Luke 4:14
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
Have you ever wandered from the truth?
James 5:19-20
My dad was a very curious
person and that can be a good trait; the inquisitive person will look deeper
into a matter to find what lies hidden from the many who will not make the
effort to examine or explore. But it
also can be and in dad’s case was a problem going on trips or vacation, he
never saw a road that he did not want to explore and often we got lost. One of my childhood memories was going
through Arkansas and dad took a short cut, the road went from a four lane road to
a two lane and then from paved surface to stone, an even dad became concerned
when it turned into a dirt lane. My
brother Fred was a tall skinny kid of thirteen and dad told him the next house
we see I want you to ask for directions, the next house was a shack with car
tires piled high all over the yard. Fred
got out to what looked like an empty front yard and he was almost to the shack
that set back about twenty yards from the dirt lane, when it seemed as if kids
of all ages started coming out of those tires.
They were yelling some kind of war cry and it was amazing how fast
Fred’s tall skinny legs made it back to our car, it was also amazing how fast
dad drove on that dirt lane getting out of the war zone.
My daughter, if given the
opportunity would tell you that my dad’s inquisitive trait was not lost from
the family, that her dad has also taken many short cuts and gone down many a
road that ended up being a circle or a dead-end. I know of few people who have not at some
point in their life taken the wrong road, often the other road looks better,
greener or just more inviting. Those
roads can lead to heartaches, broken relationships, loss of income, bad health,
and even prison. James is addressing the
church about members of the body of Christ who have left the road of
truth. We should never forget what the
church is not; it is not the pastor, nor is it a staff member, but the church
is all of us who are in Christ. And we
would be wise to read and take to heart verses 19 and 20, “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from
the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a
sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.”
Have you ever wandered from
the truth, and God in His great love and mercy sent a brother or sister in
Christ to guide you back to truth? If so,
then you like me have experienced forgiveness and most often once we are back
basking in fellowship with the Lord, we also become less condemning of the sins
that have enticed a fellow Christian to leave the road of truth. C.T. Studd was such a man, and was quoted as
saying these words: “Some wish to live
within the sound Of Church or Chapel Bell.
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
Friday, June 5, 2015
"It is Written"
Luke 4:2-12
Have you ever been foolish
enough to try to place yourself in the place of God, the Creator of all that
is? Have you ever played the mind game
of if I was God, I would do such and such, I have and I’m willing to bet the
farm you have also? But there is a big
problem with our thinking and it comes from no other source than God Himself
when He states through the lips of Isaiah the prophet; “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
I have often heard people who go by
the name Christian say foolish things about God, as if they had understanding
of His thoughts, His ways, and it is not a new thing for God spoke to Jeremiah
the prophet about His chosen people the house of Israel. Beginning in Jeremiah 18:5-6, “The word of the
LORD came to me: House of Israel, can I
not treat you as this potter treats his clay?” – this is the LORD’S
declaration. “Just like the clay in the
potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.” Now go back and read verses
1-4, and you will see the jar the potter was working on was flawed, you and I
should identify with that example, for each of us is flawed by sin and need a
God who is compassionate. A God who understands
we are formed out of dust, but that He our Creator has breathed life into us,
and sin is keeping us from a relationship with a holy loving forgiving
God. If you have any doubt go back to
Isaiah 55:6-7, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call
upon him while he is near; let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him
return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon.”
If you are wondering how
does any of this tie into Luke 4:2-12, in this way it does, our thoughts are
not God’s thoughts, and our ways are not close to His ways. You nor I would not have had any compassion
on a world who has turned its back on you, and it would have never entered our
thinking to send our only son to take the punishment for their sins, and redeem
them by dying on a cross. You or I would
not have allowed our son to be exposed to that old serpent, the one God calls
the devil and Satan, why because our thoughts are lower than His and our ways
are lower than His.
But oh what a message we
find in these verses, for our LORD who was totally man and totally God, never
depended on being God, but looked to the Father for all His needs, had this to
say to His tempter; “It is
written” and in that Jesus was
the author of Scripture He knew what was written, but you and I whose ways and
thoughts are much lower than His, need to read and study what is written and apply
it to our lives. Now verse 12 in Luke is
profound; “And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the
Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he
departed from him until an opportune time.”
As a follower of Christ, we should be aware that the tempter
is looking for an opportune time to attack, how often I forget that the one
Jesus calls the thief who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy is setting me
up to look to my rights, my best, and not to allow the Son to be glorified in
me.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
Thursday, June 4, 2015
"The devil made me do it"
Luke 4:1-2
Most of us would not know
Clerow Wilson, yet many of us would recall Flip Wilson the great comedian who was a big hit in the 1970’s. Flip was a story teller and some of his
characters were, Reverend Leroy, materialistic
pastor of the "Church of What’s Happening Now," and his most popular
character, Geraldine Jones who always referred to her boyfriend,
"Killer" whose line "The devil made me do it" became a
national catchphrase. Flip did not come to this line and character
without some help, its origin was from Genesis 3:13, where Eve tells God it was
not my fault it was the serpent. Now I
have no doubt you recall that serpent being referred to as the devil in
Revelation 12:9, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of
old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to
the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
I know history repeats itself and that most of us
humans learn little from it, but it seems as if in 2015 we are not to blame for
anything, it was our culture, our parents, our lack of money, our education,
and the list is so long, but it was not our fault.
Take a moment to look at the account of Jesus after
His public baptism, we are told in both Matthew and Luke that Jesus was full of
the Holy Spirit. In that none of us have
been or ever will be God in the Flesh, it is hard to grasp Jesus not depending
on His Godhood, but totally relying on the Father and the Holy Spirit. Mark’s gospel does not go into the detail
that Luke and Matthew have, but look at Mark 1:12-13, “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was
with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.” The Spirit drove
Him out into the wilderness, we have all had some kind of wilderness
experience, not like Jesus, but we understand what it is to experience the
wilderness, but to be driven to it by God when He has just proclaimed to the
world; “This is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Something of great importance is happening, God is allowing
that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world to
have access to His Son at the beginning of His coming out party. His Father has just told all the rulers, the
authorities, and the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual
forces of evil in heavenly places, the angels and John the Baptist, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus the Son of Man, the one that stepped out of heaven and
became flesh and blood had to be at an emotional high, He has been waiting for
30 years that is not correct, He has been waiting from the foundation of the
earth. This truth blows my small mind
away; Jesus chose to be my Redeemer before He created me!
I’ve learned through many a bought lesson that after a great
victory one should be very careful, and that is especially true in spiritual
victories.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Wise men still follow Jesus!
Luke 3:21-22
“Now when all the people were baptized, and when
Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened,
and the
Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from
heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Have you ever been asked the question or have you ask it;
“Did you see that?” It has happened to most
of us when something occurs that is outside of the possibility of the
normal. It may have been a foolish act,
an act of something in nature, or something so amazing that you questioned what
you saw and heard. Is this what happened
the day the Holy Spirit came and descended in the form of a dove on Jesus after
His baptism?
In the gospel according to Matthew, we have the Holy Spirit
allowing Matthew to be more descriptive while Luke is more to the point. Matthew 3:13-17, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be
baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be
baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be
so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he
consented. And when Jesus
was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens
were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and
coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
(Matthew 3:13-17 ESV)
In Matthew’s account, Jesus
is still living in or at least coming from Galilee, John does not want to
baptize Jesus for He has no doubt Jesus is the Messiah and only agrees to do so
after Jesus explains it was an act of fulfilling all righteousness. We must recall that John’s baptism was one of
repentance and sinless Jesus had no need of it, but John knew that all men needed
the baptism that only Jesus could give; the baptism of the Spirit. Now we have two accounts in Luke’s gospel, we
are not told who saw the Spirit land in the form of a dove on Jesus, or who
heard the voice of the Father, and in Matthew it seems it was Jesus who was the
witness. This is why we need to study,
for in the Gospel according to John we have this account of what took place on
that very special day: “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of
whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before
me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with
water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from
heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he
who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit
descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have
seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34 ESV)
Who was John sharing this
with? The answer is found in John
1:35-37, “The
next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at
Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples
heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.” But never forget, this book we refer to as
the Bible, God’s Word, it is living and current and John was also speaking
those words to you and to me. Wise men
still follow Jesus!
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Who are You?
Luke 3:15-17
“As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in
their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John
answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier
than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the
wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
What was there about
John’s preaching and baptism that would make a crowd of people have such
expectation? Could it be the garment of
camel’s hair and the leather belt around his waist? Maybe it was his diet of locust and wild
honey, or maybe it was that he was traveling into all the regions around the
Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
It’s hard, no it is
impossible for us humans to understand what is in the heart of one in our own
family, much less a crowd, but this we know, for hundreds of years the Jewish
people had been looking for a Messiah. And
many had heard of John’s birth and it seemed some were wondering is he the
promised one who could come to set up His kingdom on this earth. One thing is for sure, John was different
than any of the teachers of his time, an it is easy to draw this conclusion;
maybe he is the one who is going to free us from the Roman rule, maybe he is the
Christ.
Now, it does not say anyone asked, John are you the Christ in the gospel of Luke, but look
at the gospel according to John in chapter 1, beginning in verses 19-23, “And this is the
testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
“Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And
they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer
to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one
crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
I have no doubt Channel One (the deceptive channel) was playing very loud that day in
John’s head, the voice sounded like his voice and it was telling John, just tell them what
they want to hear, and you are out of the water, no more ducking people, no more locusts,
and you can get rid of those camel threads and live like a king, you can be king, just tell
them you’re the man. But John had been listening for years in the wilderness to another
channel we will call Channel Two, and he had grown to trust the still quiet voice on
Channel Two, it was the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, and John said rain on what
I feel, I will do as you have taught me, I will choose Truth and on that day truth reigned.
And Truth said; “I baptize you with
water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am
not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the
wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
Monday, June 1, 2015
“What then shall I do?”
Luke 3:10-14
Have you ever asked this
question: “What then shall I do?” If so, you are very normal for most of us
have asked that of our parents, teachers, employers, or maybe even our pastor
or priest. But that is not what is
happening in verse 10, it is not an individual but a crowd, and I for one have
never heard those words come out of any audience I’ve been part of.
Now it has been stated that John
was not looking to make friends, but the Holy Spirit living and speaking
through him was deeply interested in influencing people, then as well as this
very moment. And often, thoughts that
enter my small mind are best kept to myself, but let me share this with you;
could it be many who have authority, who are referred to as pastors or priest
are more interested in pleasing people than speaking what seems to them as
harsh words the Spirit has put into their minds. What would the Sunday crowd do with these
words: “You
brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee
from the wrath to come?” Not
sure how well those words are going to play out in 2015 to such a sophisticated group of
people, that is until you examine who is in the crowd that John is speaking
to. They were the leaders of the people;
the Pharisees and Sadducees that you will find in Matthew 3:7, and yes Doctor
Luke tells us also there were tax collectors and soldiers, not much different
than your typical Sunday morning assembly with maybe this exception, John the
Baptist was fearful of not speaking the words God had told him to speak. It was the Spirit of God wiggling John’s lips
with words that cut to the chase, and each person was convicted of their sins
at that moment and they, like us, stood naked before the all-seeing eyes of
God.
So
after the question was asked, “What then shall we do” the Spirit of God answered through John’s lips: “Whoever has two tunics
is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be
baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And
he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to
them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and
be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:11-14)
Now when reading this it is wise to remember this is not
just a Bible story, these words are living and active, so what is being said,
are these words not present in our time?
Be compassionate, share with the under-resourced, help those in need, do
not take advantage of others, not in taxes or fees, nor in your business
dealings, and for those in authority, do not abuse your power, and to all be
grateful for what you have, and quit always wanting more.
I’ve got news for every one of us when it comes to the ways
of God, you and I are not that sharp, and a long way from being sophisticated.
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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