Gone to be with Jesus

Dorothy Elizabeth Schnaith

1919-2011

The Passing of a Saint

Acts 17:25b
...since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.


My family and I were able to witness something quite remarkable yesterday. We witnessed the above verse happen in reverse beginning with the taking away of everything, then breath, then life. 

My wife's Grandma Dorothy was brought to Jesus yesterday. And we had the remarkable blessing of being there when she took her last breath; then her last heart beat. 

We arrived yesterday morning at the hospital to see Grandma laying perfectly still on a bed. She was breathing slow and heavy, yet peaceably. All had been taken from her except her breath and her life. Her family was gathered around her yet I am fairly sure she did not know it. 

After a few hours, my wife, as she was looking at her Grandma take her last breath said, "she's not breathing anymore." Everyone in the room watched on. Dorothy's only daughter touched her neck quite softly and said there was still a slight pulse. She then walked out of the room to get the nurse. The nurse came in, checked her pulse, turned on her heel and embraced the one who just lost her Mother and friend. 

Dorothy had lost everything, then her breath and lastly her life. But what we may see as loss, she most assuredly experienced as gain. We bring nothing into this life except the soul and body given us. We leave taking nothing with us, not even our body, just our soul. 

Dorothy was an amazing woman. My family is so much the better because of her. She has taught my wife to cook, and to love and serve her husband. To be honest and truthful in all her endeavors. She has taught my daughters to sew, knit and demand perfection in the things they make.  She has shown me the importance of leaving a godly legacy. 

Dorothy has longed for a couple of years to depart from this earth and be with Jesus. You finally have your desire Grandma. We love you and will miss you greatly. 

The David's

Not lying, or a lunatic; any other option?

     I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. 

     We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said, or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form. (C.S. Lewis)

I am reading this morning John 14. Here are two statements from Jesus...

     6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

     9b "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."

I was reminded of C.S. Lewis' argument I heard a few years ago and thought I would share it with you incase you haven't heard it. Can you imagine coming up to me and saying, "Scott, you say God is real, you say you know Him; well then, show me God the Father!" And I say to you, "hey look at me, when you look at me, you ARE looking at God!"

If that statement came out of my mouth, I would either be a liar (because I know I am not God, but am telling you that I am). Or I would be a lunatic (because I am telling you that I am God, and I actually think that I am, but I am not). Or I am Lord (I am exactly who I say I am).

Who do you say Jesus is?

How do I know you have a Mind?

(1 Peter 3:8a) Finally, all of you, have unity of mind,


(Proverbs 28:26a) Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,


I am sitting at my desk this morning and pondering again the Proverbs passage. If I trust in my own mind, I am a fool. Does this mean that I am not to trust in the basic reliability of my senses? Yes and no. I think it means I am not to trust my senses in an ultimate sense. My senses are good and God given, but I am not to trust that they are the standard or the source of truth.

Again, I read that if I am trusting (in the ultimate sense) in my own mind, I am a fool. OK. So now, you come down in my office and sit down across from me. You read the same verse I am looking at. You read that if you trust in your own mind, you are a fool. So now I know that I can not trust in my own mind, and you know you are not to trust in your own mind. Am I to then look across to you and trust in your mind? Why would I? You yourself just found out that you couldn't trust in your mind, why should I trust in your mind? Now say the rest of my family came down here and read the same verse. How about one by one everyone in the state of Minnesota? Everyone in the country? The world? Get my drift?

Lets go farther. I pull the theologian Jonathan Edwards off of my shelf and begin to read what he has to say. I have his mind in front of me even though he is long dead. Do I trust in his mind? How about if I pull Plato's writings from the internet? What about I bring my Bible and go sit in front of your Pastor? The Pope? The writings of Mohammad? The Chinese philosopher Confucius? Wikipedia? The local news reporter?

How do we obey 1 Peter 3:8, and have unity of mind? There are so many different opinions of what truth is, how could you and I and all of the world have unity of mind? Well it seems to me that we would have to unify around one source of truth as the standard. One persons mind.

I am a Christian. I am one because God awakened my mind to see that it was bankrupt. It was unable to lead me to truth. He shows me daily that neither my mind, or anyone else's mind is the source of truth, except Jesus Christ. You must trust in someones mind? Who's will it be?

