Tag: Scripture

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Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Most Profound Truth of All Time

“Ya see, God loves this world so much, that he gave His one and only Son to die, so that every man, woman, boy and girl who believes in Him will not die, but will be a-livin’ forever” John 3:16 (The Gospel of John Cowboy Style).

One of our most familiar hymns and perhaps with the simplest message is a song usually regarded as a children’s song . . .

Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so 

These enduring words first appeared in a novel written by Susan Warner in the 1800’s called “Say and Seal.” They were penned by her younger sister, Anna Bartlett Warner who wrote them as a comforting poem to a dying child.

But the one to whom we owe thanks for arranging it as a song is William Bradbury. When he discovered the poem, he added a refrain and put it to music as one of the most beloved hymns of all time.

Maybe you remember singing this song as a youngster. Perhaps it brings back  memories of standing with other children in a musty church classroom and singing the words to this tune; words that have forever become etched in your mind, your heart and your memory.

Perhaps the reason that this song is so meaningful and so lovingly speaks to our heart is that the words and the message of the song comes from God’s heart. Yes, He loves us: children, adults, sinners and all. In fact, we don’t have to do anything to make Him love us. He loves us already; just like we are. John was later to write . . .

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

It is reputed that Karl Barth, a well-known twentieth-century theologian, was asked to summarize the most profound truths from the thousands of pages of Christian theology books he’d written, he said simply this . . .

“Jesus loves me! this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” 

That’s it: the Gospel message in one sentence. Even the most renowned theologian of all time acknowledged it to be so and so can you . . .

Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so 

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Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

God with Skin On

“At the appointed time Jesus took on flesh and became a man. He lived here amongst us and lots of folks, includin’ cowboys and cowgirls, saw His glory and it was a sight to behold. It was the glory of the Son of God. His grace and truth done shined forth ‘cause He was plumb filled up with it.” (John 1:14).

I have heard the story and perhaps you have too or at least some version of it: A small child was reluctant to go to sleep by herself one night. After several bedtime stories, her mother told her it was time to turn out the light. “But I want you to stay,” the little girl protested. “Don’t worry,” the mom said, “Jesus is here, He will be with you all night long.” To which the child replied, “But I want Jesus with skin on!”

Have you ever wished that? That you could sit down, grab a cup of coffee and have a one-on-one talk with the God of the universe? Our first parents had that opportunity. Before their disobedience, the Bible describes those intimate moments when God visited with them in the garden, where apparently they walked together and talked with each other.

But after the fall, that changed. God’s warning was that no man could see Him and live. Moses, the “friend of God,” whom God hid in the cleft of rock allowed Moses only a glimpse of His backside as He passed by.

But has God remained hidden? Can we, like the young child in the story, know God with skin on? Well, yes we can. God the Father remains unseen by human eyes. But, through His Son the Bible promises that we can know Him. You see, He did reveal Himself to us, just as the little girl wished, God with skin on, in the person of His Son, Jesus.

That is the promise fulfilled at Christmas. The angel of the Lord said that the child born of Mary would be called Immanuel, “God with us.” God, though invisible to human eyes, is nonetheless present with us indeed. Through the incarnation, “God with skin on” in the person of Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem. And Jesus, the Son of God “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples on an occasion asked Jesus, “Lord show us the Father.” In other words, Philip, like many of us, wanted to see God with skin. And Jesus answered him and us with these remarkable words, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

Yes, indeed, we do know God through His Son, who came into the world clothed in human flesh to show and reveal to us God the creator and sustainer of all things.

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Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Mystery of the Wind

“Just like the wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but have no understandin’ of where it comes from or where it’s goin’; same is true for the birthin’ by the Holy Spirit of God” John 3:8 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

I grew up on the plains of West Texas, near Amarillo, so I know something about wind. It is a rare day in the Panhandle of Texas when the wind doesn’t blow. It’s kind’a like when an Easterner traveling through a West Texas town asked a resident, “Does the wind always  blow this way?” He answered, “Nah! Sometimes it blows from the other way.”

As a kid, I always wondered what made the wind blow? Oh, yeah, I now know there are physical and meteorological reasons like high and low pressures. But still, wind remains something of a mystery.

Perhaps that’s something of what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus when he was visiting with him about the mystery of salvation. Jesus used the example of wind. Wind cannot be seen, but the effects of it can. In fact, that is the only way to know the presence of wind; we only know it by its effects, by feeling it and by seeing the results of it.

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that for someone to see the Kingdom of God, he must be “born again.” He goes on to say, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” knowing that someone is “born of the flesh,” is no problem. It is evidenced by personal presence.

The same is true of the spirit. We may not know how the Spirit works, nor can we fully comprehend the mystery of the new birth, but we can see the effect of the Spirit and new birth in human lives.

We can point to a man or woman who has been re-made, re-created and re-born by the power and the effect by the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. We can say of that man or woman that “they are a changed person; there is something different about them; they don’t act like they used to.” That is the effectual change of “being born again.”

A preacher from the past used to tell of a workman, who had been a drunken scoundrel and who one day miraculously got saved. His workmates began to ridicule and make fun of him. “Surely,” they would say to him, “you don’t really believe in miracles, do you? You don’t really believe that thing about Jesus turning water into wine?”  The man answered, “I don’t know about Jesus turning water into wine, but I do know that He turned beer and whiskey into food and clothing for my family.”

The Apostle Paul says it like this . . .

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

Forever Kept in the Father’s Hand

“Those who belong to Me hear My voice, and I know ‘em, and they come along with Me; and I give them life everlastin’ so they will never die. And for sure, nobody’s gonna take ‘em from My hand, no-sir-ee! See, My Father has done given ‘em to Me. He’s greater than all; nobody can snatch His own from His hand” John 10:27-29 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

One day, I playfully reached out and grabbed my 12-year-old daughter when she was walking by, pulled her up close to me and said, “I got you!” “Now what do you want me to do?” She said, “Don’t ever let me go!” I choked out the words, “I never will! I promise!”

That is very much what we hear our Lord saying. In our text, John describes  Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” who knows His sheep, those who belong to Him. And as the “Good Shepherd,” Jesus promises to watch over and keep His sheep safe now and throughout eternity, never to let go of those who belong to Him.

And to further emphasize His keeping strength, He tells us that it is His Continue reading “Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style””

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Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”

What Does God Look Like?

“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, just show us the Father and that will plumb be all we need.’ Jesus told him, ‘Philip, I’ve been with you for quite a spell. How is it ya don’t recognize Me? Anyone who has laid eyes on Me has for sure seen the Father; so how can ya say, ‘show us the Father’?’” John 14:8-9 (“The Gospel of John Cowboy Style”).

“A kindergarten teacher told everyone to draw a picture of what was important to them. In the back of the room Johnny began to labor over his drawing. Everybody else finished and handed in their picture but he didn’t. He was still drawing. The teacher graciously walked back and put her arm around Johnny’s shoulder and said, ‘Johnny, what are you drawing?’ He didn’t look up; he just kept on working feverishly at his picture. He said, ‘God.’ ‘but Johnny,’ she said gently, ‘no one knows what God looks like.’ He answered, ‘They will when I’m through.’” (The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Charles R. Swindoll, p. 231)

Have you ever wondered what God looks like? I mean, if you tried to put a physical image to God’s appearance, how would you picture Him? I suppose some would describe Him as looking very old with a long white beard, bushy Continue reading “Fence Post Devotionals “The Gospel of John Cowboy Style””