Monthly Archives: February 2017

The light that shines through the cosmos (John 8:12), February 18, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
In the 1950s and 60s, just about every boy I knew thought of being an astronaut at one time or anothers. We were in a space race with the Soviet Union and rushed to land a man on the moon. Everyone around me dreamed of being that person.
Scripture
1. John 8:12
2. Jesus: I am the light that shines through the cosmos; if you walk with Me, you will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life and will not know darkness.
Devotional
1. As one of my electives as an undergraduate I took astronomy. I got interested in astronomy in Junior High during the height of the space race and our race to the moon. Space and the complexity of the universe fascinated me. I think a great many young men of that time dreamed of screaming away on the back of a Saturn rocket and visiting the stars.
  1. Astronomy class tried to take away some of the wonder
  2. Explained universe and just happenstance of gravity wells pulling on matter and causing the reactions in the stars and formation of planets
  3. Left God out of the equation
  4. Never explained how the Big Bang might have occurred in the first place or who created the dense material from which the Big Bang sprang
2. Still awed by the universe
  1. Distances are mind-boggling
  2. 32 billion light years to the farthest known galaxy (eight minutes and twenty seconds for light to reach us from the sun, 5.3 hours to reach Pluto)
  3. Billions of galaxies in the known universe
  4. Each galaxy made of millions or billions of stars
  5. Many of those stars have planets
  6. We are only beginning to discover the real scope of the universe over the last 200 years
3. Think about Jesus 2,000 years ago describing Himself as the light of the cosmos
  1. Pierces through the darkness
  2. Created all the universe in all its vastness
  3. Brings life and sustains it
  4. Set in motion all the rules that lets us exist on this tiny world
4. That Man, the God/Man, invites us to walk with Him
  1. We will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life
  2. We will not know darkness the thing that brings fear to men
  3. All we have to do is believe in Him for forgiveness and walk in His ways
  4. He will be beside us all the way
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

