Fire Prevention for Churches

Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

Proverbs 26:20

A single match can start a raging fire capable of destroying the largest forest, but only if the conditions are right. Only if there's plenty of fuel to burn. If you drop that same match on a wet patch of grass or in the middle of a dirt path it will simply burn itself out. In the same way, a divisive and angry church member can destroy a church only if the conditions are right. Just like fire, conflict needs fuel to keep burning. 

Proverbs 26:20 tells us that this fuel is gossip. Literally, gossip can be rendered whispering or murmuring. That's what feeds the quarrel and causes it to grow. Without gossip a single, angry church member can't do much damage. He'll burn himself out and leave the church. It's when others start to whisper about what's going on that the conflict spreads. 

As word gets around some people feel the need to take sides (often based more on relational or familial ties than on the details of the situation at hand). Others feel the need to sit in judgment and give their opinion. Many try to apply pressure to church leaders by making passive aggressive threats about what they will do or what "a lot of people" will do if certain actions aren't taken. This is especially destructive, because it blatantly tempts church leaders to consider what will please the congregation when they ought to be prayerfully considering what will please the Lord. We dare not tempt our leaders to turn into man pleasers in such situations! But if we will follow these simple rules, we can create an environment that makes it nearly impossible for large-scale conflict to flare up in our churches. 

When you experience conflict with someone at church, there are only three people you should talk to about it.

1. The person you are mad at. 
2. Church leadership (and this should only be after you are unable to make headway by talking directly to the person with whom you have the problem). 
3. And Jesus.

And if you are not one of these three people then don't talk about it! Refuse to discuss it. Refuse to listen to it. Don't allow yourself to be thrown onto someone else's fire. Don't allow yourself to be used as fuel to destroy a church.

Participation Trophy Christianity

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

I Corinthians 9:24-27

Participation trophies don't mean much. All they do is confirm that you were there. You took part. Whether you competed particularly well or particularly poorly doesn't matter. All you have to do to get one is show up. 

That's not how the ancient Isthmian games in Corinth worked. In Paul's day, only the Olympic Games were more prominent, so the athletes took these games very seriously. They knew that only one runner in the race received the crown which was a wreath made of foliage and placed on the victor's head. Even though this crown would wither and die, it was highly coveted. Athletes would go into strict training for the games. They would go to great lengths and employ a great amount of self-discipline to prepare their bodies not just to participate but to win.

How much better than this crown of foliage are the Christian's rewards in Heaven? This crown was perishable and of the earth in the truest sense. But our rewards last forever and are heavenly in every sense of the word. How much more then ought we to discipline ourselves and put forth maximum effort to live for God as best we can? The average Christian ought to be much more committed to living out their faith than the most dedicated Olympic athlete is to training.

Let me put it plainly. There are no participation trophies in Heaven! You aren't winning any heavenly crowns simply by showing up to church on Sunday (or even Wednesday). God isn't impressed when you give minimum effort or take part aimlessly. No. God looks on the heart, and He rewards you accordingly. So let me ask. What are you doing for Jesus? And are you doing it aimlessly or excellently?

Think about it. Your rewards depend upon it.

Pick a Side

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

I Kings 18:20-21

Before Elijah called fire down from heaven on top of Mt. Carmel, he challenged the people to make a choice between God and Baal. In Hebrew, he literally accused them of "limping" between two opinions. That's an interesting image when you think about it. It's like a person trying to walk on crutches who can't decide which leg is their good leg. They don't know which leg they can trust to put their weight on, so they constantly switch legs causing them to walk haltingly or limpingly. 

Elijah challenges them to choose whether they will trust God or Baal. He looks out at a crowd of thousands of people and calls for a response, but no one said a thing.  It's really difficult for me to imagine thousands of people shrinking back in silence. Not a single person was willing to speak up and publicly declare their faith in God.

Sadly, I believe our world and even our churches are inching closer to this every day. It seems that nearly no one has the boldness or the faith to publicly declare their confidence in God anymore. We are so stuck between two worldviews that we're unable to make progress in either one. So many believers limp through life unsure if they want to trust God and walk by faith or trust the world and walk in materialism. Perhaps, Jesus said it best. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24).

How long will you waver between two opinions? Are you going to live for money, things, trips, and your own comfort? Or will you send a clear and confident message by your words and actions that you have full confidence in God and will walk by faith? Don't hobble along stuck between two opinions. God expects you to choose. Pick a side!

The Gospel: Bolts First (W.o.W. Rewind)

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Romans 1:18-20

When I was in high school I owned an old 1965 GMC pickup. One day, I was driving this truck down a hill in my neighborhood when something cracked in the steering wheel. I quickly realized that my steering wheel no longer controlled which direction my truck went. I was literally spinning the steering wheel to the left while my truck headed steadily toward the curb on the right side of the street. I found out later that there had been two bolts connecting my steering wheel to the steering column. These bolts had slowly eroded over time, and that morning the last remaining thread broke. Now when we think about what a car needs to operate we tend to think of an engine, tires, gasoline, even spark plugs, but not bolts. I never even knew those bolts were there before, yet without those two little, ignored bolts my truck was no good. It couldn't be driven.

In the same way Paul begins his explanation of the gospel with two little known and often ignored truths: 1) Man has rebelled against God and in so doing has suppressed the truth about Him and 2) God feels a righteous wrath towards this rebellion. We don't tend to think about these truths very often. In fact, we may not even be comfortable with the idea that God feels wrath or that we have participated in some sort of mass rebellion against Him. But like those bolts in my steering wheel, without these two truths the gospel simply doesn't work.

That man has rebelled against God is almost undeniable. When we compare what the Bible tells us about what the world was created to be to what the world actually is, it becomes pretty clear that mankind as a whole has turned its back on the Lord. What we tend to deny is our personal role in this rebellion. We may not have ever been table pounding atheists who organized anti-God events, but each one of us is guilty of rebelling against our Maker. We have each refused to live in accordance with His will and in so doing have suppressed the truth about Him. The Bible often speaks poetically of how creation declares God's glory (e.g. Psalm 19:1). Creation does this merely by being what God created it to be, beautiful and awe-inspiring. We were created to do the same but to a much higher degree. But when we sin, when we refuse to submit to God's authority, we refuse to be what we were created to be. We live as though God does not exist or at the very least that His dominion does not extend into our lives. In this case the old saying, "actions speak louder than words" is true. When we choose sin, it is a declaration to the world of our rebellion against His wishes and His authority.

But is it really acceptable for God to respond with wrath? The surprising answer is yes. When you consider the devastation and pain that sin has caused God's perfect creation, you begin to realize how ungodly a "ho-hum" response from God would be. Consider the Holocaust and all the other atrocities of war committed throughout human history. Consider the thousands of children who have been sold as sex slaves and all the others who have been raped, molested and abused. Consider all the terrible ways man has invented to kill and torture one another and all those who have suffered greatly by these means. And now, consider your sin and my sin added to these and all the other sins that have been committed since creation. It begins to become clear that for God to have any response other than wrath would be deficient. It would make Him a lesser God.

But why would Paul begin his presentation of the gospel with God's wrath? Why not begin with God's grace or forgiveness? In the same way the dark night sky allows us to see the brilliant light of the stars, we must understand that God's wrath forms the backdrop for His grace. Without His righteous wrath God's grace means nothing.  There can be no forgiveness where no wrong has been committed. It was the righteous anger of God that led to the gracious crucifixion of His Son.

Let us rejoice that even in His wrath our God is full of grace!

For further reading:

   - Psalm 19, 24, 29, & 96

   - Genesis 1-3

   - Isaiah 40:21-31

Finding God's Glory

The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

                                                      Psalm 19:1-4

Each day you're greeted with a powerful reminder of who God is and just how glorious He is, if you'll only look up to see it. The heavens declare it in their own silent way every single day. On many occasions the sight of a sunrise, a sunset, the twinkle of stars at night, or the beauty of fluffy white clouds set against a backdrop of bright blue has been enough to bring me to worship. It's as if the human heart is programmed to respond in worship to these small glimpses of God's creative power.

But we all know that there are days when God's glory is hard to see. Days when a thick, dark cloud of gray descends on the sky (or on your life) and obscures God's glory from your view. Days when it seems as if Heaven itself has disappeared. What are we to do on these days?

Psalm 19 reminds us that there is another and more perfect revelation of who God is: His Word. "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul" verse seven says. The psalm goes on to describe God's Word as trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, firm, and more precious than gold. Nothing in all the world compares to God's good Word revealed best in Christ and without error in the Bible.

So, when you feel a dark cloud descending, when your worship has grown cold, and especially when His marvelous creation is hidden from view: read the Word. Memorize it. Meditate on it. Cherish it. It perfectly reflects who He is, and it has the power to lift your gaze from all the troubles of this world and cast it upon your Perfect Father in Heaven. Only then, when you see Him rightly, can you praise Him truly. But will you stop to look? 

You're a Spring

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

John 7:37-39

Think about the Holy Spirit running out of you like multiple streams of living water, Believer. Where do these streams go? Everywhere! The Holy Spirit isn’t a personal water fountain to quench your spiritual thirst. No! He is like multiple, constantly flowing streams that flow out of you to quench a thirsty world. You can’t contain Him. The Spirit of God ought to be spilling out of you everywhere you go. He ought to be spilling out on everyone you come into contact with. Think about it this way, whenever someone enters your presence, they ought to also be entering into the presence of God because the Spirit is there with you.

And as the Spirit of God flows out of you like water, I believe I know what direction He will pull you. Water flows downhill, to the lowest point. So too the Spirit will pour out of you and run toward the lowly. He will pull you toward the hurting, the broken, the hungry and the oppressed. God will lead you to these, so you can meet not only their physical needs but also their deepest soul need.

But some of you are quenching the Spirit. You are damming up your spring. You allow sin and disobedience to restrict the flow of the Spirit in your life and out of your life onto others. One way I see some church members do this is by giving God partial obedience. They’ll give to missions. They’ll pray for missions. But they won’t do missions! While their financial and prayer support is winning souls to Christ all over the world, their next-door neighbors, their family members and the people in their community are dying and going to Hell. But they are unwilling to do anything about it. They won’t be used by God. They won’t open their mouths and share their gospel. Please keep giving to missions! Please pray earnestly for missionaries. They need it! But you also have to go and be a witness! 

Let the Spirit flow out of you and use you to win lost souls for Christ. All around you people are thirsty; won’t you offer them a drink?! When the people of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years and had no water to drink, what did God do? He gave them water from a rock! If God can use a rock to quench the thirst of more than a million people, then He can certainly use you to bring souls to salvation. Let the Spirit flow out of you everywhere you go, and follow His lead. Make up your mind now to obey.

The Trappings of Death

Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

John 5:24

We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Romans 6:2-4

There's a certain irony to Halloween in that a lot of very attractive and successful people, who regularly spend lots of time and money trying to make themselves look younger and prettier, for one night spend lots of time and money trying to make themselves look more dead and ugly. You can imagine how confusing this would be to someone who was completely unfamiliar with our culture. Why would living people wanting to dress up as zombies and the like?

Now, I am not making a point about whether or not believers should celebrate Halloween. Rather, I realized that this aspect of Halloween poignantly illustrates how so many believers live their everyday lives. Though they have "crossed over from death to life," they continue to live as though they haven't, walking around in the trappings of death every day.

Allow me to explain. Scripture teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus has been given eternal life. This life is not just something in the far off distant future but is actually given to the believer right now. Jesus says anyone who believes has "crossed over from death to life." Another Scripture puts it this way, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So then we ought to walk through this world as those who truly are spiritually alive. Far too many believers live in hatred, unforgiveness, arrogance, selfishness, and all the sinful ways they walked in before they came to know Christ. These are the trappings of death! And it simply makes no sense for someone who has crossed over from death to life to go on living as the dead do. You were baptized into Jesus' death, so that you might die to sin and put the things of the world behind you. So put off the old sinful ways you used to walk in. Live a new life! In fact, start living like someone who has eternal life right now.

They'll Make You Out to be the Devil

“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered.

John 7:20

How quickly man's opinion of you can change! In verse fifteen of John 7, the crowd is amazed at Jesus' biblical knowledge and wisdom. Only four verses later, they think He's possessed.

In Matthew 10:24-25 Jesus tells us to expect the same kind of treatment.

The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

So, don't be surprised if unbelievers accuse you of doing the Devil's work. The world loves attributing the things of God to the Devil. If you live like Jesus did, men will make you out to be the worst devil that ever lived. When you shine the light of Jesus into their life, it seems painfully bright to them. And when you speak the truth from the double-edged sword of God's Word to them, you cut them deeply. They cannot conceive of something that seems so painful to them being a good thing. So, they slander and accuse and malign what they do not understand. They have forgotten that some things must cause pain and discomfort before they bring healing. 

So, ignore all the hatred they spew at you and continue living for Jesus no matter what. But keep watch over yourself. Don't be arrogant or harsh. Guard your heart and your speech to make sure you are speaking the truth in love. Guard your steps to make sure you are walking in the light, living a holy life that is seasoned with grace. 

But after having taken every precaution to ensure you imitate Christ, don't be surprised if you find that you are praised one minute and cursed the next. Don't let it bother you. They treated Jesus the same way.

To that end, here's a portion of an Old Puritan prayer that I am making my own today.

Father,

Raise me above the smiles and frowns of the world,

   regarding it as a light thing to be judged by men;

May your approbation be my only aim,

   your Word my only rule.

(The Valley of Vision. p.58 in "Living for Jesus")

God of Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Baal was worshiped as a god of fertility. Asherah was worshiped as a goddess of love and war. Judaism and Christianity have always held that God is the God not only of a few things but of all things. Yet, occasionally in Scripture, He is designated as the God of something in particular. Romans 15:13, for example, designates Him as the God of hope. This should not be understood in exclusion to other things as though God being the God of hope means that He is not the God of the Highest Heaven, but rather should be understood as a literary device used to give special emphasis to this certain thing that is unique to God.

But why hope? Many elements of the Christian faith trace their origin back 2,000 years to the time of Christ. This is impressive in itself, but the Christian heritage of hope extends much farther back in history. Hope has been a cornerstone of our faith since God first promised that "the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent" (Gen 3:15) as He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden.  This hope of a future Messiah always pointed forward to the great Cornerstone of our faith who would fulfill it: Christ. Now that He has come, now that our debt has been paid and our salvation is sure, how could any believer lose hope? In any situation, no matter how grim, Christians ought never lose hope! 

Provided that our hope has been placed in the right person, we have a supernatural supply of hope. One that is never ending and fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. We bring it to remembrance by reading God's Word (Romans 15:4). So, no matter what your circumstances are today, make sure you are placing your hope in Jesus and never in the things of this world. Remind yourself of the precious promises of God found in His Word and of the examples who have gone before us. And place your hope in Christ once more. We ought to be the most hopeful of all people for we alone have a sure hope that can never prove untrue.

House of Mercy

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

John 5:2-7

Our world is very much like this scene at the Pool of Bethesda. There were broken, hurting people everywhere. But Jesus didn't avert his eyes or walk on by. No. Instead, like a child that is drawn to the runt of the litter, Jesus instinctively approached the man who must have been the most desperate case there that day and He helped him.

This man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Think about that. That's longer than most people in antiquity lived. Though we don't know the exact nature of his disability, it is clear from John 5 that he was unable to walk. He and others at that time believed that these pools were periodically stirred by an angel of God, and that when stirred were able to heal the first person who stepped down into them. He complains that he has no friend to help him and he is, of course, unable to drag himself into the pool quickly enough to be healed. How extremely sad it is to think of a man bearing so great a burden for so very long and having no friend to help him. 

Bethesda means "House of Mercy" but this man found no mercy there apart from Jesus. No one else was willing to put his need above their own. There is a lesson here for our churches. We are called to be houses of mercy. That means bearing the burdens of others, placing their needs above our own. May no one within our reach ever be able to say what this man said, that he had no friend to help him. Let this be our church’s mission. Let it be our personal mission. Those in crisis and those in great need are often more open to hearing about Jesus. So, tell them the good news. Offer them help. Be a friend. Carry their burdens.

Carry Your Mat

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

John 5:8-12

On two separate occasions, when our Lord healed paralyzed men, He commanded them to pick up their mat and take it with them as they left (here and in Matthew 9:6). Have you ever wondered why? It hardly seems like something that needed to be said. Jesus certainly didn't have to say it. He chose to, so there must be a reason. Was Jesus concerned that their mat would be a tripping hazard for the crowds? Was He discouraging litter? I don't think so. I think Jesus' reason was far greater than this. Put simply, the sight of a man walking down the street in full health and strength carrying a beggar's mat was a sign of the great miracle that Jesus had done in his life.

I can imagine people saying to themselves. "Is that Simon the beggar? No! It can't be. He is walking. But yes, it is Simon, for there is his mat. He is carrying it!" Had the man simply walked away without his mat then he could have blended into the crowd, but Jesus didn't want them to blend in. He wanted them to stand out as a testament to God's glory. God had done a miraculous thing and there it was on display for any who cared to look in the profoundly simple act of a healthy man carrying his mat.

In a way we all carry our mats with us. The lives we led before we came to know Christ left their marks on us. The sin and hurt and brokenness that we walked in left scars. Each of us bear these in different ways. Sometimes these are clearly seen on our bodies (i.e. literal scars, track marks or tattoos). Sometimes they show up in our personalities, our quirks or our worldviews (i.e. the way we prefer to dress or talk, our abnormally shy or aggressive personality, etc...). At other times they become apparent not by what is there but by what is lacking (i.e. our spouse, our children, our health).

While we should always strive to be free of lingering sin in our lives, in many ways we can never be completely rid of these lingering effects and marks of our former sin. And for good reason! Though we may wish to cast them aside, in many cases Jesus still bids us to take up our mats and carry them because they bear witness to the amazing work of God in our lives. Yes, sometimes they draw the judgment of religious people. Just as the man in John 5 was attacked by the Pharisees. But even in these moments, they give us an opportunity to bear witness, to give a testimony of what God has done for us. "Yes, I used to be broken in that way," we say. "But then I met Jesus!"

In fact, just like the scars in Jesus' hands and His side, the marks of sin in our lives can become the proof, the evidence, of God's miracle! They add credibility to our testimony. So even in this, God receives the glory! It is okay to be ashamed of the way you lived before you knew Jesus. In fact, it is good to be ashamed of your sin. But don't try to hide it. Instead, carry your mat and use it to illustrate the miracle Jesus has worked in your life.

Join Me in My Struggle by Prayer

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

Romans 15:30

When we offer fervent prayers on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ during their time of trial, in a very real sense, we enter into their struggle and strive alongside them for the victory. Through prayer, we muster spiritual weapons on their behalf, we step onto the battlefield, and we climb down into the foxhole with them to fight alongside them. In other words, in prayer we take up the burdens of others and we make their struggle our own (Galatians 6:2). This is why prayer really matters. 

As of late, it has come into fashion to mock the idea of sending "thoughts and prayers" someone's way after a tragedy. I understand why many have attacked this phrase. They are convinced that more practical help or even solutions to the problem at hand are being withheld by people who insincerely hide behind this phrase. But Christians especially would do well to consider more carefully the implications of how they make this argument. Regardless of where one stands on the issues, prayer is a powerful and meaningful way for us to struggle on behalf of others. 

When I struggle in prayer on someone else's behalf I accomplish far more than I could on my own. Through prayer I bring more than my own human strength could offer to the situation. I marshal divine strength, wisdom and resources to their aid. No doubt this is no reason to withhold the practical help that it is at my ability to dispense. But no one, least of all Christians, should impugn the power of prayer in an attempt to urge people to do what is in their power to do. Let us never forget that Jesus Himself is always interceding on our behalf at the Father's side (Romans 8:34). Would we dare to criticize His 'thoughts and prayers'?

So, take action! Pray! And as you pray may God's Spirit increase your eagerness to do all that is within your power. Through prayer, you can encourage believers in North Korea. Through prayer, you can help lead people to salvation. Through prayer, you can help comfort the grieving. And through prayer you can follow the example of Christ who is always interceding on our behalf. So, pray for someone today!

A Living Command

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

Jonah 1:1-2

The first thing we notice in Jonah's story is that God's Word is personified. It takes action. It tracks Jonah down and comes to him with a command. "The Word of God is alive and active," Hebrews 4:12 tells us, and in this Old Testament story Jonah gets himself into serious trouble for thinking he can ignore it.

The Word commands Jonah to "go." This is the first and perhaps the most important word in Jonah's command. Jonah is sent to Nineveh to preach. But if you attended Sunday School at all as a child you know that Jonah did not obey. He went, but he went in the opposite direction from Nineveh and with no intention to preach. For this reason, Jonah is the much-maligned prophet of God. As we read his story, we shake our heads disapprovingly and say "You can't run from God, Jonah. God will chase you down. You have to obey." And when the great fish vomits Jonah up on dry land and he preaches half-heartedly to the Ninevites, we shake our heads again and say "Jonah, haven't you learned anything?! You have to obey God with your whole heart."  

Yet, just like Jonah, you and I have been commanded to "go." "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Again, the word "go" is the first and perhaps most important word in God's command. But are you going? Are you making disciples? Or are you running from God's command? I wonder if Jonah might stand and shake his head and testify against us on the day of judgment. "You should have learned your lesson from me," he might say. "You can't run from God's command!"

Remember, it's the Word of God that has commanded you. It is alive! These aren't just words on a page that will lie there while you ignore them. If you and I refuse to obey God's command, then we can expect to be pursued by God like Jonah was. So, go and talk to someone about Jesus. Have that conversation with your coworker. Call that family member. Walk across the street and meet your neighbor. Sign-up for that short term mission trip at church. Maybe you even need to answer God's call to be a full-time missionary. Whatever it is for you, go and do it and do it with your whole heart.

In Your Right Mind

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

Romans 12:2-6a

God has a plan and a purpose for your life (Ephesians 2:10). He created you and outfitted you with life experiences and spiritual gifts specifically for this purpose. You have a part to play, a role to fill in the great unfolding drama of God's plan for His church. But how do you know what part is yours? How do you know what God's will for your life is? It can seem very difficult to know. But as always, God's Word is here to help.

To know God's will for your life you must first be in your right mind. The Scriptures tell us that Satan is the "Father of Lies" (John 8:44) and that he gleefully blinds the minds of all unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). As a Christian, you must think differently than those who are under this delusion. You are called to have a transformed and renewed mind, one that has been set free from deception by the truths of the gospel.

Once your mind has been transformed by the gospel, you must exercise discipline to "not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment." Oh, how many believers fail at this point! How much better our lives would be if we could only think of ourselves as we ought to instead of wasting time trying to convince ourselves and the world that we are something bigger or better than what we actually are. It is exhausting work to try to deny reality in this way. So, look at yourself honestly. What gifts has God given you? What makes you different from everyone else?

Once you see yourself as you really are, as God made you to be, then you can find how you fit into His plan for the church. It is exhausting work trying to become something you aren't. So, quit it! Instead, spend your time sharpening the gifts God has given you and looking for ways to serve His church through them. Then you can serve the church in your own unique way, as only you can do. Surely, this is God's will for your life. 

Raging Against the Lord (W.o.W. Rewind)

A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, 

yet their heart rages against the LORD.

(Proverbs 19:3)

Oh, how many times I have been guilty of this. How many times has my heart cried out in anger, "Why did you let this happen to me Lord!? Why didn't you warn me!? Why didn't you remind me!? Why didn't you help me!? How could you do this to me!?" In reality, I know it was my own fault. I know I made a bad choice. I know I failed to remember some important detail, yet I want to blame God. So, my heart rages.

Chances are you do the same, because this is nothing less than the scene from the Garden of Eden played out again and again in our lives. Like Adam and Eve, we want to shift blame from ourselves to someone else, and when no one else is there to take the blame, we shift it onto God. The truth is...God is not to blame. We are. We are the ones that chose to lie, or to betray, or to put off our responsibilities. We are the ones who allowed our arrogance to drive our friends away. We chose laziness over hard work and yet don't understand why God hasn't given us the success that others have. We have run after the world's way of living instead of God's way.

Galatians 6 tells us that there are consequences for our decisions. We reap what we sow. When we sow to the flesh, we reap a harvest of destruction. In essence, this proverb says that when the harvest comes in rotten we shouldn't blame God, but rather should blame the bad seeds of our own behavior that we chose to plant in our life. Even for believers, this rings true. Though our eternal punishment has been covered at the cross, God still disciplines us in Fatherly love here on earth. All of us must live with the consequences for our sin in this life. We dare not blame God for what we brought on ourselves.

Sometimes the most innocent among us suffer at the hands of someone else's sin though. There are those who have been molested or abused, or even the child who is born with deformities. There are some things in this world that happen to us that are not our fault. They do not happen because of our sin but as a result of the sins of others or even of sin in general. Yet, even in these circumstances we have no right to "rage against the Lord." As Job said, "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" (Job 2:10) God is God. He cannot now, nor has He ever sinned. These atrocities that happen to us are the result of man's sin, not God's. It isn't fair, and it isn't right. It causes us to long for Heaven where all things will be right. But in the meantime, God gives us reason to rejoice even in these circumstances for the Bible says that God "works all things together for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose."

So, let me ask you... What have you been holding against God that you have no right to blame Him for? What have you been blaming on God that you really need take responsibility for yourself? What angry thoughts, words, or actions towards God do you need to repent of today? May the Lord grant both of us more strength and grace to accept the consequences for our faults without blaming Him.


For further reading...

• Genesis 3 (especially verses 8-13)- Check out how Adam and Eve tried to push blame off themselves and onto someone else.
• Galatians 6:1-7 & Romans 6:23- The Bible clearly teaches that there are consequences for our sin.
• Job 1-2:10- There is no doubt that God could have stopped the trouble that came upon Job, yet Job chooses not to "rage against" Him.

Quit Talking and Get to Work

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Proverbs 14:23

Have you ever known someone who was "all talk"? I'm pretty sure I have. The guy I knew was an arrogant 19 year old who claimed to be a champion Mixed Martial Arts fighter in his home country. He used his intimidating demeanor and a stream of threats to compensate for his 5 foot 4 inch 130 pound frame. Being around a person like this can be quite unpleasant, but according to this proverb what's worse is being that person yourself. 

Whether it's a guy issuing empty threats and making false boasts or just someone who indulges their passion for gossip, all that talk gets in the way of actually accomplishing anything. We have all worked with people whose only fault was loving to socialize a little too much, but it still prevented them from being productive at work. Whatever the reason behind the talking, it eats into your productive time. That's why this proverb wisely points out that hard work leads to profit, whereas mere talk leads only to poverty.

Note too that all hard work leads to profit. Think about that! Even if I work hard on a project and fail, still God graces me with the profit of a lesson learned. Still others saw me work hard and my reputation was enhanced. Still I gained skill and discipline through the work. What is gained by mere talk? Nothing. It is prone only to increase our lack, our want, and our poverty. So whatever job you have to do today, set to it with eagerness. Work hard at it! Even if no one else sees you, and even if you get no credit. Rest easy. They can't take your profit away.

Can this be applied to our spiritual life as well? Yes! We must all be careful to guard ourselves against the trap of being "all talk" in regards to our relationship with God. This leads to an especially horrible kind of spiritual poverty called hypocrisy. Jesus pulled no punches when He dealt with religious hypocrites, so apply yourself to pursue your relationship with God not through mere words but through the hard work of seeking after Him. Attend church, teach a class, serve the less fortunate, carve out time to study the Bible, spend time earnestly praying over the needs of others. Trust me. If there is one part of your life that you don't want to be "all talk" in, this is it. Plus, you can be just as sure of the profit that comes from your spiritual work as you are of your physical labors. For the Word says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you" (James 4:8). So spend some time laboring for God today, not as a means to earn His love, but to see how you might be bettered by it.

Power in Weakness

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

God's strength is made perfect- it finds its full end, it is completed, it is perfectly accomplished- in our weakness. This means that when you are at your weakest, God can use you most. When you can do nothing on your own, God can do everything through you. In fact, it is often when we can do nothing on our own that God sees fit to use us.

John Piper puts it this way. “We think that all we have is weak and small and God makes it big. Barren Sarah gives birth to the child of promise. Gideon’s 300 men defeat 100,000 Midianites. A slingshot in the hand of a shepherd boy brings the giant down. A virgin bears the Son of God. A boy’s five loaves feed thousands... This is God’s way- to take all boasting off of man and put it on God” (Piper, p19-20, Hidden Smile of God).

So don’t hide your weaknesses. Boast in them. Your weaknesses are just another way for God to work in you. In fact, they just may be the platform of your greatest ministry. So take your weaknesses to God. Take all the problems, the obstacles, all the things that you can’t do on your own and ask Him to use them to do something great!

Your Personal Path to Glory

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him... For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified... He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

Romans 8:28-37 (selections)

Believer, God has a plan for your life! His plan was in place long before you were born. In fact, He made this plan before He even created the world, and God doesn't make shoddy plans! You can be sure He will accomplish what He sets out to do!

We each walk our own path in life, but don't you dare envy anyone else's because your path is tailor made to conform you into the image of Christ. The suffering you experience (and we all experience our own unique suffering) is akin to His suffering in this way: you both suffer for your sin. He suffered to pay the penalty for your sin. You suffer to overcome it and be set free from it. Your trials help prune the sin out of your life (John 15:2). They strip away all the unhelpful things and replace them with the things of Christ. 

God saw your suffering, your trials, your blessings, and your successes in eternity past and He is bringing you through all of this to glory. The path that you are on today is your personal path to glory. So, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how much you want things to change. Stay the course! Press on! Persevere! God has prepared this for you, and He will use it to make you into the man or woman of God that He wants you to be. So, trust Him! Follow in Christ's footsteps and be made perfect by obedience (Hebrews 2:10 & 5:8-10).

For further reading...

• Read all of Romans 8:28-37 to get the full picture.

Don't Worry About Tomorrow

My times are in your hands...

Psalm 31:15

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21

One week from today my daughter starts kindergarten. She is my oldest child, and I'm not ready for it. I knew it was coming, but now that it's upon me I don't like it one bit. 

Thinking about the future can bring up a lot of different feelings in our lives. Like me, you may be looking ahead at something difficult that you would just as soon avoid. Or maybe there's something just around the bend in your life for which you have been waiting a long time. Or, perhaps worst of all, your future may be a big question mark. You know you are approaching a fork in the road, but you have absolutely no idea which way to go. 

Thinking about the future can make you feel anxious, unsettled, excited, or even afraid. You may want to hold your future off a bit longer or you may feel like you can't wait another minute for it to get here. Either way, it doesn't matter; because the most difficult thing about the future is that it doesn't care about our feelings. No matter how you feel about it, your future marches to meet you at its own determined pace. You can't stop it. You can't slow it down. And you can't speed it up. So, what can we do? Take comfort in reminding yourself Who is in control. 

God holds your future. Whatever is going to happen will be worked out according to His plan for the good of His children (Romans 8:28). It will happen in His perfect time. And His Spirit inside you will be your guide so you know which way to go when you get to that fork in the road. So, trust God with your future! Walk according to His Word. Keep in step with His Spirit. And leave the rest in His hands. Matthew 6:34 says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."

I still don't like having to send my little girl out into the big wide world, but it gives me comfort knowing that she has an infinitely good God to walk with her through her days. So even when her earthly daddy can't be with her, her Heavenly Father will be. 

Fight to the Death

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:12-13

Patrick Henry stood from his pew in St. John's Church in Richmond, VA. He was there as a delegate to the Second Virginia Convention which was now in its fourth day. The date was March 23, 1775. The room was filled with great patriots like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who turned in their seats to face Henry. As they listened, Henry delivered one of the greatest speeches in our nation's history. A speech whose last line was so moving that it has worked its way into our national identity. "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if personal liberty is worth so much then how much more ought we to fight for our spiritual liberty from sin! Just as personal freedom is our birthright as Americans, so too freedom from sin is our birthright as believers. As soon as we became citizens of that Heavenly Kingdom for which we still wait, as soon as the Spirit of the living God took up residence within us, we were set free from the power of sin and death in that moment! (Romans 8:9-11) Oh, how I long for my brothers and sisters in Christ to find the resolution and strength to enter the fight for their own minds and bodies to finally live in the freedom that Christ shed his precious blood to purchase for them.

Freedom always comes as a result of struggle. Just as surely as Henry and his patriots had to fight to secure their freedom, Romans 8:13 tells us that by the power of the Spirit we must "put to death" our sinful deeds. Overcoming the flesh and its desires requires struggle and sacrifice. Many of you know the struggle but you continue to live in sin because you aren't willing to make the sacrifice. Half measures just won't cut it in a fight for your soul. 

Let me give you an example. Perhaps you're looking at pornography online. You've tried to stop but so far have been unable to completely quit. Would you be willing to give up your smart phone to be free? Would you give up the internet for your freedom? Or maybe you find yourself going too far physically with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Are you willing to no longer be alone with them to safeguard your purity? If you only spend time together in public places you ought to be able to stay pretty pure. 

This isn't rocket science, but it does require sacrifice. If this seems too extreme or drastic to you, then consider what Jesus said in Matthew 5:30. "And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."

Jesus is using hyperbole (exaggeration for effect). Please don't irreversibly maim yourself. His point is that you sometimes need to take drastic measures to avoid sin. The question is how much are you willing to sacrifice to be free from your sin? Jesus gave up His very life to set you free from sin. What are you willing to give up?

Will He Find Faith on the Earth?

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up... And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Luke 18:1, 7-8

Above we read the introduction and conclusion of Jesus' parable of the importunate widow. She managed to secure justice from a wicked and uninterested judge simply by persevering in making her request day after day without fail. Take note of the question Jesus asks at the end.

"When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

By asking if he will find "faith on the earth" Jesus is asking whether or not He will still find people praying. You see faith and doubt are at war in all of us, and nowhere is this clearer than in our prayer lives. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Certainly the idea of "coming" to God includes prayer. Prayer itself is an act of faith and is a victory over the doubt the remains in us. Faith presses on when doubt gives up. So that means when we give up on prayer it is because we lack faith. Doubt has won.

So if we are to persevere in faith until the Lord returns, then we must persevere in prayer. Consider this example from the life of George Muller. Muller is considered by many to be the quintessential example of Christian prayer. In his personal journals he recorded more than 50,000 specific answers to prayer he had received, thirty thousand of which were answered the same day he made his request to God. ("What George Muller Can Teach Us about Prayer" by Donald S. Whitney) Yet, even this giant had to learn to persevere in prayer. In George's own words:

"In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without one single intermission, whether sick or in health, on the land or on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be. Eighteen months elapsed before the first of the five was converted. I thanked God, and prayed on for the others. Five years elapsed, and then the second was converted. I thanked God, and prayed on for the other three. Day by day I continued to pray for them, and six years more passed before the third was converted. I thanked God for the three, and went on praying for the other two. These two remain unconverted [though I have] been praying day by day for nearly thirty-six years for [their] conversion." (George Muller: Delighted in God. p193)

One of Muller's biographers notes. "Of the two individuals still unconverted at the time of this sermon, one became a Christian before Muller's death and the other a few years later" (ibid. p194). Muller died in March of 1898 meaning he likely prayed for more than fifty-three years for these two men before he finally received the answer to his prayer. Will Jesus find you exercising your faith in prayer like this when He returns? 

O Lord, teach us to pray without ceasing, without doubting and without giving up that we may be found faithful at your return.

The Only Retirement Plan Jesus Endorsed

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Luke 16:8-9

Here Jesus points out one area in which worldly men actually excel beyond the community of the redeemed. Their shrewdness in dealing with one another. They are practical, even artful in how they ingratiate people to themselves and by so doing, provide for their own future. Jesus says we should do the same. 

This is a tricky saying. In the context of the parable as a whole it could appear that Jesus is commending dishonesty and stealing. But if you read carefully, what Jesus is actually commending is how the dishonest manager used the wealth at his disposal to provide for his future. Jesus challenges us to do the same. But what does He mean?

Jesus is confronting us with our love of money (see verse 13) and He is accusing us of being unwise both in how we deal with other believers and in how we provide for our future. In short, Jesus is telling us to give generously to the needs of other believers. When we do, it accomplishes several things. 1) It fights against the love of money taking root in our hearts (as any sacrificial giving does). 2) It strengthens the community of faith by drawing us nearer to one another in friendship. 3) It is a way in which we can lay up treasure for ourselves in Heaven. In verses ten through twelve, Jesus discusses how God will reward those who prove faithful with their money. But if I understand Jesus correctly in verses eight and nine, He is actually suggesting that if you use your worldly wealth to provide for believers here on earth, then they might invite you over to their Heavenly pad in eternity and thank you there. What a thought! 

In case you aren't convinced yet, here's my argument: First, Jesus says that these friends we are supposed to make with our money will welcome us into eternal dwellings. Who could do that but believers? Second, notice that in verse eight Jesus explicitly compares how the people of this world deal with "their own kind" and how believers do. For the comparison to hold, Jesus must be talking about how believers deal with our own kind. Third, consider that the parable of the rich man and Lazarus follows hard on this parable's heels in the gospel of Luke. Much of the emphasis is the same. The rich man ought to have used his money to provide for Lazarus' needs on earth; but, as he did not, it reveals his true god to have been money and he was not welcomed into eternal dwellings but suffered in Hades. 

So how can we live this out? Simple. Check your bank and credit card statements. We all spend money on the people and things we love. Are you providing for the needs of poor and suffering believers both near and far? Are you giving to ministries who help lead the lost to salvation? Life experience teaches us that we can't hang onto our money forever, but we can use it to provide for our future. Be generous with your Christian family, they're the only ones who have an eternity to pay you back!

For further reading:

• Luke 16- Read the whole chapter.

Identity Crisis? (W.o.W. Rewind)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord…

Romans 1:1-4

I hate wearing name tags. You can't be anonymous when you have a name tag on; people just come up and introduce themselves to you. This puts me in an awkward situation because the polite thing to do is to introduce myself in return but I never quite know what to say. Do I tell them where I grew up or should I tell them about my wife or maybe talk about my career? How do I sum up who I am in 30 seconds?

That is exactly what Paul is doing in these first few verses of his letter. Picture Paul slapping on a big name tag and introducing himself to the Christians in Rome. On his name tag, right under where it says "Paul," he writes three things: 1. servant of Christ Jesus; 2. apostle (which is to say that he is a witness to the resurrection of Jesus); and 3. set apart for the Gospel of God (which is the story of Jesus). All three labels revolve around Jesus. It is as if Paul is saying, “If you want to know me you have to know Jesus. I cannot be known except in relation to Him.”

Then Paul gets so excited that he goes ahead and tells them who Christ is. He says that “according to the flesh” He was a man of the line of David but according to the Spirit He was the “Son of God in power” and was declared to be so by His resurrection.

It is interesting to note that in Rome Caesar was the “Son of God.” Caesar was commonly referred to by this title and was worshipped as a living deity. Yet, Paul is challenging the Roman Christians to put their Christianity over their citizenship as Romans. Paul is saying, “You want to know me? I am a servant of the King. Not a servant of the man that masquerades as the Son of God (Casear), but a servant of the true King who was declared to be the Son of God in power when He defeated death. Caesar does not have the power, Jesus does.”

What would it be like for your identity to be so wrapped up in Christ that people could not know you without getting to know Jesus? What if you were known as a servant of the true King first, and everything else second?

For further reading:

  - Romans6:1-14

  - Ephesians 4:17-32

  - Colossians 3:1-17

  - II Corinthians 5:16-21

Beware of Blessing

When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.

Hosea 13:6

Are you blessed? Chances are that you're reading this off a phone or computer screen somewhere and that you are in fact very blessed. And that means you are in danger. That's right. There is a danger in being blessed. The human heart is so deceitfully wicked and the great Adversary against whom we struggle is so deviously clever, that even God's gifts to us can be used to turn us away from Him. According to Hosea 13:6 this is how it happens.

Step 1: God blesses us with every good thing. We are full, satisfied, our "cup runneth over." We grow rich and fat.

Step 2: Our satisfaction sours and turns to pride. As Satan whispers praise in our ear, we begin to credit ourselves with the abundance we enjoy. What a clever enemy we fight that he could tempt us to turn our backs on God even in response to God's good gifts in our lives!

Step 3: We forget God. You see pride is a form of worship... it is self-worship. Pride is a selfish ruler who will not bear with any competitor for your affection and it certainly will not allow you to humble yourself by bowing the knee before Almighty God. In fact, any glimpse of God as He truly is would shatter your newly inflated self-image. That is why a heart filled with pride must forget God for its own self-preservation. We stop worshiping Him, stop serving Him, and stop thanking Him for all our blessings. After all they are the result of our own hard work, aren't they?

This is when judgment comes. So be wary. Check your heart. Weed out pride. Count your blessings. And above all credit your blessings to God, not to your own wisdom, hard work, or righteousness.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights...

James 1:16-17

Prayer is a Door

I've noticed that many books on prayer approach it like it is a skill to be mastered. As though if I pray in just the right way God will give me what I request. Almost as though there is a winning formula to prayer and if I pray in just the right way then I can always win and winning looks like getting what I want.

I don't think that prayer is something to be mastered any more than a conversation or a close relationship is something to be mastered. Certainly it is something in which I can grow in my comfort, ability, depth, and intensity. But I dislike the implication that prayer is primarily about getting what I want from God. While there is certainly some biblical truth in the perspective above, to me it seems incomplete and lopsided.

What I would offer up as a beginning thought for prayer is this: Think of prayer first as a door through which you enter into God's presence. There is much more for us to learn about prayer, but let this be your first and overriding thought on the matter and you can deal with the rest later.

You see many of us think of prayer like sending an email. We compose the message and send it off from a distance. We have complete confidence that the message will get it where it is going and we are reasonably confident that we will get a response. It may be an effective and reliable way to communicate with God but at best it is communication at a distance. We send our prayers up to Heaven and wait for a response. (I am treading carefully because this view certainly finds some support in Scripture. See for example Solomon's prayer of dedication for the temple and especially God's response to that prayer in 2 Chronicles 7:14)

But for the New Testament believer, I am increasingly convinced that there is a better metaphor for prayer. Prayer opens a door through which I enter into God’s presence. It doesn’t transport me to heaven, but it might as well because it awakens my spiritual senses to the reality of God's presence all around me.

So when you pray, your first concern is to be mindful of entering into His presence. This is how we believe Adam and Eve talked with God as they walked with Him in the Garden (Genesis 3:8). They didn't communicate from afar until after they sinned. Or consider King Hezekiah. Is it of little consequence that he and so many others first entered God's presence by entering the temple before they prayed (Isaiah 37:14-15)? So too we ought to first endeavor to be mindful of entering God's presence before we focus on making our requests known. Surely too this is how we will talk to God in Heaven, not from far off but face to face. And now, through the power of the Spirit, surely the believer can pray in a similar manner. 

So do not pray from a distance. Don't "talk to the ceiling" hoping that someone up there is listening. Instead, focus on entering into God's presence before you pray. Cultivate a mindfulness and awareness of Him being present where you are. I often do this by reading and praying over a few psalms. As I contemplate God's attributes my Spirit rejoices. I am reminded of how big God is, and I begin to praise Him. As I praise the door opens for me. I become aware of His Spirit stirring within me and suddenly I am in the presence of God. This more than anything else helps my prayers. It keeps them humble. It focuses them on praise. It brings about confession. And above all it makes prayer precious and enjoyable to me like never before. 

