08

Jump Start # 535

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 535 

Colossians 4:22-23 “Slaves, in all things obey those who are our masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men”

 Paul, in both Ephesians and here in Colossians, defines what Christianity looks like in various relationships. The family unit, husbands, wives, children are described. The work ethic, illustrated by the lowest rung—the slave/master relationship is viewed through the lens of Jesus Christ. Even the slave—one who is owned by another, who has no rights, and no advocate, is expected to walk in the ways of Jesus Christ in all things, especially toward his master.

  People became slaves in many different ways in Bible times. Sometimes, when a nation conquered another nation, slaves were made from the defeated citizens. That happened a lot in the O.T. Some became slaves because they couldn’t pay their debts. We’d be in a mess today if that were the case here in America. Others became indentured servants in order to learn a trade and buy a business. Slavery leaves such a sour taste in our hearts. It is interesting that the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn slavery, but in every society where the gospel has gone, slavery has ended. It’s hard to practice the golden rule while owning someone else. Slave—master relationships became even more complex when one or both became a Christian.

  Paul’s words in Colossians are addressed not to society in general, but to a church. Within that church some were slaves. They were lower than second class citizens, they weren’t citizens at all—yet through Jesus, they were one with the rest of the brethren. How they must have felt worshipping with others who were not slaves. Tensions and difficulties and issues layered many of those early churches in ways that we cannot understand today.

  Paul’s words about the slaves become wonderful principles for us to view our work ethic and jobs. We work. We work because we have to work. I think of the Seven dwarfs who happily sang, “Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s off to work we go.” Not everyone has such wonderful spirits about work as they did. Some dread it. Some hate their jobs. Some are not working when they ought to be—instead, they play around, they do personal business, they waste time, they do anything but work.

  Paul lists three principles in our passage today:

  • Do your job. Paul said it this way, “Slaves, in all things obey those who are our masters…”  To obey, is to do what you are supposed to. Some places are great to work at. Others are terrible. Most of us have had some pretty bad jobs early on in our careers. Some bosses do not understand the value of building a team. Instead they take advantage of workers and are insensitive to them. Still, do your job. When it seems unfair, do your job. If it gets the best of you, look for another, but until then, do your job. Paul addresses Masters (bosses) later on. There is no excuse for a Christian to be mean, abusive or cruel to his employees. God sees all that is going on and that person needs to remember that.

 

  • Watch your attitude. Paul said, “not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart…”  The old expression, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play,” refers to simply doing what you are supposed to when you are being watched. Not so for the Christian. Not only is he doing his job, but he is doing the best he can—from the heart, with sincerity, is his motive. Why, because that’s what God wants. God wants you to be true and honest—even at work. This is about character, not paychecks and bonuses. It’s about core values and being a person of principle. It’s about showing Christ, even when others aren’t. This point of Paul’s teaching hits many of us. We’ll work and we’ll work hard, but our spirits and attitudes may not be right. We may be sour and complaining as we do our work. We may talk about the company and the bosses in a negative way to others. We burn on the inside, while doing our jobs on the outside. There’s not much sincerity when that happens. Your spirit is important—this even goes to preachers! Get a group of preachers together and they can start whining and blaming brethren and complaining about their pitiful pay that it makes you wonder if they have ever read these verses! Shame on them!

 

  • The third principle here is to work for the Lord. This point takes care of the first two. Can you imagine Jesus being your boss? Would you work differently if He was? Would you arrive earlier, work harder and complain less? Would you go out of your way and go beyond the call of duty if Jesus was your boss? Paul’s point is then work that way! He is your boss. Don’t get caught up with the rest of the workers who only want a paycheck for showing up. Don’t go negative with everyone else. Don’t become lazy. Your work ethic is a demonstration of your character. What better way to let your light shine, than to be that honest, hard working person that Jesus wants you to be. You will shine if you do that, because no one else around you wants to. You will be noticed, because others don’t want to work.

 

  Right now, today, at work, you can start living these principles. You do this, not to get a raise, not even to get noticed, not even to get your work done by the end of the day, but for the Lord. Jesus worked hard. He was focused, dedicated and didn’t become like others in spirit and attitude. That’s who we follow. That’s our example.

  Many have difficult circumstances where they work. God knows. Our jobs drain our energy, take up so much time, and add tons of stress to our hearts. Many view their jobs as their life. Managers want that. It’s not that way for the Christian. He’ll work hard. He’ll do what God wants of him, but it’s not his life—it’s only a job. His life is Christ. His life is family, church, and living for the Lord. The job is a means to support the family, help others, and a tool to connect to others and opportunities to share Jesus. This is one of the great things about work—you have a pool of people that need Jesus. Many are broken and hurting and they are looking. Your being there can help that. Talk to your co– workers. Invite them to services. Ask them for Bible studies. Share these Jump Starts with them. God has brought you together—be resourceful. I know many Christians who first learned about Jesus through a co-worker.

  Pray as you work. Pray as you hear others having a melt down. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to see others. Show kindness, compassion and Christ.

  Now, let’s get to work!

  Roger

07

Jump Start # 534

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump  Start # 534 

2 Peter 3:12 “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because  of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”

  Peter is detailing the coming of the Lord in the context in which our passage today is found. He says that the coming of the Lord will be unexpected (like a thief in the night); it will change everything we know (the earth, the heavens and the elements will be burned up) but we will remain. This passage is not intended to scare but rather prepare people. Peter asks, “What sort of people ought you to be?” He answers his question by reminding the readers to be holy. Twice he states that there was an anticipation for these coming things.

  There are many things we look forward to in life. Weddings are one such occasion. The end of school is something that many children look forward to. Workers look forward to retirement. Soon to be grandparents, as I found out recently that I will be, look forward to the birth of that grandchild.

  Nothing is like what Peter described. It only happens once. If you’re still around, you won’t miss it. Jesus is not coming to start things, it is an end to things. He’s not coming to establish a kingdom, that was done, He’s coming to deliver the kingdom to His Father (1 Cor 15).

  Peter says in these verses that everything will be destroyed, except the people. He uses the flood as an example. Then God destroyed everything with water, this time it will be by fire. The flood reshaped things and changed things. Have you ever noticed that in Genesis one when God made everything He gathered the water in one place and the dry land in one place? That’s not the picture you get when you look at a globe. There are “seven seas” and many continents and islands all over the place. Some of the continents look like they could fit together like a puzzle piece. Very possibly, the opening of the earth to release the flood water, reshaped the continents. Have you noticed that before the flood people lived hundreds and hundreds of years, but after the flood they didn’t? It was a different world after the flood.

  Why would anyone be excited about our world burning up? Why would anyone anticipate the coming of the Lord? Why would this be something that people longed for? It seems that they would dread it and hope it never happened.

  The answer lies in what is beyond this world. Peter has told the disciples that we are pilgrims and sojourners here. This is not our home land. This is not where we belong. That’s hard to grasp, because this is the only place that we have been and the only place that we know. It sure seems that we belong here, but we don’t. We can really like it here. We can become settled and satisfied here, but we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t because this isn’t Heaven. This world is on a schedule to end someday. This world has a harshness to it. The weather isn’t always nice. Disease, disaster and bad news are a regular part of our world. Worse than that, death is a part of this world. We bury our loved ones. We bury our young people. We bury those that we are not ready to part with. That’s this world. It’s always been that way. Every family history has sad stories in it about death.

  The coming of Jesus puts an end to all those things. The coming of Jesus defeats Satan’s greatest tool, death. Before Jesus, death was the most feared enemy. Jesus died, but was resurrected. He was the “first fruit.” Others would follow. All will follow. Death doesn’t hold us any longer. Death ends when Jesus returns.

  Peter is looking not so much to the blowing up of everything and the total destruction of everything as he is what lies beyond, Heaven. How beautiful Heaven will be. Peter’s words remind us that we are getting out of this world with only ourselves—our character, what we have done, our relationship with the Lord. That’s it. All the things we’ve collected and treasure—not going with us. Those family heirlooms that we pass on from generation to generation—not going with us. Which tells us that we often put more interests and more time into things that will not last rather than the things that will. If we dusted our character as much as we dusted our collectables, we’d be a better people. If we took inventory of our spiritual well being as much as we did our coins, baseball cards, autographs and so forth, we’d be a better people.

  Peter is telling us to put out attention into the things that will last, our souls. We sing a song down at the church house that goes, “There’s a great day coming, a great day coming…” There sure is. And all of this sure makes you think…just about everything you touch today will be destroyed sooner or later. It also makes you realize that as nice as our world can be, Heaven will out shine it. No one will be disappointed who is in Heaven. No one will think that it ought to be updated, improved or larger. No one. No one will say, “This reminds me of Disney.” Nope. Nothing like it.

  Until then, we must carry on. Catch your breath, pick up your bags and keep journeying. We’re not done yet. There are things God needs you to do, even today. So onward we march, ever closer to that wonderful land.

  Roger

06

Jump Start # 533

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 533 

2 Timothy 2:5 “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.” 

  Last night was the Super Bowl. Great game! The apostle Paul used illustrations from sports several times. He talked about running, boxing and winning. Here in this passage, Paul uses a series of three illustrations to emphasize the importance of being dedicated to the Lord. Paul mentions the good soldier (v. 3-4) who must suffer hardships; the athlete (v. 5) who plays by the rules; and the farmer (v. 6) who is the first to receive from his share of the crops.

  Playing by the rules—that’s something our mamma’s taught us when we were growing up but a lesson that it seems many have abandoned. It seems that many are looking for a edge, an advantage so they can win. Often what they find crosses the line of right and wrong. This is why there are drug tests on athletes, the equipment must be examined by impartial judges and strict rules set up to avoid cheating—this is true in Nascar, baseball, football, tennis, even horse racing. This drive to win at all costs crosses the lines of sports and is found in all areas of life. Cheating has sent Wall Street investors to jail, it has ruined business deals, it has resulted in college kids getting kicked out of schools, tainted corporations, and soured honest hard working people. We wonder if anyone is honest anymore. The number of incidents of cheating has made us not trust anyone anywhere. Handshakes aren’t good enough today. We have to sign a mountain of papers and have a line of attorneys standing behind us.

  There is one area in life that the cheaters cannot and will not prevail, and that is with God. The Galatians were told that “God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” There is no fooling God. There is no cheating God. Consider a few areas:

  • There is no escaping death. Often when a person has nearly died but they didn’t, we might say that they “cheated death.” They really didn’t. God has an appointed time (Heb 9:27). If God decides your time is now, as the rich farmer found out in Luke, then that’s it. There Jesus said, in that parable, “This very night your soul is required of you…” That very night he died. There is no out running, hiding, nor escaping death. Since that is true, we need to live each day as if it were out last day. We need to express our love to our family and friends and walk hand in hand with the Lord.

 

  • There is no pretending to be righteous when we are not, at least not in the eyes of God.  You can’t fool God. Some fool their families and some can fool a church, but you can’t do those things with God. The Pharisees thought they could. Jesus saw right through them. He described them as a dish or a cup that was clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. He said that they looked like a cemetery—beautiful, white tombstones, but underneath the ground, rotting and dead bodies. He knew. Sitting in a church building doesn’t make a person righteous—it’s following Christ that does. When I was small, we used to play church. My grandparents took care of the communion at the small country church they attended. What was left over was brought home and given to the grandkids. We lined up baby dolls, stuffed animals and anything else we could find and played church. It was a lot of fun. It didn’t do much to us on the inside—just as church services has little impact today on those adults who are playing their own version of church. God knows.

 

  • There will be no one who cheats their way into Heaven. Stories of standing at the gate and telling the apostle Peter a great line and a whooper of a story so we can get in, may generate laughs from your friends, but it’s not that way. Peter is not standing guard at the gate. The gates opened, not closed. A person has to pass the judgment seat of Christ, where the books are opened before Heaven can be granted. Tears and sob stories and pitiful tales of hard luck doesn’t excuse a life that ignored God, was selfish and avoided what the Bible teaches. You can’t cheat your way into Heaven. Revelation 21:27 teaches, “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Names are in the book because God put them there. They belong to those who walked with the Lord in love, trust and obedience. They were righteous inside and out. They didn’t pretend. They were not fake. God knows. No one will get past God dishonestly. Won’t happen.

 If you want the prize, then you must go by the rules. That’s the point of the passage and the point of life. In the end, cheaters are caught and the dishonest lose. That’s just how it is. Honest—honest in our walk with God. Honest in our faith. Honest with our families. Honest to ourselves. No deceiving. No cheating. No planning to bend, fudge, nor break the rules. Walk hand in hand with the holy Savior. That’s the only way. That’s the sure way.

  We have to deal with cheaters down here. We won’t in Heaven. Don’t get caught up with their scheming and deceiving—it’s not right and it’s not worth it. I remember guys in college who went to extreme lengths to cheat on tests. What they came up with was unbelievable. If they spent that same energy in studying then they wouldn’t had to cheat, and more than that, they would have learned something. Cheating affects others. Would you like to have a surgeon operate on you if you knew he cheated his way through medical school? How about taking a flight with a pilot who cheated in flight school? Those are scary thoughts. Dishonest employees has forced stores to spend money on security which drives the price of products up. Cheating affects others. Even little things, like falsely identifying things on Ebay, affects others. People buy a product and it’s broken or not in the condition that it was listed as, they have been cheated and taken advantage of. The cheater laughs all the way to the bank, thinking he pulled a fast one, but he hasn’t. God knows. You can’t fool God.

  Play by the rules. Be a person of integrity and honesty. It may cost you, and you may see cheaters holding trophies above their heads, but God knows. He always knows. There is no cheating God. The honest person sleeps better at night. His conscience is good. It is the one who walks with the Lord that has the hope of Heaven.

Roger

03

Jump Start # 532

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 532

Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

  Going through the valleys is part of life. We have to journey through them. There are no ways around them and besides, if we are following our Shepherd, He leads us through them.  Yesterday, up in Indianapolis, I preached the funeral of a sweet Christian lady. She was one of my early Bible class teachers years ago. Her son and his family are very dear to my family. That evening, I went to another funeral home. Another friend’s father had passed away. Another friend, who had worked several years at a company, lost his job. Tough times for those families. Those long journeys through the valley can seem long and dark. Tears come to the eyes. Uncertainty fills the heart. Why does life have to be like this?

  Jesus ended His great sermon on the mount with the story of two men who built their houses—one upon the rock and the other upon sand. Both men experienced wind, rain and floods. Both men. Not just the sand man, but the rock man did as well. Storms come. It is those times that we really rely upon our faith. It is those times that we really trust in the Lord. It is those valley times that distinguish a real faith in the Lord and an academic knowledge of the Bible—those two are not the same. The difference is noted especially during the storms of life.

  Just about any one can be a sunshine Christian. Health in the body, money in the bank, secure job and marriage, a car starts every time, and we’ll walk through the day with a smile on our face. That doesn’t take much to do that. Just about anyone can do that. It’s the other kind of days that really show what we are made of. How do we do in the valleys? How are we with storms?

   We remember that God’s love is not determined whether we are in a valley or a mountain top. We remember that God is on the throne. He’s always there, even when it seems that the world is falling apart, or at least we are, He is still in control. He is always at the helm. Storms and valleys do not take away from what He promised, nor do they defeat what He has said.

  People seem to watch us more carefully when we are going through a valley. They notice our attitudes, our words, and how we handle things. Going through the valley isn’t just for us, it’s for others who watch us. Our children, even the grown ones, learn as they watch us in a valley. Those that know us are often encouraged because of the way we conduct ourselves in storms and valleys. They see spiritual strength in us. They see us praying more. They see us spending time in the Scriptures.

  Life would be awesome if it wasn’t for the storms and valleys. I sometimes wonder if I’d think less about Heaven if I didn’t have a few valleys and storms. Those ugly times make our hearts long for the world in which there will be no pain, nor sorrow, nor death. We can’t ever forget our Heavenly home. We must never become satisfied with this place. We are pilgrims here, not natives. This world, as we often sing, is not our home. Valleys and storms do a great job of getting that point across.

   A friend buried his mother, another friend buried her father, and another friend lost his job—all of these friends are Christians. They are going through valleys and storms. I watched all of them and witnessed incredible faith, an undying hope in our Savior, a confidence that God will help them through these times, and a strength that was impressive. They will endure these storms and be a better people. They will not crumble under worry, fear or hopelessness. Not these people. They are rock people—their houses are built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and nothing will shake those homes.

  It’s awesome to witness folks doing right, having faith and being spiritual giants. They remind us that valleys and storms do not have to defeat us nor destroy us. They show that one can make it to the end of the valley. They show us that we can do the same. They remind us that they were never alone—God was with them, as this passage promises. What these families did was build a solid foundation upon Christ in the good times. They learned, listened, studied and developed their faith in Jesus Christ. They didn’t wait until they were in the valley, nor when the winds started blowing to begin their faith. It’s too late then. They built and built that foundation during the sunny days. And now that they are going through some dark days, they will be standing strong in the Lord. The Lord will get them through us, because they have been walking with Him all along. That’s the difference!

  Storm clouds are building on the horizon… there is no reason to fear. God is with you! Are you with Him?

Roger

02

Jump Start # 531

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 531 

Proverbs 19:2 “Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps errs.”

  This passage brings together two valuable ideas. First, the importance of knowledge. It is not good for a person to be without knowledge. Most would agree. Knowledge empowers. Knowledge opens doors. The lack of knowledge creates fear and limits what a person can do. Put a grandma on a couch with her teenaged grandson and toss in a cell phone. Often, grandma is frustrated because she doesn’t know how to text, take a picture or change ring tones. Hand the phone over to her grandson and he has that thing running as smooth as can be in seconds. Grandma is amazed. Her lack of understanding about electronics makes her afraid to push buttons. The grandson understands the symbols, knows the language and is at ease.

  The knowledge Solomon has in mind isn’t so much mathematics, biology, foreign languages or, even cell phones, as it is God’s word. Walking through this life without knowledge of God is walking with a blind fold on. A person will never discover their reason for being here until they open the Bible. A knowledge of God’s word brings confidence, trust and hope to us.

  The second expression in our passage, “and he who hurries his footsteps errs,” reminds us that acquiring knowledge takes time. Those in a hurry will make mistakes—that’s the intended thought. There are no short cuts to learning God’s word.

  We live in “hurried” times. Have you noticed? Everyone seems to be in a hurry. The commercials on TV never advertise how to slow your computer down, it’s how to speed it up. Faster downloads, faster phone service, fast foods, drive through tellers, express lanes at the check out, pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free—about the only thing that’s not fast these days are sermons! Being in a hurry isn’t always a good thing. Doctors will tell you that eating too fast isn’t healthy. Driving fast isn’t safe.  There are some things that take time.

  Let’s consider two of them:

  First, from our passage, knowledge takes time. Any knowledge does that. Some learning doesn’t come from books, but from living and that takes time. We call that experience. You apply for a job and the company wants someone with at least five years experience. You happen to be brand new out of school. There is no way to speed up the process and get five years of experience in two weeks. Knowledge takes time. So it is with the Bible. At first, we start with an academic approach to the Bible. Simply learning doctrines, histories, geographies, names and facts. We learn the books of the Bible. We learn the names of the apostles. We learn where to find Jerusalem on a map. We learn the times and conditions in which Daniel was written. We learn dates, emperors, and dynasties. There is no hurry up here. It takes time. It takes reading, thinking and sitting in Bible classes, home studies, and listening to sermons. Learning and learning and grasping the big picture. Then our knowledge moves from an academic level to a deeper level, more of concepts, principles, trust and faith. The Bible often distinguishes these two levels as milk and meat. Meat is maturity. Meat is seeing the why’s and how come’s of a passage. Meat is dropping the net and really thinking about passages. Meat is able to understand what Paul meant when listing the works of the flesh, he said, “and things like these.” What things? Paul didn’t have to list them—folks will know, once they’ve spent some time learning and thinking.

  Can there be any greater reason to attend Bible classes than this. We need to grow. We need to know. Some folks have been stuck in the third grade spiritually for decades. They know facts and can repeat them with a blink of an eye, but somehow they fail to get the concepts, the depth and the meat of God’s will. They tend to be shallow—both in thought and faith. Death terrifies them, when it ought to be welcomed. Trials are not understood, when they ought to be viewed as an incredible learning experience. The purpose of worship is not grasped. They need depth. They need meat. They need knowledge. They need maturity. Don’t hurry this up, but neither get stuck and stay where you are at. Movement and progress should always be taking place.

  The second area that takes time are relationships. There aren’t any short cuts here. It takes time to really get to know someone. That’s one of the purposes of dating. It’s easy to be attracted to the outside of someone, but what’s on the inside? That takes time to know. The same goes with friendships…relationships with church members…and even our relationship with the Lord. It takes time. Those who don’t have time, suffer. They miss out. They want to be close to others, but they don’t want to make the time it takes to develop those relationships. In this hurry up world we live in, this reminds us that we need to slow down for important things, such as relationships.

  Start first with your family. Can you name your kids favorite colors, songs, movies, desert? How about your mate’s? Try this some time, go out to eat and you order your spouse’s meal and she/he orders yours. Would that work or be a disaster? Do you know what the other likes? Often families will sit together on the couch, but the TV’s on, everyone is texting or emailing and there’s just not much bonding going on. Sound familiar? Connecting takes time.

  Have a family from church over to your home. Get to know them. Become interested in their lives and their world. It will make worship more meaningful when you worship with people you know.

  There was an old song by Paul Simon many years ago that started, “slow down, you move too fast…” That’s true when it comes to knowledge and relationships.

  Take your time with these things…it’ll be worth it.

Roger