daily java

Daily Java:

There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

Moses was an anomaly. The Bible says that no one as good as Moses has ever lived nor will ever live. Yet, Moses didn’t want to do what he was doing in the first place. His people were terrified of him, yet they tried at every turn to unseat him from his position of leadership. In many ways, he didn’t care for his people yet he interceded for them time and again when God would be angry enough to destroy them.

He started off in a position that would enable him to be a great leader. Or so he thought. He was in the King’s court in Egypt, the most powerful country in the world at the time. He could have done great things with the Israelites. But God didn’t want an Egyptian leading them. And even though he tried to identify with them, he was still an Egyptian because he had been raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.

He probably looked Egyptian, he sounded Egyptian, all these things. When he came before his people, the Israelites, as far as they could see, he was an Egyptian. And they had grown to hate Egyptians.

When he had to leave Egypt on a murder charge, he hid in Midian, a backward country a long ways from Egypt. Little by little he lost his Egyptian-ness and became a Palestinian. By the time God came to him and told him to go back to Egypt, he was sunburned, dressed roughly and bearded probably like the average Israelite. Gone were all the Egyptian affectations. Now he was like them.

But he was never like them. his relationship to God was one on one. Theirs was through Moses. They kept God at an arm’s distance. All through their life as a nation wandering, it was Moses who fed them, who gave them water, who relayed to them the words of God. It was Moses who was in charge.

And every time someone would challenge Moses’ leadership, even if it were his brother and sister, things ended up badly. People became leprous, fell into cracks in the earth, it seemed the entire universe tilted every time they challenged Moses.

When he told them he was going to die, they didn’t know what to do. So Moses gave them Joshua, Moses’ right hand man. He was the man who accompanied Moses everywhere he went, who assisted Moses, who helped him talk to God. It was he alone, besides Moses, who went up on Mount Sinai to receive the law. God told the rest that if they even touched the base of the mountain, they would die.

Joshua was a man with authority. And since they needed someone strong enough to tell them to shut up, Joshua was it. But as great as Joshua was, he wasn’t Moses.

When Moses died, the human race peaked. Never again would someone like him come along. Even Elijah, who God took up in a flaming chariot so he wouldn’t suffer death, was not spoken of like Moses.

There was a man of power.

daily java

Daily Java:

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” “What is your request?” he asked. They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45)

James and John had probably gotten this all figured out a few days ago and were waiting for the chance to ask Jesus for this special favor. The other apostles were off a ways and they were alone with Jesus and they thought they would go ahead and cement their relationship with him and also get ahead of the others in the process.

After all, they were part of the inner circle. And they already had an in with him. And if they could just get their place as his main leaders, the other apostles would be under them.

They were cut out for this anyway. Their mother told them so and encouraged them. In fact, it had been her idea (Matthew 20). They were a little worried about what the others would have to say, but she told them it would be fine and she would be proud of them.

When they asked, Jesus answered, Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? And, of course, they were. In fact all of the apostles were ready to do that. They just didn’t think of asking Jesus to let them be in charge.

They tried to look humble as they replied, Oh, yes, we are able. They were such humble little disciples. Leadership material, yes, even strong command material. But humble. Oh, yes.

Jesus response surprised them. He said, Oh, yes you are going to drink and suffer too. But then he told them that it was God who chose, not he.

It backfired on them. They didn’t get what they asked for, and the rest of the apostles got mad at them. They turned quickly from great leaders to goats. And the others told them about it, too.

But Jesus defused the situation. He said, Listen, guys. That is the way the world acts, not my followers. He told them, But among you it will be different. It is a different paradigm than before, a completely different thing. This new thing, this new kingdom is characterized by servanthood, not personal glory and honor.

It goes against all that people usually do. The leaders are the servants and the last is the first. Even Jesus himself is a servant. He came to die, so his followers have to die.

Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with the apostles. They just didn’t understand it. And it is hard to understand.

But it is part of what 1 Corinthians 1 calls the wisdom of God. To the world it looks like foolishness, but it is power to those who believe.

Hard stuff to understand, but power to our lives when we do. Strength through weakness and power through service.

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Daily Java:

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” (Mark 2:5-12)

Jesus knew before he did anything that it would make these people mad when he said to the man, you sins are forgiven. He knew it and he didn’t care. He did it anyway.

Jesus was the kind of man who was kind and gentle, but really did not suffer fools gladly. If you were in trouble or had difficulties, that was one thing. He would do anything to help you. But if all you were doing was picking trouble, he could also give that.

