A Meditation

Aug

2020

The Passing of a Celebrity: When Michael Jackson Died

From God’s Word, the Bible…

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hebrews 9:27-28

Michael Jackson is dead. At one time, he had great wealth. He still had great fame when he breathed his last. But now he is gone.

In reporting his death, one newsperson continued to express shock that this famous man had died at age fifty. It was as if he, the newsman, was assuming that one has to be a certain age to die!

But death is all around us all the time. We are reminded of it when we drive by a cemetery, hospital or nursing facility, or when we see an obituary column.

Death takes young and old, rich and poor, the well educated and the illiterate, conservative and liberal. The greatest fact of life is death.

Martin Luther was right in saying the following words: “Life is a constant and daily journey toward death. One after another dies, and the living must merely engage in the miserable business of carrying one another to the grave. All of us are traveling the same road together.”

The Bible tells us that the wise man thinks about what lies ahead and makes prudent preparation for it (Prov. 22:3). The fool never does.

If death is inevitable, is it not wise to think about it and prepare for it?

But how many there are who seem to think life is sure and death is uncertain. Just the opposite is true!

Many people, these days, would argue that there is nothing for which to prepare because death is the end. Really? Isn’t there something inside you that screams that it is not so?

The Bible tells us that we were made by God and for God and we must meet God. It flatly says: “Prepare to meet your God. . .!” (Amos 4:12).

But how do we prepare for death? The Bible has the answer for that as well. It tells us to repent of our sins and to take the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Why take Jesus? He has demonstrated His authority over death by rising from the grave.

If you don’t know how to handle something, the best thing to do is go to someone who does know how to handle it. You and I are not able to handle death and what lies beyond it, but the Lord Jesus is able. If we place ourselves in His hands, we have nothing to fear about death or the hereafter.

But we must truly take Jesus as our Savior and not just go through the motions of doing so. If we really trust Him, it will show up in our lives. We will not try to govern our lives with no regard for Him, for His Book (the Bible), for His day (the Lord’s Day), or for His church. Many who think they have received Christ have only deceived themselves.

I have come to love a song that urges people to come to Jesus and “laugh on glory’s side.” There is indeed a glory side for those who receive Christ. It is called heaven. And Jesus is the way! If you want to take the fear out of death and “laugh on glory’s side,” turn to Christ now.

Because we never know when death will come, sooner is always better than later for fleeing to Christ.

Apr

2020

Dogs That Won’t Bark

From God’s Word, the Bible…

All you beasts of the field, come to devour,
All you beasts in the forest.
His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant;
They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark;
Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough.
And they are shepherds who cannot understand;
They all look to their own way,
Every one for his own gain,
From his own territory.
“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine,
And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink;
Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.”

Isaiah 56:9-12

Sometimes I think my wife and I should have bought a Basenji. What is a Basenji? It is a dog without a bark.

The reason I think that from time to time is that our dog Molly barks and barks and barks. A good bit of her day is taken up with barking. She barks at people who are taking their walks (and especially if they happen to be walking their dogs). She barks at delivery people. She barks at the mail truck. She barks at neighbors who are working in their yards. She barks when someone knocks or rings the doorbell. She has a special hatred for the boxer (a dog, not a fighter) that lives next door, and barks furiously every time she sees him.

Molly loves to bark, and it can get rather annoying because she has a very loud bark. She is the little dog with the big bark.

Annoying? Yes. But I recognize that there may come a time when Molly’s bark has real value. If a burglar were to attempt to sneak in while we are sleeping, Molly would most certainly hear him and sound the alarm. What good is a dog without a bark when a danger is threatening the family?

The people of Judah were facing real danger: “beasts of the field” were coming “to devour” (v. 9). The crying need was for the “watchmen” stationed on the wall of the city to see the danger and sound the alarm, but, alas, the watchmen were “dumb dogs” that “cannot bark.” They preferred to lie down and take a nap rather than exert the energy to bark (v. 10).

All of this constitutes a picture of a far greater reality. Judah wasn’t being threatened by literal beasts. She was rather being threatened by foreign nations who hated her and wanted to destroy her. And the term “watchmen” doesn’t really refer to the men on the wall. It rather refers to the spiritual leaders of the nation who should have had enough discernment to see the situation. They should have seen that Judah’s enemies were coming against her because of the sinfulness of the people, and they should have called them to repent.

