The Great Cloud Of Witnesses

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." - Hebrews 12:1-3

We knew a pastor in Savannah, Georgia who would often say, "When you see the word 'therefore' in the Bible, you need to look back to see what it is "there-for!" Martie and I watch a program called "The Repair Shop." The Shop is located in England. People bring broken things that have significant emotional and relational meaning in their lives hoping that somehow that which is broken can mended. And their love for the person it is tied to is somehow refreshed. In most cases the items have been passed down generation to generation and the person from the last generation has most often passed. There are many spiritual parallels between what the people in the shop do for others and what we, as Christians have been called to do for others. I think that is why we like the program so much. It speaks to our passion to serve others and bear one another's burdens. (Galatians 6:2) 

So - where is this going? After the repair is accomplished, very often the person receiving the help will say something to the effect - "If they (the person who has passed) are up there or if they are looking down, I am sure they are pleased." That got me thinking about Hebrews 12:1. 

When Hebrews 12 speaks about a Great Cloud of Witnesses, who are they exactly? Are they Christians who have gone before us sitting in a heavenly stadium watching us run the race, playing in the game of life? After much thought and study - my conclusion is there is no stadium in the sky.

Looking to see what the "therefore" is "there for", we need to consider chapter 11. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the rest of the Old Testament believers looked forward with faith to the coming of the Messiah. They were faithful men and women who paved the way for us in the Old Testament demonstrating faith that guided and directed them, unaware that God had something better planned. Those who have preceded us testify to God’s faithfulness and serve as examples of faith and obedience for those who follow.  Unlike those mentioned in Hebrews 11, we have the benefit of looking back seeing the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning Jesus first coming. 

"We are surrounded by the saints of the past in a unique way. It’s not that the faithful who have gone before us are spectators to the race we run. Rather, it is a figurative representation and means that we ought to act as if they were in sight and cheering us on to the same victory in the life of faith that they obtained. We are to be inspired by the godly examples these saints set during their lives. These are those whose past lives of faith encourage others to live that way, too. That the cloud is referred to as “great” indicates that millions of believers have gone before us, each bearing witness to the life of faith we now live." - (Who are “the cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12:1? | GotQuestions.org)

Reflecting back on the Repair Shop program, I am actually saddened by the comments I hear about those who have gone before those seeking solace through the restoration of some object. None of the people on that program sound certain about eternity. I see the passion and love they have for those who have gone before them. Seeing the objects of their affection repaired they are reminded of the person who has been lost through death and their love for them. As many as we have listened to, not once was God or Jesus mentioned by any of them. No hope only memories. 

As an aside, I looked up the number of Christians who attend church in England in 2022 as compared to the number of declared Christians in England - it is slightly above two percent (2%). I know that there were great spiritual movements that were birthed in England that swept the United States and other parts of the world. I fear that the same might be said of the United States. I have a friend who has served as a volunteer with us many times over the years. During our chats as we worked in the field, I would ask, "So George, what do you think?" To which he invariably replied, "Jesus Saves". And that is what I think about it too.

"We have heard the joy­ful sound: Jesus saves! Je­sus saves! Spread the tid­ings all around: Jesus saves! Je­sus saves! Bear the news to every land, Climb the mountains, cross the waves; Onward! ’tis our  Lord’s command; Jesus saves! Je­sus saves!" -  Pris­cil­la J. Ow­ens, Jesus Saves

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Why Do You Trust God?

"Peter began to say to Him, See, we have left all and followed You." —Mark 10:28

“Our Lord replies to this statement of Peter by saying that this surrender is “for My sake and the gospel’s” (Mark 10:29). It was not for the purpose of what the disciples themselves would get out of it. Beware of surrender that is motivated by personal benefits that may result. Our motive for surrender should not be for any personal gain at all. We have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It is like saying, “No, Lord, I don’t want you; I want myself.” Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself. Where does Jesus Christ figure in when we have a concern about our natural relationships? Most of us will desert Him with this excuse— “Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but my family needs me and I have my own interests. I just can’t go any further” (see Luke 9:57-62). “Then,” Jesus says, “you ‘cannot be My disciple’ ” (see Luke 14:26-33). True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion. If we will only give up, God will surrender Himself to embrace all those around us and will meet their needs, which were created by our surrender. Beware of stopping anywhere short of total surrender to God. Most of us have only a vision of what this really means, but have never truly experienced it.” - My Utmost For His Highest

Have you really considered what following Jesus means in terms of your natural life and affections?  I am certain you are familiar with the “Health and Wealth Gospel”.  The idea that if you are spiritually right then God will give you worldly prosperity.  Friend, that is not Biblical.  Explain to the millions of poor Christians that their problem is that they are not spiritually right with God.  The prosperity gospel is a result of the culture we live in.  The Bible says (Matthew 6:24) “You cannot love God and money.  You will love one and hate the other.” The prosperity gospel says “That is not true”.  It says if you give God a dime, you will get a dollar. The danger is that we interpret the scripture in the context of the lust of our eyes, the lust of your flesh and the pride of life. 

