Jesus

Seeing The Invisible 

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Colossians 1:15
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

The heart of man cries out for God. From the small child, to the individual who has faced a devastating loss, or grueling pain, their hearts cry out to know God. In an attempt to answer the heart’s cry, men create God in their own image. Some have invented a vast, complicated religious system, while others have checked out. They have decided, with all the different religions, no one can know for sure. To this Paul has a simple answer,

“He is the image of the invisible God, . . .”

While we cannot see God with the natural eye, we do not have to live our lives as though He is hidden from us. In order to answer the cry of the heart, God sent His Son, so we would forever know who God is, and what He is like. There is no need to use our imaginations or experiences in an attempt to create a God who fits our liking. We just need to open the pages of the Bible and see for ourselves who God is. As we watch Jesus walk the streets of Israel, encountering people in their real life situations, we learn how God feels about us, and what He desires to do in our lives. We see Him reaching out to the hurting, with a hand of compassion, and we learn that He cares about our needs, concerns and pain. We watch as He interacts with sinners, and we find, in all our sin, He still loves us. He desires to forgive our sins and bring us to Himself. We know He spent time, daily, with those who chose to follow Him, revealing the secrets of eternity to them. We learn, as we walk with Him daily, He will speak to us. He even takes common men, whose lives would have gone unnoticed by the world, and uses them to make a mark on the world. Their service will outlast their lives, and they will store up treasures in heaven that will last forever.

Jesus is the image of the invisible God. We no longer have to guess who God is, or what He is like. We just need to know Jesus. Instead of listening to all the voices screaming out of confusion, attempting to explain a God they have never seen, let’s go to the pages of the Bible and meet Jesus face-to-face. What an amazing God we have, that He would take on the form of man to reveal Himself to us.

Why not pray right now and ask God to reveal Himself to you?

Pastor Jim

 

Countdown 

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Isaiah 16:14
“But now the Lord has spoken, saying, ‘Within three years, as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.’”

The Moabites were not only Israel’s neighbors, they were also relatives. The Moabites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Their relationship should have created an alliance between the nations. Instead, their history was one of constant conflict. One of the most costly attacks during the wilderness years was masterminded by Balak, King of Moab. It was this constant conflict, against the people of God, which led Moab to the brink of destruction. Isaiah predicted, in three short years, Moab would be defeated and the inhabitants would be fleeing for refuge.

Since Isaiah did not date this prediction, we cannot know exactly when it was given. However, we do know, during the time of Isaiah’s ministry, the Assyrians were mounting attacks against the entire region. It was only a matter of time before Syria, Israel and Moab, fell to Assyrian forces. Hearing the warning from Isaiah, and looking around at the signs of the times, Moab should have concluded their time was short. They should seek to prepare for the unavoidable reality of coming face to face with God.

Isaiah presents an interesting scenario; he puts a shelf life on the Moabites, in order to help them prepare for eternity. It is as though they went to the doctor and heard compelling evidence that they would only live for three more years. I wonder, if the countdown officially started for me, and I knew I only had a few short years left, would I live differently? Perhaps it would do us good to examine our lives within the following categories, to determine if changes need to be made.

First, our spiritual life. God created us with a need to worship and a desire for Him. As a result, people must worship something; everyone, in one way or another, is religious. The issue is not whether or not you worship, but who you worship. Jesus explained that He came to this planet to enable us to prepare for eternity by getting right with God. This happens when we trust Christ as our Savior, and follow Him as Lord.

Second, our private life. We learn, at a very young age, to hide our wrong-doings so others cannot see them. It is important to remember, we cannot hide our sin from God, and our private life is a representation of our walk with God. Instead of hiding secret sins, we should be confessing them. Instead of spending our private time doing what we shouldn’t, we should spend that time with the Lord, in His Word and prayer.

Third, our family life. Perhaps the most important place for us to live out our Christianity is in the home. Our spouse and children learn far more from us than they ever will in a Sunday school classroom or a Bible study. Our Christian life should show itself in the home and in the way we treat our loved ones.

Finally, our community life. Jesus called people publicly, and sent them out into the world to make a difference. It is important for us to realize, we can make a difference when we live committed to the Lord. Our community life includes how we live at work, in recreation, and at our local church.

Life is short, let’s live for eternity.

Pastor Jim

 

Shaky 

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Isaiah 13:13
“Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.”

Recently, I was driving with some friends, some of whom were from California, and others from Florida. It did not take long for the subject of hurricanes to come up. As we described our experiences of boarding up windows, stocking up on supplies and even evaluating our homes, one of the Florida folks said, “but at least we know they are coming, unlike those California earthquakes.” As you can imagine the conversation then switched to what it is like to have the ground we believe to be solid, suddenly begin to roll underneath your feet. Fortunately, we reached our destination before the conversation became more grave. Suffice it to say, it is a pretty eerie feeling when, what we believe to be solid, suddenly begins to shake;  proving our foundations are not what we thought them to be.

Isaiah speaks of a day when God will shake the whole earth. Everything in which mankind falsely places trust, will be shown to be unstable. Only those who have built their lives upon the solid Rock of Christ, will be able to stand. A time is coming when everything man trusts in will prove to be shaky: politics, governments, economies, even the environment, will go through cataclysmic changes, as God pours forth His judgment on man, for rejecting His word and His way of escape. At that time, only trust in Christ will be a firm enough foundation to hold us.

Have you placed your trust in Him?

Pastor Jim

 

Beware of Dogs 

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Philippians 3:2
“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!”

Warning signs are all around us, cautioning us to beware of potential hazards. These signs warn the floor is slippery, the curve, sharp, the beam is low, or the dog is mean. As I sit here writing, my teacup reads, “Careful, the beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot.” Which seems obvious to me, since I did not order an iced drink. On the beaches in our community, there are signs warning of what to do in case of a tsunami; although we have never been hit by a tsunami, and experts tell us that the likelihood of such an event happening is almost zero. Because these warnings are so commonplace, we can become desensitized to them, and miss the ones that really matter.

Paul’s warnings are not to be taken lightly, as he tells us to be on guard against dogs, evil workers and the mutilation. He is using a common writing technique, where repetition is used for emphasis. He is not saying there are dogs, evil people, and mutilators to be aware of, but describing a certain group of people, using all three terms. He warned the Philippians to beware of those who would cause them to take their attention off of Jesus, and focus on works, as the measurement of their relationship with Jesus. Writing to the Corinthians, he put it like this,

2 Corinthians 11:3
“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

When you came to Christ, you began a relationship with Him based upon His infinite love for you. You responded to that love by crying out to Him as Savior and Lord, and you began to follow Him. By reading your Bible, you learned of Him and were blessed by Him. You loved to be around others who loved Him like you did. Worship was amazing, as you expressed, in song, your gratitude and praise. People asked, “What happened to you? Why you were so different? Why you were not doing the things you used to do? Why you seemed so happy, even though circumstances might be quite difficult?” You were in love with Jesus, and enjoying the simplicity of Christ. But then, ever so subtly, you began to be lured away from the joy of salvation and simplicity of following Christ. Your relationship with Him began to be treated like a series of responsibilities; devotions, church attendance, service. Even sharing your faith, began to be treated like duty, rather than an expression of relationship.

If that has happened to you, allow me to use the words of Christ to the church in Ephesus, as a means of encouragement,

Revelation 2:5
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works”

It is time to go back to those first works; that time when you simply loved Jesus and wanted to please Him. When you read the Bible, not to check off the reading card, but because you wanted to hear Him speak to your heart, and guide your life. When you told others about Jesus, and bragged about how He spoke to you every time you attend church. How He wants to do in others, what He is doing in you.

Be careful not to be drawn away from simply being in love with Jesus, and enjoying the relationship you have because of the Cross.

Pastor Jim

 

The Well Of Salvation

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Isaiah 12:3-4
“Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.
And in that day you will say:
“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.”

Isaiah paints a beautiful picture to illustrate salvation and its benefits. He writes it is like a well from which the waters of life can be drawn, and the child of God can be filled with joy. He goes on to say that we should declare this to all people.

In many parts of the world, the center of village life is a community well. It is the place people gather daily to retrieve the most essential ingredient for life. Without water, they will not survive a week. The atmosphere around the well is often very joyful. People tell stories, and express love for one another, as they await their turn to fill their buckets. Isaiah is using that to illustrate the joy found in relationship with the Lord.

When a person comes to Christ, their sins are forgiven and a relationship with God begins.  However, the benefits of being a child of God do not stop there. We also become part of a community with those who have come to Christ. We gather together, around the waters of life, and seek to encourage one another to continue to follow and serve our Savior and Lord.

Be sure to gather at the well of salvation today. Take your time, and spend it with Jesus. Then look for opportunities to share with others, the things Christ is doing in your life.

Pastor Jim

 

Peace 

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Isaiah 11:6-7
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”

In beautiful, poetic fashion, Isaiah describes the conditions of the world after Christ returns to set up His kingdom. His purpose is to make all things right by establishing a rule of righteousness and peace. One thing is clear, in thousands of years of human governments, man has never been able to rule in righteousness or peace. Even today, with all of our advances, war continues to stain the face of the earth.

While the Bible clearly promises the return, and righteous rule of Christ, it also promises righteousness and peace can rule in the life of all who will receive Christ as Lord and Savior. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Prince of Peace and life. When we allow Him to rule in us, and we live in accordance with His Word, we will find that even in the midst of turmoil, we can have joy and peace.

My prayer is that you will let Christ be king in your life, and live to follow Him.

Pastor Jim

 

When He Comes 

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Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder,
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

This is one of the most well known verses in Isaiah, and perhaps in the entire Bible. It is a verse which predicts the coming of the Messiah, seven hundred years before His birth. In this verse, we have a detailed description of the Savior of humanity. We are told a Child will be born, who is in fact, the Son of God.

This verse was originally penned in the midst of extremely dark times in Israel’s history. Externally, they were facing the threat of destruction. The Assyrians began to expand their empire by conquering the nations adjacent to Israel and Judah. Internally, the nation became increasingly immoral. They lost site of the principles upon which they were founded, had wandered from the Lord, and invited the false gods of the surrounding nations into their borders. In earlier chapters, Isaiah describes these conditions by explaining the culture had begun to “call good evil and evil good.”

It is not difficult to see the similarities between Isaiah’s day and our own. Nations are facing the continual threat of terrorism, stemming from the same area of the world where Assyria once ruled. In addition, the tide of immorality is on the rise. It seems to be almost a daily occurrence, where some judge or legislator seeks to impose their personal immoralities upon the rest of us. We are being forced to accept sinful behavior as normal. We are even considered to be bigots, if we suggest that certain lifestyles are unacceptable to God. The Bible is looked upon either as an antiquated fairy tale, or viewed, like many interpret the constitution, as a document that changes to fit the times.

The ambiguous and shifting moral codes being pushed upon our culture are producing all kinds of social chaos. Yet, our leaders refuse to recognize the real cause of the social chaos is immorality and godlessness. We, like Israel, have pushed God out of the way, and as a result, we are experiencing what many call “the wrath of removal;” where God seems to have taken His hand of blessing off of us. We are suffering the consequences of removing God from our lives.

I am so glad in the midst of those dark days, God promised to send His own Son. The Wonderful, Counselor, and Prince of Peace has come to make a way for our sins to be washed away, and a relationship with God restored. Anyone who will receive Christ can have a brand new start in life, and have the hope of heaven. I am also very  glad to know the Savior promised to return. The predictions concerning the first coming of Christ were fulfilled to the letter, and there are three times as many promises of His return, than there are of His incarnation.

The great hope for humanity is found in the pages of God’s Word.

Pastor Jim

 

Then He Said Go

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Isaiah 6:7-9
“Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.’
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’
And He said, ‘Go…’”

Isaiah 6 is perhaps most well known for what Isaiah saw. He records, in the year of King Uzziah’s death, he had a vision of the throne of God. He describes how he saw the Lord enthroned and surrounded by angelic beings, who ever live to give Him praise. What perhaps, is sometimes missed, is what Isaiah heard. He records hearing the voice of God in two distinct ways.

First, an angel took a coal from the altar, touched Isaiah’s lips, and declared God had taken away his sin. In order for Isaiah to receive pardon from God, he had to first recognize he was a sinner, and then allow God to touch him with the coal from the altar. Those coals would have been stained with the blood of the sacrifices. The most important words you will ever hear are, your sin has been taken away. That happens the moment you realize you are a sinner, Christ is the Savior, and you choose to trust in Him. At that moment, all your sins are washed from you. No longer do you have to carry the burden of the guilt from sin, because He carried it for you when He hung on the cross. No words could ever be sweeter than when heaven declares “your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged.”

