January 12, 2015
Host: Kent Heaton
Guest panelist: Saif Alsafeer and Steve Peeler
Bible Talk 92.1FM Hear it each Monday night 6:00pm-7:00pm EST
Visit our websitehttp://www.northvaldostacoc.com to LINK to the radio program or to listen to past programs.
Monday Morning Coffee Break – Life With Jesus
But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. (Matthew 9:22)
He called her Daughter
It had been twelve long years of suffering. First it was the disease itself described only as “a flow of blood.” Then it was the money she had spent on physicians and could not be healed by any (Luke 8:43). To make matters worse she lived a life of impurity as the Law of Moses prescribed (Leviticus 15). Her life was tragic. There was little peace in her mind as she endured these horrible problems. Then she heard Jesus was coming her way. Mustering an incredible sense of courage and faith she believed that if only she touched the border of His garment she would be healed. Weaving through the multitude she comes behind Jesus and prays her touch will bring relief. It does. She is healed immediately. But there is more.
She slinks back away from the Lord hoping not to be discovered but too late. He calls her out to confess what she has done. Fear. Trembling. Embarrassment. Confessing her act she does not know what will happen next. Then a voice from the Son of God calling her, “daughter.” A moment of compassion. Jesus could have called her anything else but hearing those words she knew all was well. “Daughter.” A term of devoted endearment for a faith rarely witnessed in the days of Jesus. He did not call her “woman” or “person” or “hey you” – He called her by a name of relationship.
In this simple act Jesus connected with this woman. He acknowledged her suffering and the need to hear words of sympathy. He responded in such a way she would never forget what the Lord called her – “daughter.” Her disease was gone and He called her “daughter.” Praise God!
And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. (Acts 11:26)
Sunday Morning Starters – Worship
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10)
The Lord’s Day
The day of Pentecost was the day after Sabbath. It would be a Pentecost that would change thousands of lives and set on course a change that would permeate centuries of worship for people of God. The first day of the week would be a day the apostle Paul would linger for as he gathered with the saints at Troas to partake of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:6-7). Writing to the church in Corinth the man from Tarsus exhorted the brethren “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2). The first day of the week. The Lord’s day.
Today is the day of the Lord. It is the day when our Father has asked of us to come as His people and lift our hearts and hands in praise to Him. Leaving behind the scurrying pace of life we pause to reflect upon the glory of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the moving message of the Holy Spirit. Sunday is a day of worship. It is a time we can relieve ourselves from our wants and pursuits so that we can spend time with those of like precious faith worshiping a merciful Father.
Worship should be an all-day event. Often we put the obligations to the Lord in a capsule of time leaving behind the church services to restart our busy lives of carnal needs to fill our time with us. As in the principles established through the Sabbath, the first day of the week should be a DAY of praise and refreshing with the Lord. We have so much to give honor to God for this day.
John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. We should do no less.
Our Lord approved neither idol worship or idle worship but ideal worship in Spirit and truth. (Vance Havner)
Saturday Morning Promises – Great Stories
Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” (2 Kings 5:1-3)
It was a bright day of sunshine in a little village in Israel. Smoke rose from the fires where food was being prepared. Animals were being herded into stalls and carpenters were busy mending the farming implements. Old men sat around talking of days gone by. Children played in the middle of the street. A dust cloud rose to the north. Terror was coming.
The invading Syrians took everything in their path. Those who resisted were killed. Livestock was driven away, grain gathered up, articles of value stolen and in the midst of the chaos of that horrible day a little girl was scooped up and taken away. Cries for her family fell on deaf ears. Her family would search for days until realizing she was taken captive. A slave girl. Taken to a foreign land with people who did not worship Jehovah. To deepen the wound she was enslaved in the house of the man who changed her life – Naaman. And he was a leper.
As the Lord peered into the heart of this little maiden He did not see hatred nor bitterness. He saw a remarkable heart. This young girl – thrown into a world unlike her own – let the radiance of God’s love shine through the dark veil of hatred and reach out to her enemy. She did not wish him dead of leprosy. Remarkably still she believed in the overwhelming power of God when she suggested to her mistress there was a man in Israel who could heal her husband. Leprosy? How is it possible to be healed of leprosy? She knew God could do it.
Jesus would use this story in His teaching many centuries later. He would remark, “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27). The reason this one man (a Gentile) was cured of his leprosy was because of a little maiden girl taken in a raid. Young people have such power in their hearts. They don’t have the hatred and prejudice we adults have. They just see the power of God.
