now let me pause and say that many people believe in what they do not see....this is the next point in the answer.

Pagan worshippers have NEVER seen their gods because they do not exist. But this differs from Christianity in that a pagan worships a representation (idol, painting, etc) AS IF IT WERE god. In other words, that statue or whatever becomes god literally. Thus they seem to comfort themselves in that they see, yet they are not comforted because their god is as wishy washy as man is, thus their god is never figured out. Their minds are blinded. They don't realize that sin causes a lack of crops in the drought, not the dissatisfaction of their god. They don't realize its Jehovah God who sends rain, not because of doing a fertility rite correctly.

One last thing about Faith is its object. The word "faith" is used too loosely. People pacify themselves in proclaiming they have faith. They don't understand the sentence they spoke was never completed. Faith must have an object. Faith alone is worthless. Likewise as James tells us, without works it is dead. The whole idea is that Faith in Jesus is the real thing, and if we have faith in Jesus our natural response will be to evidence that faith by our works, but NOT because we work to have Faith or be saved by works. Check what you put faith in. Make the step to have faith in the WAY, the only Way to Life Eternal.

The Way, is simple, its almost too simple and that's why the worldly minded person misses the route. Thanks be to God that He gave us His Word who is The Way that leads to what we need most, Himself as a payment for our sins we naturally have by Adam's fall. Are you trusting in the Way today? Does Christ in your life come coupled with a few other charms or talisman's to "ensure" your entrance to Heaven? He's the only Way, He needs no other help. If you're struggling with this, please write me, jonbrowning@suddenlink.net and mention this article, or send me a message via Facebook. I would be glad to help if I can. Christian, may this help to combat some argument you may have come across in witnessing. Please pass it on to others either in print or e-mail

Father in Heaven, You're Son is the only Way. There is none else, there will be none else. We need no other Saviour for Christ has done it all freely to us but at great cost to You and Him. May we tell others of this life changing truth and help us to be followers of the Way as we encourage others to come with us. Thank You for it all. In Your Name we ask, Amen.

The Reason For It All

Galatians 4:3-5 (King James Version)

³Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

⁴But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

⁵To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Whenever you undertake to do a certain thing, do you ever find yourself questioning inside, "Why do I do this?"

Sometimes when we get wrapped up in doing a certain tradition, we lose our senses of awareness. We do certain ritualistic things and do it mindlessly. Sometimes we find ourselves at Christmas doing things like putting up a tree and decorating it, sending cards, singing more than usual, finding ourselves giving to charities more than we do normally. Christmastime find ourselves doing many things, some with great remembrance to the reason, other times not so much.

Ruts are part of our human lives. Sometimes we become like factory workers on an assembly line just constantly doing one thing over and over again until it becomes so repetitive we lose our train of thought. During this season of the year, do you find yourselves doing things that you don't stop and wonder why? Wouldn't it be good to reflect on the reason why do certain things.

Of course for the Christian there is a stock answer, and a correct one although not very deep, that we do what we do because it's Christ-mas. Its for Christ. Again, quite correct, but how? What is it or how is it that Christ is rooted in all that we do. We hear that Jesus is "The Reason for the Season." but just blanket statements doesn't bring understanding, they're no more than what a writer calls, "glittering generalities." So this article may help bring some light to what we do for THE REASON.

Lets deal with some traditions in our Decorating, why certain things?

Putting out Lights. Ever ask yourself, why not put out lights in July or February? People who don't want to have anything to do with the Christ part of Christmas are obsessed with outdoing their neighbors with light displays in their homes, shrubs, yard ornaments etc. What they don't realize is that they are glorifying God because according to John 1, Christ was sent as a Light into the world to repeal darkness. That's what Christmas lights do, they take a dark street and make it glow for all to see.

Then there is the tree. Yes, the pagan symbol or worship the greens as a symbol of life. Oh we just said it. Life. Remember it was God the Son who created evergreens with everything else. God does nothing without purpose and largely without symbolism. The Gospel of John 1 again reminds us that "in Him was LIFE." Life eternal as the woman at the well found out. Life eternal that never ends, like the evergreen that does not die in the coldness of winter. So yes it may be a pagan idea and we should NOT worship any tree or greenery, but we are to worship the Christ who created it and remember that the Greenery points to HIS purpose and mission into the world. If the life of Christ died off in the winter, it would be no Life we would want. I firmly believe that God had His hand in the evergreen because He knew what it symbolized whether the idea came from the pagan or the Christian. He is Lord over all.

