Let Us Pray!

Posted on November 5, 2022 by jesustrek

1 Timothy 2:1-4 is an urgent call to prayer—“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

I am writing this just a few days before the November 8 elections, so this is a good time to think about praying for those in authority. Supposedly, the chaplain of the U.S. Senate was once asked if he prayed for the Senators. “No”, he replied. “I look at the Senators and pray for the country!”

The Bible says that we should pray for all those in authority. When Paul wrote this Scripture, his readers were under the authority of the Roman Empire, and Nero was the emperor. Those in power were not exactly sympathetic toward followers of Jesus Christ! Yet those followers were encouraged to pray for those in positions of authority. This means that we must do the same, no matter which party is in the majority and regardless of whether or not we voted for that particular official.

The government has been established by God to keep order so that we may go about our lives. We need to pray that our leaders will do a good job of keeping the peace and providing a social environment where we can go about our business of living for the Lord.

Our first inclination might be to complain about our elected leaders rather than pray for them. Who hasn’t been guilty of that!? However, the Bible says that it is important that we pray for those in various positions of authority. It might be a good idea to keep a list of public officials– on the local, state and national level–so that we can pray for them by name.

Note that verse one urges prayers for all people. It’s not just the politicians who need our prayers. That word “all” is extremely inclusive, isn’t it? Everyone we know can be the focus of our prayers. Too often Christians limit their prayers to the sick list in their church bulletin. This is indeed a worthy endeavor, but healthy people need our prayers too! We need to pray for the saved and the lost, the conservatives and the liberals, friends and enemies, the morally upright and those living sinful lifestyles. We need to pray for young and old, married and single, rich and poor…well, you get the idea. We need to pray for everybody!

And let’s keep in mind the desired end result of our prayers, seen in the last verse of the above Scripture—God wants all people to be saved! God’s desire is that all people come to a knowledge of the truth and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior! Our prayers should reflect God’s desire for evangelism to take place!

No wonder the Bible urges us to make prayer for all people a top priority! Friends, let us pray!

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The Gospel in Philippians

Posted on October 28, 2022 by jesustrek

The letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi was all about the gospel, the good news about the salvation that is available through the crucified and resurrected Jesus. If God would send a letter to your church today, it would probably be much like Philippians, centered on the gospel. Let’s take a brief look at this important New Testament book and be reminded of our mission.

Paul was thankful for the Christians at Philippi, and he prayed joyfully for them because of their partnership with him in the gospel (1:3-6). To be working together with other believers in spreading the gospel message is a wonderful blessing! It is also a duty that we must never take lightly! The eternal destiny of souls is at stake!

We also see that the spread of the gospel cannot be thwarted by any circumstances. Even Paul’s imprisonment served to advance the gospel (1:12-14). The fact that some preached with wrong motives did not hinder the spread of the good news. The important thing was that Christ was preached (1:15-18). Don’t let any unfortunate circumstances discourage you. Keep on spreading the message about Jesus and God will make sure that his kingdom will advance.

1:27 reminds us that our behavior matters—“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” We must model Christ-likeness in our words and deeds if we want our message to have a positive impact.

Chapter two challenges us to maintain a humble attitude, and it points us to our perfect example in this—Jesus, who although he was equal to God, humbled himself to come to earth and die on the cross (2:1-11). Redemption came through the humble self-sacrifice of Jesus. Spreading that message will come through the humble and selfless sacrifices of Christ’s servants.

Chapter three warns us against legalism. We aren’t saved by our own zeal, but by the grace of God that comes to us through Jesus (3:1-11). Nevertheless, this chapter also encourages us to be active and enthusiastic in living out our faith, with our eyes always firmly fixed on our heavenly reward (3:12-14).

Chapter four contains a call for unity (v.2). Only by working together can we have great success in our efforts. We also see here a call for right thinking that leads to right actions (4:4-9). What we put into our minds eventually comes out in what we say and do, whether it be bad or good. Therefore, let us rejoice and pray and give thanks! Let us think about things that are noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Thinking the right things will lead us to do the right things, and that will bring the peace of God into our lives.

Finally, we see that the church at Philippi was a mission-minded church. Their financial support of Paul’s work was “…a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” (4:18). Let’s do our best to please God with our giving to missions. The good news of salvation through Jesus deserves our financial support.

There you have it. That was a quick look at the book of Philippians. Let this Scripture always be a reminder of our mission to make disciples for Jesus. May God bless our efforts!

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What a Friend We Have in Jesus!

Posted on October 22, 2022 by jesustrek

Before he went to the cross to pay for sins of all humanity, Jesus spent considerable time preparing his disciples for his departure. Chapters 14-17 of John’s gospel record a lot of Jesus’ words as he gets his followers ready to carry on his ministry after his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.

In this section, Jesus talks about friendship (John 15:9-17). Three times in these verses, Jesus uses the word “friends”. It is remarkable that the Savior of the world would call mere human beings his friends! But he does! And he wasn’t just referring to his closest followers. We can be assured that Jesus offers friendship to anyone who will accept it. Let’s see what Jesus says here about friendship.

First, we see that true friendship involves sacrifice. 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus would make the greatest sacrifice imaginable when he willingly laid down his innocent, sinless life to pay the price for our guilty, sinful lives. In doing so, Jesus set the example of sacrifice that we too must follow. 1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” In order to truly love our Christian friends, we have to make sacrifices; sacrifices of time, money and emotional involvement. It is not easy to be a true friend. But then, most things that are worthwhile require effort and commitment.

The second use of the word “friends” in this Scripture is specifically referring to our friendship with Jesus. 15:14 says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” There is a condition attached to our friendship with Jesus—we have to do what he says! It is ridiculous to believe that a person can lead a lifestyle of on-going, deliberate disobedience to the teachings of Jesus and think that he will be your friend! Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could live any way we choose to live. He died so that we could be freed from our sins and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life of obedience. Therefore, a big part of our lives must be dedicated to studying the Word of God so that we can live the life of obedience that Jesus requires of his friends. And, of course, the more closely we obey Jesus, the more we are able to be a good friend to those around us.

Let’s now look at the third use of the word “friends” in this Scripture–“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (15:15). Now this does not mean that we are relieved of our duty of serving the Lord. It means that Jesus has revealed to us the higher purpose of our service. Unlike the servant who has no need to know the master’s reasoning, Jesus tells us the purpose of our labors in the kingdom. It is to make disciples for him, thus producing “fruit that will last” (v.16). Because Jesus calls us his friends, we receive the privilege of understanding what our work for the Lord is all about. Rather than relegating us to mindless obedience, Jesus has elevated us to a level higher than mere servants—he calls us friends.

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The Power of an Invitation

Posted on October 15, 2022 by jesustrek

The opening chapters of John’s gospel shows us examples of people inviting others to come to Jesus. Since this is an important part of living for Christ, let’s take a look at what happens here and see if we can learn how to do a better job of extending invitations for people to follow Jesus.

John 1:40-42a says, “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus…”

Here we see that inviting people to come to Jesus should be one of our top priorities. After discovering for himself that Jesus was the Messiah, the very first thing he did was to find his brother and bring him to Jesus. Maybe we should re-evaluate our priorities and put evangelism at the top of the list!

We also see that the first person Andrew thought of was his brother. Out of all the people he could have witnessed to, he thought of his brother first. The people we are closest to are the ones most likely to listen to our thoughts about Jesus and to respond to our invitations. Therefore, we should give our best efforts toward evangelizing family and friends. If we have a close relationship with someone, they are much more likely to accept any invitation we offer to come and experience Jesus for themselves.

We see the same thing happen later in the chapter. Philip responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow him. Philip immediately found Nathanael and told him about Jesus. Nathanael was skeptical at first, but came to check out Jesus and became convinced that he needed to follow Jesus too (John 1:43-51).

