Culture Or Christianity Which One Do You Love The Most

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. - 1 Peter 1:17-19

The nature of man is to cling to his culture. What he or she has been taught as right and wrong by man. When I was in grade school I can remember reading about the United States being a “melting pot”  where many nations came together to be one people.  Actually , it was man’s attempt to do what only God can do.  That attempt failed.  What I see today is one nation with many cultures trying to cling to what they were before they or their ancestors came to the United States.  People set up enclaves centered on their ethnicity or nationality.  European, African, Hispanic, the list goes on.  It is the nature of man to associate with people who look and act like themselves. Among Christians, it is the same. Someone said that 11:00am Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week in the United States. For most people when they read this, their minds will think I am referring only to black and white, although our genetics is part of it, but it is more pervasive than genetics.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. - Galatians 3:26-29

2 Corinthians 5:17says - old things – including your primary devotion to your race or ancestors nationality – are gone and all has become new.  That is a spiritual truth – a fact.  One which many Christians have a hard time living with and applying. Why? Because devotion to the traditions of their natural fathers is a very strong emotion. Many people are passionate about their natural heritage. Separation driven by our differences will never be defeated by human will but only through faith in Jesus Christ. And still .... the Body of Christ, which is spiritual, struggles with unity because of natural differences.

In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one - why? Because He knew the hearts and natural tendencies of mankind. Peter reminds us that our father's traditions will not redeem us .... 

knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. - James 1:18-19

I have said many times in the past, if I was standing with a group of men and said something against their fathers or ancestors, they would become angry, but if I used God’s name in vain, few, if any, would care.  Why? Because they are more devoted to men than they are to God. When I would preach in a Haitian church for the first time, I would always begin with “Mwen pa blan, mwen fre nou” which is to say “I am not white, I am your Brother”  That was a hard truth to digest for a congregation of mountain people who rarely saw a white man. My point was that I was not standing before them as a white American, but as an adopted son of God, saved by the blood of Jesus and His resurrection.

How do you want people to see you?  How do you see yourself? First as a Christian, or is it the country you are from, or the state, or your ethnic heritage, or you vocation, the neighborhood you live in, maybe your Christian denomination? If you believe Matthew 22:37, that you are to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, where does that leave your natural heritage and the traditions of your fathers?  Is it possible that your culture or ethnicity is your god? What defines you?

Listen, what I am telling you is truth, but it is a hard truth.  It is difficult to overcome.  We don’t all have to speak with the same accent or eat the same food or like the same clothing style or music, but we serve the same Lord and belong to the same family. What the founders of this country tried to set in place with written law, God has already put in place through His Son by His Spirit. So maybe we should act like it. 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. - 1 John 3:1-2

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Who Or What Do You Love More?

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4  

That verse can be taken two ways.  First, if you pursue God then He will give you anything your little heart desires. Second, if you pursue God, He will make His passion, your passion.  He will change your “wants” to those things that reflect His will and purposes.  The second is what Jesus was telling Peter in John 21.  Paraphrased .... Jesus was saying

“If you love Me, then pursue those things that I pursue.  Do what I say to do, even if it makes no earthly sense.” 

What makes missionaries distinctive is that they place less value on earthly comforts and relationships than they do on the call of Jesus on their lives to pick up their cross, abandon the things of this world, and follow Him.  To feed His sheep if you will.  The thing about a shepherd, when everyone else is at home sleeping, he is standing guard over the flock. When the Lord brought us to Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey for two years we lived in a travel trailer, parked next to a church, listening to the cars zoom up and down the highway and departing jets flying a few hundred feet over the trailer.  My point?  God has called us to a place that we would not have chosen nor even imagined. When He calls, you must be willing to lay what is comfortable and familiar, down - your nets if you will, and follow Jesus.

From time to time when I tell my wife that I love her, she will say “I love you more.” Then I say “No, I love you more.” And we go back and forth several times with that.  But where is the proof of that love? The proof of love is not words, as affirming as they might be. 

Ephesians 5:25 says this, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.” 

Do you love God enough to give yourself up for Him?  – your hopes, your dreams, your comfort, your secure retirement, your family holidays, the list goes on ….. The theme of the Bible is that God is supreme and deserves our total devotion … like David, we must love God with our whole heart. (1 Kings 14:8).  Listen, men, you won’t love your wife that way (Ephesians 5:25) if you first don’t love God that way first. (Matthew 22:37-39). And you won’t love God that way if you are unwilling to lay your life down.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. - Matthew 16:24

So - who or what do you love more?

Paul laid it out for us in Romans

I [beg] you therefore, brothers [and sisters], by the mercies of God, that you present [or offer] your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. [In light of the sacrifice that Jesus made for you] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. - Romans 12:1-2

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Why You May Not Be Content

 By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10

You must be careful to not compare yourself to other Christians and imagine that you can never be like them.  It’s true, you may never do what they do, but if you are born again .. you are exactly like them.  You are exactly like Paul … exactly like Billy Graham … but you are most likely a different part of the body of Christ.  

