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Last week we discussed serving the LORD, not just with words, but with actions; based on His Word and will.

This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Mark 7:6b,7

This week has a similar message.

In our reading from Mark, Jesus chastises the Pharisees who were placing their traditions and rules over those of God’s. He quotes from Isaiah, showing the issue to be an old and oft-repeated one.

One thing that is not said, however (but often implied), is that Jesus doesn’t tell the people to ignore honoring Him with their lips. He wanted to make sure they know that their hearts were more important.

When God has our hearts, our lips of praise will follow!

We should always be away of doing something just because of tradition, or expediency, or desire. How do our actions reflect our hearts and draw us closer to Him? How can our lips better express our love and praise of God because our hearts love and service Him at their very core? How can we better honor God with our lips because, through faith and forgiveness, He already has our heart forever?

If we truly know the heart of God for us, reflected in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, how can we not want Him, with every fiber of our being, to have our hearts and lips of praise in everything?!

“Lord Jesus, we praise and thank You for Your salvation through death and resurrection. We lift You up in praise and thanksgiving with our hearts and lips – always! Amen!”

Scriptures

• Mark 7:1-13

There are many more who say they are Christians than actually are. There are many who say they believe, say they love God, say they will obey Him, say they want to live as He says to in Scripture; many more who say than do.

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness…And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:14a, 15a-b,e

This, of course, is not new. Joshua saw this when he was dealing with the Israelites. They said they believed the LORD, but their actions belied their true beliefs. Many who said they would worship Him only, but they ended up serving other gods. Many who said the right things but did the wrong ones.

They offered lip service, not heart service.

They ‘talked-the-talk,’ but didn’t ‘walk the walk.’

They were foolish.

We see this is our day and age, too. Many who claim to follow Jesus, but denigrate others. Many who say they believe but engage in sexual immorality. Many who lift the Name of Jesus one minutes but curse by that same Name the next. Many who say they want to follow God’s ways laid out in the Bible, but take the time to even know what it says.

The Epistle tells us not to “walk as unwise but as wise” and “not to be “foolish.”

We should not repeat the mistakes of the past – or of our past!

It is time to get into His Word – and live it! It is time to put away what we feel and want and do what He says! It is time to put away our idols and choose to follow Him only!

Of course we won’t do that perfectly. Of course we will sometimes make the wrong choices. Of course we will sin.

But we should put away the laissez-faire attitude of following Him; not because it earns us salvation, but because through faith in Him we have salvation through His perfect fulfillment!

We are free to serve Him and not ourselves; not idols. We are free to follow Him even though we will mess up!

God has chosen us in Jesus! Respond in thanks, choosing to follow Him, not just in talk, but in joyful action!

Scriptures

• Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18
• Ephesians 5:6-17

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:8

The Old Testament lesson for today is the middle part of one of my favorite stories in Scripture.

Elijah has just proved in magnificent fashion that Yahweh is the true God and that Baal is false and following that Divine exhibition, the evil Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, threatens Elijah, and he runs far away.

God has just proved Himself to the people and His faithful servant is now afraid of a threat by a mere mortal enemy!

Quite pathetic, really.

Yet we act the same way!

Through Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and the devil himself, we have victory! Complete victory! Unqualified victory! Everlasting victory!

Through faith in Jesus, we can take comfort that our enemies are defeated and any pain they inflict are temporary.

We need not every worry or fear, for our refuge is in the Almighty; the Eternal; the God of gods and Lord of lords! We can face all challenges, all heartaches, all combats as ones already settled and taken care of by God through faith in His Son!

“Thank You, Lord, for defeating all our enemies in and through Jesus! Our eternal refuge is in You!”

Scriptures

• 1 Kings 19:1-8
• Psalm 34:1-8

“The whole congregation of the people…grumbled against Moses and Aaron.”

When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Exodus 16:15 (ESV)

Ah, the Israelites! Let us shake our head in disbelief. Constantly seeing God’s grace, provision, and providence and yet, time and again, questioning, rebelling, and grumbling!

It’s it great that we aren’t like that at all!

Of course, we are like that – all the time.

In our text, God has just brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, the land of their slavery for 400 years, with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. They saw miracle after miracle of God’s protection and deliverance. And yet…they rebel and grumble! Today’s gripe? Food.

They complain that they preferred being slaves with full bellies than freedom as God’s people with His provisions.

Ugh!

But God continues to provide through it all! In our reading, He provides “manna,” what the Israelites originally asked, “what is it?”

Granted, not the most diverse diet for their forty years, but they would not go hungry! God provided what was needed (even if it wasn’t what they wanted).

There are many jokes made about the taste (or lack thereof) of the wafers in Holy Communion. They have been compared to “styrofoam” or “cardboard.”

Clearly, not “Taste of Texas!”

But what is received is far more important! Far more satisfying! Far more sustaining!

The Israelites received bread that sustained their lives and focused them on God.

In Holy Communion, we received bread joining with God in Jesus that not only sustains our lives here, but forgives our sins and gives us a foretaste of Heaven itself!

“What is it?”

Glorious!

“We thank You, Lord, for the Heavenly food of Holy Communion, where we receive and know that You are God! Grant us graciousness, not grumbling, for all Your miracles of grace through Jesus, Your Son, our Lord!”

Scriptures

• Exodus 16:2-15
• Psalm 145:10-21

The Bible is full of humor. Jesus does a lot of things that are funny, like in today’s reading. He took some time by himself to pray, but when he was done, He went to meet up with the disciples by walking on the water. Not only that, but He was going to “pass by them” before they saw Him. As if to walk past them without them realizing and getting to the destination before them!

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.”

Mark 6:49-50

As terrified and astounding as it was to see Jesus walking on the water, I imagine they would also have been shocked to find Him at the destination before them when he had no way of getting there. And Jesus just kind of does this casually, as if it’s just a beautiful night for a stroll.

We can take miracles of Jesus as something that can be terrifying or astounding or shocking. But for Jesus, it’s just a regular, everyday, beautiful thing. Miracles are out of the ordinary for us, but they are ordinary for Him.

We should remember that. He’s got us and we don’t need to worry.

“Take heart; it is [Jesus]. Do not be afraid!”

“We take heart, O Lord! Thank You for making each day extraordinary through faith in You!”

Scriptures

• Psalm 136:1–9
• Mark 6:45–53

There are times when being a pastor and teacher of God’s Word is terrifying.

I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

Jeremiah 23:5b-6

Scripture tells us that those who teach are held to a higher standard.

Today’s Scripture gives us an indication of consequences for those shepherds who are not faithful in what the Lord has called them to do and how they are serving those to whom the Lord has entrusted to them.

As a Christian I say, “right on!” As a pastor I have that gnawing, “am I being faithful? Am I doing enough? Am I doing right?”

But it is not an option not to serve when He Calls. The solution is not to sacrifice family or self in service to others.

The Call does not change: preach the Word. Preach Jesus. Serve others. Love God and people.

Will we (I) do that perfectly?

Absolutely not!

But here’s the thing: even though I will never be perfect in my Calling, I know the One who is, and in pointing people to Him, I serve Him and others.

I am not perfect in my shepherding, but I can point people to the good, perfect Shepherd, Jesus. He is the One to follow. He is the perfect One. He is the righteous One!

“The LORD is our righteousness!”

God has provided the One that suffered, died, rose, and ascended. He provided the One that loves His sheep perfectly and serves them faithfully. He provided what was lacking in the imperfect under-shepherds.

If I follow the Righteous One and lead others to as well, I will be faithful. If I love and serve others because I am being faithful to what He has called me to do, others will as well.

So hear me clearly and plainly: I am not a perfect under-shephers, but He is the perfect Shepherd. I am not always faithful, but He is the One in whom you should have perfect faith. I will continue to fail in my service to you, but the LORD, the righteous One will never fail you.

Follow Him. Put your faith in Him. Look to Him.

The LORD Jesus is your righteousness.

In everything.

Always.

“Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being our righteous, faithful, loving, saving Shepherd. Let us always look to and follow You.”

Scriptures

• Jeremiah 23:1-6

Today’s Scriptures from Ephesians 1 is an exercise dilemma. There is so much in the passage it’s difficult to know where to begin. Where to focus.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Ephesians 1:3-4

For our time I want to focus on the amazing truth that we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world!

That is mind-boggling!

But note something else in that statement of reality: “that we should be holy and blameless before Him.”

Ok, that part may be a problem.

He “has blessed us…and chose us…that we should be holy and blameless.”

I know my life and decisions. I know my heart and mind. They certainly aren’t blameless.

Neither are yours.

But our text doesn’t lift us up in amazement just to dash us back down to reality.

What He demands, He has also supplied.

As we read on, “In [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

We were not holy and blameless, but that wasn’t going to thwart God’s choice of us before the foundation of the world! Our sin wasn’t going to stop His predestined plan of adoption of us, nor would it stop His requirement of us being holy and blameless before Him for eternity.

The solution?

Jesus!

Through faith in Him, we are forgiven. We are made right with Him. We are purified. We are holy. We are now blameless before Him!

Mind boggling!

“Thank You, Lord, for choosing us before the foundation of the world, redeeming us by Your blood, and through faith, making us holy and blameless before You! Grant that we live and share that reality and blessing with others!”

Scriptures

• Psalm 85:1-13
• Ephesians 1:3-14