by David Scott Robertson
The man appeared to be a model Christian.
He didn't smoke, didn't drink alcohol, not even an occasional glass of wine. He didn't watch dirty movies, and wouldn't even allow a PG-13 movie in his house. He didn't read trashy novels, didn't subscribe to questionable magazines, avoided scanning the sexy headlines on the tabloids at Wal-Mart, and even had a filter on his computer to safely surf the Internet.
The man appeared to be a model Christian.
He didn't gossip about his co-workers and was a faithful, dependable employee at the same company for 32 years. He was a good husband and provider, a decent father that went to all his son's ballgames, gave blood regularly, and was a volunteer fireman.
The man appeared to be a model Christian.
He attended church each Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and even had earned a Sunday School perfect attendance pin two years in a row. He drove the teens to youth camp in the church van, and took his turn on the rotating schedule of mowing the church grass.
The man appeared to be a model Christian.
He was clean cut, voted in every election, sent flowers to his mom on Mother's Day, was faithful to his marriage vows, and on the surface you would think that this man had it all together.
The man appeared to be a model Christian.
The only problem with this man is that if he were to die right now he would go straight to hell.
What's up with that? The sad reality is that this man, for all the good he does, is not born again.
Jesus frankly declared the startling truth of salvation to all when He said in John 3:3: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
This mostly good man I'm describing in this thought (who probably lives in your neighborhood and possibly attends your church) has never truly been regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Oh sure, he knows about the gospel, but he's never embraced Christ as Lord. He knows how to "do church" and he speaks fluent "Christian-ese" but he never quite bought into the whole "lordship-of-Christ" thing. To the average church-goer he looks obedient enough but, Lord knows, there's something missing.
Here's the deal: His wife doesn't see it, his pastor doesn't see it, his Sunday School teacher doesn't see it, his boss and friends don't see it, but God sees it.
Truth is, in his heart of hearts, this man questions the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The most influential people in his life are not his spiritual leaders but his fishing and golfing buddies who continually tempt him to compromise his integrity. He wonders if all of God's Word is infallible and struggles over some of the apparent contradictions. He is not pro-life and believes that every woman has a choice concerning the fate of the fetus inside her. He has given money to the church over the years but has never been a tither. He is critical of his pastor, but never publicly. He suffered a verbal wound from a co-worker years ago that has grown into a root of bitterness.
Questioning some of the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith is not, in and of itself, enough to disqualify you from heaven and consign you to hell. Who among us has perfect understanding of the Scriptures? The real question is not semantics but "what are you going to do with Jesus?"
In light of that question, this "mostly good man," appears on the outside to be a model Christian, but on the inside, he is not saved.
I'm concerned that this man is representative of multitudes in the church of Jesus Christ today. They go through the motions of religious activity to soothe their "religious conscience" but they don't have an authentic relationship with the Son of God. One preacher I heard called pretenders like these "tippin', dippin', and sippin' saints," if you know what I mean.
Religion never saved anyone. Jesus spoke out boldly against men like this and it cost Him His life.
Good works are good but not good enough to get to heaven. Noted Evangelist David Ring preached one time that "if you miss heaven it will be by eighteen inches. That's the distance between your head and your heart."
Knowing about God is not enough. Believing there is a God is not enough (demons do that). Going to church is good but it is an insufficient substitute for knowing God intimately, experiencing God ultimately, and dwelling with God eternally.
Jesus plainly indicated that He alone was the pathway to eternal life: "…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
Luke wrote in Acts that "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12)
We can fool some of the people some of the time, but we can never fool God anytime.
My encouragement to you today is to pursue your love relationship with Jesus with your whole heart and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and then everything else in your spiritual life will fall into place (Matthew 6:33).
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
DSR
6/26/05
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Sunday, June 19, 2005
The Lord is With You
by David Scott Robertson
"The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand" (Genesis 39:2-3).
* * *
The Lord was with Joseph.
Hated by his brothers, betrayed and thrown in a pit, sold to an Egyptian officer to live the life of a slave, a victim of a lustful conspiracy by his master's wife, unjustly sentenced to prison to live the cruel life of a prisoner, forgotten by those he helped…
Yet the Bible says the Lord was with Joseph.
It's hard to see that the Lord was with Joseph when he suffered wave after wave of injustice and unfair treatment. Maybe you're reading this today and you are in such a hard place that you find it difficult to believe that the Lord is with you.
