Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            It is no wonder that so many people struggle with self-image today.  Beautiful people reign across the television channels and movie theatres; the rich and powerful are highlighted in the media; and, people with perfect teeth and immaculate attire are splashed in front of us in the daily barrage of advertisements.  Meanwhile, the rest of us 99% of the population quickly notice that we do not measure up to such a standard.  It only takes a few minutes of people watching at the local grocery store or mall to realize that the vast majority of persons have less than perfect bodies and do not have much of a budget to live like the other less than 1% of the famous.
 
            Into this dark abyss of feeling depressed about one’s image enters the biblical truth that each and every one of us, no matter our station in life, is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”  The Creator God took great care to make us and form us just the way he wants us.  The psalmist, David, praised God for the way we were created.  The real standard from which we ought to judge ourselves is this:  God knows us intimately, inside and out, and he does not condemn us or shame us but loves us wholly.  Why? Because he is the one who made us.
 
            So, rather than wasting our emotional energy and our mental faculties on wishing we looked different or were more like so-and-so who seems to always have it all together, try practicing what David did:  praising God.  Whenever we think we do not measure up to the standard by which we compare ourselves, the only real measurement is grace.  No matter who we are, the entire race of humanity has been created in the image of God, and, on that basis alone, we have inherent value, worth, and majesty.  Let us, then, treat ourselves and others with the yardstick of grace.
            O God, thank you that I am wonderfully made in your likeness.  I praise you that I am fully accepted, even when I do not accept myself.  In Jesus Christ you have demonstrated the height of your love and mercy.  May this grace be with me every day so that I will conduct myself in a manner worthy of being part of the human family.  Amen.

John 1:29-34

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            In a world where people do whatever seems best and feels right to them personally; on an earth where the environment and people are viewed as commodities to be used, abused, and/or manipulated for personal gain; in a place where sin is rampant and seems to run amok as if it’s ubiquity is a hopeless constant; into this world enters John the Baptist.  His message speaks to the sin of the age:  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
 
            Jesus has come on the scene to tackle this sin issue once for all.  This is truly good news!  I must admit, and perhaps you will confess with me, that we sometimes get quite discouraged with the way things are.  As a pastor I am in the business of constantly dealing with sin issues.  Not only do I interact and shepherd people who traffic in sin, try to manage sin, ignore sin, or genuinely seek to face sin down, but I myself must deal with the presence of indwelling sin in the shadowy places of my own heart.  I suspect that you, too, must engage co-workers, family members, neighbors, and others on a daily basis for whom sin is an ever-present reality while monitoring your own responses to hard hearts and difficult situations.  It can be exhausting!
 
            Yet, since Jesus has come on the scene and has lived a holy life, taught us how to do the same, was crucified, died, rose again, and ascended, the pioneer of our salvation has set us up for success.  We can take courage, joy, and even rest in the gracious sacrificial Lamb who has dealt a death blow to sin’s power.  Jesus Christ always has the last word.
            O blessed heavenly Father, thank you for sending the Son, the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world.  Help me to walk in this reality every day, so that I might face down sin in my life, and gently assist others to do the same.  Amen.

Psalm 69:1-5, 30-36

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            We have all likely at times felt the anguish of the psalmist:  being so overwhelmed that it feels like we are drowning.  The feeling is compounded exponentially when behind the sense of trying to keep our heads above water there are people who do not like us – maybe even hate us, to the point of undermining our work every chance they get.  It is in such circumstances that we can experience sleepless nights hoping that somehow and someway God will show up.
 
            The typical modus operandi for such a situation is the age old route of complaining and wishing things were different.  But neither griping about our adversity nor dishing out slander and gossip toward others is a godly way of dealing with problems.  Just the opposite response is the proper path to the bone-crushing feeling of opposition:  praising God’s name with a song, and magnifying him with thanksgiving.  The reason the believer can engage in adoring God in the midst of trouble is not some Jedi-type mind trick to make us think more positively.  Instead, the basis for praise is in knowing God.  It is God who ultimately will deal with the wicked; it is the Lord who will bend his ear to listen to our lament when times are hard. 
 
            Thanking God for answers to prayer in advance of them actually being answered is a biblical thing to do.  Having a faith robust enough to see ahead toward hope can bring love to a loveless situation, and usher in praise before the divine deed of deliverance is even accomplished.
            Saving God, thank you for your deliverance!  I give you praise for loving me through sending your Son, the Lord Jesus, to this realm so that I might experience salvation from sin, death, and hell.  By Christ’s authority, in the power of the Holy Spirit given to me, I resist the enemy’s attempts to seize control of my life.  I belong to you, God.  Amen.

Baptism of the Lord

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Taking a Sunday each year at this time to consider the baptism of our Lord Jesus is a regular staple in the Christian Calendar.  Christ’s baptism is a theologically profound event that announces the fact of his divinity in a dramatic way; it helps us understand our Lord’s identity, as well as his mission.
 
Because God the Father acknowledged Jesus as God the Son, we know that through Christ’s words and actions that we are encountering God’s will for us.  Jesus is the hinge upon which all history turns.  The centrality of Jesus for everything we say and do is confirmed and expected through this event of his baptism.
 
Jesus came to be baptized by John in the Jordan River not because he personally needed to repent of sin.  Rather, through his baptism Jesus identified with us as humans and signaled that he will be the true way of life for all people.  With the Father’s affirmation of Christ, the Lord Jesus is our authority.  All authority on heaven and earth has been given to him.  He is the author and finisher of our faith.  So we must pay careful attention to Jesus.
 
It just may well be that the name of Jesus is so familiar to us that we actually end up ignoring him.  Or, we might be so disappointed with Jesus that, over time, we simply slide away from him.  That this is a clear possibility is why the author of the book of Hebrews exhorted:  We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.  For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? (Hebrews 2:1-3). 
 
            Heaven was “torn” open (Mark 1:10) at Christ’s baptism; it is the strongest possible of words to communicate the striking reality that God does not remain far away, but has come near to us in his Son, the Lord Jesus. In Hebrews, a book saturated with the centrality and superiority of Jesus, we are confronted with the importance of Christ:  In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:1-3).
 
            This term for heaven being “torn” open appears again at the death of Christ.  The curtain of the Temple that separated the inner sanctuary from everything else was ripped in two from top to bottom – signifying that once for all God is near to us and has become close to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
 
            Since Jesus is the rightful ruler of the universe; since he has authority over all things; since he is a faithful high priest always living to intercede for us; since he has the power to transform and give new life; since deliverance can only be found through Christ our Lord; our proper response is confession, repentance, and the expectation of change.
 
            Our Lord’s baptism exposes all the things we rely on other than Jesus:  our own ability to set goals and accomplish them through sheer willpower; our own ingenuity; our own experience; our own ideas to work things out.  Any person on earth can attempt these things, but only Jesus can change us (and our own heart transformation is what is needed).  Rather than expecting everyone and every circumstance to change, God calls usto change through the empowering presence of the Spirit, the same Spirit given to Jesus.
 
            Instead of relying on other things or people, we are to rely on Jesus.  We might think that personal change is not necessary – that there is plenty of evil in the world that needs to turn around, and lots of people worse off than us that need transformation.  But if you find yourself complaining more than being thankful; if you spend more time on social media than in prayer; if being a good person is more important than asking God for help; if you find yourself feeling sorry for yourself more than helping others; if you think this blog post is more for other people than yourself; then, today the baptism of Jesus calls us to confession, repentance, and inner change.
 

 

            Just as it took humility for Jesus to be baptized by John in the Jordan, so it takes humility for us to come to Christ and admit our need for help and for inner transformation.  May it be so, to the glory of our Lord Christ.