Food For Thought 10/19/2023

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Churchill Takes Wartime Chance

At a meeting in London, Winston Churchill gave the story of his escape from a South African military prison in Pretoria. Churchill told how, after wandering in the region round Pretoria for two or three days, and feeling at the end of his tether, he made up his mind to present himself at the door of one of the houses whose lights were twinkling in the valley below.

Although a price had been set upon his head, he thought there was a chance of some friendly soul in the heart of that enemy country, and he prayed earnestly that he might be guided to the right house. Then he went up to the door of one of the houses and knocked. A man opened the door and asked him what he wanted. “I am Winston Churchill,” he replied. “Come in,” said the friendly voice. “This is the only house for miles in which you would be safe.”
~ Bernard M. Allen

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Spiritual Nuggets 10/19/2023

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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A Longsuffering God

God is longsuffering, but sometimes we take this for granted. How often have we given into temptation, expecting to be obedient at a later date?

Psalm 85 gives a testimony of God’s faithfulness in the past: “O Yahweh, you favored your land. You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You took away the guilt of your people; you covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your burning anger” (Psalm 85:1–3).

As he experiences that judgment, the psalmist remembers God’s past restoration, and he hopes for it once more: “I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, because he will speak peace to his people, even his faithful ones”; he also sets a condition: “but let them not return to folly” (Psalm 85:8).

Do we wait until bad times before we realize God’s amazing grace for us?

God’s faithfulness is also expressed in surprising moments in the New Testament, like Paul’s exhortation to Timothy. Paul tells him to be strong in grace and offers comfort while presenting a challenge: “For if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are unfaithful, he remains faithful—he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:11–13).

These passages portray a God who is incredibly patient. But they also present a sense of urgency and demand a response. If we acknowledge our sin and seek Him, He is faithful to forgive us. But we shouldn’t use His faithfulness as an excuse to delay our response. He wants our complete loyalty.

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Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.
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Abundant Life In Jesus Christ – 3

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. – John 1:4.

Spiritual Life

However, this is only the beginning of our understanding of what John intends by the use of the word “life” in the Gospel. He is speaking of Christ’s role in creation, in one sense. But this is only the groundwork for the spiritual interpretation of the word that he unfolds in the pages of the Gospel. It is true that John speaks of physical life here, but as the book goes on he speaks increasingly of spiritual life. And the point is that just as Jesus is the source of physical life, so is He the source of the spiritual life that we receive when we believe in Him.

To appreciate the importance of the gift of spiritual life, we must realize first that apart from it we are dead spiritually. Or you might say, we are as unresponsive to God as was the dust of the earth before God breathed His Spirit into it.

We can say this, of course, because God says it. Take the verses from the second chapter of Ephesians for an example. Here Paul writes to the Christians at Ephesus, reminding them that before God made them alive they were totally dead in everything spiritual and were in rebellion against Him. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:1–6; emphasis mine).

What a past is described in these verses! And what a horrific condition! In our natural state we can do nothing to improve ourselves spiritually. Apart from Christ no man has ever breathed one breath toward God, nor had even one spiritual heartbeat. Man is dead in sin. He needs a new life. That is why we must be born again. Being born again means receiving a new life from God through the Lord Jesus Christ by faith in Him.

One might add here, however, that when the Bible declares that all men are dead spiritually, it does not imply that all are in an identical state of corruption. In his book, In the Heavenlies, Dr. Henry (Harry) A. Ironside points to three instances in the life of Christ that illustrate clearly what the Bible is saying. He writes:

“The beautiful little maid, the daughter of Jairus, had been dead only a few minutes when the blessed Lord reached her father’s house, but she was dead, she was lifeless. Fair to look upon, lovely and sweet, no doubt, in the eyes of her beloved parents, like a beautiful marble statue, but although there was not the corruption that there might have been, she was dead nevertheless. Turn over to Luke’s gospel and you find that as the blessed Lord came to the village of Nain they were carrying a young man out to bury him. He was dead. Dead perhaps a day or two. . . . This young man was dead longer than the little maid, but life was just as truly extinct in her case as in his. Then you have the blessed Lord at the grave of Lazarus. The sisters told Him not to roll the stone away, for their brother had been dead four days and would already be offensive. Corruption had set in, but the Lord Jesus brought new life to that man as well as to the others. In the same way, we are all genuinely dead apart from the life-giving Spirit of Jesus Christ. There may be degrees of corruption so that relatively speaking some men are far less offensive than others. But all men are dead spiritually. All need the divine life.”

Where does that “divine” life come from? It comes from Jesus Christ. He is the life of the world. Because we were dead in our sins, God sent Jesus Christ to give us new life. Because we were guilty of sin, God sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins by bearing them in His own body on that cursed tree.

To Be Continued

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Adapted and modified excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Daily Prayer & Praise 10/18/2023

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Lord, hear our prayer:

Lord, your glory overwhelms us, your power enables us, your mercy cleanses us and your Spirit fills us. And so we praise you that only your grace could have made it possible for us to be reconciled to you and to each other. We praise you for how, down the centuries, in your wisdom and grace, again and again you have called those we would have rejected and appointed those we would not have chosen. We thank you in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

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Some minor adaptation on some prayers.
David Clowes, 500 Prayers For All Occasions © 2003 by David C Cook Publishing
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Reflecting With God 10/18/2023

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.

“A . . . Samaritan . . . when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.” – Luke 10:33-34.

Thomas Fuller tells of a knight, one Gervase Scroop, Who received twenty-six wounds in the battle of Edgehill, and was left for dead amid heaps of slain. The next day his son Adrian sought his corpse to give it a decent burial. When found, the body was not quite cold, and the son began to use the means for restoration, which met with entire success, and the knight lived more than ten years, a monument of his son’s affection. There are many souls left as dead, among the slain, along the highways of sin, whom diligent personal effort would rescue. Surprising success often attends this work.
~ AITKEN

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Hebrews 4:13

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Wednesday October 18, 2023

Hebrews 4:13
All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

The literal translation of this phrase is, all things are stripped and stunned. This is the force of the Greek words. The figure is that of an athlete in the Coliseum who has fought his best in the arena, and has at length fallen at the feet of his adversary, disarmed and broken down in helplessness. There he lies, unable to strike a blow, or lift his arm. He is stripped and stunned, disarmed and disabled, and there is nothing left for him but to lie at the feet of his adversary and throw up his arms for mercy.

Now this is the position that God wants to bring us to, where we shall cease our struggles and our attempts at self-defense or self-improvement, and throw ourselves helplessly upon the mercy of God. This is the sinner’s only hope, and when he thus lies at the feet of mercy, Jesus is ready to lift him up and give him that free salvation which is waiting for all.

This, too, is the greatest need of the Christian seeking a deeper and higher life, to come to a full realization of his nothingness and helplessness, and to lie down, stripped and stunned at the feet of Jesus.

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A. B. Simpson, Days of Heaven upon Earth: A Year Book of Scripture Texts and Living Truths (Christian Alliance Pub. Co., 1897)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Food For Thought 10/18/2023

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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What England Did For One Subject

The King of Abyssinia once took a British subject named Cameron prisoner and incarcerated him in the high fortress of Magdala. No cause was assigned for his confinement. When Great Britain found out, she demanded an immediate release for her citizen. King Theodore refused.

Within ten days after the refusal was received, ten thousand British soldiers were sailing down the coast headed for Magdala. Then marching across an unfriendly country for seven hundred miles, they went up the mountains to where the prisoner was being held. They gave battle, tearing the gates of the fortress down and reached the depths of the dungeon. They lifted that one British subject out, placed him on their shoulders and carried him down the mountains to the coast where a big ocean vessel soon sped him safely home.

That expedition took several months and cost the English government twenty-five million dollars. The entire resources of the government were made available in the rescue of only one citizen. Every child of God has this privilege and birthright in Christ.

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Spiritual Nuggets 10/18/2023

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Longing and Being

The general sense of what worship “is” is widely known, but the specifics of what it means are a little vague. Aside from obedience (in other words, avoiding sin and following what God asks of us), there are specific ways to show God admiration. In 1 Chronicles, during David’s many great acts, we get a glimpse into ancient worship practices that are still applicable today. We know that the biblical “editors” favored these practices because they would later ascribe countless psalms to David. His way of worship was deemed “the way to worship.”

After David and his comrades journey to Obed-Edom to bring back the ark of the covenant—the symbol of Yahweh’s provision and advocacy for His people—David appoints “some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of Yahweh” (1 Chronicles 16:4). The Levites, the tribe designated as religious teachers, are first to “invoke” Yahweh (call upon Him). They are then to do what should be natural in all encounters with Him: thank and then praise Him. These are all acts of worship and the way to worship: acknowledge Him by calling on Him, be thankful for His provision, and then praise Him for who He is.

David illustrates another part of worship in His song that follows this event: “Save us, O God of our salvation; gather us and rescue us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!” (1 Chronicles 16:35–36). David petitions God, and he calls others to acknowledge His work by making their own petitions. It’s not that God needs to hear how great He is—that is not why we worship. It’s that we need to be reminded. In humbling ourselves before Him, we are demonstrating our rightful place in His kingdom as His servants, appointed for His great works (Ephesians 1:11).