The story for this last day of the week is to think of how much she changed the life of Naaman. Consider her plight because she did not. Being a captive did not mean she stopped loving God. Through her words she saved a man from certain death in leprosy. A simple little girl teaches a simple little lesson about what a simple little effort on our part can bring in the life of someone. “Would you like a Bible study?” “Would you like to visit with us this Sunday?” “Could I help you in any way?” Little maiden. Little words. Huge results. Thank you young lady.
The love we give away is the only love we keep. (Elbert Hubbard, ‘Notebook’ 1859-1915)
The relationship of man to God can never be contained within a nutshell. There are so many things that man must look at to understand the will of the Almighty. But sometimes in scripture those little nutshell’s appear that seem to sum up a totality of what God desires. Micah the prophet was a contemporary of Isaiah and like the prophets of his day Micah struggled to bring the people back to the Lord. The sixth chapter of Micah finds God pleading with Israel to consider how awesome His works are and the warning for not returning to Him. In the midst of this great proclamation the prophet speaks as a third person in the conversation when he writes, “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:6-8)?
It was the Lord who commanded all the sacrifices of calves, rams, oil and dedication of the firstborn. The trouble with Israel is they kept the letter of the law without understand the meaning of the law. Keeping the law in obedience to the law of God without the heart of devotion is an empty sacrifice. The people seem to grasp for answers to appease Jehovah. Micah reminds them God has always shown them the answer of worship. The answer in a nutshell is to “do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (v8). This does not suggest there were no other regulations to keep but this summarizes what is lacking in their worship.
D. Horwood said of Micah 6:8: “To ‘do justly.’ Not only to think and speak justly, but to act so – to act with honesty, integrity, and fidelity, without injuring, defrauding, oppressing or tempting to evil any one. To ‘do justly’ is in every way to befriend your neighbor. To ‘love mercy.’ To take pleasure in acts of compassion, forgiveness, and kindness. The love of mercy is a very different thing from any act of professed mercy. Real mercy lies in the motive of kindness, and the love of it lies in the gratification felt in another’s benefit. The love of mercy is a mighty impulse to its exercise. The love of mercy gives an intensity to it. To ‘walk humbly with God.’ This indicates a teachable, submissive, thankful, patient, and dependent spirit; a close communion with God; and a progressive knowledge of the character and majesty of the Deity. As this knowledge dawns upon the soul, so does the soul sink into self-abasement. The great characteristic of walking with God on earth is trust in Christ.”
Here are three lessons we can take in life. As people of God we should be known for our honesty and fairness. Our speech is known for truth (Ephesians 4:25). The character of a Christian is based on the honest example of good works. “Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). Our word is our bond because our bond is Christ Jesus. When our name is mentioned in a conversation the character of fidelity is always thought of.
Secondly, as the saints in Christ we love mercy and show that in our lives. This is found in Paul’s admonition of Colossians 3:12-14. “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” This comes from a heart of love. It goes beyond just doing the Christian act but it lives the Christian ideal. People of God should be known as those who are full of mercy.
Finally, Micah says the character of the true worshiper is to “walk humbly with your God.” There are four parts to this admonition. First our relationship with God is a walk. We spend time with Him without the rush of life pushing us so fast we don’t have time to walk with God. Solomon declared of the Lord that there is “no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts” (2 Chronicles 6:14). It takes all he hear to walk with God. Two men in scripture are noted to have “walked with God” – Enoch and Noah (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). This shows a patient and loving heart to spend time with the Lord.
This walk is a humble walk. We are subservient to the pace of God in this walk. Our desires are only measured by the desires of the Lord. Wherever He leads, we will follow. Whatever hill or valley He will travel shall be our path. His word will guide my every step. Jesus left us an example that we should follow His steps (1 Peter 2:21). Walking humbly with my God expresses a companionship with God. I am not leading Him nor do I seek my own way. Where He leads I will follow is the only way to walk with my God. Finally there is the wonderful knowledge that the one I walk with is “my” God. That is personal. That is me and God. Just us two walking and talking together. The disciples who walked with Jesus will say later, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).
Micah’s nutshell: do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. It says a lot with just a few words. Words to live by.
If there is one word that describes Christmas it is the word “anticipation.” Excitement builds as the day approaches and the early morning breaks with children scampering to see what is under the tree. In a flash the wrapping paper is ripped apart. Presents are counted as eyes sparkle at the new toys. The morning is filled with fun but as the day draws long bodies driven with adrenalin slowly begin to wind down. Sleep comes to many. The day is over. What began as a thrill ride melts into the regular pace of life. But Heaven ain’t Christmas.
The most enthralling message about Heaven is there is great anticipation with what it will be like to stand before “a throne set in heaven” (Revelation 4:2). It is hard (if not impossible) to imagine how glorious it will be to see the Lord face to face and hear His mighty voice. The apostle John glimpsed into the eternal portal and proclaimed, “And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald” (Revelation 4:3). Those surrounding the throne cried out, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come … You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:8, 11). What a powerful feeling of joy to give praise to the Lord God Almighty.
The end of the Revelation unfolds the everlasting beauty of God’s presence among His people as He wipes away every tear from our eyes and removes death, sorrow, crying and pain (Revelation 21:4). Heaven will be a marvelous place of untold splendor that overwhelms all the senses of man. “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:21). The most glorious moment as we enter the realm of everlasting life is that we shall see HIS face and HIS name shall be on our foreheads (Revelation 22:4).
As the morning unfolded on this Christmas day I could not help but think, “This is all over now.” All the preparation, all the excitement, all the planning and joy of the moment has passed. Life begins to slowly turn back to a sense of normal. The weeks will open up to a new year and the months will turn to summer and life with its challenges will return. But Heaven? It will never stop. All that we anticipate and long for will never end. The promises of God to wipe away every tear means there will never, ever, never, ever be another tear in my eye. Pain? Gone. Sorrow? Gone. Temptation? Done with. Sin? Defeated. Death? Cast into Hell. Satan? Finalized! Me? ETERNAL LIFE! ETERNAL GLORY! ETERNAL SALVATION! ETERNAL INHERITANCE! And here is the greatest joy – it never ends. I mean it never ends.
You can take all the Christmas days, birthdays, celebrations, weddings, graduations and days of momentous times in our lives and none will match the everlasting glory of unending joy in the presence of our God and our Father. “And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
I was struck by the simple description of Jesus by the prophet Isaiah. “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). The CEV describes Jesus as “nothing about the way he looked made him attractive to us.” Contrary to popular opinion Jesus did not walk around with a glowing face or a halo. He did not stand out in a crowd by any measure. If you look through the multitudes He would not have been picked out. Jesus was as common as his brothers in the flesh or the fellow next door.
We know little of his early life before beginning His ministry at 30. Clearly He embodied the average Jewish male in Nazareth. When He finished working with Joseph in some carpentry work He was drenched with sweat and dirty. As He sat in the synagogue and listened to the teachers proclaim the word of the Lord He did not strike others with His appearance. The Lord walked with the caravans of pilgrims who made the journey to Jerusalem and He was unnoticed. Walking in the Temple no one took a second glance. At the age of 29 He was just another man caring for His family and engaging with his brothers and sisters. This would change within a year.
Was Jesus tall and did he have rugged features? What was the manner of His voice? How did He carry himself? We know He sang (Matthew 26:30). Did He have a low singing voice or a high one? What did His laughter sound like? Could He whistle? What was it like when He cried? There are a million questions left unanswered but one – He was just like me. “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same” (Hebrews 2:14).
While His conception was through the power of God His birth was as natural as it could be. He was born after nine months it would seem and as a child made His first cooing sounds and smiles. He would roll over the first time, take His first steps and said “Abba” the first time. Mary’s heart would burst with love as He nestled close to her at night. Joseph would pick up the little toddler Jesus and hold Him tight. James would be born as well as Joses, Judas and Simon and Jesus would have siblings to play games with. His sisters would also make a family full as He watched them grow to young ladies. What a family feast when they all gathered for Passover in their home and remembered the story of the Exodus.
Jesus learned how to ride a donkey. He may have gone to the Sea of Galilee and watched the fisherman leave out for expected bounties. Did He ever visit the snowcapped Mount Hermon or stand on Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijah defeated the minions of Ahab and Jezebel? The Lord felt the bitter sting of winter and the searing heat of summer. He grew tired. His meals refreshed His body. He must have gotten a haircut some time in His life. “There is no beauty that we should desire Him” says that Jesus was a common man committed to doing an uncommon thing.
It is hard to imagine God becoming not just man but becoming a common man. He did not come with the pomp of nobility and splendor of earthly prestige although He was “only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). He came to be like me. And I thank God for that.
The people of Nazareth could not see the carpenter’s son as anything but the boy who lived next door. “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son” (Luke 4:22)? He was so common the home town folk could not see His divinity. John would write, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’” (John 6:42)? He was a man that lived in Nazareth, they knew His parents, His family, His habits, His life – yet they did not know Him for who He really was.
It is easy to think that if we lived during the time of Jesus we would immediately be able to pick Him out of the crowd. When Jesus shared the last supper with His disciples there was nothing special that stood out to humanity about this event in an upper room; must less a cup the Lord drank from. Soon after this final meal the man from Nazareth was nailed to a common cross and the world took no note. There were no angels singing as was His birth. There would be no glowing face of the Lord on the cross. He would look like the man on His right and the man on His left. He would be humiliated with His bodily discharges and mournful cry on the cross as a man. Death would take Him as it takes all men. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
The Roman soldiers would take Him from the cross and pull the nails from His hands and feet. Nicodemus and Joseph would carefully wash the body of Jesus and carry Him the distance to the tomb. Can you see these two men carrying the dead body of Jesus? He was a common man who suffered the common fate of all men – death.
A new day came. The first day of the week the common man became uncommon. Sabbath plus one the world changed. That man from Nazareth was not found in the tomb. Jesus had risen. The power of the gospel is found in the joy of resurrection day. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).
As I look upon my Savior and marvel at His divine power and might, I am humbled that He had to share in the frailties of human flesh. But He became like me. He was common. He did not possess any attributes that would make Him stand out in the crowd. But He stands out for me.
December 15, 2014
Host: Kent Heaton
Guest panelist: Brent Hunter and Steve Peeler
Bible Talk 92.1FM Hear it each Monday night 6:00pm-7:00pm EST
Visit our websitehttp://www.northvaldostacoc.com to LINK to the radio program or to listen to past programs.
Before the world was formed and filled with all the splendor of God’s creative hand, a plan was made that would find fruition through God’s only Son. The earth was without form, void and nothing but darkness yet the mind of God held a creation that would show His greatest glory in redeeming a yet formed creature. Creation brought about the makings of the world with light and firmament filling with the grass and herbs that would soon bear the presence of sea creatures and land beasts. Moses describes in Genesis 1:26-27 the first hint of the glory promised by God. “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” A creature now walked on the new planet called Earth.
It was not long before Satan came deceiving the woman and setting the world on a course of destruction that would be the sting of death – sin. In the darkest hour of man’s early existence the Creator brings judgment upon the devil and offers the first glimpse of a hope yet realized. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). Satan would do his best to destroy all that God created. Cain will murder his brother Abel and the generations that follow will find them walking in the paths of wickedness ending in the deluge of complete destruction of humanity save eight souls (1 Peter 3:20). The void and darkness of precreation seems foreboding upon the face of mankind but there is a message of hope that will turn the tide of despair to glory.
For the sake of the Seed promise a people are set aside to bring the plan of redemption to the fullness of time. Like in the flood Satan will destroy the nation of God save the remnant. Finally the day comes when that which was in the mind of God partakes of the flesh and blood of man. Jesus Christ is born. As He begins the work of His Father, the Lord is driven to the wilderness for 40 days and faces the onslaught of Satan’s devices to destroy Him. Failing to destroy Jesus the devil goes away for a convenient time. It comes some three years later when the creation nails their Creator to a tree. The sting felt at this time is only death yet the one who bears His life on the cross has come to bear the guilt of sin for all mankind.
And then it happens. Unexpected. Glory filled. Marvelous. “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:20-21). Jesus overcomes the grave. By the power of God He is risen. He lives. He reigns. He rules. The plan to redeem man has been seen alive and the message of salvation for all men spreads throughout the world. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).
The good news of salvation is the love God had for His creation before the world was formed. He provided a way of escape and hope and promise. Paul proclaimed this message of eternal hope in his letter to Ephesus. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6). Before the foundation of the world (Genesis 1) God desired to have His people to be a special people. The eternal purpose of God is found in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:11) and we can be a part of that.
There can be no greater joy than to know that God not only loves us because we are His, His plan was to love us and bless us with eternal life before life began on this planet. This predestination was not an individual persuasion that disallows my choice but rather the knowledge that salvation was the desire of the Creator for His creation before creation began. Man was created for the glory of God. “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:7).
Our relationship with the Father is eternal before the Heavens. What makes our joy complete is to know that we have eternal life after death. “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). This makes clearer Peter’s statement of the nature of God’s people when he writes, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).
An old preacher once said, “God predestines every man to be saved. The devil predestines every man to be damned. Man has the casting vote.” Thank you God for your grace.
November 24, 2014
Host: Kent Heaton
Guest panelist: Gene Taylor, Steve Peeler and Chase Shaffer
Bible Talk 92.1FM Hear it each Monday night 6:00pm-7:00pm EST
Visit our websitehttp://www.northvaldostacoc.com to LINK to the radio program or to listen to past programs.
The Heaton File 