22

Jump Start # 3518

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3518

2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

In this wonderful section of the letter to the Corinthians, we come upon a series of contrasts: outer man and inner man; decaying and being renewed; momentary and eternal; light affliction and weight of glory; visible and invisible. Through all of this and continuing on in the next chapter, the apostle shows us that the outside and the inside are moving in to different directions. The outside is falling apart. The inside is getting better every day. The outside groans, the inside longs for that heavenly home.

Into the next chapter, the apostle uses the illustration of a house and a tent. The tent is temporary, the house if forever. And, we can appreciate this in our modern times. The outside can be cold, but inside the house, can be nice and warm. The outside does not have to be the temperature of the inside. As we age, we hurt, we slow down, we forget, but our faith in the Lord can be the strongest it has ever been. This reminds us that we may not feel good physically, but we can be strong and cheerful in our soul because of Jesus.

Our verse begins with a declaration, “we look not at the things which are seen.” The apostle is not talking about literally. We live in a visual world. Our eyesight is necessary to function. Looking at carries the idea of importance, focusing upon, value. Our lives are not defined by what we see. Life is much more than what we see.

There are some reasons for this:

First, from the passage, what we see doesn’t last. The verse states, it is “temporal.” We’d say temporary. It’s not going to be around very long. Peter tells us that the earth and it’s works will burn up one day. As I write this, I see books lining my shelves, all kinds of collectables on my desk, a jar of M & Ms, framed pictures, plants and things that are important to me. I have them just the way I want them. But one day, all these things are gone. These things are not what is important. We can put too much emphasis upon the outside and neglect the inside. This is true in our appearance in contrast to our character. The outside can look beautiful and the inside can be a mess. Such was our Lord’s descriptions of the Pharisees. Wash cup on the outside and dirty on the inside. White washed tomb on the outside and decaying on the inside.

Second, the things which are seen are not satisfying. Like junk food, stuff gives us an instant joy, but it doesn’t last and it doesn’t fill the soul. Faith does. Hope does. God does. Have you noticed at funerals, we don’t read the sports page or the financial page. We don’t read from glamor magazines. We want the Bible read. Even to those who had no time for the Bible in their life, the family wants the Bible at the funeral. Why? We know. At the funeral, it doesn’t matter who won the ball game. At the funeral, it doesn’t matter what stocks are doing. At the funeral, who is in what movie doesn’t matter. The eternal is all that matters. Souls. God. Salvation. Jesus.

Third, the visible is not what pleases God. So, you wash your car every week. So, your yard is the picture of the neighborhood. So, your kid has a stack of trophies. So, you have a series of letters that follows your name. So, you can speak two languages. So, you’ve traveled the seven seas. Do you think that impresses God? One can do those things and have a cold heart. One can do those things and close his eyes to the Lord. One can do those things and miss what is truly important, walking with the Lord, being righteous, having the heart of a servant.

We live in a visible world. Yet, as our verse reminds us, we must look to the invisible. We must set our eyes upon Jesus. It is difficult when the outer man decays. It is more difficult when the inner man is decaying.

What are you looking at? What are you seeing each day?

Roger

21

Jump Start # 3517

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3517

Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”

This Psalm is a favorite of most. It’s found on funeral cards, posters, pictures, cross stitched, and in about every place imaginable. This Psalm has brought comfort to the weary soul, the grieved heart, and the fearful. It presents a pleasant picture of green pastures and quiet waters. It calls our thirsty and tired souls to linger in the presence of the Lord.

There is a quiet shift in the text when we come to our verse today. Up to this point, the Psalmist has been talking about God. He is a wonderful Shepherd. He knows where to lead us. He knows when we need rest. But, in our verse today, the Psalmist no longer talks about God. He now talks to God and right in the middle of this chapter, comes a prayer. The fearful and dreaded dark valley of death is no longer something to dread nor be terrified of. The Shepherd is with him. The rod and staff of the Shepherd brings comfort. They do that because they are in the hands of the Shepherd. That means, the Shepherd is nearby. The Shepherd is right here.

I love this Psalm. I have preached and preached and preached it so many times. Like holding a unique object in your hand, you turn it this way and then that way and each time you see and observe new things. It never gets old.

And, once again, as I turn this beautiful Psalm before my eyes, I see something fascinating in this one verse, our verse. It’s a word, but what a powerful word it is. “Through.” I walk through the valley. Do you see that? We don’t stay in the valley. We don’t dwell in the valley. The valley does not become our home. We are on a journey. To reach our destination we must go through those dark Judean canyons. A quick, hard rain, and those canyons fill with a rapid flash flood that could mean death. Behind every turn in those canyons, could be desperados, waiting to attack a careless traveler. Within those canyons may be fierce animals that will lunge at you in an instant. There are so many reasons to avoid the canyons. There are so many reasons to be afraid. But, we travel into those valleys. But we don’t stay. We walk THROUGH them and we walk through them WITH our Shepherd.

Here are some thoughts for us:

First, valleys are inevitable. We’d like everyday to be like a trip to Disney, the happiest place on earth, we are told. But our journey is not like that. The path we take often leads to hospitals and funeral homes. There is sickness and sorrow. There is disappointments and heartache. Some days are hard. How we’d love to skip around those days, but we can’t. We go THROUGH those things.

Second, valleys are often unpredictable. The day starts sunny and pleasant, but by the end of that day, storms have filled the skies and our hearts. A person doesn’t leave the house telling his loved ones, “I think I’ll have a car wreck today.” But, there are days that the wreck happens. One doesn’t have to go looking for trouble. Somehow trouble always finds us. It catches us off guard. We have a hard time preparing for it simply because we do not know when it will come.

Third, valleys are impartial. The journey of life takes us through valleys. There is no place on the planet that boasts, “This is a trouble free town.” The amount of education won’t keep you out of valleys. Wealth can buy fine medicine, but there remains valleys that we must all travel through. The young. The old. The righteous. The wicked. Those who try to do what is right. Those who don’t care what they do. The good. The bad. The kind. The selfish. The wise. The fool. The rich. The poor. We all have valleys that the road of life takes us through.

For the child of God, he has an advantage. He has the Lord to follow. The Lord will lead him into the valley and the Lord will be with him in the valley and the Lord will provide assurance and comfort. For others, they journey through the valley on their own. Frightened, confused and unaware what to do, some will fail. Some will give up. Some will become bitter. Going through valleys is hard. It is especially hard when one doesn’t have the Lord to be with him.

Fourth, valleys have a purpose. We might not see the reason, nor understand or even agree with why they are there, but they cause us to see what is important in life. They cause us to walk ever closer to the Lord. They cause us to be patient and prayerful. They cause us to listen carefully to the Lord. Some will complain about valleys. Some will curse valleys. For the righteous, he understands there is a reason and a purpose and on the other side of the valley, there are wonderful lessons that have been learned.

THROUGH. Don’t stay in the valley. Don’t put out a mailbox and buy a welcome mat for the valley. The valley is not our home. The valley does not define us nor defeat us. The valley is not what we are after. THROUGH the valley, on the other side, that’s where the Lord wants us to be. To get there, a valley stands in our way. You have to go through it. But you don’t have to go through it alone.

THROUGH…I like that word!

Roger

20

Jump Start # 3516

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3516

Esther 1:12 “But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.”

Last Tuesday, I begin a new series of classes on Esther. It’s a special thing we do a few times a year. I’ll teach this class in the morning and again in the evening. The evening crowd are those who work in the day, yet they want the class. It makes for a long day but it is so rich being with those who love God’s word.

So, I thought this morning, since I’m spending Tuesdays with Esther, I’ll do some writing about Esther. Tuesdays with Esther. This mini Jump Start series on Esther will come on Tuesdays.

The book of Esther is a rich historical narrative. It unfolds much like a play, with leading characters, plots, subplots, a villain and a great ending. The book takes place during the time of the Persians. This is after the seventy year Babylonian captivity. Esther, her Persian name, was raised by her old cousin Mordecai. He had been taken captive during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.

The book opens with Ahasuerus as the king of Persia. He is the second king. His father, Darius I, from Daniel 5, is the one who conquered the Babylonians. So the vast Babylonian empire is now under Persian control. Darius tried to push east into Greece, but was defeated in 490 at the battle of Marathon. Now, a decade later, his son, Ahasuerus or Xerxes (his Greek name) attempts to go east. He has a major victory at Thermopylae in 480. The following year, the Greeks push back and retake what Xerxes had achieved.

In the first chapter of Esther, the king holds a massive 180 day banquet for his princes, commanders and officials. The timing seems like he was trying to unify and build support prior to his move eastward. Xerxes son, Artaxerxes is the king that Nehemiah deals with. So, Esther was written during the time of Ezra and before Nehemiah.

A second party or banquet takes place in chapter 5 in which the citizens of Susa are invited. The king shows off all his fancy things. Golden cups. Fine linens. The queen at the same time throws a banquet for all the women. The king’s party turns to a drunken feast. He calls for the queen to parade her beauty before the guests. She refuses which infuriates the king. No one turns down the king. She is dethroned, but not executed. The search is on for the next queen and that’s where Esther comes into the story.

There are two powerful lessons from this first chapter of Esther:

First, standing up for what you believe in comes with consequences. The queen didn’t want to be an item to be shown off to a bunch of drunken fools. Whether the king was expecting her to walk about in her “birthday suit” or simply be the subject of rude and gross comments from drunks, the queen refused. Her refusal came with consequences.

And, it does for us today. You can lose your job. You can be alienated from your family. You can be mocked. It takes strong spiritual fiber to be able to draw a line and say I cannot and I will not cross over this line, come what may. Peter was put in prison. Paul was stoned. Antipas was killed. John the Baptist was beheaded. All, consequences of standing for what is right.

And, when we fail to do this, we live with the consequences that our faith is shallow and means nothing to us. We sell out because of fear. We sell out because our job is more important than our convictions. We allow people to get away with saying and doing things that they should not. We look the other way but deep inside, we feel empty. We know that we should have said something. We know that we let our Lord down. How easy it is to point our fingers at Peter when he denied knowing the Lord, and yet, so often, we stand right beside Peter and the crowing rooster because we want someone to like us, accept us and be included.

Queen Vashti was not Jewish. She did not have the Law of Moses to stand upon. But there was a moral line that she understood was wrong. She’d rather lose her position than to be humiliated by drunks. And, when you and I get that fire in our hearts, we too will learn to stand and take whatever consequences that come. There are many things being done in the workplace that is illegal, unethical and simply wrong. Our congregations must be ready to step in and help our faithful brethren who may lose a job because they would not participate in wrong things.

Second, showing off is nothing more than bragging. The king was showing off all that he had. Hezekiah did that to some Babylonian visitors. He showed them all the treasures of God’s house and the king’s house. Later, the Babylonians came and stole all those things. Some of us have fine collections of this and that. Be careful in how you display and talk about them. That  collection doesn’t make you any better than someone else and when you die, your family will have to deal with it and they may just put it all out in the trash. Enjoy what you have but don’t let it define you.

Tuesdays with Esther…wish you could join us in our study.

Roger

19

Jump Start # 3515

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3515

John 14:9 “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

The section of John 13-16 is very powerful. Multiple times Jesus tells the disciples that He is leaving. Not only is He leaving, but they cannot come with Him. They have had Him for a good while. He has calmed storms when they were scared. He has fed massive crowds when they were hungry. He has sent demons fleeing. He has boldly stood His ground against critics, accusations and charges. But now, He is leaving.

You can imagine what was racing through the minds of these confused apostles. Who will take care of us now? Who is going to calm the storms? Who is going to deal with the Pharisees? How are we going to get along without You being here.

As the fourteenth chapter opens, Jesus tells them “don’t be troubled.” Peterson says, “Don’t be rattled.” Phillips says, “don’t be distressed.” There are a lot of things in life that causes one to become rattled, distressed and bothered. One of the greatest things is change. And life is always changing.

A new job. Moving to a new city. A new preacher. Going to a different congregation. Last of the children have moved out. Death of a spouse. Bringing a parent to live with you. All of these things speak of changes. Routines change. Schedules change. Life changes. And, for many, especially as you get older and have become very accustomed to certain things, these new changes troubles, bothers and rattles us.

Personally, I’m not a great adventurer, even though I have jumped out of an airplane. I drive the same route to work every day. I generally eat lunch at the same handful of places every day. I have a morning routine that I like. Comfortable. Relaxed. Accustomed. Normal. That’s a sure and safe place to be.

Not long ago, part of the highway I drive every day was closed. I had to take a different route. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t normal for me. And, throughout Scriptures we find changes. Adam and Eve lost their first home, Paradise. Moses died and Joshua was the new leader. He wasn’t Moses. Different judges. Different kings. And, for these apostles, everyday they woke up, Jesus was there. He was always there. Life was good, because Jesus was there. There were moments when they became frightened, but somehow Jesus took care of it.

Now, the word throughout John 13-16 is that Jesus is leaving. How will they get by? How will they survive? How do we get by when things change? How do we survive?

First, before the opening sentence of chapter fourteen ends, Jesus tells them to believe. Even though He will no longer be with them, believe. And, there are layers of reasons to believe. Jesus has proven Himself. Over and over He has shown that He can redefine the word “impossible.” His works, verse 11, has demonstrated who He is. But more than that, Jesus has shown Himself to be trustworthy. If it were not so, I would have told you, He says. That’s the relationship they had with Jesus. He is the truth, because He always spoke the truth. When Jesus said something, they could count on it.

Second, as our verse states, Jesus says, you ought to have known Me. And, so should we. The character of Jesus was compassion and goodness. When Peter tells Cornelius that Jesus went about doing good, that doesn’t surprise us. That’s nothing new to us. That’s how we know Him. Jesus never made fun of the disciples. He never wanted to see them fail. He was about doing good.

Believe Jesus. Trust Jesus.

Third, His promises are true. That’s what He means when it is stated, “I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (14:3). How could they be sure about that? Because Jesus could be trusted. Because they knew Jesus.

So, when you and I face life’s big changes, these same three elements will help us. Believe Jesus. Know Jesus. His promises are true. Promises such as, I will never desert you. Promises such as even though you go through the valley of the shadow of death, I am with you. Promises such as with every temptation, there is a way of escape. Promises such as Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever. While life is always changing, Jesus doesn’t.

The disciples were told that the Lord was leaving…but He wasn’t leaving them alone. Important thoughts for a changing world that we live in.

Roger

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Jump Start # 3514

Posted on February 16, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3514

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

My wife and I caught the first three episodes of the Chosen season four in the movie theatre the other day. Several really good parts and a few liberties. But there is one scene which is really intriguing. Matthew, who still acts dorky in many ways comes to Jesus wanting to know why Peter won’t apologize to him for treating him so terribly. As Jesus moves Matthew through several thoughts, he realizes that he is the one who needs to apologize to Peter, not the other way around. Matthew asks, “what if he won’t forgive?” The actor playing Jesus says, “Apologies lead to repentance. Forgiveness is a gift that the other person may nor may not give.”

That statement is something that we struggle with. I think we have it in our minds that if I apologize then you have to forgive, as if you are obligated and owe that to me. Forgiveness is built upon grace and grace is always a gift. It’s hard to understand that when we have tried to make things right by apologizing, why the other person refuses to forgive. We have done what we were supposed to do. We expect the other person to do what they ought to do. But sometimes they don’t, or worse, they won’t. And because of that, some become reluctant to apologize. They will only apologize if they believe the other person will forgive them. If they are not sure, then they will not apologize.

This back and forth, emotional tetter-totter, strains relationships in the home and the church. The scene from the Chosen, though not found in Scriptures, shows the internal battle each faced with bad feelings and the need to do what is right. Matthew struggled with that. Peter struggled with that. And, you and I struggle with that. We know what the right thing to do, but those hurt feelings, and moments of anger towards the other person sure makes it hard to go and apologize.

Years ago I heard a radio program in which listeners called in with their definition of “forever.” One person said waiting for the light to change at a certain intersection was forever. Another said, waiting for their child to get ready was forever. Another said, waiting for their tax return was forever. But the most telling one, was a woman who said, “forever is waiting for my husband to apologize.”

Here are some thoughts for us:

First, our choice to do what is right cannot be based upon how we think others will react. Standing up for what is right, speaking up, drawing a line in the sand, saying, “No,” often comes with consequences. And, if we allow those consequences to dictate what we should do, then we often will not do the right thing.

If you have done wrong, go and apologize and be genuine about that. The other person may use the opportunity to belittle you, attack you and only pour on more guilt. That won’t be the outcome that you wished for, but, you have done the right thing. You apologize because what you did or what you said was wrong. Even if the other person gives you a pass on that, your apology is built upon the fact that you realize that you were out of line and did something that was not appropriate. Apologies lead to repentance. Forgiveness is a gift.

Second, when our eyes are focused upon Jesus, we will not worry so much about how others will respond. Doing the right thing are the steps of righteousness. Righteous living comes from doing what is right. And, right is determined by God. Playing imaginary conversations in our minds only slows down what we ought to do that is right. Do what you know is right, period. Do what is right, even if others say you don’t have to. Do what is right, even if others make the situation worse. You do what is right, because that is what the Lord wants you to do.

Third, and, when the tables are turned and someone comes and apologizes to us, don’t run them through the mill and make them feel worse. Forgiveness is a gift and be quick to offer that gift. The bridge of fellowship that we walk across is supported by love, grace, forgiveness and the goodness we find in the Lord.

It’s hard to apologize. It’s hard to admit wrong. But this is something we must do to continue on together. Our failure to do that, leads to hurt feelings and broken relationships. And, people remember. We may forget a compliment, but we’ll remember a hurt for a long, long time.

Apologies lead to repentance…forgiveness is a gift.

Roger