“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Hebrews 13:7

This action of the apostle Paul would change the lives of many in our local church if our leaders only did as he did?  When using 1 Corinthians 11:1 in a teaching or sermon, I‘ve heard preachers and teachers take a different road than the apostle Paul, and it sounds so much better than what Paul proclaimed to Timothy and others in the early church, and to you and me.  In that verse Paul stated; “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” and most preachers and teachers teaching on that verse tell us not to follow my example, but follow Christ.  As a teacher or a mentor, that sounds so humble, not brash or arrogant as the apostle Paul, but is it?  And we must ask this question, is Paul’s position in keeping with other Scriptures?  And is the pastor or teacher who tells you not to model his actions following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, or just telling you the truth, that their life is not worthy of your model?  When the apostle Paul uses the word imitate He is saying, watch the outflow of Christ who lives in me.

I personally have told young couples that my life was not to be modeled and that they should look to Jesus only; what a bad testimony!  What am I proclaiming, could it be that Christ does not live in me, or that I will not believe or submit to His authority in my life?  Paul never claimed perfection, but the desire of his heart was to be an imitator of Jesus Christ.  As one who has had both the honor and responsibility of teaching the Bible to others, should I not take to heart Philippians 3:12-17, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  Only let us hold to what we have attained.  Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

Paul tells the church of the Thessalonians, in chapter 2:8 that we shared more than the gospel of God; we shared with you our own selves, because you have become dear to us.  And in verse 10, “You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.  And how was this done, verse 11, 12, “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

What the church needs are men and women who imitate Christ, who understand that victorious living is found in letting Christ live out His life in you.  Those men and women  can tell the ones they are mentoring the following: “And what you heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)  Follow me as I follow Christ, or Christ in me the hope of glory.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Many parts but one Spirit

 

Hebrews 13:3-6

Have you ever stopped to ponder the magnificent Body of Christ; the church, how it has many parts but one Spirit, one hope, and one Lord.  As I read verse three, my mind went to men like John Anderson and Ken Ryan, men who have been used of God to mold me, and both of these men have for many years been involved in prison ministry, and yet I’ve never had that calling on my life.  But each of us should pray for such men and women who God has called to this ministry, and all of us should be champions for and to the mistreated, since we also are part of the body.

When it comes to marriage, we are to honor it, all of us, and yet today the divorce rate in and out of the church is running at about 50%.  If God tells the truth, and He does, then verse 4 explains much of the heartbreak, and the chaos in the family.  More than 50 % of our children do not have a dad in the home, and we wonder why our culture is in such a mess.  Verse four; “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”  But no longer do we have adulterous behavior, we are so much smarter than that, we changed the word to fool God, now it is just an affair, but I’ve got some bad news, God is not fooled, and the sad fact is we are the fools, we have been taken captive by the enemy of our soul.  This is no different than the forbidden fruit that Eve was tempted with, and we know that God kept his promises.

Verse five is also an area that most Christians are living in opposition to the commands of Scripture; “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Now that is a battleground each of us should understand, our world system is centered on money.  The love of or for money has little to do with how much or how little of it you have, it’s centered on a false concept that if we had more then we would be happy.  Money or possessions is not bad, but they easily become idols, and God will not allow that in a Christian’s life.  If only we acted like God tells the truth, then and only then, would we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Let brotherly Love Continue

Hebrews 13:1

 

“Let brotherly love continue.”  Wow, the writer has moved from sharing some heavy stuff, like “a kingdom that cannot be shaken to “Let brotherly love continue.”  That does not sound like a request, it comes to us as a command, do you and I understand the command?  I seem to wrestle with who is my brother, do you do that?   Is it referring to only other Christians, or is it a much larger scope, like “Love your neighbor as your- self”?   I’ve come to understand that my neighbor is anyone who I come in contact with, and I also found that an impossible task in my own ability; I’m learning to ask Jesus to love the ones who seem so unlovable.  Do you understand that we are commanded to love our enemies, and I’m still struggling with the ones I come in contact with as I go down Hwy 281? 

God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, but they should be to this degree, He has called us to be holy as He is holy.  And in that calling it becomes clear that to be holy is beyond our ability, it requires death to yourself, it requires Jesus who lives in you, to do it all for you. 

If I could only set my mind on the teachings of Christ, and I can because Jesus told us to set our minds on these things, so it is totally in our power to set our minds on anything we choose.  With that said, it is important to set my mind on the fact that the enemy of my soul has a plan to keep me from loving and his hope is to stir up strife, and hatred is one of his tools, see Proverbs 10:12.  But Christ who lives in us tells us that without love we are a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal look at 1Corinthians 13:1.