Here we see that there might be some initial reluctance on the part of our family and friends to accept the invitations that we offer them to come to church or to truly consider the claims that Jesus made that he was the Savior of the world. Let’s not get discouraged if it takes some time to convince people that following Jesus is the best way to go. Let’s be patient and persistent with our invitations.

Moving on to chapter 4, we find Jesus’ famous encounter with the woman at the well. This woman not only had a sinful past, she was currently living with a man to whom she was not married. But Jesus took the time to talk with her, and she became convinced that he just might be the Messiah. She got so excited that she left her water jar at the well and rushed into town to tell the people there about Jesus.

This was a brave act on the part of this woman. The people of her village probably looked down on her, and possibly shunned her, because of her sinful lifestyle. However, she ignored the stigma and witnessed to them. They made their way toward Jesus to see for themselves what this man was all about. They put their faith in Jesus and accepted him as the Savior of the world, all because of the woman’s testimony.

Here we learn that Jesus can use anyone to bring people to him. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, if you put your trust in Jesus and repent of your sins, the Lord can use you to draw others to him.

Finally, let’s remember that the true power of an invitation rests in the personhood of Jesus himself. We are not simply inviting people to a church service. We are inviting them to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world! That’s a powerful invitation!

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High Price of Lying

Posted on October 14, 2022 by jesustrek
Alex Jones

For years, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones relentlessly promoted the lie that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. His false claims added greatly to the pain and suffering of the grieving families. Therefore, a jury recently decided that Jones must pay $965 million to the people who were harmed by his lies. That’s almost a billion dollars! That’s a pretty steep price to pay for lying!

However, the ultimate price to pay for lying far exceeds the amount that Jones has been told he must pay. The Bible says that those who love and practice falsehood will be banned from heaven. Instead, they will be assigned their place in hell for all of eternity (Rev.22:15).

There is indeed a high price to pay for lying!

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”—3 John 4.

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Renewed Strength

Posted on October 6, 2022 by jesustrek

A reporter once interviewed the legendary baseball player Ty Cobb long after Cobb’s years as a player had ended. The reporter asked, “What do you think you would hit if you were playing today?” Cobb replied, “About .290 or .300.” Since Cobb had been a lifetime .376 hitter, the reporter asked, “Why is that?” Cobb replied, “Because I’m 70 years old.”

You have to admire Cobb’s confidence!

Those who get their strength from the Lord know that we can continue to do great things through him.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”—Isaiah 40:28-31.

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The Church Is a Big Deal!

Posted on October 1, 2022 by jesustrek

Some people claim to follow Jesus, but do not see the need to be a part of the church. They want to say “Yes” to Jesus, but “No” to the church. These people have a problem. God doesn’t give us the option to accept Jesus and reject the church. Such a notion is completely foreign to Scripture. In fact, in the Bible, the church is a really big deal.

The church was in the heart of God even before the creation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…” Before he created us God knew that we would choose to sin and that we would need to be saved. Therefore he planned to send Jesus to die for the sins of the world so that anyone who would put their full trust in the crucified and resurrected Jesus could be saved. Those who are saved are added to the church at the time of their baptism (Acts 2:41) and are taught to be faithful members of the church (1 Cor.12:27) until the day that they die (Rev.2:10). That’s a big deal!

Being a regular participant in the worship services of the church is also a big deal. Heb.10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Our church friends need our encouraging presence in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day. We need to see each other’s smiling faces. We need to hear encouraging words from our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need the hugs and handshakes and the occasional shoulder to cry on. We need to lift up our voices together in song and in prayer. We need to celebrate communion together. We need to pool our resources to further the work of the Lord. We need to open up God’s Word together and reflect on how we will obey him. We need to worship together, therefore, the church is a big deal!