He stood before the man and said you sins are forgiven. The religious leaders were mad because they felt only God could do that and they didn’t like Jesus. Even though it was obvious to even the most casual observer that Jesus had some special spark of the divine in him, still they refused to believe.

There were even times when they would come up and demand a sign and Jesus would turn them away. If they wanted signs, there were signs galore. All they had to do was open their eyes and they would see a sign.

But when they came demanding a sign, they wanted nothing more than to be acknowledged by Jesus as leaders, as special people. And Jesus would not do this. He had little or no use for them and their legalism. They had made their minds made up in spite of the evidence, they would believe what they wanted to believe. So Jesus didn’t even mess with them. He went to people who would hear him and pay attention.

The man who Jesus healed knew who he was. The people standing around knew who he was. It was only those who were educated and “knew things” that had trouble believing in him.

And it made them mad as blazes when Jesus bypassed them and went directly to the people, having the audacity to just do what he wanted. That was why they killed him. He embarrassed them and challenged their authority. Nobody did that and got away with it.

The same unfortunately holds true in churches today. It doesn’t matter how much good is being done, those who want to be in leadership are going to fight it because they are either not in charge or are not being acknowledged or stroked.

And they will kill the preacher or the church leaders doing the good work if they have to in order to keep their positions.

It hurt Jesus then and it does now too.

standing in a hurricane

The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. (Ecclesiastes 1:6)

Hurricane Alicia hit Houston, Texas, in September of 1983. It was a category three, if I am not mistaken, but it was a worse hurricane than it might otherwise have been. The winds were strong and by the time it was through, had blown a great part of the ships in the ship channel to the other side of the freeway. There was a lot of damage.

Power was off for six days. Since September in Houston is every bit as hot as July or August further north, it was extremely uncomfortable.

My wife’s sister, Joyce, was there to visit us for a few days in preparation for Ella’s parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. Oddly enough, the power at the church was on less than a mile away. But at our house, heat reigned supreme.

The newer houses in Houston were made with small windows at the top of the walls and were designed for air-conditioning, not ventilation. So even with the windows open, it was still hot. Ella and Joyce would sit on the couch and I would turn the ceiling fan for them. It relieved the heat for a bit and was funny to boot.

But when the hurricane was going on, it was interesting to watch through the windows as the world blew past. At one point, a small shed from our neighbor’s yard flew up and landed between our house and the next.

In the midst of it all, I decided to go out into the storm. Winds were running about 100 miles per hour, and it was dangerous, but I wanted to know what it was like.

In spite of Ella trying to dissuade me, I put on my motorcycle helmet, my slicker suit and my galoshes. Out I went into the storm.

At the mall in Lincoln, NE, is a booth to show you what hurricane force winds are like. They register 77 mph in the booth for two minutes for two dollars. As I watched kids standing in there, I could see it was nothing like the real thing.

The winds were blowing hard and it was raining hard. A hurricane blows in a circular fashion with an eye in the center. I came out right after the eye had passed over Houston.

And I stood in the middle of the intersection for a while just feeling. It was hard to stand up with the force of the wind. But sooner or later, the winds began to lessen but the rain continued to pour. A sheriff’s pickup came by and they asked me if I needed something. I said no and they drove off. I don’t know what they were asking, but I was having a good time.

A few years later I was in Corpus Christi at a museum that had an exhibit on Hurricane Carla in 1961. It was a terrible hurricane that caused us to leave Freeport, Texas to go inland. There were several things that were oddities of the storm, caused by the tremendous wind velocity and the like.

One of these was a light bulb impaled by a drinking straw. The force was so great that it left the bulb completely intact with the straw coming out of both sides. It was one of the strangest things I have ever seen.

As I looked at the straw sticking through the light bulb, I thought about what could have happened. My helmet and head were a lot more easily penetrated than that light bulb.

But it was worth it. It was great. Standing out in the midst of nature at its rawest, in the middle of a hurricane, just standing there. The wind blew, fast and in circles, around and around.

And I felt the power of the hurricane.

Why did I do it, especially with it so dangerous? One was I wanted to know what it was like. Two, I didn’t know of anybody else that had done it. Three, it was crazy and I tended to enjoy crazy things. Four, it was fun and exciting. Five, why not?

One thing for sure: it tends to put other things in perspective. I have never looked at a rainstorm the same way since.

daily java

Daily Java:

In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:1-5)

There were a lot of times in Jesus’ ministry that he told the people he healed that they were not to tell anyone else what had happened to them. That always struck me as odd. Then I got to thinking about it, and it made sense.

Of course, no one did what he said. I’m not sure I would. They ran like scalded cats to tell others.

There is the story of five blind men coming upon an elephant. Each of them felt a different part. So one thought the elephant was like a snake as he felt the tail. Another a tree as he felt the leg. Another something else, and so on. None of them had touched or seen the whole elephant, just a part. They had no idea what an elephant really looked like, only what the parts felt like.

That is why so many go to college, so that they can be prepared to do what they want to do as a life work. I went to be a more effective minister, my wife went to be a better secretary, Pastor Mel went to meet Sister Miriam. And so on.

The people Jesus healed had no idea what Jesus was like. They had only experienced a part of his power, his healing.

The apostles had heard Jesus talk, had seen his power; yet they had no power or ability of their own. They were as yet incomplete. They did know the complete Jesus nor were they ready to talk about him.

Jesus told them to wait. Just wait. And they would receive power. If they would wait for God, wait for power, it would come. And when it did, they would know what they were doing. Then and only then would be able to preach the complete Jesus. Then they would be able to look beyond the miracles, look beyond the parts that were Jesus and be able to see the whole that was God’s plan through Jesus.

John the Baptizer immersed them in water. But the new baptism would be in power.

Then they would know. Then they themselves would also have power. And they would be complete.

real power

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT)

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT)

Have you ever been afraid, really afraid? Maybe it was a situation totally beyond your control. Maybe it was the fear of something upcoming that you could do nothing about or were uncertain about.

All kinds of stuff make us afraid. Job changes, possible job losses, bills that are unexpected, confrontations – the list can go on and on.

And there is nothing wrong with being afraid of something that you cannot help. It is purely a human reflex and God made us that way. Only a fool walks through life totally unafraid. If nothing else, sooner or later you find yourself in a part of town you aren’t usually in and your motorcycle quits and the streetlights go out. Then real fear can set in. (That happened to me, BTW)

But at the same time, God also gave us something else: his power, his absolute, unmitigated and raw power.

You remember, this is the God that spoke the universe into being. He just said, “Light be,” and light was. No big thing for him.

This is also the God that can send that power into the lives of ordinary people. People who are addicted are freed. People who are lost and mired in sin are redeemed. People who have nothing to live for find purpose and meaning in their lives.

People who are totally and absolutely without any redeeming qualities, pure slimeball junk as people, become in his grace, productive human beings, valued in society.

That is power. And it is the kind of power that says that you don’t have to be afraid. It is the kind of power that says that God is in control, that no matter what happens – job loss, unexpected bills, confrontations – God is in us and he will take charge if we let him.

How far can God work? The Bible says immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. How? By the spirit of power, love and self-discipline. Our God can do stuff better than you can ask or imagine, more than you could ever conceive.

He is a God of power and a God of love at the same time. It is like the guy I used to know who was so immensely strong, unbelievably powerful – yet he could hold a baby or shake hands with an arthritic elderly lady without hurting her. That is power: restrained yet potentially absolute.

Are you afraid of life? You don’t have the Spirit of God if you are. He doesn’t say you trip along like a little wienie, being stupid. But he does say that he will give you power.

And that is a big Amen!

jesus could sure make people mad

No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:46)

Jesus just had a way with words. He had just gotten through talking about marriage in heaven and other stuff.  I think he had just gotten tired of these guys, the religious leaders, following him around trying to trip him up.

So he showed them a Gordian knot – an old expression for a knot that could not be untied.

He asked them if the Son of Man, the accepted designation among the teachers for the Messiah, was the son of David. Of course, they said. Everybody knows that.

Well, then, Jesus asked, why is it that David could call his son Lord? He quotes Psalm 110:1.

The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”

Then he asked, If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son? Conundrum city. How can the son be the Lord?

This was obviously something that they liked to argue about. He cut straight to the chase and gave them what to them was an unanswerable question. How is it that David’s son could be David’s Lord? How can a son rule the father?

Their response: nothing. And from that day no one dared to ask him any more questions. They were through with him. He had made them look foolish one time too many. It wasn’t long, in fact, until they killed him.

It was also right after this verse that he gives his scathing denunciation of them and their character in Matthew 23. That was the last straw.

