Salvation

He Knows My Name

Michelle Lesley

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One of the things I love about checking my notifications on my social media pages is learning my readers’ names. They are all so interesting!

Some of you have the same names as some of my family members, which makes me think fondly of them and wonder if you’re like them in any way.

Some of your names remind me of characters in funny movies and make me smile.

Some of your names sound like they are French or Chinese or Middle Eastern or African or originated somewhere fascinating, and lead me to think about the beautiful places God has created all over the world.

Some of your names are a mystery of phonetics, and I have a fun time trying to figure out how to pronounce them.

Some of you have biblical names, and those call well-loved Bible stories to mind.

But whatever your name is, it doesn’t really matter what it makes me think of. What matters is what God thinks. He who calls the stars by name (Psalm 147:4) certainly knows your name. What does He think of you when He sees your name?

Does He see your name written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:27) because you have repented of your sin and placed your faith in Christ alone for salvation?

Or, when your name comes before Him in eternity, will He say, “Depart from Me. I never knew you”? (Matthew 7:23)

If you’re not sure of the answer to those questions, or how God sees you, here are some resources that can help. God wants you to know for sure (1 John 5:13).

Basic Training: The Gospel

Am I Really Saved? A 1 John Check-up

Mailbag

The Mailbag: My wife has been invited to a women’s conference featuring a false teacher

Michelle Lesley

My wife Amy* has a very good friend, Faith*, who is a big fan of a particular female false teacher. Faith has excitedly invited Amy to attend a Christian women’s conference headlined by this false teacher. I’ve told my wife about how dangerous this false teacher is, but she’s refusing to tell Faith about it and feels obligated to go anyway. What should I do?
(*Names changed)

I’d like to preface the answer to this question by saying that I don’t normally take counseling-type questions from men. I try to refer them back to their pastors, elders, or other trusted godly men for help, and if that’s not possible, I have a few godly male friends I turn to who can sometimes offer them counsel via e-mail. I do this in order to protect myself and the man from any temptation or appearance of impropriety that might arise from an exchange of e-mails/private messages, and because I think men do a better job of discipling men than women do, just like women do a better job of discipling women than men do (see Titus 2:2-6)

This time, though, my husband happened to be handy when I received this gentleman’s question, so I enlisted his services and we collaborated on the answer which follows.

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Scott and Michelle Lesley

First, you need to decide a) what would be best for your wife, spiritually, and, secondarily, b) what might best help Faith understand the problems with the false teacher. For example:

Is Amy biblically knowledgeable enough and spiritually mature enough to attend the conference with Faith and then sit down with her when it’s over and point out where the false teacher strays from Scripture?

Is Amy biblically knowledgeable and spiritually mature enough that Faith respects and looks up to her, and it would make her stop and think (and be open to an explanation) if Amy refused to attend?

Is Amy a new believer or spiritually immature and might be in danger of being deceived if she attends?

You are the spiritual leader of your home. You’re responsible for the spiritual well being of your wife and children and the direction they go. Ultimately, the buck stops with you, so you will have to prayerfully decide what’s best, talk to Amy about it, and hope she sees things your way. If not, you’ll have to “gird up your loins” and have the spiritual fortitude to lovingly put your foot down. She may not like it or agree, but Scripture requires her to submit to your decision.

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If you have a question about: a well known Christian author/leader, a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.

Faith, Salvation

Making a U-turn on the Road to Emmaus

Michelle Lesley

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Luke 24:13-35

It had been a long, confusing, emotional couple of days. Eventful? The word could hardly capture all that had taken place. As they made their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Cleopas and his friend rehearsed the trials, the scourging, the crucifixion, and the reports of the empty tomb, trying to make sense of it all.

As they made their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Cleopas and his friend rehearsed the trials, the scourging, the crucifixion, and the reports of the empty tomb, trying to make sense of it all.

How could this have happened? It just didn’t add up. Everything their beloved Jesus had done, taught, and said fairly screamed, “This is it! This is the Messiah!” Jesus was the one they had been waiting for. The one who would throw off the iron-heeled boot of Roman oppression, take the throne of His father, David, and reestablish Israel as a sovereign nation, restoring her former glory.

But…a crucifixion? His body missing? It didn’t fit the narrative they’d been weaned on. Maybe Jesus wasn’t the Messiah after all. Their hopes for the future, so recently a roaring flame, waned at the cross and dwindled to an ember at the tomb.

