All Applications Will Be Accepted

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rying to find quality television programming on Saturday morning is the equivalent of a man standing at the ocean with a bucket trying to drain it dry.  In other words, it is an impossible task.  Nonetheless, I find myself each Saturday morning on the couch, remote in hand, flipping through the channels, hoping against hope that something will stimulate my still sleepy brain cells and jolt them into reality.  Several minutes later I come to the realization that I will have to be a self-starter if I am to have any success waking up!  Bummer!

One more jog through the channels provides me with enough motivation to get up off the couch and start my day.  The shows run the gamut from how to cook a perfect cheese soufflé to infomercials for must-have items for your home all of which carry a price tag of just $19.95 if you call within the next 5 minutes. 

But my favorite shows, hands down, are the car dealerships who try their best to entice people to pick up the phone, dial the number on the screen, and buy a car.  All of them promise the same thing, that all applications for credit will be accepted.  If a bank has turned you down, they have the solution you’re looking for.  Low payments and any car you wish are just a phone call away, regardless of your past credit history.  Bad credit, no credit, bankruptcy, slow pays, blemishes, you name it, they stand ready to help.

I can only take so much of this and I have to turn off the television.  Yet there is a kernel of truth in what they are saying.  Unbeknownst to these car dealers, they are actually wonderful examples of a great biblical truth and one we need to understand and share with those around us who do not know Jesus Christ as savior and lord.

Most people have difficulty with the concept of salvation because they believe God can’t and won’t forgive them.  They are convinced they what they have done in the past is so bad that God can never overlook what they’ve done much, less forgive them for it.  Only those who come from a certain background, social class, or certain economic levels are ever good enough for God’s salvation they believe.  And that is where people have it wrong—dead wrong!

In Romans 10:12-13, Paul writes these wonderful words, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  What a deal!!  Paul states categorically there is no difference in standing, either socially or economically, for those whom God forgives.  The words all and everyone are all-inclusive, not mutually exclusive.  In short, all are accepted; no one is denied at the throne of God! 

This is great news!  Regardless of our pasts, God offers us his salvation.  It is not based on what we’ve done or not done, who we know or don’t know, how much we make or don’t make, or how much we try or don’t try.  God’s salvation is based on the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ and the infinite resources found in him.  No matter what’s in your past, God stands ready to forgive your sins and extends his salvation to all (not just a select few) who ask for it!  But that is the key, we have to ask and when we ask, Paul tells us God will save us!

I never believed a used car salesman would ever preach the gospel.  But in their own unique way on my screen each Saturday morning, they allude to a true biblical principle.  Salvation is offered to all, it is a gift from God, and in order to obtain it, all we have to do is hit our knees, call upon the Lord, confess our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as savior and lord.  And, by the way, all applications are accepted! Have you applied today?

The Steeple Chase

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hurches dot the landscape around my home in North Carolina.  It is almost impossible to drive in any direction without passing a church.  There are large churches, small churches, churches made of brick, others made of wood, some old, some new, some occupying street corners while others are surrounded by rolling hills and pastureland.  Some have large congregations, and some have very small ones, some have graveyards while others don’t.  But no matter the church, large or small, brick or wood, in the city or in the country, they all have one thing in common—a steeple.

As a small boy, I can remember seeing these various churches, most of which look the same as they did then, from the front seat of my parent’s car. I could always tell when we were approaching a church because I could see its steeple towering above the tree line or surrounding buildings, assuring everyone that God was still at work despite the hustle and bustle of the city or the remoteness of the countryside.

Atop most of these steeples was a cross, the constant reminder of the price God paid for man’s sin.  In addition to adorning the tops of these churches, the cross served another purpose—a lightning rod!  Since the steeple was the tallest portion of the church, it served to attract lightning strikes, protecting the building by taking the full force of a strike and dissipating it to the ground so the structure and all inside would remain safe and unharmed.  Without that lightning rod, the church building remained at risk for certain damage.

I have thought many times what a wonderful picture of salvation those lightning rods represent and how they serve as a reminder that Jesus took upon himself the full brunt of God’s judgment so that we could be saved from sin’s deadly curse.  In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul reminds us of this fact, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Do you see God’s lightning rod at work in this passage?  The cross lifted Jesus, suspending him between God and man.  When God’s judgment fell, Jesus, himself, bore the full brunt and took upon himself the punishment for our sin.  How fitting and proper it is that we should affix crosses to the steeples of our churches, using them as lightning rods, to serve as the constant reminder of God’s love for mankind and the provision he made to save us from our sins.  The next time you pass a church with a cross on its steeple, slow down and remember what that cross represents. Are you under the protection of the cross today?

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Finding God In The Fridge

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leaning out the refrigerator is no fun!  I remember Saturday mornings when mom decided it was time to clean out the fridge.  The space on the counter top grew steadily smaller as dish after dish and container after container made its way from the fridge to our cabinets.  Honestly, I thought we’d never finish washing, drying, and putting away all those dishes!

My job was to tell her what was on the refrigerator’s shelves and she would decide whether or not such and such a dish needed to be washed or remain in the refrigerator.  Now when I clean out my own refrigerator, memories of those Saturday mornings spent with mom in the kitchen come flooding back.  Today, just as it was back then, cleaning out the refrigerator is still no fun!

I also remember checking the box of baking soda in the refrigerator to make sure it was still good.  Mom kept a box sitting on one of the shelves.  It was there to absorb any odors that might spoil the inside of the refrigerator.  Boy did that little box of soda work!  I never remember our refrigerator having an unpleasant odor thanks to that box of soda mom kept in the refrigerator.

In a very real sense, that box of soda is an excellent example of how Jesus works in the life of the believer.  Sin, like the inside of a refrigerator full of outdated food, produces an unwanted and unpleasant odor in the life of the nonbeliever!  No matter how rich, no matter how successful, and no matter how popular we are, without Jesus, our lives are spoiled, rancid, and ready for the garbage.  Only by accepting Jesus Christ can we hope to rid ourselves of sin and its detrimental effect in our lives.

1 John 3:5 tells us that Jesus came not to cover up sin, not to excuse it, not to tolerate it, but to take it away.  “But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”  Unlike that box of soda which needs to be changed every so often, Jesus offers us eternal life once and for all!  His sacrifice removes our sin, takes it away so we can enjoy a personal relationship with God.

That box of soda kept the fridge fresh for several months.  It absorbed all the unpleasant odors and kept the fridge fresh.  However, after working for a long period, the soda became saturated and was no longer able to purify the air.  So, we had to replace it with a fresh box.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, he takes away our sin.  Unlike the soda, however, Jesus’ salvation never wears out, never becomes ineffective, and must never be renewed!!  This is wonderful news!

It always amazes me how God uses the small things in life to teach us wonderful and life changing lessons about Himself.  The next time you open your refrigerator and you have a box of soda inside, stop and think about the wonderful gift of salvation God provided through His son, Jesus Christ.  You will never see the inside of a fridge or the inside of your life in the same light ever again.  We can find God anywhere, even in the fridge!  All we have to do is look for Him!

A Striking Experience

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rowing up on Main Street was a wonderful experience!  Everything I knew and learned about the world happened there.  I learned how to trust, I learned how to be honest, I learned the importance of sharing, and I learned how to get along with others.  Of course, there were the other lessons as well.  On Main Street I also learned that you don’t always get your way, that sometimes friends let you down, that life happens and it isn’t always pleasant, and that there are always consequences to the choices we make and they affect not only us but those we hold most dear.

My father’s place of business was located just up the street from our home. In fact, I could see it from our backyard and I passed it on my way to school, when I visited a friend, or when I went uptown.  What I remember most about its location are the two giant oak trees that stood on its property lines, one to the west and the other to the east. 

Those two trees were huge, standing like great pillars holding up the sky. I remember, as a kid, looking up at them, almost breaking by back as I bent tried to see their tops.  Putting your arms around them was as impossible a task as emptying the ocean with a bucket but I tried anyway on several occasions.  I was an eternal optimist!

Those trees are forever etched into my memory because they played such an important part in my childhood.   There were always there, in summer, in winter, in spring, in fall, in heat, in cold, in rain, in drought, and when the wind blew, they creaked and groaned, bending but never breaking. 

There was one day, however, when the impossible happened.  Lightening struck one of the trees and laid the bark open from the fork of its trunk where its branches began to the roots which entered the ground.  The gash was deep, ugly, and threatened to destroy the tree if it weren’t repaired.

I came home from school one day to find a tree surgeon repairing the damage left by that lightening bolt.  I remember my grandfather telling me the man in the bucket truck was a surgeon. I trusted my grandfather even though I found it odd that this surgeon had no nurse assisting him and didn’t wear green surgical scrubs like the doctors on TV. After a few hours, however, he had repaired the tree, filling the scar with some mixture that hardened, protecting the tree’s interior and removing any possibility that it would die from its wound.

He was a great tree surgeon!  In time the bark grew back around the wound.  The tree continued to bud and grow leaves year after year.  Eventually, it became impossible to tell that anything had happened to that tree but the fact remained it had been wounded and inside, down deep where you couldn’t see it, the surgeon’s work remained, forever changing the tree, giving it life in spite of its past wound.

Would it surprise you to know that the work of a tree surgeon is described in the book of Psalms?  It is amazing what we can find in the Scriptures when we take time to read them closely and let them speak to us.  In Psalm 147:3 David shares this thought, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” 

This passage speaks to all of us.  Who among us has not had a broken heart?  Who among us has been able to escape the lightening strikes of life?  We’ve all had our hearts broken and none of us has escaped life’s storms.  But God stands ready to heal our wounds and to make our hearts whole.  The greatest strike that rips into our lives is sin.  None of us is immune to it.  In fact, the Scriptures tell us very plainly that we have all sinned and fallen woefully short of God’s glory.  But that wound can be healed by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior and lord.  Only when we accept God’s free gift of salvation can the wound in our heart be truly healed.

God places His balm of love, mercy, and grace into our hearts.  He binds up the wound and heals us from our sin.  We are then able to live, truly live and produce fruit for His glory.  Even when our outsides look the same, we are forever changed on the inside because God works in our hearts, the very essence and core of our being.

It has become very unpopular in today’s world to speak of Christ Jesus as being the only way to salvation.  Yet, that is what the Bible teaches.  My prayer today is that we will share the good news of Christ with those around us, that we will share with them the joy of having the wound in our hearts healed, that they too will know that true life exists beyond the most striking experiences and painful gashes we encounter.  Has the heavenly surgeon healed your wound today?  Why don’t you make an appointment to see Him?

Trying To Make Up

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everal weeks ago, I stopped into a local pharmacy to buy something for a headache, you know the slow, nagging kind that just won't go away.   As I made my way toward the pain relievers, I walked down an entire aisle devoted solely to cosmetics.  I never knew there were so many different colors!  I mean, how many different shades constitute a blush?  And let's not even talk about eye shadow!!  Needless to say, my hat is off to you ladies who are able to negotiate these aisles with ease.  There is simply no way I could manage it!  I have a hard enough time deciding regular or double stuff Oreo's, and they are the same color!

All along the aisle were posters and pictures of beautiful models, advertising different brands of make-up to improve your looks and to make you a more successful and confident person.  Excuse me, but let's face one fact!  If these people need to use cosmetics to "make up" any deficit between what they are and what society believes they should be, do any of the rest of us have a chance? I don't think so!   Personally, I think we're sunk!! 

But this stroll down the cosmetic aisle only served to reinforce a stark truth about our society.  We are so enamored with the outward appearances of people.  We notice their hairstyle, their clothing, their shoes, etc.; but we neglect the people themselves.  As a society, we have set a standard that is impossible for us to reach on our own.  Although we speak of valuing inner beauty, we sell products to enhance and improve outward appearance.  In addition, we convey the idea that people, women in particular, need to use something to "make up" the deficit between themselves and "perfection."  The very name of the product, "make-up" only under girds the notion that we aren't good enough on our own and must constantly work to make up for what we lack.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon touches our spiritual lives as well. It is difficult, if not impossible, for some Christians to accept the notion of God's grace.  Mercy is not receiving what we do deserve; but grace is receiving what we don't deserve.  It is by God's grace that we have obtained eternal life through Christ.  There was nothing we could do to receive it, it is God's gift that he offers freely to each person who believes Jesus Christ came to die and pay the penalty for sin.

However, we, as Christians, send the wrong message.  We are constantly "doing" things for God.  We serve on every committee the church organizes; we attend every bake sale, every Bible study, try out for every program, and make sure we read everything written about Christianity.  We teach Sunday school, work in the nursery, deliver meals to people who are home-bound , donate our clothes to the less fortunate, and send money to at least five missionaries or Christian organizations.  All the while, we buy into the idea that the more we do for God, the holier we are.  But nothing could be further from the truth!!

Paul addresses this issue in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  Here, Paul takes issue with the idea that we can earn our salvation by performing a certain number of works.  He states categorically that our salvation is a gift from God and not because of anything we have done.  We get caught up in appearances, believing we will "look" more like a Christian if we do things perceived by society as Christian.  This is the equivalent of applying cosmetics to dress up a person's looks.  No matter how much make-up is applied, it can do nothing to change the inner attitude or character of a person.

God saved us because he chose to, because he loved us, because we couldn't do it for ourselves.  We need to stop living as if our salvation depended on the number of church bazaar's we attend and start understanding that true life begins when we accept the gift of God's grace.  Constantly doing alienates us from God because we are too busy to spend time with him.  Accepting his grace, however, draws us closer to him because we understand just how much we need him and how much he loves us. 

Before you start your day, spend some time with your Heavenly Father.  You can go to him, blemishes and all, because he loves you.  He sees you just the way you are and he will never require you "make up" any part of your life.  Instead, he will look at your heart, the real you, and accept you and love you for the person you are, not for the person you think you should be.

Down To The Nitty-gritty!

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he sound of the ceramic saw and the steady pounding of the hammer told me that the long-awaited day had arrived.  My brother was busy installing the bathroom floor in our house.  He and I had purchased an old fixer-upper and we had been working for over a year, totally renovating the property.  One of the highlights of this project involved installing marble tile in the bathroom. Our parents made it possible for us to buy the tile and the time had come to install it.

Fortunately for us, Kevin was able to use his many talents to work on several aspects of the house.  He did a lot of the carpentry work, installed the light fixtures, painted, hung wall paper, and added the little details that most people would have overlooked.  Today, however, he was installing the marble tile, one of the last stages toward completing our bathroom.

After putting down the sub-flooring, Kevin snapped chalk lines, mixed the mortar, and laid the tiles in place.  When he finished, the floor looked wonderful.  Where there had only been plywood, brand new pieces of marble now joined together to create a beautiful, durable floor.  However, despite its beauty, the floor remained unfinished and incomplete.  Between each tile was a gap that separated it from the neighboring tiles.  The process of installing the floor wouldn’t be completed until Kevin added grout and sealant to the newly-installed tiles.

The next day, Kevin entered the bathroom to put down the grout.  It was a messy and tiring job as he mixed the grout and worked it into the spaces between the tiles.  Afterward, the tile had to be rubbed down, washed, and dried.  It took him the better part of a day to complete the project but when he finished, the floor was complete, ready to be used.  The only thing remaining was to let the grout dry so it could be sealed.  

I learned a very valuable lesson from the installation of that floor.  Although the marble tile was beautiful, its installation was incomplete apart from the grout.  Without it, the tiles were separated and unattractive.  However, when Kevin got down to the nitty-gritty, when he worked the grout into the spaces between the tiles, the floor came out just right. Without the grout, the tiles would have bucked and cracked. But the grout joined them, protected them, and allowed them to be united into one floor.

The nitty-gritty work is always important.  When we speak of getting down to the nitty gritty we mean performing the most basic part of any task.  Without this step, nothing else matters.  Although we use the best materials and take great care, without our getting down to the nitty-gritty, our work is all in vain.

Jesus used this concept of getting down to the nitty-gritty in his conversation with Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling counsel.  Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and spoke with him about the requirements for obtaining salvation and entering the kingdom of God.  John 3 records Nicodemus’ visit with Jesus and the conversation they had.  Jesus made very precise statements about the process of entering God’s kingdom.  Nicodemus had several questions and some difficulty about Jesus’ words. 

John 3:3 records the one requirement for becoming a child of God.  We could call it the
”nitty-gritty” of becoming a Christian.  This is what Jesus told Nicodemus that evening, “In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  Notice what Jesus told Nicodemus.  No one can see God’s kingdom unless he has a second birth.  That is all inclusive. It doesn’t matter who you are, who your parents are or were, what you have, or what you don’t have.  Unless you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you cannot see God’s kingdom.

This was a hard saying for Nicodemus and it is for people today.  Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling counsel, was like fine marble tile.  He was wealthy, he had all the luxuries of life, he had influence, he had knowledge, and he had power.  Still, there were gaps in his life, large areas that separated him from those around him.  More importantly, these gaps in his life separated him from God.

Nicodemus knew that something was missing; something that all his earthly riches and influence could not secure for him.  So, he came to Jesus, searching for the one thing he lacked to set his life in order.  Jesus got right down to the nitty-gritty.  In order to share in God’s salvation and his kingdom, Nicodemus would have to be “born again”, that is born into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ.  His possessions, his status, his position in his community, and his influence over others were of no importance concerning his spiritual condition.  The only thing that mattered was his status before God.  That status hinged on the decision Nicodemus would make about his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ standards have not changed.  His statement to Nicodemus is as true for us as it was for him.  We must get down to the nitty-gritty and answer the question about our relationship with Jesus.  Is he Lord and Savior?  Is he the master of our lives?  Have we accepted him and his free gift of salvation?  Until we can answer all of these questions with a resounding yes, our lives will have gaps and spaces in them, keeping us at a distance from others and from God.  Don’t you think it’s time you got down to the nitty-gritty of life today?

I'm Not Wired For This

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n late August of 1983, I was frantically preparing to leave the United States to spend my third year of college studying abroad in France.  Packing for a year proved quite a challenge.   There were so many things to consider as I contemplated everything I needed to take with me for a year.  I packed enough clothes, socks, toiletries, cassette tapes, batteries, paper, pens, etc. to last me for the months ahead.  I even sent my winter clothes ahead of me so they would arrive well before the start of cold weather.

One of my last purchases was a power converter.  My hairdryer, my clock, and my radio, were all wired for 110 volts, the proper standard for the United States.  However, Europe uses 220 volts for its standard, meaning that my appliances would not work in France. A French plug-in is different from one in the United States.  Moreover, each country's electrical outlets were configured much differently from their American counterparts. This meant I had to have a piece of equipment which allowed the electrical current flowing from a European outlet to be converted into the correct voltage for my appliances.  Without the converter, my equipment would have been useless.

Although there was an electrical source coursing through the walls of my apartment and the hotels and inns where I stayed, it was of no use to me without a proper converter.  Only when the electricity passed through the converter were my appliances able to work correctly.  The converter served as the mediator between the electrical current and the appliance, providing the correct relationship between the two so that they were both able to accomplish their objectives.  The electricity was allowed to flow and the appliances were able to perform their functions properly because they received the proper amount of power in the exact form necessary to make them useful and productive.

The Apostle Paul understood the importance of a "converter."  He understood that man's life was useless without the proper relationship to God.  God's power was of no use unless it was administered to man by a mediator, by someone who could provide the means whereby God's power could infuse the life of a person, making him/her useful to accomplish the mission God created for him/her.  Much like the electrical converter served as the mediator between the electrical source and the appliance, so Christ serves as the mediator between man and God, making it possible for man to enjoy a proper relationship with his God.

In 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul writes, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."  Here Paul leaves no doubt as to the role of Christ in God's plan of salvation.  Christ serves as our mediator; he makes it possible for us to experience God's power, his love, and his salvation by providing direct access to the Father. 

When we accept him as Lord and Savior, we find that God's love and power flow into and through our lives.  We then have the right relationship with God and we are able to correctly accomplish those things God assigns to us.  Without the work of Jesus, there is no way for man to tap God's resources.  Man would forever lie on life's shelf, lacking the power to live in a manner pleasing to God.  But through the sacrifice of Christ, through his mediation, we are accepted by God, we have a correct relationship with him, and his power flows through us.  Is God's power flowing through your life?  Are you wired to receive him today?

A Bottomless Cup Of Coffee

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 arrived in Fort Worth in 1997.  Several weeks after beginning seminary and getting situated, a few of my new friends and I began exploring our new city, discovering the many things it offered in terms of restaurants, entertainment, and shopping.  One evening, we decided to go downtown for a leisurely stroll and a visit to a coffee shop.  We selected a shop in the center of town that had several tables outside.  We went in, ordered our coffee, paid our bill, went outside, and had a wonderful time talking and people watching.  We enjoyed ourselves so much, that we began doing this on a regular basis, usually on Thursday evenings.

Texans love their coffee, and, being firm believers that one should do as the Romans when in Rome, we followed suit.  Soon, however, our visits to the coffee shop began to cost a little more than was in the budget.  We enjoyed the fellowship, we enjoyed the coffee, but we didn't enjoy straining our budgets to the limit.  So, one afternoon, one of the guys told us about a different coffee shop not far from downtown.  Not only was it larger, having plenty of space on the inside, there was also ample space outside to sit, relax, and visit.  Moreover, the management didn’t rush its customers; but encouraged them to stay as long as they wanted.  They even provided games, a reading room, and musical entertainment on the weekends.  Plus, their hours were more generous, closing later than their competitor.

We decided to visit this little place to see for ourselves.  Sure enough, everything we heard was true.  The atmosphere was inviting, the coffee was superb, the desserts they offered were wonderful (with true "Texas-sized" portions), and the employees were great.  But what really impressed us the most was the fact that you could pay $1 and get a bottomless cup of coffee.  For one price, you could have all the coffee you could drink. Needless to say, we were hooked and adopted this place as our very own.  The management further assured customer loyalty by encouraging its clients to bring their favorite coffee mugs and leave them.  They provided a rack for this purpose so when you entered, you simply took your mug off the shelf, paid $1, and settled in for an evening of relaxation and conversation.

The work of Jesus Christ resembles very closely our attempt to find a coffee shop.  Now, please bear with me here. I am not trivializing the work of Christ on the cross.  Before the coming of Christ, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat.  He did this to cover the sins of the people.  However, this sacrifice was only good for a year, forcing the high priest to perform this ritual repeatedly.  Throughout the year, the people performed other sacrifices for various aspects of their lives.  Soon, they came to understand just how expensive sin was.  The price for sin was beyond their means and no matter how often they sacrificed, each time they needed to approach God, they had to pay again by offering a new sacrifice.

When Jesus came, he did away with the sacrificial system.  By taking upon himself the cost of sin, he paid once and only once.  The writer of Hebrews stresses this important point by writing, "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12).  Now, there was direct access to God, Now, people could come to God without having to "pay" repeatedly.  The sacrifice of Jesus Christ invited all mankind to come to God without the threat of constantly paying and without the worry of overstaying their welcome.  Instead, they found rest, peace, comfort, joy, and an endless supply of forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love.  The relationship and fellowship they longed for was now possible.  All they needed to do was enter into the new covenant with God by accepting his son, Jesus Christ.

I continued to visit this coffee shop during my remaining years at the seminary.  Although my visits became less frequent due to a heavy schedule, each time I visited, I found the same system in place.  For one price, I had all the coffee and fellowship I wanted.  Each time, I was reminded, in a very tangible way, of the price Jesus paid for my sin.  All the promises of God, all his love, all his mercy, all his grace, and all his provision is mine because Jesus paid the price, once and only once, for sin.  Because of his sacrifice, I have direct access and no longer have to try and buy my way to God.  NO! For one price, I get it all.  What a great deal!  So, are you still paying for your coffee one cup at a time?  Wouldn't you rather have full and open access to God by asking Christ into your life? He is waiting for you to do that today!  The coffee shop is open, come on in!!

Bring Me Your Dirty Laundry

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 remember the excitement of going off to college.  As soon as I received my acceptance letter, I determined to buy myself a T-shirt and give the college some free advertisement. When the weekend came, I drove over to the college and bought a T-shirt which I proudly displayed at school the following Monday morning.  I was really excited about being accepted and looked forward to starting my college career.

In the few months that followed, things grew very hectic.  I contacted my new roommate and we decided who would bring what for the room.  There were also all the necessities to buy: sheets, towels, washcloths, clothes, toiletries, a refrigerator (a definite necessity), a stapler, a calculator, etc. You get the idea; I needed a lot of stuff.

Finally, the big day came.  We loaded the car, jumped in, and my parents packed me off to college. After receiving my schedule, moving into my dorm room, and telling my parents goodbye, I settled in for the excitement of college life.  Oh, what a surprise was in store for me!  Classes started the following Tuesday and by Tuesday afternoon, I began wondering if I had made some sort of terrible mistake.  The hunger for independence had left me hungry indeed:  hungry for home, hungry for familiar surroundings, hungry for my room, and hungry for mom’s cooking.

At least one weekend a month, I went home. Since the college was only 45 minutes from our house, one of my parents would pick me up at the dorm.  I always called the night before to make sure they hadn’t forgotten about my visit (like that would ever happen!!!) and mom always told me the same thing:  Bring me your dirty laundry!!

I always wondered how she knew my laundry was dirty; moms always seem to know those things.  So, in accordance with her wishes, I brought home huge duffle bags full of the stuff.  As soon as we got home, she started!   I got a kick out of listening to her as she went through my clothes, commenting on the level of “filthiness” of each item and wondering how I could stand to wear things like that.  In her own way, she was letting me know she enjoyed feeling needed.

Then we came to the whites, especially the socks!!!  Boy did I take a ribbing then.  Needless to say, chlorine bleach was a foreign concept to me and when I washed I just dumped everything together.  Hey, fifty cents is a lot of money when you’re a poor student!!!  But I have to admit, my socks and whites were just a little on the dingy side but when mom finished them, they were white as January snow!

Two Old Testament writers had a lot to say about dirty laundry.  In fact, both of these men had a very good understanding of just how dingy, unclean, and downright filthy our lives are before a holy God.  The first of these writers is the prophet Isaiah.  He understood all to well that all our attempts at righteousness are doomed to failure and the best we can do is to present God with dirty, smelly rags that are in no way spotless.  In Isaiah 64:6 we read these words, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”   

Isaiah has the right idea, doesn’t he?  Without God, there is no way we can be righteous. All our works, no matter how wonderful or well intentioned, can’t even approach God’s standards for righteousness.  We are filthy before Him and we need His touch to make us clean.  Isaiah says that all of us (no one is left out) “have become like one who is unclean.”  The idea of uncleanness is so important to the understanding of the Old Testament and the ability to approach God.  Under the law, almost anything one did or touched could make him unclean.  In order to be clean, he had to wait a certain period of time and then offer a sacrifice. It was impossible to come into God’s presence while one was unclean.  Needless to say, the priests were always busy offering sacrifices to atone for the people’s uncleanness.

In Psalm 51:7, we read another perspective on the filthiness of sin before a holy God, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”  The writer of this verse is King David.  Although the Scriptures described David as a man after God’s own heart, he was very familiar with the concept of sin’s stain on his life.  During his lifetime, David was guilty of deceit, adultery, and murder. When Nathan the prophet finally confronted him with his sins, David repented and wrote these words in Psalm 51.  His words seem a fitting response to Isaiah’s observation. 

David knew he had sinned and he knew he was unclean, very unclean.  His sins separated him from the wonderful relationship he had enjoyed with God and they affected his ability to govern his people.  In this Psalm, David cries out to the Lord to cleanse him.  He knows that only God can remove the stain of his sins and restore the relationship David broke.  Like Isaiah, David knows he is dirty but he also knows that God can make him clean, whiter than snow. 

This is the great truth both of these men, living in different times, understood.  God’s righteousness never changes and we can never be clean in our own right or on our own terms.  We need God’s touch to make our hearts clean so that we can enjoy a right relationship with Him.  This is why Jesus came, to shed his own blood to save us and cleanse us from the stain and the filthiness of sin.  We cannot do this on our own.  Only by faith in Jesus Christ and only by accepting him as our savior can we hope to be clean from sin’s stain.

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o are you tired of doing your laundry on your own?  Are you tired of washing and scrubbing only to find out that your life’s laundry is still dingy, dull, and filthy?  Bring everything to God.  He can take your life and make it clean, whole, and acceptable before Him.  Don’t you hear Him saying to you, “Bring me your dirty laundry today!”  Well, what are you waiting for?

Guaranteed Stain Removal

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ecently, I waged war against an unwanted enemy in my bathroom.  My opponent entered by stealth, took up residence in a very remote corner, and gradually began recruiting reinforcements.  After a few days, its presence was very noticeable and it became very evident that I would need to enlist the help of a very powerful ally if I was to rid my shower, once and for all, of the presence of this unwanted and unwelcome houseguest.

  

The enemy was not a person, but a stubborn and persistent presence of mildew that had attacked the grout in my shower with full vigor.  At first, I jumped in and began to scrub with all the gusto I could muster.  However, the harder I worked, the more I scrubbed, and the more effort I poured into this project, the more entrenched the mildew became.  All my effort, all my work, and all my good intentions were no match for the mildew setting up housekeeping in my bathroom.  I needed a strong cleaner, one that would not only clean the mildew but one that would eradicate it at the source.

I went to a nearby grocery store and perused all the available cleaning items designed for the bathroom.  Some promised to make the tile look like new while others guaranteed that with enough elbow grease and patience, their product would make the mildew go away.  It was a dizzying process at best.  I got so tired of looking at various bottles, cans, and cartons.  Finally, I came across one product that made only one claim.  The directions told me to spray the cleanser on the mildew and wait.  When the cleanser had removed all the mildew and its stain, I simply had to rinse the grout. 

I bought the product, raced home, sprayed down my shower, and waited.  In just a few minutes I saw a noticeable change in the grout.  After thirty minutes, the grout was completely clean with no trace whatsoever of mildew.  I was so excited!!  The cleanser was true to its word.  It contained the necessary cleaners to completely remove the mildew and it did it with apparent ease.  What I could not do in my own strength, the cleanser could do with no problem.

Psalm 51:7 serves as a wonderful reminder that only God can cleanse our hearts from sin and make us clean and whole again.  This verse, taken from David’s prayer for forgiveness after his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, simply states, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” 

In this verse, David cries out to God to cleanse him of his sin.  David knows that no amount of work on his part, no matter how well-intentioned, can remove the stain of his sin from him.  David knows that only God’s forgiveness and redemptive grace can remove, once and for all, the stain of sin from his heart.  He comes to God with a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and asks for His forgiveness. He knows that when God forgives, He makes the heart clean, whiter than snow. God can do this because He doesn’t simply wipe sin a way, He completely eradicates it and holds it against us no more.

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his is the kind of God we serve.  When there was no way mankind could obtain salvation for himself, God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for us.  This truth is often overlooked in today’s society.  We must understand that only Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross can offer us salvation. Only his blood has the power to remove all sin from our lives and to put us into a right standing and relationship with God.  The blood of Christ is the only guaranteed stain remover for the human heart. Have you applied his blood to your heart today? 

Clean Your Closet

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aturday morning, 7:00 a.m.  While most of the teenagers in town were still snoozing in their beds, the teenagers at my house, namely my brother and I, were already awake and working.  You see, Saturday’s were house-cleaning days and my mom loved to get an early start.  Actually, an early start for her was between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. but she graciously let the rest of us sleep until 7:00.  However, as the clock was striking the hour, the lights came on in our room; we were rousted from a deep sleep, rolled out of bed, and given our assigned duties.

My brother and I were responsible for our room.  We were to change our sheets, pick up our clothes, straighten our desk, and tidy up the place.  I was in charge of running the vacuum cleaner while Kevin’s responsibility was to dust.  When we finished with our room, we were to apply our skills to the remaining rooms of the house.  Vacuuming the entire house was my responsibility and, as you’ve probably guessed by now, Kevin’s was to dust the furniture.  Other duties included taking out the trash, and putting up the clothes mom had folded that morning or the night before.

I’ll have to admit that my heart wasn’t always in my work.  Vacuuming the carpet wasn’t on my top-ten list of things I loved to do.  So sometimes, I’d vacuum just the visible areas of the room, neglecting to move a chair, pick up a pair of shoes, or run the vacuum underneath a bed or sofa.  Why I thought I could get away with this was beyond me.  Whenever we finished our assigned duties, mom would usually inspect.  That’s when my ineptitude at running a vacuum cleaner came into full light.  She looked underneath the beds, behind chairs, and around all the corners.  She wanted to make absolutely sure I had removed all the dust from the rooms, not just where it was visible.

Little did I know it then but mom was practicing a wonderful biblical principal.  In Exodus 12:19-20, God gives Moses instructions on how to clean a house.  The occasion for these instructions was the Passover as God prepared Israel to leave Egypt and 400 years of bondage behind.  God’s instructions were clear, “For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.  Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

The people were to prepare themselves for this great event by removing every speck of yeast from their homes.  It was to be removed from every container, from every cupboard, and from every nook and cranny of the dwelling.  There was to be no yeast found anywhere in the house for seven days.  The house was to be totally clean so that the people would be in keeping with God’s commands and ready as He led them out of bondage.

You may be asking, “Well what does this have to do with me today?”  In the Old Testament, yeast represents sin.  When God saves us—that is when the blood of Jesus is applied to our lives—He sees the blood and passes over us.  We are no longer under His judgment because we have accepted His wonderful gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Now we know that wherever Christ dwells sin does not and the removal of the yeast from the house symbolized that God’s salvation removed all sin from the life of the believer.  He was clean before God and by applying the blood of the sacrifice, Jesus; he was no longer in bondage to sin but was liberated by God.

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ow long has it been since you cleaned house?  How long has it been since you really looked in every nook and cranny of your life to make sure it was completely clean and free from any hidden sin?  God wants us to have a clean house and He has made a way for our houses to be cleaned.  Our responsibility, however, is to accept the gift of His son, Jesus Christ, by putting our faith in him and believing he died for our sins, was raised from the dead, and reigns in heaven with God right now.  How dusty is your life today?  Isn’t it time you cleaned house? 

For Sale by Owner

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 ride through town is always a good thing, especially when you’re not pushed for time.  Usually when I am visiting my family, I take my sister for a ride around some of my old stomping grounds.  We ride past the house where we grew up, we ride past several parks where my friends and I used to play and ride bikes, we visit neighborhoods that haven’t changed in forever, and we drive right through the middle of downtown. 

For me, it is a visit to an earlier time, a time of no worries and no cares.  As I drive through neighborhoods, as I pass parks and schools, pictures of old friends and the memories of good times spent together flood my mind. The sidewalks I took to school are still the same, the trees I used to pass as a boy are still in their places, the buildings on Main Street have the same facades, and life still moves at a pretty leisurely pace.

Changes, though, are evident in many sections of town.  New houses have been built and old ones have been torn down.  New developments and new businesses dot the landscape and new faces are rapidly replacing more familiar ones.  Several houses have signs posted in their front yards advertising they are for sale.  Some of the signs bear the names of prominent real estate agency but others simply say “For Sale by Owner.”  Everywhere it seems, things are in constant flux.

If you think about it, people live their lives in much the same way.  We are constantly on the move, changing jobs, changing relationships, changing scenery, changing, changing, changing.  We never seem to be satisfied with the way things are and we are constantly looking for that next move which we promise will be our last.  The problem is, we never really find what we are looking for, do we?  The areas of life we move into soon lose their appeal and allure and before long, we put up the sign, “For Sale by Owner” hoping someone will come along and buy us, getting us out of the situation we are in.

This idea of constantly moving and forever searching was very familiar to the Apostle Paul.  In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul admonished his readers to remember who had purchased them and how their lives were to reflect that new ownership.  Paul writes the following to the Corinthian believers, “For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:22-23).

In this brief statement, Paul makes it clear the relationship the believers in Corinth, and we as believers today, should have.  He takes great care in underlining the fact that their former way of life is over. Those who were slaves are now free in Christ and those who were free are now slaves to Christ.  Paul, here is not speaking of the Christians life as one of indentured servant hood.  Christ sets us free from sin and from its slavish hold on us.  When we become believers in Christ, he becomes our lord, savior, and master.  Our lives are to reflect him as our new owner.  Christ can claim ownership because he paid a high price for our salvation.  That price was his own blood and life on Calvary.

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hat are you looking for today?  Is there a sign in your front yard advertising you are for sale?  Are you looking for a new neighborhood in which to live?  Do you believe that a new job, new friends, a new location, or a new relationship can improve your life?  Are you ready to accept any payment as long as your situation changes?  Stop and think for just a minute.  If you are already a believer in Christ, then you need to turn every situation over to him.  Don’t make a move unless God tells you to do so.  If you are not a believer, I invite you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior.  He will place you under new ownership and will supply all your needs.  He is all you need to make your life all it can be.  Trust him, accept him, and turn your life over to him.  It will be that last life-move you’ll ever need to make.  

Stay On Course!

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ne of the joys and privileges of owning a car is maintenance!  Every time I turn around it seems something needs to be done to my car.  I have the oil changed regularly, I have the engine tuned, I have all the belts and hoses checked, and I make sure the tires get rotated every 5,000 miles.  With all these things to maintain, it’s no wonder the thrill of driving sometimes loses its appeal.

One Saturday morning, I took my car in for a regular oil change.  While I was there, I also decided to purchase a new set of tires since the ones on my car were beginning to show the wear and tear of the road.  The salesman was very knowledgeable and extremely polite and helped me pick out the best tire for the car within my budget.  We went to the counter to complete the order and he suggested I have my car aligned.  This made perfect sense!  The new tires would soon wear out completely if the car’s wheels were not aligned to drive in a straight line.

They took my car, put it up on the rack, installed the new tires, changed the oil, and finally aligned the wheels.  I watched this entire process through a large window and drank some coffee while I waited for my car.  They put a set of instruments on the wheels of my car that were designed to demonstrate the degree to which the car was pulling and veering away from a straight line.  According to what those instruments showed, the mechanic knew in which direction to adjust my tires so they would all work in perfect unity.  This ensured that no one tire would carry more weight than any other and that all of the treads would wear evenly as I drove.

Throughout this entire process, I was most impressed with the instruments used to test the alignment of my car.  They were designed to show the variance between my car’s idea of a straight line and one that was truly straight.  The instruments are always right and serve as the standard against which my car is measured.  Any variance from that standard spells difficulty for my car and added cost for me somewhere down the road.

The Apostle Paul also understood the necessity for alignment.  Paul, however, wasn’t thinking about aligning the wheels of a chariot, a cart, and certainly not a car.  What he had in mind was the alignment of the heart and soul.  He knew that unless we get properly aligned in our relationship with God, we will have great difficulty down the road and it will be impossible for us to stay on course.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul pens a very familiar passage, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).  Although short, this verse carries a heavy punch!  Let’s look at what it tells us today.  First, all of us have sinned.  No one can claim that he or she is living a perfect life.  There was only one person who lived perfectly and that was Jesus.  He was and is the glory of God revealed in the flesh.  Jesus is, therefore, the standard against which our lives are measured to see just how far from the “straight and narrow” we are.  Guess what?  All of us fall woefully short of that standard.

If we ended here, we could well become dejected, depressed, and downcast.  But Jesus came in order to offer us the opportunity to realign our lives.  Without him, we drive down the broad road of life, headed for a breakdown, a blowout, or worse, a fatal accident.  If our hearts and souls are not aligned with his, we are driving with defective equipment that will surely lead to our ruin.  But when we accept him as our savior, when we let him put us up on the rack and examine our hearts, when we allow him to push and pull them into proper alignment, our lives get on the right track and we stay on course, following him in a straight path.

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hen was the last time you had you spiritual alignment checked?  Isn’t if funny how we will make sure that our cars are running properly, following a straight line but neglect to check in with our chief mechanic to maintain proper alignment?  Are you traveling in a straight line today?  Are you staying on course?

Lemon, Salt, and Ice

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ou can learn a lot by working in a restaurant.  In addition to learning a great deal about food, you also gain a pretty good knowledge of how to clean up spills, how to remove stains, and the various tricks and trades of making food taste better and keeping it fresh longer.  One of the most valuable lessons I learned was how to remove stubborn stains from a coffee pot!

At first glance, this may not seem to be an earth-shattering-discovery.  However, if you’ve ever had a coffee pot to burn, or if you’ve experienced the difficulties of removing the dark stains left by coffee or tea, then this little morsel is for you.  When I worked in one of the local restaurants here in Fort Worth, I occasionally had the job of making sure the coffee pots were cleaned and ready for the morning shift.  I remember the first time I cleaned the coffee pots.  I ran cold water into them and swirled it around and around.  The more I swirled, however, the more the stain in the bottom of the pot persisted.  Finally, when I reached the point of frustration and utter impatience, I asked one of the seasoned waitresses to help me.

She politely smiled, walked over to the counter, and came back with lemon slices, salt, and ice.  Understandably, my curiosity was peaked so I watched and learned.  She placed the lemon slices and the salt into the container and then she placed ice on top.  She started swirling the pots around and in no time, the stubborn coffee stain was transferred from the pot to the lemons.  The acid from the lemons, coupled with the abrasiveness of the salt scrubbed the glass surface of the pot.  The ice provided the water that washed the pot clean and in just a few minutes, the stain was gone.  My method of cleaning required more effort and never fully removed the stain.

Do you see the application of this illustration to the Christian life?  Like the coffee pot, our lives are stained with sin.  The stain is stubborn, set in, not wanting to come out.  The more we try to remove the stain using our own strength and resources, the more persistent it becomes.  Our efforts never produce the desired result because we don’t have the ability to remove sin from our lives.  Saying we are a Christian, filling our lives with good actions, giving money and time to worthwhile causes, and visiting people when they are sick or lonely are all noble acts.  However, when it comes to removing the sin from our lives, these are no more effective than the water in the coffee pot.  We end up with tired arms and the stain remains.

However, there is a solution.  The stain of sin can be removed from our hearts as long as we ask Jesus for help and allow him to remove the sin for us.  1John 1:7 tells us how we can accomplish this, “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.  When we allow Jesus to come into our hearts, he applies the cleansing power of his blood and removes the sin from us.  We are then clean, pure, and ready to be used for God’s purpose.  Continuing our fellowship with Christ, walking with him daily, and following and obeying his commands, ensure that we remain clean and free from sin’s stain.

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 have thought many times about the lesson I learned from the lemon, the salt, and the ice!  They serve as reminders of the stains God continues to remove from my life when I disobey and sin against him.  So many times I must go to God and ask him to apply the cleansing power of Christ’s blood and to restore me to a clean vessel that can be used for his glory.  Is there enough lemon, salt, and ice in your life today?

Firm Footing

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here is a river in the south of France called the Gard.  Over this river there stands a large aqueduct left by the Romans.  The aqueduct is known as the Pont du Gard (the bridge of the Gard) and it is frequented by tourists from all around the world.  The aqueduct is indeed a feat of engineering, designed to carry water from a distant source and deliver it to large villages many miles away.  But the most spectacular view comes not from the base of the Pont du Gard, but from its top.

In 1983, when I visited the Pont du Gard, it was possible to walk across it.  Today, the privilege no longer exists; but when I was there visitors were greeted with a small sign written in several languages.  This sign delivered a solemn and sobering warning to all those wanting to get a closer look at the aqueduct.  The following message was emblazoned on a white panel just a few feet from the aqueduct itself:  “Warning!  Walk at your own risk.  Many people have slipped and plummeted to their deaths!” 

Not very uplifting is it?  Nonetheless, people read the sign and ventured forth to walk on top of the aqueduct, several hundred feet in the air, crossing from one side of the Gard to the other. The Pont du Gard is only wide enough for two people to walk abreast and since people travel in both directions, crossing over is somewhat of a challenge. In addition, the wind constantly blows and the hiker must maintain his balance lest he slip and fall to the river below.

I don’t know of a clearer example of the gospel than this bridge across the Gard River.  In Matthew7:14, Jesus states very clearly that there is only one way to salvation: “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”  There were several tourists at the Pont du Gard on the day we visited. However, only a few of us ventured forth to walk on the aqueduct and cross over the river.  The way was narrow and very small but our footing was sure and we knew the aqueduct wouldn’t give way.

From that vantage point, the river posed no threat.  Its depth and rapid currents could not harm us because we were walking above it.  The river bed was actually the support for the aqueduct and kept it in place.  The wind did blow but the solid structure of the aqueduct held us up and ensured our passage would be safe as long as we walked with confidence and did not venture too far to one side or the other.

The narrow road Jesus spoke of is the same way for all those seeking to walk with God.  The way is narrow, but it rises far above the worries, cares, and pitfalls of everyday-life.  Most people stand at the base and look longingly upward, wanting ever so desperately to climb and walk above the cares of this life.  They want to have that narrow walk with God but because of fear or doubt, they never climb to the top and walk on the aqueduct.  But for those who take that step of faith and venture forth, there is no walk as exhilarating nor as rewarding, as the walk we take with God.  True, the winds of adversity continue to blow and buffet us, but we are safe as long as we keep our focus and our steps on the way ahead.

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here are you in this picture?  Are you at the base of the aqueduct, longing to walk above the cares of this life?  Do you want to accept Jesus’ call to walk and have fellowship with him?  Perhaps you are walking on the top already but the winds of adversity have frightened you and the way ahead looks long and difficult.  Wherever you are, at the top or at the bottom, please know that Jesus means for you to walk across to the other side.  Through faith in him, you can walk across that bridge and overcome the difficulties of life.  The way is not easy, and there are few who actually search for it, but for those who decide to take it, life is never the same.  Cone on up!  Jesus is waiting for you to join him on that narrow road.  He will walk with you every step of the way!