One thing Jesus could do, though, was make people mad. And he could also shut them up.

a man like us

Elijah was a man just like us. (James 5:17)

Now there’s a weird thing. Elijah was considered to be one of the greatest men to ever live. It was he who was taken up by God in a flaming chariot before he died so he wouldn’t have to taste death. He was the one who was pitted against 850 other prophets in a fire battle – which of their gods would bring down fire from heaven – and his God did spectacularly. He performed miracle after miracle and stood up to some of the worst kings and queens in Israelite history.

In other words, if he had been in Greek mythology, he would have been a demi-god like Hercules.

But the writer James, in the New Testament, says that Elijah was like us. In other words, he did nothing that we couldn’t do if we were in tune enough with God like he was.

That’s the thing about the Bible people. When the writers, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote the Bible, they never whitewashed the people of God. There they were with all their faults, yet God loved them and used them.

All of them had talents, yes, but God used them. Abraham was a liar who tried to sacrifice his wife to save his own life. Samson was an idiot who never really did accomplish that much. Samuel was a lousy parent. David was a guy who couldn’t keep his hands off other women and would kill to cover up his indiscretions. Peter had a temper problem and ran away when he was confused. Paul had a pride problem and worked hard to keep it under control. On and on.

Yet God used all of these people to accomplish his ends and they were all favored by him.

Why? Good question. I don’t know. Except to maybe say that we don’t have to be Supermen to be the prophets and workers of God.

Jesus was Jesus. No one else was Jesus. He was the only one who was perfect. He did the right thing all the time.

The rest of the Bible people were flawed. They were all damaged goods. They had major faults. Elijah, the guy I was talking about at the first, had a depression problem and had the tendency to run away at the wrong time. Yet he was the one James used as an example of a powerful prayer to God.

There was a drought brought on by the Lord through the mouth of Elijah. When it came time for it to stop, Elijah prayed and it rained for a long time. It was Elijah who was there when the dry bones came to life. It was Elijah who did so much. Yet he was flawed.

All of the Bible people were flawed. Every one.

What does that mean? It means that we, though we are all flawed big-time, can be used by God to do great things. His power in us can overcome even a lifetime of goofiness and failure.

But it is his power. Just like it was through Elijah. And like it can through your life.

daily java

Daily Java: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13.

Bob Dylan wrote a song that said, You’ve got to serve somebody. It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody.

It always struck me as really strange that Bob Dylan would write something that was so incisive. After all, he is not the go-to guy for theology.

But it is true. You are going to serve somebody in your life. The point is to make it God.

In the same way, you are going to be filled with something. It may be despair, it may be lust, it may be greed, it may be joy. There is something that will be important to you in your life. And it will fill you because it is important.

If God is important, he will fill you. And his filling will be with joy and peace.

Are your filled with fear? It isn’t from God if you are. Because 2 Timothy 1:7 says that isn’t from God.

Power, love, self-discipline – those are from God. Lust? It is hard to even walk around the mall today without running against things that 50 years ago would have been pornography. The Spirit of God gives you the ability to replace that with peace.

Being filled with the Spirit isn’t magic, it is surrender.

You give yourself over to him and he fills you with what he wants you to be filled with. Leave him, and something will fill you. After all, nature abhors a vacuum and something is going to come in.

You are going to be filled with something. Your choice is what it will be.

You can be filled with God or you can be filled with evil.

Your choice.

daily java

Daily Java: Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. - 2 Peter 1:4.

When you talk to people in church, it is easy to see th gospel as a negative power: a list of things we cannot do. Holiness is defined by the lack of stuff, rather than the presence of God.

But real grace is not that. The grace of God is an empowering ability. It gives us the ability to overcome things that would otherwise overwhelm us.

In other words, his power becomes our power.

We cannot overcome. It is impossible. As Paul said, All sin and fall short of the glory (Romans 3:23). That, of course, is spoken to everybody in the world. To Christians, John says, If we say we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).

Anybody who tells you that the gospel of Christ tells you that you cannot do stuff is full of beans. That grace is given us to empower us, to give us the divine nature.

It is only through having the divine nature, that we are able to ecape the corruption.

Nothing we can do or say, or for that matter, not do or say, will give us an power. Like Paul said in Romans 7, the more we try under our own power, the more we fail. Romans 8 follows that very depresing chapter by saying that the Law of the Spirit of lfe in Christ Jesus has set us free.

The promises make us strong.