When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim. (Hosea 1:2–3)

We always hope the LORD will prosper us with blessing and favor. What do you do when the LORD calls you to embrace difficulty?

Hosea is called by the LORD to marry an unfaithful woman. His marriage relationship is intended to be a living sermon of how the LORD suffers for being covenanted with an unfaithful people.

Repeatedly the LORD calls followers to difficulty in order to carry out his will. Rather than just sunshine and jello, the LORD calls us to join him in the suffering love to transform wayward people, to embody his unconditional love even when the conditions are not to our liking.

Are we willing to follow the LORD of the Cross?  Christ is not a consumer savvy type of god. The cross is really grotesque marketing. Yet this Lord shows us the depth of his love which transcend happenstance and circumstance.

So {Jesus} bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. (Luke 4:39).

What do we do with our life Jesus heals, rescues and redeems?

An estate sale was held at 1347 21st Ave today. A few blocks from my house I went over just to check it out. To see the artifacts of a life time of a married couple’s life together.

The husband had an incredible workshop in the back. A lot of the machinery and tools had already been removed, but you could see it was a place of intense skill and workmanship. He built cabinets and other pieces of furniture. I wonder where those pieces are today. I imagine his family cherishes the items he built as mementos which manifest the love and dedication of this man.

What other legacy did this husband and wife leave beyond pieces of wood furniture, pottery, and potted plants? Were the only things that were left items sold for cents on the dollar at an estate sale?

Inside the house I found numerous books. They were well read. Not only that, bookshelves had numerous bibles and bible commentaries. Some I will go back tomorrow to buy. Just as much as the lathes and hammers were used for building furniture, I have to imagine these tools they used for building up their faith; built their faith that they shared and expressed with others.

In Luke 4, we hear Peter’s mom-in-law was sick. Jesus came into their home and healed her. Her response was to get up and serve everyone. Her serving everyone was a response to the healing of Jesus. Her serving was an expression of her joy and gratitude.

How are you responding to the healing and redemption of Jesus by the work you do in your life? How are you getting up off your sin sick bed to serve others in the joy of Christ?

“A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Acts 19.19-20

The books given up were worth millions and millions of dollars. Those who gave up trying to control the world through their trick and trust God made a huge economic decision. Acts 19 also details a riot of folks who made their money off idol worship.

Most people don’t even know why they are riotously upset at the Christian faith but often because following Christ involves an economic cost. To pick up the cross to follow Jesus means a financial cost to you. You have to give up income or wealth that is at odds with God’s Kingdom. But how does that compare with God giving the treasure of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).

The sorcerers gave up a wicked treasure worth millions to have the grace and peace of Christ. How about you?

LETGO is a digital flea market to rid yourself of prized junk.

My house is going through a complete overhaul of the electrical wiring because the ancient knob and tube wiring was more extensive than the inspector indicated when I bought the house (TMI?). With this work I pulled down the drop ceiling in the kitchen installed during late ‘70’s. Wanting to rid myself of the ceiling tiles, I offered them for free on Letgo.

I had a number of people interested in something for free. Many said they were interested, but never got back with me to come get them. One guy said he would come pick up the tiles on Thursday. But he never arrived or responded to texts asking when we was going to collect this mineral fiber board bounty. Why would someone be ready to receive a free gift and then never pick it up? Weird, huh?

Yet so many people, people who say they want the gift of Christ, who are baptized into the rich promises of God, are preoccupied with the decrepit junk of this world.

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. – 1 Timothy 6:17

They set all their hopes, finances and calendar around the tawdry and temporary baubles of this life (1 John 2:16, Rev 3:17-18) rather than “the boundless riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8).

Maybe we should charge admission? Maybe people who say they are fans of Christ would come like a rock concert? But how could we charge, when the riches we offer are “the free gift of grace in Christ Jesus” (Rom 5:15-16).  So, “we offer the gospel free of charge” (1 Cor 9:18). Maybe we should post it on Letgo? “Good News of Christ and forgiveness of sins”. “Free”!

“You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.”  – 1 Peter 1:18–19

Why do we treat the gospel as if it were flea market junk? Jesus Christ has poured himself out for you. What greater gift could you receive?  Not only that but a whole bonanza of rich benefits come with Christ! “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us” (Eph 1:7–8).

Many people  say they are “interested”, but how many show up to receive “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23).

To enjoy my LETGO mineral fiber board bounty one needs to drive themselves over to my house, pick up the tiles and load them into the vehicle and then install in their ceiling. So too, believers must take action to respond to “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:7).

So, how will you take action?  How will you respond to grasp the spiritual bounty Jesus gives you?

• Will you come into His presence and Celebrate and praise Christ for his loving act?
• Will you communicate more with Jesus in prayer and scripture rather than just occasionally saying “I’m interested”?
• Will follow and join Jesus in serving others in need and helping others grow in the faith?
• Will you give of your earthly treasures to Christ’s kingdom work as a response of Christ who became poor so you might become rich (2 Cor 8:9)?
• Will you “share” Christ with your friends more than all the memes, posts and apps you share in your digital life?

God has blessed you “in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Eph 1:3), so what message will you send to God and others?

Our God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19).

Your servant in the Gospel, Douglas

 Psalm 46:10 –  “Be still, and know that I am God!

Nehemiah 8:11 – So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.”

Mark 6:31 – Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Mark 4:39 – Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

I apologize for not writing much this week. My 1926 home is being rewired. I am grateful to my electrician who is doing the work, but his early morning arrival has interrupted my routine.

We let all the busyness of this life, especially the pointless distraction of large screen tvs and small screen smart phones drain away our time to be still and be quiet. By staring at the screen we invite all the noise, all the voices, all the vanity and all the storms to spill our focus and grieve our spirits.

To be a follower of Jesus means seeking time to be with God.  To be still. Stop the nervous energy, the anxiety, the to do list, and the ladder climbing. To be quiet.  To silence my inner rambling, the intruding usurping world, and the voice of the accuser.

To come be with the Lord. When you are still and quiet, you let the LORD peer into you. To drop the fig leaf to let the LORD know you in all your secret and hidden places. To let the LORD conquer your storms and wars by clinging to Christ and his cross.

Do you LOVE the Lord? Maybe that is a weird question to answer. You know the LORD. You believe in the LORD. But Love? Love like how I love my spouse and children?  Well, yes.

Let me ask this differently. Does the LORD love you?  Do you see that the LORD loves you fully with a never ending, obstacle obliterating, beyond the highest heavens kind of love?

The LORD thinks you are awesome – even with all your foibles, short comings, stumblings, warts, and zits. The LORD knows you are awesome because you are his. He has chosen you. He chose you in Christ. Through Christ and his cross he claims you as his own.

The LORD is determined to sanctify and make you awesome. (The biblical word is holy.) The LORD knows you will shine with his light and power. And when God’s light and power are glimmering through your earthen vessel people will see how cool and delightful you are.

The LORD loves you with his full heart. The LORD, the Father, Son, and Holly Spirit, loves you with all the sin conquering compassion of the cross and earth shaking joy of the resurrection.

So, what does it look like to respond to this kind of amazing love from God?  Just like any relationship there are practical ways to show your response. Really it comes down to following Jesus in practical ways.

• Reading scripture, praying, attending worship, being in fellowship with other Christians, tithing, serving the less fortunate, inviting others to know him.

What if you followed Jesus like never before? What if you let the love of Christ pour into you and pour out of you like never before?

We always have an exhilarating opportunity to grow in our following of Jesus like never before. As a spiritual friend and mentor, I am praying for you and invite you to seek out experiencing this astounding message that God thinks you are so awesome.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3)

“while the morning stars sang together and all the angels  shouted for joy” Job 38.7

When the LORD God created the earth and all the cosmos, all the spiritual beings were celebrating.

The heavenly hosts sees and cheers when God designs and creates; when God sets the foundations of the earth, when God wraps the earth with the sky and the clouds, when God fills in the oceans, lakes and rivers. There is a joy in heaven invented the Laws of Physics and gave commands to morning and evening.

I want to share in the joy and celebration of heaven over the created wonder. Rather than dismiss this creation as random and mundane; Rather than have eyes blinded by sin; to quake with joy at the utter holiness and beauty of all that surrounds me.

The Lord sent Christ so we could join the heavenly family. The angels were shouting for joy at his birth and his resurrection.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:21

At the death of her brother Lazarus, Martha complains to Jesus for not fixing the problem. While we expect this from OCD Martha, Mary joins in too: Sobbing at his feet; “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32). Then the crowd joins the chorus blaming Jesus too (v.37).

We want God to fix our problems our way. We want Jesus to keep our spiritually dead corpses motoring along (cf. Eph 2:1, Col 2:13) The Lord is limited to what he can do as long as we insist on being wriggling corpses.

Listen.

“Lazarus is dead, . . . so that you may believe.” (John 11:14–15) Us Lazarus’ are in our state, our predicament, so the work of God may be displayed (John 9:3). Jesus didn’t come to fix you but to redeem and change you. To have you rely on his power not your own.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, . . . and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25–26)

Jesus asks you, “Do you believe this?”

“And God (gave). . . them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us” (Acts 15:8).

“Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?  On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:10-11).

“Certain people.”  Short hand for saying people who had an agenda. “Certain people” showed up teaching and insisting that everyone needed to be circumcised. That they needed an outward work of their own in order to effect salvation. A human effort to be saved.

Paul and Barnabas and other new Christians went up to Jerusalem to argue that God does not need our works. They share the good news that God seems oblivious to this bureaucratic requirement and is busy transforming broken hearts and lives (v.3).

Peter is quick to remind everyone about his God going off the rails experience (Acts 10). The Holy and Almighty God gave “those” people the Holy Spirit. THEN! God purified their hearts by giving them faith. Just as they were saved, we now believe and trust that God rescues and redeems us through grace poured out on the cross of Jesus Christ.

There is no test. You are saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. Now run with that!

Paul and Barnabas said, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:23)

Every job, every calling, every position requires some training. The more critical and important the position, the more training is required. Boot camp, academy, or college.

What is more blessed and eternally important than being a disciple of the risen Christ? No really, tell me!

Yet so many believers have a lackadaisical and feeble approach to their faith.  Do you just want the mustard seed, or do you want to attain the fullness of Christ?

Christ gave leaders to equip and train his people to grow in faith so the body of Christ may be built up and we all grow in faith and in knowing the Son of God to attain the fullness of Christ in our lives. (Eph 4:11–13).    Paul and Barnabas returned . . . “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith” (Acts 14:21–22).

Who is strengthening and encouraging you?

Do you want to grow in following Jesus more closely?

I am here to strengthen and encourage you.  I am committed to helping any of my brothers and sisters to grow in the faith.

If you would like coaching in your discipleship, contact me.