Standing on Mashed Potatoes

Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26 ESV)


You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3 ESV)



The word "faith" is a confusing word these days. It is used over and over again by our media. "She is a person of faith." "You have your faith, I have mine." Faith is talked about as if it is something physical, tangible and objective in and of itself.

Let me give you a synonym for the word faith that will be helpful. Trust. Faith means the same thing as trust. Lets substitute the word trust for the word faith in the above statements. "She is a person of trust." "You have your trust, I have mine." Does not a question come to your mind as you read those sentences? Like maybe, trust in WHAT? Or trust in WHO?

I heard a statement a few years ago that stuck with me. Your faith is only as good as the object it is resting upon. You see, if faith is trust, and trust is aimed at an objective reality, it is important to determine what, or who my trust is in. I can have all sorts of trust in Santa Clause, but if the object is not trustworthy, or real, neither is my faith.

Is my mind objective? The mashed potatoes between my eyeballs maybe physical and objective (called my brain), but my mind is not. My mind is spiritual. So what does the above scripture mean, whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool? How do I trust in something spiritual and not physical?

Your mind is indeed spiritual. The thoughts you have also are spiritual. But to determine what you actually believe, we need to have some communication. Either you can speak to me with words that talk about something you trust in that is objective, or you can write these words down on something I can read. Words have meaning. Your specific words talk about specific things.

If I sit down and think about all the things I trust are true. I pull them from the file cabinet of my mind and get them out on paper so I can see clearly what it is that I believe is true. How do I know that the things I think are true, are actually true? Well, if I just say, "they are true, because I believe they are true," I am a fool. Where do my thoughts rest? What is the solid ground that my beliefs are built upon?

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. God has done exactly what I just suggested you do. He has taken his thoughts and put them on paper that is objective and real. The ink blotches on the paper are not the things to rest upon, but the reality those words point to. I am a fool, when I am trusting in my own mind as the source of truth. I have perfect peace when my mind is resting upon every word breathed out by God as the sole source of truth. The Scriptures are the mind of Christ.

How Shall a Man be Blessed?

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. (Psalm 128:1-4 ESV)


One of the wonderful things about God is that He is not like me. You and I have been created in His image, but that image has been twisted after the fall.

If I were God, and I spoke the above verses; I would show that the only way to have my blessing was to fear me, and walk according to my ways. People would know who was a Christian, and who was not by looking at the family. If a man and woman married and had an abundance of children sitting around the dinner table, this was a Christian family. I was giving them their blessing and it would be obvious to all.

God says that thus shall a man be blessed who fears the Lord. Thus? In this way. This is the way that a man shall be blessed who fears the Lord. The blessing is to have a wife barefoot and pregnant, bringing forth gloriously beautiful children. And to have these children sitting around the dinner table in abundance.

The amazing thing about God is that He not only blesses the Christian man with a fruitful wife and an abundance of children, He does this for the non-Christian man as well. The non-Christian man is receiving a blessing from God, yet does not acknowledge God is the giver of the gift. And still, God does this over and over again.

If you alone had a certain skill. There was no else in the world who was able to do what you could do. Would you do this skill for people again and again and again without getting any credit at all. Actually most of the time you performed this skill for a man, he gave credit somewhere else. He used the fact that you performed this skill for him in secret, as a springboard for showing all the world that no one needs you at all.

Letting God be Lord over All

This is one of the passages of Scripture that convinced us that we should let God be Lord over the womb. He loves children. They are His blessing to us!


Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.

Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:1-5 ESV)

Being Kept in the Hour of Trial

The Church is the Bride of Christ (Eph 5:22-33, Rev 21, 22). Some of the promises Christ makes to His Church are general to all of the members, and some are specific to one particular person. 

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out seventy-two particular people to go to various towns to proclaim that he himself would soon be coming. He gave them special power to "tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you." Does Jesus give me this special power as well? This seemed to be specific to that time, and to those people. 

What about the Churches in the book of Revelation? Well, Jesus has one Bride. He is not married to many different wives. He is married to one. But this one wife is made up of many different types and kinds of people. Jesus has one people. Gal 3:28 says, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

(Revelation 3:10)

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

Now, there are many debates that go on in Evangelicalism about the book of Revelation. I am sure not skilled enough to speak of much of the things that are debated. But I do see a promise here for the Church in general, not just a group of particular people. 

