Author Archives

    Ray Noah

    Founder and President of the Petros Network, a church planting and humanitarian non-profit working in the developing world.

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    An Explosion Of Grace

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 8
    Meditation:     John 8:11

    “Jesus said to [the adulterous woman], ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’”

    Shift Your Focus… If I were writing this story instead of John, I would have had Jesus calling down fire from heaven to fry these mean-spirited Pharisees. At the very least, he would have snatched this poor woman from their grasp and beamed over to Galilee to set her free. That would have made a great story.

    But as we’ve come to expect of Jesus, he does the unexpected. Instead of special effects and edge-of-your-seat drama, he simply stoops over and writes in the sand.

    Do you ever wonder what he wrote? “Jesus was here!” or perhaps the Ten Commandments, or better yet, a list of the Pharisees’ secret sins or the names of their mistresses?

    These religious Nazis kept pressing him until finally he said, “Look, if any of you are without sin, you can be the first one to throw a stone at her.” Then he began to scribble again. And with those words, Jesus lobbed a grenade into their midst, exploding their self-righteousness, and one-by-one, from the oldest to the youngest, the Pharisees walked away, leaving only Jesus and this sinful woman.

    I wonder what she expected next: A sermon, condemnation, more humiliation and rejection? Instead, Jesus gently asks, “Where are your accusers? Has no one judged you guilty?”

    She replied, “Sir, they’re gone…they didn’t judge me guilty.”

    Then Jesus lobbed another grenade—this one a grace-grenade that utterly exploded this sinful woman’s self-condemnation and turned her sad world right-side up: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

    So just what was it that Jesus wrote in the sand? I think it is highly likely that he bent over and with his finger, etched these words:

    “Not guilty!”

    A few weeks later, Jesus again wrote those very same words in the sand. This time it was not with his finger, but with blood that dripped from his nail-pierced hands and feet, leaving an eternal stain on the ground at the foot of the cross. This time it wasn’t just meant for an adulterous woman, it was meant for you and me:

    “Not Guilty. Paid in full. Completely forgiven.”

    I don’t know what that grace-grenade does for you, but it makes me want to “go and sin no more.”

    “This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners, for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ’s, and Christ’s righteousness is not Christ’s, but ours.” ~Martin Luther

    Prayer… Lord, I am overwhelmed and undone by your grace. It is more than enough to cover my worst sins and bring eternal life to this undeserving sinner. I will be forever grateful!

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    Learning To Make Righteous Judgments

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 7
    Meditation:     John 7:24

    “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

    Shift Your Focus… People were making judgments about Jesus, and as we see in John 7, for a growing number of them, those judgments were not very positive. In fact, opposition and outright hostility were increasing, which ultimately, would lead his death.

    That’s the way it was with Jesus. You either loved him or hated him—there was no neutral ground. Being around Jesus demanded a position on one end of the spectrum or the other, but staying in the middle was not an option.

    To arrive at an opinion of Jesus, a judgment had to be made. Sadly, those who rejected him formed judgments that were not based in righteousness and truth. Their judgments were based on the fact that Jesus had made them uncomfortable. He had challenged their traditions. His ministry had colored outside the lines of established theology. His way of doing things didn’t look like theirs. Why, he even had the audacity to actually heal someone in dire need on the Sabbath—and they didn’t like that one bit!

    Never one to shy away from controversy and confrontation, Jesus challenged their attitudes toward him as well as their approach to life in general. He called them to reject this judgment-by-appearance mindset that was keeping them from seeing God’s truth for a view of life as seen through the lens of righteousness. Learning to make righteous judgments would make all the difference in their world—it would lead them to see God in the daily details of their world, and in the end, would lead to eternal life.

    Unfortunately, most of the people in Jesus’ day rejected what he had to say. But the story is not meant to end there. Jesus’ challenge to “judge with righteous judgment” also calls us to reexamine the way we arrive at the judgments we make and the opinions we hold, and honestly ask ourselves whether they are based on appearance or rooted in righteousness.

    We form judgments and opinions every day—perhaps every hour—about the people we encounter, the events we observe, and the world we live in. Every moment of our day presents opportunity to either embrace or reject the work of God that awaits us in those people and events. It all depends on how we form our judgments.

    If we will learn to root our judgments, opinions and attitudes in righteousness rather than mere appearance, we will discover Jesus in the daily ordinariness of life.

    “We need a baptism of clear seeing. We desperately need seers who can see through the mist—Christian leaders with prophetic vision. Unless they come soon it will be too late for this generation. And if they do come we will no doubt crucify a few of them in the name of our worldly orthodoxy.” ~A.W. Tozer

    Prayer… Father, help me to practice your presence in the daily ordinariness of my life. Teach me to make righteous judgments so that I might be see you in every person I meet, every event I take in, every plan I execute, and in every detail of my world.

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    Why We Say Grace Before Meals

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 6
    Meditation:     John 6:11

    “And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.”

    Shift Your Focus… This easy-to-overlook verse is sandwiched between two of Jesus’ outstanding miracles—the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two small fish, and the miracle of Jesus walking on the water.  Not only that, at the end of this lengthy chapter is some of the heaviest theology that Jesus would ever lay on his would-be followers. It was so demanding and confrontational, in fact, that his followers called it a “hard saying”, and many of them quit following him from that point on.

    With so much important stuff going on in this chapter, it would be easy to overlook the fact that Jesus stopped to give thanks before a meal.  Think about that for a moment:  Why would Jesus do that?  In a sense, wasn’t he really saying grace to himself?  What purpose did this serve?

    To begin with, I think Jesus was truly grateful to his Father for this provision of resources by which the miraculous feeding could occur.  I think Jesus was authentically thankful that his Father had authorized the use of Divine power and was about to yet again authenticate the Messianic ministry and mission of the Son.  I think the Second Person of the eternal Trinity was a fundamentally grateful being. It was just who Jesus was; the overflow of his Divine nature.

    But not only that, Jesus was modeling for us the appropriateness and power of gratitude.  He was reminding us by his actions that it doesn’t hurt to stop and express thanksgiving to God, and one of the simplest and recurring ways to enter into gratitude is to say a simple “thank you” before each meal.

    We don’t know exactly what Jesus said in his prayer, but it was likely short and sweet.  John simply says he “gave thanks.”  He acknowledged God in that moment, drawing attention to the Heavenly Provider and reminding both himself and those who were within earshot of his dependence on and gratitude to Father God.

    And that is something you and I can do too, each time we sit down (or drive through) for a meal.  We can give thanks.  As redundant and useless and perfunctory as it may seem, there is power in this simple act. And if Jesus, who didn’t have to do it, did it, then we, who don’t have to do it, should!

    “We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” ~C.S. Lewis

    Prayer… Father God, I give you thanks for life, health, provision, and the promise of eternal life.  All of it, by grace, comes from your generous heart to an undeserving soul.

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    Love of Scripture Without Love of God

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 5
    Meditation:     John 39-40

    “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

    Shift Your Focus… I can think of no simpler yet more powerful practice for greater spiritual growth and intimacy with God than daily Bible study. The truth is, if you don’t have a regular quiet time with God—which would include not only reading, but meditation and prayer as well—you will fail to thrive spiritually. It is a simple as that.

    Yet Bible reading, journaling and Scripture memory alone aren’t enough. In fact, there is a very real danger lurking in the practice of daily quiet time that will lead to even greater distance from God than not reading at all: Love of Scripture without love of God.

    That is what we might call bibliolatry. Bibliolatry occurs when we acquire biblical knowledge without spiritual discernment; when our study of the Word is not commensurate to our obedience of the Word; when our love for Scripture exceeds our love for God, and correspondingly, love for our fellow man; when pride in our practice of Bible reading leads to a false sense of righteousness; when the spiritual discipline of quiet time becomes a work of law rather than an offering of grace.

    When that occurs, in effect, we are worshiping the Bible rather than the God of the Bible.

    There are far too many “Christians” who read the Bible little, if at all. That is an unfortunate blight on the modern church. Yet there is another segment of believers, much smaller, but in deeper spiritual danger, who have been lulled into a sort of spiritual smugness because they fancy themselves as “people of the Word” or because the church they attend really “teaches” the Word.