For Joseph, before he was promoted to the palace as a prime minister he had to face the pit, Potiphar, and prison (in that order).
Why? How is that fair? What's the point to all the pain? How can God possibly get glory out of all Joseph's suffering? Does God really care?
Could it be that God had to prepare Joseph's character to match the enormous call on his life?
To be entrusted with spiritual gifts (interpreting dreams), godly wisdom (inspiration to save a nation from famine), and ultimately bring about God's will for the twelve tribes of Israel (relocating Jacob and his sons to Egypt) was an incredibly tall order! God knew that Joseph would have to walk in forgiveness, humility, and great wisdom in order to bring about God's will for the nation of Israel. Hence, the tests, trials, and tribulations to forge Joseph's character.
Are you in a test, trial, or tribulation today? Do you doubt whether or not the Lord is with you? All the outward evidence may suggest otherwise, but if you are a Christ-follower then the Lord is with you. God is causing all things to work together for your good simply because you love Him (Romans 8:28). Don't let a bad report and unjust accusations by well-wishing but ignorant people guide your perception of God's presence in your life.
God is up to something with you. All suffering has a purpose. Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Through your pain God may be preparing you. Don't grow weary in well doing for in due season you will reap (Galatians 6:9).
The Lord is with you.
"…Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
DSR
6/19/05
"The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand" (Genesis 39:2-3).
* * *
The Lord was with Joseph.
Hated by his brothers, betrayed and thrown in a pit, sold to an Egyptian officer to live the life of a slave, a victim of a lustful conspiracy by his master's wife, unjustly sentenced to prison to live the cruel life of a prisoner, forgotten by those he helped…
Yet the Bible says the Lord was with Joseph.
It's hard to see that the Lord was with Joseph when he suffered wave after wave of injustice and unfair treatment. Maybe you're reading this today and you are in such a hard place that you find it difficult to believe that the Lord is with you.
For Joseph, before he was promoted to the palace as a prime minister he had to face the pit, Potiphar, and prison (in that order).
Why? How is that fair? What's the point to all the pain? How can God possibly get glory out of all Joseph's suffering? Does God really care?
Could it be that God had to prepare Joseph's character to match the enormous call on his life?
To be entrusted with spiritual gifts (interpreting dreams), godly wisdom (inspiration to save a nation from famine), and ultimately bring about God's will for the twelve tribes of Israel (relocating Jacob and his sons to Egypt) was an incredibly tall order! God knew that Joseph would have to walk in forgiveness, humility, and great wisdom in order to bring about God's will for the nation of Israel. Hence, the tests, trials, and tribulations to forge Joseph's character.
Are you in a test, trial, or tribulation today? Do you doubt whether or not the Lord is with you? All the outward evidence may suggest otherwise, but if you are a Christ-follower then the Lord is with you. God is causing all things to work together for your good simply because you love Him (Romans 8:28). Don't let a bad report and unjust accusations by well-wishing but ignorant people guide your perception of God's presence in your life.
God is up to something with you. All suffering has a purpose. Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Through your pain God may be preparing you. Don't grow weary in well doing for in due season you will reap (Galatians 6:9).
The Lord is with you.
"…Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
DSR
6/19/05
Monday, June 13, 2005
Testimony of a Transformed Life
by David Scott Robertson
I thank you, Jesus, for initiating our relationship.
I had no rights to you - no access to you - no kinship or family tie to you that would warrant your coming to rescue me from my sin.
Nevertheless, in spite of my having no real claim to God in any way, Jesus the Christ heard from His eternal throne in heaven a distant and feeble cry for help of a fallen soul lost in a dark and lonely earth realm.
Lord, you heard my voice long, long ago…
And though there were innumerable angels worshipping you at the very moment, your attention departed from their perfect praise and focused instead on my impoverished cry. Angelic worship could not drown out a voice crying in the wilderness:
"O God, help!"
"O Lord, I need you!"
"O God, I'm lost without you."
And wonder of wonders, you came. You actually and literally left your place of perfection.
You left the throne of your glory where all properly recognized and correctly responded to your righteous and absolute power, authority, and holiness.
You voluntarily left all that behind and with an iron-will incarnated as a helpless baby in a manger at just the right time; a divine visitor to the land that you had created long before.
You knew, before you ever slipped into humanity while retaining your divinity, you knew that multitudes would despise and reject you and ultimately require your very breath and blood.
