Tag Archives: Luke

Pentecost, June 10, 2019

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

One of my kids lives in a little town in Texas called Bandera. It has this big sign as you come into town that announces that it is the “Cowboy Capital of the World.” Throughout the week, the population in the little rural town is less than a thousand, but when events happen around their claim to fame of being the cowboy capital, the place can burgeon up to 30,000.

I think of that little town and what happens there and can picture what Jerusalem must have been like on the three pilgrimages the faithful Jews took each year. The Roman soldiers had their hands full when these things happened. Jews from the known world gathered as the Torah required.

It was true at the previous festival, Passover. Extra soldiers were everywhere because of the festival. Visitors were packed into every space and all the surrounding villages. Tension was high then because riots were not uncommon. The Jews didn’t particularly want to be under the rule of a foreign government, but they were. The religious leaders wanted to rule the nation as the Torah demanded. The nation blew it when they put Saul on the throne and the religious leaders thought they could fix it.

They wanted power. They had power since they had the ear of the representatives of the Roman rulers. But the common people didn’t particularly care for the Romans. Now Jesus came along, and tensions got even higher. Another rebel. Another potential bonfire about to ignite. The soldiers would be the ones put in the middle to quell the violence if it happened. They would stop the violence with overwhelming violence of their own.

The Nazarene caused more than just tension that last Passover. The man called Jesus had a following, but the Roman’s crucified him at the bequest of the Jewish leaders. But now there was this group that saying the man wasn’t dead. This bunch of uneducated followers said they saw him rise up into the sky on clouds and saw angels who told them he was coming back. So now, instead of just one to worry about, there were dozens. No doubt the Roman soldiers were worried about this new influx of visitors into the city.

We’re talking about Pentecost, one of the three pilgrimages in ancient Judaism that brought thousands of Jews into the city of Jerusalem. Also called the Festival of Weeks, they celebrated the wheat harvest and the anniversary of God giving the Torah to Moses. The city burst at the seams with people. But in the middle of all the crowds, there was a small group that wanted something special to happen. Jesus told those who watched him ascend into heaven they should go to Jerusalem and wait power.

They had no idea what that meant at the time. Those 120 knew Jesus promised power but had no idea what it looked like or felt like. The disciples watched Jesus perform miracles time after time. They listened to his words in public and private. They sat at his feet for more than three years and watched him every day. But still didn’t know what to expect. Still, they followed Jesus’ command and waited. And in doing so, they followed his example and prayed while they waited.

A hundred twenty of those followers prayed in the upper room of one of the buildings in Jerusalem. Here’s what Luke said happened in Acts chapter 2.

A sound roars from the sky without warning, the roar of a violent wind, and the whole house where you are gathered reverberates with the sound. Then a flame appears, dividing into smaller flames and spreading from one person to the next. All the people present are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin speaking in languages they’ve never spoken, as the Spirit empowers them.

Because of the holy festival, there are devout Jews staying as pilgrims in Jerusalem from every nation under the sun. They hear the sound, and a crowd gathers. They are amazed because each of them can hear the group speaking in their native languages. They are shocked and amazed by this.

Pilgrims: Just a minute. Aren’t all of these people Galileans? How in the world do we all hear our native languages being spoken? Look—there are Parthians here, and Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, and Judeans, residents of Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygians and Pamphylians, Egyptians and Libyans from Cyrene, Romans including both Jews by birth and converts,Cretans, and Arabs. We’re each, in our own languages, hearing these people talk about God’s powerful deeds.

Their amazement becomes confusion as they wonder,

Pilgrims: What does this mean?

The sound of wind, the appearance of fire, speaking and hearing languages never known before. Power! Incredible deeds about to be done. Jesus told them they would do more than he did after he leaves and God’s spirit comes. These 120 begin to do incredible things. They burst out of the room ready to talk about what happened to them. They spread the word about Jesus. They felt compassion for those around them. They wanted others to know about the love they felt for all of those God created.

So that from the fifteen languages noted from at least as many countries these men and women began to disperse among the crowd and tell these pilgrims they came to the right place to find freedom. Not freedom from Rome, because that kind of freedom doesn’t really matter. They told of freedom from the guilt of sin. The blood sacrifices in the temple did so little, but the perfect sacrifice by the son of God, Jesus, frees us completely.

