Author: Minister Bev

…”no one ever pours new wine into old wineskins. The wine would break them, and the wine would be ruined along with the wineskins. You always put new wine into new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 (ERV)

The parable of the wine and the old wineskins describes the dangers of trying to live a new life with Jesus while holding on to the “that’s just how I am” way of thinking. To adopt a new approach to life is to relinquish the old approach to life. In Christ, we embrace new perspectives with new ways to navigate situations and relationships. He encourages us to allow old things to “pass away” as we adopt new ways to think, feel, and live.

When we put a new face on a bad habit, the bad habit, misplaced loyalty, or attitude will only shine brighter against the backdrop of our walk with Christ. Jesus helps us to abandon our way of doing things to implement new processes for living. Old wineskins are static; they do not allow for movement or expansion. Life with Christ involves growth and freedom. As we learn new truths, let’s try not to blend them with old habits, but let’s embrace the light that God is sending us through this word.

Howard Thurmond once said, “An endless process of birth is the perpetual answer to the fact of death.” The thought intrigued me. God is a God of Life. With this fact in mind during this pandemic and the tremendous loss of life, I wondered what God’s view is of this significant loss of life. The Bible tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5 that we will be present with the Lord when we are absent from our bodies. It also tells us that Abraham died and he was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:8) So our hope lies within God’s word that promises us eternal life. We move from life to life, from a finite world to an eternal home.

According to the website “ourworlddata.org,” 60 million people were expected to die in 2020 under normal circumstances. That is a daunting figure. In stark contrast, 140 million babies were to be born in 2020. The God of Life is renewing and replenishing the earth with life at an astonishing rate.

God promises us life abundantly. Pandemic has taken so many from our world, and we grieve for their loss. Let’s also rejoice with those who found new lives in God’s presence, and find joy in the abundance of life He is sending to us in the form of 140 million births in 2020.

The thief cometh not but to steal and to kill and to destroy. I come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

We are born into circumstances we do not control, unable to choose parents, family members, or economic class.  We love our parents usually or whoever led us into adulthood, but imperfect people cannot create perfect lives for us.  We live in a fallen world.  Our development can sometimes leave us with emotional scars, habits, and behaviors from which we create blind spots in our lives.  We live oblivious to the emotional walls we erect to protect ourselves. God presents us with the truth.  We are loved beyond our faults.  When we replace the old truth from our past with the truth about who we are from God’s perspective, we can live happily, with fulfilled lives.

Could it be that you need to replace negative baggage from your past with new truth from God’s word?  What is that truth? The truth is that you are valuable, and He wants to heal all of your broken places. 

Galatians 4:2 ² While they are children, they must obey those who are chosen to care for them.  But when they reach the age the father set, they are free.                           

These days it is hard to find “good news.” Most days, the headlines are negative, and tremendous efforts are being made to convince us to think the presenter’s thoughts.  Despite all of the negative news, there is still some good news. 

The good news is the “Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He came to this earth to die for us.  His life was not taken from Him. He laid His life down so that I could be grafted into the family of God. He allowed His blood to be shed to cover my sins. Adding to that good news was His promise that He would “never leave me or forsake me.” I would never be alone again, not in my despairing moments, nor my joyful, triumphant times.  His presence would permeate my life.

A simple surrender to Him was all it took.  It took an acknowledgment that my way was not the best way.  It took a decision to yield to doing things His way.  How easy is that? It’s free, it’s life-changing, and it lasts for eternity.

Isn’t that good news?

John 10:9-11 (ERV) ⁹ I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will be able to come in and go out. They will find everything they need. ¹⁰ A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life-life that is full and good. ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

I woke up this morning, and the orderly world that God created was functioning just as He designed it to perform.  There was oxygen to breathe and light with which to see.  The earth had turned during the night on its axis as God fashioned it to do.  The darkness that was present when I went to sleep had submitted to the morning light. The trees and grass were still green, processing air for me to breathe.  Gravity held me to the floor so that I would not drift away.  I instantly knew where I was; my mind was working, and my thinking processes stable.

There was water to drink that my body needed to function.  The oceans and all that is in them did not overflow their banks. The season was changing right on time, taking its turn in order.  The sky was blue, and all of the order that God created was still in its place.  I could say much about the people on the earth and all of the chaos that they created, but when I looked at God’s creation, it was operating just as it should.

It occurred to me.  God is still good, and all that he created is good.  If I had ten thousand tongues, I could not praise Him enough.

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Now, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

The Bible says many things concerning faith.  It says that “we live (or walk) by faith and not by sight.” It also tells us to ask, and we will receive, seek, and we will find, and to knock, and the door will be open to us.  So how does it reflect upon my faith when I pray and do not receive?  How should I perceive it when I knock, and the door does not open?  Does that mean that I do not have faith?  Has my faith somehow failed? 

Faith in God goes so much deeper than that.  Faith must consider that God, who sees all and knows all, also has our best interest at heart. He already knows what will happen if that door does open, behind which I believe is the ultimate blessing. Sure faith brings with it the knowledge that the God who watched over me as I was formed in my mother’s womb, who has plans to help me and not harm me, also knows that the door I want to open must stay shut to preserve my future. 

Strong faith trusts His oversight.  It embraces a “no” answer from God as one that is best for me.  It instinctively knows that as I put my life in His hands, His hands can be trusted even when the pain of life overtakes me.  Well-developed faith knits mind, soul, and spirit to transcend a material world whose needs can blind the eyes, and whose losses can tear the heart and torment the mind, to trust a living God.

Faith“trusts the Lord completely, and doesn’t depend on our limited knowledge.

Proverbs 3

2 Corinthians 5:7

Matthew 7:7

Jeremiah 29:11

It is common to see panhandlers on street corners as easy access to services dry up. Some carry signs soliciting donations, and others are willing to work for food.  They cross boundaries of age and ethnicity.  A few have pets, which seem to irritate the passersby, who question, “If they can have a dog, why do they need my money?”  Seeing a panhandler also conjures up that article or documentary about swindlers who beg for money, or drug users who will use the money for nefarious activities.  They become, to many, a blot on the landscape, an offensive detail ruining their view of beautiful terrain.

How many of us decided not to give when it was God trying our hearts? Perhaps we ignored Angels on street corners.  We must recognize the trying of our hearts and look for opportunities to please God. 

What if it is a swindler?  “God is the judge who recompenses and rewards us.  He alone will judge the panhandler.    My responsibility today is to give freely.”  As for the wheat and the tares??  The bible implies that wheat and tare look so much alike that you could make a mistake if you try to separate them. Let’s trust the Lord to do the separation. 

Remember, God blesses the cheerful giver, so give.

 “He answered, ‘No because when you pull up the weeds, you might also pull up the wheat. ³⁰ Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time. At the harvest time, I will tell the workers this: First, gather the weeds and tie them together to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it to my barn.” Matt. 13:29

Whenever life exposes us to, or heaps upon us, stressful and emotionally draining events, there always exists the temptation to ask why God allows such things.  That question escorts us to a place of self- absorption, and unhappiness about our lives.  It is the costly emotion of self-pity, which steals any semblance or trace of peace and tranquility.

Should we be happy in the midst of devastating news and events?  Absolutely not, but when we follow our scriptural teachings to “Cast all your cares on Him.”  1 Peter 5:7  Our trust in God ensures that the current injurious moment will pass.  It will exist only as a memory that can be dismissed as quickly as it appears.  To dwell on an unpleasant memory is to give life to it and dampen your mood.  It serves no purpose, offers no comfort, nor does it bring new life.  

So, just for today, “Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.” Philippians 4:8 (ERV)

True love, pure love looks for ways to express itself.  It seeks pathways and highways to deliver whatever kindness, joy, peace, support, and undergirding it can muster to perfect, embrace or comfort the object or person to which it has targeted itself.  Unfeigned by the consequences to itself, true love seeks advantage for others.  True love must expose itself to the possibility of hurt to express itself fully.  Like a peacock who fans its feathers to present a wondrous display of beauty and magnificence, love must be exposed to be effective. This display can take many forms.

Love responds to the predicaments of those around it.  Love expresses itself by giving to the effort to fund the supply of food or volunteer in the industry that feeds the hungry.  Love prays for the fatherless and widows but expresses itself by exerting an effort to intervene by giving or emotional support.  Love not only has empathy or sympathy for the homeless but like the peacock exposes its feathers, love exposes the excess in its purse to contribute to the relief of their hunger and to secure their safety.  True love covers all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12  So, without trying to analyze why a person has stumbled into a particular lot in life, love seeks to bring relief to their suffering without judgment.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16  Who, but us who are rescued from the sin of our own making, should understand the meaning of true love?