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BELIEVING THE PROMISES

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

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I just quit a job I’ve had for 7 years. I didn’t always appreciate the job, rarely enjoyed it, but tried to be thankful for it. I knew God had led me to it to serve Him in that particular place. Over the past couple of years, I had wanted to leave but felt that wasn’t an option; the benefits were extraordinary, pay was more than I should have been making, and knowing God had led me to it kept me from believing He might actually want me to move to something new. So I stayed. Each week I felt more and more suffocated but told myself I was being selfish, lazy, self-centered.

Looking back, I can see how God was trying to lead me away from it. I was not challenged by the work in the way we desire to be. Training had been practically non-existent so each new situation was difficult to manage. I became agitated with my co-workers over the least little thing despite fervent prayer to keep my attitude in check. I felt like a robot, just going through the motions. I didn’t believe I was worth anything. The job never provided any positive feedback. I just went in, worked, went home, got up the next day and did it all over again. I wasn’t interested in life anymore. I lost interest in everything. I resigned myself to the reality that I would just stay at this job until I retired or God called me home. I gave up.

Then God stepped in and arranged a situation where I just had to walk away. Satan kept telling me I was a failure. He kept telling me I was being irresponsible. He convinced me to focus on my shortcomings that would prevent me from finding a new job. And I fell for his attacks – but not for long.

I was in a Bible study learning about God’s armor (Priscilla Shirer). And that week the topic was faith: active faith (does God have great timing or what?). We were introduced to “The Faith Place:” situations where we are totally dependent on God coming through for us. I had to admit I had never done that. Despite my great love for Jesus, I had never gone to this place. The truth was I was still dependent on worldly things for security and lived in fear that I would create a situation that my unbelieving husband would have to clean up. I was allowing these worldly things to destroy my trust in my Heavenly Father. God desperately wanted to prove I can trust Him, even though He had done it time and time again in my life. So He stepped in and forced my hand. He made it clear it is time for me to walk the walk. I am tired of not trusting Him. I am deeply disappointed in my inability to do so and the ways I justify my doubt. I’m tired of throwing away spiritual strength and God’s peace and comfort because of my fear of whatever earthly consequences I might have to deal with.

I am believing the promises. I am believing God is good. I am believing He will give me an abundant life. I am believing I can trust Him. I am believing that there is nothing anyone in this world can do to me that will ultimately hurt me because God is the keeper of my soul. When I feel anxious about my husband’s reaction, I say a prayer to God that I will not let my husband sway me from my trust in God. The fear is gone and I put myself back into His faithful arms every time I feel the anxiety welling up. It still comes! I can only imagine God’s distress as He sees me taking on things under my own strength, knowing He has given me so many things to call upon that would ease my burden. It felt good to wallow in self-pity, anger and hurt. It is so much easier to let the emotions well up and take over. But it feels even better when I take the time to call on my Father and allow Him to ease the pain; to do things His way so that my life isn’t just one emotional breakdown after another. This is exactly why I sought Him out: so that anger, fear and self-pity would no longer rule my life and keep me from the peace I so desperately wanted.

I want my unsaved loved ones to see what God offers us and the kind of life we can have by following Him. But Satan prefers they not see that so he leads me away from God’s way to my self-centered ways. And, until now, I’ve fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Not anymore.

I am claiming the peace that surpasses all understanding. I am claiming the abundant life. I am claiming my value as a child of God through Jesus Christ. I’m putting on my armor and using it.

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FOOLS FOR CHRIST

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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One of the more difficult “responsibilities” we have as followers of Christ is to die to self.  After 50+ years of living a life dedicated to securing my own comfort, this has proven to be pretty challenging.  Not because I don’t want to do it – every fiber of my being wants my commitment to Christ to be evident to everyone I come into contact with.  But as I become more convicted of habits and attitudes I need to rid myself of, I find myself dealing with things that are so ingrained and culturally acceptable that they are not so easy to identify and very easy to justify (to myself – God’s not buying it!).  And once God reveals them to me and I accept that they truly are creating an obstacle in my relationship with Him, I have to admit the real problem is that I don’t really want to get rid of them.  When I first committed my life to Christ, the things I let go of were things I had struggled to let go of for years.  I didn’t mind ridding myself of those things; even patted myself on the back for being able to turn from them!  But now I am at the point where it is time to let go of some deeply rooted habits that make my life comfortable and easy. And as I become more convicted about them, I am disappointed in my level of commitment to Christ as I continue to justify them or refuse to turn from them. 

Romans 7:15 – “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…”

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is Abraham’s great test of faith.  While I’ve never doubted that it was a true story, what Abraham experienced never sunk into my consciousness.  I was reading “The Fifth Gospel” by Bobby Conway and in his chapter titled “Fools for Christ,” he talks about the “weird” and “ridiculous” things God has asked His people to do.  He mentions Abraham.  And, reading about Abraham in this context suddenly made it more real than it has ever been.  Here’s how Mr. Conway put it:  “God promised Abraham he’d be the father of many nations.  Then, after Abraham finally receives his promised son, God tells him to kill the child.”  The degree of faith Abraham had suddenly hit me.  Abraham was being asked to sacrifice HIS CHILD: the child he had longed for his whole life; the child he didn’t believe he would ever have.  In spite of the shock he must have felt when God asked him to do this, Abraham was faithful in obeying God.  In spite of being promised by God that his heirs would be as numerous as the stars he was still willing to obey God and kill the one thing that could bring that promise to bear.  I can only imagine the things I would have said to God, the questions I would have been asking, the justifications for not obeying this seemingly ridiculous request.  But Abraham did it believing that somehow God would work it all out.  I was ashamed at how I struggle to let go of things in my life that are nowhere near as precious as Isaac was to Abraham; ashamed at how little faith I have that God is just waiting for me to clear my life so that His plan and ways can enrich my life; ashamed at how unwilling I am to forego the comforts I have acquired because I fear the things I feel He is asking me to replace them with. 

As Abraham walked to the place where he would sacrifice Isaac, I like to think he spent some time bargaining with God, just as I do.  But as I consider the faith he must have had, Abraham is more apt to have spent those moments asking for strength and comfort.  That’s what my conversations with God need to be.   

The stories in the Bible are given for instruction.  I have to stop glossing over them and pretending they don’t really apply to me.  God will probably not ask me to offer my children as a sacrifice to Him but He is asking me to sacrifice a lot of things that have come to be so important in my life that I struggle to let go of them.  He is asking me to trust that when I do that, my life will be so much more meaningful and joy-filled.  He is asking me to trust that these are the things I must do to become more Christ-like.  The things God is asking me to do aren’t really that ridiculous or weird, but I have been shown glimpses of what God wants my life to look like and I gotta say it’s weird for me to think that I could live like that.  It’s so different from my self-absorbed lifestyle!  But I want to demonstrate my faith and live my life as a testimony to others what followers of Jesus can look forward to and if I can implement the changes God is asking of me, I know for sure that others will see a huge difference and at least wonder at what has come over me! My lifestyle has to be so different that people notice.

Bobby Conway goes on to say: “God knows that most anyone obeys Him when blessing is promised and given.  But what about when that long-awaited gift is delivered and God asks you to give it back?  How many obey then?”  I want to be one of those people that obey when it’s hard.  It certainly isn’t as difficult as Abraham’s test, but dying to self is never easy, no matter what the sacrifice is.  And as I fully grasp the reality of what others have done, particularly the people we read about in the Old Testament, I find a little extra strength to “be a fool for Christ!”