    Knowing the Bible isn’t enough. Satan knows the Bible as well as anyone. He can quote it at will. Daily reading and Scripture memory aren’t enough. Nicodemus (see John 3) had that down pat. Going to a church that teaches the Word verse-by-verse isn’t enough. There are people in those churches who are lost and don’t even know it.

    Hearing, reading, and believing the Bible aren’t enough. Believing in Jesus is. Jesus said, “Whoever believes the Son has eternal life.” (John 3:36)

    The goal of Bible study is not to grain greater knowledge of Scripture, or to grow spiritually, or to simply be able to check off that item on your daily list of things to do. It is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. By “knowing”, I am not referring to an intellectual event, but the act of an intimate exchange of one’s life with the Almighty whereby one’s love is deepened, where obedience is practiced, and where faith is expanded.

    That is when searching the Scripture leads to eternal life.

    “Christ is the Word of God. It is not in certain texts written in the New Testament, valuable as they are; it is not in certain words which Jesus spoke, vast as is their preciousness; it is in the Word, which Jesus is, that the great manifestation of God is made.” ~Phillips Brooks

    Prayer… Lord, may my study of your Word always lead me to greater intimacy, obedience and love. May I not simply grow more knowledgeable of the Bible—may I grow more knowledgeable of you.

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    Worship—On Our Terms Or God’s?

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 4
    Meditation:     John 4:21-24

    “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’”

    Shift Your Focus… This Samaritan woman Jesus encountered at the well of Sychar was suffering from what I call “designer deity syndrome”. This was a fairly common syndrome among worshipers not only in Jesus’ day, but in ours as well. It occurs when we attempt to come to God on our terms rather than his; when we make worship more about us, and what we like, than about God, and what he likes; when, in effect, we recreate God in our image rather than approaching him as beings created in his image.

    That was the problem with the worship of the Samaritans. They had corrupted worship to fit their own needs to the point Jesus said, “You don’t even know what you’re worshipping.” (v.22) They had become Burger King worshipers.

    Do you remember the old Burger King advertisement? “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us. Have it your way.” That little jingle is fitting for what we modern day “Samaritans” are doing with our experience of worship.

    We love a customized church experience. We expect worship services to be tailor-made just for us. We expect the praise, programs and preaching to satisfy our preferences. We want church designed to meet our needs, music tuned to our exact tastes, preachers crafted to our specifications, messages that mesmerize, and a made to order God—a “Burger King God” who says, “Have it your way”.

    Some time ago, Los Angeles Magazine ran an article called “God For Sale”. The author said, “It is no surprise that when today’s affluent young professionals return to church they want to do it only on their own terms. But what is amazing is how far the churches are going to oblige them.” Newsweek Magazine added, “They’ve developed a pick and choose Christianity in which individuals take what they want and pass over what does not fit their spiritual goals…” That’s “designer god syndrome”.

    Nothing can be further from the “spirit and truth” worshiper of verse 24 that Jesus said God the Father is seeking. When it comes to God, and the way you worship him, why don’t you say to him, “Have it your way”!

    If you will learn what it means to do that, you will drink water from an altogether different kind of well–and you will never thirst again!

    “Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One worshiped” ~Jack Hayford

    Prayer… Father, free me from designer deity syndrome. Forgive me for making worship more about me than about what pleases you. Teach me to truly worship you in Spirit and in Truth.

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    Rebirth Required

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 3
    Meditation:     John 3:3

    “Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”

    Shift Your Focus… Nicodemus was a very bright man.  He had given himself to much study and he’d grown quite famous as a teacher, but he had little wisdom as to how to be in right standing with God. He knew a lot about God, but he didn’t know God.

    Nicodemus was rich.  Tradition tells us that he was one of the three richest men in Jerusalem.  But how much a person has does not change who they are!  You can have plenty of money, lots of fame, an enviable place in life, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still a sinner in need of a Savior!

    Nicodemus was not only rich; he was respectable.  He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the prestigious ruling spiritual body of Israel.  He was a rabbi.  Jesus refers to him in verse 10 as “Israel’s teacher”, which suggests that he had attained celebrity as a master communicator.  However, what we’ve achieved doesn’t change who we are before God.  The truth is, hell will be populated with a lot of respected people, because admiration, though not necessarily a bad thing, does not equal salvation!

    Nicodemus was rich, respectable, and he was religious. He was a Pharisee!  He kept the Mosaic Law to the smallest detail.  He was morally pure to a degree that you and I can’t imagine!  But religion doesn’t redeem the heart; religious ritual is not the same as right relationship with God. Titus 3:5 reminds us, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us….”

    Nicodemus was a person who did all the right spiritual things, knew all the right spiritual language, had gained everyone’s spiritual admiration, but was still empty on the inside because he was still spiritually lost!

    That’s why Jesus said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.” He is simply saying that human beings must have two birthdays to get to heaven.  We must have a physical birthday, and we must have a spiritual birthday.

    Jesus uses the picture of physical birth to point out the need for spiritual birth because of the obvious comparisons.  To begin with physical birth provides life.   All babies have life because they are born!   Likewise, spiritual life cannot begin until spiritual birth occurs.

    Not only that, physical birth means a brand new start.  No baby is born with a past!  They only have a future!  So it is with the spiritual birth.  When you get saved, you get a brand new start.  Your past is wiped away and the future begins!  That’s why Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

    And finally, physical birth takes place because of the suffering of another.  A mother literally, through the pain of childbirth, comes close to death in order to bring life into this world.  Jesus didn’t come close to death—he experienced death so that you and I might be born again.  Spiritual birth rests squarely upon the pain and suffering of another!

    So what does that mean?  It means that salvation requires a new beginning.  Not just a reformation of your flesh, but a rebirth from death to life. It means that someone else had to die so that you could be reborn.  That’s why you can’t do it on your own.  It only comes through depending on the complete and adequate supply of God’s saving love through Christ’s suffering for your salvation. It means because of Christ’s adequacy, you can have a brand new beginning and an unending future with God.

    Have you been born again?  If you haven’t, I would suggest that you pray the prayer below. If you will pray it from your heart, you will be born again!

    “A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works: indeed, he certainly would not know how it works until he has accepted it.” ~C.S. Lewis

    Prayer… Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner.  Please forgive me.  I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, and rose again from the tomb to give me eternal life.  Come into my life and be my Savior and Lord.  And with your help, from this day forward, I will live for you.

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    Divine House Cleaning

    5×5×5 Bible Plan

    Read: John 2
    Meditation:     John 2:17

    “His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”

    Shift Your Focus… I have always enjoyed this story of Jesus cleansing the temple. I love the robust image it paints of him.  It stands in stark contrast to most of the historical paintings as well as the more recent images we get from the portrayal of Jesus by filmmakers.  For some reason, artists from the Renaissance on up to this very day have given us a feminized Jesus—soft, tender, doe-eyed, almost porcelain-like.

    That is not the Jesus of John 2:13-16,

    When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

    Jesus doesn’t appear all that soft in this encounter, does he?  As a matter of fact, he opened up a can of comeuppance on these merchants of religion, and no one dared stop him.  Go down to your local Saturday Market and do that, and see what happens.  People typically don’t take too kindly to having their economic systems so abruptly disrupted.

    Jesus was different.  He was right—and people knew it. His anger was one of righteous indignation and holy zeal for the House of the Lord.  This kind of house cleaning was long overdue, and if they didn’t overtly cheer him on, inside the worshippers were secretly applauding.

    Now as much as we enjoy this story, it really is incomplete if we don’t fast-forward to our time and ask how Jesus would respond if he walked into our church today.  How much more zeal would Jesus have for his body, the temple of the Holy Spirit—that is, the church?  How much more holy fire and righteous indignation would he display for that which he suffered and died to redeem?

    You see, in the new economy of the Kingdom of God, the church has replaced the temple as the dwelling place of God in the earth.  Of course, that refers more to a people than a place—and yet both are the church.  What would Jesus see in your church—in you, in your brothers and sisters in the local community of Christ, and in the activities that take place in your church building?

    I have a sense that each of us, both people of worship and places of worship—are due for a little divine house cleaning.  How about we get started before the Lord of the church has to show up and do it for us!

    “Learn to break your own will. Be zealous against yourself.” ~Thomas A` Kempis

    Prayer… Lord, fill my belly with zeal for your house.  Let it consume me as it did you.  Zeal not only for the physical house in which your people gather, but also in this house made up of body, soul and spirit, in which your Spirit dwells.