Each year atheist and believer alike have a vivid reminder given to them of Easter !  It’s about this time of year when Easter occurs that we all witness the awakening and sprouting of flowers. Tulips and daffodils begin their “resurrections”, for example.  The old bulbs and seeds of the previous year lie dead  and dormant in the ground yet within by God’s design is the potential for new life !  I enjoy seeing these plants come up around our church and the pleasing expressions of folks as each week we spot their progress.

Resurrection, as you may well know, is not something to which Easter alone is restricted to.  We see it in the plant world, we see it in the pages of Scripture as one day we too will take on our resurrection body and live in it forever.  But also, the resurrection can be tasted each day by the child of God who chooses (operative word) to truly live FOR the Lord !   Look at what Paul wrote in his classic piece to the Romans, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not  serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (6:5-7).

When you were saved you were “planted together in the likeness of His death” and so will one day experience ultimate resurrection in you but every day we must crucify self (the old man) and feed the new nature given to us at the dawn of our resurrection and when we do sin can be overcome, righteousness can be developed in us, and we enjoy real freedom serving Him now !

He goes on to say in vs19, “. . . yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness” (a radical concept and somewhat feared by most believers) then in vs22, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life !”   Each day should be a resurrection for you Christian by letting God have His way in your heart and asking for His mighty power to help you live as you ought, confessing the cold dead seeds of sin and watering your mind with the Word so that REAL resurrection fruit may sprout up in YOU !!   Happy Easter TODAY !!!!!

 

Most of us know the inward agitation caused us when someone takes the Lord’s name in vain or otherwise curses in some way.  And society continues to worsen in it’s expletives and even the more “subtle” cursing of the higher tech crowd’s OMG, etc.  But have you ever thought how Jesus must’ve winced at times, even around His disciples?   Their’s was a more moral society (at least outwardly) where no one would dare profane the name of God out loud but nonetheless cursing and less than sinful attitudes certainly were just as commonplace as in our day.

Remember how James and John wanted to “nuke” (present day slang) the Samaritans because those people had ill treated them as they journeyed through their town? Luke records them asking Christ, “Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?”  And Jesus’ response was “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them !”  (Lk.9:54-56).   How ticked we can become at times when someone “disses” us and long for the power of God at our beck and call as Elijah was given to show our enemies immediate justice !  But since that hasn’t been granted us, we can kill them with icy stares, hold grudges and withhold our fellowship, we in effect curse them in a way that we believe pushes their buttons the best.  Yet what we need to bear in mind is what Jesus says here, namely that our mission in life as we are cursed and have our feelings hurt is not to lash back and curse them more but to understand what He was trying to convey to us all: people are sinners and the remedy is not sin back but save !

It will take the grace of God but you must allow yourself to be bigger than the burdens you incur. You must see past the symptoms of sin to the solution for the soul of whatever “Samaritan” has cursed you !  Have you gotten caught up in a vicious cycle of sin and forgotten you are an ambassador for Christ?  Do you know another believer who has become embittered and one by one their relationships have soured because they want immediate justice ?  Pray for them and look to the Lord as the pacesetter of forgiveness and salvation !  Allow the same love that Christ extended even to sinners around Him to be manifested to those around you, especially those who curse you !!!

The other night I had to chuckle at something a little boy said.  My wife and I bring these two boys home from church on Wednesdays as they are on the way for us and their parents do not come as yet.  We’re just glad they come to our youth program.  But as we dropped them off they both got out and one of them stopped and said this, “I’m not trying to be mean or anything but your car is small in the back seat !”  I noticed in their driveway were two SUV’s.  I suppose two different people could take what he said two different ways but I found it amusing not insulting.

Learning one doesn’t always have to say what’s on one’s heart is a lesson hopefully he will one day come to know but I appreciated that he was trying, even as a youngster, to not be inconsiderate.   It didn’t bother us “out of the mouth of a babe”, in fact it was heartening that in a world that lacks great love and consideration for one’s fellow man at least he was trying !  Have you given much thought at all lately to the second greatest command, to love your neighbor as yourself? (Mk.12:31).

I find one of the blessings of growing as a Christian is that you become more sensitive to others so that consideration for them trumps even what you want.   And this is nowhere more battle tested than in the home !  How you treat your mate speaks volumes as to how you are doing with this command and so how you are doing as to spiritual growth.  How you speak to your children is also quite revealing, especially when your day has been grueling, do you take it out on them or view them as precious still and not allow circumstances to dictate your mood? “Well thats just me, they understand that”   Undoubtedly !!  But does God ?  We must always “prove what is acceptable to God (Eph.5:10). Certainly we have all failed at this but one sign you are growing in grace is that such shoddy attitudes are less and less.