The body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. […] The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it. - 1 Corinthians 12:14-25

God has a purpose for each of us (Ephesians 2:10).  You might decide to be a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker in the natural, but you do not decide what part of the Body you will be in the supernatural.  God does that.  Exactly like Paul and Billy Graham.  Now that is not to say that you might not be envious of someone who is the mouth.  But that is your flesh at work.  Perhaps your insecurities at work or maybe your pride. 

I have known men who demanded that they have a certain leadership position in a local church.  Not because they were called to it, but because they lusted after it.  They want to be significant in the eyes of men or perhaps to overcome their own feeling of inferiority.  Perhaps being a leader would somehow validate their worth to God and men. 

Or maybe you feel like God can’t use you because you have nothing to offer.  You do! You do!  What you have to offer God is … you.  And when you make that offering, then trust that God will use you as He sees fit. It may be to fulfill a place that people won’t see or ever know about.  Is that OK with you?  If not, examine your heart.  If your desire is to glorify God .. the first step is to submit your life to Him and to His will.  A song you may be familiar with … “Yes Lord yes to Your will and to Your way.  Yes Lord yes.  I will trust you and obey.  When the Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree and I will answer .. YES Lord YES!” 

God will provide the opportunity for you to fulfill your purpose. You don’t have to make those opportunities yourself.  Just do what God puts in front of you.  If it seems bigger than you are .. for whatever reason .. it is most probably God.  There was a man, Brother Lawrence, who was known for his spirituality.  He was a monk.  He had been a soldier but was wounded in a war and could no longer serve as a soldier in his country's Army, but he could serve in the Lord's army. One thing he did not want to do was work in the kitchen.  He decided that.  Any guesses where God put him?  For 15 years.  During that time, he made a huge impact in many people’s lives.  He was content to serve faithfully where God put him and glorified God and blessed others in the process.  Are you ready to work in the kitchen? To set side notoriety and the praise of men.  (Mark 9:35) [Jesus said] “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”  I hope that puts things in perspective for you.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

The Spirit At Work In Every Christian

Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all - Ephesians 4:1-5

I want you to think about what makes you distinctive as a Christian. What makes you different from the man or woman you meet that is not a Christian. OK, times up! It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in a Christian. You might think of the Holy Spirit like a wireless internet connection. Without it - you cannot communicate with God. 

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.- John 3:5-6

At the moment that you place your faith in Jesus, God seals you with the Holy Spirit. 

[You] were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. - Ephesians 1:13-14

The Holy Spirit is who enables you with a spiritual nature. Yes you are saved by faith. But God has sent the Spirit to help us.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. - John 14:26

Because we have the same Spirit we can have unity as the Body. We are cautioned to not be unevenly yoked. Meaning that we cannot be in spiritual agreement with someone else who has not been born again - is not sealed by the Spirit of God.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial [worthless, wicked or destroyer - also a demon]? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

In the Bible Study, Experiencing God, the author, Dr. Henry Blackaby, describes seven spiritual realities. Realities that that unsaved cannot see or will they embrace. The fourth reality is that God speaks to us. Not in an audible voice as he did with Moses, Samuel and the prophets but by His Spirit through the Word of God, prayer, circumstances and other Christians (those who are sealed by the same Spirit). 

I remember some years ago - 1994 - I met with a pastor, Pastor David Wooten, in the parking lot at a BP gas station next to the Clanton, Alabama  Peach water tower to talk about men's ministry and the Promise Keeper ministry. (I later went on to be staff with Promise Keepers as the Alabama and Mississippi state manager.) Pastor Wooten talked to me about his vision, what he believed the Holy Spirit was leading him to do in men's ministry. He must have talked non-stop for 15 or 20 minutes. Then he looked me square in the eyes and asked, "So what do you think?" 

About 5 minutes in to his speaking I already had a sense of spiritual agreement with him. I can't really explain the feeling - well, it isn't really a feeling - more of a knowing - knowing when you don't know why you know. So I said the only thing I could say. "Yes! You are right in your understanding of what God is doing through Promise Keepers and what he is asking us to join Him in doing with the Christian men in Alabama." That was all I had to say about it and that started an amazing partnership and journey in men's ministry.

How can two walk together unless they be agreed - Amos 3:3

You cannot be evenly yoked and walk together spiritually unless you are both sealed by the Spirit of God and you have not quenched the Spirit.

Do not quench the Spirit. - 1 Thessalonians 5:19

How do you quench the Spirit? Grieving or quenching the Spirit is suppressing or hindering the Spirit’s influence in a believer’s life. Engaging in behaviors that cause sorrow to the Spirit (sin or spiritual apathy) grieves or quenches the Holy Spirit. Believers can avoid grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit by aligning with God’s ways and putting off the flesh. Having clean hands and a clean heart.

When we are submitted to the leading of the Spirit then the fruit of the Spirit will be manifested in our lives and the gifts of the Spirit will be at work through us. 

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. - Galatians 5:22-25

What has He been saying to you? Are you listening for His voice? 

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 1:31

How important is it for other people to know what you have accomplished in this life? Oh - don't go and get all humble on me? Is it ok for the only people to know the good you have done are the ones that were impacted by what you have done and the Lord?

My wife and I just sat in a a Bible class tonight. The instructor spoke slowly and simply. He told the class that he does the best he can. Almost self denigrating. I took it as an effort to put people at ease. Now he could have opened with a litany of his accomplishments to impress us and affirm why he was the teacher. But he didn't. But, after 20 minutes into the class - the truth was obvious - he was insightful - engaging - effective - and ok if we were not impressed by him.