Consider Joshua at the battle of Jericho and Ezekiel lying on his left side for 390 days then flipping over to his right side for another 40 days.  Instead of focusing on how they were being perceived, their faith in God’s ways kept them obedient to what He was telling them to do.  My faith must be my focus to follow through with the things God is showing me.  As God convicts me to spread the Good News of salvation, I find excuses for not doing so.  I would prefer God grant me the gift of singing so I could safely serve Him at church in the choir!  Why can’t He give me the gift of teaching and give me a Sunday School class?  But if handing out tracs to people who want nothing to do with a “Jesus freak” is what God is calling me to do – to give up my comfortable days in the pool or in front of the TV – then I must trust that is how He can best use me and get out there and DO IT.  As I contemplate these promptings, I am curious about how it will all play out and excited to see what God can accomplish with me if I can only find it in me to obey Him.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “…for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”

This is what Conway says about these Isaiah 55 verses: “…there is an infinite gap between the way He thinks and the way we think.  Think about that. But God’s creative, out-of-the-box ideas not only challenge our thinking but also test our faith.  We Christians are quick to sing and talk about trusting God and following Him no matter what.  But when He asks something odd, difficult, or uncomfortable of us, that’s when things get a bit complicated.”

My response to God’s requests of me so far has been “God knows how fearful I am of people, He’ll understand if it takes me a while to work up my nerve.”  Here’s the last quote from Pastor Conway that has turned my thinking around: “Never before has the church tried so hard to fit in with society, when in reality God still wants us to think different and stand out. We’ve spent so much time, energy, and money trying to convince the world that we’re normal – just like them.  And why?  Because deep down we want to be accepted by our friends and culture. And this stems from two roots – an insecurity about our faith and a subtle fear of man. Both of these contribute to our desperation to be liked. And neither are characteristic of the Fifth-Gospel Christian.  …we still recognize that radical obedience to God may sometimes lead others to think we’ve gone off the deep end.”  And that’s what I have to accept.  The things God is calling me to do are so out of character for me.  But I am out of character.  That night I committed my life to Christ and He sent the Spirit to dwell in me I became a new creation.  Until I actually do what God is calling me to do, I will not be an effective witness for Christ.

Matthew 5:11-12: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

THE GREAT SIN OF GRUMBLING

27 Sunday Jul 2014

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Although I don’t like to admit many of my behaviors are sin in God’s eyes, at some level I realize they are: overspending, calling in to work sick when I’m not, cursing, just to name a few.  One sin that I dismiss too easily is grumbling (also known as complaining, murmuring, venting).  Venting is the term used mostly to justify the sin: “I just need to vent.”  There are even websites for venting, providing ample excuses to do so and theories about how it can be beneficial!  But as I study Scripture, I read how seriously God views this behavior.  I was listening to Rev. Jeffress (Pathway to Victory) the other day and his sermon reminded me that when I complain (or vent or grumble or murmur) what I’m telling God is that I’m not happy with the life He has given me; that I feel short-changed somehow; that I feel I deserve better than what God has given me.

As we read about the Israelites wandering through the wilderness in the book of Numbers, there are many stories about their grumbling.  There’s never enough water or food.  They’re unhappy with Moses’ leadership.  There are too many obstacles to entering the Promised Land.  Most astonishing is their memories of life in Egypt. In Numbers 11:5 their distorted recollection of their lives in bondage reveals the level they sink to in order to justify their grumbling.  But I am guilty of the same thing, convincing myself that there must be something better than what I have; that if my life were tweaked just a little here or there or re-vamped totally in other areas, I could be happy.

Numbers 11:18-20 – “Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”’”

Like most of us, my job is the thing I grumble about most often.  I’m not crazy about it. The skills required are not things I have ever been good at (math!!) and the training was practically non-existent.  Until a few months ago, I decided that I didn’t want to work full time anymore.  Each year that passed, I became more and more disappointed with the fact that I still had to work at this horrid little job – to pay off debt, to provide insurance for me and my husband.  So I grumbled about the job, about having to work, about not being able to work part-time, about the people, the management, the resources – you name it, I complained about it.  I half-heartedly tried to be joyful about this particular plan God had for me, but I kept waiting for His plan to change to match mine.  I figured I had given Him 5 years of wandering in this particular wilderness and that should be enough.  Surely I had earned the right to go into the Promised Land!  But since the day I went to apply for the job I have known without a doubt that God put me in this place at this particular time.  Even with little training and no background in this kind of work, God has granted to me the knowledge I need not only to perform my job but also to feel confident in it.  And over the last few months, I have realized some things that have enabled me to get up and go to work with a godly, sincerely joyful attitude:

I know for a fact that God has placed me here and I cannot ignore that fact.

I had a list of the things I believed I “needed” in order to be fulfilled in a job and this one includes every one.

Almost without exception, each day I am presented with an opportunity to show God’s love.

I cannot put a timeframe on God’s plan.  He will move me when He’s ready, not when I decide He should. I am there to serve Him and that is what I focus on.

I grieve God when I express how unhappy I am with what He has led me to. I want to demonstrate to Him that I have faith in what He’s doing and I will be a loyal servant to Him.  I will do it with a glad heart, living out Jesus’ example.

Numbers 14:20-24 – “… all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.”

I wake up now knowing my job’s main purpose in my life is to serve God. I’m not a social person at all, so work is really one of the few opportunities I have to share Jesus.  As I stop grumbling about it and remember its true purpose in my life, I find myself waking up each day excited to see what opportunities God is going to present me with.  The grumbling is unwarranted.  It’s telling God that I am unhappy with His plan for me.  As I give myself over to Him and follow Him fully, I am blessed in so many ways. I inherit the land God wants me to live in – a life filled with joy, peace and contentment!

2 Corinthians 10:5 – “…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”

Rev. Jeffress’s sermon provided me with new thoughts to consider whenever I feel the urge to grumble.  There are a lot of people around me who make grumbling a regular part of the day and when I cannot redirect the conversation, I just check out of it.  I cannot be a party to it. I cannot glorify God by grumbling about the life He has given me.  God has revealed to me that He considers it a great sin even if the world does not.  And He provides me with a way out of it:

Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”

JOEL OR JESUS

10 Tuesday Jun 2014

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Right after I committed my life to Jesus Christ, I became so hungry for His Word.  I couldn’t wait to read my Bible each day to discover what God wanted to reveal to me.  I read every book I could get hold of and listened to every preacher I ran across on the radio and TV.  One day I ran across Joel Osteen on TV.  That day Mr. Osteen was talking about how God wanted to bless me.  He was saying that all we need to do to receive God’s blessing is have faith – believe financial security is what God wants for us all.  He is just waiting for our faith to be sufficient.  I thought to myself “Of course God wants to bless me.  God only wants the best for me. If my faith is strong enough, I will be blessed. When I follow Christ, God wants to reward me just as any parent wants the best for their child.” Without a lot of thought to what Mr. Osteen was saying, it seemed to make perfect sense.  It sure was an answer to my prayers for getting my finances in order!

 One of the things that led me to God was I knew I needed to learn to trust Him to get through the difficult times I was experiencing.  I wanted nothing more than to have unshakeable faith in God and, based on what Joel Osteen was saying, the proof for myself and to others was whether I would get all of the things I wanted. If I found myself still in want and suffering in some way, it was simply because my faith wasn’t what it needs to be. 

 2 Peter 1-3:  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.

 I went right out and bought a set of Joel’s DVD’s so I could listen to him in the car.  His messages were uplifting and encouraging.  There was always a funny story at the beginning of each one and that helped me get the day started on a positive note.  Every day I asked God for the money I needed to correct my financial situation and told myself as long as I believed it was true, eventually it would happen.  I felt I was on my way to trusting God the way we are supposed to trust Him – I just needed to keep strengthening my faith.  I was a big Osteen fan and felt I needed to share my discovery with my daughter.  I wanted to be sure her faith was sufficient and that she was seeing life in the positive way God wants us to see it.

True to her nature, my daughter patiently listened.  Then, in her simple, quiet way said:  “Be careful, Mom.  Joel Osteen is a prosperity preacher.”  Well, my first reaction was confusion.  I didn’t know what a prosperity preacher was, but I knew it couldn’t be anything good because she was definitely giving me a warning.  Then I felt offended.  I loved Jesus and was only trying to have the kind of faith we are supposed to have and Joel was just trying to teach me how to do that.  He certainly looked very happy and I refused to believe he had anything but Christians’ best interests in mind. 

 Then the thought occurred to me that my daughter would not tell me something that wasn’t true; she’s not a liar and it was her quiet, strong faith that had led me to Jesus in the first place.  So I began to research this prosperity preacher idea.  I became more and more unsettled about Mr. Osteen and others like him.  The more I read and studied, the more uneasy I felt when I listened to him.  It wasn’t too long before I realized his messages weren’t giving me any peace about God – I realized I was even more anxious trying to gain the kind of faith Joel told me I needed.  After studying the Scriptures Joel quoted, it was quite easy to see he took things out of context all the time.  I was also beginning to realize that I was living life the same way I had been before I committed it to Jesus – under the power of me, seeking only to satisfy and serve me! 

 I was embarrassed at first, then disappointed that I had allowed myself to be misled so easily.  The allure of getting the things that would make my life comfortable had too easily overtaken me.  As I learned more theology and doctrine I was aghast at Mr. Osteen’s “interpretations.”  His deception is not easily seen by those of us sincerely seeking God because he is subtle; my problem was that I wasn’t doing my homework. I came to understand that Mr. Osteen is abusing the concept of faith, hiding behind it to create a false sense of guilt in people who were not experiencing the worldly success he promises we are entitled to.  According to him, the only thing holding me back from wealth and health was my own failure to have enough faith in God.  That’s what Mr. Osteen wanted me to believe, but my experience told me something different.  I was learning that I can count on God to get me through the rough times and, even after only a few months, He had already proven this to me.  No, faith wasn’t my problem – false teaching was my problem!

 2 Peter 2:18, 19 – “For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”  

The bottom line was that I finally understood what Joel Osteen was really saying:  his message wasn’t to have faith in God.  Joel Osteen’s message is that I must have faith in me: my words, my attitude, and my thoughts.  His message doesn’t match up with the Bible.  I’m not a negative person – I have always been overly optimistic, a bit of a dreamer.  As I recalled the book I read at the time of my conversion (Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom), I realized that the inner city preacher in that book had more peace and faith than any wealthy person I had ever known about.  I knew that being successful according to the world wasn’t how I would “prove” my faith.  I wanted the kind of faith that inner-city preacher had – to be able to live in any situation knowing God was taking care of me.

 I try to lead others away from the health, wealth and prosperity preachers.  More often than not, their reaction is anger.  I’ve been accused of creating drama when I point out the errors in his teaching, of not being a true Christian because I don’t agree with Joel Osteen.  I have been told that they follow Joel because they are tired of hearing all the “fire and brimstone,” the negative stuff other preachers want to harp on!  And my only reaction is to tell them to do their homework. No matter who I listen to – including the preachers and teachers I know to be Biblically sound – I listen to what they say then go straight to my Bible and read the Scripture to see if it all matches up with the basic tenets of Christianity that we MUST hold fast to.  There are peripheral things that I don’t like to listen to but I understand those are things we can respectfully debate (like the rapture).  But when someone tries to tell me I am a little god, that my words have power, that I can speak anything into reality, I am left cold with the arrogance it takes to profane the Word of God in this way.  If you believe Mr. Osteen’s teachings to be Biblically sound then it is your responsibility to tell the paralyzed person that it is due to their lack of faith that they do not walk.  You must tell the dead child’s parent that their child died because of their lack of faith.  That is what the faith teachers teach and if you support them, you are telling the world that you believe these things to be the Truth.

 Acts 17:11 “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

 Anyone who studies or teaches God’s Word should welcome scrutinty and invite challenges.  This spurs us to action and makes all of us accountable. Don’t ever allow others to do the work – you must take it on yourself.  If you struggle to know whether you rightly understand Scripture, go to a trusted Christian and ask them for help.  And even with them, if you feel uneasy with their answer, keep digging.  The Holy Spirit will cause you to be disquieted with a lie – it’s always been true in my life.  Begin your study/reading time in prayer, asking God to open your eyes, your ears and your heart to hear what He wants you to know and to discern Truth from lies. 

(From “The Osteenification of American Christianity” by Hank Hanegraaff): “Take, for example Osteen’s parody of Philemon 1:6 as a pretext for making positive self-affirmations.  …Osteen writes “The Scripture says, ‘Our faith is made effectual when we acknowledge everything good in us.’”  Conversely, he says, “our faith is not effective when we acknowledge all our hurts and pains.  It’s not effective when we stay focused on our shortcomings or our weaknesses.”  …In reality, Philemon 1:6 has nothing whatsoever to do with making positive self-affirmations.  Nor does the text suggest that our faith is made effectual when we acknowledge all that is good within.  Indeed, Paul says quite the opposite.  Rather than having confidence in positive confessions, he prays that Philemon would have “a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”  …Far from making self-affirmations, Scripture exhorts us to affirm our weaknesses and as such our utter dependence on Christ.  To boast in the flesh has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with foolishness.  The great apostle to the Gentiles, and an exemplar to us all, [Paul] was reduced to an utter state of weakness so that he would no longer glory in himself.

…Consider [Osteen’s] rendering of Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden.  Adam’s offense, according to Osteen, was not rebellion against God but rather believing Satan’s suggestion that there might be something wrong with him. …From Genesis to Revelation, Osteen simply uses Scripture to communicate whatever he wants.  …[Osteenfication] is conforming Scripture to cultural norms as opposed to allowing the plain reading of the text to transform.  It is the recitals of mantras rather than the renewal of our minds.  The glory of the cross exchanged for the paltry glory of consumerism.  Psychobabble over precept.  In short, a rebranding of the faith once for all delivered to the saints and the gospel of the kingdom traded for empty baubles of health and wealth…”

 It’s Joel or Jesus.  Who do you want to please?  I cannot imagine holding so tightly to anyone proclaiming to be a follower of Christ that I will not hold them accountable.  My own preacher, my relatives, and especially celebrity preachers – they all must be tested and researched to insure their words match God’s Word.  I don’t care how popular they are or how maligned I am for speaking out against them – I’m choosing Jesus. 

 2 Corinthians 11:3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Cross references: 2 Corinthians 11:3 : Ge 3:1-6, 13; 1Ti 2:14; Rev 12:9

It’s Joel or Jesus.  Joel Osteen cannot save you from eternal separation from God.  I truly wish Mr. Osteen would get out of the charade of being a man of God and just call himself what he really is – a motivational speaker.  One of the sure evidences that Joel is not a committed follower of Christ is his fear of losing his material possessions.  Paul is very clear in telling us that he learned to be content in any circumstance and we must learn to do so also.  Jesus did not have a place to lay His head.  If these two were not “blessed” with worldly comfort, why does Joel tell his followers that worldly comfort is a true test of our faith?  Osteen is not alone – TD Jakes, Prince, Joyce Meyer, Hagee; watch them all.  They are perverters of the truth and we must hold them accountable. 

 Don’t put anyone above Jesus.

CHRISTIAN CLASSICS

12 Saturday Apr 2014

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If you’ve never read any of the “Christian classics,” I highly recommend you do so. I began reading authors like CS Lewis, AW Tozer, Andrew Murray and George Muller and the book Pilgrim’s Progress late last year and cannot tell you how inspiring I found them to be. I actually read CS Lewis a couple of years ago and have yet to finish all of his works, but it definitely left me hungry for more. As I read or listen to respected Christan leaders, I take note of references to these early Christian authors and keep a list to read. I am now working my way through my collection, sometimes reading 2 at a time! You can get entire collections in one book and because most are no longer on any Best Seller lists (but should be!), you can generally get them for a little bit of nothing. My only regret is that I bought most of them to read on my Kindle so I cannot pass them along to others to read!

 I do have to warn you, many people find it a bit challenging to stay in them long enough to get hooked but if you can stick with it and get used to each of the authors’ idiosyncrasies, it is well worth it. For the older authors and books, the language is not what we are accustomed to, but that is part of the attraction for me. We have so butchered and “dumbed down” the English language! To read it as it was once spoken and written can take some getting used to but it is like listening to great music! Experiencing the beauty of words and phrases seldom used anymore is heavenly (pardon the pun)! I read that Tozer wrote much of his work in a cramped upstairs apartment in the middle of Chicago – whether that’s true or not I haven’t taken the time to confirm. But, if true, I agree with one commentator I read – it’s hard to believe such inspired work came out of such a familiar, everyday place.

Numbers 21:9 (NIV):9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

It’s not only the language, it’s also their treatment of Scripture that we seldom see in modern-day authors. In contrasting the classics with modern-day works I think Tozer hits the nail on the head. We are so busy defending the faith or outlining how to get it into our lives that we seem to have lost the only real answer: fix our gaze on God; remind ourselves continuously of His presence. Just as in Numbers where God directs Moses to make a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole in sight of all the people so that those who have been bitten can gaze upon it and live, so should we simply “look” constantly throughout our days upon Jesus as if He is sitting at our side. I guess this wouldn’t sell many books or programs. Living a life of faith, and experiencing the many blessings God promises us, according to Tozer, is simply this: looking at Him, for looking is believing. The first chapter would be the last chapter. As we move farther away from the simplicity of it, we are inundated with book after book and method after method of how to get our faith into our lives. I know I sound like a broken record when people come to me seeking relief from a burden in their lives. I can think of no other answer but to remind them to look to Jesus, keep your eye on Him, abide in Christ, remind yourself of Him every minute of every day.

 As I began to grow in my faith, I sought out mature Christians, writers, speakers, preachers to help me understand what living for Christ should look like in my life; how I could rely on an unseen being to bring me comfort. It was overwhelming: I was introduced to all kinds of lists of things I should do; the beginning letter of each item on each list would begin with the same letter to help me remember the things I should be doing. But I couldn’t keep it all straight and my life became very similar to what it was before I found Christ – constantly working at developing better life habits. There was just one habit they failed to tell me about: reminding myself every minute of every day of Christ’s presence in my life (a.k.a. the Holy Spirit). This truth became clear to me as I read Andrew Murray’s “Abide in Christ.” It became clearer as I read Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God.”

 Each of the authors I have read so far has given me a gift – Lewis has brought me extended knowledge and new ways to think about Scripture; Murray has added a level of peace to my life I never thought imaginable; Pilgrim’s Progress formed truths about our walk with God into visual pictures for me. I’ve not read enough of Muller to find what impact his writing is going to have. But Tozer has left me with a concept that I pray all Christians would grasp hold of and can be included in all of the things mentioned here: spiritual receptivity – our willingness to accept that the unseen spiritual world is as real as the physical world we can see.

 I ran across Tozer’s concept of spiritual receptivity in his book The Pursuit of God and in my mind it answers the question as to why these works have lasted, why one person stays in the Bible consistently while another does not, why one Christian can truly find peace with Christ while another does not, while one finds it “normal” to walk with God while another struggles to stay in that place, why one struggles with handling their emotions while another has learned how to act on them in a Biblical manner . We must understand and KNOW that the spiritual realm of God is an unseen reality, and though we cannot experience with any of our five senses, it is no less a reality. One can believe in the principle of God, but not in the reality of Him. As long as I have even the slightest doubt about the reality of Him, I have no real being on whom I can rely. Though I tell myself I hand my burdens over to Him, if I do not truly believe there is anyone really “there” to see to them, I am left with nobody to take care of them.

 I have spent the last 4 years desperately trying to understand what living out my faith should look like in my day-to-day life. I felt it shouldn’t be something that changed with my emotions or the circumstances I found myself in each day. It needed to be so ingrained in me that, when external things threatened my peace or my joy, I overcame it no matter what the threat was. I wanted God’s presence in my life to be so entrenched in my minute-to-minute living that when I found myself feeling the consuming fear I had lived with for so long, I would be able to turn loose of it because I truly trusted God and His working in my life. I reached that level of trust and faith as I read Andrew Murray (Abide in Christ; The Two Covenants). His revelations were reinforced by Tozer’s concept of spiritual receptivity (The Pursuit of God and Man: The Dwelling Place of God). I found I can live more spiritually not by checking things off of a list of behaviors that all beginning with the letter “P” but by keeping my mind on Christ as much as possible. As I read my Bible each day, I formed a “book club” with Murray and Tozer. Their written words elaborated on what I was reading in God’s Word, emphasizing the points I wasn’t paying enough attention to, pasting together the verses that I needed to see in one place about living this Christian life.

 If you want to accept my challenge to begin reading the Christian classics, I recommend starting with Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. The prayers at the end of each chapter are amazing. I truly believe you will find a new level of spirituality as you gain insight from these amazing followers of Christ!

HIS GRACE IS [ENOUGH; AS MUCH AS IS NEEDED]

22 Saturday Mar 2014

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What was going on during the 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament?  I don’t know a lot about that period of history, but I do know that the Jewish religious leaders spent a lot of their time adding details to the ten laws God had given them to insure everyone was following them in the strictest sense.  “Don’t pick up your mat on the Sabbath” – they decided that was work.  “Don’t pick one piece of grain from the field on the Sabbath” – they decided that was harvesting, thus it was work.”  By the time they were done adding minute details to insure compliance, there were thousands of laws the Jewish people had to keep track of.  There must have been a shared belief that it was possible to be in complete obedience to God’s Laws if they could list all the behaviors they considered to be in violation and punish those who did not comply.  Without considering all of the theological and historical facts of what was actually going on, that’s my simplistic take on what they were trying to do.  They just kept burdening the people by adding more and more details to the Law. 

Mark 3:2-6 ESV – “And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.”

It is easy for us to see the error of the religious leaders.  But adding rules and requirements to God’s gift of salvation is something most of us regularly do, though it is generally less obvious to us.  We accept Christ’s payment of our sin debt as a gift initially, but as we live out our faith, we unwittingly add “details” and expect ourselves and others to comply with our ideas of Godly behavior.  I often find myself calculating the hours I spend reading my Bible or praying to insure I am devoting enough time to my relationship with God – what “enough time” is I’m not sure.  I worry that I haven’t found a meaningful way to serve others: proof that I am not yet worthy of being His child.  Grace IS amazing and I have to remind myself every day that I don’t have to add anything to it.  Of course, I need to be doing – but living out the love I have for God is not the same as the misguided notion that what I am doing is earning my salvation.  

Ephesians 2:8-10 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Almost every day I read something about things we must include in our Christian walk to assure us of our salvation.  A Pentecostal friend doubts my salvation because I don’t speak in tongues.  I ran across a website that says being baptized isn’t simply an act of obedience but a requirement for salvation.  Churches often adopt a written statement of how its members will conduct themselves, listing behaviors that they will and will not engage in.  For grace to be free, and His Word assures us that it is, there can be no signs or behaviors required, except this one:  to believe that Jesus is God in human form and that His death is the only way we can be made righteous before God and thereby be reconciled to Him.  Period. 

Romans 11:6 – “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”

It’s easy to tell others all of the things we stopped or started doing as a result of our relationship with Christ.  But when non-believers, new Christians or unlearned believers hear these things, they conclude that God loves us based on the things we do or do not do.  They cannot separate these things from the concept of grace that we try to explain.  Just as the Pharisees kept the Jewish people accountable for every detail of the Law, those we are trying to help find Christ believe they must be “in compliance” with the “laws” we hold about following Christ and know they will fail, so they choose not to take part.  How much better if Christians talked as much about free grace as we do about acceptable behavior – or better yet, provide examples of God’s grace through our own lives. 

Psalm 14:2-3 – “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

In order to appreciate this amazing free gift of grace, we need to understand how God views Sin.  Once we understand how vile it is to Him, we begin to understand what is so amazing about His grace.  Think about forgiving a murderer for killing an innocent child, then take it to the next level – pay his debt to society for him; serve his prison sentence even when it means you will be executed for the crime. We murder our relationship with God when we choose Sin over Him.  We are the murderer taking from God what He loves.  Our sentence was death but God paid it, not simply by forgiving us but actively paying the debt required.

Once we comprehend God’s grace to us, there is another challenge:  extending God’s grace to others, again, not as a requirement of salvation but as a way to show others the extent of God’s love for us.  While we may find extending mercy – the opposite side of the grace/mercy coin – a bit easier because it is deciding NOT to do what we feel we have a right to do, grace modeled on God’s example requires action most often in direct opposition to what our human nature wants to do. God’s grace isn’t merely a decision to forgive us when we don’t deserve it.  He DID something – He left His glorious home and came to earth where He suffered rejection, humiliation, and a painful death.  God’s example of grace is the model for our treatment of those who have wronged us – to do the unexpected, something non-believers would deem “over-the-top” – forgive the murderer, sure, but how about developing a relationship with him because he doesn’t know Christ; forgive the woman at work who stole your idea and, as a result, got that promotion, but also send her a card or a gift congratulating her, knowing God is in control of your life and your rewards are eternal.  Once we grasp the extent of God’s grace to us and stand in genuine awe of it, over-the-top behavior can become our new normal.  What a difference that would make in our world!

“Amazing grace, …  saved a wretch like me.”

MY ETERNAL HOME IS……EARTH?!

08 Sunday Dec 2013

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Until recently I believed that after we die, we go to heaven where there will be no sickness, tears, sorrow or pain.  I could look forward to having angel wings, playing a harp, and looking down on loved ones for eternity.  The streets there would be paved with gold and there would be pearly gates. It was all rather surreal and, while I desired to go there, it seemed like something more akin to a fairy tale than a real place.  When I finally understood the reality of God, these notions of heaven didn’t fit with what I had learned about Him and His plans for us.  Surreal and magical is not the mode in which I had learned God operates.

“…the world in which Adam and Eve lived would have been the perfect temperature, the perfect humidity, without pests or diseases, and without anything that would detract from their enjoyment of knowing God in a perfect, undiluted way.  Surely, this is what is meant by the word ‘paradise’.” What Was Life Like In the Garden of Eden Before Sin?  by Robert Driskell on August 7, 2012

When God created humans He put them in the Garden of Eden where He planned for them to live forever.  If the Garden was to be a place of eternity, it would have had to have been a perfect place designed to meet all our needs.  It would have included all the extras God gives us to demonstrate how much He loves us.  In my mind, a place like the Garden of Eden would be a wonderful place to spend eternity and more desirable and realistic than a heaven with streets paved of gold.     

 Revelation 21:4 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Life here is short.  We’re given 70 or 80 years max then we’re taken to another place to live forever.  While this world certainly is challenging and full of undesirable things, there are moments when we can sense what God actually had in mind:  the beauty of nature; loving people; comfort, joy and peace; intimacy with God.  When I turned my life over to Christ, I was more aware of His goodness and as my life settled into the calm, peaceful existence God wanted for me, I began to see one of the ways He shows His love is in the variety of things He gave us to enjoy.  I’m sure streets of gold are beautiful, but can they compare with the beauty of lush, green acres of grass?  How will cities of gold compare to the breathtaking view of budding trees and flowers in springtime? Why did God go to such pains to create so many beautiful flowers here, why so many different shades of green? I came to believe that these creations could not possibly have been meant to be temporal – these amazing things were more suited for God’s original eternal plan.

I read a book where someone expressed concern that they will be bored in heaven.  They could not fathom how an existence where all we do is praise God could be fulfilling or sitting on a cloud and playing a harp would be an ideal existence.  I had never thought about being bored in heaven, but after reading that, I began to think about those times in life when I had accomplished something or did something for someone that brought such joy.  The amazing feeling of love I get from knowing Jesus is sometimes so overwhelming that I can’t even express the emotions I experience. These feelings are also God’s gift to us.  Although they would need to be fine-tuned so we are doing them in a way that is not self-serving, realizing our potential, serving others, and loving God are great sources of fulfillment, peace and joy. I added them to my list of things I hoped heaven would include.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 – “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.”

As I learned about God’s nature and how He works in the world, I began to realize the things I believed about heaven probably weren’t accurate.  As my theories eroded, I still knew it to be a real place and I yearned to know the truth about it.  I thought I had found my answer when books about people who had visited heaven and returned to earth came to my attention – I could know about heaven by reading their experiences. But these accounts only added to my confusion.  Their stories were even more surreal than the beliefs I had held.  If these people had actually gone to a real place, their stories should match.  If three people go to Hawaii, I should find things in their stories that match.  I found little, if anything, similar in the stories I took the time to read.  Each person’s experience included such amazing things that another person who had actually gone to the same place would surely have told us about them.  I can’t imagine that Colton Burpo’s rainbow-colored horse is a fact of heaven that Don Piper simply forgot to mention!  I’m sure these people had some kind of experience, but I do not believe it was a visit to the actual “place” of heaven. Furthermore, the apostle Paul is quite clear about John’s visit to heaven and the fact that he was not permitted to talk about the things he had seen and heard; as Hank Hanegraaff puts it in his book AfterLife: “Paul did not so much as countenance writing a 67th book of the Bible titled 90 Minutes in Heaven.” The apostles John and Paul knew better than to talk about a visit to heaven and would not pronounce a definitive conclusion about the experience – they wrote what God directed them to write and focused on taking the Gospel to unbelievers.  Finally, since no new revelations are to be forthcoming following those given by Jesus’s eyewitnesses, we can safely dismiss the claims made by any visitors to heaven or hell.

Mark 4:39-41 – “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!””

I love reading about Jesus turning water into wine, healing sick people and raising people from the dead.  As a child, I equated His miracles with magic, much like Mary Poppins was able to do!  Even as an adult, my understanding about them was more along the lines of magic.  God can do anything He wants to do.  Then I heard a Christian teacher talking about how Jesus’s miracles were used to display His power over nature: water fermenting, bodies healing, filling fishing nets with fish, calming storms, and walking on water.  Processes that take months or years, Jesus was able to bring to completion in seconds.  Forces of nature were altered with His words.  I had never thought of miracles in this way.  Jesus didn’t perform “magic.”  He exercised His power over our physical world, operating in His world as only He is able to do.  Somehow that realization made God more of a reality. While I still understood that His miracles were supernatural, understanding that they are a demonstration of His power over the things He created moved them from “magic” to a more understandable and believable phenomenon.

Hank Hanegraaff in his book AfterLife:  “…the imagery of Revelation is not intended to tell us what heaven looks like but rather is intended to tell us what heaven is like.”

I wanted an explanation about our life after death that was on the level of what I had learned about Jesus’s miracles.  As my confusion and curiosity increased, God brought messengers and messages to my attention with a new level of understanding from the Holy Spirit.  As I learned more about Biblical interpretation I learned about the imagery, metaphors and other figures of speech used to communicate ideas and aspects which we would not otherwise understand.  Interposing these literary tools on Bible passages about our life after death brought me to the understanding I sought. 

 2 Corinthians 5:8 – “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord”

When we die, our soul separates from our physical body and we are present with God.  Immediately upon death, we will know God as a reality and, for those who rejected Him the experience of hell (separation from God) begins as they understand God’s great love and exactly what it is they have rejected.  Those who have died experience God apart from their physical bodies.  This phase of life after death is referred to as relational, rather than locational, as you could not find a map of all the existing universes and stick a pin in the spot where heaven is.  This doesn’t make it any less real.  It is merely a supernatural way of existence until the final phase of life after death begins.  We will exist spiritually until Jesus returns to this world.   

Isaiah 65:17 – “See,I will create new heavens and a new earth”

Isaiah 66:22 – “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord,….”

Revelation 21:1,2 – “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

When Jesus returns, the final phase of life after death begins (Hank Hanegraaff refers to it as “life after life-after-life).  At this time, all people who have died will be resurrected and their souls will be returned to a physical body.  Including those still living at the time of Jesus’s return, all people will receive eternal, perfect bodies like that Jesus had when He was resurrected – no longer subject to decay and deterioration.  Jesus will also bring a new earth – a newly-created earth that, like our new bodies, will not decay or rot, where God will live among us.  Christ’s sincere, committed followers will live in this new, perfect, eternal world going about a life much like we know now, but totally free from sin:  no greed, no murder, no lust, no covetousness, no lies.  God will reign and we will live for eternity just as He planned in the beginning, in a new Garden of Eden where sin is no longer a possibility.  It is not an eternal home of clouds, angel wings and harps, but a world much like what we experience now, free from the things that bring us sorrow and despair.  There will be things that will be different in the eternal world, but it will resemble this world more so than a place where magical creatures embody the images that have been used to describe the experience.

Although we can accurately say we will go to heaven after we die, we will spend eternity on a “new earth.”  And, to me, that matches up perfectly with God’s working in the world thus far and the promises He has given us.  It is in keeping with the reality of who God is and His original plan for us.

Genesis 1:26, 27 – “Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness,so they may ruleover the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth,and over all the creatures that moveon the earth.” God created humankindin his own image, in the image of God he created them,male and female he created them.”

THE TRUE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

30 Saturday Nov 2013

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In December, 2009, I yielded my life to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, began dwelling within me.  It is a wondrous thing to think about. In his book “The Prayer Life” Andrew Murray tells us exactly who the Holy Spirit is and how we must think about Him:

 “What was the peculiar privilege of the disciples, who were always in fellowship with him?  It was uninterrupted enjoyment of the presence of the Lord Jesus.  It was because of this they were so sorrowful at the thought of His death.  They would be deprived of that presence.  He would be no longer with them.  How, under these circumstances, did the Lord Jesus comfort them?  He promised that the Holy Spirit from heaven should so work in them a sense of the fullness of His life and of His personal presence that He would be even more intimately near and have more unbroken fellowship with them than ever they experienced while He was upon earth.”

 Initially the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life brought about some dramatic changes.  I couldn’t wait to find time in my day to read my Bible – it became much more than a book. I noticed things in the stories I had never noticed before, understood things I never understood before.  The more I learned about Jesus, the more I wanted to know.  I accepted the things God told me to do, even when I disagreed with them or when they put me at odds with the world.  I rid myself of habits I had struggled with for years.   I hurt for people where I hadn’t even noticed their suffering before.  I began to realize how far from God the world was getting.  I experienced peace and joy for the first time in my adult life.

 1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,”

 While many of the powers Christians were given during the first years of the church can still be given, they are no longer the norm.  Certain gifts were given during that time to insure the Gospel would spread.  Speaking in tongues was necessary so that the Gospel could be taken to people who did not understand the language of the first converts.  Healing and exorcising demons was widespread and served as evidence that Jesus was truly the son of God.  News of those events attracted a lot of attention and word of them spread quickly in a world with none of the modern modes of mass communication we rely on today. 

 In our world today, confusion about the Holy Spirit abounds.  One Christian leader stated that the Church would never tolerate this kind of abuse of Jesus. Too many who claim to be committed followers of Christ insist on visible signs of spirituality.  Some decide we will be able to speak in foreign tongues as proof we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit; others believe we will have healing powers, the ability to avoid all sickness, or will amass great wealth as evidence that God dwells within us. Some are led to dress differently as a visible sign of the change they have experienced.  Some begin to live differently than the rest of the world, renouncing modern conveniences. But the most wondrous power of the Holy Spirit is in things we cannot see: understanding God and His Word, a full understanding of Jesus’s teachings, peace in the midst of trouble, assurance when we find ourselves doubting God, comfort during difficult trials, boldness to speak the Truth in a world that does not want to hear it. The Holy Spirit will even help us pray when we find it difficult to express our thoughts to God!  These are the things we experience that insure He is with us. 

Romans 8:26 – “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

 I know that I don’t fully understand His power and my faith in Him is often very weak.  I tend to think I’m on my own again, but nothing could be further from the truth.  In another passage from “The Prayer Life,” Andrew Murray writes:

 “When a Christian does not yield entirely to the leading of the Spirit…he lives, without knowing it, under the power of ‘the flesh.’  This life of ‘the flesh’ manifests itself in many different ways.  It appears in the hastiness of spirit, or the anger which so unexpectedly arises in you, in the lack of love for which you have so often blamed yourself; in the pleasure found in eating and drinking, about which at times your conscience has chidden you; in that seeking for your own will and honour, that confidence in your own wisdom and power, that pleasure in the world, of which you are sometimes ashamed before God.  All this is life ‘after the flesh.’”

 And, though I don’t want to admit it that is my answer:  I am still living life under the power of ‘the flesh.’  As God leads me to do certain things, I refuse, giving in to my excuses and fears.  I still look for the things that make my life comfortable and easy.  Instead of taking life a day at a time, I constantly look forward, hampering my ability to call on Him for help with my present situation.  After 50 years of doing things under my own power, I struggle to let go and truly give it all to Him.  But just as I did in December, 2009, each day I must yield myself to Him in the same way.  I must devote time each day to be with Him in silence, without imposing my will and thoughts on Him.  Again, I refer to Andrew Murray’s words (from Abiding in Christ):

 “And, last of all, even when the soul seeks truly to enter the way of faith, there is the impatience of the flesh, which forms its judgment of the life and progress of the soul not after the divine but the human standard.  In dealing with all this, and so much more, blessed the man who learns the lesson of stillness, and fully accepts God’s word: “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”  Each time he listens to the word of the Father, or asks the Father to listen to his words, he dares not begin his Bible reading or prayer without first pausing and waiting, until the soul be hushed in the presence of the Eternal Majesty.”

 Psalm 46:10 – “ Be still, and know that I am God;”

 The Holy Spirit’s unseen gifts are the greatest.  I have little interest in speaking a language I’ve never learned unless it is needed to lead another to Christ.  I have little interest in the gift of healing unless it is God’s plan for my life.  God does tell us that every believer will receive gifts that will speak volumes about what Christ can do in the lives of those who follow Him: peace, joy, wisdom.  I want to exhibit those things so a life dedicated to Christ is desired by everyone I am around. 

 Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

WHEN “MERRY CHRISTMAS” BECOMES A STUMBLING BLOCK

11 Monday Nov 2013

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I love Christmas.  It’s my favorite holiday.  As I think about what we are celebrating, it never ceases to amaze me:  the Creator of the universe enters our world and takes on human form.  He begins His time on earth as a baby born of a virgin.  Our faith rests on believing Jesus’ virgin birth as a true historical event. As Christians we are to share the fact that God dwelt among us as a man with as many people as possible and Christmas provides a great opportunity to do that.  Jesus as a baby is easier to talk about than Jesus the man.  In the movie Talladega Nights, Bobby Ricky (played by Will Ferrell) proclaims “Baby Jesus is my favorite Jesus” to his dinner guests.  My guess is that’s how most people feel. Baby Jesus is safe.  Baby Jesus is a symbol of peace on earth, goodwill toward man.  Those messages are much more appealing than the things the adult Jesus stands for.   

There is one seasonal phenomenon that has started to rear its ugly head that needs careful thought:  Christians insisting that “Merry Christmas” is the only permissible phrase to be used this time of year.  In our zeal to insure Jesus is kept in the spotlight, we declare that “Happy Holidays” won’t do.   A couple of years ago, there was even an online effort encouraging people to boycott stores that refer to this time of the year only as the holidays.  In defending this stance, we claim we are trying to keep Christ in Christmas.

Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

As a committed follower of Jesus, we are to be conscious of how our behavior affects others, making sure it reflects Christ.  Every word we utter should be measured to insure we do not turn non-believers away from Him.  No matter the season, we must strive to show others’ His love.  Christmas provides an opportunity for talking to others about Jesus as we celebrate His birth, but focusing on telling everyone “Merry Christmas” with no regard to what they might believe is short-sighted.  It can also be regarded as a form of Phariseeism.  Just as the Pharisees wore their phylacteries on their forehead and long fringes on their robes to show others their religious position, wishing others Merry Christmas is merely an outward sign of our religion.  God isn’t concerned about outward signs.  He cares only for what is in our hearts.

Matthew 23:27: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

I jumped right on the bandwagon of letting everyone know that December is the celebration of Christ’s birth.  I was determined to put Christ back into Christmas.  I was a real soldier in the fight to re-claim December for Jesus.  I wore my “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” pin and responded to “Happy Holidays” with “Merry Christmas” believing I was standing up for my Savior.  One day I wished someone a Merry Christmas and her response was, “I’m Jewish.”  She smiled and wished me a Merry Christmas, telling me she hoped I enjoyed the holidays.  Her response showed much more love than I had been willing to show others.  While my hope is that all will come to know Christ, the reality is that many are not there yet.  If I am to be used by God to win people over, I have to demonstrate His love, just as this woman had done.  I showed no love for the lost during the time I was celebrating God’s great love for me. 

I Corinthians 8:11-13: “…when you … wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.  Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

That brief conversation could’ve turned out much worse.  I was fortunate to have encountered a forgiving, tolerant Jewish woman who understood the holiday she celebrates during this time of the year is not that of the majority.  She was gentle in her correction of me.  I realized my insistence that Christmas be the only holiday recognized only demonstrates to others that I care very little for them.  It disregards the fact that many people do not know Jesus as their Savior.  My “Merry Christmas” message wasn’t about winning them to Christ – it was all about me.  It was more apt to be a stumbling block, moving them farther away from considering my faith as I shoved it onto them, showing little, if any respect for where they are spiritually at that moment.  I realized that lady was one of Christ’s lost sheep and I did nothing to draw her closer to Him with those two words.

The real spirit of Christmas is becoming more like our Savior in the spirit of selflessness.  Showing respect for others’ current belief only strengthens the chance they will consider Jesus.  As I shoved Christmas down the throat of every shop clerk and holiday shopper I could, I did not understand how selfish my crusade was.  My priority was MY belief, MY holiday.  I was not thinking about how disrespectful I was being to anyone who was not a follower of Jesus.  This was about as far from selflessness as I could get!  I heard a well-known teacher and preacher tell about his trip to India and he began talking about the need for the man he was visiting to go pray at his mosque.  I expected the Christian to use the opportunity to teach something about Jesus, but instead he agreed to accompany the man to the mosque.  I was quite surprised!  He didn’t object, didn’t use the situation to proclaim how wrong the other was in his beliefs.  He simply showed respect by allowing their meeting to be interrupted by the man’s religious practice.  He went on to tell how the incident helped their friendship grow as the man was more willing to listen due to the respect he had been shown.

Galatians 5:14: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I thought about how I felt during my December “crusades” when someone wished me “Happy Holidays.”  I was offended.  I realized that is probably the reaction a non-believer has when I insist they have a “merry Christmas.”  Right or wrong, the fact is different people are celebrating different things at the very time we celebrate our Lord’s birth and we must recognize that.  Jesus meets us where we are.  He doesn’t require we clean up our act before He will extend His grace to us.  And He is our example of how we are to treat people. 

So what are we to make of businesses that have gone the way of the generic holiday?  Well, they have a business to run and they are trying to provide goods to anyone who might walk into their store.  “Happy holidays” covers everyone.  There are a number of different holiday celebrations during December:  Hanukkah is being celebrated by the Jewish people, Kwanzaa is celebrated by many African Americans, Eid Al Adha by Muslims, Festivus, a tongue-in-cheek holiday idea introduced on the TV show Seinfeld, has even been taken up by atheists!  Consider how a Muslim will appreciate your acknowledgment of Eid Al Adha, or how a Jewish family will cherish your card wishing them a Happy Hanukkah.  Your respect for their religious beliefs will open up many more opportunities for a discussion about Jesus. 

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only…

Keeping Christ in Christmas is so much more than a phrase we utter or words we use during this time of the year.  We do a great disservice to God when we focus on these outward signs. If someone wishes me “happy holidays,” I can assume they are not a believer and should look for opportunities to share the good news with them.  Jesus made it very clear that we should not be like the Pharisees, bearing only outward signs of our love for God.  God’s desire is that we show compassion, mercy and love for others.  Wishing a non-believer a greeting that is in keeping with where they are spiritually is one way to show your respect and leave open the possibility that next year you’ll be able to wish them a “Merry Christmas!”

As the holiday season gets under way, I pray that I will remember the other celebrations taking place during this time and that I will look for opportunities to share the good news of Christ’s birth with someone ready to hear it.  But I must always remember that an appropriate greeting should be appropriate to the hearer.  I don’t want to slam the door on my ability to reach anybody – Merry Christmas should not be a stumbling block!

WITHOUT JESUS WE DON’T HAVE GOD

13 Friday Sep 2013

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There’s some site I’ve seen posted a lot recently on Facebook with celebrities proclaiming their faith.  The quotes include comments about reading their Bible and falling on their knees in prayer every day.  Some comment on how they couldn’t get through life without their faith and/or God.  While I do not pretend to know anything about their spiritual lives, I am not convinced they are Christians, if that’s something I’m supposed to take away from the quotes.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m really happy to see that some top celebrities are reading God’s Word.  I would be happier if they would mention Jesus in there somewhere.   

John 14:6-“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Many of my friends and family will readily tell me they believe in God.  But the conversation comes to an abrupt halt when I ask them to tell me what they believe about Jesus.  I would venture to guess that most people believe in God and feel He helps them in their lives in some way but they see no need for Jesus.  

I have believed in God all my life. From as far back as I can remember I have felt connected to Him.  I have always known He loves me and I never doubted that He exists.  Jesus was kind of a side item.  I knew in my head that He “died for me,” but didn’t really understand how that affected me.  It was only when I truly understood who Jesus is that God began to have a real impact in my life.  My spiritual life went from a bunch of beliefs, most of which I made up, to the reality of God.  He went from being a distant spiritual being to a living presence.  My impression of God shifted from a demanding Father to a loving one.  In their commentary “The Fourfold Gospel” J. W. McGarvey and Phillip Y. Pendleton write:  “Nature shows God above us; the Law shows God against us; but the Gospel shows God with us, and for us.”     

As I studied the Bible I could see the big picture of the world; how events in the Old Testament all led up to Christ and how the world as we know it will end with His return.  I no longer fear the world because it is no longer a random bunch of happenings.  While we are subject to man’s depravities in the short-term, God has ultimate control and will take it back in the end.  I find great comfort in that.  I also find comfort in knowing He has a reason for every single human being, including me.  God had a plan for me even before I was born.  Life is no longer about me; it is now about serving God and leading others to Jesus.  The hopelessness is gone and I have new resources to help me manage the sadness I have always felt.

 God provided the law to the Israelites as a way for them to live to set themselves apart from other people, to show their love for Him through obedience, and to acknowledge their need for His forgiveness of their sins.  There were rituals, sacrifices and laws that they strived to obey. These were external symbols God used to illustrate His authority, His direction on how we are to live, and the requirement to pay a price for sin.  They foreshadowed Jesus.  Once He died and was resurrected, the need for these things went away.  Because of Jesus, I don’t have to DO anything for God’s forgiveness.  It’s hard to fathom that God offers this kind of rescue to us.  All I have to do is know that Jesus is who He said He is (God).  Until I fully grasped what God did in the person of Jesus I depended on successfully obeying a bunch of rules to insure I received God’s forgiveness and blessings.  And that’s why I viewed life as so hopeless. 

Each time I failed God I sank deeper and deeper in an abyss.  At some point, I gave up trying and convinced myself that God really didn’t care how I lived. In my belief system, God didn’t require anything of me; I call Him my Santa Claus god because I decided to believe He existed only to give me the things I needed and the things I wanted.  But deep down I knew I was wrong and I was engaged in a never-ending mental wrestling match.  A summary of my thoughts might go something like this:

If I’m good for a while, then I mess up, will God give me a second chance?  I hope He loves me enough to give me a third, fourth and fifth chance.  There has to be a line to cross where God says “enough is enough” and He’s done with us. How does God determine when we cross that line? Is He comparing me to Mother Theresa, the Pope, my grandma, maybe Oprah?   For every bad thing I do, must I do something good to even up my score or can I assume it only takes one really good thing to make up for lots of kind-of-bad things?  What if I forget something bad I did and don’t make up for it?  If I find a number of people who don’t view what I did as bad can I cross it off my list?  What if I die right after a bad deed and don’t get a chance to do the good thing I intended to do to make up for it?  Does the intent to do good count or do I actually have to do it?  Is God keeping a tally sheet of my sins?  Even my thoughts are bad – there’s not enough time in the day to do a good thing for every bad thought I have!

It was mentally and emotionally exhausting and as the failures piled up the harder it was to see a way out!  I was fighting a losing battle.  Then God led me to an understanding of what He did in the person of Jesus.  I learned that my perception of God and Jesus as being separate was wrong; God is three persons yet one.  This is a difficult concept to grasp, but I accepted it by faith.  I don’t have to understand it I just have to know it’s true.  I learned that there’s nothing I can do to earn God’s forgiveness; Jesus did all that needed to be done.  I learned what grace is and I learned what God’s mercy is: God gives me what I don’t deserve (forgiveness) and He refrains from giving me what I do deserve (punishment).  It’s so simple, yet so complicated.  But this new understanding freed me from constantly looking back and drowning in my past.  It gave me a way to show God I love Him simply by putting forth a sincere effort to do what He asks. 

I’m not suggesting that once I figured out what God did in the person of Jesus all my problems disappeared.  But it was the beginning of a life that allowed me to move forward, assured I was forgiven for all my poor choices; it enabled me to wake up each morning knowing I have a clean slate in God’s eyes.  Life is still difficult.  In some ways it’s even harder.  But with Jesus there’s hope.  It’s not a constant fight to live up to an unattainable standard.  Now that I know Jesus, the Spirit dwells in me, the other person that God is while still being God.  That’s what I didn’t understand before.  And that is where I found hope where I saw none before.  I’m not alone in this.

John 14:17 – “…even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

It’s frustrating when non-believers relegate my experience as merely a belief or adopting a religion. The God that created this universe dwells in me.  When I fully understood that, it overwhelmed me. I cried and I repeated the idea over and over in my head, trying to wrap my brain around it.  It still amazes me.  I’ve tried to come up with a way to explain the experience.  In the commentary The Fourfold Gospel (McGarvey and Pendelton) there is a comment regarding Luke 1:15 that says “the stimulation of the Spirit is elsewhere thus contrasted with alcoholic stimulants.”  I’ve considered explaining the experience by comparing it to drinking alcohol, but thought it a bit irreverent.  Seeing it in print by accomplished Christian authors assured me it’s OK to use the analogy.  If I were to tell someone who has never drank alcohol the way they will feel and the things they might do if they consume several drinks, they might not believe me.  But once they start drinking, they will find it to be a real experience.  The Spirit indwelling me is the same way.  It wasn’t a response to something I read nor was it a mere decision to accept a particular doctrine.  It is as real as the experience I have when I drink alcohol.  When I began leaning on His power instead of going it alone, I was able to rid my life of so many harmful habits and behaviors. That’s the difference Jesus has made. 

John 16:7  – “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Jesus’ disciples begged Him to stay but He assured them His leaving was for their good.  Jesus died so we can have a personal relationship with God and that relationship can exist because the Spirit dwells in us.  There can be no closer relationship.  And the only way to receive the Spirit is through the re-birth we experience when we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross.  Only as a believer of Jesus are we counted as one of God’s children. 

Simply put, without Jesus, you don’t have God.  It grieves me when people claim a faith that includes God but they don’t see a need for Jesus.  They will not spend eternity with God, and they will miss blessings God wants to give them in this life.  God has given us the responsibility of helping others understand who Jesus is.  It’s hard to do in the culture that exists today.  Not only is it a narrow gate to God, He tells us few will find it. 

Matthew 7:14 – “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

“Imperfect knowledge of Him troubles, but perfect knowledge and love cast out fear.” (I John 4:18 partial paraphrase in The Fourfold Gospel, McGarvey and Pendleton)