The 2nd Mile...

Matthew 5:38-42 

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

As part of His "Sermon on the Mount", the Lord Jesus preached these words, teaching those in attendance that day, and all who would read and meditate on these words up to this day, a very clear message about the life of a Christ follower.  There have been many books/blogs written and sermons preached about these verses.  Tons of information discussing what the Lord meant by these words.  Turn the other cheek, if he takes your coat give him your shirt too, go the extra mile.

Earlier in His sermon Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  Donna and I had the opportunity to visit a friend's church this past Sunday, and the pastor preached on this concept of "meekness".  He said, "Meekness is not weakness", and he is absolutely correct.  It is a true statement that in modern culture we have lost the understanding of what true meekness is, and we've substituted our understanding of "weakness" for "meekness" in many situations.

Meekness actually speaks to power, not weakness.  It is having the right or the power to do something, and yet not doing it to benefit someone else.  Power - not abdicated, not ignored, not cancelled, but also not enacted.  Whenever I think about this idea of meekness, I think of the Son of God hanging on the cross, the mockers in the crowd yelling at Him "If you are the Son of God why don't you let yourself down."  He was dying for those very mockers, as they mocked Him.  And yet He still died for them, and all of us.

In His teaching on meekness, the Lord goes further giving examples of how we are to behave, not only toward fellow believers, but to our enemies as well.  Here in verses 38 through 42 He is speaking about how we are to act toward those who are not our friends.  Someone who attacks you with a slap, someone who wants to sue you in court, authorities who force you into service.

Go the extra mile...  The Lord Jesus was speaking to a common practice in that day.  The law of the land said that any Roman citizen, soldier, or authority could "impress" (read draft or conscript) a person of a conquered land into service, specifically carrying/moving something, for one mile.  The roman road network was well established at this time, and the roads had markers every mile.  And so, if you were working in your field one afternoon and a cohort of roman infantry was marching past, any one of the men could call you over, hand you their rucksack, and say let's go, and you would have to carry that burden for one mile.

This was highly offensive to the Jewish people.  Being occupied was bad enough, but then to be forced into service of a pagan gentile in this manner was maddening to say the least.  And yet the Lord says to go an extra mile.  Not only to fulfill the required mile as the law says but go an extra mile.  

We don't hear much about that first mile, but there is a lot of writing and preaching available out there that talks about that second mile.  Some call it the "miracle mile".  This is the effort the Christ follower makes to show his or her companion who Christ is in their life, to show who it is that is Lord and Master truly.  This is the part of the journey where the burden of the journey is ignored, and the Glory of the Lord is proclaimed!  

Christ follower - go the second mile!  

I don't know if you have picked up on it here in our little corner of the world, but revival is happening Christians.  Revival is happening all around us.  I have seen young people earnestly asking questions and seeking God in their lives.  I have seen leaders in churches responding to greater callings, taking leaps of faith and engaging in new ministries.  People changing priorities and making both room and time in their lives so that they can be obedient to God's calling - revival is happening! 

Every one of us will have an opportunity to pick up someone else's burden and carry it for a while.  To grab hold of the other end of the load and help that person shoulder that load for a while, even for a mile.  Be willing to go the second mile and see what God will do with it.

Keep your eyes open for more on the "2nd Mile".  Much much more is to come...  Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

PJ

Called by Name...

I'm not sure if it's a new song playing on Christian radio, or just a new song to me, but I heard a song recently by Josh Baldwin titled "Made for More", have you heard this one?  What a powerful song!  Full of praise for what our Lord has done for us in His finished work on the cross, Amen!  I absolutely love it when Christian artists put scripture to music.  The part of this song that really speaks to me is:

I wasn't made to be tending a grave
I was called by name
Born and raised back to life again
I was made for more

We see several places in scripture where God tells us that He knows us, knows us by our very names.  Now you might say wait a minute, there are over 8 billion people on this earth right now, not to mention all those who lived and died before me, how can God know my name.  I don't know how He can - but I know that He can.  He is God, and He does know us all, by name.

Isaiah 45:3 (ESV) I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

Look at what that scripture says, just what is in the end of the verse 3 - "Who call you by your name", He says.  You may read that and think there is a grammatical error there - no there is not.  This is written correctly - we might think it should say "Who calls you by your name", but that would not be correct in this context.  Why?  Because it is Jehovah - The Lord, God Almighty, El Shaddai, Elohim, who is speaking.  Remember back to Genesis when God created man and He said "Let Us make man in Our image". 

God in all His glory, God the Father/God the Son/God the Holy Spirit, God in all His nature at once!  He knows your name, and He calls you by it. Let that sink in for a minute...

"I was called by name, Born and raised back to life again, I was made for more".  We see several examples in scripture where Jesus calls someone by name, here are two such examples.

