He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” And they remembered His words. Luke 24:6-8 NKJV

This morning, during the Easter sunrise service, our pastor said the keyword for this year at Easter is the word “remember.”

Memory is a significant part of our lives. When we get older, memories in the present can be faulty, but memories of the past seem to linger. We can’t remember what we ate yesterday but can remember our favorite meal from childhood.

Memories can elicit both pleasure and pain. They can serve as a guide when what has been learned in the past is applied in the present. Some things are not understood when they are heard but they become clearer over time. That was the case for the disciples. Jesus had spoken to his disciples about his eventual death and resurrection, but it wasn’t until it happened and they were called to remember His words that it all made sense.

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were called to “remember the sabbath.” They were to “remember when they were slaves in Egypt.” They were to remember how the Lord had provided for them.

In the Book of Revelation, the Church of Ephesus is called to “remember the height from which you have fallen…” The writer of Hebrews challenged his readers to “remember those earlier days after you had received the light when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.”

On this Easter 2024, what do you need to remember? Do you need to remember a time in your life when you were open to God’s love? Do you need to remember a past answer to prayer? Do you need to remember a time when your spiritual commitment and fervor were stronger than they are today? Do you need to remember that God loves you and that hasn’t changed? Do you need to remember that Jesus is alive and is still bringing life to that which is dead?

There is one thing you don’t need to remember: your past sins and failures that have been forgiven. The reassuring words of Hebrews 10:17 remind us of the Lord’s promise, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” If the Lord doesn’t remember, you don’t need to either. Today, you can live a new life and have a new beginning through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! Matthew 27:40 (NKJV)

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” Luke 23:39 (NKJV)

     Perhaps the above verses could represent the last temptation of Christ. Even when we are wrong, people have a tendency to save themselves from the consequences of their actions. This is especially the case when someone is wrongfully accused. The normal reaction is to defend, to rationalize, to protest. All of this in an effort to change our circumstances.

     We can understand someone who would save themselves. We can’t understand someone who would willing be punished and die for sins they did not commit. But that is what Christ did.

     Peter would later write, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. (1 Peter 3:18 NIV)

     Christ died on the cross, not for His sins, but for ours. He took our place. Because He took our place, we don’t have to suffer the eternal consequences and judgment for our sins.

     Jesus’ death on the cross was the fulfillment of the Old Testament ritual of the sacrifice of a lamb for the forgiveness of sin. We can’t save ourselves. We can’t undo the wrong we have done. We can’t justify ourselves and point to how others are worse than we are in order to save ourselves. We must pay the penalty or have someone pay the penalty for us. That is what Jesus did on the cross.

Hebrews declares, “…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10 NIV)

John writes, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2 NIV)

We may be able to save ourselves at times from the wrath of man, but not from the punishment of our sin. That is only available through the cross. So, the proper response is not to work to save ourselves but to repent and receive the forgiveness that is available through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

The good news is found not in understanding or believing but in receiving.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV)

That’s when the day we remember the cross becomes “Good” Friday.

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

and crowned thy good with brotherhood

 from sea to shining sea

I am greatly displeased with the nations that take my grace for granted. I was a little displeased with them, but they have only made things worse for themselves. Zechariah 1:15 (NET)

     Katherine Lee Bates, an English teacher from Wellesley College, made a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado. As she viewed the grandeur of the scenery from the top of Pikes Peak she was inspired to pen the words that became known as America the Beautiful.

     The poem extols the beauty of the American landscape. From amber waves of grain to purple mountain majesty. It reflects on the sacrifice of patriots and the endurance of the pioneers. However, the conclusion of the poem provides a fitting conclusion. All of this that has come to define the American experience is by the shed grace of God. It is only through God’s divine providence that unity and brotherhood can be found from sea to shining sea.

     As we look from the precipice of Pike Peak today and view America in 2024, brotherhood seems to be a foreign concept. Division, strife, and conflicts of various kinds now replace a sense of brotherhood. A brotherhood that unites instead of divides. A brotherhood that does not stem from conformity but the commonality of each person being made in the image of God.

     This morning, during my morning Bible reading, the words above from Zechariah arrested my attention. “God is displeased with the nation that takes His grace for granted.”

     I am reminded of Paul’s warning to the Corinthian believers: “…we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (2 Corinthians 6:1 (ESV). We are challenged by the impact of the grace of God on our individual lives but fail to see the grace of God working on behalf of nations.

     In times past, it was common for the leaders of our nation and the people to recognize God’s authority over the universe and our independence and growth as a nation. In President Lincoln’s call to prayer in 1863, during the height of the Civil War, he began with the words,

Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations.

The resolution then contains this indictment:

But we have forgotten God.

 “We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us,

 and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts,

that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”

          How true those words are for today. Our nation has not only forgotten God but has treated God with contempt. The words of Zechariah to the Medes are true to the United States today. We have treated God’s grace with contempt and have made things worse. We have turned from Divine Wisdom to human wisdom and ingenuity.