Their hopes for the future, so recently a roaring flame, waned at the cross and dwindled to an ember at the tomb.

Try to put yourself in the sandals of Cleopas and his companion. Every day of your life has been lived shivering in the shadow of the evil Roman empire. Unclean Gentiles, pagans, haters of God and His people, who ruled with impunity and maintained pax romana by any means necessary. Crosses laden with the corpses of criminals and insurrectionists lined the road leading into town, lest there be any question as to the fate of those who dared rebel. There was no real right of redress. No true due process. And since Rome ruled the known world, virtually no way of escape.

“Someday,” Jewish boys and girls learned for hundreds of years at their mother’s knee, “Someday God’s promised Messiah will come and deliver us. This will all be over. We’ll be free.”

This was the Christ – the Messiah, or “anointed one” – most of God’s people hoped in. A Christ who would save them from earthly suffering. A Christ who would set things right and make their temporal circumstances better. No thought to their need for atonement. No concerns about eternity. Never mind the Bread of Life, just give us bread.

And Cleopas and his fellow disciple had found him. Maybe they were afraid to believe it at first. Could Jesus really be the one? But as they followed him for days, or months, or years, they began to believe. Finally, He was here. Finally, things would turn around for them. Everything was going great.

Until.

And just like that, in a matter of a few days, all hope was lost.

They stood still, looking sad.

Was it because Jesus had, in reality, failed to fulfill His mission? No. It was because they had poured every drop of their faith into a false Christ. A christ of their own imagination and design. An unbiblical christ who had been passed down to them over the years by false or misinformed teachers.

And, to this day, people are still placing their faith in that same false christ of their own imagination, promulgated by false or misinformed teachers. A christ who will solve all their earthly problems. A christ who will heal their diseases, fix their broken relationships, grant them power, imbue them with influence, and shower them with wealth.

To this day, people are still placing their faith in that same false christ of their own imagination, promulgated by false or misinformed teachers.

Sure, their hope in this christ will burn brightly for a while, but just like that, in a matter of a few moments, hours, or days, that hope can be extinguished forever. A car accident. A house fire. An affair. A child gone prodigal. Wasn’t Christ supposed to make my life better?

But – thanks be to God – that’s not the end of the story. There’s a true Christ. The true Christ of Scripture. The Christ that Jesus showed the two disciples from Moses and the Prophets on the road to Emmaus. The Christ that God reveals to us today in the New Testament. The Christ that all of Scripture points to – not as a life enhancement genie – but as the spotless Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.

This is the Christ in whom we find the hope of sin forgiven. The peace of being made right with God. The joy of knowing He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Are you foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the Bible says about Christ, or does your heart burn within you as the true Christ of Scripture reveals Himself to you in God’s word?

A false christ promises hope, but brings only despair and discouragement when hard times come and his promises go unfulfilled. But all the promises of God find their fulfillment in the Christ of Scripture. He will never fail you nor disappoint you.

A false christ promises hope, but brings only despair when hard times come and his promises go unfulfilled. But all the promises of God find their fulfillment in the Christ of Scripture. He will never fail you nor disappoint you.

The road to Emmaus is a two-way street. Cleopas and his friend started their journey going the wrong direction, but they repented of their unbelief, turned around, and walked the other way. If you’ve been following a false christ, you can repent and trust the true Christ of Scripture today. He’s only a you-turn away.

If you’ve been following a false christ, you can repent and trust the true Christ of Scripture today. He’s only a you-turn away.

Servanthood, Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday ~ Homemaking Through Servanthood

Michelle Lesley

Originally published April 22, 2014homemaking-through-servanthood

Usually, when I think of the word “homemaking,” I think of Better Homes and Gardens. You know, having a spotless showplace with the most beautiful designer furniture, a lovely table set with fresh flowers, fine china, and cloth napkins, cuisine containing ingredients you have to special order at a froo froo food market. Oh, and candles. Lots of candles.

Listen, if you’re gifted in making spaces beautiful in that way, my hat is off to you. Way off. You are my heroine. And by the way, can I come over for dinner?

I’m not gifted in that area. My husband and I have five sons and one daughter, four of whom still live at home, two of whom I home school. My goal is to keep noticeable filth to a minimum while still maintaining some semblance of a life. Unexpected visitors who come to my door often hear the Lesley family motto, “Please excuse the mess, but we live here.”

That’s my homemaking.