“For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world.” - 1 John 2:16

Are you willing to let God decide the context of your living?  It might not be a big house, nice car, plenty of money, and secure retirement.  Is your primary concern protecting your standard of living or the standards by which you live?  The first has to do with faith in the things of the world and the second with faith in God.  

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” - 1 John 2:15

Reject the temptation to use God as a means to worldly comfort and peace.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit so that you can experience “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” in spite of the turmoil of the world that swirls around you or the place and circumstances you find yourself in.  

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not in your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path”.  - Proverbs 3:5-6

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Living Like The God of Heaven Is With You

“Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties, it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!” This will be no effort at all but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise.”  My Utmost For His Highest 

So, are you sitting somewhere reading this?  Are you aware of the clothes that you are wearing right now?  I know that you know you are dressed, but do you feel the clothes?  Do you have a constant awareness of them?  Probably not.  Well, maybe the pants that are getting a little tight around the waist or the shoes that look good but are “killing” your feet .. but they look good! My point is this.  God is sovereign and one of His attributes is that He is omnipresent.  That word is not used much from the pulpits these days.  It means He is everywhere all the time.  And you stay connected with Him because you were sealed on the day of your salvation with the Holy Spirit.  

“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  - Ephesians 1:13-14

That has given you a constant connection with God.  You no longer have to go to the temple to seek God.  You are the temple. 

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” - 1 Corinthians 6:19

Where the Spirit was once in the Holy of Holies, the Spirit is now in us.  And as if that is not enough! 

“Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  - Romans 8:26

God has made provision for us.  He is present even if we don’t feel His presence. There is nothing in your life that God is not aware of and bigger than.  He will be with you in the fire.  He will be with you when you are surrounded by troubles which would devour you.  He will be with you when your enemies number in the thousands.  When you stand before the giants.  When He leads you into unknown places.  God is always there! So, rejoice and be glad!  

“Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9

(maybe cut back on the cookies!)

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Do You Talk About Faith Or Live By Faith

We walk by faith, not by sight. —2 Corinthians 5:7

“We are here, not as immature angels, but as men and women, to do the work of this world. And we are to do it with an infinitely greater power to withstand the struggle because we have been born from above.” - My Utmost For His Highest

Faith verses sight .. it is a challenge for every saint.  We have the capacity to follow God and live our new life in Christ to and for the Father’s glory, but our earthly life gets in the way.  There is a saying “seeing is believing”.  I think it originated with the disciple Thomas. (John 20:25) We are more prone to respond to .. to trust in .. what we can see and touch and feel.  It’s natural … part of our old nature.  But now, we have a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17) Everything we do or say or think must be filtered through who we are in Christ.  

We don’t always do so well with that … like it or not … even though we have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) the “old man” continues to rise back up wanting to dominate our behavior.  Some might say it’s just too hard and yield to their old nature.  The fact is it is impossible to live our new life successfully by trying harder.  We must live by faith … focused on the Father .. nourished by the Word of God, directed by the Holy Spirit, encouraged by the Saints.  

It is possible to “talk” about faith and not “walk” by faith.  People who do that don’t pray, don’t read the Word, don’t associate with Christians beyond the church walls … but they can sure talk about spiritual things .. about how good God is.  

“They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.” - 2 Timothy 3:5-7

When I was in undergraduate school, I was the ROTC Cadet Commander.  Many of the cadets were like me .. prior service .. and many like me, many had served in Vietnam.  There was one young man, a cadet, who often talked about his exploits in Vietnam.  The more he talked, the more we listened, and the more we listened the more I became suspicious that he was never in Vietnam, he just knew a lot about it.  Well eventually I had to call him to task on it.  The truth was revealed and he was released from the ROTC program, in fact, he had to serve two years in the Army as a private .. part of his ROTC scholarship conditions.  He wanted to be like us but did not have the real experience that made it possible.  

The point of my sharing that?  Just because someone can talk about the right things does not mean that they are what they say they are.  That ranges from people who are not Christians talking like they are to Christians who are not living by faith who are talking like they are.  Both are struggling with life.  

Knowing which are which, or who is who is like trying to separate the wheat and the tares.  Very difficult.  So, what to do?  If you are spiritually mature you will have spiritual discernment.  If you have spiritual discernment, you will be able to detect the genuine from the in-genuine.  You job is not to accuse or condemn but to love and encourage.  

I often ask people if they are Christians before I speak to them.  I may suspect they are but want to make certain. If they say yes then I tell them why I asked.  I tell them that I can talk to Christians from a spiritual perspective that will not be understood by the natural man.  (1 Corinthians 2:14) In the same way you need to understand who you are talking to. Then you can speak spiritual truth or point them to Jesus.  Something to ponder.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Truth Does Not Change - No Matter How Much The World Wants It To

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." - Galatians 1:10

There was a joke running around the Industrial (think - Ops Research Systems Analysis) Engineering department quite a few years ago when I was getting my Masters at Kansas State. It goes something like this. A company was looking to hire someone strong in mathematical analytics. The interview consisted of one question. "What is 4 divided by 2?" The first person interviewed was a mathematician. When asked the question, he got out his scientific calculator, pressed a few buttons and answered, "4 divided by 2 is exactly 2 point 0000".

The second person was a social scientist. His answer, "My feeling is that it is about 2." The third person was a systems engineer. When asked the question, he got up from his chair. He closed the blinds. Locked the door. Turned out the lights and whispered in the interviewer's ear, "What do you want it to be?" In the minds of men, truth is relative - relative to social consensus. ever changing across time.

But Biblical Truth is immutable. Its interpretation is not dependent upon the generation, country, ethnicity, or social consensus. It does not change. It has a spiritual root - revealed by the Creator God and not the thoughts and preferences of men and women. 

As Christians, our measure of "right" must always be a reflection of God's revelation and not the consensus of the culture and a period in history. But know this, if you embrace the Bible as your guide for what is right, and wrong, then you are bound to be at odds with the culture you live in. Paul said that "if he was trying to please men then he would not be servant of Christ." People do not like to be told that what they believe to be right is wrong. To have the Light of God's Truth shine on their sin will always draw their ire. The only time it will not is when the Spirit of God brings conviction to someone's heart, and they yield their truth to the Spirit of God by faith. 

Consider these verses

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me [Jesus] because I testify about it that its works are evil." - John 7:7

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me [Jesus] before it hated you." - John 15:18

"Whoever hates me hates my Father also." - John 15:23

"Nevertheless, I [Jesus] tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me" - John 16:7-9

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

One Blink Of An Eye - One Breath Away From Glory

Now this is a topic that people don’t really want to talk about or dwell on.  I noticed that as my wife and I move closer to that “day”. Talking even about life insurance can a bit unsettling when you are on the back side of life.  It is sobering, really.  This mortal life that we live is all we know, isn’t it?  Life beyond the grave is something we only know about by faith.  Like Paul, we see it looking through a mirror dimly.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

For ages, people have been seeking ways to promote longevity.  Some even have themselves “frozen in time”, literally, with the hope that someday someone will figure out a way to unfreeze them and give a healthy life back to them.  People are desperate.  Wealthy people are even more so. Guess what – everyone in your generation is going to die, one way or another.  

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” - Hebrews 9: 27-28

It is inescapable.  Many people try and have tried to hold on to their youth … it is all in vain.  Aging is something that is going to happen – just like death.  

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” - Psalm 139:14-16

God does not reveal how we will die or even when we will die, He only tells us that we will die. I am not trying to be morbid – or insensitive to those who have lost loved ones.  My objective is to get you to think about your life.  Jesus told a parable – recorded in Luke chapter 12 – about a man who had an abundance and wanted to keep it for himself for the future.  The thing was, he had a very short future – his days were up – he was going to die that night.  What are you putting your faith and hope in.  Most of us go to sleep expecting to awake in our bed the next morning – what if you open your eyes and you find yourself in heaven instead?  We should live our lives like today is the last day. If it was, then the earthly issues we worry about would fade into in-significance.  Each breath you take is a gift from God.  Each breath you take is one step closer to Glory.  

I have sat through – listened to – many, many sermons over the years.  I hear the same things over and over about heaven – just like you do.  But in light of our mortality – I believe that we should live for God like there is no tomorrow – there might not be.  Scare tactic? No.  Truth.  

It’s time to get busy and live like you really mean it and like you really believe it.  

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Are You Living In A Pit Of Despair?

(I wrote this in February 2018 in my journal. Thought I would share it)

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

As I watch so many people struggle with the issues of life - the thought about the importance of faith and living by faith comes to me.  So much of our attitude about life is dependent upon what happens to us and around us.  Our plans fail.  We suffer loss and are disappointed.  That disappointment often leads to depression which then leads to desperation.  But it is in those places where Faith is waiting. 

To have faith and hope in the midst of crisis makes no earthly sense.  But the pre-condition for trusting in and living by faith is not that it makes sense. Confidence, hope and peace resulting through faith will always stand in defiance of common sense, what is reasonable, and within human understanding. The faith I am writing about is supernatural - spiritual. It will always be contrary to the wisdom of the natural man. It makes no "earthly" sense.

The substance of faith is found in a relationship with the Creator God through Jesus Christ.  Faith is as real as the fact that gravity will keep you connected to this earth, and you will not float into space when you leave the house. Once you are able to grasp that - to embrace it - to apply it - to make it part of you - the result will be peace in the midst of any storm that might come your way.  And the storms will come!

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." - John 16:33 

Know Jesus, Know Peace. No Jesus, No Peace

The same faith that brought us to Jesus and rebirth is the same faith that sustains us each day.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone