Humbly Serving

 When we desire to do great things for Jesus, we need to be sure it's for the right reasons.  When we desire for the Lord to do whatever we ask, we also need to be sure the request is for the right reasons.  It may be a good ambition but if we are motivated to achieve a position of power, gain applause and the like, our desire is misplaced.  James and John once asked Jesus,

"Grant us to sit, one on your right hand and one at your left, in glory"                      (Mark 10:37 ESV).

Sounds good.  We want to be close to Jesus, to be by His side or sit at His feet, don't we?  Jesus told them that those positions were not His to give.  They needed to be servants.

A servant's position is a more humble place, more at the feet.  As a servant goes about his or her duties, they are more in the background, behind the scenes, getting things done.

No doubt they do hope for the "well done" praise but it may not be forthcoming.  They may be more likely to be complained about and criticized and told to do more things and to do them better.  A tough road to travel.

We need to check and examine our motivations for serving the Lord.  Are we selfishly seeking some position of power, taking glory that belongs to the Lord?  Or are we sincerely and humbly serving Him and making our requests according to His will?

May our Lord's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Tom Felten wrote in Our Daily Bread 2023 words that would be a great rudder to help steer us aright if we lived by them.  He said,

"As we aim to do good and great things for Christ, may we seek His wisdom and direction - humbly serving others as He did so well" (see Mark 10:45).

May all glory be to God.

                                               ~ ERC  February 2025 ~

Based on Mark 10:35 (ESV) and Our Daily Bread 2023 - Sept/Oct/Nov - 20 Sept by Tom Felten.

Sing, Speak, O Lord, along with Keith and Kristyn Getty.

All Commended

 

"These were all commended for their faith ..." (Hebrews 11:39).

Not just one here or there of the 'better' ones but all were commended.  No matter how big or small, or degrees of being known, our heavenly Father saw it all and commended them but for what?  For their faith ...

That's the key, isn't it!  'Faith'.  All of the ones listed in this chapter 11 of Hebrews had faith to trust in God that He would indeed do as promised.  Yet so many of them did not see much, if any, of them fulfilled or fully fulfilled in their life time.

In the focus verses, some of the lesser known Bible characters are named, and many left unnamed.  Yet it was their faith they were all commended for.  It sort of tears my heart to read the last part of verse 39, which reads, 

" ... yet none of them received what had been promised ..."

How unfair it seems to us.  Hopes dashed?  How could God do this to them!  But we don't read of those folks complaining or losing their faith!  They must have held on to the end, otherwise I believe they would not have been commended for their faith.  

This tells me they must have clung tightly to their faith and trust in God and what He promised them.  They held it closely to their chest because they knew God.

Verse 40 gives God's perspective and mends the torn heart.  We see

"God had planned something better ..."

Together, us and them, 

"would be made complete."

We don't always see God's plan and purpose in complete ways but to be sure, He does keep His promises.  This reminds me of what my Mom would sometimes say to us kids,

"Fools and bairns see unfinished work"

Similarly we need to be patient with God and wait to see what He is doing.

All those people of faith didn't sit on their laurels while waiting for God to keep His promises.  There were actions that showed their faith.  Read the portion and check it out.

Simple things we do as followers of Jesus will shew our faith too.  God knows what's in our heart.  People will know by the works of our hands, even if we don't broadcast it.  The people who have benefited from our quiet actions will know and God will know.  All our pure actions of faith given in Jesus' name will all be commended by our Heavenly Father who sees and knows.  It will look like a wonderful display of colorful fruit and vegetables overflowing from a cornucopia, pleasant to the eyes and wholesome to the body.

Heavenly Father, thank You for all Your promises to us, Your children.  We hope and trust in You.  Help us to have the faith like those we read about in Hebrews 11 - strong to the end.  Also strong to do the good deeds You prepared for us to do.  How great Thou art!  Come Lord Jesus.  In Jesus name we ask, Amen.

                                                ~ERC  February 2025  ~

Based on Hebrews 11:32-40 especially vs 39 NIV and Our Daily Bread 2023 - Sept/Oct/Nov - 19 Sept - by Leslie Koh.

Sing, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, along with Lydia Walker.

Garments of Glory and Beauty

Chinese New Year (CNY) has the celebrants scurrying around preparing festive food and family from out of town booking tickets to 'go home' for reunions with their loved ones.  Boutiques and clothing stores do roaring business as the people shop for new outfits.  

The color 'red' features auspiciously for those garments.  Although, depending on the year, there could be other particular colors of choice.  Last year was lime green, this year gold or purple.  However, 'red' never goes out of CNY fashion.

Dressed in such finery, family and friends feast together at home and in restaurants for reunion dinners and dim sum brunches.  Food, fun, family and finery create joyful times and good memories for most.

It is like another time, in very ancient history.  The garments of Aaron, the Israelites' high priest, had very special garments of his position.  God told Moses to ...

" ... make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty ..." (Exodus 28:2 ESV).

Skillful craftsmen were to make them.  If you read the full description in verses 1-8, you will get a sense of the awesomeness of what this holy garment must have been like to see.  The sons of Aaron the high priest, also had their special priestly robes but the one the high priest wore had so much more detail, adornment and meaning.  When all was ready, there was an assembly of Israelites gathered for 'opening ceremony' consecration and donning of these garments.

Spiritually, our Lord would like all the followers of Jesus to be clothed in,

"compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12 NIV).

These are our special adornment to don.  After all, we are of a royal priesthood (see 1 Peter 2:9 ESV).  We have been set apart, consecrated for our God.  Let it be for God's glory and beauty, portrayed through us, His children, as we go about our daily Christian lives in whichever capacity we find ourselves.

For me, I think I especially need to be clothed with more gentleness and patience.  May the Holy Spirit help me with this as I become more like Jesus our Great High Priest.  Amen.

What about you?  With which garments will you adorn yourself?  

All glory be to God.

                                                      ~ ERC  February 2025 ~

Based on Exodus 28:1-8; 40-41 especially vs 2 (ESV); Colossians 3:12 NIV and Our Daily Bread Sept/Oct/Nov 2023 - 18 Sept - by Kirsten Holmberg.

Sing, Gentle and Lowly, along with Saddleback Worship.

What Do You Want?

 If Jesus were to ask you, "What do you want me to do for you?", I'm pretty sure He would know the answer before you stated it.  But He wants you to say it for yourself.  At least that's what I get from the incident of the blind beggar.

In some cultures it seems they beat around the bush, making an art of telling you what they want to tell you in an indirect way.  Usually but not always, you can get their meaning once you've been around them enough to understand their style.  They do so supposedly to 'save face'.  

Unfortunately, a plethora of misunderstanding can more often ensue when the wrong meaning is gotten.  I love how directly specific the blind beggar states the obvious of what he wanted.  He said,

"Lord, I want to see."

He didn't give a long-winded story of how he became blind, which in turn, forced him to beg.  No, he went straight to the point.  He knew who Jesus was, the Son of David.  He must have heard of Jesus healing people.  He had faith then to believe Jesus could give him his sight.

Jesus spoke, and the man

 "immediately received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God ..."

The blind beggar also didn't ask for a million dollars even though he was asking for alms.  He didn't ask for a mansion, a meal or other material goods.  No, he honed in on the actual most important need.  He needed his sight and he got his sight.  Praise God.

So if Jesus were to ask you, "What do you want me to do for you?", what would be your answer?  He already knows it.  Don't beat around the bush.  Be blunt with Jesus.  There's no need to 'save face' with Him.  Although we don't treat this as a magic wand to get whatever we want, I believe we need to sincerely and in faith, tell Jesus the answer to His question and leave the results up to Him.

When we try to interact and engage other people, it's good to ask this type of open-ended question.  Getting at the nitty-gritty is more easily accessed, especially when you want to ask about matters of faith.  Ask the Lord to help you discern the right question per respective person; this too gives answer to His original question, "What do you really want me to do for you?"

                                                 ~ ERC  February 2025 ~

Based on Luke 18:35-43 especially vs 41.  Also, Our Daily Bread - Sept/Oct/Nov 2023 - 17 Sept - by Dave Branon.

Sing, Psalm 23, along with Phil Wickham.

Jesus Our Standard Bearer

 

It's ironic that people like to be unique with their own autonomy yet still want to blend in and adapt to the society and culture in which they live.  So they work hard at conforming.  They learn the belief systems, useful local expressions and cool gestures, and more, whether its in their neighborhood, workplace, school or church, they want to be 'like them'.  Like a chameleon to its environment, so too doth the person 'change their color' to blend in.

Often, this has to do with self-preservation and there's some safety in that.  However, as Xochitl Dixon says in one Our Daily Bread devotion, 

"Blending into this world means living in opposition to the Scriptures."

