Wednesday March 11, 2015

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 122:6-7  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. 7 May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

Tuesday March 17 is the election in Israel.  We are witnessing very organized, evil efforts to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from the office of Prime Minister by any means possible.  May these efforts be thwarted by our Lord.  Given the liberal left positions of those radically opposed 1) to Netanyahu and 2) the well being of Israel, it would appear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is God’s man for that critical position.

There is much confusion among the voters in Israel.  We must be vigilant to pray for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem.  We must pray that the one true God, who is our God as Christians and is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will protect them and intervene in this election; that He will protect them from the lies and schemes of the enemies of Israel.  We need to pray that He will show Himself strong in Israel’s behalf.

Israel is very dear to us, as it should be to all Christians.  I am always moved by wife’s heart and passion for Israel and the Jewish people.  With weeping she passionately cries out to God for them.  While they are dear to me, Jesus has placed a passion within her that is wonderful.  We are still thrilled that last summer we got to visit Israel.

It sounds obvious but remember – Christianity is Jewish!  They are the people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Our God is the Holy One of Israel.  They will discover that Jesus is the one and only Messiah.  I might not understand everything about the relationship of God with Israel, but I know that regardless of what some Bible scholars think, the nation of Israel is here today in fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.  God has not abandoned the Jewish people.  That is made clear by the 9th, 10th and 11th chapters of the Book of Romans.  The end times are unfolding around them.

Let us make a point to pray for them – and that our government will always support them and refrain from any actions that hinder their well-being, particularly those we are witnessing now.  This is so important given the situation with Iran and their pursuit of developing a nuclear weapon.  That must not happen.  May God guide and direct Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership in His path for them.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

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Tuesday March 10, 2015

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Galatians 5:22-23   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Have you ever considered the thought that we Christians should always be the best friends that anyone could possibly have?  We should be the best spouses; the best family members; the best workers; the best bosses; the best neighbors; the best strangers.

Taking this one step further, is the thought that anything less than that is missing our destiny of who God intends us as Christians to be.  Paul, in writing to the Corinthians describes the reality of what are lives are and are to be, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Our lives, like letters, are read by all the people we encounter, only the messages we communicate are far beyond just words.  Think of how differently we respond to encountering a neighbor’s pet that is always friendly versus encountering one that is grumpy or one that can be friendly but will also snap at you.   With the second one, we stay away; with the third one our guard is up.  We don’t want to be snapped at.

Applying the ‘pet-factor’ to our lives, ask the question, “What are we like?”  Are we grumpy?  Do we have a tendency to ‘snap’ unpredictably?  Do we have a tendency to be undependable or worse, to be jerks?  Or are we consistently someone that people enjoy being around because we reflect the qualities of our faith identified in today’s Scripture?  If asked to describe us (in an anonymous and candid survey) there wouldn’t be a ‘but’ in their description.

It’s critical that we recognize that our lives are about so much more than us.  We are an intimate part of God’s plan to reach and transform the world.  How we lead our daily lives has a profound impact on what our lives communicate.  Our destiny, corporately and individually, is to be a love letter from Jesus Christ to those around us.  So what are they reading when they encounter us?

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Monday March 9, 2015

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Jeremiah 3:19  “How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.  I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from following me.”

How can I describe the power of this verse and what it reveals?  I am not aware of any other verse in the Old Testament that so reveals God’s heart for His people and the pain of their rejection – its impact upon Him.  The context of chapter 3 is one of God calling Israel to come back to Him.  They would call out to Him but at the same time they were doing all the evil they could do.  They would say one thing and do another!

And Judah was just as bad!  In verse 3:12 He declares that Judah “did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense.”  He repeatedly calls for them to return to Him.  He will frown on them no longer and will be merciful; He will not be angry forever.  If only they will acknowledge their guilt and return to Him.

I don’t know how many times I read today’s verse before the Lord opened my eyes to see it as a window in to His heart.  The focus of the verse is Him – our God.  Yes, He’s speaking to His people and their failure to respond, but He’s allowing us to see how their rejection has impacted Him.  In spite of all He did, they did not call Him Father and follow Him with their lives.  It’s like His heart is bleeding all over the carpet.

This verse is such a powerful force to help me love Him.  More than anything else, God wants a people who love Him.  In addition, I never cease to be thrilled by the fact that my attitudes and actions can please Him.  Think of it!  We GET TO bring pleasure to our God.  Each and every day we have untold opportunities to say, think, act and respond in ways that tell Him of our love.

Our lives MUST NOT be ones that would cause our Heavenly Father to lovingly look at us and say, “I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from following me.”  Let us renew our commitment to have our lives vibrantly express the He is our Father and we are following Him!

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Sunday March 8, 2015

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Don Schmidt

John 15:18  If the world hates you, keep in mind in mind that it hated me first.

Have you ever been bullied?  Have you ever been one of those people that a bully looked for and as soon as he saw you he came running to mess with you?  Fortunately such things typically only happen to some of us when we’re children.  Plus we live in a western culture where such behavior is generally disapproved of.

But think of being in a culture where this type of behavior is a way of life and instead of the bully being an individual, it is a group, or mob or even family.  Worse still consider the reality that all ages are affected by such groups – not just children – and it includes anything from beating to burning to killing.  Becoming a target, results in the reality that it could cost you your life.  So, what makes a person a target of such groups?

In many places in the world today, becoming a follower of Jesus Christ makes one a target of such groups, resulting in severe, often bloody persecution.  Conversion to Jesus Christ requires a price that many in the West just don’t realize.  Fortunately Jesus is more than worth the price!

We encounter discrimination and persecution but it is more in the context Christian activities being excluded from all manner of places where they have always existed: Merry Christmas becomes Happy Holidays; Christmas vacation becomes Winter break; no prayers at graduation ceremonies; situations in the military where Chaplains are ordered not to pray in the name of Jesus.  There is also a growing perversion of the rule of law where Christian beliefs are not protected by the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Religion).  Think of bakers and same-sex weddings or requiring abortion coverage by all.

We have had a rule of law here that has protected us.  But in too many other parts of the world that law doesn’t exist or is ignored.  There, becoming a believer in Jesus Christ often results in disowning, disinheritance, expulsion, arrest or death – by stoning, beheading, burning or even crucifixion.  The hatred that Jesus spoke of (today’s verse) is alive and well in the world.

People all over the world – today – are being tortured, beaten, enslaved, imprisoned and broken because of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Recognizing the love of God and Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior, triggers a hateful revenge in so many places that we in the west are often clueless about.  But this is what so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing and experiencing.

We must remember the spiritual reality that exists in all this.  Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Fortunately, Jesus has equipped us all to face and overcome such opposition, “because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4b)

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Saturday March 7, 2015

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Don Schmidt

John 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

When I was a new Christian I remember being given some advice by an evangelist friend.  He said it was a good idea to identify those around me who were really like Jesus and to go rub up against them in hopes that some of it would rub off.  After we quit laughing, I took to heart the importance of identifying the qualities of Jesus in others and learning from them how to make them in my own life.

This led me to realize that I had to learn what the qualities of Jesus were.  It was a whole lot more that just someone who is nice or pleasant to be around.  Have you ever had a friend who was nice but cheated at games you played?  What about friends who would talk about Jesus in a great way, but then they would go out and involve themselves in immorality?

Or being a sales person and stretching the truth regarding their products in order to get the sale?  What about not following through on commitments made, leaving it to others to pick up the loose ends?  What about someone one who is nice with everyone but has a habit of taking their frustrations out on their spouse?  They might be wonderful to their spouse most of the time, but with some degree of frequency they let their anger fly wounding the one they say they love the most.

This was the one that I was so guilty of 20+ years ago.  I was so blind to the anger I would let fly at home.  I had to come to grips with the reality that in spite of all wonderful things I did for and with my wife, this one “fruit” was undermining it all.  I was so embarrassed that my grasp of the obvious in this area was so totally malfunctioning.  Fortunately, God dealt with it and me, and our marriage became better and stronger than ever.  Using the fruit illustration we’ve been talking about, it was like seeing a beautiful apple and turning it in our hands and finding it rotten on the back.  Thankfully, repentance and forgiveness works!!  Jesus can touch that “apple” and make it rich and new.

The simple reality is that we don’t become perfect overnight – or in a lifetime.  But when we are truly disciples of Jesus, the Holy Spirit enables us to more and more walk in His ways.  We are continually being transformed into His image.  We learn to recognize our sins much more quickly so that Godliness flourishes in every area of our lives.  No matter where we are or what we’re doing or who we’re doing it with, we want our lives to glorify our Father in Heaven.  This comes by bearing the fruit consistent with being full-time disciples of Jesus.

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Friday March 6, 2015

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Isaiah 27:2b-3  “Sing about a fruitful vineyard: 3 I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually.  I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.

I grew up in Southwestern Michigan in an area known as the Fruitbelt.  Orchards and vineyards were everywhere and the area had renown for its wonderful non-citrus fruit.  Strawberries, peaches, apples, grapes, plums, blueberries… – it makes me hungry just writing about them.  So many different varieties yet how wonderful they all were.

Every farmer and buyer wanted a fruitful season – as well as anyone who enjoyed fruit.  I remember walking through vineyards and seeing the vines loaded with ripening grapes.  It was particularly nice to be able to pick a bunch of grapes and eat them as we walked.  There is something very special about tasting sweet fruit out in the field; that juicy taste in our mouths that says, “YES! – I want another one!!”

But there is a well known expression that covers an experience that we don’t want to have.  That expression is ‘sour grapes’.  Think of walking along, picking a grape and when you bite into it, your mouth is filled with sourness! You spit it out!  Think of being in a fruit market where you are able to sample the fruit before purchasing it.  Does the fruit pass the taste test?

Today’s verse particularly applies to Israel, but I love its application to us, both individually and corporately.  I love the picture of being a vineyard that the Lord watches over and is sung about.  I want to be a fruitful vineyard and I also want to be part of a fruitful vineyard.  Jesus said He is the true vine; we are the branches; and the Father is the gardener (think vine dresser).  The goal is bearing much fruit – sweet fruit.  If we remain in Jesus we will bear much fruit and the Father will prune us so that we will bear even more.

Think of the people that are in our lives.  They can be anything from strangers to close friends or family.  Also think of our lives being a vineyard where they sample the fruit that we are bearing.  What if we have no fruit or if the fruit we have is sour?  That is our testimony no matter what we might say.  But think of the joy of having abundant fruit and the fruit is sweet.  Our lives glorify our Lord Jesus and He will work with us so that we bear even more.

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Thursday March 5, 2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs 16:22a  Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it,

About six weeks after meeting the Lord, I went up to Minneapolis for what I thought was going to be a youth retreat for high school and college age over Thanksgiving.   I had just turned 21 and hitched a ride up there with 3 other Western Michigan college students in a VW Bug.  I was in the back seat with a large suitcase and another large person.  That was a ride to remember!

When they dropped me off, I discovered the retreat had been cancelled.  The folks at the ministry center there were then wondering what to do with me – probably not the first time in my life that’s happened.  They had a Christian community / retreat center in northern Minnesota and one of the families was going up there for the weekend so they decided to take me along.  It turned out to be one of the most critically important times of my entire life.  I didn’t know it but I had a date with destiny.

The people at the community where we went were wonderful and very gracious to me.  The worship and ministry times were wonderful.  In my joy as a new Christian I was struggling with a serious issue that was warring within me.  During one of the services, the leader called me up to the front.  The Lord had divinely given him discernment of my struggle and in a brief time of ministry I was delivered – set free!  My issue was dealt with and my war with this issue was over!

What followed next was profoundly important.  He said to me, “Don.  You cannot afford dating either spiritually or financially.  Seek Christian fellowship.”  Then he said, “I want you to pray for your wife – but don’t pray, ‘God, send me a wife’.  I want you to pray for her like this.  Lord Jesus, I thank you that you have the girl I am going to marry.  I pray that she will come to know you – that you will protect her and bless her.  Thank you that you are preparing us for one another.  I acknowledge that in your time and in your way, you will bring us together.  I commit her and our relationship to you.”

So I regularly began praying in this way for the unknown girl who would be my wife.  This enabled me to really release this whole area to the Lord.  Later the next spring I read an article by Billy Graham where he wrote about his children playing on a hillside.  He realized that on some other hillside were the children who would one day be the spouses of his kids.  So he prayed for his children’s future spouses in the very same way.  We should do so as well.

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Wednesday March 4, 2015

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Don Schmidt

2 Corinthians 5:7  We live by faith, not by sight.

Have you ever noticed how common mistakes are?  Fortunately we don’t have video replay in our daily lives where family and friends can relive our blunders.  It’s bad enough listening to our kids hilariously remembering them.  But the sporting world provides some wrenching examples of errors by referees / umpires, and usually there is video replay that everyone has to live with – for better or worse.  While no one expects perfection, you just hope mistakes are inconsequential.  Unfortunately, some errors that come to mind were anything but.

Several summers ago a Detroit Tiger pitcher was deprived of a perfect game by an umpire’s mistake.  With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the umpire mistakenly called a runner safe at first when replays clearly showed he was out – the last out! Afterward, the umpire was devastated to see the video replay of his mistake that deprived the pitcher of a rare perfect game.  Yes, umpires make mistakes, but this one involved the final out of a perfect game.

Most sports use technology or video replay to some degree to ensure against significant refereeing mistakes.  Soccer does not.  IA few years ago in the World Cup, on the same day, Germany and Argentina advanced in games marred by refereeing errors.  The whole world saw that England scored against Germany to tie the game up before the half at 2-2.  Unfortunately the referee and his linesman missed it! Germany went on to win 4-1.  That evening Argentina beat Mexico3-1, but Argentina’s first goal should have been disallowed because it was scored by a player clearly offside.

Such mistakes really offend our sense of fairness – particularly when video replay confirms the error!  If only the mistakes could have been corrected, the results might have been different.  If only the baseball Commissioner had overturned the umpire’s call… If only video replay had been used in World Cup games…  If only God had….

Our response in difficult situations reveals what we really believe about God – who we think He is.  Is He our rock, our refuge, our comforter, our sustainer, our enabler, our inspiration, etc….  Or is He a referee who occasionally gets it wrong – who allows things that aren’t fair?  Do we get upset because something happens that is ‘against our understanding of the rules’ and we complain and question and argue: “He should have caught that!”

We need to understand that walking by ‘sight’ leads us on the path to the ‘referee / fairness’ model that results in victims and blown calls.  Walking by ‘faith’ leads us to the reality of who God is and how incredibly secure we are in Him – no matter what our circumstances look like.  Remember, God never has an “Oops!”

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Tuesday March 3, 2015 – Pray for BiBi

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Please pray for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his speech to the joint-session of congress this morning on CSPAN and FNC at 10:45

If we listen to some of the dominant voices of our time, it would be reasonable to conclude that Israel is the epicenter of evil and wickedness in the Middle East, and for that fact the entire world.  It is asserted that the world would be a better place if Israel were simply gone.  These critics of Israel believe it is better for Israeli citizens to be killed in terrorist attacks then it is for their government to protect them.  Lies are presented as truth and truth as lies.

I am reminded of the scene from CS Lewis’ The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia) where the Queen/Witch of the Underworld is casting a spell on Prince Rilian and the group that came to rescue him.  “Come, all of you.  Put away these childish tricks.  I have work for all of you in the real world.  There is no Narnia, no Overworld, no sky, no sun, no Aslan.  And now, to bed all.  And let us begin a wiser life tomorrow.  But, first, to bed; to sleep; deep sleep, soft pillows, sleep without foolish dreams.”  Fortunately her enchantment is thwarted and in the process she is revealed as evil one she really is.

Good and evil are defined by God’s Word.  We have the Holy Spirit within us to guide and direct us.  The Lord will protect us from the enchantment of the evil one.  We must learn His Word and walk in His ways.  We must listen to the Holy Spirit and respond righteously in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.  We (His people) are to be Light in the world.  We are to demonstrate and be living witnesses of the Good, the Light and the Sweet.

We must remember that throughout the history of Israel there were voices that were in opposition to the prophets who were speaking God’s truth.  The leaders and the people had to choose who to listen to. Sometimes they chose wisely but often they ignored or killed those speaking the truth.  It isn’t unreasonable to assume those speaking in opposition to God’s prophets were sincere and believed what they were saying.  Sincerity is no guarantee of being right.

We face the same types of situations today and have throughout history.  Voices are crying out declaring the “right” way to go.  Who are the voices to listen to?  The Munich Pact of 1938 was signed to prevent a war.  Many thought it was good at the time.  They also thought it was good because it affected other people in another place and not them.  Chamberlain was for it and Churchill was against it.    May congress today listen closely and choose wisely.

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Monday March 2, 2015

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Don Schmidt

We are praying and fasting today for 1) Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and the courageous warning he has for Congress,  America and the world, and 2) Congress that they will truly hear, understand and righteously respond with decisive action to thwart the grave dangers Bibi is warning them of, and 3) The future of Israel and the church.

We are deeply concerned with the direction our country has been taking and the incredible danger it is precipitating in the Middle East and throughout the world. Congress has the power to bring about a change in direction.  But in order for that to happen our leaders must recognize the true reality confronting them and just how incredibly serious it is.

May the Lord sovereignly intervene to enable this joint-session of Congress to recognize this and cause them to act.  May they understand that they too are in a key protective role at this time and place, just as Esther and Mordecai were 2500 years ago “for such a time as this” in the country of Persia which is today’s Iran.  The Jewish people were saved because Esther and Mordecai recognized the threat, their responsibility and the took appropriate action. It is not insignificant that this week the world remembers Purim, which annually commemorates God’s people being threatened with extinction and their deliverance.

This is not about politics but recognizing the critical symptoms that warn of a coming nuclear and radical Islamist “Tsunami”.  In December 26, 2004, on a beach in Thailand, a 12-year-old girl named Tilly recognized that what they were seeing in the Ocean was a coming Tsunami.  Two weeks earlier her geography class had studied Tsunamis and she began warning everyone to get off the beach.  They only had minutes to respond.  Fortunately all 100 people on the beach listened and left the beach for safety!  If they had ignored the warning they all would have died.

Netanyahu will identify in his speech dangers that are immensely worse than an ocean tsunami.  May our leaders truly see the danger and respond with wisdom, understanding and the appropriate actions.  Esther was willing to take the right actions even if it meant she would sacrifice her life.  May our leaders put politics aside and also do the right thing.

Please join us in prayer that our Lord will once again intervene in history as He did in Persia (Iran) so very long ago.

 

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