How Not to Slap People

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

James 1:19-20

Do you ever just want to smack somebody? Lately, I have found myself wanting to do that more and more. And the sad part is they really don't deserve it. I'm getting more frustrated with people than normal and I don't know why. My temper is short. My patience shorter. Mostly, this all occurs in my mind. I don't think the people around me have noticed it much yet, but they soon will if I don't get it under control. But how?

What I am really mad about often isn't the minor annoyance that just occurred. It's the fact that it or something like it has happened five times this week! In other words, I've been keeping a record. Not so much a record of wrongs as a record of annoyances. Pet peeves. Things that kinda tick me off. I don't actively think about it, but all of that frustration is building up just below the surface of my life. So much so that I can be completely happy one minute, but as soon as something frustrates me all of that old built up frustration surges to the surface and I'm ready to explode. The amount of frustration I feel is all out of proportion to the situation. I am convinced that Christians ought not live this way, that we ought to discipline ourselves to deal with our frustration in a better way so that we can be "slow to anger." I knew I had to find a better way.

It occurred to me that I needed to find a way to vent my frustrations. I could yell at the people that are frustrating me, kick the cat, take it out on my family, or force my wife to listen to me complain for the third time this week OR I could take it to the Lord in prayer. I've decided that venting my frustrations in prayer is far superior to the other options. For a while now I have been utilizing the A.C.T.S. prayer model which stands for adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. I'm going to change it to the F.A.C.T.S. prayer model and add in frustrations.

For me this is a two part strategy. First, in my extended prayer time I need to focus some time on praying over all the things that are frustrating me. If I can vent all of that to the Lord and let it go, then I can start my day at a frustration level of zero instead of 100. But secondly, and maybe even more importantly, prayer must become my first response when I sense frustration starting to build. When someone cuts me off in traffic or does something else that drives me nuts I need to pray about it right that second. 

So take a minute to pray over all the things people do that make you want to lose your cool, all the things that you sense building up inside you. And throughout the day as things irritate you, take it immediately to God in prayer and let it go. Hopefully, by doing this you and I can both keep ourselves from actually slapping anyone.

The Day When Secrets Are No More

This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Romans 2:16

Mankind has always gone to great lengths to cover our tracks, to hide our iniquities, to keep our secrets. But no man keeps anything secret from God, and Scripture says that there will come a day when all the secrets of men will be brought to light.

It is good for us to be reminded that...

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. (Luke 12:2-3)

Imagine all the backroom dealings that will be revealed! Ever bribe, every illicit affair, every single cover up since the beginning of the world will be laid bare. On that day I imagine shame raining down from the heavens on all mankind. For even the impulse to keep these things a secret condemns us. Why should we conceal our behavior unless our conscience has already sat in judgment on our case and ruled against us filling us with shame? There is a saying, "the cover up is almost always worse than the crime." I can't help but think that this statement will ring true on that day. 

What secrets are you keeping? What will we find out about you? 

All of us have acted shamefully. All of us have secrets that we do not want to be made known, but there is only one way to cover all our shameful acts: the blood of Jesus! Plead the blood of Jesus over your shame anew today. Repent of your sins and put them off. Flee from the shame of sin and cling to the shame of the cross (see Hebrews 12:2 on "the shame of the cross"). As Christ changes us by degrees into His image, we will start keeping new secrets. So that the secrets that will be revealed about us on that day will be our secret gifts to the poor (Matthew 6:4), our secret times of prayer (Matthew 6:6), and our secret fasting (Matthew 6:18).

Oh, to be one of these redeemed who are cloaked in redemption by their secret deeds and by the blood of Christ even as shame rains down on evil men and women the world over. Lord, let me be counted among the redeemed!

Our Story (W.o.W. Rewind)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Colossians 1:21-23

Let me tell you a story about our family, the human family. This story belongs to all of us, because this story tells what is true about all of us.

Once upon a time you were an enemy of God. You were born into a family of rebels who long ago broke away from God. They hated Him and had a proud history going back many centuries of opposing His leadership in their lives. But by your own actions many times over you proved that you rejected God's way of life and His right to rule over you just as vehemently as any other human ever has. (And some of you still do.)

But God, it turns out, is a King like no other. Instead of squashing this feeble rebellion, which He could have easily done, God's heart reached out in love to reclaim His rebellious subjects. He sent His Son to die for them and through the death of His Son, He has brought back to the former state of loving harmony those who believe on His Son's name.

Now God has a plan for these repentant rebels, these prodigals. At the end of time when He presides in judgment for good or ill over all His creation, He will present those whom He reconciled by His Son as trophies for His glory. He will keep them unblemished by this world. Their holiness will be above suspicion. They will showcase His great love and grace towards those who previously rebelled against Him, if they persevere in their reconciled state. You see, if they are to fulfill God's purpose for them, then these redeemed ones must continue established and immovable in their faith in the Son. They must not trade in the hope they have found in Him for some other supposed means of reconciliation to God.

This is the battle that those who accept the Son face, to stay true to their faith even as they live in a world that constantly tries to tear them away from Him. They face temptation on every side. Temptation to embrace evil and temptation to move their hope from Jesus to some other counterfeit option. If they are to bring glory to His name on that last day, then by His power at work in them they must persevere in the faith. The true mark of  genuine salvation has always been that it perseveres to the end.

***

Where do you see yourself in this story? Are you still opposed to God, hating and opposing His leadership over your life? If so, then look closely at the loving sacrifice of Jesus and allow it to change your view of this God (John 19). Are you one of the prodigals reconciled by the blood of the Lamb? If so, be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith to the end, so that your faith will not have been in vain, so that you may be found blameless on that final day. Cling to the cross of Jesus. Hold fast to the gospel of grace for in it alone lies your salvation and no one can snatch you out of His hand (John 10:27-30).

For further reading...

• John 19- Read the crucifixion story and be reminded of the price of your salvation. 
• Matt 10:22, Matt 13:20-21, Matt 24:12-14, John 10:27-30, 2 Tim 2:11-13, & Heb 6:4-8- Check out these passages which speak of true salvation enduring to the end. Admittedly this biblical teaching can be confusing, however I do not understand these passages to teach that a true believer can lose their salvation. Rather I understand them to teach that true salvation is proven true by the fact that it perseveres to the end. As always I stand before God and His Word ready to be corrected if I am wrong.