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Jump Start # 130

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 130

Genesis 22:10-12 “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from Heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

  Our passage today takes us to that powerful lesson about Abraham offering Isaac. God told him to sacrifice Isaac, the child of promise. This was a test. God wanted to see if Abraham’s faith would be greater than his doubts and fears. At this point in the Bible, no one had ever been resurrected. Abraham didn’t know what God would do. He and Isaac traveled three days to the place. They built an altar. He laid Isaac on the altar, took his knife and was ready to sacrifice him.

  The sacrifice of an animal was a bloody event. The animal was slain, blood collected, the body cut up and burned. In some later sacrifices, the priests would eat part of the sacrifice and burn the rest of it to God. Racing through Abraham’s mind was not just the command to kill his only son, but to cut him up and burn him. Why? Because God said so. How would he explain this to his wife, Sarah. Would she believe him? Had he misunderstood God? Is this really what God wanted?

  Abraham was old. Isaac, most likely a teenager. I expect the youthful Isaac walked in front of Abraham. The old Abraham, watched his son. I expect he prayed and prayed. Maybe God will stop us when we get to the place. No. Maybe God will stop us when the altar is built. No. Maybe when Isaac is placed on the altar. No. It is remarkable that Isaac goes along with this. What must have raced through his mind as well? Finally, when the knife is raised and Abraham is ready to strike, God stops.

  The angel declares, “Now I know that you fear God.” Did God not know this? Already, Abraham obeyed by leaving his homeland and traveling as God had said. Already, Abraham had believed and accepted the promise of God in Isaac. But how much did he really believe?

  That’s what tests do—they reveal what is there. School tests, driving tests, medical tests. And, especially tests of faith. James begins his book by saying, “Consider it all joy, my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” That’s hard. It’s hard to be joyful in any tests: medical, school, and especially of faith.

  I wonder if God could say the same thing about us, “Now I know” ? Now I know they believe. Now I know they will do anything I say. Is it any wonder that Abraham is called the “friend of God.” His faith demonstrated that he would do anything God asked.

   Will our faith be tested? Probably. How? God doesn’t speak directly to us as He did Abraham, but our faith may be tested in doing what His word says. Let your light shine—stand out or blend in? That’s a test. Be holy—pure or unrighteous? That’s a test.

  Now I know. Not only did God know, but now, Abraham knew. He passed the test! This gives us much to think about. Wonder how I’d do? Now I know. Great statement. Great declaration of faith.

Roger

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Jump Start # 129

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 129

Colossians 2:18 “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.”

  Paul is concerned about what is happening to the Colossians. They were being influenced. They were being led away from the message of Christ. It is thought by many scholars that Paul has in mind the early stages of the Gnostic doctrines. That doesn’t mean much to us today, but it was huge in the early days of Christianity. The Gnostics were philosophers that believed knowledge was a secret passage way to new mysteries. The Greek word for knowledge is very similar to the word “Gnostic.” Some of these became connected with the Christians. In their later teachings, especially as John deals with them in 1 John, they claimed that the body was evil. God being all pure could never be in human flesh. This led to two radical conclusions: first, Jesus was not the son of God; secondly; what a person did in the body did not affect the soul. You find Paul and John dealing with those things throughout their writings.

  Here, the Gnostics claimed to have seen visions. They are encouraging worshipping angels. They are abusing the physical body (thinking it was evil). Some of the Gnostics would later become the Monastic’s—those who built monasteries and removed themselves from everyone else and the world. They lived in bird cages, and defiled the body, thinking that was pleasing to God.

  These Gnostics are wrong. God alone is to be worshipped. Jesus said that to Satan in the wilderness temptations. We are not to worship apostles, preachers, angels, Mary or any one or any thing other than God alone. The ten commandments emphasized that strongly.

  What I want us to see are Paul’s strong words here, “Let no keep defrauding you…” The Colossians had responsibility here. Who were they listening to? Who were they letting into their heart?  It is God that we cling to. Any message, from any person that takes us from God must be rejected. The noble Bereans searched the Scriptures daily to see whether the things they heard were true (Acts 17:11). We must do the same.

