Let The Lord Wool You!

And He took them [the children up one by one] in His arms and [fervently invoked a] blessing, placing His hands upon them.  (Mark 10:16 AMP, The Amplified Bible)

Can you remember a time when someone took you up in their arms just to love on you? When our kids were little I was always “woolin” them as I call it. I got that word from my dad. He raised beagles when I was a kid and he told me I could pet the puppies but not to pick them up and be “woolin” on them as I might drop them. He knew I was clumsy even at a young age! We have a Chihuahua and old alley cat that I wool now.

John the Apostle told us in the gospel he was inspired to write that Jesus did many other things which were not written in his account. He went on to say that he did not think the world could even hold all the books if everything Jesus did had been recorded on the parchment. Of course the things Jesus did that are not recorded were certainly not embarrassing or sinful things, but all the good things He did were innumerable. I am glad that the Holy Spirit brought back to Mark’s memory the day that Jesus said we must receive the kingdom of God as a little child and then commenced to pick up younguns and wool them. That is why I used the AMP translation; I like that the Greek language implied that He fervently invoked a blessing upon them! He did not just pick them up, sit them on His lap like they would mess up His clothes, and speak a sweet little saying over them. No, He picked them up, held them close to His bosom, and blessed them “real good!” He loved on them. He wooled them.

I bet you would like Him to do that for you today, huh? I bet if it were possible you would like to have Him reach down and get you, put you up on His lap, and wool you, wouldn’t you? Just to be loved on for a little while. Well, physically it is not going to happen, yet, but He can love on you spiritually! He can reach down and embrace your heart and squeeze it real good! If you will ask Him to. Yep, that’s all it takes; ask Him to do it and He will. Go ahead; let Him show you how much He loves you. You may need to know that right now, could be why He had me to tell you.

“The Patient, Understanding, Loving, Forgiving, and Accepting Father.”

“Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.” (The Father of the Lost Son: Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 15; NKJV).

If your Bible has headings above certain paragraphs of Scripture the heading for this account may be, “The Parable of the Lost Son”, or “The Prodigal Son.” The story is about a lost son but more importantly, a forgiving father. The headings should read, “The Patient, Understanding, Loving, Forgiving, and Accepting Father.” Kind of a long heading but more fitting I think. Without intent we sometimes glorify the son as the hero in this story. The child that left home, got in with the wrong crowd, ran out of money and people to care for him, came to his senses, then returned home. Good move on his part but not to be glorified. After all he should have stayed home, obeyed his father, and then the inheritance would have been his anyway. Bad choices always lead to bad consequences. If the boy got what he deserved to start with, why not at the end? Because of the patient, understanding, loving, forgiving, and accepting father that he had.

Jesus did not tell this parable to glorify the son but the father. All we like sheep have gone astray the Bible teaches. There is nothing praiseworthy about going away and coming back. The son was not restored because he came back; he was restored because the father received him. The other son in the story did not think much of his actions and let it be known. “He chose to leave on his own and now comes crawling back to you and you take him back like nothing ever happened!” Could have been what the other son might have thought.

The father loved them both; equally. Jesus wanted us, His listeners, to know that is how God feels toward us. Many of us have come crawling to God have we not? At times when we suffered illness or bereavement, relationship issues or financial struggles, addictions or convictions of crimes? Jesus says we can depend on the Father to receive us just as he did the kid in the parable. Jesus says not to let what others think keep us from Him. Jesus says ditch the pride in the pigpen and come to the Father. Jesus says the Father is watching for us too.

How about you today? As you survey your life perhaps you may discover you are in a pigpen. Crawl over the fence, get on your knees, and call out to the Father. He loves you as much as He does anyone. He will embrace you because He is, “The Patient, Understanding, Loving, Forgiving, and Accepting Father.”

Advice For The New Christian

“What do you want Me to do for you?” [Luke 18:41 New King James Version]

The year was 1961, and the afternoon of January 21st.,  President John F. Kennedy stood at the podium giving his inaugural address. With millions tuning in and hundreds of thousands watching and listening to his every word he spoke these words which seem to have been forgotten. “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” In the course of time these words have slipped into the pages of history and are just that; mere words. The question today the majority of society asks is, “what can you do for me?”

You and I as Christians sometimes have a hard time with this question Jesus asked the blind man that day on the road to Jericho. Because of our gratefulness and thankfulness toward Him for dying for our sins we tend to reverse the question. What can I do for you Jesus? A very noble question but not actually what Jesus expects. I will testify for You. I will pray with people for You. I will go to church for You. I will be nice to others for You. I will work, work, work for You. Just tell me Jesus, what can I do for You? All in hopes that somehow Lord You will know how grateful I am for what You have done for me. I want to pay You back for my salvation. There, that is what we must careful of when wanting to serve Christ.

Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NKJV). I teach new believers that the most dangerous time for them is in the short term following their conversion. We have a tendency to set our goals to high in what we think the Lord expects from us. When we find out we cannot achieve “perfection”, no matter how hard we try, we give up. Jesus never expected payback from us. He came to die for us even though no human ever asked Him to. The doctrine of grace gets confused with the doctrine of service. Jesus wants to do something for you! He never asked, “What can you do for Me?”

You may be struggling in your walk with Christ today. You may feel as though you have failed Him terribly. You have done something, or not done something, that is not pleasing to Him. Guilt leads to disappointment, disappointment leads to frustration, and frustration leads to abandonment. Listen to Jesus; “What can I do for you?” Tell Him what you need Him to do.

Winds, Waves, Rescue.

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea; “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. [Mark 4:39 New King James Version]

It is evident and goes without saying that severe weather threatens lives. A lot of people have been killed this year by storms. Just for a moment with me today let your mind wander, (a dangerous thing for me to do as mine forgets how to get back), and let's put ourselves in the boat that evening with the disciples. The wind is blowing rain into our faces as we struggle to stay in the boat. The waves are tossing us to and fro and water from the sea is filling the boat each time the bow dips under the waves! Water up around our ankles, the boat rocking, the wind whistling, our stomachs upset and our hearts pounding! I am glad I am only imagining this scene and not actually there, how about you?

Now let’s change gears and compare that scene to one in our everyday life here on land. With one phone call, a doctor’s diagnosis, or the confession from a spouse, our emotions are tossed about and our mind starts filling up with thoughts which upset our stomach and grip our hearts. What went wrong? What did we miss? How did this happen? Why me, why us? You know those feelings and have asked those questions; I know I have.

Go back to the storm on the Sea of Galilee just a moment and look at the words in red (if your Bible has that). “Peace, be still!” Did you notice the exclamation point? That punctuation mark indicates to us that Jesus did not waste any time in answering the call of the frantic cries of the seasoned fishermen who could not save the ship. He arose to do it Mark says.

He arose to save us too. He will speak to the wind and waves that batter our emotions and thoughts as well. When the wind left the ocean became calm and the disciples let out a sigh of relief. Their heart rate returned to normal and their hope of survival increased a hundred percent. “Who is this man?”  They asked.

Do you know who He is? He is the Master of the Sea. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Commander in Chief of the wind and rain. He is your Friend. He is your refuge. He is your Savior.

Jesus Smiled.

²¹ At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. “I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.  (Luke 10:21  The Message)

Jesus smiled. That sounds like a good Bible verse to me, how about you? I wonder why we never read it anywhere in the Scripture? We read where He wept and where He was angry but I cannot recollect anywhere that we read He smiled. I am sure that He did. I am sure that He smiled a lot. Why is it important to know whether or not He smiled? To help us relate to His humanity.

The Church has a way of portraying Jesus in one of two ways. One picture depicts Him as being serious all the time; holy and reverent. Walking around with His hands clasped together with a look of sternness on His face. This picture sets Him apart from defiled humanity and puts Him out of touch with the regular folk. The other picture sometimes portrays Him as that of a good man that went about doing good all of the time. Healing people, showing them compassion, forgiving there mistakes. Sort of like a “good old boy” relationship. Being buddy, buddy with everyone; even those who opposed Him. The truth is both pictures are distorted.

Jesus was very serious about His mission and never took it lightly. He is Holy and was always reverent toward His Father. This seriousness drove Him to be compassionate and He is very understanding of our humanness; but He never excused us for being “just human.” Jesus came to take our sins upon Himself and die for them. He was more than just a good man. God filled a human body in order to relate to other humans. His being in a human body allowed Him to experience human emotions, human desires, human fears, and human frustrations. Therefore He is able to relate to us. His Divinity as God allowed Jesus to overcome the fallen human nature and thereby had no sin. You and I are forgiven when we allow Him to impart His Divinity unto us by way of the Cross. Being human does not excuse our sin.

Jesus is as human as you and I are. What we feel, He feels. He was joyful and happy because God sent Him into the world that the world might be saved through Him! Yeah, He smiled. He smiled when people believed in Him and accepted Him; and He still does.

A Fragmented Life

“Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” (John 6:12 NKJV)

While in a shop on vacation I was reading little signs on a rack while Hannah and my wife were shopping. One I really liked read, “Humpty Dumpty was pushed.” We all know Humpty and his fate but to think that he did not just fall but was rather pushed off the wall stretches the limits of our imaginations when it comes to reading things into fairy tales! Knowing that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put him back together leaves us feeling sorry for an egg.

Reading the account of Jesus feeding the thousands on the sea shore that day gives us some insight into how He thinks. I know He was talking about the scraps left over from the fish and bread when He made this statement but I also know it can be related to His heart toward us. There are hundreds, even thousands of people today that have broken lives. Families that have split up, a relationship that has ended, a job that has been taken away, a chronic diagnosis, a loved one that has died, can all cause a life to be disintegrated. All that is left over sometimes are fragments.

I am glad to know that Jesus cares about the fragments! Jesus wants nothing to be lost. That is why He came and died on the Cross to begin with; that we may be saved. He can put lives back together. He could have put Humpty Dumpty back together. Wouldn’t that be a better ending to the tale? All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put Humpty together again; but a Man named Jesus came along and did it.

He has a fix for you today. His grace can glue you back together and is sufficient enough to keep you in one piece. He can heal a broken heart, a broken bone, or a broken life. Let Him gather up the fragments and make you whole once again.

Conviction Anger

So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!”  (2 Samuel 12:5 NKJV)

I used to teach anger management in my former job before becoming a pastor. I was handing out notes to the class when I came up one short at one table of participants. The guy jokingly said, “That’s it! I’m mad now!”

Anger is usually aroused in us when things do not go our way, or in the case of David, it would be considered moral anger. Moral anger causes us to get angry when someone else has been wronged. In the case of David however the anger he felt was designed to exemplify the anger God feels toward us when we transgress His law. We sometimes forget that because God is a loving and forgiving God that He somehow overlooks our sin without it affecting Him personally. But He does not. He is a jealous God and His anger is aroused when we ignore His commands and do our own thing.

I do not know about you but sometimes hearing the truth about me can arouse my anger. When I think I am doing well and the Lord sends conviction upon my heart it causes me to place blame before taking the blame. The truth will set us free Jesus taught. Hearing the truth is Gods way of delivering us from bondage. David had been hiding his sin for quite sometime but when the truth came out, and it always will, he was ready to kill another man for doing the same thing he had done on a larger scale!

Next time the Holy Spirit brings conviction upon you, either through His word, or by way of a witness, before you give place to the anger and blame someone or something else, repent and allow the truth to set you free also.