Laid Bare

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12-13 

God’s Word is living and active. It doesn’t just lie there. It has power to accomplish God’s purposes. 

God’s Word is like a double-edged sword, so sharp that it can cut through the most minute dividing lines. It can divide joints and marrow. It can even divide soul and spirit, two things which we often think are the same. So, God’s Word is like the sharpest and most exacting of blades.

The passage goes on to say that “everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” That phrase “laid bare” is really interesting, and it’s a beautiful picture of what happens to you and I when we come face to face with the power of God’s Word. Laid bare is the same word that was used of animals when they were sacrificed. It describes an animal being led to the slaughter with its head thrown back and its neck (the most vulnerable part of its body with the largest arteries) exposed before the sword of the slaughterer.

Now, that’s not a very endearing metaphor is it? But the truth it drives home is this... we all lie fully exposed and vulnerable before the greatness of our God and His powerful word. God’s Word is living and active and it overpowers us and it cuts us like a double edged sword, but we serve a good and loving Father who puts us in that position of vulnerability not to harm us but to heal us. Like a surgeon with His scalpel, God cuts us to heal us. He uses His Word to cut the cancer of sin out of our hearts. But in order for Him to do that we must be “laid bare” before him completely exposed and vulnerable.

So if you are tired of being overrun by sin and if you are willing to climb on the surgeon's table, then get more of God's Word in your life. Here's a link to the Bible Reading Plan my church is doing in 2021. Why don't you join us? 

My Pastor Can Beat up Your Pastor (W.o.W. Rewind)

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I Corinthians 1:10-13

“My dad can beat up your dad!” 

“Nuh-uh! My dad could totally beat up your dad!!!”

It wasn’t uncommon to hear exchanges like this on the playground when I was a kid. In fact, I remember taking part in arguments just like this myself. It’s funny how we can take something as wonderful as being proud of our dad and turn it into a competition that leads to division and conflict. But the Bible tells us that this can happen in our churches just as easily. Christians can associate so closely with different pastors or Christian personalities that they begin to identify with them more than with Christ Himself. Many of you have heard people say, “I go to pastor So-and-So’s church.” We love to namedrop don’t we? Like it somehow makes us more important because our preacher published a book! Have you ever noticed how many people leave a church when the pastor changes? 

In 1 Corinthians, Paul warns the church about this danger and reminds us that our worth as believers is founded on who Christ is, not on who our pastor is. In this way all believers are on equal footing. We are all in Christ and therefore all one in Him. There is no need for division or conflict over these other admirable men in the church. They're nothing more than Christ’s servants. Christ is what counts, and nothing else. 

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. (I Cor. 3:5-8)

Paul drives his point home in verses 21-23: "So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." Quit boasting about men! I might add to quit boasting about numbers and buildings and programs and budgets. These things are not the end goal of the kingdom! When we boast in these things we're like a farmer boasting that he has the most beautiful tiller in the county. The goal isn't to have the most beautiful tiller! The goal is a fruitful harvest. We should be boasting in God and in Him alone, not in our pastor and not in our accomplishments as a church. Boast in the Lord and what He is accomplishing in the lives of the people in your church and in your own heart! Christ is our joy. He is our all in all, and He is our greatest boast. 

So be careful not to get caught up in conflict over Christian personalities. Be careful not to take pride in things that matter a lot in your church but not at all in the kingdom. Instead, stay close to Christ and remind yourself daily that nothing compares to this precious truth: Christ loved you and died for you so that you might be adopted as God’s own child. May we be so dumbfounded by this truth that no other boast ever crosses our lips again.

For further reading...

• Read I Corinthians 1-4:7

The Providence of Christmas

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 

Matthew 1:18

Over and over again the gospel accounts of Jesus' birth go out of their way to impress upon us that Jesus’ birth happened in the fullness of time, according to plan, to fulfill God’s promises. Nowhere is this more clear than in the gospel of Matthew. From the very first verse, Matthew takes great pains to tie Jesus’ birth back to the ancient promises of God. In the first two chapters of his book, Matthew points to four different Old Testament prophecies to show how God providentially ordered all the details of Jesus’ birth in accord with His plan. 

So when you think of all the details of the Christmas story that God worked out to fulfill prophecy... when you think of Jesus being born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, of the line of David in keeping with God's promises, be reminded that God is provident. Be reminded that God is in control and He works all things out according with His plan.

So as we begin to prepare for Christmas this year, let the Christmas story remind you that God has a plan and a purpose that He is working out, not only for our lives but for all of human history. History isn’t careening out of control. The circumstances of your life aren’t wholly random. God is in control and He is directing everything toward His desired end. 

Doesn’t it make you feel better to know that you serve a God who knows the end of the story? Isn’t it comforting in 2020 to be reminded that God is in control of all the madness going on? So, as you celebrate Christmas this year celebrate that God knows how the story ends. Celebrate that the world isn’t out of control. Celebrate that God is working all things out according to His plan and moving us toward His end for His purposes.

Be Somebody's Barnabas

When [Saul] came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

Acts 9:26-28

You may remember that Saul had been a Pharisee and was an eager persecutor of the church. He had gone to Damascus to arrest Christians, but on the way there the risen Lord Jesus had appeared to him and changed his life forever. Saul became a Christian. Eventually he was run out of Damascus narrowly escaping with his life. But when he came to the church in Jerusalem, he wasn’t welcomed with open arms. He was met with suspicion.

You see the last time the Christians in Jerusalem had encountered Saul he was one of their most ardent persecutors, so they didn’t trust him. They thought that perhaps this was a trick. They couldn’t risk letting a wolf in amongst the sheep. So Saul was left isolated and alone. This new believer and powerful preacher had no one to pray with, no one to worship with, no one to study Scripture with, no real friend or brother in Christ. He was rejected by everyone, until Barnabas found him. 

Where others saw an enemy, Barnabas saw a brother. Where others saw potential for evil, Barnabas saw potential for good. When every other Christian in Jerusalem saw only the worst in Saul, Barnabas saw the best in him. Barnabas came alongside Saul and nurtured and encouraged him. He took him under his wing. He took him to the apostles and personally vouched for him. Think about this, Barnabas introduced the apostles to the man who would write half the New Testament! And because the apostles knew and trusted Barnabas, Saul was welcomed into the church in Jerusalem. It says “he stayed with them and he moved about freely in Jerusalem and spoke boldly of Jesus.” 

Who knows how many Saul’s there are in our churches right now? How many future preachers, future missionaries, music ministers, youth ministers, deacons and Sunday School teachers are in our churches right now and all they need is for someone to come alongside them, for someone to encourage them and nurture them and give them a chance. You’ll never know the difference a little encouragement can make in someone’s life... a little belief in their abilities... a little nurturing of their talents... a little grace for their failures. You will never know what kind of impact you can have on somebody until you come alongside and encourage them.

 

Be like Barnabas! Where others saw risk, he saw potential. Where everyone else saw the worst, Barnabas saw the best. Who do you need to encourage today? It might be your spouse or a child. It might be someone who is isolated and alone like Saul was. Someone who needs a friend, a brother in Christ to come alongside them and encourage them. Will you be that brother or sister in Christ? Will you be that friend? Be somebody's Barnabas today.

Worship Pop Quiz (W.o.W. Rewind)

 "Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

Psalm 50:7-15

 

 

Have you ever had that dream where you're back in school and you find out that you have a pop quiz or a test that you didn't study for? That kind of sinking, unprepared feeling is the worst. What’s really bad though is when this happens to you in real life! When it's a dream, you get to wake up and be relieved. In real life you have to deal with the consequences. In Psalm 50 God gives us a kind of pop quiz. It isn’t a math test or a history test or even a religion test. It's a test of our lives. It is a pop quiz to help prepare us for the final judgment, or life’s Final Exam if you want to think about it that way.

