Rylisms

The Sad Estate of the Selfish Man

2009-11-25T02:05:00.002-06:00

. “I will build me bigger barns!” (Luke 12:18). In the parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus shows us that one's life does not consist of the things he possesses and He warns us against one of the most insidious evils in the human heart -- covetousness. “I have seen a grievous evil under the sun,” wrote Solomon, “wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner.” The Rich Fool was doing just that -- hoarding his riches, and harming himself. That is the sad estate of the selfish man. The Rich Fool ascribes the increase of his substance to himself, and deems...

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One Way Jesus on a Two Way Street

2009-11-24T02:05:00.001-06:00

. “Give, and it shall be given to you” (Luke 6:38). It is one of the many remarkable features of following Jesus, that you cannot give without receiving back even more than you gave. The other side is also true -- you cannot receive without giving. It's a two-way street that we walk with the One Way Jesus. Jesus is only going one way -- but it is in every direction. He is building a kingdom, and has invited each of us to become a part of what He is doing. We become a part by giving whatever He has entrusted to us. You cannot teach without being...

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Delivered into Delight!

2009-11-23T02:05:00.004-06:00

. "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me." (Psalm 18:19, KJV). The Psalmist is overwhelmed with wonder at not only how the Lord acted on his behalf -- but why. When we read about how the Lord dramatically delivered him from his enemies we are stirred more deeply than any action-movie could ever do. For he portrays the Lord as a Mighty Warrior unleashing His dreadful wrath against His enemies -- "Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of...

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The Sheer Gift

2009-11-22T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides." (James 1:2, The Message). By now you've discovered that God doesn't do things our way. "My ways are not your ways," He tells us, "and My thoughts are not your thoughts." Often you will find that things in the Kingdom are the opposite to things in this world. For example, he that puts himself first will be last; he that would be great, must becomes the servant. And so on and so on. In this world of ours, trouble is TROUBLE. But not so in the Kingdom....

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"I Don't Look Like What I've Been Through!"

2009-11-21T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke!" (Daniel 3:27, New Living Translation). The story of the three Hebrew children -- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego -- being thrown into the burning fiery furnace is legendary. They refused to bow down and worship the golden statue erected by King Nebuchadnezzar and as a result were bound in ropes and tossed into the...

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"O Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen"

2009-11-20T02:05:00.000-06:00

. "Keep you guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith." (1 Peter 5:9, The Message). There are few things the devil likes more than to get you believing that you're the only one going through a tough time. He wants you to feel alone, forsaken, and forgotten. If he can pull it off -- you will drop your guard, lower your shied of faith and be wide open for his more assiduous assaults. Don't let him win -- keep a firm grip on your faith. Peter...

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Glory Just Around the Corner

2009-11-19T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner." (1 Peter 4:12-13. The Message). Sometimes things can get so difficult that even the most ardent believers look heavenward with serious questions about whether or not God is involved in our affairs anymore. Even Jesus Himself cried out on the cross, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" Sometimes God...

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The Genius of Good Grief

2009-11-18T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way." (1 Peter 4:1, The Message). Remember the old country western classic -- "I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there's got to come a little rain some time." I can't help but wonder if there are times when Jesus picks up a trusted six string and belts this one out from the clouds of glory to His "naming-claiming-gabbing-grabbing kids." "Oh hallelujah!" we say, when things are going great and good....

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The Last Word on Everything and Everyone

2009-11-17T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He's standing right alongside God, and what he says goes." (1 Peter 3:22, The Message). Sooner or later the last word will be spoken. All debate will cease, and arguments will come to an end. Somebody somehow in someway will be able to sum it all up and put everything and everyone in their place. That somebody is Jesus. Until then we are surrounded by a hurricane of opinions, ideas, suggestions, postulations, pontifications, exaggerations, exclamations, theories,...

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The Pot of Boiling Acid

2009-11-16T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "For God does speak—now one way, now another— though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword." (Job 33:14-18, NIV). In a dream I saw an angel standing with a large vat in his hands. The vat was filled with what appeared to be boiling acid. A man came and stood before the angel, who...

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Your New Job Description -- BLESS!

2009-11-15T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "This goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless--that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9, The Message). We have been called to live exemplary lives -- the kind that inspire others to do the same. This is our assignment from Jesus. The challenge is that we have been placed in a world filled with un-exemplary conduct. From Main Street to the Back Streets; from Broadway to the Belt-Way; from Wall Street to the Waysides -- name calling, finger...

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Every Name in the Book?

2009-11-14T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right." (1 Peter 2:23, The Message). Like most anyone, I have been called a few names over the course of my journey -- but I'm sure I've never been called "every name in the book." I didn't even know there was a book. And, are the names listed alphabetically? If so -- Jesus has been called everyone of those names. A lesser man would have gone to war by now. All it took to set Marty McFly off was for Biff Tannen to call him,...

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The Exemplary Life

2009-11-13T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "Live an exemplary life." (1 Peter 2:12, The Message). The word exemplary means "serving as a commendable pattern to be imitated." No pressure here, but may I ask what about your life as a follower of Jesus would others say is exemplary? If the question leaves you a bit unsettled that's a good thing. Because it shows that you at least care. Some of us squirm out of false humility. "Aw shucks," we reply, "why, golly, there's nothing in me that even comes close to being like Jesus." Oh, grow up! Others of us squirm for more substantial reasons....

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The Night-and-Day Difference

2009-11-12T02:05:00.002-06:00

. "Tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you-- from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted." (1 Peter 2:9,10, The Message). Jesus doesn't merely clean us up, dust us off, and patch up a few dings here and there -- He performs a total overhaul. His grace transformation of our lives is not cosmetic -- it's cosmic! "I once was blind but now I see." That's the kind of testimony people have after Jesus gets hold of them. He takes us from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. He calls us to a position way above...

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The God Who Helps

2009-11-11T02:05:00.000-06:00

. "You call out to God for help and He helps -- He's a good Father that way. But don't forget, He's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God." (1 Peter 1:17, The Message). Some knuckle head somewhere back in time coined the phrase, "God helps those who help themselves." I suppose the guy was a dad, and he was trying to motivate a sluggish child to get with the program. Or more likely a parish priest trying to get his congregation up off their...

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Bloom Where You are Planted

2009-11-10T02:05:00.002-06:00

. "I am writing to the exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten." (1 Peter 1:1, The Message). From one point of view we see a national disaster -- hundreds of thousands of citizens uprooted from their homes by an occupying army, and driven like cattle into the highways and byways; scattered to the four winds, and now known only as exiles. That's a rather bleak picture. But from another point of view we see something altogether glorious. The word for scattered in the Greek New Testament actually means "to be sown...

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On Assignment by Jesus

2009-11-09T02:05:00.001-06:00

. "I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah" (1 Peter 1:1 The Message). Delightful thing this is, to be on assignment by Jesus. The word means to appoint a particular person to a specific use. Os Guinness wrote, "Our passion is to know that we are fulfilling the purpose for which we are on earth. All other standards of success - wealth, power, position, knowledge, friendships - grow tiny and hollow if we do not satisfy this deeper longing." Deep in every heart is the God-planted desire to live a life that makes a difference....

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In the Midst of Regular Work

2009-11-08T02:05:00.002-06:00

. "It was their regular work." (Matthew 4:18, The Message). Here we have two guys minding their own business, when suddenly, and unexpectedly they are interrupted by a preacher. We could finish the story fifty different ways, but none would be as astounding as what actually happened after this brief encounter. For the two guys were Peter and Andrew; and the preacher passing by was Jesus. "Follow Me," He said, "and I will make you fishers of men." And get this -- "they dropped their nets immediately and followed Him." Something is going on here...

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Enlarged in Distress

2009-11-07T02:05:00.001-06:00

. “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress” (Psalm 4:1, KJV). The poetry of this verse is too beautiful to overlook. David is deliberately placing two extremes side by side to demonstrate the profound difference that God's power makes in our lives when we call out to Him for mercy. Distress means "a tight spot." Enlarged means "a spacious place." From the very moment of our birth we have known that in order to get to a spacious place, we must first pass through a tight spot. Our mother's labor pains pushed us through the distress of...

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The Great Hand of God

2009-11-06T02:05:00.003-06:00

. “In the shadow of His hand hath He hid me” (Isaiah 49:2) Too often in our happy charismatic world of blissful faith we fail to realize that shade is as necessary as sunshine. We want blue skies with only occasional puffy clouds, and the clouds should look like bunnies. No wind, at least not enough to mess with our hair; just a gentle breeze, please. Toss in a whole lot of flowers, and add some soothing worship music in the background -- and let's see now, um, oh yes, world peace. But the truth is that life is much more random than this; much...

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Is Not This the Carpenter? (Part 3 of 3)

2009-11-05T02:05:00.002-06:00

. “Is this not the Carpenter?” (Mark 6:3). Previously we saw, in the words of G.H.Morrison, that “Every man learns certain lessons from the trade in which he is engaged.” And the question we posed was what are some of the things Jesus may have learned while working in the carpenter shop of Nazareth. The first thing we considered was that Jesus would have learned how much may be hidden in a common thing. A simple piece of wood, handled with the right craft and care, may become any number of other things – remarkable to behold. The second lesson...

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Is Not This the Carpenter? (Part 2 of 3)

2009-11-04T02:05:00.003-06:00

. “Is this not the Carpenter?” (Mark 6:3). Yesterday we saw, in the words of G.H.Morrison, that “Every man learns certain lessons from the trade in which he is engaged.” And the question we posed was what are some of the things Jesus may have learned while working in the carpenter shop of Nazareth. The first thing we considered was that Jesus would have learned how much may be hidden in a common thing. A simple piece of wood, handled with the right craft and care, may become any number of other things – remarkable to behold. Perhaps the second...

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Is Not This the Carpenter? (Part 1 of 3)

2009-11-03T02:05:00.002-06:00

. “Is this not the Carpenter?” (Mark 6:3). We know that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, and worked in Joseph’s carpentry shop. Thus, by trade, He was a carpenter. But what puzzles us is that He learned things as He was growing up. In one place the Scripture says, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Heb 5:8). See the enigma here? How can One is All-knowing learn anything? The mystery is solved once we realize that Jesus, when He became a Man, gave up the claim to all things that made Him Divine. He laid...

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Code Word: Zebra

2009-11-02T02:05:00.002-06:00

. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1Co 1:27-29). That no flesh should glory in His presence -- that is the specific reason why God works is such unusual ways; choosing foolish things to shame the wise things, and...

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The Three Taverns

2009-11-01T02:05:00.002-06:00

. “Some of the followers in Rome heard about us and came to meet us at the Market of Appius and at the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.” (Acts 28:15). This is a delightful moment captured forever in the words of Luke, author of The Acts. What makes this moment so special was that, for Paul, it came at the end a long and arduous struggle against one thing after another. Here's a recap of what Paul and his fellow travelers had encountered. First, a mob of religious fanatics rushed upon Paul intending to stone...

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