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Exodus 19:1–6 In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on the very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Math was always one of my best subjects, and I enjoyed it. I started out my undergraduate studies in engineering, and when I switched to Elementary Education in preparation to attend the seminary, I still had a concentration in math. One of the courses I took was a computer programming class which involved as lot of logic equations. For me, that was a lot of fun. One of the things we learned was “if – then” statements, also known as conditional statements. If this, then that. When the “if” condition is true, “then” will be the result.

There is a conditional statement in the passage above.

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.

Because this is from the Old Testament, many think it is Law, telling us what we must do to earn our salvation. But that is not the case. God knows we are not capable of earning His favor in our fallen, sinful condition. That is why He sent Jesus. He places such a high value on you that He was willing to do whatever it took so that you could be bought back from your sinful condition and restored to the position of His dearly loved children, His treasured possession. The “if” part about obeying and keeping His covenant boils down to this: believing God’s promise that He will forgive you for any and all sins if you put your faith and confidence in Jesus. It is not what you do, but what Jesus did for you that earned this for you.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

This is hard for the world to accept. In fact, it is impossible to believe unless the Spirit of God works in them. But for those who have been led to believe through the Word, for those who have placed their trust in Jesus, it gives comfort and strength for living now and confidence of life everlasting. It also gives us the motivation to love and treat others in a way that will let them in on this good thing we have.

There are a lot of folks out there who are lost and hurting and angry at Christ and His church. Some of them sometimes post comments on my devotions using foul language and accuse me of simply trying to get money or mislead people. I make note of their names and pray for them, that God would put someone in their lives to show them the love of God in Christ and open the door for them to believe in Jesus, too.  Maybe you can be that person for someone. If you do, then the Spirit of God will have the chance to work in their hearts.

This time four years ago we were in the middle of a lockdown. We were not having regular worship services, although we did have a “Drive In” service on Easter Sunday where people stayed in their vehicles and we blasted the service over the parking lot with a portable PA system. People were scared, lonely and miserable at the forced isolation from family and friends. There were so many unknowns. Do you remember how that felt? That Easter I reminded everyone that Christ is still risen, and that makes all the difference in this world. But it was a difficult time.

Even though our youngest daughter and her family only live about 80 miles away, we had only seen them once since the lockdown started. Then in late May they came up to our house for the first time in a long time. Our then two-year-old grandson, Simon, ran up to Cheryl and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go. He kept saying, “Got Gammaw, Got Gammaw, Got Gammaw.”  It was a joyful reunion.

It made me think of what lay ahead for believers. Sure, we are living in this sinful world with its hardships, but because of what Jesus did for us, we look forward to a joyful reunion with Him. Paul wrote about it this way:

Romans 8:18–21 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

The day is coming when those subjected to frustration will be liberated from their bondage to decay and brought into that place that Jesus went to prepare for us. When we get there, I can picture us wanting to cling to our Savior in celebration and cry out “Got Jesus! Got Jesus! Got Jesus!”

For that to happen, you need to “get Jesus” now. You need to understand that He is the only way to the Father, that He has done what was needed to give us free access to forgiveness and everlasting life. It is a gift available to everyone, not matter who you are or what you have done. Thanks be to God our salvation is not dependent on our behavior, but on what Jesus already did for us.

Jesus wants to be with us through good times and bad, through times of blessings and times of pandemic, through whatever we must face in this life. He is our strength. He is our Savior. If you “get Jesus” now, you will have Him and be with Him for eternity.

Got Jesus?

About six years ago, just a few months after we had moved into the log home we built outside of Bells, Texas, I bought four pallets of Bermuda grass sod for our front yard. I rolled it all out and it looked pretty good. I watered it faithfully and did my best to nurture it. However, looking at my yard today, while it is very green, there is hardly any Bermuda grass growing there.

Our flower beds are a different story. Last week I spent several hours digging Bermuda grass out of the beds where our roses are planted across the back of our patio. As I was doing so, I remembered something an older guy told me back when I was living in Oklahoma. “If you want Bermuda grass to grow, you’ve got to disturb it a bit.” He went on to explain that if you dig around in it or till it, it will take off sending new shoots everywhere. So I took all that grass I dug out and planted it all around my front yard. We shall see.

That reminded me of a poem that I have shared before in my devotions, but it is worth sharing again. It was written by Sir Francis Drake in 1577 and entitled “Disturb Us, Lord.”  It speaks to living with the confidence of knowing Jesus is with us.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the Waters of Life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery:
Where losing sight of land
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push us in the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.

Francis Drake, 1577

I hope all the followers of Jesus will be disturbed today.

I used to make my own Trail Mix. I found a mixture of things that I really liked and would make a batch regularly. I would take some along when I went fishing with my old buddy Jim and what we didn’t eat home with him. He was always appreciative when I shared it with him. Of course, I would make enough so that there was still some at the house. After all, I made it the way I liked it.

Cheryl liked it, too, with one exception. One of the ingredients I put in my mix was butterscotch chips. Cheryl does not like butterscotch. I remember the first time I opened the pantry to get the container of trail mix out, and when I looked inside there was nothing left but butterscotch chips. When I confronted her about it she said, “I only ate the good stuff, the stuff I like.” She saw no problem with that. After having that happen a few more times, I started making a separate batch for her minus the butterscotch chips.

A lot of people try to take that approach to the Bible. They are sometimes called “Cafeteria Christians.” They pick the things they like and ignore the rest. They might say “I like the part about heaven being a free gift, but I don’t think _______ is wrong.”

You can fill in the blank with any sin that Scripture condemns. What they are actually doing in placing themselves in the position of control, the position God should occupy in their lives.

This I nothing new. As he was preparing to leave Ephesus, Paul gave a farewell address to the Elders of the church there. Here is part of what he said.

Acts 20:26–27 (ESV)  Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

Paul was not holding back. He was sharing God’s Word, identifying sin for what it is, but also sharing the answer to sin that Jesus provided for us. He spent time there trying to fill them in on what they had not heard. The whole counsel of God. He did this in the face of opposition and persecution.

Acts 20:19–20 (ESV) …serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house…

Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” (ESV) or “the whole will of God” (NIV), especially the Good News of Jesus. He shared the truth about God’s salvation. But Paul also shared the things that were hard for people to hear. He reminded them of that in the second chapter of the letter he sent to them. He said that we are dead in sin which deserves God’s wrath and condemnation (Ephesians 2:1). He pointed out that we are incapable of saving ourselves by what we do (Ephesians 2:8-9). But this was all in the context of pointing them to the one who lived a life without sin and offered that to pay our penalty, so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life.

When we hear the whole counsel of God, the Spirit is able to work in us and guide us to appreciate even more the one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

1 John 4:18–21 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

A number of years ago I remember leading a song for Vacation Bible School several years in a row. It was based on 1 John 4:19. It had a simple melody and message, one that gets stuck in your head. I still find myself singing it in my head every time I read these verses. I tried to find a recording of it online to share with you, but it was not to be found. I did find that the lyrics were attributed to Ann F. Price and published in a song book entitled “Sing With Me.”  Here is the entire song (there was a clap where each X is):

We love (X X) because God first loved us.
We love (X X) because God first loved us.
We love (X X) We love (X X)
We love (X X) because God first loved us.

When I think about it, that is a great message to have stuck in your head. What a wonderful reminder of the people we have been called to be. Why should I love my neighbor? Because God first love me. Why should I let that person go in line in front of me, even though they were rude and have too many items to be in the express lane? Because God first love me. Why should I not lose my temper when people getting on the highway ignore the YIELD sign and cut me off? Because God first love me. Why should I be willing to speak about my faith to others, especially those who have never heard about Jesus and His love? Because God first love me.iHHi

When you have experienced God’s love, you love Him. And John reminds us that if we love God we must love others, our brothers and sisters. We need remember to look at every single person we meet as someone for whom Jesus died on the cross. When He conquered death and the grave by rising on the third day, He did that for the entire world. That includes each person you will encounter in your life today. Remembering that, will you treat them differently?

1 John 4:7–17 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

Throughout this letter John has been speaking of love, God’s love for us and how we should love others. In this fourth chapter, it becomes even more intense. The word is repeated over and over again. John is driving home the points that God is love, love comes from God, and we need to love one another.

It hearkens back again to John’s record of Jesus talking to Nicodemus and He spoke of God’s love leading Him to send Jesus to be the Savior of all people (John 3:16). And John is careful to point out that we are not saved by our love for God. We are saved from sin and death by God’s love for us:

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

 That sacrifice is our assurance. Our sin was paid for. We stand before God as redeemed and forgiven. All because of Gd’s love.

1 John 4:1–6 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

 The greater one who is in you is Christ. He has already won the victory. “The
one who is in the world is Satan.” He tried to take control of this world away from Adam and Eve, something he had no right to do. But the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus vanquished the devil. He knows his time is short and he is trying to wreak havoc in our lives. However, he cannot triumph over those who have Christ in them.

Luther wrote about this struggle this way:

Christ is stronger; He has overcome, is overcoming, and will overcome that strong man in us (Luke 11:21–22).” Still the devil does sometimes overcome us in the flesh, in order that even in this way we may experience the power of the Stronger against that strong man and say with Paul (2 Cor. 12:10): “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (Luther’s Works, vol. 26, p. 193, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis).

He also addressed this in what may be his most famous hymn. Sing or read the words below, and concentrate especially on the words of the third and fourth stanzas.

A mighty fortress is our God, a trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from ev’ry need That hath us now o’ertaken.
The old evil foe Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.

With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the valiant One, Whom God himself elected.
Ask ye, “Who is this?” Jesus Christ it is.
Of sabaoth Lord, And there’s none other God;
He holds the field forever.

Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill, They shall not overpower us.
This world’s prince may still Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none, He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.

The Word they still shall let remain Nor any thanks have for it;
He’s by our side upon the plain With his good gifts and Spirit.
And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife,
Though these all be gone, Our vict’ry has been won;
The Kingdom our remaineth.

(The Lutheran Hymnal #262)

1 John 3:21–24 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

“Can it really be that simple? It sounds too easy!” That is a common objection from those who are outside the body of Christ, the wisdom of the world saying, “It sounds too good to be true.” I heard those sentiments many times over the years from “seekers.” They were searching for spiritual truth, and they would come and talk to me. They would ask the question similar to the one asked by the jailer in Philippi:

Acts 16:30 “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

In that instance Paul and Silas replied:

Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

The message of Scripture is consistent. John uses different terminology by saying we must obey His commands. Some will understand this to mean “I have to do my part,” and start listing rules and regulations to follow in order to be saved. But that is the opposite of what John says here:

“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”

Faith in all Jesus did with His perfect life, willing death, and victorious resurrection gives of the confidence of forgiveness for our shortcomings and sin and guarantees life with God now and forever. We love each other because we know what He has already done for us.