Loving The Unlovable

If you want to hear truths that need to be said but no one wants to hear, please feel free to continue reading my blog.  It's sorta my thing.  I look back over my life and see how God prepared me to say things that deep down inside, people know is the truth, but no one wants to be the one to say it.  Having said that, let me share one of those unpopular truths:  Hating Islam accomplishes nothing but division.  All the rhetoric about nuking them off the map, dipping bullets in bacon grease, or accusing them of having goats as girlfriends serves Christ in no way, shape or form, whatsoever.  As a matter of fact, it is an outright act of disobedience to the tenets of Christianity.

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15)

By the very mouth of our Savior and Lord, He says, "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matt 5:44,45).  Brothers and Sisters, we cannot allow the ungodly, misguided and barbaric acts of a nation that walks in darkness to keep us from obeying our Lord and Savior.  We cannot allow our disdain for their hatred of Christianity to keep us from sharing the Gospel with them, for they are the very ones who so desperately need it the most.  I am not preaching tolerance, I am not preaching unity, I am reminding Christians that Jesus instructed us:

 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." (Mark 16:15)

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;" (Matt 28:19,20)

One of the countless things that set us apart from the world, that make us a peculiar people of God's own possession (1 Pet 2:9) is Jesus' instructions to us, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (Luke 6:27,28).  Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.  However, be intolerant of them by preaching the Gospel to them. 

"If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in His love." (John 15:10)
 

There are many Muslims condemning the acts of terror committed in the name of Islam, but we cannot unite ourselves with them where they are, lost in their false religion.  Jesus said He is the only way (John 14:6).  Therefore, we must unite THEM with OURSELVES where WE are, having come out of the darkness and into the light of Jesus Christ.  Oh sweet brothers and sisters, the temptation to jump on the train of anger and resentment is truly enticing.  We are a worldly nation built on chivalry, justice, pride and bravado.  Yet Christ calls us to be a spiritual nation, built on humility, mercy, compassion and truth, leaving the justice to God, "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.'" (Rom 12:19).  This is not to say we are not to defend ourselves, military retaliation based on defense is an unfortunate necessity.  However, there is a very fine line between righteous defense and punishing vengeance.

"Jesus replied, 'Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them.'" (John 14:23)

The world says to rage against your enemy, but we are not like the world, we are like Jesus.  Jesus did not rage against Rome when He came to earth to set the example of the ultimate image of humanity.  They spit in His face and He loved them to the end, "Jesus was saying, 'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.'" (Luke 23:34).  Those in Islam that rage against Christians and Jews truly do not know what they are doing because they are ignorant of Christ and live in darkness.  That is how we must see them, for that is how Christ sees them. Christ looks upon them with a broken heart, full of mercy, longing to bring them into the light.  The eyes of Christ see them as a deceived people, in desperate need of the truth.  Jesus said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,'  for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matt 9:12,13).

This is not a popular message, but it needs to be said.  When we are tempted to rise up in anger and judge an entire people for their barbaric behavior, we must choose obedience to our Lord over our emotions.  Yes, we must stand our ground, yes, we must defend our ground but we must do so boldly shining the light of Christ into the ever-growing darkness of this present age.  We must not fear our enemy, but rather we must fear God enough to obey Him, even when we don't want to, even when it doesn't make sense.  "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will warn you Whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!" (Luke 12:4,5). 

The simple fact of the matter is, hating someone for hating or hurting you won't bring them to Christ.  It's easy to hate someone for being hateful.  The hard thing is to love someone who is unlovable.  People come to Christ because they see a peace in us that they don't have in themselves.  People come to Christ because they see a light in us that shines regardless of how great the darkness is around us. 

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matt 5:16).

"And let your way of life be beautiful before all children of men, those who speak wicked words of you, that they may see your beautiful works and praise God when He appears." (1 Pet 2:12)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love." (2 John 1:6)

Dig In, Reassess, Press Onward

I have a bad habit of trying to do things in my own strength, my own wisdom and my own understanding.  The problem is, my own strength, wisdom and understanding are not sufficient for God's purposes.   And besides that, God doesn't ask us nor expect us to do His kingdom work in our own strength or wisdom.  His kingdom work must be done with His kingdom resources.  Proverbs 3:7 says to not be "wise in our own eyes".  Then it goes on to say, "Instead, fear the Lord and shun [turn away, depart from] evil."   Instead of trying so hard to do things based on our own understanding, our own self-perceived wisdom, God tells us to fear Him and turn away from evil.  So when you hit a spiritual wall because you aren't sure what your next step should be, don't be like me and start freaking out, ramming your head into your prayer pillow trying to figure it all out.  Trust me, it accomplishes nothing except further frustration and the temptation to just throw your hands up and take a nap with the hope that once you wake up you'll have all the answers.  Which would be ultra fantastic, but ain't gonna happen.

We need wisdom, but not our own.  We can't serve God without it, so how do we get it?  God tells us over and over in His word:

-"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Prov 9:10)

"-The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding." (Psalm 111:10)

-"And he said to the human race, 'The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28)

Wisdom is to acknowledge God as God, to honor God as God and to pattern our lives accordingly.  Scripture says, "in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Prov 3:6).  There used to be a popular bumper-sticker that said, "Jesus is my co-pilot."  To acknowledge God as God and to honor God as God, He cannot be our co-pilot, He has to be in the driver's seat.  If God is our co-pilot, then we have not submitted to Him in all our ways. If we have not submitted to Him in all our ways, then our path will not be strait.  Our path will lead us to ramming our head into our prayer pillow because we're trying to figure out which way to point the steering wheel.

So what do you do when you feel like you've hit a spiritual wall, wringing your hands in frustration because you know that there is something God wants you to do, but you're just not sure exactly what it is?  You dig in, you reassess, you press onward.  Dig in by acknowledging that God is in the driver's seat.  Reassess by letting go of the steering wheel and making sure that you are not holding back any area of your life from Jesus' Lordship.  Press onward by obedience to God's word and continuing to seek righteousness, no matter what the cost.  Seeking righteousness in the world today will come at great cost.  It will move you out of your comfort zone.  It is something that people are going to notice.  Scripture tells us to come out of the world, which means that we will necessarily not blend in with it.  1 Peter 2:9 says that we are a peculiar people, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.." 

Let us dig in, let us reassess, let us press onward.  Let us be God's peculiar people who have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light.  And in the meantime, do the last thing you clearly remember God telling you to do and do it with all your might until He tells you otherwise.

If The Shoe Fits

I want to share a few of the prophetic words God has given me to share with His church during the new women's Bible study we will begin on December 1st.  The study is based on the prayer methods and lessons learned in the movie, "War Room."  If you would like to be a part of this study you can go to Rockview Women's Ministry on Facebook and "like" our page to get more information, receive updates or to follow along by video. 

The study begins by encouraging an honest evaluation of ourselves.  For the study to bear the maximum amount of fruit in a person's life, they must first build a solid foundation upon which to set it.  Otherwise, everything we discuss and learn will have nothing to take root in.  When instruction and understanding have no root, they wither away.  Lives are not changed and no spiritual growth is maintained.  So, the foundation upon which this study will be set upon is an honest evaluation of where we are with God, individually and collectively, as a church.

One of the metaphors the study gives for our evaluation is from Revelation Chapter 3, which is Jesus' Letter to the Laodicean Church.  During my prayer time asking for God's guidance, leading and counsel as to how to present this lesson, He gave me three specific words I feel compelled to share.  Those words are:

1.)  The Church is lukewarm because "people are not coming to the cross broken and in desperate need of a Savior, longing to be free from the tyranny of sin in their lives."

               -the understanding I was given was that more people come to the cross
                because they want God to do things for them, instead of coming to the cross 
                because they are genuinely sorrowful over their sins, with a genuine desire
                to turn away from them
               -they come to the cross to be prosperous or happy instead of forgiven
               -they come to the cross with the mindset that God owes them, instead of
                them owing God
               -they come to the cross for forgiveness, but not in repentance

2.)  The Church is lukewarm because "they want changed circumstances instead of changed lives."

               -again, people are coming to church or claiming Jesus Christ because of
                what they think God will give them or do for them
               -people want the circumstances of their lives changed, they want bigger,
                better, more comfort, less worry, but they don't want to change themselves

3.)  The Church is lukewarm because there is a gross lack of discernment, "you seek teachers who will empower you, rather than convict you."

               -preachers who promise empowerment through Christ are teaching people to
                substitute themselves in the place where Christ should be
               -we have authority in Christ, but that should not be our focus, nor the impetus
                behind our desire for salvation or service
               -our authority in Christ is a part of salvation, not a reason for salvation
               -we are not in control, Christ is

One of the admonishments Jesus gives to the lukewarm Laodicean Church is, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." (Rev 3:19).  The problem in the church today is that we are far more zealous for ourselves than for God, His word and His righteousness.  Our lives are consumed with our own pursuits, we are all about our own business and little to none about God's.  Our attention is saturated with our own problems or desires and wants.  And our desires and wants usually only serve to bring about more problems.  To our shame, we are not zealous about our Father's business.  To our shame, the larger portion of those who claim to be part of God's church are not even aware of their great need for repentance.  That is why Jesus tells the Laodiceans, "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  For you say, 'I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing', not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked."  (Rev 3:17,18). 

If anything could be used to describe the spiritual condition of the larger portion of God's church today, "wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked" would most certainly be the shoe that fits.

The Reluctant Warrior

I pray for God to use me in a mighty way.  I want to be a warrior for Christ.  The problem is, for Him to answer that prayer, He has to keep moving me out of my comfort zone and I don't like that.  If I want to be a warrior for Christ, I can't do it from my couch.  What's the point in wearing a suit of armor if I never leave my house?

Believe it or not, as bold as I may seem behind my computer screen, I have an irrational fear of rejection.  I hate rejection because I experienced it so much as a child.  As much as I love God and as much as I desire to serve Him, the thought of walking up to random people to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ terrifies me because I know far more people will reject what I have to say, than accept it.  But to become a mighty warrior, I have to step onto the battleground.  To be used by God in a mighty way, I have to overcome my fears, lest they remain stumbling blocks that only serve to prevent me from moving forward. 

My desire to not fail God is far greater than my fear of rejection, so today I did something entirely outside of my comfort zone.  I passed out flyers for our next women's Bible study in grocery store parking lots and at Target.  This may not seem like a monumental feat to most people, but for me it is truly a turning point in my spiritual growth.  I teach Bible study, I have a blog, I go to discipleship, I do the women's ministry for our church, my life truly revolves around Christ, I am truly consumed with Him, but for some bizarre reason I am ridiculously nervous, reserved and hesitant to ask a Walmart checker, a gas station clerk or a random person in the parking lot if they know about Jesus Christ.  It makes absolutely no sense.  And the reason I'm sharing this brazen confession of my own failure, is because I know I'm not alone. 

 

One of the things God impressed upon me today as I prayed about this is, "How many preachers have you seen talking to people on the street?"  My answer to Him was, "None."  That is because it is far more comfortable behind the pulpit, speaking to those who showed up to listen.  It's not terribly difficult to speak to people about Christ when your audience comes to you.  The difficult part of ministry is leaving the church and taking the message to those who aren't looking for it.

Another thing God impressed upon me today while I was whining to Him about having on the wrong shoes for all the walking I was doing and chastising myself for my nervousness was, "A seed must be planted before it can grow."  He showed me that every flyer I stuck on a windshield or handed to an unsuspecting stranger was a potential seed for His kingdom.  When the manager of Target came out to the parking lot to ask me to leave because they don't allow solicitation, I was embarrassed but not discouraged because I had already planted about 50 seeds in their parking lot.

God is leading me to share this candid confession because there are people who need to hear it.  There are brothers and sisters in Christ that need to know that they are not alone in their nervousness or anxiety about stepping out onto the battlefield for the Lord.  We cannot be mighty warriors if we never enter the battle, for the very notion of a warrior claiming to be mighty is by the many battles they have engaged themselves in and overcome.

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." (1 John 5:4)

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

I'm still nervous.  And after my Target encounter, now I'm freaked out that someone may ask me to leave their parking lot because they don't allow solicitation of any kind.  But my desire to be a mighty warrior for Christ is greater than my fears.  And I know that I will overcome these fears because the Bible tells me I'm more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ.  Therefore, tomorrow morning, I will once again leave my comfort zone with my arms full of seeds and cast them out onto the battlefield.  I will sow seeds for God to grow into other mighty warriors whose desire to serve Christ will be far greater than any fear.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Rom 8:35-37)

 

When God Yells

I don't like to yell at my kids, but sometimes I have to.  Sometimes they get so wrapped up in themselves and their situation, that when I speak softly and sweetly to them, I get totally ignored.  They want to talk over me, telling their side of the story.  They get blinded by their emotions, consumed in the moment, consumed with themselves and their own point of view.  And sometimes it's simply a matter of seeing how long they can ignore me.  I will say something to them and they will continue doing their own thing, because their thing is more important to them than my thing.

So what happens when we willfully continue along a path of ignoring God?  What happens when we ignore God's still, small voice that speaks to us daily in our spirits but is drowned out by the world?  The same thing that happens when I'm ignored by my own kids--- He yells.  Sometimes God has to yell to get our attention.  When we stay consumed with ourselves and our own point of view, when we see how long we can ignore God, when we see how long we can continue doing our own thing because our own thing is more important than God's thing, He must yell at us to get our attention.  Scripture says that, "the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as his son.  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?" (Heb 12:6,7). 

I don't know what the days ahead hold for our nation or His church.  All I know is that lately God has impressed upon my spirit to pray, "Lord, burden me with Your will."  The other day He burdened me with a word for His church to stop whoring themselves after the world.  Today the burden is for us to understand that sometimes He has to yell to get our attention.  As a church, we have fallen so far from the mark of true righteousness.  We have no excuse for not reading our Bible, we have no excuse for not teaching our children the truths contained within It.  We have no excuse for chasing after the world when God's word says, "As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." (John 15:9), and "come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." (2 Cor 6:17).  We have no excuse for being ignorant of God's word because scripture says that His word is written upon the hearts of all those who choose salvation, "I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Heb 8:10).  Therefore all those who claim salvation, yet live lifestyles to the contrary are without excuse.  God says even the unsaved are without excuse, "that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Rom 1:19,20).  Scripture says that a human being has to willfully choose not to have a relationship with God because He has set eternity in the hearts of men (Eccl 3:11). 

God will not be mocked, and we mock Him as a church when the world cannot tell the difference between us and them.  When the Church tries to be friends with the world and gives the word of men precedence over the word of God, the thinking of those within it becomes futile, "and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools...for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever."  (Rom 1:21-25).

When gentle speech will not be received by my own children, I must yell at them to make them aright.  I don't yell at them because I want to, I yell at them because I have to.  I must yell at them to bring order and to set them back on the right path.  Perhaps God has been yelling at us for a while now, but we continue to ignore Him.  And when yelling no longer works, the only thing left to do is scream.

Why Do We Pray?

I read a Facebook post the other day in which someone asked why we pray to God.  They said, "if God knows everything, and God has a plan, why do people pray to ask Him for things?  I can understand praying to Him to thank Him, but praying for Him to change His plan, or to give you something, like a nice house...?"

God does know everything and He does have a plan.  Scripture says God has declared, "the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will." (Isaiah 46:10).  So if God already has a plan, why do we pray, asking Him for things?  The two main reasons we pray are to:

1.  Communicate with God
2.  To be a part of God's plan

Before anyone can truly understand the purpose and function of prayer, they must first understand the purpose and function of mankind.  Despite what the world would like you to believe, the sole purpose of creation itself, the universe and everything in it, all that is seen and unseen, was for God to have an eternal relationship with human beings.  Human beings are the reason existence even exists.  All of it.  Scripture says that God created the earth for men to have dominion over it (Gen 1:26).  We were the last thing God created and we are the only thing He created in His own image.  We are the apex of all creation, His magnum opus.  Scripture says that even the angels were created to serve God's purpose for those who choose salvation, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:14).  It's seriously mind-blowing when you think about it.  Earth may not be the center of the solar system or even the galaxy, but for all intents and purposes we are truly the center of God's universe.  Yet so many people have an aversion to such a notion and find it to be preposterous. Which is more preposterous, that we are of no value and have no reason for existence at all, or that we are of intrinsic value and are the very reason for existence itself?

Before the fall of mankind, we had direct, intimate fellowship with God.  Adam spoke to God face to face.  When Adam was faced with the opportunity for rebellion against God, God said don't take part in it, "for when you eat from it you will surely die." (Gen 2:17).  The moment Adam and Eve "tasted" rebellion, not only did they somehow kick on the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, introducing entropy into the closed system of creation, thus introducing physical decay, death and disorder, but they also died spiritually, losing direct fellowship with God.  But God had a plan already in place for us to regain some similitude of that face-to-face fellowship with Him.  That plan was prayer.  The fact that even Jesus prayed should show the value and necessity of prayer.  God as a human, praying to Himself as God.....wrap your brain around that one.  

Jesus is God, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works." (John 14:9,10).  So if Jesus is God in human form, then why, in essence, did He continually pray to Himself in eternal form?  Because Jesus was operating through God's plan.  Read again, "the Father abiding in Me does His works."  Jesus tells us we have the same relationship with Him, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."  (John 15:5).  Apart from Jesus, we have no part in His plan. 

Prayer is not what we want from God, but what God wants from us.  God wants to have intimate fellowship with us and for us to be a part of His plan and we can't do that unless our will is lined up with His.  Jesus told us how to pray and when He did He said the first thing we should do is praise Him, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.."  The next thing He said we are to do is to ask for our will to line up with His, not for His will to line up with ours, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  That is where most of us fail in prayer.  However, Jesus did not fail.  He succeeded beautifully in the Garden of Gethsemane when praying about His coming crucifixion, "Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42).  Of all the examples of Jesus being fully God and fully man, this one speaks the loudest.  He fully experienced the weakness and anxieties of mankind, while fully seeking and submitting Himself to His own plan.  A plan that happened to include a horrible and humiliating end, but it was that end that would reconcile us and all of creation back into right fellowship with Him through the atoning sacrifice of His human form.  "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ." (2 Cor 5:17,18). 

Scripture says that we are not to seek after worldly things, "because it is the unbelievers who are concerned about all these things; but your Father knows that you need these things." (Luke 12:30).  God knows our needs before we ask Him (Matt 6:32).  Instead we are told to, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matt 6:33).   So prayer isn't about what we can "get" from God, but what we can "do" for God.  What we "do" for God is seek His kingdom, His will and His plan, and God will "do" for us.  Sometimes that includes giving us things or even re-routing His plan, but not always.  Regardless, God desires for us to be a part of His plan and we involve ourselves in that plan through prayer.  Prayer can be likened to "brainstorming" with God, but in submission that His ideas will always take precedence over ours.  Prayer can be likened to having a conversation with God, but allowing Him to choose the subject.  God desires for us to bring Him our complaints, our sorrows, our requests and our praise.  That is what you do when you are in a relationship with someone, and what kind of relationship would it be if the other person didn't listen to or consider your point of view?

Prayer is "relationship" with God.  Prayer is coming before the eternal Creator and being granted His audience and His consideration.  The very notion that the God of the universe considers our requests and hears our cries is mind-numbing.  Scripture says:  "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them." (Psalm 34:17) and "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them." (Psalm 145:18,19). 

These verses tell us that God's plan includes hearing the righteous, that His plan is to fulfill the desire of those who fear Him and that He plans to be near to all who call upon Him in truth.  What is truth?  Jesus said He is Truth, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." (John 14:6,7)

The Selfish Virgin

Over the last few weeks, one of the things God has pressed upon my spirit to pray is, "Father, burden me with your will."  One of the things He has burdened me with is that although our salvation is free, ("For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God..." Eph 2:8), He expects us to do something with it.  We are sealed by His Spirit at the moment of salvation, but He expects us to use this gift to bear Him fruit.  Jesus conveys this to us throughout the Gospel.  Read Matthew Chaper 25, in which He tells the parable of the foolish and wise virgins, the parable of the talents and the parable of the sheep and the goats.  What do you think Christ is trying to convey?  Are you a foolish virgin or a wise virgin?  Have you hidden the treasure Christ has given you in the ground or have you invested it and made an increase?  Are you a sheep or a goat?  Although I believe that once you are saved you are always saved, Jesus said those who are truly saved would bear Him fruit, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5).   

God wants to remind His people why we are here.  God created us for His glory (Is 43:7), for His purposes (Eph 2:10), His delight (Is 62:3,4) and His kingdom (Rev 1:6).  When we spend more time on our own pursuits than we do for God's purposes, we commit adultery against God. Far too many of those who claim to follow Jesus are whoring their time, their talents and their resources that were meant to be used for Him. 

 

We whore ourselves to the world, but God desires us to be like a virgin bride:  "For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." (2 Cor 11:2,3).

God desires a pure, chaste and holy people whose hearts and minds are set about their Father's business:  "..just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." (Eph 5:25-27). 

When we whore ourselves to the world, we are not holy and blameless.  If we don't serve God while we are here, why should we think we will serve Him in heaven? "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" (Luke 16:11).

Far too many people say, "Well, there is more to life than going to church."  Really?  That is a lie that the world wants you to believe.  If you truly believe there is "more to life" than serving God, you have been deceived.  You are on the wrong side of the fence because Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matt 22:46).  By Jesus' very own words, our lives are to be consumed with dedication to God.  Jesus said we are to consume Him, "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.... He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:27,54). 

We cannot serve two masters, we will either live lives consumed with ourselves or we will live lives consumed with Christ.  Jesus told the Pharisees the kingdom would be taken away from those who did not produce fruit (Matt 21:43).  That alone should make us take heed to bear Him fruit, not out of obligation, but out of reverence and devotion.  Jesus said, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matt 7:19).  These things are hard to bear, but they are the words of our Lord.  I'm not passing judgment, I'm telling an ignorant church what God's word says because they are "too busy" to read it for themselves.  I am not talking about salvation by works, I am talking about works because of salvation.  "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph 2:10).   

We have all fallen short. We are all sinners who seek our own way.  We are all cursed with the disease of "self" running through our veins.  But praise God!  In His infinite mercy, He died to save us from the curse, so that we might have life the way it was meant to be.  The life Christ died to give us was a life free from the curses of self, sin and death.   Galatians 3:13 says that Jesus became the curse for us and 2 Cor 5:21 says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."  So that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God, not the righteousness of our self.  There is no righteousness in living for our self, there is only sin, temptation, distraction, delusion and deception.

Red Sea Moment

Our pastor found out last Thursday that he has pancreatic cancer.  I have sat at the feet of this man for the last three years in discipleship, and during this time he has not only been my mentor but became a father to me as well.  He filled a great void that was left in me when my Pappaw passed in 2010.  My Pappaw was really the only daddy I ever had.  So the man I consider my friend, my mentor, my brother in Christ and my surrogate father has been diagnosed with a cancer that boasts the highest mortality rate of them all. 
As a church, we are still reeling from the news, humbling ourselves before God, crying out for His mighty hand of healing and deliverance.  I have no doubt that God can heal our pastor, but if He doesn't, He is still our God.  He is still perfect in mercy, perfect in justice, perfect in loving-kindness and holiness.  I ask for the prayers of all those who read this blog.  I ask for your prayers as our church makes its way through this "Red Sea" moment.  I am sharing the words I spoke to our church this morning during service to comfort and edify anyone else who may find themselves in their own Red Sea moment:

We now find ourselves faced with a "Red Sea" moment.  Like the Israelites during the Exodus, we have reached an obstacle that is difficult and unexpected.  God always knew where He was leading His people, but His people only knew what He had promised them.  Therefore, imagine the surprise of the Israelites when they began their journey from Egypt based solely on their faith in God's promises, only to end up face to face with an impassable sea of water, stopped dead in their tracks. They found themselves face to face with a test of their faith, whether they believed His promises would hold true for them no matter what the circumstances.  They found themselves in a situation of whether to believe in what they could see, or to believe in what God had promised.  What they could see was an impossible situation with no hope of deliverance, but deliverance was the very thing that God had promised them.

You see, God is not shaped by our circumstances, we are.  Scripture says that God's circumstances are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, but it says that our circumstances liken us to grass, "and all [our] glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24,25) 

The word of the Lord endures forever. 

Our circumstances flower, fade and wither, but the word that we put our faith in, the word that we place our circumstances UPON, endures forever.  That word is the ROCK of God's promises.  Jesus said that we are to be "like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built." (Luke 6:48) 

When we find ourselves in a Red Sea moment, a moment in which our circumstances force us to choose whether or not we truly believe God is trustworthy and faithful to deliver on His promises, that is when we find out how deep our foundation is and whether we have built our house on the rock or whether we have built our house on the sand.  You see, it is during these Red Sea moments in which God asks us, "Do you really believe that My word will weather your circumstance?"  "Do you believe that My word can endure your trial?"  Although our trials and circumstances come as a surprise to us, they are no surprise to God.  And because they are no surprise to God, we can rest in the fact that God already has a plan to carry us through it.

The word of the Lord is our enduring Rock, and the enduring word of the Lord says:

"His eyes are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry.  The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;
Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together!
I sought the Lord and He delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.  This poor man called and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.  Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.  Fear the Lord, you His holy people, for those who fear Him lack nothing.  The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." (Psalm 34)

So, here we are at our Red Sea moment.  We find ourselves face to face with an obstacle of such magnitude that we can't see what lies on the other side.  There is no way around this obstacle, therefore the only option is for us to go through it.  Scripture tells us that when the Israelites found themselves facing their Red Sea moment, they cried out to God and God said, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward." (Ex 14:15)  God had a plan, but that plan couldn't be realized until His people moved forward toward the promise He had already made them.

God used Moses' faith to part the sea for the Israelites and God will use our faith to part the sea for us.  As we cross through, the waves of uncertainty may crash all around us, but we shall hold fast to what IS certain, which is the cross of salvation and God's promises to those who endure to the end.  We WILL get to the other side. And when the dust settles and we look around, we will see all those who made it through, having been baptized in the waters of hope. 

The scriptures say, "...hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:24-28)

"Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom;" (Isaiah 40:11)

 

I Shall Have No Other God But Me

I met a friend for lunch the other day and decided to bring up the issue of salvation with her once again.  While we were chatting, waiting for our check, I asked her if she ever thought about where we go after we die.  She said no, not really.  She said she would either go to heaven and see her family or go "down there" and party.  She said everyone has their own understanding of God, that God can be expressed in different ways for different people.  Then I told her that Jesus said He was the only way.  The interesting thing is, she didn't argue with me when I said that, but she did say, "Well, that's what works for you."  The problem is, that's not what "works" for me.  Jesus doesn't "work for me,"  I work for Jesus.  I am being transformed to fit into Jesus' paradigm, I am not trying to transform Him to fit into mine (2 Cor 3:18 & 5:17). 

The fact is, we live in an age in which most people have no idea Who Jesus or God really is.  We live in age in which people try to change God to fit into their life, instead of changing their life to fit God.  We live in an age in which most people have created their own version of God, their version being whatever works best for them.  For most people, their version of God resides in their own imagination which means, in essence, people have become their own "god".  This is idolatry.  When your "version" of God is anything other than the One Who has been revealed to us in the Bible, you are committing idolatry.  How many people have replaced the One True God with themselves and they don't even realize it? 

I Love Me, I Love Me Not

Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matt 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23)

What does it mean to deny ourselves?  It means our whole life is to be lived for Christ and not ourselves.  This is almost a notion of insanity in today's culture.  We are so brainwashed into believing that we "deserve" happiness and that our lives are meant to be lived for our own personal pleasure or success, that what Jesus actually said about how we are to live our lives seems almost incomprehensible to us.  At one time I remember thinking how boring and unbearable my life would be if it revolved around God.  I liked my life, I liked doing what I wanted to do, what I thought was fun, what I enjoyed, I had my own plans, my own interests, dreams and goals.  Jesus was my Savior, but my life was mine to live however I pleased.  For a long time I believed in Jesus, that He was/is the Son of God and that He died for my sins and rose from the dead.  I "played" Christian for a long time.  You see, I had no problem with Jesus being my Savior, the problem for me was letting go of my life and letting Him be Lord of it. 

Jesus was explicitly clear as to how those who called on His Name were to live: 

1.  We are to follow His commands
--"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me." (John 14:21)
--"Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching." (John 14:23)
--"If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love," (John 15:10)

2.  We are to let go of our lives in this world and live for Him.

--"Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:25)
--"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, Matt 16:25)

Over and over scripture testifies that those who desire to follow Jesus, must live for Jesus and only Jesus.  Only then will we find true fulfillment of life.  Because only then will we be living our life the way it was meant to be lived.  The sole reason God created human beings was to have a relationship with them.  The purpose of all existence, the universe and creation itself, is for God to have an eternal relationship with those who love Him.  That's it.  Seriously, wrap your brain around that.

 

The Gospel of Luke even records Jesus' command to let go of your life twice.  The second time Jesus says, "Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it."  (Luke 17:33).  What happened to Lot's wife?  She looked back at the world with longing.  She was torn between leaving sinful Sodom or staying there and keeping her way of life.  She was afraid that moving forward with God in faith wouldn't be as pleasurable as keeping her lifestyle in Sodom, even though it was about to be destroyed.

How many of us are looking back?

--"Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62). 

How many of us still desire to be friends with the world? 

--"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4). 

How many of us are not being faithful in the seemingly "little" things that "creep and worm" (2 Tim 3:6) their way into our homes?
--"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much." (Luke 16:10)

There is a reason Jesus said, "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matt 7:14).   So few find it because so few are willing to really, truly let go of this world and the selfish pursuits and pleasures that keep us shackled to it.   The Gospel of Luke records Jesus explaining even further, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." (Luke 13:24).  So few are not able because when it comes right down to it, we still love ourselves more than we love God.

Avoiding The Seemingly Unavoidable

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."  (2 Tim 3:2-5)

We are clearly instructed to "avoid such men as these."  The NIV translation says, "Have nothing to do with such people."  And the King James says, "from such turn away." 

Avoid such men as these.
Have nothing to do with such people.
From such, turn away.
 

The Bible clearly tells us what sort of persons to turn away from, yet most of us allow these very persons into our homes, lives and minds every single day.  Not only ours, but our children's as well.  Right after the Bible tells us to "avoid such men as these" and "have nothing to do with such people", it says:

"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts," (verse 6, King James)

The NIV translation goes into even more detail:

"They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires," (verse 6, NIV)

I find it interesting that right after the Bible tells us to avoid certain kinds of people, It then warns us that those sort of people find a way to "creep" or "worm" their way into your home.  While most of us are certainly agreeable to avoiding personal contact with such people, we have no problem watching them on TV, listening to their music, reading about them in magazines or books and watching their movies.  And although at the time this scripture was written, the television, movie and music industry didn't exist, it can certainly be seen as a prophetic warning of the effects these mediums would have and the modus operandi they would employ.  Scripture says that their mode of operation is to "creep in" or to "worm their way in".  Once in, scripture says their effects are to "lead captive" and to "gain control", to  "lead away and sway with all kinds of evil desires". 

I was watching a sermon the other day, and I found one of the statements the Pastor made to be particularly noteworthy.  He said something to the effect that we should be careful what we find humor in, for what we laugh at, we are, in essence, agreeing with.  This is because for us to find something funny, we must first find it agreeable.  That is what makes it funny to us, because we identify with their humor and, in essence, have a shared point of view.  If we didn't, we wouldn't find it funny, we would find it offensive or at best, neutral. Remarkably, many of those who profess to be Christians nowadays seem to be in bondage to love of self, love of money, boastful, arrogant, ungrateful, malicious gossips, without self-control, conceited and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness but denying its power.  Many self-professed Christians have become like the sort of people we are explicitly instructed to avoid.  Many self-professed Christians have become "led away and swayed with all kinds of evil desires."

If the Bible says to avoid certain people, then you do it regardless of whether they are in your presence or you are watching them on TV, listening to them on the radio, reading about them in a magazine or watching them in a movie.  You do it regardless of whether you really love that person's music or whether you really enjoy that particular television show.  A lot of us really need to take a look at what we consume for entertainment.  Christ said we are to consume Him (John 6:50-58), but if we were to take a look at how much of our time is spent consuming Christ, versus how much of our time is spent consuming the things of this world, where would we stand? 

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matt 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23)