Author: David Ashworth

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

Easier said than done right? It took me a looonnnnnggg time to learn this. I still struggle every day with this because I’m the type of person that likes to have control of everything in my life. I’m sure that most people are like this as well. When we have control over certain things, we know (more or less) what the outcome will be, or how to get it done “the right way”, or blah blah blah. But that isn’t life though and that’s not what God wants. He wants us to trust in HIM.

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20

Now-a-days, trust is far and few between and when you grow up in a certain way, it may be hard to give. But, learning more about God and His word is amazing. The more you dive in and develop your relationship with God, you see just how much He loves you. However, I do know that it does take time because we are human, we are sinners, and we often doubt ourselves. But immerse yourself in the word every day, pray, talk with the Lord, and see how God’s love fills you. When you completely trust in God and His word, you see how much He works in your life every single day.

 

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

We still must make decisions in life, we still will go through trials and tribulations, and it won’t be easy sometimes. But give God control and your trust and let Him guide you. When we come to those hard times or if you are currently experiencing them, we must first seek the Lord. Honestly, we should seek the Lord all the time.

 

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3

If you aren’t already, just try to devote 5 minutes of your time each day to pray, read the Word, or just have a conversation with the Lord. Build your relationship with Him, immerse yourself in the Bible, and see what God has done for us. When you realize that, your eyes AND heart are opened, and you can see that God is ALWAYS there. You will see that God loves us so much and He wants us to trust, put our faith in Him, love Him, and give Him control.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” – ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.” – Matthew‬ ‭6:14-15‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” – Hebrews‬ ‭9:22‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered. I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning — more than watchmen for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the Lord. For there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance. And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.” – Psalms‬ ‭130:4-8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

If you have lived for more than 15 minutes, you will find that this life is marred by disarray, sadness and hurt- some of which has been inflicted upon us by others and some of which we’ve inflicted upon ourselves and those around us. This is yet another sign of evidence of the fact that we live in a broken and dying world filled with deeply-flawed people like you and me.

We live within a reality that constantly displays a sharp contrast between life and death. We see loved ones grow old and die or untimely catch ill and pass on. We see the vibrant autumn fade into the seemingly-perpetual gray of winter where the bud of the trees die, showcasing an illustration of the pronounced sadness of death.

We find ourselves thrown into this tapestry of tension- of life, death, joy and sorrow. How will we frail creatures make sense of all of this?

How do we endure?

Many of us today have been walking around this earth for quite some time with the pain of past sins. Many of us have struggled to release the offense done unto us and therefore we struggle to forgive as our Lord commands us to.

Though we constantly pray that we forgive our debtors and that God would forgive us our debts, the anger and hurt just won’t go away.

Or, we pray the previously-mentioned prayer, only to, days later, have the emotions wash over us afresh. Or even worse, many of us don’t want to bother engaging with this process because we are more content to walk through life offended rather than forgive an offense- eventhough our Lord has offered us forgiveness for our offenses.

I know many of us struggle with this topic.

Brothers and sisters, speaking to those who would rather not forgive your debtors, and walk around life with a spirit of offense, do we not understand to do so is an offense to God? Do we understand that is ultimately sin against God? May we not stay in that place!

To be clear, I am not advocating that we don’t deal honestly with the hurt in our lives or we don’t have accountability, but I am advocating that you take that hurt directly to God in prayer as His child and plead with Jesus our great High Priest to take said pain away from us. That He would help that gaping wound become a grace-covered scar.

Even we Christians often forget that to forgive those who have wronged us is pleasing to God and healing for us. To forgive is to walk all the more in the new life offered us in Christ Jesus.

I love something my Pastor said at last week’s service, and I’m paraphrasing here- he said that everything in creation screams resurrection. Just consider again how the trees die and bloom again in the spring.

To forgive is to walk in love, and to walk in love, is true life for this was modeled by Christ who is the way, the truth and the life.

To not forgive, leads to bitterness, and unrepentant bitterness ultimately leads to death.

We often forget forgiveness, resurrection and redemption are very close siblings.

So how do we forgive and continue to walk in forgiveness towards those who have wronged us? By continual surrender of our offenses unto Christ and the Cross.

When the sting of bitterness and un-forgiveness try to force their way into your heart once more, immediately run to the Cross in prayer say, “Lord I give this hurt over to you. I choose to forgive because you forgave me when I was most against you in my former darkness.”

When this happens we also do well to confess out loud, “Lord, I believe your blood is more than adequate to cover this sin too! Cleanse my heart afresh once more and help me walk in forgiveness so that I may not sin against you nor my neighbor!”

If we need the Lord’s grace moment by moment, then that includes Him helping us walk in godly, deep and otherworldly forgiveness moment by moment.

You may still be asking, “…but how do I really do this?”

To that question, based upon the accounts we are given in Holy Scripture- we can know with full assurance that when we forgive, we truly let God do what He does best: Bring redemption even into the most broken of situations.

Further, we forgive by acknowledging and confessing we do not have the right nor capacity to hold onto an offense. We confess that the blood of Christ can blot out the sin that has caused us such pain.

When we forgive, we choose freedom for ourselves from the offense. It’s life-producing freedom.

As it was once said, “if God forgave the inexcusable in us, then we ought to forgive the inexcusable in each other.”

We must not forget that this is part of loving one another, and our witness unto the wider world. With that, may we be known by our love.

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John‬ ‭13:34-35‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” – James 1:19

It’s likely we’ve all heard this phrase a lot over our lifetime, but it’s rarely something that is put into practice (even amongst Christians).

Admittedly, I’m a pretty bad listener. My wife will tell you that I tend to cut people off in conversation to inject my own thoughts. It takes some real restraint to actively stop and listen to what someone else has to say.

But I must remember this: people want to be known, heard, and valued.

That doesn’t mean that I should simply listen to others. I should also hear what they have to say. And that means hearing points of view that might be wildly different than mine.

What we are seeing today is not a Biblical view of how we should handle our demeanor.

Instead, we see shouting matches from everything ranging from politics to how we raise our kids.

What ends up happening is the opposite of what our intentions are. Everyone shouts their way deeper and deeper into their own convictions and beliefs. Minds and hearts aren’t changed.

How do we win people to Jesus Christ if we’re too busy turning people away during an argument?

As James 1:19 says, we must listen and hear what people have to say, wait to say our own opinions until we’ve heard the other person, and we must refrain from becoming heated in the conversation.

My challenge for you is to not avoid having difficult conversations with people you know you don’t agree with. Listen and hear what they have to say.

What happens when a CSI-style forensic detective goes to Calvary to investigate what transpired after Jesus’ crucifixion? J. Warner Wallace is a forensic detective specializing in cold-case investigations. As an atheist Wallace became intrigued with the Gospels and their account of Jesus’ resurrection because “the most important question I could ask about Christianity just so happened to fall within my area of expertise. Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” It would prove to be the ultimate cold-case forensic investigation because eyewitnesses and material evidence that could be used to prove or disprove what happened have been gone for nearly 2000 years. As an atheist, Wallace had always assumed that the resurrection was a lie, believing that the twelve apostles “concocted, executed, and maintained the most elaborate and influential conspiracy of all time.”

I want to ask you a simple question: Do you believe in the Resurrection?

And if so, do you believe in your resurrection? Many people will mumble yes but question the idea. I want to clear up one thing about the English language:

There is a dramatic difference between what you believe and what you believe in.

What I believe can mean that I believe my car is parked outside and will be there when I go outside. What I believe in is something different.  It’s what or who I trust.  This is not believing like my car is parked outside, it’s more like how I believe in my marriage.  You see, we invest our time in what we believe in.  We change our life for what we believe in. This helps us understand the most popular verse in the Bible:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The most difficult problem plaguing Christianity today is not a quantity of belief, but a quality of it.  Many Christians have donned bumper stickers, necklaces, tattoos and T-shirts, but the quality of belief has suffered in modern Christianity.  Most Christians cannot tell another how to be saved or how to live out the Christian life with any sense of accuracy.

