OLD FRIENDS!

 

Thursday, May 14, 2026

 

OLD FRIENDS!

 

James 2:23

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

 

John 15:14-17

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

 

          Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “friend” as: one who is not hostile; an acquaintance; one attached to another by respect or affection. This morning I realize that I have friends scattered all over the world. Some are old friends, and some are older. I think there are few things more valuable than old friends.

 

          Modern technology makes it possible to shorten the miles that separate me from my old friends. Instead of a paper and ink letter that may take days to deliver, I can send and receive an electronic message instantly. If I want to see their face tiny cameras make that possible in real time. It is a marvelous age in which we live and yet I marvel at how quickly my friends and especially their children grow older without my observance.

 

          God is my friend. Let that truth sink down into your soul and apply Webster’s definition. God is an acquaintance with whom I share respect and affection. We share secrets and fond memories of bits of life shared together. Because He loves me, He will never lead me astray. Because He respects me, His plans for me are always good plans and His gifts to me are always the best. He is a good friend. He will never side with my enemy against me. Even when we disagree, He remains a true friend. 

 

          As God’s friend I sometimes struggle to fulfill the proper definition of friendship. Though God has always proven himself to be trustworthy I often do not trust him. Sometimes I even side with his enemy against him. I wander away from his companionship. I am not a very good friend, but I love my Friend and He loves me.

 

Dear Lord, thank you that I have many old friends and that you are one of them. AMEN

 

IF I COULD JUST TOUCH HIM!

 

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

 

IF I COULD JUST TOUCH HIM!

 

Luke 8:46-47

46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately.

 

          There was a sick woman who had tried everything to gain healing to no avail. She thought “If I could only touch the hem of His garment, I would be made whole.” So, she did! She sneaked up on him and put out a finger and touched His clothes. Her condition was healed immediately!

 

          The disciples marveled because a huge crowd was “touching” Jesus. None of those were changed! The difference for the sick woman was that Jesus felt a loss of power.

 

          The word “virtue” is the Greek dunamis which is the same word used in God’s promise of power in Acts 1:8. Dunamis is the basis for our word dynamite. Jesus felt the loss of strength. Every act of ministry causes a loss to the one ministering. Jesus had unlimited resources, but we do not. We need to be occasionally recharged.

 

Dear Lord, let me never hesitate to come to you with my needs. Thank you for your limitless resource of virtue and power. AMEN

 

GOD DELIGHTS IN YOU!

 

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

 

GOD DELIGHTS IN YOU!

 

Prov 3:11-12

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord ; neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the Lord  loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

 

Heb 12:6

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

 

          I once observed a grandmother with an infant grandson. The only way to describe the look on her face was pure delight. She delighted in this grandson. She took note of all his features from his tiny fingers to his little bald spot where the hair had been worn away in the crib. My wife says that the first thing a new mother does is to count fingers and toes. The eye can hardly get enough of the tiny life in her arms.

 

          In the same way, God delights in us. This is in stark contrast to what we generally think when God is trying to teach us a lesson by chastening us. We see him as a stern judge with harsh and unbending rules that are impossible to keep but the opposite is true.

 

          The word delight is set in the midst of correction. In fact, it is the reason for correction. We are corrected because he delights in us. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for delight here is ratsah which carries with it the satisfying of a debt. God delighted in us so much that He sent His Son Jesus as the satisfaction for our debt. The debt is paid because He delights in us. The debt is paid so that He can continue delighting in us.

 

Thank you, Lord, for delighting in me. Help me to feel your love even when you are in the process of chastening me. AMEN

 

UNTO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE!

 

Monday, May 11, 2026

 

UNTO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE!

 

Eph 4:22-25

Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

 

         In Act 1, Scene III of the famous play, Hamlet, Polonius says:

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!”

 

Christianity today seems to be pretty much in the hands of “Progressives” (otherwise referred to as liberals) because the conservatives (otherwise referred to as legalists) have departed the building. I find my own home-made philosophy resides uncomfortably in the middle. I like the casual attire of the left along with some of the modern upgrades to the worship format. However, at my age, I am unwilling and perhaps unable to abandon traditions. I still use the KJV while reading several other translations. I think that is honest! I still have the nagging feeling that appropriate dress in church is still  appropriate. I think flip-flops, tank tops and underwear worn as outerwear is disrespectful to a God who is clothed in light. I still think that the name “Baptist” is honorable enough to retain it on our church sign and especially in our theology. It is at least as descriptive as some of the modern indistinct names of new church plants.

