Month: January 2022

He also said: “A man had two sons.  The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them.” (Luke 15:11-12)

In my morning devotions I once again came across the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The more I read, the more I realize that there are a lot of truths packed into a small number of verses. I have usually concentrated on the father in the story, but this time I have noticed some harsh warnings through the actions of the son.

As we can see in verses 11 and 12, the youngest son was unsatisfied with his life and not willing to wait around for his father’s demise (I hope not all children are like that!), and he asks for his inheritance early. Surprisingly, his father grants his request and gives him his portion of the estate early. The son takes the cash and makes a dash for his new life of excitement. In doing so, he leaves us a playbook of destruction that if we follow will result in eventual pain and suffering.

The young son was unhappy with what he had in his normal life and was seeking more. He was much like all of us in different times of our lives. Benjamin Franklin said that, “Discontent makes rich men poor, and contentment makes poor men rich.” I think he had it right. We often look at the lives of others and envy what they have. Constantly looking at what others have and comparing it to what we have is a dangerous venture. It can lead to pursuits that take us into the wrong places, to meet the wrong people, to experience the wrong pleasures. Often instead of hobnobbing with the princes we end up hog-slopping with the pigs.

“Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country,” (Luke 15:13a)

We can notice here that to be involved in a new lifestyle, the son had to go to places where his new lifestyle was accepted. People who want to absent themselves from the things of God, must absent themselves from the places of God. Church is not a very good setting to run a gambling ring (ignoring the Baptist bingo rings here). Most people think it would stink to get skunk-drunk at a Bible study. Telling dirty jokes in a sermon seems a little too….well, dirty.

If we want to replace God in our lives, we must place ourselves in some pretty ungodly places. That is the first thing this young son did. He ran off to a place far away that would not remind him of the things he was avoiding. He took his money and ran to a non-threatening setting where he could be “himself,” surrounded by others who could be “themselves,” in an environment of nonrestricted behavior. It was a nirvana of guilt-free bliss…for awhile.

I read a story once about a person who took in a raccoon as a pet. Raccoons go through some radical physical changes at about two years old. During this time they can (and most of the time do) become very aggressive. The raccoon owner was repeatedly warned about the danger, but believed that her raccoon would be different and their relationship would overcome the natural tendencies of aggression.
The woman had to go through several surgeries after her pet attacked her and left deep lacerations in the her face and neck. We can develop a relationship with sin and believe that it will never turn on us, but it does. That is the natural way of sin. Sin is a slicked-up escort who comes dressed for an elegant ball and takes us the sewer sock hop instead.

“But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.” (Luke 15:30)

These were the words of the unhappy older brother. Apparently they had some knowledge of the younger son’s behavior in his absence. We can see here that the younger brother had taken another important step in starting a new life without God. He had to replace the people in his life with those who would be complicit in his new lifestyle. We find out that he began running with riotous people and harlots. These people would be enablers more than advisors. They could not condemn his lifestyle without condemning their own.

Years ago a psychology professor performed and experiment in his classroom. He would bring in ten students, nine of which were in on the ruse. They would look at three lines on the board of varying lengths. He asked the group to raise their hands when he pointed to the longest one. The nine students who were in on the ploy raised their hand when he pointed at the medium-length line. The “stooge” would look around and eventually raise his hand. It happened time and time again, in fact, the unsuspecting “sucker” went along with the group 75% of the time.

There is a saying that many people would rather “be president than be right.” In other words, it is easier to go along with the crowd than to examine the truth. If we surround ourselves with people who will reinforce what we want to believe, like the young boy did, we will not see the flaws in our thinking. We will go along with things that may be wrong and be happy about it.

The son in this story would probably say that he wanted to hang with people who were not judgmental (ever heard that before). He wanted to buddy with those who would not correct him or point out the danger in his decisions. The boy squandered all his money. Did his friends council him away from such. Probably not, because they may have even had a part of the action themselves. After all, maybe they could make up for some of the money they had already squandered. There is a commercial that says, “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Is there an outcry against this commercial because it illustrates intolerance?  No, because it is right to warn people of danger and everyone knows it. Is it judgmental to stop people from doing something that is not good for them? I would think it would be evil not to stop them.

“where he squandered his estate in foolish living.” (Luke 15:13b)

Finally, the young boy had to change his pleasures if he was to truly adopt this new lifestyle to its fullest. He had to immerse himself in activities that left no reminders of his previous commitments. It is doubtful that his pleasures included worship any longer. Pleasures that conflicted with a godless lifestyle would have to be abandoned because he would not want throw a moral monkey wrench into his new and exciting life.
When the son abandoned his family, he had to also abandon any activities that reminded him of the life that was. He had to take on new pleasures that would not give him any tinges of guilt. His pleasures had to help sustain his new life by not reminding him of the old.

Of course, sin only satisfies so long. Sin is like cotton candy. It looks substantial when you buy it. It can be a pink delight twice the size of someone’s head. But it is really just a small amount of sugar and coloring whipped up to look large. As soon as you take a bite, you realize that it melts into nothingness. It is not filling. Can you imagine how many cotton candies it would take to fill us up? More than any of us could afford, I am sure. Sin is that way. It looks satisfying, but will come up short in the long run.  It is like the modern bag of chips that is size of a pillow, but consists of air and six chips.  After all, Satan is a deceiver. He will not let us be “fulfilled” for too long. He is much like the fickle slot machine that will let a person win just enough to keep him coming back, but lose enough to keep the person broke.

The lesson of the prodigal is a warning for all of us. Most of the time, if we are running from God we will change the places we go, the people we see, and the pleasures we enjoy. If we see ourselves moving away from the things of God we should check our hearts. Often our move away takes place slowly until there seems to be no turning back. Most of us will not change lifestyles in a moment’s time. The young son in Luke 15 did not change overnight. In his heart he started a move away from God, and his feet finally followed.

Satan won’t let the party last too long. After a little festive celebration, a person will look around and realize his life is a pigpen and the only thing on the menu is slop. It is inevitable. If we want to stay close to God, we need to surround ourselves with God things. We can run, but we can’t hide. He will be wherever we go, but we often try to overwhelm His presence with the things of the world. He stands in the field, checking the horizon, awaiting our return, so He can run to meet us.
We need to do our daily check to see if we are getting closer to or further from God. Where do we frequent? Who do we run with? What do we like to do? If God things play a minor part in these areas, we might want to check the previews of coming distractions. We might not like what we see.

“Declaring the end from the beginning…saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Isaiah 46:10

There is a famous military motto: “No plan of war survives first contact with the enemy.” This holds true in every human conflict because it is impossible to know for certain how one’s enemy will react or what circumstances may intervene to change any planned course of action, but this is not true of God.

I recently heard a story of man who was asked to trade shifts on his job so his co-worker could go to church event the next day.  An explosion took place at the factory and the man who had gone to work was killed.   Friends of the man who was spared saw this as God’s providence, but what of the man who was killed.? Was God uninvolved on his behalf?  Of course, as we look at the verse above, we know this is not the case.

So what explains it?

In a way, trying to explain the unfathomable mind of God with our small minds is pretty fruitless, but we continue to try.  In fact, I am going to try right now.  I see it this way.  God’s view of our lives is not limited in any way.  He knows the past, the future, those around us, those coming after us, He knows all things.  We don’t.   His decisions are made with all the possible information available.  We look at life through the wrong end of a telescope and see just a tiny picture of all there is to see.  Not so with God.  He sees the big picture.  His decisions are based on all this world contains.   

We see life in big events, both tragic and triumphant, and through those events we try to evaluate the degree of God’s love and power.  But life is not just a few major happenings, but thousands and thousands of smaller, every day incidents all in full view of God’s eye.   To argue with God’s providence in one instance is to ignore many,  many more known and unknown daily doings that have an effect on hundreds of people.  

Our lives are a quiet pool being pelted constantly with different sized stones resulting outgoing ripples that affect everyone around us and many others.  God’s love and mercy are shown hundreds of times in our lives and others all day long, every day, in every place.    There is not a single event that does not have far reaching consequences, including that broken shoe lace I got this morning.   God the Master Networker brings all things together, even our free choice, into a world of His good pleasure that in the long run is for our good, as well.

I am reminded of the story of the only survivor of a shipwreck who washed up on a small uninhabited island. He cried out to God to save him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a rough hut and put his few possessions in it. But then one day, after hunting for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; he was stung with grief.  Early the next day, though, a ship drew near the island and rescued him.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked the crew.

“We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

Though it may not seem so now, your present difficulty may be instrumental to your future happiness.  Only God sees the whole picture and can turn flames into a smoke signal.

God does not wonder what the future holds and we can be assured that God does not worry about his purposes coming to fruition.  God’s plans are never frustrated, foiled, or even hindered.  His word declares His purposes, His designs, and His works.  He does not just describe the things that will come to pass, He has declared them and designed them.

His counsel shall stand and he ultimately will overrule wickedness for the good of his people and the glory of His name.  His plans are not changed with first contact with the enemy because nothing surprises Him.  That is the kind of commander we want to put our faith in, trust our lives to, and follow wherever He might lead.

Amos 7:7–8 says, “This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ ‘A plumb line,’ I replied. Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’” 

When I was building in Grants Pass many years ago, there was a young man that would occasionally help us on a job.  One day he was helping us and we had to determine where to cut the roof for a stove that would be put in later.  He used a plumb bob to determine  where the hold should be cut.  Unfortunately, when we realized the hole was in the wrong place, he swore he did it right and the string must have been crooked.  Apparently he did not understand the concept of a  plumb bob.

A plumb line is a string with a weight attached to one end. When the weight can dangle freely, an exact vertical line can be determined; this is called  plumb.  Painters and carpenters use plumb lines to keep their work straight.  The accuracy of a plumb line is more precise than almost any other tool in the tool box.  Because a plumb line utilizes the law of gravity for its accuracy, it cannot change because gravity does not change.  It remains true, and all work can line up with it without danger of being crooked.

In the Word a plumb line is used to describe the perfection of the Lord.  It refers to the exactness of God’s plans, the Word, and even Christ Himself.  When I am working on a remodel, I will often have to add a board to an already existing house.  If that house is crooked in some way, I need to put the board on crooked, even if it is not plumb.  After all, most people do not carry a level with them, so they go by the way the board appears.  If I put the board on with a plumb bob, it would graphically show how crooked the house really was.

God provides for us a plumb bob to show us how imperfect we are.  Compared to the rest of the world, we might seem okay… pretty much on the level, but compared to the things of God, we are desperately skewed. In Psalm 19:7 it says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;”  We are not used to comparing ourselves to perfection, but that is what we are called to do.  The only way we can be seen as perfectly “plumb” is to take on the righteousness that Christ has provided us.  His righteousness is never “crooked.”

‘Bean Boozled’ jelly beans are flavored jelly beans with weird and wild flavors. They” as the question in their ads, ”Are YOU ready to be beanboozled?”

Jelly Belly’s wildest collection dares you to compare tasty popular flavors with “disgusting ones.” But here’s the catch – you won’t know which ones are which!

The black Licorice bean looks exactly like the Skunk Spray bean! Sweet, luscious Caramel Corn might also be Moldy Cheese. You may think you’re tasting our world-famous Buttered Popcorn bean, but what you’ll be biting into could actually be Rotten Egg. The only way to find out what beans you’re getting is to eat them!

The Jelly Belly Bean collection has all kinds of flavor, good and bad, and  many play a game with them to see who gets the good flavors and who gets the bad ones.   Those who get beanboozled get some wild facial expressions!

Likewise, we must be careful not to be beanboozled by life. The imperfection of the world can never satisfy us. Only God can align us with Him.  He is perfect and a taste test will prove it. God promises that we won’t be disappointed.

Don’t see if you are “on the level” by using the world measuring tools.  Use the plumb bob of God and taste the life we were meant to have. 

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8).

”For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20

The gospel is the good news that God sent Jesus to undo what Adam undid; Romans 5:18-19 says “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Jesus died and rose again for sinners, just as God promised! Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance wight he scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised again on the third day according to the scriptures.”

It is the good news that we can once more be truly human. No longer are we, like Adam, evicted from God’s presence and under his wrath. The garden—the kingdom—has been regained with a plus. It is the good news that we are sons of the second Adam and have been remade—not just considered to be remade, but new creatures. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We have been actually remade—not fully … yet—but actually, truly. We’ve been re-born, made new, in a word, regenerated.

We sons of the second Adam, or Jesus, have been raised with him to new life. His resurrection guarantees new life. Ephesians 2:5-6 tells us that “even when we were dead in our trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” We are new creatures. All things become new in Christ- His person, His Life, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, His seating, His interceding, His coming, His reigning. And, yes, it means we’ve got something we must share now with our unbelieving neighbors before it’s too late. However, for far too long we’ve missed what the gospel means for us now. We’ve missed why the gospel is good news for Christians today. We have missed the changes it can make in our lives right now.

In one of my recent sermons I shared the story of Albert McMakin who was a twenty-four-year-old farmer who had recently come to faith in Christ. He was so full of enthusiasm that he filled his truck with people and took them to a meetings to hear about Jesus. There was a good-looking farmer’s son whom he was especially keen to get to a meeting, but this young man was hard to persuade – he was too busy falling in and out of love with different girls, and did not seem to be attracted to Christianity. Eventually, Albert McMakin managed to persuade him to come by asking him to drive Albert’s truckload of guys. Since driving was always a treat, his friend relented. When they arrived, Albert’s guest decided to go in and listen to the gospel speaker Mordecai Ham and was ‘spellbound’ and began to have thoughts he had never known before. He went back again and again until one night he went forward and gave his life to Jesus Christ. That man, the driver of the truck, was Billy Graham. The year was 1934. We have all heard of Billy Graham, but few of us have heard of Albert McMakin. We cannot all be like Billy Graham, but we can all be like Albert McMakin – we can all introduce others to Jesus.

We don’t need to be afraid to share. We are new creatures, we are regenerated, we are reborn and our old fears are passed away. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

What mindset invariably leads to treating others correctly? Humility. When we see ourselves as undeserving of the least of God’s goodness, then we see others weaknesses in a different light. Nothing brings our perspective of others more in line with how God sees them than looking at ourselves first. When God looks at us, he loves us even though He is perfect and we are not. When we look at ourselves first then others, we will realize that they are not perfect, but neither are we.

And when we, in genuine and personal humility, esteem others as we ought, we will cease to look for ways to please ourselves and begin to look for ways to help others. Rather than using others to better ourselves, we will use ourselves to better others. Our concern becomes not how can we fulfill our own desires, but how can help others fulfill their needs.

How we plan our day, how we use our time, how we spend our money — these are all barometers of true humility. We can find great joy and satisfaction in giving up our own pleasures for the sake of others. If Christ would not have been able to do that for us, no one would be saved.