Heaven Pt. 145: the Right Hand From Heaven

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6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

9 Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call. Psalm 20:6-9 KJV

She smiled at me. Her most disarming smile it was. “Oh! It is so good to see you. I  heard about….I just think that’s the most wonderful idea… all kinds of support I’m sure.”

My blood ran cold and I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder  to see who was getting ready to stick the knife in my back. It was something of the lie that floated behind her smiling eyes. I couldn’t hear her words of encouragement through the static of her actual agenda.

Like me, I’m sure you’ve been to the place of dangerous shadows more than once. Every step on that field is spongy and sure to give way at a moment’s notice. But how we walk in the face of impending danger designates us faithful or otherwise. Do we answer trouble real or perceived with our own strength, our own show of arms or do we remember that success is found only in the name of the Lord our God?

God has promised salvation by the power of His right hand. God has promised to hear our cries from His throne in Heaven…if we make them. And there’s the rub! If we want God’s salvation…if we want God’s saving strength to flow into us we have to seek it. We must pray!

If we pray, God will help. If we try to help ourselves and exclude God from the process God will watch from a distance.

So what do you do when your heart is overwhelmed? What do you do when you are in trouble? Do you just knuckle down and work harder? Do you fight and scheme in your own strength? Or do you go to the God of all power and might and solicit His aid?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Ma. 11:28-30

Heaven Pt. 144: Two Things We Can’t Hide From

The “Heaven Posts” are a word study through the Bible concerning the use of the word “Heaven”. sun_viewed_through_camera_lens

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

 Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

 Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

  Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

and righteous altogether.

 More to be desired are they than gold,

even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

and drippings of the honeycomb.

  Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19:1-12a

Anywhere you go on the face of the Earth you are going to be confronted with the heat or the light of the sun. In some places it is warmer. In some places it’s light lasts longer but wherever you go it is always there.

Likewise the Word of the Lord is inescapable. Even those who have never been exposed to it somehow know the core of it and are convicted of the depths of their own sin.

Paul says it this way: “

 what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,7 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things…28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do bwhat ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Rom. 1:18-32

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them Rom. 2:12-15

We can pretend it isn’t so. we can cover our eyes and say “I can’t see the light.”

We can close our ears to the gospel and say “I can’t hear you!”

But in the end there are two things everyone will have to attest to: The sun shone on our lives and the gospel message was true!

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.  Phil. 2:9-13

Dear reader let me encourage you to give your life to Jesus today! Choose Him as your only God.

Heaven Pt. 143: You Can’t Fix Stupid! But Jesus Can!

100_0350Psalm 14

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 Only fools say in their hearts,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
    not one of them does good!

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.[a]
No one does good,
    not a single one!

   Growing up, I was the kid who just couldn’t seem to fit in with the crowd. I was clumsy, slow and chubby. I excelled at music and drama and academics. I had an interest in all things paranormal and worst of all I dressed funny. It seemed there was at least one thing in me everyone could dislike. Sometimes it bothered me that I wasn’t more widely accepted by my peers.

My father, always quick with the pithy sayings once told me, “Son you can always fix your issues. You’re a smart kid. Just be glad of that, because you never can fix stupid!”

I recalled that little memory more than once and would tell myself, “Yeah J, at least your not stupid.”

Then I learned it wasn’t true, at least not in God’s eyes. His standards had nothing to do with how well I played baseball or soccer, the fact I only fit into “husky” jeans, played the flute in fourth grade,  could diagram sentences or believed firmly in UFOS. His standards for considering me wise had everything to do with my level of true righteousness and even by the time I was twelve I knew I couldn’t claim anything close to the perfection He required. I came to a point where with the Psalmist I realized my sin made me a stupid fool. In fact the Bible said everyone in the whole world was in the same boat with me.

Thankfully, the Bible doesn’t end leaving us “stupid”. The story starts with the naked truth,

“2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.[a]
No one does good,
    not a single one!”

It continues on with God coming to help stupid people like me.

Now, you can say, ” Oh PJ don’t call yourself stupid.”

I know in our culture foolish sounds a little better than stupid, but folks, it really amounts to the same thing. We are a race that has a capacity to touch Heaven and yet, even when we are told this, our genetic predisposition is to deny that fact and to continue in sin on the broad way to an eternity of torment. If that ain’t stupid I don’t know what is.

But I digress. God helped us by sending His son Jesus to die on a cross and then by breaking the power of death as He raised that same Jesus from the dead.

I cannot claim to have the wisdom that kept me from ever sinning. But I can claim the wisdom that embraced the only plan God ever gave for saving myself. I have discovered, His grace is enough!

Y’know I never did become the cool kid with all my peers. Accepting Jesus didn’t make me “Awesome” in their eyes. But being smart enough to realize I couldn’t fix my own problems… smart enough to realize I needed Jesus, well that has made me accepted by God and I have gotta tell you that is a pretty amazing feeling.

Pray with me:

Lord I realize that my sin has made me a fool in your eyes. I confess I have lacked wisdom. I confess without your help I cannot follow the ways of wisdom or righteousness. Jesus please forgive me for every time I have failed. Forgive me and help me to change. I don’t know how to change myself. I lack the knowledge. I lack the wisdom but I know you have it for me. Help me God. My life is yours. Thank you for coming to my rescue.

Amen.

Heaven Pt. 142: So What Are You Going To Do?

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In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face. Psalm 11

This world needs warriors! The Earth needs men and women sold out to Christ who are not going to back down in the face of “overwhelming opposition”. It would seem the foundations are being destroyed. The nations are falling into the quagmire of  bad-politics, bad economies and even worse moralities.

Oh I hear the cry as well as you do…”Run! Hide! Protect Yourself! Flee to the mountains! Withdraw! Christianity is a lost cause!”

Christianity may leave the face of the Earth but that will be via the rapture not because it is a dying religion. The foundations might be destroyed but to that event I give the same answers my forbears gave when the Roman Empire collapsed..”It is on Christ the solid rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.”

In the end we have a better reason to hope than anyone  else on earth has. Our hope is in Jesus and as the old song goes “Jesus never fails”. So, Warrior Christian don’t flee to the mountains. God sees you from Heaven! He has your cause and He has your back. Run towards the burning building and see who you can rescue from it!

Turbo Follow Week 9

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This is our final Turbo Follow blog! As you know  Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week  9 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff has been preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation has read the daily devotions and participated weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other.  

As I said, this is our  last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you  had fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!

Last week we had our discussions on Learning to manage our lives through Christ’s power.  Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:

 

Day 1: God wants you to learn to manage your thought life.

Day 2: God wants you to learn to manage your money.

Day 3: God wants you to learn to manage your body.

Day 4: God wants you to learn to manage your words.

Day 5: God wants you to learn to manage your time.

Day 6: God wants you to learn to manage your gifts and talents.

Here are the questions we asked of one another in our group:

  1. Of the “Managing devotions” which one stood out to you the most?

 

 

  1. What made that particular devotion stand out to you?

 

 

  1. What area of management does God want you to cooperate with Him on?

 

 

  1. How are you going to practically cooperate with Him?

 

Heaven Pt 141: Every Twist And Turn

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“God alone knows the way to Wisdom,
    he knows the exact place to find it.
He knows where everything is on earth,
    he sees everything under heaven.
After he commanded the winds to blow
    and measured out the waters,
Arranged for the rain
    and set off explosions of thunder and lightning,
He focused on Wisdom,
    made sure it was all set and tested and ready.
Then he addressed the human race: ‘Here it is!
    Fear-of-the-Lord—that’s Wisdom,
    and Insight means shunning evil.’” Job 28:23-28

    Recently I have been caught up with my own understanding of God’s designs. A while back God gave me a directive to pursue a certain avenue of ministry. I did. I laid out the whole plan. I organized. I vision-casted. I dreamed. And it’s  not going how I thought it would.

Oh, I imagine something will come of it. This thing will bear fruit, but I am beginning to realize the chances of the ministry looking like the picture I drew of it are getting pretty slim. I was stomping around in my heart about that the other night and then God reminded me that He was not surprised by any development I was facing. He reminded me that He was familiar with every twist and turn the road of vision had taken so far. He also knows about a few more twists and turns that are up ahead. Oh and by the way, He’s not sharing!