We saw the movie Courageous. My wife and I saw it two weeks ago, and I took my two oldest girls yesterday. The movie is wonderful, and I highly recommend you go and see it. In the movie, all of the men who seek to make a stand for Jesus, who seek to patiently and enduringly keep his word, are tested. They go through an hour of trial. And what we see is that Jesus does indeed keep those who keep his word. 

The text says that trial is coming to those who dwell on the earth. I dwell on the earth, therefore trial is coming to me. This trial is meant to test me. The promise is that if I stay obedient to the teachings of Jesus, he will keep me. If I keep his word, he will keep me. 

If you keep the words that Jesus spoke, he will make you a pillar in the temple of God (Rev 3:12)

Are You Deceived (Part 2)?

Yesterday we looked at the passage in 1 Corinthians and learned that I can deceive myself in my thinking. Today we see that I can deceive myself in what comes out of my mouth.


If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10 ESV)


If we say we have no sin. If we say we have not sinned.
~we deceive ourselves, we make him (God) a liar.


Why am I deceived if I say that I have no sin? Because if I say that I have no sin, and I actually do have sin, then I am deceiving myself. How do I make God a liar? Because God has said that you have sinned. Let me show you...


for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23 ESV)


Did you know this was in the Bible? Lets say it this way...
1. All people have sinned
2. I am a person
3. Therefore I have sinned

So if you say, "I have not sinned." You have just made God a liar because he says that you have sinned. And one of you has to be lying. I have put the above three statements into a syllogism. If I can prove one of the first two statements false, then I make the whole argument fall on its head.

Let me give you two examples. We are at your house standing next to your very cute new puppy and you make this statement, "All dogs are four-legged." And I say, "my sisters old dog Thunder only had three legs." Therefore, not all dogs are four-legged. I have just made you into a liar.

Now lets say you are I are by a well of water. I carry a very heavy lead bucket to the well and drop it down to get some water. I say to you, "watch this jug as it goes into the water, it fills all at once." And you say to me "hey that can't be, Buddha says 'A jug fills drop by drop." Then I say, "well that may be true out in the rain, but it sure is not true in this situation." I have just made Buddha out to be a liar, even though I did not know that "truth" statement was ever made by him until you just told me.

You and I deceive ourselves when we say things as true, that actually contradict something in the Scriptures. This process of deceiving myself less and less I believe we can call sanctification. Sanctification is God making me more and more like Jesus in this life. I become more and more like Jesus, the more my thinking and my words become conformed to the Scriptures.

Are You Deceived?

I woke up this morning wondering if and how I deceive myself. I searched the word "deceive" in the Scriptures and scanned all the verses to find the ones that talked about deceiving myself. I found two passages that speak to the issue (1 Corinthians 3:18, 1 John 1:8).

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
(1 Corinthians 3:18-20 ESV)


There are two commands here. (1) Do not deceive yourself. (2) Become a fool.

How do I deceive myself? I do this in my thinking. I think something about myself that is actually not true, but I think that it is. Specifically I think that I am wise. Could I be wise in this age? Possibly I could. James says that there are two kinds of wisdom; wisdom that comes down from above (James 3:15), and wisdom that comes up from below, that is earthy, unspiritual and demonic (James 3:15). So I could actually have wisdom, but which type do I have? In the 1 Corinthians passage, it is wisdom from below, which is folly with God.


So here is the problem, I have a wisdom of sorts, but I think that the wisdom I have is the important kind of wisdom. I think that the things I know actually make me wise. Paul, who is writing this passage in 1 Corinthians, quotes a portion of an Old Testament passage to prove his point. Psalm 94:8-12...

Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law, (Psalm 94:8-12 ESV)


This passage that Paul quotes tells us how to become truly wise. We become wise by being disciplined by God and being taught by God out of his law. What is the first discipline God has for me? It is to hear the rebuke of God to me. He says that I am the dullest of persons. FOOL, when will you be wise?

The problem you and I have is that we think that the things we know make us so wise. We think we know what is right, what is true, what is good, what makes me happy. I need to hear this rebuke from God to me this morning, and maybe you do to. We are fools! And by understanding that I am a fool, and that the only way to become wise, is to be taught by God out of His Law, is the first step in gaining true wisdom and not deceiving myself.

May God give you and I such a hungering and thirsting for true and pure wisdom, the wisdom we gain through the Scriptures.
     (We'll look at the other passage tomorrow)

A Few Pictures

 A few Pictures of our new daughter Elsa Joy

Ali, Rylee, Samuel and Elsa

She's got piles of hair

Who's Your Eye Doctor?

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11 ESV)


I wear eye glasses. They auto shade when I go out in the sun. When I come inside after my glasses have transitioned to a shade, everything I look at is shaded. It takes a good 4 minutes or so until I am able to see things the way they actually are. 


What color are your glasses? We all have glasses whether we know it or not. We have a lens through which we perceive the world around us, the people around us, and ourselves. If you are unsure of the color of your glasses, let me ask you this...Where did you go to get your prescription? Did you go to human opinion, personal feelings, majority vote, american history, government education, sacred writing?


I used to go to probably a little of all of these eye doctors. But the doctor I sought to become a Christian was the Scriptures. This book alone gives us a true shade of lens to view the world, people and ourselves. 


Lets look at the above Scriptures to get our prescription. We learn we are...weak, ungodly, un-righteous, not good, sinners, under the wrath of God, an enemy of God, and un-reconciled. 


Is this the prescription you have of yourself? This was not my opinion of myself before I was a Christian. I lived a more sinful life than probably all of the people who might read this, yet where did I go to get my prescription? I went mostly to the opinion I had of myself, and I compared myself with a person who I thought was worse than me. Then that person looked to someone worse than him, and that person to someone lower. Until the standard to determine whether I am good or not is the worst and most vilest person in all of creation. Then we all look to him and say, "well at least I am better then him." "I must be good."


Do you see how twisted this is? The standard to determine whether I am good or not is basically the Devil. Where are we to look to determine our goodness? We need to look UP, not down. If all of us look up to Him who is good, to Jesus Christ, it will become evident whether I have a right to think of myself as good. 


God says I am weak, ungodly, un-righteous, not good, sinner, under the wrath of God, an enemy of God, and un-reconciled. 


If you look again at Romans 5:6-11, there is hope to be found for people like you and me. Go to the only Doctor who has the right prescription for our incredible need to see with clear lenses. 

Tempting Myself With Mister Twister

James 1:13-15
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Have you ever been ice fishing? I am assuming either you have, or you can understand the concept. Let's take a quick trip to the lake.

Imagine for me that you have a nice 8" hole in the ice. You tie on your favorite lure to the fishing line. You lower your line and your Vexlar fish locator down the hole. You watch as your lure goes down just before the eyes of an un-expecting fish. Your goal is really to deceive the fish. You want the fish to think that the lure you have offered him will give to him "life" if he eats it. But really the lure will give to him "death", because you are planning to drag him through the hole and make a meal of him.

You start jigging the lure before the eyes of the fish. The fish sees the bait and does indeed grab your lure and is trapped. He fights and fights to try to not go the direction you are leading him. You have successfully deceived him and he will soon be your dinner. 

"But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."

This is exactly the way we deceive and tempt ourselves with sin. We think of an object that is forbidden to us. It may be forbidden for the moment (a spouse to honor and love me the way I think they should), or forbidden forever (to have another wife or husband while being in covenant with the current spouse). We take this thought and jig, jig, jig it before our own mind. We entice ourselves to reach out and bite the object that is forbidden to us at the moment. I am luring and enticing myself with my own desire. 

If we don't take this thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We will reach out and bite the forbidden object. It looks good to us, it promises "life." It looks fun, looks nice, maybe feels right, but it has barbs. And that desire that you have will hook you. It will lead you in a direction you do not want to go. 

The desire has a seed in it. It will conceive and give birth. But it will not give birth to "life," but sin. And when sin grows in the belly and becomes full grown, it will bring forth death.

Jesus Prays At Gethsemane

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go over there and pray." And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand." (Matthew 26:36-46 ESV)

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalms 139:13
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

My two oldest daughters can knit. They have attempted to make all sorts of things, but the one thing that they make quite well are dish rags.

I do not know how to knit, nor do I desire to learn. I have however observed my daughters creating the things they knit, and listen to the lingo. They talk of "casting on," and "casting off," "yarning over" and "pearling." I do not know what any of these things are really, but do have some observations.

Each stitch is extremely important. Each stitch is dependent upon the stitch before it. Each stitch touches the hand of the creator of the dish rag. Each stitch has a role to play in the whole.

The dish rags my girls create are useful, important and have a purpose. But the thing that the dish rags are mainly meant to do is give glory to the creator of the rags.

The womb of a Mother is an amazing place to be. I praise the God of heaven that he brought our fourth child into this world on Tuesday at 2:55. Our new daughter was formed and stitched together by none other than the Creator of heaven and earth. Each bone and sinew touched the hand of God as he was forming her in her mothers womb.

You and I are dish rags. We didn't make ourselves, didn't have one thing to do with our being born. We were brought forth solely by another's will and not our own. We, along with my new daughter, are mainly here to bring glory to the one who formed us in our mothers womb.

Psalms 139:14
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Looking unto Jesus

We are heading to the hospital to Lord willing be a family of six. I have attached my favorite Charles Spurgeon Devotional for your edification. I will try to post the blog with a picture and maybe a video later. 

“Looking unto Jesus.” –Hebrews 12:2

It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ.

He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee–it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee–it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument–it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith.

We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking unto Jesus.” Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.

“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesu’s blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesu’s name.”


Thanks for praying for us. 
Scott

Clarification

Just incase you were wondering. I haven't actually left the faith. Sorry for possibility of confusion. :-)

Wandering Into A Pit

1 Timothy 6:9, 10 ESV

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

Have you ever seen a pit that was dug in the ground as a trap. I have a picture in my mind of one that I saw and I can not remember where (possibly from a Rambo movie). It was a pit large enough for a man to fully stand up in. Along the sides of the pit are smooth wooden spears fastened all along the wall. The spears all are pointing at about a 135 degree angle down. 

If you fell into it, you would be unable to grab a hold of anything to climb out. If a rope was lowered down to pull you out, you would be ripped by the sharp spears all pointing toward you. The pit was covered with a light mesh able only to hold the weight of some leaves that are covering the top, making you unable to detect that it is there. 

Do you know that we are driven by our desires. Everything we do, or don't do is because of our desires. They are the driving engine that power all you think about, all your actions, and all your motives. 

What is the fuel that power your desires? I would suggest that it is LOVE. Your love of ___________. You fill in the blank. 

Are you driven by your love of God? Love of truth? Love of nature? Love of self? Love of significance? Love of safety? Love of peace and harmony? Love of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Love of personal glory? Love of athletics? You get the picture, it is the love of anything. But what specific fuel am I powered by that led me into this pit that I described above? It is the love of MONEY. 

"It is through THIS CRAVING that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

I am here because of my love of money. I have wandered away from THE FAITH. 

Looking For The Escape Route

1 Corinthians 10:12-14 ESV

"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry."

I work in and on top of a lot of different buildings. Sometimes when I have an extended job to do at a certain place, the facility director will tell me what I should do, and where I should go incase of a fire. I am instructed where the fire extinguishers are located, and where the exit doors are. Most of the time though, if I am working on a roof, the escape route is the roof hatch. 

But what tells me that there is a problem happening inside the building? Obviously if terrorists overtook the building that I was on top of, I probably wouldn't have a clue. But if there was a fire, I would know it by some kind of a siren. This would indicate to me that a problem was happening inside the building and I would need to find my escape route. 

Whether I am in a building, or on top of a building; my way of escape is to "flee." I must move. I must find the nearest exit door and flee the danger. I must find the designated place that is safe. 

There are many good things to learn from the above text. But the thing that is of interest to me thing morning is the prescription God has given me when temptation comes.  

The prescription that I am to do when I am being tempted is to...FLEE. To move, to run away from, to shun, to vanish from the sight of. Joseph was a wonderful example for us to follow. When the temptation came upon him to lay with Potiphar's wife, he bolted and took off out the exit door. He found the nearest escape route. 

If the prescription God has given to prevent me from being overtaken by a temptation is to flee. A question comes to my mind, "flee from what?" What IS temptation? I am going to boil down a definition from John Owen in his book, "Of Temptation."

     Anything that has a force or power to seduce, to draw the mind and heart of a person from its obedience that God requires of him, into any sin, or any degree of it whatsoever.

It strikes me this morning that a temptation's aim is to draw me away from obedience to God's commands. Do you know God's commands? Do you know what God requires of you? If you do not, it is possible that your entire life has been overtaken and you don't even know it. I am on the roof and the siren is sounding, and I think to myself, "that's a pretty sound, maybe I should sing along."

Don't Put The Hose Away Yet

I thought I would share how I cleaned my yard today. I struggle with wanting to rake every year. I own a very low powered leaf blower. It doesn't really work at all. My wife and my kids got me a pressure washer for Fathers Day last year. It is not super powerful, but works well for cleaning things.

I decided to use it as a leaf blower this year and was wonderfully impressed. It worked way better than any leaf blower I have ever used. Here is a video of my leaf blowing in action. Faster than raking
My pressure washer is only a 2600 psi, Troy Built pressure washer with a Honda engine. I have a 0 degree spray nozzle in the end. Basically it is a "jet" orfice.

If you don't like to rake, and have a pressure washer, give it a try, you'll be impressed.

Purpose Driven Signs and Miracles

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20: 30-31 ESV)


I work on top of a lot of roofs. My job is an HVAC Service Technician. I am blessed to get into all sorts of conversations with people about all sorts of topics.

One day I was chatting with a maintenance man about his church. He was on the building committee of his Methodist Church. They were in the process of re-designing their sanctuary. They wanted to add better lighting, better audio, better video; you know, all the things that are in most large modern churches these days. I asked him his purpose for doing all this. He told me that they were doing it so that they could "entertain" people better, "like Jesus did," he said. I asked him what he meant, and he told me that Jesus performed his signs and miracles so that the people could be entertained. They were just trying to do what Jesus did.

Basically this man thought of David Copperfield as a modern day Jesus. Did you know that Copperfield puts on over 500 shows a year, and has outsold every entertainer to date, including Madonna and Lady Gaga. He has sold over 40 million tickets and grossed over 3 billion dollars (says Wikipedia).  Which raises the question, what is the purpose of Copperfields signs and supposed miracles? Is it the same as Jesus' purpose?

Jesus performed his signs and miracles so that you and I might believe something, and that you and I might have something. The thing I am suppose to believe is that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." And the thing I am to have is "life in his name."


Can you imagine if David Copperfield was doing all his work and performing all of his illusions for me? He was doing it so that I could inherit the kingdom he was building through all his work. The 3 billion dollars he has grossed would soon be mine, all mine! And somehow, it would be yours and all yours as well!

As you go back through the gospels and read of the miracles that Jesus performed, know that they are purpose driven. Has his purpose for his miracles been accomplished in you? Do you have the first purpose, and eagerly anticipate the second?

If not, why not?

Blabbin' about Bloggin'

Yesterday I read a blog from one of John Pipers sons named Barnabas. The name of the article is called "Your Greatest Fear. You can read it here. Barnabas's Blog: Your Greatest Fear

The article got me thinking of how you can use your sinful "fear of man" for something good. You see, I have started and not finished many things in my life. Especially in the category of "personal study." I have started and not finished too many books to count. A lot of times, I will begin something without being able to know if I will finish or not. Sometimes this may not be too bad of a thing. I do not seem to have the ability in me to "see" the "end of the matter" very well. I need to jump in and swim for a while to see what the water is like.

But for a couple of months, I have been blabbin' about bloggin'. My family and I are at a stage where we are having babies again, have spent the summer trying to find a smaller and closer Church than Bethlehem, and so have found ourselves not connected to God's people as we were. In addition to that, I have not been using certain passions I have to the glory of God.

I wondered if starting a blog and sharing my thoughts that I have while spending time with Christ in the morning, would be something God would want me to do. So I used my sinful "fear of man," to get me started, and help keep me persevering each morning.

I sent out an email to some friends and family to tell them I was beginning a blog. Maybe none of them are reading what I write, but what it did do was give me a sense of "being accountable" to them. If I do not persevere and continue to write blogs because of my fear of God, maybe I will continue because of my fear of man.

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12 ESV)


We are accountable to God. Are there ways you can use your sinful fear of man, to help you do something to bring Glory to the One whom alone should be feared?

A Morning with Christ

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." (Mark 1:35-38 ESV)

I decided this morning to take a peek at Jesus' life and see what a typical morning looked like for him.

First, he got up out of bed very early in the morning. Does that mean that he got up at 3:30 like I did this morning? Nope. Just to help those of you who enjoy sleeping in in the morning, he just got up before the sun did. This by his definition is "very early."

Notice that he didn't lay in his bed and pray. He got up and went somewhere private. Somewhere that he could spend time alone with God, not fall back asleep, and speak freely with Him without waking up the rest of the family. For me, this is down in my office.

Next, he spent time in prayer. Do you spend your first moments that you get alone in prayer?

Now, it does not say that Jesus spent time in Bible study does it? But where do you suppose Jesus learned what he came away with that morning? He learned it by hearing God the Father speak to him. Where do we hear God the Father speak to us? I would suggest this comes through the Scriptures.

If we glance at what Jesus learned that morning, he learned what he was to do, and where he was to go. He also came away knowing his purpose. He was to preach. He knew that was his purpose. He knew that he was to go to the next town.

It is quite possible that Jesus learned all of this by simply meditating upon Isaiah 61:1.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1 ESV)


Where in the Scriptures this morning could you spend time meditating and praying to God the Father? You don't need a contemporary book to inform you of your purpose, it is already there to be found in your Bible. 

Waiting While Painted Red

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. (Ecclesiastes 7:8, 9 ESV)


How is a new baby, and Apple's iOS 5 the same? Answer...I am currently waiting for both!


How well do you wait? I am struggling as to how to answer at this very moment. My wife's due date for our fourth child was Sunday. We have never had to wait all the way up to the due date before. We have now passed the "due" date by three days. The "due date" is supposedly the date where our family will be "updated." 


We are fans of Apple (when I say "we" I mostly just mean "me"). Apple has said that today is the "due" date for iOS 5 software, and the introduction of iCloud. Today is the day supposedly my iPhone will be "updated."


Neither "due dates" have happened yet, so again I ask myself "how well am I waiting?"


Why is the "patient in spirit" contrasted with the "proud in spirit?" Normally when things are contrasted in the Scriptures, it is because I am either one or the other (the whole law of the excluded middle thing). I think it is because the one who is patient in spirit, has not allowed "anger" to "lodge" with them, and the person who is proud in spirit, has allowed anger to come inside and live with them for an undetermined length of time. 


Does anger walk by both houses? It is probably something like when death walked by both the homes of the Israelites and the homes of the Egyptians. The blood of the slain lamb was the one thing that kept death from coming inside the house. 


May the blood of the One who was slain for me and my family keep anger from entering here. May He cover you this morning as you wait for more or less important things.

A Convict or Convicted?

Have you ever been a Convict? Hearing the gavel slam down on the cherry block of wood, to hear the words..."guilty". And then find yourself being placed behind bars because you have been "convicted" of a crime?


Shamefully I have to say "yes I have". I have had a Judge look at evidence that was brought, and then pronounce the sentence "guilty." I have been behind bars. I have been "convicted" of a crime. 


But is there a difference between being "convicted as a criminal," and being "convicted of sin?"


Jesus told his disciples that it was better that he was going to go away because he was going to send a "Helper" that would "convict the world concerning sin..." (John 16:7-8)


I have been told by another human that I am guilty of sin. I have told myself over and over again that I am guilty of sin. I have been told by the Helper that I am guilty of sin. And I can tell you that it most certainly makes a difference who the source of the sin statement comes from. 


Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit's role is to convict us of our sin. When He does this, we change our direction, our emotions, and our entire corse of life because of the impact He makes when He speaks. When I try and convict myself of a sin that I know I am guilty of, it doesn't produce the same affect. I may put up a good effort, but only to fall on my face again. 


We can be guilty of crime and not know we are guilty of sin. We can be acquitted of a crime and be guilty of sin. When is the last time the Holy Spirit informed you that you were guilty of sin? And what accompanied it was lasting change. If it has been a while; either you are holy and have no sin, or the Holy sin revealer has not spoken to you for some time. 

Genie in a Bottle

I grew up watching the show I dream of Jeannie. And one of the first full production animated movies I watched was Aladdin. In both of these shows, a man finds a lamp of sorts and is able to ask the Genie for anything. And whatever they ask, it will be done for them. Have you ever thought this would be incredibly nice?


Do you remember who's kingdom each of the men who found the lamps sought to build? 


In John 15:7 Jesus says this..."If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."


In both of the shows, (Major Anthony Nelson from I dream of Jeannie, and Aladdin from Aladdin) the Genie sought to give them instruction as to how they were to ask for the things they wanted. If the men would have spent time listening to their Genie, they would surely have asked for better things than they did.


Whatever I ask Jesus for, it will be done for me. Is Jesus a Genie? Absolutely not! Is Jesus able to give me anything I want? Yes, he says he not only can, but will! But what is the condition of the statement? "IF you abide in me, and my words abide in you..."


The thing with both of the fictional shows is that if they would have spent time going into the lamps with their Genie and listening to the wisdom they had, the men's desires would have been changed. The things they thought they wanted would slowly be changed into the things that the Genie wanted for them.