What about Food preparation and distribution? Oh the fond memories only food can recollect! There is no one alive on the planet who doesn't appreciate the wonderful aroma of fresh cooked food, be it in the form of cookies, meats, veggies, etc. Food is the source of nourishment for the human body, taste is its beauty in necessity. Jesus ate with His disciples and friends. Matter of fact I think He enjoyed it very much to eat hot baked bread or vegetables of the day. We know that the Last Supper was symbolic of His death, but notice that He told His disciples that He would drink the "fruit of the vine," with them, in Heaven. This was not a dread, but an expectation and anticipation. Jesus had great compassion on the multitudes for their spiritual needs, BUT, He knew they had nothing to eat. He could have sat down and taught, but first He wanted them fed. There are many more examples. Food prep and distribution reminds us of the need the Lord knew we had. We fix special meals and find ourselves giving to charities the stuff to make such meals because its an avenue for the Gospel. Jesus knew that a personal need met means love. Jesus came not for the Spirit only, but for the body. Why else would he care if the multitudes had anything to eat? Why else would He have hot fish baking for weary fisherman? Why else would He change water into wine? Why else would He have His disciple pluck corn on the Sabbath? For His Father's glory yes, His motive for it all, but it was for us, our bodies which He inhabited had needs, so His heart was moved towards them.

How does singing enter into all this Holiday Stuff? The Christian ought to be singing praises to our Lord at all times, as the Psalmist reminds. However at Christmas there is a special genre of music that is for especially this season. Actually I sing and listen to Christmas music all year, how can one neglect the entry of God into the world in song, it signaled the change that changed our whole future! Perhaps we sing more for two reasons...First the music is joyful and beautifully scored, Second it brings fond memories of yore. But there is a third. Luke 2 records the Heavenly Host praising God as they announced to the Shepherds. If an angel sings who has no merit in eternal life, how much more should we the recipients of that Greatest of All Gifts? We have the heart drive in us who have been redeemed to lift joyous praises to our Lord because we are thankful to Him for coming to this world for our good, when He did not have to. This singing is a slice of the coming Kingdom I believe. I believe in the Kingdom there will be concerts and recitals and music scored like never before. Why? THE KING will be present, just as He was then, but with ALL His might and power and glory! How shall we not sing? Start practicing! Choir rehearsal is now, the 1000 year performance is coming soon!

Why do I send cards at Christmas? Okay, there were no cards sent from the Bethlehem post office to the whole Roman Empire that wondrous night. No cards, but there was a lot of things to tell! Christmas cards actually started being sent in the Victorian period of our European American history. Note that the happiest of all these things are celebrated where Christ has been honored and believed in. Actually Mother's day has superseded Christmas in card sending but its still a big industry. Most of the cards I have received have been Christ centered. The reason we send cards is that we care for people and want them remembered at this time, which is lonely for many. At the same time, Christians desire that the true message of the Christmas Gospel be sent out. We want the cards that are beautifully illustrated and verbally eloquent because its the Kings birthday! Like the angels, whose name means "messenger," we want all to get the message of the love of Christ that He showed us on Christmas day. We want very clearly to share with all men what Christ has done for us and what He can do for them. We hand address these many pieces of mail just as God Himself hand addresses His message to the human heart, "Dear...(Your name insert here), I love you, I sent My only Son for you, I don't want you to die in your sins, trust My Son, He will save you." That is the real reason behind card sending.

How did Santa Claus worm his way into all this so freely? Well it was time we tackled the tough one, the case of the little fat man in the white beard that the world clamours over in place of Christ. Is Santa Claus an institution of Satan? No. A tool maybe. I have always said that if a fat jolly man who rides around with reindeer challenges your faith and ours corporately, then we have no faith at all.