A person, once they've absorbed the'social norm' thoughts, beliefs and way of life, will operate, act out and live according to those so-called standards.  That way they don't get a lot of flack and humiliation from their peerage.  The follower of Jesus Christ, however, must transform to be more like Jesus.  The Holy Spirit, together with God's Word and our obedience thereto, will be able to look and love just like Jesus.  Our thought and belief system will be according to His standard.  Jesus is our standard bearer; rather, He is THE standard bearer to whom we can safely conform and transform.  We will definitely NOT blend in but we will stand out whether we wish to or not.

Be reminded of God's Word,

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind ..." (Romans 12:2 [ESV]).

We'll earn a great deal of censure from society but we'll be able to look steadily into God's eyes and forward to His, "well done, good and faithful servant" at the end of our earthly journey.

Check yourself for areas in which you have been 'blending in' to society.  Transform to be more like Jesus in look and love.

May God's grace and mercy extend to us as we do. 

 "In Him we can live, move and have our being."  

We are His offspring, afterall (see Acts 17:28)  Amen.

                                                  ~ ERC   February 2025 ~

Based on Romans 12:2 ESV, and Our Daily Bread 2023 - Sept/Oct/Nov - 16 Sept - by Xochitl Dixon.

Sing, More Like Jesus Would I Be, along with Rod Smith.

When God Speaks

 Listening to a sermon that has to be translated into your mother tongue can be tedious.  At times even the translation needs translating.  You're left wondering, "Just what is he trying to say?!"  Other times, it can be rapid fire translating, maybe not UN standard, but at least it makes sense and gets the message across.

When God wanted to send messages to people, usually His chosen ones of Israel as we read in the Old Testament, He used prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel.  There came a time though when God said, 

"Enough is enough, its' time to send my son Jesus.  Perhaps they'll listen to Him ..."

God's Word says,

"In the past God spoke ... through the prophets ...but in these last days ... by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2).

God's messages are very important.  He truly wants to communicate.  He warns of our wrongs, the punishment if continued and how one can and should repent and seek Him.  He speaks too of His love, having demonstrated it through Jesus.  We need Him every hour.

Observe the life of Jesus and how He interacted with people from all walks of life.  He was the message.  Observe what Jesus' death and resurrection accomplished.  This is God's message of love for all mankind.

This was God speaking to His human creatures.  God's message is very clear and easy to understand.  Let's listen to His message which He spoke through Jesus.  He has wonderful words of life and love to tell us.  

                                                ~ ERC  February 2025 ~

Based on Hebrews 1:1-2 and Our Daily Bread - Sept/Oct/Nov 2023 - 15 Sept - by Tim Gustafson.

Sing - Wonderful Words of Life, along with Hymnal Library.

Lord's Day Devotion - Still A Friend

 

"A friend loves at all times..." (Proverbvs 17:17 ESV)

This verse tells me that no matter what, a friend will still love.  Sounds like true unconditional love in operation.

Which makes me wonder, is there really such a type of friend?  No one is perfect.  Really no matter what you do or say or hide secretly in your heart, that friend who loves, will still love at all those times?!

True friends will.  There are those who betray and disappoint.  I appreciate friends who do 'stick' and forgive despite what I may have said or done.  There have even been those I didn't realize were friends but who came out of the woodwork, so to speak, to be a friend.  Then those who I thought were friends, did disappoint.  That is the friendship spectrum and what I've come to realize.

Yet, the One whom we can always rely on is Jesus.  I really like these lyrics,

"I've found a friend in Jesus,

He's everything to me...

He all my griefs has taken,

and all my sorrows borne,

In temptation He's my strong and mighty tower ...

He'll never, never leave me, nor

yet forsake me here,

While I live by faith and do His blessed will,

A wall of fire about me,

I've nothing now to fear, ..."

And so on.

A follower of Jesus Christ can really count on this type of friend.  He is THE Friend to have.  Thanks to Jesus for coming to earth to die on the cross to provide the means of salvation, forgiveness of sins and give eternal life as well as the hope and future we can have with Him - not really some unidentified day in the future, but here and now.

Jesus is my friend now.  He is by my side never to leave nor forsake.  This is what my mind and heart mediate upon and bask in, in the warmth of his abiding presence.

This Lord's Day, these are my thoughts about His friendship with me.  They can be your thoughts too, brothers and sisters-in-Christ as we partake of the broken bread and drink of the cup of wine, those symbols of His action of love sent from above.  Let's do so in remembrance of Him and all He has done for us.

In His time on earth and now in ours, He is still that wonderful, perfect Friend who loves at all times.  This is true love,

Thank You Jesus for this unshakeable friendship.  Amen.

                                                ~ ERC  February 2025 ~

Based on Proverbs 17:17 ESV.

Sing, I've Found a Friend In Jesus, along with Extened Life Worship.