Slapped Upside the Heart

06.28.12

2 Timothy 3.2-4 2 ...preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. NASB

Two things stood out to me in reading this today:

1.) Reprove, rebuke, exhort. Notice, Paul didn’t say, coddle, caress, and cuddle – no, his words were forceful and imminent. We Christians need to be routinely smacked upside the heart so we get it; because the world will politically-correct us right into a grave of inaction if we’re not careful. The life of the believer is to be a life of active discipline and self-discipline. Notice, it isn’t to be a life of punishment. It’s: eat your peas, do your sit-ups, wash your elbows, and behind your ears. Take care of your heart, be concerned about the things of God.

2.) [They] will turn aside to myths. What are some modern myths? What are some flat-out lies that we comfortably believe to be the truth? They’re out there: and many believe them.

One popular myth: some sins aren’t all that bad. Another is: I’ll be okay all by myself if I don’t have to interact with too many others – I can go it alone. Another is: I can improve myself. Another is: I’m okay because I live in America. Another is: there are some things in this life that are too big to fail.

Paul told Timothy, as Timothy led his congregation, that believers need to be treated with godly dignity and respect by being slapped around by the hard truth so they won’t fall into comfortable myths as a result. Soft myths will make us fall into the sound sleep of error if we’re not careful. The Christian-life is hard enough by itself without the life-saving effects of self-discipline. We need to be reproved, rebuked, and exhorted to withstand what is daily coming at us so that we have the strength and wherewithal to attend to the Master’s purposes. One small indicator of our spiritual strength is simply: what is the content, frequency, and quality of our prayer-life? Feeling guilty yet? I do!

What myths do I hold as true? What have I comfortably embraced as truth that is, in reality, toxic? In myself I can certainly name a few. Paul told Timothy the stark truth because that is the only way to approach life as a Christian (and as a pastor). People are just like a lot of other things in life: like moving water they will always follow the course of least resistance. If there’s one thing we need in this life as believers it’s resistance against the things that lead us away from the truth.

Today, I am rebuked, reproved, and reminded that without diligence I will lapse into indolence with regard to my spiritual well-being. I need to be slapped around because the regular blows of truth will protect me from the subtle kisses of sin. Lord, help me!

A Prayer-Bomb Kind of Guy

06.15.12

Colossians 1.9-12 9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11  strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. NASB

What a prayer! It seems that in Colossae was a church that was not planted by Paul, but by a fellow worker of Paul's. And Paul was thrilled that they got it and kept it. So Paul prayed and continued to pray for them. I think he prayed similar prayers for all the churches – after all, why not pray and ask the God of infinite providence to give us everything we need for life on this earth and the propagation of the faith - all the time?

When we pray, what do we ask for? Do we ask God for some more of this and more of that? Do we ask God for what He’s already given us? Do we ask Him for things that are against His will? In America it is culturally acceptable to say to someone going through tragic circumstances: our thoughts and prayers are with you. What are those thoughts and prayers? If they aren’t like Paul’s then they probably aren’t hitting the mark. God looks at the heart when one prays and God sees sincerity, but sincerity can be sincerely wrong. Do we pray according to our relationship with God or do we throw up a prayer bomb hoping it explodes in the right place at the right time – with the right results?

I contend that if we pray, then that action alone ought to obligate us to some kind of submission to the rulership of God. If not, why pray? If God is not my King, why ask Him for anything? If He is not my King, do I pray believing He will overlook my lack of loyalty to Him? Probably not. Somehow, I think we culturally think that when we pray we turn on some kind of obligation switch with God: Oh, he’s praying now, I guess I’m obligated now to do something on his behalf because he’s praying; who cares that he ignores Me the rest of the time? Prayer is serious business and prayer is not to be taken lightly or casually; prayer is to be taken causally; we’re to pray with a specific intent in mind. And prayer is to be a habit of the heart; a routine, customary part of who we are and how we live.

I confess it, I’m usually a prayer-bomb kind of guy. I’m not a conversational pray-er. That needs to change – there is too much at stake and too much going on around us that demands I pray. But I have to make that obedient choice – I cannot and must not be guilted into action. On the other hand, if I know the meaning and the value of prayer, is it all that bad that I feel badly for not using prayer for what it is and what it does? When I read a prayer like Paul’s do I not feel some guilt for not taking up the torch and running the race as he did, or as the Lord did? After all, didn’t Paul pray: “…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord…”?

Prayer is, and always ought to be, an indicator of how I’m walking, and with (and for) whom. My lack of prayer (or my tact of prayer) ought to be an indicator of where my heart and my treasure really are… anything less is a masquerade.

It Applies to Everyone

06.09.12

Ecclesiastes 12.13 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. NASB

You know, there isn’t a soul on earth who isn’t precious or unknown to God. There isn’t a soul on the planet who doesn’t deserve to know  and experience the depth and riches of God’s love and goodness; it applies to everyone.

I think what happened when Solomon got to the end of his musings about life and experience, he decided: yes, God has given me much, but I cannot afford to miss the forest for the trees; life ultimately boils down to how I relate to my God. And not just for the day, or for the moment, but always.

It is true; life does come in increments of moments, minutes, hours, days and years – that is how things are structured for now. But as I read Solomon and think about what he said, I pick up a certain tenor to his words that tells me: despite the incrementality of life, it is not each moment, but how we carry our faith from one moment to the next – and continue to carry it so. We’re not to major on the moments, but we’re not to forget them either.

We get so caught up in the moments that we overlook the seasons. We can focus so much on our seasons that we miss our moments. The conclusion: When all has been heard, fear God and keep His commandments as the medium for life through the smallest seconds and longest seasons. This applies to everyone. Or at least it is what is intended for everyone.

To live life and miss God is one of the greatest tragedies in the universe. No, it is the greatest tragedy in the universe. We were made by God and for God and to miss that is to miss the supremest desire of our heart. And that applies to you, me, and everyone else. Everyone’s desire is to be happy; everyone’s desire is to be safe and well; warm on the cold days, and cool on the hot days. And the Answer to the deepest longings of our heart is the Lord God.

Solomon enjoyed what few on earth ever achieve: riches beyond measure, freedom beyond description, and wisdom to know the difference. But even with all this, the smartest guy in the world had to bow his knee and say: to have all this and not have God – well at best, it’s a loss. And it applies to everyone because God is infinitely more than all of what earth has to offer.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

-       The Serenity Prayer

Soul Keeping

06.01.12

Proverbs 21.28 28 A false witness will perish, but the man who listens to the truth will speak forever.

It is one thing to listen to the truth of God’s word; it is another thing altogether to act upon what one hears. I cannot help thinking about my life and conduct when I read the Proverbs. And then, when I read passages like Romans 13, I wonder, how am I doing at all this stuff? Life in Christ is not about performance but it is about obedience, and conduct reveals who I am inside.

When Paul says, Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13.12) how am I doing at that? Do I just read this verse, give it mental ascent, and keep right on living my life as I please, or do I stop and say, how am I doing at all that? When I am exhorted to behave properly as in the day, (v. 13) am I behaving properly, or doing just enough to keep from rocking the boat too many times? And when Paul says, But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (v.14) Am I doing that?

The Proverb says the man who listens to the truth will speak forever. Forever is a long time. The opposite is true as well: a false witness will perish. He may not perish today, or even tomorrow; but he will perish. Living falsely is kinda like a slow suicide.

In what I do for a living, I offer people a chance to have their voice heard. I present them with an opportunity join an organization that advocates for them and makes their wishes known. Some want to join and are enthusiastic about participating. Others are convinced but won’t join. Some are so cynical that they just can’t see that anything at all can be done to change the way things are: these are comfortable in their cynicism, wishfully thinking that the whole nightmare will somehow go away and things will someday get better.

Every day, the Bible offers us an opportunity to have our voice heard: the man who listens to the truth will speak forever. But listening in this instance is not only hearing but also doing. The man who listens (actively) to the truth (and lives his life accordingly) will speak forever. Hearing is one thing: hearing and acting is another.

I have lived far too many days listening to the truth with my head and doing nothing (or little) with it in my heart. This cannot continue. It may be uncomfortable, it may be difficult, but as Paul urged us (me) put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. That is something I must actively do if I want to live and speak.

One other little nugget today: He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of conduct will die. (Proverbs 19.16) Am I active in listening and living or am I careless of [my] conduct? It’s not a case of earning brownie points; it’s listening and living for the truth because I am (supposedly) heading to a Realm of truth where no falsehood is ever allowed: he who keeps the commandment keeps (watch) over his soul. A soul-keeping person is a person who actively listens to the truth and cares about his conduct, his witness, and his destination. What am I doing, and how is what I am doing affecting where I am going? Just saying.

The Rock and the Hard Place

05.28.12

Romans 9.33 33 …just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” NASB

Paul quoted Isaiah 28.16 where the people of Israel of Isaiah’s day believed they would escape the impending captivity; their nationalistic pride egged them on to believe they would somehow escape the terrors of being ruled by the Gentiles. But Isaiah prophesied it was better to go into captivity with God than to stay behind without Him. God had placed a choice before them that amounted to a stone of stumbling and rock of offense in announcing to His people it would be better to go into captivity than to than to refuse it: they just had to believe in God and trust in what He was doing.

Sometimes we call that being between a rock and a hard place; danged if we do and danged if we don’t. What limits us is our perspective: we cannot see as God sees. For God to place a stumbling stone and a rock of offense in Israel was clearly something they never expected Him to do. But sometimes God calls us to do things we have never considered or would be loath to do in order to teach us things we don’t know or to take us to new places in our relationship with Him. God is in control and if He asks us to believe in the stumbling stone or rock of offense then there is good reason for us to do so.

The stumbling stone in Isaiah’s day was trusting God who would lead them to and through a season of captivity. The Stumbling Stone and Rock of Offense in Paul’s day was faith in Christ to save and not by works through the Law. God was asking them to believe Him – and sadly, Israel couldn’t.

Jesus Christ is still the Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense today. There is no other name on the planet as slandered as His. And of all the world’s religions, Christianity is mistreated and ridiculed above all. What caused men to stumble and be offended back in Paul’s day is what causes them to do the same today: Faith in Christ. How can the choice be so narrow!?

I have heard it said that many roads lead to Christ but only One road leads to God: and that road is Christ. Mankind cannot handle the simplicity of One. Men cannot handle the rock and the hard place. And so men persist in rebelling that there is only One way and that Way is Christ. He is the way between the rock and the hard place and somehow by trusting in Him He will show the one who believes how to get through the impossible in a way that is unknown to everyone but Him: he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.

The majesty and miracle of the Rock and the Hard Place is somewhere between them is a place form-fitted to each of us that helps us get from the place we’re in to the next place. The passage between the two may look awkward or difficult but is in that exact place where we find God and to the one who believes will be great satisfaction on two fronts: that we did it and that we found God as we did.

Wherever you are on the journey today, if it is in that difficult place between trying circumstances, be encouraged that He is already there waiting for you.

Gospel Truth

05.20.12

Romans 1.16-17 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” NASB

In the preamble of the Book of Romans is found a couple sentences that are well worth paying attention to: these are perhaps the seminal verses in all of Scripture explaining the intention and the relationship between God and man. Next to, “In the beginning God…” Romans 1.16-17 are two sentences with massive import and impact on the race of man. For what is the power of God for salvation if it isn’t the gospel?

Consider the fact that the gospel is the spoken word that changes men’s hearts. The very words of the gospel are merely sounds emanating from someone’s mouth that tell of the love of God in the Gift of Jesus Christ to all mankind. Someone speaks the truth about Christ, and that very speaking, when heard by someone else’s ears, is enough to change that hearer’s heart forever. That’s utterly amazing.

Gospel simply means “good news”. The good news is: God has sent a Savior to all men for them to be saved from their sin, rebellion, and impending death by simply believing in God’s Messiah (His anointed or sent one). Verse 16 says the power of God is demonstrated by the verbal transaction of someone speaking the good news and someone hearing and believing the good news. And the good news is accepted by faith in the mind and heart of the hearer. I think, no, I believe, God made it purposely that simple; it isn’t complicated, it isn’t difficult – it is simply hearing what God has done for us in His Son and believing it; and then living out the rest of our lives believing in it: belief, and belief in. That’s called faith.

And the power of God in hearing and believing the good news is that it changes us from death to life and from darkness (in our thinking) to light. So, in its initial stages, it is somewhat infantile in its acceptance, but as life in it continues then faith to believe God more and more comes in greater and greater stages of faith. The new believer may not initially completely understand the magnitude of the good news but as they continue in it, their faith grows and their maturity shows. That’s faith to faith.

And the righteous [one] shall live by [his] faith. His faith is his actions based on his belief in God, the Good News, and God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Faith for us is a life-long endeavor. It is both a one-time acceptance and then a life-long endeavor. Initial faith lays the foundation for faithful faith. A good house will only stand if it is built on a good foundation.

And for the believer the foundation for all belief is that Jesus Christ came from God to live on this earth setting an example for me of how to live in unbroken faith with God. That Jesus lived a perfect life and died a perfect death, taking upon Himself the penalty that was given to me through my sin, that I might not die but have eternal life in the presence of God simply by believing what God has done for me. And that Jesus rose from the grave conquering death and making a way for me to have this eternal life with God.

That’s the good news and everyone who believes it finds himself living in the power of God unto salvation… I’m in – you?

So That

05.17.12

2 Thessalonians 1.11-12 11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What do we want to accomplish with our lives? What kind of heritage do we want to bestow on our descendants? Paul summed up a good life by saying: that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that…

It’s the so that that got my attention today. All of what I am to accomplish in and with my life is going to boil down to a so that. So that: ________________ (fill in the blank). So that I am happy? So that I am rich? So that my children will bless me? So that I succeed in my vocation? It all boils down to a so that.

For Paul the so that was that the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you. That means that the weight and eminence of His Name will be so great in us that it is unmistakable to those around us – friend or foe. To have the Name of Christ glorified in us means it is what holds us together when the rest of the world is falling apart and we have every reason to fall apart as well but we don’t: He holds us together.

And then Paul said the so that would be us glorified in Him – in Jesus. What in the world does that mean? It means that we realize just how important we are to Him in all of creation. We are His glory (even in all our bumbling’s and stumbling’s). His glory in us means our glory in Him. That is the weight of importance. That is the weight of value. In the clothing business, we always said the garment, had a nice hand; its worth was revealed in the touch. Our worth is revealed in Him.

And, the so that of His grace being given to us. Grace is favor – God likes us. God favors us. God gives His grace to those who favor Him. Not a quid pro quo, He just gives because He is God. The most foul, arrogant, evil sinner alive on this globe today is a recipient of God’s grace. God’s intent is that he would repent from his sin and turn – so that his life will be glorified by God’s Name, and his name will be in turn glorified in God. And so that God’s grace would further abound in him.

Our lives don’t necessarily need depth: they need weight. Depth is a byproduct of weight It is the house that is built on a weighty foundation that will withstand the force of wind and wave. A life of weight is a life of worth and we’re not talking about an increased intake of food; we’re talking about an increased intake of truth. And not just any truth, but God’s truth – so that – our lives will account for something on that great day when we stand before Him and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

So what do we want to accomplish with our lives? It is God’s intent that we live in such a way so that we accomplish all to His glory and goodness revealed in us.