How much time do you spend going into the lamp of Gods Word to listen and learn from Him? Because the more time you spend letting His Word abide in you, the more your wishes will be conformed to the wishes of the One who speaks in John 15.

Human Passions or the Will of God?

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. (1 Peter 4:1-3 ESV)

Do I believe Scripture? "For the time that is past SUFFICES for doing what the Gentiles want to do," joining "them in the same flood of debauchery."

When is my time that is past? Do I believe this today? Did I believe this eight years ago when I became a Christian? When can I say, "yep, the time I spent sinning in the past is enough time to spend sinning." "I am living the rest of my time for the will of God, not human passions."

I am to be armed with a certain kind of thinking. I thinking that focuses on the sufferings of Christ as a consequence of my current human sinful passion. Jesus suffered in the flesh because of my current passion that is sinful. In arming myself with this kind of thinking, it seems rather appropriate to say this morning, "the time I have spent doing this current sinful passion is enough." 

The time from this point today then distinguishes me from "the past." I pray I will not need to say this again tomorrow.

Thank the Lord this morning that we are redeemed by faith in Christ, and not our faithfulness toward Christ.

Many or Few?

Many or Few?

"even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for MANY." (Matthew 20:28 ESV)

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are MANY. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are FEW." (Matthew 7:13, 14 ESV)

How many people do you suppose have walked upon this earth since creation? The actual number, which would be ever increasing, is not important to me this morning. But I would say that the number is plenty large. 

If we were able to focus our eyesight upon all the people in, or walking toward the place called Heaven there would be "many" says Jesus. 

Now, what would I see if I was if I was able to open up my eyesight and take in all the people from all of time that have been on this earth? In comparison to all people from all of time, sadly, the number of people in, or walking toward Heaven would be "few."

So, which gate am I walking toward? How do I know if I can not see the gate in front of me? I can know, says Jesus by observing the path I am on. The path that leads to the narrow gate is "hard," whereas the path that leads to the wide gate is "easy."

What does your path look like?

Hearing God Walk

Have you ever heard the sound of the Lord God walking?

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking...(Genesis 3:8 ESV)

Have you ever wondered why you haven't? My children have said to me many of times that they wished that they could just "see" God. Or you could say, "hear him walking."

If there ever was a time when mankind could see and hear God walking (and there was). And now I am unable to see and hear God walking, what happened to change our relationship with the One who created us?

Original Sin. 

God made a covenant with Adam and Eve in the garden, it is called "the covenant of life," or "the covenant of works." God gave Adam one command, not to eat of one particular tree. If they ate from the tree, they would die, and if they refrained from eating from the tree, they would have life. 

We remember the story don't we? They did indeed eat from the tree; and the result was that sin entered, and death spread to all men. "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned"— (Romans 5:12 ESV)

Do you know what sin is? Sin is any breaking, or any lack of conformity to Gods Law. So not only do I sin by stealing, but I sin by grumbling-"Do all things without grumbling or questioning," (Philippians 2:14 ESV)

Jesus came into the world. The folks that were alive on the earth during that time were sure able to see and hear God walking. But not only did Jesus come to be seen and heard, but to fulfill the covenant of life that Adam failed to accomplish. He also took the penalty of death that our first father Adam deserved. 

We are born children of Adam. We become children of God through faith in the One who fulfilled the covenant of life. 

Blog kickoff

This morning is an interesting morning for me. Today is my 16 year wedding anniversary with my beloved wife. Today could also possibly be the day the Lord brings our fourth child into this world. And today is the first day I have ever written notes on a blog. 


I am a Christian. I was sovereignly given eyes to see the gospel of Jesus Christ eight years ago. I was 30 years old then. At that point, I determined to get up out of bed just a pinch early to spend my mornings with Christ. It started out just five or ten minutes, it has grown into about two hours. 


I am beginning a blog not because I think I have great insights, nor because I have wonderful writing abilities, neither because I have any sense that one person will read what I write. I am beginning a blog because it seems to me to be an outlet for my thoughts, meditations, devotions and general insights that come with spending time with Christ in the morning. 


And maybe, just maybe there is somebody out there that could use the encouragement of the Scriptures breathed by the Spirit of God, morning by morning. 


May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you! And Happy Anniversary Sweetie...I am so in love with you!


Scott