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Show grace or condemnation to those who wrong us, which will it be? (John 8:11), February 17, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We have a choice to condemn or show grace when someone wrongs us. Which will you do?
Scripture
1. John 8:11
2. Jesus: Well, I do not condemn you either; all I ask is that you go and from now on avoid the sins that plague you.
Devotional
1. The doctor asks, “Does it hurt when you move your arm like this?” You reply, “Yes, it does.” His expert treatment. “Then don’t move it that way.”
  1. We would think the doctor is a little crazy wouldn’t we?
  2. Sometimes he’s right.
  3. Humans are the only animal that do things the body isn’t built to do.
  4. Try to build safety gadgets instead.
  5. Bone structure built to withstand hitting something at the speed you can run
  6. Cheetah, dog, elephant, human
  7. We wear ride motorcycles at 90 mph and wear helmets and leather jackets for protection
2. Critics dismissed by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone.
  1. Caught in the act, witnesses to attest to crime
  2. The law said she should be stoned for her adulterous actions
  3. But wait, where was the guy?
  4. Doesn’t it take two?
  5. If she was caught in the act, wasn’t he caught in the act also?
  6. Didn’t the law apply to both? Why, yes it did!
3. Jesus wrote in the sand
  1. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what He wrote?
  2. Maybe a list of everyone’s secret sins
  3. Maybe He began to put names to the violations of God’s laws
  4. We’ll never know what Jesus wrote in the sand that day, but no one threw a stone
4. Then Jesus taught us something we should all remember
  1. He told us He came to extend grace and forgiveness to all those who believed in Him
  2. He also told us to show grace and forgiveness to those who wrong us
  3. He demonstrated it in more ways that we ever could
  4. Jesus gave His life as a demonstration of that grace and forgiveness
5. When I’m quick to judge or condemn others for their actions, maybe I need to stop and remember this scene in the streets of Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t condemn but asked that the woman caught in adultery avoid sinning again. He extend grace and forgiveness to her. I expect He changed her life forever just like He can change mine and yours. All we have to do is ask and then let Him empower us to live the way He wants us to live.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Did I really say that? (John 8:7), February 16, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
When is the last time you criticized or made some cutting remark to about someone. Some rules are coming that might help you think twice about that before you do it again.
Scripture
1. John 8:7
2. Jesus: Let the first stone be thrown by the one among you who has not sinned.
Devotional
1. In 1976, we still had those white-glove inspections in the Army. As a platoon leader, my platoon sergeant and I would go through the barracks and make inspections of the rooms to make sure everything was clean, neat, and orderly. We’d make sure the soldiers in the barracks had nothing there that wasn’t supposed to be there, like liquor or pets or anything else on the long list of things that soldiers couldn’t have in their rooms at the time.
  1. Wall lockers
  2. Cleanliness of room
  3. Inventory of furnishings and equipment
2. Then I came home
  1. Shoes lined up, but next to the door, not in the closet
  2. Why is the car so dirty?
  3. Can’t find anything in the closet, so disorganized
3. Hard to do those inspections knowing what my house looked like
  1. Let the first stone be thrown by the one among you who has not sinned.
  2. Hygiene, health of the command
  3. Order and discipline within the command
  4. Hypocritical
4. How often do we criticize someone for the very thing we are guilty of doing?
  1. Psychiatrists and psychologists tell us we are quickest to criticize in the areas where we struggle most in our own lives
  2. Can be both hurtful to others, but helpful to us when we recognize when we are about to criticize someone
5. Stop and ask seven questions before saying something critical to someone. I’m plagiarizing from a social media post that has made the circuit a few times, so I can’t tell you the author. Here they are.
  1. Do you have the pertinent facts?
  2. Does it need to be said?
  3. Why do I need to say this?
  4. Can I say it in a way that represents Christ?
  5. How could I be misunderstood?
  6. What motivates me for saying it?
  7. Can I wait until tomorrow to say it?
  8. After answering all these questions, you’ll probably find that you don’t need to say anything at all.