Each of us who are in Christ have the power to follow this command, and Galatians 5:13, spells that out.  “For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  You are a saint who sins, that is what God calls you.  The apostle Peter has some good council in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 

If your are a seeker of truth, look at what the apostle John had to say in 1 John 2:9-10 and John sums it up in this way; “And this commandment we have from him; whoever loves God must love his brother.” (1John 4:21)  My early confession was, apart from Jesus Christ doing it for and through me, an impossible act, but I do recall that in weakness, in confession we find the answer, God wants to let the world and the demons and the angels see you doing what Jesus did, He who was God in the flesh ran to His Father for everything.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:29

God is described in many ways in Scripture; He is called the Unseen, Unsearchable, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Most High, Majesty, Light, Judge, Exalted, Love, just to name a few, but Hebrews 12:29 describes Him as a consuming fire.  If we go to the dictionary the word consuming: so intense as to take up all of somebody’s attention, time, and energy.  Often that word is used in explaining someone’s fascination with the opposite sex or a new job that is overwhelming or intense.  But when it comes to definition or words used to explain God, the best source is the Bible.

When God is called a consuming fire, it is a symbol of the Divine presence and power of God; in Deuteronomy 4:36 Moses is telling the people that the Lord alone is God and that they have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire.  In Psalm 97:2-3, “Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.  Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.”  The prophet Isaiah had this to say on the subject of God being a consuming fire; “For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.  For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the Lord shall be many.” (Isaiah 66:15-16)  Isaiah is referring to the final judgment and Glory of the Lord in the above verses.  When God sent His Holy Spirit to rest on the church, He comes in divided tongues as of fire and Paul reminds us of how God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush, in Acts 7:30.

It is no longer in vogue to talk about God in this way, but the same Bible that tells us of God’s love for whosoever will, also states these truths in the verses that follow; “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  (John 3:18-20)  To be condemned is a choice or as Jesus said two roads, one that is wide and leads to hell and the other is narrow and leads to life.  Hebrews 10:30-31, gives this warning; “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”  And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Jesus' Cleaning Service

 

John 2:13-22

In our busy culture, one business that has done very well is the cleaning profession.  These companies clean businesses, churches, hospitals, and homes.  We have one in our area of Texas called Molly maids, and my wife uses me.  In the last few weeks we as a society have observed mobs of people who take over parks, I do not know what is in their hearts, but my observations are that they need someone to come behind them and clean up their mess, or better yet, they need to put their house in order.  They need to be responsible for their personal hygiene, and to the others camped around them to remove trash, and they have a responsibility to the owners of the park and the many who work and shop in the area to keep their protest from causing harm or being disruptive to many who do or do not share their views.  I’m almost sure you are asking how does this tie into the action of Jesus cleansing the Temple?

I do believe there is some symbolism between the two events, though time and setting or vastly different.  The people that took over the park were using it for something the owners and designers never envisioned, and the same could be said about the Temple.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers were not part of the design and builder’s plans for the temple.  These people had an agenda and it was built around self, and if you get no other message from the people in the park, it was all about them, all about self.

If you are reading this paper, more than likely you are of the Christian faith, and many of us missed the story, just like the Jews did at the time Jesus made the whip of cords and drove out those businessmen with their sheep and oxen and turned over the tables of the moneychangers.  “And he told those who sold the pigeons “Take these things away, do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:16)  Do you believe these businessmen were concerned that the outer court of the Temple smelled like a cow lot, no more than those people in the park who revealed by their actions they did not care about the park or the businesses around the park?  But Jesus was telling a much bigger story, and once more we Christians, like the Jews, missed the message; the Jews wanted to know “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:18-19)  The Jews said, are you out of your mind it took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?  “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.  When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

Is your body a temple?  The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19&20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”  This body of ours, houses the real you; mind, will, and emotions, and Scripture tells us it needs maid service, each and every day.  Ephesians 4:22&23, give clear directions on what to put off.  “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” Shall we look at the short list of what you and I need to put off: (1) Lack of Love - 1John 4:7, 8, 20, (2) Judging - Matthew 7:1,2, (3) Bitterness - Hebrews 12:15, (4) Unforgiving spirit - Mark 11:26, (5) Selfishness - Philippians 2:21, (6) Pride -Proverbs 16:5, (7) Boasting (Conceit) - 1Corinthians 4:7,  (8) Ungratefulness - Romans1: 21, (9) Disrespect for Authority - Acts 23:5, (10) Prayerlessness - Luke 8:1.

Folks, that is a very short list of what needs to be cleaned up in our temple, but we also need to do some refurnishing and we find that in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  Once more, this is a very short list of what needs to be put on: (1) Love - John 15:1, (2) Let God search my heart - John 8:9; 15:22, (3) Tender hearted and forgiving - Ephesians 4:32, (4) Forgiving spirit -Colossians 3:13, (5) Self denial - John 12:24, (6) Humility - James 4:6, (7) Esteeming others - Philippians 2:3, (8) Gratefulness - Ephesians 5:20, (9) Honor authority - Hebrews 13:17, (10) Praying - Matthew 26:41.

When you invited Christ into your life, at that moment you got all of God you will ever get, and your body is home to the Holy Spirit, is it not time to ask Jesus to send in His cleaning service?  But it will require you and me to listen and obey, and to put off and put on what He has instructed us to do in His Hand book on living life now.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

My blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Faith that cannot be Shaken

Hebrews 12:18-29

This aspect of the letter to this Hebrew church and to us is about a kingdom that cannot be shaken.  If you have been around for as long as I, you have experienced the shaking of kingdoms.  Great powers like Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America, all have experience decline.  Once more, we must as Christians look not to what is seen, but to what is promised.  The writer is reminding them of the exodus from Egypt and Moses on Mount Sinai with God.  He is telling them that they have entered by faith into a kingdom that cannot be touched, much unlike what their fathers had experienced at Mount Sinai.

The writer is giving us a picture of what they experienced at Mount Sinai, and it was a fearful place even for Moses.  I hope you will let your imagination explore the writer’s word picture, “For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.  For they could not endure the orders that were given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.  Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”  Mount Sinai was a personal encounter with Creator God, and like us they cried out in fear, they needed someone to be the intercessor between God and man.  Once we come to the understanding that God is not like us, that He does not change and He is holy and requires holiness for all who will enter into a relationship with Him.

I am so glad that the writer did not say, if you do this great act you may come, but look at what he said; “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”  Our righteousness is found only in Jesus, our intercessor, our mediator; it is Christ in you the hope of glory.  And once more let your imagination go to your real home, Mount Zion, and what is awaiting you, a big party, and a party like none this world has ever seen.

My hope is that you are not trying to earn acceptance to Mount Sinai, it’s a fearful place, a place that is terrifying, but Jesus has paid in full your passage into the city of the living God, the new Jerusalem, and He has prepared for you an everlasting home, and it comes with a eternal guarantee.  If you read on, verse 25-29, the message is so clear, one God, one way to God, and that is the blood of Jesus Christ, He is the door that all must go through to have access to the city of the living God.  And listen, the writer tells us that God is going to shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.  It is of the utmost importance that your faith is established on what cannot be shaken, for the Scriptures are clear, your world is going to be shaken.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Discipline 101

Hebrews 12:5-11

Trained by discipline, now that is a thought worth pondering.  Verse 11 states the following; “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”  When I think of discipline my mind goes to giving up or restricting myself from something that I enjoy, but is almost certainly not in my best interest.  If you are even a casual observer of my actions and life style you have no doubt that I would pass up a steak for a pie any day of the week.  For years I was branded, as the dessert man, and I’ve never had a problem with my weight until the last few years and that was more in my waistline.  I would go to the gym and work hard on my abs, but the waistline did not change.  So the dessert man followed his daughter’s lead and cut out sugar, no more dessert till my goal is reached.  Side note on sugar, it’s a lot like sin in that many of the things we eat turn to sugar; things like pastas, breads, and just about all diet products.  I’ve also found it help to cut your portions in half.

Now that kind of discipline is under my control, it was my choice, it was my desire, and the results was very good, I feel better, and once more I can wear my size 33 pants.  But this Scripture is talking about your Creator God, your heavenly Father disciplining you in love, and yet it does not feel very loving at the time of the discipline.  Yes, it seems painful, but it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  God’s desire is that we share in His holiness!  Now look at this warning in verse 15, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.”  Who is this root of bitterness addressed at, is it not at God?  When God begins to remove the idols in our life, and they come in many forms, golf, exercise, sex, fishing, hunting, shopping, children, career, husband or wife, self, and that is only the short list, without God’s grace we will become bitter. 

