Don't Blame the Devil for Everything

 December 21, 2024

Saturday

James 1:14–15 (NASB 2020) ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.

The devil gets blamed for some things that he didn't do. He has no power to make us sin. He is not irresistible. The lust for sin is present before we are ever tempted. It will carry us away if it is not arrested before it gains momentum.

I helped a friend load a train car with grain while I was in high school. We had a simple system of using a stationary auger to load a car, then move the next car under the auger to fill it. I cannot imagine how much a train car full of grain weighs. Moving the cars seemed easy. We simply took a tractor, hooked up and chain to the cars and moved them one space. We had measured the space and placed a large log on the tracks to stop the cars. We didn't notice that the train cars were on a slight decline. My friend hooked up the tractor and I released the brakes on the last car. Everything was going fine until the cars quickly started going faster than the tractor. The log was split as if it were a toothpick. We had runaway train cars with no possibility of unhooking the chain from the tractor. So, I ran until I caught the last car and turned the brake until it stopped everything.

Our lust is like a heavy load on a decline. The first problem is that we can't understand how it could ever get out of hand. The second problem is that we don't notice it is out of hand when it is. It is conceived and gives birth. It takes us away from a close relationship with the Lord. It doesn't eliminate the relationship but there is no intimacy. It is like a estranged marriage. The couple remain married but there is no intimacy. Death is the lack of that relationship. 

Jesus said that He came to give abundant life. That life is one of a close relationship with the Lord. The lack of that life is a type of death.

We cannot blame the devil for all of this. We are the ones who should have evaluated the load and the decline. We should never try to resist temptation. We must flee from it. That is our responsibility. We must keep our eyes open and our ears tuned to hear the Lord tell us that we are on a slippery slope. 

Sin is no more of an accident than breaking through the barriers that warn that the bridge is out. 

Christ, the Head

 December 20, 2024

Friday

Colossians 1:18 (NASB 2020)¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

Some time back, people asked, "What would Jesus do?" It became very popular but it often missed the point. When considering the sick, Jesus would have healed them. When considering the mentally unstable, Jesus would have cast out the demons. When considering how to get from point A to point B, Jesus might have started walking on the water. As close as we would like to be to Jesus, we will never be Him. There are many things that He would do that He doesn't expect us to do. He wants us to be disciples of Christ, not Christ Himself.

That means that He must truly be at the center of our lives. This is when we understand what it means to abide in Him. This is when we understand what it means to call Him Lord. He is the head. The rest of the body should respond to the head. 

After having back surgery a couple of years ago, I couldn't lift my foot when I walked. I would try my best to raise it, but it would not obey. After physical therapy, I could again move the foot but it took a lot of work. Even today, there is some resistance. Unfortunately, that is how we appear to Him at times. He commands and we refuse.

Jesus is the beginning- He takes priority in time. He is the first-born from the dead- He takes priority over death. He is first in all things in the sense that there is no one above Him. He is not kept first by us, He is first no matter what we do.

That means that the question of what we should do in any situation is not to ask what Jesus would do but what I should do to remain in Him. What will keep Him the head of my own life? What will keep Him the head of the church? Obviously, it is not simply following a marketing plan that draws people in. It is following Jesus individually and corporately.

Constant introspection is not healthy. It takes our eyes off of Jesus and places them on ourselves. But inspection is healthy. Here, we ask Jesus what our standing with Him is like. Are we going the right direction? He must be the one who inspects. He speaks to those who are His friends.

Jesus is the head of the church. The believers are the church. If believers don't recognize Him as the head, how will the church ever do so? He is the head.

Being Somebody

 December 19, 2024

Thursday

Luke 19:2-6 (ESV) ²  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³  And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. ⁴  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. ⁵  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶  So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.

My wife and I went to a concert in Washington D.C. recently. The musical director of this concert also played keyboards and acoustic guitar in the band. We had known him almost thirty years prior at another church. So, we decided to say "hi" and to really see if he even remembered us. Well, he didn't recognize us by out looks. (Thirty years will do that for you.) But as soon as we said our names, he smiled broadly and said "Wow, I'll have to tell everyone I saw you when I get back." 

I guess all of us want to be somebody. We may not want to be famous but we want to be recognized. We want to hear that we are valuable to someone. So, can you imagine what Zacchaeus felt when Jesus called his name. He had merely climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus passing by, but the Lord Himself called him by name.

Never believe that you called on Jesus before He called on you. He made the invitation for you to know Him. He came to stay at your house. You just had to climb down out of your tree and welcome Him.

There is something else I realized. The musical director in that concert (and tour) lifted me up rather than dismissing me. I have greeted several people I knew in the past who knew me but made it very clear that they were too famous to greet me back. I know I am not famous but I still do not ever want to make people believe that they aren't important. They were all important enough for Jesus to die on the cross. How can I dismiss them?

Make sure you make people as important as you are to the Lord.

Rewards in Heaven

 December 18, 2024

Wednesday

Matthew 19:27-29 (ESV) ²⁷  Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” ²⁸  Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Somehow we have come to believe that while we are living on earth, we should expect to be paid what we are worth. Then, we expect that when we get to heaven everyone will be paid the same. Thus, many people ask, as Peter asked, when do we get our reward because our reward must come while we are on earth. 

Though this may be what we are taught, it is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus, Himself, said there would be great rewards for those who have followed Him. This is not merely for salvation which was given to us. It is after salvation as we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit within us requires that we walk in the Spirit. Though the reward is not here on earth, it is not egalitarian in heaven either. There are rewards waiting for those who have truly followed Christ.

It is often said of the dead, "They are going to their reward." While they may be going to heaven, they may not have any rewards. They have been as selfish as those who do not know the Lord. They have essentially denied  knowing Jesus by the way they have lived. They will receive heaven from the faith they received, but they did nothing with that faith afterwards. Thus, when they stand in front of the judgement seat of Christ they will receive nothing.

Many Christians who hear this think that they are being selfish by following the Lord with the expectation that there will be rewards in heaven. Of course, they can be. If they have done this for themselves rather than following Jesus they are no better than the Pharisees who expected to be rewarded for keeping the law. However, that does not negate what the Bible says about those rewards in heaven. The rewards that are placed in heaven cannot expire but they can be lost. 

The rewards in heaven are greater than our imaginations. It seems ridiculous to put a monetary value for a place where money means nothing. Obviously, Jesus wasn't telling the Peter that the rewards in heaven would be a hundred mothers and fathers along with land and houses. It is more than we can grasp so Jesus put it in some terms we could.

So, make sure that you do everything with the Lord in His name. Yet, know that there are rewards waiting on you.

"Gut" Decisions

 December 17, 2024

Tuesday

Genesis 25:29-34 (ESV) ²⁹  Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. ³⁰  And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) ³¹  Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” ³²  Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ³³  Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

There is something to be said for "gut" reactions:

The "science of gut reactions," often referred to as the "gut-brain connection," explains how signals from the gastrointestinal tract, via the vagus nerve, can directly influence our brain function, impacting emotions, mood, and even decision-making, essentially allowing us to experience "gut feelings" when processing information or facing situations; this connection is facilitated by a complex network of neurons in the gut, sometimes called the "second brain," which communicates with the central nervous system through neurotransmitters produced by gut bacteria.  (from an AI on the internet)

It appears that Esau had a gut reaction. He was hungry, possibly extremely hungry. He was willing to sell something that was his for his lifetime for something that would only satisfy him until the next meal. He let his "feeling" overrule any rational thought. Thus, he lost something much more valuable than a meal.

Isn't that true for a lot of things? People will trade their health for drugs. They will trade their future education for a new car. They will trade their children for a nice house (they work too long and never see their children). They will decide against salvation to continue a hedonistic lifestyle. 

Life is always about trades. You are always deciding to do one thing over another. You are always asking whether something is worth it. "Gut" reactions can lead you to emptiness. All things need to be evaluated at the moment of decision and good decisions involve the future.

If Esau had truly considered what he was giving up, he would have gone hungry a little longer. Was there no place he could get something to eat? Weren't Isaac's servants likely to give him something if he asked? It seems that he overreacted to his starving to death.

Jacob took advantage of the situation. He asked for something great that he could not get any other way. He asked for the older son's birthright. And he got it for a single meal. Later, Esau will say that Jacob cheated him out of his birthright. It appears that Jacob knew his brother all to well. He knew when to ask and what to ask for.

How many people will fill their lives with regrets because they traded off something valuable for something so temporary that it won't hardly be remembered later? 

Press On toward the Goal

 December 16, 2024

Monday

Philippians 3:14 (ESV) ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

There is a lot of talk of people being distracted. They are distracted by their cell phones while they drive. People pick up their cell phones the moment they are stopped at a light to check their messages. People try to text as they drive. They browse the internet while at work. They miss their children's ball games to win the approval of those at work. Are they simply distracted by their cell phones, computers and work? I don't think they are distracted so much as they lack focus.

Once you have lost your focus, anything else will take your attention. Those who forgot that their focus should be arriving at their destination safely can text all the way where they are going. Those who forget why they are at work, can use any unsupervised moment for personal reasons.

The Christian life should be focused on being a disciple of Jesus and making disciples for Jesus. It can't focus on entertaining the members of the church. It can't focus on pleasing the members of the church. It can't focus on feeding the members of the church. It can't focus on anything but discipleship.

One of the problems with this is churches will spend an untold amount of money to advertise and make themselves look attractive without making any disciples. Many pastors would be content to have ten thousand in attendance but not make even one disciple. They have lost their focus.

On the other hand, many Christians don't know what a disciple is. They think that a disciple is simply someone who claims Jesus as Savior and attends church more than others. They can't imagine taking up their crosses daily because they have no idea what that is. The same is true for loving others, forgiving, knowing God's word and obeying God's word. They are scared of those who say that God speaks to them for they have never had that experience. They come to church to hear an uplifting message. They love to be with people who are just like them.

We all must focus on the Lord. We must all focus on obeying Him. We must all focus on what it is to be a disciple. We must all focus on making disciples for Him. We should do this with such force that we "press on. toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God."

We All Have a Shelf Life

 December 15, 2024

Sunday

2 Timothy 4:6 (NASB 2020) ⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

We all have a shelf life. Some have a longer time than others. We try not to think about it. Some of us are forced to recognize it. Whether it is our age or a catastrophic illness, we know the time of our departure is around the corner.

Some people work so that they can retire. They want to retire when they can do whatever they want for the rest of their lives. There is no retirement from the Lord. There may be a time that whatever you have done for Him can't be done anymore. For instance, there will come a time when you will no longer be able to dig wells for people who do not have an adequate water supply. You will be unable to make trips around the world to preach. You may come to a time when you aren't able to preach. This should be an impetus to buy every moment to do what you can for as long as you can.

The question you must ask yourself is: Am I being faithful in doing what the Lord has told me to do as soon as the Lord told me to do it? You can't put anything off until tomorrow because tomorrow isn't promised to you.

God gave us warning signs to help remind us that we have a limited amount of time. We see the lines in the mirror. Our hair turns grey or turns loose. Our joints make noises. Our energy level drops.

Being poured out as a drink offering represents a life that is totally used for God's glory. It is more than anticipating death. It is running to the very end.

And yet it is always knowing that the end might just be around the corner.