And knowing all this, you came. You not only came to earth, but you came to me.
You came to me by way of the cross. You came to me through the way of death.
You didn't travel the scenic route to get to me either; you took the way of suffering that led up a hill called Mount Calvary.
And all this because it was the only way - the only path to my heart - my sin-cursed heart.
And the amazing part is that you found me! Your single act of selfless sacrifice in your state of sinless perfection rescued me and my fellow sojourners collectively called "mankind." Once for all the sin problem had been resolved through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And I lived to tell about it.
Me, who was doomed - hell-bent and hell-bound - bound and determined to squander my brief life span with low living before making the tragic but eternal journey from the light of the world to impenetrable darkness and the place of everlasting torment.
But the Light of the World shone on me and disaster was averted!
And I lived to tell about it.
I met a Man who told me all things I ever did. He knew my jaded past and came anyway.
I have met Jesus - the Savior of the world - the Lord of my life - the greatest Hero of all time.
With that in mind, Lord, I give you my heart, my life, my worship, my obedience, my labor, my token and pledge of my abiding love for you and your Word and your will and your ways.
I humbly thank you, Lord Jesus, for providing me the testimony of a transformed life.
DSR
6/13/05
I thank you, Jesus, for initiating our relationship.
I had no rights to you - no access to you - no kinship or family tie to you that would warrant your coming to rescue me from my sin.
Nevertheless, in spite of my having no real claim to God in any way, Jesus the Christ heard from His eternal throne in heaven a distant and feeble cry for help of a fallen soul lost in a dark and lonely earth realm.
Lord, you heard my voice long, long ago…
And though there were innumerable angels worshipping you at the very moment, your attention departed from their perfect praise and focused instead on my impoverished cry. Angelic worship could not drown out a voice crying in the wilderness:
"O God, help!"
"O Lord, I need you!"
"O God, I'm lost without you."
And wonder of wonders, you came. You actually and literally left your place of perfection.
You left the throne of your glory where all properly recognized and correctly responded to your righteous and absolute power, authority, and holiness.
You voluntarily left all that behind and with an iron-will incarnated as a helpless baby in a manger at just the right time; a divine visitor to the land that you had created long before.
You knew, before you ever slipped into humanity while retaining your divinity, you knew that multitudes would despise and reject you and ultimately require your very breath and blood.
And knowing all this, you came. You not only came to earth, but you came to me.
You came to me by way of the cross. You came to me through the way of death.
You didn't travel the scenic route to get to me either; you took the way of suffering that led up a hill called Mount Calvary.
And all this because it was the only way - the only path to my heart - my sin-cursed heart.
And the amazing part is that you found me! Your single act of selfless sacrifice in your state of sinless perfection rescued me and my fellow sojourners collectively called "mankind." Once for all the sin problem had been resolved through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ.
And I lived to tell about it.
Me, who was doomed - hell-bent and hell-bound - bound and determined to squander my brief life span with low living before making the tragic but eternal journey from the light of the world to impenetrable darkness and the place of everlasting torment.
But the Light of the World shone on me and disaster was averted!
And I lived to tell about it.
I met a Man who told me all things I ever did. He knew my jaded past and came anyway.
I have met Jesus - the Savior of the world - the Lord of my life - the greatest Hero of all time.
With that in mind, Lord, I give you my heart, my life, my worship, my obedience, my labor, my token and pledge of my abiding love for you and your Word and your will and your ways.
I humbly thank you, Lord Jesus, for providing me the testimony of a transformed life.
DSR
6/13/05
Sunday, June 5, 2005
Dynasty of Evil
by David Scott Robertson
(1 Ki 11:38 NIV) If you [Jeroboam] do whatever I [God, speaking to Jeroboam through the prophet Ahijah] command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.
* * *
David, the son of Jesse, is well documented in Old Testament scripture as one of the Bible’s brightest personalities. He set a high benchmark for doing that which was right in the sight of the great God Jehovah.. God commended him for it and not only rewarded David with an unparalleled reign of success, but even promised David an enduring dynasty, ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
God promoted this young psalmist from the sheepfolds of his father Jesse all the way to the king’s throne governing the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people. God loved David and David loved God, with his whole heart.
Interestingly, there’s another personality who was offered basically the same deal as David was by God--a young man by the name of Jeroboam. In the verse we opened with, God extends the invitation to Jeroboam to build him a lasting dynasty if only he would stay faithful to God’s statutes and commands like David did.
