A WIN-WIN ALL THE WAY! -- Devotional for December 13, from "Good Seeds"

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me. I do not know which to choose, and am hard-pressed from both directions: having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is so much better, yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. (Philippians 1:20-24)

Whenever someone says, “It’s a matter of life and death,” we know he’s talking about something life-threatening, a danger to be avoided at all costs. But when Paul spoke of life and death, he was rather ambivalent about it. This interesting word perfectly defines the apostle’s dilemma: he had simultaneously contradictory feelings about his future, causing him to fluctuate between one thing (going to heaven), and its opposite (staying here a little longer), resulting in uncertainty as to which to prefer and seek. Paul was so excited about seeing Jesus face to face that he was willing to endure whatever it took to bring him there – and the sooner the better! But what he couldn’t endure was the possibility that he was being hasty at heart. Maybe his mansion wasn’t ready yet – that is, maybe God still had more work for him to do on earth before his graduation to heaven. If so, he’d better dig in and get back to it, and stop daydreaming about glory! Paul was no doubt strongly suspicious that this was indeed the case, but as we eavesdrop on his intimate personal testimony, we detect anything but gloom. As he analyzed his prospects he saw only a “Win-Win” proposition, which filled him with a joy he had difficulty hiding. “For me to live is Christ” – what could be better than having the knowledge of God filling him and the joy of the Lord strengthening him? Only one thing: having the very presence of Jesus embracing him, for “to die is gain!” It was this same man who coined the phrase, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:8). Is he speaking only of himself? No! Anyone coming to God through Christ can make that same confident claim. But we admit that since this life is the only one we know, there is some trepidation about the trip to the next. While visiting a very alert 102 year old man in a nursing home our conversation naturally drifted to the subject of heaven. I was amazed at something he said: “Though I’m anxious to be well on my way, I’m not desperate to be there right now.” That’s it! That’s the “sanctified ambivalence” that both haunts and upholds every saint today. But let this be our wonderful consolation: it’s a Win-Win all the way!

THE CHRISTENING -- Devotional for December 12, from "Good Seeds"

Then Ezra the priest brought out the Book of the Law of Moses before the assembly, and standing at a wooden podium made for that purpose, read from the Book from early morning till midday. When Ezra opened the book, all the people stood, giving God’s Word their respectful attention. (Nehemiah 8:1-5)

The Jews had been in exile, but now were returning to rebuild and re-align themselves with their God. It had been their disobedience that had removed them from His blessing and protection in the first place, making them vulnerable to the attack of enemy nations. God permitted this exile from their homeland in order to teach them what happens when God’s people neglect God’s Word. And so, when the ancient scrolls were found, dusted off and read out loud at a public meeting, the people were overcome with a strange mixture of joy and guilt. It was a turning point for those “wandering Jews,” as they re-discovered what they had lost, and were now on the road to spiritual recovery. Here’s another true story of neglect and its dire consequences: Many years ago, a wealthy European family planned a christening of their newborn baby. Many guests were invited for the occasion, and came in the very latest fashionable dress. Their coats were carried upstairs and laid upon the beds. After the usual lot of commotion and conversation, the time came for the christening ceremony. But where was the baby? No one seemed to know. The nurse was sent upstairs to look, but she returned in alarmed distress, for the baby was nowhere to be found. After several minutes of desperate searching someone remembered seeing the child lying on one of the beds. A frantic search produced the lifeless baby, found among – and smothered under – the wraps of the guests! The chief reason they had come had been forgotten, neglected, and now destroyed! This Christmas many will forget, neglect and even destroy Christ. Every year He is smothered by the giftwrap, ribbon and make-believe that fill the festive month of December. There is no end of celebration, but people seem to have forgotten the “reason for the season” – that the very word Christmas means, “celebrate Christ.” What happened that first Christmas, where there was “no room in the inn” (Luke 2:7), happens every Christmas, as people have no room on their calendars – or in their hearts – for the Christ of Christmas. Others will smother even the mention of His name, and feign to forgot why we gather to eat, have parties, and exchange gifts. Those early Jews came back to the written Word of God. When will we return to the Living Word of God, rescue Him from the wrappings and trappings of Christmas, and give Him back His Day, as we give Him back His rightful ownership of our lives?

