27

Jump Start # 2644

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2644

John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

Troubles—they also seem to follow us. I like the expression, “The guy who says all his troubles are behind him, drives a school bus.” His troubles are filled in all the seats of that school bus. Don’t be troubled, is what Jesus is saying. Jesus understood the trouble that troubles cause. Troubles make us worry. They put us on edge. They steal our sleep and rob our appetite. Troubles make us take our eyes off of the Lord. All we can see and all that we can think about and all that we talk about are the troubles that we face.

Some troubles are personal and only you experience them. Health issues are this way. Financial problems are this way.

Some troubles are experienced by many people. A hurricane will impact everyone in it’s path. Church troubles can effect everyone in the congregation. This pandemic has changed so many things. You may not have had Covid-19, and you need to be thankful if that is the case, but in some way you have seen disruptions in what “normal” once looked like for you. Working from home. Worship from home. School from home.

There are two central thoughts that this text shows us:

First, one cannot stop troubles. There were major troubles facing the disciples when Jesus first spoke these words. He was going to leave them. The process of that was going to be His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. The leader was going to be killed. It would seem that Rome was winning. The disciples would be scattered later on. Persecution would chase them the rest of their lives.

And, for us, troubles are always there. Some are big things that are beyond our control. We can’t stop a hurricane. We can’t stop wars, turn the economy, or improve the weather. Some troubles are small. When they happen they don’t seem small. You are in a hurry to get out of the house and you can’t find the car keys. On the way to the daycare to drop off the little one, and she spits up all over your outfit and you don’t have time to go home and change. A wreck on the road and traffic is backed up for miles. The internet is down and you can’t get any work done. It’s hot and the air conditioner quit working. The kids are fighting, the dog won’t eat, your mom complains that she hasn’t seen you in a while, the frig is empty, the store requires a mask and you forgot yours and it’s just a Monday. You wonder, can things get worse? And, the answer is always, YES. Troubles come.

Jesus had troubles, lots of them. The Jews were ready to kill Him before it was time. His disciples were fussing about who was the best. The Pharisees were abusing every word He spoke. The line wanting miracles was long. The apostles didn’t seem to understand the basic core principles that Jesus was teaching. Troubles come. Troubles will be there. As long as we have breath in our bodies, there will be troubles.

Second, troubles do not have to find their way into our hearts. That’s the point of Jesus’ words in our verse. “Let not your heart be troubled,” is what He said. He didn’t say, “Don’t have any troubles,” because you will. But don’t let the troubles trouble you. Keep the troubles on the outside. Don’t allow the troubles to come into your heart.

By using the words, “Let not…” Jesus shows that we are in control of what enters our heart. Sure there are troubles, but those troubles do not have to trouble you. Let not, means you are in control. You are not along for the ride. It seems that we tend to forget this. We tend to allow troubles to take over and suddenly we are no longer at the helm of our ship. We allow troubles to be the reason we can’t do things. We allow troubles to be a ready excuse that keeps us from worship and keeps us from walking with the Lord. “Oh, you know I’d be there if I could, but I’ve got all these problems and troubles in my life,” is so easy to say. And, with that, the troubles run and then they ruin our lives.

Let not your heart be troubled. There are plenty of reasons to be bothered, but you won’t be. And, Jesus gives us two valuable ways to keep those troubles on the outside.

First, faith. Believe in God, He says, then believe in Me. Faith. God loves you. God is in control. Greater is He who is in you, than He who is in the world. When the ten spies reported to Moses and Israel what they saw in the promise land, their words were marked with fear, doubt and uncertainty. The ears heard those words and their hearts melted. Their hearts were troubled. Faith was lacking and they couldn’t take their eyes off of the problems.

Second, personal promises. Where I am, the Lord says next, there you may be also. You. You can be with Me. His words were spoken to believers. They are spoken to us. Jesus will take care of you.

Have you noticed how fearful, angry and upset folks are on the evening news. It’s dooms day. Things couldn’t be worse, is how it is often presented. And, then my mind goes to this verse, “Let not your heart be trouble.” Say a prayer. Read some passages. Turn off the TV. Shut the door of your heart. Get the bad stuff outside.

Troublesome times has not caused trouble in our hearts. Peace and calm are the people of God.

Roger

24

Jump Start # 2643

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2643

John 6:66 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him any more.”

