Making the Impossible Possible

The story of David’s conquest of the city of Jebus (Jerusalem) is intriguing. The city walls were so formidable and well fortified the inhabitants said they could man their walls with the blind and lame and defeat David.

To prevail, some new approach was necessary. To provide water for the city in times of conflict a shaft was dug allowing water to be brought safely into the city. David found the shaft now bearing the name of the archeologist, Charles Warren, who excavated the area in the early 19th century. This is believed to be the shaft mentioned in II Samuel 5.

Joab, one of David’s soldiers, scaled up the shaft into the city and without being detected opened the gates of the city. David’s army rushed through the open gates and conquered the city from within.

After the conquest David further developed the city which became Jerusalem, the City of David.

There are things you can do, things others can do, and things no one can do.

David did what seemed to be a number three. One or more of these three are faced everyday by all persons. The thing at issue is deciding which applies to what a person is considering doing.

Upon deciding if a thing is something you can and should do, seek for a way to do even the seemingly impossible. Don’t waste your time doing what someone else can do or what no one can do. 

Start with a “show me Lord” attitude and continue with a resolute will. The Lord will never give you something to do He won’t give you the ability to do. Resolutely pray for God’s guidance regarding issues small and great. Don’t kid yourself and don’t doubt God.

An unproductive effort may prove you have misunderstood God’s will and instead of the activity being something you should do it is a number two or three. If so, and after a wholehearted unproductive effort, put in the capable hands of God with whom all things are possible, and  seek His will regarding an effort He has for you.

Faith is an integral part of all undertakings. Jesus spoke of having faith and moving mountains. Most believers have done what He was teaching without realizing it. In the era in which He was speaking impossible things were called mountains. A person who had the ability to resolve issues and solve problems was called a “Mountain mover.” A person who had faith that enabled a problem to be solved was a “Mountain mover.”

Buckle up your faith and go let God help you move a mountain. David did.

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42: 2)

Let Your Light Shine – Part Three

Matthew 5:14-16

As a young child, Robert Louis Stevenson watched through a window as night covered his community.  His nurse said, “Come sit down, it is so dark you can’t see anything now.” “Oh yes I can,” he replied as he watched the lamplighter coming up the street igniting the gas street lights, “I see a man making holes in the darkness.”  That is exactly what Christ wants us to do spiritually.

When A.W. Milne, missionary to New Guinea died, the natives erected a marker: “When he came to us there was no light.  When he left there was no darkness.” May it be said of your sphere area of influence.

Joni Erickson Tada, observed “The world does not get it’s concept of Christianity from the Bible but from believers.”

Let your light “so shine” not as to dazzle nor to obscure.  Light can be used to blind or guide.  Don’t use your light so as to offend, but to guide.

The reason is “…that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

That they may see “your good works, not you, the worker.  People don’t look at the sun, but they marvel over its effects.

There are two Greek words for good: “agathos”meaning good in quality, and “kalos, meaning good in quality, but also beautiful and winsome.  The latter is used.

Let your good works be done spontaneously and naturally, not demonstrably.  That they may “glorify your Father….”

Light, literally, is a form of energy.  Solar panels on satellites capture rays of the sun and convert them to energy.

Plant life is energized by capturing the sun’s rays and by a process called photosynthesis, transforms it into life.

A missionary in China had his meager hospital which he had worked years to develop burned by General Chaing Ki Sheck when the General’s army occupied the territory.  The doctor followed the General’s army treating his wounded soldiers.  The General later asked the doctor’s wife why he did this.  “It is because he is a Christian,”  she replied.  “Then I, too, must become a Christian,” was the General’s reply.  That doctor was one of the three influences that brought Chaing Ki Sheck to Jesus by letting his work glorify the Father.

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (II Corinthians 4: 6)

As Jesus prayed so might we: “Father, glorify Thy name…I have glorified you on earth.”

Light shows.  There’s nothing secretive about the Christian life.  This appeal by Christ is a call to demonstrate the joy of fellowship with Him.

Welcome to God’s Gym 3/1/98

I Peter 5:10, 11
Page 1770 Come Alive Bible

Jesus Christ want’s you to spend eternity with Him. Is He the kind of company you would like to keep? Is heaven the kind of place you would like to go? Is it your desire to spend eternity in such company in such a place?

Again I say that is the will of God for you. All that is necessary to accomplish it is for your will to coincide with His will.

“The God of all grace” has personally “called us to His eternal glory.”

The word “called” does not mean He has simply invited us. Even that is a flattering thought. The Greek word translated “called” is KALEO. It means to summons. When a summons is issued by a judge it means cease and desist in what you are doing and comply with the intent of this document. It establishes a priority.

KALEO further means “to call by name.” Thus, God has summonsed you by name to come to heaven. I don’t know how you use God’s name, it may often be in vain, but I know how He uses your name. It is always included in a loving invitation to spend your eternal destiny with Him. The Lord is the aggressor in seeking a relationship with you.

If you know of anyone not on their way to heaven you know someone who is refusing the summons of God All Mighty who wants them to spend eternity with Him.

KALEO expresses God’s strong desire for you. Hopefully your desire is the same as His.

God doesn’t “send” people to hell. They refuse His summons to heaven and hell is the only alternative.

“It is not His will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3: 9).

The “summons” is personalized and embodied in Jesus Christ. He is the summons. He is the way, the truth, and the life. That seems unreasonable to some. However, we live in a world of exact standards. Certain standards must be complied with before being admitted to college. Citizenship standards must be met before becoming a naturalized citizen. There are always exactly 16 ounces per pound. A foot consists of only 12 inches, no more or no less. Water always boils at 220 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level. A gallon consists of 231 cubic inches. On the music scale “A” above middle “C” has precisely 440 vibrations per second. However unreasonable it seems water always has expressly two parts of hydrogen and one part oxygen. It always has and always will have.

Therefore, what is so unreasonable that God should have a standard for admission to heaven. Some criticize there being only one way. I marvel that there is any way that our all holy God should admit those of us unholy creatures into His perfect heaven.

Here is a bonus. Not only does He want us to spend eternity with Him, He wants to live in time with us. He wants to take up residence in you and provide some of life’s most needed resources and assets. A positive response to His summons results in many blessing, three of which are noted in I Peter 5: 10, 11.

I. HE WILL ESTABLISH US
The Greek word translated “establish” is STERIZO. The verb is related to our word “steroid.” The improper use of chemical compounds called “anabolic (up-building) steroids.” Is detrimental to health and can cause an agonizing death. Athletes sometimes use them in their quest for more strength or speed. This is destructive.

As the use of anabolic steroids build up the body but are detrimental, they illustrate the spiritual good done by the Lord when taken into our lives. When God’s supernatural power is injected into our lives He builds us up.

Notice the word “perfect” in our text. He wants to establish us in perfection. Many don’t want His perfection just His relief from pain, problems, and perplexities.

The Greek word translated “perfect” is KATARTIZO, meaning, to repair, fit together, to restore to a useful condition. Do you need any of that action in your life? He is constantly at work in our lives to achieve that end. He uses a variety of means. Often the means isn’t seen as His loving attempt to restore or repair our lives. Suffering is one such means noted in the text. Even that is His attempt to bless us. Instead of our suffering making us better it often makes us bitter. If there is bitterness in your life He alone has the capacity to overcome it.

I may be the last pastor in America to quote Forrest Gump, but there is a scene and line worth noting. Forrest and Jenny, now as adults, revisit paths they traveled together as children. In their wanderings they come to an old house in which Jenny had been reared. There as a child she had been abused and misused. There she lost her ability to love. Enraged, Jenny threw her shoes at the house. She picks up rocks and hurls them at the house. Finally she shatters a window and collapses.

Even with his IQ of 75 Forrest sees a sad reality in the moment as he comments: “Sometimes, I guess there aren’t enough rocks.” Sometimes the rocks of hate, resentment, and bitterness just run out and we still hurt. When there aren’t enough rocks, there is a loving Savior who wants to “establish” us in our agony.

All through life He is there to establish us. At the end of life there is dying grace.

I visited a formerly vibrant young woman, a member of our church, in the hospital. She was in what had been said to be the last stages of life. I had been there before. Her former beauty was eroded and her frail body depleted. She was radiant as she spoke, “I have been praying pastor. I am now ready to die. I am ready for God to heal me.” (I thought who wouldn’t be.) Then she caught me off guard as she continued, “I am ready to continue suffering for Him if that is His will.” That is dying grace.

