15

Jump Start # 3069

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3069

1 Corinthians 15:4 “and that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

  Every spring there is Easter. That is the time when the world tips it’s hat to an empty tomb in Jerusalem long ago. For a brief moment, people think about the resurrected Jesus. Easter passes and life goes on and Jesus is forgotten. For the N.T. Christian, resurrection Sunday is not a time called “Easter.” It’s every Sunday. Every Sunday that death is remembered. Every Sunday that horrific scene is revisited. Every Sunday thoughts are taken to the perfect sacrifice and pure blood that paid the price for our freedom from Satan. Not at Easter, but every Sunday. It never gets old. It never becomes a tradition. It is never routine.

Have you considered how Jesus died? Not medically, but practically.

Jesus died openly. We sing the hymn, “On a hill far away…” And “far away,” can seem so far that it is out of sight and out of mind. But a crowd was gathered when Jesus died. People looked. Some mocked. There were enough there to know that indeed Jesus died. His death wasn’t behind closed doors. It was witnessed by a special handpicked audience.

Jesus died painfully. Jesus was young and strong. But the blood loss, the scourging, the nails brought such intense trauma that within a few hours Jesus was dead. He died without someone holding His hand. He died without someone putting a cool washcloth to his forehead. He died without someone speaking kind words to Him. Romans didn’t use the cross for Romans. They had swifter and more humane ways of putting Romans to death. The cross was a statement. It was intended to be gruesome to look at and a form of slow torture. Kindness wasn’t found at crosses. Painful. Slow. Harsh. It was Rome’s way of saying, “Don’t mess with us.” Historians say that major roads leading into Rome were often lined with crosses. It was a sign for visitors. There were living billboards that no one wanted to look at. “You better behave, or ELSE.” Screaming, cursing, pitiful pleas were common from those hanging on crosses. Ears were silent. No hope, nor help was coming. People watched as time ticked on and the soul departed from the lifeless execution.

Jesus died Scripturally. That’s the point of our passage today. The O.T. pointed to that death. The writings of the apostles looked back to that death. And, the Gospels show us the full extent of that death. Major sections of the Gospels are devoted to that final week leading to the cross. Jesus knew He would die that way. Jesus knew what the prophets had said. God’s eternal plan pivoted upon the cross of Jesus. Satan was told this in the garden. The prophets anticipated it. Jesus knew the hour was coming. He died according to the Scriptures.

Jesus died for you. That is the most remarkable thing. God’s love is illustrated with a cross. It was the cross that extends God’s open arms to you. The cross did what you could not. The cross made everything right. The cross was for everyone. It is for those we like and those we don’t like. It is for those who we want in Heaven and those we hope may not make it to Heaven. It is not based upon wealth, education, nationality, status, or accomplishments. It’s for the good people as well as the bad people. It’s for those who have little to forgive and those who have much to be forgiven.

This is why the direction of the great commission is into all the world and to every person. That means every nation, including Russia. That means every city. That means every street. That means every house. That means every person in that house. No one is left out. No one is excluded. No one is too good nor too bad for the redeeming blood of Jesus.

The grand multitude surrounding the throne in Revelation 7 are those who have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Every nation. Every language. Jesus died for all. Jesus died for you.

Do I preach about the resurrection at Easter time? I do. People are thinking about it. I want to emphasize Biblically what happened. I hope that people will think about it not just in the Spring, but every day, all the time.

Up from the grave He arose…

Roger

14

Jump Start # 3068

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3068

Leviticus 26:3-4 “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.”

I find this verse to be intriguing. God was wanting the nation of Israel to stay with Him. They were headed to a land of promise, but also a land full of idols and a culture different than theirs. Their future, wellbeing and safety was wrapped around their commitment to God and His word. If they obeyed what God said, blessing would follow. If they didn’t, hardships would come.

Now, some thoughts:

First, God tied the weather into the faithfulness of the nation. Little details, such as rain, is controlled by God. The rains would fall, if the nation was walking with the Lord. If they didn’t, the rains would stop. Their physical wellbeing was directly connected to their spiritual wellbeing. Do well spiritually and things will be well for you physically.

Is this still true today? God doesn’t have a physical nation of Israel that is headed to a specific geographic location like in Leviticus. However, there are parallels and bridges to this point. When we do well spiritually, it gives us a good state of mind. Our emotional and mental state improves when we do what God says. When we do what God says, our relationships in the family are enriched.

So many want a disconnect between the spirit and the body. Issues such as anger, jealousy, greed, lust are spiritual issues. Worry, doubt and fear are faith issues. The more one walks with the Lord, the better life can be.

Second, I wonder how God would decide if the nation was walking with Him or not? It’s one thing to look at this on the individual level. But Israel was thousands of people. And, we know in any organization, whether school, sports, clubs, even the church, that many have the heart to do what is right and there are always a few that won’t. Did God expect 100% obedience out of the nation? Was it the majority? Was it among the leaders? If you carry out My statutes the rain will come. What if one old codger wouldn’t do it? What if he was stubborn and a stick in the mud? Would God withhold the rains because of one person? Would the majority suffer because of the one?

We don’t know the details of what followed as if the rains came or they didn’t. No rains would be a stress upon the animals and devastating to growing crops. Long seasons of hardships followed famines. The withholding of rain would impact their future.

This point reminds us of how difficult in our minds it would be to be the Lord. Do you bless the nation even though some are not doing right? Do you punish the whole because of a few? God can handle that. God knew the answer. You and I would have to kick that around in meetings, debate both sides of it and still, most of us probably wouldn’t come to an agreement about what’s the best thing to do.

And, this leads us to understand that it is easy to make declarations, promises and statements without carefully thinking them through. Parents can do that often. Rash statements said when one is upset often have to be modified, changed and rethought later on. And, given enough of those, a child will quickly learn that dad blows up, says a lot things he doesn’t mean, and then calms down and things aren’t so bad. The integrity, credibility and position of the parent is cracked when that happens. God knew just how to handle the situation in Leviticus.

Third, running throughout our verses today is a gentle reminder that these were God’s commandments and God’s statutes. They were obeying God when they were faithful to them. This wasn’t the rules of Moses. This wasn’t the law of the land. It was God’s law.

And, that thought must be taught again and again today. It’s not the rules of the church. The church has no rules except the New Testament. What does you church say, is not the right question. What does the Bible say, is what we are after. Churches say all kinds of things. Churches say things that are contrary to what God says. It’s not the church that will determine our eternal destiny, it is God. It is not the church that makes things right, it is God. People can argue with the church. People can disagree with the church. People can leave one church for another. Those things happen. But when we place before others that it is God’s law, then that quiets the argument. There is no arguing with the Lord. There is no higher authority than God. He’s it. He is at the top. If you leave God, there is no substitute. You are on your own.

Walk in My ways and the rains will come. What a great concept. What wonderful things we can learn from the Word of God.

Roger

13

Jump Start # 3066

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3067

James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

  This verse has been hanging around in my thoughts for the past few days. As always, there is a story behind this. My wife and I were out on Saturday running around, hitting stores and so forth. It was past noon and I was ready to head home. One of our older members, just a dear, dear saint, was in an assisted living not far from where we were. She is kind, sweet and just a jewel. My wife has visited her often. She wanted to pop in and see her. I really didn’t. I just wanted to go home. We went to the assisted living home. We had a wonderful visit with this Christian. She’s old. She’d tell that she’s old. We laughed. We talked about her family, which is dear to me. We talked about the church. She wanted to know about our family. As we were ready to go, my wife asked her if she would like to sing a hymn. She smiled and said, “Oh, yes!” We suggested, “Jesus loves me,” to which she said that was one of her favorite hymns. She closed her eyes and sang so wonderfully. We hugged. Had a prayer. Kissed and left.

Less than two hours after we left, she suffered a massive stroke. Four days later, she went through that door of death. We were the last ones to have a meaningful conversation with her. And, I was not wanting to go visit her. How terrible I felt for thinking those thoughts. One of her sons served as a shepherd when I was first hired by this congregation. Another son and his wife have gone on multiple vacations with us. Our hearts are connected dearly to these good people.

Some thoughts:

First, one never knows when the last time will be the last time. We sure didn’t. Had we known what was about to happen, we would have stayed, prayed harder, and called for help. There was simply no indication that our conversation would be the final conversation. Over dinner the other day, we went back through that last conversation. We wrote out to the best of our memory what all was said and have given that to one of her sons. I have known others to leave for work in the morning, but death called before they ever made it back home that evening. It sure makes one realize how precious and how fragile life is.

Second, as I thought about our conversation, how meaningful it was that one of the final things we did was to sing a hymn and pray to the Lord. I sure wish I could go out that way. Thoughts of the Lord and a hymn in my heart, something this dear Christian believed for so many years. Her children and their mates, all Christians, the next generation, nearly all Christians, is such a powerful tribute to what really matters in life. James, in our passage today, reminds us of the morning fog or vapor. It’s there for a while, but most times, it’s gone by noon. It just doesn’t last long. So, too, is our time together. We can spend that time making one another mad or using that for opportunity to encourage, grow closer to one another and know the Lord more. We could have talked about ballgames. We could have talked about politics. We could have talked about the price of food. Instead, and what I am thankful for, is that we talked about the Lord. She knew the Lord. We know the Lord. Together, there is much to share.

Third, when her son called early this morning, to tell me of her passing, I wondered just what all she was seeing. I wondered if she would run into my dad. I expect that she was smiling today. I know she was being comforted today. Safe in the arms of Jesus, what a beautiful thought and what a wonderful place our faith takes us. We can get wrapped up with earthbound thinking and talking so much that we forget the better side of life. It isn’t on this planet, it’s with the Lord. Our passage says, ‘You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.” Oh, there is a tomorrow. We all have a tomorrow. That tomorrow might be right here. Or, that tomorrow might be on the other side of the door of death. Either way, there is a tomorrow. And what you do today, shapes and colors what that tomorrow will look like for you.

A lifetime of believing. A heart that centered upon the Lord. A soul that loved Jesus. A mom that raised her children to know the Lord. A grandmother who cherished little hearts and little voices that now have grown to be men and women of God. She left footprints. She was an example. Her kind are fewer and fewer these days. One that puts family above self. One that puts integrity above getting ahead. One that has read the Bible over and over and over and whose heart never tired of that wonderful story of our Savior. One that encouraged preachers, like myself. One that was a friend to the fellowship of Christ. One that knew the Lord and the Lord knew her.

Mary Lou Quinn—while we loved her and wanted to call her one of ours, she actually belonged to the Lord. Her citizenship was in Heaven. She had placed a stake in the ground for the Lord a long time ago and there was no moving that stake. And now, she is safely home. She is where she has longed to be. She is where she wants all of us to be.

Bless her dear family. She will be missed. I remember my old grandfather once saying, when I was a kid, “I know more people in Heaven than I do on earth.” Back then, I had no idea what he was talking about. I do now. I do today.

Thank you, Lord for allowing her life to touch so many of our lives. We were the ones who benefited. As we smiled and left Mary Lou that Saturday afternoon, we told her that we loved her. Her words to us, the last words she spoke to us, was, “I love you, too.” And, on this day, I can see Mary Lou saying to Jesus, “I love you.” And, our dear Lord saying to Mary Lou, “I love you, too. I have always loved you.”

The Psalmist understood, when he penned, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.” Angels came. A soul was welcomed home. A faith kept. A journey completed.

We do not grieve what we lost, but are thankful for what we had.

Roger

12

Jump Start # 3066

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3066

1 Kings 1:11 “Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, ‘Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord does not know it?”

I was reading through this section recently. David is at the end of his life. He has done more for Israel than anyone else. He left footprints all through the Bible. Good kings of Judah, such as Hezekiah, would be known as “son of David,” even though generations separated them. Jesus was called the Son of David, the connection to the Messianic hope of the kingdom.

David’s final days were not peaceful. As he was approaching that door of death, plans, schemes and political maneuvering were taking place within his family. People were lining up and sides were being drawn. It seems that David had not designated who the next king would be. Typically, the oldest son would have that role. Amnon and Absalom, David’s oldest sons, were both dead. Next in line was Adonijah. He made the assumption that he would be the next king. Rather than waiting for David’s death, or David’s blessing, Adonijah gathered his supporters, held a rally and a parade and declared himself to be king. He wasn’t. David was still alive. This shocking news comes to Nathan, the prophet. He wasn’t included nor invited by Adonijah. Nathan comes up with a plan for Bathsheba to tell David and have the king appoint Solomon as the next king. There was a lot at stake with this. Not only would the chosen one rule the nation, live in the palace, but the one not chosen would likely be eliminated as a potential threat. Life and death were at stake here. Nathan realized this.

Bathsheba, followed by Nathan, tells the king about Adonijah’s bold move. Solomon is chosen and within the next couple of chapters Adonijah is put to death. These are not happy pages in our Bibles. Scheming, deception, maneuvering, planning all built upon selfishness and self preservation.

Now, some lessons for us:

First, when it comes to politics, little has changed. We hear what we are told, but we do not know about all the things behind the scenes. People trying to climb the ladder, doing favors, and acting like a friend of others, just to stab them in the back at the right time. Corruption, deception, and power struggles has followed politics for a long, long time. Political assassinations happened among the Roman Caesars. They happened in the Biblical record. The common person, like you and I, are left to serve and suffer from those who really do not care about others. Some things never change.

Second, blended families can be the foundation of a lot of jealousy, envy and trouble. Blended families are a very common part of our times. By definition, a blended family is when the husband and wife are both on a second marriage. They have children from the first marriage. That mixture, blend, as some call it, can be difficult. It is delicate bringing children from different families into one. The Brady Bunch made a great TV show, but in reality, a lot of trouble can come from that. Lots of talking, praying, and putting things in writing will help the blended family move along smoothly. David had so many wives. He had children from all of those wives. David could rule the nation, but he never seemed to be able to rule his family well. Selfish adults who fall in love and give no thought to what things will look like when they merge their families together, will find more heartache than bliss. It can be done well. It can be done beautifully. But realize it is sticky, tricky and not everyone is going to be onboard with the idea.

Third, had Adonijah been patient, he may well have been the next king. Maybe he knew that Solomon was in line to get David’s blessing. Maybe he thought birth order is really no order. Most times when a person takes matters into their own hands, things do not go well. This is true with justice. A crime has been committed. The victims tire waiting for the slow legal process to do something. So, they take matters in their own hand. And, as a result, the victim is also arrested for a crime.

In a perfect world, Adonijah and Solomon should have sat down over lunch and talked things out. They were family. They both had David as their father. Maybe a mutual agreement could have been forged. Maybe one would be king and the other would serve in another capacity. But with both fighting for the king of the hill, only one would win. There was such an air of violence, that even Nathan understood that Bathsheba and Solomon would likely be killed if Adonijah remained in power. There was certainly no love lost in that palace.

Fourth, for us, there is a secondary principle that reminds us to have our papers and wills in order for those who follow us. My sweet dad had everything spelled out. It was so easy as we went through his things and his house. This morning, I did a similar thing. I wrote out some instructions about my things and where I how I want them to be divided up. Sometimes that’s hard to do. But without that, an Adonijah and a Solomon atmosphere is created. I have literally witnessed, grown children racing away from the cemetery to get to the parent’s house to grab all that they want before the others got there. Mama was barely in the ground, and the civil war about who gets what starts. Don’t do that to your family. You might think, that would never happen. You’d be surprised. Just write out instructions. Put some thought to it. Many of the things we treasure, our children do not want. But there are valuable items.

Solomon was to be the king. It was a long period of peace. The nation became wealthy. Solomon built the temple. This was an easy project because of all the preparation David had made. Later, Solomon introduced idols. At his death, the kingdom split. Was Solomon the best choice? Would Adonijah have done things differently? Life isn’t lived looking in the rearview mirror. We must take what we know and move forward and onward and always upward.

The legacy of our families…sure is something to think about.

Roger

11

Jump Start # 3065

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3065

Isaiah 53:5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”

On Sundays, we have a theme verse for the Lord’s Supper. Recently this was the verse. I don’t know how many times I have read this verse, but for the first time a dramatic contrast came to my eyes. There are two opposites that appear at the end of this passage. The last words of this verse are, “by His scourging we are healed.” And, in those six words we find two amazing contrasts.

First, by scourging there is healing. That is an amazing statement. The very idea of using the word ‘healing,’ implies that someone is not well. Someone may be injured. Someone may be sick. Someone may be fighting a disease. To make this person well, we would turn to medicines, bandages, therapy, and a host of things that are designed to improve life. Maybe some good ole’ fashioned chicken and noodle soup would do the trick. However, one thing that we would never, ever consider would be scourging. In modern times, we’d call this a whipping. Back then, leather straps, with bone or metal in the ends would be used to inflict severe injury. The scourging would rip and tear the flesh of the back. Sometimes, even the muscles would be ripped and in many cases the person would die. Scourging made some one worse, not better.

Yet, here in our verse, it is scouring that brings about healing. How odd, strange and backwards that seems to be.

Second, the other opposite and contrast is found in the individuals mentioned in this verse. By HIS scouring We are healed. His and we. His, is Jesus. We, are just we. Us. You and I. We are the ones who are sick, injured and diseased. The scourging happened to Jesus, but the positive impact happened to us. We are not scourged, He is. He is not healed, but we are. Something happened to Him and it made us better. Because of Him, we have life. The worst brought about the best. Pain led to health.

And, in this old prophecy, Isaiah is illustrating the cause and effect of salvation. The sickness we are experiencing is because of sin, our sin. Sin causes death. We are separated by God. It was our choice that made this happen to us. We are the ones who needed to be saved, not Jesus. We are the ones who ought to have been punished, not Jesus. The innocent made the guilty free. The healthy made the sick well. The rich made the poor wealthy. The death of Jesus led to our spiritual life. He endured what we could not, to produce what we could not. By His scouring we are healed. His death brought us life.

From all of this, some conclusions are obvious and necessary:

  • We ought to be thankful daily for our salvation. The longer we are in the land of the righteous, the easier it is to take this for granted. May we never do that.
  • Without Jesus, we are in trouble. Sin is more than a mistake. Sin is something that only Jesus can cure. Sin doesn’t go away. After a period of time, sin isn’t erased. We may forget about it. We may get used to it. We may become comfortable with it, but sin remains. Without Jesus, we are in trouble.
  • Jesus went through the extreme to redeem each of us. This illustrates how much God loves you. Jesus didn’t die for just the good ones, but also us bad ones. He didn’t die for the wealthy, nor just for the poor. Hs death, touched every life that has walked upon this planet. His death was the one thing that every person, from every country could benefit from. It is amazing the impact that sacrifice long ago in Jerusalem had. By His scourging we are healed. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether our Lord screamed in pain. It’s hard to imagine Him not. Many who were scourged begged and pleaded for the punishment to stop. Some made promises that they could not keep. Some tried to bribe the punishers with any possession they owned. This, I do not believe Jesus did. He took the pain. He endured the blows. He knew this was just one step that would lead to the nails and then the cross and then His death. He had to go through this. He needed to go through this. Without this, we are not healed. In our times, we’d call the death of Jesus inhumane. It was torture. It was intended to be slow and painful. The quick death would be to thrust a sword though Jesus. But like a sacrificed lamb in Israel, Jesus did more than die, He was sacrificed.
  • Our healing ought to lead us to rejoice more, tell more and do more for the Lord. We were dead and Jesus gave us life. We had an incurable disease and Jesus healed us. We were on a one way trip to Hell and Jesus opened the doors of Heaven for us. Maybe we complain more than we should. Maybe we fuss too much about things in church than we ought to. Maybe we have forgotten how sick and how lost we were. By His scouring you are healed.
  • Finally, Jesus didn’t have to do this. He did this because He wanted to. He did this because without this we were gone. We got ourselves into this mess. How easily God could have said you got yourself into this, now get yourself out. But sin doesn’t work this way. It is so easy to sin. The door swings one way. Once you get in, you can’t get out. You are stuck. Only God can open that door and release you.

Let us have the hearts that simply want to adorn, follow and be with Lord. It was His scourging and death that saved us. It was the pain He felt that made us alive. Stop trying to change Jesus. Stop trying to repackage Jesus into some cultural image that embraces wrong. Rather than changing Jesus, let us change ourselves.

By His scourging we are healed…simply amazing.

Roger