Lazarus (John 11)

During Jesus' ministry he was friendly with a family that lived in Bethany.  Two sisters, Mary and Martha, and one brother, Lazarus.  Jesus got word that his friend Lazarus was quite sick, and his sisters pleaded with Him to come quickly.  However, Jesus stayed where He was for two more days, and then He gathered his disciples to go to Bethany.  By this point Lazarus had already died and was buried in the tomb.  

When Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus' sisters met Him on the road with much sadness and grief and frustration to say the least.  Jesus comforts the sisters and then He goes to the cemetery.  He weeps along with the people there who were weeping, and then He prays to God the Father.  He acknowledges the Father first, and then acknowledges the people who are standing with Him, saying that He prayed these things out loud and came here at this time so that the people would see and believe.

And then He speaks, with all of the power of God calling out to Lazarus by name, and commands him to step out of the grave.  What do you think would have happened at the moment if He did not call Lazarus specifically?  That's right - all of the dead in that cemetery would have stepped out.  The Lord Jesus calls out to Lazarus, specifically, to come out, and he does!  "raised back to life again", Lazarus was made for more, Amen?  

We don't hear a whole lot more about Lazarus after the Lord raised him.  He was present at a dinner with Jesus and his sisters, but that is all we see in the bible.  However, we do know from scriptures in 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians that Lazarus will be raised again and be returned to God in eternity.

Mary Magdalene (John 20)

One of my favorite accounts in all the bible, brings me to tears every time I read it.  Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on Sunday, to tend to the body since it could not be done completely before the Sabbath began.  She sees that the stone has been moved and the Lord's body is missing.  She gets Peter and he and other disciples run to the tomb and see for themselves.  They leave the cemetery after seeing, but Mary lingers behind weeping.  

Eventually she looks into the tomb, and she sees two angels sitting where Jesus' body had been, and they ask her why she is weeping?  She tells them because her Lord's body is gone, and she does not know where He is.  Then she turns and she is face to face with Jesus, but she does not recognize Him.  She mistakes Him for the gardener, and so she asks Him to tell her where the body has been taken so that she can tend to Him.  And He says "Mary", and she immediately recognizes Him!

There was a day when He passed by my way, and He called my name.  I ran from Him for years, but He was faithful and patient, and on that day when I was finally ready to surrender to Him, He came by again and called my name.  I was born and raised into life again, and I came to know that I was made for more.  And so were you...  

If you know Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, you are born again, raised back into spiritual life with Him, and He has a wonderful plan for you.  You were most definitely made for more.

If you are reading this and, in all honesty, would say you don't know Him, well He still knows your name and He has a plan for you too.  But it all starts with you coming to terms with your need of Him.  If this is you, let me know.  I would love to pray with you and talk to you more about who He is and what He has already done for you.  There is a gift waiting for you, you just have to accept it.

I will include a link to Josh Baldwin's song "Made for More" in YouTube.  It's well worth the watch.  God Bless, thanks for reading...

PJ

Made For More - Josh Baldwin, feat. Jenn Johnson (youtube.com)

Let All Things Praise the Lord!

Hallelujah!  Have you ever wondered what this word is all about, what it is you are actually saying when you exclaim this exclamation?  Hallelujah!  We hear this all of the time, don't we?  "Hallelujah" - people on TV talent shows like to sing a song that Leonard Cohen wrote by that title.  It mentions David and has a side reference to Samson, but it isn't really a worship song, is it?

Hallelujah, it's actually two words "Hallelu" and "Jah".  

Hallelu – joyous praise in song, to praise God.  

Jah – This is a shorter form of God’s name "Yahweh", which is also "Jehovah" – The Lord.

In Exodus 6:3, we see where God shows His lordship to Moses.  God said, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them." 

The patriarchs would have known God as "God Almighty".  The name is "Adonai", a sacred name.  But here in Exodus 6, we see God revealing Himself a little bit more.  From now on, He is known not only as "Adonai" meaning "God Almighty", but also as "Jehovah" meaning "The Lord".

Now-a-days, "Hallelujah" is used as an exclamation of joy or agreement.  However, it is so much more than that.  It is a call to worship God and God alone.  He is the only one in all of existence to ever be worthy of our worship.  This is why idolatry is so offensive to God.  Idolatry is taking God out of His rightful place, and putting some physical thing like a golden calf statue or another person, in His rightful place in our lives.

There are tons and tons of things that we can learn from the book of Exodus.  Foundational information of who God is, how He instituted His worship and the law.  But if you had to point to just one critical thing in Exodus, I think it would be the fact that God is.  Just that - He is.  He spoke that exact truth to Moses from the burning bush:

Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

God revealed this truth to Moses, and then gave him another name to know Him by, Jehovah - The Lord.  Since then, we've come to know Him by many other names.  Wonderful names, powerful names.

He is Adonai – God Almighty  
He is Jehovah – The Lord 
He is Jehovah Nissi – The Lord my Banner.
He is Jehovah Raah – The Lord my Shepherd.
He is Jehovah Rapha – The Lord that heals.
He is Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is There.
He is Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord our Righteousness.
He is Jehovah Mekoddishkem – The Lord who Sanctifies You.
He is Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will Provide.
He is Jehovah Shalom – The Lord is Peace
He is Jehovah Sabaoth – The Lord of Hosts

When we exclaim "Hallelujah", we are truly calling for our Christian brothers and sisters to join with us in worship of our Lord and God.  It is a call for praise, a call for worship of He who has saved us and redeemed us with His shed blood.  

Psalm 150 (NKJV)
1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Hallelujah and Amen!  God bless and thanks for reading,

PJ

Be Holy...

1 Peter 1:13-19 (ESV) - Called to Be Holy

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Being holy - things that are precious and perishable.  These are all things that are worthy of a Christ follower's thoughts and meditation.  What does it mean for us to be holy - is it even possible? What is perishable and what is precious?  What in all of creation could be considered so valuable, that it would be accepted as payment for the sins of all the world?  Peter answers these questions in his first letter as we read above. 

Peter writes these words in a very straight forward, very open and specific manner.  We can hear his very words being spoken as we read them, and what we hear truly is powerful and full of authority.  He speaks plainly and boldly so that his point is made and understood immediately.  Very much to Peter's personality isn't it, he was a no-nonsense kind of guy I imagine.

Verse 13 - Peter tells us that we are to prepare in such a way that we will be ready, mentally and spiritually, for what we will receive when the Lord comes again.  He's saying prepare soberly (meaning with a clear mind, unobstructed, unimpaired by anything), setting our hope fully on the grace that God has promised to give to those who believe on and trust in His Son.  As Christians we do have hope - but in today's age people all too frequently confuse hoping and wishing.  Jesus is not a genie in a bottle wanting to grant you 3 wishes.  He owes you nothing, but He offers you everything.  Our hope in the grace that God promises is an expectant hope - because we KNOW that God is a promise keeper, and so the hope we have in His grace and mercy is expectant, not wishful thinking.

Verses 14 through 16 - Here Peter very clearly gives us a "don't do this, do that instead" command.  He says since you are obedient (you have trusted in Christ and turned to Him as Lord and Savior), don't fall back into your old ways!  Don't go back to the sins you left at the foot of the cross when you accepted Christ, don't continue in the evil ways of your past now that you have been reborn and made into a new creation, but instead be holy just like He who saved you is holy.  Is salvation a get out of jail free card?  Is it license to live for the devil and to sin recklessly because our salvation is secure in heaven?  Absolutely not!  

Are we tempted daily, yes.  Do we have times where we fall and fail, sure do.  But the mark of a Christ follower where sin and temptation are concerned is the struggle that we put up against that sin.  Do you just give in and decide well I'll just ask God to forgive me after.  Friend if that is your mindset, pray and pray hard that the Lord will convict you of that and help you to find your feet and set to struggle against that sin for all you are worth.  For those who are fighting against sin, but you had a setback, get up.  Dust yourself off, turn back to the Lord for His help as you restart your struggle again.

Verse 17 - Peter speaks of exile - what exile?  How are we exiled now?  By sin - our sinful nature.  Before the fall, Adam and Eve lived with God, walked with Him in all His glory.  They were not separated (exiled) from Him, they walked in the garden with Him continually.  It was only after they committed that great sin that they suffered separation and exile.  They were put out of the garden, removed from God's direct presence, and we have suffered that exile ever since.  Peter is saying as we live this exile, as Christ followers we are to fear the Lord with reverence and great obedience.  I believe that the capital "C" church has basically lost its understanding of God's righteousness and holiness.  He is a holy and righteous judge.  Does He love us, of course He does.  Does He care for us and have compassion on us, absolutely yes.  And yet at the same time He is Holy and Righteous and He will judge sin, period.  You can't live for the devil six days a week and then jump on the church bus on Sunday morning and call it all good, it does not work that way.  Following Christ is a lifelong, day by day - no - minute by minute - no - second by second pursuit.   

Verses 18 and 19 - here is where we tie into the ideas of precious and perishable.  Peter says that the people were ransomed - what's a ransom?  It's a payment, but it's really more than that isn't it?  A payment is a payment, but a ransom is a payment for someone who is in harm's way.  Friend, can I share this truth with you, if you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, you are in harm's way.  I can't say it any more plainly than that - harm, danger, hell, that is your future without Christ.  God does not want that for you, He loves you so much that He made a way, He gave His own Son to be that ransom in your place, to take your place and pay that price so that you can be free and safe and reconciled to Him.