 

I’m not sure that separatism is always a good thing because it leads to an altered sense of reality. Jesus ate with publicans and sinners while the Pharisees avoided them like the plague. Which was the most balanced? I do, however, demand of myself a strict adherence to firmly held convictions which causes some to withdraw from me. The chill of loneliness because of one’s convictions is not as uncomfortable to me as the frost that settles on my soul when I openly affirm a position which I do not truly hold. I therefore wander through life with my lantern held high searching for truth.

 

Ps 34:13-14

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

 

Father, let me filter both my thoughts and my behavior through thy Word. AMEN

 

A MOTHER’S HOPE!

 

Sunday, May 10, 2026

 

A MOTHER’S HOPE!

 

Ex 2:1-2

2 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

 

          A goodly child! The Hebrew has no more insight than this into the nature of the child we now know as Moses. The word indicates perfection in physical form and also beauty. Acts 7:20 in the New International Version says that he was “no ordinary child.” But what were Jochebed’s hopes for her son?

 

I was born just a little less than two months after the Nuremburg trials. The war was over and Germany’s ruins were being cleared away by the Marshal plan. Germany had reason now to hope. The birth of a second son at the Abbott house must have filled my mother with hope as well. Mothers always hope and dream.

 

          I wonder if Gospel Ministry was one of Mother’s hopes for me. I’m sure I often disappointed her in many ways. Through the years I tried to paint ministry with the best brush and colors, but mothers often see the blemishes on the canvas anyway. She continued to hope. One day I’ll be reunited with Momma, and we will both know how wonderful God’s plan for her boy really was.

 

          Honor your mother whether she is alive or gone. Exodus 20:12 tells us that there is a promise and a reward for doing so.

 

Dear Lord, please give Mom a hug for me and let her know that we are still working out your plan for my life. AMEN

 

BIBLICAL BALANCE

 

Saturday, May 9, 2026

 

BIBLICAL BALANCE

 

Reading: Philippians 4:4-8

 

Phil 4:4-5

4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

 

          The word “balance” appears eight times in the Authorized Version, but it refers to an instrument that measures weight. It does not refer to a balanced attitude or demeanor. For that more modern meaning, we must look at the word “moderation” which shows up only once. That word is the Greek epieikes and it literally means “mild, gentle, moderate and patient.” One commentator has called it “sweet reasonableness.”

 

          We live in a world of aggravated extremes and contention. Each side, convinced that they and they alone are right, is determined to destroy the other opinion and practice. It has invaded all areas of our culture including the church. Its root is selfishness and it is as old as Cain and Abel.

 

          Moderation acknowledges another way without feeling intimidated or threatened. It does not demand its own way. It is loving and accepting without excusing that which is clearly wrong. That which is clearly wrong can be measured by its product. Does a certain practice produce peace or is it divisive. “Sweet reasonableness” is not faring well in modern times!

 

          Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit – the Holy Spirit. Do not expect moderation from the unsaved. Also, do not expect reasonableness from those who are following the world or their flesh. These are incompatible. Oh, and don’t expect to assume moderation in yourself without a fight because “the flesh lusteth against [are opposed to] the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:17) Moderation does not reside in one who is willful and proud.

 

Dear Lord, in a world of angry extremes, let me own and display sweet reasonableness. AMEN

 

NO CONDEMNATION!

 

Friday, May 8, 2026

 

NO CONDEMNATION!

 

Rom 8:1-4

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

          The words “righteous” and “righteousness” seem to refer to the conformity to some generally acceptable standard of being and doing. Thayer says that righteousness is “the state of him who is such as he ought to be.” Prior to the giving of the law, cultural custom established what was right and the general population either conformed or not. Non-conformists were “unrighteous.”

 

          The Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments, specifically spelled out God’s standard of acceptable behavior. Within the list are both dos and don’ts. “To be sure, in the days of later Pharisaism righteousness came to be so much a matter of externals that the inner intent was often lost sight of altogether (Matt 23:23); but, on the whole and in the main, Christian thought in all ages has recognized as the central element in righteousness the intention to be and do right.” (from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.)

 

          Jesus came to change the paradigm of righteousness. Because man had failed in doing, Jesus came to introduce righteousness by being. Now the righteousness without the law is introduced (Romans 3:21). Yet Jesus explained that he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-20). The Law promoted conformity to deeds and creeds while Jesus introduced righteousness through relationship. We who are unrighteous are declared to be righteous through relationship with Christ.

 

          Conformity to God’s standards, obligation to obey, and accountability for disobedience has not been removed but Jesus has introduced a new means of reckoning (Ephesians 2:8-10). Salvation is by grace without conformity to the law, but that relationship does not remove responsibility. We are His workmanship unto (epi) good works. So, while good works do not produce salvation, salvation should produce good works. I am unrighteous but I have been infused with the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. This new relationship empowers me and enables me to progressively conform to the image of Christ.

 

Dear Jesus, once again I have failed to explain the incomprehensible. This is as it should be. The grace of God that brings salvation is contrary to every standard of man. Because you suffered, I am released. Because you obeyed, my disobedience is forgiven. Thank you for your wonderful salvation. AMEN

DEALING WITH LOSS

 

Thursday, May 7, 2026

 

DEALING WITH LOSS

 

Ps 34:18-19

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

 

Matt 12:20

20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

 

          You have suffered loss. Perhaps a friend or loved one has died either recently or their passing still haunts you. A lost job or a broken relationship perhaps has left you feeling diminished in value and bruised in soul. That is loss.

 

          Your energy is depleted! You have stuck to duties that, by themselves, are not hard but you have had no break between one and another. You are simply tired. Jesus wisely called his disciples away when they ministered so that there was hardly time to stop to eat. (See Mark 6:31).

 

          Take time to grieve! Loss that can’t be recovered requires grief. Plan for it. Find a place to be alone and weep. This is not a time to analyze the reasons or for self incrimination. Neither is it a time to point an accusing finger at others. Simply feel the loss.

 

          Take time to pray! Cry out to God whose gentle nature is not to destroy a bruised reed or to snuff a smoldering lamp. This is not a time to blame God. This is a time to engage God in your own personal pain.

 

          Take time to wait! Disappointment does not last. God is near to those who are of a broken spirit. He will come and rescue you. Wait for it.

 

Ps 27:14

14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

 

Dear Lord, let me spend quality time with you so that my weary heart may rejoice in due time. AMEN

 

REVIVE US AGAIN!

 

Wednesday, May 6, 2026

 

REVIVE US AGAIN!

 

Eph 4:22-24

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

 

          The word “revival” appears nowhere in Scripture! The idea of “backsliding” can be found many places, twelve times, and all in the Old Testament! Backsliding almost always referred to Israel returning to the worship of idolatry.

 

          Our concept of backsliding and the need for revival is similar but has to do with a cooling of the love relationship between us and our Lord. The attraction of sin, the “former way of life of the old man”, gradually returns and the zest of the Christian way of life becomes tasteless for us. We begin to change our minds about God. In backsliding, we gradually withdraw from fellowship with God. We begin to give God the “cold shoulder.”

 

Neh 9:29

 …withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

 

          Perhaps it is time for you to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Not just to change the way you think but to change WHY you think that way. The SPIRIT of the mind!

 

          The change is not in mind psychologically, either in its essence or in its operation, neither is it in mind, as if it were a superficial change of opinion, either on points of doctrine or of practice; but it is "in the spirit of the mind," in that which gives mind both its bent and its materials of thought.  -- The Biblical Illustrator

 

Ps 85:6

6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

 

Dear Lord, I sense in me carelessness and coldness in the spirit of my mind. Please revive me again! AMEN

 

ONE HEART!

 

Monday, May 4, 2026

 

ONE HEART!

 

Acts 4:32-33

32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

 

Jer 32:39

39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

 

          The early church was able to grow rapidly and accomplish much because each one lent their strength to the common good. The Holy Spirit had most recently come upon all of them and their number had grown from 150 to over 3,000 members. They were energized! They were focused on a goal! No one felt that any of their things belonged to them exclusively. Each one was ready to cast in their tiny bit with the rest to make up whatever was needed.

 

          Selfishness destroys great enterprises! One tiny raindrop alone will soon sizzle and die upon the hot and hard-packed ground but let that one drop be joined by many others and soon a flood appears. The steaming ground is cooled, and the stony earth soon becomes supple and soft. Great enterprises require unity!

 

          We will likely fail if we insist on our own way. Great causes often require great sacrifice. Selfish interests must be put away for a more peaceful time. Today the battle rages and we stand together to defeat a common enemy. The result is that it will be good for all of them and for their children after them.

 

Dear Lord, let me set aside my own self to join others in the cause for godliness and for good. AMEN