31

Jump Start # 784

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

 

Jump Start # 784

Revelation 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

 

In our Jump Start yesterday, we looked at a passage from Revelation that warned us about Satan. He is engaged in a battle with the people of God. He is at war with them. We continue with that thought and jump ahead to the end of the book of Revelation and the end of time.

Our passage shows the outcome. Satan is defeated, punished and removed as a threat. The beast and the false prophet are agents used by Satan to deceive nations. They had been punished prior to this. There are a few lessons for us here:

 

1. God is showing us the outcome. He already knows what is going to happen. The battle isn’t up in the air, as we might think it is. We can look around and believe that Satan is winning. We can see more bad than good and believe that the tide is shifting and possibly God will be overthrown. Not so! We know the winner, it is God. Satan is no power next to God. They are not equal in anything. The expression, “was thrown into the lake of fire” expresses punishment and rejection.

Now, there is an interesting thought with this for us. If we know Satan loses, shouldn’t I align myself with God, who is victorious? Why spend my life with things that will cause me to lose? Fear, worry, greed, lust, hopelessness, selfishness, materialism—these are not the things which ought to fill my heart. Not at all. God wins. Righteousness wins. Holiness wins. What wins are the things of God. Praising God wins over cursing God. Doing good wins over closing my heart to others. Studying the Bible, praying to God, attending church services—these are not a waste of time. These are the characteristics of those who are going to win. Arrogance, closed mindedness, and ignoring God is a sure sign of someone who is going to lose. It’s that simple.

 

Why does God tell us the outcome? Why does He not keep it a secret until it happens? Remembering the background of Revelation, many of the Christians were suffering and being persecuted, by a power greater than them. They had no armies. They had no resources to resist. If the Christians are wiped out, it seems that God loses. First, they weren’t all killed and God shows them the end of the story so they would hang in there. Overcome is one of the key words in Revelation. God shows them the end so they will remain faithful.

 

2.  Our passage today also shows us what happens to Satan at the end. He will be tormented day and night forever and ever. That’s a different image than what many have heard. We often get the idea, especially from the cartoons, long ago, that God is in charge of Heaven and Satan is in charge of Hell. Images of Satan, prodding people with his red pitch folk is very common. That’s not what this passage allows. Satan, himself, will be tormented. He’s not in charge, God is. God is in charge of Heaven and earth and that includes Hell. Satan’s future is set. He’s doomed. There’s no hope, no Savior, and no bright future awaiting him. He will be tormented for ever. Jesus said in Matthew 25 that Hell is prepared for Satan and his angels. I get from that, that God made Hell especially for Satan. People are not supposed to be there. People are supposed to be with God in Heaven. In John, Jesus told the disciples, I go and prepare a place for you. Heaven is made for us. To be with God. Hell is for Satan. It will be as ugly and harsh and nasty as he is. It is made just for him.

 

Don’t give up believing in Hell. Many have. Current statistics reveal that a majority of ministers across the board not only never mention the word Hell, they do not believe in it. God does. That reference in Matthew 25 ties everlasting life with eternal punishment. If Hell is no longer, then Heaven is gone, too. They are linked together. If there is a Heaven, then there is a Hell. Too many preachers are afraid of offending the audience by warning people of Hell. Shame on them. People do not like to think about grandma being in Hell. It isn’t a pleasant thought. So that has made us soften the message and reshape what God said. We’ve come to believe that if you are nice, then you go to Heaven. Nice people are in Heaven. Hell is for the Hitler’s, the child molesters, and the mean people. Be nice, we are told. The problem with that thinking is that a person can be nice and still ignore God. They can be a nice atheist. They can be a nice worldly person. It’s going to take much more than just being nice. We must follow God. We must obey God. God must be at the core of our character and the center of our life. Disciples of Jesus—that’s the key.

Secondly, God is showing these things so you don’t have to go to Hell. You can be triumphant with Jesus. God doesn’t send anyone to Hell. Our choices do. A life of ignoring God leads to an eternity without God. Our choice, not His. He wants us with Him. He’s done all that He can to make that possible by sending His Son, preserving the Bible, surrounding us with good examples. It’s up to us. Heaven or Hell? Jesus or Satan? Victory or defeat? Joy or punishment? We decide. Our choices, every day, decide.

Satan’s toast. He has no hope for the future. You do. It starts with making godly choices today!

Live as if one foot is already in Heaven.

