Tag / Adventist

by In Light Of The Cross

John 14; “So it May be With us”

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 

 14:11    Believe me that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 

 14:12    Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 

 

14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 

There was in Him nothing that responded to Satan’s sophistry. He did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us. Christ’s humanity was united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature. So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character.  {Desire of Ages, p. 123}

by In Light Of The Cross

John 13; John, The Knowing Disciple

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

At the last super, when Jesus tells His disciples that one of them is going to betray Him, they all asked, “Lord is it I? Matthew 26 However, John, instead asks, “Lord who is it?” John 13 John knew it was not Him. He knew that He loved Jesus and had not betrayed Him. John was a confident disciple because he was confident in the love Jesus had for Him and that He had for Jesus. Look at John’s frequent use of the word “know.”

He grasps Jesus’ words,   John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

John himself writes, 1 John  2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 

 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 

So John tells us that knowing Jesus equals eternal life, and knowing Jesus equals commandment keeping. If A=C and A=B than C must =B.

1John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. 

1John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

1John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 

 4:17       Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

John knew the power of a relationship with Jesus, giving him confidence in the judgment, knowing in this world we can experience Jesus’ power over sin.

1John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 

John wants us to have the same confidence that he had. He does not want us wondering, or hoping and wishing that we have eternal life. He wants us to know we have eternal life. If we know Jesus, we know we have eternal life. No Jesus, no life.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 11-12; It Aint Gonna Happen!

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 11:1 Now a certain [man] was sick, [named] Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 

 11:2      (It was [that] Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 

 11:3      Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 

 11:4      When Jesus heard [that], he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 

As we continue reading the story of John 11 we find that Lazarus does die. So what did Jesus mean when He said it was not unto death? I think what Jesus meant was, that even though Lazarus will die, he will rise again. It would not end in death. In Isaiah 54:17 the Lord says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” That does not mean that weapons will not put us to death, but that we will still, even in death accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. It also means, that even if we die, we, like Lazarus will rise again. The chief priests were fighting a losing battle against Jesus. Since He raised Lazarus from the dead, in chapter 12 they plotted how they might kill Lazarus too. What good would that do? Jesus would just raise him to life again.

The so-called religious rulers of the day could not destroy Jesus or His followers. They may have put Jesus to death. They may have used the cross of Christ as a weapon against Him, but it did not prosper against Him. Instead it made the Kingdom of God prosper! Of course Jesus was raised to life as well. So was Lazarus. Even Satan can do nothing but cause the kingdom of God to prosper! If you belong to the kingdom of God, then no weapon formed against you can prosper either. Even death cannot prosper against you. If you belong to God, then all of Satan’s threats are for naught. Remember Satan is a liar. Whenever he threatens you, be sure of one thing, it aint gonna happen!

by In Light Of The Cross

John 10; The Good Shepherd

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

I love the commentary on John 10 in the Desire of Ages in the chapter, The Divine Shepherd. I especially like this part:

   As an earthly shepherd knows his sheep, so does the divine Shepherd know His flock that are scattered throughout the world. “Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.” Jesus says, “I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” “I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Ezekiel 34:31; Isaiah 43:1; 49:16

     Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows us all by name. He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep.    

     Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all men unto Himself. He bids them, “Follow Me,” and His Spirit moves upon their hearts to draw them to come to Him. Many refuse to be drawn. Jesus knows who they are. He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are ready to come under His pastoral care. He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth.  {DA 479-80}

by In Light Of The Cross

John 9:Skeptics Come and go

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

In John 9 I read about a blind man that Jesus heals so that he can see. The Pharisees, then want to accuse Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. At the same time though, they are insinuating that the man was never blind and therefore Jesus did not really heal him. A lot of people think  if Jesus were here today we would have all the evidence we need, but skepticism reigns in every age, even while Jesus walked the earth. So it is today. Years ago, in the church I was attending at the time, an older lady was diagnosed with breast cancer. The church prayed, and later the doctors said the cancer had disappeared! While many praised the Lord for healing the lady, a few others openly said she must have never had cancer in the first place, and must have been misdiagnosed. The same thing happened when Jesus healed the blind man. The Pharisees took it upon themselves to see if he was really the blind man or someone else, or if he was ever really blind in the first place.

Don’t let skeptics discourage you from believing the Word of God. There have been skeptics in every age. Skeptics come and go, but God’s Word endures from age to age.

by In Light Of The Cross

Jesus Wept; The Bible and Human Emotions, Lesson 3; Top Ten Ways to Avoid Stress And Live a Productive Life

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

To download the Sabbath School lessons to your android phone click here.

In conjunction with this week’s SS lesson on Stress, here is my top ten list of

The Top Ten Ways I Avoid Stress and Live a Productive Life

10. Make Life as simple as you can. Avoid clutter. Every few months I go through my apartment just looking for things to throw away or give away. I do the same with my life. My life is simple. I am not embarrassed by being a simple person living a simple life. Life was never meant to be complicated. It is complicated because of sin, not by God’s design. The closer we get to God’s design the more simple and happy life becomes. When I was a kid I walked into Taco Bell and there were 9 items on the menu. That was great! I bought the bean burrito. Now I walk into Taco Bell and there are over 50 menu items and I buy the bean burrito. Today Their menu board looks cluttered and confusing. Why does Taco Bell make life complicated for no reason? Why do people make their lives complicated for no reason? I have seen so many people stress themselves out doing needles projects, and then look at me like I am lazy for not helping them out. I am not lazy, I just don’t think your daughter really needs a $7,000 sweet sixteen birthday party, so forgive me for not helping you put it together. Take her to Taco Bell and buy her a bean burrito, and say, “Happy Birthday!”

9. Have a planned daily routine. I cannot tell you how important this is. When I first started working at UPS I had to get up at 2am to get to work by 3am. It changed my whole life. In orientation class at UPS they told us, in order to cope with these strange work hours we had to have a planned daily routine, not just at work but all day long. Once I got into a planned daily routine, life got so much easier and working at one of the most stressful jobs during the most stressful hours became fun and enjoyable.  I actually miss it!

8. Exercise! If you have a desk job, you will think so much more clearly if you exercise your whole body. Exercise clears the brain so you can think and study better. It makes life more balanced and healthy. I used to obsess about things a lot. Now that I have taken up golf in the last few years, instead of stressing and obsessing, I go play a round of golf and come back to work with a clear mind, and emotionally balanced attitude.

7. Music. I am not a musician. I do love to listen to music though. In the car I have to have more lively music, but while working on my computer I have to have classical music. I was never into classical music until about 11 years ago when I got a computer. The music with lyrics distracted me from what I was reading or writing, but classical music, for the most part, does not have lyrics so it worked out great. Now I have several classical CDs and attend symphony and orchestra concerts. Music keeps me from being stressed. I remember years ago, while working as a Bible Worker in the Weatherford Seventh-day Adventist church, I would be having a stressful day. I would stop by the church office for something, and if nobody was around, I would go into the sanctuary, go to hymn number 86, “How Great Thou Art,” and sing my heart out so loud it raised the roof. Then I felt much better and went about the rest of my day with a renewed attitude.

6. Write. Keep a journal to record your thoughts. Start a blog. There is therapy in writing. I have no way to prove this, but I also believe there is emotional therapy in writing your feelings out by hand instead of typing. The important thing is to write. I kept a journal in my teens. I look back and read it now and discover things about myself that I did not see at the time. I even look back and see clues as to why I annoyed certain people even though I could not figure it out at the time. When I first moved to Texas, before laptops and cell phone texting, I would go into restaurants with pad and paper and write letters back home while I ate. Then I made friends where I was at, and went to eat with them, and stopped writing letters back home. I miss that. Even today I will occasionally leave my laptop at home and go to a nice restaurant and write a hand written letter back home.

5. Don’t take yourself seriously. Laugh at yourself. A while back someone insulted me in public and I was very offended the person insulting me said what they did in front of everybody. Later, while talking to some of the people within earshot of the insult, I realized they did not even hear what the person said. They were not paying attention, and had other things on their mind. The only person who remembered it was me. I wonder how many times I have been stressed out from embarrassing situations that are recorded in my brain and nowhere else.  I have learned not to be so intense. Some insults that I have taken to heart in the past, I found out later where not given as intensely as I took them. Being melancholy, I think everything has to be perfect. I have realized, that being a perfectionist is a flaw. I don’t need to stress because of the small dent on my  new car. I don’t need to stress because of a little dust on my bookshelf. I don’t need to stress because a friend is a little upset with me. Relationships, like everything else, don’t have to be perfect in order to be absolutely wonderful.

