Category: Teaching Topics

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

None of us is lacking for reasons to mourn. If we see the world the way it truly is, through the lens of the Gospel, it is enough to cause deep sadness. We are so far away from our Creator’s intentions. The fall in the Garden of Eden ushered in a curse so pervasive that there is no part of life that has not been affected. All around me, there is profound brokenness.

The best of relationships are tainted by sin natures. Everyone, without redemption and a new life built on the foundation of God’s Word, is fragile. Words shatter egos. Betrayals end a friendship. Careless accusations fracture a parent/child relationship. Disappointments usher in a grief that has no end. Then there is the mourning that grips a person on the other side of losses; death, health, vocation, friendships, loss of innocence.

It’s wonderful when God sends a comforter who speaks deeply into my soul. I am blessed to have a few around me that do that for me. And while the church should be full of comforters, they are sparse if the church is skin deep. If I am willing to mourn, or if I’m already mourning, where is the comfort Jesus speaks of with certainty?

• If I mourn the past, I find comfort in God’s embrace. He says that no pain is wasted and nothing is outside of redemption.
• If I mourn a betrayal, I find comfort in God’s embrace. Whatever I lack, He promises to provide. He fills me up so I can give and forgive.
• If I mourn my limitations, I find comfort in God’s embrace. I know that one day I will enjoy eternal life on a new earth. Every single limitation will be eliminated.
• If I mourn the deterioration of this world, I find comfort in God’s embrace. God’s plan is to restore paradise and make everything shiny and new.

The Comforter and comfort are one in the same. The Comforter speaks the Word and it means something because I have a relationship with the One who speaks it. If I only see comfort as words on a page, they will be hollow when the pain consumes my attention. They’ll be no more satisfying than a Chinese proverb. But if I have a relationship with the Comforter, the scripture He whispers into my soul bring joy, hope, and comfort even in the tears.

Brave children cry. Brave adults cry. You cried and Your Father sent you angels to comfort You. I will not fear that any abyss is too deep. Amen

[Samuel said to Saul] The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you and you will prophesy with them and will be transformed into another man. And let it be when these signs come upon you that you do as occasion serves you, for God is with you. And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. All who knew him earlier saw that and said, “What is this that is come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” I Samuel 10:6-9 

The Spirit of God came upon certain individuals in the Old Testament and as a result, they came under His influence. They were changed and equipped to fulfill their destiny as king, prophet, or servant. Is it possible that something so amazing and so rare can be taken for granted when it happens today? Yes. I can be so used to the vernacular of the ‘indwelling of the Spirit’ that I’m numb to the sheer wonder of it. The privilege of housing Glory can be tragically lost on me.

At the very moment I believed in Jesus and embraced Him as Lord, the Spirit of the LORD came upon me too. He didn’t make a visitation as He did under the old covenant. He made me His permanent dwelling place and transformed me into a new person. The same phenomenon that Saul experienced happened to me. At my spiritual birth, I was called to an eternal destiny and am fully equipped to accomplish it under the power of God’s anointing.

Those from Saul’s hometown couldn’t believe the change. They were incredulous and remarked to one another, “Who is this? Is Saul a prophet?” It was a takeover of the heavenly kind, producing the fruits and giftings of the Spirit of God. His new, unnatural abilities could only be explained by his encounter with God.

It is our privilege to walk out our calling. We are to be seen as weak, yet strong in Christ. Dull, yet brilliant in His wisdom. Unqualified, yet uniquely gifted in ways no one can explain. Anything done in the flesh will leave others quite bored. Our efforts will lack the power of that synergistic connection between God and His child.

Take me outside of what I can naturally accomplish so that Your signature is clearly legible. To You be all glory. Amen

But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat.  John 6: 20-21

Jesus’ disciples are in a boat in the middle of the sea.  The opposite shore is nowhere in sight.  It is dark and the sea is churning.  Uncertainty and fear overtake them.  At that moment, Jesus appears and is walking toward them on top of the water.  They had just seen Him feed five thousand people with one small meal yet this sight is beyond comprehension.  His power continually surprises them.  Each time it is manifested, it is in an other worldly context and their finite minds are challenged.

Jesus, knowing their fear, “It’s Me. Don’t be afraid.”  Like a child whose parent shows up to take care of everything, their fears turn to calm.  Pounding heartbeats normalized.  Adrenalin subsided. Consider how the elements of this story live on past the disciple’s time.

All of us are navigating our lives.  Often, there’s no light on our path. Wisdom for the next step is completely elusive. The shore is behind us. Everything familiar is out of sight.  We are in uncharted waters, feeling inadequate.  The sea is beginning to churn.  Passages are difficult enough without storms complicating them.  Fears begin to intensify and rational thought decreases.  Roar of the waves bombard our senses and functioning normally is not an option.

Where is Jesus?  He is on the horizon and asks to be invited into the boat.  His words can be heard even in the midst of the storm.  “It’s Me.  Don’t be afraid.”  We realize we don’t have to make the voyage alone.  The One who can control the storm with a mere whisper is our companion.

Never has a voice been as sweet as Yours, Lord, heard quietly beneath the noise of my life. You have not abandoned Me. Take me safely home.  Amen

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And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. Mark 1:10-12

The same Spirit of God that descended on Jesus at His baptism proceeded to lead Him out into the desert to be tempted. That can be emotionally confusing to me as I seek to find a comfort zone in God’s character. One incredibly tender moment during His baptism ushers in stark moments when the humanity of Jesus is stretched to new limits. Why was that necessary?

Many bible teachers weigh in on the answer. One belief is that Jesus needed to be tempted in every way that we are tempted so that we know that we can run to Him as our High Priest. That was certainly accomplished in the wilderness. But there is another possibility.  By being led into the wilderness to be tempted, and by prevailing with righteous choices, He fulfilled what the Israelites had not been able to do during their 40-year wanderings. They had been led from Egypt to the Red Sea, then to the wilderness, in order to test their new faith. The pressures revealed the immaturity of their faith.

Ah, but testing would reveal the perfection of Jesus’ faith. He repeated Israel’s journey to complete what they had failed. One indication that this might be true is the passage Jesus quoted when Satan first tempted Him to turn the stones into bread. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The context of Deuteronomy 8 is Israel’s wilderness experience.

Jesus came to redeem what was broken. The nation of Israel failed miserably while on their journey to the Promised Land. Jesus redeemed it by going into the same wilderness and doing it right. As His child, I am called to share in the redemption of what is broken. The Spirit of God leads me into situations where I can redeem the sinful patterns of my family. I am often led into places that mirror my own past experiences so that I can do it right the 2^nd time around. I find that the stakes are high when I feel the most fragile. I can enter a wilderness with the best of intentions and with great resolve to succeed. But the nature of my wilderness will test my limits. Passion to succeed never brings success. This is a spiritual endeavor, not a human one. For me to pass the tests that the wilderness brings, I will have to humble myself and acknowledge my utter helplessness without the Holy Spirit’s help. Prevailing with righteous choices will only happen as the Spirit of God, resident in me, rises up to empower what is impossible with human effort.

Jesus redeemed Israel’s sin. What sin, whose journey, might He want to redeem through me today?

It’s exciting. It’s impossible without You. I am Your servant. Amen

“What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

Kingdom seeds are so powerful when they are planted on earth. Jesus gave an example of this when talking about the tiniest of seeds, the mustard seed.  Each one grows into a 10 foot plant. Great things always start small.

How much do I really believe in the seeds of scripture? When a need is so great, whether in someone else or in me, it can seem hopeless to personalize a few verses. What difference is it really making when I don’t see immediate results? Does speaking a few kingdom words over an ocean of need even impact the void?

My greatest mistake would be to be misled by earth’s odds. If I look at the probability of change like I look at filling up a beach ~ one grain of sand at a time ~ of course I’ll give up. But that is not what happens when I consistently sow the seeds of heaven. These agents of the kingdom are energetic and highly effective. When inspired, and then spoken, they begin the process of change. How do I know? Jesus said, “If you plant it, it will bear fruit.” Whether I can see the changes is immaterial. God works in the deep, in the unseen and imperceptible.  He does soul surgery in masterful ways long before human beings can see the fruit.

What kind of seeds do you need to plant today? Belief. Joy. Peace. Unity. Sobriety. Pure sexual appetite. I need to plant faith seeds ~ faith that God holds the answers to unanswered questions and is trustworthy.  So, I speak God’s Word outloud over myself.  When declared, faith is ignited and spiritual forces are put on notice. It is the legal equivalent of serving the enemy legal papers. Oh, the cumulative effect of God’s spoken Word over time – spoken over me – spoken over the earth.

I believe and I have seen with my own eyes ~ my own transformation. Amen

When the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  John 20:19

The disciples are hopeless.  They had grown to love Jesus.  He said he was King, but they watched as he was arrested, condemned to death, and then crucified.  The disciples had never faced a more desperate moment.  Now they meet to comfort one another in their shared loss.  To add to the grief they are experiencing over their Lord’s death, they also fear for their own lives.  So, they meet in secret.  The doors are locked.  Voices are hushed.  Anxiety and tension have peaked.  At that moment, Jesus enters the room that is off-limits to all others.  There is no obstacle that can prevent him from appearing.  He is God.

I understand the disciples well in this passage.  Do you?  I know what it is like to be locked away in fear.  When life took a series of bad turns in the 90’s, I retreated into a silent world and shut most everyone else out.  Not because I wanted to be antisocial but because the pain rendered me speechless.  The story was too long to tell, too cobwebbed to articulate, and the ability to interact through everyday chitchat was absent.  I became an emotional recluse and felt that I was destined to live a very long time in isolation.  I didn’t know how to connect with God either and felt that even that was improbable.

I experienced a deep healing of God over the course of three years.  At the end of that, Daughters of Promise was born in 2000.  My fear of people subsided in the arms of Jesus.  I learned to live in spacious places where my story became part of the collective story of the redeemed.  Life is still mixed, as yours is mixed, with joy and tears.  When searing pain marks my path, I find myself once again in the room with Jesus’s disciples who teeter on the edge of despair.  Our longing causes us to be still, look up, and wait for the breath of our Savior upon our cheek.

Since our son died just 5 weeks ago, I have felt His presence many times.  While there are understandably dark moments of grief, the indwelling presence of God is the rock which keeps our family steadfast.  Our feet have not slipped into unbelief because we are being carried by the wind of the Spirit – propelling us just above the storm.  Your prayers and many cards of encouragement have been part of His sustaining grace.

I don’t know if you are hiding today.  Perhaps your heart is sealed away in a tomb of disillusionment and fear.  Maybe you’re keeping your entire world on the other side of the door but you fear that even God cannot reach you.  He can!  He’s with me in the most challenging of times after a child’s suicide.  I want to shout ~ Yes, He calls our names and says, “I’m here.  Peace be with you.”

Help each of us call out to You so we can feel the healing of Your presence.  In that secret place, do spiritual surgery on our souls.  Amen

You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:16

It seems that Jesus needs to get away from the crowds so he takes His disciples and walks a day’s walk north of the Sea of Galilee. When they get there, Jesus asks His disciples who people say He is. They reveal that the most popular answer was that He is John the Baptist – raised from the dead. Others say ~ Elijah. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks. Peter answers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus then blesses Peter ~ something rabbis do when a student gives the right answers to important questions.

One of the differences between Jesus and every other Rabbi-teacher is that Jesus can sense the heart behind the answer. He knows whether Peter is giving lip service to impress Him or if Peter’s whole heart is engaged as he makes the proclamation.

Jesus read people’s hearts then and He still does it today. As I teach the scriptures, as I sing the worship songs, or as I answer questions in a class, Jesus – who sits at God’s right hand – can tell if I’m going through the motions for reasons other than divine affection. How easy it is to try to fool people when my heart isn’t in it. Knowing the right answers can often get someone far but not far at all with Jesus if the heart is darkened.

It’s painful to be fooled, isn’t it?

• Perhaps your search committee asked all the right questions of a prospective pastoral candidate. He was impressive in his answers. Time revealed a deeply flawed character, however.
• Perhaps you asked your would-be spouse where he/she stood with Jesus. The right answer was given and it appeared sincere. When memories of standing at an altar were dimmed, so was any remnant of their faith.

Time reveals the fidelity of faith. It certainly did for Peter. The other eleven disciples could not tell for certain if Peter was caught up in the emotion of the moment or if his faith would carry him through a lifetime of hardship. As it turned out, Peter would end well. He was no charlatan. He was also not someone who was power hungry. Persecution has its way of weeding out all pretenders. Peter ran the race and finished upside on a cross.

You said to let my yes be yes and my no be no. Forgive me when I say one thing but really feel another way entirely. Amen