Roger

 

 

 

30

Jump Start # 783

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

 

Jump Start # 783

Revelation 12:17 “So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with  the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

Revelation 12 is a battle scene. It begins with Satan trying to devour a child, Jesus Christ. When he failed at that, he went after the rest of the children, the faithful of God. This passage is valuable for us because it shows us the world view and what is going on behind the scene. There are several lessons for us from this one verse.

1. We are in a war with Satan. Christians are nice, Satan is not. Christians play by the rules, Satan does not. Christians care, Satan does not. Satan is after Christians. Peter uses the image of a lion seeking someone to devour. We are in enemy territory. We are traveling through lion country. We need to be alert. Our senses need to be sharp. In those nature shows from Africa, the lion is always hiding in the tall grass. He has his eyes on the antelope. They don’t see him, but he sees them. Satan is watching you. You may not see him, but he sees you. Now there are three approaches we can have with this war with Satan. Only one is acceptable.

  • First, we can be passive and deny that we are in a war. We can believe that things are not so bad. We can close our eyes to the reality of the missiles Satan is launching toward us. The filth of movies and books, the assault upon our marriages, the aggressive and liberal agenda of those who want to redefine right and wrong, the obsession with materialism, the rebellion towards authority and the mockery towards the God of Heaven and Earth are striking the people of God daily. To say things aren’t so bad is to deny what is going on. Sitting back with folded hands allows the enemy easy access. This approach is sure failure.
  • Second, we can go to the other extreme and become militant in our response to Satan. Shooting bad people, bombing abortion clinics, shouting ugly threats and a general “in your face” attitude is not the right approach either. Long ago, emperors in Europe sent troops to recover the Bible lands from the Muslims. Those were called the Crusades. In the name of Christianity, thousands were slaughtered. Remember, in the garden, the Lord told Peter to put the sword away. He told Pilate that if His kingdom were of this world then His disciples would fight. But it’s not. And they do not.

 

  • Third, our enemy is spiritual. That’s what Satan is, wicked as he is, he is a spiritual being. He is to be challenged God’s ways. First, individually, we are to resist temptation. Satan will flee, James tells us. Second, we counter Satan by standing upon the word of God and teaching it. In the temptations Jesus responded to Satan, “It is written,” and quoted from Deuteronomy three different times. The expression, “It is written,” means, “It stands written.” It stands! Nothing has changed. It stands! Alone in the desert, it stands. Hungry, it stands. Many, many years later, it stands. God’s weapons are His word. Teach it. Use it. Believe it. The more that rally around the Bible the less Satan can call his own. Teach God’s word. Don’t be ashamed, afraid, or silent. Satan uses the media. Satan has unlimited money. Satan has tons of followers. It’s time to raise our voices for God.

Begin by protecting your family. Parents, get involved! Know what shows, music and friends are influencing your child’s heart. Talk about God. Say prayers together. Read Scriptures. Talk about the day and what choices they had. Surround them with great people. Develop a servants heart in them.

Be active in your congregation. Don’t be passive. Get involved. Know what is going on. Encourage the leadership and your preacher to teach Biblical lessons that deal with contemporary issues. Encourage them. Let them know you want to be challenged and your family’s faith to grow. Get there. Be there. That’s important.

There is a war going on—the enemy has you in his crosshairs. He’s got your scent. He’s hiding in the tall grass. Be alert today. Be prayerful today. Be strong today. Jesus prayed that the apostles would be kept safe from the evil one. That is my prayer for you!

Roger

 

29

Jump Start # 782

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

 

Jump Start # 782

Acts 5:4 “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God?”

My home congregation is reading Acts 5 today. It begins with the sad story of Ananias and Sapphira. They got caught up in the excitement of helping needing Christians but in the process greed, deception and lies led them to look better than what they really were. They did not have to sell land and give to the apostles. That was not commanded. They did not have to give all the sell to the apostles. However, when they pretended to give it all, and kept some for themselves, their generous act became tainted with selfishness and lies.

Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead. They were the first Christians to die. Their death wasn’t in standing for their faith, it was in disobedience and standing up for a lie. Why is this sad page preserved in history? Why do we have this in our Bibles? What are we to learn from this?

 

First, God hates lying. A gift, an offering is of little good if it is not genuine. A gift looks to the  one receiving it, not to the giver. Praise and honor is not the purpose of giving. A little gift in honesty is much better than a large gift covered with selfishness, pride and lies.

 

Second, God was placing a stake in the ground about His people. Trust, love and fellowship is based upon honesty. This young church in Acts was starting off on the wrong foot if something serious and drastic wasn’t done. Lying members is not the direction that God wants His people to go. If this couple lied about money, would others lie about sin?

 

Third, Ananias and Sapphira, became Christians the same way every one does, through faith and obedience to Christ. Their young faith hadn’t fully conquered the pride in their hearts. They hadn’t fully surrendered self to Christ. Fighting self is our greatest enemy. What happened here show us that some are still not completely won over by Christ. Yes, they are Christians. Yes, they worship. However, their hearts may still follow greed or pride or other things. There is a great need to teach. Christ must come first. Pride destroys. Lying is wrong. They may have known but been weak.

 

Fourth, here is another husband and wife team, like Adam and Eve, in which both engaged in wrong. We do not see one in the marriage putting on the brakes. We do not see one reminding the other about God. We do not see one saying, “I’ll have no part in this.” We find one following the other into wrong. One of the blessings of marriage is having someone who will help you get to Heaven. A person who loves you enough to say, “No, we can’t do that.” Or, “Let’s get up and get to worship services,” when the other doesn’t feel like it. Strengthen each other. Pull out the best in each other. Point each other to Heaven. Be a help to each other. When one gets discouraged, the other is there to help. A powerful marriage is one of the greatest tools to help us get to Heaven. When we encourage our mates to be weak, to disobey, to do wrong, we hurt the marriage, we hurt their soul, and we hurt our influence with them. It seems from the punishment that they received in Acts 5, that God was holding them equally accountable.

This section ends with the statement, “Great fear came over the whole church…” The sudden death of a Christian is shocking to any congregation. A couple who dies suddenly is even worse. But when it is learned that they died by the hand of God, great fear fills the hearts of all who knew them. God would strike down His own people, just like in the O.T. God knew their motives and hearts. God would not tolerate wickedness among His people. Their deaths would make all look within. Their deaths would be a reminder of what God expected. Their deaths would send a chill that it could have been others if they had been dishonest. Great fear—we don’t like that. We do all we can to avoid great fear. We try to live in secure homes. We try to protect our ways. A church that had great fear would become a closer and better group as a result. Out of the bad, good would come. Lessons learned. Faith committed. Trust renewed. Sometimes we don’t learn those lessons unless something serious takes place.

 

Roger

 

28

Jump Start # 781

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

 

Jump Start # 781

Proverbs 21:25-26 “The desire of the sluggard puts him to death, for his hands refuse to work; all day long he is craving, while the righteous gives and does not hold back.”

Our verse for today highlights one of the many contrasts found in Proverbs. Here, it is the sluggard or the lazy man contrasted with the righteous. Laziness is not a virtue. It is not a quality of character. The sluggard has desires. Everyone does. Everyone has dreams, goals and hopes. But reality is lacking for the sluggard. His desires are never fulfilled because he refuses to work. He is waiting for someone or something to improve his life. Success without effort doesn’t exist.

 

The sluggard would love to lose weight, but that takes effort. He’d love to save money, but that means sticking to a plan. He’d like to improve his education, but that means reading and going back to school. He’d like to do better, but it’s not worth the effort. So he stays where he is at.

I know some people like that. They aren’t 100% lazy but they lack the drive to improve themselves. They complain about their situation and at first you feel sorry for them. You offer suggestions and ideas that would open doors for them, but they never seem interested in those things. That would mean more effort and they don’t want that. So they remain. It seems the world passes them by. They complain that they couldn’t go to college or they couldn’t do this or that, all the while dreaming, wishing and desiring a better way.

There are some churches like this as well. The leadership tends to be stuck. Very little seems to be going on. They complain about not having enough money to do things, or being small or being this or being that. They’d like to have the classes, the literature, the activities of other congregations, but that takes effort. It takes someone planning and doing. It takes time. They don’t want to do that. So they fold their hands and complain.

I guess it may be my personality, the way God wired me, but I have a hard time being patient with those who refuse to improve themselves. Their desires are pipe dreams that will never be fulfilled because they don’t want to do anything.

