Treasure In Clay Jars

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many… (Hebrews 9:27-28 NIV) My wife and I were talking about a celebrity who we learned had died recently. One of my first thoughts (as is customary) was “were they saved”? Did that person accept that Jesus died for their sins so that they could live forever in Heaven? Though neither my wife nor I could know the real answer to that question, if we went by the “evidence” of how that person lived their public life, then it appeared highly unlikely that a salvation conversion would have occurred in their life. If so, then their death was indeed a tragedy. Acceptance of Jesus is indeed the difference between life and death (for eternity). Look at this diagram below (taken from a previous publication by author Bruce Wilkinson). The size of the circle denotes the average life span of our present life on earth. The length of the line denotes the first .000...

(Exodus 23:24 NLT)   You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.   God will not tolerate those opposed to him. He is God, creator of all things. He simply does not have to. Our decision is do we want to walk with Him or oppose Him?  The scripture above refers to an Old Testament directive of God to the Jews (His people) to destroy those nations and the people of those nations around them who God knew would never worship and serve Him. He is God. He knows who will or won't ever worship Him. If you haven't yet turned to God in worship. Do it today. Don't delay. Don't harden your heart because perhaps He might seem intolerant. He is actually VERY tolerant to those who love Him. He is very tolerant to those who don't fully know Him yet. He asked His Son our savior Jesus Christ to die in our place so that we can live forever wi...

(John 5:21-14 NIV): ...For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life..." (John 6:35-40 NIV): ... Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of ...

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. (Matthew 13:44 NIV) In reflecting on my experience when I do door to door evangelism, it’s one thing when someone answers the door and listens to you even so briefly and then declines. However, I sometimes think about those who answer the door and who immediately decline when I identify myself as an evangelist. To put it in very secular terms: there I am standing at the door ready to offer them something that is worth far more than the richest winning lottery ticket in history, and when I identify myself with the ticket visually in hand (the Bible), they respond, “I’m not interested”. I always say “…no problem” and “thank you very much” and then I move on. The words spoken in red above was by Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself. Can you imagine the reaction of those who reject the message of Christ or the opportunity to h...

(Job 16:19-21 NIV) ...Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend. Is Jesus your advocate before God or do you plan on defending yourself personally?

(Matthew 23: 24-30 NIV): Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (Matthew 23: 36-43 NIV): Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered, “T...

(John 9:1-7 NLT) As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.* The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

I was listening to the radio this morning when the song “One Love” from Bob Marley came on. It is a wonderful song with a great message of love. However there is a line in the song that got me to thinking…the line goes something like this: “give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel alright...” Now it’s rare that you hear a major mainstream artist like Marley incorporating praise to the Lord in their lyrics. In fact, I am certain if any established artist of today were to dare to incorporate praise “to the Lord” in their songs a) it would not be heard liberally in the media and b) that artist would probably be vilified for offending others. But alas, Bob Marley lived in a time where “the Lord” when uttered in the mainstream of public consciousness was not considered akin to a curse word. Good for him; in a way thankfully for Marley, he died before the foolishness of today's media culture truly began. The song also got me to thinking about the phrase “the Lord”. It is no...

I was speaking to a friend recently about the sacrifice made by our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us back to God our Father. It was a heavy conversation where we were both focusing on the depth of our own individual sins in relation to the price that Jesus had to pay to wipe our stains away so that we can live permanently with a Holy and Perfect God. I believe that the punishment that Jesus had to bear was that which was (or is) coming to each and everyone human being who has ever lived, for the sins that they each individually has or will commit. It’s hard to conceive rationally, or even put into words, but the level of punishment, the pain, the horror, the terror, the anguish etc. that my Lord Jesus Christ took is the exact equivalent of what I would have received if God were to have punished me for my life; then He took the same level of punishment for you; then He took the same level of punishment for your brother; then that for your sister; then that for your mother; then that for y...

I received a very disturbing comment from a reader who is very angry at my recent posts regarding the current situation in the Middle East. My message regarding the sovereignty of God in the midst of the Arab-Israeli war was not well received by this reader: Curse your God and his "scriptures". People are suffering and all you talk about is "God's will". The world will not stand by and watch as Israel rapes Gaza. Call me Satan if you will, for even though he does not exist as an entity, he exists in the minds of the angry; and we are growing stronger by the hour. Each drop of blood spilled fills our hatred until one day, the state of Israel will burn. - Anonymous Now I must state unequivocally that no sane person can take any solace in the death and destruction of human life. A Palestinian life lost is no less valuable than an Israeli life lost. However the issue here (as always) is what is this issue within God’s context? God’s context is always life! Not death...

Anyone who has read my posts knows that I focus a lot on the nation of Israel. I do so because in view of biblical focus, Israel is the physical center of God’s world. It is where Christ our savior was sent to be born, live and die for our sins and where He will come to again and reign in his future earthly government: 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… (Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV) I found the following paragraph captured from the News From Jerusalem website very instructive about the condition of modern day Israel’s standing in our current world. It was written in the aftermath of the recent Mumbai India terrorist attacks that among other atrocities singled out an Israeli center for particular carnage, executing 6 Jewish employees in the process. Six decades after the Holocaust, ...

"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. (Luke 11:23 NIV) With this very brief but eloquent statement, our Lord Jesus Christ plainly lays before all mankind the essence of every person’s destiny. According to Jesus, either you are with Him or you are against Him. No gray area. Your life demonstrates your choice. This does beg a question therefore: how do know if your life is with Christ or against him? If you give Jesus Christ any kind of credibility in your thought process, then it stands to reason that this question must be answered in your mind and heart. You can’t sit on the sidelines. Christ does not permit it. I love this simplistic black or white theology. You don’t need a Phd to figure it out. Every one with a functioning mind automatically participates. Few (if any) have an out! I can guarantee you that most who may happen to read this post feel in their heart that they are certainly “not against Christ”. Sure there are a few ...