Don't Be Satisfied With Good Enough

"For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." - Romans 10:2-4

What does it mean to be right before God? For some Christians and unbelievers, it is a self-defined righteousness. It is a mix of the natural and the spiritual. Oh - not the really bad part of the natural - just the part that is contrary to God's word but acceptable in the eyes of man.  Most would consider you a nice and honorable person if you are like that. But then, most don't have any idea what right living and right standing before God are. It is a relative measure where you are compared to other people. It is easy to find people that are not as good as you are. You don't have to look far to find them. And when you do, it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling that you have arrived. The point is not living a life of constrained behavior but a yielded heart.

As Christians. our goal must not be that we are seen as "good" in the eyes of man. This is the same world that Jesus warned the disciples about.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." - John 15:18-19

You might say, "The world does not hate Christians." OK, take a stand on something that the world has declared as right and good, but God has declared as sin. The line will be drawn quickly. You will be quickly labeled as being out of touch with the truth - their truth. How important is acceptance by the world to you? Ok, closer to home - your co-workers - your friends - your family. Enough to reject the Truth to embrace a lie all for acceptance. Choosing to go along to get along.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man." - Romans 1:18-23

And if you find the Christian life difficult to live, that is because it is if you are only trusting in your won't and will power and not the power of God that is in 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 

Recognition - Remorse - Repentance - Reconciliation

"Some Pharisees came and tested him [Jesus] by asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? What did Moses command you? he replied. They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law, Jesus replied. But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." - Mark 10:2-12

Very often I find myself writing about issues that I suspect will make some readers uncomfortable, but my hope is that it will provoke your thought and reflection on the realities of living in a fallen world. Divorce is an all-too-common event, in our culture in particular. When I tell people that Martie and I have been married for what will be 53 years in January, many reply - "wow, that is uncommon these days, or words to that effect.

In the United States, "when it comes to first marriages, 43% (eventually) are dissolved. Second and third marriages actually fail at a far higher rate, though, with 60% of second marriages and 73% of third marriages ending in divorce." - Legal Advisor article (Revealing Divorce Statistics In 2024) In case you are wondering, divorce rates among Christians are not much better. Recent surveys and studies suggest that approximately 20 to 25 percent of Christian marriages end in divorce, with higher percentages reported among millennials and younger generations of believers.

The woman at the well.

"The [Samaritan] woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. He told her, go, call your husband and come back. I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, you are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. ... The woman said, I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he. .... Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, He told me everything I ever did." - John 4:15-18, 25-26,39

Notice Jesus did not say to the woman that she needed to be restored to her first husband. Although divorce is destructive to the very fiber of marriage and family, it is not the unpardonable sin for which there is no forgiveness. I will leave that to your own study if you are so inclined to pursue it.

Given that one exception to the possibility of forgiveness by God's grace, we should not consider our sins to be OK so that grace might abound.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" - Romans 6:1-3

I am quite certain that Jesus had an admonition for the woman at the well, just like He had for the adulterous woman.

"When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life." - John 8:10-12

If you will indulge my alliteration - after we sin, there should be recognition - remorse - repentance and reconciliation. "Stuffing" our sin by quenching the Spirit does not get us a "pass" from God. You may fool your friends but not God.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

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 

Living Rightly

"And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus, he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." - Mark 7:14-23

Jesus was making a spiritual distinction. Our natural "bent" is to look at the physical and impose it on the spiritual. Jesus said instead we should consider the spiritual and impose that on the physical.  The Jews has strict dietary laws that, if not followed, were considered to be sinful. Jesus "debunked" that thinking - making it clear that God judges the heart and not the stomach. The Apostle Paul expanded on that teaching. 

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall." - Romans 14:19-21

However, even though it is lawful or OK to do something, it may be better to refrain if a weaker brother might stumble by you doing it. When Cain was asked where his brother Abel was, after Cain had killed him, Cain responded with, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The answer is "Yes" in light of the second greatest commandment.

"Teacher [Jesus], which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." - Matthew 22:36-40

Consider that with Jesus' admonition recorded in John 15

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." - John 15:12-13

Willingness to set your own life aside for the good of others. If the question rises up in your heart - "Why should I not be able to do what I want if it is not wrong or sinful?" I would counter with this.

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." - James 4:17

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 

Straining At The Oars Against The Wind

"Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits." - Mark 6:6-7

The disciples were with Jesus but when He sent them out, He had to give them authority to do spiritual things. Spiritual power is gained by association. You cannot go to church - watch enough sermons - even read the Bible often enough to do what God calls you to do - has purposed you to do. 

"And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." - Mark 6:11

Just because you have the spiritual power does not mean the world will embrace you. In fact, most of the world will not. 

"He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them." - Mark 6:48

When I was in Army flight school, I used to go fishing early on Saturday mornings for a few hours. Stress relief. There was a pond - a rather large pond that I would fish on. I used a small john boat with a trolling motor to fish out of. On one particular day I was fishing with Martie.  As we turned the boat back toward the car, a strong wind picked up.  It was blowing in the opposite direction of the place we wanted to go to. Hard as I paddled with the trolling motor set on high, the boat was pushed back on the opposite shore. I had to yield to the wind. The boat belonged to the people who owned the pond, so we abandoned the boat and walked back around the shoreline through brambles. Martie helping me carry the fishing gear and me carrying the car battery and motor. Life is like that. The winds of life are very often against you. You don't have enough strength to overcome the force of the wind. 

You are faced with a choice. Surrender to the wind or surrender to the Lord. 

"Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel [to all of us]: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." - Zechariah 4:6

We all need to stop straining in our own power - surrender to the Lord.

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13

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