Second, once cleansed, Isaiah heard God speak again. This time he was commissioned by God to go into the world with a message. The remaining chapters of Isaiah have to do with that message. Essentially, God is using Isaiah to call others to the Lord. It is important to realize God wants to commission each of us. Something happens to a person who has truly met God, they begin to be filled with a desire for others to know Him as well.

Have you come to Christ and heard Him say “Your sin is taken away”? If not, take this moment to confess you are a sinner, and trust Him as the Savior.

Have you responded to the great commission, where you realize He not only saved you, but is sending you? Before you head out the door, pray God would give you opportunity to invite someone to come hear about Christ, or perhaps He would grant you the chance to tell them yourself.

Pastor Jim

 

The Branch

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Isaiah 4:2
“In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.”

_41153086_gallerytree.jpg“The Branch of the Lord” is a messianic title, meaning it is a description of Jesus our Savior. This phrase is used often by the prophets to speak of the work of Christ.

Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. ”

Jeremiah 23:5: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.”

Jeremiah 33:15 ” In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. “

Zechariah 3:8 “For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.”

Jesus used this same imagery to refer to Himself and our relationship with Him, when He called Himself the Vine and us the branches. The basic idea being that there is life in Christ, and as long as we are attached to Him, we will experience His life giving power, and have a life filled with fruitfulness. As the chapter continues, Isaiah speaks of some of the fruit that stems from being in relationship with Christ.

First, he speaks of our sins being washed. Sin is what keeps us from God and from eternal life, and as such, is the primary need of man and purpose of God. Jesus came, not primarily to be our teacher, guide, or example, but to be a sacrifice sufficient to wash away all sin. We need Christ because sin keeps us from heaven.

Second,  he speaks of holiness. The fruit generated by relationship with God is a holy life. Holiness means to be set apart in life and service. A person who is holy is a person devoted to God, and seeking to live in a way that pleases Him. Some of the marks of holiness are commitment to live in light of the teachings of Scripture, commitment of personal, private, family, church, and social life to God. A willingness to offer your time, talents and treasures in the service of Christ.

Third,  Isaiah refers to blessings that flow into the life of those who are connected to the branch. We will experience the benefit of intimacy with God. His presence will be like a cloud and a fire. This, no doubt, takes us back to Israel in the wilderness, when the cloud of God’s presence guided them through the desert. We find them being led through difficult seasons, where their needs were supernaturally met by God, and His voice gave insight into heir situations.

What an amazing promise He has given us. In the midst of the spiritual, moral, and social confusion of Judah, God promises that His people can be linked to the Branch who gives life.

Pastor Jim

 

 

The War Is Over 

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Isaiah 2:4
“He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Tragically, God is blamed for many of the atrocities committed by man. I say tragically, not because God cannot or will not defend Himself, but because as long as we blame God for what men do, we will fail to find a real solution to the problem. The chief wrong in this world is the heart of man. We see this demonstrated daily in the horrific actions reported on our TV screens. We hear of power hungry people oppressing others, in pursuit of their own ambitions. This happens everywhere on the globe. Sometimes, it is in a far away land where a political vacuum has allowed for the strongest force to take over, other times it happens locally where a person uses the tragedy in someone’s life for their own personal gain. Wherever and whenever it happens, it screams to us that the chief problem in our world is the heart of man.

God has a solution to this problem. That solution is the reign of Christ, and it takes place in two ways. First, when a person accepts Christ and surrenders to Him, his first step is self denial. We lay our sinful ways and selfish ambitions down at the cross, and in their place we pick up the Word and ways of God. In Isaiah’s time, the people were being chided for failing to treat one another the way God had called them to. He wanted Israel to be a beacon of light to the world, and much of that light had to do with the care they were to give to each other. Once they forsook the Lord, ‘self’ began to drive the nation, just as it drove the nation’s around them. Christ solves the self-problem when we are willing to lay ourselves down. This will transform our homes, our relationships, our churches, and ultimately our communities.

The second way this problem will be solved, is when Christ comes to set up His kingdom. Isaiah tells us, at that time, war will be a hazy memory of the past. All the money spent on research and expansion of defense will be reallocated to other things. The world will experience the only era of peace it has ever known. Not a peace held together by the threat of retaliation, but a peace that stems from the Prince of Peace reigning and ruling in righteousness.

We should long for, and live for, the One who will one day come and make all things right.

Pastor Jim