07

Jump Start # 3020

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3020

Matthew 27:22 “Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ They all said, ‘Crucify Him.’”

The spineless and intimidated governor Pilate asked, “What shall I do with Jesus?” And for two millennium that question has hung in the air. What to do with Jesus? Some, hoping if they ignore Him, then He will just leave. But He never does. Others, want to deny Him, defeat Him and destroy Him. Some misrepresent Him. Some claim to quote Him but what they say, He never said. What to do with Jesus?

Have you ever thought of this question in the opposite? What is Jesus to do with us? What has Jesus done for us? The obvious and greatest thing was to be the living sacrifice so we could be reconciled to God. Without that, we have no hope. Without that, we are lost.

But Jesus did more than that. Consider:

First, He showed us that temptation can be resisted by the word of God. The temptations as presented in Matthew do not show Jesus using anything more than what you and I have, the word of God. No miracles. No supernatural powers. Just standing firmly and confidently upon God’s word. He believed. Satan left. Satan can’t deal with the Bible, not when it’s believed and used correctly.

Second, Jesus took away the fear of death. In Corinthians, Paul celebrates the victory over death by describing the resurrection. In Hebrews, Jesus conquered the fear of death by conquering Satan. Death becomes merely a doorway to take us into the next room in God’s house. Death isn’t the end. The wonderful world we long for is just on the other side of that door. What a perspective that gives us. What courage that provides for us. All of this now possible because of Jesus.

Third, Jesus showed that decency, goodness and serving are noble traits and honorable. Jesus illustrated goodness. Jesus was without sin. He didn’t feel that He missed out or was sheltered from the fun that others have. Decency, goodness and serving create a positive and wonderful fun that is not tainted with guilt and sorrow. One doesn’t have to swear to show that he is a real man. One doesn’t have to be rude, arrogant or drive recklessly to prove that he has confidence. One doesn’t have to walk over people to lead. Jesus was truly a hero and an example.

Fourth, Jesus made Heaven possible and gave each of us hope. There are some things in life that reality tells us that just will never happen. I will never start for the Dodgers. That’s just the truth. Too old, too slow, and not good enough. I’ll never cut a top ten record. Won’t happen. I won’t ever climb a mountain. I doubt that I will ever sky dive. As one gets older, he realizes that the door is closing on many things. But for some things the door was never opened to begin with. However, Heaven isn’t on that list. Jesus made Heaven possible. You don’t have to be the tops in grades, sports, sales or looks. Those things just do not matter. You may walk into a room and hardly anyone recognizes you. That doesn’t matter. God knows who you are. You can look at others and they are so talented in so many areas. You may think, “I can’t do anything.” But, that’s not true. You can go to Heaven. You don’t have to have a college degree. You don’t have to have your house paid off. You don’t have to be married. You don’t have to have good health. You can go to Heaven. Jesus made that possible. Believe Him. Trust Him. Follow Him. Put Him first in your life. Do whatever He tells you in the Bible. Change. Become. Learn. Grow. That’s all possible and when you stick right behind Him, you’ll find yourself in Heaven one day. It won’t be because of you. It will be because of Him. You’ll think, “I’m not good enough.” And, that’s right. You are not. “I haven’t done enough.” That’s true. Our journey is by faith. Take your eyes off of yourself. Fix your eyes upon Jesus, as Hebrews tells us.

What to do with Jesus? Look what Jesus wants to do for you.

Roger

04

Jump Start # 3019

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3019

Leviticus 3:2 “And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.”

I’ve been reading Leviticus. You might wonder, “Why?” Leviticus gets a bad rap for being tedious, boring and very little application for us today. Given a choice of what to read in the Bible, most would run to Psalms, Philippians or one of the Gospels. Not Leviticus. Yet, it’s in our Bibles. We need to read every single page. The hard pages. The pages that some call boring. The pages that we love. Every page needs to be read by us.

Leviticus opens immediately with instructions about sacrifices. Our verse today, surrounds the peace offering. As one reads through these various offerings, it quickly becomes apparent that the priests were working in what we’d call a slaughter house. Our verse today focuses upon offering an animal from the herd, which makes us think of a cow or ox. This isn’t a small animal. From our verse, the man offering the sacrifice would place his hand on the head of this live animal. The throat would be slit so the blood could be collected. After the animal died, the kidneys and the lobe of the liver, as well as the fat on the entrails were to be removed and burned. Other sacrifices detail what was to be done with the skin of the animal.

