DAY 326 - Choose!

1 Kings 18:17-21 (NIV) ¹⁷ When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” ¹⁸ “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” ²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.

The temptation to include other gods was a constant temptation for the people of Israel. Most of their neighbors had more than one god, and often it appeared to the people of Israel that the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not enough. Into this arena of indecision came the voice of the prophet Elijah. How long will you waver between two opinions?

Do you feel the temptation to seek the popular gods of this world? Is Jesus Christ the central, most important source of influence in your life or are you caught in the middle, knowing that the false gods do you no lasting good yet reluctant to let Christ be Lord of it all? Do you fear He is not enough - that somehow you will suffer? It is as if we pray “Lord, I want to follow you, but first…” So it happens that we all sometimes choose “Jesus … and.”

How long will we go on limping between two opinions? That is the price we pay for our indecision, we simply limp through life, crippled, robbed of living life to the fullest. We pay a price for our indecision. We rob ourselves, and we cheat ourselves.  

Jesus is a beautiful picture of the jealousy of God. He will not allow us to try to follow Him and someone else. Jesus has the right to tell us to go our own way until we can decide what we really want, because He faced that difficult decision Himself of choosing what He would do for us. He wrestled with that question in the Garden of Gethsemane, but He didn’t wrestle with it indefinitely. He made up His mind to do what He had been sent to do and gave Himself up for us on the Cross, totally and completely. He made His decision and now He asks us to make ours. This is the one great decision that determines all other decisions we will ever be called on to make.

How long will we go on limping between two opinions? Is Jesus Christ enough for us? If the Lord be God then follow Him. 

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope June 30, 1985

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 325 - You Are God’s Gift To The World

From Isaiah 42 (NIV) Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. ² He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. ³ A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; ⁴ he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,

Matthew 5:14 (NIV) You are the light of the world.

We live in a society where our sense of self-worth is derived largely from what we have achieved and possess, and that makes us very vulnerable to loss. The people of Israel had lost everything – their homes, possessions, members of their families, their country, and their freedom. And they had lost their confidence in themselves as God’s chosen people. They were broken people, physically, materially, and spiritually. To those people languishing in despair, Isaiah makes this surprising announcement, Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. Three times Isaiah repeats that the servant will bring forth justice, and He is to remove the illusion that people cling to about the way life is and reveal to them the way life really is. For the people of Israel this meant casting off the illusion that they were rejected by God and would always be a slave nation.

Could it be that you and I still cling to some illusions about the way life really is? The illusions are assumptions we have made about God, about ourselves and others, about what it takes to live happily. My experience with God and people has convinced me that we all live with a certain amount of illusions about the way life really is, illusions that are so much a part of the way we view life that we are hardly aware of them and never dare to question them. And I am convinced that these illusions always take their toll on our life in one way or the other.

The work of the Servant is to confront these illusions and to conquer them with God’s truth.  But, notice how this is done: He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. ³ A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. He will be gentle. We see the gentleness of God’s judgment often in the way Jesus dealt with people. Jesus conquered sin with love and forgiveness.

Jesus continues to confront those sinful and false illusions we hold on to about the way life really is. As we go through the process of losing these illusions, we become the light of God to help others see what the true way of life really is. Jesus said we are the light of the world not because of what we have achieved or what we possess. We are the light of the world because of what He is making of us. By virtue of the fact that Jesus is working in us we become His great, wonderful gift to the world.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope July 26, 1981

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 324 - When the Spirit Grows Sluggish

Isaiah 6:1-9 (NIV) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” ⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

I wonder how many of us today would count ourselves among those who hear but do not understand, who see but do not perceive. Instead, we build up a lot of petty resentment, small guilts, failures, wrongs, hurts, and doubts that make life heavy, tiring, dull. We fall into a kind of spiritual stupor. We attend church, are loyal to the church, recognize that the church is a good and important institution, but have never really been touched in the center of our life by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Outwardly we still go through the motions of faith. But, inwardly, we think, “who cares? I’m too tired, too burdened, too weary.”

Then God drops that tiny spark of redeeming love into our lives and it acts like a giant incinerator, burning up all that useless clutter that has made our hearts dull toward God. Our lives are lightened by losing all that junk we have carried around for so many years, our eyes are opened and our hearts are made sensitive to the presence of the living God.

The prophet Isaiah gives us a unique, personal, inside view of what it is like to have God open our eyes and ears and make our hearts open and responsive to God’s living Presence. As God breaks down the barriers around our lives we may be shaken. But it is only for the moment, because God does not reveal Himself nor enter our life simply to rattle us. We receive God’s shalom, His life, His power, His love, His grace. In the process we may have been shaken and may have felt remorseful, but now we experience what it’s all about, and this beautiful things happens. We become obedient to God’s will though God does not take advantage. He leaves us totally free. But, we say, “I’m here. Send me.”

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 13, 1974

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 323 - The Perfect Life

Isaiah 11:6-9 (NIV) ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah lived in a time of prosperity, but it was not like the kind of prosperity enjoyed under the days of King David and Solomon. War was a constant threat. A sense of doom laid heavy over the lives of the people that disturbed what peace and security they had. The economy was unstable, strife and conflict broke out continually among the people as each connived on how to benefit to the fullest without concern or compassion for others.

Isaiah was angry at what he saw. He fiercely denounced the greed in the peoples’ hearts and the injustices that ruled in the market place. And Isaiah was sometimes discouraged with the people of Israel, believing that their hearts could not be changed nor their eyes opened to the kind of life God wanted for them to have. But Isaiah had a dream. In the midst of a world filled with quarreling Isaiah shared this dream of a peaceable kingdom led by a little child, an agent from God. Over and over again the New Testament testifies that Jesus is the one Isaiah dreamed about. And those who met Jesus had the dream awakened in them.

Jesus awakens the dream in people. Though He did not bring in a society of perfect peace, He did make it possible for us to have perfect peace with God. To have peace with God awakens us to new possibilities in life, and makes us aware of God’s plan and purpose for this world. In Jesus, we know that God did not put us here to be realistic. He put us here to be partners with God in making some of the wildest, most outlandish and hopeful dreams about this world come true. Do we dare to dream of the kind of world God wants and believe that dream can come true?

Sometimes I am afraid that we are too accepting of our life as it is. Do we dare to dream of a better life and a better world, a world where people can live in peace and harmony with one another, cherishing mutual respect and love? Do we dare to believe that these dreams are from God and that He has the power to make them come true?

Do we hold back from our dreams from fear of being disillusioned, afraid to run the risk of being disappointed? Do you have a dream? Some wild, fantastic, unattainable dream buried deep within your soul? Consider that this dream has been planted deep within you by God, and that God has a reason for putting it there.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope march 17, 1974

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 322 - Hiding Behind Your Religion

Isaiah 1:11-13, 15-19 (CEV) ¹¹ “Your sacrifices mean nothing to me. I am sick of your offerings of rams and choice cattle; I don’t like the blood of bulls or lambs or goats. ¹² “Who asked you to bring all this when you come to worship me? Stay out of my temple! ¹³ Your sacrifices are worthless, and incense is disgusting. I can’t stand the evil you do on your New Moon Festivals or on your Sabbaths and other times of worship. ¹⁵ “No matter how much you pray, I won’t listen. You are too violent. ¹⁶ Wash yourselves clean! I am disgusted with your filthy deeds. Stop doing wrong ¹⁷ and learn to live right. See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help those in need.” ¹⁸ I, the Lord, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool. ¹⁹ If you willingly obey me, the best crops in the land will be yours.

What provoked God to such fury as to be sick of the offering of sacrifices? God was angry with the people of Israel because they were pretending at something that was not true. They performed the acts of worship and the duties of their religion, but their heart was not in it. God was angry at the people of Israel because they were actually hiding their lives and hearts from Him. And, of all places to hide, they were hiding behind their religion. They did worship as a way of avoiding any real encounter with the living God.

How can worship and trying to live like we should be a way of hiding from God? How many of us have ever had a quarrel in our marriage and instead of sitting down to deal with the cause of friction, we continued in the routine. We did our chores around the house. We had people over to the house. We may even have shown some affection toward each other. But, underneath this show, we were really at odds with each other. And the routine of life, which used to be a normal way we lived together becomes the way we avoid each other. That is what the people of Israel had done. Instead of truly repenting and meeting God face to face they maintained the routine of religion.

Is that true of us? Are we guarding our life from God, going through the motions of being a Christian, but secretly, inwardly keeping God from penetrating to the core of our life? We can appear to be very devoted to God, attend church every Sunday, or we can play the same game by checking in with God every three months or so. But, either way, this is not what God has ever asked of us, to go through the routine of worship when our heart is not in it. God wants to penetrate our soul, to bring about a transformation that leaves the very center of our life pure, clean, good, beautiful, and full of wonder. But, that means total exposure of our life to Him. Otherwise we are still fooling ourselves, still playing the careful game of avoiding God. The only way we can stop dodging and meet God face to face is through God’s promise to us. If we will only let God help us, if we will only obey God, then God will transform us and make us rich in Him.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 3, 1974

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 321 - Shalom

Philippians 1:1,2, 4-9 (NIV)  Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: ² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

Shalom is the Hebrew word meaning peace, and it has been used since the days of Abraham as a way of greeting one another and as a way of saying farewell. Jesus used the word several times in His ministry. I would like for us to sense something of the beauty and meaning of this word shalom, a word that has been so crucial in the life of the Christian community. Shalom is a word so rich and varied in meaning that it almost defies definition and description. It means more than simply peace. Shalom has been defined as the full blessings of God, the ideal state in life, wholeness and well-being, and harmony between mind, body, soul.

Shalom is peace that is found not be escaping the turmoils of life, but peace that comes from a secure relationship to God. It is to have the peace of inner conviction, to have mind, body, soul, actions committed to one thing, to be so committed that all of the threats, arguments, and pressures of the world cannot disturb or make us falter from that commitment.

Shalom. To be at peace with God, to know a oneness with Him that fills our whole life and enables us to be in touch with our inner self, with others, and with the world around us.

But shalom does not drop down from heaven. It is the work of the Holy Spirit through human beings. Shalom is a gift of God that we can give one another when we are truly being a Christian fellowship. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Shalom.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 24, 1974

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 320 - The Cup of the New Covenant

Hebrews 10:12-17, 19-24a (NIV ) ¹² But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. ¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. ¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: ¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” ¹⁷ Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” ¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

Does is sound strange to you to say that the people who crucified Christ were simply trying to live up to the demands of God? Could it be that, deep within, Christianity has been the same challenge for us - an effort to live up to the demands of God? If that is what our religion has been, I would like for us to look again at the Cross. The words of Jeremiah are given not once but twice in the book of Hebrews, first in the 8^th chapter and again here in the tenth chapter: This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. That is the new covenant that God has made with us through Jesus Christ. As long as we are trying to live up to the demands of God, we are still basically at odds with God; there is still enmity between us. And that is not what God wants.

In the new covenant we do not have to live up to the demands of God, as if His laws were somehow external to our life and contrary to what we really want. No, the good news of the new covenant is that God’s laws are written on our minds and hearts. That means that we are so much at oneness with God that what God wants for our life and what we want for our life is normally one and the same. Of course we do not perfectly want the same thing as God wants. The writer to the Hebrews also reminds us to help one another to show love and to do good.

But, normally and naturally, when the laws of God are written on our hearts we can know that what God wants for our life and what we want for our life is one and the same thing. This is the new covenant, made possible for us only by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want more than anything else for us that we move out of religion that is just external demand, and to move into the new covenant, to know the confidence of which Hebrews speaks, that what God wants and what we want is one and the same thing.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 6, 1974

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)