Here’s the link to download the manuscript if you are interested: (the introduction will explain the picture of the semi-truck and fire extinguisher)
Daily Encouragement
At the beginning of our journey with Christ, we see things differently than we do later. It seems one way but later we see the true reality of what happened.
Notice how the disciples understand how they found Jesus but in reality notice how it really happened:
John 1:35-37
[35] The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [36] and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [37] The two disciples *heard him say this, and they *followed Jesus.
We know that God sent John to testify of the coming of the LORD. He does that to these two disciples and they follow Jesus. But notice how they explain that to Peter:
John 1:41
[41] He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have *found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
The pattern continues with Jesus and Philip:
John 1:43
[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He *found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
John 1:45
[45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have *found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
God is the one who pursues us and finds us! But you might say, “But were they not looking for Messiah anyway?” But then I’d ask, “Why are they looking for Messiah and how do they know what to look for?” The answer is God had made promises to them through his word.
We must not miss the fact that God sought us and bought us with his redeeming blood. He is the one who reconciled himself to us. If we get this wrong we will not live a very Christ-centered life. It will be me-centered and we know how that plays out. It is simple but true: God saves! Turn your eyes upon Jesus!
The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for October 1, 2023
Here’s the link to download the manuscript if you are interested:
Daily Encouragement
As I was reading these psalms together, I kept hearing a lot of the same things but presented differently. By that I mean for example the statements made in Psalm 23 given as what is believed. They declare certain things to be true.
Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
But notice this…
Psalm 25:4–5 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 25:6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
I only offer two parallels though there are more to be sure. I’m sure you noticed that Psalm 25 sounds like petitions to the Lord to do and be what David believes to be true of the Lord. Both are necessary. In fact, I’m not sure why you would pray these things if you did not believe them to be certain of God’s nature.
We don’t pray to change his nature but rather we appeal to him to be who he be! So, the exhortation is to believe and pray. Hold confidently these amazing truths about who God is and hold him to be who he says he is.
Maybe to understand this on a more human level let’s think about it this way. Let’s say I’ve neglected to be the father I should be and the kids notice it. Would it not make perfect sense for the kids to ask the father to be who he is supposed to be? Would it not be fitting for the father to hear that and rejoice in the desire of his children to want that to be so of him?
In other words, not asking may indicate that you do not want or have even noticed or need your father or the Lord to be who they are supposed to be. This is a relationship in which we walk with the Lord now albeit in a strange and distant land for which we long to be in his presence forever on that glorious day.
Let us love the Lord now by believing and pleading and longing for this…
Psalm 26:8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house
and the place where your glory dwells.
Daily Encouragement
Psalm 20 has an interesting arrangement. It doesn’t follow the pattern of many psalms. It begins with a series of blessings. Its focus is on the King—the king of Psalm 2 to be sure.
From the promise of Gen 3:15 to 2 Samuel 7:16, the Lord fulfilled his promise for this child who would crush the head of the serpent as God’s Anointed! It seems impossible for those promises to be fulfilled. Each promise seemed to be in jeopardy from the wickedness of Judah to the line of David nearly being snuffed out.
As the psalm seems to acknowledge, troubles came and God answered the pleas and protected the King. All of God’s plans were fulfilled according to verse 4.
This brought about a salvation in which it must be celebrated. The streets are filled with shouts of joy. Like a victory in battle, they parade through the city with banners!
Indeed, it is a battle of sorts. One that cannot be won by mighty horses and iron chariots. They cannot be trusted but it is the Lord we trust.
Psalm 20:7–9
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
O Lord, save the king!
May he answer us when we call.
You will have need of calling on the Lord today. He’s worthy and capable to answer.
Daily Encouragement
Psalm 10 lays out the scenario of the arrogant and evil doer prospering while the helpless, the fatherless, and poor are taken advantage of by the wicked.
It’s obviously coming from the perspective of the poor and needy. As difficult as it is, he is praying to the Lord. But the wicked say there is no God. The fatherless wonders where God is in all of this.
He says at one point: Psalm 10:10–11 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
In other words, as the psalm began he wants to know why the Lord hides himself in times of trouble.
It can seem to us that God is high above in the heavens and cares not about the troubles of our lives. The problem with that thought is that God simply cannot be that way. He cannot go on vacation or go to some distant galaxy to remove himself from his creation. If he is not sustaining it every second then this world will cease to exist.
The needy man finally comes to his senses and acknowledges this. Psalm 10:14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
Like the fatherless, we live in the desert in which we must trust and depend on the Lord everyday. We live here and not in the heavenly city that we might learn to trust the Lord. Life is a test. We have opportunities all day to believe or not.
Some of those troubles will not come to an end until the end. We must trust that the Lord will make everything right in the end. But for now we must trust the Lord to do this while we wait: Psalm 10:17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear.
Daily Encouragement
The sheep are scattered when Jesus, their Shepherd, was struck. I’m glad they ran for the hills or I might suspect this story to be a fraud. Yet they respond as we all expect but it’s Jesus that does the unexpected.
He being the Good Shepherd goes after the scattered sheep.
Luke 24:36
[36] As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
This is one of the more encouraging responses to me. When people abandon me the betrayal is hard for me to overcome. It’s hard to want people who do not want you. But Jesus isn’t like us.
He goes after his disciples. He meets them in their unbelief and gives them evidence beyond measure. He continues to keep them and protect their faith not only for these disciples but for us too.
Your desire to question and touch the real thing—Jesus himself—was done by others so that you might believe in the resurrection. And if the resurrection is true then that changes everything on this side of the grave.
Live with the assurance that if you are united to Christ by faith then eternal joy awaits us when we behold his face!
The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for September 24, 2023
Here’s the link to download the manuscript if you are interested:
The Word Is Not Imprisoned 