Month: January 2024

The program proudly displayed the keynote speaker. It was an educational seminar that brought together thought leaders and educators on the topic that was being covered. The only problem, the keynote speaker was the least interesting of the speakers. It was not intentional but it was disappointing. Fortunately, some of the other speakers were fascinating and it made up for the less-than-stellar presentation of the keynote speaker. I have attended several seminars when I have been disappointed by the keynote speaker when I ostensibly attended the seminar to listen to that speaker. 

Sometimes, the most important message is not always given by the most celebrated speaker. The Bible records only one instance when Jesus Christ marveled at what was spoken. Who was the speaker? Was it a Pharisee? A King? A Prophet? No. It was a Roman Centurion.

When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Luke 7:9 (NKJV)

Why did Jesus marvel? The answer is given in the preceding verses.

Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Luke 7:6-8 (NKJV)

Jesus marveled at this man’s faith. He was not a Jew but he believed by faith that Jesus could heal his sick servant. It was faith that Jesus did not even see or encounter in His own people. No wonder He marveled!

There are many times in life that our expectations are swayed by the titles or credentials of the speaker. However, we need to emulate Jesus Christ, who listened to the faith of the speaker. Let us marvel when God presents us with opportunities to see His Kingdom on this earth.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

There is an interesting series that is streaming on popular social media sites. “Love is Blind” is a fascinating pairing of men and women seeking a marital relationship. Both are placed in pods where only their voices can be heard but they cannot see each other. They are allowed several encounters or dates in which each potential partner attempts to learn as much about the other, ultimately leading to a marriage proposal. If they both agree, they are allowed to see each other for the first time and spend some time together, including living with each other, before marriage. All of this takes place in less than two months. It is wildly popular and has spun off several versions in Japan, Sweden, and Brazil.

Many couples confess that before the show, physical attraction was the overriding value they sought in a relationship but for many of them, it led to disappointing relationships because neither took the time to learn the true character of each other. Now, they have an opportunity for a fresh beginning to make a life-changing decision.

Choosing your marriage partner is one of the most important decisions that we can make. But as important a decision as this is, there is no decision more important than deciding our eternal destiny. What will happen when we die? Will we simply cease to exist? Will we be reborn as another animal or even a plant? Will we suffer in hell or receive pleasure in Heaven? Once again, the Bible provides the answer. 

You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9 (NLT)

The Apostle Peter lived with our Lord Jesus Christ for over three years. He witnessed countless miracles, was present at His crucifixion, and witnessed His resurrection and ascension to God. When he wrote the words above, he was writing to the many believers in Jesus Christ who had never seen Him. For millions of believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, many are living in a pod, and need to learn about who Jesus Christ is through the testimony of others. We cannot see Him. We do not even know what He looks like. All one can do is take the time to learn the true character of Jesus Christ through the testimony of others. However, God does not abandon us in this task. He has given us His Word, the Bible, which details everything we need to know about Jesus Christ to make this most important decision to follow Him as our Lord and Savior. When we do, it will be more than simply meeting Him. He will give us His Holy Spirit to indwell within us. We will be eternally bound to Him, no longer blind to the sinful failings of this life, but our eyes opened to the unimaginable pleasures of a relationship with Him.

Praise God!

 Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

“So, is everyone aware there are eight senses?”

Uh…no! This was interesting. The speaker flashed a screenshot of the usual five senses: Taste, Sight, Smell, Hearing, and Touch. No controversy there. The next screen flashed three additional senses: Proprioception, Vestibular, and Interoception. Although not commonly discussed, most healthcare professionals accept these additional senses. Proprioception is our ability to sense the position, movement, and location of our body muscles and joints. Vestibular is our ability to sense the position and movement of our head to gravity. Interoception is our ability to determine what our internal organs are sensing, such as hunger and thirst.

After listening to this presentation, I wondered, are there more than eight senses? What about the spiritual realm? Do we have a sense to determine moral right or wrong? Is this a sense or merely a psychological construct? At one level, these are the same senses that are already acknowledged in the discussion above. However, at another level, these are different senses, heightened by the indwelling of God, the Holy Spirit, for whoever accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” 

John 3:5-8 (NLT)

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God, the Holy Spirit, indwells within us. Our reality and our existence are heightened and transformed. We no longer see the world with our old sinful nature. Instead, if we allow Him, God gives us a new sense of morality. Only eight senses? When God indwells within us, we are born again, not limited to eight senses. Our existing eight senses work in perfect harmony to perceive a reality that we could never imagine. 

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

Everyone has a credit score. Ideally, the higher the score, the better your credit. The ideal is 850 on a scale of 300-850. Very few individuals reach this lofty goal and most creditors acknowledge that a score of about 720 is considered excellent credit. However, when a financial agency inquires to verify your score when you make a large purchase that requires credit, it leads to a decrease in one’s credit score. Ironically, a system that is created to verify one’s credit history will decrease your score when a vendor uses it to verify a purchase. 

