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2 Kings 5:14

A Step of Obedience 2

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 28, 2011

Baptism is often identified with the rituals of purification in the Old Testament and I think one might identify some interesting parallels. Leprosy was frequently used as an illustration for sin in the Bible because of its defilement of the person as well as those around him because it was highly contagious. Once declared clean by a priest, a healed leper would then perform the ritual of water purification and would then be accepted into the corporate worship of the community.

Elisha instructed Naaman, the Gentile, to “immerse” himself into the Jordan River 7 times. Naaman was profoundly offended and needed encouragement from his servant to submit to such an illogical instruction. After all, there were many better rivers in his own country. But none of those rivers could do what a simple act of obedience could accomplish with respect to the Jordan river. It was there Naaman must be baptized, there was no other river offered, he would either accept and obey or reject and disobey. The Jordan was symbolic of the God of Israel and Naaman had to, by his action, denounce every other option. There are always the two options. Faith and obedience go together. Disbelieve and disobedience are Siamese twins. They cannot be separated. It’s not the Jordan River that’s the step of obedience regarding baptism today; it’s the simple obedience to the ordinance that was commanded by Jesus. The simple step of obedience for Naaman was an act of faith. Even though he had to be coerced and convinced to do it by his own servant, it was still an act of faith. Through that act of faith Naaman was healed. It sealed his destiny! He took with him a load of soil from Israel so he could always worship the God of Israel from that time onward. This pagan was solidly converted and his act of obedience was all that was needed.

Have you enjoyed the symbolic act of purification of believer’s baptism? Like Naaman, it’s often humbling for us, but the instructions and the example of Lord is paramount in this respect. Just like Naaman, you have a choice.

Chuck
“Go, make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded you.” Matt 28:19-20

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John 8:29, 2 Kings 5:14, 1 John 3:21-22

A Step Of Obedience!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 27, 2011

While in Israel in the last two weeks, about 20 of us were Baptized or re-Baptized in the Jordan river. It probably wasn’t at the exact location recorded in Matthew 3:13, but it was in the same river and we also came from Galilee. This text says, “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.” John Didn’t want to do it but Jesus insisted saying, “…is is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Last Friday my devotional thought was on pleasing the Father. When Jesus was speaking of His Father He said in John 8:29, “… I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” Obviously, Jesus began His ministry with His baptism by John, as a step of obedience and submission to His Father.

In 2 Kings 5, a diseased leper came to Israel to find healing from his disease. He expected Elisha to perform some radical ritual that would miraculously heal his sickness. But Elisha instructed him to “immerse or dip” himself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman became angry and refused to do it because the rivers in his land were better than this little trickle. But he missed the point. It wasn’t about miracles or dramatic actions or great drama. It was about obedience. When Naaman’s servant convinced him of the simplicity of the action in comparison to what he’d be willing to do to be healed, verse 14 says, “so he went down and dipped himself (baptized) seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

As Jesus explained to John the ritual of baptism isn’t the issue. It’s simply fulfilling all righteousness or obedience to God’s instructions. Obedience is the step that pleases God. That’s why Mark 1:9 tells us that after Jesus came up from the waters of baptism, “a voice came from Heaven saying, “you are my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”

Chuck
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” 1 John 3:21-22

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Deuteronomy 5:16

A Far Better Life!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 23, 2011

When Moses repeats the law to the children of Israel as they were about to enter into the promised land, he again points out God’s instructions for a long and prosperous life. It’s intimately tied in to the stability of the family unit. So both in Exodus and Deuteronomy the responsibility for honoring parents is emphasized as well as the results. But Deuteronomy adds yet another reward. It says, “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Deuteronomy is not just a blanket reiteration of the law already recorded in Exodus, but it’s an urgent appeal for God’s people to be obedient to it for their own sakes. In Deuteronomy 4:40, we read a similar statement regarding the whole moral law of God. It says, “Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

Living God’s way is to live the “far better life.” These verses do not promise us a specific number of years, or a specific thing we might want, or any other specific thing we might want to call to God for from our human interests. Rather, they offer us a way to live a satisfying and meaningful life in this present world. There are still many injustices and much suffering in this world, but we must leave them with God and live the way He calls us to live. The instructions God has given us reveals to us that God intends us to live with the welfare of others foremost in our minds. When we put God first and serve others our lives become meaningful and joyful. Indeed, we can live a far better life. In contrast, as Thomas Merton once said, “To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.”

Chuck
“He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.” 2 Cor 5:15 (TM)

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Ephesians 6:3

Honor your father

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 22, 2011

The fountain of youth, eternal life, has been the subject of more books, poems, songs and movies than one can imagine. Explorers spent years at sea on dangerous expeditions looking for it. Indiana Jones and others risked everything to find it. I’m reading Michio Kaku’s book, “Physics of the Future.” He claims the life expectancy will be well over 100 by 2040 or so. Ray Kurzweil in his “Age of the Spiritual Machine” thinks all natural causes of death will be eliminated in the next 20 years and says we all should take care of ourselves so that we’ll “live long enough to live forever.” One of my favorite cartoons is Calvin & Hobbs. In one strip, Calvin is talking to Hobbs and says, “God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things in my life. Right now I’m so far behind I’ll never die!”

The scriptures give us a particular instruction that one could follow that is to result in a long and prosperous life. Paul says this is the first commandment to which a promise is attached. It’s in Ephesians 6:2-3, “Honor your father and mother, this is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Paul is quoting from Exodus 20:12, “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Under the Old Testament economy obedient children did live longer, but this is not a promise for long life as much as it is for a complete, satisfying and meaningful life.

My sons should be extremely happy and satisfied after this father’s day. I feel very honored to have had them both with me for dinner and to receive all the great gifts (including my new grill – see picture at www.chucklarsen.com)and expressions of love and honor from them and the grandsons. My heart is so full of gratitude for them all that I’d do anything within my power for them. I can’t help but think that this is how God feels toward children, at any age, who honor their parents.

Chuck
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

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Luke 1:17

“Patria Potestas” – The Father’s Power

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 21, 2011

Yesterday, I pointed out that the great advances for women in the world had its true roots in Biblical Christianity. But as great as those advances are, but it truly pales in comparison to the advances that Christianity brought in the elevation and development of children. Nothing has improved the status of children in the world more than Christianity. William Barclay notes correctly that under the Roman law of “patria potestas” (“the father’s power”), “A Roman father had absolute power over his family. He could sell them as slaves; he could make them work in his fields, even in chains; he could take the law into his own hands, for law was in his own hands, and he could punish as he liked; he could even inflict the death penalty on his child. Further, the power of the Roman father extended over the child’s whole life, so long as the father lived. A Roman son never came of age.”

James M. Boice points out, “There was also the matter of child repudiation, leading to exposure of the newborn. When a baby was born it was placed before its father. If the father stooped and lifted the child, the child was accepted and was raised as his. If he turned away, the child was rejected and was literally discarded. Such rejected children were either left to die, or they were picked up by those who trafficked in infants. These people raised children to be slaves or to stock the brothels. One Roman father wrote to his wife from Alexandria: ‘If—good luck to you!—you have a child, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, throw it out.’ Against such pagan cruelty the new relations of parents to children and children to parents brought by the Christian gospel stand forth like sunshine after a dismal storm.”

Although the Jewish community in Jesus’ day had a deeper respect for human life than their pagan neighbors, they were still shocked at Jesus’ loving treatment of children in the adult world.

Chuck
“…and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children…” Luke 1:17

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1 Peter 3:7

All Men Are Created Equal

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 20, 2011

Since I was in Israel the week before Father’s day, I thought I’d use this week following to write devotional thoughts on husbands and fathers from the Bible. The women’s lib movement of decades past took a stand in our culture to gain for women equal rights with men on the job, in the government, and in society as a whole. Remember the motto, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” Well, they certainly have, but it’s worth noting where the movement truly got started.