It is of the utmost importance to trust your heavenly Father, to understand that He is doing an act of love, that it is not going to be fun, but that the end goal is fellowship with God, it is obtaining the grace of God so that the training brings about the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Does God use timeout when He disciplines His children?

Hebrews 12:5-11

I’ve yet to hear anyone say, “what I liked most about my dad was he whipped me often.”  Or my dad was a great disciplinarian, and we lived in fear of him, and that’s how I want my children to live, in fear of me.  The writer of Hebrews asked this question; “For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”  And the answer is we live in a culture where over 50 percent of the homes do not have a father living in the home, so half of the sons and daughters have not experienced a father’s discipline.  And the question must be asked, has that had a positive or negative affect on our society?  Could a case be made that the void of a dad in the home, who disciplines his children in love, has brought us to the place of fear, anger, and frustration?  What can we learn about discipline from God’s point of view, and is there any other view that counts?

On a personal note: My daughter told me not that long ago that what helped her with my lack of nurturing was this memory; “Natalie, I have no doubt I’ve made many mistakes in rearing you, but you must understand that this is a first for me; being a dad to a teenager,  is at best trial and error, but I love you and my hearts desire is to guide you into becoming a great adult.”  Looking back that was a cop out, I did have a guide on how to raise children, it is spelled out in the Bible.  Do not be fooled by the fact that sometimes it is the strongest Christians whose children turn out to be failures.  Being a pastor or head of a Christian movement does not have one thing to do with being a good parent.  In fact, we have many examples in the Bible of men who were used greatly by God but were terrible dads.  Examples like King David, Eli the priest, and Samuel, show us that none of these men disciplined their sons in love. 

So if you are a young dad and you want a game plan on how to do it right, try doing it by the plan in the manufacturers handbook, and it comes with a guarantee; your child will understand how greatly they are loved.  And the majority of daughters will look for a person who is like their dad, and your sons will want to be like their dad.

The plan:

It is your duty as a dad to teach your children about the things of God, in your home and as you live life.  You can be like Adam and go passive and pass this off to someone at church, but then it becomes something we do outside the home, but it’s not to live by, it’s just a religious act, not really important.  (Deuteronomy 6:7)

To train your child is so important, and you must remember that each child’s training is designed around their personality.  Some key areas are prayer, and keeping records of God’s answers, of examples in the nature of the faithfulness of God, and both good and bad examples in life that can be used to train up your child.  It is also important to understand that (Proverbs 22:6) is not a promise, the key word is “train” your child.

To be a provider for your children is not a call to give them all the material things they want.  It is of great importance to provide a home that is fun and full of love and communication.   You must set an example of loving your wife, and putting her needs before your desires and toys.  (2 Corinthians 12:14)

To be a Nurturer to your children, in your discipline be tender but firm; remember your goal is to grow and develop them into godly adults who are mighty warriors.  (Ephesians 6:4)

To teach respect for their mother, for other adults, and for yourself is your job as a dad.  Always show respect to each other in the home, and dad you and your wife have to be on the same page on this.  Respect your children by being a good listener and showing them how God respects us by giving us the freedom to fail and be successful.  That both failure and success can build character and wisdom, the qualities that will make them distinctive in the kingdom of God.  (1 Timothy 3:4)

The best example of teaching is by example; live with your wife in a loving way so that your children will know what is counterfeit and what is the real thing.  ((Titus 2:4)

Now in keeping with the Scriptures above, remember that discipline is not a bad thing, it is never enjoyable at the time, but recall what God has to say in verse six; “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Does God use timeout when He disciplines His children?  Yes, sometime He does, and at times He will use the rod, and it comes in many forms.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

My blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

"Shadow Mission"

Hebrews 12:1-2

If you feel as if you are under attack trying to stand for the things of God, there is a good reason for you feeling that way, you are!  As a Christian you are on center stage, and your audience is unseen but very real.  Please understand, I’m not saying that your audience is only the unseen, it also consists of family, friends, neighbors, business relationships, and people you come in contact with everyday of your life.  And in the group of the seen you will experience some encouragement, some misunderstanding, some outright hostility; yes often, very often, acting out your faith brings about conflict.

But the Bible is very clear, it is not the seen audience that we have conflict with, but it sure seems like it.  I was told by an old acquaintance that my stance for the family against Home Depot was hateful, and yet that person does not really know me, and does not know my heart, so where is that message coming from?  Ephesians 6:12, gives this insight; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers aver this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

Yesterday’s sermon from my pastor was titled “Shadow Mission” and its theme was how these unseen spiritual forces work in our lives to deter us from following Christ’s plan for our life.  It is also my observation that the unseen often uses the seen to do their dirty work.  And as a Christian, a follower of Christ, you and I must stop and reflect on the source of the attack and the commands of our Lord, who said love those who do you harm.  Is that impossible?  Yes, if our eyes are fixed on Jesus!