How about your coworkers?  And let me take this a step further – what do you normally think of them?   Do you leave things for them to do or do your best to make things just a little easier for them?   And the neighbors, sure we can all find things that irritate us about those who live around us and perhaps have different beliefs and values but have you prayed for them lately?     We can all crank things up a notch with loving our neighbor, especially that “neighbor” that’s a little annoying.  This is where the grace of God comes in especially so.  Why not ask the Lord to give you a compassionate heart and extend in some way today the love of God to someone near you?!  God will be glorified and you will be gratified.

Some people (even colleagues in the ministry) have asked, “Why do you stay where you are?” implying a lack of numbers spells failure or less than human expectations demands relocation.  One person not long ago said, “You are wasted on a small country church”.   While such comments may  foster doubts or more pride than there is already there I’d like to think I should stay put until God clearly moves me.  One specific indication through the years to me is that God wants a church like ours in our area which is quite strategic for many reasons and He has always seemed fit to provide what we need to persist.

Just this week I met a woman who told me she was fairly new to our area and has been trying to find a church that as she began to describe sounded a lot like our church.  Amongst other things she longed for, she said she would love to find a small, rural congregation that taught the Bible and allowed her to serve the Lord and had more than just the morning service that most of the more liberal denominational churches have. She wasn’t focused on size or what she could get so much as what she could give.  So I invited her to ours and she said she is looking forward to coming and that she would love to be able to bring others in her new van she had just purchased !!  We have several people in a retirement community we minister to that want to now come and need rides and God provided and assured me in just this one way this week to press ahead with His work here !  Where God may see fit to extract something in your life, He also can fulfill what’s then needed !!

The ancient Hebrews called Him Jehovah-jireh (God provides).  When Isaac wondered about seeing the wood and all things needful for a sacrifice to the Lord with the exception of the appropriate animal for the sacrifice it was his father Abraham that used that term to remind his son that “God will provide Himself an offering” (Gen.22:8).  Jehovah-jireh !!    We all have needs, our church has needs – the people in it and the people God wants to be in it !  Sometimes we wonder, how will things work out?  Well, if we work at them according to His Word, God will most definitely provide !    What a thrill to see it in a church and through a life, the hand of God at work providing for us who are so undeserving yet so loved by Him !!  Don’t fret, follow Him and He will provide !

Yesterday I spoke with a woman and invited her and her family to church this Sunday. I told her also we’re having a dinner after church and asked her to come to that too. Her response was wonderful as she said they’d come and she thanked me for telling her about the meal as she would make something to share !   It was heartening to not get a rejection or non-committed reaction but the opposite.  God is working in her life !!

One of the signs God is at work is when people become supportive of His work.  Tithing can be a good sign of this, faithful attendance, and also some form of service but such supportiveness can manifest itself in many ways and a lack can also rear its ugly head in various forms as well.  If I were a layman, and one day I likely will be again, I would strive to be supportive of my local church by praying for the services which would mean the pastor, his preparation and actual preaching, the church to be full, hearts to be changed, the musicians, ushers, nursery workers, teachers, etc.  I would seek to encourage people while in the house of God by taking the time to get to know them and their concerns and sharing truth as appropriate rather than just plopping in the pew and withdrawing into a cocoon of solitude.  And rather than focusing on who isn’t there, I’d do all I can to make sure they are there next time. Here’s a novel idea: Hey Pastor, may I make some visits with you (or if you’re a female with his wife)?  I have heard this some lately:  I wish there were more teens, twenty somethings, singles (you name the age group).  Instead of whining why not concentrate on winning souls !!    Instead of complaining about what you don’t have in your church, why not do the spiritual thing and consecrate yourself to building it up?

In speaking with Pastor’s around our nation, it is sadly all too common that the leaders of the churches are swamped because of a “somebody needs to do something about this in our church” mentality and so they resign or the church folds and our nation is more corrupt for it, when God intended a local church to be a joint venture.  He wouldn’t have included the information in 1 Corinthians 12 were that not so: “For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. . . For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body: is it therefore not of the body? . . . much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary.”   (vss.12-22).    YOU are necessary to God, friend ! Even if you think you’re nothing but a big ‘ole ugly toe in God’s work !!

Sunday is coming again. How can you support your local church this week and really put your heart into it? How can you make it a better Lord’s day than last week?  Who can you bring with you? How could you better prepare?  How can you encourage your pastor or fellow church members?  Better still,  start in the right place:  how can YOU encourage the Lord????