Emulate

3/11/2017

Galatians 2.13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. – St. Paul

One thing about the Church, we’re not supposed to use it as a club, or a weapon. That’s not to say we aren’t to address sin and wrongdoing, but we are to use corrective action with love, grace, and redemption.

That being said, we aren’t to sugar-coat corrective action. Sometimes there is a need for tough love.

In the Old Testament there are many examples of tough love that permeate the narrative. Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire to God and died. Miriam publicly criticized Moses and was struck by leprosy. David’s servant Uzzah reached out to steady the ark when the oxen stumbled and was killed on the spot. May times in the wilderness God mercilessly struck down rebels in the Israeli community for their rebellion and disrespect.

And lest we conclude that corrective action in the New Testament is different, we need look no further that Ananias and Sapphira and their sin in Acts 5; or the adulterer cast out of the congregation in 1 Corinthians (later restored in 2 Corinthians). Corrective action is often harsh, but its harshness is intended for a purpose. Stick your finger into a charged electric socket and there will be corrective action.

So, Paul rebuked Peter (I think harshly) for his sin of distancing himself from the gentile believers. I think it was humiliating for Peter but I think it shocked him out of his hypocrisy, and into better choices.

Our actions influence others. The thing that really got me this morning was that, “even Barnabas” (revered as almost legendary in his devotion to Christ and the early Church) was led astray by their hypocrisy. Wow! That says something! And it makes a huge statement to leaders of the consequences that their actions truly have.

There is a need men like Paul, and Peter, and Barnabas in the Church today. We need their words, their leadership, and their courage to tackle the issues facing the Church in the 21^st century. We need men in the church to lovingly, redemptively, and if necessary, strongly, confront sin and hypocrisy in our midst. The consequences of not doing so have a disastrous effect on the Church and her mission.

Which leads me to me. What is my place as a leader in Christ’s Church? What are the consequences of my actions and attitudes to those in my charge (currently a group of 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade boys)? Each week during the school year, I get to use the Scripture in their lives to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness, so that they, as servants of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3) But what happens when they see me out in public – am I representing Christ in a manner that they can emulate? Trust me, our children, and the people we know, will emulate…

Father, as Paul challenged Peter, and Barnabas to live with integrity to their beliefs, may I do the same. May I set an example – whether people follow or not – that brings honor and glory to Your name. Help me to lead and to live for You; and bring others along as well… Amen

Tests

3/10/2017

Deuteronomy 13.3 …you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. – Moses

I’ve heard it said that a test ought to lead to a testimony; a trial ought to lead to a triumph; and a mess will lead to a message. Glib? Perhaps, but certainly something to think about. And right here in Deuteronomy 13, Moses said, God will purposely, intentionally test them.

Not it’s not like it’s some sort of galactic conspiracy to see what we’ll do, but tests do lead to the development of character. Romans 5 says: suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Vv. 3b,4) Hope is not: I hope God does something; but rather, hope is God is doing something. Without hope, we’ve only just wishful thinking.

And y’know what? God won’t do anything in our freewill lives without some kind of test to see where our choice will take us. It’s the only way freewill can be proven. And we can pass every test if we choose to...

Tests are there to see what is in our heart. “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10.13) The test is belief that there is already a way out, and passing the test is hope: a fixed assurance of that way.

Does God trust us? Yes, if we love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But the tests will come because our choice never ends. The tests prove our love.

Tests can be little, great, or somewhere in between; but one thing is for sure, tests are for us. God knows our choice long before we choose. Our choice reveals to us where our heart and devotion is with the Lord.

Father, I know and accept that You test me. Your tests lead to my testimony. Your trials lead to my triumph. And the messes I’ve made that You’ve used for my good, are my message to others that relationship with You goes way beyond religion, and way into a life in eternity spent with You. Help me today God! Amen

The Answer is No

3/6/2017

Deuteronomy 4.32-34 32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? – Moses

No. The answer to these questions is No. Has anything so great as this ever happened? No. Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire as you have, and lived? No. Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another by testing, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds??? No.

The answer is no because no one ever had any of this happen to them. Other than the nation of Israel.

And God did it for His people because the very next verse says this: You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides Him there is no other. (V. 35)

Is God the same today? Does God work in the lives of His people today? Does God provide marvelously for those in need who look to Him for help? Has God caused the circumstances to bend in favor toward His children? Has God brought salvation and provision in time of need out of His great compassion and care? Does God defend His own? Does God still do great and marvelous things?

Yes.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God is the One who never changes and in whom there is no shadow. God loves His children today with the same intensity as He did our brothers and sisters of old. God never changes. He is still the same.

And we can count on Him today. It takes faith, but we can count on Him today.

Friends, I am in a position where I am reevaluating my understanding of God and here’s what I’ll say: I need Him. I suspect, in some measure you do too. Your circumstances are not mine, nor are mine your, but the common denominator is this: we need God.

Are we going to find help at our greatest point of need outside of Him? No. Are we going to be able to live in peace and contentment apart from Him? No. Is there anyone anywhere who loves and care for us at the level He does? No. So then, let’s give Him our all and watch what He does on our behalf.

Father, there is no one like You, and for us as Your kids, there is no one, but You. May we seek You and keep seeking You, not for the temporal things of this earth, but also as well for the culture of Heaven that awaits us. Amen

In Season

3/4/2017

Mark 11.13-14 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

This is only the first part of the story – the next day the fig tree was completely shriveled. But let’s deal with the first part: what Jesus said.

This is an odd story for numerous reasons: for one thing, Jesus went to find fruit on the tree but there was none, because “…it was not the season for figs.” Shouldn’t Jesus have known it wasn’t the season for figs? Sure, He should have! But the point is deeper.

Paul said to Timothy: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4.2) In other words, preach the truth, and keep on preaching the truth.

But do we need Paul to explain Jesus?

Well, if we consider who Israel was to Jesus, then it makes more sense why Jesus said to the tree what He said. I think the tree represented Israel and she hadn’t borne (born?) any fruit for a long time. Her relationship with God was that of self-righteousness, and her heart was hard toward the things of God. Yes, she appeared prosperous (she was an ag-producer of Rome), but her heart was far from prosperous in the things of God.

And it’s important to remember the treatment Jesus received from those who were supposed to be herding the hearts of the people God-ward – it was anything but godly. Her religion produced death.

It’s also important to remember who Jesus came to save: the nation of Israel. But they wanted a military and political conquest, not a revelation of God’s presence and love.

Lastly, as His children, you and I are to bear fruit in season and out; when someone is listening, and looking, and when they aren’t. We are not on this earth for a long and satisfying career of some sort with a retirement filled with the acquisition of earthly things and the appearance of religion. We are on earth to do God’s work – retirement is in Heaven.

The fruit we are to produce because we are indwelt with His Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the things that are vastly more tangible than money, possessions, and gliding safely to the end of a ripple-free life. The tree was cursed while it lived. For us to live in ungodly self-dependence could cause the same effect…

Lord Jesus, may I bear fruit for You. I can only do that in Your presence, strength and power; but may I do that for you. I pray forgiveness for how I’ve lived and the priorities I’ve cherished. Use me Lord in Your kingdom’s work, and may I finish well – asking, in Your Name. Amen

Sight to the Blind

3/3/2017

Mark 10.17, 51 17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

In Mark 10, Jesus dealt with: with two blind men – one was actually blind, the other just couldn’t see.

In my reading today, I saw two things: Money is one of the weirdest things in all of life; and Jesus gives sight to the blind, if they want it.

In the story, a rich man comes to Jesus to seal the deal for his place in Heaven: “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He had money for all that money could buy, but he couldn’t figure out how to secure his place in Heaven.

Many times, people come to God expecting one thing only to find out their expectation reveals a massive lack of understanding of God, and themselves. This rich man was like this. He thought he could broker a deal with Jesus to secure his standing in heaven. What he didn’t realize was his wealth blinded his view of heaven and impeded his entrance there. He needed sight, not money.

The other man needed money as well, but what he really needed was sight. Begging in those days was a terrible life; and being a blind beggar was even worse – you couldn’t see who was stealing what you begged, or where a coin went that was tossed at you.

As I go through my days, I encounter many people who struggle with sight. Rarely do I run into the ones who have lost physical sight; most are just blind to God and what He is trying to do in them, for them, and through them.  Most of the time blindness really boils down to looking at the wrong things; or looking at right things wrongly. The rich man in Mark 10 looked at right things wrongly.

Now, to be fair, he did go to Jesus to find help, but his vision of help was so off-base that he couldn’t see the answer to his problem. He only knew what he had, and to him, that was enough. But there was a small conscience inside him that bugged him about spiritual things and he couldn’t reconcile his conscience with truth. When Jesus confronted him about his worldview he went away sad because he just couldn’t see what his real problem was. Don’t call Jesus, Good Teacher if you’re not going to apply what He teaches…

Not sure what happened to the blind beggar. Maybe he went on to be successful financially in life. Or maybe he went to his grave knowing that the Lord of Glory gave him what he really needed: sight. One thing is for sure, when Jesus offered help, he took it. The other guy? Not so much

Father, help me in my days of struggling in my pursuit of Heaven, and the pursuit of money. May I have serenity to accept the things I cannot change; peace to change the things I can; and Your vision, wisdom, and provision, to be content. Thank You for Your love for me and for all those trying to enter Your Kingdom - Amen

Talking with Jesus

3/2/2017

Mark 9.4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. – St. Mark

Moses represented the Law, and Elijah, the prophetic. Both are necessary to some degree. Moses was revered in Jewish theology as the one who put God’s stamp of approval on the Jewish nation, and the one who instructed them how to live. Elijah represented the one who urged them to repent and return to God (during the days of king Ahab).

Much of the conversation on the mountain that day was lost on the Jewish men who accompanied Jesus to the top. Of course, Peter had to spout off about what he thought he saw, but it is important for us to know, they all recognized Moses and Elijah in the conversation they had with the Lord.

Law and repentance are important things to the Jew. The Law instructed them how to live in God’s presence, and repentance afforded them the opportunity to return whenever they strayed from those instructions. But Law and repentance are not what Jesus came to espouse: Jesus came to open the way for mankind to return to God by fulfilling the Law for them in His perfect and sinless life given for them.

Without Jesus, all we have is law and repentance in an endless cycle of failure and retrying… Next time, I’ll just do better…

But doing better isn’t the point – because we can’t. What we need is infinitely beyond law and repentance. What we need is the power to believe in Him who accomplished it all for us. And that power helps us come back to Him in an endless cycle of grace and redemption that we may model that for the world. Law and repentance teach us what is right and wrong and what to do if we screw up. Grace and redemption free us to live in fellowship with God and follow His lead.

What would you say to Jesus in your conversation with Him? Do you have conversations with Him? What could you say to the Lord that would be of interest or importance to Him?

Conversations with Jesus are opportunities share what is on your heart and to hear what is on His. Conversations are two-way; from and to. What do we say to Jesus and how does He respond? It’s interesting what we’ll hear from Him if we give Him half a chance.

Lord, Your desire is to be in close communication with all of Your brothers and sisters. My prayer is that my communications with You increase in intensity and frequency. May I simply set my mind to talk with You and set my heart to hear from You. Thank You for Your word, and thank You for holy thoughts and ideas. Teach me Lord to listen and obey and to allow You to lead me and guide me where You direct. Amen

Since You are responsible for the creation of all creation, getting Your message across to me should be no big deal…

Their Cross

3/1/2017

Mark 8.34-36 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” – Jesus

A recurring theme in my life is this: whoever want to be My disciple must deny [himself] and take up [his] cross and follow Me. This is way easier said, than done.

For one thing, what does it mean to take up a method of execution? Crosses then, were not as we consider crosses now. And doesn’t everyone want to save their life – don’t we hold life precious and value it? Jesus seemed to be saying: if you spend all of your energy trying to protect your natural life, you’ll end up losing your spiritual life. Then what?

And really, what good are possessions if you’ve built a life around attaining them and have no time to enjoy them? All the riches in the world cannot buy happiness.

A way of understanding what Jesus said might be this: Whoever wants to be My disciple must live for Me as I live for My Father (God). Jesus then, must be the entire focus of the life of the disciple. Again, it is easier said than done. Sometimes it is best to begin with nothing, than begin with something.

A life build with nothing is a life that then begins to appreciate everything. That might be denial or it might be the proper valuation of things. If you have nothing, you begin to appreciate something. We want it the other way around: we want something so that we can appreciate more. And we live to pursue more.

Jesus taught about the value of a soul – a life. Jesus taught about the necessity of denial. But in His teachings about denial, He underscored the abundance of life in Him – the life that goes beyond the pursuit of the things of earth. So, to deny oneself (according to Jesus) is the path to gain God, and there is nothing more, more than God. If it’s riches we want, then look no farther than God. The trinkets of earth hold no glory compared to God.

It’s counter to the way most of us live. Go figure, Jesus being counter to earthly culture. But if the presence of God is our destination then there is nothing we can bring that will add to that – apart from ourselves. The richest among us are the truly godly. And it starts with a method of execution: it starts with the cross.

My cross is my decision to take Jesus at His word. My cross is my surrender to His culture – the culture of Heaven – and to follow Him there; wherever He leads me. That is His way. True disciples follow Him.

Lord Jesus, today I start out with nothing but You. Today, I shoulder my cross which separates me from all this world has to offer and frees me to all You have in store. Lead me this day and strengthen me, as I begin with nothing, to receive from You everything I need for life and godliness. Amen.