REACH THE REACHABLE, WIN THE WINNABLE -- Devotional for December 11, from "Good Seeds"

Paul solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From now I shall go to the Gentiles.” Then the Lord spoke to Paul in a night vision saying, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no man will stop you – for I have many people in this city. (Acts 18:5-6, 9-10)

WD-40, the miracle lubricant with a thousand uses, is so named because it wasn’t until the fortieth try at Water Displacement that the inventor came upon the winning formula. He believed he was onto something, but it took tremendous stick-to-it-ive-ness to achieve success. On the other hand, it is said to be a sign of insanity to repeat the same mindless, useless behavior over and over thinking, “next time it will be different.” It takes great wisdom to discern between perseverance and insanity. When sharing Christ, this distinction is crucial. Paul’s heart was for his own people. Whenever he entered a city, he always went “to the Jew first” (Rom. 1:16), reasoning with them in their synagogues concerning the claims of Christ. But invariably he met strong resistance. Did he give up and go back to tent-making? No. Verse 5 says, “He devoted himself all the more to the Word of God.” But surely he asked himself, “What will be the best use of my time and energy?” Just as Jesus had instructed His disciples: “Leave any city that does not listen to you, shaking the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them" (Mark 6:11), so Paul “shook out his garments” as a gesture of non-responsibility, as if to say, “Don’t blame me on Judgment Day when you find out what I told you about Jesus is true after all!” He had to discern just how long to labor among the Jews before turning toward greener Gentile pastures. But we know he did finally make the decision to look for an open door for the gospel rather than to continually beat his head against a perpetually closed door. And when he did this, two things happened, which confirmed his decision: 1) the Gentiles in Corinth were so hungry for the truth that when Paul preached, “they heard, believed, and were baptized” (verse 8); 2) God spoke to Paul in a dream, assuring him of safety and success. And then God said a curious thing: “I have many people in this city” (verse 10). Wow! What missionary wouldn’t love to hear such a statement about his chosen field! But not hearing it, we go back to the wisdom exercised by Paul: Win the winnable; reach the reachable; teach the teachable. Don’t waste time on resisters; rather, pack up and move on. Jesus has many people “in this city” – or that one. There will never be a shortage of souls who need the Lord!

FULL AND EMPTY -- Devotional for December 10, from "Good Seeds"

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness while denying its power, always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. (II Timothy 3:1-7)

We invited the couple next door to come over to our house sometime to play table games. The wife was thrilled and tried to say yes, but was stopped by her husband when he explained why he didn’t play games. Regarding the reasons a person may give for not doing something, it is surprising how logical they sound to him – and how ridiculous they sound to others! He thinks his wall of defense is solid, with no idea others see right through it as if a transparent window. By the way, due to his wife’s cajoling, the husband eventually agreed to come. We said, “Great, how about tonight?” More excuses. It’s no big deal if someone doesn’t want to play table games, but what if the invitation were of a more serious, soul-changing nature? With the intention of sharing Christ with a friend, we invite him to come to church with us, maybe to the special Christmas program, or just a regular worship service. What do we usually hear? “Thank you, and yes, maybe sometime I’ll come, but I can’t right now, for you see…” and now, here come the excuses: “Work has really worn me out lately and I need my Sundays for rest;” or, “I think I’m coming down with something; it wouldn’t be very “Christian” of me to spread my germs!” Or this most common excuse of all: “My life is already so full, I don’t think there’s room to fit in one more thing – even a good thing like this.” And so, folks with lives FULL to the brim with the cares and pleasures of everyday life, remain EMPTY of the cures and treasure of eternal life! Corrupt loves and powerless beliefs fill the soul space where only Christ can fit and occupy and satisfy. December is no doubt the most FULL month of the year. But, although the calendar is so FULL of days marked for special events, it reminds us of some EMPTY things: The manger, where a special Baby lay on that first Christmas, is EMPTY. The tomb, where they buried Him after He died on the cross for our sins: EMPTY! Then He returned to His Father, and once again heaven was FULL of His presence. But the hearts of all who do not yet know the Savior remain EMPTY. Oh, they are FULL to overflowing with the good things of life – just as that Bethlehem Inn was FULL – but none of it satisfies that EMPTY space reserved just for Jesus. May our hearts be FULL of joy, at this Christmas time and always, because of Jesus, because we know Him as the Filler of every emptiness, the Satisfier of every longing – the Savior of our soul.

...MEDDLING! -- Devotional for December 9, from "Good Seeds"

Preach the word in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (II Timothy 4:2)

I Timothy 4:8 tells us that bodily discipline has some limited merit, but that “godliness is profitable for all things.” The previous verse gives context to that word, godliness: “being constantly nourished on the words of faith and sound doctrine.” It is only in the Bible we find the godly life rightly defined, and only by obeying it can that life be refined. II Timothy 3:16 says Scripture is profitable for teaching (what to know), for training (how to live), but also for correction and reproof (beliefs and behaviors that poison the soul). I remember hearing my childhood pastor, Dr. J.C. Brumfield, say on occasion: “Now I’m going to quit preachin’ and start to meddlin’!” When he said this we knew he was going to start naming – not names, but sins – and that any sleeping in the church would soon be replaced by squirming! This is the third level of intensity God sometimes intends for us to use to build up one another:
Level Three: REBUKE (reproof and correction). It’s one thing to present truth, another to make application, but sometimes we must go one step further by being very specific (and sometimes very personal) in pointing out error in thinking, or sin in doing. Now we know that the conviction of sin is the Holy Spirit’s job, not the man of God’s, no matter how holy he may be. Still, the time comes when God uses one Christian to admonish another, not to judge, but to correct or reprove. The Greek word translated reprove means “to rebuke, admonish, to convince through evidence, to tell a fault." In I Thessalonians 2:11-12 Paul describes his relationship with that church: “You know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you, as a father would his only children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of God.” This is the normal approach of a father to his children, or of a pastor to his flock: that of exhortation. I Corinthians 14:3 says, “One who prophesies (preaches) speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.” As difficult as this might be for the child – or for the church member – to take (as the writer to the Hebrews says: “I urge you, brethren, to bear with this word of exhortation” (13:22), occasionally gentle exhortation must give way to stern reproof, as that same writer indicates: “It is for discipline that you endure, for God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (12:7). And so it is that sometimes you and I must give or receive a hard word of reproof, when we would much rather speak or hear a gentle word of encouragement. But if done with great patience, for the sake of good instruction, in the end this will be the sweetest of all the one anothers.

TEACHING, PREACHING, AND... -- Devotional for December 8, from "Good Seeds"

(NOTE TO MY READERS: Sorry for again falling behind. This time it was due to losing our power during a pretty fierce first snowstorm of the year. I worked at my laptop nevertheless, until the battery gave way! But here now I bring to you devotionals for yesterday, today...and tomorrow, having been blessed with some extra time to write (snowed in, I couldn't drive to work -- what a shame!), and the restoration of electricity and access to the satellites roaming the stratosphere for the sake of our mutual (yes mutual, I look forward to hearing from you!) communication).

Exhort one another (I Thessalonians 5:11); Exhort one another daily, as long as it is called “today,” lest any be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13); Encourage one another all the more, as you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:25).

II Timothy 3:16 says that “all Scripture is profitable teaching, training and correcting.” But what about exhorting? How does this fit into the believer’s toolbox? Paul encourages us to “speak, exhort, and reprove with all authority” (Titus 2:15). These three levels of intensity used in building up the church, match the three uses of Scripture:
Level One: SPEAK (teaching): First, we read the Bible, out loud (I Timothy 4:13), a crucial. foundational step. Then we teach the Bible, “giving the sense” (Nehemiah 8:8). These are directed to the head – but information and instruction do not a sermon make. We air a subject, but we aim a sermon, and the target of God’s Word must always be the heart.
Level Two: APPLY (training): Now the exhortation begins. This word is parakaleo in the Greek, meaning, “to call near.” It can have a stern side, when we beseech, urge, entreat, implore, invoke, or advise our listeners. It also has a softer side, where we comfort, console, and encourage. This single word defines the dual role of the pastor when wielding the Word of God: to disturb the comfortable, and to comfort the disturbed! When we exhort, we invite our listeners to move in and take a closer look at the truth, to find personal implications and make practical applications, as seen in these Scriptural examples… “I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to make good on their promised gift” (II Corinthians 9:5). “We hear that some among you are leading undisciplined lives, doing no work, but acting like busybodies; such we exhort by the Lord Jesus to work in quiet fashion so as to eat of your own bread” (II Thessalonians 3:11-12). “By exhorting in sound doctrine refute those who contradict the truth” (Titus 1:9). “Exhort the young men to think and act with good sense” (Titus 2:6). “Exhort servants to be subject to their own masters, well-pleasing, not argumentative” (Titus 2:9). “While I was planning to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to exhort you that you should contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3). “With many words he exhorted them saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation’ ” (Acts 2:40). Proclaiming truth is teaching. This is vital, but not enough, for it is only by preaching that men are won to Christ, and preaching is exhorting: “So with many exhortations John the Baptist preached the gospel to the people” (Luke 3:18). “And after the reading of the Scriptures the synagogue official said, ‘Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it now’” (Acts 13:15). Yes -- Say it now!

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR -- Devotional for December 7, from "Good Seeds"

The spies returned to Joshua and said, “Do not send many, for Ai is small.” But when the nations met for battle, Ai struck down the army of Israel, and the hearts of God’s people melted. (Joshua 7:3-5)

Ai was a tiny kingdom, maybe the size of just one of the tribes of noble Israel. Japan was a small country, maybe the size of just one of the states of mighty America. Little was known of Ai until spies came back with a confident report: “Don’t trouble yourself, Joshua; two or three thousand troops should be more than sufficient to shove this tiny city-state aside.” But when the two forces met, the mouse totally routed the elephant and, as the text renders it, “they struck them down on the descent” (verse 5). In the early days of December 1941, though well aware of Japan’s imperialistic advances, we had no idea our Pacific Fleet was about to be attacked while sleeping in its cozy Pearl Harbor hideaway. Japan proved to be a formidable enemy, and “struck us down on the descent” with wave after wave of bomb laden Zeroes. Nevertheless, the greatest enemy America faced was within – the enemy of complacency. For Israel, it was the same: though Ai was surely a “mighty little giant” (ch. 7), later it was proved that they could be quite handily beaten, once things were in order on the home front (ch. 8). It was the same at Pearl Harbor as at Ai: the problem was not the power without, but the weakness within. And as it is with the armies of any nation, so it is with individuals of any generation: As soon as we let our guard down – which happens whenever our self-confidence goes up – we are doomed to destruction. I Corinthians 10:12 warns, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.” What was Israel’s weakness within? It all came from their previous miraculous conquest of Jericho. The Lord had won that victory for His people without their wielding any weapon but that of praise. God told them to blow ram’s horns as they marched around the city, a sound that signaled a victory just won. Praise, by definition, is thanking God in advance for what we know He can do and by faith believe He will do. They trusted in nothing but the plan and power of God that day. What else could they do? And God brought a glorious victory! All He asked in exchange for His bringing down the walls of Jericho was that they not covet the spoils, but let them be covered – buried with the rest of the city, as a memorial to His intervention on their behalf. In the midst of violating that command they approached Ai. You, too, have an Ai. “I can handle this one, Lord. Don’t trouble Yourself.” Let not such words pass your lips! Remember Jericho: only God can save you; remember Ai: the smallest enemy can defeat you. Remember Pearl Harbor: complacency can kill you!