I’m not sure where laziness comes from, what the cause it. It may be from one’s up bringing.   Having the kids do things and expecting them to keep up with things may be the ticket that keeps them from being lazy. It may be that some parents want their child to have fun all the time and to be happy all the time, so they allow them to grow up without any responsibilities, jobs to do around the house, and any accountability. Without realizing it, they allow them to grow lazy. Mom is in the kitchen cooking, while the kids are watching TV. As soon as dinner is over, mom cleans up the kitchen while the kids return to the TV. Mom does the laundry while the kids are watching TV. She puts the clothes away in their room while they are watching TV. Dad shovels snow in the winter and cuts grass in the summer while the kids are inside watching TV. Do you see something wrong with that picture? For an outsider, it would appear that Mom and Dad are working for the kids or are the servants of the kids. There’s time for TV. But it’s hard for me to enjoy a show when someone else is around doing work. It makes me feel guilty. Why not help the other person out and then both of you can watch a show together. While mom is cooking, the kids set the table. While mom is washing the dishes the kids are drying. While mom folds the clothes, the kids put their own clothes away. These things should be done without paying the children. Does mom get paid to cook dinner? Does dad get paid to cut the yard? The kids should do things without pay as well.

Laziness happens spiritually as well. There is a question we have about a passage. It is so easy to ask someone, especially the preacher, for the answer. I delight when some asks me, after they have done some thinking, research and studying first. They want a perspective that maybe they haven’t considered. They are gathering infor. That is so different, from the person who is lazy and doesn’t want to look up passages. Just tell me what it means. We can get used to being spoon fed, even spiritually. Learn to study. Learn to think. Learn to dig and work. Where do you think the preacher gets his answers? Could it be that we want him to do the work and just tell us the results?

The poor sluggard…he has desires but he will not work. Unless he changes, he will be that way all of his life. He needs to get up, get at it and get busy. It’s the “gettin” part that he lacks. His only hope is when he get tired of things the way they are. When he gets tired of what he sees in the mirror, he might do something. When he gets tired of being broke, he might do something. When he gets tired of never knowing things spiritually, he just might do something.

 

What makes dreams come true is the doing part.

 

Roger

 

25

Jump Start # 780

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

 

Jump Start # 780

Psalms 34:3 “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

I love this verse. It brings together two great themes: first, honoring and praising God; second, worshipping with others.

Magnify means to enlarge. We think of a magnifying glass and looking at a bug under it. The bug looks larger because of the magnification. The thought is not making God bigger than He is, because we cannot do that. God is big. We tend to make God smaller than what He is. We limit Him and stuff Him in a church building and try to confine Him there. In church, some reason, it’s God’s business, but outside the church building, it’s our business. WRONG. God is big. If politicians grasped that, many of the things they do would be different. God belongs in our church buildings, our office buildings, our schools, our homes and our hearts. If we magnified God as He deserves, we would not attempt to redefine marriage. God has already defined it. We would not allow abortions. God considers the unborn a child, not a fetus. But more than that, we would clean up our language, our thoughts and our attitudes. Magnify God. Emphasize God. Promote God. Honor God. Dwell upon God. The Lord doesn’t want just a couple hours from you on Sunday, He wants you. He wants you to live a life that glorifies Him, honors Him, recognizes Him, obeys Him. This is what we call godliness—a life of God.

 

We magnify all the time, it’s that we don’t magnify God. We tend to magnify our problems. We like to magnify ourselves. We magnify pleasure and sports. In doing this, we spin our wheels, become negative and complaining and miss the noble qualities of life. The best way to magnify God is looking closely at Jesus. How did He conduct Himself? How did He deal with people? How did remain godly? Magnify God!

The other thought here is worship. It is an invitation. The verse is inviting another person to magnify the Lord with him. He is asking, “let us” exalt His name “together.” The call to worship. The invitation to worship. This brings an interesting thought to our minds. We invite a friend to church by asking, “Would you like to come to church with me on Sunday?” They are not sure what to expect or don’t see the real need and politely decline. Instead, “Come, let us magnify the Lord together.” This invitation has a direction. It’s about God. It’s not about hearing a preacher. It’s not about the great time we will have. It’s not about the cool people you’ll meet. It’s not about the music, the building, the children. It’s about GOD. Exalt God’s name. Magnify GOD. Just maybe, we’ve left that out.

There is something special about worshipping with someone you know. We share so much of life with each other. We eat meals with friends. We go to ballgames with friends. We shop, go to movies, babysit each other’s kids, share special tips on cooking, finances, and where to buy the latest whatever. It’s just natural that we share God. With me, let’s magnify the Lord. Together, let’s exalt His name. Friends connecting on the spiritual and together praising God.

This one verse gives us so much to think about. Do I magnify the Lord or am I too absorbed with the externals and myself? Can I see past the songs, the preaching, the prayers to God? Am I asking my friends to come and worship God with me? Come…let us—inviting words and encouraging words!

It just makes us want to say, “See you Sunday!” That’s a great thought. Hope we do!

Roger