Tuesday April 21, 2015

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Luke 19:10  “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Don’t you just love the story of Zacchaeus?  Here the guy was a crook!  As chief tax collector he was wealthy and had cheated all kinds of people out of their money.  He was a little guy, maybe the size of Danny Devito – and probably a bit feisty to deal with too.  The people called him a sinner and that was probably the nicest name they called him.

So here Jesus comes to Jericho and Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was.  But due to the crowd and his short size he couldn’t.  And given his reputation, I imagine the people weren’t exactly willing to let him through to see.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  Zacchaeus didn’t know it but he was about to have a “divine encounter”.

So there he was in the tree and when Jesus got to that spot he was probably stunned to here Jesus call him by name; telling him to come down immediately because they were going to go to his house!  I can see him scrambling down, welcoming Jesus gladly.  But as they walked together to his house I bet his mind was filled with questions like: WOW??!!  How did he know my name?  How is this happening?  Why me?

Scripture doesn’t provide us with what Jesus said once there, but it seems that the presence of Jesus provoked the righteous response that is typical of a heart that ‘wants to be found’.  In Luke 19:8 we read:

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

What an amazing contrast to the rich young ruler?  Who when Jesus told him to sell what he had and give it away and follow Him, he turned away because he was wealthy.  Here Zacchaeus, in response to the presence of the Lord, freely gave half of his wealth to the poor and promised liberal restitution to all of those he cheated.  Zacchaeus was lost and ready to be found – and Jesus sought him out and found him!

May we too be led by our Lord to find those who are lost and ready to be found and introduce them to Jesus.

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Monday April 20, 2015

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Mark 10:21  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Yesterday, when I was pondering about the woman caught in adultery who was set free by the Lord with the command to “leave your life of sin”, I thought of the rich young ruler and a favorite movie.  The movie is Frequency, a 2000 science-fictiton film that contains elements of the time travel, thriller and alternate history, starring Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel as father and son.

In the movie, the father, Dennis Quaid is a fireman killed in a warehouse fire in 1969.  His son, Jim Caviezel is in 1999, and even though it’s 30 years later, he is still hurting from the death of his father.  He has his father’s ham radio and due to unusual aurora borealis (northern lights) activity, they are stunned to be talking to each other on the radio, although separated by 30 years.

For the father, the conversation occurs the day before the warehouse fire that kills him.  For the son it is the day before the 30th anniversary of that fire.  Though the father doesn’t believe that it’s his son that he’s talking to on the radio, the son is able to shout out a warning about the fire that took his life the next day.

Sure enough a day later as he tries to escape the burning warehouse he remembers his son’s warning to not go the way his instincts and training tell him to.  He goes the opposite direction that at the time looks like the worse alternative and escapes safely.  His original direction led to death; the alternate way led to life.  This time he made the right choice!

“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” For the rich young ruler, this was the alternate way out of the “burning warehouse”.  This was the way for him that led to life.  Unfortunately, due to his wealth he went away sad.  Jesus communicated a precise way to life that specifically addressed his situation.  Hopefully, he later repented and obeyed.

Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  She too was in a ‘burning warehouse” and the way she was going would result in death.  But Jesus gave her a way out that lead to life.  Jesus does the very same with all of us.  By His Spirit we are warned to turn, to repent, to follow Him in a new direction that leads to life.  He has redemptive, life giving paths for us to take no matter where we find ourselves.

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Sunday April 19, 2015

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Don Schmidt

John 8:3-4  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.”

In another time and another place this woman would have been stoned to death. In the midst of her sin, she was caught and had the good fortune to be brought to Jesus by these leaders.  They weren’t concerned about her well-being, but were interested in using her and her adultery to set a trap for Jesus.

There she was, in the temple courts, standing with the leaders and Jesus but also surrounded by “all the people who had gathered around (Jesus)” to be taught by Him.  As she stood there, this possibly could have qualified as the worst moment of her life.

I wonder what was going through her mind.  Did she know who Jesus was?  Maybe she had heard of Him or heard Him teach.  Maybe she had been amazed by the miracles He’d done.  If she had known of Him, this would not have qualified as the way she would have liked to meet Him.  That is until this experience unfolded.

Jesus dealt with the leaders and with her.  His comments to them forced the leaders to recognize their own sin.  Imagine her amazement as all of the religious leaders slowly began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”   “No one, sir,” she said.  “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  (John 8:9-11)

Jesus not only freed her from condemnation, better still, He offered her the opportunity of leaving her life of sin; no, make that He commanded her to leave her life of sin – just as He does with us.  When Jesus saves our lives and instructs us on the way to go, do we really think or behave as though His words are just suggestions???

I can see her eyes irresistibly drawn to His and her heart filled with the overwhelming desire to follow Him.  She might not have had any idea what the future held, but following Jesus would change everything.  Can’t you see her in the days ahead tearfully sharing her testimony of how Jesus saved her life – both physically and spiritually – and recounting this event, moment by moment, that led to her becoming a follower of Him?!

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Saturday April 18, 2015

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs 11:5  The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them.

The Lord wants a man to be a farmer so He gives him a farm.  He provides him all the tools, equipment, seed, fertilizer and instructs him how to do everything.  The Lord also provides him with willingness, ability, health, strength, sunlight and rain.  He even expresses the desire to assist him in everything.  When the man is obedient and he produces a wonderful crop, whose crop is it?

The crop provides food, money, great blessing and more opportunities. The man’s actions produced it, so in one sense it is his.  Even the Lord considers it the man’s as He gave it to him.  But without the Lord choosing him and giving him the opportunity, he would have nothing.  The man has a choice to make – and he will make a choice.

If the man claims the crop as his own, pride is at work.  His primary view is there would be no crop without his hard work and obedience to the Lord; his attitude is one of “it is mine”.

On the other hand, the man recognizes the goodness of God and has a heart filled with gratitude for the great blessing from the Lord.  Even though he worked hard, he knows he would have nothing without the Lord’s generosity and blessing.  His view is one of humility – everything that He has belongs to the Lord.  He is merely a steward of it.  His concern is how to use the blessing in a way that pleases the Lord and is an instrument of blessing to others.  It is all His!

The fascinating thing is the Lord considers the crop, the farm, everything to be his – the man’s.  The Lord gave it to him.  The issue is the attitude of the man: pride or humility.  Likewise, when we consider the righteousness associated with the obedient and righteous acts that we do, we have a choice to make.  Is the righteousness our own?  Or is it His?

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Friday April 17, 2015

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Exodus 19:18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,

Can you imagine the excitement, wonder, awe and fear that we Christians would experience if God manifested his presence like this before us?  This is our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Holy One of Israel.  We have His Spirit within us and we belong to Him.

This verse describes what the Israelites saw and experienced.  After spending their lives as slaves in Egypt, God rescued them miraculously.  They were witnesses to the supernatural plagues that He sent upon Egypt.  They experienced His presence daily in the cloud and pillar of fire by night.  They experienced the parting of the Red Sea and walking through it.  They knew that God considered them His.

The experience of the Israelites who saw and heard this on Mt. Sinai was dominated by fear.  In response, Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” (Ex 20:20).

There is a strong message in this scene for us – as Christians today.  This is our God and He hasn’t changed.   On the one hand He can be frightening beyond imagining.  On the other, He tells us not to be afraid.  He tests us, far more than we think He does.  We experience His incredible love through Jesus yet He offers us the opportunity to fear Him in order to keep us from sinning.  I think of the Apostle John falling down as though dead upon seeing Jesus in Revelation 1:17.  Jesus then put his hand upon John and said, “Do not be afraid.”

The fear of the Lord must be a vital part of our lives.  It is one of the most important gifts that He has given us. It is not just awe and respect – it involves recognizing God for who He is.  It is not in conflict or at odds with the love of God that we have experienced in Christ Jesus.  It is the opposite side of the same coin.

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Thursday April 16, 2015

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs  8:17  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

Donna and I are going to celebrate our 45th anniversary this year.  They have truly been wonderful years and my heart is to learn to love her more and more with each passing day.

But in the early 90s we went through a time of difficulty that could have ended our marriage.  I loved Donna, or so I thought, except I was doing all kinds of things that were a mass of contradictions.  I would tell her of my love, take her on dates and trips, buy her cards and flowers, help around the house, etc…

On the other hand, I would walk away from her when she was talking to me or just ignore her.  I would lose my temper with her.  My frustrations with work were taken out on her.  My anger would flare and she got so she never knew when I was going to vent or even why.  There was no infidelity or physical abuse – it was all thoughtlessness, carelessness and blindness on my part.  All too often I was a real jerk.  This all exploded out as my oldest son John and I were leaving for a few days on the Outer Banks.  Fortunately, a Northeaster arrived just as we got there so I got to face this situation instead of fishing.

I have a notebook from that weekend with pages of things I was doing wrong – things that were communicating “I don’t love you!”  These things were effectively undermining and obliterating all the good things I was doing that were speaking of my love.  God in His goodness turned me every way but loose that weekend.  He opened my eyes and let me see all the contradictions between my expressions of love and the actions of my life.

The Lord just did a wonder in me at the beach, and I needed it because I came home to a very hurting wife.  Fortunately, our commitment to Jesus and to each other trumped everything.  The Lord provided a marvelous Christian counselor who was priceless.  Although it took months, the Lord brought us through.  Our marriage wasn’t put back together – it was transformed – from a caterpillar to a butterfly!

This experience with Donna had a profound impact on my relationship with the Lord.  It made me aware of how blind I could be – how my expressions of love could be negated by my actions.  The good things I do being trumped by my sin – sin I could be blind to see.

Loving God is the most important thing we can ever do.  We don’t want anything in our lives that undermines that.  We want to love Him more and more.  The marvelous thing is that the more we genuinely love Him, the more we experience His love for us.

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Wednesday April 15, 2015

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Don Schmidt

2 Corinthians 1:4  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Our God is such a wonderful God.  I never cease to be amazed that we get to experience His love in such wonderful ways.  Some of the very richest times with Him are when we are experiencing difficulty or pain.  In those times, He calls us to turn to Him and find the comfort that he has for us.

Today’s verse describes Him, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, as the One comforting us in all our troubles.  Sometimes He is simply a quiet presence there with us – enabling us to share our burdens and pain with Him.  His presence can be like an arm around our shoulders, simply holding us close.  As we recognize that He is with us, we make the choice to receive His comfort, which is a tangible blessing to us.

Learning to do this is so important because it enables us to comfort others with the comfort we received from Him.  Troubles are a part of life, and He wants us to be blessings to one another and those around us.  Sometimes we are able to share wisdom or insight that brings this comfort.  Other times it might be just listening – being there with them and sharing in their hurt or sorrow.

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was: a four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

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Tuesday April 14, 2015

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Don Schmidt

1 Corinthians 16:14   Do everything in love.

This verse today is particularly interesting because of something we will get to in a moment.  It instructs us to do everything in love.  Think about that.  What is excluded from everything?  And how do we do everything in love?  What exactly does it mean?

But something else struck me about this verse.  Do we men have a tendency to view a statement like this as being more feminine?  Is it more “manly” to talk about the armor of God – shield and sword and breastplate?  Think of Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Brave Heart when he was riding back and forth challenging the men to fight.  “I am William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You’ve come to fight as free men… and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? “

Or how about Aragorn, who in Return of the King, challenges the men just before the last battle in front of the gates of Mordor?  Aragorn begins by saying, “Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.”

There’s no question that we have been strongly impacted by our culture.  We’ve also been affected by a lack of understanding of what love really is.  The interesting thing that I referred to about this verse, is it’s context – specifically, verse 13 in front of it.  Today’s verse is the last item in a list of five specific commands given by Paul.  Picture yourself in a group of believers being challenged with these five commands:

  • Be on your guard
  • Stand firm in the faith
  • Be men of courage
  • Be strong
  • Do everything in love

Wallace and Aragorn were talking to men about to fight with swords and spears.  We must recognize that we too are in a battle – a spiritual one – and that a primary weapon that we are to live with and fight with, is love.

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Monday April 13, 2015

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Matthew 5:16  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven. (Amplified)

Think of it!  We have the opportunity to live our lives in such way as to bring praise and honor to God.  We get to live lives of righteousness and do good works that bless others and honor Him.  We get to be extensions of Him.  We don’t do it out of obligation – but out of love and gratitude for the amazing life that He has given us in Jesus.

Think of the attributes of people you interact with in normal situations.  Those attributes that you like – patience, kindness, goodness, love, truthfulness, helpfulness, honesty, humility, gratitude to name a few.  Isn’t it refreshing to interact with people whose lives are characterized by such qualities?  Whether you’re at work, or in a store or wherever – how noticeable it is when those around us demonstrate such positive traits.

Unfortunately, all too often, we experience the negative attributes of people, particularly in difficult situations, or when they are rushed or simply preoccupied.  More difficult still is when the ones acting negatively are Christians – or claiming to be.  The question then becomes how are we going to respond?   Will it be as they are treating us?  Or will we treat them the way we wished they were treating us – in the way Scripture instructs us to?

It’s amazing what kindness can do when it’s offered in response to unkindness; – or patience to impatience – helpfulness to selfishness – honesty to dishonesty – courtesy to rudeness.  Sometimes the only affect will be within the conscience of the ill-mannered person as they walk away thinking about your positive behavior.  Other times, it can produce an immediate change where they respond positively.

But the issue isn’t really them and their behavior.  The issue is us and the attributes we demonstrate to those around us – day in and day out.  What kind of co-worker, friend, relative, spouse, parent, neighbor, teammate, classmate, lab partner are we?  The more our lives are characterized by Godly attributes, the greater the positive impact on those around us will be.

These Godly attributes are the praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds we all can do. They are vital components of the light we are to shine forth.  They bring honor and glory to our God and blessing to all those around us.

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Sunday April 12, 2015

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Luke 10:33  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to help his questioner identify who his neighbor was.  When Jesus finished, the questioner rightly concluded that of the three travelers, the Samaritan was the neighbor of the man who fell into the hands of the robbers, because the Samaritan had mercy on him.

Our focus today is on the Samaritan – not the other two who failed to respond.  Note that when the Samaritan saw the man in need, he took pity on him.  It wasn’t a matter of the Samaritan having an internal argument within himself on what was the right thing to do in this situation.  His kindness and generosity were expressions of his life. The Samaritan was a loving man.

We Christians must become the same kind of loving people that he was.  We want our love to be genuine – a love that moves us to respond with right hearts.  This is something that we grow in.  By responding to the situations we see, He opens our eyes to see more.  God is working within each of us so that kindness and generosity will be natural responses that we make to situations we encounter.  This is how we love those around us – how we love our neighbors.

Do you realize that we can be the answer that God sends in response to the prayers of those in need around us?  That’s want He wants!  Maybe they don’t pray or think about God, but because of the kindness through us, they will take note of our love and wonder where it comes from.  Think of the joy and honor of being asked by someone, “Why are you so different?  Why are you so thoughtful and kind?”  To which we can answer, “Let me tell you about Jesus.”

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