Let me introduce you to some more of the unseen who are watching your every move and   have full understanding of the battle, they know about disappointments, about moral failures, about faith, and when it seemed they were unable to stand against the odds, many of them were killed for being true to what God had called them to do.  Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

On a personal note, I experience this often and this morning, once again, the attack that comes from the enemies “Shadow Mission”.   It goes like this, “Who do you think you are writing about the Scriptures?  You don’t have a degree, you are not a pastor, and you have never been to Seminary, why are you doing this?  No one cares what you are writing, and even your best friends and family, they do not read what you write, much less the pastors you send them to.”   I must tell you that the enemy of my soul and yours sends me that message most days, and the enemy knows that I’m uneducated, that often someone tells me I write like I talk, and Jan is quick to tell me that is not a complement.  It comes down to this; in my early life I was anyones fool to gain the attention of men, and I’ve chosen to be seen now and as long as I have breath, as a fool for God.  You see I believe Jesus tells the truth!  In Luke 12:8, “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.”  And I must say that I’ve been a student of the greatest teacher this world has ever known, Jesus had this to say about Him; it is found in Luke 12:12, “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It is Possible If

Hebrews 11:36-40

One day as Jesus is hanging out with the twelve guys who we call the disciples, the conversation turns to the cost of being a follower.  This is what Jesus had to say on the subject, “If anyone (that seems to be all inclusive) would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?  Or what shall a man give in return for his life?   Often I ask the question, “Is it unbelief or have we been taken captive by the schemes of the enemy?  Are you and I so polluted by this world system, and the lust of our flesh, that we ignore what Jesus has spoken in Matthew 16:24-26? 

The apostle John tells us not to love the world or the things in the world, that to do so will make you an enemy of God.  And the apostle wants us to understand that the world is only temporary, at best it is like a moment compared to eternity.  In first John 2:17, “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”  I’ve come to this conclusion we are not that stupid, so it has to be ignorance, unbelief, or the enemy of our soul has sold us a bill of goods. 

With that back-drop, look at what Hebrews 11:36-40 has to say about those who had only the promise of God and they were willing to deny themselves, they were willing to be tortured, others suffered mocking and flogging and imprisonment.  This is what the Bible has to say about them: “They were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword.  They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated -the world was not worthy of them.  They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.  They were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.  God planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

I am not being paranoid, we are being watched, and not just by angels and demons, but also by a great cloud of witnesses, and many of them are the ones talked about in God’s hall of fame.   Hebrews chapter twelve gives us some great instructions on how to live this life in the fullness that was God’s plan for us.  It’s a must read, and let me give you a hint, it is only possible if we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Strength out of Weakness

 

Hebrews 11: 32-34

As you read the Bible you must set your mind on this command; “think on these things” how else is the Holy Spirit of God going to get our attention?  To ponder is to think about what you have read in a careful way over a period of time.  Often, it is how my morning begins and today is no exception, and my hope is you also will ponder this Scripture.  “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

My first thoughts were that they only made honorable mention in God’s Hall of Fame, and these were great men of character who had one thing in common: through faith they were made strong out of weakness.  That fly’s in the face of how most of us were taught, do you remember a dad, coach, or drill sergeant telling you this line; “When it gets tough, the tough get going.”  What I find so different from our culture is that these men of valor were not confident in their ability or skill-set, they by faith believed the God who they had not seen with human eyes, but had come to trust and obey His voice and commands.

To make that point we should look at the first one on this list, Gideon, a son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, and at the time the angel of the Lord spoke to him he is hiding out from the Midianites in the winepress beating out wheat.  You and I would not look to this man to deliver a nation, but God is not like us, God is not like our culture, and there in lies our problem.  It is so important for all who are in Christ to believe what God has said to us and about us, look at what he said to Gideon: “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  (Judges 6:12)  Now the angel of God has just called him a mighty man of valor and listen to Gideon’s reply; “And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all of this happened to us?”  (Judges 6:13 a)  Gideon goes on asking why this had all happen when he is told by the Lord; “And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you.”  (Judges 6:14)  So Gideon jumps up and goes to war with the Midianites, wrong. 

At this place in the story I can identify with Gideon; “And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel?  Behold my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”  And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16)  Often I have the same kind of faith in a big God as Gideon, I need or want a sign, and like Gideon, often I need it to fall in the impossible.  Gideon’s first assignment was to destroy the altar of Baal the false god that the people were worshipping.  Now when God calls a man to such a task, it is not going to be accepted by the idolaters, and in Gideon’s case they came to kill him.  But God put into his fathers heart words something like these; (if Baal is a god, let him defend himself) and the people gave Gideon a new name; Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

Often when a man is young and goes from being regarded as unimportant to importance in his on sight, and the eyes of his neighbors or community, they often believe the press clipping.  But God has a way of keeping his man on point, and to make sure Gideon knew it was God who defeated the Midianites.  God did a simple act of reducing his army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred.  And after winning the battle, the people ask him to rule over them, but he refused in chapter 8:23, “And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”  What a wise man, but it only came about from his understanding that through faith, they were made strong out of weakness.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Are you in the box business?

 

Hebrews 11:31

Moving from Houston to the Canyon Lake area of Texas, I discovered that moving requires many boxes, and it is always the box that you do not have, that is needed.  Now that I think about it, life seems to be all about boxes, those who are in ministry go into a box, those who provide services that we need go in another box, our family and friends go in another box, and government goes in a box that is full of all kinds of junk.  And what about God, do we have a box for Him?  My answer is for many years I did have Him in a box; it was a Baptist box, and it was for a god who I could understand, he was a very small god, but he fit into my Baptist box.

In that box a good Christian looked like Mary the mother of Jesus, or maybe Billy Graham, but not me.  I had no doubt that God was loving and merciful, but I also believed that He put up with people like me.  So what box do you think I put the Easter and Christmas Christians in; you are so right, it was a very small box.  And when it came to law- breakers and prostitutes, the box was so small that only by the grace of God could anyone get into or out of that box.  Oops, now you might call this a box exposer, or a conflict of faith, because it was by grace through the faith that God had extended to me, that I came to know Christ.  So what must I do with all these boxes?  It required the same action as the move from Houston, those boxes went in the trash, and the ones in my mind also needed trashed.  Romans 3:22-24, and 1 John 1:8-9, confronted me, so many boxes that needed removed from my life.

In my Baptist box there was no place for Rahab the prostitute, but as a character in a Bible story, you might say she was more of a fill-in character or stand-in but not in the lineage of Christ.  One small problem I encountered was Matthew’s gospel, the first chapter gives the genealogy of Christ and verse five gives this account: “and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.”  Rahab the prostitute is in God’s hall-of-fame, because she acted on the faith that had been given her by God.  Hebrews 11:31, “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

It has been sometime since I attempted to put God into that Baptist box, and this I know; God is not containable, His thoughts are higher than mine, His ways are not my ways, He is the Creator, and I am the creation.  So my question is: are you in the box business? 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

And the Walls came tumbling Down

Hebrews 11:30

You may want to think about this today, the walls of Jericho were two walls thirty-foot high, they ran nearly parallel and circled the summit of the mound.  They were made of sun-dried brick some four inches thick and varied in length from one to two feet.  The inner wall is from eleven to twelve feet thick and is constructed on the foundation of an earlier wall.  The later outer wall is about six feet thick and stands on the edge of the mound.  The space between the two walls varies from 12 to 27 feet and at frequent intervals the two are tied together by brick walls.  How do we know this; it was excavated by Charles Warren (1868), Ernst Sellin (1907-11), John Garstang (1929-30), and Miss Kathleen Kenyon (1952-58).

Jericho is the first city captured by the Israelites under Joshua’s command and this is what the people did; they listened to their leader, Joshua because God had given him this word; “And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.” (Joshua 6:2)  This is like Mexico attacking the United States of America, with one exception; Joshua had a promise from God.  Now it may be of some importance to explain that God’s instructions in taking this great, fortified city were not in keeping with standard practices.  This rag-tag bunch of Israelites walking around those thirty –foot high walls for six days and on the seventh day they were to do it seven times, and the priests blew the trumpets, and when the ram’s horn was sounded, all the people shouted with a great shout, and the walls of the city fell down flat, and the people went into the city and took it captive.

Did I tell you that the ark of the Lord was being carried around the city and the armed men walked before and after it and the trumpets blew continually?  For the people of Jericho it was the biggest show in town, they were on top of the wall and wondered why would anyone fear this group, yet they had heard about Israel’s God, and what they had heard about Him gave them cause to fear. 