6. One more thing to consider before we criticize or blame or accuse. Jesus said to all of us, “Let the first stone be cast by the one among you who has not sinned.” Any of us fit that category? I don’t think so.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Rivers of living water (John 7:37-38), February 15, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Water is one of those things none of us can do without. It is one of those basic needs that without it, we die. Food, water, shelter. Those things mean life. Without them we cannot survive. And water is first on the list. A week without water and the body shuts down. Jesus understood the necessity of water, too, but He had a different solution to our needs.
Scripture
1. John 7:37-38
2. Jesus: If any of you is thirsty, come to Me and drink. If you believe in Me, the Hebrew Scriptures say that rivers of living water will flow from within you.
Devotional
1. When the rest of the country was suffering an economic downturn a few years ago, Texas was still creating jobs. In fact, when the nation created 300,000 jobs overall one year, Texas created 400,000 within its borders. That means the rest of the country lost 100,000 jobs.
  1. What attracts people to Texas?
  2. Weather
  3. Taxes
  4. Corporate laws
2. Texas has one big problem when it comes to business
  1. Water
  2. Cities are growing faster than the water supply
  3. Buying water from other states
  4. Research for desalinization and other means of purification of seawater aren’t keeping up with the demand
3. Middle east has similar problems
  1. Water seems more scarce than oil
  2. Dig deep for wells
  3. Often require purification even when found
  4. Protect at all costs
4. Jesus promises water than never ends
  1. Living water – running water from springs that remain clean and pure
  2. Never dries up regardless of weather
  3. Quenches thirst unlike some of the water with minerals (salts) in them
  4. Not just a little trickle of water, but rivers of living water
  5. No pockets of brackish water either
5. Where do you find this kind of water?
  1. Come to Jesus
  2. Believe in Him
  3. For who He is and what He did for you
  4. Ask for forgiveness
  5. Follow the commands He gives you
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Eureka! I think I’ve got it! (John 7:33-34), February 14, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
I’ve always liked logic puzzles. Like this one, for instance. There are three boxes. One is labeled “APPLES” another is labeled “ORANGES”. The last one is labeled “APPLES AND ORANGES”. You know that each is labeled incorrectly. You may ask me to pick one fruit from one box which you choose. How can you label the boxes correctly?
Scripture
1. John 7:33-34
2. Jesus: I am going to be with you for a little while longer; then I will return to the One who sent Me. You will look for Me, but you will not be able to find Me. Where I am, you are unable to come.
Devotional
1. If you’re like me, you haven’t heard anything since I gave you the puzzle because you’ve been thinking about how to label those boxes. The answer isn’t too difficult since you know all the labels are wrong.
  1. Pick a fruit from the box labelled Apples and Oranges. The box will be full of only one kind of fruit since the label is incorrect. So if you pick an orange, label the box, Oranges.
  2. Then you know that the box labelled Apples and Oranges must contain only apples since that label is also wrong. So label that box Apples.
  3. Finally, the only box left with the wrong label must have the apples in it, so change the box labelled Oranges to Apples and Oranges.
  4. And there’s the answer.
2. Why give you a logic puzzle to start the podcast and associate it with Jesus’ words today? Because I’m sure those who heard His words were just as puzzled as we can get when we hear those logic puzzles
  1. I’ll be with you
  2. But only for a little while
  3. Then I’ll return to the One who sent Me
  4. You’ll look for Me, like hide-and-seek
  5. You won’t find Me
  6. You can’t go where I’m going
3. What does all this mean?
  1. The disciples were confused
  2. First part was easy
  3. Second part not too hard, maybe He was going on a trip by Himself
  4. Third got a little more difficult, but not unlike returning to the country that issued His diplomatic credentials
  5. Fourth, if they knew where He was going or that He was returning to a specific place, why would they spend time looking for Him
  6. Why wouldn’t they be able to find Him, this didn’t make sense
  7. Why couldn’t they go to the same place He went, what special pass did He have that they didn’t have? Did they need some special password and how could they get it?
4. We stand on this side of the cross and the answer is easy
  1. Like the puzzle at the beginning. If you didn’t think of the answer right away, you probably slapped your forehead and said, “Duh! Why didn’t I think of that!”
  2. Looking back, it’s so simple.
  3. Looking back in time, Jesus’ words are so simple, too.
  4. So are His words, “Follow Me.” So why do we have so much trouble understanding and doing those?
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Emissary or ambassador, do you know which you are? (John 7:28-29), February 13, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you know the difference between an emissary and an ambassador? Jesus calls us His emissaries and Paul identifies himself as an emissary in most of His letters. So what’s the difference?
Scripture
1. John 7:28-29
2. Jesus (speaking aloud as He teaches on the temple’s porch): You think you know Me and where I have come from, but I have not come here on My own. I have been sent by the One who embodies truth. You do not know Him. I know Him because I came from Him. He has sent Me.
Devotional
1. So what is the difference between an ambassador and an emissary?
  1. Our government uses both as do most governments.
  2. Ambassador is an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country
  3. Emissary is a person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative
  4. Did you notice the difference?
  5. General representative for a country versus a person sent on a special mission
2. Emissary
  1. Can act like an ambassador when on a diplomatic mission in a foreign country
  2. Always given a specific mission to complete
    1. Message to carry
    2. Negotiation to broker or attend
    3. Expert representative on behalf of sender for meetings or project
  3. Carry the authority of the person who sends them
3. Jesus sent the twelve out into towns and villages as His emissaries
  1. Specific tasks from Matt 10, Go … to find and heal the lost sheep of Israel. 7 …, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse those who have leprosy. Drive out demons from the possessed.
  2. In the verses just before this, Matthew says Jesus endowed them with the power to do these things
  3. Jesus gave them the authority and responsibility to carry out the tasks He gave them to do
4. We are His emissaries. He gave each of us the same command
  1. Go
  2. Make disciples
  3. Baptize them
  4. Teach them His practices
  5. Teach them to follow His commands
  6. Gives each of us tools, gifts to accomplish the tasks He gives us to do
5. Didn’t make us ambassadors with no specific thing to do or mission to accomplish; made us emissaries with specific purpose and mission in mind
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Search for what is right and just (John 7:21-24), February 12, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
The man walking across the street toward his Harley with the wild looking beard, is wearing leather pants and jacket with metal studs. He has black boots and a red, white and blue rag wrapped around his head. He looks a little rumpled and dirty like he just climbed out from a trash heap. He’s wearing dark wrap around glasses so you can’t see his eyes. What’s your first reaction?
Scripture
1. John 7:21-24
2. Jesus: Listen, all it took was for Me to do one thing, heal a crippled man, and you all were astonished. Don’t you remember how Moses passed down circumcision as a tradition of our ancestors? When you pick up a knife to circumcise on the Sabbath, isn’t that work? If a male is circumcised on the Sabbath to keep the law of Moses intact, how can making one man whole on the Sabbath be a cause for your violent rage? You should not judge by outward appearance. When you judge, search for what is right and just.
Devotional
1. The man I described earlier is a friend of mine. He’s a pastor and the scene comes from a picture one of the members of his Christian motorcyclist club took of him when they stopped for a break on a cross country trip one day. They travelled a lot of dusty roads that day and with twenty or so bikes churning up the dust on those back roads, everyone looked like they just came out of a trash heap.
  1. Great time riding
  2. Worshiping
  3. Fellowshipping
2. We have a tendency to stereotype
  1. Part of our DNA
  2. Quick judgments originally to protect us
  3. Lion or rock
  4. Friend or foe
  5. Welcomed or attacked
3. Carried those early survival requirements into modern society
  1. Clothes
  2. Hair and makeup
  3. Color of skin
  4. Religion
  5. Nationality
  6. Political views
  7. Whatever is different causes us to mark others as enemies and resort to fight or flight because of Satan’s lies
4. Jesus warns, “You should not judge by outward appearance. When you judge, search for what is right and just.”
  1. How do we do that?
  2. First, ask for discernment
  3. Second, recognize God made us all
  4. Third, recognize Satan has blinded most and they will not judge according to God’s rules but by the world’s
  5. Fourth, don’t let others judgment and attitudes keep you from demonstrating God’s love and grace toward them
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

God’s word and the Krebs Cycle (John 7:16-19), February 11, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
When I was in school, the Krebs Cycle was a lot more theory than fact. Things have changed over the years in science, but not in God’s word. So what does the Krebs Cycle have to do with God’s word? Stay and find out.
Scripture
1. John 7:16-19
2. Jesus: I do not claim ownership of My words; they are a gift from the One who sent Me. If anyone is willing to act according to His purposes and is open to hearing truth, he will know the source of My teaching. Does it come from God or from Me? If a man speaks his own words, constantly quoting himself, he is after adulation. But I chase only after glory for the One who sent Me. My intention is authentic and true. You’ll find no wrong motives in Me.

Moses gave you the law, didn’t he? Then how can you blatantly ignore the law and look for an opportunity to murder Me?

Devotional
1. When I took biology in Vanderbilt more than 40 years ago, scientists were just beginning to uncover the secrets of how cells transformed matter into energy to run the various processes of the body. They knew there was this thing called the mitochondrion that took in oxygen and released carbon dioxide and energy enriched adenosine triphosphate but didn’t understand how. My professor at the time had worked with Hans Krebs and would win his own Nobel Prize in Physiology Now, the mechanism has been changed from a theory to a fairly well accepted biochemical process fact among biologists worldwide.
  1. Many theories proposed previously
  2. All missed some important part in their explanation
  3. Brilliant people, but holes in their argument
  4. Krebs cycle explained the process and verified by improved electron microscopes
2. Why did the theory become accepted as fact when all the others failed
  1. Questions were answered
  2. Things fit into place
  3. Theory proven by independent sources
  4. Has stood the test of time for over 50 years now
3. Curious that we will accept Krebs Cycle as truth which we’ve only recognized for 50 years but don’t recognize God’s truth which has been here since time began
  1. Stories handed down since God created Adam and Eve
  2. Moses given the law on Mt Sinai and scholars believe gave the Israelites the five books of the law, Genesis through Deuteronomy
  3. Centuries of testimony from Israelites and Christian community
  4. Evidence all around us
  5. Still we won’t believe the truth
  6. We won’t listen to those sharing God’s word, but instead listen to those who tell us what we want to hear
4. Time to be convicted by God’s law. Time to hear what He has to say instead of what the world has to say. Time to let the truth guide our lives instead of the lies Satan lays before us. Time to follow the Son, the One God says is the only way to salvation, freedom, and life
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Timing is everything (John 7:6-8), February 10, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t own a timepiece of some sort. We are bound by time and time is important to us. In fact, sometimes timing is everything. Jesus knew that, too.
Scripture
1. John 7:6-8
2. Jesus: My time has not yet arrived; but for you My brothers, by all means, it is always the right time. You have nothing to worry about because the world doesn’t hate you, but it despises Me because I am always exposing the dark evil in its works. Go on to the feast without Me; I am not going right now because My time is not yet at hand.
Devotional
1. Timing is important in almost every aspect of life, did you ever think of that?
  1. Planting
  2. Harvest
  3. Cooking
  4. Football plays
  5. Construction
  6. Training
  7. Project execution
2. God understands timing
  1. Genesis
  2. Separation of light and darkness comes first
  3. Separation of water and earth come next
  4. Life in the seas comes before life on land
  5. Plant life comes before animal life, food chain, herbivores before carnivores
  6. Perfect timing for creation and everything in it
3. Jesus’ task to save the world
  1. World already began to hate Him because of His message and His fight against evil
  2. Satan knew who He was
  3. Began working against Him at His birth with no place for Mary to give birth to Him
  4. Temptation in the wilderness before He started His ministry
  5. Scribes, Pharisees and Sanhedrin for His message
4. Jesus task was not yet complete
  1. Needed to train the twelve
  2. Needed to ensure the remembered the message
  3. Needed to make sure they saw and remembered the evidence of who He was
  4. Time wasn’t right for the completion of His task
5. Sometimes we will ask God to come alongside us for something we want to do. Something we even think He has asked us to do, and it will seem like He is absent from the scene. He’s not. If He gives us something to do, He will be in it, but His timing is perfect. Like the secret play or the secret weapon pulled out at just the right moment to win the game. God comes on the scene at just the right time.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Follow the leader and Simon Says (John 6:65-70), February 9, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Jesus’ words today remind me of a couple of children’s games I’m sure you played as a kid. I hope you played the game well, because it’s important to what you do now. What games are they? You’ll find out in just a minute.
Scripture
1. John 6:65-70
2. Jesus: This is why I have been telling you that no one comes to Me without the Father’s blessing and guidance.

After hearing these teachings, many of His disciples walked away and no longer followed Jesus.

Jesus (to the twelve): Do you want to walk away too?

Simon Peter: Lord, if we were to go, whom would we follow? You speak the words that give everlasting life. We believe and recognize that You are the Holy One sent by God.

Jesus: I chose each one of you, the twelve, Myself. But one of you is a devil.

Devotional
1. Have you ever played Follow the Leader or Simon Says
  1. Follow the leader is a children’s game. First a leader or “head of the line” is chosen, then the children all line up behind the leader. The leader then moves around and all the children have to mimic the leader’s actions. Any players who fail to follow or do what the leader does are out of the game. When only one person other than the leader remains, that player becomes the leader, and the game begins again with all players joining the line once again.
  2. Simon Says (or Simple Simon Says) is a child’s game where 1 player takes the role of “Simon” and issues instructions to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase “Simon says”, for example, “Simon says, jump in the air”. Players are eliminated from the game by either following instructions that are not immediately preceded by the phrase, or by failing to follow an instruction which does include the phrase “Simon says”. It is the ability to distinguish between genuine and fake commands that usually matters in the game.
2. Jesus calls us to His side just as He chose the twelve while He walked among us.
  1. Certainly following Him is much more important and complex than playing follow the leader or Simon Says
  2. Calls us to follow Him
  3. Peter says it best, who else would we follow?
  4. Anyone else leads us toward death and destruction
  5. We can’t follow our own path because if we really look deep inside, we have to admit we don’t know where we’re headed
  6. Like the children’s games when we don’t follow Him we find ourselves out of the game of life
3. Spiritual warfare is not a game
  1. We don’t have a choice about playing
  2. We can follow Jesus and have life
  3. We can choose not to follow Jesus and find death and destruction
  4. Still our choice, which will you choose
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”