Never Let Go of Hope – 1

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Scripture References: Colossians 1:21-29

We live in a world that is so massive, so tentative, and often so tragic that we have a hard time putting much stock in hope of any kind. In fact, we may be living in such a time that the fullness of hope, from the Christian perspective, is all but impossible; for us, hope can be little more than wishful thinking at best. Maybe that’s all a “secularized hope” could ever be since a great deal of the aptness and believability of hope has to do with the object of our hope. Then the question, “In what do we base our hope?” or “In whom do we ground our hope?” becomes absolutely essential.

Let’s say that we occasionally wonder to ourselves if there are any real possibilities for a “better world.” None of the rose-colored glasses stuff, but honestly and realistically, is the world going to worsen, stay about where it is from generation to generation, or somehow get to be better off? That’s a justified concern. There probably are numerous answers to the related questions we would raise in regard to our concern. The way we ask the questions has a great deal to do with what kind of answers we can expect. Again, in what do we base our hope or in whom do we ground our hope? In other words, in what context are we raising the questions about possibilities for a better world?

If we ask from a strictly secular point of view, if we wonder whether or not humanity, on its own, will ever do much better than it has done or is doing to make the world a better place, we don’t have many reasons to be optimistic about improvement; though we may live in an age in which there are a few more reasons for optimism than we have had since the ending of the Vietnam War or even the “Cold War.”

However, if we ask about a better world theologically and wonder in a Christian context, being careful to leave aside all false optimism, I think we come out at a completely different place. Christian hope as far as the world is concerned has to do with what GOD can do with and through us, and that changes the picture entirely. Further, Christian hope moves well beyond wishful thinking and inner sparks to assurances and confidence. God has said that the world can be a better place.

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King Solomon had prayed for forgiveness for the people of Israel who had sinned against God, and God’s response was:

When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.

In the chapter of Colossians out of which our lesson is taken, Paul “ascribes both creation and preservation” of the world to Jesus Christ:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. – Colossians 1:15–17.

The German theologian Karl Heim has pointed out that Paul’s “dynamic view of the universe” here is “most congenial to belief in a living God who creates the world continuously anew.”1 If these scriptural and contemporary analyses are anywhere near correct, there are solid reasons for expecting that the world can be a better place.

What kind of world would be better? A world with less war and more international community is desired of course, where justice prevails and homelessness and hunger are not forced on anyone. A better world would be a place in which cancer and other ailments would be cured and young people can justifiably look to the future as bright. A better world would be a place in which the elderly are affirmed and never made to feel no longer needed and the environment is respected and cared for as every other God-given gift.

This is where Christian hope differs from wishful thinking or mere hopefulness. The gift has been promised, and it will be delivered. We don’t know when, and we don’t know if it will be gradually or suddenly; we cannot control or manipulate God. But God the Father knows for certainty. Yet, certainly there are some contingencies.

To Be Continued

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1 Karl Heim, Jesus, the world’s perfecter : the atonement and the renewal of the world (1959)
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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Christ Jesus, Only The Beginning

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Scripture References – John 1:1-18

By beginning at the beginning as he does, John opens a door on the whole creative process. He gets things in perspective. We are not just dealing with certain events in Palestine 2,000 years ago: we are concerned with the purpose of God in history. Understanding is disclosed through the “Word.” That is how God displays His nature and how He is known. All this is proclaimed in the opening words of this amazing Gospel.

Within just the first few verses, we become witness to the Deity, the preincarnate work of Christ, as well as the one who prepared His way, Christ’s forerunner, the rejection, the acceptance, and the incarnation of Christ Jesus. The Apostle John gave us a glimpse of Christ Himself and His nature in just a few verses, the taste of what is to come in the rest of his Gospel.

When it comes to learning, knowing, and understanding we perceive and know through our senses: hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste. For John, the basis of perception is the “Word,” the mind or “essence” of God. The “Word” is the conveyor of life and meaning. Without the “Word” nothing is understood, and if it is not understood then it might as well not exist (verse 3). The “Word” illuminates and enlivens creation. Constantly available, it is there for those who will receive it, much like the radio waves or television signals that continually all around us, however to hear and understand them we need to have a receiver that can translate those signals and we need to have it “switched on” before we can tune in to their message. For those with difficulty in tuning their sets, God has sent an engineer of sorts, a “radio or TV” evangelist, as it were, by the name of John the Baptist, Christ’s forerunner we mentioned above. He shows us how to switch on and even select the proper program. The function of an evangelist is to convey good news, to ensure it is understood and to witness to its authenticity. This is precisely the role of the Apostle John, the writer of this Gospel. Ingeniously, he projects these same characteristics on John the Baptist (verses 6–8).