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live in a way that people did not fear you, but they feared your God?  To live in nations that had this motto on its money, (In God we Trust) and all the nations of the world knew that you as a people believe that motto.  That is why this rag-tag army was feared; it was their faith in what God had spoken to Joshua and because of that act of faith, they were put into God’s hall of fame, chapter 11 of Hebrews, verse 30, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had encircled it for seven days.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

God's hall of Fame

Hebrews 11:23-29

Your faith is amazing!  Have you ever given thought to the amount of faith that is yours?  It would be impossible to live life without faith, each day you get up and by faith believe that the electricity is going to work, that the essentials for life, your coffee pot will make coffee, and the car will start.  You, by faith, believe that the bus driver who takes the children to school will keep them safe, and that your home will not be destroyed while you are gone.  You believe that a white line in the middle of the road will keep the on coming car that is only feet from you from crossing it and having a head-on- collision.  By faith you trust in the pilot of the airline to get you to your destination.  Yes, faith is required to live life, so in that we all live by faith, it is not faith for faiths sake that is of great value; it is the object of that faith.

Hebrews 11 is about people, who had great faith, and they made God’s hall of fame, they became celebrities in heaven and on earth, because they made God the object of their faith.  Moses was such a person, and we have his “Hall of Fame “ account found in verses 23-29.  It begins with parents of faith in God, who believed in God more than they feared the king of Egypt.  Moses by faith refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and chose to be mistreated with God’s chosen people.  He was looking to a greater reward than the treasures of Egypt; he was looking to Christ.  We are told in verses 27-29, “By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the King, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.  By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.  By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.”

As stated above, we all live by faith, we put faith in so many things that we have little or no understanding of, like electricity, we put faith in political parties, but that is not the kind of faith that brings you into right standing with God.  If we back-up a few verses in Hebrews 11, to verse six we find the answer to walking in victory, no matter what is going on around you.  Verse six; “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The favorite Child of the father

 

Hebrews 11:22

I believe with total surety that my path has never crossed anyone like Joseph, the son of Jacob.  You recall how his brothers sold younger Joseph into slavery, and why?  He was

a favorite child of his father, he was also young and somewhat foolish in that he told dreams to his brothers that pointed to him being the head of the family.  But as a very young man in a foreign land, he had this kind of character; he was a godly influence, he had business integrity, he resisted temptation, and he honored the God of his father.

I have no doubt that you have read the account in Genesis chapter 37 of Joseph’s life and his encounters with his brothers.  Only Benjamin and Joseph had the same mother, and if you look at the blessing of Jacob’s sons before his death, it is interesting to compare the blessing given to Benjamin and Joseph.  These blessings are found in Genesis 49, and how they distinguish the character of these two brothers of the same mother.  Jacob’s blessing of Joseph, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.” (A bough is a large main branch of a tree, from which smaller branches grow.)  You may want to read the full blessing, and in it is seen how the hand of the Lord set Joseph apart from his brothers.  We must not forget that these blessings of the father have derived from the actions, the performance, or we might say the character of these brothers.  Benjamin was the baby of the family, and after Josephs reported death to his father, Benjamin took that very special place in the heart of Jacob.  But Benjamin’s blessing was not what one would have expected, in fact, it has much to do with the future of the tribe of Benjamin.  This was the blessing; “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.” (Genesis 49:27)

After the death of their father, the brothers began to worry what Joseph would do, you might say they began managing themselves.  When people manage themselves, they always ask this question; what would I do in Josephs place, and there in lies the test of character.  So the brothers came up with a story; “Your father gave this command before he died, ‘Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’  And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.”  (Genesis 50: 16-17)

 Again we see what made this man stand out from his brothers and most men; “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.  So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”  Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”  (Genesis 50:19-21)

Many years later, Joseph is 110 and he calls his brother and makes them promise to remove his bones when God visit them.  We must understand that Joseph held to the same promise that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had look forward too.  Verse 24, “And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”  Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”  It is 300 plus years later when the Exodus takes place and Joseph’s bones left Egypt with the people of the promise.  What a faithful God!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Crises of faith

 

Hebrews 11:17

Reading the account of God testing Abraham’s faith, is one of the most frightening things a dad could read in the Bible.  I must insert, that I have some understanding about God’s attributes, He is all knowing, He is always present, and He is infinite, and men are foolish when they act as if they have total understanding of Him.  In fact, this past Sunday my pastor used this verse from Deuteronomy 29:29 in his sermon; “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”  For me the prophet Isaiah proclaimed a truth that has great comfort; “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8)  From heavens view, or God’s, there was never any question of the outcome of Abraham’s faith, so why put him through such a horrible experience?

God did it for you and for me, and He did it for Abraham and Isaac and all that came after them.  The apostle Peter gives this account, beginning in 1Peter 1:10-12, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the suffering of Christ and the glories that would follow.  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.  Even angels long to look into these things.”

For many this command from God to make a burnt offering of Isaac would have been the end of any relationship with God.  Abraham and Sarah had waited and waited, and waited, for this promised one, and God had promised that through Isaac His promised people would come.  What would you have done?  Real faith comes to the surface often in the middle of our worst nightmare, when our world is turned upside down.  That is when me must go back to the basic belief that God is all knowing, that He is not like us, that His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and that He loves us beyond our understanding.

I believe that is where Abraham and Isaac found themselves.  They had a promise, and that is all they had, but they had found that the One who made the promise was faithful; so they by faith believed, and this is the rest of the story.  “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.  He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even thought God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”  Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead.”  (Hebrews 11:17-19)  My prayer is that Abraham’s faith in God’s promises will be of great help to you and me in our crises of faith.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Looking Forward

Hebrews 11:13-16

Jan and I have been blessed to travel to some of the coolest places on this earth, and we have fond memories of many of those places, but as fond as the memory is, it was always good to return to the United States and Texas.  I also traveled some in my business and enjoyed seeing the historical Egypt and many countries in the Gulf area.  But I was an alien and stranger to many of those countries in the Gulf area; their culture and customs were foreign to everything I knew and loved.

Is that not what the Scripture is proclaiming in verses 13-16, that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob all were looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.  As we look at verse 13-16, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

We have all heard the saying; “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one is in a hurry to get there.”  Have you ever given any thought to that statement, because though said in jest, it has the ring of truth?  As stated above, we enjoy travel but we always like coming back to Canyon Lake, Texas, to our little dwelling.  I cannot speak for you and I’m not going to speak for Jan, but my problem is Canyon Lake, Texas, feels like home.  I will acknowledge that heaven is my future, and I will acknowledge that in heaven I no longer will have pain, struggles, apprehension; all of that is exchanged for total peace, love, and oneness with my Lord.  I will no longer need time, and I will be in the presence of Creator God the Father, and Son and Holy Spirit, and will not be afraid.  I will experience dimensions that the human mind will never even dream about, I will see a new world and a new heaven, and I will understand truth. 

So what is my problem, could it be that I do not believe what is written, could it be that I do not see myself as an alien and stranger in this world?   Could it be that 1 John 2:15-17 has not registered in my heart and mind?  “Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”  Dear Jesus, renew my mind and heart to see myself as a stranger in Canyon Lake, Texas, who is awaiting his trip home.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

"Mustard seed Faith"

Hebrews 11:11

Do you recall the TV advertisement, it went something like this; “When E F Hutton talks, people listen?”  The purpose of the advertisement was to imply that when they spoke it was life changing; they had the key to your success.  It was a good ad, but it was just that, an advertisement, but when Jesus speaks it is life changing, if we only have “Mustard seed faith.”  On two occasions Jesus addressed “Mustard seed faith,” one is found in Matthew 17:21 and the other time was in Luke 17:6.  Picking-up the story in verse five, “The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith!”  “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”  Now there lies the problem, everyone knows it is impossible to plant a tree in the sea, so we just dismiss it, much like I dismissed the E F Hutton advertisement.  Could it be that we do not live our life on the fact “that Jesus tells the truth”?  Could it be that we do not believe that our Lord keeps His promises, that He is faithful, that He is God of the impossible?  How do you define faith; Hebrews 11:1, states; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Or as my friend Carroll often said, “It is acting like Jesus, tells the truth.”

Sarah had “mustard seed faith” in a God who keeps His promises.  Stop for a moment, look at the facts, Abraham is 100 years of age and his wife Sarah is 90 years of age, do the math, it is totally impossible for her to conceive.  Sure, we read the Bible, and we know the story of Isaac, but the rest of the story is that both Abraham and Sarah try to help God fulfill the promise of a son.  If we look at Genesis 17:18-19, “And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”  God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac.”  Now they have a crisis of faith, for so many years they have hoped for a son, now they have to believe, they have to have “mustard seed faith” in the impossible.

Hebrews 11:11, gives this account of Sarah’s “mustard seed faith,” “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”  Dear Father, will you give each of us who desires fellowship with your Son, the “Mustard seed faith” that our Lord has told us about.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice