A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
 
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

(Verses 1 and 2 from “A Might Fortress Is Our God” by Martin Luther)

Like many, [Martin] Luther’s behavior did not always reflect his theology. Still, his discovery in Scripture that people by God’s grace can have a right relationship with God vastly changed his outlook on life. Having that fundamental relationship secured, he believed that a joyful and loving life would follow.

During a period in 1527 when he suffered from dizziness and from a disease occasioned both by high fever and physical weakness, Luther succumbed to a feeling of psychological abandonment. The prayers of his wife and friends sustained him in his despair. During this time he composed “A Might Fortress Is our God.” A clue to his faith lay in his admission that “the prince of darkness grim” raged in his life. Luther surmounted these personally trying times with the assurance that he need not fear the devil’s onslaughts because “one little Word shall fell him.” That Word is Jesus Christ. The reformer survived his rough moments by naming and clinging to Jesus Christ. 

-- K. James Stein in “Spiritual Guides for the 21^st Century”

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His Truth to triumph through us;
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little Word shall fell him.
 
That Word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth;
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s Truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

(Verses 3 and 4 from “A Might Fortress Is Our God” by Martin Luther)

#6035

FINISHING WELL – Part 2 of 2

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day -- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.”  (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV)

The Christian life is a long-distance journey. We need to finish well. Here is the second thing we need to say about that.

As you encounter people and culture around you, “give ‘em heaven.” You’ve heard the opposite phrase. That’s what many people give us. It is so easy to imitate them and do the same. But Jesus calls us to a better way. So give ‘em heaven!

It was sometimes said in the past that Christians were so “heavenly minded that they were no earthly good.” The story of church history has actually proved opposite. It is only when we have perspective, when we have the big story in mind, that we are so heavenly minded that we are most earthly good! Why? Because we know what values stand at the center of the universe and what really matters to God…

As we bless others in the name of Christ, may they catch a glimpse of a better land and a more lasting kingdom. By the grace of God and the Spirit’s power, may they be wooed through our lives and our corporate witness into joining us on this journey. Yes, yes… give ‘em heaven! Give ‘em heaven!

-- Adapted from “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half” by Donald W. Sweeting & George Sweeting

#5905

THE NARROW WAY

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Was Jesus narrow-minded? Well, in a sense He was. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount He said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

If Jesus was right about this, then He was being appropriately narrow-minded. He was being like parents who are narrow enough to insist that their children walk on the sidewalk and not in the street, or a doctor who limits his prescriptions to medicine that will actually help people rather than [a placebo that would do nothing or a poison that would harm them], or the airline pilot who restricts his landing options to that narrow path to life called a runway, rather than trying to put the airplane down in a cornfield.

You see, we really want narrow approaches -- as long as they are based on truth and point us in the direction that’s best for us.

Jesus gave us every reason to believe He was telling the truth, and that He loves us enough to lead us toward forgiveness, life and an eternity with Him.

As the apostle Peter said: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  C. S. Lewis put it this way: "One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness." 

-- Lee Strobel in “The Case for Christianity Answer Book”

#5049

CALL HIM JESUS

“Behold, an angel of the LORD appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’”  (Matthew 1:20-21 NKJV)

Jesus’ name comes from the word Joshua -- “He shall save”-- a common name in those days. Its very ordinariness, not unlike “Bob” or “Joe” today, must have grated on Jewish ears in the first century as they listened to Jesus’ words. Jews did not pronounce the Honorable Name of GOD, save for the high priest one day a year, and even today Orthodox Jews carefully spell out G_D. For people raised in such a tradition, the idea that an ordinary person with a name like Jesus could be the Son of God and Savior of the world seemed utterly scandalous. Jesus was a man, for goodness’ sake, Mary’s boy. 

-- Phillip Yancey in “The Jesus I Never Knew”

#4993

IN JESUS’ NAME

“And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  (John 14:13)

When Jesus told us that, if we prayed in His name, He would give us what we asked for (John 14:13), He certainly was talking about something far deeper than the reciting of a religious formula.  That kind of thing would reduce prayer to cheap magic.  Instead, our Lord was telling us that, if our prayers are to be effective, we must grow into people who are so like Jesus that our prayers will be an expression of His concerns about love.

In the ancient world, a person's name had a deep significance that has been lost in our modern world.  To those who lived in the ancient world in which Jesus lived, a person's name was meant to embody everything that the person was about.  A name expressed a person's essential character and tapped into the spiritual core of the person's identity.  So when Jesus told His disciples to pray in His name, He was telling them that if they would yield to His transforming power in their lives and let His mind be in them (Philippians 2:5), then their prayers would be like His.  Such prayers are answered. 

-- Tony Campolo in “Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God” 


#4410

A STRONG AND POWERFUL EXPERIENCE IN WORSHIP

Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20 NRSV)

We come into worship in a variety of mental and emotional states and with a myriad of things on our minds. It is impossible for us to check our brains at the door when we enter the sanctuary, and ill-advised even if we could. What we can do is acknowledge our state before God, whatever it is, then offer to God whatever concerns and distractions may keep us from worshipping God in this hour. Then we can pray for a strong and powerful experience in the service.

Because we bring to worship our different types of spirituality, those acts and experiences of worship that will aid us in our search for God in worship will vary from person to person. However, Christ has promised to be here among us “where two or three are gathered in My name.” Our prayer is not that God will come and be present, for we trust in God’s promise. Rather, our prayer is that we may be open to God’s expression in this particular service on this particular day.

-- M. Anne Burnette Hook in “Grace Notes: Spirituality and the Choir”


#4256

RESPONDING TO OUR NEED

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  (John 14:6a)

Jesus is named for every [human need]: To the hungry He is the Bread of Life; to the thirsty He is the Fountain of Living Waters; to the sick He is the Balm of Gilead; to the dying He is the Resurrection and the Life; to the lonely, the Friend that sticks closer than a brother; to the outcast, the Friend of Sinners. The crescendo of our Lord’s identification with man was reached at the cross -- there He was “numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

-- Ronald Dunn in “Don’t Just Stand There, Pray Something”

#4187

ACCESS TO GOD

“Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:16 NIV)

Many years ago there was an old man who had come to Washington D.C. on a vital mission. A young boy found him sitting on a wall which surrounded the White House. He saw that tears were rolling down the old man’s cheeks, so he went over and asked him what was the matter.

“Oh, young man, my son is in the Army. He’s been arrested for desertion and condemned to death. I’ve tried to get in to see President Lincoln, but the guards will not allow me in.”

“I can take you to the President,” said the boy.

“You can?” The old man looked in astonishment.

“Yes sir, he’s my father. He lets me come in anytime.”

Abraham Lincoln received the distraught father and listened to his plea. His son was granted a pardon and the old man went away rejoicing.

When we come to God, in faith, asking for a pardon for our sins, He grants our petition because of His Son, Jesus Christ. We always have access to Him wherever we are.

-- Joan Winmill Brown in “The Shelter of His Wings”


#4181

THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

The more you have to circle something in prayer, the more satisfying it is spiritually.  And, often, the more glory God gets.

Until recently, I wanted God to answer every prayer ASAP.  That is no longer my agenda.  I don’t want easy answers or quick answers because I have a tendency to mishandle the blessings that come too easily or too quickly.  I take the credit or take them for granted.  So now I pray that it will take long enough and be hard enough for God to receive all of the glory.  I’m not looking for the path of least resistance; I’m looking for the path of greatest glory.  And that requires high-degree-of-difficulty prayers and lots of circling…

When you live by faith, it often feels like you are risking your reputation.  You’re not.  You’re risking God’s reputation.  It’s not your faith that is on the line.  It’s His faithfulness.  Why?  Because God is the one who made the promise, and He is the only one who can keep it.  The battle doesn’t belong to you; it belongs to God.  And because the battle doesn’t belong to you, neither does the glory.  God answers prayer to bring glory to His name, the name that is above all names.

-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker

#3685

IN CHRIST'S NAME

"Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:17)

What does it mean to do something "in the name of Jesus"? Generally speaking, in the Bible a person's name has to do with his or her character. So doing something in Jesus' name means to do it in His character. It means doing it as Jesus Himself would do it if He were in your place.

-- John Ortberg in The Life You've Always Wanted


#3610

ENCOUNTERING JESUS

To encounter Jesus is to take on the name of Christ. During a sermon preached at our congregation, Dr. William B. McClain, Professor of Preaching and Worship at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., told the story of meeting a South Korean tailor in Itwaewon, Seoul, named Smitty Lee. Dr. McClain asked whether the name "Smitty" was Korean, and the tailor told the story of his life being saved during the Korean War by an American soldier from Virginia who was called Smitty Ransom. The tailor further explained a rather familiar custom in that Asian culture, and summed it up in two simple sentences: "He saved my life. I took his name." That is indeed what happens when we encounter Jesus; He save our lives, and we take His name.

-- Zan W. Holmes, Jr. in Encountering Jesus


#3338

THE NAME OF JESUS

As Christians, we symbolize the belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Perhaps for some that belief is hidden or almost forgotten. And yet, for many, that belief is vibrant and fruitful. Whatever the condition of our belief, may God daily show us Jesus, and Him only. May we constantly see our redemption and then in turn proclaim it. How great and sweet is the name of Jesus!

-- Max Lucado


#3251