daily java

Daily Java:

A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.” (Acts 24:24-25)

The reaction of one who realizes the enormity of the Christians message yet is not ready to accept it is amazing. They know what God is saying, they know their need, they know you are right, yet they do not want to give up their control over their lives.

And they recognize the need, do not want to do it and they are afraid.

The gospel never leaves anyone untouched. To those who accept it, it brings life and joy. To those who refuse it, it brings a knowledge of what they missed.

They will go the rest of their lives and try their level best to pretend nothing happened, that they are fine. “I am happy,” they will proclaim, but you know and they know they are not.

They suffer the consequences of turning down the one connection that they were made to make, the connection of accepting God into their lives.

Felix was an important man. He had not gotten to where he was politically by being a dunce. But when he heard the apostle Paul speak about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, it scared him. Like all who hear of the gospel message and refuse it, he was impacted. When he heard of the state of those outside of Jesus and about final judgment, he became frightened.

His response: Go away. I am busy right now and have a lot on my plate, a lot of irons in the fire, I am a busy man, etc. when it is more convenient and I get my life straightened out, then I will think about accepting Jesus.

The problem is: there will never be a more convenient day. And besides, there is no requirement that you get everything in order before you accept Jesus and his grace. It is he who will put things in order. If you could have done it, you would have already and you wouldn’t be in the life situation in which you are now.

You need him, he does not need you. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says: At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you. Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. The more convenient time is now.

You accept him now or you could lose him. The more you put him off, the easier he is to put off until one day you find it is too late.

And then the convenient day is gone, just like it was for Festus.

What a shame – in the truest, more honest sense of the word – to miss the opportunity to give your heart to God.

daily java

Daily Java:

Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” (Luke 2:33-35)

Sometimes you find out more than you want to know.

Mary was excited over the birth of her child. He had been prophesied by the angel and by the shepherds and wise men as the salvation of Israel. His very name – Joshua in Hebrew, Jesus in Greek – meant God Saves. Things were going to be great.

Or at least she thought so at the time. She found out differently later.

Here was a man of God, named Simeon. About him the word says, He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. (Luke 2:25-28).

He told Mary and Joseph great and wonderful things. And then he said, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your very soul.

You can imagine a shudder going up Mary’s back. Wait. This is the Messiah, the One sent from God. What do you mean about a sword. What do you mean about deep thoughts being revealed.

Of course, Mary found out. Even though his life growing up was good and undoubtedly even, when Jesus began to preach, some did not like him. Some, in fact, didn’t like him so much that they killed him.

Wait! She cried. This is the Son of God, sent to bring humanity back to the Father. This was supposed to be a blessing. Remember the angels singing Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill to men? Remember that? What do you mean a sword?

But she found out. She found out that people did not always appreciate that which they needed so desperately. They needed Jesus more than they needed anything else. But deep down, they thought they were fine without him. And they tried to get rid of him so they wouldn’t have to deal with him.

People, on the surface, are glad to know Jesus and his message. But deep down, they resist. Why? Because the devil tries everything he can to keep us where we are: lost and dying.

That is why Jeremiah 17:9 said, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? That is why Hebrews 4:12 says For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

God sees us and when he does, many times it hurts. Mary found this out, much to her sorrow. But then, she found out that it turned out good. Her little child died, yes, and horribly. But he also lived and magnificently.

And the scar the sword left in Mary’s soul, although still felt strongly, healed a little when she saw the risen Lord, her child, rise up to heaven to be at the right hand of God.

And she was amazed.

snowing outside

It is snowing outside right now as I am writing this. We have had a lot of snow in the past month.

In Nebraska, where we have been for the past few weeks and are planning to move, the snow is piled up to unbelievable heights. All along the streets it is probably two feet tall at least. In the mall parking lot, the snow is 10 feet high. It is strange to see snow that high.

And in the northeast they are having record snowfalls, up to three feet deep. That is a pile of snow.

As a Texas coastal guy, snow has always really fascinated me. In the army in 1970, it snowed in northeast Georgia where I was stationed at the time. Several of the guys were from snow country and they immediately began grousing about the snow.

I, on the other hand, as Mel likes to say, had not seen much snow in my life. I was, after all, from the Galveston area. I was excited and a couple of my friends were excited too. We began to play in the snow and throw snowballs and stuff. Before long, our infectious enthusiasm caught the snow country guys and they began to mess around a little in the snow, too.

It wasn’t long before we all were playing in the snow, the whole lot of us – northern, southern, in between. We were all having a grand old time.

And one thing I noticed. When the snow fell, it hid all of the ground in a beautiful way. Areas that weren’t so pretty, areas that were – all got covered and all looked the same. It didn’t matter whether it fell on trash or flowers, it all looked white and pretty.

Psalm 51:7 says, Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. The grace of God covers us like that snow. No matter what our lives were before we came to him, no matter the scars or ugliness, his grace covers us and makes us beautiful

In Isaiah, God says, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18)

God’s grace is such that it can cover any sin and you will be as pretty as a snow covered field in February.