We need Mollys in our pulpits today. We need preachers who will bark at the sight of danger. We need men who will tell sinners that they are sinners, and if they don’t flee to Christ in true repentance and faith they are facing “everlasting destruction” (2 Thess. 1:9).

We need preachers who will warn Christians that spiritual coldness and indifference will lead to woeful results for themselves as individuals and for the church in general.

The sad truth is many preachers won’t bark. They have opted for a “feel-good” religion.

Why is it that so many preachers refuse to bark these days? Many are more concerned about the times than they are about the truth. They read opinion polls with more interest and fervor than they read the Word of God. They dread nothing more than being out of step.

Then there are those who tone down the message out of their concern for “nickels and noses.” They don’t want to run the risk of offending their hearers because they want to keep them coming to church and want them to continue giving their money.

A non-barking preacher is dangerous and should be avoided, but a barking preacher is an inestimable treasure. If you don’t have a barking preacher, find one, and if you do have one, pray for him and prize him. Someone has observed that the pastor who loves his people the most is the one who tells them the most truth about themselves.

I’m thankful that many years ago, a common, ordinary preacher stepped into the pulpit and barked at me. He told me that I must leave this world and stand before a holy God. He told me about my sin, and, thank God, he told me that God forgives sinners on the basis of the redeeming work of Christ. When I meet that preacher in heaven, I want to weep, fall on his neck, and kiss him (Acts 20:37).

Thank God for a barking preacher.

Copyright, Roger Ellsworth, from Fading Lines, Unfading Hope … And 30 Other Bible-Based Meditations or Month 4 in The Big Book of Coffee Cup Meditations (available from Amazon HERE).

Mar

2020

Whenever I am Afraid. . .

Whenever I am Afraid

Here is a reading we shared three years ago… It is from A Dog and A Clock (Book 1, Paperback) or The Big Book of Coffee Cup Meditations.

From God’s Word, the Bible…

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?

I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.

Psalm 27:1; Psalm 34:4; Psalm 94:19

In Psalm 56:3, David admits to being afraid. To be afraid is to be “filled with fear or apprehension.” That word “afraid” is all too familiar! We are often filled with fear and apprehension. Most of our fears have to do with our lives or the lives of those we love either being lessened in quality or coming to an end.

Many things can lessen the quality of our lives or the lives of our loved ones—sickness, financial reversals, family discord, world conditions, and many other things. There is no shortage of things to bring about apprehension!

And the biggest one of all is death itself! How many people have proudly marched through life as if they were in control and as if they were sufficient for everything, only to tremble and cower when they came to death’s door! Haughty and proud in his disdain for Christianity, skeptic David Hume whimpered at death: “I am affrighted and confounded with the forlorn solitude in which I am placed by my philosophy… I fancy myself in the most deplorable condition imaginable, environed in the deepest darkness.”

The David who wrote Psalm 56:3 was the man who stood fearlessly before Goliath. But he was “very much afraid” when he took up his pen to write this psalm. He was in the land of the Philistines, where he did not belong, and it seemed to him that King Achish would soon snuff out his life (see 1 Sam. 21:12). But David collected himself, looked to God, and wrote: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”

“Whenever” means “at whatever time,” or “at any or every time.” In Psalm 56:3, it is a beautiful word! At whatever time or at any time David finds himself gripped with fear, he will trust in God. Every time he is afraid, he will trust God. Trusting is always the great antidote for fearing.

Are you, like David and so many others, frightened by the thought of death? Trust in God! He has both made glorious promises regarding death and has shown Himself to be utterly faithful to His promises.

What has God promised about this matter of death? He has promised His people will not face it alone, that He Himself will meet them in the “valley of the shadow” and will shepherd them safely through (Ps. 23:4). He has promised that at the very moment of death, the souls of His people will go immediately into His presence (2 Cor. 5:6-8). And He has promised that the bodies of all those who belong to Him will finally be raised from their graves, rejoined to their souls, and will forever be with Him in eternal glory (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

What promises! But please note that these are promises God has given only to His people! Not all are His people. Those who are not in a right relationship with Him have His promise that they will face Him in judgment and will be driven forever from His presence (2 Thess. 1:8-10). That will cause any thinking person to really be afraid! (Luke 12:4-5).