Worship is really about longing for God. Our attitude toward God should be as Psalm 84:2 proclaims: “My soul longs and even fails for the courtyards of Yahweh. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

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Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.
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Abundant Life In Jesus Christ – 2

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. – John 1:4.

Physical Life – Continued

From last lesson: We read in Genesis that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

All the terms in this verse from Genesis are important. In the first place, we are told that God formed man of the dust of the earth. When God does a work in human history He uses common substances or common people so that the glory might be to His name alone and not to man’s. We see this in His choice of Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, and the disciples to do certain things. The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise . . . that no flesh should glory in His presence.” We have the same principle in the opening chapters of the Bible.

When God formed man, what did He use? Did He use gold, silver, iron, uranium, platinum? No, He used dust, dirt, a common substance. But He breathed into it the breath of His life. Thus, even though we may be “fearfully and wonderfully made,” as the psalmist says (Psalm 139:14), nevertheless, the glory is God’s and there is nothing in us about which man can boast. I remember I once read that, “So low is the dust, that God gave it to the serpent for the food of his curse. Job uses the word twenty times to describe the littleness of man in his misery. It is to dust that all bodies return in death. But we can look up to the Lord in confidence because ‘He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.’ (Psalm 103:14).”

There is a lesson for us in the dust; but we must remember that it is the breath of God that makes the dust live. However, you  may be asking, “What is God’s breath?” Simply put, it is that which goes forth out of His mouth. It is His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and it is associated with His spoken word. When we speak about these three terms in English, breath, Spirit, and word, they seem to be unrelated. But this is not true in the Hebrew language. In Hebrew the same word that is used for Spirit is also used for “breath.” It is the word ruach, and what is more significant, is that in Hebrew it is thought the breath of God or the breath of a man is associated with the person’s spoken words. For a man speaks, as we know, by means of it. When we put these ideas together, we find that God brought forth life in man by speaking the word of life (which John has already identified with Jesus Christ) in such a way that the Spirit of life (which is His Holy Spirit) passes into man and causes him to breathe. In other words, these terms provide an illustration of the role of each member of the Trinity in creation.

The significance of man’s created nature is seen most clearly when he is contrasted with the Lord Jesus Christ. In the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, there is a verse toward the end that says, “ ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45). In other words, even though we live by the breath of God, we do so only by inhaling. Christ lives by exhaling. Thus, we know that we are His creation and that He is the Creator.

To Be Continued

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Adapted and modified excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Posted in Expository Teaching | Leave a comment

Daily Prayer & Praise 10/17/2023

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Lord, hear our prayer:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we praise you that though you are beyond our understanding, you are nearer than breathing; that though your holiness rejects our sinfulness and selfishness, your love reaches out in love for the sinner. We praise you that though we cannot reach up to the heights of your glory and power, your mercy in Christ’s life, death and resurrection could not stoop lower to hold us and heal us. Father, we thank you.

Amen.

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Some minor adaptation on some prayers.
David Clowes, 500 Prayers For All Occasions © 2003 by David C Cook Publishing
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Reflecting With God 10/17/2023

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.

“Who is my neighbor?” – Luke 10:29.

“Who is thy neighbor?” It is the sufferer, wherever, whoever, whatsoever he be. Wherever thou hearest the cry of distress, wherever thou seest any one brought across thy path by the chances and changes of life (that is, by the Providence of God), whom it is in thy power to help,—he, stranger or enemy though he be,—he is thy neighbor.
~ A. P. STANLEY

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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The Comforter

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Tuesday October 17, 2023

John 14:26
But the Helper [Comforter], the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name,
He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance
all things that I said to you.

I have heard many fanatical persons say that the Holy Spirit revealed this and that to them. Now that is very generally revealed nonsense. The Holy Spirit does not reveal anything fresh now. He brings old things to our remembrance. “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have told you.” The canon of revelation is closed; there is no more to be added. God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he brings it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one. There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often revived. It is not, I say, by any new revelation that the Spirit comforts. He does so by telling us old things over again; he brings a fresh lamp to manifest the treasures hidden in Scripture; he unlocks the strong chests in which the truth has long lain, and he points to secret chambers filled with untold riches; but he creates no more, for enough is done. Believer! There is enough in the Bible for thee to live upon for ever. If thou shouldst outnumber the years of Methuselah, there would be no need for a fresh revelation; if thou shouldst live till Christ should come upon the earth, there would be no necessity for the addition of a single word; if thou shouldst go down as deep as Jonah, or even descend as David envisaged into the belly of hell, still there would be enough in the Bible to comfort thee without a supplementary sentence. But Christ says, “He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you.”

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C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Day One Publications, 1998)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Food For Thought 10/17/2023

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Perspective on Riches

Something I was pondering this last Sunday: In the world today, man’s nature is such that he is constantly pursuing gold and silver and other precious metals as well as rare jewels and other gems to establish his wealth. Man believes that the richer he is in these natural, albeit rare items, he will also be more powerful. For as far back as we can tell, man has always strived for this from the earth.

Revelation 21:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal. The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates . . . and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.

I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life [will be able to enter].

The most precious “item” there will be is the Lamb of God, the King of Glory, for He will be the light and the life of the city. With that perspective in mind consider this; for all the wealth the world tries to covet and gain, in the hands of our Lord Jesus, what the world views as riches and valuable on earth will only be building materials in Heaven! The streets of gold we walk upon will be nothing more than a beautiful paved walkway from the perspective of eternal life in Christ Jesus!

Something to ponder while the rest of the world strives for riches!

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015 by Tyndale House.
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Spiritual Nuggets 10/17/2023

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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On a Mission

“We’re on a mission from God.” Whenever the Blues Brothers delivered this line, they were met with a less-than-enthusiastic reception. While they had a different “mission” in mind, their famous line summarizes Paul’s ministry, and their reception is strangely related to a pressing problem in our Christian communities today: we’re hesitant to receive those who tell us they’re on God’s mission.

When we hear this “line,” we immediately begin to ask questions inside our heads: Are they offering a critique? Making a threat? Telling us they’re pursuing a ministry role in accordance with the gifts God has given them, or that they want to be directed toward such a role?

Nearly all the godly people in the Bible were appointed directly by God or His messengers to a mission, and they were given very particular (and often unique) gifts to fulfill those missions. So when someone says they’re on a mission from God, we should respond with, “Tell me about it!” Consider passages like 2 Timothy 1:1, where Paul addresses Timothy and the community he leads, many of whom never met Paul:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.”

Apostle means “sent one.” Paul was on a mission from God, and it’s because of Christ, the anointed one’s promises, that he embraces this calling. God called and gifted him to do His work and share His message. Who are we to say that God doesn’t commission people today? Of course, we should always be cautious and discerning; those in leadership must have proven their godly character and their ability to be used by God. They must also be confirmed by other godly leaders. Once this has been confirmed, we should encourage those called to a special mission. We, as believers, are called to work alongside them—to encourage them and help them serve what God, specifically, has appointed them to do.

We stumble when we think the Church is ours to lead; it is Christ’s. He is our leader and guide, and it’s by His Spirit that we will have the discernment necessary to do what He has appointed us to do.

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Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.
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Abundant Life In Jesus Christ – 1

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. – John 1:4.

In this verse John introduces two of the greatest themes of his narrative. Often at the beginning of an important work of literature or music, a writer or composer will declare a theme and then allow it to recur again and again throughout the book or composition. This is sometimes done through a visual image, as in a Hardy Boys novel. Sometimes it is through a musical motif, as in a Beethoven symphony. Sometimes it is done by means of a word or a concept, as we have here. John’s themes are “light” and “life.” These occur in such a variety of contexts and so frequently that we need to take some time to examine them right from the start.

In this message I want to look at the claim that Jesus is the life of the world.

It is quite obvious to any careful reader of the Gospel that the word “life” is an important one, for John speaks often of life in connection with Jesus Christ and of the eternal life that He offered and, in actuality, still offers to men and women today.

To some extent the Gospel begins and ends with this theme. John begins by declaring, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” In John 20:30–31, he concludes, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” In John 14:6 Jesus declares that He is the source of life: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 5:40 shows that men will not come to Him that they might have life. In John 10:28 Jesus says of those who do come, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” In all, the word “life” occurs more than thirty-five times in the Gospel. And the related verb “to live” increases that total by at least fifteen more instances.

Physical Life

But what does it mean to say that Jesus is the source of life or that He is the life? The first answer to that question is one that takes us back to the opening pages of the Book of Genesis and therefore to the role of the Lord Jesus Christ in giving life to all living things in the world. We have already seen in the beginning of John’s Gospel that he intends a reference to the first chapters of Genesis in his introductory verses; this is also the case here. “In the beginning” (John 1:1) reminds us of the sentence: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Logos or “Word” of God reminds us of the way in which God spoke in creation: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3). In the same way, when John says of the Lord Jesus Christ, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life” (John 1:3-4), every Bible student should think instantly of the life that went forth out of God to bring life to inanimate matter at the beginning of the creation of the world. In other words, John is saying that our physical life comes from God through the Lord Jesus.

