Judges 3:1-6 (ESV)
1 Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them, that
is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. 2 It was only in order that the generations of the
people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it
before. 3 These are the nations: the
five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the
Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as
Lebo-hamath. 4 They were for the
testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the
LORD, which he commanded their
fathers by the hand of Moses. 5 So
the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the
Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 6
And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their
own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.
Have you ever thought that we should fear complacency more than we fear adversity?
God allowed pagan tribes to exist in Israel so that the Israelites would know war. He also allowed them to exist to test whether Israel would truly follow Him. They forgot about war and got in bed with the pagans. They failed on both accounts.
People have a pattern of doing just that. Instead of confronting sin they acquiesce to sinners and adopt their practices. They go along to get along without realizing that it won't be long before they are falling headlong.
I have seen so many people who worshipped God fervently at one time in their lives adopt a pattern of casual faith. They fail to realize the damage they are doing when they go to certain movies, participate in certain activities and fill their social time with non-Christian friends. They do not realize that that which they abhorred when walking close to the Lord will soon be adopted when they are no longer opposed. They stop having a daily time with God, serving the Lord and being around spiritual people. They begin to criticize those who are walking with the Lord. They claim a superiority to their former Christian lives. Truly, they have evolved but not into something better.
Then, God, as He has always done, lets them go their own way. He lets them go as tar as they want to from Him. They forget Him and the joy they once had. They trade in the abundant life for one that gets along with the people they surround around themselves. Their lights are still burning but they burn ever so dimly.
God allows a crisis in their lives. At first, they fail to see any connection. It is just something that happens to people. The crisis persists until they look for a solution. They may ask themselves, "Do I return to church for an answer?" Truthfully, the answer is not in attending church. That's like thinking you will get well simply by being in a hospital. No, the answer is found in coming home to God. It is found in a new commitment. That commitment will mean that you will go to war against those things which have brought you down. It will mean that you can still be cordial to those people who have led you into an ungodly lifestyle, you can still love them with the love of Jesus, but you can no longer make them the people that you spend the most time around. Many people are afraid to make that break.
What about the man or woman who has married a non-believer? How do they do this? It is the most difficult life that anyone can imagine. They must fully serve the persons to whom they are married. They must be the Christian example of love. They must never miss even one day of having a daily time with God. They must plunge themselves into a local church as much as possible. They must pray for their spouses to come to know the Lord they know.
Yes, it is war to live the Christian life in a pagan society but the alternative to this war is becoming like that society. You go along to get along and fall headlong. It never fails.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
When Will the Lord Fight for You?
Exodus 14:14 (ESV)
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
The Egyptians are hot on the heals of the Israelis. They have recently escaped the hands of their Egyptian oppressors and are on their way to the Promised Land. Miracles were performed to allow them to leave. The Pharoah has told them to go. He has had not other choice. Ten plagues have come upon his people. The final plague was the losing of the first born of all the Egyptians. His own son is among the dead. He tells them to go but relents when he realizes that he will suffer an economic disaster without his Hebrew slaves. He decides to pursue the Israelis and bring them back.
The Red Sea stands in front of God's people. They can see the Egypian chariots coming from a distance. There is no hope in their eyes for they believe that the army has come to kill them. Thus, they cry out to Moses and blame him and God for their predicament. They couldn't see what Moses had already known.
God will not abandon them after bringing them to this place. He has a purpose in what He is doing. He will fight for them if they don't get in His way. It is hard to silent when all you can see is desruction. They did not realize that God had been fighting for them all along. The circumstances didn't initiate His love nor did they reveal that He had stopped.
The Lord is always fighting for us. Sometimes His fight involves getting us to the place He needs us to be so that He can bless us. Sometimes His fight is against those who want to bring us to despair. Nothing separates us from His love so nothing separates us from His mind and His power. There isn't a moment God is not thinking of us.
My initial question when reading this story was, "Didn't they remember the plagues which God sent for them to be set free?" But then I thought of all the times I have doubted God when a crisis came upon me. I forgot all the other times when He had clearly fought for me. Why did I believe He had stopped simply because my own prediction of the future was hopeless. God never has failed to give me hope before. Why am I hopeless now?
God has never stopped fighting for me or for you. He is fighting right now. You and I need to remember that.
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
The Egyptians are hot on the heals of the Israelis. They have recently escaped the hands of their Egyptian oppressors and are on their way to the Promised Land. Miracles were performed to allow them to leave. The Pharoah has told them to go. He has had not other choice. Ten plagues have come upon his people. The final plague was the losing of the first born of all the Egyptians. His own son is among the dead. He tells them to go but relents when he realizes that he will suffer an economic disaster without his Hebrew slaves. He decides to pursue the Israelis and bring them back.
The Red Sea stands in front of God's people. They can see the Egypian chariots coming from a distance. There is no hope in their eyes for they believe that the army has come to kill them. Thus, they cry out to Moses and blame him and God for their predicament. They couldn't see what Moses had already known.
God will not abandon them after bringing them to this place. He has a purpose in what He is doing. He will fight for them if they don't get in His way. It is hard to silent when all you can see is desruction. They did not realize that God had been fighting for them all along. The circumstances didn't initiate His love nor did they reveal that He had stopped.
The Lord is always fighting for us. Sometimes His fight involves getting us to the place He needs us to be so that He can bless us. Sometimes His fight is against those who want to bring us to despair. Nothing separates us from His love so nothing separates us from His mind and His power. There isn't a moment God is not thinking of us.
My initial question when reading this story was, "Didn't they remember the plagues which God sent for them to be set free?" But then I thought of all the times I have doubted God when a crisis came upon me. I forgot all the other times when He had clearly fought for me. Why did I believe He had stopped simply because my own prediction of the future was hopeless. God never has failed to give me hope before. Why am I hopeless now?
God has never stopped fighting for me or for you. He is fighting right now. You and I need to remember that.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Do Our Doubts Keep Us from God's Blessings?
Mark 11:23-24 (ESV)
23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
James 1:6 (ESV)
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
I do not believe that God gives us everything we want. I do not believe that God gives us things simply because we are deluded into thinking that it will happen just because we say it will. I do not believe that God supplies on the basis of our own desires that our wishes be granted. I believe that God provides on the basis of His word. His word reveals who He is. Therefore, He provides on the basis of His character. So, what do our prayer have to do with it?
The definition of prayer for many must be changed. It is more than "talking to God." Prayer should reveal our hearts. Prayer should reveal our faith. Faith is based on the word of God. We believe because He has said it is so. Our prayers should simply repeat what God has said. Prayers will be in a general attitude, i.e.," God I know you are loving and care about my situation", and specific, "God, I need to pay my rent this week and I don't have it. Will you please help supply my need?" However, there are times we must have more than a general or specific request. We need a specific word from God which allows us to ask and state what God will do. We can do so because we have heard from Him specifically.
Elijah prays that it won't rain. He says he has done so at God's command. Jesus prays that Lazarus will be resurrected because He has already heard from His Father. There must be some times in which we have heard from God and we pray that which He has already told us. Doubt in what God has already said is denying that God is truthful and/or powerful enough to answer our prayers.
God refuses to answer the prayers of people who refuse to believe Him. God desires a people who will know Him. People cannot know Him until they have believed in Him. They cannot believe in Him by doubting Him.
Years ago I spoke to an evangelist who said, "You must believe it is so when it isn't so, so that it will be so because with God it is already so." I asked him to tell me how you know its so. He said, "First, you have to receive a word from God."
I asked, "How do I get a word from God?"
"That's the hard part," was his reply.
Most of us don't want to spend the time receiving a word from God. It may take intense prayer. It may take fasting. It may take losing sleep (remember the Garden of Gethsemene). Yet, somehow God has to speak, we have to hear and believe.
How far can we go in our prayers to God? They are limitless. We can ask Him to speak to us about anything. However, we are ridiculous in asking for something we already know God doesn't want us to have. For example: Please don't let me get caught after I rob the bank!
Listening for a word from God always exposes the possiblity He will refuse our request. He may say that He is simply not going to do so. Paul continued to have a thorn in the flesh. Jesus went to the cross. God's word spoke to them and they quit asking God for what He had revealed. Thus, the answer may not be to our liking but it will speak to our faith.
Often, we need a word from God to be the real anwer to our prayers. Are you willing to ask God to speak to you and continue asking until He does? If so, you must receive what He says by faith and you shall have what He has promised.
Faith in God's word is the key.
23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
James 1:6 (ESV)
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
I do not believe that God gives us everything we want. I do not believe that God gives us things simply because we are deluded into thinking that it will happen just because we say it will. I do not believe that God supplies on the basis of our own desires that our wishes be granted. I believe that God provides on the basis of His word. His word reveals who He is. Therefore, He provides on the basis of His character. So, what do our prayer have to do with it?
The definition of prayer for many must be changed. It is more than "talking to God." Prayer should reveal our hearts. Prayer should reveal our faith. Faith is based on the word of God. We believe because He has said it is so. Our prayers should simply repeat what God has said. Prayers will be in a general attitude, i.e.," God I know you are loving and care about my situation", and specific, "God, I need to pay my rent this week and I don't have it. Will you please help supply my need?" However, there are times we must have more than a general or specific request. We need a specific word from God which allows us to ask and state what God will do. We can do so because we have heard from Him specifically.
Elijah prays that it won't rain. He says he has done so at God's command. Jesus prays that Lazarus will be resurrected because He has already heard from His Father. There must be some times in which we have heard from God and we pray that which He has already told us. Doubt in what God has already said is denying that God is truthful and/or powerful enough to answer our prayers.
God refuses to answer the prayers of people who refuse to believe Him. God desires a people who will know Him. People cannot know Him until they have believed in Him. They cannot believe in Him by doubting Him.
Years ago I spoke to an evangelist who said, "You must believe it is so when it isn't so, so that it will be so because with God it is already so." I asked him to tell me how you know its so. He said, "First, you have to receive a word from God."
I asked, "How do I get a word from God?"
"That's the hard part," was his reply.
Most of us don't want to spend the time receiving a word from God. It may take intense prayer. It may take fasting. It may take losing sleep (remember the Garden of Gethsemene). Yet, somehow God has to speak, we have to hear and believe.
How far can we go in our prayers to God? They are limitless. We can ask Him to speak to us about anything. However, we are ridiculous in asking for something we already know God doesn't want us to have. For example: Please don't let me get caught after I rob the bank!
Listening for a word from God always exposes the possiblity He will refuse our request. He may say that He is simply not going to do so. Paul continued to have a thorn in the flesh. Jesus went to the cross. God's word spoke to them and they quit asking God for what He had revealed. Thus, the answer may not be to our liking but it will speak to our faith.
Often, we need a word from God to be the real anwer to our prayers. Are you willing to ask God to speak to you and continue asking until He does? If so, you must receive what He says by faith and you shall have what He has promised.
Faith in God's word is the key.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
God Is the Only Truly Just Person
I believe that most people long for justice. It is part of our creation. We were made in the image of God. God desires justice. He will bring it about some day. We want justice too. The problem is that we mix the desire for justice with the worldly definition of justice and get something that doesn't resemble justice at all.
Therefore, we don't know how to measure justice because we don't know what is right and wrong. We say that a man who hits his wife should never be allowed to work in his profession again and pardon the murderer. Justice is just when the punishment equals the crime. That is why the Bible told us an eye for an eye. It wasn't about gouging out eyes. It was about having the punishment limited to the level of the crime.
Many people think that this sort of justice is a requirement. A life for a life for example means that everyone who takes a life should pay for it with his own life. A strict adherence to that rule means that God is not just. He did not require Cain's life after he killed Abel. He did not require David's life after he had Uriah killed. In other words, a life for a life definition of justice means that God is unjust since He didn't follow the definition of justice.
It appears that justice cannot be defined by the maximum penalty. Justice must take in more factors than the crime alone.Maybe we should be seeking the minimum penalty to bring about real justice.That's where mercy comes in.
Mercy is having the ability to do something painful but choosing not to do so. It is looking deeper into the individual and determining what really should be done to correct the flaw. It is believing that the guilty can be redeemed. Our justice system has abandoned this idea.
District Attorneys are charged to convict people who have committed crimes. Juries and judges determine who is guilty. The responsibility for punishment resides with judges.No judge has the time to do any measure of research to adequately decide who is redeemable and what it would take to redeem them. Thus, some get probation who should go to jail and some go to jail who should get probation. This is the inherent problem in our justice system. Humanity cannot really be just because we aren't capable.
However, that is not true with God. He knows exactly what we need. He knows exactly what it takes to redeem us. We fell short of His glory and were worthy of death. Jesus paid the price for our sins. We identify with Jesus in order to be "crucified with Christ." God knows us thoroughly. He knows what it takes for us to identify with Christ. He knows that some will never do so.
My system of justice thinks that an eternity in hell is much too harsh a penalty for sin. It would be if that was all there was to it. Hell is for those who refuse to come to God even though He is beckoning them. They have snubbed their noses at God. Jesus paid much too high a price for people to ignore Him.
I have had people ask me, "What about the people who have never heard about Jesus?" The answer is: I don't really know. I know that God is just. I know that I am charged to tell people about God's love, urge them to identify with Jesus and warn them of the consequences. Yet, I don't know about those who have never heard and could not have heard about Jesus. So, I say again, "God is just."
The real question, though, is what are you going to do since you know about Jesus? Remember, God is just. You know that you need to trust in Jesus and you refuse. Thus, you are without excuse. God's mercy has been upon you until now. You have been allowed to hear the gospel and believe in it if you choose. Making that commitment determines your redemption.
I know a man who told me he is just going to take his chances that God will not condemn him for refusing to identify with Jesus. That makes no sense to me. God is just. He never promised He would take every life that took a life. He did say that all who trust in Jesus have eternal life. This isn't taking a chance. This is committing eternal suicide. It is a more permanent decision than any other that we can make. We are judged by what we have done while in our bodies. No chance remains after we have ejected.
God is the only truly just person. He knows exactly what justice is.
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore, we don't know how to measure justice because we don't know what is right and wrong. We say that a man who hits his wife should never be allowed to work in his profession again and pardon the murderer. Justice is just when the punishment equals the crime. That is why the Bible told us an eye for an eye. It wasn't about gouging out eyes. It was about having the punishment limited to the level of the crime.
Many people think that this sort of justice is a requirement. A life for a life for example means that everyone who takes a life should pay for it with his own life. A strict adherence to that rule means that God is not just. He did not require Cain's life after he killed Abel. He did not require David's life after he had Uriah killed. In other words, a life for a life definition of justice means that God is unjust since He didn't follow the definition of justice.
It appears that justice cannot be defined by the maximum penalty. Justice must take in more factors than the crime alone.Maybe we should be seeking the minimum penalty to bring about real justice.That's where mercy comes in.
Mercy is having the ability to do something painful but choosing not to do so. It is looking deeper into the individual and determining what really should be done to correct the flaw. It is believing that the guilty can be redeemed. Our justice system has abandoned this idea.
District Attorneys are charged to convict people who have committed crimes. Juries and judges determine who is guilty. The responsibility for punishment resides with judges.No judge has the time to do any measure of research to adequately decide who is redeemable and what it would take to redeem them. Thus, some get probation who should go to jail and some go to jail who should get probation. This is the inherent problem in our justice system. Humanity cannot really be just because we aren't capable.
However, that is not true with God. He knows exactly what we need. He knows exactly what it takes to redeem us. We fell short of His glory and were worthy of death. Jesus paid the price for our sins. We identify with Jesus in order to be "crucified with Christ." God knows us thoroughly. He knows what it takes for us to identify with Christ. He knows that some will never do so.
My system of justice thinks that an eternity in hell is much too harsh a penalty for sin. It would be if that was all there was to it. Hell is for those who refuse to come to God even though He is beckoning them. They have snubbed their noses at God. Jesus paid much too high a price for people to ignore Him.
I have had people ask me, "What about the people who have never heard about Jesus?" The answer is: I don't really know. I know that God is just. I know that I am charged to tell people about God's love, urge them to identify with Jesus and warn them of the consequences. Yet, I don't know about those who have never heard and could not have heard about Jesus. So, I say again, "God is just."
The real question, though, is what are you going to do since you know about Jesus? Remember, God is just. You know that you need to trust in Jesus and you refuse. Thus, you are without excuse. God's mercy has been upon you until now. You have been allowed to hear the gospel and believe in it if you choose. Making that commitment determines your redemption.
I know a man who told me he is just going to take his chances that God will not condemn him for refusing to identify with Jesus. That makes no sense to me. God is just. He never promised He would take every life that took a life. He did say that all who trust in Jesus have eternal life. This isn't taking a chance. This is committing eternal suicide. It is a more permanent decision than any other that we can make. We are judged by what we have done while in our bodies. No chance remains after we have ejected.
God is the only truly just person. He knows exactly what justice is.
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Friday, November 28, 2014
When Is Faith the Hardest?
John 14:1 (ESV)
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Often I visit people in hospitals who are facing medical procedures which could lead to their deaths. . Some of them are very anxious about death when they are forced to face it. Many of these people will openly tell me that they believe in God, the atonement given by Jesus and eternal life. Yet, their anxiety betrays them. They are afraid of dying. They know what to believe and want to believe it but their own flesh rears up and says there is nothing else. They aren't afraid of hell. They are afraid of nothingness.
This same scenario is painted similarly when there is any other crisis in life. The job has been lost and the savings are dwindling. The people facing this crisis want to believe that God is watching over them. They want to believe that He will supply what they need but they can't see Him doing anything. They waver from believing in God who is involved in His creation to disbelieving He will do anything.
Troubles test our faith. They make us dig down inside. They open up our prayer lives. They either bring us great anxiety or deepen our faith. It is the hardest to believe when all that we said we believe is being challenged. Somewhere in the back of our minds is the thought, "What if none of this is true?"
So, I ask you, "Where does your faith come from?" You can't believe in a time of crisis in a faith which you are generating from within yourself. Faith is supernatural and brought to us by the Spirit. It is a gift of God. Our own salvation proves it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The Christian life can only be lived out in the spirit. Trying to live the Christian life in the flesh is like dressing up a pig, calling it a debutante and taking it to a ball as your date. it doesn't matter how much you want to believe the pig is a beautiful girl, down deep you know the truth. You can't believe from the flesh. No faith is true faith when believed in this manner.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Thus, the time of crisis demands that we are being filled with the Spirit so that we can believe what can't be believed by the flesh. We crucify the flesh and live in the spirit.The problem is that the flesh doesn't give up easily. It will demand dominance in our lives if we do not keep our minds upon the spirit. The battle is in the mind.
Romans 8:5 (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The mind is not the brain. The brain is merely the CPU. It organizes and interprets the data given by the stimuli it receives. The mind is the decision part of the person. It is with the mind that we determine where we shall place our concentration. We concentrate on this world and what this world tells us is true or on the Spirit and what He tells us is true. We believe what we are focused upon.
What makes faith difficult in times of crisis is that the believer is forced to truly abandon the fleshly world view. It is difficult because the person has a verbal faith rather than a spiritual one. They said the right words but didn't really believe them because they were speaking from the flesh rather than the spirit.
The only solution is to believe from the Spirit. The only way to do so is to set your mind on the Spirit. The only way to do that is to be filled with the Spirit. And the only way to do that is to stop resisting the Spirit.
You must make a complete commitment to God without holding back anything. You must listen to God and do what He tells you to do promptly. You must confess any unconfessed sins. You can't hold back.
The Apostle Paul said that he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. He said this after saying that he knew what it is like to go hungry and have plenty. He was saying that he had learned to be content in any circumstance. That is a statement of faith. That comes from Christ who strengthens.
This blog is for those who are going through difficult times and whose faith is wavering. Please send it to someone who needs it. Encourage them, lift them up and let your own faith bolster them when their faith is dim. Troubles make faith the hardest.
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Often I visit people in hospitals who are facing medical procedures which could lead to their deaths. . Some of them are very anxious about death when they are forced to face it. Many of these people will openly tell me that they believe in God, the atonement given by Jesus and eternal life. Yet, their anxiety betrays them. They are afraid of dying. They know what to believe and want to believe it but their own flesh rears up and says there is nothing else. They aren't afraid of hell. They are afraid of nothingness.
This same scenario is painted similarly when there is any other crisis in life. The job has been lost and the savings are dwindling. The people facing this crisis want to believe that God is watching over them. They want to believe that He will supply what they need but they can't see Him doing anything. They waver from believing in God who is involved in His creation to disbelieving He will do anything.
Troubles test our faith. They make us dig down inside. They open up our prayer lives. They either bring us great anxiety or deepen our faith. It is the hardest to believe when all that we said we believe is being challenged. Somewhere in the back of our minds is the thought, "What if none of this is true?"
So, I ask you, "Where does your faith come from?" You can't believe in a time of crisis in a faith which you are generating from within yourself. Faith is supernatural and brought to us by the Spirit. It is a gift of God. Our own salvation proves it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The Christian life can only be lived out in the spirit. Trying to live the Christian life in the flesh is like dressing up a pig, calling it a debutante and taking it to a ball as your date. it doesn't matter how much you want to believe the pig is a beautiful girl, down deep you know the truth. You can't believe from the flesh. No faith is true faith when believed in this manner.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Thus, the time of crisis demands that we are being filled with the Spirit so that we can believe what can't be believed by the flesh. We crucify the flesh and live in the spirit.The problem is that the flesh doesn't give up easily. It will demand dominance in our lives if we do not keep our minds upon the spirit. The battle is in the mind.
Romans 8:5 (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The mind is not the brain. The brain is merely the CPU. It organizes and interprets the data given by the stimuli it receives. The mind is the decision part of the person. It is with the mind that we determine where we shall place our concentration. We concentrate on this world and what this world tells us is true or on the Spirit and what He tells us is true. We believe what we are focused upon.
What makes faith difficult in times of crisis is that the believer is forced to truly abandon the fleshly world view. It is difficult because the person has a verbal faith rather than a spiritual one. They said the right words but didn't really believe them because they were speaking from the flesh rather than the spirit.
The only solution is to believe from the Spirit. The only way to do so is to set your mind on the Spirit. The only way to do that is to be filled with the Spirit. And the only way to do that is to stop resisting the Spirit.
You must make a complete commitment to God without holding back anything. You must listen to God and do what He tells you to do promptly. You must confess any unconfessed sins. You can't hold back.
The Apostle Paul said that he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. He said this after saying that he knew what it is like to go hungry and have plenty. He was saying that he had learned to be content in any circumstance. That is a statement of faith. That comes from Christ who strengthens.
This blog is for those who are going through difficult times and whose faith is wavering. Please send it to someone who needs it. Encourage them, lift them up and let your own faith bolster them when their faith is dim. Troubles make faith the hardest.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Just Who Are You Giving Thanks To?
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Lots of people wished me a happy Thanksgiving yesterday. Maybe it was scripted. Maybe their bosses told them that they had to. I don't know. I wonder if people know that Thanksgiving assumes that there is Someone to give thanks to.
Last year, my wife had surgery for breast cancer right before Thanksgiving. I preached a sermon which told the congregation that we should give thanks anyway because the Scripture tells us to do so in all circumstances. I wasn't thankful for my wife's breast cancer. I was thankful to God for watching over her. He did and as far as we know she is cancer free. This year I have a new crisis. I am thankful to God for handling it. I haven't seen Him act yet but I know that He will.
But what about the people who don't actually believe in a God who loves, knows and works on our behalf? Who are they being thankful to when they tell us that we should be thankful? Should we thank our lucky stars or Mother Earth or someone other nonsense? Why should we even thank each other if there is no God. Without a God who brings grace and goodness into the world we have a population of narcissistic, self-centered, self serving people who are merely responding to our own programming brought on by the environment in which we have existed. In other words, we are no better than the computer I am using with all of its zeros and ones. Why should we thank the computer since it is only responding to its own programming. And if no programmer exists for us, then there is no one to thank for the goodness we bestow on others because we are simply responding in a way which serves us best even if that is working to hear someone tell us thanks.
The lack of God eliminates the need for being thankful at all.
I recently read that a significant number of atheist pray. I am perplexed. Who are they praying to? Why are they praying at all if they say they don't believe in God? Do they believe that the universe responds to people who pray? Doesn't that assume that there is someone running the universe if they can manipulate that person into doing what they want? Or, is this something that is left over from our creation? Is there a longing to be reunited with God even if we vehemently deny He exists? Could this be an instinctive left over from the Garden of Eden?
But, I suppose none of this really should matter to me. I am thankful because I know God. I believe that He knows every crisis that I face and He has a solution for each of them. One day I will face death. He already has a solution for that. I am thankful that I can face that tomorrow because I know Him to keep every word He has said.
I am thankful to the Almighty, Everlasting, Omniscient, all loving God. Who else is there to be thankful to?
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Lots of people wished me a happy Thanksgiving yesterday. Maybe it was scripted. Maybe their bosses told them that they had to. I don't know. I wonder if people know that Thanksgiving assumes that there is Someone to give thanks to.
Last year, my wife had surgery for breast cancer right before Thanksgiving. I preached a sermon which told the congregation that we should give thanks anyway because the Scripture tells us to do so in all circumstances. I wasn't thankful for my wife's breast cancer. I was thankful to God for watching over her. He did and as far as we know she is cancer free. This year I have a new crisis. I am thankful to God for handling it. I haven't seen Him act yet but I know that He will.
But what about the people who don't actually believe in a God who loves, knows and works on our behalf? Who are they being thankful to when they tell us that we should be thankful? Should we thank our lucky stars or Mother Earth or someone other nonsense? Why should we even thank each other if there is no God. Without a God who brings grace and goodness into the world we have a population of narcissistic, self-centered, self serving people who are merely responding to our own programming brought on by the environment in which we have existed. In other words, we are no better than the computer I am using with all of its zeros and ones. Why should we thank the computer since it is only responding to its own programming. And if no programmer exists for us, then there is no one to thank for the goodness we bestow on others because we are simply responding in a way which serves us best even if that is working to hear someone tell us thanks.
The lack of God eliminates the need for being thankful at all.
I recently read that a significant number of atheist pray. I am perplexed. Who are they praying to? Why are they praying at all if they say they don't believe in God? Do they believe that the universe responds to people who pray? Doesn't that assume that there is someone running the universe if they can manipulate that person into doing what they want? Or, is this something that is left over from our creation? Is there a longing to be reunited with God even if we vehemently deny He exists? Could this be an instinctive left over from the Garden of Eden?
But, I suppose none of this really should matter to me. I am thankful because I know God. I believe that He knows every crisis that I face and He has a solution for each of them. One day I will face death. He already has a solution for that. I am thankful that I can face that tomorrow because I know Him to keep every word He has said.
I am thankful to the Almighty, Everlasting, Omniscient, all loving God. Who else is there to be thankful to?
Sunday, November 23, 2014
"Better than You" Christians
Corinthians 3:4 (ESV)
4 For when one says, “I
follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
The problem in
the Corinthian church exists today. People try to make principles out of their
preferences. They try to say they are better than others because of them. They
are superior in intellect or spiritual maturity or sophistication. They look
down on others because they do not prefer the things they prefer.
I, personally,
have had enough with it. I like the ESV Bible but that is a preference. I like
both hymns and contemporary Christian music. That, too, is a preference. It
does not make me superior. It does not make me more mature. Saying that I am
better than others because of it makes me merely human.
The Christian
church must become spiritual in its dealings with everything if she is to be in
harmony with one another. Making these preferences into principles simply
divides us. It makes us spend valuable effort in proving that we are indeed
taking the superior position. It makes us think we have arrived at something.
And we have. We have arrived at our own human depravity.
So, we gather a
group of people around us who are no more spiritual than we are. We make fun of
those who aren't like us. We call the contemporary music "Seven
Eleven" or say that the hymns have lost their meaning and don't speak to
us. We tell people that the Bible translation we use is easier more easy to
read or that it has a majestic sound.
I am always
involved in church on Sunday mornings and really don't have a real connection
with those who aren't. However, since my wife and I are in Singapore and it was
her birthday yesterday, my daughter and son-in-law took my wife and I out for
breakfast before church as part of her birthday celebration. It was a nice
restaurant on the river. There was even a celebrity there. I noticed that these
people had no concern whether anything was happening at church. Their lives
were completely outside of that environment. They don't know and don't care
what version of the Bible we are using. They don't know any of the songs. They
do not care if we are Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian or Catholic.
I thought about
these people all day. How can the church get caught up in preferences for
people who know Christ when those who don't know Him have such an eternal
damnation? We will never get an audience with these people which means anything
by being merely human.
So, I urge
Christians to find where God is working and join Him. Listen to Him and begin
new works. Pray for unity in the Church. Be filled with the Spirit.
Get over your
preferences. You are not better than anyone.
4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
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