Are you afraid of that immensely sobering time when you will have to stand before God in judgment? God has given a promise for you to trust. He has promised that He will forgive all those who trust completely in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in what He did on the cross for sinners like you and me (John 3:16,36; 5:24; 6:47; 1 John 5:11-12).

Those who believe in Jesus can rejoice in these words from the Apostle Paul: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom. 8:1).

Afraid? Don’t be! Trust God’s promise to save sinners and then trust His promises to take care of His people. Make it your policy to say to God: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”

Roger Ellsworth

Nov

2019

Three Reasons to Be of Good Cheer

A Thanksgiving Meditation

Cheer is somewhat of an old-fashioned word. It has the idea of encouragement, of seeing things in a better light, especially when circumstances change for the better. At this time of Thanksgiving, here is a reading from Book 11 (Old Houses, New Houses) in The Big Book of Coffee Cup Meditations. Enjoy reading it!

Three Cheers from Jesus

From God’s Word, the Bible…

So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

Matthew 9:1-2

But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

Matthew 9:22

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Matthew 14:27

The Gospel of Matthew reports three occasions on which Jesus said: “Be of good cheer.” On each of those occasions, Jesus was speaking to an individual or a group who were beaten down and on the verge of despair. On the first occasion, Jesus spoke to a man who had been paralyzed for a long time. On the second occasion, He spoke to a woman who for twelve years had suffered from a hemorrhage. On the third occasion, He spoke to His disciples who were trying to pilot their little boat through a stormy sea.What are the truths that we can draw from these situations? The first is this: We can be of good cheer because Jesus forgives sin (9:1-2).

In this passage we have a paralyzed man lying on his bed, and Jesus says: “Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

What does this say to us? The answer couldn’t be plainer. It affirms that Jesus regarded this man’s spiritual condition as being more important than his physical condition. That’s not to say that Jesus wasn’t interested in his physical condition. He was, and He proved it by healing him. But that’s not where Jesus started. No one had said a word to Jesus about forgiving this man’s sins, but that is where Jesus began.

Jesus put the emphasis in the right place. We all have to leave this world and meet God. No one will be able to stand in God’s holy presence unless his sins are forgiven. The good news that emerges from Jesus’ dealings with the paralyzed man is this: Jesus can and does forgive sins. He came to this earth for the express purpose of providing the way for our sins to be forgiven. He did so by dying on the cross. There He received the penalty for sinners so that all who come to Him in repentance and faith will never receive that same penalty but will rather receive forgiveness.

The second truth we see from the three cheers of Jesus is this: We can be of good cheer because Jesus values imperfect faith (9:22)The woman who had suffered for twelve years with “a flow of blood” (9:20) quite obviously had imperfect faith. Her faith that Jesus could heal her was mixed up with some superstition. She seems to have regarded Jesus as something of a magician who exuded power to those who touched Him. So, she managed to work her way through the crowd around Jesus and touch Him. And that touch was rewarded as Jesus healed her.

We can and should be thankful that the Lord doesn’t require us to have perfect faith before He saves us. Weak faith is still faith. What a consolation that is! J.C. Ryle writes:

Our faith may be feeble; our courage may be small; our grasp of the Gospel and its promises, may be weak and trembling,—but, after all, the grand question is, Do we really trust only in Christ? Do we look to Jesus, and only to Jesus, for pardon and peace? If this be so, it is well. (J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1995, p. 89.)

The truth we discover from Jesus’ third cheering statement is very comforting, namely, We can be of good cheer because Jesus is with us in the storms of life (14:27).

After feeding a multitude of five thousand, Jesus told His disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee. They soon encountered a ferocious storm. The boat “was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by waves, for the wind was contrary” (14:24).

Jesus came to His disciples by walking on the sea. His first words to them were: “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Jesus did marvelous things in that storm. He enabled Simon Peter to walk toward Him on the water and then rescued him when, after a good start, he began to sink. Jesus then stepped with Simon into the boat, and the wind immediately ceased (14:28-32).

We have our storms, too. And they can be very threatening and frightening. But the Lord Jesus has promised to be with us all through this life (Heb. 13:5), and that includes the storms. With Him beside us, our fear can give away to cheer.

These three passages put the Lord Jesus on display. We see His perfect knowledge, His abounding sympathy, and His sovereign authority and power. Our response should be to worship Him as His disciples did when He stilled the storm (14:33).

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Feb

2019

Bright Truths for Bleak Times

From God’s Word, the Bible

But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.”

And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Acts 23:11-12

This is an excerpt from Bright Truths for Bleak Times, one of the devotions in My Coffee Cup Meditations Book 7, Sure Signs of Heavenly Hope.

It was a bleak time for Paul. Roman soldiers had taken him into custody to prevent his fellow-Jews from killing him. But that didn’t put an end to it. Forty of the Jews took an oath they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul (v.14). They went to their religious leaders with a plan, and those men, who professed to be great believers in God’s law, put their stamp of approval on it.

Was this a difficult time for Paul? I would say so. But there is more here than the description of hard circumstances. Interwoven into this account are four bright, encouraging truths.

First, we see that no place is too hard for the Lord to find.

After arresting Paul, the Romans put him “into the barracks” (v. 10). Paul may have been alone there, hidden from human view. Ah, but, he wasn’t hidden from the Lord’s view because we read: “the Lord stood by him” (v. 11). The religious leaders in the temple and the Roman commander in the palace were surrounded by comfort while Paul was in prison surrounded by the Lord. I’d say Paul had the better of it. It’s better to be in a prison with Christ than to be in a palace without Him.

Do you feel as if you are hidden away in harsh circumstances? The same Lord who knew where to find Paul knows where to find you. He is with His people in every difficulty and every trial. When the Jews were captives in Babylon, they thought their situation was hidden from the Lord, but it wasn’t (Isa. 40:27). And neither is ours.

To read the whole devotion, make sure you purchase or borrow a copy of Sure Signs of Heavenly Hope! Available from Amazon!

Jan

2019

I Want to Hear Bert Wilson Pray Again

Enjoy this reading from Book 2: The Thumbs-Up Man

From God’s Word, the Bible…

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

James 5:16-18

Before I began serving as a pastor (at age sixteen), I was a member of Vanburensburg Baptist Church in Vanburensburg, Illinois. It is likely that there are more letters in the church’s name than there were members of the church.

One of the members was Bert Wilson. When I first got acquainted with Bert, he was already well advanced in years. I remember him as being very warm, kind, and humble.

The thing I remember most about Bert was his praying. Our dear pastor, Ernest Flowers—himself a wonderful Christian man—would often call on Bert to lead the congregation in prayer.

Our little church did not have pews. We had what we called theater seats. But they weren’t plush, cushioned seats. They had wooden backs and wooden seats, and when we got up the seats would make a rather loud clacking noise. When the pastor called on Bert to pray, those seats would clack as members across the tiny building rose, not to stand during the prayer, but rather to kneel on the hardwood floor.

Everyone knew what to expect when Bert led in prayer. It would not be brief, light, and breezy. It would last from ten to fifteen minutes, and it would be earnest, heartfelt, and moving. It taught me that there is such a thing as laying hold of God in prayer. By the way, in the four or five years that I was a member of that church, I never heard anyone complain about the time Bert took to pray. If there had been any complaints about Bert’s praying, I think they would have been along the lines of it being too brief. How that man prayed! And how time seemed to stand still when he prayed! Many in the congregation would find themselves lost in wonder, love, and praise when Bert prayed, and it was not at all unusual to hear people weeping during the prayer and to see tear-stained cheeks when it was over.

Bert was short in physical stature, but he was a spiritual giant. His prayers reminded us of the sovereignty and majesty of God and of His marvelous saving love—love that sent His Son to die on the cross for a world of unlovely, unworthy, undeserving sinners.

The trend in churches in recent years has been running against Bert Wilson. He would undoubtedly be told that prayer can’t take too much time and can’t be quite so serious. It seems these days that we are bent on making God small and casual. We dress casually, we pray casually, we preach casually, and we hurry to get through. The God of our day is smiling, benign, and user-friendly. His primary purpose seems to be to help us cope with life’s difficulties and to manage our busy schedules. After it is all over, we might allow ourselves in an infrequent moment of deep reflection to wonder why God doesn’t thrill our souls. We should not expect to get a big thrill from a little God. If we insist on making God little, we will get little in return. Bert prayed to a big God.

Serious times call for serious praying. These are serious times. Where are those who are seriously praying?