Nothing has done more for the advancement of those who cannot fend for themselves than Christianity. In a world where woman were recognized as chattel by the law, the Revolutionary teaching of Biblical Christianity is “There is neither male nor female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile.” Peter made it very clear that men should never treat their wives like the rest of the pagan world did. God is always on the side of the weaker soul. He writes, “In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.”

When Peter writes his second letter, he makes his view clear. The opening verse (2 Peter 1:1) reads, “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ…”

One of my favorite sayings is “the ground at the foot of the cross is level.” We all stand on it as sinners and we all stand on it without rights and claims, only to call for God’s grace. In Matthew 23:8, Jesus said, “Don’t let anyone call you Rabbi, for you only have one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.”

Chuck
“But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

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Matthew 28:6

He Is Risen!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 17, 2011

Our final stop in Jerusalem will be the Garden Tomb. It’s sometimes called “Gordon’s Tomb.” General Gordon. A renowned British military hero, Charles George Gordon fought in the Crimean War, in China and in Egypt. When he arrived in Jerusalem in 1883, one of his first actions was to combine his religious fervor with a general’s skill and confidence in interpreting terrain. After making sketches for a short report, he announced that the hill in which the Garden Tomb cave was hewn was Golgotha (“skull” in Aramaic), the site of Jesus’ crucifixion. The Garden Tomb, hidden for centuries, was covered with rubbish twenty feet high. When they first cleared the spot, with great caution they gathered all the dust and debris within the tomb and carefully shipped it to the Scientific Association of Great Britain. Every part of it was analyzed, but there was no trace of human remains. If this is the real tomb of Christ, then Jesus was the first to be laid there and he was also the last.

There is a sign on the inside of the door of the tomb that reads “He is not here – for He is risen.” Every time we’ve visited this site in the past, at least one of the members of the tour group would take their turn going in and coming out of the garden tomb and shout “Nope, He’s still not there!” The Empty Tomb had a message for the disciples as it has for us. It says to science and philosophy, “Explain this event.” It says to history, “Repeat this event.” It says to time, “Blot out this event.” It says to faith, “Believe this event.” Keith Green wrote one of my favorite songs. You will probably remember it as “The Easter Song.”

“Here the bells ringing, they’re singing that you can be born again.
Here the bells ringing, they’re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone said he has risen, just as he said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples that Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the word, he has risen, hallelujah He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah”

Chuck
“He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.” Matthew 28:6

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John 13:1

The Upper Room

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
June 16, 2011

While in Jerusalem today we will walk to the traditional site of the Upper Room where Jesus celebrated the last supper with His disciples. Introducing us to the events and teachings that take place in the Upper Room, John13:1 tells us, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The activity in the upper room was all based on God’s great love for His people. John tell us that Jesus washed the disciples feet out of His love for them. The other Gospels explain the elements of bread and wine and how they represent the depth of God’s love for us. Jesus broke the bread and said, “This is my body which is broken for you.” Jesus took the cup and identified it as the symbol of the New Covenant that would be sealed with his blood.

In the earliest Christian centuries the pelican became widely used as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for His Church. This symbolism has its origin in an ancient belief that the bird punctured her breast to feed the young on her own blood. Some species of pelican have a red-tipped upper beak that is pressed against the crop in regurgitating food for the young; this practice gave rise to the tradition. The pelican appears regularly in Christian art and heraldry. The artist who designed the title page for the AV in 1611 included a depiction of a pelican feeding its young.

I read that the Crusaders put a pelican on their shields and carved a pelican over the archway leading to a replica of the Upper Room. They believed in the tradition that when there was no food to feed its young, the pelican would tear out its own heart to feed them. In a very real sense, this illustrates the depth of God’s love for his children.

Chuck
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13

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