All too often people want the recognition of others as affirmation that they have value and are appreciated. In Christian ministry - the credit should always be to God. Think about it. God gifted us with Spiritual gifts. He has called us to join Him in what He is doing in the world. We must be willing vessels through which He accomplishes His purposes. Think of a vessel like a decanter. The purpose of the decanter is to hold a liquid. The decanter did not make the liquid. The owner puts the liquid in the decanter that the owner chooses. Then the owner picks the decanter up and pours out the contents. As He chooses. So how could the decanter take credit for the liquid or the pouring of the contents? All of the credit goes to the owner. Not to say that the decanter might not be tempted to take credit. You see - others see the decanter not the owner.

In the same way - how could we take credit for the good done through our obedience to our "owner" - God the Father. All credit or glory goes to God and none to us. Actually, the only thing any of the decanters can take credit for is being willing to be used by God. Saying "yes" to God.

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret - Matthew 6:1-4

One aspect of our ministry is to encourage widows - in obedience to James 1:27. We don't connect with the widows directly - but through other people who know the widows personally. We refer to it as helping people help people. As part of that ministry we provide a handmade wooden napkin holder with the word "FAITH" engraved on it. Plus we include some cranberry scones in the package. We send the package to our contact person and not directly to the widow unless the two parties don't live in the same town or state. I tell our contacts or sponsors that we don't care if the widows know that our ministry exists. And prefer that they don't. Our goal is to help people help people and let God get the glory. It is a Matthew chapter 6 thing.

We are a vessel that has contents, provided by God, that are being poured out. So far we have helped - encouraged 35 widows and 18 other families. I shared that for purpose of illustration - but we are not advertising it. It is something God has prompted us to do. He gets the credit. If we take take any credit it is that we said "yes" to God. And that's enough.

How about you?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Do You Respond To Life With Emotion Or Devotion

Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?" —John 13:37

Peter thought that he could do a spiritual thing through the strength of his own will.  You recall how that worked or didn't work for him.  It’s easy to sit in judgement over Peter.  Shaking our knowing heads.  No way Peter! Who did you think you were?  And yet, we are guilty of the same thing.  Trying to be Christians … doing the right thing … in the power of our flesh. Letting our emotions be a poor substitute for the Spirit of God.  Thinking that our own plans are equal with the plans and will of God.  

We are essentially denying the sovereignty of God .. trying to be our own god.  What! No way you say.  Yes way! Everything we do .. everything we say .. what we think .. what we want .. should be .. must be … in the context of whose we are and who God is.  Look … our life after our rebirth is a struggle.  Our old nature wants to rule and guide, but our new nature has another ruler and another guide.  In all fairness to Peter, he had not received the Holy Spirit so he lacked the power to be and do in a way that would overcome.  Read this account of Peter being confronted after he received the Spirit of God.

The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. - Acts 4:5-11

Is that the same guy that denied Jesus before people around a fire? Yes and no.  It was Peter, but the new Peter not the old one.  Now Peter could have stood before those religious leaders, even with the Spirit in him and responded with his flesh.  If he had, he would have failed just like before.  The first time, Peter did not glorify God, he had tried to protect himself - himself.  The second time, he did glorify God even at the peril of prison or worse.  He wasn't confronted by a young girl but by the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law. The difference in his response was because of who he was trusting in.  

Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. - Psalm 20:6-8

That can be you as you face life each day.  In this mortal life you will always be tested to trust in yourself and not God.  To respond to a situation with emotion and not devotion.  If you are wondering where the victory in Jesus is in daily living .. that may be the root of your problem.  You are trying to do what only God can do through you.  Examine your heart.  Draw close to God through the Word and prayer.  Pick up your cross daily and follow Jesus.

Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. - Zechariah 4:6

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Repentance Is More Than Being Sorry You Got Caught

Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10

Understanding sin in the context of a holy God.  Until a person comes to the point of conversion .. coming under conviction by the Holy Spirit and having a sudden awareness of who they are and who God is, they will never experience a sense of guilt before God and their need for salvation. 

When sin is exposed many people are more sorry they got caught than the fact that they did something wrong.  They doing something wrong is an attempt to satisfy some need they have. Physical or emotional. Sin is an act of desperation.  Man trying to be his own god.  It all started in the garden. 

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  - Genesis 3:4-5

The Law brings an awareness of what is necessary to “be like God”, and it is impossible for sinful man, by himself, to be like God.  Recall that Adam and Eve were already created in God’s image and likeness.  (Genesis 1:26)  But they wanted more than that.  They wanted to be equal to God. They wanted to decide what is right and what is wrong. (Sound a bit like our culture?) 

So what about today .. for you and me. Does becoming a Christian make you sin-proof?  The answer is - No.  But It does make you Hell-proof.  Sins can be both internal and external.  Jesus taught that.  We tend to focus on the external and try to manage those sins .. to keep them under control.  Not good enough!  If you compare what you do plus what you think to the holiness of God, you will quickly realize that you are not so “holy” as you hoped.  

If most of your sinning goes on – on the inside, you may fool people around you, but not God, who sees the heart.  The Law and our sin is a constant reminder that we need a Savior because we cannot be holy on our own.  We need a little – well more correctly – a lot of help.  God does not want you to live a life of guilt because you struggle with sin and the flesh .. He wants you to confess and repent.  

But repentance is more than trying harder .. it is trusting more … it is submitting more … it is “faithing” more. I don’t expect to be perfect in the flesh … but I also know that I should never be satisfied with my sinful nature.  I once heard repentance described as doing an about face and going the other way. Some people are resolved to it and say “That is just the way that I am!” in response to some attitude or action that does not glorify God and is hurtful to other people.  As if they can blame their sin on heredity … well they can, but then again, they can’t.  Adam and Eve may have started it, but we are each responsible for our own sin. So we need to own it, confess it, and repent of it.  Today would be a good day to get started.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Looking For Answers In All The Wrong Places

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. - Psalm 146:1-4

There is, has been and always will be turmoil among people in this world. People look for a savior - not Jesus - but a person. Someone who can solve the world's problems - stop wars, eliminate hunger, defeat crime, cure diseases and prevent injustice. Oh - but as a Christian you say - there is no one human who can do that - only God. True - but a truth that is only understood by those who have been born again spiritually.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 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. - 1 Corinthians 2:12-14

A "natural person" is someone who cannot understand spiritual truth because they have not been born again. Maybe you are thinking - "tell me something that I don't already know!" You may know it - but very often as we face life, we forget that we know it. God cannot be understood - believed or trusted by the natural person - telling someone that they need Jesus when the Holy Spirit is not at work in their heart is like speaking a foreign language to them. Have you ever been somewhere that they people around you were speaking a language that you did not understand? It can be very frustrating and unsettling. The heart of the natural man is set on natural solutions. Solutions their minds can comprehend and so their thoughts and understanding are limited to the natural world and its wisdom.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9

Do you see? Mankind is floundering in its quest for wisdom and that wisdom is and always will be just out of reach for them. One generation may defeat a terrible evil, only to have evil rise up again in another part of the world. The reason is that until Jesus returns sin will persist. It will continue to reign in the heart of man. Sin can only be defeated through faith in Jesus. Jesus that the world rejects because although it wants an answer - it is looking for natural answers not a spiritual answer which is Jesus.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Psalm 146:5-10

That is the world you live in. There was a movie with Tom Cruise .... and Jack Nicholson where Jack Nicholson told Tom Cruise "You want the truth - you can't stand the truth!" Well that is the plight of the world we live in. As for you -- Be the light!

sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear -  1 Peter 3:15

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

It's All About Jesus And All About Grace

(Heads up - there is a good bit of scripture in today's devotion - but you need to read all of it!)

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. - 1 John 1:7

It was Jesus sacrifice - His shed Blood - the blood of the Lamb that has made our salvation possible.

Therefore he [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death [Jesus death on the cross] has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. .... For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. - Hebrews 9:15,19-22

I was chatting with a friend the other day about the role of water baptisms in the life of a Christian. Why we do water baptism ( one of the two sacraments - Water Baptism and the Lord's Supper) is because it a visual and audible testimony to the world that we have - confessed with our mouths that Jesus is Lord [ the Christ - the Son of God] and believe in our hearts that God [the Father] raised Him from the dead and so, we have been given eternal life which is a spiritual matter - not a physical one. We have been born again by the Spirit.

Jesus had to die - shed His innocent blood - for us who are sinners - so we might find forgiveness by faith and not works. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. - John 3:16-17

Water baptism does not save us - that would be works. That happens after our new birth. Think about this, the thief on the cross could not have been with Jesus in Paradise had he needed first to be baptized with water to go to heaven. He died on his cross.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:4-10 

Salvation is not Faith in Jesus plus something - but faith in a resurrected Jesus - the Christ - the promised One - the first born of God the Father. And that my friend is Good News! In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my hope, my strength, my all!

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." - Matthew 16:13-14

Martie and I had a discussion this morning about something that was said during the sermon that sparked my little grey cells, as Hercule Poirot would say. What was it you ask? Something Jesus said.

So everyone who acknowledges me [Jesus] before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 10:32-33

What is there to acknowledge? Well, who Jesus was and is and will be. In Matthew 16 the disciples said that the people thought He was John the Baptist. Some the prophet Elijah. Others Jeremiah. And still others one of the other prophets.  So then Jesus asked ....

“But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 16:15-17

You see the people were aware of Jesus, but did not know that He was the Messiah - the Christ. But the disciples, specifically Peter, knew Who He was. And Jesus said the only way that Peter could know that was if God had revealed it to Peter. You see - that was a spiritual truth - not one that men could derive by merely observing Jesus life. Oh - they knew he was religious - but they did not know that He was the Son of God - the Messiah - the Promised One that all of the Jews - over the generations had been waiting for.

OK - so what about the reference in Matthew 10 about denial. For me to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ before men would mean that Jesus would acknowledge me before the Father. If I did not acknowledge Jesus before men as the Christ it would mean that I was not born again - that I did not understand who Jesus was - is and will be forever.

Many people know about Jesus but do not know Jesus as Lord. They may know all of the descriptors used about Jesus but do not understand the spiritual significance. Like Peter told Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Jesus said .... 