Today He is reminding me that the results of my work are to be left with Him. In most cases the results I plan are not the results I will end up with because they come from my limited understanding of the way between me and the proposed destination. My job is not to make things happen. My job is to fear the Lord, obey what He says to do and keep my heart from evil when things don’t go “my way”.

Maybe through some circuitous route things will get back on my track and everything will turn out just like I had envisioned. Maybe I’ll strike spiritual gold and the results will be even better than I could have imagined. Maybe the reason God told me to pursue this route has nothing to do with the actual destination and has more to do with what I or somebody else I run across gets out of the journey. Only God knows! And that’s just as it should be.

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 46

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Hey class! We are continuing on with the formation of the early church through the book of Acts. When we left Paul he had just raised Eutychus from the dead. If you want to put your two cents in on that discussion of any of our others just go to the House On Fire page below and check in!

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Here is today’s discussion topic:

17 But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now 19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit  to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. 26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

33 “I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. 34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. 35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

36 When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. 37 They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. 38 They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

In this passage Paul calls the elders of the Ephesian church to his side. He knows from the Lord that he will never see them again.

There is not a whole lot of good news in this meeting. If you were an elder how would you have received it? What emotions would this have created? How do you encourage yourself in the face of bad news like this?

Turbo-Follow Week 8

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Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week  8 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff is preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation reads the daily devotions and participates weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other. This week we will be discussing: Learning to manage our lives with Jesus help. 

This is our next to the last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you have been having fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!

Last week we had our discussions on Learning to Pray  Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:

 

Day 1- What prayer is not

Day 2- Prayer is about: relationship, respect and reign

Day 3- Prayer is about: food (daily bread) , forgiveness and freedom

Day 4- We must learn to pray through the pain by 1. Pouring out our souls to God 2. Letting God comfort us 3. Confessing any sin we have let in in our pain 4. Asking God to restore our souls 5. Identifying any lies we have come to believe in our pain 5. Replacing those lies with truth

Day 5- We must learn to do spiritual warfare

Here are the questions we asked of each other this week:

Turbo Follow Questions Week 7- Learn To Pray

 

  1. What was the Highlight of your week this week?

 

  1. What stood out to you as you worked through this week’s attribute?

 

  1. On Step 2 there was a discussion about areas where we have difficulty giving up control. Have you discovered anything that helps you with giving control of things over to God?

 

  1. What did you think of the process of praying through pain on day four? What stood out to you?

 

  1. Is there any area of pain we could pray with you about right now?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 45

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

We are coming into the home stretch of the Book Of Acts! We have now covered far more territory than we have to go and I hope you have been learning a whole bunch about the early church, the church of today and how you fit into it.

Today we continue our discussion through the Book of Acts chapter 20. If you want to go back and review any of the lessons you may have missed feel free to check them out here:

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Now on to today’s discussion: Acts 20:1-12

When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia. 2 While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece, 3 where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.

4 Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.

Paul’s Final Visit to Troas

7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. 8 The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. 9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. 10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left.12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved.

So tell me why do you think God did this miracle?

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 44

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Since I last posted on the Book of Acts I have had some great on-line conversations with Eric, Deb and Robin concerning Acts chapter 19. I think one of the key things I noted about the chapter was its time line. So often when we read a chapter of the Bible we think that everything happens in about as much time as it takes us to read the verses through but that is not generally so. Acts chapter 19 spanned a solid two and a half years. That is significant. You try to think back over your last two years. That’s a lot of water under the bridge isn’t it?

If you would like to go back to some of our previous classes and join the conversation you can find them at our House On Fire Page under the Pastor Wrinkles heading above.

Here is today’s study: Acts 19: 23-20:1

23 About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. 24 It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.25 He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:

“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. 26 But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! 27 Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!”

28 At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. 30 Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him. 31 Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.

32 Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. 34 But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. “Citizens of Ephesus,” he said. “Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven.36 Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.

38 “If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. 39 And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly. 40 I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.” 41 Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.

Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece

20 When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia.

TODAY’S QUESTIONS:

What actions and attitudes caused the riot?

Was it Paul’s fault?

Was it the church’s fault?

Was it Demtrius fault?