     The good news in all of this is that the grace of God is still being shed abroad. It is manifested in the lives of all those who call on Him and submit their lives to His Word. Just as in Israel’s worse days of rebellion and idolatry, there are those who were faithful to the Lord in all areas of society. There are those who are voices for righteousness and truth and the love and grace of God.

     Just because a nation takes God’s grace for granted, individuals must not. A nation is comprised of a collective of people, governments, and leaders. Regardless of what is reflected in the masses, there are individuals who are experiencing the blessings of God’s grace, and that number is growing.      In our day, just like the servant of Elisha, we need our spiritual eyes to be open. (2 Kings 6:16) When the forces of secularism, humanism, and anti-Christism seem to overwhelm, with spiritual eyes open, we can see that those who are for us are greater than those who oppose the purposes of God. While it may not apply to our nation, the words of Katherine Bates still apply to the Church, “God shed His grace on Thee and crowned they good with brotherhood…”

How can you say, “We are wise!
We have the law of the Lord”?
The truth is, those who teach it have used their writings
to make it say what it does not really mean.” Jeremiah 8:8 NET

It can be interesting how God and the Bible are thrown into conversations or social media posts, both personally and politically. These often use scripture to justify a position or cast doubt on the integrity of the Bible rather than to align life to what the Bible teaches.

What is sad, is when those who are entrusted with teaching the Bible and providing spiritual guidance to people, misuse God’s Word. There is a challenge between truthful interpretation of the Bible and the application of God’s truth to our lives. The important question is, am I seeking to understand what the Bible says, or am I looking for “proof” text to support (or excuse) my own beliefs or practices?

In the verses before our scripture for today, we see the words, “None of them says, I have done wrong! (v. 6) “My people no attention to what I, the Lord, require of them.” (v.7) But they still considered themselves wise because they had the Law of God.

When you look at all 66 books of the Bible, there are passages that are difficult to understand, especially with our present world perspective and context. That calls for study and examination, not skepticism.

Someone once said, “It is not the verses of the Bible that I don’t understand that cause me trouble. It is the ones that I do understand.”

When we read the clear instructions of the Bible we must understand, “it says what it means, and it means what it says.”

The Bible needs to be read, and it needs to be studied. Paul admonished Timothy, ^“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV) The King James Version uses the word “study.”

Our lives are to be transformed by the Word of God as our lives are conformed to the image and character of Christ. That only happens when we align our lives with what the Bible says and do not use or abuse the Bible to say what it does not really mean.

Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.  Jeremiah 38:17 NET

            King Zedekiah of Judah was the last King before Jerusalem and the nation was taken fully captive by the Babylonians. He is a perplexing individual because it seems that he wants to hear the voice of God but not obey the voice of God.

            Jeremiah had been prophesying that the Lord had determined to turn His people over to King Nebuchadnezzar because of their idolatry and refusal to repent and turn fully to the Lord. Some of the people of Judah had already been taken into captivity. The rest are clinging to hope, looking to Egypt for help instead of trusting in the Lord.

            Jeremiah is accused of treason and thrown into prison. When he was released, King Zedekiah asked him for a word from the Lord. Jeremiah was hesitant because he did not trust the King. The King gave him assurance he would not be punished. Jeremiah lets him know that surrender to the Babylonians would result in the city being spared and Zedekiah’s life being spared.

            This is Zedekiah’s response, “King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.” Then Jeremiah answered, “You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I have been telling you.” Jeremiah 38:19-20

            This was the critical turning point. Zedekiah was given the choice to trust the Lord and save the city and his own life or give in to his own fears. Zedekiah was also afraid of the leaders of Judah. Like Pilot dealing with the fate of Jesus he was caught between his conscious and the crowd.

            Zedekiah trusted his own judgment and fears and that of his own officials over the word of the Lord. As a result, Jerusalem was burned to the ground, and the walls were torn down. Zedekiah witnessed his sons and officials killed just before his eyes were gouged out. He died in captivity in Babylon.

            You can count on it every time. When we trust our own feelings and fear instead of trusting and obeying the Word of the Lord, it always ends up poorly. When we decide to save ourselves instead of looking out for others and how they will be impacted.

            Saving ourselves is a natural tendency. It is what we can understand. It is what we can relate to. That is why those who taunted Jesus on the cross to “Save yourself!” They could believe someone would save themselves, not someone who would put their own interests aside for others to be saved.

            Zedekiah and Jesus were connected to the line of David. One saved himself and the city of Jerusalem and God’s people suffered the consequences. Jesus chose not to save himself but surrendered to the Father’s will and mankind had salvation and freedom from the bondage of sin.

            Paul the Apostle would point this out when he wrote, “…through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19 NIV)

            Keep this in mind the next time you need to make a decision on what is best for you or what is best for your family and others.

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So, God granted him what he requested.        1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV

            The CU football team, among many games will be remembered for the game against Stanford University. CU had a commanding lead and looked like they would sail to an easy win. However, in the second half, CU stalled, and Stanford made a comeback to win the game.

            There are many accounts in sports where a team had a poor start and overcame that poor beginning and ended up winning a game or even a championship. The same is true for many individuals in the Bible and history.