Peter says that the ways of their forefathers was futile - what is he talking about here?  The law - the law that the Hebrews of old, rescued out of slavery and bondage in Egypt, chose instead of the grace that God offered to them.  He gave them the law so that they could see and understand exactly how lost and wretched they were without Him and His saving grace.  

Peter then reminds us that the ransom was paid with something that is far more valuable, far more precious, then even things that people consider to be most valuable.  And he uses this idea of perishable to make his point.  He says you were not ransomed with something perishable, like silver or gold, but with that which is unperishable, the shed blood of the Lord Jesus.  Wait a minute - silver and gold perishable?  These are metals - do metals perish?  Iron does - it can rust.  Copper can over a long time right - it tarnishes and is soft so it can wear down.  But silver and gold?  There are golden artifacts created during times that we read about in the bible that still exist today, and yet Peter says that even gold such as this is perishable when compared to the precious blood of Jesus.

The truth is that it is possible for us to be holy, if we will struggle and try.  It won't happen simply on its own, it won't happen without your intentional effort.  But isn't it worth it to try?  Jesus said that you are worth it, He went to the cross and suffered that death because you are so very much worth it.  You are precious, because He shed His most precious blood, so that you could be returned to Him, ransomed, paid for, paid in full, saved.  His is the only name in all of God's creation that can save, and He does save.  And if you are saved, you are called to be holy as He is holy.  I pray these words are a blessing to someone who reads them, and if so then all glory to God, Amen.  May God bless you and keep you, thanks for reading.

PJ

Pastoring...

Pastor - it's a title, no it's much more than that, it's a calling. I struggled with that for a while after the Lord called me, because I never wanted it to be about me. This calling should have little to do with Jeff, and everything to do with Jesus. I worried about when someone would finally call me "Pastor Jeff" because I did not want to get "the big head". I even told someone once very early on that they did not have to call me "Pastor", and the Lord poked me in the shoulder immediately after that and I did not know why, but eventually He showed me...

Pastor is not a job. It's a calling, and it is not something that we call upon ourselves or even other people call us too. The Lord God Almighty does the calling. He says so in His word.

Jeremiah 3:15 (ESV) - "And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

God does the calling, we simply listen and obey. What the Lord showed me is that when someone calls me "Pastor Jeff", they are not paying honor to me. They honor God and His calling upon my life, and what He is doing in me and through me. Is it right for me to deny someone's honoring the Lord? Certainly not - thus the poke in the shoulder. Shortly after He taught me this valuable lesson, He followed it up with one even more powerful.

I was serving as Associate Pastor at House of Agape at the time, and one night at the feeding ministry a young man fresh out of prison came up to me. Everything he owned in the world he wore on his person and carried no bag of anything extra. He would be sleeping on the street that night, and it was cold. After the devotional was given and folks were eating dinner, he asked to speak to me privately. We stepped to the side and then he asked me a question, "Are you a pastor?"

I tell you, the entire world stopped. It was as if everything was frozen, and in my very heart I knew the Lord was asking too "Are you a pastor?" I had to take a minute. Because at that moment I knew that I had an out, I could have said no. And if I did, I would have had to resign my position and return to being a lay person, but if I wanted out, I could have gotten out. This was a put up or shut up moment in my life.

I looked into this man's eyes, full of worry and fear, full of pain and even sorrow over his situation, and I told him "Yes, I am a pastor." And that is the first time that I felt the weight of that truth. I am a pastor, and it's heavy. If you are a pastor, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I feel it now, I feel it always. My prayer every day is that the Lord help me to continue to feel this weight, and never that I should take it for granted or disrespect this weight that I accepted when I told this young man "Yes, I am a pastor."

Pastoring takes on many forms and looks different hour by hour, even minute by minute. One minute you are rejoicing with someone over a huge blessing received, and the next you are mourning with someone else over a lost loved one. I've seen people crushed by someone they love, and complete and utter forgiveness to someone who has committed an unspeakable wrong. I've seen God move in the simplest of ways and yet cause profound change in someone's outlook and take on life.

I say all of that to say this - I am blessed to be called to pastoring, and God has moved in my life in a way that only He could move. This was never my plan, but it was His and as we all know His plans are best. I intend to write more (I know I've said that before multiple times), but I do. I wrote a short prayer for someone not long ago and apparently it had the whole house crying (in a good way). I did not think it that impactful but if so, Amen. That's the Lord at work, I just listen and obey. Thanks for reading, check back for more... God Bless!

PJ