Archives: Watchword

WATCHWORD:

^16-17 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 The Message

¹⁶ So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now! ¹⁷ When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:16-17 The Living Bible

 ¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 English Standard Version Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

²³ Then he got into a boat and started across the lake with his disciples. ²⁴ Suddenly a terrible storm came up, with waves higher than the boat. But Jesus was asleep. ²⁵ The disciples went to him and wakened him, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re sinking!” ²⁶ But Jesus answered, “O ye of little faith! Why are you so frightened?” Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and the storm subsided and all was calm. Matthew 8:23-26

³⁵ As evening fell, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ So they took him just as he was and started out, leaving the crowds behind (though other boats followed). ³⁷ But soon a terrible storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water and about to sink. ³⁸ Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they wakened him, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?” ³⁹ Then he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet down!” And the wind fell, and there was a great calm! ⁴⁰ And he asked them, “Why were you so fearful? Don’t you even yet have confidence in me?”  ⁴¹ And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, “Who is this man, that even the winds and seas obey him?”  Mark 4:35-41 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

²⁴ For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Friend. It was not in the earthly place of worship that he did this, for that was merely a copy of the real temple in heaven. ²⁵ Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year. ²⁶ If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us. ²⁷ And just as it is destined that men die only once, and after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins.  Hebrews 9:24-28

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21-22 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

¹⁷ “Don’t misunderstand why I have come—it isn’t to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them and to make them all come true. ¹⁸ With all the earnestness I have I say: Every law in the Book will continue until its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹ And so if anyone breaks the least commandment and teaches others to, he shall be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who teach God’s laws and obey them shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5:17-19

¹⁸ But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the man who says them. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lying, and slander. ²⁰ These are what defile; but there is no spiritual defilement from eating without first going through the ritual of ceremonial handwashing! Matthew 15:18-20

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by trying to keep the Jewish laws? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you heard about Christ and trusted him to save you. Galatians 3:2 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

^1-2 After dark one night a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a member of the sect of the Pharisees, came for an interview with Jesus. “Sir,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.” ³ Jesus replied, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.” ⁴ “Born again!” exclaimed Nicodemus. “What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” ⁵ Jesus replied, “What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. ⁶ Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven; ⁷ so don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again! John 6:1-7 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

¹Well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness? ^2-3 Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to? For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered. ⁴ Your old sin-loving nature was buried with him by baptism when he died; and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy. Romans 6:1-4

^1-2 After dark one night a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a member of the sect of the Pharisees, came for an interview with Jesus. “Sir,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miracles are proof enough of this.” ³ Jesus replied, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.” ⁴ “Born again!” exclaimed Nicodemus. “What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” ⁵ Jesus replied, “What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. ⁶ Men can only reproduce human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven; ⁷ so don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again! John 6:1-7 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

⁷ “The Father sets those dates,” he replied, “and they are not for you to know. ⁸ But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection.” Acts 1:7-8

 ¹³ Next I saw the arrival of a Man—or so he seemed to be—brought there on clouds from heaven; he approached the Ancient of Days and was presented to him. ¹⁴ He was given the ruling power and glory over all the nations of the world, so that all people of every language must obey him. His power is eternal—it will never end; his government shall never fall. Daniel 7:13-14

 ²⁴ “After the tribulation ends, then the sun will grow dim and the moon will not shine, ²⁵ and the stars will fall—the heavens will convulse. ²⁶ “Then all mankind will see me, the Messiah, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And I will send out the angels to gather together my chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest bounds of earth and heaven. Mark 13:24-27 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

⁸ That evening they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and they hid themselves among the trees. ⁹ The Lord God called to Adam, “Why are you hiding? ¹⁰ And Adam replied, “I heard you coming and didn’t want you to see me naked. So I hid.” ¹¹ “Who told you, you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten fruit from the tree I warned you about?” ¹² “Yes,” Adam admitted, “but it was the woman you gave me who brought me some, and I ate it.” ¹³ Then the Lord God asked the woman, “How could you do such a thing?” “The serpent tricked me,” she replied.  Genesis 3:8-13 Continue reading

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¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. ¹⁹ For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children. ^20-21 For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay —the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command—will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy. ²² For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event. ²³ And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us—bodies that will never be sick again and will never die. ²⁴ We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. ²⁵ But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently. Romans 8:18-25 Continue reading

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¹ Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John ² (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). ³ So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. ⁴ He had to go through Samaria on the way. ⁵ Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.  ⁷ Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” ⁸ He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. ⁹ The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” ¹⁰ Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”  John 4:1-10 Continue reading

WATCHWORD:

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:6  

 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  Romans 9:19-21

Meditation:

“Does God Curse Us?”

Recently, a friend asked me, partly in jest, “does God curse us”?  I had a ready answer but before I could share it, he said, “You should write a Watchword about that.”  I knew he had his share of adversity and was frustrated, but I also knew he had faith. But write a meditation on God’s role in our troubles?  Well, it felt like a challenge, so, here goes…

I thought about that question in relation to my own life journey and the few remembered adversities that I struggled through. I say “few remembered adversities” because, even though at the time I thought the sky was falling on me many times, the truth is, I can recall only once when I was truly frustrated with the Lord, and that was during the five-year health decline of the love of my life, until she passed into God’s presence. There may have been other times, but they left no mark no remembrance.

Maybe we should make a distinction between trouble, or in my friend’s words, “curses”, and holy discipline. In Hebrew 12:11, we read For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. If we take this to heart, then we are left with a conclusion that adversity, troubles, curses, or discipline are actually from God, and they are, in the final analysis, blessings.

Mark Farnham writes in Apologetics for the Church, “The problem with this answer for many Christians is they wrestle with how God can be good if he ordains trouble and suffering. A God who ordains and decrees suffering does not seem to be just, loving, compassionate, merciful, good or kind. God is sovereign and whatever he does is good and just, whether we think so or not.

When we embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior, we declare God’s sovereignty and pledge our own submission to Him. That word “submission” sticks in my throat.  Is surrender a more acceptable idea? Nah! The metaphor of the Potter and the clay teaches a truth that is hard for many to accept. We don’t like to say that God is responsible for the trouble that enters our lives, but the answer is that God is absolutely responsible for all those elements that we deem as “troubles” or  “curses”.  That should be a comfort to us, for if God were not in charge, then our lives would be left to chance, and the matter of God’s sovereignty would have no meaning.

Steve Brown shared a thought long ago that has been with me ever since. He reminded us that “God is in control, and He loves us.”  That has been the mantra for my family for nearly 20 years. If God is in control, then I’m not, and every minute detail of my life passes through His hands.

So, the answer to my friend’s question is, Yes. God is responsible for all blessings, and for those bits of adversity that frustrate us at times. The ups and the downs, even the mountain of grief and loss, what we may call curses, all are part of God’s master plan for our lives. As animated bits of clay, we can’t see around the bend, and we may be upset by our inability to understand the reason, yet, we have faith and trust in Christ, the Potter. Lord, mold me and make me after Thy will. Amen.

Bulletin Board:

Vernon McGee tells the story of when he was a seminary student traveling from his home in Tennessee to the seminary in Dallas, he always passed a large pottery plant near Arkadelphia, Arkansas. One day he took time out to stop and see pottery being made. He says there were two very impressive, very striking sights that he has not forgotten. Behind this plant was the ugliest patch of mud he had ever seen. It was shapeless and gooey and looked hopeless. Out in front of the plant they had a display room, and in that room were some of the most exquisite vessels he had ever seen.

“We went inside the plant, and we saw many potters at work. There they stood, bent over their wheels, giving their full attention to working with that helpless, hopeless, ugly, mushy messy clay. They were intent on transforming it and translating it into objects of art. The only difference between that mass out back and those lovely vessels in the display room were these potter’s hands, working over their wheels.”

I wonder, without the potter, would we be a work of art or simply a mass of gooey mud?

Let’s Pray – Have Thine Own Way, Lord:

Have Thine own way Lord
Have Thine own way
Thou art the potter I am the clay
Mold me and make me after Thy will
While I am waiting yielded and still

Have Thine own way Lord
Have Thine own way
Search me and try me Master today
Whiter than snow Lord wash me just now
As in Thy presence humbly I bow

Have Thine own way Lord
Have Thine own way
Hold over my being absolute sway
Filled with Thy spirit till all can see
Christ only always living in me.

Amen