On This Day: Smiling Thoughts of Jesus’ Two Comings

   And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9-10)

   There was so much in my time with God this morning that made me smile. Some of it came from his word, and some came from me as I interacted with his word in a real and personal way.

   The central focus of my smile was the realization that there were two groups of people who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem on the day we refer to as “Palm Sunday” and there will be two groups of people involved in welcoming Jesus in his return, what we speak of as his “second coming”. 

   Jesus spoke of these two groups when he was preparing Martha for the miracle of raising her brother from the dead. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

   Jesus indicated that there will be some disciples who will die before he returns but because they believe in him, “yet shall he live”. But there will also be the disciples “who live and believe” in Jesus, and these ones “shall never die” because they will go from this earthly life to their new-earthly life without passing through death.

   The apostle Paul referred to these two groups as he comforted believers in their concern about their believing loved ones who had passed away and Jesus had not yet returned. He wrote,

   For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (I Thessalonians 4:16-18)

   One group is “the dead in Christ” who “will rise first”, the ones Jesus said would live even though they die. The other group is those “who are alive, who are left”. These “will be caught up together with them”. The “these” are the ones who are alive at Jesus’ return, and the “them” is those who had died but were raised from the dead at Jesus’ second coming.

   When Jesus returns, we will witness the most remarkable gathering of people. There will be those whose souls are united with their glorified bodies and are rising up to meet Jesus while those who are still alive are gathered to join them in meeting the Lord. We then will be the crowd that surrounds Jesus as he continues his coming to the earth to judge the nations.

   John had a glimpse into these two groups when they will be gathered as one.

   After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10). 

   I know for sure I will be in that larger group in the new heavens and the new earth. I just don’t yet know which of the two previous groups I will be part of when Jesus returns. Will I be one who had died and is raised from the dead? Or will I be one who is still alive and will be caught up with the others? 

   For me, it doesn’t much matter which group I will be in because I know I will “always be with the Lord”. But do you know you will be in one of these groups that welcomes Jesus at his return? Or will you be in the group that fulfills, “and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30)?

    The one thing that would most increase my smile is hearing that you have returned to Jesus Christ today so you know you will be with him when he returns to judge the earth and gather his people to himself forever.

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: The Pendulum and the Plumbline on Prayer

   And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” (Mark 10:35-37)

   But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45)

   It really stood out to me today how comfortable Jesus’ disciples were with him. For James and John to be able to ask such a self-centered request not only exposed their immaturity, but it also demonstrated something of what it was like to spend so much time with our Savior. They felt safe to ask him such a thing even though they had no clue what they needed to learn.

   Because this is the most “real and personal” picture of prayer (talking to Jesus in person), it calls us to clarify the difference between pendulum prayers that swing from one extreme to another and plumbline prayers that are always expressing “truth in love” from the heart of “spirit and truth” worshipers. 

   The way Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane is the most amazing demonstration of how we can pray earnestly about personal experiences we are going through while also submitting our thoughts and feelings to God’s will. 

   In fact, what hit me the most in James and John’s request was that it had the sense of a teenager who imagines they know better than their parents what they need and so they are quite adamant that it needs to be done their way (it also sounds like toddlers who think everything is about them, but I’m giving the brothers the benefit of the doubt).

   I have found the Psalms to be a very good source of prayer-examples about how to pour out our hearts to God about everything we are going through, telling him everything we need to get out about what we think and feel, but then submitting it all to the will of God and praising him for whatever he chooses to do with us. 

    In Psalm 73, Asaph gives his testimony of how close he came to stumbling because he fell into the trap of envying the wicked for how much better their lives seem to go than for those who pursue righteousness. He even admitted that “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (Psalm 73:21-22). 

   But after pouring out his heart in “the sanctuary of God” (vs 17), Asaph remembered what was ahead for the wicked and reminded himself what was ahead for him on the path of truth and righteousness. And so he praised God, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (vss 25-26).

   Today’s word from God is to bring all our requests to him, not in a “would you do things my way” kind of praying, but in a humble expression of our needs with humble submission to his will. 

   After all, Father knows best, and we can only be like our Savior if we want “not my will, but yours be done”. 