The word for “establish,” STERIZO, has three uses in the New Testament. It is used of:

PERSEVERANCE: It us used to describe Jesus’ going to Jerusalem: “Jesus resolutely set out (sterizo) for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

FAITH: “Paul traveled from place to place … strengthening all the disciples” (Acts 18: 23).

Christ confirms the Christian faith by meeting specific needs with suitable strength. The faith He gives is the faith to act.

Three hundred years before Christ, Erathosthenes conducted a significant experiment. He discovered that in the city of Syene at high noon a stick standing perfectly vertical cast no shadow. Later, he also discovered that 500 miles away, at the exact same moment, a vertical stick cast a shadow of 7 degrees. From this he concluded the earth is round. From this he reached the following conclusion. 7 degrees is approximately 1/50 of the 360 degrees in a circle. If every 500 miles is 7 degrees, then the full circle of the earth would be 25,000 miles. Erathosthenes had calculated the earth’s circumference to within a few miles.

Eighteen hundred years later Christopher Columbus sailed out of a safe harbor into an uncharted and foreboding sea. His intent was to sail to India. He too believed the earth was round. However, his calculations were off by 7,000. It took weeks longer than anticipated to reach an unknown destination. He returned to this hemisphere four times and died in 1506 having no idea where he had been.

Today we pay tribute to Columbus but few know the name Erathosthenes. Both had faith. One acted on his faith and the other didn’t. Erathosthenes did nothing with what he knew. Columbus had limited knowledge but in faith he acted on that in which he had faith.

Our God is a God deserving of our faith.

COURAGE: “May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father … encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (II Thessalonians 2: 16, 17).

There are hidden heros and heroines in this and other fellowships who, by His strength, are facing suffering victoriously. Every day holds new agony and every night new torturous trials. In it all they, in their frailty, are experiencing victory as our Lord gives them courage.

We become intimidates by adversity and become locked into self-imposed limits. He wants to give us courage to break free of such barriers.

Carl Sandburg captured something of the human spirit in this statement: “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.”

Which spirit prevails in you, the eagle or the hippopotamus? You alone decide.

II. HE WILL STRENGTHEN US
The Greek word translated “strengthen” is STRENOO, meaning to give power to overcome adverse force. This word further stresses how He gives the reinforcement for life. He gives power to overcome.

Essential road construction offers some obstacles and inconvenience. A veteran operator of one of those big machines sensed his work irritated some people. He decided to try to bring some relief to the tension that inevitably results from traffic backup. He hung the following sign on the front and back of his machine: “The Road to Happiness Is Always Under Construction.”

That operator knew that, God knows that, and we need to learn it.

Christ told us to be of good cheer and offered this encouragement: “I have overcome the world.” He gives overcoming power. He not only provides it He summonses us to come and get it. His power to life is our greatest need.

Have you ever run out of gas. It doesn’t make you feel like a Rhodes Scholar. The fact that I say that means I have run out of gas. It is a public embarrassment that leaves no place to hide.

The last time I did was on the Marietta Town Square, at 5:15 PM on a Friday. Not a good time or place. As though there is any good place. The only worse place I have ever run out of gas was on the Indian Nations Turnpike in Oklahoma at sundown in a blizzard.

When I gave out of gas I might have called a mechanic to come replace every worn part on the car, but that would not have made it run. I might have changed all four times but that wouldn’t have helped. I might have had it washed and polished but it still would not have run.

My car had depleted its fuel and exhausted its power. There was no way it would function.

Some persons are trying the spiritual equivalent of a new set of tires, parts replacement, or a lustrous polish job, but are still finding life powerless.

An example of His power to overcome was observed in the life of my friend, former Baseball Commissioner, Bowie Kuhn. He lived in a pressure cooker at all times. During his last months before resigning he was under intense pressure. Those who heard him on network interviews listened as reporters tried to put the word “anger” in his statements. Each time he denied it and finally said, “Anger just isn’t in my make up.” There is a reason. The secular press never eluded to it but Bowie Kuhn was a born-again Christian with a practical practicing faith. He has the strength of which Christ spoke.

He gives us strength to face the unknown. Recently my wife and I sat and talked with Tom Osborne, retired coach of the Nebraska National Championship football team. He spoke of the unknown and associated uncertainty resulting from his retirement.

Then he spoke of the uncertain with certainty as he expressed confidence the Lord would guide him. He is being given the power to face the otherwise intimidating unknown.

III. HE WILL SETTLE US
The Greek word translated “settle” is TITHEMI, meaning to lay a foundation.

No other foundation is laid than that which is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let Your Light Shine – Part Two

Matthew 5:14-16

Little Gail in church for the first time was amazed by the characters depicted in the stained glass windows. “Who are those people,”  she whispered to her Mother.  “Those are Saints,” replied her Mom.  After church Gail said, “I know what saints are.  They are people the light shines through.” Right Gail!

All colors are caused by objects filtering or reflecting light.  Blue light is one of the shorter wavelengths and is dispersed by the atmosphere that makes the sky blue.

Lives are colored by Christ.  Filter out the bad and reflect the good.

Don’t put your light under a bushel, that is, hide it.

        A)      Unbecoming speech

        B)      Compromised lifestyle

        C)      Complaining nature

        D)      Unforgiving spirit.

“Let your light so shine…”  You are to let.  He is to enable.  We do not have to provide the light, Jesus produces it.

Light is not corrupted by what it shines on.  It may seem God has put you in an extremely dark place.  Where is light needed? Everywhere there is darkness!

James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution.”  Its ratification was unlikely because it gave no protection to religion.  A Baptist pastor, John Leland, was going to run against Madison.

At the time Virginia had imprisoned 500 Baptist preachers.  Their crime was simply not being a member of the state church of Virginia.

Leland and Madison met under an Oak tree in Richmond.  Today two streets corner at that spot.  Those streets are Leland and Madison.  There Madison pledged to Leland he would assure him the Constitution would have an amendment added to insure religious freedom if he would not oppose him.  Leland consented and thus the First Amendment resulted, guaranteeing religious freedom.  Unfortunately some modern jurists have failed to read it carefully.  It begins “Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion…”  Notice it restricts “Congress” not individual citizens.   Only Congress can violate the amendment.

Leland’s light shown.  Today many are trying and some with success to put it under a bushel.

“Your light,” not all are alike.  We differ depending on the light we reflect.  There are many rays of light.  As a prism breaks light down into different colors, so various personalities reflect different aspects of God’s glory.  We are not all expected to be alike. Let your light shine in the darkness today.

Let Your Light Shine – Part One

Matthew 5:14-16

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world….”

John the Baptist said of Him:  He is “the true light, which lights every man that cometh into the world.”  (John 1:  9)

Jesus said of you: “You are the light of the world….” The verb tense and sentence structure used in addressing this statement to believers means “You and you alone are the light of the world.”  That means you are rare, purposeful, important, unique, distinct, and valuable.  All are qualities that speak of worth.

Jesus is THE light.  We are lights.  We are stars – He is the Sun.  A star’s light is merely a reflection of the sun.  Christians shine by derived light.  Our radiance is to be gathered from the Son.

This is illustrated by a young, sullen nurse who attended a revival meeting in Columbus, Ohio.  On about the third night she gave her life repentantly to Christ.  On her way home she stopped in a drug store where she was known.  A friend said, “You look like someone has just lit a candle inside you.” “They have,”  she said.  “What I mean,” said the friend, “is you look like you just fell in love.”  “I have,” she said.

John 1:4, 5 describes Christ, the light, as shining in “darkness.”  The word for darkness is “skotos.”  It is used of evil.  It is a summary reference to fallen mankind.  Verse 10 indicates it is synonymous with “the world.”  Darkness, the world, is the antagonist of Christ, the light.  The expression doesn’t simply mean the world behaves negatively toward Christ, it means the world hates the Light.

John said the world didn’t apprehend the light.  It didn’t take it in.  The darkness didn’t defeat the Light.

The Greek word “katalambano” which can be translated as comprehend, or apprehend, or overcome, is a strong word literally meaning an attack by evil powers.  It actually means “to pounce upon to bring it under its power.”  Surprisingly it is in the aorist tense, meaning at a point in time. Here as the aorist verb it is a reference to a single occurrence.  The reference is to Calvary. 

There the two forces engaged in mortal combat and Light won over darkness.

You can let your light shine with assurance of its visibility and potential victory.

The essence of light is to shine.  If it is light, it shines.  All deep convictions demand expressions.  All personal experience of the power of Jesus on our character shows in our conduct.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 16)