Not She!

Not she 
With traitorous kiss

Her Savior Stung

Not she denied Him 
With unholy tongue

She, while apostles shrank, 
Could dangers brave.

Last at the cross 
And earliest at the grave.

Eaton Stannart Barrett

A Mission Statement

All of Jesus’ mission statement is found here in John.  Most people, whether they’re Christians or not, have heard or seen (at sporting events) John 3:16.  The next verse, which I think is equally important, is lesser known.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

So many people think God is waiting to squash them like bugs when they do wrong.  They think God is angry at everyone and would not waste His sympathy to care for them in their difficulties.  But Jesus shows God’s nature, His character, to be very different from that image.

“He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His power”       -Hebrews 1:3

At Jesus’ birth, the angels announced that God wasn’t angry anymore.  “Peace on earth, Good Will toward men” Luke says.  Where before there was no intercessor between God and mankind, now we have a mediator (1 Timothy 2:5.)  Jesus told Nathaniel He was the ladder seen in Jacob’s dream—a connection to heaven itself! 

God took the time to make the relationship right between us.  Man had made his choice (in the garden,) took the side he wanted, and suffered the consequences—death.  But God said, “no, the price is too high for them.  I will pay it.”  He made a way for us.  That’s who God really is—a loving Father who longs to have relationships with His creation.

Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, He told Nicodemus.  He came that the world through Him might be saved. 

Jesus repeated this often—He came to “seek and to save that which was lost” Luke 19:10. 

"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins" Matt. 1:21

"For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them" Luke 9:56

"And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” John 12:47

John 3:18-21 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

If you choose not to believe in God, you’ve chosen to be condemned.  Another word: judged.  There is going to be a judgment one day.  If you “make your reservation now” your name will be written in the Lamb’s book of Life spoken of in Revelations.  But if you choose to disregard all of nature (Romans 1) and the nudges of the Holy Spirit that are drawing you gently and lovingly toward God, then you’ve made your choice, and God won’t force you to believe.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

When I tell people they need to believe in Jesus and His substitutionary death on the cross, they will agree it all sounds logical, and they don’t mind going to a service once in a while, but they’re just not ready to settle down yet.  They want to “have fun” for a while. 

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

“I want to have fun…I don’t want to stop doing the things I know aren’t pleasing to God.  I want to stay here, in the darkness, where God can’t see me, and no one will say anything about it, because everyone in here is doing dark things too.”  That’s basically what this is saying. 

People who say they’re having fun are actually sowing a lifestyle that isn’t going to be good for themselves or the people they love.  But they want to keep doing it, because they think it fulfills them.  It doesn’t, but the enemy has them coerced into thinking it does.  They’re going to stay in the darkness where their deeds can’t be seen.  The NLT puts it this way:

“They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished” NLT.

Unfortunately, everything hidden will one day be exposed, so they’re really wasting their time.   

… nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known (Matthew 10:26.)

“But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

Those who come to Christ have no condemnation on them!  Romans 8:1 says so:

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Jesus tells His disciples:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16.)

Proverbs says: The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.

We all get to choose where we will spend eternity.  God didn’t create robots who do whatever He wills, He gave us free will to choose to love Him or not. 

What sends people to hell is that they choose to stay in their sin rather than believe that God is in control and loves them more than they could ever imagine.  Jesus isn’t going to send anyone to hell. 

Joshua told the Israelites:

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

What is your choice?

I think I’ve told myself I choose the Lord, but sometimes I choose to sin even though I know it’s wrong.  I think I make myself an idol of my own “choices.”  As if I could ask for better than what He gives me! 

We’re all on a journey to know Him, and to know that He is good.  In Jesus we see that He is on our side, here to save, not condemn. 

I love that He shows God’s generous nature—not condemning, but loving.  He has a plan for my life, for good and not for evil.

Dear Abba,

Help me to choose You every time.  Let me see that making some of these choices that aren’t good for me are really turning to idols.  Help me to love You and honor You in all things.

Your Daughter,

Donna  

Born From Above

John 3:1-14 ESV

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." 

Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

* Or from above; the Greek is purposely ambiguous and can mean both again and from above; also verse 7.

Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee, and of course a Jew.  Although it is not discussed, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night likely because of fear of the rest of his colleagues, who would not approve of his relationship with Jesus.

What I like about Nicodemus is that he sought Jesus out.  He came by night, and it’s interesting that further on Jesus talks about darkness, but still he came straight to Jesus to talk to Him, rather than send others as the Pharisees did. 

"Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."

Nicodemus had heard about the miracles Jesus had done and believed Him because of them.  Jesus answered his statement with a comment:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

Jesus must have known his heart, and that Nicodemus wanted to know how to get to heaven.   I love how God cuts to the chase with us—He knows what we need and how to give it to us.

Unless you are born from above, Nicodemus, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven.  “What does that mean?  How is that even possible?”  Then Jesus explains: “you have to be born both of water, and of the Spirit.”  When a woman is about to give birth, the water sac holding the baby breaks.  So a child is “born of water.”  In Spiritual rebirth, Jesus comes to enter a heart as Spirit.  Is it confusing? 

We certainly can’t understand the logistics—there must be scientific parameters within which to understand this, right?  Maybe…or maybe this is one of those things we don’t understand, we just accept “by Faith.”  Nicodemus didn’t get it either, apparently.  Maybe Jesus looked at him and saw the confused look on his face, because He explains further—

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 

Jesus may have been referring to the passage in Ezekiel where God promises to make alive those dry bones found in the valley.  A.R. Faucett notes that “the valley” mentioned is probably in Mesopotamia, where Israel ended up after rebelling against God.  God tells Ezekiel: Prophesy to the wind (ruakh—breath.)

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

The wind here is the breath of God or Spirit of God—“breathe on these slain that they may live.” 

God promises to breathe on His people and make them alive again—make them truly His.  Other prophecies about this are found in Jeremiah and other Old-Testament books.  Verse 14 states:

And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD. 

Jesus reminded Nicodemus that He would put His Spirit within His people.  They would be Spiritually reborn.

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"

Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

You can’t grasp the Spiritual Kingdom of God unless you have the same Spirit in you. 

I can travel to Mexico and use my (really bad!) Spanish to talk to people there, but it’s going to be evident pretty quickly that I’m not Mexican.  I don’t look it and I don’t talk like it, neither am I familiar with the culture or traditions.  Now, I’ve taken some college classes about Mexican culture and had a couple of semesters of Spanish, but that doesn’t make me Mexican.  Even if I moved there, I wouldn’t be Mexican.  But a friend of mine, Marissa, is Mexican.  She was born there.  She is very aware of the differing traditions and holidays that occur throughout the year, the phrases that connote deeper meaning in the language, the look of people from differing regions there.  


I have friends who don't really understand why I go to church or get involved in ministry.  They don't get it because they aren't spiritually alive.  We who are born into the Kingdom have an understanding of spiritual things.

No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Jesus is plainly telling Nicodemus who He is.  He came from heaven.  He's God.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

Jesus would be “lifted up” on the cross, allowing for healing from death, even as the children of Israel were healed from the venomous snake bites they had received when they looked upon the brass serpent.  Brass is a type of sin, and like that brass serpent on the staff, the sins of man are placed on Jesus on the cross. 

…that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Nicodemus became a disciple, we know this because he would defend Jesus to the Sanhedrin and later help Joseph of Arimathea to embalm Jesus’ body (See John 7 and 19.)  Church tradition tells us that Nicodemus was martyred for his faith sometime during the first century A.D.

You must be born again.  Are you?  Are you waiting for a “logical” explanation of spiritual things?  Are you searching for God in the spiritual realm, looking for the answers but lost in them?  How often people try to pigeonhole Christianity!  But it’s not something that can be understood apart from being reborn.

You must be born again.  Being spiritual has nothing to do with physically handling spiritual things.  Having a big Bible won’t save you, or wearing a big cross around your neck.  Neither will going to church, even if you went every time the doors were open.  Mike Warnicki used to say “going to church won’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s will make you a cheeseburger.”  It’s all about the Spirit. 

Sometimes we doubt if we are saved.  Maybe our behaviors make us wonder if we’re really His.  It can be confusing when you don’t know what makes you “saved” or not. 

There are two questions I would ask you:

1. Has there ever been a time in your life when you knew for certain that you have eternal life?

2.  If you were to die tonight and you stood before God, and He asked you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?”  What would you say?

Send me an email with those answers and I’ll help you figure it out.  

donnalcologna@gmail.com

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for Your plan to save us!  Lord, sometimes I think about how You saved me, and I am overwhelmed with love and appreciation for You, for the goodness You showed toward me. 

Thank you for allowing me to know You.

Love,

Donna

Hearing God’s Voice

For today’s blog I’m stepping away from the Book of John to talk about something that I think is very important to the Christian experience: Hearing from God.  As a Bible teacher, I get asked the question repeatedly: how do I know when God has spoken to me? 

There are certain things that are important to understand when considering the phenomenon of hearing from God. 

1. Jesus said if we’re His, we’ll hear from Him and follow Him (John 10:27.)  No question that if we’re believers, we will hear from God.  The Greek word akouo translated ‘hear’ in the KJV of the Bible literally means “endowed with the faculty of hearing; not deaf.” 

When you became a Christian you didn’t stop hearing or seeing, if you came with vision and hearing.  You didn’t enter into some zone where you only heard from God—that would make you weird. 

But your ability to hear became heightened—now you’re able to hear directly from God.  Yes, I mean literally and physically hear from God.  I have heard from God in both an audible voice (in my ear) and a voice within my spirit: you would say “in my head.”  The Holy Spirit nudges us and we pay attention, then we hear.

I don’t know the logistics of how God does this in us—He’s God and He’s big and can do as He wants!  But there are some things I’ve noticed He does as I have lived out my faith in Him.

2. The voice of God is always in line with the Word of God.  No one who claims God told them to act contrary to God’s Word hears from God.  A friend of mine went to buy a car and told the salesman she was a Christian.  The salesman said he was one, too, and then told her the Lord said she should buy the car.  She left that car lot quickly!  She knew that the wisdom that comes from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield; full of mercy and good fruit, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17.)  If you wonder whether you should do something, check to see if it’s in line with the Word first.  This guy was just trying to make a sale; although my friend did need a car, she needn’t spend the kind of money that particular car was going to cost.  He wasn't willing to yield, he wasn't thinking of her (full of mercy.)  God’s Word tells us to be good stewards of our resources.  If you're spending time in the Word of God, you will know Him and His Word and not be deceived by those who would try to take advantage of you.  

3.  God uses our world, and everything in it, to speak to us.  My Aunt Betsy was watching television when a commercial came on for Cheerios.  At the time they were showing the cereal bounce back up from when it was pushed down by the spoon.  It came on four or five times, when Aunt Betsy said, “Lord, what are you telling me here?”  She heard Him tell her she was just like the cereal; she always “bounced back.” 

At the time things were pretty hard for her, and this word was encouraging to her.  She knew that although she’d been through trials, she’d soon feel like her old self again.  God can use whatever He wants to—even television—to speak to us.

4.  God will encourage you through others, but He wants to speak directly to you as well.  He wants the time with you, the relationship with you.    If you'll take the time to be with Him, especially in His Word, He's going to speak to you more clearly.  

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20.)

Most Christians struggle with spending time with God.  I saw a study in the paper today that said most people (85 %!) who come to church only get contact with God at church.  They don’t open their Bible and read it.  They don’t attend services during the week.  They go to church and enjoy the worship and listen to the sermon, but they don’t do any personal worship on days other than Sunday. 

My heart breaks when I think that most of my brothers and sisters sitting in the seats next to mine aren’t getting fed apart from that contact.  God’s heart breaks, too!  He said to His church—if anyone would just open the door and let me in, we could fellowship with each other!  He wants the fellowship.

Do you take the time to know Him?  How's your relationship with the Lord today?  There is no condemnation on you if you’re reading this and haven’t been spending time with the Lord.  I want to encourage you to take the time right now.  Maybe a Facebook fast is in order (as some of my FB friends are doing.)  Maybe a television fast, or an internet fast.  Maybe you need some time to rediscover the love God has for you, and how to hear from Him.  Making time for God in your life will “bless your socks” as my friend Janette likes to say (with an English accent!)

Dear Father,

I lift up my church family to you right now, and ask that you would speak to everyone who reads this blog in a special way through it as they do.  Please give each of us a certainty that You want to speak to Your children.  Help us to be able to take the time to read and understand Your Word.  Lord, I ask for a renewed excitement for the things of God.  I pray that the fellowship they enjoy with You will be precious, and that they will become overwhelmed with joy as they do so.

Love, Your Daughter,

Donna

I’d love it if you’d write back and tell me how things are going with you and the Lord!  Tell me if you’ve heard from God in a special way, or if you were encouraged through His word in a way that made your day.  You’ll be an encouragement to others as you share!

Serving Him in Encouragement,

Donna

House of Merchandise

John 2: 13-22 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away!  Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

Jesus had performed His first miracle, in turning water into wine, quietly and unobtrusively bringing joy to a small-town wedding.  Recall that He did so without fanfare, not promoting Himself as some would like to do, but simply working naturally, in the supernatural.  But today was business.  Today He would be bold! 

Unlike the wedding in Cana, which was only mentioned by John, this incident is mentioned in each of the gospels, but John leaves out the rest of what Jesus had said:

"It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves,'" Luke 19.

Jesus is quoting the following verses:

These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. -- Isaiah 56:7

Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the LORD. -- Jeremiah 7:11

The area in which they were selling was likely the Court of the Gentiles, where those non-Jewish believers would go to worship God.  Jesus entered the temple and saw that where the foreign proselytes to the Jewish faith were supposed to be in an attitude of prayer, there were people selling animals in the attitude of greed.  They were selling these animals so that it would be both convenient for the people (cheapening worship) and a rip-off for them (cheapening worship.)   Could you pray effectively among the sounds of cooing, bleating and mooing?  Jesus would bring an end to those sounds that day.  Thomas Beswick (1822) writes:

"It was a continual struggle for those who believed they were the chosen people in a special relationship with God to realize that God intended to bless other nations through them, and it was often forgotten. But from time to time the prophets called them back to this purpose of God for them and looked forward to its fulfillment. The people of the time of Jesus might have forgotten but they could be reminded and they were forcibly reminded by the dramatic action that Jesus took."

The time in which we now live is called “The time of the Gentiles” by Bible teachers.  Perhaps, too, this cleansing assisted in bringing this “time” in for those of us who are not of Jewish descent, that we might have the chance to take part in His Kingdom.

He made a whip of cords.  I can see Him, methodically twining the individual strands of material (possibly rushes, such as used in bedding) together, nodding to Peter and Andrew as they describe what they know about the temple and play “tour guide.” 

This is called by theologians “Christ’s first cleansing of the Temple.”  Some of them say that it is a symbol of the movement by God from the sacrifices that then were necessary to cleanse man from sin—the blood of bulls and goats—to the one Sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, by which we no longer need other sacrifices. 

 This is one of the times we see Jesus upset.  He isn’t upset for Himself, He’s upset for the sake of the Father.  And His was a righteous anger!  The merchants were profiting from God’s people. 

I’ve noticed that there are some people who make the rounds of churches looking for a customer base.  They might be selling something, a service, or whatever, and they come every now and again.  I remember this one gal that came to church during a women’s event, and she was very nice, complimentary toward us, but then at the end of the event she was going around asking if we wanted to hire her to work.  She was asking if she could tell everyone about her business so she could make money off of the women there.  It gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. God hates when people try to rip us off in the name of religion. 

Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

One of the characteristics of God is His zeal.  He is zealous for us to know Him.  The word zeal means ardent, devoted, or diligent.  Ardent means passionate, fervent.  Jesus feels passionate about you!  He is devoted to you, has fervent love for you, for His people.    

Notice that the religious people didn’t admonish Him for scourging the merchandisers.  No one said a word against this action.  Instead, they questioned:

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do you show us, since You do these things?” 

As the temple leaders came to question Him, I noticed the difference between them and the disciples— the one believed, while the other questioned.  Jesus would later say

“Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah." Then Jesus left them and went away (Matthew 16:4.)

But Jesus didn’t make any commitments to them, the Bible says.  He knew they were blind to the fact that He was the Messiah.  Chuck Smith says

“It is great to experience miracles from God and to have great feelings about God.  I have seen plenty of those miracles and felt those wonderful feelings.  But lasting faith doesn’t come from experiencing the spectacular.  That is a shallow faith.  Lasting faith comes from trusting Jesus when we don’t see what He is doing.  It is the “evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1.)

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 

But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Notice He stated: I will raise it up.  Jesus told the people about the sacrifice He was about to make in John 10:18-

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

Later on when they were trying to find something to accuse Him of, they said He threatened to tear down the temple.  Mark’s Gospel records this:

“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”

Jesus lived His life as a human being, in addition to being God in His human body.  He had emotions, which were subject to the fallen nature of man, but He was perfectly in control of His spirit and used His emotions correctly.  If we are His, we have His Spirit and can learn to control our emotions correctly.

Jesus shows concern for the poor and for the foreigner here in His treatment of the moneychangers.  He loves all people and desires relationships with us. We need to open our hearts and our hands and let people come, even if we don't think they "belong."

Looking back over all of this, I asked myself:

Am I, like Jesus, zealous for the people to know Him, or am I just in it for me?  It’s easy to get complacent and refuse to leave my comfort zone, but He wants me to care for His sheep, even if they’re unwashed sheep.

Am I walking in faith, or am I trying to know God merely in experience.  I need to have both—seek Him, enjoy the experience of knowing Him, but have faith that He is working even when I don’t see Him at work.

Dear Abba,

I love knowing You through Your word!  I love seeing You at work, seeing You fulfill the Word You’d spoken years before.  Lord, let me know You more and more! 

Would you take my skewed vision of You and make it what You want it to be?  Help me to see You as You are, and not color the truth of You with experiences or prejudices. 

Lord, help me to join in Your work, and do the things You would do if You were here right now.  Let me honor You in serving for Your Kingdom’s sake.

Love,

Donna