Archive: 2024

20,000 went.  6,000 returned.

More than 2 out of every 3 did not come home.

Yet even the 6,000 that survived were willing to give up their life and have carried the scars of war throughout their lives.

This was just one division of army soldiers deployed during World War II.  One of the 6,000 that came home after fighting on the European front of the War is our member at Crosspoint. At 98 years young, his memories of battle and the heartache of war are very real.  With a tear in his eye, he too honors those that fell in battle and sacrificed all to give him and all of us the freedom of the country in which we live. 

I will forever be grateful to Ralph, the soldiers he fought with, and all those that sacrificed all in the heat of battle to preserve the freedom in which we live.  They have given and done what I never could.

Memorial Day is a sobering reminder of the cost of war.  It is not glorious, but brutal.  In talking with Ralph just yesterday, he asked, “Why must war take place?”  

It’s a good question.  The “war that would end all wars” didn’t live up to its billing.  The world wars didn’t end all wars…neither did Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan.  American blood continues to be shed at the costly expense of human lives.  

Each individual who gave his or her life in sacrifice for our country is to be honored today.  Every individual life is also a reminder of the brokenness of sin in our world and the heart that desires to take vengeance on others.  Wars between countries and individuals does not solve the spiritual battle that wages within us and between us.

Others can give their life to protect our country and our freedoms.  Unfortunately, no other human being can give their life to settle the spiritual battle sin creates.  Psalm 49:7-9 states: No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them—

8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—

9 so that they should live on forever and not see decay.

The only one that could enter the battle over Satan and come out victorious is our Savior Jesus.  He was willing to give up his life so that we might live with him forever.  His heart was one of service.  He wasn’t looking for glory or acclaim.  He wasn’t looking for power and prestige, but just to serve his fellow man by giving his life as the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus himself put it this way:

Matthew 20:26-28 Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Thank you Jesus for doing for me what I could never do for myself!

Jesus said that until he returns there will be wars and rumors of wars.  The list of lives we honor on Memorial Day will, unfortunately, continue to grow.  The sinful hearts of mankind will continue to spark wars and physical conflicts.  Men and women will give their lives to prevent the freedoms we enjoy from being removed. As we remember these individuals, each one is a small reminder of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus gave for us so that whether our life ends in  war or in time of peace, our freedom in heaven is secured forever!

 

Apply: Take time today to give thanks to God for those who have preserved the freedoms of our country by offering their lives in the line of duty.

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for providing bravery to our military to enter battle at the cost of their lives.  Let us never take for granted the freedoms you have allowed us to have and let us leverage them for the sake of your Gospel and proclaiming the One who gave his all for us!  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on “The Key” Week 4: “Share Grace!” (WATCH HERE)

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1 Timothy 4:15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

 

It matters.

Paul was passionate about people hearing and believing in the grace of God.  He loved Timothy as a brother in Christ and was greatly invested in Timothy being a great leader for the Lord in Ephesus.  But more importantly, he was concerned about the soul of Timothy and the others around.

Our world offers many causes to be passionate about.  We can invest time in politics and getting platforms pushed through local and state legislatures.  We can be all in for a group that is researching the solution to cancer, heart disease, or other physical ailments.  One can stand up for the unborn, the neglected or the abused.  Another takes on the issue of pets that are abandoned.

Noble causes.

But there is no more noble cause than the cause of the Gospel.

It is the only cause that impacts individuals souls for eternity and Paul wanted Timothy to know how much it mattered for him and all his hearers.

People need to hear grace.  People need to hear about Jesus.

But it starts with grace permeating our hearts and lives.

It continues as that grace grows more profoundly in every aspect of our life.

It multiplies as we share grace with others.

To perpetuate the cause of grace, Paul encourages three things in these verses.

First be diligent in these matters.  All the things that Paul wrote about in 1 Timothy 4 were to be prioritized for Timothy.  Recognize when people are going astray.  Ground your heart in grace and be bold to proclaim grace.  This wasn’t a passing encouragement, but a strong directive: “Be diligent in these matters.”

Second, be all in.  “Give yourself wholly to them.”  Any athletic coach is looking for people who are “all-in.”  These athletes dedicate their life to improving in their craft.  When people see them between games, they think, “He/she’s getting better!”  So it is true of our Christian faith and life.  Do people notice you growing deeper in your faith and walk with your Savior?  Do they recognize every  month, “Wow, they are getting better as a follower of Christ!”

Third, recognize your impact.  To be clear, the reason a person ends up in heaven is 100% God’s doing and a gift of grace.  In the process he has chosen people like you and me to share grace with others.  The impact of this is that our actions have impact on ourselves and others.  For example, if we are not daily developing our faith and training in godliness, the strength of our faith will stagnate or decline.  If my faith is not growing, I am not sharing and if I’m not sharing, others aren’t hearing the message of Jesus.  If others aren’t hearing the message of Jesus, they too cannot believe on the one they have not heard of.  

Paul’s statement is not one to hear from the point of view of the law.  That is don’t read these words, “If you don’t share your faith you are going to hell.”  No.  Our salvation is secure in Jesus.  However, read these words as the profound privilege and impact you can have as God’s Spirit uses you to share grace.  “You will save yourself and your hearers.”

Now that’s pretty cool!

 

Apply: Ask the Lord for his Spirit to give us commitment to grow in grace and share grace!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of grace the privilege to share it with others.  Keep us growing in your grace and bold to share your grace with others.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on “The Key” Week 4: “Share Grace!” (WATCH HERE)

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1 Timothy 4:11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

Have you ever felt inadequate to share the message of grace with someone?  You wouldn’t be alone.  I certainly have had those moments in life where I have thought (probably incorrectly), “Who am I to share the message of Jesus with this person?”  Sharing our faith can be daunting at times, intimidating or make us feel insecure.

But why?

Usually when I reflect on why I felt “odd” sharing my faith is because I was creating an impression of myself that I dreamed up.  I’m not the one to do it.  I’m not experienced enough.  I’m not old enough, seasoned enough, clear enough…etc.  We can give ourselves many excuses to not speak about our Savior.  Some of them are perceptions we create on our own and perhaps others are created by what someone else has said about us or to us.

So should we listen to those voices?

The short answer is “No!”

Messages that tell us not to speak about grace are not coming from the Spirit of God who desires that every person on the planet hear about grace.  Rather, these messages have the look and sound of the deception that Satan loves to present to us to get us to remain silent when opportunity comes to share Jesus.

So what counters the voices that keep us quiet?

The voice of God.

This time through the Apostle Paul and his encouragement to Timothy.  So try these messages on and see if they build your confidence to speak about grace.

God is the one who directs us to command and teach these things.  Timothy wasn’t embarking on sharing the Gospel because it was his message.  No, Paul wanted him to teach and share these things because God was using Timothy to be HIS messenger.  We are just the messenger of a message that God has given to us.

We are not too young or too old, but God uses us when and where he desires.  I have heard some of the greatest witness of the Gospel from people under the age of five.  Just recently a little girl said with a smile, “Grandma is in heaven because Jesus died for her.”  She’s not too young to share Jesus!  We create our own insecurities and God says, “Get over yourself.  Don’t listen to what others say.  I love you and have chosen you to share grace.

We can’t control how others respond; we are responsible for us.  Paul wanted Timothy to “set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”  We have no control over how someone will react to an expression of grace, we do have control empowered by God’s Spirit how we live out grace in our own lives.  A small example just happened yesterday as I was selling my van on Marketplace.  I listed the issues that were wrong with it and someone commented, “Wow, that was honest!”  Of course, why would I not want to be honest?  God’s love compels my behavior to reflect the impact of grace in my life.

Use the gifts God has given to us!  To say we “can’t” or we are “not good enough” to share grace is to discount the gifts God has given to you.  Maybe your way of sharing grace will be different than mine, but that’s ok.  God’s grace is the same, the gifts he’s given us are unique.  One may have a gift of hospitality and invite someone over to develop a relationship in which grace is shared.  Another many have the gift of empathy that is able to meet people in a challenging time in life.  Another may have the gift of logic and ability to answer tough questions.  The list goes on.  

Here’s the bottom line.

God has given YOU grace and all YOU need to share HIS grace!

 

Apply: Evaluate what “lies” are keeping you from being more bold in sharing your faith.  What gifts has God given to you that you are neglecting, but could be a strong asset to communicate God’s love to someone?

 

Prayer: Lord thank you for your grace.  Give me boldness to share that grace wherever and whenever you give me the opportunity.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on “The Key” Week 4: “Share Grace!” (WATCH HERE)

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This is random.

There have been a few occasions where I thought, “It would be cool to run a marathon.”  My second thought was, “I could just sign up and run one.”  My third thought was, “I would never finish.”

The desire to run a marathon isn’t very strong in me, but it seems like a feat of physical accomplishment that could be kind of a cool thing to say that you ran a marathon.  However it is obviously foolish to enter a marathon race and expect to finish without going through any training time period.   The thought is noble.  The execution is poor.

Wouldn’t it be cool to share your faith, share grace, and have many people put their trust in Jesus?  

This is a more viable thought than wanting to run a marathon, however, the end result will be the same if no training is under taken.  To WANT to share your faith without TRAINING to share your faith will usually end in NOT sharing your faith.

If you search on the internet for , “How to train for a marathon?” you will find a number of different plans and regimens to prepare your body for the grueling 26 mile race.

But what about sharing your faith?  What is the training plan for that?

Perhaps often, we are simply encouraged, “Share your faith” without clear direction and training to do so.  Our assumption is that we can “just do it.”

Maybe in a small way this is true as I believe God has given each of us his grace and the impact of it and so we can “Always be ready to give an answer to the one who asks.”  Yet the Apostle Paul knows, like any good marathon coach, that living and believing Jesus is something we can get better at with proper training.  He writes to Timothy (4:6-10)

6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,[a] you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

Training for athletic competition means eating the right foods, adding strength and skill to your sport and carrying the right heart and mindset as you compete.  In a similar way, the Apostle Paul encourages Timothy and all of us to do three things:

• Be nourished on the truth of God.
• Train in godliness
• Put your hope in the living God.

Like food, nourishment for our souls is important.  The truth of God’s word must find its way inside of our hearts each and every day.  We don’t want processed or refined truth, just the plain, all natural, truth that God gives us in his Holy Word.

We need to then get into the gym of life and practice what we are learning from the Lord in his Word.  Train in godliness.  You want your spiritual muscles to grow so that in every circumstance of life you are able to perform at your best.

And you want your heart in the right place.  Put your hope in the living God.  This grounding keeps you going when the challenges of living and growing your faith become hard and real.  

So be ready to share grace…eat God’s truth…train in godliness…put your hope in the living God.

 

Apply:  As you consider the aspects of training for sharing grace, which of the one that presents the greatest challenge for you?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the opportunity to share your grace.  Spirit of God, give me strength and determination to “do time in the spiritual gym” so I am best suited for sharing your grace! AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on “The Key” Week 4: “Share Grace!” (WATCH HERE)

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1 Timothy 4:1-4 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

It shouldn’t surprise us that there are people who are not followers of Christ.  In fact, perhaps you, reader, have had a season you were apart from Christ.  The heart of God is for all to be saved.  The heart of Satan is to have all deceived and separated from the love of God that is in Christ.  So the two are battling each other for your soul.  As we looked at a few weeks ago, the battle is real and we must prepared for it.

So if we are on “Team Christ” and on the offensive to share grace, to whom are we looking to share that grace?  The Spirit of God gives us three groups of people who need the grace of God.

First, people who have abandoned the faith.  In 21st century America, I see these individuals who grew up in a Christian home and for some reason have drifted away from their roots and the grace of God they were exposed to as a little child.  The story could be different for everyone, but perhaps there are a few themes.  Some leave their faith because it was challenged in college and the logic of the professor made more sense to them than the stories of Sunday School.  Some go through a tragedy or very hard time in life and believe that God is the author of their pain and just can’t reconcile a loving God allowing something this hard to come into their life.  Or perhaps another reason is they had a bad experience in the church at some point and equated their experience with sinful individuals with all of Christianity.  These people need you to listen, understand and bring them grace.

A second group of people are those who are deceived by the lies of Satan.  No matter the motivation of those sharing the lies, they work to move a person away from Christ.  The tactics of Satan are not obvious always but deceiving.  They sound good, but are not truth.  For example, some deceptions that sound good, but are spiritually harmful is the belief that all gods are the same but we just call them by different names.  Satan wants us to believe that there are many paths to heaven and Christianity is just one of them.  It sounds good in our woke culture, but the eternal consequences will be devastating to all who believe this lie.  Satan loves to make us think we can be our own God.  It worked on Adam and Eve and it works today.  It sounds like this, “God wants me to be happy.”  Yet, really I just want God to affirm the things I’m doing regardless if they are God’s will or ways.  It sounds like, “Don’t tell me what to believe.”  I want to determine what is right for me and not be under the authority of anyone else.  These people need you to listen, understand and bring them grace.

A third group of people who are burdened by the weight of legalism and are missing out on the blessing of God.  Unfortunately the visible church can be good at putting down rules for Christian living.  Many of them can be guided by the commands of God, but sometimes they drift into laws that God has not spoken clearly or at all about.  Forbidding people to marry leads to missing out on the blessing of marriage and opens the door to other sexual temptations.  Burdening the conscience with dietary regulations that no longer apply or never did, leaves one missing out on good things God intended for them.  Sometimes laws are put down to prohibit something that God allows for in moderation.  Blessings turn into burdens.  These people need you to listen, understand and bring them grace.

What was happening in first century Christianity is happening in the 21st.  The solution is the same grace of God that changes hearts and lives.  And the vehicle is you and me who have received grace to be bold to share grace.

 

Apply:  Do you know someone in one of these three categories?  Make an intentional effort to engage in conversation to understand their spiritual journey and as the Spirit leads, share God’s grace with them.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to see those that have drifted from you, have been deceived or are burdened by laws you never gave.  Use me to share the freeing power of your grace with them.  AMEN.