This is suggested in the early chapters of Genesis. For we read that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).

To Be Continued

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Adapted and modified excerpts from James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Daily Prayer & Praise 10/16/2023

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Lord, hear our prayer:

Father, we praise you for your promise to be with us always, even to the end and beyond. We praise you that true worship is in the name of Christ, in the midst of his people, and overflows with the power of the Spirit. May our praises reach out from this place to the ends of the earth and beyond time and bring you glory for all eternity. In his most precious name we pray.

Amen.

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Some minor adaptation on some prayers.
David Clowes, 500 Prayers For All Occasions © 2003 by David C Cook Publishing
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Reflecting With God 10/16/2023

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” – Luke 9:23.

We are wont to say that Christ died that we might not die. We should speak more truly if we affirmed that He died that we might die. He died for sin that we might die to sin; He bore our guilt in His own body that we might bear about His dying in our bodies. . . .

Our wills surrender to Christ’s, even as His will was surrendered to the Father’s; our self-pleasing daily foregone for His sake Who “pleased not Himself”; our ease surrendered day by day in order that we may endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,—these are the crucial tests of discipleship. Our souls are saved only by Christ’s outward cross of atonement; they are sanctified only by His inward cross of self-abnegation.
~ A. J. GORDON

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Satisfied With Second Violin

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Monday October 16, 2023

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

There was a celebrated Englishman who sat with a friend once, watching and listening to a philharmonic orchestra. As they listened, the Englishman watched a man playing second violin. He was playing it well, but he was second violin. The Englishman said to his friend, “See that man there playing second violin? If I were playing second violin in that orchestra, do you know what I would do? I would never rest day or night until I was playing first violin. And then I would never give myself rest day or night until I was directing that orchestra. When I got to be director I would never rest until I had become a composer. And when I got to composing music for the orchestra I would never give myself rest until I was the best composer in England.”

The children of the world are sometimes wiser than the children of light. We have been offered not the directorship of a great orchestra, but glory and truth unsearchable. We have been offered the face of God and the glory of Christ. We have been offered holiness and righteousness and indwelling by the Spirit. We can have our prayers answered and have hell fear us because we have a hold on God who invites us to draw on His omnipotence. We are offered all this, and yet we sit and play second violin without ambition.

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Tozer on the Almighty God : A 366-Day Devotional (WingSpread, 2004)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Food For Thought 10/16/2023

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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David Brainerd’s Badge To Indians

Tomahawks in hand, the Indians crept toward the strange tent. As they cautiously peered under the flap, their intention to kill was forgotten. There, in the center of the tent was a man on his knees. As he prayed, a rattlesnake crossed his feet and paused in position to strike. But the snake did not strike. It lowered its head again and glided out of the tent.

It was a long time later when David Brainerd, the man in the tent, found out why the Indians at the village received him with such honor as they did. He had expected that they would want to kill him. The reason for their change of heart was the report their comrades had brought of the marvelous thing they had seen. The Indians looked upon David Brainerd as a messenger from the Great Spirit, which indeed he was. In all good work the protection of God is with the worker.
~ Boy’s World

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Spiritual Nuggets 10/16/2023

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Fear: The Fight Against It

Fear is poisonous. When it drives our decisions, it will slowly destroy us—causing us to make moves that are against God’s will and detrimental to ourselves and others. The antidote to fear is complete reliance on Yahweh, our God, and His work through the Spirit.

David is the epitome of someone who sets aside fear in favor of God’s work. He surrounds himself with “feared” men, his “mighty men.” The descriptions of their skills show the caliber of these warriors and thus the incredible character and skill it must have taken to lead them (1 Chronicles 12:1–15). It takes courage to be a leader and valor to be a leader of leaders. David was a man of valor—a man empowered by the Spirit’s work.

It would have been easy for David to worry or be concerned as a leader—especially when the Spirit comes upon a smaller group of men who oppose him. People rise up around him, and they are being chosen by God in a way he had been. But David isn’t concerned or resentful; instead, he affirms God’s work (1 Chronicles 12:16–18).

The Spirit empowers David again when he seeks out the ark of the covenant, which had previously been with God’s people as they went into battle and when they worshiped (1 Chronicles 13:1–4). In this moment, when David summons the people to undertake this task, he shows that he is not just a leader of great men, but a godly leader of great men. He understands that his own strength and skill will not carry him and his warriors. Instead, they must be guided by Yahweh. They must recover the ark that symbolized Him and His work among them, His very presence.

Rather than let fear drive him, David drives out fear in the name of His God. We should be people of the same character, showing courage and valor.

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Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.
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