Author: Pastor Bryan Lowe

A repentant rascal with definite issues, but who is seeking to be authentic in his faith to Jesus Christ. An avid reader and a hopeful writer. Husband and father. A pastor and Bible teacher. A brain tumor survivor. Diagnosed with clinical depression, and now disabled. Enjoys life, such as it is, in Alask.a (Actually I have it pretty good.)

Esteeming His Word

Quite often, we’re intimidated by the Bible.  We all can take on a verse or two.  But that is pretty much it.

There is always more, much more.

The Bible isn’t made up of singular verses, but of whole books.  I intend to go on record, to encourage you to ingest the Word.  It’s as if we went to a Chinese restaurant buffet.  There is so many delicious choices.  But we load up exclusively on the “Kung Pao Chicken.”  We make many trips, but that is all we take.  Only the Kung Pao, and that’s it.

Have we really experienced this restaurant?  Or just the chicken?  The Word is extensively diverse.  There are recipes, and there are heaping and steaming platters of things we will never personally experience, and that is a shame.  So much is there, but we pick out just one thing.

I have been listening to the book of Luke. Repeatedly. 

It really humbles me, and I sense I’ve been sliced open and my innards have been drug out into the streets.  It has spiritually eviscerated me. It has opened me up, with a spiritual power.  (I’m sorry, but “Moby Dick” or “Great Expectations” or other works of classical literature does nothing comparable for me.)

God’s Word has a peculiar dimension to it. 

What it does is spiritually forceful.  It eagerly waits for us–this leather backed book.  At random we pick it up and start to read.  Quite quickly, it slips through our issues, and it directly ministers to us.  It has such power that it enters our thinking, and detonates, when the time is right. And we are left to pick-up the pieces. (This is good.)

You see, His presence has thoroughly saturated His Word.  He comes and infuses His books.  They have been dipped in His very personality and brought out for us to read and handle.  The things we discover there develop an awareness of truth and what is real.

If you study, you will hear the voice of God.

And yet you have not arrived.  There is still a substantial work to be done.  You desperately need God’s words.  And you don’t need to become proficient or educated.  Perhaps we should just strive to be holy and kind.  Even an unorthodox approach is better than none.  Please–put down the remote, take up your heart, and apply it to your Bible.  It won’t take long, but the work is eternal.

“The Bible is alive; it speaks to me. It has feet; it runs after me. It has hands; it lays hold of me!”

 — Martin Luther

 

bry-signat (1)

 

 

His Very Breath

breath

“When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 

22″ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

John 20:20-22, ESV

The history of the world is about to be rocked! Jesus isn’t dead anymore. He joins His frightened disciples in a room that has a locked door. His stunned followers are hiding from the Pharisees, but all of this is about to abruptly change. Jesus is alive–genuine flesh and blood, as real as you or me. 

The disciples who are already afraid, are pretty much freaked out by all of this.  Fearful mutterings can be heard, “What is this… who is this…and, who left the door unlocked?” :-)

The risen Lord walks in with 22 eyes fixed on him. 

He is confident,  and walks with resurrection authority.  He holds out his hands–they see for themselves the puncture holes the nails had made.  He lifts the hem of His robe, and they saw for themselves the holes in His feet.  In spite of His brutal wounds, He shows them He indeed is the Lord Jesus Christ, the living Savior of the world!

The disciples are ecstatic! 

I see them laughing and crying and leaping around the room.  It’s like they just won the World Series (and if they had champagne everyone would be soaked). Pure joy pulsates through them.  He is very much alive!

(Hey, isn’t that Andrew, doing a backflip?)

It’s in this gonzo-intense moment, Jesus speaks–and they become very quiet.  He proceeds to impart something into their hearts and minds with a simple command, “Peace be with you” in verse 21.  Peace is a vital ingredient in the humble heart of every faithful disciple.

He directs them to complete the work that the Father had given Him.  He now extends the baton of evangelistic work to the disciples. Seeing the resurrection up close like this will drastically alter your life’s trajectory. (They’ll be further fortified by the coming of Holy Spirit at Pentecost described in Acts 2:1-4.)

It’s now time to exchange the excited emotion of the moment in order to put on work gloves.

In this Jesus does something unprecedented–He leans over each disciple and exhales on them. Now this is more than just a really weird ritual.  You see, His breath is saturated with resurrection life, and they breathe into their lungs the life of the risen Savior!  They now carry his ‘life essence,’ and in the light of Jesus’ previous statements to them, they’re going to need it.

When God created Adam, he gave him His breath, (Genesis 2:7).  But the new life is more than existence; for the believer it’s the energy to come alive supernaturally–to be recreated.

And when you’re really recreated you’ll discover the power that Jesus had when His eyes fluttered open in the tomb. It’s far more than good and noble ideas about religion.  You’ll need Jesus, and you will need to rely on his breath to lead you to wherever you’re sent.

Jesus breathes on all His witnesses.

His breath fills our lungs, his oxygen enters our blood stream, where it now powers us on both a spiritual and biochemical level.  It’s totally supernatural. You will never, ever be the same again.  Even if you tried.

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Romans 8:11

Be aware. No matter what your personal issues are–He’s in charge now. Are you locked in a dingy room–fearful, depressed, angry and alone? Jesus’ disciples understood all that. But they also saw the risen One, face to face.

The key to our lives as believers today is how clearly we “see” by faith the resurrected Christ.

*

I have a new site: alaskabibleteacher.com

All Joy

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,”

James 1:2

“There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose.” 

 Alan Redpath

“All joy,” (verse 2) is a fantastic thought. It stresses a joy that becomes something very powerful and significant. “All joy,” surpasses “some joy” or even “occasional joy.” Instead it’s a joy that remains joy even when tired and weak. It will only shine brighter in the darkness.

Jewels, diamonds, and pearls are typically displayed on a black background.

The black only reveals their brilliance. In the same way darkness should only encourage us to be deliberately brighter than our surroundings. We must understand that we shine only because He makes us shine.

There is a divine incandescence that awaits every believer who feels the need or desire for more of God. When your difficulty is illuminated by grace, it will shine out and proclaim His glory. Perhaps this is what true holiness really is.

The signs surrounding God’s nearness are available to each believer. He is close to those who want Him, and there is nothing will stand in His way. The Lord cherishes and treasures the seeking heart. There is nothing that can detour the believer’s yearning after their Father.

Name your trial, and then tie it to God’s throne.

It’s not yours. Leave it alone and refuse to carry it any further. It’s now the Lord’s concern. Simply watch for the deliverance to come. When God sees your heart, He will lavish Himself out on you.

You were never meant to carry that burden alone.

Straining at Your Oars

“He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them.”

Mark 6:48

It’s good to know that Jesus sees our labor.  He truly understands all that concerns us, and he understands every issue that concerns us.  Attentive and keenly aware He comes to our boat.  It’s quite common for us to think that he isn’t aware, and we may feel that He’ll pass us by without a word.

Jesus watches over us all the time. 

He knows all about our battles, the fight we have with our flesh, the difficulty we have with the challenging people in our lives. I often struggle to steer my boat. Jesus knows when and why I labor like I do.  And He doesn’t condemn me.

The disciples were straining hard to keep the boat afloat. 

Every oar was being used and every man had his seat.  They must work together.  Some were frantically bailing, and a couple gripped the tiller. A lot of effort was being expended but nothing was working.  The wind continued to push harder against them. 

This is really quite perplexing.  If you remember, they’re simply trying to obey the command of Jesus to cross the sea. They were being obedient, and yet they were starting to sink.

Why do things have to be so difficult?

I’m intrigued by believers who expect sunshine, blue sky, and red roses just because they are doing God’s will.  They don’t seem to think through the issues of conflict and challenge, weakness and humility. That’s not how it’s suppose to work.

“It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Acts 14:22

Doing the will of God will often mean that there will be a headwind directly at us.
 The seas will become impossible, and we may even be driven back.  But special comfort comes when we realize we’re being watched.  Jesus is doing constant surveillance on us, and He sees our toil on the oars. And then He comes to us, walking on the water.
Even in our storm, our hearts should trust and rejoice.

“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”

Matthew 28:20