Santa Claus doesn't bother me, I even have been know to impersonate him. He is no threat to Christ either. For those who know Christ as Savior and Lord, the feeling should be mutual. How did He get so wrapped up in Christmas? Like anything good, the Devil will overly pervert it to take men's minds off the real meaning of anything. The only problem with that is the real Santa Claus (not of the North Pole) was named St. Nicholas. Nicholas was a real person who devoted his life to doing good things, primarily for children. Nicholas was not motivated by personal aggrandizement, but a sincere desire to imitate the Master by doing good in the world. So shall our pattern ought to be. Speaking of children, these were the special ones Jesus cared for and on their account gave the most vehement rebuke He ever gave to His disciples as they wanted the children to go away. I am not saying this is justified reason to put Santa alongside Jesus, no one dares be in His place, but if you desire to know Saint Nicks place in all this, I think this is why. Remember too that the world views gift giving as the job of Nicholas, which is what he is known for in church history, but even Nicholas knew that he was just trying to serve the Lord and give what he could, just as the Lord did, but not in competition, rather in desire that others would know the GIFT of GIFTS when they received something wonderful they did not deserve.

Jesus Christ is the root cause and reason for everything good of Christmas, but is He the reason you celebrate it? So many people have said, "are you ready for Christmas?" The only reply you can give is the one that is true in your heart. If you have Christ in your heart, you are ready. He is the Reason you are ready.

Glorious Father and Sovereign King Jesus, oh how we thank You for desiring such wretches of sin cursed blasphemers to be included in your Heavenly Kingdom. You were moved so much by love you gave everything freely to us to be saved, You sent Your only Son. For we know that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish as he or she deserves, but will have everlasting Life with You. There is no way to thank You for this adequately. May this Christmas season find us thankful and moreover sharing that Good News with our fellow man. Thank You that You are the Reason and not some worldly fad. Help us to keep our focus on the Manger and then the Cross and to our Heavenly Home one glorious day. In all this, help us to serve You in sincerity and Truth all the year. In thy Matchless and Holy Name we pray, Amen.

Bounty Without Labor

Romans 5:6-9

6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.


As many of you who know me or have graciously read what I have written you know that I am a traditionalist in nature. Thanksgiving time is a day of proper thanksgiving to the Lord first, remembering traditions and taking time to listen to old familiar stories. No football game - no problem, family first, not the TV. When I think of old times and the way Thanksgiving meals used to be, you may recall in your mind that title of the old song, "Over the River and Through The Woods." We can see that old white wooden house nestled in a meadow or on a hill. You see the fields that were sewn, harvested and now the hay in stacks. On the table you see all the fixings we think of, except these were not bought at a grocery store, nor did the pumpkin pie come out of a can, but all through hard work all year round we see the bounty of harvest. I think of the Pilgrim's and how much they labored, suffered and died for what they believed in. They truly enjoyed their hard work's bounty, it was one of very few bright spots in the New World.

Spiritually speaking, we have a bounty of thanksgiving to celebrate that was wrought by not only hard work but hard suffering. Our bounty of thanksgiving came as a pre-planned act of benevolence that could not be explained if the word "grace" did not exist. All that we are and even all the material blessings of bounty we enjoy stems from this singular and eternally profound offering of Jesus Christ for you and me.

The vast difference between our bounty in Christ and our bounty in the fruits of this earth is that we did absolutely no work to receive it. If you have ever been invited to a home where Thanksgiving dinner was prepared and you sit down to a beautifully set table, the first impression may be, "wow look at all the work that went into this," the second, "I am really blessed, I am invited as a guest to freely partake without personal expense." That table or whatever expression of unlabored kindness you may experience is what the Apostle Paul speaks of in the Romans passage.

Let us examine what is meant by a bounty without labor:

First, there is examination.
None of us like to go to the doctor. However, it is necessary, especially when we suspect something is wrong. There is another type of exam, and that is like an evaluation test to see where we place in a certain classification. This type of test is what we see ourselves in from verse 6. "When we were yet without strength..." What type of strength? The physical cannot be mentioned because it cannot apply. The spiritual strength cannot be measured because we simply don't have any to cope with our eternal needs. Christ saw that we have no strength to withstand and pay for our huge sin debt. Unlike the prison work farms, we cannot pay for our sins by labor. Simply we are stuck because of our weakness. So when God examines and evaluates the condition of the human race, He has two choices, 1. Let them die, 2. Let His Son die for them. He chose the latter. We failed our examination, but Christ passed the sin exam Who knew no sin himself but became sin for every man. Thus He came into the world and labored and died for us.