These men and women began doing things people could not explain. Why would they give what they had to others? Why would they associate with the low-lifes of the city and do things that would pull them up? Why would they promise hope to those who really had no hope in this life? Why would they promise forgiveness to those caught in the act of things everyone knows is wrong? Why would they talk about peace in the middle of this city bursting with soldiers ready to kill anyone who looked at them cross-eyed?

How do you explain Pentecost? You can’t except to say the church was born when the Holy Spirit fell on those 120 faithfully waiting for something to happen. And when it did, they were never the same. They began to execute the mission Jesus gave them on the mountainside the day he ascended into heaven. The power he promised became evident as they moved throughout the city and country and world. The power of God’s spirit moving through the lives of his people has changed the world.

Jesus said something would happen when those 120 waited for it. The same is true today. When we earnestly seek the holy spirit in our lives, he comes and resides not just with us, but in us. When he does, the powerhouse that raised Jesus from the dead on that first Easter, is the same powerhouse available to us to live in a world full of those who need God in the worst way.

We celebrated Pentecost this week. Enjoy the celebration. Stop and remember what it is about. Give thanks for the promise Jesus made to those gathered around him and the fulfillment of that promise 50 days later as God’s spirit rushed through that room touching the senses of those gathered there. The world has changed because of that day. You can be changed, too. Wait and pray.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The nightmare of missing kids – Episode 8-53, December 31, 2018

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A daily devotional walking through God’s word together using The Bible Reading Plan at http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

When my firstborn was little, she never knew a stranger. She was cute as a button and would talk to anyone and everyone. My wife enjoyed shopping…except with her tagging along. It took her forever to run errands or get through a checkout line because people would stop and be polite telling her how cute she was. But then this little petite bundle would start and avalanche of questions and dialog that captivated whoever spoke to her. It would take her hours to get through the grocery store sometimes.

It’s important to understand that about my daughter to relate to the next part of the story. Because she would talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, we were sometimes a little worried about her. As she was growing up in the 80’s, the news reporters first began to talk about the sex slave trade and their kidnapping of young children to fill their requirements for their perverted clientele.

We worried our super friendly daughter would just get into a lively conversation with one of those recruiters and be gone without a trace. That was our nightmare. So my wife solved our fear, she put a child harness on her and attached a leash. Suddenly, much of the fear disappeared because we knew she was no more than that six foot leash away and it would be very difficult for anyone to bother her without us knowing. All the buckles and fasteners were in the back, so she couldn’t undo them herself and there were enough of them that if anyone tried to tamper with them, we would feel the tugs and pulls before the last one could be undone. Our precious little girl could not escape without our knowing.

As she got older, though, and we began to trust her with the mantra of “stranger danger”, we lost the leash. She still talked to everyone she met, but for the most part, she stayed in eye contact with one of us wherever we went. But once in a while, she would get interested in something on a shelf or in another part of the store and suddenly you would look to the spot you though she should be and she wasn’t there.

If you’re a parent, you have probably known that feeling at one time or another. You heart drops, your pulse races, you can’t think properly, you don’t know where to start looking, you are a bit frantic for a moment. Where did you last see her? Did she say anything? Did you see anyone around her? Was there something she had her eyes on earlier? Where could she have gone? Who can I go to for help? God, please let her be alright!

Your brain becomes a jumbled mess for the next few minutes. Finally, you see her out of the corner of your eye. She’s fine. Like usual, she is absorbed in some toy or book or something that caught her eye and has no idea the emotional trauma she caused. She looks up with that cute little grin like nothing happened.

You on the other hand, don’t know whether to pick her up and hug her as tight as you can or put her in time-out until she turns 36.

Now let’s go back a couple thousand years to the story at the end of Luke chapter 2. Jesus is twelve. In his culture at that time, he has just had or is about to have his bar mitzvah, another milestone toward manhood in the Jewish community. His family came from Nazareth to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Some will probably look at Mary and Joseph and think, “what horrible parents, not realizing Jesus was missing for a whole day.”