   

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: When ‘God is love’ Gets Angry

   And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mark 10:13-16)

   Today was the third time in the past couple of weeks that it has stood out what Jesus said about children. 

   First, Jesus said that whoever receives a child in his name is receiving both him and the Father at the same time (as unthinkably wonderful as that is!).

   Second, Jesus warned that anyone who would cause one of his little ones who believe in him to sin would be better off tossed into the sea with a millstone around his neck than face Jesus’ judgment on such evil. 

   Third, today’s reference shows Jesus responding with indignation to his disciples trying to prevent children from coming to him. And it is this expression of pure and genuine emotion from Jesus I found so captivating this morning. 

   The first thing that came to mind was some heartbreaking scenes of watching parents literally traumatizing their children to keep them from trusting Jesus in “the obedience of faith”. This morning, God made very clear how he feels about such abuse!

   The second focus was a journey down the heartbreaking memory lane of adults who were traumatized as children simply because they believed in God and wanted to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Today this was made clear as well, that God’s response to those childhood traumas was one of indignation against anyone who deliberately hindered us from coming to Jesus Christ.

   The reason anyone tries to stop children (or the child-hearted) from coming to Jesus is because that is Satan’s will and work. Paul said it like this, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4). Satan will do anything, and he will use anyone, to keep people from seeing God’s glory in Jesus Christ.

   But when Paul continues, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6), we now need to include Jesus’ “indignation” as God’s glory shining out through the face of his Son. 

   In this past year, I have discovered a strong movement of false teachers telling people that God, the Bible, and the way of God’s kingdom need to be rewritten to be “more Christlike”. But today I see Jesus himself showing God’s love for children in his indignation against those who hinder them from coming to him. There is no such thing as a loving God who tolerates sin against his Little Ones. 

   I was amazed this morning at how God touched my own wounded heart in this area. He brought to the surface my heartache about seeing beloved children deliberately turned away from the Savior. And he took me back to my childhood trauma and showed me his indignation about what was done to me. 

   Since I know that what comes next is Jesus’ affirming that we must be like little children to enter his kingdom, it amazes me that he would address childhood trauma head-on with an expression of the most loving response a child could ever see, the indignation of God himself standing against anyone who would keep them from his Son. 

   I hope this encourages you to deal with any part of this that applies to you so that you are coming to Jesus yourself and helping others to do so as well. Whether he shows you something he is doing in his Little Ones that you can join, or brings to mind the children and child-hearted who need your prayers, come to Jesus with all your heart and ask him to help you help others to join you.

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: The Creator’s Final Word on Creation

   And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

   And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10:1-9)

   I absolutely LOVE God’s word on creation. No apologies. No explaining things away. No denying real science. Just knowing that what the Creator teaches about himself and his creation is like coming home to reality. 

   When I read how Jesus was again surrounded by crowds who had gathered to hear him, and how “again, as was his custom, he taught them”, I felt like he was doing that exact thing for me this morning. He was attaching to me in my time with him even while he was also meeting with his disciples all over the world who were coming to him as I was.  

   When I then read through these familiar words, one thing stood out more strongly than ever: Jesus is “the Word” of God giving us the final word on “the word of God”. 

   The apostle John began his gospel account with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Jesus is here called “the Word” to communicate (in the most beautiful way, I should add) how personal God is in speaking to us. But what is really important for us is to see that Jesus is “the Word”, he was “WITH God”, he “WAS God” and he created everything.

   The scriptures we have in the Bible are constantly called “the word of God”. As God speaks to us through his Son, the scriptures begin to be called “the word of Christ”, God speaking through his Son.

   When Jesus’ religious opponents kept trying to test him and trap him, it was to make him say something contrary to the scriptures, the word of God, because that would prove he could not be the Messiah. No matter how many times they failed, and no matter how often Jesus embarrassed them and exposed their hypocrisy, they hated him so much that they could not stop trying to destroy him (narcissists that they were!). 

   However, what Jesus did here was what he did all the time, he held up the word of God as the plumbline of truth and let his opponents show everyone how far away their hearts were from God’s word. 

   The warning in this is how Jesus identifies the Pharisees’ problem as “your hardness of heart”. Many people are just as heart-hardened against God’s word as those religious hypocrites were back then. To mention creation even in churches is becoming a source of contention when God’s word is so clear on the matter.

    This morning, I simply testify to the glory of Jesus Christ as “the Word” giving us the final word on creation by magnifying “the word of God” in what it reveals. God’s word is God’s word, so it tells us the truth about where we came from, who we are, why we are here, what’s wrong with us, and what God has done to make things right between us and him. I have never found one claim against Jesus Christ and creation that has a leg to stand on, as they say. But God’s word is continually proven true, not only in creation, but in its description of the human condition. 

   Jesus defeated Satan in the wilderness by declaring scripture, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). And we defeat Satan’s lies by continuing to live by the words that come from God’s mouth as given to us in the scriptures we have in the Bible. 

   This morning was just one more way “the Word” declared the final word on “the word”, and I happily go into my day walking with my Creator in “the obedience of faith”. 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: When Big Ones Make Little Ones Sin

   “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42)

   Once again, I can give testimony to two things. First, I can share what God spoke to me about today as a distinctive lesson from his word. 

   Second, I can emphasize how God continually speaks in the most personal ways through his word so we know what he is saying about things we are facing, we can identify what he is doing, and we can recognize how to join him in his work. 

   One thing I often share with people is that our time with God should begin by fessing up about how we are doing. When we make a habit of acting like the child who is coming to our Father in heaven for parental attachment, we can tell him what’s up with us and then watch to see and hear how he will address those things when we open his word. 

   Today this came together as I was lamenting to God the loss of some Little Ones who were turned away from Jesus. It’s one of those special days that hurt more than others. I expressed my grief at what was done to me in my personal loss, but I poured out my heart in mourning what was done to the children by convincing them that Jesus could not be trusted. 

   The above text was what I came to next. It was just there. I can honestly say I hadn’t seen it coming. But it clearly told me how God views the situation no matter what I see happening.

   The point for me is that God’s specific word this morning is to assure me that justice is in his hands. Whatever he does with such things is scary. Jesus deliberately used a terrifying image to assure us that his judgment against people who cause the Little Ones to sin is far worse than his illustration.

   This took me to a picture that is described in even greater detail as the horrible judgment on people who turn away and do harm to the Little Ones. 

   For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)

   This is what God spoke to me about this morning. It’s clearly just what I needed to hear today. The specific word encourages me to leave justice in God’s hands. And the personal application to my heartache and grief this morning affirms how real and personal God is to speak to his child through his word every day of my life.

   Since yesterday’s word was so clearly about how receiving the Little Ones into the company of our hearts assures us that we are receiving the Triune God at the same time, it is easy to see how to examine our hearts to clear up any ways we may have caused Little Ones to stumble, to bring to God any wounds of how Big Ones have caused us to sin when we really didn’t want to, and to be completely honest with our Savior about opening our hearts to him and his Little Ones in whatever ways we have opportunity today. 

   It IS a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God when we are causing Little Ones to stumble. But it is a return-to-joy thing when we receive the living God into our fellowship as we receive the Little Ones he sends our way. 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: When Prayer is the Only Answer

   And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:28-29)

   This is one of those hit-the-bull’s-eye arrows of God’s word that left my cringing and smiling at the same time. 

   The cringe part is the conviction that prayer is one of the most heart-exposing callings of our walk with God. 

   The smile part is to realize that this is why I was so blessed with the realization that God telling his disciples to “listen” to Jesus meant with an intention of obeying what he said. That he said there is a kind of demon that can only come out by prayer means he expects his church to pray for people’s freedom in Christ until they are free.

   My biggest difficulty with a “pray without ceasing” kind of everyday living is the nagging influence of discouragement. Sometimes that comes because a prayer has not been answered my way. Other times it comes because other believers have lost the heart for prayer so persevering becomes more difficult. 

   I often find myself recognizing that I am on a “this time through” a passage of scripture. I can’t camp in how God spoke to me last time I visited that text. My quest is to know what he is speaking to me about this time, and how he wants this to apply to anything I am going through.

   So, this time through this account of the disciples’ failure to drive out a demon, with the “listen to him” now filtering my understanding, I see this as God addressing that I must repent of any ways I give up too easily in prayer, or in praying for certain people and their needs. Discouragement is sometimes just self-centered childishness that thinks I am the center of the universe and if things aren’t going my way, I don’t have to do what I’m told. 

   But this is also the “correcting” side of Scripture that shows me what God is calling me to put into practice. It isn’t something that only applied to those apostles. It is a lesson to us when the things we are doing in ministry aren’t working but the needs are still staring us in the face. Some things can only be done through prayer because that is how God tests us to make sure we are trusting him and not ourselves. 

   The universal application to all believers is that we are told to address everything in prayer. That includes every need, but it also includes every ministry opportunity, no matter how impossible they appear to us. The instruction of our Savior (through Paul) we all must listen to in “the obedience of faith” is:

   Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

   Let’s not say we didn’t just “hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches”. Instead, let’s admit we heard our Savior’s voice, and follow him where he leads in applying this to our lives and anyone who needs our ministry. 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: Listen to Jesus in Obedient Faith

   And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. (Mark 9:2-8)

   My first testimony is how years of spending time with God in his word and prayer increases what we notice even in familiar passages of scripture. It is so worth it to take the daily steps with God that turn into a lifetime journey with our Creator. 

   My second testimony is that one of the threads I repeatedly see in God’s tapestry is Paul’s expression, “the obedience of faith”. Paul speaks of this at both the beginning and end of the book of Romans. First he says, “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (1:5). 

   And then Paul concludes Romans with this glorious expression,

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (16:25-27).

   Thinking about everything I read through this filter, that God’s word is working to bring me into this obedience of faith, makes me listen to everything like God expects me to put it into practice. Yes, just like he’s the Father who just told me what he wants me to do!

   And the third testimony is that I love looking up the meanings of words in the Bible because sometimes the definitions are a succinct commentary on what is expected of me in the words I am reading. In this case, the word for “listen” implies obedience. It would alert a child that Father has something for them to do. It would call a servant to attention because an instruction is about to be given. 

   This morning, these three things were woven together so I could hear what my Father was saying to me. This includes a warning to guard against hardening my heart towards anything that may happen today because it doesn’t fit my profile of what God should be doing in my life. It includes a rebuke to any ways I am arguing with my Father about what he is allowed to do to me or through me. And it includes a most loving invitation to pay close attention to the Holy Spirit who will lead me to put into practice the very things the Father has spoken into my heart and mind through the “word of Christ”. 

   And I am sure that seeking to keep in step with the Holy Spirit today will prove to be just as personal as the way my Father in heaven spoke to me in my time alone with him this morning.

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: To be Amazed and Ashamed of Jesus

   And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:37)

   And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38)

   Today was a “big picture day”, which meant reading a longer section of Mark’s gospel to get a larger view of what Jesus was doing in his ministry and how people were responding to him and his work.

   Because of this, I noticed the change that took place from when Mark showed how astonished people were at the amazing signs and wonders Jesus was doing but then narrowed the spotlight to Jesus’ beginning to teach his disciples about the cross. 

   In this case, there is a familiar pattern in the way people can be so excited to be part of something amazing God is doing when it doesn’t touch on his will for their lives, and then ashamed of Jesus’ teachings about his cross of salvation and our cross of submission because of what it demands of them. 

   I have experienced some horrendous losses and grief because people discovered what I believe about the cross of Jesus Christ as the only means of purchasing our salvation. I have watched friends and family close their hearts to me because I can’t escape Jesus’ words that we who follow the Christ have a cross as well, one of submission to the Savior who died for us. 

   With the Christmas season already announcing its coming, it reminds us that many people will accept the warm-fuzzies of “peace on earth, goodwill toward men”. Some may express mild curiosity at our claim that Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God came into the world as a baby. A few may even go so far as to be amazed at all the miraculous things Jesus did for people in his ministry.

   But to complete the thought that God’s peace on earth is only for those with whom he is “well pleased”, and that Jesus’ coming into the world was explicitly “to save sinners”, and that Jesus was “a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him” so that everyone would “know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified”, sends the same people away utterly ashamed of such a message of foolishness to this proud and blind generation.

   When I see the stage set with contrasts such as this, it challenges me to examine myself to be sure I am in the faith. If there is any part of the gospel I am ashamed of (including the part about denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily, and following Jesus wherever he leads), I sure better deal with my pride that thinks I have a better way than Jesus presented. 

   After all, if Jesus would say to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man”, why would I think that the adjustments I imagine making to following Jesus would come from a different source than Satan himself?!

   And knowing that makes me head into this day wanting everyone to know how amazing Jesus is no matter what he calls us to do to follow him. Anything he asks of me will pale in comparison to the glorious salvation he purchased for me by his death on the cross.

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: The Heart That Gets Us in Trouble

   And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:14-23)

   There have been times when I have been shocked to realize how different Jesus’ teachings are from the way churches live. And one of the most glaring contrasts is still between religion’s focus on externals and God’s focus on our hearts. 

   In the early 90’s, I read Larry Crabb’s book, “Inside Out” and heard this strange idea that church folks are more committed to their self-protection (keeping God away from their hearts) than they are to knowing and doing the will of God. Three decades later that is exactly what I have seen. 

   In fact, most church people I have known not only focus on externals instead of matters of the heart, but they have put considerable energy into making their churches like that and expend constant energy trying to keep them that way! The whole while we have the word of God filled with the good news of how God changes hearts. 

   One of the most significant prophecies about this is in Ezekiel 11:19 and repeated in 36:26. There God promises, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” 

   Paul spoke about this when he wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Corinthians 5:17). He included this focus when he spoke about baptism (something universal to the church throughout the whole world and all the rest of time), “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). 

   Churches should not be such a breeding ground for things like “evil thoughts, coveting, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness”. Jesus called these “evil things” and called us to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”. 

   Because it is true that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9), we must confess the “evil things” in our hearts and set our minds on the Spirit who will lead us in the newness of life. 

   Hiding in arguments about externals did not work for Jesus’ opponents back in the day, and we cannot expect he will tolerate it from us now. He has a much better way for us and his love cannot leave us self-justifying a wash-your-hands policy that leaves people with hearts far away from God. 

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
(Psalm 24:3-5)

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: To Glory in the Word of God

   And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:9-13)

   Ever since I finished my five-and-a-half-month journey through a book of false teachings about God’s word, I have been amazed and delighted by how often Jesus spoke of the Scriptures as the word of God. 

   One reason this is so important is that the false teachers speaking against God’s word are as prolific as Jesus and the apostles warned. Many people who are snared by their clever reasonings miss the fact that both the teachers and their followers are confirming scripture as the word of God since God said that there would be many deceivers and many people deceived by them!

   I want to elaborate on how Jesus affirmed the scriptures as the word of God simply to encourage everyone that we who trust in God’s word will not be the ones who are ashamed in the judgment. It will be those who cry out in horror that they taught or followed teachings against the word of God who will be ashamed that they rejected the authoritative word of God in the scriptures.

   The reason Isaiah’s prophecy is affirmed as God’s word is because the Jewish understanding of the genuine prophets was that they were speaking for God. For Jesus to quote Isaiah and declare his writing as prophecy is to make him a spokesman for God and his book the word of God.

   If we follow how Jesus and the gospels addressed “as it is written,” we will see that it is the written word that is treated as the word of God. That written word is what we now have in the Old Testament part of our Bibles. 

   The quote from Isaiah is Isaiah quoting Yahweh, the name of God in the Old Testament. To quote Yahweh (know by the Jews of Jesus’ time as Adonai), is declaring the word of God, and the dominos of this quote being in Isaiah, being “what is written”, and being in “the scriptures” amplifies the declaration that we are dealing with the word of God.

   When Jesus taught something from the scriptures and called it “the commandment of God”, he was declaring it to be the word of God, but also emphasizing that it is authoritative over God’s people, as are the scriptures to this day.

   What we call the books of Moses are the first five books of the Bible. They are greatly under attack because the history they reveal is foundational to understanding the whole of scripture. When Jesus used Moses as his authority, he was affirming that what Moses wrote was God’s word. It should serve as a warning to the many people who are tampering with it to suit their agendas.

    I smiled when I saw that Jesus used the very phrase “the word of God” when summarizing all he had said about scripture, Isaiah, Moses, and what is written. The scriptures are the word of God, and this now includes everything we have in the New Testament scriptures.

