Kenneth Winter's Blog, page 9

Let Us Arise and Build

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We live in a day that is sorely in need of great leaders within every corner of our world – those who do not lead for personal gain, fame or recognition, but rather, those who would lead to bring about the changes needed for the benefit of all. But sadly, instead of selflessness, we more often are led by those who are pursuing their own personal agenda. Instead of humility, we are subjected to hubris and narcissism. Instead of the courage to do what is right, we are ruled by those who would rather pursue a path that is more politically expedient.

Within our history as a nation we have benefited from the leadership of men and women of that caliber – leaders such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Clara Barton and Rosa Parks to name a few. On a global level one would have to include leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. As we look through Scripture, we see further examples of men and women that would need to be a part of that list, leaders such as Moses, Joshua, Esther and Paul. i do not intend for this to be a fully comprehensive list but rather a representative sample. And, of course, one would have to include at the very top of that list Jesus as the greatest leader of all time – the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

But there is another individual in Scripture whose name deserves to be included in that list – a cupbearer by the name of Nehemiah. i believe he exemplifies the character and characteristics of a true leader in a way to which each one of us would do well to aspire.  

When Nehemiah received word of the great trouble his people were facing, he wept and grieved to his very core.(1) He cried out to God and interceded on behalf of a people, most of whom he did not know, and on behalf of a place, on which he had not yet set his eyes. He asked God to enable him to be a part of the solution, not for his name’s sake but for the sake of those he had yet to meet.(2)

Given the opportunity to speak up for those in need, he did not use it to rail against the oppressors but rather, to cast a vision for the solution in humility, and in a way that honored the one in authority over him.(3)He took time to sufficiently assess the problem before pressing forward ill-equipped and ill-prepared.(4) He formulated an appropriate solution that required everyone’s participation, not just their acquiescence. Throughout it all, he trusted that the One who had invited him to join with Him in solving the problem would continue to go before him to complete the work. He knew that true success could only result from following the Almighty’s plan.(5)

He also knew that even the right plan would not be exempt from attack by the opposition. He knew to respond to the naysayers with wisdom and not allow their opposition to distract him from the main thing.(6) But he also knew that the needs of the people could not be overlooked in the midst of the work. He challenged the accepted practices that had been used to oppress the poor, and championed the needs of the underprivileged, even at his own personal expense.(7) And he knew that true success could only be achieved at personal cost. He valued the welfare of all the people over his own personal gain and privilege.(8)

And he oversaw the work all the way to completion, not only in a way that saw a wall rebuilt, but also so that the heart of the city was restored.(9) Thus a slave who God had enabled to become a cupbearer, now became more than a king’s emissary. He became a leader who rose to the level of being an example of true leadership to all of us.

A number of years ago, i had the privilege to be a part of a group of men and women in an extensive remodeling project that was named “The Nehemiah Project.” No one individual within the leadership of that project ever rose to the level of exemplifying Nehemiah. However i did see God work through the entire team of people in a way that the characteristics i have already cited were seen through the group collectively. Though the scope of the project was nothing of the magnitude of rebuilding the walls of a city or restoring its heart, the project in which we were involved still became an opportunity to see God do the miraculous in a way that had His fingerprints all over it.

When everything was complete, there were two outcomes that He used to confirm His hand at work. First, when the work was finished, we realized it had been completed in fifty-two days, the same number in which the wall in Jerusalem was rebuilt. Second, there was no one individual that could take the credit for the excellent work that had been done – rather, it all pointed to the glory of God.

Today, we need leadership like that of Nehemiah on every level – globally, nationally, regionally and personally. It’s not the size of the problem or the need that dictates the kind of leadership that is required, it’s the degree of concern. If we truly desire to see God’s best accomplished in and through each and every situation, we will cry out to Him to accomplish His best in His way for His glory. In the process, He will raise up the Nehemiah that is needed at every level and for every situation. It will be the ones who, perhaps as the apostle Paul reminds us, are the least expected – the ordinary men and women – who God works through to accomplish the extraordinary.(10) And it could just be you!

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It is my belief that throughout history God has used ordinary people to be used by Him in extraordinary ways that prompted me to write a series of books entitled The Called series. The tenth book in that series, which looks at the life of Nehemiah releases this Friday, June 16th. The books are available as ebooks, in print and as audiobooks. You can find more information about all the books in the series here on my website.

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(1)  Nehemiah 1:1-4

(2)  Nehemiah 1:5-11

(3)  Nehemiah 2:1-8

(4)  Nehemiah 2:11-16

(5)  Nehemiah 2:17-18

(6)  Nehemiah 2:19-20

(7)  Nehemiah 5:1-13

(8)  Nehemiah 5:14-19

(9)  Nehemiah 6:15-16

(10) 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Pearl on Lightstock

Steady Heart

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The worship song, Steady Heart (lyrics at the end of this post), is a reminder to us to remain steady despite the dark skies or the wild winds that may lie before us. It’s about a steadiness that stays the course despite what we see – or don’t see – before us. It is a steadiness that can only come from, and remain anchored in, the might, sovereignty, and faithfulness of God. It’s a heart that keeps going, a love that keeps hoping, a grace that keeps forgiving, and a faith that keeps believing.

We repeatedly see God calling His people to remain steady despite, what could easily be described as, overwhelming odds. One of those was when the Israelites were preparing to attack their oppressors – the Canaanites.(1) The Israelites were outnumbered. They were unarmed. They had been weakened by their captivity and oppression. The people had abandoned their villages and scattered to the hills. The roads were dangerous and treacherous. Their country had been plundered.

The call had gone out to all of the tribes. Zebulun, Ephraim, Naphtali, Benjamin, Issachar and Manasseh had responded. Gad and Reuben, being on the east side of the Jordan, had been indecisive about whether the battle really concerned them, and had therefore stayed home. Dan and Asher had also decided to remain in the safety of their homes and their harbors, and leave the fighting to others. Judah and Simeon to the south were the furthest removed, so they were either not enlisted or chose not to join in the effort.

“Down from Tabor marched the few against the nobles. The people of the LORD marched down against mighty warriors.”(2) But then God unleashed His resources! The wooded slopes of Mount Tabor became a deterrent to the Canaanite General Sisera’s chariots. Heavy rainfall caused the Kishon River to flood,(3) and Sisera’s heavily armed army found it impossible to move. The Canaanites, including Sisera, were left with no choice but to abandon their horses, chariots and heavy weaponry and flee on foot from the Israelites, who God had now given the upper hand. The Israelites declared that even “the stars fought from heaven” that day on their behalf.(4)

Sisera, in panic, fled to find cover. He found what he thought was safety in the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber, a descendant of Moses’ brother-in-law. As he slept, Jael drove a tent peg through his temple, impaling him to the ground. The mighty Sisera had been slain and defeated “at the hands of a woman”, just as God had said to Barak.(5)

Before the battle had begun, the odds looked woefully against the Israelites. The effort, though well-intentioned, looked doomed from the start, except for two things. First, God had promised to give the Israelites victory. It was already theirs before the first blow had occurred. Victory was theirs even before they arrived at Mount Tabor. God had promised it; therefore it was. All they had to do was stay steady. Second, God was marching ahead of them. He was going before them – to lead them and to make a way. All they needed to do in order to experience His victory was to follow Him and stay steady.

A second illustration of steadiness comes from the New Testament. If it was possible for me to go back in time, one of the events i would like to visit would be the wedding feast Jesus attended in Cana some two thousand years ago.(6) And if i was able to visit, i would want to attend as one of the servants, not as one of the guests. Perhaps in the scope of eternity, some might think that particular event is not a big deal, but i personally believe it was. And i would expect that the parents of the bride and groom would agree with me.   

The attendance at the wedding was apparently larger than expected. The guests were reveling in the hospitality and the celebration of the moment. And all of a sudden someone realized that the supply of wine had run out. The shame and embarrassment to the host would be huge. Running out of refreshments for your guests is always a concern for hosts but, for those in the Middle East in the first century, this would have tarnished their image and their standing as a family in their community for years to come. This was not only a major social “pho-pa”; this would impact their influence, their livelihood, and their respect among the people of their village, their synagogue, and that entire region. Somehow the matter came to Mary’s attention – either she was told or she observed it. Understanding the implications, she turned to Jesus. Then Jesus turned to the servants.

He invited the servants to be a part of a miracle He was about to perform. The invitation came through a word of instruction from Mary to the servants. She said, “Do whatever He tells you.”(7) The servants needed a miracle – not only would the hosts pay the price for this oversight, so would the servants – someone had failed to properly plan. (Incidentally, that’s always true of miracles – and victories – you don’t experience one until you need one!)

Jesus told the servants to fill the jars to the brim with water. Being respectful servants, they did exactly what He had told them. But it was the next moment that was the most critical. It was the moment to remain steady.

It was the moment when Jesus told the servants to “dip some of the water out and take it to the master of ceremonies.”(8) We don’t read that they ever hesitated. Unlike Barak, they didn’t hedge their obedience. They seized the moment. i’m not sure if it was Mary’s faith, or the servants’ faith that day; i tend to think it was the latter. And i believe they experienced a victory over what for them could have been a catastrophic failure, because by faith they remained steady and did what Jesus told them to do. The guests enjoyed the blessing of Jesus’s miracle that day, but the servant’s experienced the victory.

The Israelites experienced the victory over the Canaanites at Tabor because they followed God and remained steady despite the circumstances that were surrounding them. i have no idea what you may be encountering today or how overwhelming the odds you are facing may be. But i know One who is able to take those events and bring about a victory that will bring glory to His Name.

The song of Deborah and Barak concludes with the statement, “… may those who love You rise like the sun in all its power!”(9) i pray that we will remain steady in the moment before us, rising brightly like the sun, and experience the victory that our LORD fully intends for us to experience.  When we do, the dawn will break, the clouds will part into an open space, and we will run in the fullness of His glory.

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Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 48 of my book Possessing the Promise.

For more information about the Israelites battle with the Canaanites, read Judges chapter 4 – 5. Also, you can read about it in my book A Judge Called Deborah.

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(1)  Judges 4:4 – 5:31

(2)  Judges 5:13 (NLT)

(3)  Judges 5:21

(4)  Judges 5:20 (NLT)

(5)  Judges 4:9

(6)  John 2:1-11

(7)  John 2:5 (NLT)

(8)  John 2:8 (NLT)

(9)  Judges 5:31 (NLT)

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Ponda on Lightstock

 

Steady Heart  

[Verse 1]
I can’t see what’s in front of me
Still I will trust You, still I will trust You
And I can’t see what’s in front of me
Still I will trust You, still I will trust You

[Chorus]
Steady heart that keeps on going
Steady love that keeps on hoping
Lead me on
Steady grace that keeps forgiving
Steady faith that keeps believing
Lead me on

[Verse 2]
Though the sky is dark
And the wind is wild
You’ll never leave me, You’ll never leave me

[Verse 3]
Though the night is long
There is a coming dawn
The light is breaking, the light is breaking

[Chorus]
Steady heart that keeps on going
Steady love that keeps on hoping
Lead me on
Steady grace that keeps forgiving
Steady faith that keeps believing
Lead me on
Steady heart that keeps on going
Steady love that keeps on hoping
Lead me on
Steady grace that keeps forgiving
Steady faith that keeps believing
Lead me on 

[Interlude]
[Outro]
And as the dawn breaks
And the clouds clear
In an open space
Together we will run

 

Written by Steffany Gretzinger, Amanda Lindsey Cook

© 2014 Bethel Music Publishing (ASCAP). 

Steady Heart Lyric Video – performed by Steffany Gretzinger 

Don’t Settle For Less

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How often do we settle for less than what God wants to do in and through our lives? How often do we settle for less because we underestimate what He can and will do? How often do we ignore or forget His promises? How often does our faith turn into faithlessness?

Some of you may be familiar with a book i recently wrote, entitled A Judge Called Deborah. In it i tell the story of the woman God chose to use to lead her people as a judge over Israel to overcome the oppression of the Canaanites. We read in the Book of Judges that God impressed upon her to call upon a man named Barak to command an Israelite army of 10,000 warriors.(1)

We know very little about Barak before this moment. We know he was the son of Abinoam. He was from the tribe of Naphtali and lived in the northern most city of refuge of Kedesh. He had been summoned by Deborah, at the Lord’s direction, to lead his nation in war against their Canaanite oppressors under the rule of King Jabin. The Canaanite army was commanded by Sisera and was well-trained and well-armed with 900 iron chariots. As an oppressed people, the Israelites no longer had an organized army, nor did they have any shields or spears;(2) let alone any chariots. The odds were overwhelmingly against the Israelites. Without God on their side, it would have most definitely been a suicide mission.

But Deborah told Barak that God had promised to give him victory over their enemies. Barak initially responded faithfully by saying, “I will go.…” However, he fell short when he faithlessly added, “BUT ONLY if you (Deborah) go with me”.(3) He had received a command from the Almighty God – the Lord God Jehovah. And he responded with “Yes, BUT ONLY.…” He had chosen to underestimate what God would do and as a result, he settled for less.

Scripture tells us that his “but only” response made a difference. We know that God told him that he would “receive no honor in this venture.”(4) We don’t know exactly what that means. We don’t know how that statement impacted the rest of his life or the lives of those around him, or even the nation of Israel. But we do know something was different. We know that Barak had settled for less than God’s best.

As i think through that story, i wonder how often i have settled for less than God’s best. How often has my delayed obedience resulted in something less than God intended? And make no mistake – delayed obedience IS disobedience! How often have my pleadings, or protests, or attempts to “negotiate” with God resulted in my missing out on His best?

Please allow me to be clear. i am not referring to those times that i have asked God to make something clear, because i didn’t understand – or i didn’t clearly know how He was directing me to proceed. We are to seek Him with our whole hearts and our whole understanding, and we are to ask Him when we don’t know what He would have us do. i am grateful that He is not in His heaven just “hoping” we figure it out. He will make it abundantly clear! And we are to seek Him until He does!

What i am referring to is how we respond once He has made it abundantly clear. The issue for Barak was not that he did not understand; rather, his was an issue of faithlessness. When God gives us a promise, our response is either faithful or faithless – there are not “degrees” in between. And even though Barak saying, “I will go…” was “faithful”, he made it “faithless” when he added ‘but only…” The writer of Hebrews says, “it is impossible to please God without faith.”(5) And there are no “degrees” of faith. Faith is either all or nothing. We either believe God or we don’t. We either believe He is Who He is and believe what He has said, or we don’t. There is no compromise or negotiation to faith.

Yes, Barak went on to lead the Israelites to victory. Yes, they experienced peace and rest. But i have to ask, what did they NOT experience because of his faithlessness? And what do we miss out on as a result of ours? And even more importantly than all of that, how much more do we grieve the heart of our Heavenly Father when we do?

Don’t settle for less! Heed the advice that Mary, the mother of Jesus, once gave to a group of servants at a wedding feast – “Do whatever He tells you.”(6)

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Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 47 of my book Possessing the Promise.

For more information about the book A Judge Called Deborah, click here.

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(1)  Judges 4:5-11

(2)  Judges 5:8

(3)  Judges 4:8

(4)  Judges 4:9

(5)  Hebrews 11:6

(6)  John 2:5

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Nathan Smith on Lightstock

Choices

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We live in a day of seemingly limitless choices – from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, and from the causes we rally to support to the allegiances we make. In most instances, our ability to exercise those choices is accomplished instantaneously through a few swipes of our finger on a screen. And we pride ourselves on our ability to change our choice at any given moment should we decide to do so. In many respects, we value our right and ability to choose over the rightness of the choices we make.

That ability to choose is a direct expression of a will that desires to be free. And the reality is that a free will was given to us by our Creator. The good news is He created us with the ability to choose. But i fear that too often the bad news is He created us with the ability to choose! Because left to our own devices, we can choose to choose very badly – particularly as it relates to our relationship with our Creator Himself.

Though the technology has changed, the choice that stands before us today as it relates to our Creator is the same choice that stood before the Israelites over 3,400 years ago. Even after all they had been through and experienced in inhabiting the Promised Land, they still needed to make a choice. You would have thought this would have already been settled for them long before. Even the people could quickly recite the mighty works of God they had seen Him do – His delivery from slavery, His mighty miracles, His preservation in the wilderness, and His victories over the Canaanites. And yet, for some reason – the question still remained.

In Joshua 24, we read that Joshua asked the people if they were going to choose the gods of the Chaldeans (beyond the Euphrates River).(1) The Chaldeans worshiped 2,100 gods – all of them holding equal position. Their belief was a syncretistic mix of the hodge-podge of ideas that were generated related to each of those gods. There was no absolute truth. Truth was whatever the individual believed it to be. Truth was dictated by changes that occurred in their culture. One person’s truth and another’s truth could be very different. And that was very acceptable to the Chaldeans. Any truth was permissible as long as you didn’t attempt to make any truth absolute – except the absolute truth that there is no absolute truth! Does that sound confusing? It was … and it still is today!

As you can imagine, with that many gods and that many beliefs, there were truths that were in direct opposition with one another. But the Chaldeans didn’t worry about that; they just accepted the “truth” that worked for them. There were miniature idols of many – if not all – of their gods. Years earlier, the Israelite patriarch, Jacob, had collected those idols from all of his household and buried them ‘under the great tree near Shechem.”(2) It is quite possible that he buried those idols under the very terebinth tree where Joshua was standing approximately 325 years later as he gave this challenge to the people. (If it wasn’t the same tree, it was nearby.)

i would expect that all of those “gods” had turned to dust in that amount of time! But here is the amazing thing – some of the Israelites that Joshua was speaking to had some of those very idols in their possession. Despite all that the LORD had said and done, some of the people were still willing to hold onto the syncretistic lies of the “gods” of the Chaldeans.

Joshua also asked if they were going to choose the gods of the Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians worshipped approximately 1,400 gods. That list continued to evolve and grow over time. Some of the gods had their origins in nature. Incidentally, that is why God chose plaques that had direct correlation to their nature gods – i.e. turning the river into blood, the plaque of frogs, covering the sun, etc. Some of their gods had evolved from humans. But apparently somehow all of them together maintained some type of “universal order”. They governed nature. They sustained it. Some of them disrupted it.

But the heart of Egyptian belief was universalism and the worship of nature – i.e. the son god, the moon god, etc. It would have many parallels today to the concept of “mother nature”. And despite the fact that the Israelites had seen God perform mighty miracles that defied nature – i.e. the parting of the sea, causing the sun to stand still, etc. – there apparently were some of the people standing before Joshua that day who still held an element of this nature worship in their belief.

He then asked them if they were going to choose the gods of the Amorites. The principal god of the Amorites was Marduk. He was the god of thunder who apparently defeated the other gods in some type of battle and thereby became the great god. No self-respecting Amorite would want to choose one of the lesser gods who was defeated! But the belief system was based on the principle of selfish ambition – the idea being that Marduk defeated the others because he was better and thereby achieved his greatness.

And as in any culture where selfish ambition is at its core, there has to be some way to keep score. That’s where materialism came into the picture. The Israelites had benefited from that materialism in the possessions that the LORD had allowed them to keep as they defeated a number of the armies and possessed the cities. As a matter of fact, Joshua made note of all of the plunder when he sent the eastern tribes back home to their families.(3) Joshua was now warning them of the allure of materialism and selfish-ambition, and the temptation of the gods of the Amorites.

Finally, he asked the Israelites if they were going to choose the Lord God Jehovah. He recounted God’s mighty works – how He had rescued them from slavery, preserved them in the wilderness, and gone before them in order for them to take possession of the Promised Land. He reminded them that He is a holy and just God; He will not forgive unrepentant sin and rebellion. He is a jealous God – and He alone is worthy of worship. He will not share the worship that is due Him with anything or anyone else. God chose this people. They were His people and His possession. But now, they needed to choose whom they would serve.

We must make the same choice. If you are a follower of Christ, He has drawn you to Himself through the work of His Holy Spirit. He has made the way of your salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son. He has chosen you. The question that stands before you today is the same one that stood before the Israelites that day. They were a part of the people of God. And yet, some of them were still holding onto other gods – the gods of relative truth that worship the changing mores of culture, the gods of nature and universalism, and the gods of materialism and selfish-ambition.

Those gods are still very much a part of our culture today. And sadly, many of us have chosen to turn from the God of our salvation and turn to the gods of our culture. God will not share the worship that is due Him with any other. He would not do so then … and He will not do so now.

Joshua’s challenge therefore remains for each one of us: Choose you this day whom you will serve. “You are a witness to your own decision….”(4) If you choose the Lord God Jehovah, be sure that you have “destroy[ed] the idols among you, and turn[ed] your hearts to the LORD alone….”(5)

As for me and my family, we will serve the LORD!

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Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 39 of my book Possessing the Promise.

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(1)  Joshua 24:15-28

(2)  Genesis 35:4 (NLT)

(3)  Joshua 22:7-8

(4)  Joshua 24:22

(5)  Joshua 24:23-24

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Chad Madden on Lightstock

He’s Never Gonna Let Us Down

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We live in stormy times. Our world can be a very distressing place. We can easily become overwhelmed or defeated. Our news feeds are filled with reports of the ravages of disease, the havoc of disasters, and the inhumanity and incivility of man. Within a matter of moments, our lives can be upended into a cascading turmoil by sudden loss, distressing news, or tragic circumstances.

Where are we to turn? Our God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us . . . no matter what we face. He will never abandon us. He will never fail to keep His promises. He’s never gonna let us down!

We read in the book of Joshua, “Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true.”(1) The psalmist David writes that every one of God’s promises is backed by all the honor of His Name.(2) With God, it is an all or nothing deal. Either He is worthy of all honor, or He is worthy of none. Either every promise He makes is trustworthy and true, or not one of them is. God is not a man that He should lie(3) and therefore there is no promise He can make that He cannot – and will not – fulfill.

David also wrote, “The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.”(4) Every element of God’s promise is without error and without exaggeration. God never “hopes” to fulfill a promise. It is His guarantee. Because the moment He gave us His promise, it was and is a proven statement. Every word of God is faithful and true, and “His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”(5) We can stand on His every promise; it is a firm foundation. We can stand behind His every promise; it is our armor and protection. We can stand before His every promise; it is our hope and our confidence.

Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled.(1) He gave the Israelites all the land He had sworn to give them four hundred eighty years earlier. Throughout all of that time, the land had changed possession from tribe to tribe, but God’s promise had never changed. The seashores had changed with the tide; the mountaintops had changed with the wear and tear of the climate. But God’s promise never changed. And He had given them all the land.

He enabled them to take possession of the land. He didn’t just give them a promise and then leave it to their own devices to formulate a plan on how to bring it about. That would be a lame promise, wouldn’t it? It would be like me promising you a million dollars, taking you to the front door of the bank, pointing to the safe, and saying, “There it is, now go take it!” Well, not really – it wouldn’t have been mine to give you in the first place! But you know what i mean. His promise includes the means of fulfillment. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be a promise.

i am convinced that we, as His people, miss out on many of His promises because we are detracted from Him and His promise as we try to figure out our own way to achieve it. The Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land is a prime example. A journey that should have taken eleven days took forty years because the Israelites lost sight of God’s promise. In their faithlessness, they chose to go about it in their own way, and a generation perished without seeing its fulfillment.

He enabled them to settle in the Promised Land, and experience rest on every side. It was rest from their travels, rest from the insults of their enemies, and rest from their battles. It wouldn’t be rest absent from work. There was still much work to be done. But the work to be done would be done effectively and productively without worry and weariness. Work accomplished through “resting” in the LORD. That’s the picture of “abiding” that Jesus speaks of in John 15.(6)  Producing fruit that bears more fruit, knowing that He is the Vine and we are the branches.

He kept all of their enemies from standing against them. Paul writes, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”(7)  Time and again we see throughout the battles recorded in Joshua that their enemies did not fear because of Joshua’s leadership ability or the Israelites’ fighting ability; it was the presence and power of the Lord God Jehovah. Which of these would we desire to have our enemies – or those around us – see today – our abilities, or the presence and power of our God? Which would they say they see as they look at the actions and attitudes of our lives?

He conquered all of their enemies. Yes, there were Canaanites that remained to be fought another day. He had told the people that He would not drive out their enemies all at once; He would drive them out “a little at a time.”(8) But, in the meantime, God stayed the Canaanites’ hand by causing them to lack the strength or spirit to attack the Israelites, and therefore they did not give the Israelites cause for concern. But having said that, God did not do that to give license to the Israelites to ignore their enemies. Rather, they were still to be diligent about their work.

He fulfilled every promise – not one was excluded – everything He had spoken came true. That was true for the Israelites, and that is true for you and me. Paul wrote to the Church in Philippi, “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”(9) No part of that promise – or any promise – will remain unfulfilled. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”(10)

This past Sunday in worship, we sang the contemporary psalm entitled King of My Heart (lyrics below). It is a reminder that our Almighty God is the only One to whom we can turn in the midst of our uncertain times. He who has promised is faithful! And He’s never gonna let us down!

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Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 34 of my book Possessing the Promise.

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(1)  Joshua 21:45 (NLT)

(2)  Psalm 138:2

(3)  Numbers 23:19

(4)  Psalm 12:6

(5)  Psalm 91:4

(6)  John 15:1-7

(7)  Romans 8:31-32 (NKJ)

(8)  Exodus 23:29-31

(9)  Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

(10) 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJ)

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Ponda on Lightstock

King of My Heart 

Let the King of my heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh, He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the shadow where I hide
The ransom for my life
Oh, He is my song

 

You are good, good, oh
(Repeat 3x)

Let the King of my heart
Be the wind inside my sails
The anchor in the waves
Oh, He is my song
Let the King of my heart
Be the fire inside my veins
The echo of my days
Oh, He is my song

 

You are good, good, oh
(Repeat 3x)

You're never gonna let, never gonna let me down
(Repeat 7x)

You are good, good, oh
(Repeat 7x)

 

When the night is holding onto me

God is holding on

(Repeat )

 

You're never gonna let
You're never gonna let me down 

 

Songwriters: John Mark McMillan / Sarah McMillan

King of My Heart lyrics © 2015 Capitol Christian Music Group

Is There a Raging River Ahead?

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Is there a raging river ahead in your path? Is it a circumstance or a situation that you can’t go around . . . but you must go through? Is it an overwhelming barrier that you know you can’t navigate on your own? And in some ways, is it made even worse by the knowledge that it is the very path that God is leading you to take?

It was spring, just like it is now. And like the years before, the winter’s snow in the mountains of Lebanon at the head of the Jordan River was melting and the rushing water was causing its banks to overflow. If you were planning to cross the Jordan River, you most definitely would not have chosen to do so in the spring. The waters of the river were at their most treacherous point.

The Israelites had spent the prior forty years as a nomadic people living in the wilderness. They were far more accustomed to blowing sands than they were to flowing waters. i would venture very few of them even knew how to swim.

They had become fairly proficient at moving over one million people from place to place on dry land. But they were not river dwellers. They had no experience in crossing a river. The adult generations who had walked across the Red Sea were now dead. And those who were now on the journey did not know the “tried-and-true tips” of river crossings:(1)

·      Always err on the side of caution – do not attempt to cross deep rivers with fast currents.

·      Do not cross deep rivers that are more than thigh deep. The chance of losing your balance is too great.

·      Wear a personal flotation device.

·      Wear hiking boots. Never cross barefoot or in sandals. They do not protect your toes and become separated from your feet in a strong current.

·      Wear shorts for river crossings. Long clothing can create a drag.

·      Face upstream and shuffle sideways.

Yes, the Israelites didn’t know the do’s and don’ts. And if they had, they would have been even more convinced that now was the wrong time. All they knew was that God had said that “today” He was leading them to cross the Jordan to enter into His Promised Land. They knew it wasn’t some other day; it was that day. And on that day, they responded as a people of faith . . . putting complete trust in their God.(2)

The Jerichoites were fully aware the Israelites were camped on the other side of the Jordan. They knew the Israelite spies had recently entered their walled city. But the Jerichoites did not bother to assemble their fighting men on the western bank of the Jordan River to defend against them. They were certain the Israelites would never attempt a crossing during the spring. And yet God had said that was exactly what He was leading them to do.

We often make the mistake of seeing what we perceive to be “bad” timing, impenetrable barriers and overwhelming obstacles as reasonable excuses for not doing what God has told us to do. But the reality is that “bad” timing from a human perspective and impossible obstacles are exactly what God uses to magnify His power.

Consider Joshua and the twelve priests. Joshua, their relatively new leader, had just told the people he was leading to do a pretty outlandish thing. He had said, “Thus saith the Lord….” The twelve priests, in obedience to the Lord’s command, hoisted the most sacred possession of the people of Israel and stepped from the bank into the edge of the flowing waters of that raging river. And over one million pairs of eyes stood there and watched them.

This was either about to be a HUGE miracle, a great embarrassment, or a disastrous defeat.  If this was not God’s plan and He did not come through, Joshua and the priests would literally have been sunk. The Israelites would turn on Joshua for having misled them. They would ridicule the priests for destroying or damaging the Ark. The Jerichoites would mock the Israelites for their obvious stupidity, having attempted something so ridiculous, and would claim their undisputed victory over this ignorant people. And the name of God would be defamed throughout the land. There was a LOT at stake in this act of faithful obedience. There always is!

But as soon as the sole of the priests’ feet stepped into the river, it immediately became a dry path – not over time, but in an instant! And God did not choose to make the way in the same manner in which He had parted the Red Sea forty years earlier. There was no blowing wind, as was the case back then.(3) God had chosen to demonstrate His glory through the presence of the Ark, representing His Word, His might and His mercy.

Instead of creating a pathway with a wall of water on each side, He chose to stop the flow of the water upriver. Downriver, the waters continued to flow on to the Dead Sea, leaving the river bed dry – not muddy.

God did exactly what was needed. He always does! He accomplished it according to His plan and His purpose. Just like He was able to cause water to flow from a rock,(4) He was able to make rock appear where there had been water. He made a solid path in the midst of what had been raging waters.

It is worthy to note that the Ark not only entered into the river first.  The priests then moved it to the center of the river and stayed in that spot until all one million plus people had passed onto the west bank. Take heart as God leads you in your journey through a raging river. He not only goes before you leading you to take that first step of faith, He remains right in your midst throughout it all.

Yes, there will be that moment when if He doesn’t come through, you will fear that you are about to fail BIG time. But at that very moment, when He does come through, He will plant your feet on a solid path and stay right there in Your midst as You enter into His promise.

Walk with the courage and the confidence of those priests. Your God is faithful and His path is solid – even through a raging river.

* * * * *

Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 8 of my book Possessing the Promise .

* * * * *

(1)  https://www.liveabout.com/safety-tips-for-crossing-rivers

(2)  Joshua 3:11-17

(3)  Exodus 14:21

(4)  Exodus 17:6

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Dylan McLeod on Unsplash

In Whose Name Have You Done This?

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* * * * *

It started with the testimony of a lame man who was faithful to give praise to God for what He had done.(1) Often that’s how God begins a work of salvation. Just like it happened through the woman at the well in Sychar.(2) It also happened through the faithfulness of the young boy who gave his sack lunch to Jesus.(3) And it happened through Lazarus when he walked out of that tomb.(4)

Seeing and hearing that the man born lame was now walking, leaping and praising God, the people in the Temple were “absolutely astounded,”(5) and they “rushed out in amazement” to where the man was “holding tightly” to Peter and John.(6) “Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd.”(7) He wasted no time in asking the crowd two questions to get their focus on the right Person: “what is so surprising about this?” and “why stare at us as though we made this man walk by our own power or godliness?”(7)

It would have been easy for the group to get carried away by the sight of the miracle and totally miss the Miracle Worker. i am mindful that sometimes we get carried away as we share our own personal stories of how we came to be followers of Jesus. We spend a good bit of our time talking about our days before we walked with Christ, then another bit about what our lives are now like since following Christ, but little to no time talking about the One through whom our lives have been changed. Peter never hesitated – he quickly shifted the conversation from the miracle to the Miracle Worker.

And he quickly turned their attention away from John and himself. It can be easy to fall into the trap of pride and false modesty when God has worked through us. We start to feel good about what “we’ve” done or what “we’ve” said, and we allow the conversation to linger on about how great a Christian we are for God to use us in such a great way. But Peter was careful to not allow any of that glory to be misdirected to him. He immediately redirected the focus – and we would be wise to heed his example.

“For it is the God of … all our ancestors who has brought glory to His servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release Him. You rejected this holy, righteous One and instead demanded the release of a murderer. You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed – and you know how crippled he was before.”(8)

Peter knew that the men to whom he was speaking had rejected Jesus and His teachings. Approximately one year earlier Jesus had stood in that very Temple and taught and healed. Most of them, if not all, had heard Him firsthand. They had been eyewitnesses to some of the miracles He performed. And yet, they had rejected Him. They had been complicit in His execution, either directly, or indirectly through their silence. Some of them may have been a part of the crowd in Pilate’s courtyard who cried out, “Crucify Him!”(9) Many of them were those to whom Jesus was referring when, from the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”(10)

And the Father was answering His Son’s prayer and now extending His grace and mercy to them, as Peter declared: “Friends,  I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah – that He must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”(11) And hundreds of those gathered there on Solomon’s Colonnade believed and repented, and received God’s forgiveness that day. Some of the group were probably Pharisees. Some of the group could have been a part of the Sanhedrin. But, on that day, they became followers of Jesus!(12)

Be mindful that where the Spirit of God is at work, Satan will show up to oppose the work and attempt to silence the witness. That was true that day, just as it is today. The same men that had plotted to have Jesus crucified were not going to sit silently by and allow this work of God to continue. In a very short while they had seen five thousand of their people turn from religion to Jesus. The power base of the religious leaders was again being threatened. If they permitted this to occur much longer, they would be left without a people to rule – and they were jealous for their own positions and power! They sent out some of the priests and Sadducees, together with the Temple guard, to arrest Peter and John, and keep them from speaking any further.(13)

The next morning the high council had Peter and John brought before them. They demanded to know, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”(14) Now that was just flat out silly! They knew “in whose name” the lame man had been healed. They knew “in whose name” the message of repentance had been preached. And they knew “in whose name” Peter and John stood before them.

Remember, Caiaphas and Annas, as well as others of them, knew John and knew that he was a disciple of Jesus.(15) They knew he stood at the foot of the cross. And they knew of Peter. They probably even knew about Peter’s denial. They probably felt reasonably confident that he would cave-in under their interrogation. After all, he had denied Jesus three times in their homes when he was questioned by mere servants. Surely Peter would be so intimidated by Annas himself that he would again deny Jesus and this “movement” would be squelched.

From a worldly perspective, it wasn’t a bad plan. The council’s only problem was that they weren’t expecting the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Luke reminds us that Peter “was filled with the Holy Spirit.”(16) Annas wasn’t attempting to intimate a vulnerable fisherman, he was preparing to debate the Spirit of the Almighty God! Talk about showing up unprepared! Annas was ill-equipped to have that conversation. But bear in mind, so was Peter – apart from the presence, power and filling of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was the principal actor in all of this. Peter and John were simply supporting cast members. The Holy Spirit had made the lame man to walk. The Holy Spirit had convicted the hearts of those who believed that day. The Holy Spirit had boldly spoken the Word of God through Peter. And it was the Holy Spirit who would now take on these religious leaders. Peter and John’s role in all of this was to walk according to His guidance, emptied of their own selves and filled with His Spirit. If they had attempted to do any of this on their own, they would have failed miserably – and nothing of eternal Kingdom impact would have occurred. But because everything that was done, was done in the Name above all names – the Name of Jesus – and was done under the power of His Holy Spirit, a body was healed, lives were transformed and God was glorified!

Yes, it was the testimony of a lame man … and a woman at a well. It was the faith of a young boy with a sack lunch, and the obedience of one who walked out of a tomb. It was the faithfulness of two fishermen who obediently allowed the Holy Spirit to speak through them. Each of them was a follower just like us – through whom God chose to work to bring glory to His Name. They all knew it wasn’t about them; it was all about Him. And it still is!

* * * * *

Portions of this post have been taken from my book Until He Returns, chapter 11.

* * * * *

(1)  Acts 3:6-8

(2)  John 4:28-30

(3)  John 6:8-11

(4)  John 11:39-45

(5)  Acts 3:10

(6)  Acts 3:11

(7)  Acts 3:12

(8)  Acts 3:13-16

(9)  John 19:6

(10) Luke 23:34

(11) Acts 3:17-19

(12) Acts 4:4

(13) Acts 4:1-3

(14) Acts 4:7

(15) John 18:15

(16) Acts 4:8

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by LUMO-The Gospels for the visual age on Lightstock

How Can This Be?

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The early church looked radically different from the world around them . . . to the point others were drawn to ask, “How can this be?”  In the Book of Acts, Luke records, “On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,  as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!”(1)

 * * * * *

Several years ago my wife and i had the rare privilege of spending ten days in the heart of Jerusalem for a personal spiritual retreat. We stayed in an apartment on the second floor of a home that had been transformed into a prayer center. Though it was late June/early July, the temperature was moderate and we kept our windows open to enjoy the refreshing light breeze that was present most of the time. Throughout our time there – and since – we couldn’t help but think about the disciples as they waited in their upper room for ten days, in light of the experience we were having in our “upper room”. Here are some thoughts i captured in my journal as our time was drawing to an end:

“Today i sit in an upper room in Jerusalem. It is not ‘the’ upper room where the apostles gathered; but for me personally, it is ‘my’ upper room because it is a place where the Lord has permitted me to wait before Him, to hear His voice, to experience His presence and to be renewed with a fresh filling of His Spirit. Though i know that He is able to do those things in my life wherever i am – whenever i am willing to be still before Him – it is an added blessing to do so here in Jerusalem where the Lord Himself says He will make His home among His people.(2) i hear the joy of children laughing and playing in the near distance, mixed with the sounds of gentle breezes and the chirping of birds. i envision – as best i can – what that day will be like when our Lord returns to make His home among His people.

“We are here at the Lord’s invitation – not only to spend this time with Him, but also to do so in this place. He made the way for us to be able to do so. Otherwise, we could not be here. As clearly as He instructed the apostles to wait for Him, He instructed us to come to this place.

“Truly the Lord has enabled us to be still in this place, and know that He is God. There have not been any flames or tongues of fire – and i have not been given the ability to speak in other languages  – or even to improve my proficiency in the English language J. And yet, i have some small sense of what the apostles felt on that day – having experienced the rush of wind and been visited by and indwelt by His Spirit.

“i know that i was indwelt by His Spirit many years ago at the moment of my salvation, but He has allowed me over these past several days to experience a fresh renewing of my spirit and a fresh filling of His presence. i know i cannot tarry here – any more than those select disciples were able to tarry in His presence on the Mount of Transfiguration.(3) The time will soon arrive for us to come “down from the mountain” or, if you will permit, from our ‘upper room’. Life awaits at the base of the mountain – the day-to-day demands of life, the many opportunities of ministry, and the activities that i can allow to so easily distract me. But i know that just as He has allowed us to be in this upper room with Him, He allows us to walk down the mountain and into the day-to-day with Him, enabled, guided and empowered by His Holy Spirit.”

That is the closest i will ever come to knowing how the disciples felt as they awaited the arrival of the promised Helper. And then the “sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm… filled the house”. The Helper had come! He filled them to the point they overflowed. His filling was conspicuous. People came running because they knew there was a difference in these followers. They looked different. They spoke differently. They were ignited by the Holy Spirit. And the people knew the difference wasn’t of the disciples’ own making. They were “just Galileans” after all!

That same Holy Spirit dwells within us, if we have become followers of Jesus. So, is the world around us seeing that same difference? Is it seeing a group of people who look different, talk differently and reflect the presence of His Holy Spirit? And if we name the name of Jesus, we don’t need to wait in an upper room for the Helper to come. He entered into our lives at the moment of our salvation.

When i originally wrote this chapter for my book, i had just received an email from The Barna Group. Barna is an evangelical research group based out of Ventura, California. Based upon their polling, they shared the following facts in that email:

One-quarter of practicing Christians say there is a person who they cannot forgive.

Almost half of practicing Christians say mercy doesn’t influence their thoughts or actions or they haven’t thought about whether it does.

Christians grapple with whether certain people deserve compassion or forgiveness, and they are not all that different from non-Christians when it comes to embodying merciful attitudes and actions.

Their conclusion was that the Church was struggling to embody mercy. And since that research was conducted pre-pandemic, i would imagine that the response would be even more startling today. Our struggle is because we have relegated the Helper to the back row of our lives instead of the driver’s seat. Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to enable and empower us to embody Him, His love and His mercy. If our lives don’t reflect His presence or His power, it is because we have quenched the igniting of His Holy Spirit. Even the early church struggled. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica: “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit,”(4) and to the church in Ephesus: “Be filled with the Spirit.”(5) We would do well to heed his counsel. 

The Helper has come! We are not awaiting His arrival. He has come like the roaring of a mighty windstorm. Jesus, ignite Your Spirit within us. Fill us to overflowing. So that the world might again see You . . . Your Person . . . and Your glory reflected through our lives – and once more ask, “How can this be?”

* * * * *

Portions of this post have been taken from my book Until He Returns, chapter 4.

* * * * *

(1)  Acts 2:1-8 (NLT)

(2)  Joel 3:21

(3)  Matthew 17:1-9

(4)  1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NLT)

(5)  Ephesians 5:18 (NLT)

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Personal photo of Jerusalem.

As They Waited

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Do you find yourself in a situation where you are waiting on God? Has He given you a promise that hasn’t yet come to fruition and you feel like you are sitting in the waiting room? If so, there is an important lesson to remember – waiting is not inactivity! As a matter of fact, it is a lesson the early disciples modeled well.

Ten days passed between Jesus’s ascension and the arrival of His promised Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us generally that His followers spent that time gathered in the upper room and in the Temple praying, praising and worshiping God. But in the midst of that period of time, Luke records two specific incidents: the specifics of how Judas Iscariot died and how Matthias was selected to replace Judas as the twelfth apostle.

We know that there are details that the Holy Spirit led the writers of Scripture not to include. And we know that everything that was included was for a purpose: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”(1) Therefore, i think it is reasonable for us to ask why these two specific details were inserted in the midst of this time of waiting. As a matter of fact, i think it is also reasonable to ask how these details are applicable to us in our respective journeys.

Peter gives us the key to the answer right up front when he tells us that what the Holy Spirit predicted long ago had to be fulfilled.(2)

The first prophecy that Peter referenced was regarding Judas Iscariot. Peter reminded the other disciples that King David recorded, “Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it,”(3) meaning that the betrayer’s evil deed would cause his name to become reprehensible for posterity and his final resting place would become contemptable.

In the first century A.D., the name Judas was a name synonymous with honor, and therefore a very popular name. In fact, two of the twelve disciples were named Judas. The name was often given in recognition of Judas Maccabaeus, one of the great generals in Jewish history. He and his followers defeated the Syrian armies in 165 B.C., restored the religious rites, and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem.

Simon Iscariot would have named his son Judas in the hope that he would be a man of honor in the tradition of Judas Maccabaeus. But, as Judas Iscariot’s treachery became notorious, that was no longer the case. Today If you look up the name Judas in the dictionary, you will find “one who betrays another under the guise of friendship; a deceiver or traitor.”(4) As a result, the name “Judas” was no longer a popular choice among parents determining the name for their bouncing baby boys. Judas’s name became reprehensible as a result of his treachery as foretold by the prophecy.(5)

Both Matthew and Luke give us an account of Judas’s death. When he fully realized the consequences of his betrayal of Jesus – the condemnation of Jesus to die and the damnation of his own soul for his part in the deed – he took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them at the feet of the leading priests and elders. The priests themselves considered the money as “payment for murder.”(6) Matthew records that right after Judas threw down the coins, he “went out and hanged himself.”(7) Luke, the physician, adds that the hanging rope broke causing Judas’s body to fall headfirst to the ground causing his body to split open, spilling out his intestines. It was a gruesome death brought about by his gruesome treachery!

Because that land was defiled by his suicide, the priests decided to use the coins to purchase the land to be used as a graveyard for foreigners and the “dregs” of society. As the news of Judas’s death spread, the field became known as “the field of blood”. When Luke writes that “Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery,”(8) he is saying that the payment for Judas’s treachery is what was used to purchase the field. His treachery and the use of the ransom to purchase just such a burial site was in fulfillment of the prophecy recorded by Zechariah – “So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter” – this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord.”(9) Judas’s final abode – his burial place --  became contemptible as a result of his treachery as foretold in the prophecy.

The second prophecy that Peter referenced is in regard to choosing a replacement for Judas. He reminded the apostles – and us – that King David recorded, “Let someone else take {the betrayers} position.”(10) The night Jesus was arrested, the apostles were engaged in another discussion about which of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom. After having corrected their thinking from being rulers to being servants, Jesus told them that upon His return each of them would “sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”(11)Even though Jesus had only ascended to heaven a few days earlier, the apostles always believed – and acted in a way that was consistent with their belief – that His return was imminent. Therefore, they saw the selection of a twelfth apostle to replace Judas as an urgent need, so that they might be prepared for Jesus’s return.

Though the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent to empower them, they still had the Word of God and prayer. Jesus had on multiple occasions made it clear that Peter was to be their leader.(12) When Peter referenced the prophecies of King David, he was not doing so on his own, he was being led by the Spirit of God, even though he was not yet indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Thus Peter responded to the leading of the Word and the Holy Spirit to fill that vacant position. Through their process, the Lord subsequently led them to select Matthias.

Now, let’s come back to our original question: why all this concern while they waited with how Judas died, the field his blood-money bought, and the way he got replaced as an apostle?

First, and most importantly, it is imperative for us to remember while we are in the waiting room that what the Holy Spirit says, will be fulfilled in His timing, no matter how long it takes. Prophecy was fulfilled – even through those who rebelled against God. No matter what people may choose to do, God’s promises in His Word are invincible, irrefutable and indomitable. Even when you are being betrayed His purpose will not fail. Even when you see godless action taking place around you and to you, God ultimately prevails. He has no need to panic. Not even Judas or Satan could undermine or escape the all-encompassing invincibility of God's purpose. No one and no thing can! Trust that His timing is perfect!

Second, the importance of the memory of Jesus that Matthias preserved when he replaced Judas corresponds to the importance of God’s written Word in our lives. It was important that whoever replaced Judas was someone who had been a follower of Jesus the entire time from His baptism to His ascension. It was important that they had heard and witnessed Jesus’s teaching and miracles firsthand. The Holy Spirit was soon to arrive to indwell those believers – and specifically the apostles. It was important that they not only be filled by His Spirit, but they also needed to be rooted in His Word (His teaching). They did not have benefit of the New Testament. They would be the writers and messengers of those truths. It was imperative that they be firsthand witnesses.

The same principle holds true for us. We too must not only be filled with the Holy Spirit; we must also be rooted in His Word. At the timeframe of this passage in the upper room, the Holy Spirit had not yet come to indwell them and the New Testament had not yet been written. But today we have both! John Piper writes, “…if our roots are not sunk deep into the words and deeds of Jesus (preserved for us by the apostles), then it is certain that our branches will not reach very high into the sky of God's power.”(13)

One other point that is worthy to note: this is the last time we ever see believers casting lots to discern God’s will. Remember, at this moment in time, they were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit came to live within them, He led them and guided them in all truth. Jesus had told His disciples the night of His betrayal, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future.”(14) He guides us today. We do not need to cast lots; we only need to listen to His voice and follow His leading.

The words spoken and the actions they took while they waited that night in the upper room two thousand years ago do indeed apply to us! They point us to His unfailing Word. They point us to His unchanging character. And they point us to the invincible outcome of His purpose! All of which we must hold onto – as we continue to wait … for His promise … and His promised return!

* * * * *

Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 3 of my book Until He Returns.

* * * * *

(1)  2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)

(2)  Acts 1:15-26 (NLT)

During this time, when about one hundred twenty believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them. “Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David… in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’ So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus –   from the time He was baptized by John until the day He was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.” So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they all prayed, “O Lord, You know every heart. Show us which of these men You have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.

 

(3)  Psalm 69:25(NLT)

(4)  Merriam-Webster Dictionary

(5)  As outlined in chapter 19 of Walking With The Master

(6)  Matthew 27:6

(7)  Matthew 27:5

(8)  Acts 1:18 (NLT)

(9)  Zechariah 11:12-13 (NLT)

(10) Psalm 109:8 (NLT)

(11) Luke 22:30

(12) Matthew 16:19, Luke 22:31-32, John 21:15-17

(13) Taken from “What Judas’s Death Teaches Us About the Spirit” by John Piper, published by desiringgod.org

(14) John 16:13 (NLT)

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

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John’s Epilogue

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This past Sunday, we celebrated the greatest moment in history – the day Jesus defeated sin, death and Satan by rising from the dead. The day eclipses all others. Even the advent of Jesus as the baby in the manger takes a subordinate place in history. If His resurrection had not occurred, His birth would have only been on par with that of other great men and women who have lived and died.

The four Gospel writers recorded their accounts of the events surrounding Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection from different vantage points. Matthew witnessed much of what he wrote, but his narrative includes many details that he heard from others, including those of Jesus’ birth, childhood and more. Mark and Luke both wrote their accounts exclusively using details provided by others, since neither one of them were eyewitnesses.

But John was an eyewitness to most every detail included in his record beginning with John 1:15. From that point forward, nothing is second hand. The first fourteen verses of the Gospel of John are his introduction, comprising his summary of the most important truth that he wants his readers to glean from his account – that being that Jesus Christ is the Son of God – a conclusion that he personally did not fully come to until he stepped into the empty tomb.(1) He states it right up front in his narrative because he wants his readers to hear every detail in the light of that truth.

John concludes chapter 20 by writing:

“The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.”(2)

That could have been a powerful closing statement to the Gospel according to John. It would have ended on the same note as the other three. But he didn’t stop there … he added an epilogue. The Cambridge Dictionary defines an epilogue as “a speech or piece of text that is added to the end of a play or book, often giving a short statement about what happens to the characters after the play or book finishes.”

We would do well to ask why an epilogue was included in John’s account.(3)

During the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension, Jesus appeared and disappeared at will. The account recorded in John’s epilogue is the third time – at least as far as we are told -- that He appeared to His disciples. Though Jesus had a physical body, it was a resurrected body. He was able to come and go as He pleased – at one moment He was there with His disciples, at another He was with His Father in heaven. Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time He would no longer be with them continually in bodily form. He was preparing them for the coming of the Spirit and their future ministry assignments. The disciples never knew when He would appear, so they had to remain alert. (Incidentally, we would do well to heed that lesson ourselves!)

After His resurrection, Jesus instructed the disciples to meet Him in Galilee. Matthew and Mark also record that fact, though neither of them tells us what took place.(4) John tells us they had apparently been waiting for a while. Peter, not being one to sit around and wait, decided he wasn’t going to miss a good opportunity to go fishing. He enlisted the other fishermen in the group to join him – Thomas, Nathanael, the brothers James and John, and two others (probably Andrew and Philip). These were the seven who had been fishermen when Jesus first called them to follow Him – and it was “still in their blood”.

Apparently, Matthew, Simon the Zealot, James the Less and Thaddeus were the landlubbers who were off doing something else that night – perhaps sleeping, given the fact it was still in the very early morning hours. Hopefully, they woke up in time to show up on the shore for the very special breakfast Jesus was preparing! (One side road: please take note that Thomas was in the boat with the other fishermen. i am convinced he had determined to never again be the one absent from the group when Jesus showed up!)

The events that transpired on the boat that night should sound very familiar. Over two years earlier, Peter, Andrew, James and John had been fishing all night and they hadn’t caught anything.(5) Jesus had instructed them to go out where it was deeper and cast their nets one more time. You will recall that their nets were so full they began to tear. It was then that Jesus had told them to follow Him. They had followed, and not looked back. And oh, what a two-plus-years’ journey it had been!

Well, on this morning, they also had been fishing all night without success. It was now dawn and they were probably getting ready to return to shore. Jesus was standing on the shore. The sun was just coming up, and they were a distance out in the sea, so they couldn’t see that it was Him. He told them to throw out their net on the right-hand side and they would “get plenty of fish.”(6) Remember, they didn’t know it was Jesus – but something told them they needed to cast the net one more time. And just like the time two-plus years earlier, there were so many fish they couldn’t haul in the net. As a matter of fact, John includes the detail that they caught 153 large fish. And this time, the net hadn’t torn. That familiar memory is all it took to prompt John to say, “It’s the Lord!”(7) He knew His Lord’s ways – and though he couldn’t recognize His form and He hadn’t recognized His voice, he knew it was Him! This time, Jesus didn’t need to tell Peter to come – hearing from John that it was their Lord, he jumped in the water and headed for Jesus.

This was the last miracle that Jesus performed as a part of His earthly ministry before He ascended to the Father – nets full of fish. It’s reminiscent of His first miracle over three years earlier in Cana – water pots full of wine. Jesus never did anything halfway. He still doesn’t! When Jesus shows up there is abundance – perhaps not always in fish or wine – but abundant life, abundant joy and abundant mercy.

Jesus was preparing to send out His disciples as His ambassadors to be about His mission in the spreading of His gospel and the making of His disciples who would in turn make other disciples. Two-plus years ago, He had called them to follow Him bodily, now He was preparing to tell them to continue to follow Him – though not bodily, but by His Spirit.

Jesus’ call to us has not been to follow Him bodily; but His call to us has been the same as that morning beside the sea – to follow Him by His Spirit. And one day, when He returns, we’ll follow Him in His resurrected body with our resurrected bodies. And oh, by the way – i don’t want to miss that “breakfast” – and neither do you!

One other note, along those lines – notice that Jesus already had breakfast prepared, but it wasn’t complete until they added some of their catch. There was fruit of their labor by faith that had yet to be added before breakfast was ready. There is fruit of the labor that He has called us to – which by faith – has yet to be added to the “pot” before He returns and calls us to sit down with Him for the marriage supper of the Lamb.(8) He’s already preparing it, but He is at work in and through our lives to produce fruit that is yet to be added.

You see – the story didn’t end with Jesus’ resurrection. Events continued in the lives of His disciples … those who walked with Him then … and those of us who walk with Him now. We’re part of the epilogue … until the day He returns! Let’s be faithful to cast the net on the right hand side. There are still fish to be drawn in! There are still many yet to hear!

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Portions of this post have been taken from my book Taking Up The Cross , chapter 59.

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(1)  John 20:8

(2)  John 20:30-31 (NLT)

(3)  John 21:1-14 (NLT)

Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there — Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So, they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who He was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then He said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So, they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. So, Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn. “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to His disciples since He had been raised from the dead.

(4)  Matthew 28:7 and Mark 16:7

(5)  Luke 5:1-11

(6)  John 21:6 (NLT)

(7)  John 21:7 (NLT)

(8)  Revelation 19:6-9

Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by LUMO-The Gospels for the visual age on Lightstock