But we have to go back and look at the culture of the day, again. Mary and Joseph traveled with their whole extended family to Jerusalem. That meant parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews, in-laws and their relatives, everyone in the community that were headed to Jerusalem. The larger the group, the less likely they would run into bandits or have trouble with the Roman patrols. Traveling in large numbers was good.

I also expect they had everything in preparation the day before their departure. The group may have even departed at night to avoid the heat of the sun. I mention that tidbit based on my experience in the middle east as I watched everyone stop working in the middle of the day. From about noon until about three o’clock, work stops. That’s nap time for the people who live there. The heat is so oppressive you just can’t handle it. It is hard to even breathe outside because of the temperatures. So it wouldn’t surprise me if the entourage headed home in the dark.

In that case, Mary and Joseph, with no flashlights or streetlights, just a few oil lamps among the crowd, may have seen a boy about the same size and build as Jesus among all the kids racing around together and assumed he was with them. Then as the continued to travel through the day, assumed he was playing with his brothers and sisters and cousins as kids are apt to do. If they left in the dark, it’s pretty easy to understand how it could be a whole day before they missed him.

Even in my young teenage years, my parents didn’t worry about the kinds of evil we worry about today. My instructions in the morning when I headed out to play with my friends and travel around on our bikes was to make sure I was home before the streetlights came on.

Can you understand the changes that have happened in our culture over the centuries? My kids have their eyes on their kids or have a well known friend’s eyes on their kids at all times because of the evil in our world today. Carole and I were a little fearful to have our kids out of sight for more than a few hours when we we had a pretty good idea where they were. My parents didn’t worry about us until it was almost time to go to bed.

A century ago, kids may have slept over or spent the night in the woods and parents didn’t worry because they knew someone in the community was watching over them and would take care of them. It’s easy to think that twenty centuries ago, Mary and Joseph were doing just what good parents were expected to do and were pretty confident Jesus was okay.

We also might wonder why it took them three days to find him. Well, the first day was the journey back to Jerusalem. The second day was revisiting all the places they had been with that gaggle of relatives during the Passover celebration. The third day they found him when they retraced their path to the temple where they purchased their sacrifice and discovered their eldest son was confounding the teachers of the law.

I expect Jesus did an awful lot of what my daughter did as she was growing up. She asked a million questions a day. I have a feeling Jesus did, too. I think he thirsted for knowledge and asked more questions than Mary and Joseph and his local rabbi and the temple priest and… and anyone could answer except his real father, the creator of all things.

Interesting stories today, perhaps, but you might be asking how does all this come together and what’s the point? There are a couple, of course.

First, like the young Jesus and my daughter, be inquisitive. Ask questions. Never tire of learning more. Especially, about the One who is worthy of our worship, Jesus.

Second, like the young Jesus and my daughter, be friendly. Don’t be afraid to talk to other people. That’s how those endless questions will finally find answers. The teachers in the temple had better answers than the rabbis in Nazareth. With more experience and wisdom, more answers to life’s big questions come to mind. So don’t be afraid to talk to others when you want answers to big questions.

Third, although inquisitive and willing to talk with others to find answers to those big questions, try not to bring untoward angst to those responsible for your welfare. We don’t know how Joseph died, but if Jesus did these kinds of things often, he may have had a heart attack from the stress. Just kidding. We really don’t know. It’s okay to reduce the stress on your caregivers, though.

Finally, if you are listening to this podcast on the day of it’s release, tomorrow starts a new year. 2018 will be gone in just a few hours and there is nothing you can do to change it. But you can do something about 2019. Plan today to learn more about our Savior and let him make you more like him this year. Read. Study. Journal. Make notes in your Bible. Take personal inventory of who you are and how far he has brought you.

Thank you for listening. I pray you will have a blessed year ahead as you follow in his footsteps.

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Come on in, I’ve been expecting you, February 19, 2018

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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 22; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 148 through 154

The story of Jesus’ birth. Everyone knows it. Even those who have never darkened the door of a church. Even those who try their best to get rid of the nativities in public places and change Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays. Mention “no room at the inn” and people’s first thought is that night in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.

I think we often get the wrong picture of that night, though. I love the story Randy Frazee tells of an elementary school preparing a Christmas pageant for parents. It makes me think about how God would really like us to respond and how we too often respond instead. Here’s the story Randy tells in his book, “The Heart of the Story.”

“…All the important parts were given to the important parts were given to the brightest students. The smartest girl was chosen to be Mary; the smartest boy played Joseph. The next smartest group played the three kings, the angels, and the shepherds.

“There was only one part no one wanted: the innkeeper. Who wanted to be the bad guy who turned Mary and Joseph away? They gave the part to a boy who was a little slower than the others but had a big heart.

“As the day for the big pageant approached, the boy playing the innkeeper began to worry. He couldn’t imagine telling Mary and Joseph there was no room in the inn. What was he going to do?

“Finally, it was curtain time. Parents, relatives, and friends packed the auditorium. They proudly watched the story unfold as their children skillfully carried out their important roles. Meanwhile, the innkeeper grew more and more anxious. The pressure mounted as Mary and Joseph approached. He didn’t know what to do, but somehow he caught a brief glimpse of the Upper Story.

“When Mary and Joseph knocked, the scruffy little innkeeper threw open the door and shouted with a big smile, “Come on in. I’ve been expecting you.” With that the crowd cheered and clapped and the play came to an end.”

Don’t you think that’s really what God has in mind when He shows up? The wait is over. The prophecies are fulfilled. God bursts on the scene in a way no one expected. He used the lower story in some amazing ways to fulfill His upper story. Caesar demanding the census be conducted in each person’s town of their lineage. Bethlehem was just a little village. David left there to build Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom, remember? And born in poverty in what a family that would be shunned because of the circumstances of His birth. Who would believe Mary had been faithful to her husband Joseph when Jesus came early? She could have been stoned. All the bad things that a family could endure, that family endured. The fateful trip to Bethlehem. The escape to Egypt. Life in the gang filled town of Nazareth. The early death of Joseph, the family breadwinner.

God, by coming to earth in the form of a baby, experienced every single part of life we experience from birth to death. Most of His experiences came from the worst society had to offer. I think He did that on purpose. He didn’t want anyone to say He doesn’t know what we’re going through. He has experienced it all. But stayed true to His Father and His mission to redeem us.

The Jews were looking for a king, not a baby. God came to dwell with us. To live among us. To experience every part of life we experience. He felt all those joys and sorrows that come with living on the wrong side of the street. He knew the heartache that comes from the gossip and slander that launched toward Mary and her firstborn. He knew the grief that comes from the death of those closest to you. He knew the pain of misunderstanding from those around Him, even His own brothers and sisters.

Jesus lived among us, experiencing the life we live everyday. Until Jesus was thirty, he went to work in the carpenter shop every day. He paid excessive taxes to the Romans on the wages He earned. He probably carried some of the soldiers’ packs when He was pressed into service as He walked down the road.

His life was never an easy one. I expect the flowing white robes we see Him wearing in all those pictures and paintings on the walls were not part of His ensemble. I expect He really just had a couple of worn out rags from the local thrift store to wear. I expect the softest bed He ever slept in was that bed of straw in the manger in the cave where He was born. After that, maybe a blanket on the dirt floor or a straw mat on that dirt floor when he was older. Jesus’ life was a hard one that none of us would want to swap.

Yet, like the innkeeper in the elementary school pageant, God wants us to invite Him in when He knocks on the door. He has great things planned for us in His upper story if we will just trust Him and let Him lead the way. We don’t need to worry because He has already experienced this life from beginning to end and knows all about it. He can take us through it and give us peace and joy despite the circumstances we face each day.

How about changing your view of the innkeeper and emulate the new role model when God knocks. Swing the door wide, smile big, and answer, “Come on in. I’ve been expecting you.”

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

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How hard do you try? (Luke 19:1-5)

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
How hard do you try when problems seem insurmountable? (Luke 19:1-5)
Scripture
1. Luke 19:1-5
2. Jesus enters Jericho and seems only to be passing through. Living in Jericho is a man named Zaccheus. He’s the head tax collector and is very rich. He is also very short. He wants to see Jesus as He passes through the center of town, but he can’t get a glimpse because the crowd blocks his view. So he runs ahead of the crowd and climbs up into a sycamore tree so he can see Jesus when He passes beneath him.

Jesus comes along and looks up into the tree, and there He sees Zaccheus.

Jesus: Zaccheus, hurry down from that tree because I need to stay at your house tonight.

Devotional
1. For the last week, I’ve been assisting in the training of Army medical brigade headquarters. These units provide direction for the medical formations on the battlefield to provide treatment for the sick, injured, and wounded within the area the Army operates. They tell those medical units, like hospitals, evacuation units with helicopters and ambulances, dental units, behavioral health units, preventive medicine teams, and a host of other medical capability where and when to move within the battlespace to ensure our service men and women are afforded the best care possible in sometimes pretty horrible conditions.
2. Armies move pretty quickly on the battlefield. Hospitals can’t move so fast. It takes lots of people and trucks to tear down, move, and set up one of those 250 bed hospitals on the battlefield and their may be two or three or five of those that must be within range of the front line of troops to ensure trauma care is available in a timely manner.
3. I mention those simple parameters to address the problem these medical brigades must address in the training scenarios we give them. We ask them to support an army that will fight across six or seven hundred miles in two or three weeks. The helicopters can only fly 2 ½ hours, so that’s less than one hour each way to pick up and return casualties from the front. That’s about 100 miles. These commanders face what seems to be an insurmountable problem. How do you treat patients across a six hundred mile battlefield following a combat force when it takes days to move and set up a hospital?
4. So now we turn to the story of Zaccheus. He faced what seemed to be an insurmountable problem. Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus. He had heard about this man from Nazareth who did no wrong. A man who challenged the authority of the temple leaders. A man who feared nothing and no one. A man who worked miracles. A man who was said to even control nature, calming storms with His words. Zaccheus wanted to see this man.
5. But Zaccheus was short in stature. He couldn’t see above the crowd. It was like a ten year old standing behind adults trying to see the parade. He wanted to see what was happening, but the crowd was too thick. Hundreds of others also wanted to get a view of this miracle worker and Zaccheus found himself pushed aside by the crowd. He was a tax collector. No one cared about giving him room. Everyone hated him. He worked for the Romans. He deserved to stand in the back.
6. But Zaccheus would not be stopped. He would not let the people’s dislike for him keep him from seeing Jesus. Zaccheus would not give up this opportunity to catch a glimpse of this man everyone was talking about. He would find a way to see the one who changed the life of everyone who met Him. Zaccheus would find a way.
7. So he ran ahead, climbed a tree, and waited anxiously for the Master to walk by.
8. Jesus did an amazing thing. He invited Himself to Zaccheus house for dinner. The onlookers were astounded. First, that Jesus was bold enough to break the rules of protocol and invite Himself for dinner. And second, and most egregious, He invited Himself to a tax collector’s house.
9. Zaccheus was creative, persistent, and would not accept defeat in doing something important for a future that would help others. Remember after meeting Jesus he promised to restore anything he took wrongly fourfold and to give half his wealth to the poor.
10. Back to my training sessions this week. The medical commands would find it easy to give up on this insurmountable problem. It’s hard to find solutions to this almost impossible scenario. But lives are at stake. They must find a solution or American soldiers will die because of their failure to find a solution.
11. They will be creative. They will be persistent. They will not accept defeat in doing something so important to the future of others.
12. How about you? What problem are you facing that seems insurmountable but makes a difference in the lives of those around you? What mountain looms before you that you need to climb, go around, tunnel through, or something to better the lives of someone? Zaccheus didn’t quit. These medical brigade will not quit. How about you? God can give you a creative mind to help you find solutions if you stick with it and keep at the task ensuring a better future for others.
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.”
Bible Reading Plan – http://www.Bible-Reading.com