We read this and don’t put much thought into that. Today, let’s put some thought to that.

First, the sound of a gasping animal as it is dying can be terrifying. Trying to hold this bleeding animal still would be a challenge. Then the priests had to know what kidneys and liver looked like. They had to have tools and knives to open up the animal and remove those organs. And, then all the blood. Blood on the ground. Blood on the altar. Blood on the priests. Blood likely on the person making the sacrifice. I know myself too well to know that I’d be passed out on the ground. This was not a sight for the faint of heart. The sounds. The smells. The blood. The burning aroma. And, this was just the peace offering. There were many more sacrifices to be made.

Second, one would think that the ordeal of going through those bloody sacrifices would be enough to deter one from doing wrong. You’d think, that. But it didn’t. All through these pages of our Bible, Israel struggles with their faith in the Lord. They grumble. They bow to idols. They don’t listen to the word of the Lord. More sacrifices. More gasping animals. More blood. More smells.

Third, the price of doing wrong was expensive. Imagine today, having to buy a cow or a lamb to offer to God for your wrongs.  Google tells me that the cost of a live cow is between $2,000-$5,000. That’s expensive. Most of us would be in a world of hurt if we had to come up with that. God made provisions for using lambs and even birds for those who could not afford the other costs. But still, there was an expense. I wonder if we’ve made grace cheap. We say something that we shouldn’t, we manifest a wrong attitude, and all we say is, “I’m sorry.” That, “I’m sorry,” doesn’t cost us much. And, maybe that’s one reason why we don’t get bothered so much about sin. Imagine having to come up with a few thousand dollars. Then having to stand there with our hand on the animal’s head as it is slaughtered. Maybe that would change our thoughts about wrong.

Fourth, even after all that costs, the mess, the blood, the sounds, the smells, after all that, the sin was not taken away. Ancient Israel went through so much to have so little. And, here we stand, not having to buy any animals, knowing that the bloody sacrifice of Jesus removed our sins forever. What a blessing and what a joy it is to be on this side of the cross. Salvation has made us free. Salvation has brought us close to God. Salvation has cleansed us. As horrendous as slaughtering an animal before us, imagine the dying Jesus. He, gasping for air, as most crucified ones died of suffocation. Blood pouring from His scalp, hands, feet and back, died not quickly like those animals in Leviticus. Jesus hung on that cross for hours. The animals sacrificed in Leviticus had no idea what was going on. Jesus did. The animals had no choice. Jesus did.

As we take the Lord’s Supper this Sunday, take a long look at that juice in the cup. Put these thoughts in your mind. It wasn’t a dumb animal that lost it’s life for us. It was the Son of God. And, He did that willingly because He loves you.

This ought to make the taste of sin sour to us. This ought to make us step a bit closer to the Lord. This ought to make us realize what God thinks of you. God so loved the world, that He gave…

Maybe we ought to return to books like Leviticus. There’s more there than what we may realize.

Roger

03

Jump Start # 3018

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3018

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

Sometimes I think it’s easy for us to forget that the N.T. letters were first read to the churches. When our preachers say “Ephesians”, we quickly turn in our Bibles to Ephesians. Often times these days, the passage is displayed on the screen before the entire audience. Not so originally. Someone read and everyone else listened.

This put a great responsibility upon the reader. Our verse today has a dual blessing. One for the reader and one for the listeners. One would have to read in such a way that people could hear. One would have to read in such a way that people could understand.

And, this reminder reminds us to read God’s word carefully. It is easy to put words in the text that are not in the text. It’s easy for our conclusions to creep into our reading of God’s word. Let me give you a few examples:

GRACE: Ephesians tells us that we are saved by grace through faith. Some read the word “only” there, but it is not there. They would conclude that salvation is all upon God and all we have to do is believe, nothing more and nothing else. Just believe and you are saved by grace. However, the word “only” is not in that text. Jesus would say that unless we repent we all will perish. Believing and repenting are not the same thing. Paul said we make it our ambition to please the Lord. Pleasing God involves more than just believing. After the cross, believers were baptized before they were considered washed clean from their sins. Blessed is he who reads.

APT TO TEACH: This is found in the qualities or qualifications of a bishop in 1 Timothy. The text tells us that the bishop, or elder, must be able or apt to teach. When someone’s name is put forth to be an elder, someone will quickly say, “I never saw him teach a class before.” The text does not say “apt to teach a public class.” It says “apt to teach.” The teaching may be one on one. It may be across the kitchen table or in a coffee shop. It is very likely that the early church did not have Bible classes like we do. So to inject that one has to be a good public Bible class teacher is reading things into the text. Blessed is he who reads.

BELIEVING CHILDREN: This also is found among the qualities of a bishop. This comes from what we read in Titus. His children are to be believers. In Timothy it says, “He manages his household well,” which implies the kids are still at home. Now when it comes time to appoint elders, it seems this is the one that most get hung up on. Forget all the other qualities, it’s this one that everyone focuses upon. First, some will say all his kids have to be Christians. Does the text say that? Is the word “all” in the text. Does he have believing children? Next, as the children have moved out and lived on their own, some have not stayed with the Lord. Somehow that works it’s way into this reading, even though the passage says nothing about children living on their own who have fallen away. Then we get into the odds game. What if a man has three kids, two are Christians and one is not? Or what if he has three, and two fell away and one remains faithful? We work up all these situations and try to plug them into the formula and then we get sideways with each other because it doesn’t work out the way we think it should. Blessed is he who reads.

We could do the same with the subject of divorce. So many different ideas, situations and thoughts. What do the passages say? Blessed is he who reads.

Here are some thoughts:

First, I wonder if we have become like the first century lawyers. The lawyers that confronted Jesus were not injury lawyers but rather those who were supposed to be expects in the law of God. Yet, so many of those very people missed it. They missed the Messiah. They missed the heart of what the Bible was about. They made life miserable for themselves and those around them. This is not to ignore what God has said. No, instead, “blessed is he who reads.” What’s the intent and the purpose of the Bible? Get that. Know that. Start there.

Second, how we want things is not always as God wants them. The Pharisees did not want the sinners coming to Jesus. Luke 15 deals with that extensively. What we think ought to be qualifications to lead the people of God often is not what God desires. Blessed is he who reads.

Third, when we read, it ought to open our eyes, change our hearts and bring understanding to us. God’s word is good. The gospel is good news. Let God accept who God accepts. Let God forgive who God forgives. Let us stop representing God. Let us not put stumbling blocks in front of others. Blessed is he who reads. He is blessed because now he knows the will of God. Now he knows how to walk with the Lord. Now he can see clearly. Now he is free.

Blessed is he who reads.

Roger

02

Jump Start # 3017

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3017

2 Chronicles 36:16 “but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.”

Our verse today is written as the final curtain falls upon the beloved Jerusalem and the people of God. Babylon was at the doorsteps and doom was the forecast. The patience of God had run out. The people of God would be taken into Babylon for more than a generation. Many would die there. Many would never see Jerusalem again. God had tried to turn these people, but their hearts were stubborn, ungodly and plagued with sin. The previous verse tells us that the compassion of God caused the Lord to send messengers again and again. But our verse tells us that all of that was futile. The people weren’t turning. Repentance wasn’t in their plans. It got to a point where, as the verse ends, “there was no remedy.”

That’s an interesting expression, ‘There was no remedy.” Our first thoughts might take us to the medical field, where cancer doctors have tried everything and every drug, but the cancerous disease continues to fill the body. We are beyond “remedy” the doctors might say. Those words might take us to our local car shop. We have tried to bandage an old engine for years and years. But now, the costs to repair are more than the car is worth. We are beyond remedy. I think of a young troubled teenager. He’s been in and out of trouble for a long time. Counselors tried. Expelling from school did nothing. Attempt after attempt to rescue that child was tried. There is no remedy, as he is led away to prison.

Some thoughts for us:

First, there are some things that God cannot fix and God cannot save. That thought troubles us. We believe nothing is beyond the all powerful and the Almighty. God can shut the mouths of lions, part seas, calm storms and bring food from above, but what He will not do, is force someone into obedience. God will warn. God will teach. God will show. But it’s up to the person to take hold and believe. God’s people were sent prophets, messengers and teachers. What did they do? They mocked them, despised them, scoffed at them and ignored them. There was no remedy.

This reminds us that it is not God who sends anyone to Hell, but a person who chooses that by ignoring God. When a person rejects Christ, there is no remedy. There is no hope.

Second, the “no remedy” came after a long series of prophets and teachers being sent to Judah. This all demonstrates the patience of God. The people would know, if they had only listened. God was not quick to wipe them off the earth. He tried and tried and tried. “Again and again” are the words in the verse before to describe God sending the prophets.