We are not only the church on Sunday morning, we are the church 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Therefore, the church is a big deal as we spread out into the community where we live, being the salt of the earth and the light of the world that Jesus has called us to be. The church is a big deal because we can make a difference in the lives of those around us. In this world where there is so much suffering, you can find a broken heart anywhere you turn. The church can offer hope in times of trouble, and that’s something that the world cannot do. Whenever disaster strikes, it is the church that is quite often the first to arrive with help and the last to leave the scene.

The church is a big deal because God has chosen us to make known his wisdom concerning the gospel message, the good news of salvation through Jesus (Eph.3:10). Jesus says that we will be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). While there is much that we can do individually to bear witness to Jesus, our witness is magnified many times over when we consolidate our efforts to evangelize. Working together we can be a great force in spreading the word about the salvation that is available through Jesus.

There is much, much more to be said about the fact that the church is a big deal, but let me close with this thought—God purchased the church with the precious blood of his Son Jesus (Acts 20:28). It cost God the life of his one and only Son in order for the church to come into existence. If this is how God shows how much he values the church, how do we show how much the church is worth to us?

The church is indeed a big deal!

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Destiny

Posted on September 28, 2022 by jesustrek

A man recently went looking for his sow that had gone missing. When he found her he discovered that she had found a hiding place to give birth to six piglets. Ironically, the birthing site she chose was underneath his BBQ smoker!

The pigs’ destiny might serve to remind us that we too have an appointment with death. Therefore, we ought to make the most of our lives and make sure that we are ready to keep that appointment when our time comes.

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”—Hebrews 9:27-28.

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Lawn Care

Posted on September 23, 2022 by jesustrek

In a few weeks I will wrap up the seventh summer of mowing the grass at the house that my wife and I built. My how time flies!

We moved into the house on a snowy day in February. There were some delays in the landscaping, so I didn’t get to level the ground and sow grass seed until late spring or early summer. Then it suddenly turned hot and dry, and the seed did not do well in the sandy soil. It seemed like I was mowing nothing but weeds and dust that first year. When the rains did come, it washed out gullies in parts of the yard. I spent a lot of time filling in ruts, working up soil, re-seeding and watering. Still there were few signs that my efforts were being rewarded. We had some people over one day in July. One boy, maybe five years old, looked at my lawn and offered this solemn, unsolicited proclamation: “This is a disaster!”

I continued to work on my disaster for the rest of the year. The next year the lawn finally appeared to be more green than brown. I continued to seed and fertilize and pull up weeds. Slowly but surely, I could see some progress. Year after year I have continued to tweak trouble spots and address any issues that came up. Now I have what might be called an average or above average stand of grass. It will never look like a golf course, but my yard is finally looking somewhat like I always imagined it could be.

That doesn’t mean that mean that my work is finished. I will continue to care for the grass the best way I know how and address any issues that may need attention. It will be an on-going effort to maintain a nice-looking lawn.

We might compare our spiritual life to growing a lawn. Perhaps at one time your soul was a dried up, desert-like wasteland. Others might have looked at your life and proclaimed—“This is a disaster!” And maybe they were right!

However, our current spiritual state can always be improved. Applying the seed of the Word of God to our lives will eventually reap results. The showers of the Lord’s blessings will fall on your life and cause you to be productive for the Lord. We always need to be pulling out the weeds that are the sins that creep into our lives. With careful cultivation and the help of the Lord, our lives can become everything that God envisioned for us.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”—Galatians 6:9.

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From One Little Spark

Posted on September 22, 2022 by jesustrek

A 19-year-old sailor was charged with arson as a result of an incident that happened in the summer of 2020. The sailor allegedly became so disgruntled with his duties that he set off a spark that turned into a blaze that destroyed a $1.2 billion warship.

$1.2 billion! That’s a lot of damage from one little spark!

With that in mind, let’s consider the power of the spoken word. The Bible says that we can do a lot of good with what we say, but it also warns of the potential damage we can do with our words. James 3:5b-6 says, “…Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

Let us always be on guard against speaking carelessly. A thoughtless word can cause great damage to a relationship, to a family or to a church. Be very careful when you speak!

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