The Bara Institute is an organization that follows and monitors religious trends in this country. Bara polls are very common. They take a cross section of what religious people believe. Their polls cover just about every dog in town religiously. Since this global pandemic, a majority of churches have had to offer worship, classes and special studies by video, livestream and Zoom. The Bara Institute wanted to find out how many were keeping up with these things. How many church members are using the online technology that their congregations were producing? This is what Bara wanted to find out. Shockingly, 30% of those who claimed to belong to a church, have not stayed up with what their congregations were putting online. They were not watching the Sunday worship. They were not participating or watching class studies. They were not listening to sermons. Nearly one-third had dropped out, dropped off and stopped. For the past four months they have not worshipped, connected, grown or been encouraged and strengthened by what their churches have provided. They have not tuned in. They have not participated. They fell off the map.

This is sad, shocking and surprising. A third of the church unplugged, tuned-out, and not engaged spiritually. One wonders if these unengaged third will ever come back. Are they gone for good? Have they given up completely on the Lord? Have they quit? And, then one must think about their own congregation. How many of our members are watching the videos, learning from online Bible classes, worshipping, and listening to sermons? How many have become unplugged, unengaged, and dropped out? Could it be as many as a third? Could it be higher?

Our verse reminds us that some left the Lord. The Lord had been feeding the multitudes. Now it was time to get back to teaching them. The food stopped and so did the dedication and commitment. They were only interested as long as their bellies could be filled. No food, no commitment. No food, no following. How shallow the faith of those food chasers must have been.

There are lessons for us:

First, it is easy to follow Jesus when He is blessing us with things we like. Physical blessings are wonderful. It’s easy to draw a crowd when something free is offered. But where is our hearts when the free things end? Is one interested in Jesus only because of the blessings? Friendships. Nice lifestyle. Comfort. Ease. Those things drop off, what about our dedication to the Lord? This is what Satan thought about Job. God had a hedge around him. Remove the hedge, stop the blessings and protection and Job would curse the Lord. Tough times are the times we really need faith. Job shows us that we trust the Lord because He is the Lord. The Lord doesn’t “buy” our commitment through blessings.

Second, when the crowd walked away from Jesus, they may have had a distorted and false view of Jesus. They walked home disgusted, discouraged and complaining. Where was the free food? Why stop the blessings now? And, when God doesn’t answer prayers as we think He should, it is easy to get a distorted concept of Jesus. God doesn’t come running to us because we are the master. How spoiled, selfish and vain is that thinking.

Third, when the crowd walked away from Jesus they would not find anywhere else what the Lord had done for them. They were not going to find anyone else who would multiple food. They would not find anyone else who would bless that size of a crowd. And, they would not find anyone else who could forgive their sins. They would not find anyone else who could change their eternity. They would not find anywhere else those life changing principles. They walked away, but what did they find? Emptiness. Loneliness. Misery. Bitterness. Lost. That’s the way they were before they came to Jesus. And, leaving Jesus, they would go right back to the way that they were. And, when we unplug from the Lord, His people and the spiritual opportunities put before us, we won’t find those things watching TV, sleeping in, or playing games on our phone. Worry and fear will once again return to our hearts. Uncertainty, misery and selfishness once more dominates our thinking and lives. We become once again, what we once were before we found Jesus, hopelessly lost.

Finally, each person must take ownership of their own faith. One cannot allow others to determine how they will believe or what they shall do. Some walked away from Jesus. The apostles did not. Some today have not taken advantage of the blessings churches are providing. It’s to their loss. This time of separation does not mean one has to get weaker in the Lord. There have been so many opportunities to learn, listen, grow that through these times one may actually be stronger than they were. Bible classes can be revisited over and over by watching videos more than once. Sermons from all across the country could be watched. While Satan has used this period of separation as a tool to weaken us, for some, it’s been the opposite. They have used this time to get stronger, better and closer to the Lord. What Satan hoped would be the end for some, has had just the opposite impact. Some are stronger than ever.

Shepherds across this land ought to look into the condition of their flocks. If a third has unplugged for more than a quarter of the year, the spiritual starvation will impact the church. It may be time to try other concepts to reach and connect with people. It is time to find out how effective the tools that the church has provided has been. Just how many are engaging in these things? How many have stayed with things? Personal contact, asking the right questions, digging a bit deeper will reveal who has stayed with things and who has dropped out. Imagine how devastating it would be if a third of the congregation fell away. Satan may well be using this pandemic to see just who will stay with the Lord and who will walk away. In tough times, the weak often get weaker and the strong often become stronger.

We shouldn’t just wait until things return to normal to see who remains and who fell away. By then it may be too late to do anything. The pandemic has been a quarter of the year now, and for some, it may be too late already. Prayers and actions are what is needed.

