Monthly Archives: April 2017

Don’t you love getting advice? (John 18:11), April 20, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
I love to get advice from other people about what God wants for my life, don’t you? Yeah, right. We do seem to try to meddle sometimes, don’t we. That’s exactly what Jesus called Peter on in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Scripture
1. John 18:11
2. Jesus (to Peter): Put down your sword, and return it to the sheath. Am I to turn away from the cup the Father has given Me to drink?
Devotional
1. I know what is best for my adult children, right? I need to give them advice on their career choices, the spouse they choose, the things they do with their money, the places they go…even when they don’t ask.
  1. Same with elderly parents
  2. Same with neighbors
  3. Same with everyone around me
  4. I don’t need to take advice from anyone else, but I sure need to give others my advice
  5. I even try to give God my advice sometimes
  6. In our flawed state, we think we are smarter than God
2. That’s what Peter does with Jesus
  1. Attacks Malcus, high priest’s servant
  2. Tries to help Jesus escape from the Pharisees and the death penalty they wish to impose
  3. Thinks he knows better than Jesus what His path should be
  4. Thinks the Messiah must not die, but reign as a military and political leader to free Israel
  5. Steps in front of Jesus to protect Him
3. How often do we step in front of God’s plan instead of doing what Jesus did and trust the Father with His perfect knowledge?
  1. Can’t mean what He says
  2. Can’t mean for us to face the trial He puts in front of us
  3. Can’t mean for us to suffer
  4. The path must be different
  5. So we try to change the path, we step in front of His plan and try to change it
4. Often we pick up implements to challenge the enemy
  1. Sword, spear, implements of war to fight
  2. He wants us to submit instead
  3. Trust that God knows what He’s doing
  4. Recognize that He is God and His plan will be ultimately completed the way He intends
  5. We can choose to be a part of those plans or not
  6. The smart choice is to let Him take the lead and then do what He says
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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Jesus repels the guards (John 18:4-8), April 19, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever played with magnets? The picture of Jesus facing the guards in the garden remind me of those.
Scripture
1. John 18:4-8

Jesus: Whom are you looking for?

Judas’s Entourage: Jesus the Nazarene.

Jesus: I am the One.

Judas, the betrayer, stood with the military force. As Jesus spoke “I am the One,” the forces fell back on the ground. Jesus asked them a second time:

Jesus: Whom are you searching for?

Judas’s Entourage: Jesus the Nazarene.

Jesus: I have already said that I am the One. If you are looking for Me, then let these men go free.

Devotional
1. I’m sure you remember playing with magnets when you were a kid.
  1. In science we learned about the north and south poles of those magnetic fields and how the opposite ends attracted but like ends repelled each other.
  2. The stronger the magnet, the harder it was to try to push like ends together
  3. There are scientific principles that govern those magnetic fields and explain why they attract and repel each other.
  4. Explains why light bends near the earth
  5. Explains the aurora borealis
  6. Explains parts of electrical currents
  7. Explains a lot of what looks like mysteries around our world
  8. Might even explain the migration of animals at different seasons of the year or why they can sense dangers faster than we do or can find their way home from great distances
2. Picture that experiment you did with magnets as a kid as you tried to push the north pole of the magnet against its polar like north pair
  1. With some effort you might get them to touch
  2. As soon as you release pressure they push apart
  3. If strong enough, can’t push them together
3. Now picture the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane
  1. Guards come to take Jesus
  2. Armed with spears, swords, shields, armor
  3. Jesus dressed in His tunic and sash and bare hands
  4. As they try to approach they are repelled as easily as those magnets trying to approach each other
4. Jesus could not be taken by any force men could put against Him
  1. Satan tried His best throughout His life
  2. Herod killed all the boys in Bethlehem – Jesus escaped
  3. Pharisees plotted to kill Him throughout His whole ministry
    1. Tried to stone Him – slipped away
    2. Tried to throw Him from a cliff – slipped through the crowd
5. Jesus gave Himself up willingly to the guards that came into the garden
  1. Allowed Himself to be taken
  2. Allowed Himself to be beaten
  3. Allowed Himself to be crucified
  4. No one could touch Him unless He let them
  5. He loved us enough to let 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.”

Longing for us to come home (John 17:24-26), April 18, 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 what it feels like to long for someone to come home? That’s what Jesus is doing for us.
Scripture
1. John 17:24-26
2. Jesus: Father, I long for the time when those You have given Me can join Me in My place so they may witness My glory, which comes from You. You have loved Me before the foundations of the cosmos were laid. Father, You are just; though this corrupt world order does not know You, I do. These followers know that You have sent Me. I have told them about Your nature; and I will continue to speak of Your name in order that Your love, which was poured out on Me, will be in them. And I will also be in them.
Devotional
1. When I was deployed on several occasions during my military career, I heard my wife talk about her longing for my return.
  1. I stayed incredibly busy during deployments and didn’t have much time to think about home
  2. Also didn’t want to get too distracted because it meant lives if I didn’t do my job well
  3. At home, an empty chair
  4. An empty space that no one could fill but me
  5. Missing sounds and smells and routines that were obvious in my absence
  6. With two children, really missed me and longed for me to return
2. We are flawed imperfect creatures because sin and death entered the world
  1. Still we long for those we love when they are absent from us
  2. Think of how Jesus feels for those He loves
  3. Loved enough that He Died for us
  4. Loves perfectly
3. Went to build a new home for us
  1. Longs for us to be with Him eternally
  2. Picture Him standing at the door eagerly waiting for the day He can meet us
  3. Only the Father knows when time will end, but Jesus stands at the edge of heaven waiting to greet us
  4. He wants us to see Him without the blinders that our flawed nature creates
  5. He wants us to know Him without the limitations we have because of our fallen nature
  6. He longs to have us join Him in His place where all evil is dispelled and we are always in the light of His glory
  7. He longs for us to see the place He has built for us to spend eternity with Him
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.”

Crew and Christianity (John 17:16-23), April 17, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Here is a question for you to consider for a few moments: How is crew like our Christian mission?
Scripture
1. John 17:16-23
2. Jesus: Like Me, they are not products of the corrupt world order. Immerse them in the truth, the truth Your voice speaks. In the same way You sent Me into this world, I am sending them. It is entirely for their benefit that I have set Myself apart so that they may be set apart by truth. I am not asking solely for their benefit; this prayer is also for all the believers who will follow them and hear them speak. Father, may they all be one as You are in Me and I am in You; may they be in Us, for by this unity the world will believe that You sent Me.

All the glory You have given to Me, I pass on to them. May that glory unify them and make them one as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may be refined so that all will know that You sent Me, and You love them in the same way You love Me.

Devotional
1. I have to admit, there are not many Olympic sports that I like to watch. I enjoy the finals of several of them when the final competitors face each other to determine who is the best in some category. Those are usually exciting.
  1. Most competitions through the preliminaries are relatively boring to me
  2. I’m not much of a sportsman
2. But I like to watch crew
  1. Team sport in which rowers compete
  2. Consist of 1, 2, 4, 8 person teams plus or minus a coxswain
  3. Men’s and women’s competition at collegiate, olympic, and international levels
  4. A lot of factors in winning but one of the most important is unity of the team in their strokes
  5. Coxswain or one of the rowers sounding as coxswain keeps rhythm so every oar goes into and out of water simultaneously
  6. Unity in every stroke breeds success, by their unity in rowing you can almost pick the winner
3. Jesus wants His followers to have that kind of unity when it comes to fulfilling His purpose
  1. Doesn’t mean we’re all alike
  2. Doesn’t even mean we agree on everything
  3. Means we all work toward a common purpose – His
  4. To go and make disciples; to share His message; to help others know He came to forgive sins and bring eternal life to all who believe in Him
  5. Even prayed for our unity, that we would be one in Him and in the Father just as He is, one purpose, one direction, one most important thing – God
4. How do we have such unity?
  1. Let Him consume you with His love
  2. Love Him back for what He has done for 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.”

Living in a bubble is not the answer (John 17:11-15), April 16, 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.
Do you ever want to just be surrounded by a protective bubble to keep all the evil of the world away from you? Just have some kind of barrier so you never had to worry about any of that stuff creeping in and spoiling the relationship you want with God?
Scripture
1. John 17:11-15
2. Jesus: I will no longer be physically present in this world, but they will remain in this world. As I return to be with You, holy Father, remain with them through Your name, the name You have given Me. May they be one even as We are one. While I was physically present with them, I protected them through Your name. I watched over them closely; and only one was lost, the one the Scriptures said was the son of destruction. Now I am returning to You. I am speaking this prayer here in the created cosmos alongside friends and foes so that in hearing it they might be consumed with joy. I have given them Your word; and the world has despised them because they are not products of the world, in the same way that I am not a product of the corrupt world order. Do not take them out of this world; protect them from the evil one.
Devotional
1. Several years ago, I remember a story about a young boy with an immune system so compromised he could not be exposed to any infectious organisms of any kind without risk of flooding his system with that infection and dying.
  1. Called “bubble boy” by the press
  2. Lived inside a double walled plexiglass ball
  3. Filtered air; food and nutrients passed through chambers to him (132)
  4. Learned to roll it around to go other places
2. What a horrible life
  1. Never get a hug from his parents
  2. Never touch a dog or cat
  3. Whole existence limited to the space inside that bubble
  4. Reach up and touch his bubble; right; left; front; back; nothing but his bubble
3. Jesus doesn’t ask the Father to remove us from this world
  1. Doesn’t want us to be like bubble boy
  2. Has something better in store for us
  3. Wants us to show the world we can overcome, because He overcame
  4. Wants us to be in the world but not part of the world
4. Bubble boy had no protection from the viruses and diseases present in the world outside his bubble
  1. We have protection from the evil around us
  2. Jesus prayer for us and evoked the name of God to dispel evil around us if we will call on Him for help
  3. We have His resurrection power at our disposal to live in this present age with all the trouble and evil that surrounds us
  4. We can survive here with His help until He returns
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.”

Who gets the glory? (John 17:1-10), April 15, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you ever get confused about who should get the praise or reward for the work you do? We probably all feel that little twinge of jealousy sometimes when someone else gets the glory for our work, but should we?
Scripture
1. John 17:1-10
2. Jesus (lifting His face to the heavens): Father, My time has come. Glorify Your Son, and I will bring You great glory because You have given Me total authority over humanity. I have come bearing the plentiful gifts of God; and all who receive Me will experience everlasting life, a new intimate relationship with You (the one True God) and Jesus the Anointed (the One You have sent). I have glorified You on earth and fulfilled the mission You set before Me.

In this moment, Father, fuse Our collective glory and bring Us together as We were before creation existed. You have entrusted Me with these men who have come out of this corrupt world order. I have told them about Your nature and declared Your name to them, and they have held on to Your words and understood that these words, like everything else You have given Me, come from You. It is true that these men You gave Me have received the words that come from You and not only understood them but also believed that You sent Me. I am now making an appeal to You on their behalf. This request is not for the entire world; it is for those whom You have given to Me because they are Yours. Yours and Mine, Mine and Yours, for all that are Mine are Yours. Through them I have been glorified.

Devotional
1. As a new officer in the Army, it bothered me when my commander would praise me for the work my platoon did. I had some really good soldiers in my platoon and they provided really great support for the unit in which we served.
  1. Medical support for a battalion
  2. Dining facility officer with soldiers that won Army competitions for their excellence in foodservice and culinary excellence
  3. High scores on inspections and competitions
  4. Soldiers did the work, but I got the praise from the commander
2. I always tried to share the praise with my soldiers
  1. Shared what the commander said
  2. Tried to give them awards and decorations for the work they did
  3. Recognized their individual efforts whenever possible
  4. But I still often got credit for the team effort
3. Learned over time to accept the praise because I was the leader responsible for whatever success or failure happened
  1. I also took the blame for the failure of any soldier in my charge
    1. Answered to the commander for DWI, AWOL, other disciplinary problems
    2. Described in detail why any particular soldier didn’t mean the training standard and what I was doing to correct it
    3. I took and accepted responsibility for good and bad within my unit
  2. My leaders taught me to accept both, success and failure, for the actions within my unit because I was their leader, just as my actions and performance reflected on my commander
4. In some small way, I learned a little of what Jesus let His disciples hear as He prayed
  1. Their actions would give glory to Him, not them
  2. His actions would give glory to the Father
  3. We don’t need to seek glory for ourselves, we just need to do the work He gives us to the best of our abilities and let Him receive all the glory
  4. We are His soldiers and He is our leader, He deserves all the credit, all the recognition, all the glory we can give Him
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.”

Times of trouble (John 16:31-33), April 14, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever thought what times of trouble means? If you think back, I believe every generation thinks they lived in times of trouble. But look at where we are today!
Scripture
1. John 16:31-33
2. Jesus: So you believe now? Be aware that a time is coming when you will be scattered like seeds. You will return to your own way, and I will be left alone. But I will not be alone, because the Father will be with Me. I have told you these things so that you will be whole and at peace. In this world, you will be plagued with times of trouble, but you need not fear; I have triumphed over this corrupt world order.
Devotional
1. I started with a question, what does times of trouble mean?
  1. For disciples: expectation of arrest, abuse, execution
  2. For early Christians: separation from families, torture and martyrdom
  3. During middle ages: crusades, kings and lords abusing power
  4. Industrial revolution: included machinery of war and weapons that killed from great distance; homes broken as men went off to work
  5. Early 20th Century: prohibition, roaring twenties, smoky back rooms where more than just illegal drinking happened, rise of the mobs
  6. World War I and II atrocities with chemical warfare; introduction of air power and short range missiles,
  7. 60’s and 70’s: flower power, drugs, sexual promiscuity
  8. 80’s and 90’s: energy crisis, financial crises, double digit inflation,
  9. 2000: Y2K, doomsday prophecies,
  10. Today: crime, finance, sexual promiscuity, drugs, terrorism, wars, religious jihad
2. Christians are an easy target for the blame
  1. We don’t retaliate
  2. We don’t apologize
  3. We predict things will get worse, not better until Jesus returns
  4. We embrace suffering because Jesus embraced suffering
  5. World doesn’t understand and so blames us for things that go wrong
3. We are in times of trouble, but…
  1. We need not fear
  2. Why? With everything that is going on, why shouldn’t we fear?
  3. The answer is Jesus has already triumphed over this corrupt world order.
4. What does it mean that Jesus has triumphed?
  1. Satan tried his hardest to defeat Him
  2. Threw the worst fear possible at Jesus, death
  3. Death is a predator with humans as it’s prey
  4. Jesus overcame death proving it with His resurrection
  5. We don’t need to fear because He has triumphed over the greatest fear we as humans have – death
  6. If He has already done that and lives in us, we have at our disposal the power of the resurrection that helps us face the worst Satan can throw at us
5. Will we have trouble? Yes. Do we need to fear that trouble? No.
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.”

Make an appointment (John 16:23-28), April 13, 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.
You can have an appointment with the creator of the cosmos. All you have to do is call His name and He will make time on His calendar for you.
Scripture
1. John 16:23-28
2. Jesus: When all this transpires, you will finally have the answers you have been seeking. I tell you the truth, anything you ask of the Father in My name, He will give to you. Until this moment, you have not sought after anything in My name. Ask and you will receive so that you will be filled with joy.

I have been teaching you all of these truths through stories and metaphors, but the time is coming for Me to speak openly and directly of the Father.

The day is coming when you will make a request in My name, but I will not represent you before the Father. You will be heard directly by the Father. The Father loves you because you love Me and know that I come from the Father. I came from the Father into the cosmos, but soon I will leave it and return to the Father.

Devotional
1. I’m not sure we understand the implications of Jesus’ words to the disciples most of the time or we would do things a lot differently
2. You will be heard directly by the Father
  1. Think about who He is
    1. Creator of the cosmos
    2. Billions of galaxies, farthest one we can see is 32 billion light years away
    3. Each galaxy has billions of stars
    4. 960,000 earths in our star, the sun, not even mid-sized, more on the small size
  2. If our solar system was the size of the United States, earth would be the size of a quarter
  3. God spoke and it came into being
3. God keeps everything running smoothly just for His pleasure
  1. Created this earth with just the right amount of air and water and all the elements necessary for life
  2. Created you
  3. Miracle of birth, life started, you took a breath, an impossibility when you count the odds
4. Think of how insignificant we are in comparison
  1. What have you created lately?
  2. Anything you created came from ingredients that already existed
  3. God made everything out of nothing, He provided the raw materials you might use for your creative bent
5. Yet He calls us to talk with Him and ask for His help, to ask for things that will bring glory to Him
6. He opens His appointment book for us
  1. We don’t understand just who He is
  2. We become too familiar and fail to stand in awe of the Creator of all things
  3. We don’t take advantage of His open invitation to come into His presence
7. Balance between the two.
  1. Creator
  2. Father
  3. Talk with Him today
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.”

The emotions of childbirth (John 16:19-22), April 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.
Childbirth is filled with emotion. It starts out painfully, but ends with great joy.
Scripture
1. John 16:19-22
2. Jesus: Are you trying to figure out what I mean when I say you will see Me in a little while? I tell you the truth, a time is approaching when you will weep and mourn while the world is celebrating. You will grieve, but that grief will give birth to great joy. In the same way that a woman labors in great pain during childbirth only to forget the intensity of the pain when she holds her child, when I return, your labored grief will also change into a joy that cannot be stolen.
Devotional
1. If you’ve never witnessed a childbirth first hand, I have to tell you, it’s an incredible event.
  1. My wife is a Registered Nurse and the first several years of her career worked in neonatal care
  2. Witnessed a lot of births
  3. Cried every time
  4. I saw my own children being born
  5. Words can’t describe the experience
2. But for my wife
  1. Both kids were a month late
  2. Don’t let mothers do that today
  3. Both were good sized kids over 8 and 10 pounds
  4. Pregnancy and especially labor with those two was not fun for her
  5. Neither labor was short 36 and 24 hours of intense pain; no C-section
  6. An emotional roller coaster, though
  7. Pain followed by indescribable joy
3. That’s what the disciples were about to go through
  1. Master arrested, tortured, and crucified
  2. Buried in a borrowed tomb
  3. But then comes Easter
  4. That joy cannot be stolen
4. Unlike those Jesus raised from the dead:
  1. Widow’s son died again
  2. Jairus’ daughter died again
  3. Lazarus died again
  4. Jesus rose never to die again
5. Easter is just around the corner, but we can celebrate every day
  1. He is still alive
  2. He lives in us
  3. We can celebrate Him when He lives in us
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.”

Insider trading or not (John 16:6-15), April 11, 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.
Insider trading is not a good thing in this country and many other, but when it comes to Jesus’ words to His disciples, insider information is what He promised.
Scripture
1. John 16:6-15
2. Jesus: Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.

Devotional
1. In the stock market there is something that will get you in really big trouble if you’re part of a publicly traded corporation
  1. Insider trading is the trading of a public company’s stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) by individuals with access to nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information is illegal.
  2. In trouble even if you give that information to someone else and they benefit from the information
  3. Ask Enron executives about insider trading, it doesn’t turn out well for anyone
2. In our Christian walk, though, Jesus gives us some insider trading information all the time
  1. His spirit will live in us
  2. Spirit of truth
  3. Guide you into all truth
  4. Speaks only what He hears
  5. Will tell you what is to come
3. Does that make us fortunetellers?
  1. No
  2. Something about knowing the truth
  3. Gives insight into how others behave
  4. What the future holds because God is a God of truth
  5. Enlightens us through His word
4. Know the final outcome of how all this ends when we let Him live in us
  1. But we must listen
5. Inside traders don’t profit if they don’t listen to those that know what will happen within the company in the next weeks or months
6. We will not profit if we don’t listen to God’s spirit speaking truth us
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.”