Today's Worship: It doesn't get any more exciting than this!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 1:9-11a,

 

"The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed."

 

This morning, as I am reminded of the temporary nature of our fortunes in this life, this passage causes me to think of what we know about the life ahead of us in the resurrection. All who embrace Jesus Christ in faith in this life will share in the fullness of God's kingdom in the next. Here James reminds us that whatever it is we may or may not have in this life will not be a reflection of our fortunes for the eternity that will be ours in the resurrection.

 

Whether we find ourselves in "humble circumstances" or rich in this life, it is only fleeting as we are like wild flowers that wither away under the sun. Later in this letter, James reminds us we are a "mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14. The Sons of Korah tell us, "For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish." Psalm 49:10-12.

 

Unlike the temporal perspective of this life, life in the resurrection is certain and eternal. John tells us we don't know exactly what we will be, but whatever it is, it is like Jesus Christ as seen in his resurrection. "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2. Paul speaks of the eternal nature of the instant change that will take place when we are resurrected, "We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'" 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.

 

Paul tell us in 1 Corinthians 15 that our bodies will be of a different nature in the resurrection, "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." Verses 42-44.

 

As I consider what the Scriptures have to say about the resurrection I can't help but muse. My own feelings are that what we see in creation today is reflective of the order of things that God does create. After all, he created it. It is observed sometimes that we will probably inhabit bodies for all eternity that reflect the biological prime of what God created for us in this life. If I die an old man with crippling arthritis, I might likely be raised in a body that reflects that of a perfectly heatlhy twenty-something year old.

 

Obviously, life in the resurrection will be lived in an environment absent of both sin and its consequences. No longer will we be subject to an environment struggling under the heavy weight of God's judgment for the sins of mankind. Likewise, we will be living in community with folks no longer driven by sinful desires. All things will be new. Additionally, unlike today, we will be living in God's very presence! "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4

 

We know that what will be ours in the resurrection will be all the Son of God, Jesus Christ, inherits from God our Father. We are told, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:16-17. This is pretty exciting stuff to say the least! In looking forward to the resurrection, David speaks of the wonder of our existence with God when he says, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm 16:11.

 

I don't know about you, but as I consider that, relatively speaking, these things lie just around the corner for all of us who have embraced Jesus Christ as our Savior, I can't help but get very excited about it!

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Today's Worship: In the midst of defeat... here comes the Lord!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 1:1,

 

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings."

 

During the New Testament times the nation of Israel was occupied by Rome. Israel, while having its primary presence in Palestine, was scattered throughout the Roman Empire, as James addresses his letter to the Jews, "scattered among the nations". Although, due to the faith of Abraham, Israel was God's chosen people, they had become a people vanquished and dominated by others. As we read the accounts of Israel's history in the Old Testament, we find that it was through the sinfulness of Israel as a nation that brought about this turn of events.

 

James is an early letter within the church, a letter written by whom I believe was the Lord's own half-brother, James the Just. He appears to have led the early church in its infancy as we see in passages such as Acts 15 and other places. This same James now addresses his letter to "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations". We call this scattering of Jews the "Diaspora". This dispersion of Jews reflects the horrific consequences of any nation who turns its back on God and embraces the sinful imaginations of the world. How Israel had fallen from its lofty position! At one time Israel commanded the fear and respect of all who came to know her. Through her God had turned superpower Egypt inside out, through her the pagan nations of Palestine were vanquished as she was established in the land. She was rich and powerful. During the time of Solomon the nations of the world paid homage, sent envoys and sought to insure Israel's favor.

 

But just look at her at the time of the birth of the church! Ruled by Roman authorities, vanquished by foreign powers over the years, scattered among the nations! And yet... look what God is doing in the midst of generations of loss and defeat! Here is what grips my heart this morning. When all looks lost, when everything points to doom and gloom, out of the ashes of defeat and despair arises the Lord in piercing light: a fledgling new infant, the church! The entire world will never be the same again!

 

Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel when the time was right. Although, to her great loss in rejecting the Lord - which assured continued decline for the nation, the world itself would never be the same. Jesus Christ came and brought a message of hope from despair. He brought light when it was dark. He brought victory where there was only defeat! Jesus Christ came and gave his life on behalf of the lives of many! When, for generations, things looked dark and gloomy,

 

"The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death 
   a light has dawned. 
You have enlarged the nation
   and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
   as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
   when dividing the plunder...

 

For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
Of the increase of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
   will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:2-3, 6-7. 

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Today's Worship: Powerful and effective prayer.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 5:16b,

 

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

 

Prayer that is powerful and effective is powerful and effective because our God is powerful and effective. Whatever it is the Lord desires to carry out will happen. I am reminded of Isaiah 55:10-11, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

 

In my mind, what makes the prayer of a righteous man powerful and effective is his standing with God. When he asks, God tells us he is moved to act. I suspect there are some who feel they can attain a certain spirituality that provides them special abilities. Nothing could be further from the truth. A righteous man, that is, man of faith, has a special relationship with God who at times will act on his behalf.