Unfortunately – tragically - Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, allowed the power of his office to so thoroughly corrupt him that he became as high a benchmark of evil as David was of good.
“When he [God] tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there” (2 Kings 17:21-23).
The scriptures painstakingly list the kings whom God disqualified one by one because they were thoroughly corrupted by Jeroboam’s poor example and heinous sins:
1. King Omri - (1 Ki 16:26 NIV) He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols.
2. King Ahab - (1 Ki 21:22 NIV) I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.'
3. King Ahaziah - (1 Ki 22:52 NIV) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
(1 Ki 22:53 NIV) He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.
4. King Joram - (2 Ki 3:3 NIV) Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.
5. King Jehu - (2 Ki 10:29 NIV) However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit--the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
6. King Jehoash - (2 Ki 13:11 NIV) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.
7. King Zechariah - (2 Ki 15:9 NIV) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
8. King Pekahiah - (2 Ki 15:24 NIV) Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
Think of it! Eight kings corrupted by the poor example of one guy! Eight governments that were morally corrupt! Eight administrations that operated independently from godly wisdom. Eight kings who followed the trend of evil rather than using their power and position to blaze a new trail for good.
Those who followed in the footsteps of David enjoyed a generational blessing while, conversely, those who imitated the ways of Jeroboam suffered a generational curse.
What shocks me to sober thinking is how profoundly enduring our bad example can be. Our poor choices and compromise can manifest generations later in a child, grandson, or any number of other persons we influence.
A probable epitaph inscribed by the finger of God on the tombstone of Jeroboam might have read: “Turn from the sins of Jeroboam, Son of Nebat.”
Instead, if God were to inscribe a saying on our tombstone may it read: “And [fill in your name] loved God.”
DSR
6/5/05
(1 Ki 11:38 NIV) If you [Jeroboam] do whatever I [God, speaking to Jeroboam through the prophet Ahijah] command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.
* * *
David, the son of Jesse, is well documented in Old Testament scripture as one of the Bible’s brightest personalities. He set a high benchmark for doing that which was right in the sight of the great God Jehovah.. God commended him for it and not only rewarded David with an unparalleled reign of success, but even promised David an enduring dynasty, ultimately fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
God promoted this young psalmist from the sheepfolds of his father Jesse all the way to the king’s throne governing the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people. God loved David and David loved God, with his whole heart.
Interestingly, there’s another personality who was offered basically the same deal as David was by God--a young man by the name of Jeroboam. In the verse we opened with, God extends the invitation to Jeroboam to build him a lasting dynasty if only he would stay faithful to God’s statutes and commands like David did.
Unfortunately – tragically - Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, allowed the power of his office to so thoroughly corrupt him that he became as high a benchmark of evil as David was of good.
“When he [God] tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there” (2 Kings 17:21-23).
The scriptures painstakingly list the kings whom God disqualified one by one because they were thoroughly corrupted by Jeroboam’s poor example and heinous sins:
1. King Omri - (1 Ki 16:26 NIV) He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols.
2. King Ahab - (1 Ki 21:22 NIV) I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.'
3. King Ahaziah - (1 Ki 22:52 NIV) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
(1 Ki 22:53 NIV) He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.
4. King Joram - (2 Ki 3:3 NIV) Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.
5. King Jehu - (2 Ki 10:29 NIV) However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit--the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
6. King Jehoash - (2 Ki 13:11 NIV) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.
7. King Zechariah - (2 Ki 15:9 NIV) He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
8. King Pekahiah - (2 Ki 15:24 NIV) Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
Think of it! Eight kings corrupted by the poor example of one guy! Eight governments that were morally corrupt! Eight administrations that operated independently from godly wisdom. Eight kings who followed the trend of evil rather than using their power and position to blaze a new trail for good.
Those who followed in the footsteps of David enjoyed a generational blessing while, conversely, those who imitated the ways of Jeroboam suffered a generational curse.
What shocks me to sober thinking is how profoundly enduring our bad example can be. Our poor choices and compromise can manifest generations later in a child, grandson, or any number of other persons we influence.
A probable epitaph inscribed by the finger of God on the tombstone of Jeroboam might have read: “Turn from the sins of Jeroboam, Son of Nebat.”
Instead, if God were to inscribe a saying on our tombstone may it read: “And [fill in your name] loved God.”
DSR
6/5/05
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