He Expected Fruit

The disciples come upon a fig tree which is showing a burst of new leaves. But Jesus looks among them, and says that there is no fruit. He expected fruit. It is the condemnation of promise without fulfillment. Charles Lamb told of a certain man in whose life, he said, there were three stages. When he was young, people said of him, "He will do something."

As he grew older and did nothing, they said of him, "He could do something if he tried." Towards the end of his life they said of him, "He might have done something, if he had tried." That could be the epitaph of too many Christians...and too many churches.

2 Corinthians 11:14

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

While we wait for God's great victory for us to be fully realized, we also need to know that we are in a battle. God will win this battle through Jesus Christ. The final outcome is certain. Christ has already won the decisive battle.

However, let's not be fooled; the evil one will do everything he can to deceive all people and confuse the lost. Let's stick with God's plan — living his truth, listening for his voice in Scripture, and following the lead of his Spirit.

Integrity

Integrity as "doing what's right when no one is looking".

Does God really bless us when we prove ourselves to be faithful?  You better believe He does!
In fact, Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says, "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God."

Quotes from Billy Graham

- It's sometimes comical to hear the younger generation ask their peers to repeat themselves.

- Over the years I've seen people lose a spouse and then withdraw and lose interest in life, and I believe we need to resist that.

- People have a negative impression of New York that I don't think is quite fair.

- The most eloquent prayer is the prayer through hands that heal and bless.

A Vast Army

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” 2 Chronicles 32:7-8a
What an amazing story and a great example of God’s power! Are you overwhelmed by circumstances in your life today? Do you feel like a “vast army” has your life under siege? The God who provided relief to Judah is with you today.

God I choose to trust you, and I thank you for your presence with me. I present my life in all its circumstances to you. I believe that you have a good plan for me. I ask you for wisdom to recognize what I must do and to understand what is in your hands to do on my behalf. Amen.

Christianity at its best …

. It is at its best socially when men are leaping at earth other’s throats.

. It is at its best spiritually when men have lost the sense of the Presence of God.

. The crisis finds the Christian religion with the word of mastery.

. And if that word is heard and heeded, the crisis will be a crisis no longer.

Hebrews 11:13

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

I'm not good at waiting for much of anything. I'm like the kids who have seen the catalogues for Christmas toys and are anxious for the big gift day. God does have a great Gift Day ahead for us. On that wonderful day, all our waiting will be over and our faith will become sight. Let's follow the example of these great heroes of faith, and welcome that day from afar, by anticipation, praising God for his victory through Jesus Christ in our lives.

Thoughts 

- Christ showed His love by dying for us; we show our love by living for Him.

- Beware! Error often rides to its deadly work on the back of truth!

- We are never as empty as when we are full of self.

The Tomb Is Easier than the Cross

 In just a matter of days Holy Week takes us from the mountain of festive palms to the mountain of Golgatha's despair. And that is why we resist it so. I mean, do we really need the emotional rollercoaster of Holy Week? What's so wrong with just jumping from one parade to the next and skipping all the sacrifice and death stuff? What's wrong with simply moving on to the joy of Easter, with its white bonnets, Easter eggs, family, friends, big ham dinner, and of course the empty tomb.
 Well, I think we know the answer to that. For starters, an empty tomb, at face value, is a lot easier to deal with than a dying, bleeding Savior on a cross. Add to that all the pain and suffering that comes with Holy Week, is it any wonder that the human tendency is to try and ignore the events of the week and simply move on to the Easter celebration?

But as much as we'd like to skip Holy Week we know that the only way to Easter is through the cross. We know where the parade of Palm Sunday leads and we also know that we're part of that parade. That is to say, we know this intellectually. Our hearts are another story. Our hearts may be more in sync with the disciples and the fear and disbelief that led them to run away. It would seem that 2000 years later Jesus' disciples are still running away.

Ephesians 3:16-17

For this reason I kneel before the Father... I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Thoughts on Today's Verse....

What's the greatest thing we can do to bless those we love in Christ Jesus? What is the most helpful thing we can do when a brother or sister in Christ, or even a whole congregation of God's people is facing a major challenge from the Evil One? What is one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children or our parents as they seek to live for Jesus today? The apostle Paul just showed us. We can ask God to strengthen his people with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their inner being. Then we can let them know that we have prayed this for them, and that we will continue to pray it until their storm is past.

Faith Quote

Smith Wigglesworth - “You must every day make higher ground. You must deny yourself to make progress with God. You must refuse everything that is not pure and holy. God wants you pure in heart. He wants you to have an intense desire after holiness.”

What Is Good For Us Is Hidden

 Martin Luther often spoke of this aspect of the theology of the cross, concerning how God works in a hidden way through contrasts. In a series of lectures that Luther gave in 1515 and 1516 on the Book of Romans, he wrote: "For what is good for us is hidden, and that so deeply that it is hidden under its opposite. Thus our life is hidden under death, love for ourselves under hate for ourselves ... salvation under damnation, heaven under hell ... And universally our every assertion of anything good is hidden under the denial of it, so that faith may have its place in God, who is a negative essence and goodness and wisdom and righteousness, who cannot be touched except by the negation of all our affirmations."