Truly, truly, I [Jesus] say to you [Nicodemus], unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. .... So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? - John 3

You see - Nicodemus was equivalent to a seminary professor - but did not understand spiritual truth - just the facts that anyone who was not born again could read and understand naturally.

Many people go to church and think that is what makes them a Christian or perhaps their parents were Christians - but they must be born again by the Spirit to be a child of God and have eternal life.

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1 John 5:10-12

So who do you say Jesus is?

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. - Romans 10:9-10

And if you have, perhaps you know someone who has not.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Primary Allegiance

"My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise" - Proverbs 24:21

Beginning in grade school, like many of you, I was taught the pledge of Allegiance. 

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

In case you are wondering, a "Republic" is a version of democracy when citizens elect people to represent them in the government. The representatives serve the people, not the other way around. This is in contrast to a direct or pure democracy where citizens make policy decisions without the input of representatives. In a Republic, authority is delegated by the people to the representees through elections.

So that is how our country was established and is functionally organized. We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that serve as the foundation of our Republic. 

So what does this have to do with Proverbs 24? Indulge me for a few more sentences. 

I spent a good bit of my life serving our country in the Army. I took an oath when I joined the Army as a private after high school and as an officer after college. 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." (The enlisted oath includes the words "and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice")

I have pledged allegiance to this country and its citizens a number of times in a number of ways, but there is a caveat to that allegiance. Unspoken and for many not understood. As a Christian, my primary allegiance is to God, the Father and not my country. What that means is that if there is a conflict between what God says and what the military or government says, I am obliged to obey God and not the military or government. That is called civil disobedience. It means that although God would declare me innocent - it is possible that the military under the Uniform Code Of Military Justice (UCMJ) or the government might find me guilty of violating man's laws. It is something that could happen at some level, and it is at those times when you must choose. Like Joshua

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15

In the military that level of commitment where you are willing to stand on what is right was revered and called moral courage. For Christians the reason for that commitment is what Jesus implied when He was asked what the greatest commandment was.

"And he [Jesus] said to him [the lawyer who knew the law], “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." - Matthew 22:37

Choosing what God says over the government or the culture. 

Do you love God like that?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

“I Did It My Way” Great Song Title, Bad Way To Live

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

I taught a Sunday School class a couple of years ago. I call it “Applied Christianity”.  A friend said he was going to refer someone to my class who needed to be in a beginning Christianity class.  Unfortunately that man represents almost all of the Christians that I have met over the years. I know I need to be reminded, now and again, of the fundamentals of my faith.  But more, our problem is not primarily in the knowing but in the doing. We fall short in our applying what we know to do as we live our days out in this life on earth. It does us no good to store up knowledge, week after week, if all we do is store up knowledge. So what to do? Where to start?

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Paul started by telling us what the source of the Word is and what its purpose is “God breathed and therefore profitable” and ends by telling us why God has given us His Word “so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  

But that will only happen if we live a surrendered life.  Surrendered to God, not living in a state of self-trust.  On the back of our currency are the words, “In God We Trust”.  Now you know that is no longer true for most of the people in our country.  Most of our country lives in defiance of God and for their own pleasure. Even Christians.  We need to apply our faith to our lives, every day, every moment.

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” – James 1:22

God did not intend for you to live independently from Him.  Jesus defeated sin so you could walk and live rightly with God as your source, the Spirit as your guide and the Word as the lamp to your feet.  If only you will stop trying to do it your own way and listen to God. Stop trying to do it your way and do it God's way. The way God intended you to live.

"Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. That your trust may be in the Lord, I [ the Lord] have made them known to you today, even to you." Proverbs 22:17-19

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Managing Your Tongue

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. - James 1:26

Do you know anyone who likes to talk? I have noticed that people especially like to talk about what people have done wrong and not what they have done right.  There is a book that was popular years ago, "The One Minute Manager" that suggested that you catch someone doing something right and speak to that! I listen to conversations where people are talking over each other. As if what they have to say is more important than what someone else is saying. 

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. 

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. - Proverbs 18

I didn't make that up - it is from the Word of God.

"the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water." - James 3:6-12

You say, "James could not have been talking about Christians!" But I think he was. I think he was addressing sin among the Christians to whom he was writing. 

Some words about the tongue from Proverbs 17

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.  

I was once told that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. We should listen twice as much as we speak. And I would add that we should listen fully before we speak. Give deference to other people as a sign of respect and spiritual restraint or self control.

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. 

Not until recently did I remember that this was in Proverbs and was not rightly attributed to Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln. They are quoted as saying, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt" An urban legend. I believe it is actually a reference to Proverbs 17!  But the misquote is true nonetheless.

How good of a listener are you? 

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Not Losing Hope In Spite Of Your Circumstances

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. - Psalm 139:13-16

 Pastor Chuck Swindoll is quoted as saying "Life is 10% circumstances, positive and negative, and 90% how we respond to the circumstances."

I recently listened to a sermon about keeping "the proper" perspective on my life. The negative circumstances that we face can be a result of our doing -  sin - or things that were outside of our control - the doing of others. In other words, did it happen to you or did you cause it to happen. 

My mom wrote a poem in 1974 about Jonah that my baby sister recently shared with me. Because Jonah said "no" to God and fled there was a storm - it happened because of Jonah's sin. When Jesus sent the disciples out in a boat and a storm arose - the circumstance was a result of God's providence - not sin. The same with Job. His friends accused him of sinning, but he had not. I am sure you have heard someone say "They brought it on themselves!" Well, maybe and maybe not.

If you brought it on - repent - but, though forgiven, you may not get relief from the consequences or the resulting circumstances - but you can find the strength to persevere. 

When you find yourself in negative circumstances - a question you should ask is "Lord, how will you use this for the kingdom and your glory?" What I am alluding to is having a spiritual perspective on earthly circumstances. Seeing life through the prism of the Spirit, the eyes of your heart, and not merely through the eyes of men. Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus ... 

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might. - Ephesians 1:16-19

You may not be able to control the circumstances that you encounter in this life, but you can control how you respond to them. That begins and ends with keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus and your heart fully devoted to God the Father. But if you are not consistent in practicing the disciplines of your faith then you might be in trouble when trouble comes. You will feel the weight of your trouble on your shoulders.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in    from this time forth and forevermore.  - Psalm 121

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Responding To An Attitude Of Ingratitude

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest said,  “Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.” 

One of the things that I have encountered, from time to time, in our life of service has been ungrateful people and how I should respond to them.  On the positive side, people showing ingratitude for the help they receive and my frustration with that response causes me to examine my motivation for what I do. 

Rarely has my frustration toward ungrateful people been because I thought they did not appreciate God.  No, it was because I thought they did not appreciate me.  Do you see the problem?   

1 John 4:19 says “We love because he first loved us.”  

Matthew 22:37-39 suggests that because we love God first, we cannot help but love others.  God loves them through us, because we love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Or should. 

In other words, loving others, and the acts service associated with it, is an expression of our love for God. When we are confronted by ingratitude, since what we do is for God and not for them, although they are the benefactors, those who are ungrateful are really ungrateful toward God. Jesus cleansed 10 lepers that he happened upon as He traveled between Samaria and Galilee.

And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When He [Jesus] saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him—and he was a Samaritan.  Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then He said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”  - Luke 17:12-19

That is a gratitude rate of 10%.  Do you think Jesus asked himself "Why did I heal those others guys, they did not appreciate it!" Would you be satisfied with that or would you decide it just wasn’t worth the trouble or maybe want to take it back? Those people were not worth your effort, time or “sacrifice”.  

If you think that way, your focus is on you and not one the One who sent you.  Don’t you suppose that God already knows what will happen?  And He sent you anyway.  We must not look with expectation at those He has sent us to serve, but at the One who did the sending. Be careful that you don't think that it is you that should be getting the credit for your service. Paul made it clear that we are to lay ourselves down in deference to God Who has called us and God Who has enabled us. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers [and sisters], by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  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. - Romans 12:1-2

The world will say "Look at you - aren't you something!" but the Spirit will say "Look at God - isn't He something!" If you crave credit for your service to others then you have a heart problem. 

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

 

Saying No When It Should Be Yes

 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you. - Proverbs 3:27-28

Then the righteous will answer him [Jesus], saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. - Matthew 25:37-40

Have you ever thought that you should do something - help someone - say something - and then you decided that you wouldn't - that it could wait - or maybe it was being impulsive and would have been irresponsible.  I would like to say that has never happened to me - but sadly, it has. And I missed an opportunity for God to be glorified and someone who was in need to be helped.

Do not quench the Spirit. - 1 Thessalonians 5:19

When we are prompted by the Spirit to act, we can choose to ignore the prompting in favor of the prompting of our flesh. It is likened to Gollum in the Lord of the Rings where possession of the ring was all that was important to him. It consumed him. And so, helping someone is within our power and God's provision but we decide to withhold it. Our motivation for doing so seems reasonable to us and perhaps to others who have not been prompted by the Spirit - perhaps because of hard hearts.

Like the man in Luke chapter 12 who, after being blessed by God decided that he would keep the harvest for himself when, in fact, he had been blessed to be a blessing. You see, he was not trusting in God to be his provider, but planned to take care of himself. Recall that God called him a fool because the man would not see the next sunrise.

Or maybe like Ananias and Saphira in Acts chapter 5 who lied about their intentions to give money to the church to help others and then withheld what they had committed to God before men. They didn't see the next sunrise either.

I am not suggesting that if you don't help someone when the Spirit prompts you to that you will not see the next sunrise. But I am saying what James wrote in chapter 4 - "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." - To have sin in your heart is to quench the Spirit and hamper your fellowship with the Father. 

While in Haiti, there was a Haitian woman beggar who was always near a store where Martie and I would buy food.  Whenever I would drive up to the store she would hurry to the driver's window and say "Grangou" (meaning I am hungry) while rubbing her stomach. Some days I would give her some money and other days, I would not. Martie asked me why I didn't give her money all of the time. I told her that I responded to the Spirit and not the woman. The Spirit did not always prompt me to help her. I don't know why, but I did know whether I was being prompted or not. Recall that Jesus didn't try to heal everyone with a physical malady. Have you ever thought about why not?

My point - we must be in tune with the Spirit to hear the Spirit. And when we hear the Spirit our response must always be "yes" and "Amen". Amen does not merely mean "done" or "finished" at the and of a prayer. It is an expression solemn ratification or agreement. It is as if to say - “certainly,” “it is so,” or “so it be.”

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. - Galatians 5:16-17

To "walk by the Spirit" means to live each day empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit. This involves: Being influenced by the Spirit: Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead your actions and decisions. Living under His guidance: Engaging in a continual practice of following the Spirit's direction in your life. Putting off the flesh: Rejecting sinful behaviors and embracing a new, Spirit-filled way of life. Yielding to His control: Following the Spirit's lead and allowing Him to exert influence over your life.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Recognizing When God Shows Up

In 2018 I watched as a miracle unfolded.  God showed up in an impossible situation.  My oldest sister, who had significant lung and heart problems was in the hospital.  Her lungs had stopped working.  She was on a ventilator.  The hospital staff was trying to prepare the family for the inevitable.  The family had accepted the fact that our sister was not leaving the hospital alive this time.  While I was talking with my sister she wrote on a pad of paper, "I may go to heaven today"  She was ready. 

In 1976, as a brand spanking new Christian, I had led my sister to the Lord.  In preparation for her death, I had reminded her of that, of whose she was, a child of the King.  That her hope was in Heaven.  That God knew her name, she was not forgotten. I had put the call out for prayer to the Saints. Her children and husband had asked me to pray for her, multiple times over the previous few days.  They had a look of desperation in their eyes. They were helpless and perhaps, hopeless.  And then, God showed up. The unimaginable happened. The doctor removed the ventilator tube and she started breathing on her own.  The previous day she was making her peace with God.  Saying her last goodbyes. Family was flying in from out of town, expecting the worst.  That afternoon, she was sitting in a chair, eating and talking.

I was talking to her daughter after the miracle about faith and confidence in God.  So very often when we pray, we pray without real hope.  We are really not expecting God to intervene.  Oh, we would love it if He did, but we don't have the confidence that He will.  Perhaps He is not really listening.  I reminded her of Jesus responding to Peter on the water and the disciples in the boat … Jesus asked "Why did you doubt?' "Where is your faith?" or perhaps the father when he asked Jesus to help his son saying he believed Jesus could heal him, but the father needed help with his unbelief. 

As I looked around the waiting room in CICU that day, I saw relief on the faces of those who loved my sister. But I was amazed to see that they missed the fact that Jesus had just showed up in their midst.  He reached out His hand and pulled Sherrie up from the water.  He had stretched out His hand and said, "Peace, be still." to the storm that was raging in the CICU that day.  No glory to God. No recognition of God's answered prayer.  They focused on what happened - Sherrie was not going to die - and not why she was not going to die.  

That has given me pause to reflect.  Proverbs 3:5-6 are verses that are part of the scriptural foundation in my life.  That day, I was reminded that, for the most part, people don't trust in God but see the world in the light of their own understanding.  The lost, blind to spiritual things, are incapable of seeing God at work, although they do see the result of His working.  They just don't know why something happened.  But the Saints should have been shouting Hallelujah in the halls, instead they were quietly thankful. 

I want to encourage you to be watchful and aware.  This faith of ours is not a vain faith.  The Bible does not just represent some nice thoughts that help us get through life.  God is real.  He still intervenes in the affairs of man.  He hears the prayers of the Saints. And from time to time, He shows up and does something miraculous.  This time, it was for my sister's good and for His glory. And I praise Him for it.  Hallelujah! Sherrie went to be with the Lord on September 29th in 2021.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

The Criteria For Obedience Is Trust - Not Understanding

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” – Matthew 7:9-11

Understanding is not a pre-condition for God’s expectation that we obey Him.  There is something called Root-cause analysis that is intended to ferret out the true source of a particular problem.  One method is called the 5-Whys.  No – not 5 Guys, the 5-Whys.  You keep asking why to every answer to why until you get to the root cause.

Perhaps you remember the saying, “For the want of a nail a shoe was lost, for the want of a shoe a horse was lost, for the want of a horse a king was lost, for the want of a king a kingdom was lost.”  The root cause of losing the kingdom was the loss of a nail in the horse’s shoe. Well, we ask “why” of God often as a pre-condition for obeying Him.  I remember my Uncle Don telling me that when I was a young child I was always asking "why". Uncle Don was a pretty smart guy - he worked with Werner Von Braun in a missile program in Huntsville, AL. Have your children ever challenged you as their parent with “Why”?  “Because I said so!” was often my answer.  Implicit in the response was the message - I am looking out for your best interest whether you believe or like it. In a great respect that should be sufficient with God. We understand His nature.  We understand that there are things that we don’t know, we don’t know.  We do know that God sees from beginning to end.  

The question Jesus asked in Matthew 7 had to do with praying to God, but the expectation is the same.  God will do what is best for us and what will bring glory to Him as we obey Him.  It is critical that you know it is God.  If it is in His Word, we must embrace the fact that His Word is Truth (John 17:17), no matter how you may feel about it or want it to be different.  Of course, you must be a Christian to know His voice (John 10:27)  But, more than that your heart must be right. A "right heart" is a result of submitting your life to the Spirit of God.  Ignoring God and going your own way is not good, in fact, it’s sin.  (James 4:17) “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

“Yes Lord, yes.  I will trust you and obey.  Yes Lord yes, to your will and to your way.  When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree. And I will answer Yes, Lord .. .Yes!”  But friend, don’t stop with Yes … James reminds us that faith without works (stepping out in obedience by faith) is dead.  – of no practical value. 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." - Proverbs 3:5-8

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

How To Experience Joy Every Day

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace" - Philippians 1:2-7

Recall that Paul was in prison when he wrote to the Church in Philippi, but he knew who he was in spite of where he was. I recall a volunteer asking me, while we stood in the midst of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, "Do you like being here?" They were going to be with us for a week. We were in Mississippi helping with the recovery for 5 years. I thought about the question for a moment and then answered, "Actually, I love being here. There is nothing better than being in the center of God's will, geography has nothing to do with it!" That was not false bravado, an attempt to impress the volunteer with my spirituality . As the "Duke" - John Wayne - would say "That's not brag, just fact!"

So how do we find joy in spite of what the day brings? Let's reconsider Paul's letter to the Philippians. I will use what I call the 6 - RU's.

1. RU a recipient of God's grace? Have you been saved by grace through faith. A child of God. If not, the joy I am referring to is out of reach for you.

2. RU a servant of Jesus Christ? A bond servant, meaning that you are an obedient servant by choice - your following Jesus is not an imposition on your will but it is your passion.

3. RU thankful? Not for the circumstances - like being called to leave your job, sell your home, live in an RV that is in the middle of a disaster area. But thankful for your relationship as a child of God. Not taking God for granted but acknowledging His great gift and lovingkindness.

4. RU content with where God has you? Meaning, you are not like Lot's wife who looked back with longing at the place that God said to leave but are forward with an expectation of what God was going to do through your obedience.

5. RU full of love for God and others? 

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40

6. RU fruitful? I am talking about Spiritual fruit -  Fruit that is manifested in your life in spite of the circumstances you face, not because of them.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:22-25

Well .... RU?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Listening Is Not Enough

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." - James 1:22-25

My wife and I spent the weekend in East Texas visiting our 3 granddaughters, their husbands and their children - our great grandchildren - at least some of them. We have eight grandchildren and eleven great grand children and saw 3 and 5, respectfully, this weekend.

We were so blessed to see all of them. Watching the dynamics of the parents and children, I was reminded of why parents should have children when they are young - Abraham and Sarah must have had a time of it! But I was also reminded of James 1:22-25.  The parents were even tempered, at least while we were there ;)  The children listened to their parents - but very often did not heed their words. They would go right back to what they had been doing before their parents spoke to them. It was not that they did not understand what they were told - they just didn't always do what they were told to do. And that reminded me of James 1:22-25.

As Christians - or as children of God - we are told by our Father how we should behave - what we should do. We hear the Word preached - we read the Word in the Bible, but like the man looking in the mirror or our great grandchildren - we see to immediately forget what we heard or read.

We are hearers and readers only. Forgetting that the "doer" will be blessed in the doing or in their obedience. 

"And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." - 1 Samuel 15:22

"For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I [King David] would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." - Psalm 51:6-17

"Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." - Luke 6:46-49

The inescapable conclusion is that if you fail to do but merely listen the problem is that you don't love God enough. Now we don't want to hear that for certain. But the fact of the matter is that we have not yielded our hearts fully to God and want to do what we want to do. Just like our great grand children.  

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone

Total Surrender

Oswald Chambers asked this rhetorical question, “Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .”  To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.”

Total surrender to God is a recurring theme in the Bible ... The fact that it is presented to us so many times might lead you to believe that there is a reason for the emphasis.  The fact is, the entire Bible was written for us ... it is God ‘breathed’ and has at least three purposes … for the Father’s glory .. the revelation of His Son … and for our good. As Jesus demonstrated His submission to the Father in the garden before His crucifixion - "let your will not my will be done"- so must we be submitted as well.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16  

We know that the Bible can be read by people who are not Christians. Although they can understand the words, they cannot understand the spiritual truth behind those words. We also know that the Bible can be read by Christians who do understand the spiritual truth behind the words but choose not to obey what they know to be true and right.  

All Christians must be reminded that we need to … we must …. be surrendered to God's will. 

“I [Paul] appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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.” – Romans 12:1-2

That means each of us picking up our cross .. committed to the idea that it is .. not my will but His will … and following in Jesus steps. Jesus said “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father” (John 14:9) Can people say that about you? If they have seen you they have seen Jesus, who, in turn, is a reflection of the Father?  (John 17:20-23)

Total surrender is not just so we can live our lives in an easier way.  It is to show the world Jesus … 

“Now when they [rulers and elders and scribes] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. - Acts 4:13

The first sentence in the book “The Purpose Driven Life” says ‘It’s not about me [or you]’.  You must understand that this life we live is by faith and for a purpose greater than ourselves.  It requires total surrender .. total trust in God … walking by faith and not by sight. Being doers and not hearers only and so deceiving yourself into thinking that reading the Bible and going to church is what our new life in Christ is all about. (James 1:22)

Let Jesus shine through you today … Give it up and bring glory to God.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone