Happy are You if You Do Them

John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
This promise of the Lord comes during the Last Supper, prior to His betrayal, arrest and crucifixion. And here, Jesus is concerned with how His followers serve and their subsequent happiness.

He told them that if they would serve one another, as He had just given an example by washing their feet, and that if they would do service to their Master, they would find happiness.

Surely, there is joy, contentment and satisfaction in serving others. When we focus on ourselves we become concerned with our treatment, our advancement, our goals and our shortcomings.

Jesus is about to ultimately serve humanity by giving Himself for all. This was the joy set before Him (Philippians 2). Imagine if Jesus was only concerned with self throughout His passion. He would have put a quick end to the suffering by hailing 12 legions of angels. But instead, He chose to serve us by dying for our sins.

Let us take Christ's example and enter into service for others today.

OTHERS - by Chas D. Meigs

Lord, help me to live from day to day
In such a self forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray
My prayer shall be for others.

Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true
And know that all I’ll do for you
Must needs be done for others.

Let self be crucified and slain
And buried deep – and all in vain
May efforts be to rise again
Unless to live for others.

And when my work on Earth is done
And my new work in Heaven begun
May I forget the crown I’ve won
While thinking still of others.

Others, Lord, others
Let this my motto be.
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like Thee.

A Chief Priest's Duty is Never Done!

John 12:9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.

Okay, so the religious crowd has it in for Jesus and His friends. The sooner they can dispose of this rabble-rouser, the better. The threats did thin out the herd a bit. Many of the ones who followed for the miracles did not sign up for martyrdom, so they skedaddled. Others came to Christ in droves because of Lazarus' resurrection from the dead.

Funny thing I see here, the chief priests are considering putting Lazarus to death because he had been raised from the dead! Such irony!!!

Like Father, Like Son? or Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary?

John 12:1 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

Do you remember when Jesus was invited to Simon's house for dinner? Simon was a Pharisee. As they ate, a sinful woman snuck in, approached the Lord from the back and began to wash His feet with her tears. Simon complained because He let this sinful woman touch Him.

Now the son is doing the griping because another Mary is wiping His feet with her hair. Dad complained about the type of woman, Judas about the waste of costly perfume. This family just can't be satisfied with how others worship. The Marys were just about as extravagant in their worship as anyone has ever been and the Iscariots were just about as cantankerous as could be about how someone else chose to show their love to the Lord.

Simon's pride was hurt, Judas' greed showed through. Both were rebuked by the Lord for their narrowness of comprehension and for their upbraiding of the ladies who truly "got it."

I come from a spiritual heritage which more resembles the Iscariots than the Marys. We tend to gripe about how everyone else shows their love for the Lord. We have our "prescribed" ways of doing things. Thinking and acting outside of the box to show appreciation brings fundamentalist consternation down upon the worshiper.

Our ilk frowns upon praise choruses. They believe the old fashioned hymns are what Paul and Silas sang in jail. As if "There is Sunshine in My Soul" would have been more appropriate than one of the Psalms which repeated the same 7 words 11 times, emphasizing trust in their Deliverer.

They think that the new song which believers will sing in heaven will be written in common time, sung in E flat major and will include a few old English words.

A lady walked into a church with “The Baptist Hymnal” tucked under her arm. After the service, she climbed all over the pastor’s frame for his use of praise choruses. He asked to see the hymnal. After looking through a few of the songs, he then said to her, “Funny, I see songs in here written by Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists and Anglicans. Every song we sang today was written by a Baptist. So, what’s your problem?”

And while we are singing that new song in heaven, there had better be no hand raising or none of that emotionalism which causes souls to cry tears of joy for what the Lord has done!

I wonder had Judas repented and trusted the Lord, would he have been able to enjoy heaven? Would Simon be moved with indignation or joy by the "holy, holy, holy" of the angels around the throne? I'll bet’cha Mary Mary (take your pick, the ones in the Bible, or the modern duo) will be glad to have the shackles off their feet so they can praise the worthy Lamb as He deserves to be worshiped.

Does your worship resemble that of the Iscariots or of the Marys?

Behold How He Loved Him!

John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

It became obvious, on so many levels, the love of Jesus for His friends, Lazarus, Martha and Mary. He groaned in His spirit, He was troubled, He wept openly.

When we hurt, God hurts. Jesus had a special relationship with this trio of siblings, but don't think for a moment that He doesn't hold you just as dearly as these three.

Jesus was more heart broken for those left behind to grieve than He was for His departed friend. He was touched by Mary and Martha's feelings of remorse.

The thing is, He knew what He would do. He knew that God was about to be glorified as Lazarus would be raised from the dead. But for right now, His friends were going through it and it caused Him to be sorrowful.

Perhaps today will be a tough one for you. Know that God has already begun to provide the silver lining to your dark cloud. In the meantime, He notes your distress and actually enters into your grief with you.

As a friend reminded me today, the Lord knows how to turn our problems into positives. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He stretched forth His arms and became a plus sign.

Whatever the negative in your life today, up to and even including death, allow God to turn the devil’s minus into a plus for you and Him. Behold how He loves you!

Celestial Ovine Rustlers

John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know
his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for
they know not the voice of strangers.

In olden times in the Middle East, corrals were made by building stone walls
to enclose the sheep. The shepherd, or a keeper of the sheep would sleep in
the entry way of the sheepfold so that uninvited guests were kept out and
wandering sheep would not be tempted to stray.

When a flock was to be extracted from the corrals, the shepherd would come
to the door and call his sheep. They were well familiar with his voice and
would come at his call.

Here, the sheepfold represents heaven and the shepherd and the doorkeeper
represent Jesus.

Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life. Nobody can come to the
Father except through Him. This is an exclusive and undeniable claim. He is
the only door to heaven, not one of many. His narrow way is the only path
that leads to life, there are not many roads which lead to the same place.

Righteous works, religion, good karma, a larger amount of good versus bad
in one's life, simple believe in a higher power, these all amount to nothing
more than putrid leper's rags when it comes to true salvation.

We are no good! Every one of us is a filthy sinner. Anything we might
attempt to do to get us into heaven, other than trust the Son of God Who
gave Himself on Calvary's cross, is tantamount to trying to crash the gates or
to dig under or climb over the fence into the sheepfold.

Sin upon sin! That's what trusting anything or anyone other than Jesus' work
for us on the cross amounts to.

No amount of charity work, contribution, church membership, confirmation,
baptism, catechism or meditation can buy one minute of heaven or purchase
one iota of forgiveness.

Quit trusting yourself or your religion and put your faith completely in Jesus to find your way through the door of the sheepfold. He is the Door as well as the Shepherd.

Seeing, Sin, Spoke, Spit, Sent, Sight.

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. 10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.

You got the outline, now the essence.

If anything, most blind men would desire their sight. Fanny Crosby was different. When asked what she would want, she answered other than to receive her sight, stating that she wanted to wait until she got to heaven, that way the first one she would see would be her Savior.

Perhaps, if this blind man had to do it all over again, he might have chosen something other than his sight, for his healing resulted in persecution, problems for his parents and expulsion from the synagogue.

In the end, this incident showed the Pharisees for what they were, blind sinners. And being called out by Jesus and shown up by a blind beggar was not something that they would stand for.

Never-the-less, the blind man received much more than he lost. He lost his membership in the synagogue. He lost his anonymity. He lost being able to be close to his parents. But he gained his sight, both physical and spiritual. Nice trade.

Reigning Grace

Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Only the gracious God of heaven could withhold judgment as He has. I live in a town of a quarter of a million sinners, including the writer. God in heaven knows about each sin that will be committed in this town today.

Sin is the transgression of God’s holy law, whether in thought, word or deed. How many sins will be committed in Lincoln, Nebraska today? Millions! Day by day that number is multiplied. And then there are the neighboring towns and states, the country, the world. Each one of Adam’s sons and the daughters of Eve continue to chomp the forbidden fruit, driving the thorns deeper into the Saviour’s brow and the spear into His precious side.

I have got to be honest with you, if I had the power and even one person took my name in vain just a couple of times, I would think about retribution. More so, if someone murdered my son in the most horrible and demeaning of manners, and then went on in their sins without remorse, I cannot print here what I would wish for them.

Yet, God continues to extend the olive branch to us unworthy, wretched sinners. He built a bridge with 3 rusty nails and 2 pieces of wood. He is not willing that a single one of us would perish, but come to Him in repentance.

He offers total forgiveness, abounding grace and abundant mercy.

Only God! I stand amazed in the midst of an ungodly lot of blinded reprobates.