Pastor Brian Jones
How To Pray For Our Nation in 2021
Watch below or click here to watch or listen on Sermon Audio: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?m=t&s=11021147444361
How Does God Want to Use You in 2021?
Watch below or click here to watch or listen on Sermon Audio: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=123120144956516
Why Bad Ideas Resonate With You
Why do bad ideas seems so attractive to us? Why do sinful choices seem so attractive in the moment of temptation?
The answer: You are a sinner. Therefore, you personal character is warped in a sinful direction. The external temptation to sin strikes a resonant chord with your soul. It gives you a chance to do something you want to do already.
All of this is taught in James 1:14-15. Verse 14 says, “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” Verse 15 says that sin is a process but, one the process starts, it has an inevitability about it.
Sin is like pregnancy, according to verse 15. It only takes a moment and just a little bit of sperm to start the process. But once sperm & egg unite, a chain of events unfolds that takes unusual invention to stop.
One aspect of growing in Christ is reducing the sin in your life. The Bible talks about putting sin to death (Rom 8:13, Col 3:5). But in James 1, it also talks about not letting sin deceive you and conceive in you in the first place.
The deceptive power of sin is a lie. The resonates with you because you are a sinner but, as a lie, it promises pleasure, or power without telling you the cost. James 1:16 says, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.” The next few verses tell us that God is the source of good promises that pay off well, not sin.
To grow in your faith and to become holy like God is, you must believe God’s promises in the moment of temptation. You have to choose against your sin nature and its urging within you to believe the lies of temptation.
In other words, you have to put your faith in the promises of God’s word instead of the deceptive promises of sin.
Friends Make Ministry Better
From my daily devotional today:
Here in Acts 16, Paul found a friend like that–Timothy (v. 1). Timothy was younger than Paul so it was more of a mentor-relationship than a peer-to-peer friendship. But at the end of his life, Paul wanted Timothy with him (2 Tim 4:9-13). That’s a great friendship.
https://pastorbrianjones.com/2020/05/12/acts-16/
Do you have a friend like that? Have you served with someone and, in the course of serving, became close to that person personally?
Want to read God’s word with me everyday? Subscribe to my daily devotional (for free) here: https://calvary-bible.org/subscribe-to-devotionals
Life is a Farm
…the law of the farm, remind[s] us that if we sow corn, we’ll reap corn. If we sow soy beans, we’ll reap soy beans. Similarly, in our spiritual life, we will reap what we sow.
We have the help and power of the Spirit of God. He leads us away from a sinful life and develops in us the fruit of the Spirit (5:16-26). But these results are not automatic. As believers we have the power and leadership of the spirit to become holy but those things are activated in our lives by obedience to Christ and his word.
When we disobey God’s word, we are sowing sinful seeds in our life and, if they are not uprooted, they will produce what sin produces—pain, death, destruction (v. 8a). When we obey God’s word we are sowing spiritual seeds in our life and those seeds will produce what the Spirit produces—eternal life (v. 8).
–Pastor Brian Jones (aka Daily PBJ)
This is an excerpt from my daily devotional, 27in52. You can read the whole devotional here: https://pastorbrianjones.com/2020/05/11/galatians-6/
Want to read God’s word with me everyday? Subscribe to my daily devotional (for free) here: https://calvary-bible.org/subscribe-to-devotionals
Your First Instinct
What is your first instinct when you face a problem in your life? Do you:
- Get really anxious?
- Go into denial that the problem even exists?
- Enter problem-solving mode and start to develop a plan?
- Call your mother? Or father? Or someone else whose advice you trust?
As a Christian, your first instinct should be to pray:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5
God has promised his presence with us and his help for us. But that help comes to us when we turn to him in prayer.
Everything else–anxiety, anger, denial, planning, complaining, etc.–we do when we have a problem, comes from a place of self-dependence. We feel those emotions and do those actions because we feel the responsibility to fix the problem. Our instinct is toward self-dependence but we know we might fail! It is hard to depend on yourself because you know your own weaknesses, limitations, and track-record of failure.
The Christian life is about God-dependence. You became a Christian when you stopped trying to do it yourself and turned in repentance to God in faith for forgiveness and salvation. That’s how your Christian life began.
But your Christian life proceeds in dependence on God, too. Jesus said:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
Here’s a truth I read in a Bible commentary today:
“Most of us turn to God only when we have exhausted every other option.”
Craig L. Blomberg and Mariam J. Kamell, James, vol. 16, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 62–63.
It’s true, isn’t it?
One reason why God allows and even brings problems into our lives is to teach us to depend on him. He wants to retrain our instincts so that we turn to him FIRST instead of as a last resort.
What problems are you dealing with today? Why not take a moment and ask for God’s help in prayer?
Proud About This
Sometimes Americans–especially American politicians–say:
“America is the Greatest Country in the World!”
That is an expression of national pride but it also reflects an attitude called “American Exceptionalism.” Historian Ian Tyrrell has defined Amercian Exceptionalism this way:
“Exceptionalism requires something far more: a belief that the U.S. follows a path of history different from the laws or norms that govern other countries. That’s the essence of American exceptionalism: The U.S. is not just a bigger and more powerful country — but an exception. It is the bearer of freedom and liberty, and morally superior to something called “Europe.”
–Ian Tyrrell
https://theweek.com/articles/654508/what-exactly-american-exceptionalism
There is no inherent conflict between being a Christian and being happy to be an American. There is a problem if, as Americans, we believe ourselves to be greater or “morally superior” (to quote Tyrrell, above, again) than people from other nations.
Just like people from other nations, Americans are fallen, lost, and under God’s perfect wrath apart from the grace of Jesus Christ. What Paul wrote in Titus 3:3 applies to every American as equally and fully as it does to any other person who has ever lived:
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
– Titus 3:3
The next two verses in Titus 3 apply to us, too, if we have faith in Christ:
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
Titus 3:4-5
As Christians, then, we have nothing to be proud of except who are God is and what he has done for us. The Scriptures tell us this over and over again:
- Jeremiah 9:23-24: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me….‘”
- Romans 3:25-27: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement… to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded…“
- Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”
- Romans 5:11: ” we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:28-31: “God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’“
I am happy to live in America and I enjoy the many freedoms that Americans have. But I am a sinner who is worthy only of God’s judgment and wrath. Therefore, I have the right to be proud of only one thing: Jesus Christ.
Be careful, Christian, that you are proud of nothing more than our God.
Mechanical Keyboard
I wrote recently about my 27-inch iMac.
Connected to that iMac is another tool I use: a mechanical keyboard.
Specifically, I use the Azio USB Mechanical Backlit Keyboard for Mac. That’s an affiliate link. If you click on it and buy one, I get a commission.
The iMac shows up with a great keyboard in the box. You can choose between a wired or wireless keyboard when buying the iMac. The iMac also comes with a great mouse.
But I enjoy typing on a mechanical keyboard.
There are webpages that claim that mechanical keyboards are better for your fingers. In other words, if you do a lot of typing, like I do, a mechanical keyboard will make it less likely that you have a repetitive stress injury to your hands. PBJ has not evaluated that claim for medical accuracy. It may or may not be true. It probably isn’t in fact.
There are also webpages out there that claim you can type faster and/or with fewer errors on a mechanical keyboard. Again, PBJ has nothing to say about that.
I just like typing on this keyboard. And, because it lights up, it looks really cool.
This keyboard is designed to be used with Apple products, like my iMac. If you write a lot, and like cool-looking tools, try this one out:
27 inch iMac
In a world of smartphones and tablets, the desktop computer is becoming a dinosaur.
Or, as the late Apple founder Steve Jobs once said that computers “are going to be like trucks… used by 1 out of X people.” See Jobs say that for yourself:
I use a digital “truck” made by Apple called the iMac. It is a gorgeous, all-in-one desktop computer.
Specifically, I do most of my work on a 27-inch iMac. Here’s an affiliate link; if you buy one, I will get a commission.
In fact, I am writing this post on my iMac.
Mine is getting older. I bought it in 2017. But it still works great. I see no reason to replace it.
I use it for:
- Bible Study
- Video editing
- Writing
- Reading & research
- Storing and retrieving files
- Basic office tasks like email, spreadsheets, etc.
As an “all in one” computer, it is a simple object. You can (and I do) plug many things into it but the computer is built into the screen, so there are not a whole bunch of components strung together by wires.
Speaking of the screen, this iMac has a 27-inch, 5k retna display. It looks amazing. I have a bigger display at home that I will write about someday. That display is useful but it doesn’t look nearly as good as anything does on this iMac.
If you do a lot of your work on a computer, I highly recommend the iMac. You can get a smaller one than I have but get the big one. You won’t regret it.
Foundational Things First
I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.
That fact is foundational to who I am, how I think about things, and what I do with my time and life. Most importantly, for this blog, I write as a Christian, so my goal is to infuse everything I write with the Christian faith.
Christ is my Lord and his word is my authority. And, make no mistake, his word claims authority over everything. Consider these texts:
- Colossians 3:17: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus….”
- Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
- 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We… take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.“
- 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.“
This is my foundation. As I write this blog, regardless of the topic I write about, I will seek to apply God’s word.
This post was provoked and informed by reading John Frame, Introduction to Systematic Theology, p. 28. Yes, that’s an affiliate link.
Judges 20, Ezekiel 9, Acts 2
Read Judges 20, Ezekiel 9, and Acts 2 today.
This devotional is about Judges 20.
At the end of yesterday’s reading in Judges 19, each tribe in Israel received a piece of the dead body of a woman. Someone got her severed head, another received her right hand, and so on. Gross.
The people were naturally aghast at such a ghastly thing, so in today’s reading from Judges 20, they responded. Nothing unifies a nation like a dismembered body, I guess, so in verse 1 we read that “all Israel… came together as one… in Mizpah.”
One phrase that I omitted from that quotation was “before the Lord,” which describes a seriousness about the situation and a rare understanding from Israel’s leaders that their decisions were just a spiritually important as they were civilly important. The first part of chapter 20 described an investigation. The people of Israel asked the man with the complaint, the woman’s “husband” to describe his grievance (v. 3). The tribe of Benjamin were aware of the ongoing trial, probably because they, too, had received one of the woman’s body parts. After listening to the man’s description of events in verses 4-6 and hearing the man call for a decision (v. 7), the leaders decide to prepare for a civil war against the entire tribe of Benjamin (vv. 8-11). While they prepared, they also sent messengers “throughout the tribe of Benjamin” (v. 12), asking the tribe of Benjamin to do justice and hand over the culprits who sinned against the Levite and his concubine.
There are perplexing aspects to this story. The most difficult one for me is why the Israelites suffered two defeats to the Benjaminites. The defeats happened despite the fact that Israel’s cause was just and they had submitted to the Lord’s will the decision to attack in both cases (vv. 17-18, 23). Maybe the Lord wanted to humble the Israelites and increase their sense of dependence on him (see vv. 26-28). I wish the Lord had given us more insight on this.
What I do know is that Benjamin paid a heavy price for refusing to deal justly with the men who brutally treated one of their sister Israelites. If they had handled the Levite’s case justly, this loss of life could have been completely avoided. If they had simply handed over, when confronted by Israel, the perpetrators (v. 12), they could have avoided this civil war. Their stubbornness, their loyalty to blood over the just application of God’s law, caused much greater turmoil for the whole nation than was necessary.
And then I think about how easy it is for us for us to excuse or defend our own sin or the sins of those we like and how hard it is for us to do the right thing when we are confronted and given the opportunity to turn and do the right thing. Although the consequences, thankfully, of our sins are not this sweeping and brutal, a passage like this reminds us how damaging sin and defensiveness about it, can be. If we think about this in terms of our own lives, hopefully we can be wise by learning from this brutal story.