How well can you be trusted? (Luke 16:10-12), July 1, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Trust cannot be underrated at home, in business, or with God. Jesus tells us about it in Luke.
Scripture
1. Luke 16:10-12
2. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
Devotional
1. I know a lot of people who want more
  1. Money
  2. Property
  3. Time
  4. Friends
2. I don’t know very many people who want the things that go with ownership of those things
  1. Responsibility
  2. Maintenance
  3. Worry
  4. Additional workload
3. But Solomon gave us the proverbs about financial security a long time ago and Jesus reiterates it in these parables.
  1. He just talked to those around Him about the shrewd dealings of the world and the way they use their assets judiciously to better their situation
  2. Jesus then talks about this principle of trustworthiness
  3. Why would anyone entrust you with their assets if you were not trustworthy?
  4. They would be foolish
4. The government goes through pretty elaborate processes to grant security clearances to individuals
  1. Background checks into criminal records, finances, friends and family
  2. They look at business associates and foreign travel
  3. They look at your parents’ and siblings histories and anything that might cause you to be untrustworthy with the nation’s secrets
  4. If you’re not trustworthy in little things they don’t expect you to be trustworthy with big things
5. And so it goes
  1. Do you return extra change you get from a cashier’s mistake?
  2. Do you claim questionable things on your taxes?
  3. Do you take supplies from your employer?
  4. Do you work the time you say you work or spend it on Facebook or other personal activities?
  5. Are you trustworthy in the little things of life?
6. Before God can entrust you with the important things of His kingdom, He needs to trust you with the mundane things here. The stuff around us won’t last. If we can’t take of it in a responsible way, how can God trust us with the things that last forever?
7. Check your trustworthiness against His standard and see where you need to improve. Ask Him and He promises He will help.
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.”
Bible Reading Plan – Luke 15-16

Are you a truth-teller? (John 1:47-51), January 18, 2017

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2017-01-18-devotional-

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do people know you as a truth-teller? How can they tell? And do you know who is looking? Is it just your boss? Your family? Your pastor? Who might be looking that you don’t know about?
Scripture
1. John 1:47-51
2. Jesus: Look closely, and you will see an Israelite who is a truth-teller.

Nathanael (overhearing Jesus): How would You know this about me? We have never met.

Jesus: I have been watching you before Philip invited you here. Earlier in the day, you were enjoying the shade and fruit of the fig tree. I saw you then.

Nathanael: Teacher, You are the One—God’s own Son and Israel’s King.

Jesus: Nathanael, if all it takes for you to believe is My telling you I saw you under the fig tree, then what you will see later will astound you. I tell you the truth: before our journey is complete, you will see the heavens standing open while heavenly messengers ascend and descend, swirling around the Son of Man.

Devotional
1. Do people know you as a truth teller?
  1. Jesus saw Nathanael from a distance and told those around Him that he was a truth-teller.
  2. Announcement sounded like truth-tellers were rare.
  3. Something about Nathanael made him different than others around him.
  4. Can you tell the difference when you see truthers versus liars? Can they see the difference in you?
2. Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree enjoying its shade and eating its fruit.
  1. Truthers enjoy the simple things in life
  2. Recognize the beauty of creation in and of itself
  3. Find pleasure outside the norms of society, within the norms of nature
3. Watched him interact with others while sitting under the tree
  1. Shade at a premium so a gathering place for discussion
  2. Others seek out people who speak the truth in love
    1. When they need real answers to problems
    2. When they need help
    3. When they want to know God
  3. Others avoid those who are not truth-tellers
    1. Flat out liars
    2. Half truths
    3. Truths that only help themselves and not the asker
    4. Speak truth, but in condemnation and judgment
  4. Expect Nathanael provided truth from scripture, experience, wisdom freely but with love
1. 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.”

What does McDonald’s and the Post Office have to do with our spiritual walk? (Luke 24:41-49), January 17, 2017

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2017-01-17-devotional-What does McDonald’s and the Post Office have to do with our spiritual walk? (Luke 24:41-49)

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We have developed a real problem today when it comes to building a relationship with God. Our problem is related to McDonald’s, Intel, and the Post Office. Stick around and see why those things cause us problems in our spiritual walk.
Scripture
1. Luke 24:41-49
2. Jesus: Do you have anything here to eat?

They hand Him a piece of broiled fish, and He takes it and eats it in front of them.

Jesus: I’ve been telling you this all along, that everything written about Me in the Hebrew Scriptures must be fulfilled—everything from the law of Moses to the prophets to the psalms.

Then He opens their minds so they can comprehend the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Jesus: This is what the Scriptures said: that the promised Anointed One should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, that in His name a radical change of thought and life should be preached, and that in His name the forgiveness of sins should be preached, beginning in Jerusalem and extending to all nations. You have witnessed the fulfillment of these things. So I am sending My Father’s promise to you. Stay in the city until you receive it—until power from heaven comes upon you.

Devotional
1. How impatient have you become in this technological age?
  1. TR 80
  2. Apple iiC, 128 kb memory
  3. Transmissions measured in bytes per second, not megabytes or gigabytes
  4. Open programs, get coffee
  5. Now complain if more than 15 – 20 second start-up
2. Fast food grew up with McDonalds and Wendy’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken
  1. No long waits in restaurants
  2. Short menus
  3. Already mostly cooked
  4. Warmed up and served
  5. Not very nutritious, not very good, but fast
  6. Happy because we don’t wait
  7. Complain if it takes five minutes to get food
3. Complain about speed of delivery
  1. Used to expect seven days for a letter
  2. Ten to fourteen days for a package
  3. Now expect not more than two day delivery, even on weekends and holidays
  4. Can’t wait that extra day for delivery even though it’s something you probably never had before and don’t really need
4. Need to get over our impatience when it comes to knowing God
  1. Stay until
  2. Pray until
  3. Wait until
  4. Until what
5. You are as close to God as you want to be. How long does it take to get as close as you want to be to 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.”

Did you ever try to teach someone and fail? (Luke 24:25-26, 38-39), January 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.
Have you ever tried to explain something to someone and they just didn’t get it? How did it make you feel? I bet Jesus got pretty frustrated at times, too. Particularly when His time was running out.
Scripture
1. Luke 24:25-26
2. Jesus: Come on, men! Why are you being so foolish? Why are your hearts so sluggish when it comes to believing what the prophets have been saying all along? Didn’t it have to be this way? Didn’t the Anointed One have to experience these sufferings in order to come into His glory?Jesus: Why are you upset? Why are your hearts churning with questions? Look—look at My hands and My feet! See that it’s Me! Come on; touch Me; see for yourselves. A ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see that I have!
Devotional
1. Sometimes I’m a really terrible teacher. I enjoy teaching most of the time, but occasionally I’ll teach a subject that comes pretty easily to me and I think it should to everyone. I forget that it doesn’t. All of us have things like that, of course.
  1. I’ve had people try to teach me how to fix cars. It’s a hopeless cause.
  2. Plumbing is the same way
  3. I’ve learned to hire others to do some of those things around the house because it’s a lot cheaper than doing it myself
2. When I think something should be crystal clear and it isn’t
  1. Try to restate in other ways
  2. Try to review in ways to solidify in memory
  3. Try to relate to things they know and understand
  4. If unsuccessful, patience runs thin
3. End of the story with two men Jesus met on road to Emmaus
  1. Talked on the road
  2. Knew the news about crucified Galilean
  3. Knew rumors of Messiah
  4. Jesus kept hinting about the tie in between the prophecies and the Galilean they heard about
  5. Connect the dots
4. Are you guys stupid? What have you already said? Wake up!
  1. Finally put things together
  2. Finally understood
  3. Then recognized Jesus for who He was
  4. We sometimes think these guys are stupid. Why didn’t they recognize Jesus?
    1. Weren’t expecting to see Him
    2. Maybe saw Him on the cross, broken and bleeding
5. How different are we?
  1. We have all the evidence of who He is, but don’t recognize Him
  2. We don’t believe what He says
  3. We don’t trust His words
  4. Are we stupid or something?
  5. Maybe we need to pay more attention to His classes
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.”

What is paradise, anyway? (Luke 23:43), January 14, 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.
Did you ever wonder where Jesus and the thief on the cross went when they died that day? Jesus said they were headed to paradise that day. Well then, what is paradise anyway?
Scripture
1. Luke 23:43
2. Jesus: I promise you that this very day you will be with Me in paradise.
Devotional
1. Have you thought much about Jesus’ comment to the thief hanging next to Him at Golgotha?
  1. Criminal
  2. Evil enough for crucifixion
  3. Cruelest form of execution
  4. Today join Jesus in paradise
2. Paradise
  1. Wikipedia – Paradise is the term for a place of timeless harmony. The Abrahamic faiths associate paradise with the Garden of Eden, that is, the perfect state of the world prior to the fall from grace, and the perfect state that will be restored in the World to Come. in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment.
  2. Is it heaven?
  3. Has the thief already faced judgment and entered into eternity with the triune Godhead around the throne?
  4. Does John’s Revelation and other eschatological writings agree with or refute what Jesus says to the thief?
3. Arguments by believers and non-believers alike
  1. Does everyone go here awaiting judgment or just believers?
  2. Is this like the lobby to heaven where you get the appetizers before dinner?
  3. If Jesus talks about a judgment day, then what is paradise? A place between death and heaven?
  4. Will good people, but non-believers stay here instead of hell?
  5. Is this the opposite of purgatory for those who earn a better place than the flames or eternal separation from God?
4. No one knows this side of heaven. We do know some things.
  1. Death is not the final victor, there is something after that – Jesus talks about that
  2. There is a heaven and hell – Jesus talks about both
  3. There will be a judgment day – Jesus talks about that
  4. We determine by our faith and actions now whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell – Jesus talks about that
5. What is paradise? We don’t really know this side of the curtain we call death. But for believers, whether we are ushered into an anteroom of heaven with Jesus awaiting the judgment that He called paradise when He talked to the thief, or whether we face judgment immediately, or whether time just stops and doesn’t matter anymore once we pace from this life to the next, does it really matter? As long as we are with Him, who cares? We don’t need to be concerned about what paradise is or when it is or what it looks like or if it’s part of heaven or not. Who cares? Just be ready when He comes and you’ll hear Him say, “this very day you will be with Me in paradise.”
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.”

How do you grieve? (Luke 23:28-31), January 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.
Jesus told the onlookers at His march to Golgotha not to weep for Him but for themselves. How do you grieve and are you ready to avoid the grief that will come at His return?
Scripture
1. Luke 23:28-31
2. Jesus (to the people in the crowd): Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me. Weep instead for yourselves and weep for your children. Days are coming when people will say, “Blessed are the infertile; blessed are the wombs that never bore a child; blessed are the breasts that never nursed an infant.” People will beg the mountains, “Surround us!” They’ll plead with the hills, “Cover us!” For if they treat Me like this when I’m like green unseasoned wood, what will they do to a nation that’s ready to burn like seasoned firewood?
Devotional
1. Military travel gives opportunity to observe various cultural differences in the grieving process
2. Native-American
  1. Tribes are different
  2. Some burial is not important and may not even bury the body but let nature dispose of remains
  3. Some bury observing the importance of a circle symbolizing the circle of life
  4. Most are not concerned about preserving the body, so embalming is not a concern but mutilation is taboo. Asking for native american to donate organs may be seen as disrespectful
3. Asian-American
  1. Very concerned about the body
  2. Watertight casket
  3. Warm clothing
  4. Stoic so might be depressed from internalizing grief
  5. Picture or plaque of the deceased along with personal items kept in the home as a memorial or shrine
4. African-American
  1. Family and friends gather
  2. Might express great emotion
  3. Cremation not as readily accepted as in other cultures
  4. Sharing meals with loved ones
  5. Wear white as symbol of resurrection
  6. Integration of church observances
5. Haitian-American
  1. Family and friends gather at home of deceased
  2. Wear dark clothing to funeral and as sign of mourning
  3. Share meals before and after the funeral
  4. Express great emotion
6. Hispanic-American
  1. Dependence on priest for arrangements
  2. Gathering of family and friends
  3. Many family and friends participate in procession and in service
  4. Family members often make promises in name of deceased
  5. Money gifts common to help defray expenses
7. European-American
  1. Family and friends comfort family at home of deceased
  2. Funeral director or clergy help in arrangements
  3. Dark clothing although now more color to mark celebration of the life of the deceased
  4. Funerals usually more somber
  5. Gather at home of survivors for meal or refreshments after funeral service and interment
8. Lots of forms of grief, Jesus says don’t grieve for Him, but for us. He’s coming back and we need to be ready when He comes. Imagine what that day must be like if those who are left will be asking the mountains to fall on them rather than face the events God has in store for them. We might grieve in different ways, but don’t be caught needing to grieve on that day. It won’t be a pretty sight grieving for yourself.
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.”