4. Set goals, but don’t cut your wrists if your goals are not met. Have a minimum and maximum goal within reason. For example, as a Bible Worker, I have a goal of how many people I want to contact every day. Some days I can contact 40 or more people. Some days I can only find 10. So 10 is my minimum goal which I can live with while I try for 40 or more. Some days, I get a phone call from a Bible student who is struggling with something, and I take the day and just hang out with them, encouraging them. That is okay too. My goal was not met, but I am not cutting my wrists over it. That would freak my Bible student out!

3. Pace yourself. Take time to relax. Sometimes I will be working on a Seminar presentation or sermon and I get a mental block. I put down my laptop and take a walk. I relax my brain, and then the ideas for my presentation or sermon just start popping into my head. Sometimes my best ideas come on my day off while I am relaxing and reading  or praying.

2. Remember all stress is relative. During the 1998 home run record chase between Sammy Sosa and Mark Mcgwire, I believe it was Sammy Sosa who was asked how he was handling the stress of chasing the home run record. He responded, “This is not stress. Having no food on the table is stress.” Last year, after the Tampa Bay Rays lost a close game, radio announcer Andy Freed refused to call the game a “heartbreaking loss.” He said “having a child in ICU at All Children’s Hospital is heartbreaking! This is just a game.” While a little stress is good as it keeps us shooting for our goals, remember it’s all relative. Some things need to stress us out but not everything. What will it matter ten years from now or even next week?  Several years ago I was working in the church office as an office administrator as well as Bible Worker. There was an older man who could come into my office and talk my ear off while I was thinking about all the things I needed be getting done. He was a dear man, very close to Christ. He would tell me stories, while I would fret about getting all of my work done. A few years later, while sitting at his funeral, I asked myself, Was I really all that busy?

1. Prayer and Bible study. Jesus accomplished so much that John says the world could not hold the books that would be written if everything He had done was written down. Still, He spent long hours in communion with His heavenly Father. Before we can live like Jesus, we must pray like Jesus. His life was spent between the mountain and the multitude. We can’t expect to accomplish all He accomplished without praying like He prayed. I talk with people who tell me they are too busy to study and pray. Life is just too busy, they say. I say, if life gets too stressful and busy for prayer and Bible study then forget life! I won’t live without my time with Jesus! If life gets so hectic that I don’t have time to spend with Jesus, then life has just defeated its own purpose! My life has no purpose without God, so why would I let life make me so busy I have no time for Him?  You can accomplish so much more in life, after you spend time with God and leave your stress with Him, than you can by ignoring Him and carrying all that stress yourself.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 8; God’s Cry To Be Loved.

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 8:42  If God were your Father, ye would love me…

I encourage you to read John chapter 8 and see what you see. There is a very intense argument going on. There head to head conflict. The Jews are being very two-faced with Jesus, saying in chapter 7 that no one seeks to kill Him and then turning around in chapter 8 and trying to stone Him to death! I deal with conflict but would rather not. I am firm in my beliefs and can defend my faith in conflict, but instead of getting into a heavy debate, I would rather talk about what your favorite restaurant is, or how funny it would be if the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl this year.

But as deep and intense as the discussion is in John 8, I see the crux of it all in verse  42.  In this whole chapter, I can see beyond all the theological debates, past all the so called doctrine and law, and I see a God crying out for love. He is standing in the midst of His church, talking with His leaders, and what is breaking His heart, is not their misunderstanding of what we call theology, or the law or Bible doctrine. He stands there, as a Son, as Brother, as a friend, and declares, “You don’t love me.” In verse 42 He is not saying, you don’t understand the law, doctrine, or theology. He is saying, You don’t love me. I see in this chapter a God crying out for love.

Isn’t all creation crying out for love? I have seen children of divorced parents, who are left with the grandparents because neither parent wanted them. The children take up all the hobbies their parents took up, not because they like the hobbies really, but because they want to have something to link the parent back to them and love them. I have seen the elderly holding and adoring a puppy, enjoying having a faithful creature, that they can pour their love on without being hurt in return, like they have with people for so many years.

I could go on, but all I am saying is, all around us there are people who just want to be loved. Sometimes their mannerisms that annoy us, are nothing more than their cry for love. And I believe in John 8 there is a God who more than wanting to praised as Mighty, Powerful and Awesome, has maybe let down His guard a bit in verse 42, and standing there alone, as it seems the whole world is against Him in His own church, and cries out to be loved.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 7; It’s a Conspiracy!

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and [yet] none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 

 7:20       The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 

Either the group talking to Jesus here, were ignorant of the conspiracy to kill Him or they were two-faced. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5 that we are not to be paranoid about conspiracies, but to cast all of our care upon Jesus. At the same time, Peter acknowledges that the devil is out to get us.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 

 5:8         Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

 5:9         Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 

In John 7 the multitude had mixed opinions about Jesus. However His conduct is what validated His words and works.

While people are telling Jesus that He is crazy for thinking someone wants to kill Him, the Pharisees send out a group of conspirators to get Him.

7:45        Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 

 7:46       The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 

The officers who were sent to take Jesus reported that never man spake like this man. But the reason of this was that never man lived like this man; for if he had not so lived, he could not so have spoken. His words bore with them a convincing power, because they came from a heart pure and holy, full of love and sympathy, beneficence and truth. There is eloquence beyond that of words, in the quiet, consistent life of a pure, true Christian. We shall have temptations as long as we are in this world, but instead of injuring us, they will only turn to our advantage, if resisted. The bounds are placed where Satan cannot pass. He may prepare the furnace, but instead of working injury, it will only consume the dross, and bring forth the gold of the character, purer than before the trial.  {Gospel Workers 1892 P, 244}

No reason to be paranoid about Satan’s conspiracies. Just keep living for Jesus!

by In Light Of The Cross

John 6; Jesus Has a Solution Before We Have a Problem

I am writing tonight from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 6:5 When Jesus then lifted up [his] eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 

 6:6         And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 

Jesus already had a solution before Philip even knew there was a problem. Jesus was testing Philip to see if He would trust him. Jesus does the same with us. He already has the solutions before we even  see the problem.

“Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.”  {Desire of Ages, p. 330} 

 6:7         Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 

 6:8         One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 

 6:9         There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 

Good thing there was a young boy there with a small lunch. Good thing Andrew did not tell him he was too young to help and to come back later when he grew up. Jesus could not wait for him to grow up. He needed the boy now. Jesus needs all of our young people today, not later.

 6:10       And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 

 6:11       And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 

 6:12       When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 

 6:13       Therefore they gathered [them] together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 

The young boy who gave all he had did not go hungry that day either. I am sure Jesus could have worked the same miracle with just one loaf of bread, but after hearing about Jesus and His love it wasn’t enough for the boy to give a little. He had to give all! Just like the widow had to give all when she gave her two mites, and the woman who washed Jesus feet with the perfume that cost all she had, when the boy heard of Jesus’ love He had to give all. It’s just a natural response from anyone who understands the gospel and the cross of Christ.

by In Light Of The Cross

John 5; Don’t Sleep Through The First Ressurection

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 

 5:26       For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 

 5:27       And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 

 5:28       Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 

 5:29       And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

In verses 28 and 29 Jesus refers to the two resurrections. The resurrection of the righteous at the beginning of the thousand years, and the resurrection of the lost who meet their doom at the end of the thousand years.

In verse 25 Jesus is obviously referring to the first resurrection. The resurrection of the righteous. When I study with people about what happens when you die, I like to conclude with this verse and an appeal. I share that we can get so use to listening and responding to the voice of God, that we will even hear His voice in the grave. Some though will be so used to ignoring His voice, that they will sleep right through the first resurrection. I appeal to them to spend their life listening and responding to the Word of God. Then they will be so tuned into His Word that one day, if they die, His voice will wake them from the grave.