The One Who has No Need

We all have needs. What if your home were taken away for a few days or you were removed from family, friends and human company for a time? 

Try going without gratitude or appreciation for the rest of your life. Try going without food for several days or water for just one. 

If we went without breath for even one minute, we would see how needy we are.

Yes, we all have needs. But there is one who needs nothing. He is YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah). He is the “I AM”

In the Bible we read:

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (Exodus 3.13-14)

As the “I AM” or Yahweh, he is the self existing one. He has no creator for he is the Creator. He has no sustainer – he is the Sustainer. He has no provider – He is the Provider. We depend upon Him. He does not depend on us.

When Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, preached on Mars Hill at Athens to people who believed in many different gods, he labored to explain who the only one and true God is, saying:

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything  since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. (The Bible – Acts 17.24-25)

Did you catch that? He said, “As though He needed anything.” This great God is the one – and the only one – who has no need!

He does not need our worship. He does not need our allegiance. He doesn’t need our help. He doesn’t need our money, our time or our resources.

But isn’t this the same God who said “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength”? (Bible – Deuteronomy 6.5) Yes, but I think now we can understand why God said this. It is not because he needs anything from us. It is because we need him.

A small child needs his Mom or Dad. So too, we need God and will never outgrow that need.

Right now, place your hands in God the Father’s hands through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. When you do, your needs will be met too.[1] 

God doesn't have needs; he meets needs.

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[1] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
  (Philippians 4.19)

Is the Honeymoon Over?

Photo by PHUOC LE on Unsplash

For those men who are married: Do you remember when you first met that girl who is now your wife? The courting, putting your best foot forward, making an impression, cleaning up right before a date, the aftershave, maybe buying flowers or chocolate; these were things we all did at the time. You thought of her all day and dreamed of her at night. Her scent remained in your mind. No one else could hold a candle to her in your mind. Every lock of her hair, the beauty of her eyes, the sweetness of her voice, the touch of her hand; these stayed with you even when she was away. 

But you could hardly bear to be away from her. I remember when I was engaged to the girl who is now my wife of thirty-seven years. One time a buddy came to spend some time with me for a couple of days. I thought of some excuse as to why I needed to go by and see her because I so missed being with her. He tagged along but I'm sure it was obvious who garnered my attention the most.

Ladies, do you recall how that young man swept you off of your feet? Remember the comfort you felt when he spoke your name? You felt secure in his arms. You felt hopeful when he would talk about plans he had in mind that not only included you but made you the foremost person in his life. Many of you would have been willing to move anywhere with him. You conceded to change your very name so that you and he could have the same designation. It would be an honor to bear his children who would then have that very name.

Fast forward. What has it been now? Five, ten, twenty, forty years now? How are you feeling about her now? How are you feeling about him now? Sure, you love him or her, but do you love them the same as you did then? Are you still excited? Are you still enamored? Do you still almost swoon at the presence of the one you so adore?

Now, you can't wait to get home and ........  watch television. Conversation is in short snippets, sometimes hollered through the house. You have your preferences for time spent, she has hers. You have your friends, he has his. What happened?

These are all good points for recognizing the need of restoring love in our marriage but I'm not really on this subject for the sake of marriage – not this time. 

I want to talk to you, Christian. 

Jesus' beloved disciple, John was now old. Having already endured much persecution, he was now in exile on a island called Patmos. The resurrected Jesus appeared to him to give him the Revelation or Apocalypse. Before he showed John about future things, he would address the present. The present need was the churches. He had the writing of this revelation taken to seven churches in Asia, each of which Jesus personally addressed.

The first church Jesus addressed was the church at Ephesus (the same church Paul wrote to in his letter, Ephesians.) Jesus commended the church for their diligent labor, and for their unwillingness to endure evil among them. He commended their perseverance, patience and endurance.

But then Jesus told them; "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works," (Revelation 2.4-5). 

Listen Christian, do you remember when Jesus was always in the center of all your thoughts? Do you recall the joy of serving him? It wasn't out of obligation, but out of love. It wasn't just of duty and was without drudgery. 

I remember being saved at the age of seventeen. My old thoughts were almost totally replaced by the new excitement of having my sins forgiven, having the assurance of heaven and the continual presence of the Spirit of Christ in my heart. Some times I almost had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn't dreaming. Seriously. 

Later, I became a pastor. There were so many things that are expected of pastors that they can overshadow what our glorious Savior wants from our lives. Not always did I, nor do I now, have that same first love that I had as a teenager, but when I think about how much Jesus loves me, I can't help but love him back (see 1 John 4.19).

Jesus said "repent." But how can we repent of the lack of love? We must go back to the days when we first fell in love with the Savior. Paul, I believe, wrote: "But recall the former days." (Hebrews 10.32) Remember the joy, peace and love you felt in knowing Christ Jesus had entered your life and made you a new creation. This will restore that first love in your heart.

Just as a couple in marriage need to be brought back to the excitement, joy, and love they experienced in the early days of their relationship; so we too need to be brought back to the time of our coming to know the glorious, wonderful, precious, kind, compassionate, gracious and perfect Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Andre Crouch wrote:

Take me back, take me back dear Lord

To the place where I first received you.

Take me back, take me back dear Lord 

Where I first believed.

I feel that I'm so far from you Lord

But still I hear you calling me

Those simple things that I once knew,

The memories are drawing me. 

I must confess, Lord I've been blessed

But yet my soul's not satisfied.

Renew my faith, restore my joy

And dry my weeping eyes.

I tried so hard,

To make it all alone.

I need your help

Just to make it home.

Take me back, take me back dear Lord

To the place where I first received you.

Take me back, take me back dear Lord 

Where I first believed.

The Human Heart - Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

This is part two of a series on the amazing human body that God created for us. For the first installation, see here.

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All things were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made. John 1.3

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You wouldn’t want me doing surgery on your heart, but I am going to attempt to give my basic understanding of how the heart operates – kind of.

It’s been said that the heart is one of the strongest muscles in your body. A muscle that works hard for you even as you are sleeping.

The heart, which consists of cardiac muscle, is said to be the hardest working muscle in the body. The average adult heart beats 72 times a minute; 100,000 times a day; 3,600,000 times a year; and 2.5 billion times during a 70-year span. This is a great example of dynamic strength as well as strength endurance.[i]

My grandson asked me why the heart keeps on beating the way it does. I had to tell him, “If it doesn’t, we die.”

Inundated with carbon dioxide, our used blue blood, which

Diagram from http://www.newhealthadvisor.coml

has cycled through our body, enters the heart through the large Superior Vena Cava (from the upper body) and Inferior Vena Cava (from the lower body) veins, into the Right Atrium of the heart. 

Then the blood passes through a valve, into the Right Ventricle before passing through another valve, through the Left and Right Pulmonary Arteries into each lung. Once the blood flows through the lungs, picking up needed oxygen, it is ready to return to the heart through the Pulmonary Veins into the Left Atrium. Traveling though another valve, the blood enters the Left Ventricle. Then through another valve it makes its finale by traveling through the vast Aorta.

From the Aorta, the oxygenated blood travels through the branches of hundreds of vessels, 60,000 miles of them, into the whole of the body, giving oxygen and nutrition to every organ, limb and extremity of the body. Because of the faithfulness of the heart, the brain, bones, muscles, skin and vital organs are supplied with the needed blood.

Of all the things that strike me about the heart, the valves are some of the most interesting. When I saw the diagram of the heart for the first time in many years, I thought about plumbing, not just the plumbing in humans but the plumbing done by humans.

You may recognize that the valves of the heart are basically check valves. When properly functioning, they compel the blood to flow forward but never backward.

The Romans may have been the first to implement this concept in their plumbing systems:

Diagram from http://www.reefaquarium.com

There is … evidence of the use of angular valves, mixing valves and also check valves for avoiding back flow.[ii]

We humans make most of our best inventions by imitating what God shows us in nature. The making of the check valve does just that.

 God’s ways are mighty and awesome. When we delve into the heart that God made for each one of us, we see amazing design, structure and intelligence. God, our creator did a glorious thing when he made our hearts. Let us now turn to him as our Savior and Lord – the Lord Jesus Christ.[iii]

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[i]    https://www.pumpone.com/blog/57

[ii]   http://www.valvias.com/history.php

[iii] “Without him (Jesus) was not any thing made that was made” (John 1.3) – The Bible

What Does it Mean to be "Crucified with Christ?"

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.   I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2.19-20)

Being crucified with Christ, we can see from the context, has something to do with being dead to the “law” (the commands of God).

The Apostle Paul had already stated in verse 19 that he was dead to the law. This had not always been true. At one time he had been very alive to the law, for it had meant everything to him. (See Philippians 1.6; Acts 22.3; Acts 23.1; Acts 26.5) At one point he thought himself to have been blameless concerning the law of God. Then, he realized that he had fallen short, saying, “And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” (Romans 7.9-10). That very thing he thought was his life ended up being the instrument of his death.

It is not that there was (or is) anything at fault with the law of God, but it is in our own sinful weakness which makes us all come short of obeying it.

So now, in the Galatians verses at the top of the page, Paul is saying, having found Christ who truly brings life, that he is now “dead to the law.”

"Crucified with Christ," I believe, is a term of legality. When Jesus went to the cross and died, we (believers) died with him. Just as sure as Jesus died with our sins upon him (2 Corinthians 5.21), he truly paid the penalty of our sins through his death. In God’s eyes, judicially, we died with him. Having died with Christ, what have believers died to? We have died to the law and its demands. We no longer look to ourselves and our own obedience to make us right with God because we look to the righteous Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, we are now dead to the law.

Though there are many things in Galatians 2.20 we may not yet comprehend, we should clearly see this. Verse 19 is talking about giving up living by the law to be right with God. Verse 21 talks about abandoning any notion of being right with God through keeping the law, and verse 20 must be along the same subject too.

As a Christian, I have been crucified with Christ, meaning that I am dead to the law. I have been raised with Christ which means I am alive in him.