I have heard several times “I am just not in a good place right now.”

This feeling often comes with discouragement and discontentment.

It is not good for us to live with this feeling. Lets look at Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and the signs that we notice leading up to the event.

Here are 3 Signs that Your Heart is in a Bad Place:

1. BAD NEWS MAKES YOU HAPPY!
   Judas went to the chief priests to figure out a plan of how they can arrest and kill Jesus. When he did, Mark 14:11 says “they were glad.”
   How terrible!
   Men desiring to kill another man. Men desiring to kill an innocent man. That made them happy to hear that. Their hearts were so against God that Bad News made them glad. When they heard of another person joining them in their evil, it made them happy.
   May God own our hearts. May we run from bad news. May we avoid and ignore gossip and slander and lies and so on. I Corinthians 13:6 says “Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing.”
   If bad things make you happy, you need to check your heart.
   
2. MONEY OVER INTEGRITY
   When Judas went to them, they worked out the betrayal deal based off of money. It depended upon how much they would give Judas. Mark 14:11 says “they promised to give him money.”
   In other words, if the price was right then Judas would betray Jesus.
   At that moment, Money mattered more to him than his integrity. Betraying someone should never be determined by the amount of money you get for it. Integrity is about who you are no matter who is watching and no matter the consequences. Judas was more into money than his integrity, and that is a clear sign that his heart was in a bad place.
   When 1 John warns against loving the world (1 John 2:15-17), his third point is “pride in possessions.” Greed and pride and possessions and selfishness are all signs that you need to check your heart.
   
3. OPPORTUNITY DETERMINES CHARACTER
   After the deal was worked out, Mark 14:11 says “he sought an opportunity to betray him.” This is just awful. Terrible. Judas walked away from the deal with a promise of money and a heart that was opportunistic on how he could do God wrong. Thats scary.
   Far too often, the situation does determine our character. And that is not right. When the lights are off, who are we? When no one will know, who are we? When our kids are around, are we different? When we are in the church building, do we talk or act differently?
   The truth is that character is who you really are regardless of the situation. Regardless of the Opportunity.
   If the right opportunity presented itself, and you were ok in that moment to sin against God, then your heart is in a bad place.

Those are 3 examples of our hearts being in a bad place. But there is one good example of a heart being in a good spot. And that is the passage right before this one. That is Mark 14:3-9. Go read that short passage, and hear of one whose heart treasured Jesus over everything.

When our hearts are focused on Jesus, our hearts are in a good place!

These are the words we see Mark writing in his gospel when talking about the Apostle Peter at the transfiguration of Jesus.

In Mark 9:5, Peter says “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

In Mark 9:6, Mark writes “For he did not know what to say.” That’s funny!

Has that ever happened to you? You find yourself talking when you shouldn’t be. You find yourself talking when you don’t even know what you are saying.

I think all of us have done that before.

Here’s the thing: –> Some of us talk too much. Some of us talk too little. All of us need to listen well.

Hear some of God’s word:

Ecclesiastes 3:7 there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak”

Ecclesiastes 5:2 “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”

Proverbs 25:11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

God’s Truth is so good at teaching us how to use our mouths. We need grace for discernment on when to speak and when to not speak.

As we pray for that wisdom, lets hear what God said right after Peter spoke those words: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Mark 9:7)

Lets work on being better listeners to Jesus.

To really understand the true meaning of Easter and the Holy Week, it is helpful to understand God’s Word and the use of a sacrificial lamb.

Here is a simple Bible study outline that can help you with this idea.

(I want to be honest and give credit where it is due – I originally got this idea from a tweet from Sam Allberry. I reached out to him about it, and he replied saying that he didn’t recall where he first heard it.) So here I am further developing the thought.

—– A LAMB FOR ONE PERSON – Genesis 22 (v.8 especially)
-Abraham to sacrifice Isaac
-God provides a lamb to die in the place of Isaac.

—– A LAMB FOR A HOUSEHOLD/FAMILY – Exodus 12 (v.3 especially)
-The Passover, Before the 10th Plague, Before the Exodus
-God provides a lamb to die in the place of each household

—– A LAMB FOR THE NATION – Leviticus 16 (v.17 especially)
– The Day of Atonement
– God provides a lamb to die in the place of the whole nation

—– A LAMB FOR THE WHOLE WORLD – John 1 (v.29 & v.36 especially)
-John the Baptist sees Jesus coming
-Jesus is calling his disciples
-Also, look up Isaiah 53:7 and 1 Peter 1:19
-God provides His Son, the lamb of God, to die in the place of the whole world

—– A LAMB FOR THE RANSOMED/REDEEMED FOR ALL ETERNITY, FOREVER – Revelation 5 (v.6 & v.9 especially)
-From every tribe, tongue, people and nation
-In Heaven, they sing “Worthy” to the Conquering Lion and the Slain Lamb
-God is worshiped by all who love the worthy lamb of God, Jesus, who died in their place

Hear this strong word from THE JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE:

“My body is like this bread. It will break, Jesus told them. “This cup of wine is like my blood. It will pour out.” “But this is how God will rescue the whole world. My life will break and God’s broken world will mend. My heart will tear apart — and your hearts will heal. Just as the passover lamb died, so now I will die instead of you. My blood will wash away all of your sins. And you’ll be clean on the inside — in your hearts.”

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and so there was a lot of mention of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus. You can hear or see our church’s Palm Sunday service here.

This is when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Let’s not be the people who talk about God and His truth without knowing what we are talking about. So, I want to help all of us know what the Bible says about Jesus and his Triumphal Entry.

It is found in all 4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

— Matthew 21:1-11

–Mark 11:1-11

–Luke 19:28-40

–John 12:12-15

Please take the time to read these passages. Palm Sunday begins Jesus’ Passion Week.

How do you know if someone is sincere? How do you know if they meant what they said?

Moreover, how do we know if they are sincere in what they say about God? Or even to God? How do we know if someone means what they said in regards to God and faith?

As I have been reading again in Exodus, I have been taking some time to look more deeply at Pharaoh’s responses to God’s message to him through Moses.

In the story of the 10 plagues (Exodus 7-12), Moses is asking Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go free. If he doesn’t, there will be consequences. This sequence continues on for several back-and-forths. By the time we get to the 7th plague (hail) the story has intensified.

As the worst hail storm ever falls on the Egyptians, in Exodus 9:27 we finally hear Pharaoh say this: “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.”

This is outstanding. This is what Moses and Israel had been longing to hear Pharaoh say for 7 straight plagues now. This confession from Pharaoh is a good confession. This confession is what every human being should be saying before God. We have sinned. God is right. I am wrong.

Sounds great, right? But is it? Thats just it. He said the right thing, but did he mean the right thing? Was he sincere in what he said?

Just a few verses later, Moses says to Pharoah in 9:30 “But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”

Moses somehow knew Pharaoh didn’t mean what he had said. He wasn’t sincerely turning to God.

So then a few verses later we read “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.” (9:34)

What Pharaoh is doing in 9:34 does not go along with what he said in 9:27. His actions of 9:34 do not go along with his words of 9:27. Which means that Moses’ observation in 9:30 is correct.

If Pharaoh had really been sorry for his sins in 9:27 then he would have been sorry to sin in 9:34. Even more, he would have been more reluctant to sin in 9:34.

He didn’t mean what he said. It sounded awesome and life-giving and freeing to hear him say that in 9:27. I imagine that Moses and the Israelites would have initially been so thrilled and excited to hear this after all the suffering they endured. But it wasn’t sincere, and so in time they saw that nothing had changed.

What about us? Do we mean what we say? Are we sincere with our words and our confessions and our repentance and our apologies? When we say we are wrong, do we really feel that? When we say we repent, do we really repent?

Let us be reminded of the very words of Jesus when he says “Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

Saying that Jesus is Lord is nice. But it doesn’t tell us if you really mean it. Do you believe it?

Here is the latest video update from the pastors:

On Wednesday night (via the internet live feed) I preached from James 4:13-16. 

There are many things we are unsure about right now. 

– Will school start back this year at all?

– Are we going to get sick?

– Will people close to use get sick?

– Do I/we have enough money to survive?

– When will we ever be able to meet again?

– Will there be any sports this spring/summer?

And in all honesty and transparency, I don’t know the answer to those questions. It is a very unsettling feeling having to admit that we “do not know what tomorrow will bring.”

But God’s word teaches us that we should never think we know anyways. We don’t know as much as we think we do. It pushes us to depend on the strong truth that God knows. God knows. God surely knows all the things that we don’t know. He knows all things. 

That should settle us. 

Let me show you a great example of this trust and faith. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, the apostle Paul is talking about how weak he is and how God’s grace is sufficient for Him even in his weaknesses. Then he says this “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

He is content in … CALAMITIES. 

A calamity is defined as a great misfortune or disaster. 
This global pandemic Coronavirus is a calamity and hardship. It’s awful and scary. 
And as we admit how unsettling this situation is may we turn our faith and dependence to the Lord Jesus Christ. May we be content in Him. 

For when we are weak, then we are strong!

Trees grow In two directions,
They grow both up and down
And while we know that both are good
Only one is to be found

One is up, colorful and bright,
One is down and has no light
One is open, all through the air,
One is closed with dirt down there

Both have branches, spreading out
Both have growth, there is no doubt
Both are expanding, out and reaching
Both are good, growth is teaching

One is visible, we can see it grow
One is hidden, it grows below
One is producing, leaf and seed
One is consuming, the trees great need

Trees grow in two directions
They grow both up and down
Much growth happens in the unseen
Although we look around

Growth is a peculiar thing
Quite slow but oh so steady
And growth continues on and on
Whether or not we’re ready 

Growth can happen in two directions
And you may not even see it
But like a tree, we know we grow
Let’s go ahead and be it

(I wrote this 8-13-2019 and mailed it to my parents.)

I’m older than my parents were when they were raising me,

And from this view, with heart and eyes, I can start to see.

See my life and how it is, compared to how it was,

How they gave their all for me, a reflection of how God does.

The love and sacrifice, with admittedly some holes,

Not hoping for success stories, hoping for their souls.

People who are growing fast, feelings and emotions,

Countless dreams, hopes and wishes, prayers to fill the ocean.

This view is crystal clear at times, rather foggy sometimes too,

But I find myself referencing back, to being daily loved by you.

How’d you do it? What’s the key? My heart really longs to know,

And these five kids are in a sprint with still much for me to show.

I’m afraid it’s not so simple, and for that I am so grateful,

That you two were such great parents, all the ways you have been faithful.

I’m older than you guys were when you were raising me,

And God is still, still, still, using you two to bless me!