 

James uses Elijah as an example of a man of faith asking God for certain things. As we read of the account of Elijah that James refers to, we find God responding to that which Elijah asked for in 1 Kings 17 and 18. In these accounts we read, "The Lord heard Elijah's cry..." 1 Kings 17:22. In these chapters we read of the drought Elijah asked for, of the widow of Zarephath, whose son was brought back to life, of Obadiah, and, possibly one of the most dramatic of all events that we are given account of in the Old Testament, Elijah's humiliation of the Baal and Asherah priests on Mount Carmel.

 

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." A righteous man becomes that way because he embraces God in faith. He gains a righteous standing apart from anything he may do. "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." A righteous standing before God comes not as a result of our efforts and does not enable us to do "powerful and effective" things on our own. What our faith brings is a righteous standing with God and he is powerful and effective. Therein lies the power and effectiveness of the prayer of a righteous man: God acting on his behalf.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Today's Worship: A friend of God.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 2:22-24,

 

"You see that his [Abraham's] faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

 

Here in this passage, James uses Abraham, and later Rahab, as folks who exhibited the kind of faith God is looking for when he considers who will enter into his family, his kingdom. God has extended his invitation to all men and James is driving the point here that the kind of faith God looks for in people when they are confronted with the gospel is the kind that leads to action. If I say I have faith, yet fail to demonstrate it in my thoughts, words and actions, it won't be the kind of faith that will get me anywhere with God.

 

Abraham did get somewhere with God. He was a man of faith and his faith was manifested in his actions, what he did. James quotes Genesis 15:6 where we are told Abraham was credited with righteousness in his account before God. Righteousness is that standing with God where we are acceptable and embraced by him. It is the very standing before God that is required if we are to have any connection with God and be accepted into his family in the resurrection. What I marvel at is that Abraham was called "God's friend"!

 

Of all the folks on planet earth, God found that Abraham demonstrated in his life the faith he is looking for in people. The Scriptures are careful to point out that Abraham was not a perfect man. Indeed, we have accounts provided where Abraham was found to be devious and deceitful at times, Genesis 12:10-20 and Genesis 20:1-18.

 

We find in the life of Abraham the kind of faith God looks for in us. We also discover that faith does not make us perfect, Abraham wasn't and we are not either. However, Abraham was called "God's friend", James tells us. That tells me a lot about God.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Today's Worship

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 5:15,

 

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."

 

Every once in a while I turn on religious programming while watching TV. I wonder about myself sometimes as the experience is usually painful to me. The greatest source of my pain comes from seeing the Lord I love so much misrepresented or represented in a reprehensible way. Something, I'm sure, many of us feel from time to time. One way in which this happens is by those who claim to have great abilities given them from the Lord. Just send in your faith-promise pledge of $$$ and you can be healed! "We will pray for you, for your finances!" It is all done for your good... for God's good. They have the connection with God you don't and they have the ability to do things you can't. How did they get this from God? Why is there always a money connection to it all?

 

I find the account of Peter and John instructive here. In Acts, chapter 3, I read of a true miraculous healing that took place through Peter and John. A crippled man begged money from them as they were on the way to the temple. Peter and John, of course, had to walk, as they couldn't afford the Mercedes Benz our TV evangelists of today have. Peter told him they were broke, "silver or gold I do not have", verse 6. Then Peter took him by the hand, helped him up, completely healed! "What I have, I give you.". Through Peter the man was healed, "in the name of the Lord."

 

Peter and John were immediately thronged by astonished people. What Peter told the crowd is what I find instructive. He said, "Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" After speaking of the rejection of Jesus Christ by the people, Peter said, "It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see." Peter pointed out it wasn't anything within them that the healing took place. It was faith in the Lord. It was not about Peter or John. It is not about TV evangelists, it is not about me. It is about the Lord that the miraculous takes place. And, it takes place due to faith in him as we pray!

 

The Lord did the healing, not Peter or John. The Lord responded to the expression of faith and healed the man. If healing requires the involvement of some TV evangelist driving a Mercedes Benz with a diamond the size of a doorknob on his finger, then salvation can not come about without his involvement either. No, it is the Lord who saves, it is the Lord who may bring healing if he so chooses. It is the simple faith of those who embrace God that brings about either.

 

Here is my fascination in all of this: that my God, the Creator of all that exists, has within his heart the compassion and kindness to consider the heartfelt concerns of us all. Unlike the crowd in Acts 3, the astonishment for me is not that a healing took place. It is that our God so loves us and holds such a place in our hearts that when we ask for those things that concern us, if we approach him in faith, he hears us! And to think that he would actually subordinate his judgment, the consequences of mankind's sin and rebellion against him, to his love for us in Jesus Christ is something to really be astonished at!

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Today's Worship: Rambling thoughts on God, faith and healing.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 5:13-16,

 

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

 

James has said much about faith in this letter. James informs us that faith gets tested, James 1:3. It is this testing which leads to maturity in our walk with the Lord. He has said that only those of faith will receive anything from God, as in the pursuit of wisdom, James 1:5-7. James tells us God has chosen those who are of faith, James 2:5, to inherit the kingdom he has promised. He has defined the kind of faith that God is looking for when he offers his invitation of salvation, James 2:14-26. There he tells us God is looking for the kind that leads to action, as with Abraham and Rahab. "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.", verse 18.

 

Here in James 5:13-16, James tells us that the prayer offered in faith will make the sick well. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." I used to think that if I could only pray with enough faith, I could persuade God to heal anyone. It had appeared to me that this is exactly what James was saying. There are many other passages in the Scriptures that appear to support that thought: The Lord told the woman who had an issue of bleeding for twelve years, "your faith has healed you.", when she was healed by touching his cloak. Matthew 9:22. Jesus told blind Bartimaeus, "Go... your faith has healed you.", Mark tells us, "Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road." Mark 10:52. There are many examples in Scripture of faith having an impact on someone being healed by God, as well as relief from demon possession and other things. Paul speaks of gifts of healing from the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:9.

 

My further reading of the Scriptures, however, brought some maturity to my thinking. Where at first I was convinced that the prayer of a man of faith could always bring healing from God, I read of Paul's advice to Timothy, who had been suffering from stomach ailments, "frequent Illnesses". Paul told Timothy, "use a little wine". Why didn't Paul just pray for Timothy to bring healing to him? Why the medicinal advice? Then I read of Epaphroditus, a man the church in Philippi had sent to help Paul during his imprisonment, Philippians 2:19-30. He had become sick in his service to Paul, even to the point of death. Paul says God intervened, "had mercy on him". However, the event led Paul into such an anxious state that he hurriedly sent him back home. What was the source of Paul's anxiety? Epaphroditus had risked his life in his service to Paul on behalf of the church in Philippi. Clearly, Paul was anxious because he couldn't know the outcome of Epaphroditus' illness. If it was guaranteed that the prayer of a man of faith will always bring healing, Paul would have had no cause for anxiety.

 

From a very practical point of view, I know of no one, who has not otherwise met their death, who has not eventually succumbed to an illness. All die. If guaranteed healing was something God has committed himself to in behalf of those of faith, then either no one has had faith or the presumption upon God is unwarranted.

 

I have had to adjust my understanding from what I started with. Apparently, healing is not a guaranteed task that God performs every time when we ask him in faith. In the kindness of his glorious grace, God may grant healing, and, based on what James tells us here in his letter, a healing that would not otherwise occur were a faithful person not to pray. Often, it is the prayer of a faithful person that brings God's miraculous intervention of healing when it does occurs. But for us to presume upon God that he will automatically and always do the things we ask, even when we feel we have the appropriate level of faith, is the exact kind of presumption that James speaks against James 4:13-15:

 

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"

 

The truth is that it is God's will we all die. There will be a few who will not experience death at the time of the Lord's coming, and of course, Enoch and Elijah didn't experience death. But generally speaking, even for those who have been received by God into his family, it is his will we die. If a violent end, as in an accident or whatever doesn't take us, illness eventually will. The prayer of a person of faith may postpone death or alleviate suffering, but in every case of miraculous healing, it is always subject to God's will. Never should we assume it is not our time God has decided to take us. And, as in the case of Job, who knows? God may be up to something we are not anticipating...

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Today's Worship: Enemies: God and the world.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in James 4:4,

 

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

 

Here is a bold statement. One of the many wonderful things I love about Scripture is that it speaks the truth without concern for "political correctness" or bruising the sensitivities of anyone. Scripture speaks truth in boldness and lets the pieces fall where they may. Here James informs, I note he doesn't suggest or imply or suppose, that if we want to get into sync with the world, move with what moves the world, pursue what the world pursues... in his words, "chooses to be a friend of the world", we become God's enemy.

 

I am reminded of the "flip side" of this. Jesus told his disciples, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 15:18-19. John tells us in 1 John 3:13, "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you."

 

It is apparent to me that there is a choice here and the choice is to embrace the world which brings God as our enemy or embrace God which will brings the world's hatred of us. The world hates God. Psalm 2:1-3 asks a great question, "Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. 'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters.'" Thus, the world falls under God's judgment - becomes an enemy of God.

 

The world chafes and struggles with the reality that God is our omnipotent Creator and seeks to displace him in its rebellion against him. The psalm goes on to provide God's response to the futile fussing of the world, "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 'I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.'"

 

The reality is that God loves the world in spite of its hatred of him. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17.

 

God loves the world. The world hates God. If we chose to be a friend of the world we join the righteous judgment it has earned and become God's enemy. If we choose God we become an enemy of the world. We have a choice: Whose friend to we want to be? Whose enemy do we want to be?

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com