bible

Don’t Drink the Transmission Fluid

/ Chris Courtney / Leave a comment

Vincent Van Gogh, Tree Roots, July 1890. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)

Our little tree never stood a chance. The other trees in our neighborhood flourished, grew, thrived. The crab apples flowered in spring, beautiful and vibrant. These trees were well rooted in good soil with plenty of water.

Our tree was planted in the same soil. It got the same water. I believe – the plot our neighborhood was built on having once been an auto salvage yard – our tree’s root system tapped into the transmission of a 1962 Ford F100 pickup truck buried deep beneath our front lawn.

I’m pretty sure 62-year-old transmission fluid would have an adverse (poisonous) effect on the nourishment and health of a tree. Trees weren’t created to get nourishment from refined petroleum products. They need to take root in good soil with the right amount of good water.

In the same way, we need to be rooted in Christ. It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit we receive strength through Jesus and His love to live our lives as God wants.

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. – Colossians 2:6-10 (ESV)

In Jesus – and Him alone – we find our strength. But we have to walk in Him to truly experience His peace, grace, mercy, love…

How do we walk in Jesus? Here are some thoughts:

  1. Fix your faith in God through Jesus Christ. Trust in the Lord fully. Completely. 100%. Even when it makes no sense. Trust in God. Rest in Him. Let Christ be your solid foundation.
  2. Fix your priorities on Him. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11, ESV). Pray. Constantly and consistently. Read – study – the Bible. Let God speak to you through His Word and prayer. Be open to the Lord. Listen and follow His leading.
  3. Fix your eyes on Christ. Remember Peter walking on the stormy waters to reach Jesus. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was fine. But when he turned his attention to the storm raging around him, he started to sink. He called out to the Lord Who saved him. Immediately. Even when the circumstances look dire, don’t look away from Jesus. God is Truth. Our perceptions are not always, for we are limited by our humanity. Better to leave it all with our Father God Who is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.
  4. Fix your mind on the Lord. Develop the mind of Christ. Paul instructs us what and how we should think: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9. ESV).
  5. Fix your heart on Jesus. Love the Lord above all. Realize – well, as much as we faulty humans can – the height, length, width and depth of His love for you. He died for you. You. He’s with you always. You. God’s gifts are wonderful. He’s our Creator, Sustainer, Savior, Provider, Healer, Guide… The best gift of all is that the Lord gave us is Himself.

Find your strength by walking with Christ. In doing so, you will find your soul rooted deep in God. And, frankly, there is no better place to put down roots than in the good soil of God and His Word.

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

© 2024 by Chris Courtney. All rights reserved.

How Great is the Love of our Father!

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31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:31-39 (ESV)

God owes us nothing. He created us. We are His.

Thankfully, our God is a gracious, merciful Father. He doesn’t just love us. He is love. And perfect love – which can only come from God – casts out fear (read 1 John 4).

When we begin to grasp the immensity of the love of our Abba, Father, and His never-changing steadfast love, the fears and worries of life begin to shrink. When we choose to trust God, we realize He is far and above our circumstances. When we see the Lord for Who He is and worship Him wholeheartedly, seeking Him first and foremost, we begin to understand that our lives are indeed in His hands, and there is no situation where we should fear.

God owes us nothing. We owe Him everything. Yet He loves us. Trust in the Lord’s love. Trust in Jesus. And praise Him with thanksgiving and joy – ALWAYS!!

The Gift of Unimaginable Price

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The first Good Friday felt anything but good.

I try to imagine it, but I can’t. Any one of the events Jesus faced in the 24 hours before His death would have been too much for me. Betrayed. Abandoned. Humiliated. Arrested. Unfairly tried and convicted.

The torture Jesus endured at the hands of the Romans… I won’t recount it here. The fact that Jesus even made it to Golgotha alive is astounding. The brutality of it all is too much to even imagine. The pain Jesus – perfectly Holy Jesus Christ, untouched by sin – went through to take on my sin…

But the worst had to be the feeling of being abandoned by His Father.

Put it all together and you have the reward of sin. Unimaginable pain. Loneliness beyond belief. Humiliation. Sorrow. Death.

But when you look at Jesus taking all of that sin for us.

For me.

For you.

That is the reward of love. We don’t deserve it. But it is a gift. We can’t earn love. But Jesus gave us the gift of love on that cross. It is free, yet far more precious than anything on earth. It is a gift beyond price.

I cannot imagine how Jesus felt on that first Good Friday. But I have to try, so I can understand the great price of His gift. Jesus Christ – God incarnate – gave us Himself. Willingly. Without a second thought. He took on the unimaginable, so we don’t have to. He made a way for us that would be otherwise utterly impossible.

The first Good Friday felt anything but good. But just wait until the third day.

Palm Sunday: Misunderstood Triumph

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Pietro Lorenzetti (1280–1348), Untitled, known as Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. From the collection of
La Basilica di San Francesco d’Assisi, Assissi, Italy.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. – Mark 11:1-11 [ESV]

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Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” – Matthew 21:1-11 [ESV]

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28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. – Luke 19:28-40 [ESV]

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12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” – John 12:12-19 [ESV]

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Messiah has come! Rejoice! Our Saviour is here.

The Jews were expecting a military overthrow of their oppressors. They didn’t realize Jesus had come to overthrow our real oppressor: sin.

He came to bring freedom, but not like the people expected.

He came to make a way back to our Father. He came to save us.

By the end of the week, there would be violence. But not from a coup.

Today was a day of misunderstood celebration. They missed that Jesus was riding on a humble donkey, not a noble steed. The palm fronds beneath the colt’s feet – a sign of victory – were being trod on by humility.

Jesus is indeed King. But what He gives His people is so much more, so much grander, som much more valuable, that anything we can imagine.

We misunderstand sometimes, too. That’s why we to seek Him first and foremost, in all things, and trust in His will and direction, not our own.

Family Affair

/ Chris Courtney / 1 Comment

By National Cancer Institute – This image was released by the National Cancer Institute, an agency part of the National Institutes of Health, with the ID 2716 (image) (next)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24036618

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15 (ESV)

A dear friend of mine once shared with me something his great-grandmother used to say: “Family should live far enough away that they need to dress up to see each other.” While I can’t tell you I exactly agree with her sentiment, it still makes me chuckle.

Family politics can be tough waters to navigate. Nothing stings like familial strife, disagreement, disappointment, insults or ill-treatment. As family, we should always have each other’s backs. It’s hard to do that when one feels that’s where a loved one has stuck the knife.

Squabbles and quibbles are commonplace in many families. Just because people share DNA doesn’t necessarily mean they always share values, worldviews, ideas, ideals… If anyone believes the Cleavers, Bradys or Waltons exemplify real family life, they are sorely misled and naive.

Here’s the thing, friends: we are called to forgive. We are called to love. Which means we need to remember what love is:

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (ESV)

We cannot control how other people (re)act. We can’t control their feelings. We can’t manage their beliefs. We cannot undo what’s been done or said.

But we can control our (re)actions. We can choose to love despite feeling hurt or disappointed. We can opt to forgive instead of bearing a grudge. We can try to empathize and understand instead of responding with our own hurtful or spiteful words and deeds. We can reject the notion that we are right to not forgive. We can walk through life refusing to feel slighted, or cheated, or unappreciated, or ignored, or jealous, or vengeful, or __________________ (fill in the blank with any negative emotion you feel).

We can choose to love even if we’re not feeling the love. Even if forgiveness is never asked for or offered. Even if we feel so wronged that those who hurt us are undeserving of forgiveness.

Don’t take the enemy’s bait. He loves seeing families divided and destroyed by bitterness and hurt. Choose the better path: walk in love and forgiveness, as Jesus did. If you can mend the hurts, do so. If you can’t, you can still love and forgive and refuse to be led by unforgiving emotions. Unforgiveness only hurts the one refusing to let go of the grudge, not the offender.

Some hurts are too big to heal quickly. Some relationships may never be the same again. But remember… we – you – are loved by God to a degree no human – relative or not – could ever love anyone. It is impossible to earn love. And, thank the Lord for that because, if anyone ever had a right to not forgive, it’s Jesus. And yet He loves, forgives and restores us fully, despite our sins and failures.

Today, if you are holding on to bitterness or hurt or unforgiveness, please let it go. Make the choice to follow Christ and forgive. Love.

After all, as H.I. McDonnough (from the movie Raising Arizona) quipped in response to his wife’s complaint about their dysfunctional home life: “Well… it ain’t Ozzie and Harriet!”

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:14-21 (ESV)