  Well intentioned, but misguided people have caused many to give up what they believe. Some will take the voice of a preacher without any thought or consideration. Paul said, “Let no one…” How does a person keep that from happening?

  First, by realizing God’s word is true and consistent and does not contain errors or contradictions. It was the word that was preached everywhere. Secondly, when someone says something contrary to Scriptures, demand proof. Who says so? God has said all that He is going to say (2 Pet 1:3). Many will claim, “God said…” when in reality “they said, not God.” Thirdly, if it is not in the Bible, refuse it. Don’t be a part of it. Walk away, better yet, run away from that. Finally, keep yourself engaged, engrossed, and committed to the word of God. You have responsibility for knowing the message and the will of God. Look at it. Read it. Know it. Follow it. Teach it. And above all, don’t move from it.

Roger

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Jump Start # 128

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 128

Colossians 3:15-16 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

  These two verses are packed full of wonderful ideas and concepts and principles from God. These are great verses! These teach us so many great lessons. One of the unique features of worship within the churches of Christ is singing. Not just singing, but singing without any piano, organ or other instrument. This is not a novel idea thought up long ago by some in the churches of Christ, but rather, this is what is found in the N.T. Nine times the N.T. shows the followers of Jesus singing. Singing is something all of us can do, even those who can’t carry a tune in a bucket, such as this writer. When we sing we are following the N.T. blueprint. What’s the big deal about instruments? It’s simply not in the N.T. The early church did not use them—history as well as the N.T. shows that.

  Notice the repeated words in these verses. Let the peace of Christ rule…let the word of Christ richly dwell. LET. That’s up to us.

  Also, repeated here, “be thankful” and “singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” This is a person who counts their blessings instead of their woes. They see God’s goodness more than their problems. Thankful in prayer and thankful in song.

  A third, implied repeated expression is the heart. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” and, “let the word of Christ richly dwell within you…” What does within you mean? It’s the heart. Christ’s word in our hearts and Christ’s peace in our hearts. Be filled with Christ is the idea.

  That would have a great impact upon us. Christ living in us, is the idea from Gal. 2:20. His attitudes, not mine. His definitions of life, not mine. His priorities, not mine. His way, not mine. His hope, not mine. His, not mine. Sometimes we get this mixed up. We try going to church, being good, doing right, but it just doesn’t seem to take. It doesn’t last. We lose our cool. We get bogged down. We don’t feel like doing what we should. The problem? We often think it’s the Bible. It just doesn’t work. We walk away frustrated and defeated. The reality is that we haven’t got it in our hearts. That’s where it works.

  Notice the words Paul uses here: the peace of Christ RULES in our hearts. To rule is to be in charge. The peace of Christ takes over. When stress, fear and worry comes, the peace of Christ overcomes, because it rules. Paul also says, the word of Christ richly DWELLS within us. To dwell means to make residence, to stay. It’s not company that comes for the weekend and then leaves, the word moves in. It dwells in your heart. The words of compassion. The examples of Jesus. The hope in Christ. The faith in God. All of these dominate and affect us. We must stop treating the Bible like vacation land that we visit once in a while or the hospital that we go to in emergencies. God’s word wants to move in. But when it does, it has an affect upon you. It will change you, better you, challenge you, move you, and open your eyes to serve others. Some may not like that. So they keep the Christ at a distance. They want Him only when He is called. That relationship will never work. It falls apart every time. The solution to most of our issues is letting Christ dwell in our hearts.

  He’s at the door knocking. Are you going to let Him in? If you do, He wants to stay. He will change things. It’s for your good, but He may throw some things out of your heart that is junk. He will make adjustments. Like a home make over, it’s tough at first, but when He’s done, you’ll be shocked at the way you once lived. You’ll never want to go back to the old way again. Let Him in. He has some work to do.

Roger