Second, there is classification. Verse 7 lists two types of people whom some would seem worthy perhaps, maybe, possibly, scarcely to be worth dying for, and we didn't make the list. The "righteous" man is not a man without sin in the context, but, a man who could be considered blameless of a certain accusation, thus, this man was righteous in this setting. Unfortunately Jesus told us that if we break one commandment of God's law, we are a violator of the whole law. So from that we know that no matter what the sin, what the case, eternally we are still condemned, it matters not how righteous we are in any one given situation.
Then we have a "good" man. This is a notch down from the righteous man. The good man is one who is generally known for not being a trouble maker or a reviler or rabble. We might call such a one as a good law biding citizen who keeps to himself and may even be involved in charitable acts. However again Jesus said that unless a person's good works exceed the works of the Pharisees and scribes, admission cannot be had into Heaven. Paul reminds us what is written in the Psalms that there is in Ps 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. So even if one were to die for a "good" man, it would be a waste. So Jesus Christ laid the foundation for eternal destiny, that we might be made righteous through Him. We could not sew good works like seed to reap eternal life. Christ however can make you fit for Heaven simply by taking on the blood of His Son. The working came about as the Master walked the Earth teaching the people and providing an example of service that we could follow after. Laying all of this foundation that we might be righteous is a job that even Christ performs now as He represents the Christian before the bench of the Father while Satan tries his best to accuse us beyond what the blood of Christ covers, in vain.

Third, there is justification.
Romans 5:8-9 is a favored verse of us all. This verse ties it all together with the preceding verses. The first word may be well, in our perspective, be the most important. The word is "But." You see the whole descriptive examination and classification left us with the most grim of sentence we could ever receive. No criminals ever heard such a condemnation, no patient ever heard such a dark prognosis, nor anyone faced such a horrible future as the implied state every man finds himself in before 5:8. So in knowing all this, the word "but" is introduced. Oh the mercy, the pardon, the favor, the turning of wrath to love is all wrapped up in this word. God said in effect, "Yes its true the man doesn't measure up, he doesn't have holiness, he doesn't have my righteousness, but, but, but, he will after My Son is finished doing what I have commanded Him to do."
"God commendeth His love towards us." This phrase could be perhaps the greatest single string of words that has impacted man the most. Why? Because we got what we did NOT deserve in place of the fruits of our being. Depravity never had such a benefactor as Jesus Christ. It is of little wonder why Satan hates the believer. We whom Satan tried to encapsulate the whole human race into the same condemnation as he, has a way of escape that he never had, nor ever will. There is not one mention in all the Holy Writ, that God ever commended His love towards Satan or any of the fallen angels.
"while we were yet sinners."
You see, you cannot clean yourselves up to come to God. Christ died for us in our default eternal state. He didn't wait to see if man could do better. God knew man's sin disease was terminal and getting worse day by day. Jude tells us that exceeding joy is given when Christ will present us before the Father, why? Because, He cleaned us up! We didn't fit, measure up or anything, yet we were made clean through His blood in vs. 9, this is Justification. The definition is: "one declared righteous and put in the standing of a righteous person, that never had been righteous before."
"Christ died for us."
The one thing He never deserved, Christ got. He deserved a kingdom, which He will have. He deserved a praise from all creation, which he has and will have. He deserves glory and honor, which He has. Never though did He deserve a cross. No amount of understanding can be mounted to take in the colossal words of this part of the verse. Again there is great emphasis put on seemingly small words. The key word here is "died," but the greater object word is "us." Who is us, beyond the physical meaning of man? "Us" means the most despicable, defiled, rotten, garbage laden, blaspheming, hell bent, cursing, fornicating, slimy, dismal wretches there were in all the creation. For such, the antithesis of all these adjectives, died for us.

What a thanksgiving bounty! What a joyous shout we should give! Bounty that we did not work for and could not, became ours for the asking.

Our eternity, a endless frame, beyond this life is settled to those who freely receive it. No payment to make, its made.

Because of Christ's work, the smell of fire no longer lingers on us who believe.

Heavenly Father, There is no words to adequately express what bounty has been provided for us at Christ's expense. Help us at this time of Thanksgiving, to treasure, and to share that which is provided beyond measure. Thank you. For your Praise we give our thanks, Amen.