How does one improve one’s credit score? The usual suggestions are paying off credit cards, loans, and mortgage payments on time. However, one cannot get a score unless one carries some level of debt. Another irony. Incurring new debt will decrease your score. However, carrying debt but paying it off on schedule will increase one’s score. The bottom line, one needs debt to establish a score but incurring more debt will decrease the score.

At a basic level, this system doesn’t make sense. It reminds me of the inherent contradiction the Apostle Paul wrote about in his letter to the Romans. 

So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 

Romans 5:21 – 6:2 (NLT)

We are all born in sin, separated from God. By our efforts, we are helpless to escape our forlorn condition. Sin shows us our desperate need for a Savior, Jesus Christ. Only through His intervention can we break the bonds of sin that hold us in its tyranny. Thus, sin shows us the grace of God through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. However, we should not continue to sin hoping that this will enable us to receive more of God’s wonderful grace. This is the difference between debt and our credit score and sin and God’s grace. We need debt to establish a credit score and we can never abolish it or our score will go down. We don’t need to increase sin in our lives, to increase God’s grace. We need to completely abolish sin because we are now a new Creation in Jesus Christ, no longer indebted to sin, but freed to live a life in gratitude to His grace!

And THAT, makes sense!

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

The cheering from the high school football stadium reverberated and thundered around the city block. We hurried to enter the stadium, not wishing to miss the action. We were listening on the radio and knew this was one of the most exciting contests ever. We were late to the game and didn’t want to miss any more of it. By the time we arrived, it was clear the outcome of the game had already been decided. Nonetheless, we were still thrilled to join in the revelry, thankful to reap the benefits of our home team defeating our cross-town rivals. 

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. 

Revelation 5:13-14 (NKJV)

When we are in Heaven, in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we will join the angels and every heavenly creature ever created. We will join all the believers who have gone ahead of us, faithfully believing in Jesus Christ. We will spend every moment in continuous worship and celebration of the God who saved us, redeemed us from our forlorn state of sin, and reconciled the broken relationship between us and God. 

Time has no meaning in Heaven. We will eternally exist with God, forever joining in the celebration of salvation for all who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Late to the game?

We are always celebrating the victory of Jesus Christ on this Earth and in Heaven.

Amen!

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

The real estate agent was ecstatic and why shouldn’t he be? He was representing both the buyer and seller. A real estate transaction involves a buyer and seller, usually represented by different agents. Once the transaction is finalized, each agent gets a percentage of the sale, usually equally split. Occasionally, an agent represents both the buyer and seller, and in those situations, the agent keeps the entire percentage of the sale. The danger is the potential bias the agent may not fairly represent the buyer, eager to obtain the sale. Although all risks must be legally disclosed, the agent may not be as forthcoming. 

What a difference it is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 

1 Corinthians 6:20 (NKJV)

We are born in sin and our souls are hopelessly lost. By our efforts, we are helpless to redeem ourselves. No money, no good deeds, not even a good reputation can save us. It took a supernatural intervention by God to save us and reconcile the relationship that sin had ruptured. But there was a cost, an unimaginably high cost. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross and receive the punishment for sin that we rightfully deserved. 

Jesus Christ knew the risk and suffering that He would endure to purchase our salvation. As fully Man and fully God, Jesus Christ represents both man, the recipient, and God, the giver. God has disclosed the risk of not accepting the gift of His Son. He also takes no payment for receiving the gift. Once He died and was resurrected, He freely gave the gift of salvation and eternal life to all who would place their faith and trust in Him. 

Praise God for His grace and mercy to all who place their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

In surgical pathology, it is common to grade the degrees of atypia in a precancerous lesion. Many years ago, a three-tiered system was implemented encompassing mild, moderate, and severe atypia. If a lesion was diagnosed with severe atypia, it suggested a higher likelihood of progression to cancer and would usually lead to a complete removal of the lesion. However, a difficulty arose when some pathologists began using terms that bridged the categories such as mild to moderate or moderate to severe. This decreased the reproducibility of the diagnoses when different pathologists reviewed the same case. It also made treatment decisions less clear, frustrating surgeons and oncologists.

Some years later, to increase interobserver agreement, a two-tiered system was adopted for several precancerous lesions. Atypia was diagnosed as either low grade or high grade. The former usually required follow-up at regular intervals while the latter diagnosis usually led to surgical removal. Yet, even this simplified system has received pushback from various groups of pathologists, claiming the grading is too restrictive and advocating for a return to a three-tiered system. Why is it difficult to be binary in our decision-making? There are many reasons and pundits readily proffer their opinions. As always God, provides the Truth. 

I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness…

Isaiah 28:17 (NLT)

We are sinners, unable to deliver ourselves from our forlorn condition. God created us with a moral character, knowing right and wrong. Yet, we blur the distinctions and choose shades of gray. Whether it is with medical diagnoses or moral decisions, we are hesitant to select one choice over the other. Isn’t it better to have both? Marriage does not have to be between a man and a woman. Abortion is not murder if it is before 16 weeks. 

God gives us His absolute standard. He sets a plumb line of righteousness. It was not meant to be bent, twisted, or stepped over. There are no moral shades of gray with God. Every decision is always clearly illuminated by the light of His Truth through faith and belief in Jesus Christ. 

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

“I’ll pray for you!”

“I appreciate that!”

Two days later, my prayer was answered positively by God. I was grateful and immediately called my friend, thanking him for his prayers. During this same period, I fervently prayed to God, beseeching Him to answer my prayers. It was a wonderful outcome and both of us seemed to agree, except for one fact. My friend was not a Christian. Through many previous conversations, I knew he believed in a god, but not Jesus Christ. Did God answer my friend’s prayers along with mine?

I am asking the wrong question of whether God answers the prayers of those who do not believe in Him. If this were true, everyone, including myself, whoever prayed to God to reveal Himself and guide us to Truth through faith and belief in His Son, Jesus Christ, would never have their prayers answered. All of us, believers and seekers alike, are on a spiritual path to know God. God honors those who are earnestly and honestly seeking Him. 

The Bible gives us the tragic example of Balaam who prayed but did not share the same beliefs as those whom he prayed. While he acknowledged the God of the Israelites, his heart was not seeking Him. He hoped that by going through the motions, even praying, he would die like the righteous Israelites. Balaam was later slain by God for his role in leading the Israelites to lust after false gods. 

Who can count Jacob’s descendants, as numerous as dust? Who can count even a fourth of Israel’s people? Let me die like the righteous; let my life end like theirs.

Numbers 23:10 (NLT)

I welcome the offer of prayers from those who may not truly know the God that I serve. God is patient and works through many circumstances, many of which we are unaware of, to draw all closer to Him. 

Praise God for His grace and mercy who call upon His Name.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

It happened again. Something did not go my way and I lost my temper. I mulled over it for the rest of the day. I was wallowing in self-pity. Many of us have experienced it, although few, including myself, are reticent to admit it. Why would I choose to remain in this forlorn state?  What does it accomplish except to drive one further down the road to despair? Only one person benefits. Satan. 

How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 

Psalms 13:2 (NLT)

Self-pity replaces God’s authority in our lives with Satan. Despite all of God’s promises, all of the countless times He has successfully brought us through far worse circumstances, we still regress to the possibility that God is not in control. We allow Satan to gain the upper hand. It does not have to be this way.

But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me. 

Psalms 13:5-6 (NLT)

This is the beauty and wonder of God’s Word. He perfectly describes the despair I experience but does not abandon me to wallow in self-pity. Instead, He will always rescue me because He loves us with perfect love, undiminished by my worst efforts to doubt His goodness. 

Praise God!

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

The explosion created a massive fireball, the likes of which had never been witnessed before. A reporter on the scene wrote, “The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun. It was golden, purple, violet, gray, and blue. It lighted every peak, crevasse and ridge of the nearby mountain range with a clarity and beauty that cannot be described but must be seen to be imagined …” Scientist Robert Oppenheimer, one the chief architects of the project, somberly quoted a Hindu scripture, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

This was Trinity. It was the world’s first nuclear explosion. On July 16th, 1945, in the desert of New Mexico, an atomic bomb was successfully exploded. Within a month, two atomic bombs were used against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, directly leading to the end of WW II. The world would never be the same. 

What does one do when asked to trust and believe something that has never occurred before? The scientists who planned and built the first atomic bomb did. Thousands of years earlier, God asked the same of Noah.

Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.

Genesis 7:4 (NLT)

God alerted Noah that he would destroy all living creatures on the earth with rain. The only problem was no one had ever seen it rain, as an earlier verse in the Bible describes:

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the LORD God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. 

Genesis 2:4-6 (NLT)

What was Noah’s response to God? For an astounding 120 years, Noah remained faithful and built the ark according to the exact specifications that God provided him. He ignored the ridicule of his neighbors, even though he earnestly warned them of God’s impending judgment. But who would believe him? They didn’t even know what rain was! When God commanded Noah and his family to enter the ark accompanied by representatives of the animal kingdom, God shut the door of the ark and they all waited. Then it happened. Rain. It was the greatest deluge in history. The world would never be the same.

Like Noah, God may ask us to do something we have never encountered or cannot even imagine. Will we exhibit the same faith that Noah did or will we doubt and turn our back on God? When God presents a new opportunity to us, the world may never be the same if we chose to follow Him.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.