Easter & Fools

~ 2 Important Lessons From My Daughter ~

Background  ~  Many years ago I woke one spring morning and followed my regular routine of walking out to the mailbox and picking up the daily newspaper.  Then I grabbed a cup of coffee and settled into my favorite reading chair.  After a few minutes things seemed strange—the serial nature of the daily news seemed somehow out of whack!  Just then I saw my oldest daughter, in her teens at the time, trying to appear nonchalant as she peered into the room.   

A weird thought occurred to me and I quickly glanced at the top of the newspaper and discovered the date to be April 1 of the previous year!  My oldest daughter had successfully played an effective April Fools joke on her unsuspecting Dad.  I learned later that one year prior she had carefully folded the previously read newspaper, sealed it tightly so it wouldn’t yellow and kept if for a year for this day. 

 

First Lesson  ~  Since that spring day it has often occurred to me that Satan uses old news to trick us into foolish behavior in our Christian life.  Satan loves to replay old news in our minds—telling us we have failed, that God can’t use us, and that we are sinners.

It is true we are sinners—but Satan wants to turn us into a FOOL.  But the good news is that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for all our sins.  If we have accepted that fact and gone to the foot of the Cross to claim our free gift the old news is totally irrelevant.  After we have been broken by our sin and lost our pride and arrogance then God can use us more effectively. 

Application  ~  Never play the fool’s game of listening to false voices—whether it is the voice of the devil reminding you of your past forgiven sins, or the voice of the world, or the voice of your own flesh.  Instead listen to the voice of Truth and what God has to say about you.  “Jesus said to him, “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6).  

Second Lesson  ~  The news in that year-old newspaper was as correct then as it was the day it was published.  Some of that news is quite trivial even when published let alone a year later.  However, some of that news was very relevant at the time of publishing and also a year later.  The same principle is true of the myriad information we all receive daily.  Sorting out what is truly important to your life is a part of wisdom. 

Application  ~  Of all the historical events nothing is more important than the resurrection of Jesus Christ which is celebrated continuously by Christians and noted specifically on Easter Sunday each year.  There is more indisputable evidence of the reality of Christ’s resurrection than for any other historical event of centuries ago.  In light of that reality what you decide about the person of Jesus Christ (who He is and what significance that has for you) is by far the most significant decision of your life. 

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1a, 53:1a).  If what you believe about God is correct/wise everything else will work out for good.  If what you believe about God is wrong/foolish you will eventually discover you have played a fools game—but unfortunately it may well be too late to correct course! 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Fact Check, 49

~ All Are God’s Children ~      

Bible Quotation?  ~  “We are all God’s children.”

The Bible Says  ~  “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).

Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:14-18).

Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh [physical man], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [spiritual man].  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:6-7).

“And you He made alive [spiritually], who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:1-3).

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:14-17). 

The Significance  ~  There is a reality that all are children of God from the standpoint of Creation.  But Scripture clearly teaches that it is not the physical person that is the important factor, but rather the spiritual (“born again”) person that matters.  Are you a spiritual child of the eternal King?

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Learn From Gideon, 13

~ God Respects Honest Doubt ~

The Biblical account of the life of Gideon provides for one of the most interesting character studies in all of Scripture.  In this series we will discover practical lessons for living the Christian life today.  

Scripture  ~  “Then he said to Him, ‘If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me’” (Judges 6:17).

Learn From Gideon  ~  Perhaps he was just an excuse-maker, or maybe he was a coward at heart.  In any case we find Gideon to be a very reluctant warrior.  Fortunately we see that God does not despise honest doubt or questioning.

1. Gideon, like many of us, doubted his own abilities.
2. God is not upset with someone honestly seeking the truth.
3. God is not upset with a believer who periodically has honest questioning. 
4. Consider Thomas who while in the presence of the risen Lord still doubted!  “So Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’  After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.  Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’  Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side.  Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’  And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:25b-28).

concluding comment  ~  We learn about Gideon primarily from Judges 6-8, but also Isaiah 9:1-7, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-34.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .