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Fear and Love – A Devotional from Dave Wilson

May 2, 2020 By Denton Presbyterian Blogger Leave a Comment

1 John 4:17,18 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 

This is for my children, my wife, my friends old and new, and anybody else that wants to listen in. I am a fearful person, a worrier to the nth degree. I am afraid of pain, of other people’s pain, of my own pain but I don’t think I’m afraid to die. I realized this when I was in a bus accident when I was 16 years old. I won’t give you all the gory details, but it was conceivable that I was about to die and I was OK with it because I knew where I was going. Today I want to look at I John 4:18. I want to look at two things: fear and love.

The first thing is fear. Let me give you some context. In verse 17 John talks about the day of judgment. Martin Lloyd-Jones, the great Welsh preacher of the 20th century, gave some advice with regards to the day of judgment. He said, “Stand in front of the reality of the day of judgment.” Now, you’ve got a few types of folks and maybe you will see yourself in one or more of these.

The first type are those who out and out reject the day of judgment as nonsense or maybe even as evil. They are appalled by the very idea of it, it smacks of trying to control people with fear. If you have a commitment to free will, then this is you. We’re going to rebel against anyone trying to mess with our free will. Or the day of judgment seems to them as the epitome of ignorance. Once again the epitome of knowledge to them is self-determined; to say that all mankind is held to a standard other than the one they make up themselves or have agreed to follow is offensive to them. We can all say that we fall along this spectrum most days, meaning, whether you’re a Christian or not you don’t like the idea of judgment and to be afraid of it would mean that it seems reasonable to not like it. Some of us are more brazen – we hate the idea, we hate anything about it – but all of us have some hatred of the idea, if we’re honest.

The second group are those who, probably in a way to suppress fear or hatred of the idea of judgment, choose to ignore it. These are not the ones actively hating the idea or hating the idea that God is judge. They instead are seeking a life void of anything to be afraid of. They are usually the fun people in life. They don’t want to ask the question of “What is life‘s meaning?” Life‘s meaning to them is to avoid this question altogether. But things like war and pestilence and disease and the insane bombardment of information we currently are subjected to make this way of living impossible, and that is ruining our worldview and exposing us to the stuff we’ve done everything we can do to suppress. And out of these moments bubbles up the overflowing fountain of fear and hatred. The unknown is all of a sudden made known, and we are forced to confront a reality we have so desperately tried to keep far away from us. Christian and non-christian alike are equally affected.

Right now in the Covid 19 world in the United States of America it all depends upon your age, where you live, your economic status, and where are you are on this spectrum. If you are a teenager or college student with a good family situation and you have parents on the age bubble for this thing, you are going to whistle in the dark until someone close to you gets this disease and dies. If this thing went after the young I guarantee you folks like me would be way more freaked out, but as it stands right now we are worried to some extent about our health and infinitely more worried or fearful about money. So we whistle in the dark until a financial ruin day of judgment becomes too apparent to mask with a $2,400 check and our baseless hope in a brighter financial future is torn away. So, we should all stare the day of current and financial judgment in the face and be terrified by it. Yet the Christian answer, the one that comes from God, is that yes there is judgment, there is awfulness, there is true and real fear, but there is something else. Every time my phone buzzes with yet another report, the one I’m really looking for is the one that says, “FEAR HAS BEEN DEFEATED!”

Before I get to the category of love, there is one more group that we need to address. Those are the Christians who, as Lloyd-Jones put it, are “believers who feel it their duty to be miserable.” These are the folks, and all of us have been here, that want love and fear to coexist. Really they just want fear to exist because their biggest fear is that God‘s love for them is impossible. They can’t submit to love so they enslave themselves to fear. These are the older brothers trusting in their good works to save them and using fear as a full body hazmat suit to ensure that love isn’t needed. They have chosen to fear everything else but God. The fear of the greater drives out the lesser. Two months ago you were afraid that it might rain on your wedding day, today you were afraid you might die or someone close to you might die. Two months ago you were afraid that you would not be able to afford a good vacation, today you are afraid of losing your house. Greater drives out lesser. So why not fear (I’m both using the term as reverence and true fear of) God and it will drive out the lesser fear of death, pain, ruin. Why would you choose this? One word, love.

This leads us to our second point: love. God is love. His love for Himself and for you drives away fear because it is greater than fear. It offers life, it offers freedom, it offers forgiveness even in the face of inescapable judgment. I’ve been studying the book of Zechariah with a friend of mine these past couple of weeks and in Zechariah 3 Joshua the high priest is staring judgment in the face. He is in the courtroom of God and he is covered in his priestly garments and they are covered in excrement of every gross conceivable kind. He is according to God‘s law 100% guilty. Satan also stands there as his accuser, he has an airtight case against Joshua. Yet even here the greater drives out the lesser. God’s love dismisses the charges, clothes Joshua in clean robes, and crowns him with glory, not because Joshua did what was right but because God made him clean simply due to his eternal love for him. Oftentimes we become like Satan in that we want to point out the unacceptable nature of ourselves or of others. We make ourselves and others feel as though they can never be clean, much less worthy of glory. But love is greater than this and we must use it to drive away fear, both the fear of being found out ourselves and the fear of others “getting away with it.” This is the teaching, the doctrine, the way of life known as justification by faith. It is the imputation, the declaring, by the only one who can, that we are right before God so that nothing can touch us; it is Romans 8:31-39 type stuff.

So how can we know this love? First, by believing it and second, by practicing it. Especially with those overcome by fear. Love them, sacrifice for them, listen to them, pray for them, serve them. Don’t hammer them for their fears and their commitment to fear. Instead, love them in the midst of it. As you practice love, you will drive out your own fear and you may by God’s grace drive out the fears enslaving those around you.

In conclusion, there’s an article my friend sent me that was in the most recent Harvard Business Review The author was saying that the feeling that we are not acknowledging during this time is grief, basically grief over the thing we love the most that has died, security, control etc. His advice was to acknowledge that. Yes, acknowledge. But is that all? NO! fear and grief can go hand-in-hand, but the good news is that we grieve as those with hope, HOPE founded in love. So go to battle today armed with love, and let God’s love expressed in the sacrificial love of Christ drive out your fear and the fear of those around you.

Filed Under: COVID-19, Devotional, Fear, God's Love, Grace

A Good Friday Devotional

April 11, 2020 By Denton Presbyterian Blogger Leave a Comment

I am a math nerd. I used to get in trouble in the first grade for taking out my math workbook during English/reading time – yes it started that early. When you take algebra you learn about the substitution method. If you have an equation like 3x + 4y = 25 and you know that x = 7, you substitute the 7 in for x in the first equation and then you can solve for y (hint, y = 1). If you need a refresher, you can check out this Khan Academy article (Substitution Method Review). It is one of those basic skills you need to get algebra. It is also at the heart of Good Friday.

Today is all about substitution. Jesus substituting himself for us is the heart of the cross. God’s algebra is given in Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Our equation is “sin earns us death”, but Jesus has substituted his death for us so that we can have eternal life, which he has earned for us by his perfect righteousness. The cross, Good Friday, Christianity – they make no sense without the idea of substitution.

In Luke’s account of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, he goes out of his way to tell us that Jesus was innocent. After the Jewish religious leaders condemn Jesus, they take him to Pilate, who has the power to lawfully put Jesus to death. Pilate’s initial examination of Jesus ends with the proclamation, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4). Then Jesus goes before Herod, because he was ruler of Galilee where Jesus was from and Herod also found no guilt in Jesus (23:15). Pilate examines Jesus a second time and says to the religious leaders, “After examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.” (23:14-15)

But the religious leaders kept shouting “Crucify, crucify him!” And a third time Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” (23:21-22) But the religious leaders demanded that Jesus be crucified and Pilate granted their desire.

So they crucified Jesus, and the Roman centurion who was watching, said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” At least FIVE times, Luke tells us that Jesus was innocent – 3 by Pilate, 1 by Herod and 1 by a Roman centurion – and yet he was crucified as a convicted criminal. In Matthew’s account of the crucifixion, even Pilate’s wife joins the call for Jesus’ release – “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” (Matthew 27:19)

At the same time, there was a notorious man name Barabbas who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. He was supposed to be crucified that day along with two other men. But it was the custom of Pilate to release one Jew at Passover. Pilate wanted to release Jesus. So he thought he would outwit the religious leaders and take it to the crowds. He asked the crowds, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Christ?” (Matthew 27:17) But they asked for Barabbas!! And said of Jesus, “Let him be crucified!”

Jesus is taking Barabbas’ place on the cross. Jesus is substituting himself for Barabbas. Although to the human eye all of this appears to be the doing of the jealous religious leaders, Jesus tells a different story. In John 10, Jesus says “I lay down my life for the sheep…No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:15-18) God is substituting his Son for Barabbas. “Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” (Acts 2:23) This is God’s plan, God’s doing – both Father and Son. Why?

Listen to these verses of Scripture:

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

“Jesus committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth…He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like lost sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:22-25)

“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities…and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:5, 6, 9)

“Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:21-22)

“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:13-14)

“So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:28)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Jesus was not just substituting himself for Barabbas, but for all who would believe. This is why we call it Good Friday. The innocent, righteous, knew no sin, perfect Jesus became sin so that we – the guilty, unrighteous, sinner, broken – might become innocent, righteous, forgiven through Christ. Jesus substituted himself for us so that we might be forgiven, loved by the Father, and comforted by the Holy Spirit. Jesus experienced the worst Friday in history so that we might experience Good Friday every day. You see, you do use algebra in real life.

May I encourage you to pick up your Bible this Good Friday and read the story of Jesus’ substitutionary death for you? Just pick one – and revel in the love of God for you today. You can find it in Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19.

Trusting in the Death of Christ for Us,
Robert Wagner

Filed Under: Devotional, God's Love, Good News, Gospel, Grace Tagged With: love, service

Devotional 4/8/2020

April 10, 2020 By Denton Presbyterian Blogger Leave a Comment

“The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:5-7


 As I try to navigate this time I keep thinking about Paul’s words here in Philippians 4. He says so much that speaks directly to my heart right now. He tells us that:

1.  The Lord is at hand.
2.  Therefore we do not need to be anxious.
3.  Rather we should be moved to pray.
4.  And in our prayers we are to give thanks.
5.  And tell him everything that we need.
6.  And his peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

One of the hardest things in all of this is the feeling of helplessness. I feel like I am just sitting around waiting to see what happens. Will I get sick? Will Michelle get sick? The best thing I can do is nothing! What’s going to happen to the economy? But Paul says to remember – the Lord is at hand! I may be helpless but he is not. I may not know what to do but he is working all things according to the counsel of his will for my good. I may be in the dark but he knows all things – including when this will be over. The Lord is at hand, he is near – and he is my shepherd, he is my Father, he is my shelter in the storm – and I can trust him. That is why I do not need to be anxious. If I forget that the Lord is near, I have every reason to be anxious whether I acknowledge it or not. But if he is near then nothing will happen to me that he is not in control of and will use for my good.

So rather than being anxious – worrying – I should pray. THAT is really the best thing that I can do. Knock on the door of my heavenly Father’s throne room just like a four year old knocking on his daddy’s office door and tell him how I am feeling and what I need. I should tell him that I am afraid. I should tell him that I am anxious and worried about my job, about my future, about money, about school, about having enough toilet paper, etc, etc. I should tell him that I need HIM. I should ask him to help my unbelief; to help me believe that he is all-powerful and all-good and that he is for me and not against me.

And then I should remember all the things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for Jesus – that he who knew no sin became sin for me so that in him I might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:2). I am thankful that he who was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but made himself nothing, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8). I am thankful that Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18) – which means that COVID-19 is under his power and authority. I am thankful for my wife, and kids that they are healthy and that we have a roof over our heads and food in the pantry and a church body that we love, and friends who love us and pray for us. We could go on and on.

And his promise to us is that as we remember that the Lord is at hand, and as we pray with thanksgiving, HIS peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That is what I need. That is what I want. Is that what you need and want? Then join me in praying and believing as we struggle through this difficult time.

I have started using our denomination’s call/guide to prayer for the month of April as I seek to follow Paul’s wisdom. Would you join me? Start on whatever day of the month it is and let us cry out as a congregation to the God who loves us and gave himself for us. Here is the link.

Filed Under: Activities, Corona Virus, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional, Fear, God's Love Tagged With: love, service

Devotional 3/31/2020 – Love One Another

April 2, 2020 By Denton Presbyterian Blogger Leave a Comment

“Wash hands, for sure.
Then, wash feet.”
— Scott Sauls

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John
13:34-35)

In these days of isolation, social distancing and shelter in place, it can be hard to find creative ways to love one another, to love our neighbors. And it is easy to isolate ourselves, watching the news and tv and social media and forget about Jesus’ call to LOVE. Self-Sacrificial love is the logo of the disciples of Jesus. Just as the golden arches are to McDonalds and the green mermaid is to Starbucks so self-sacrificial, foot washing love is to followers of Jesus. “If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done for you.” (John 13:14-15)

But if I am honest, I am having a hard time trying to figure out how best to
balance social-distancing for the good of all and tangibly loving my neighbor in Denton. Sure, social-distancing for the good of all is an act of love for my neighbor in Denton and beyond – and I am trying to play my part. But at the same time, I have this nagging feeling that Jesus calls us to more. How can we do that?

First – if you are still working full time, especially if you are on the front lines of fighting the virus in a place like health care or working at the
grocery store – THANK YOU. You are already doing your part and more.

Second, for those of you who are on the high side of risk, please let the body of Christ serve you. Let us know what you need from the grocery store or when you need a prescription picked up. We would love to serve you.

But, for those of us who have suddenly found ourselves in a place where we have extra time on our hands because of school being out or online, our jobs being reduced or on hold, let’s help one another love one another better. What are your ideas for loving your neighbors? Do you have a story of serving somewhere that you could share with the rest of us that might spur us on to love and good deeds?

Please send me your story so I can share it with the rest of the congregation.
I’m going to share two stories below. I had the chance to serve with Denton ISD last week, taking meals to needy families. It was SUPER easy and simple. I signed up on their volunteer list at https://www.dentonisd.org/meals and volunteered with a few other people from our community taking meals to kids in need. I met with the rest of the volunteers at Denton High School at 11 am and then we loaded up several trays of bag lunches and a cooler of milk and a box of chip bags onto a big yellow bus. Then we drove to a mobile home park located near Mr. Frosty’s drive-in on Fort Worth Drive, where we parked the bus and waited for the kids to come and get their meals. And little by little kids came to get their lunch.

While there was not a ton of interaction with the kids, I was able to ask their name and how old they were and what grade they were in as we gave them their food. It was great to see their smiling faces. I am sure that other school districts are doing this as well so I encourage you to try to serve in your local district.

Scott Geer was able to serve one day at Our Daily Bread and here is his story:

Encouraged by our Pastor this past Sunday to put aside fear, rest in the Lord, and go serve our neighbors, I went Monday morning and helped at Our Daily Bread. ODB serves the homeless and indigent folks in Denton with meals, hygiene items, over the counter medicines, clothes, and carry-out food. I worked with the other volunteers serving tables and cleaning each table and chair after the guest left. I was amazed at two things.

First, the courage of the other volunteers. There were ladies in their 80’s who were there, serving and interacting with people. Here they are, members of the most vulnerable class of citizens to the COVID-19 virus, and yet they courageously came and served without fear, trusting in the Lord. Secondly, the guests were, for the most part, polite and thankful for what was being done for them. The face of people would brighten as they were spoken to and treated as a fellow traveler with the rest of us through this life. Each has a story and there was no time to hear the stories, but when they were treated like an important person, they responded with a smile and thanks.

ODB needs volunteers. I encourage any that can to come, even if it is only
for an hour or two. Children as young as 14 are welcome without parents and under 14 with parents. 16 and over can volunteer in any capacity. They
make it easy to sign up. Just register to volunteer at https://www.ourdailybreaddenton.org/ and click on the “Volunteer” button. Once you are registered, then just click on the “Register to Volunteer” link, look at the calendar view, and sign up for a job.

Would you do two things for me? First, consider sharing a story with the rest of us of opportunities you have had to serve during this time. Second, consider sharing a way in which the rest of us may serve you and your family during this time – even if it is as small as “give me a call”.

Trying to be the body of Christ in a weird time,
Pastor Wagner

Filed Under: Activities, Corona Virus, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Devotional Tagged With: love, service

Devotionals

March 27, 2020 By Denton Presbyterian Blogger Leave a Comment

We are planning to post a series of devotionals over the coming weeks. Click the link below to open the devotional (will open in a new window).

This devotional was prepared by our Pastor, Robert Wagner. Please feel free to leave comments.

Isaiah 43

Filed Under: Devotional Tagged With: Devotional, Isaiah 43

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