Time Well Spent

 October 17, 2024

Thursday

I'm trying to use some idle time as I write this blog. My wife is part of the leadership of a conference, and the hotel has an earlier checkout time, so I don't really have a place to work. Therefore, I am at Panera Bread writing this blog. (By the way, I just had their potato soup and it was out of this world!) 

Honestly, I was just going to chill out and do nothing until I remembered that the Bible tells us to use every opportunity because the days are evil. That means two things to me.

One, if I am idle without purpose, there is a chance I will do evil. I will bet that each of the pastors, who were found in moral failure recently, was not focused on what he needed to do. He had allowed his devotion to the Lord to become idle. It's easy to lose focus.

In front of me is a couple having lunch together. They are both looking at their phones. There is no conversation. They don't even know what they are communicating to each other. What is on their phones is more important than the person sitting across the table. They have lost focus. I doubt if they are using the time as it should be used.

If they were rare, I would just be picking on them, right? However, there are several others of different ages doing the same thing. Phones may have become a curse for our generation. They distract us from what we should be doing. Yesterday, I saw someone texting away as I passed her on a very busy road. I heard a public service announcement that said that texting while driving was six times more dangerous than driving drunk. Have phones become an addiction?

Yes, I can lose focus and do something evil. I don't have to do evil with evil intent. I just lose focus and misuse the opportunity in front of me.

Secondly, not using the time in front of me, will allow others to do evil. I must think of what I am doing as a testimony. Others are watching me. Maybe they know I am a pastor. Maybe they notice that I am misusing the time I have. There is also the fact that my idleness is not encouraging anyone to be a disciple of Jesus. I hope this blog helps someone. (I am sure that not every one of my blogs does, but some of them might.)

Sure, I have downtime. Downtime needs to be limited. Too much downtime will put you in the grave. Just enough will keep you alive. Even downtime is using the time responsibly.

So, I have finished my lunch and will make my way back to the hotel to wait for Karen's conference to end. I will read a book on revivals in the early twentieth century. I will be energized to pray more fervently to see revival myself. I think it will be time well spent.

Ephesians 5:15–16 (ESV)¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Still Tempted to Be God

 October 16, 2024

Wednesday

I am convinced that our fleshly nature wants to be God. I don't mean a god. I mean God Himself.

This morning I rode my bicycle to work very early. (It was before 5 AM.) There were still lots of people on the road. Some, I am sure, were on their way to work. Almost no one obeyed the traffic laws. One car turned right at a stop sign onto a major road at a speed I couldn't believe. He must have had great tires to hold the road. Others came and went well over the speed limit. It seems that no matter what the parameters are, people will break them. Evidently, the rules don't apply to them.

God holds Himself to holiness. He can do anything but will not do just anything because He is holy. That doesn't seem to apply to our picture of being God. We see ourselves as the God who can do anything for his own pleasure without the constraint of holiness. We can be as unloving, as unfaithful and as unyielding as we like for everything placed as a rule. We aren't far from driving on the shoulders, ditches and even the wrong way. We aren't that far from a complete loss of civilization. This will be the rebellion that Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (ESV) ¹  Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, ²  not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³  Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴  who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

We seem to be in the midst of this rebellion. It has not gained full force as of yet because it is still being held back.

2 Thessalonians 2:5-7 (ESV) ⁵  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶  And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. ⁷  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.

Who is holding him back? I believe it is the Holy Spirit. However, even though the Spirit is in the world today, believers are far from being filled by Him. The average Christian doesn't know who the Holy Spirit is for He has been so quenched and grieved that there is very little thought of Him. Thus, the power of the Spirit is not taking hold among Christians. And as that happens, the world gets darker.

Then, Jesus will come and the Spirit will be removed because the Christians will be taken with Him. 

Those who wish to be God are of their father the devil who thought he could become God. He tempted Adam and Eve to become God because that was his nature. He is still enticing people to become God. As Christians, we aren't doing such a great job of holding this evil in check.

Some might say, "Good!" because that means the Lord will return quicker. I really don't think that's the attitude of the Lord. He is patient so that all that will be saved, will be saved. That should be our attitude, too. We need to live holy lives that welcome the Holy Spirit. He is the power that pushes back the darkness and brings us and others into the light.

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) ⁹  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 

The Stuck Record of My Christian Life

 October 15, 2024

Tuesday

Many people are rediscovering vinyl records. They claim that they give a superior reproduction of the music that is recorded on them. My ear can't tell the difference but I am sure that some can. I remember vinyl records as getting scratchy. They could be broken. They would skip. And they would get stuck. Often, my Christian life seems like it gets stuck.

A stuck vinyl record would play the same groove over and over. I seem to repeat my mistakes and sins over and over. I know better but I get distracted. I know better but I get too emotional. I know better but I get filled with myself. Yes, that last one continues to be played over and over.

The problem is that I can't hold yesterday's filling of the Holy Spirit in. Yet, I act as if I don't need to be filled today. When I look at the scripture that commands me to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I see that the "be filled" is in the present tense. It denotes continuous action. 

You can't fill up a balloon forever. If you continue to fill it, it will pop. That would be true for a tire on your car, too. However, if the tire has a leak, you can continue to fill it at a rate that will not cause it to explode. The trouble I have with being filled with the Spirit is that I leak so badly that I must continually be filled. Yesterday's filling won't last until tomorrow.

So, right now, again, like I have done so many times before, I must say, "I am willing, Holy Spirit, for you to fill me." I want to be filled one more time. I don't want to forget that I leak. I want to continue to seek the Lord in this.

Maybe the next time the record comes around I won't be stuck. I will realize that I didn't lose the Holy Spirit but I was far from full.

Is that how you are too?

Ephesians 5:18 (ESV) ¹⁸  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 

When You Slip and Fall

 October 14, 2024

Monday

Satan's not going to steal my joy! He's not going to get to me!

Maybe you have said that too. Then, something happens and it brings anxiety or fear. Then, your hope is challenged by circumstances. Then, you see your joy and peace slipping away. Then, you realize that Satan was just waiting for you to put your guard down. He is rushing in to devour you.

He can't take your salvation but he can take your joy and peace when he tempts you. He has gotten permission to "sift you like wheat" and he is using every moment to ruin your testimony.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have had an opening if you had kept that close, intimate relationship with the Lord. After all, that was just last week; wasn't it? It doesn't take long to get from filled with the Holy Spirit to almost empty. It doesn't take long for the flesh to start demanding attention.

So, do you just grin and bear it? Absolutely not! You go to the Lord in prayer. You admit that you slipped. You cry out for a moment to come home again. Funny thing, you didn't know you had left until the anxiety came on you.

Thankfully, God is the father of all prodigals. Some go far away. Some not so far. Or rather just far away for Satan to get ahold of them.

Satan is after you. He is just looking for the right opportunity.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (ESV) ⁸  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 

Never Waste a Mistake

 October 13, 2024

Sunday

About thirty-three years ago the church I was serving got a new pastor. Mike Glenn came to Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN and was amazing. However, the first time he baptized, we forgot to tell him which waders to use. One of them had a hole in it. The problem is, if you don't know that you won't know it until you are in the water. Mike went ahead and baptized. He was wearing a light colored suit with light pants. It looked like he just didn't make it to the bathroom. I was called back to his study and burst out laughing the moment I saw him. He wanted me to get his wife to bring another suit. There just wasn't enough time for her to get it and bring it back to the church. So, Mike preached in his wet pants.

I learned something valuable that day. Never waste a mistake. Mike told the congregation what happened. They laughed and he endeared himself to the congregation. He was human. He humbled himself and made himself a whole lot bigger at the same time.

If we let God work when we make mistakes, we will see Romans 8:28 come alive. God will cause the good to come upon us even when something bad has happened. On the other hand, we can make a bad thing worse if we want to.

Admit what happened. Don't try to cover it up. Be humble and let God work. Those are things that have gone with me for a long time now. Mistakes that are covered up become larger. Mistakes that are admitted become learning opportunities.

Romans 8:28 (ESV)²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Some Characteristics of the Self-Righteous

 October 12, 2024

Saturday

If you have read this blog, you know that I have said that self-righteous people can be as mean at they want to be. They are right and they can condemn anyone who is different and doesn't agree with them. But tonight as I was riding my bicycle home from church, I realized some other things about the self-righteous.

Self-righteous people do not know that they are self-righteous. In fact, it might not have even occurred to them. They might notice that they are looking down on others. They might even see themselves as humble servants of God. They look good on the outside but are full of hypocrisy on the inside.

Matthew 23:27 (ESV)²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.

Self-righteous people do the right things but do not give grace to others.

Matthew 23:23 (ESV)²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Self-righteous people do the work of Satan in the name of God.

John 11:47–53 (ESV)⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰ Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Self-righteous people actively seek people who are exactly like them. They want others to join them in their crusades of self-righteousness.

Matthew 23:15 (ESV)¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Self-righteous people seek the praise of men rather than humility.

Matthew 23:1–7 (ESV)¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

The real problem isn't the self-righteous people. The problem is that any of us can become self-righteous. We all have blind eyes on our sins. We all want some praise from men. We all think that doing what is right will make us righteous. At least, we think that in the flesh. So, we must diligently watch to see our self-righteousness. We will notice it when we are confronted by someone who disagrees with us. We will not listen and we will oppose that person. We may even say that we are doing it for God. We won't give grace. 

Beware for self-righteousness may overcome you before you know it.

Matthew 23:12 (ESV)¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Is Everyone Spiritual?

 October 11, 2024

Friday

As I have said before, we all communicate by what we know. Therefore, when a Christian says "spiritual" the non-Christian relates that to something he or she knows. Thus, everyone becomes spiritual with a different definition. We are thought of a spiritual and religious and they think of themselves as spiritual and non-religious.

A Christian is spiritual because the Holy Spirit dwells inside him. He is not necessarily spiritual because he dreams dreams or sees visions. I actually believe that a lot of non-Christians have dreams that can only be described as spiritual in a secular sense. It will not be the same as the Christian's experience. The Christian will understand the dream by the interpretation of the Holy Spirit. The non-Christian comes up with his own interpretation.

Sometimes non-Christians will admit that there is a God. They will even state that He does miracles. They think that people try to get on His good side by being religious. They have no idea that they could have a personal relationship. They have know idea that they could actually experience God. This is why they might believe that there are many paths to God. They might believe that God lets all people into His heaven. They might believe that they came into this world innocent and any sin that was committed was because the world influenced them to commit it. Through all this, they think of themselves as spiritual.

Today, I heard a man say that we are all spiritual beings. He is somewhat right. We all possess a spirit but our spirits are dead to the Holy Spirit until we become Christians. Our spirits receive communication from the Holy Spirit. Our spirits can grow if we obey and remain almost dormant if we quench or grieve the Spirit. It bothers me when a person who claims to be a Christian has no communication with the Spirit. We must possess the Spirit to be Christians.

I am also distressed when I see a Christian being controlled by their sinful nature. That means that they are not full of the Spirit. That means they are grieving the Spirit. That means they are far from God even if they are so "religious" that they go to church every week. The Holy Spirit should be more than a name we banter around on Sundays. He must be active in our lives. We must let Him become active. The non-Christian sees that backslidden Christian as normal. 

Lastly, I am bothered by those who are self-righteous. They believe they know more than everyone else. They evidently know that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. They would know this if they were full of the Holy Spirit. Those who think they are close to God but are actually far away often can't see the distance. Those who are full of the Spirit are grieved over the distance that exists between them and God. The non-Christian despises the self-righteous.

There should be such a difference between our interaction with the Holy Spirit that the non-Christian would immediately know that there is a difference. Then, maybe they would say, "I am not spiritual like you." Then, we could have an honest conversation to tell them how they could be.

Romans 8:9 (ESV)

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.