03

Jump Start # 3280

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3280

John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

We were at a home the other evening with several disciples. We were singing. It was so rich and rewarding. It came at a very needful time for our church family. There has been a lot going on and this was a wonderful comfort and help to us. Just hymns to our Lord, so powerful and so meaningful. In the hymn, “There is a habitation,” the song ends with a question and a wonderful idea. It says, “When shall I dwell in thee?” When shall I dwell in Zion? In other words, When shall I be in Heaven?  What a thought that is.

Here are some things to consider:

First, as one ages, the appeal of this world wanes quickly. Ballgames, amusement parks, parties, start to lose their glimmer in the heart of a disciple. The wrong of this world becomes wearisome and heavy. The obsession with the here and now, and the glitter of the superficial and things that do not matter gets old for the disciple of Christ. When shall I dwell in you? More and more, “this world is not my home,” becomes our anthem. We don’t belong here. We don’t fit in here. The movies, the music, the attitudes, makes us feel like we are indeed aliens and strangers as Peter put it. There comes a tug on our hearts to be with the Lord. When shall I dwell in thee?

Second, although we have this strong desire to be with the Lord, there are things the Lord needs us to be doing while we are here. We are just not sitting on a bench waiting for the bus to come and take us to Heaven. No, not at all. We are busy in the kingdom. There is much to do. We are on the battlefield, the front lines of war with our Savior. The battle for what is right. The battle for our families. The battle for our congregations. We must leave this place better than we found it. The Lord needs us to be the light in this dark world. The Lord needs us to raise another generation that will have hearts that follow Him. There are people to be taken care of. There are things that we need to teach others. When shall I dwell in thee? Until the Lord calls us, the work carries on. The Lord needs us to be His hands and feet. We’ll work, till Jesus comes, is another stirring hymn that helps us with, “When shall I dwell in thee?”

Waiting patiently is hard. I remember talking to a Christian who was well into her nineties. She often wondered, “Why am I still here?” She was ready to go, but the Lord wasn’t calling her, not yet. “When shall I dwell in thee?” was constantly on her mind. The answer I told her is that maybe it’s not about you, but me. Maybe the reason you are still here is that the Lord wants me to take care of you. He wants me to be a servant.

Third, once we are there, all the storms, all the battles, all the trials and troubles that we have gone through won’t matter. We will be with our Savior forever. While we are down here, lots of things bothers us. The weather, the traffic, people, things that break, promises not kept, sin. The list is long of the things that irritate us, disturb us, wreck our days and puts us in a foul mood. But those things won’t be on the other side. A perspective that helps us is to remember that these things are only for now. It’s like sitting in a dentist chair. You may not want to be there. You may be nervous. But it doesn’t last long and just like that you forget about it and move on to other things. Once we are in Beautiful Zion, God’s home, none of these unpleasant things will impact us any longer.

Down here we are governed by time, seasons, weeks, months and years. Over in the other place, Heaven, time doesn’t mean anything. What seems like a long, long time for us, is nothing to the Lord. If a thousand years is like one day, as Peter tells us, then in God’s perspective, Jesus died just a couple of days ago. And, the flood, well, that was a week and a half ago. Daniel, that was just the end of last week. Perspective. Time. When shall I dwell in thee, in just a little while.

The song speaks of a longing that fits into our verse today. The two promises of Jesus. First, that we shall be with Him and secondly, that He is coming. God taking us home. God taking us to His home. What a pleasant thought that is.

I remember seeing this cartoon years ago of two old people sitting in rocking chairs. One said to the other, “I’m getting so old, all my friends in Heaven are going to think I didn’t make.” It may seem that way to us, but not from the other side.

When shall I dwell in thee? Keep walking. Keep working. Keep serving. The Lord will stop you when it’s time.

Roger

02

Jump Start # 3279

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3279

1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.”

  Our verse today is loaded with comfort. It is a promise that we can cling to. It’s a great reminder for us. One of our hymns asks, “Does Jesus care?” And, there are times when one wonders about that. Does He? We know what the Scriptures teach, but when the storm clouds darken around us, and when it seems that the walls of trouble are closing in, then this question comes to our minds. Does He care? Does He care for me?

Some thoughts from this:

First, we much too often connect problems with the level of God’s love and care for us. The more troubles we have, the less God loves us, we conclude. Either God is punishing us or else God no longer loves us. And, when asked why we feel that way or how did we come to that conclusion, we immediately point to the problems in our lives. Look at all this, we say. If God loved me, things would be better.

Now, that thinking is not only wrong and unbiblical, it makes us jealous of others who appear to have very few problems. They must be doing something right, we say, because their lives are not messy like ours. Now, if we stretch that reasoning, one must conclude that either Paul was not loved by God or the Lord was really punishing him. His life was constant trouble. Prisons. Beatings. In danger from others. Ridiculed. Treated as scum. The list is long. The troubles many. Yet, the apostle realized how blessed he was and how much the Lord loved him.

Look at the life of Job. He was smacked, hit and knocked down, drug through the mud, stomped on and any other expressive word you can use to say that Satan tried to ruin him. Financially, physically, emotionally, medically, spiritually, relationally, mentally—Job was hit and hit hard. Did God love him? Was God punishing him? The text tells us that Job was blameless and feared God.

The troubles in my life are not an indication that God no longer loves me.

Second, Jesus cares even though He will allow troubles to remain. Again, we have in our minds, if God loved us and we pray, then the problems go away. Paul prayed for the thorn in his flesh to be removed. It wasn’t. Some troubles follow us all of our lives. Some have been with us for decades. There are lessons we learn in darkness that we never see in the daylight. There are aspects of our character that can only be forged upon the anvil of life. Jesus cares and yet the troubles may remain.

Third, the troubles that we experience often shape us and help us to do good for others. The death of a child is so hard. A single person can offer kind words and take us to passages that help, but a parent who has a child in a grave truly understands what that pain is like. The things we go through not only can draw us closer to the Lord, but they can prepare us to help others. Our experiences, the good and the bad, can help another family who is facing the same things. This is the power of fellowship. This is one reason why we need one another. Scared and battered, we lean upon one another. We carry each other, hurt as we are.

Fourth, our passage reveals how intimately involved God is with us. He not only knows what we are going through, He cares. He not only cares, but He offers help. Cast those burdens to the Lord, is what the apostle begs us to do. Don’t hold on to them. Don’t try to work through them on your own. Don’t own them. Give them up. Turn them to God. He knows what they are and He is able to do something.

Even within our congregation, there are times when we do not know what each other is going through. We do not know the pain that they are carrying in their hearts. We do not know what they have been through. We haven’t heard what others said to them. We haven’t seen all their struggles. And, on a Sunday morning, as we get dressed to come to worship, we all put on a nice mask to hide what is really going on. We smile at each other. We reply that we are doing fine, when asked. But we sit with a pain in our heart. A prodigal. A broken marriage. A crisis. A health issue. Troubles that our masks hide from others. But God knows. There is no need to wear a mask before the Lord. God knows. God cares. And, God can do something.

Does He care? Yes. Our passage loudly teaches that. You do not carry your burden alone. You do not limp without a Savior to lean upon. He sees. He loves. He wants to help you.

Roger

01

Jump Start # 3278

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3278

Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

It happens all the time. Sometimes it’s intentional, other times it is a simple mistake. I’m talking about being ignored, not included, not invited, even avoided. Those things can hurt. They can happen in the most innocent ways. I saw it the other day. A group were standing around after services. One came up and hugged this one, then that one, then another one, but one wasn’t hugged. Did he feel slighted? Did he feel less important than the others? Why hug most but not all? And, it’s simple, innocent things like that, people remember. It sticks like mold on a wall. And, out of that arises bitterness. And, I expect one of the greatest reasons why people switch congregations or drop out completely is that they don’t feel accepted. Everyone else is invited, but me, and I notice. Everyone else is asked for their input, but me, and I notice. Always on the outside. Always excluded. Always left looking through the window but never invited in. Lonely, hurting, feeling unloved and not wanted, the sad disciple walks away with his head hung low.

This happens. This happens in family settings. This happens in the church family. The simple solution is stop doing this. Include everyone. That seems like such an easy fix, but some don’t want others invited, included and to be in their circle of friends.

What to do when you are left on the outside? What to do when it seems people do not want you around? How does one handle slights?

First, remember God isn’t this way. God loves all of us. Jesus went to Samaria. Jesus went to the home of tax collectors. Jesus cast demons out of a Canaanite girl. Jesus healed the servant of a Roman soldier. Jesus prayed for Roman soldiers at the cross. You may feel like you belong on the island of misfit toys, and that may be the way you are treated, but not by God. His grace, His love, His blessings flow equally to you as anyone else. He hears your prayers as much as anyone else.

Second, realize that Satan would love to drive a wedge between you and your church family. Unity is powerful. Fellowship is strong. If Satan can get us upset with one another, we take our eyes off the goal, we stop what we ought to be doing and we begin to think ill thoughts of one another. Our verse today strings six very negative words together. They are all connected to each other. One naturally leads to the next. And, when these six words are filling our hearts, it’s hard to worship. It’s hard to be joyful. It’s hard to think of the church as a family. It’s hard to enjoy fellowship. One looks for the door and ducks out as quickly as possible. Satan wants you to be bitter towards your brethren. Satan loves it when we take sides. Brother against brother takes the attention off of fighting the devil, the real enemy.

Third, realize that sometimes what happened was innocent. A person simply forgot to include others. It was an innocent overlook. They did not mean to exclude you. They did not mean for you to not be hugged. Some of this falls to us. We can be master builders of making mountains out of mole hills and creating problems in our minds that do not exist in reality. Our reaction and our response towards these people says a lot about who we are and our character. Because we were left out, do we now avoid that person. Do we treat them like we believe they have treated us? Some how in all of this, our emotions get the best of us, and how quickly we forget the golden rule. Oh, yes, that golden rule! Treat others the way you want to be treated. They may not treat you the same way, but that won’t change how you treat them. Carry a smile. Be pleasant. Don’t drop those little bombs like, “Well, I would have come, but I wasn’t invited. No one likes me.” The only person that enjoys a pity party is the one who creates it. So, be bigger than that. Don’t carry grudges. Don’t invite others and purposely exclude one because you think she doesn’t like you.

Treat others better. Don’t keep track of those hurts.

Some need to really spend some time with Jesus, because they don’t get it. They hurt the kingdom by their petty thoughts and their insider club mentality that only certain people can be a part of. Jesus is not like this. They are not showing the world Jesus by this childish behavior. Hurting the little ones doesn’t set well with Jesus. The more of the world that is in us the more we hurt one another. The more that Jesus is in us the more understanding, grace and love will flow from us.

Ignored. Excluded. Left out. Not invited. I’ve been there. It hurts at the moment, but focus upon what you have in the Lord. Don’t allow bitterness to ruin your heart and the fellowship that you need.

Roger