 Martin Luther had one more observation about why God operates this way - under contrasts and opposites. In another of his sermons, he put it this way: "He thrusts us into death and permits the devil to pounce on us. But it is not his purpose to devour us; he wants to test us, to purify us, and to manifest himself ever more to us, that we may recognize his love. Such trials and strife are to let us experience something that preaching alone is not able to do, namely, how powerful Christ is and how sincerely the Father loves us. So our trust in God and our knowledge of God will increase more and more, together with our praise and thanks for his mercy and blessing.

 Otherwise we would bumble along with our early, incipient faith. We would become indolent, unfruitful and inexperienced Christians, and would soon grow rusty."

Evangelist

The evangelist is a man with a driving urgency, not a man with two minds.
The Gospel and nothing else on earth matters, neither fame, money, popularity nor life itself.

Proverbs 11:12

A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue.
Wise folks don't have to prove their wisdom by disrespecting others and putting them down. Instead, they hold their tongues and let their lives speak what is good, honorable, righteous, and true.
In a world of sarcasm and in a culture that is attracted to the person who can put down others with quick and razor-sharp "put downs," we are called to bring a blessing with our words (Ephesians 4:29).

Psalm 37:16-17

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

Thoughts on Today's Verse....

What do we want to be the basis of our security? Will it be what we can do, accomplish, achieve, earn, and hoard? Or will it be our God, who has shown himself faithful throughout generations upon generations? We get to choose! So what will be your choice? In what will you find your security?

Proverbs 10:7

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

Thoughts on Today's Verse....

Sometimes the wisdom of God is short, succinct, and sweet for those who seek to do his will. I want my children and grandchildren to remember me with sweet thoughts because their dad, and granddad, sought to be righteous and love the Lord with all his heart.

I refuse to live the kind of life that poisons the lives of those I touch and leaves rot in the heritage of my descendants.

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Thoughts on This Verse....

If we belong to Christ, we know the Spirit of God lives in us (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19-20). Because of the Spirit's presence, we know that we are eternal! The Spirit is God's down payment guaranteeing that our future is with him (2 Cor. 1:21-22; 2 Cor. 5:5). What's more, even while we're living for Christ now, the Spirit gives us life in our physical bodies as we use them for God's glory (cf. Rom. 12:1).

Quotes 

.. If you see another stumble or fall, let your first thought be that, of all men, you are most likely to stumble or fall in that same manner. - Thomas Kempis

.. The situation today is:

Lots of knowledge, but little understanding.

Lots of means, but little meaning.

Lots of know-how, but little know-why.

Lots of sight, but little insight. - Robert Short

Effectiveness of Word

The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. -

Hebrews 4:12

How often do you let God do major surgery on your spirit as his Spirit uses the Word to encourage, judge, motivate, convict, instruct, and inspire? With such a great tool so readily at hand for most of us, let's not let a day go by that we don't let God use his word on hearts.

Proverbs 29:25

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe

Thoughts on This Verse....

Jesus told us not to fear other human opponents (Lk. 12:4-5). When we try to please others, when we fear what others may say or do to us, we place ourselves in a position of great vulnerability. Our lives no longer remain our own. We become captive to what others think, want, or threaten. We are only to trust the LORD and reverence him. In God is our safety, both now, and forevermore.

Thought 

. The hope we have in Christ is an absolute certainty.  We can be sure that the place Christ is preparing for us will be ready when we arrive, because with Him nothing is left to chance.  Everything He promised He will deliver…Billy Graham

. How often do we attempt work for God to the limit of our incompetency, rather than the limit of God's omnipotence? … J. Hudson Taylor

. This is how idolatry grows in our hearts.  We want things and we aren’t sure God will give them to us, so we put our trust in other gods. This is THE problem of the human heart—misplaced trust. We value, love, and trust something in creation more than the Creator, and since there is nothing in creation that is intended to bear the weight of our trust, we are bound to live in fear.  All other loves must be subordinate to your love for Christ.   Edward T. Welch

Faith Quotes

Fred Rogers - “I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.”

Smith Wigglesworth - “Can demons remain in your presence? You have to be greater than demons. Can disease lodge in the body that you touch? You have to be greater than the disease.” 1 Jn. 4:4

Facts about the Grace of Christ

God of all grace calls us to his eternal glory:

1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Ephesians 2:7

So that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God gives the administration of his grace:

Ephesians 3:2

Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,

God’s grace is given us before the beginning of time:

2 Timothy 1:9

Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

God’s true grace is given in order to stand fast in it:

1 Peter 5:12

By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

God’s grace is given so that we grow in it:

2 Peter 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble:

James 4:6

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Misusing the Grace of Christ

Receiving in vain:

2 Corinthians 6:1

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 

Setting aside:

Galatians 2:21

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Falling away:

Galatians 5:4

You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

By changing:

Jude 1:4

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

By sinning:

Romans 6:1

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

By insulting:

Hebrews 10:29

How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

By missing it:

Hebrews 12:15

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;