I am not Bert Wilson’s equal in praying. My praying must sound in God’s ears like the babbling of an infant compared to Bert’s. But I do pray, and one of my prayers these days is this: Lord give us more Bert Wilsons.

I have many precious memories from my youth, but if someone were to ask me to choose one thing to relive, I think I would say: I want to hear Bert Wilson pray again

Reading taken from Book 2: The “Thumbs-Up” Man

Dec

2018

“My Coffee Cup Meditations” and Me

A Guest Post from a Reader in Scotland

Meeting a dear friend for that promised coffee… or using the spare time for private prayer? Given the choice on a given day I’m all too aware of which I would naturally plump for! Despite relishing the notion of disciplined prayer, the opportunity to enjoy a cup of hot, frothy coffee laced with companionable conversation is so appealing that “formal prayer” gets pushed further down the queue. And if I’m brutally honest, it’s all too often relegated to the end of the day.

Roger Ellsworth’s My Coffee Cup Meditations is a set of slim books which offers a neat, practical solution for people like me whose spirit is willing… but oh, the weakness of the flesh! These books are a springboard to Christian prayer—an excuse to meet God every day, albeit with that all-important coffee! God, who satisfies the deepest longings of our hearts, is always waiting for us. It doesn’t matter how or where we meet Him; what matters is that we meet regularly. These short reflective essays lend themselves admirably to initiating a natural conversation with Him in our own homes, in our own time, and in the midst of all our chores.

I usually select a book at random, read a chapter, close my eyes, and sit silently, coffee cup in hand, asking God to join me. Soon I will feel Him right there beside me. Of course I know He’s always there, but this is our special time, together, and He knows how much that coffee motivates me! Sometimes He’ll speak to my heart; at other times I’ll tell Him all about my day. With anyone else I’d worry about being too talkative or too focused on myself, but I know I’m dear to Him and that He really doesn’t mind.

These readings place us quietly but squarely in the presence of God.

Prayer consists not in thinking much but in loving much (as St Teresa of Avila once wisely said), and it’s really the practice that counts rather than the theory. A daily pause for reflection with spiritual readings such as these, places us quietly but squarely in the presence of God. We may occasionally need to flick away distractions, but our loving Saviour who delights in us will surely do the rest.

Guest Blogger Farifteh (Frith) Robb, a former lecturer and midwife, lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Of Persian heritage, she became a Christian in Iran. Her autobiographical book Unexpected Grace: A Life in Two Worlds was published by Great Writing Publications in 2017. Image “Coffee in Edinburgh” by the author.

Dec

2018

Old Houses, New Houses

A Reading from Book 11

From God’s Word, the Bible

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.

John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:1

It was finally gone, the victim of the cold steel of a bulldozer’s blade. I knew the end was rapidly approaching, but I still hated to see it go.

I’m talking about the little old house in which I spent the first twenty-one years of my life. Little? Yes. It consisted of a kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms, a pantry, and a porch. Oh, yes, there was also that little area on one side that my mother referred to as “the sun room.”

What about the bathroom? There was no bathroom. We used the privy, which was situated a little way down the hill. My folks, you see, were very poor. We just had enough money, as they put it, “to make ends meet.”

The old house was in bad condition all through my young years. Walking across the floor would cause it to sort of creak and groan as if it were offering a protest against the person who was adding more weight to its weary existence. The walls were adorned with various cracks and holes. And the foundation could only see its sturdy days in the rear-view mirror.

But I loved that old house. It wasn’t the physical structure that made it lovable. It was rather what went on there. The love and respect we had for each other, the happiness and the laughter, the gratitude we felt for the Lord’s blessings, and our shared faith in the precious gospel of Christ—all of these things and many more made the old house a palace of delight.

One of the most pleasant memories of my childhood is my mother filling that old house with singing before Parkinson’s disease made her body like the house itself—weak, weary, and worn.

I treasure the lessons that I learned in my years in the old house, one of which was that it isn’t necessary to have lots of money to be rich. Greater still was this lesson: believers in Christ have two new houses awaiting them. One is a new body. Paul says we have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). My body is an “earthly house,” a “tent,” which will be “destroyed.” But when Jesus comes I will receive a new body (Phil. 3:20-21).

The second house believers will receive is the “Father’s house” (John 14:1). That term is Jesus’ shorthand for our eternal home that is so beautifully described for us in Revelation 21 and 22.

Here, then, is the final outcome for believers in Christ—we will live in new bodies on a new earth. Those bodies will be beyond the reach of disease and death. No Parkinson’s in heaven, and no death either! Thank God! And the new earth will be beyond the reach of sin and Satan. The Apostle Peter refers to it as “an inheritance” that is “incorruptible and undefiled.” He also says that it “does not fade away,” but it is “reserved in heaven” for us (1 Peter 1:4).

Christians have indescribable glory awaiting them, and it’s all because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came from heaven’s glory to this earth to take us from this earth to heaven’s glory.

When will believers in Christ receive their new houses? When Jesus comes! One glorious day, He will break through the clouds “with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). Dead believers will hear the voice of their Lord, and they will spring from their graves in marvelous resurrection life. Living believers will be “caught up” (1 Thess. 4:17). They will instantaneously receive their new bodies without having to pass through death. And then the Lord will escort all of His people to their new house in heaven. New bodies on a new earth—what a destiny!

As we wait for the glory of that day, we live in this world of change and decay. Nothing here lasts. How thankful we should be that we have the Lord to abide with us! Before her disease took her voice, my mother used to sing:

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!

(Henry F. Lyte)

Dec

2018

An Unexpected Visitor from Heaven

An Angel Speaks to Joseph

We’ve just released another three books in the series, bringing it to twelve books–one for each month of the year. The reading below is from Book 10: Apples of Gold in Silver Settings. You can buy the book on Amazon (see the link at the end of this reading)

From God’s Word, the Bible…

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save
His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-21

Mary was pregnant, and her fiancé Joseph was perplexed. The child wasn’t his. Assuming Mary had been unfaithful to him, he was inclined to break their engagement quietly, that is, without subjecting Mary to the legal procedures of that time.

Then everything changed for Joseph in an instant. An angel suddenly appeared to him in a dream to offer an explanation and to give an instruction.

The explanation had to do with Mary’s pregnancy. It was unique. There had not been one like this before. The angel said: “. . . that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20).

The instruction had to do with the naming of the One who was to be born. The angel said to Joseph: “. . . you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21).

I love the name “Jesus” because it means “salvation,” and this I know about myself: I need salvation. What is it that I need to be saved from? The angel made it clear. I need to be saved from my sins. And what I have said about myself is true of everyone. We are all sinners (Rom. 3:23), and we all need to be saved from our sins.

Jesus came to this earth for the express purpose of providing salvation for sinners, and there would be no such salvation had He not come.

Yes, Jesus provides an example for us on the matter of how we should live, but that wasn’t the primary reason that He came. Jesus was certainly a marvelous teacher, but He didn’t come to only be a teacher. Jesus came to be the Savior. Any explanation for Him other than that comes woefully short of the truth about the Lord Jesus.

To say that Jesus came to this earth to save sinners is to say that He came to pay the penalty that those sinners deserve. God’s holy character precludes Him from forgiving sinners without that penalty being paid. God would sin against Himself if He were to ignore the penalty that He Himself had pronounced on sin. So the huge question was this: how could God at one and the same time carry out the penalty that He had pronounced on sinners and let those very same sinners go free? To put it another way, how could God both punish and not punish sinners? Or, to put it yet another way, how could God simultaneously satisfy His justice that demanded payment for sin and His grace that demanded release for sinners? Enormous dilemma!

Now you know why I love the name “Jesus.” He is the answer to God’s dilemma. On the cross, He received the penalty that God’s justice required. What a penalty it was! It was the penalty of eternal separation from God, and Jesus experienced that on the cross. That’s why He cried: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).

Because He was God, an infinite person, He could receive an eternity’s worth of wrath in a finite measure of time. Amazing!

Justice looked on the cross of Jesus and clapped its hands in approval because the demand that it made against sinners was fully carried out. But grace looked on that same cross and clapped its hands as well for this reason: because Jesus had paid the penalty, there was no penalty left for those sinners who trust in Him. Justice and grace met in Jesus.

Now you see the reason I love the name “Jesus.” But I have to say there’s another word that I love in the angel’s announcement. It is the word “will.” That’s a definite word. It doesn’t allow for uncertainty. Jesus was coming to this earth to provide salvation for sinners, and He would succeed in that work. Nothing would stop Him.

I would have enjoyed hearing the angel speak his words of explanation and instruction to Joseph because those words pertain to something that pertains to me—salvation from my sins. There is nothing greater to be found, and it’s all found in Jesus.

We have heard the joyful sound:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

May

2018

These Books Lifted My Spirits!

I’m So Glad the Postman Brought These!

Farifteh (Frith) Robb writes from Edinburgh that her spirits lifted when these two books arrived in the mail delivery. “They cheered me up,” she wrote.

Frith herself is a gifted author and tells the story of God’s kindness to her in her memoir Unexpected Grace, also made available through Great Writing Publications. More info HERE.

Observant readers of this post will pay attention to the detail of the coffee cup, too, testimony of Frith’s recent visit to the beautiful upstate of South Carolina

Enjoy reading the meditation (#2 from Book 6) below…

From God’s Word, the Bible…

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil.

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Hebrews 5:12-6:2

Milk and Meat

We know the Bible is both milk for spiritual babes and meat for the spiritually mature. We also know that we are not to continue to subsist on the milk of the Word. We’re to progress to the meat of the Word.

So we’re face to face with an important question: at what point does the Word of God cease to be milk for us and become meat?

I mentioned in the previous reading that some think the milk of the Word has to do with Christ and His salvation, and we are to graduate from those truths to the greater truths of the Spirit. Imagine it! The Christian graduating from Christ!

But the Christian moving from milk to meat is not a matter of leaving certain doctrines behind. It is rather a matter of coming to a greater understanding of those doctrines. It is building on the simple doctrines that we heard when we first accepted Christ.

Doesn’t the book of Hebrews tell us to leave “the elementary principles of Christ”? Yes, but this leaving shouldn’t be understood in the sense of departing from a place to never return again. It should rather be likened to a man building a house. He lays the foundation, and then he leaves it so he can go on to build on top of it. He doesn’t leave the foundation by destroying it or by denying that it is there.

The author of Hebrews was concerned about his readers because, after laying the foundation and starting to build the house, they were acting as if they wanted to destroy the house and the foundation so they could start all over.

These people should have been at the meat level. That means they should have been able to teach others, and they should have been able to discern between true and false teaching (Heb. 5:12-14). But they were back at the milk level—unable to teach and unable to discern.

I was very much at the milk level in the early days of my Christian life. My understanding of salvation was very simple and elemental when I came to Christ. I knew I was a sinner. I knew Jesus was the Savior. I knew I must repent of my sins and trust Jesus as my Savior. I came repenting and believing, and I was saved.

But I didn’t stay there. As I read God’s Word, read about God’s Word, and heard godly men preach, I began to move off the milk level to the meat level. It wasn’t that I ceased to be interested in Christ and salvation. Far from it! I became more and more interested in Him and His work of salvation. As I learned, I was amazed at the glories folded into the simple gospel.

For example, if I had been asked as a new Christian to identify the three mediatorial offices of Christ (prophet, priest, and king) and explain each one, I would have been at a loss. With the passing of time, however, I learned about these offices and rejoiced in them.

If I had been asked on the day of my conversion to explain how Jesus could pay for our sin in the six hours He was on the cross, I would have been bewildered.

On the other hand, I was easy prey in those days for those who had mistaken notions about Christ and His redeeming work. I now shake my head in amazement at some of the “teachings” that I simply accepted at face value. One especially comes to mind—that teaching that suggests that God tried first one plan of salvation, then another, then another, and finally decided to send His Son. The truth is God has always had only one plan of salvation, and that plan is His Son.

Am I where I want to be and need to be in the spiritual realm? No. After all these years, I can say with Paul: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended…” (Phil. 4:13).

When it comes to the deep truths of Christ, there should be an end to the milk, but there will never be an end to the meat. There will always be more to understand, and each new understanding will bring greater wonder and awe.

A Meditation

Bright Truths for Bleak Times

Bright Truths for Bleak Times

From God’s Word, the Bible

An Unexpected Visitor from Heaven

An Angel Speaks to Joseph

We’ve just released another three books in the series, bringing it to twelve books–one for each month of the year. The reading below is from Book 10: Apples of Gold in Silver Settings. You can buy the book on Amazon (see the link at the end of this reading)

Video Intro to Coffeetime in All Four Seasons

Video Intro to the BIG BOOK of Coffee Cup Meditations

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