Once we have received the transmission, we may suffer different forms of interference. Sadly, there is in the airways a jamming system set to block or distort the signal we are receiving. The evangelist helps to identify this interference in verse 5 as “darkness” and again in verse 10 as “the world.” Both these concepts are dealt with throughout the Gospel of John and you will notice them as you read throughout the Gospel. Both interfere with the signal by trying to either distort it, or reject it. At the onset we are warned that the message or revelation does not have an easy passage, but there is the promise of great reward for those who persevere and hang on to the “signal.”

Those with good reception and understanding will be given power to become “children of God” (verse 12). Suddenly, it will become clear and the message will and can be understood. The picture will come into focus, the sound will have clarity. We shall not only hear the “Word,” we shall see, taste, touch and smell it. For the “Word” will become flesh and even “dwell among us” (verse 14). Then we shall know grace and truth in all its fullness. We shall even “see” or “understand” the very nature of God as He has been made known in and “through Jesus Christ” (verse 17), the One “who is in the bosom of the Father” (verse 18). This is the great theme of John’s whole Gospel—perceiving, seeing and understanding. In the complete Gospel he provides us with a series of clues, signposts and pointers, so that we may believe and know Jesus Christ as the revealer of God and in “believing you [we] may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

However, remember that these opening verses to the Gospel of John just lay out the beginning ministry of Christ Jesus and what can be expected from the whole Gospel if you would only read it and take it to heart. I believe because of its theme and content, it is one of the greatest books in the Bible!

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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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Classic Poetry 4/29/2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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*Pastor’s Note: Haldor Lillenas lived from November 19, 1885 until August 18, 1959 and was considered one of the most important twentieth-century gospel hymn writers and publishers and is regarded as “the most influential Wesleyan / Holiness songwriter and publisher in the 20th century.” Additionally, Haldor was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, author, song evangelist, poet, music publisher and prolific hymnwriter, who is estimated to have composed over 4,000 hymns, the most famous being Wonderful Grace of Jesus.

THE BIBLE STANDS

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
‘Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
And they glow with a light sublime!

The Bible stands like a mountain towering
Far above the works of men;
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can!

The Bible stands and it will forever,
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given,
And its precepts I will obey!

The Bible stands every test we give it,
For its author is Divine.
By grace alone I expect to live it,
And to prove it and make it mine!

The Bible stands though the hills may tumble;
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble!
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands!

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From Poetry/Hymns written by Haldor Lillenas. Public Domain
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Jesus Is Coming Again! – 6

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Scripture Text – Matthew 24:3-14

The Two Phases of Christ’s Coming Again

There are two phases of His coming again. The one is before the Tribulation, when Christ comes for His Church, to take her out of the earth so that she will escape the awful blood bath of the day of the Lord. This first aspect is part of Christ’s second coming called the “blessed hope” in Titus. It is with this part that we shall deal particularly.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. – Titus 2:11-13 (emphasis mine).

It is the blessed hope for the believer, the hope of deliverance from the increase of iniquity in the world, the spreading specter of universal war and hatred, and the coming crash of civilization, but more even than that, it is the blessed hope of being forever with the Lord. The Church will witness this fearful time of tribulation from heaven but will have no part in it on the earth. In Luke 21 we have a detailed description of that awful day of tribulation. After that description the Lord says, in Luke 21:36:

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

There will be some who will “escape all these things … and to stand before the Son of man.” These are they who “watch and pray”—the Church which He purchased with His own blood.

In Revelation, John, writing to the church of Philadelphia (the true portion of the apostate Church of the last days), says:

“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” – Revelation 3:10.

Enoch and Lot

Jesus, in speaking of the last days, uses two figures from history: the Flood and the destruction of Sodom. Of the first He says, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” – Matthew 24:37. Of the second He says, “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot . . . even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” – Luke 17:28, 30. Both were times of terrible judgment. These are the two greatest catastrophes in history. Jesus uses them as figures of the coming greater judgment of the Tribulation. However, in each case someone was taken out before the judgment came. Enoch was translated before the Flood. Lot was taken out before Sodom was destroyed. Enoch was a godly man who walked with God. Lot was a carnal man, and yet, according to Peter’s writing, Lot was a righteous man.

And delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. – 2 Peter 2:7–9.

Enoch, a spiritual man, was translated to bliss and a reward. Lot, the carnal man, was delivered but to be disgraced. He lost his reward and was judged by losing his all.

There are two kinds of believers. Some are spiritual. Others are carnal or worldly. When the Lord comes all believers shall be taken out before the judgment falls. Some, like Enoch, shall be given an abundant entrance and “will receive a reward” (1 Corinthians 3:14); others, like Lot, shall be saved, “yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15). Some, like Enoch, will “have confidence” at His appearing, and others, like Lot, will be “ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28). Some, like Enoch, shall receive a “full reward,” and others, like Lot, will lose their reward (2 John 8). Some, like Enoch, shall be given dominion over ten or five cities, whereas others, like Lot, shall be rebuked when the King returns (Luke 19:11-27).

To Be Continued

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Adapted and modified excerpts from M. R. De Haan, The Second Coming of Jesus.
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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Faith From The Beginning 4/29/2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

The Bible Is Easier To Believe

I SUBMIT to you that a comparison of the theory (not fact) of evolution against the simple record of the Word of God concerning the origin of man will show the folly of man’s speculations. God says:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him. – Genesis 1:27.

It is a thousand times easier to believe this statement of Genesis than to believe the so-called theories of science. As a matter of fact, God expects us to believe His Word. He will not condescend to argue with an infinitesimal speck of dust such as we are to explain the how and the why of a sovereign Creator’s dealings. What a silly and arrogant presumption to call into question the Creator, as though He would have to give an account to us of how and why and when He did as He did. His Word is: “In the beginning God created.” Take it or leave it. It’s not that we can’t have questions, but to question His methods or motives is arrogance and pride.

If we can believe that opening statement from the Holy Bible, in all its simplicity, then we can believe everything else in the Bible. If we can believe that God, all alone from a beginningless eternity, could suddenly speak one single word, and by that word create the universe out of nothing, and set it moving in order and precision with all the laws governing its course – if we can believe that, we can believe anything else that He says in His written record. Then we can believe that He could part the sea, walk on the waters, still the storm, cast out demons, make iron to swim, change water to wine, and make a whale to swallow a man and cause it to cast the man out alive after three days.

However, at this point you may be asking, “What has all this to do with Abraham?” I have laid this foundation to show you the reason that God gives such prominence to Abraham and his three generations of descendants in the Book of Genesis. I repeat, the Bible is a book of salvation, and it gives us a minimum of the past only so that it can deal predominantly with the future, the all – important future, eternity and the eternal life it promises.

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Adapted and modified excerpts from Studies in the Life of Abraham by M. R. De Haan (1891-1964)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Essential Insights on Faith 4/29/2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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I am ready to preach the gospel – Romans 1:15

Billy Graham

God created us in His image. He created us and
LOVES us so that we may live in harmony and
fellowship WITH HIM. We are not here by chance.
God PUT US HERE for a PURPOSE, and our lives are
never fulfilled and complete until His purpose
becomes the FOUNDATION and center of our lives.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible®, HCSB © 2009
by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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A Close Shave

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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For Saturday April 29, 2023

Matthew 10:6-7
“Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach,
saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “

One of the members of W. E. Sangster’s church in Scarborough, England, was a barber who felt it was his duty to witness to his customers, but he wasn’t always prudent in how he went about it. One day, after he lathered a man for a shave, he picked up the razor and asked, “Sir, are you prepared to meet your God?” The poor fellow fled with the lather still on his face.

You know, our culture today has convinced us that it is inappropriate and unacceptable to talk about religion. But that shouldn’t discourage us, because evangelism is really as simple as testifying about what God has done in your life. It’s humorous to think about a barber witnessing at such an odd time. But consider your own life. When was the last time you told someone about how God’s grace has turned your world upside down and inside out? Go out and meet people where they are—at the dentist, a neighborhood party, or around the water cooler—and tell them how they, too, can experience God’s grace.

Evangelization is a process of bringing the gospel to people where they are,
not where you would like them to be.
VINCENT DONOVAN

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David Jeremiah, Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions (Tyndale, 2014)
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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Life In Focus 4/29/2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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The Danger of Relics

JESUS said that God is Spirit, and that those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). This means that we worship and serve a God whom we cannot see with our eyes, but must believe with our hearts. As a result, God is a bit of an abstraction for some people. One way that they have tried to make Him more real and present is through artifacts that they have associated with Him.

As understandable as the veneration of relics may be, it is a dangerous practice. It can easily tempt people to worship the object rather than the God whom the object is supposed to point to. In essence, the relic becomes a focus of idolatry.

That happened with a number of items that the Israelites venerated, including the bronze snake that Moses had made during the Exodus journey (2 Kings 18:4; Numbers 21:8-9). Originally, the serpent on the pole served as a means of healing for snake-bitten people, by causing them to look to the Lord for help. But after the people settled in the Promised Land, they apparently turned this standard into an idol, as if the bronze snake itself had power to heal. They burned incense to it and even gave it a name, Nehushtan.

In a similar way, the Israelites turned a ceremonial robe, or ephod, that Gideon made from the spoils of his victory over the Midianites, into an idol (Judges 8:25–27). Later they tried to use the ark of covenant as a charm against the Philistines, with disastrous results. And in Jeremiah’s day, the citizens of Jerusalem cared more about their temple than they did about the Lord of the temple (Jeremiah 7:12–15).

These examples show the dangers of making too much of objects and places that have had a close association with the work of God. As human beings, we live in the natural world, but we worship a supernatural God. Therefore, we need to treat shrines and relics merely as means toward that end, never as ends in themselves.

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Courtesy of Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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Anecdotal Story 4/29/2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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It Only Seems To Be

Please read Ecclesiastes 2:4-10. (The link will open in a new window).

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. – Galatians 6:7.

A Wall Street clerk went for a tuna sandwich one snowy noon and returned to work with $37.1 million in negotiable certificates of deposit found in a pouch dropped by a courier. The clerk turned them over to his supervisor, who notified the securities company. The man received a $250 reward for his honesty. As it turned out, that was more than the certificates were worth to him—they could only be converted with special clearance.

People give themselves to goals that are like those certificates. They seem real, but they aren’t. They seem so worthwhile, but are terribly disappointing. They promise millions, but return pennies. They are shameless—wealth, fame, career—tantalizing, alluring, then betraying. They leave us bitter, heartsick, and spiritually bankrupt. Only the goal of God’s unshakable kingdom can offer opulent wealth and sure and splendid promises. It guarantees an enhancement to perfection of all present benefits now possessed by those within its embrace: an undisturbed inner peace, an unmarred victory, an unsullied righteousness, an unbroken life.

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Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Saturday Prayer & Praise 4/29/2023

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Robert Hawker: Piercing Heaven – Puritan’s Prayers

Oh, precious Jesus—may I be no longer unfruitful in your garden!

Lord, do as you have said. Dig around me, and pour on me all the sweet influences of your Holy Spirit—which, like the rain, the sun, and the dew of heaven, may cause me to bring forth fruit to God.

And, Lord, if you will listen to an unworthy creature like me plead for others, let the coming year bring the same blessings to all your redeemed—even to my unawakened relatives, and to thousands who are still in darkness.

I pray that this may be to them the acceptable year of the Lord!

Amen.

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Crown Him Lord of All – 5

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Scripture References – Colossians 1:13-20

Christ Is the Beloved of the Father – Continued

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. – Colossians 1:19-20.

Paul wrote that Christ solved the sin problem on the cross once and for all. This means that one day God can bring together in Christ all that belong to Him (Ephesians 1:9–10). He will be able to glorify believers and punish unbelievers, and do it justly, because of Christ’s death on the cross. No one—not even Satan—can accuse God of doing wrong, because sin has been effectively dealt with on the cross.

If Jesus Christ is only a man, or only an emanation from God, He cannot reconcile God and man. The only arbitrator who can bring God and man together is One who is both God and Man Himself. Contrary to what the Gnostics taught; Jesus Christ was a true human being with a real body. He was God in human flesh (John 1:14). When He died on the cross, He met the just demands of the Law because He paid the penalty for man’s sins (1 Peter 2:24). Reconciliation was completed on the cross (Romans 5:11).

Warren Wiersbe recounts a story of a man who once came to see him because he had difficulties at home. He was not a very well-educated man and sometimes got his words confused. He told Pastor Warren that he and his wife were having “martial problems” when he meant to say, “marital problems.” (Later the Pastor found out that they really were “at war” with each other, so maybe he was right after all!) But the word that caught the Pastor’s attention was in this sentence: “Pastor, me and my wife need a recancellation.”

He meant to say reconciliation, but the word recancellation was not a bad choice. There can be peace and a reunion of those who are at war only when sin has been cancelled. As sinners before a righteous God, we need a “recancellation.” Our sins were cancelled on the cross.

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As we review this profound section (and this study has only scratched the surface), we notice several important truths.

First, Jesus Christ has taken care of “all things.” All things were created by Him and for Him. He existed before all things, and today He holds all things together. He has reconciled all things through the Cross. No wonder Paul declared that “in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

Second, all that we need is Jesus Christ. We have all of God’s fullness in Him, and we are “complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10). There is no need to add anything to the person or work of Jesus Christ. To add anything is to take away from His glory. To give Him prominence instead of preeminence is to dethrone Him.

Third, God is pleased when His Son, Jesus Christ, is honored and given preeminence. There are people who tell us they are Christians, but they ignore or deny Jesus Christ. “We worship God alone,” they tell us, “and that is all that is necessary.”

But Jesus made it clear that the Son is to be worshiped as well as God, the Father “that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (John 5:23–24, NIV).

The late Dr. M.R. DeHaan, noted radio Bible teacher and author, told about a preacher who was confronted by a cultist who rejected the deity of Jesus Christ:

“Jesus cannot be the eternal Son of God, for a father is always older than his son,” the man argued. “If the Father is not eternal, then He is not God. If Jesus is His Son, then He is not eternal.”

The preacher was ready with an answer. “The thing that makes a person a father is having a son. But if God is the eternal Father, then He must have an eternal Son! This means that Jesus Christ is eternal—and that He is God!”

Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Creator, the Head of the church, and the Beloved of the Father. He is eternal God . . . and in our lives He deserves to have the preeminence.

Is Jesus Christ preeminent in your life?

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Adaptation of excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 2.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Spiritual Nuggets 4/28/2023

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Be Vigilant

Faith doesn’t always come to bear until we are faced with our own fallibility. When we “enter into temptation,” it often means we haven’t been vigilant—that we’ve stopped pursuing the God who has pursued us. In the aftermath of temptation, we recognize our spiritual laziness. We become wise—but remorsefully.

Vigilance and complacency are illustrated in the garden of Gethsemane. In His last moments, Jesus requests that His closest disciples stay awake with Him (Matthew 26:38). But while He repeatedly prays, they fall asleep. What seems like a request for moral support gets defined a few verses later: “Stay awake and pray that you will not enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Staying awake is associated with spiritual awareness. And their sleep is costly. Because of their spiritual sleepiness, they’re not prepared for His end, even though He had repeatedly prepared them for His death. They abandon Him, and they even deny Him (Matthew 26:56, 75).

But in this same passage, we get a picture of what vigilance looks like from the Son of God. Jesus anticipated His imminent suffering and death. “Deeply grieved, to the point of death,” He turns to the Father in prayer. Jesus boldly requests relief from suffering; when it is not granted, He submits to the Father’s will.

Being vigilant means seeking guidance and refuge from the God who provides it. He has provided refuge, but we must seek it out. This means asking for His Spirit to equip us for discernment. While we don’t know the challenges and temptations we’ll face, He does. And if we ask Him, He will provide us with all we need to face them.

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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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Food For Thought 4/28/2023

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Statistical Monstrosity

The world-famed statistician, whose name, The Gallup Poll is based on, George Gallup, once said, “I could prove God statistically! Take the human body alone. The chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity!”

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Acts 17:26

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Friday April 28, 2023

Acts 17:26
He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.

God meets us also in history. Even more mightily than in nature.

The Scriptures tells us that God makes history.

He did not shape it all at once at the dawn of time, like a clock which is wound up and makes its regular rounds until it stops. Nay, God creates it piece by piece, day by day.

How God makes history we see best in the Old Testament as we follow the history of the chosen people.

We see how God intervenes, not only in the history of the chosen people, but also in the affairs of the world powers. He employs the latter as a scourge upon His own disobedient and rebellious people. And when He has thus made use of a nation, He turns and sends another nation to chastise the nation which He has used as a “scourge.”

God meets us, then, in history. And He would have us see and recognize Him here also. The events that take place in time become of eternal import when we look through their temporal shell into the eternal content and thus note the footprints of God.

This is what Jesus had in mind when He charged us to “discern the signs of the times.”

Let us first discern the signs of the times in our own country. If we are not blind, we shall see forces of disintegration at work undermining our nation and imminent danger threatening our beloved people.

This will drive us to humble and fervent prayer. For there are powers at work which cannot be overcome save by the power of God. That is why we are praying for a nation-wide spiritual awakening. We are crying to God that it may come before the powers of disintegration have made our nation ripe for catastrophe.

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O. Hallesby, God’s Word for Today: A Daily Devotional for the Whole Year, translator Clarence J. Carlsen (Augsburg, 1994)
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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Reflecting With God 4/28/2023

Posted on April 28, 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.

Friday Reflecting

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. – Isaiah 41:10.

Fear in all its forms is a kind of atheism. The man who is afraid has lost faith; he no longer believes in God.

That which justifies courage in facing the possibilities of life is the conviction that its master is our Lord as well; that it is so framed that “all things work together for good” to those who are obedient to the laws of life; that our little plans are embraced in a greater and wiser plan; that “light is sown for the righteous.”

Many a man looks backward and thanks God for the events in his life which once seemed disastrous, but which, in the clearer light of time, disclose the beauty of noble opportunity.
~ BISHOP HALL

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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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Daily Prayer & Praise 4/28/2023

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Lord, hear our prayer:

Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. We come trusting that you will accept us and our worship. We come in the assurance of the love he demonstrated in his death on the cross. Lord we ask that you keep convincing us of your love, soften our hard hearts and bring us to the foot of his cross, that we might be prepared to carry the cross for his glory. You know how weak we can be, strengthen us through your continued love and joy, in Jesus’ precious name.

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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Praise The Lord 4/27/2023

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Praise the name of God forever and ever,
    for he has all wisdom and power.
He controls the course of world events;
    he removes kings and sets up other kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the scholars.
He reveals deep and mysterious things
    and knows what lies hidden in darkness,
    though he is surrounded by light.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors,
    for you have given me wisdom and strength.

The Word of the Lord is steadfast, sure and unchanging.
Praise the Lord, forevermore!

Based on the prayer of praise to the Lord found in Daniel 2.

Scripture taken from the the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015
by Tyndale House. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Crown Him Lord of All – 4

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Scripture References – Colossians 1:13-20

Christ Is the Beloved of the Father

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. – Colossians 1:19-20.

Paul had already called Jesus Christ “the Son of His [God’s] love” (Colossians 1:13). Those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). For this reason, God can call us His beloved (Colossians 3:12).

Then Paul took a giant step forward in his argument, for he declared that “all fullness” dwelt in Jesus Christ! The word translated “fullness” is the Greek word pleroma which means “the sum total of all the divine power and attributes.” It was a technical term in the vocabulary of the gnostic false teachers. However, it should be noted that Paul used this important word eight times in the Colossian letter, so he was meeting the false teachers on their own ground.

The word “dwell” is equally important. It means much more than merely “to reside.” The form of the verb means “to be at home permanently.” The late Dr. Kenneth S. Wuest, the noted Greek expert, pointed out in his excellent commentary on Colossians that the verb indicates that this fullness was “not something added to His Being that was not natural to Him, but that it was part of His essential Being as part of His very constitution, and that permanently.”

The Father would not permanently give His “sum total of all the divine power and attributes” to some created being. The fact that it “pleased the Father” to have His fullness in Christ is proof that Jesus Christ is God. “And of His [Christ’s] fullness we have all received” (John 1:16). “For in Him [Jesus Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

Because Jesus Christ is God, He is able to do what no mere man could ever do: reconcile lost sinners to a holy God. When the first man and woman sinned, they declared war on God; but God did not declare war on them. Instead, God sought Adam and Eve; and He provided a covering for their sins.

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The natural mind of the unsaved sinner is at war with God (Romans 8:7). The sinner may be sincere, religious, and even moral; but he is still at war with God.

How can a holy God ever be reconciled with sinful man? Can God lower His standards, close His eyes to sin, and compromise with man? If He did, the universe would fall to pieces! God must be consistent with Himself and maintain His own Holy Law.

Perhaps man could somehow please God. But by nature, man is separated from God; and by his deeds, he is alienated from God (Colossians 1:21). The sinner is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1-3), and therefore is unable to do anything to save himself or to please God (Romans 8:8).

If there is to be reconciliation between man and God, the initiative and action must come from God Himself. It is “in Christ” that God was reconciled to man (2 Corinthians 5:19). But it was not the incarnation of Christ that accomplished this reconciliation, nor was it His example as He lived among men. It was through His death that peace was made between God and man. He “made peace through the blood of His cross.”

Of course, the false teachers offered a kind of reconciliation between man and God. However, the reconciliation they offered was not complete or final. The angels and the “emanations” could in some way bring men closer to God, according to the gnostic teachers. But the reconciliation we have in Jesus Christ is perfect, complete, and final. More than that, the reconciliation in Christ involves the whole universe! He reconciles “all things to Himself . . . things on earth or things in heaven.”

However, we must not conclude wrongly that universal reconciliation is the same as universal salvation. “Universalism” is the teaching that all beings, including those who have rejected Jesus Christ, will one day be saved. This was not what Paul believed. “Universal restorationism” was not a part of Paul’s theology, for he definitely taught that sinners needed to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved (2 Thessalonians 1).

To Be Continued

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Adaptation of excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 2.
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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Spiritual Nuggets 4/27/2023

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Power, Authority, and Its Result

“For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?” (Ecclesiastes 8:6).

We all struggle with the future and the vast uncertainty it creates in our minds. It’s rarely the present that keeps us awake at night; it’s our concerns about what will happen if the present changes for better or worse.

But unlike other places in the Bible when we’re told not to worry, the words of Ecclesiastes 8:6 are set in the context of a request to obey the king of the land. This is not because the king is offered as a solution to the problems, although he could potentially help, but because like many other things, there is nothing that can be done about him. Why worry about that which you cannot change?

This situation is equated to life and death itself: “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the way of death” (Ecclesiastes 8:8). The Preacher of Ecclesiastes then goes on to reflect the cultural reality of the time: “There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.” Again, what can you change about it? If the king is corrupt, it will destroy him, like it will destroy others—it’s only a matter of time. Wickedness has no power to deliver; only the power to destroy.

And this is most pressing for reflection: Sin is often cast as an escape from life’s pains and sometimes feelings of meaninglessness, yet it really destroys life. (If only this reasoning was present in our thinking every time we were tempted.)

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes begins to draw his thoughts to a close by telling us: People’s power over one another is “hurt”—it’s painful (Ecclesiastes 8:9). Here in a passage about the need for people to be governed (that’s likely written by one in power), we see the author admit that power will inflict pain, or more literally “evil” or “badness.”

This startling reality forms another realization: In a world that was meant to have God as its king and ruler—in a world where that power only shifted after people sinned and were no longer allowed in the presence of their creator—it makes sense that power would corrupt. But we’re told: what can we do about it? The only thing we can do is to be people who choose to follow the good—the good God—and work toward the overthrowing of evil and the battle against corruption. But we must, along the way, realize that worry and anxiety will only paralyze, not help.

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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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Food For Thought 4/27/2023

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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It Takes No Brains

Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “It takes no brains to be an atheist. Any stupid person can deny the existence of a supernatural power because man’s physical senses cannot detect it. But there cannot be ignored the mystery of first life … or the marvelous order in which the universe moves about us. All of these evidence the handiwork of a beneficent Deity. For my part, that Deity is the God of the Bible and Christ, His Son.”

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