Third, bad news always follows “no remedy.” Contextually, it meant the walls were coming down around Jerusalem. People would die. The temple would be robbed and burned. And, there was no one to save them. There was no one to step in and rescue them. When we turn our backs to the Gospel of Jesus, bad news follows. It comes in the form of divorce. It comes in the form of withdrawal of fellowship. It comes in the form of lost jobs.

Much too often we think we know better. We think we don’t have to do what God tells us. We know how to get through things. We ignore his teachings and we get ourselves in a corner and then find out there is no remedy.

Fourth, there comes a time when there simply is no more time. That was the situation for Judah. For a long, long time God had put up with their idolatrous ways. Solomon started it. King after king kept going that direction. Once in a while, there would be a good king who would try to reform the nation and get it back on the right track with God. That generally lasted as long as that good king was alive. Once the king died, back to their wicked ways they would go. But now, time had run out. No more kings. No more prophets pleading. No more patience. The nation had run out of time.

And, it is the same for us. There comes a time, when we are out of time. Most often, it’s when a person passes and leaves this world for the next. Instead of enjoying the blessings of mercy and grace, they experience the wrath of the Lord.

There is no remedy…that’s not a good place to get yourself in.

Roger

01

Jump Start # 3016

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3016

Luke 15:5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”

  Luke 15 presents to us a series of lost things. A lost sheep. A lost coin. A lost son. Each is followed by greater value and intensity. And, in all three parables, the lost was found. The wandering sheep was found. The coin on the floor was found. The lost boy came home. The powerful lesson of second chance, grace and God’s amazing love. That which was lost is found, echoes throughout this amazing chapter. And, in all three parables, God is the active force. He is the shepherd that went looking for the lost sheep. He was the woman who swept the house looking for the misplaced coin. And, He is the prodigal’s dad, who comes running to embrace his son who had been lost.

Great stories. Powerful lessons. But a fair question to ask is, “What is God doing today to help bring the lost back?” Just how is God searching today? Here are a few ways:

First, God exposes us to His word. Even for those who have put their Bibles in a box, up on a shelf and they haven’t opened it in years, there are gentle reminders all about us. You see passages posted on Facebook. You find greeting cards with verses written on them. There are expressions that people use that come straight from the Bible. In art, in literature, even in the movies, the Bible makes a presence. Gentle reminders.

Second, God puts people in our lives to help us. There is that grandma who is always asking if you went to church on Sunday. There is that friend that tells you not to say those certain words. There is that co-worker who you see reading his Bible at lunch. There is that neighbor, kind, generous, helping that always comes into your life. Godly people who serve. Godly people who will pray for you and with you. Godly people who are decent, joyful, blessed and a constant reminder of what you should be. There is that neighbor who every Sunday is pulling out of his driveway, heading to church. Consistent. Steady. Certain. There is that person that is hopeful, when everyone else is gloom and doom. There is that person that remains calm, when everyone else is shouting. There is that one person that seems so sure. Coincidence or has the Lord made your life to intersect with these people as His means of finding you and bringing you home.

Third, God continues to bless you. Even though you may not have thought about Him, He’s thinking about you. Rain and sun and health and open doors are things the Lord does for you all the time. The very fact that you have today, is a blessing from God. He is not trying to buy your affection. He is not trying to entice you with goodies. He loves you. And, this is the way that love is demonstrated. Where is God? He’s all around you doing things for you.

Fourth, God has put examples before you to imitate. There is that older couple who have been married forever. It’s more than just a long time, they like being together and the like each other. What an example for you. There is that young family with a zillion kids. Yet, those kids are respectful, kind and helpful. Even at a little age, they know about the Lord. That’s impressive. There is that co-worker, who goes out of her way to do what is right. Honest to the core and hard working, what an example for everyone else. All around you are reminders of what you ought to be.

Finally, God has allowed to be shaken with trials. Those were scary moments in your life. Trips to the hospital. Loss of jobs. Car accidents. Staying up all night with sick kids. There’s been bumps along the way in your journey. God has allowed them. Those bumps should have drawn you closer to Him. Those trials and troubles should have taken you to His word. God was watching. God was hoping. God was looking for you to turn and come home to Him.

Why isn’t God out looking to bring you home? He is. All around He is busy putting things in your life to open your eyes and your heart to Him. He wants you to be alive in Him. He wants you to be saved. Some fight this. Some ignore this. Some deny this. But a few will recognize this and see God’s love and God’s patience with them.

Peter tells us that the Lord is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Even now, God is doing things to help some come home. The Lord always leaves the porch light on.

Maybe you can share this with someone…maybe this very message is what someone needs to know.

Roger