Roger

23

Jump Start # 2642

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2642

Psalms 2:4 “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.”

On Sundays, as our worship begins, we have a reading from the Psalms. This past Sunday it was from Psalms 2, where our verse today is found. “He who sits in the heavens laughs,” is our thought today. God laughs.

Does God have a sense of humor? Look at creation. There are certainly some strange looking bus, animals and some very unusual things. I’ve seen some massive rocks balanced on a very tiny rock. I wonder if God smiled when He did that. I’ve seen some clouds that were shaped into odd and even funny things. My wife thinks that angels are in charge of shaping clouds. Not sure she could prove that Biblically, but I like that thought. And, to be honest, some of us are rather funny looking. It’s like God was playing around with Mr. Potato Head when He gave us ears and noses. Some of us are stretched really tall. Others it looks like God pushed His hand down on them.

But our verse isn’t about things that are funny. The laughter here is a form of mocking or scoffing as the remainder of the verse states. God laughs at the plans of mankind. Man believes he is running things. Man thinks he can alter the plans of God. Man thinks he can do away with God. And, from Heaven, God laughs. How shallow, thoughtless and simple man’s plans are. We can’t change the ways of God. We cannot stop God. Centuries later, the wise rabbi Gamaliel understood this. In a discussion and debate about whether or not the apostles were of God, he said, “if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” He understood the big picture. This wasn’t a city counsel against the apostles. This wasn’t about an ordinance against preaching Christ. This involved the God of Heaven and earth. If, indeed, the apostles were Heaven sent, you and your rules and laws are fighting a no-win battle. You are fighting against God and you will not win. You can not fight God and win. He understood that.

The people at Shinar learned this. They planned to build a tower to reach the heavens. It was a tall building that they were planning. Their pride was taking them to Heaven itself. God had other plans. He changed their language and scattered the people. The Babel project was never finished. We can see God laughing at their plans.

Jesus’ parable about the rich farmer is yet another time when God might have laughed. That farmer had his future all mapped out. Bigger barns. Rest. Take life easy. All thought out. All planned. Everything in place. One detail he left out—God. That night God called the farmer’s life. He died. He died before new barns were built. He died before he could rest. He died before he could take life easy. He died before his plans got any feet and traction on them. He had it all figured out. This is what I will do. And, God laughed. You don’t control your life. You don’t make plans without inviting Me. You are not in the driver’s seat. God is.

God laughing. That’s a thought. Consider:

First, I can see God smiling when a little child says a prayer or sings a hymn. So cute. So innocent. I have a bunch of grandkids. Love to hear them pray at dinner time. Sometimes I’m not sure what they are saying. But then comes the big “Amen.” Sweet, little hearts, praying for their kitty cats, thanking the Lord for hotdogs, memaw and PJ (that’s me) and for Jesus. I smile. I like to think the Lord smiles.

Second, I can see the Lord smiling when a heart turns toward Him and wants to come home. The angels rejoice we are told when a sinner repents. I expect the angels aren’t the only ones rejoicing. I can see God so happy. One has come to believe in His Son. One has turned from his selfish, sinful ways to follow the Savior. This is what life is about. One wants to spend forever with the Lord in Heaven. So honest. So good. Faith changing a life. This has to make the Lord happy.

Third, I can see the Lord smiling when goodness prevails. A cup of cold water given to a disciple is not forgotten in Heaven. The five talent man was told, “well done, good and faithful.” His master was pleased. Hearts refreshed by encouragement, kind words, good deed are all the things that God wants us to do. Lifting that weary soul and breathing life back into his faith and hope is something that Heaven notices. Comforting those who mourn, helping those who are broken, being the Lord’s hands and feet is what brings Christianity alive. It’s what makes faith attractive. We are not saved by our works, but our works do not go unnoticed nor do they not move God. Well done, are the words that every disciple longs to hear from the Lord.

Fourth, to our verse, I can see God smiling, not in pleasure, but amazement at what some are doing. The man who has spent a lifetime in academic studies, proudly telling a room full of young college students that God doesn’t exist, having no proof, and closing his eyes to all the blessings around him. God must be amazed at how one can be so smart and yet so blind and dumb. Or, here is a council of politicians, and they are developing policy for a community. They want no reference to God in the community. And, how God laughs at them, because as they leave that building, the sun will be shinning on them, the wind will be blowing, the birds will be singing. God must think, ’You tried to outlaw Me,’ but My presence is in your face and all about you as you leave.

Finally, when I think about Jesus taking the lifeless hand of Jairus’ young daughter who had died, and telling her to arise, I see a smile. I see her eyes opening, and looking into the face of a smiling Jesus. I see the girl’s parents amazed, and happy beyond words. Such a sad, sad day has turned into one of the best days ever. And, I like to think when you and I close our eyes here for the last time and we open them on the other side, that we look into the smiling face of Jesus. I hope it is that way. Won’t that be wonderful!

And, God laughed.

Roger

22

Jump Start # 2641

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2641

Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.”

Our passage comes from what Daniel says about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. There was a statue of many different materials representing the coming kingdoms. A rock came and destroyed that statue. That rock grew into a mighty mountain. Large, powerful, incredible—that’s the divine kingdom of God that this dream was all about.

Quoting Daniel, this statue was awesome. Awesome—I like that word. I use that word often. Someone once told me that I shouldn’t use that word so much. They said that God is awesome and that word ought to only be used of God. I didn’t know. I felt like I must have been out of place for saying things were awesome when they shouldn’t be. But then I see this passage. In a divine dream there was an awesome statue. The passage didn’t say the dream was awesome. It didn’t say the rock that smashed the statue was awesome. No, it was the statue itself that was awesome. That statue that represented four pagan nations. That was considered awesome.

I learned some things from this:

First, even when some folks are certain, they may not be right. I never went back and checked how accurate his assumptions were. He said that only God is awesome. I guess he didn’t know about Nebuchadnezzar’s dreamy statue. Daniel called it awesome. Confidence and volume are not the same thing as accuracy. Volume can silence someone because of intimidation. But the louder one speaks does not mean the more accurate he is. Arguments need to be won by evidence and proof, not by who has the loudest mouth.

Second, we can easily miss the big point of things. Is God awesome? Absolutely. Was the statue that Daniel interpreted awesome? He said it was. Were they the same and on the same level because they were both awesome? No. Never. Nothing equals God, especially a dream about a statue of multiple materials. God does not compare with kingdoms of the earth. That’s what the dream showed. The rock not made from hands, divine, crushed that statue. The kingdoms of earth were no match for God’s kingdom. Because God is awesome does not mean other things cannot be awesome. But by calling other things awesome, like this statue, it does not mean that they were on the same level. The big picture of things ought to remind us of this.

Third, we must be careful that learning things doesn’t go to our head. When this passage first sunk in, I thought about the guy who corrected me. The next time I run into him, I’ll tell him to read Daniel 2:31. Statues can be awesome. I was right and he was wrong, and that’s all it takes to swell the head and go to places that you don’t belong. Knowledge can lead to arrogance. Knowing what others do not does not make one a better person. While a person may be right about the word “awesome,” his pride and what that does to him is certainly wrong. We ought to share what we have learned and try to help others. Don’t use your knowledge as a tool that only makes you feel like you are superior. That pride will trip you and cause you to be wrong in other areas.

Fourth, in trying to find things in the Bible it is easy to miss the obvious message. The point of the dream in Daniel is not to supply us with another example of the word “awesome.” If that’s all we find here, we have really shot ourselves in the foot. The most powerful king in the world is being shown a divine dream to teach him about the sovereignty and power of God. A stone, a rock, not a giant meteor, not a planet, not a huge landslide, not a mountain, not even a dump truck load of rocks, but a rock. Singular. A stone. Small as it was, it grew and crushed that statue. It became a mighty mountain. God’s kingdom started with a handful of followers. But it grew. Jerusalem. Judea. Samaria. Uttermost parts of the world. Since that time, there has been many world powers come and go, yet the kingdom of God flourishes. It remains. It endures. The everlasting, powerful, growing Kingdom of God is what this passage is pointing to. It points to a starting period, during the fourth kingdom. It illustrates this kingdom as alive, active and moving. The statue never moved. It seems lifeless. It was unable to defend itself. The rock appeared and the statue came crashing down. Don’t miss what this dream is about. It’s the divine nature of God’s kingdom.

Finally, one cannot allow others to set the path for what they believe and how they are to walk. Some may not agree with you. Some may even consider what you do as wrong. It’s up to you to know and to shape your own faith. You cannot allow others to think for you or live for you. Our faith must come from our belief in the word of God. If that is not the case, then we are allowing others to drive our faith and shape our lives. Our faith isn’t really ours, it is someone else’s that we borrowed. This will lead to doing things out of habit or tradition rather than by faith. And, when calamities come, and they always do, our faith will not support us or sustain us because we do not really have a faith. We’ve just been doing what others told us to do.

Life in Heaven will be awesome! Can’t wait…how about you?

Roger

21

Jump Start # 2640

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2640

1 Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”

I wonder how these words fell upon the young preacher Timothy? Instead of things getting better, he is warned that things will get worse. Some will walk away from the faith. It will not be lustful sins that pulls them away but rather the allurement of deceit, false doctrine and myths. The course that these will follow will not end well. Unless they come back to the Lord, they would die in error and their souls would be lost.

There are some lessons to be learned here:

First, some are just not satisfied with the grace, blessings and hope that is found in the Lord. What more could people want? What could be better than the Lord as a Savior and Heaven as a home. Adopted into the family of God. Entrusted with the kingdom of God. It seems that nothing ought to top this. But for some, back then, and even today, this isn’t enough. They want to dapple into the unknown. They want to play God. They want to chase the superstitious. They want to mingle the world with faith. The Gospel way is too simplistic for some. God’s pattern is too boring for some. They would rather chase the lights and the thrills of error than to stay with truth.

Second, it’s easy for shepherds and preachers to beat themselves up when someone chases after error. The thought is, “I should have preached harder on this.” Or, “I should have seen this coming.” Truth is, the hearts of these people were not stable. Rather than paying attention to God’s word, they were paying attention to wrong things. Rather than fellowshipping those who love truth, they were being influenced by those who believe in the crooked and wrong. There comes a point when each person must take ownership of his faith. The church can do so much. The sermons, classes can do so much. But if we continue to chase wild ideas on Facebook, listen to podcasts that are saturated with error, hang out with those who do not respect the authority of God, it won’t be long until we leave the people of God for those who chase error. Fingers can be pointed to the church, the preaching, the leadership, but what one did on his own is the biggest factor here. If we feed our hearts and minds with things that are not true, then that steady diet will fill our veins and destroy our hearts spiritually.

Third, lurking around the people of God has always been error. Some never recognize it. Some are so naïve that they wouldn’t believe a family member or a friend, or a favorite website is totally off center and is dangerous. They listen. They engage in conversation. They never seek independent proof of these false claims. Passages taken out of context, vague historical references and a picture is drawn that leads away from the faith that the apostles preached and taught. Satan is always trying to trip us up. He is always trying to discourage you. He is always putting before your eyes the accounts of disgruntled Christians who happily walk away from the Lord and down the path of error. Happy, free, and having a time of their lives, these folks have deceived themselves into believing that they are more spiritual, more right and more Heaven bound than anyone else. They love to trash talk God’s people and God’s way. Their arrogance makes them above the law. And, their voice pulls others away to follow them. Deceived, fooled, blinded, they do not realize where they are going or what the outcome will be.

Fourth, there is hope in what can be done. Following our verse today, Paul leaves Timothy with two prescriptions that will help the situation. First, “point these things out to the brethren.” Let them know about the deceitful doctrines and the deceivers who spread this stuff. Timothy wasn’t to sit back and watch these things take place. There was an action plan. It always involves teaching God’s word. That is always the solution. Get the book open and see what God says. Truth destroys error, every time. Second, “have nothing to do with worldly fables.” Stay clear of this stuff. Don’t dive in and become an expert in these things. You don’t have to know how crooked something is. Just lay a straight stick beside it and you’ll see that it is crooked. Spend your time with God’s word. Stay clear of these things and stay clear of those who are not interested in God’s way.

Finally, there will always be some who do not want to do what is right. Presented with all the facts in love and gentleness, some will still turn it down and walk away. The pleasure of sin, the comfortableness of where one is, and the commitment necessary to walk with God is enough for some to turn down the hope and promises of God. Some would rather take their chances, even though they really have no chance, than to do what God says. Some of the seed that the sower scattered didn’t produce. Birds, weeds, rocks, shallow depth, is all it takes for some to not become what they could. Deception is powerful. So deceived are some that they are convinced that their choices and their lives are better than that of Christians. That deception has gone so deep into their hearts that they are convinced that they are right. Deceived and not even realizing it, is one of the worst things that can happen.

The words of this verse are so true today. All it takes is for a pandemic, some liberal theology, agitated voices and some will fall away from the Lord. I think so much of this comes down to that one statement in our passage, “paying attention.” What are you paying attention to? Are you giving a platform for error? Are you giving myths, speculations and doubt room in your heart? Are you looking at these things? Or, as we ought to be, are you focusing upon the word of God? Paying attention to God or paying attention to error? That’s what this really comes down to. And, error can look right and still be wrong.

So, what are you paying attention to? What are you allowing to enter into your heart?

Roger