            Jabez was one of those. While the details are not known, his birth was so traumatic that he carried the memory of it for the rest of his life. His name means pain. It seems the name indicated that he started out as one who caused pain and would continue to do the same and experience pain throughout his life.

            However, Jabez showed his faith in the God of his fathers and called on the name of the Lord and made his plea for the way his life started would not be his life’s script and how it ended. The Lord heard Jaez’s prayer and granted his request. As a result, he is remembered as one who was more honorable (respected) than his brothers. He didn’t allow his destiny to be determined by how his life started. But this was more than self-determination and grit. It was from one who believed there was a God in heaven who can change the course of life.

            Perhaps you can relate to Jabez. Your life has had a bad beginning. Perhaps your actions have brought pain to yourself and others. When you place your faith in the Lord, there is forgiveness, a path to a bright future, and a victorious finish.

            I think of my Filipino son in the faith, Pastor Joel Reyes. He grew up as an abandoned child on the streets of Manila. He ended up in the Isabella Province and was treated as a slave laborer by a man who took him in. He joined the anti-government army. He was almost killed in a gun battle with government soldiers and, at one point, tried to commit suicide. Yet the Lord intervened in His life in miraculous ways. He became a Christian and then followed a call to ministry. Married a wonderful Christian woman and raised a daughter who is now in medical school. He has pioneered several churches. Recently, his passion and visionary leadership have resulted in building the Dunamis School of Revival and Ministry Training in the Isabella Province.

            Don’t be discouraged about what has happened in the past or the challenges or failures in the present. Ask the Lord to bless your life and allow the end of your story to show His divine favor.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! 1Chronicles 16:34 (ESV)

On this Thanksgiving Day there are reflections on the many things that we are thankful for. However, it is important to go beyond what we are thankful “for” to what who we are thankful “to.”

Pastor Brent Cunningham from Timberline Church in Fort Collins said it well in a devotional when he said, “God wants us to cultivate thankfulness so that we see past the gift to the giver.” If you were to follow the pattern in 1 Chronicles 16:34 what would you express to the Lord for? What are the character traits, the blessings that we have that come from the Lord?

We can also express thanks to the people who have impact our lives. I am thankful to my wife Debbie for her constant care and concern for me. She endured my health crisis ten years ago and has continually supported and monitored my ongoing challenges over these years.

I am thankful to my pastor at Generations Church in Canton, Georgia for his faithful ministry and impact on our church, community and beyond.

I am thankful to our children Christian and Stephanie for their continual love and support. I am thankful to our grandchildren for their uniqueness and developing their passions and abilities and relationship with the Lord.

I am thankful to those who have given generously to see the dream and vision of a Bible School in the Northern Philippines become a reality.

And yes! I am thankful to the Lord for giving me life, physically and spiritually. I am thankful to the Lord for His forgiveness, steadfast love, His grace and mercy and sustaining strength for each day.

Now it’s your turn…..

In God we boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)
But you rejected and embarrassed us.
You did not go into battle with our armies.
You made us retreat from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us. (Psalms 44:8-10 NET)

When my son was about 9 years old and in his second year of baseball, we were driving home as he dealt with feelings of disbelief and discouragement because his team lost the game. I tried to put things into perspective by stating that sometimes you lose; it’s part of sports, it’s part of life. He responded, “But Dad, I have never played a game where we lost!” As I thought about it, I realized that last season his team was undefeated. Winning was an expectation based on his limited baseball history.

     I think of this when I read Psalms 44. This Psalms strips away the idea that when we have enough faith and enough trust, life will always go our way. We will never be on the losing end of a struggle, financial decision, or health outcome.

     This Psalm begins with recounting the many times the Lord fought Israel’s battles for them. They had a “winning” history to reflect on and be thankful for. The present focus on the Lord is seen in these verses,

By your power we will drive back our enemies;
by your strength,we will trample down our foes.
For I do not trust in my bow,and I do not prevail by my sword. For you deliver us from our enemies; Psalm 44:5-7 (NET)

     But when the battle took place, they not only lost the battle, but they were overwhelmed, retreated, and abused by their enemy. They just did not lose; they were devastated. This was only more confusing because the Psalmist declares,

All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you or violated your covenant with us. We have not been unfaithful, nor have we disobeyed your commands.  Psalms 44:17,18 (NET)

     When defeat comes instead of victory, we seek a rational explanation. Was it pride? Sin? Relying on ourselves and not the Lord? A lack of faith? Reflection is not bad, but what happens when to the best of our understanding, none of these are the case?

     That is what we see in this Psalm. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation for why God’s people would or should have been defeated like this. But unlike many who face a situation like this and turn away from God, the Psalmist continues to turn his attention to the Lord.

Rise up and help us.
Rescue us because of your loyal love. Psalm 44:26 (NET)

     Even when life brings defeat, the Psalmist realized that the Lord was still the One who could come to their rescue. His plea to the Lord is not based on what God’s people had done or who they were. It is solely based on the Lord’s faithfulness and love. In the words of the song by “Casting Crowns,” “It is not because of what I’ve done, but because of who you are!” That applies to our salvation from sin and our rescue from life’s most tragic defeats and darkest times.