We have substituted the idea of “believing” something for “believing in” something.  Ask a happily married couple how much they know about each other.  Ask a couple married for decades what they know about each other.  The details are significant because decades of two people believing in each other will reveal a great number of details.

We may begin our Christian walk in belief, but as we walk, we not only believe Christ, we believe in Him and as we believe in Him, we come to know Him.  It is the entire point of the Christian walk that belief becomes “believe in” or in another word:  trust.  Trust is a key component for any relationship, even your relationship with God.

The outcome of the investigation of Calvary by J. Warner Wallace led to his transformation:

Wallace concludes: “The resurrection is reasonable. The answers are available; you don’t have to turn off your brain to be a believer.” Wallace went from being a skeptic, to having belief and entrusting his life to Jesus Christ.

The question for us is simple but not easy:  Do you believe in the Resurrection?  Do you trust it?  Do you trust it, not only for your eternity, but for your life?  Your answer will have a tremendous impact on the Christianity you live out.

The question of late that is asked is simply this:  Does God hate the sin and not the sinner?

To answer this, I believe, requires something deeper than the question itself.

Jesus demonstrates love for the sinner while alive by sharing a meal with them, but that was in order that they would repent.  John 3:16 gives a classic picture of God loving sinners when He declared, “For God so loved the world…” 

Conversely, God is very clear in His judgment of sinners.  I believe the cross is evidence that God loves sinners and the final judgment is evidence that those who remain in their sin will not be judged separate from their sin.

If I look at the final outcome, God “hating the sin and not the sinner” is not feasible. God doesn’t distinguish between them in His final judgment.

However, He longs for all to repent and loves them enough to make a way through His Son in order for us to do so.  Scripture declares that God wishes that none should perish but people willingly choose death.

Because the original question is not clear enough, a legalist will focus on the judgment of God towards sin where a liberalist will focus on God’s love despite their sin and I think both are wrong.  Both God’s love and God’s wrath are necessary for genuine righteousness and God upholds both love and wrath because He is righteous.  I am glad God loves the sinner, because it was the means by which He could love me and love you and everyone else, so much so that He pays the price for His grace and mercy in order that we would not experience His wrath.

God both loves the sinner and hates the sinner.  The cross is a great picture of this truth.  The cross is a horrific way to die and in Christ, God’s wrath against sin is satisfied, yet at the same time, the length that God goes to in order to demonstrate His love is just as great. All of His attributes make sense when we consider God’s plan of salvation.  The ultimate love of God saves repentant sinners and God’s wrath is at the same time, poured out on those who ultimately choose their sin over grace.

God “hating the sin and not the sinner” is such a simplistic statement that it cannot describe the depth of God’s character.

A Few Verses to demonstrate these facts in Scripture.

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Psalm 5:4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In the end, God is righteous and that is our comfort.  It is why we can trust His promises.  As God stands for what is right and what is good and punishes evil, all of His attributes are expressed in full from the God of the universe who loves more than we ever could and His wrath is evidence of His righteousness and we rest knowing that God is good and will do all things well.

¹⁰ But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Exodus 4:10-12

⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” ⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:5-8

Here in Exodus God has just appeared to Moses in the burning bush and Moses tries to make excuse’s as to why He cannot lead the Israelites out of slavery. God tells Moses that He should say the I AM sent me. God does signs through Moses that will let the people know that it is truly God that sent Him and Moses still make’s excuse’s that he isn’t able to speak well. The importance of God telling him to say the I AM sent me is huge if you understand Hebrew culture.  This is what was translated as Yahweh, the actual name of God. This name was considered so sacred that it was not to be spoken. There was immense power in God telling Moses to tell the people that the I AM sent him. God answers Moses when he says he cannot speak with the question. Who made man’s mouth?….I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.

It is important that we understand that those God calls He also equips. That when we share the the Gospel with others, we have the Holy Spirit, the 3^rd member of the trinity, God Himself, with us and He will guide our words and our actions. We must surrender just like Isaiah. Isaiah sees the holiness and the majesty of God and cries out in anguish that he is unworthy and must surely suffer the wrath of God for being in God’s presence. Yet, God sends an angel and in a picture of what Christ would do for us the angels actions result in Isaiah’s guilt and sin being taken away. Isaiah’s response when this happens is crucial; “Here I am! Send me.”

⁶ The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[c] will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[d] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:5-8

Paul writes to the Corinthians that we must cheerfully give of ourselves to the work of God. When we do this God will give us grace, He will make sure we are sufficient in what we are doing, so that we can give glory to Him.

We must stop making excuses and like the words of Isaiah say Here I am! Send me. We cheerfully answer the command of God to go into the world and share the Gospel, that God’s wrath must be satisfied for our sin but that He made a way for that wrath to be satisfied by giving Himself, through His son Jesus, to take our place. This realization gives us freedom, it gives us confidence, it gives us assurance that no matter what may come our way, God is in control, and He will use us for His glory.

“And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:24-25 CSB

As we are hurled further into the age of self, and as we witness the colossal cultural shift where much of the world is all the more non-bashfully departing moral norms and practices that many of us born in the 20th century are accustomed to- we as Christians are already finding that to live for Christ is becoming increasingly less comfortable, and we are starting to truly feel the cost of forsaking the world and clinging to Him. In this same age, we are seeing many prominent leaders in the Christian community, and many others, going through a crisis of their faith, then deconstructing, only to depart true Biblical teaching.

This is one of the great tragedies of our age. So many through the years, have made the horrible and oftentimes spiritually fatal mistake of neglecting gathering with fellow believers to fellowship together, encourage each other, and generally do life together. Many of us have forgotten that if God is a perfect community within Himself (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), then we, as His creation, are created for community also. To live without this, is to live outside of God’s perfect design. To live without the gift of community, we are rejecting life and choosing death.

Brothers and sisters, I urge you to take this matter seriously. This viral departure from the Church begs the question: Why are many fleeing the Church?

For many, it could be that you were hurt by the Church in some way. Maybe you had a youth pastor that abused his position, maybe one of your ministers or fellow brothers or sisters fell short of your expectations when you were walking through a trial. Maybe you witnessed a local church mistreat a dear friend of yours and so this, or other examples, angered you to the point of not going as often as you should if not going altogether anymore. Maybe you’ve become bored of the Gospel and feel that you no longer have need of it, because you no longer believe in the power of the Gospel Message or perhaps more poignantly- due to the attractiveness of relativism and plurality- you no longer believe in the power of God.

Friend, I implore you to not go into the darkness and death that surely wait for you outside of the light that is found in God and gathering with His people. We humans are not lone rangers. It is not in our DNA. To try and live as such is a mimicry of living at best. Do you remember when you first came to faith? Do you remember the rush and thrill of the deep and otherworldly beauty of Christ and the life He offers you? Do you remember what it was like to journey to your congregation’s meeting place in the dead of winter’s bitter cold and within the church doors you were instantly greeted and warmed by the love of your fellow adopted brothers and sisters in Christ, and their loving and gleeful company? Do you remember that moment, when you who were once a wanderer realized you no longer had to wander anymore, because there is a place for you at the Father’s table, and in His house?

My friend, if we allow ourselves an honest look at things, you and I will find that this world is deeply and   unfathomably sick. This world, because it is destined for destruction, has no place for those of us who desire life, joy, and peace.

We still need the Church, because the Church is where we hear the word of God preached, the laying of hands and the sacraments are administered. It is where lunches, dinners and coffee meets are scheduled which are avenues of deeper connection with other broken vessels like ourselves, which helps us know we never are, nor ever were, alone. The Church is where the single mother finds support. Where the widow is comforted. Where the sick can be healed. The hungry fed. The homeless given a warm and dry bed. The suicidal turned into being steadfast. Where we are sent out to the ends of the earth to preach the Gospel so those who are dead in their sins may be made truly alive in Christ who offers us life and it more abundantly.

The Church, the bride of Christ whom He died for, is still very much needed today. If Christ found her worth dying for, then may we not dishonor Him by forsaking her!

After all, our faith is in Him, not broken and corrupt sinners like you and me.

 

Isaiah 61:11 “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”

After the long, dark, cold, and gloomy season, we begin seeing signs of new life.  The trees start to bud, flowers are blooming, the grass is greener, and the birds are chirping.  It’s a new beginning.  Spring is finally here.  It is the best time to see God’s handiwork.  As I was driving to work one day, I was thanking God for this beautiful season of renewal. 

What I love most about this time of year is planning my garden.  What will I plant?  What seeds will I sow?  I was asking myself these questions as I drove to work, and then it hit me.  God is trying to tell me something.  He reminded me of all He has done and all I should be doing.

As I was deciding what to plant in my garden, I thought of the comparison between sowing vegetable seeds and sowing seeds for the Gospel.  Finishing up my devotion, I did not like what I had written.  It sounded more like any typical Christian devotion with tons of churchy words and phrases.  I deleted half of it and decided to include something that happened just the other day.

My daughter came and told me something amazing!  It was kind of an “aha” moment that brought me to tears.  She said she was telling her childhood friend of the change she’s seen in my husband and me.  This friend lived with us briefly and is like another one of our children.  She knows how we were before we started following Jesus, and she sees the difference in us now.  My daughter told her how we have immersed ourselves into the church and serving others and how much happier we are.  She recognized the change from our old selfish, destructive behaviors, and sees now our desire to help, love, and be kind to those around us.  She sees us living out what we believe, and at that moment, I realized the seeds we plant are by our example.  And the best part, she is telling others about it.

Without Christ in us, she would not have recognized the change.  All the Glory belongs to Him!

God has called us to be sowers.  We sow seeds by showing love to those around us by serving at church and helping those in need.  Jesus set the example, and we are called to follow it.  

2 Corinthians 9:6 “… whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

In our final station of the cross, we arrive at the tomb.

Our reading today is from John 19:38-42

John 19:38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Jesus has declared, “It is finished” and we see the providence of God, even in His death.  When Rome classified someone as a criminal, that person was often buried in a forgotten tomb in a potter’s field, but God produces a man, Joseph of Arimathea, who obviously had both riches and influence to receive the body of Jesus.

Nicodemus also shows us.  We see the impact of Jesus on Nicodemus as Nicodemus does something brave:  He stands against the other religious leaders and chooses to honor Jesus.  His stand is not highlighted here, but imagine the opposition.  Those who had Jesus killed watched as one of their own sought to honor Him.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea both step forward at their own peril to honor Jesus.  The beautiful picture here is an example to all of us:  That in a culture that is increasingly becoming less ‘Christian,’ these men choose their faith over their status.  If our world continues on the path it is going, representing your faith in public may cost you more than ever, but like these men, we will have to choose.

Because of God using these two men, Jesus is given a proper burial with the spices and a proper tomb.  Their actions are tied to Scripture:

Isaiah 53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

As these two men step forward, God uses them to fulfill His purposes as their actions make this prophecy come true.  The Gospel writers recording this event go out of their way to show that as prophecy is fulfilled, that it is the outward sign that God never loses control of the death and burial of Jesus.

The writings confirm across multiple witnesses that Jesus was crucified, that He died and we now have the confidence in their testimony that He was placed in the tomb.  By their testimony, the disciples give an account of everything that happened to Jesus.  I want to leave you with this:

We can trust the providence of God.  It’s not that life is always easy or pleasant, but we understand that God’s will is accomplished in the earth and no matter what happens to us, we are in His hands.  Whether death or life, hardship or ease, sick or well…  the greatest place to both live and die is in the center of His will.  God uses two men to bury His Son.  Jesus accomplishes the will of God in His death and the invitation is that God would use us.