I’m busy, I’m tired, and the boys keep using the candles as light sabers.

But, it’s a home. Our home.

And, since it’s ours, we all share in making it a home. Every member of our family has a stake in making our home a haven where each of us can relax, take a break from the outside world, and enjoy each other. From the youngest child all the way up to Dad, we each own part of the responsibility for making our house a home.

And the way we’re to do that is by serving each other.

Once upon a time, Jesus set the ultimate homemaking example. During supper one night—the last supper He would share with the disciples—Jesus summarized everything He had been teaching them for the last three years in one final lesson. Did he preach a sermon? Teach a Bible study? Lecture them?

No. He picked up a towel and did a common household chore. He washed their feet.

It was one of the lowliest chores, normally done by one of the lowliest servants. Certainly not one any of the disciples would deign to perform, and definitely beneath the dignity of their sovereign King.

But He did it anyway. He served His brothers.

Because it was something that needed to be done.

Yes, because their feet were dirty, but mainly because it taught them humility, servanthood, and love. I’m laying my life down for you, My friends. Now you lay down your lives for one another.

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them,“Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
John 13:12-15

I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. As Jesus put His dignity, His rights, and His own self interests aside, so, we lay these things aside in service to one another. And it starts with our families.

In our family, it’s the simple things: my husband putting gas in the car so I don’t have to, my putting his clean clothes away, my son getting a drink for his sister, my daughter picking up trash that she didn’t put down.

We follow Jesus’ example of washing another’s feet when we die to self, pick up a towel and serve our family members. Yes, because things need to be done, but mainly because it teaches all of us humility, servanthood, and love.

Candles or no candles, that’s how you make a home.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT SATISFACTION THROUGH CHRIST.
Ezra Bible Study

Ezra: Lesson 11

Michelle Lesley

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Previous Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Ezra 10

While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. 2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. 3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law. 4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” 5 Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. 7 And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, 8 and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.

9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. 10 And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. 11 Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will.Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 12 Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. 13 But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. 14 Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

16 Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter; 17 and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

18 Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers. 19 They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt. 20 Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. 21 Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22 Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

23 Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. 24 Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

25 And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah. 26 Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah. 27 Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza. 28 Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. 29 Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth. 30 Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh. 31 Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. 33 Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. 34 Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu. 38 Of the sons of Binnui: Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. 43 Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. 44 All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Questions to Consider:

1. In chapter 9, Ezra prayed a beautiful prayer of repentance for Israel’s corporate sin, which you may wish to briefly review, as it led to the events in chapter 10. What specific sin do chapters 9 and 10 deal with? Why had God commanded His people not to commit this sin?

2. What does verse 1 say Ezra was doing? The people of Israel? Explain the impact and example Ezra’s genuine (6-7) repentance and contrition had on the people. Why is it important for our pastors, elders, and teachers to model contrition, repentance, and other godly traits and habits for us today? Do you set a godly example for others to imitate?

3. Why did Shecaniah say “even now there is hope for Israel in spite of [our sin]”? (2) What was Israel’s hope? Compare Israel’s hope for God’s mercy and forgiveness of sin in response to true repentance with 1 John 1:9. Why does God’s forgiveness bring hope? How does God’s response to repentance in both the Old and New Testament demonstrate His immutability?

4. What did the proclamation say would happen to anyone who failed to appear for the assembly? (7-8) How did the people respond? (9) How do the concepts of “covenant” (3), “oath” (5), and the details of, and Israel’s response to the proclamation indicate the gravity with which they regarded their sin? Why are gravity and grief proper responses to our sin?

5. In this chapter, God’s people divorced their unbelieving, pagan spouses. Is this chapter a command for Christians today to divorce their unbelieving spouses? How can we be sure it is not? How do these two passages on divorce (Ezra 10 and 1 Corinthians 7:12-16) demonstrate the importance of understanding the difference between descriptive and prescriptive passages? (For more on divorce in Ezra 10, click here and scroll about 2/3 of the way down to the paragraph that begins “And one issue comes to the floor…”) How does this chapter show us what it means to take the actions necessary to turn from our sin and walk in repentance?

6  Do verses 12-14 indicate that Israel was trying to put off repenting or that they wanted to go about repenting in a thorough and orderly way? How many months did the repentance and divorce process take? (16b-17a) Which classes of people went first in the repentance and divorce process? (18, 23) Followed by which class? (25) How does this order again stress that the leaders of God’s people must set a godly example?