   So many times in my journey through that book of false teachings I came back to the way Jesus replied to Satan in the wilderness: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). When we add to this that, “everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (I John 5:4), and, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17), we must always “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). 

   And I love to share testimonies of how “the word of God” in the scriptures we have in the Bible speaks to me every day and builds up my faith to not only live by every word that comes from the mouth of God, but to encourage you to do so as well!

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: As the Word Unfolds Into Life

   When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Mark 6:53-56)

   My main focus in sharing is to encourage everyone with how God speaks to his people through his word. It is “living and active”, the Holy Spirit is always teaching us and reminding us, and living “by every word that comes from the mouth of God” should feel as real and personal as life can get. 

    Sometimes this means focusing on a small seed of truth that will grow in our lives if we receive it. Sometimes it is a “big picture” day where larger scenes come alive as the Holy Spirit shows how the threads of the tapestry are woven together. And other times it is like focusing on a few puzzle pieces that suddenly make more sense when they are combined to show something we have never noticed before.

   This morning, things felt like a bit of everything. The smaller details were added to the bigger picture in puzzle pieces that fit together so I could see not only what God was showing me in his word, but what he was showing me in myself. I am now watching for how the disciples’ hardness of heart affected their ability to receive Jesus’ revelations of who he was as the Messiah. I have long been on guard against the blindness of the religious elite who couldn’t even see what Jesus was doing because they were consumed with envy at his influence over the people. 

   But the main thing I am always watching for is how people related to God in the Scriptures because I want to know how God wants me relating to him in the “obedience of faith” every day. 

   In all this, one thing stood out more brightly than everything else. Mark made sure to tell me that the people recognized “him”, they came where “he” was, and wherever “he” came, the people brought their sick and implored “him”. 

   When I combine that with the reminder of the disciples’ hardness of heart on one side and the religious elite’s blindness on the other, it tells me to come to Jesus personally no matter what hardened disciples or hypocritical blind guides have to say. Jesus is available to us by grace through faith so we can seek him right now where we are, and receive him in repentance and faith so that he will make us well in the fullness of eternal life. 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: When Hardness of Heart Hinders the Mind

    And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6:48-52)

   Does it matter to you that your mind might be hindered in understanding God’s word because your heart is hardened against applying it as fully as God is speaking it to you?

   Yup, that’s the point of this passage. The reason the disciples were so astounded about Jesus walking on the water was because they hadn’t let themselves process what it meant that he had just multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food to feed 5,000 people. 

   This is serious business because I have witnessed it so many times. People sit in church complaining that they really didn’t get anything out of a message, or they aren’t really getting anything out of their time with God in his word, when the problem is that they have hardened their hearts against letting themselves admit the implications and applications of God’s work in their lives. 

   Two other Scriptures help with this. First, 

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. (II Corinthians 6:11-13)

   This is another way of describing the hardness of heart in the disciples. The believers were restricted in their affections by choice. They also had the choice to “widen your hearts also”. Paul and his companions had exemplified hearts-wide-open fellowship and ministry. The restriction of affection and attachment between them was on the part of the church. 

   The same applies to Jesus. He is never restricted in his freedom to relate to us in love, grace, and mercy. He wants attachment with us more than we know it exists. What we are lacking with him is because of how we restrict our hearts with self-protection, and how that restriction limits our understanding of him.

   Second, 

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)

   This illustrates how we are the ones who give in to the desire for self-protection, restrict our affections towards God, and then blame him that we don’t get it what he is saying in his word. 

   Right now, we are three groups of people. The narcissists don’t see anything wrong with them and it is always God and the pastor who are at fault if they don’t get something. The religious practitioners see this may be a struggle, but it clashes with their self-dependent way of deciding how far God can go in making them like Jesus. They will keep thinking about how this might apply without ever doing anything about it.

   On the other hand, the poor in spirit hear of this hardness of heart and mourn how much it is real in their lives. They meekly surrender to Jesus to fix this in them and let themselves hunger and thirst for the righteousness of having a heart that is absolutely unrestricted in affection, thought, or will. These are the ones who are blessed in their relationship with Jesus Christ, and I know this is the kind of church I want to be in, even if it is only a few who desire it.    

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: Taking a Break with Jesus

   The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. (Mark 6:30-32)

   Life is busy. My Christian worldview has me running a race that even my entrance to the “senior years” will not slow down. Activities may decrease. Projects may take longer to complete. Exercise routines may need adjusting. But the life of faith has no limits by age, and there is always something to do in the kingdom of God, even for the most aged of his disciples. 

   On the other hand, I have had many experiences in church life where the pressure to perform, to run things, to keep people happy, to meet targets and goals, and to keep programs going, was so not kingdomish that there was a very unnecessary weariness for those we called “the committed”. 

   When I see Jesus’ concern for his disciples after sending them out on a work assignment, I see his heart in showing us that it is his own interest to ensure our times of rest. As always, we can’t turn a historical description of something God did with others into an absolute rule that applies to everyone all the time. However, we can look at what scripture reveals elsewhere about Jesus’ interest in both our work and our rest and see how this experience with the apostles affirms and illustrates a vital facet of our Savior’s love for us. 

   Along with what I shared yesterday that “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17), there is the necessity of walking with Jesus in ways that give rest to our souls. Some people serve Christ with great energy and enthusiasm because they know how to rest with Jesus in their souls. Others feel weary just hearing that God might have something for them to do to “serve one another in love” because they have never attached to Jesus in a way that calms and quiets their souls.

   My encouragement is to get to know Jesus according to his invitation, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-20).

   At the very least, seeing how Jesus cared for his disciples' need for rest should affirm to our own hearts that he has the same interest for us. And even with the miserableness of the man-cold that has no comparison in the… okay, just kidding… I have felt that restfulness of my soul to have had a prolonged and comforting time with my Lord in his word, in prayer, and in sharing what God gave me for the building-up of others. 

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: Comforted by the Details

   But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly (Mark 6:16-20 ~ conclusion in footnote).

   The reason I find so much comfort in a passage like this is because of our tendency to think that no one could possibly know what painful things we have gone through in life. When painful experiences pile up so that we feel buried in our grief, it can be difficult to imagine anyone else knowing what we are going through. 

   However, when we read something like this account of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and execution, the details are so familiar that there is comfort in knowing that “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

   Instead of expanding on how the things I shared relate to my own experiences, I encourage you to look at the things John the Baptist went through for being “a righteous and holy man” who was living in “the obedience of faith”.  John’s assignment was to prepare the way for the Messiah to come and secure our salvation. So even in his unjust death, he pointed ahead to what would be done to our Savior who was perfect in righteousness and holiness. 

   By the end of my meditation on God’s word, I found myself attaching to Paul’s motto in facing the threat of death, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). John the Baptist showed that he was living the same way. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance, and so he kept confronting Herod with his sin in the hope of bringing the king to repent and believe the good news that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah of God. 

   John’s example continues to prepare our hearts for the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Herod shows us the cost of respecting Jesus without repenting and trusting him. Herodias shows us the cost of despising God’s servants who expose us in our sin (when it is God’s kindness working to bring us to repentance – Romans 2:4). Herodias’s daughter shows us the cost of following our parents in their sin instead of following Jesus into his salvation. 

   But John the Baptist shows us another member of that “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who, “through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4). And what he speaks into our “nothing new under the sun” experiences of injustice is to,

let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

Footnote: But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:21-29)

On This Day: The Universal and the Unique

   And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. (Mark 6:7-13)

   Some parts of the Bible are history. They are telling us something that happened without explaining how it applies to us today. Some of these details are there to affirm the historicity of the scriptures as God’s word. There’s nothing wrong with struggling to find a direct application to our lives today because sometimes there isn’t one. 

   However, there are also times when reading a description of a historical event does have lessons for us today. We simply need to heed Paul’s warning “not to go beyond what is written” (I Corinthians 4:6). When a scene of history in Scripture is wrongly applied, it puts the authority on the speaker instead of the scriptures, so caution and humility are always required.

   One way it helps us to know that historical events are sometimes absolutely unique to the persons involved is that we can easily become worried that if Jesus authorized his apostles to cast out demons maybe every Christian should be able to do that. Or if Jesus sent the apostles out two-by-two, maybe that’s his rule for how everyone should do evangelism. Those kinds of extrapolations are both unnecessary and unhelpful, and knowing that can help us relax and not burden ourselves with demands that aren’t even there.

   On the other hand, looking at what Jesus told the apostles to do in their ministry, and following how faithfully they did what they were told, does have a universal lesson in how each believer should be living out their place in the body of Christ. 

   Peter, one of those twelve apostles, later wrote, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace” (I Peter 4:10). He went on to list some of the ways to apply this, but still with a sense that each of us must be diligent to see how God has given us a gift to use in ministry, and then see how to “serve one another” as unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

   One of my favorite illustrations of how God does something unique with someone at one time but with wonderfully encouraging applications to his people for this church age is how God spoke to Moses through a burning bush. The way God spoke to Moses then was unique (the way Moses argued with God about it… not so much!). But that whole experience (Exodus 3-4) does illustrate the wonderful truth that God speaks through his word to every generation of the church so we can still “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (repeated after all 7 letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3). 

   My encouragement in reading Scripture is to identify whether what you are reading is a description of history (what God did at one time with certain people with unique applications), or it is a teaching passage that clearly identifies how God wants us to live for him today just as believers were expected to live for him back then. 

   Between the two kinds of passages will be unique historical events that also have universal applications. Usually, all we need to do to understand how these apply is ask ourselves what is taught in the apostles’ letters to the churches that show us how to walk in “the obedience of faith” today even as those people did in the scene before us.   

   The bottom line is summarized in this exhortation from the apostle Paul: 

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13) 

   And yes, we are expected to obey with the same “faith expressing itself in love” as we witness that others did in their leg of the race.

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

On This Day: The Astonishment of the Easily Offended

   He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. (Mark 6:1-6)

   Since childhood, I have had to question whether things people believe have substance. A quiet Christian mom and an angry agnostic dad gave me plenty of practice in listening for the reasons people believed what they did. 

   So many decades later, I continue to marvel at how people react to Jesus’ claims. I listen for substance but hear only emotional opinion. Even so-called science is saturated by words, emotions, and opinions rather than substance that can be tested, observed, repeated, and falsified. 

   What I saw when Jesus went back to his hometown was what I now understand as childish pride. I have seen it in two-year-olds, that idea that what they think they know is the whole sum of knowledge in the whole wide world. It’s even worse in the hormonal years of the teens when young folk imagine they have attained far more knowledge than their parents or elders and their way of seeing things is the only way they can be. When we find the same thing in older people who are still at the toddler and teen levels of maturity (or immaturity), it is almost impossible to convince them that there is a view of Jesus that has far more substance than their own. 

   When I first noticed how often Jesus contrasted the “many” with the “few”, I thought of the “many” being worldlings and the “few” being true believers in Jesus Christ. But then I realized that Jesus kept applying the “many” to religious people. Church folk. They first stood out as religious Jews who were blind to who he was as their Messiah. But then I realized that Jesus spoke of a time when “many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another” (Matthew 24:10), meaning, church people. People who put on a show of attending church but without ever experiencing the transforming power of the gospel.

   Why does this encourage me? Because if that is the way it is, it puts my heart and mind to rest to know that Jesus called it (commonly referred to as “prophesied”). He even said, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’” (Matthew 7:22), referring to a characteristic of the judgment when many people who were active in churches, even doing things we would call miracles, will discover that Jesus didn’t even know them in the personal relationship the church should be known for. 

   And why would I want everyone who reads this to know that Jesus does not necessarily approve of every church we might attend (or have attended)? Because our response to Jesus is just that, OUR response, not someone else’s. I would rather be among the few who are humbly living by faith in Jesus Christ than the many who are in love with themselves, their churches, their denominations, their doctrines, their church friends, and/or their religious family heritage, but would be among the easily-offended if Jesus actually did something in their church groups. 

   Jesus calls you and I to him. Simple as that. His word is full of the evidences of his words and his work. Testing ourselves every day to be sure our faith is in him and the new covenant in his blood and not in anything we are doing for him, helps us to know what only a few experience, that “the righteous shall live by faith” no matter how few or many we appear to be.

© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com 

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

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