Author: Chuck Musselwhite

Get Back on Track

My brother lifted his truck when we were younger. It looked like it was an off-road vehicle, and he liked to drive it where it wasn’t meant to go. Unfortunately, he was always getting towed out of the sand by someone who had a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Christians have a propensity to get off the path God has for them and then need to be brought back. Hosea shows us how to get back on track.

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭12:6

“Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually.”

After all of the dire prophecy and indictments to Israel, Hosea tells them how to get back on track in their walk with the Lord. As with most instructions in the Bible, they are simple to understand but challenging to implement. First, they have to return to God. This means first recognizing their sins and then turning from them (repentance). You will never get back on track with the Lord unless you acknowledge you are a sinner and there is sin in your life that needs to be made right. No one gets around this. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are or how many good deeds you have done to needy people. Your sin separates you from the presence of God. Take the time to get right with Him.

It’s Hard to Say Goodbye

Goodbyes are tough. You have to say them to people close to you, and the thought of being apart can seem unbearable. You look forward to the next time you see them, and when that happens, your heart is filled with joy. Jesus had to say goodbye to the Disciples right before He went to the cross, and He knew that it would cause grief, but He promised to see them again, and it would be much better. It’s hard to say goodbye.

‭‭John‬ ‭16:22‬

“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

That Last Supper was more than just a dinner. Jesus used that time to give final instructions and prepare the Disciples for life after He left earth. He also said goodbye, and the Disciples were filled with grief. Grief is that feeling of sorrow and that things would never be the same. It was okay for them to feel this way, but Jesus knew it would get better. He was going to see them again, and their hearts would be filled with joy. After the resurrection, He appeared to them multiple times, and He knew He would see them again in eternity.

Open the Door of Your Heart

Anyone who has raised teenagers will tell you that they use the door to their room to assert their growing independence. They want to be left alone to figure out life. Often, what was once a healthy, loving relationship with their parents grows lukewarm. Parents are often left standing at their door, knocking to see if they can come in. Jesus does the same with you. He stands knocking, asking if you will open the door of your heart.

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:20

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

This verse is written to the church in Laodecia, otherwise known as the lukewarm church. They got that tag because the water from the hot springs that flowed downhill from Heiropolis to Laodecia was lukewarm. People would spit it out of their mouths after drinking it. Jesus compares the church to the city’s water. They were neither hot nor cold in their faith. They had shut Jesus out of their lives. So, Jesus was standing at the door, knocking to see if they would open up. He wanted to come in and dine with them. That meant He wanted a close relationship.

Time for a Wake Up Call

There are a lot of people walking around today that look alive and successful on the outside but are dead on the inside. Many of them have lives that others would die for, but to them, it means nothing. They need to wake up before it’s too late. It’s time for a wake-up call for many in the church. They have been sleepwalking through life.

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:5

“He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Through the church of Sardis, Jesus is telling us that those who overcome this world will spend eternity with Him. This is a big deal to that church because it has the appearance of being alive and full of good works, but it is dead on the inside. Jesus tells them to wake up and strengthen what remains because they are not complete in God’s sight. That is not a good judgment from Jesus but is something that we could easily fall into. We want to be alive on the inside, so wake up.

No Greater Love

People do some crazy things to express their love for one another. Most of the time, it is someone trying to become Instagram famous by their marriage proposal. The internet is littered with videos of these attempts and failures. Most have some entertainment value, but almost all reflect a sad state of what people think is love. Jesus says, “No great love than this, that one lays down his life for his friends.

‭‭John‬ ‭15:13

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

In John 15, Jesus changes the second greatest commandment from “Love your neighbor as yourself” to “Love one another.” It may seem like a subtle shift but going from neighbor to one another meant that love had to be more personal and applied to everyone. Then Jesus says that the greatest form of love is to lay down your life for your friends. He will model this shortly after by dying on the cross. While you won’t be asked to die on a cross for your loved ones, the principle remains.

Abiding in the Vine

I am surrounded by vineyards where I live. Very few things are more beautiful than driving the highways seeing all the rows of vines as they sprout their green leaves. Jesus used the analogy of the vine to talk about the importance of Christians abiding in the vine. When a branch abides in the vine…

Have You Abandoned the Love?

Do you need a particular date to tell those you care about that you love them? Do you go about your business the rest of the days of the year doing your own thing? If you truly love someone, it flows out of your heart, and you express it with words and gifts. Somehow, people think it is natural and okay to tell Jesus they love Him once or twice a year. John asks us in Revelation, “Have you abandoned the love?”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2:4

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

In the book of Revelation, John writes seven letters to seven different churches. They were all in Asia, which we know as modern-day Turkey. Ephesus was the central city, and the other six formed a postal route around it. The first letter in the series is to the church in Ephesus. They are a busy church fighting wrong doctrine and doing good deeds, but their hearts have grown cold for Jesus, and they have left their first love. From the outside, it looked like a thriving church, but on the inside, it was slowly dying.

Reaping Kindness When You Don’t Deserve It

The danger for every Christian is letting their hearts grow cold and hard due to sin. When that happens, they become insensitive and uncaring. Only a reversal of their heart, led by the Holy Spirit, will bring about change. When it happens, it’s like we are reaping kindness when you don’t deserve it. That is what God is telling Israel He will do.

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭10:12

“Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.”

Hosea keeps the theme of sowing and reaping by telling the people to sow righteousness, and you will reap kindness. Another translation says mercy. Israel had been sowing sin, and they were about to reap judgment, but even at the last moment, God was telling them if they sowed doing the right thing, He would extend mercy to them. What a gracious God! Who would overlook generations of sinfulness and extend mercy? The only one would be the God we serve.

Another Helper

Let’s face it. We need all the help we can get in life. Each day throws new challenges at us, and often we don’t have the tools or experience to deal with them. Jesus tells us that He has given us another helper who is with us, the Holy Spirit. He is there to guide us through the challenges that we encounter. Are you tapped into the Spirit?

‭‭John‬ ‭14:16-17

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

Chapter 13-17 of the Gospel of John is Jesus having the last supper with the disciples. He imparts many things to them He wants them to know before His crucifixion. As He was preparing His disciples for His departure, He tells them that He will send another helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with them forever. This Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead we call the Trinity. He is fully God like God the Father and Jesus the Son. He is given to us when we put our faith in Jesus as our savior, and He dwells in us forever.

One Way

One way streets can benefit old cities where there is not enough room for a street where cars can go both ways. It can also be limiting for those trying to get across town in a short amount of time. Jesus made it clear that there is only one way to heaven, through Him. That’s a problem for some people.

‭‭John‬ ‭14:6

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Jesus has just told the disciples that His Father’s house is a mansion and that He is going there to prepare a place for them. He is going to leave for a while but will return for them. Doubting Thomas asked Jesus how they would know the way, to which Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” The road map is a person, not a path. Jesus was very clear that if you wanted to spend eternity with God, His Father, you would have to put your faith in HIm.