Blessed Christian Greetings

1Co 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
1Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
1Co 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
1Co 1:5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

Paul was so gracious in his salutations to the brethren of various churches. Here, he bestows wishes of God's grace, peace and enrichment upon the Corinthian believers.

But what is easily overlooked is that another brother accompanies Paul in this Apostolic blessing, Sosthenes.

This saint is worthy of some consideration. That blessed brother's name "Sosthenes" means "safe strength. And, there is much in a name. Read what Jamison Faucett Brown has to say about this man's Christian history...

Associated by Paul with himself in the inscription, either in modesty, Sosthenes being his inferior [Chrysostom], or in order that the name of a “brother” of note in Corinth (Acts 18:17) might give weight to his Epistle and might show, in opposition to his detractors that he was supported by leading brethren. Gallio had driven the Jews who accused Paul from the judgment-seat. The Greek mob, who disliked Jews, took the opportunity then of beating Sosthenes the ruler of the Jewish synagogue, while Gallio looked on and refused to interfere, being secretly pleased that the mob should second his own contempt for the Jews. Paul probably at this time had showed sympathy for an adversary in distress, which issued in the conversion of the latter. So Crispus also, the previous chief ruler of the synagogue had been converted. Saul the persecutor turned into Paul the apostle, and Sosthenes the leader in persecution against that apostle, were two trophies of divine grace that, side by side, would appeal with double power to the Church at Corinth [Birks].

May the lot of us believers rise to the level of our brother Sosthenes. Might others find in us a safe strength. May we be counted worthy of the title, "Trophies of Grace."

More Than a Brother.

John 7:5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.

Imagine, growing up in the same household with Jesus, witnessing a perfect sibling, never disobedient, never mean, never unkind, intolerant of sin and mischief and yet forgiving, obedient to parents, helpful to others, skilled in carpentry, proficient in the Scriptures, loving to all, respectful of others, deeply spiritual, constant in prayer, happy in spirit, content in life, joyful in setbacks, victorious in spirit, and yet, two of His brothers never bothered to believe in Him!

Messiahs show up in other families. You never expect them to sleep in your bedroom or eat your mother's matzah. You don't suspect that God in the flesh changed your diaper or wiped your snotty nose. You can't believe, like your sisters have, or a couple of your brothers did, that your babysitter, though He never left you, nor forsook you, is the Almighty.

I mean, how can you expect to be wearing Hand-me-downs from the One Who wore robes of righteousness?

God is good, God is great! But really, how could these two boys suspect that they were thanking their own brother for their food when they bowed at the supper table?

And so, they went on throughout their lives rejecting the notion that their Brother could double as their Savior. They were so close to the Tree of Life, the Branch, the True Vine, that they couldn't see the forest of His divinity.

And that reminds me of kids who grow up in church, teething on the back of the pew in front of them, turning their Sunday school classrooms into chaos, occupying the van's back seat on the way to youth camps and teen activities. And they never come into a personal, vital relationship with the One they have casually known all their life.

It makes me think of the seminary student whose Bible has become his textbook. The wonderful words of life are, at worst mere mistranslations, or spiritualized allegories or, at best, memory verses.

I also consider the minister who serves the Lord via Bible study, sermon prep, hospital and shut in visitation, but ceases to grow in his relationship with his Redeemer.

As with His siblings, Jesus is our elder Brother. He is always there for us, caring for us, loving us, wishing for a deeper relationship than blood siblings. He desires that we be best friends, sticking closer than brothers. He offers to be our fortress, our sanctuary, our advocate, our prayer-hearing, miracle-working, saving, healing, encouraging God.

Can you look beyond the familiarity of a familial relationship and believe that the God of glory is in your home, your room and wants to dwell in your heart by faith?

"Nanny Nanny Boo Boo"

Wine is a Mocker

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Wine (in snarky mocking tone):
"Jesus drank wine."
"Cheers!"
"Just a glass or so every day with supper is okay."
"As long as it's in moderation."
"Jesus turned the water into wine."
"Oh, you tee-totalers!"
"Paul told Timothy to drink wine."
"It's sophisticated to drink wine."
"A fine red wine with a thick juicy steak can't be beat!"
"But the Bible says wine is a medicine, a sedative, a joy, a gift from God...drink up!"
"The alcohol will cook out."

23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Wine (with condescending tone): "You stupid wino!!!"

Gods and Goats

Acts 14:18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

Oh what a difference a verse makes!

In verse 18, Paul and Barnabas are doing all they can to dissuade the Lystrans from cutting up a calf as a sacrifice and doing obescence to them.

The city was divided, those who chose to maintain their paganism and those, both Jews and Gentiles, who received the message of the Gospel and believed.

But just one verse later, the apostle's detractors were present in force to silence these Gospel preachers once and for all. The Judaizers persuaded the pagans to pummel Paul with stones, thus sending him on to glory, resulting in the original version of "90 Minutes on Heaven."

One moment, they were the gods, the next, the goats. Oh how fickle people can be! Paul desired neither the calf nor the cuts, the sacrifice nor the stones. He only desired free course in doing the work of God.

Believer, soul-winner, preacher, missionary, can you relate?? It seems, in our work, we go from preaching to a receptive crowd to being confronted by some curmudgeon about our use of a Greek word.

One day we are winning a few souls for the kingdom, the next, we are called on the carpet for choosing the wrong color of carpet.

On the one hand, we rejoice in a miraculously answered prayer and on the other, Satan is buffeting us with a thorn in the flesh.

One side of the coin has us rejoicing in worship, the flip side has us stewing over a difficult budget.

And the rollercoaster never ends until we behold the Lord face to face.

A Heart Prepared

Proverbs 16 and the heart
1¶The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Here we see an iteration of the words of our Lord in Matt 12:34, ...for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

If our heart is properly prepared, that is, it is the abode of Christ by His holy Spirit, and is principled by the Word of the Lord, then the tongue will bring forth the heart's overflow.

Four types of hearts are shown in this chapter:
The Proud heart - vs 5
The Planning heart - vs 9
The Prudent heart - vs 21
The Pliable heart - vs 23

God, let my plans for this day be inspired by your Word and your Spirit. I pray that my heart would a repository of your wisdom and prudence. And finally, Lord, keep my mind and heart open to the lessons you have for me today. Amen!

An Active Relationship - Psalm 63

I often hear of others who KNOW they are saved. They know they have Jesus as their Savior, but they admit that they really don’t have much of a personal relationship with Him. I am afraid this is something all of us must develop. Relationships are developed by spending time with each other and sharing each other’s hearts. Please bear these in mind as you consider this simple outline of the 63^rd Psalm.

Note the title of the Psalm - [[A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.]]

David was on the run…again! It is hard for us to imagine living this way. If nothing else, it would get our prayer lives on track. But really, aren’t we all on the run? We are running in circles, running to keep up, running to pursue dreams, running from our past, running to put out fires, running, running, running.

May I suggest that, rather than running, we become active in productive ways, building our relationship with Him? Here is what we find David actively doing, while on the run…

We find him:

Seeking   1

Thirsting   1

Longing   1

Seeing   2

Praising   3

Blessing   4

Lifting   4

Remembering   6

Meditating  6

Rejoicing  7

Following  8

Rejoicing  11

Swearing  11

Glorying  11

Let’s actively pursue the God Who is always pursuing us. 

What is He to Me

Psalm 62. What is He to Me?

My Hope 1
My Salvation  1
My Rock  2
My Defense 2
My Stability 2
My Expectation  5
My Glory  7
My Strength 7
My Refuge  7
My Power 11
My Reward  12