Bahamas blogging #12: Lent

Admittedly, there has never been a worship bulletin with such a wealth of inspiration for my writing as the one from First Baptist Church, Freeport, Grand Bahama of 3/16/2014. I have saved the wonderful letter written by the pastor for our Good Friday topic. 

In the Christian calendar, Lent traditionally goes from Ash Wednesday to Easter Eve. It is a time when believers "give up something" or fast as a means of sacrifice in memory of that much greater sacrifice our Lord Jesus made for us. The forty days of the Lenten season are intended to be a time of personal introspection and corporate worship, but also a time of mourning for sin, both individual sin as well as the corporate sin of mankind. In contrast to Advent, a joyful time of anticipating the birth of our Savior, Lent is a time of anticipating the brutal death of that long-awaited Messiah. 

The agony of the cross is easily overshadowed by the joy of the glorious resurrection we commemorate on Easter. In the midst of our Resurrection celebration, however, we must not lose sight of the price Jesus paid in order to make that empty tomb possible. Beaten, betrayed, humiliated, shamed, crucified, He died a criminal's death. It was what I deserved. It was what you deserved. Yet, because of His great love and mercy, He took our place. Our place. We must not lose sight of that fact. 

He died instead of us, that we might live eternally with Him. It was also His intention that we might live free this side of heaven. He longed for us to be free from the bonds of sin that so easily entangle us. He broke those bonds with His death and resurrection. We can accept freedom. Much to our shame, we can also choose bondage, as well, and often we do. 

The words Rev. Dr. Mitchell wrote are so timely that they bear repeating here. "Lent is that time of preparation when we prepare for our most wretched memory - the betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion of our loving and obedient Lord; but it is also the time of preparation for our most glorious celebration - the resurrection if our victorious Christ!

As always, we must take seriously the cross, with all of it's brutality and ugliness; we must not gloss over it on our way to Easter Sunday. Yet , we must be exuberant in our declaration: He lives! he lives !"

On this Good Friday evening, I invite you to join me in focusing on the price that was paid for our sin, and the agony it involved. I cannot envision loving mankind enough to suffer so greatly, and yet our Lord went willingly for us all. 

Remember, and choose to live as one who has been redeemed.   

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In honor of Silent Saturday, when believers waited while Jesus was entombed, there will be silence on the blog, with no posts until Easter morning. May we be radically changed by the One whose death and resurrection made change and redemption possible. 

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The link for last night's post is here: 

http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/blood-red-moon-part-3.html

What's in your storehouse? Part 3 (Luke 6:45)

Part 3:

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. (Luke 6:45 NASB)

We look now at the last portion of this verse. The first two sections dealt with the good or evil residing in our hearts and spilling over. The next section deals with an especially difficult part of this problem. Our mouths. 

Jesus made this unmistakably clear. The words we speak come from what we have in our hearts. No matter what we "hide" in our hearts, it is almost certainly going to spill out eventually in our speech. The converse is also true, and I hate it. The words we speak do not just fly into our mouths randomly like a passing gnat. The words we speak spill into our mouths from what we have allowed to hide in our hearts. Whoa! That bears repeating. 

The words we speak spill into our mouths from what we have allowed to hide in our hearts. 

Selah. Pause and consider. 

Words. They matter more than you think. Unkind words, gossip, critical or judgmental words, cursing, sexual innuendos all come from our hearts. In fact, those around us can get a fairly accurate picture of our hearts by consistently listening to what we say. Eventually, the truth of our heart condition will spill forth, and clarify for those around us that which we have stored deep inside. What we reveal is not always flattering, is it? It is not always glorifying to God, either. 

What are we to do? The most important thing we can do is to so fill our minds and hearts with Christ that there is no place for the vileness of evil. The things we say may draw a laugh from those around us, but they are not likely to draw a laugh from Almighty God, who also hears what we say. When our speech reveals what should have no place in our hearts, we must stop and ask for forgiveness and cleansing from the One who is faithful and just to provide both in ample measure. 

Pray today that our words will reflect a heart for God that will draw the ones we love the most to our beautiful Savior. 

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Here's the link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/blood-red-moon-part-3.html

Blood Red Moon, part 3

There has recently been considerable interest in the red moon (blood moon, blood red moon) and its role as a "sign". To understand the significance of a sign, we need to understand what signs are. 

We see signs every day and think little about them. As I pulled into my driveway this evening, I saw a sign that said, "No passing." That sign is both instructive and informative. Just past my house is a sign that says, "Road work ahead." That sign tells me what to expect if I continue traveling in the same direction. It's a prophetic sign. The "children at play" sign tells us to be careful so that we can avoid a terrible accident. That kind of sign is protective. 

Just as we have a variety of road signs, each with a particular purpose, we also have a variety of signs in Scripture. They also serve a particular purpose. The rainbow is a sign that reminds us of God's promise not to destroy the world by a flood again.  

In Genesis 17:11, Abraham was told by God that circumcision would be the sign of the covenant between them. 

Ahaz, King of Judah was facing dangerous enemies and he fully expected utter defeat at their hands. God sent Isaiah to encourage him, but Ahaz could not be comforted. Finally, God told him to ask for a sign. He refused, thinking he was tempting The Almighty. God told him that He would give Ahaz a sign instead. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14 NASB) He went on to tell Ahaz that, before the child was old enough to know right and wrong, the two nations he feared would be forsaken. The virgin birth was a sign of God's ability to deliver. 

Ezekiel wrote that Sabbaths were supposed to be a sign between God and His people that He sanctifies them. 

The shepherds (Luke 2:2) were given the sign of the baby in the manger to verify what the angels had said. 

In Luke 21:7-24, Jesus talked about signs. He and the disciples were outside the temple. He looked up and said that there would be a time when not one stone would be left on another. He was speaking of the destruction of the temple. The disciples, of course, wanted to know when this would happen. Jesus began to talk about what was to come. You may want to read those verses for yourself, but I've excerpted a few:

"And He said, "See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He, ' and, 'The time is near.' Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately."  

Then He continued by saying to them, "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 

"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; and you will be hated by all because of My name. 

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled." (Luke 21:8-14, 17, 20-22 NASB)

Jesus imitators, wars, earthquakes, plagues, famines, and persecution would all happen before Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed. "When Jerusalem is surrounded by enemies," He said, "you know things are about to get much worse." 

Interestingly, all those things have happened and the temple has been destroyed, but a portion of the Western Wall tunnel remains. Because there are stones atop stones there, many feel that the prophecy is not yet fulfilled and that Jesus was speaking of a time of further destruction. Many people claim to know. Only God actually knows.

Before we move on, we need to look again at what Jesus said. "And He said, "See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not go after them. (Luke 21:8 NASB) 

Did you catch that? We are not to be misled. When people start saying, "The time is near," as if they know when Jesus will return, we are to be very careful so we will not be misled. "Do not follow them," is what Jesus said. He knew it would be tempting to get caught up in speculation. A word to the wise should be sufficient.

Jesus also talked about when He would return. It's a great passage and I'm including it here so you can read it. 

"There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:25-28 NASB)

In a nutshell, Jesus said we will see unusual things in nature and will not be able to explain them. We will think they are signs (and they are). People will be perplexed and will be so afraid of what is to come that they will faint. After that, they will see Jesus returning in a very impressive manner. They will really be frightened then. However, those who are followers of Jesus should not be frightened out of our minds. Instead, we should see things that might be a sign, stand up a little taller, lift our heads, and look to the sky, because our Jesus will be on His way to get us soon. 

 

That finally brings us to the blood red moon. Is it a sign? Yes. What does it mean? It means that God is on His throne and in control, Jesus is coming back for us, and we don't know when.  We just know He's coming. We know it's closer than it was but only God knows when it will be. Our response to the sign should be exactly what Jesus said to do. Stand up taller, lift our heads, and trust in the name of The Lord, who alone has the power to save. 

Blood Red Moon, part 2

In the first section of this series, we looked at the passage in Joel in which "the moon will be turned to blood" is first mentioned. 

The second pasage that has attracted recent attention is Acts 2:20. 

'The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. (Acts 2:20 NASB)

This verse is a direct quote from the pasage in Joel. The setting is quite different. You may remember that Joel was written during the time surrounding a plague of locusts and resulting destruction. A little review of Peter's situation might be helpful. 

After His resurrection but before He ascended back into heaven, Jesus instructed his disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That sounded pretty exciting, as you can well imagine. They began to speculate and ask if that would be when Jesus restored the nation of Israel. He told them bluntly that it was not their job to worry about what was going to happen when. "God the Father has that firmly under control and needs not a bit of help," He said. (Leanna paraphrase) "It is your job to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit, then be my witnesses throughout the world. Tell everyone about Me!" 

Before we go one sentence further, we need to understand something. Jesus made it very clear here, as He had in other places, that we are to be about His business and not be overly focused on when He is coming back, when the world will end, or when God will bring judgement. God has that under control and He is keeping the dates to Himself. In a manner of speaking, He is planing a surprise. Our relationship to Christ will determine if this is a good surprise or not.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples and friends went to the upper room where they were staying and spent the next 52 days dedicating themselves to prayer. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together, the sound of rushing wind came, followed by the tongues of fire, then they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. (The original word here is glōssa and can mean tongue, language, or dialect.) 

Needless to say, the noise of the wind, as well as everyone speaking at once, attracted some attention. There were people in Jerusalem from all around the world and they were astonished to hear these Jewish people speaking in their language. Some were utterly amazed but some were saying, "They are just babbling drunk!" 

An amazing thing happened next. Peter, who was afraid to acknowledge that he knew Christ when confronted by a servant girl, was transformed by the Holy Spirit within him. He was a common fisherman, not a Biblical scholar. With amazing boldness, he jumped up in front of the crowd and started preaching. 

"First of all," he said, "these men aren't drunk! Second, this is the very thing Joel prophesied." He quoted the passage from Joel 2:28-32 that described the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on young and old, rich and poor, men and women. It spoke of visions, dreams, and prophesy. He quoted straight through the section about the moon being turned to blood and the signs and wonders in the heavens, to end at verse 32, which says that everyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved. 

Peter was just getting started. With the idea of calling on the name of The Lord as his starting point, Peter began to tell them about his Lord, Jesus. He explained everything in crystal clear terms. Like all good speakers, Peter tied his starting point back in to his ending point. When the listeners were cut to the heart with conviction, they asked what they should do. Peter told them they should do exactly what Joel said to do. They should repent of their sins, call on the name of The Lord Jesus, and be saved. It was an amazing altar call, as 3000 people were baptized that day! 

Peter did mention the moon turning into blood, there is no denying that. Taken in context, though, it is abundantly clear that he was much more interested in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, the urgent need for repentance and the complete forgiveness available than in astronomical signs, and we should be, too. 

If you are overwhelmed by the guilt of your sin and in desperate need of forgiveness, do what both Joel and Peter recommended. Follow the signs that point to Jesus and find exactly what you need!

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Part 3 will look at "signs" and we will continue the study of blood red moon.

In case you missed part one, here's the link:

http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-blood-red-moon.html

What's in your storehouse? Part 2

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. (Luke 6:45 NASB)

In the previous post, we looked at what should not fill our hearts. Today, we look more closely at what should fill our hearts. In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote about this very topic of what should fill our minds, and as a result, our hearts. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (Philippians 4:8 NASB)   We are to dwell (or consider or deliberate) on what is good. Our standard for "dwelling" should be, "Is it true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good reputation, excellence, worthy of praise?" It's not hard to recognize good, is it?  

Sometimes it's a little harder to recognize the bad.  That morsel of gossip shared as a "prayer request", the "righteous anger" after we have been hurt by a friend, the disapproval of a loved one's behavior can all look fairly benign, and may be. It is easy, however, to move from concern about someone's poor choice to a judgmental, critical spirit toward them. 

How do we make the distinction and keep our minds and hearts "pure"?  The first step is to ask for God's help. He wants our hearts pure and is happy to help us. The second step is to do what 2 Corinthians 10:5 recommends.  "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB).  We destroy our silly speculations by taking our thoughts captive. 

Once we have "captured" our speculations, what do we do with them? We can cage them in our minds, where they will be constantly trying to escape, or we can give them to our God and ask Him to remove them completely. Giving them to God is, of course, infinitely more desirable. 

In case we didn't quite recognize this, filling our hearts and minds requires one thing of us. CHOICE. We have a choice about what we use to fill our hearts and minds. If we want a heart that pleases God, we need to choose accordingly. We can't have it any other way. 

Pray today that we and our loved ones will choose to fill our hearts and minds only with that which pleases our Lord. 

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http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/blood-red-moon-part-2.html

What's in your storehouse?

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. (Luke 6:45 NASB)

Here we move from the examples of specks in eyes and of fruit on trees to the heart in man. The good (or righteous) man stores goodness or good things in his heart. To store only good things sounds simple, but it's harder than you might think. To have a heart-storehouse filled with good means that you cannot store the bad things. No anger, bitterness, or unforgiveness are allowed. If someone hurts you, immediate forgiveness is imperative, lest you hold on to the wound and contaminate your heart. 

There is no room for fear or doubt in this heart-storehouse of goodness. God's perfect love can banish fear and doubt, and it must be allowed to cast them out, lest they contaminate your heart.

There is no reason for lust in these hearts of ours, and it must be avoided. 

What we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and think with our minds all can easily find a resting place in our heart. We would do well to remember (and live) the old adage, "See not evil, hear no evil, do no evil."  Avoiding evil is the best way to keep our hearts pure and our heart-storehouse filled with goodness. 

We will look at the good we need to store tomorrow. For today, spend a few moments considering your heart storehouse. What do you find stored in your heart?  Is it only good?

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." (Philippians 4:8 NASB)

Pray today that we and our loved ones will be drawn to those things that are true, honorable, pure, and lovely and they will so fill our hearts that there is no room for that which is not. 

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http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-blood-red-moon.html

The Blood Red Moon

The blood red moon was not one of my intended topics this week, but several people have asked me about it, so I'm plunging in. 

There are two passages to which reference is made when considering the "blood moon". The first passage is found in Joel 2:31. The second, in Acts 2:20, is actually a quote from the Joel passage. The verse from Joel says, "The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes." (Joel 2:31 NASB). When you read that, there is a tendency to think "blood moon" equals end of the world. That is certainly understandable, but let's look at the entire book of Joel first before we decide. 

This short book of prophecy contains only three chapters.  Joel opened with a description of a plague of locusts that caused incredible destruction in the land. He indicated that the plague had come in response to the wickedness of the people. He described them as being so consumed with seeking pleasure that they were immune to seeking God's will.  When the crops were destroyed by the locusts, there was nothing to offer as a grain offering, and there were no grapes, thus no wine, for the drink offering. No one seemed to care. He urged the people to mourn the consequences of the plague that had come as a result of their collective sin, but it sounds as if no one did.  

Joel had particularly harsh words for the priests. He said the destruction from the locusts should cause the priests to mourn and weep, lead others to fast and cry out to God, sound an alarm, and return to God with their whole heart. He explained that the consequences of being out of fellowship with God were that we lose our joy and our gladness. They could both quickly be regained by repentant hearts! 

Joel saw such wickedness around him that he warned that the day of The Lord was near. He feared judgement was at hand and that it would be terrible. "Who can endure it?" he asked. Just as always, a hard word of judgement is followed by a promise of hope and mercy.  

"Yet even now," declares the Lord, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. (Joel 2:12, 13 NASB)

This is one of my favorite passages, and it concludes with words that are so beautiful. If we repent and return to The Lord with hearts broken over our sin, "who knows whether He will not turn... and leave a blessing behind." (Joel 2:14). When we deserve the harshest of judgement, our very gracious, kind God responds to hearts broken by sin with a blessing instead! Joel goes on to describe the bounteous blessings God will pour out on His people. God had sent the locusts to accomplish a specific purpose (repentance) and, when that was accomplished, He promised that He would more than make up for what the locusts had stolen. 

He goes on to describe an outpouring of God's Spirit on all mankind. No one would be left out. Rich, poor, male, female, young, old. All would share in His Spirit. He described signs and wonders that would happen, including astronomical happenings. (Solar eclipse, blood moon). Do not misunderstand this. The blood moon in 2:31 is an interesting sight, but it should point us to the promise in 2:32. "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered..." (Joel 2:32 NASB)

Whoever calls on the name of The Lord will be delivered!  The blood moon pales in comparison, doesn't it?

Charter 3 is a summary of all the wonderful things God will do, but there are two promises to which we can cling. 

1) Sin (our own or that of others) can never take us so far from God that He cannot restore us and avenge us. ( Joel 3:7)

2) God will protect His own. He WILL protect His people. (Joel. 3:16)

The moon will look red like blood, and we may call it a "blood red moon". Whether it presages the end of the world or not, no one can say. Jesus made it very clear that no one but God the Father knows when that will be. That blood moon, however, had one very definite purpose. It points us to God and reminds that judgement will come, but mercy is still available and with it comes abundant grace as well. Both are ours for the asking. 

Here's the link for part 2 of this series:

http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/blood-red-moon-part-2.html

Fruit inspection (Luke 6:44)

For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. (Luke 6:44 NASB)

This verse is so important that it needs a second look. 

There is an interesting thing about fruit. The tree that bears the fruit doesn't eat it or see it. Only the people who see the fruit, pick the fruit, or handle the fruit have the opportunity to investigate and evaluate the fruit. So it is in our lives. We may be doing all sorts of things that we view as "good" and have no idea of the quality of the fruit or the lack thereof.  We are dependent upon the Divine Fruit Inspector to bring conviction and direction when we are off track. 

My friend Gene Merkl sent this yesterday, and I thought it was worth passing along: 

"Sometimes fruit that appears to be acceptable is not really what it seems. This is scary fruit, especially for the tree which may not know the quality of what it is producing. This tree appears righteous, but in the end only God knows the difference." (Matthew 7:15-23)

The problem with this "scary fruit", the deceptive fruit, is much like the problem with the Pharisees in Jesus' time. They did many things that were right  and many things that were good. Their motivation, however, was not right, and it turned a seemingly good deed into hay, wood, and stubble. The people who "inspected their fruit " saw good fruit, but they were mistaken. God saw their hearts and found them and their fruit less than acceptable. 

There are two lessons to draw from this. 

1) Only God is qualified to accurately inspect fruit because He sees the heart. We should be very cautious when we are tempted to inspect the fruit of others.

2) Self deception is easy and rampant. We would do well to seek God for confirmation concerning the fruit we bear. Is it acceptable to Him? That should be our only concern. 

Today, pray that God will reveal to us the way He sees our fruit and that we will make any changes needed to make our fruit acceptable in His sight. Pray too that the fruit we bear will be used in the lives of our loved ones to draw them to Christ. 

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Link to last might's blog:

http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/shopping-with-witch.html

Shopping with the witch

Quite a few years ago, I was chatting with a friend and began to tell her about a little shop I had discovered. They had unique, reasonably priced items, so I had purchased several gifts. My friend admonished me for shopping there. "A witch works there," she said. "They use drugs and I've heard they might sell drugs there!"  

Before I tell you my response, I'm interested in what your response would have been. Would you shop with the witch and the drug dealer?  

My response was, "Oh, good! That gives me a great excuse to go in there more often!"  Needless to say, my friend was a little surprised. Perhaps you are, too. There are several reasons I opted to shop there more often and not less, all of which come straight from Scripture. 

1) The Great Commission says to go to ALL the world and make disciples. There is nothing in there about going everywhere except where witches and drug dealers work. (Matt 28:19,20)

2) There is no way to make disciples without going. If I don't spend time with the "witches and drug dealers", how will I tell them about my Jesus? I can't. To make a disciple, we go wherever potential disciples are found. If we need to shop there, we do. (Matt 28:19,20)

3) We are the light of the world. No where is light more needed than in a dark place. We are to let our light shine before men, not hide it away from people living in darkness. (Matt 5:14-16) If Jesus said to shine my light before men (and He did), He meant it.

4) The rumor about the drugs and the witch were just that. Rumor. Jesus IS truth and we should seek truth, too, especially before sharing a morsel of gossip. They may have been witches and drug dealers, but there was no proof of that. The truth was that they needed Jesus as much as I. (John 14:6)

5) Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. My Jesus is more powerful than the powers of darkness and is able to protect me.  (1 John 4:4) Fear is not necessary. 

6) I am also a sinner. So are we all. That makes me equal to the witch and the drug dealer. It makes all of us (every Christian) equal to them. We are all sinners and have all fallen short of God's standard. We all deserve death and hell, not just witches and drug dealers. (Romans 3:23)

7) God wants every person on earth to come to repentance. EVERY includes witches and drug dealers. (2 Peter. 3:9) If they are a priority for God (and they are),then they should be a priority for me.

8) Jesus was a friend to sinners and, if I am going to be like Jesus, I need to be a friend to the "unrighteous", too. (Mark 2:16,17)

Dear ones, we must not let our prejudice prevent us from being salt and light in a dark place! I shopped regularly in that little store, engaged in conversation with the workers, and shared bits of faith with them as I became better acquainted with them. Did they "pray the prayer" with me? No. What I hoped to accomplish was to undo the stereotypes about Christians as bigots and demonstrate Christ to them on an ongoing basis. I shared homegrown vegetables with them and loved them. It's the Holy Spirit's job to draw them to Jesus. It's my job to love them with Christ's love, and that's what I tried to do. 

There's a Muslim man who owns a business near where I live. Do I shop there? You bet I do! I'm pretty sure Jesus would have shopped there, too. I see it this way: Jesus has entrusted this man and his business to me (and to anyone else willing to be a friend to sinners ). If I don't demonstrate the love of Christ to him, who will? 

Remember what Paul wrote to the Church at Rome?  "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14, 15 NIV)

Who were the "they" Paul was writing about?  The ones who need Jesus. The witches, the drug dealers, the Muslims, the people like me and you. We need to be taking Jesus everywhere we go, and we must not let our personal bias or bigotry exclude anyone. Jesus was a friend to sinners, and we should be, too.

Bearing Fruit (Luke 6:44)

For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. (Luke 6:44 NASB)

When we noticed the first blossoms on the pear tree, we began to eagerly anticipate the heirloom pears it would produce.  I know that this is a pear tree and not an apple tree because, for a quarter of a century, I've watched it bear pears. I know that the tree at the edge of the tractor shed is a fig tree because, for all those years, it has borne figs. The tree is known by its fruit. 

Jesus was not giving a horticulture lesson. He was  teaching about the fruit in our lives. It doesn't matter what we call ourselves, because the supporting evidence for our claim will be the fruit we bear. When we claim to be Christian, the only way the world knows that to be true is by the fruit we bear in our lives.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatian church, explained the kind of fruit we should have.  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law". (Galatians 5:22, 23 NASB) Put another way, these fruit of the Spirit must be evident in our lives if we expect to support our claim to be a Christian. (To be clear, God looks at our heart. He knows what is there. It is our fellow humans who can only see the fruit.)

I imagine Jesus is looking forward to the Spirit fruit in our lives even more than I am the pears on my old tree. When He examines our lives, what fruit does He find? Does He see Spirit-fruit?

Pray today that our loved ones would clearly recognize the fruits of faith in our lives and in those who claim to be Christians around them. Pray, too, that the fruit would be so attractive that they will want it for themselves. 

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http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/shooting-snakes.html

Shooting Snakes

 One afternoon when Ryan was little, we were fishing near the big cedar tree that overhangs the water.  It was spring, and the snakes had just begun to move around.  I spotted what I thought was a deadly viper and raced for the rifle, dragging a reluctant Ryan behind.

I returned to the lake, determined to shoot the dreadful predator that threatened Ryan’s safety.  All the lessons I’d heard about the benefits of snakes were forgotten as I searched the lake for the long black creature I’d seen.  I couldn’t locate it anywhere.

“Ryan,” I asked, “do you see the snake?”  “No, Mommy,” he assured me, “I don’t see any snakes at all.”  “Ryan, look closer.  Are you sure you don’t see him anywhere?” I insisted.  Ever so patiently, Ryan explained, “Mommy, I don’t see the snake because I’m not looking for him.  I’m fishing.”  

Ryan was interested in bass and bream, not snakes, and he wasn’t going to waste a minute on anything else.  I, on the other hand, thought I had seen a snake and could focus on nothing else until it was removed.  We made a good team, but I’m not so sure how well we’d have done separately.  Ryan wouldn’t have been safe without a watchful eye and I wouldn’t have had a moment’s pleasure because of my concern with the snake.

There’s a tendency in Christian circles to treat Satan much like we treated the snake.  Either we are as obsessed as I, binding the enemy and fleeing demons rather than focusing on the task at hand, or as glibly oblivious as Ryan.  

Peter, writing to the first century church, explained, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith…” (1Peter 5:8-9)  

Paul explained further, in his letter to the Ephesians.  “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil… the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  (Ephesians 6:11-17)

The objective, however, is not fighting devils.  The objective is carrying out the job Christ gave us to do until his return, no matter what gets in your way.  Go and make disciples, then teach them to obey.

  

I ended that lazy afternoon without catching a fish or a snake.  My son, on the other hand, caught a stringer full.  It’s important to keep a watchful eye, but Ryan had one thing right.  If you want to catch fish, you have to focus on fishing, not snakes.  

Trees and Fruit (Luke 6:43-44)

For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. (Luke 6:43 NASB)

Jesus transitioned here from the "eye" to the heart.   The word translated here as "good" is used to indicate healthy, wholesome, good all the way through. The word translated as "bad" is used of produce to indicate spoiled or rotten fruit. 

When we look at a beautiful, healthy tree, we expect to find healthy, beautiful fruit. We would be surprised to find disease-riddled fruit there. When we look at a diseased tree, however, we would be surprised if we found healthy, beautiful fruit. We expect a diseased tree to have diseased fruit. 

The phrase that comes to mind is "it is what it is".  The tree "is what it is" and can only produce fruit in accordance to what it is. The tree and the fruit are, of course, analogies for our lives as disciples of Christ. The quality of our faith walk determines the quality of the fruit we produce. 

Selah. Pause and consider that for a moment. 

When people see how we act and the choices we make, they can know what our relationship with Christ is like. In fact, our actions do more than tell people about our hearts. As believers, our fruit, our words, our actions should paint a picture of Christ for the world to see. 

How accurate is the picture of Christ that you are painting with your life?  

Selah. 

Pray today that we will lives of such purity that those around us will see Christ in us with clarity and accuracy.  Pray that our loved ones will be drawn to Him because of the fruit they see. 

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Link for last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/puppy-prayers.html