Two Houses Lane

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

Luke 6:49

I took a walk down “Two Houses Lane”.

There I saw lessons of joy and pain.

The first house was built with firm foundation

and it stood strong in times of intimidation.

For decades it weathered storms and rain;

floods and earthquakes brought no shame.

It represented a life built to last

that heard the words of Jesus and held to them fast.

Whatever God’s Word said to do,

this household obeyed and always stood true.

A second home was hastily raised

sitting on sand, doomed to be razed.

Winds and storms and rains and hail:

floods and tremors all caused it to fail.

A quick collapse of shattered dreams

it seemed this house is not what it seems.

This life heard Jesus but refused to obey,

now in ruin — the price to pay.

from fish to men

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”​

Luke 5:9-10

When they first met Jesus they were sturdy fishermen eking out a living by the Sea of Galilee. They partnered their two boats together, kept their nets in shape, and did their best to bring fish to the market to feed their families. They weren’t scholars. They weren’t even particularly equipped for religious fervor. But Jesus saw something in this hardy bunch of fishermen that let Him know they would do something bigger than sail boats, mend nets, clean fish, and ply the lake water of their Galilean home. He promised them “from now on you will be catching men.”

It took the biggest haul of fish Galilee had ever given them to convince them to leave boats, nets, fish, and families at home and follow Jesus. Why would their greatest success lead them to rethink everything? Jesus showed them that by His Word their vocations could be insignificant compared to His power, promise, and presence. He gave the word and they cast they nets. The resulting wealth from the lake nearly sank their boats! What a fish story! Jesus was much more compelling than anything they had ever before experienced on the lake.

Lord,

“At your word I will let down the nets.” Your power will transform my daily experience. And, at Your word I will let go of my nets. Any of my skills, abilities, or resources are yours to transform. Make my life overloaded with Your presence, I pray!

Amen

My eyes to You

​Behold, as the eyes of servants

look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a maidservant

to the hand of her mistress,

so our eyes look to the LORD our God,

till he has mercy upon us.

Psalm 123:2

I look to You,

my Master

pleading for assistance

praying with persistence

to only You,

my Master

hear me in sorrow

bring a better tomorrow

My eyes are looking to You

I pray to You,

my Savior

Your mercy unceasing

Your power unleashing

coming only from You,

my Master

hear my petition

change my position

My prayer is lifted to You

I am grateful to You,

my God

I worship my Lord

I glory in Your Word

worshiping only You,

my Master

All praises I bring

to Jesus my King

My soul sings to You

prayer and power

​O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

Daniel 9:19

There are four requests rooted in clear points of God’s authority that are worth noting in this verse.

O Lord, hear. Daniel prays for God to hear his prayer. Why? Is God distracted, deaf, or complacent? Certainly not. The pleas for God to hear are rooted in Who God is… His character and person. He hears the repentance of His people and Daniel is repenting repeatedly on behalf of the nation with this prayer.

O Lord, forgive. The repentance and acknowledgment of sin, the resolution to submit to exile as the God-given consequence of that sin, are both spoken in humble confession seeking one thing from God: forgiveness. Only God can truly forgive repentant sinners. He is offended. He must forgive in order for situations to be transformed by His grace.

O Lord, pay attention. Again, it isn’t that God does not care, but that only His care matters when confessing our sin. His attention to the matter can change the repentant heart and restore life to what was dying.

O Lord, act. This is where we find ourselves in the gospel right now. God did act to restore the Jews from captivity after this confession and repentance. And He has acted finally and fully in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus through the gospel so that all His grace is always available to repentant sinners now. He still releases captives! Amen!

For what purpose does God do these things? His own sake… for His people… called by His name. His grace will not delay now that Christ has died once for all.

dumber than demons

​

And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

Luke 4:41

Demons know Jesus better than many people do. They still defy Him. They still work hard to oppose His purposes and His people. But they absolutely know Who He is and cannot deny the truth of His deity and authority. They know the truth about Jesus and tremble before Him. They acknowledge the truth about Jesus. They cower at the rebuke of the Son of God, the Messiah. They cannot resist with lies when in His very presence. No spiritual power opposes Jesus successfully.

And human authority is more defiant than demonic opposition ever is. People scoff at Jesus. Men deny His Godhood, ridicule His work, and scoff at His rule. They are more senseless than demons when they do so.

Lord,

Help Your people hold forth the gospel in an age of skepticism, senseless spiritual scoffing, and defiance of Your truth. Jesus, You are the Son of God! Jesus, You are Savior! Jesus, You are King! May Your truth be known, the gospel advance, demons flee, and Your kingdom come!

Amen

Exiles by the River

How shall we sing the LORD'S song

in a foreign land?

Psalm 137:4

By Babylon’s rivers we sat far from home

Strangers and captives, forbidden to roam.

Harps hung silent on willows above,

Mute mourners there missing the place that we love.

Our captors demanded the songs we once knew —

But how could we sing with hearts torn in two?

Tears rolled from eyes as we thought of Zion

Blood in her streets, gates left in ruin.

Songs once ascended with worship and praise

now choked in our throats in sorrowful ways.

O Lord, hear our grief as Your children mourn!

We reap bitter fruit from bad seeds we have sown.

We wandered from You long before we were chained,

worshiped our idols with covenant stained.

This exile reveals what pride wanted to conceal:

You warned by Your prophets that judgment is real.

Turn us again, LORD, our hard hearts renew.

Even in judgement—our hope is in You!

If ever we lose remembrance of you,

Jerusalem, let our right hands lose their use.

May tongues become silent, unable to sing,

if Zion is less that our joy in Him.

Exile will end and God will gather us home —

God will be praised where once we have groaned.

From thirty to eternity

​Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age…

Luke 3:23a

This marks the onset of the most important public life ever lived. At thirty years of age Jesus stepped from the obscurity of a carpenter’s shop into the Jordan river and was baptized by John, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and blessed by God the Father. And then the world would watch the Son of God, living among the people of God, proclaim the Word of God, do the works of God, and bring salvation in the gospel of God.

He would go on to defeat the devil’s attempt to derail that work by succeeding in the wilderness where Adam had failed in the garden and where Israel had disobeyed in the desert.

John the Baptist would also declare Him “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus would gather disciples who would clumsily follow Him, men Jesus would remake into leaders who would carry the saving gospel to the nations in a vast reshaping of the world that still goes on right now as churches proclaim the gospel and make disciples as He commanded. Jesus taught with authority, healed the sick, cast out demons, and proclaimed the rule of God in a new kingdom.

The King had come to rescue us. The thirty year old carpenter from Nazareth was truly the obedient Son of God, the promised Messiah, Son of David, Lamb of God, triumphant Son of Man, and Savior. What began at the Jordan’s banks would spread throughout Israel, culminate in Jerusalem, suffer unimaginably at Golgotha, and dominate sin, Satan, and death by resurrection in a garden tomb. Finally what began at thirty will now always impact and control eternity.