Family

Story Of Redemption

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Joshua 2:12-13

“Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”

 

The story of Rahab is a story of redemption. It is nothing short of a miracle. The Spirit opened Rahab’s eyes to understand that YHWH is the true and living God. This happened as a result of the Word of God reaching her ears long before the spies ever set foot in Jericho. For decades, her people had been hearing stories of a people whose God had parted the Red Sea and given them victory over Egyptian bondage. Now those same people were at her doorstep, and Rahab wanted to join the people and the God of Israel. She had come to realize,  salvation would be found in God alone, but she did not want to follow Him alone. In what is a beautiful example of intercessory prayer, Rahab pleads not only for herself but for her loved ones. 

 

“. . . spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, . . .”

 

This seems to be a relatively common phenomenon; when a person truly meets God, they are burdened with a desire for others to meet him as well. It was true of Paul, who wrote ,

 

Romans 10:1

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”

 

Perhaps Jesus was referring to this when he promised that we could exchange our burdens with His. He said we should take our heavy load and give it to Him, in exchange for his burden, which was much lighter (Matthew 11:28-30). That burden certainly includes a desire for others to come to know Him. One of the missing elements in the church today is people who are burdened with a desire for others to come to Christ and grow in Him. We seem to be consumed instead with a desire for personal prosperity and to maintain a political status quo. 

 

Perhaps it is time we look at the great judgment the world is under and begin to pray for those within our sphere of influence to come to Christ. Perhaps, it is even time to pray that our sphere of influence would widen, and that we might actively seek to meet people with the purpose of sharing the love of Christ with them. 

 

Keep in mind, that although time is running out, there remains plenty of space in heaven for all who will trust in Christ.

 

Pastor Jim 

  

 

 

 

 

Free To Serve

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Exodus 9:1
“Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”

IMG_1397Upon being set free from Egypt, Israel was called to serve the Lord. We get some keen insight about true service as the story continues to unfold. First off, Pharaoh suggests that Moses and the men go, but they leave their families behind. This has been the enemy’s tactic ever since. Moses responds to Pharaoh’s suggestion,

“And Moses said, ‘We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.’” Exodus 10:9

As you move forward in your relationship with Jesus, seek to do all you can to influence your family to a deeper commitment to Jesus. Establishing Biblical guidelines for the home, encouraging family devotions, using life experience to teach Biblical principles, and bringing the family to a solid Bible teaching church, are some of the best ways to get things started.

Exodus 10:24-25
“Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, ‘Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.’ But Moses said, ‘You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’”

Pharaoh made another suggestion about their worship. He stated they should go, but they should not give anything to the Lord. “Keep back all that is valuable for yourself” was the mantra of Pharaoh. Moses realized, all true service is costly. Later, David would state he would not give to the Lord that which cost him nothing (2 Samuel 24:24). At times, it is the cost of doing ministry that keeps us from getting involved. Jesus exhorted us to be like a home builder who counts the cost, before getting to work on building. He did not say that to discourage us from serving, but to understand that no matter the cost, it is worth it.

We have been set free, not from physical bondage to slavery, but from the bondage of sin and it’s consequences. Just as Moses was to lead the people to a life of worship and service, we are called to serve. Pray about ways to get involved in serving the Lord, as He seeks to further His kingdom, one life at a time.

Pastor Jim

 

Dysfunctional

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Genesis 29:26
“And Laban said, ‘It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.’”

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All families have some level of dysfunction, but Jacob’s household was a mess. What started with a surprise unveiling the morning after the wedding, grew into a family with two wives competing for the love of one husband. As time moved on, things got worse rather than better. Children were born into the family out of wedlock, and his wives were making back room deals as to who was going to spend the night with Jacob. It is little wonder, when these kids grew up, they had emotional issues and were willing to sell a brother into slavery. What happened to this family to create such chaos?

Genesis 29:26 “And Laban said, ‘It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.'”

Tradition can be a good thing. We have a 30 year old tradition in our family, of meeting at my wife’s parents house for Monday night dinner. In many ways, it is the highlight of the week for the kids. But when traditions are contrary to the Word of God, they are a bad thing. What was acceptable, and even expected in culture, caused Laban to trick Jacob into marrying both his daughters, and violating the ways of God. Marriage was designed by God to be between one man and one woman; and to last a lifetime. Jacob turned his marriage into two women, and two “other women”, and what followed was confusing to say the least.

It is not culturally accepted in America to have two or more wives simultaneously, but it has become acceptable to treat marriage as disposable. It is even common to hear couples, who are having difficulties in marriage, decide to call it quits “for the sake of the children.” We need to keep in mind that God designed marriage, and difficulties are not reasons to end a relationship, but to work on the relationship. Buying into the current cultural ideas of what a marriage should look like, or when a marriage should end, is wrong, and has long term affects on the kids. No matter how much we try to convince ourselves, a bad marriage or a broken marriage, will negatively affect the growth of our kids.

The answer is to stop looking at the world to define marriage, but to begin to look to the Word of God. God did not design marriage to be miserable, but to be a joyous relationship that would reflect the love He has for the world. If your marriage is less than that, perhaps it is time to look into the Bible for the blueprints of a healthy marriage. These texts were designed to help: Ephesians 5:22-33, 1Peter 3:1-7,  1Corinthians 7. Get together with your spouse and read through the Word, making any and all appropriate applications. Keep in mind, we cannot change another person, we can only change ourselves.

Pastor Jim