 

You will need to read the entire psalm to get the full pop quiz, but in verses seven through fifteen God focuses in on the kind of worship (sacrifices) His people offer Him. He finds fault with them because their worship appears to be just an outward show. Faith is absent. They offer sacrifices upon sacrifices but do so only as a ceremony to garner favor with God. They have an “I scratch your back, you scratch my back” sort of attitude toward worshipping the Lord. They think of their sacrifices as a way to “buy God off” or to make Him owe them in some way. But that is not how worship works! Worship isn’t just going through the motions in a ritualistic way without any faith. This isn’t pleasing to God; it draws His reprimand. God has already done so much for us that we could never pay Him back. You owe God so much that He could never owe you! So thinking that somehow by your worship that you could make God owe you something and earn gifts from Him is crazy.

 

But we do this too! We give money to the church, serve as Sunday School teachers or Deacons and then think that God owes us something. We think we have done God a big favor. We sing in the choir or play an instrument, attend church every Sunday, even read our Bible daily but do so only out of ceremony and ritual. We think that somehow God is pleased with us simply because we do these things. We don't do them from a grateful heart. We just go through the motions, because we think that the ritual is all that matters to God.
 

But this isn't the kind of worship that God wants. In verses fourteen and fifteen God tells us what He wants. He says that He wants us to give thank offerings and to fulfill our vows. Now these are two types of offerings that people offered just because they wanted to. The Israelites were never required to offer these sacrifices. So, God says in essence, “I want you to worship me, and serve me, and give me your tithes not because you have to but because you are grateful for all I’ve already given you and because you want to."

 

If God were to judge you today, what would He say about your worship? Are you only obeying God so He will owe you? Are you simply going through the motions of an empty ritual with no faith behind them and thinking that that is all God wants from you? Worship and serve God out of gratitude for all He has done for you. This is the kind of worship that is pleasing to Him.  

 

For further reading...

• Read all of Psalm 50.
• John 4:19-26- Worship God in spirit and in truth.

Love Jesus Not Sin

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."

John 14:23-24

Sin is an offense against God. Any time we disobey Him, disregard His Word, or violate His righteous requirements we sin. No matter how big or how small the infraction, sin is always an attack on God. It is always an offense and is tantamount to treason. It pulls God down off the throne in our hearts and sets us up in His place. Sin is like spitting in God's face. This is why sin separates us from God and incurs His wrath.

As Christians we understand this, yet there are times we still sin. To show how our sin springs from a lack of love as the verses above suggest, allow me to divide all sin into two broad categories: unintentional and intentional sin. 

Unintentional sin occurs on accident. It happens when we mess up or make a mistake. For example, a person sins unintentionally when they lose their temper or when they accidentally curse or when they forget to keep a promise. These sins don't result from a choice of the will but from a defect in character. Yet, they are sin still. Unintentional sins are still dishonoring to God. They are still an offense to His perfect nature. And they spring from a deficiency of love. The more we love Christ, the more attentive we will be to His teaching and to our character. The more we love Him, the more careful we will be to root unintentional sins out of our lives. The Christian who continues to struggle against these sins loves Christ too little.

Intentional sin is different; it happens on purpose. A Christian sins intentionally when they know what they ought to do, they know what Jesus has commanded they do, they know that disobedience will grieve their Lord and separate them from Him and they simply do not care. They consciously choose to sin against God anyway. It's unthinkable that a Christian could do such a thing, but sadly we do. And the only explanation is that in those moments we are choosing sin over Jesus. When we sin intentionally, we acknowledge that we love our sin more than we love Jesus. Satan will try to make you believe otherwise, but this in an inescapable truth of the Christian life. 

If you are choosing sin over Christ, then you do not love Him enough. If you continue to fall into sin unintentionally then you do not yet love Him enough. None of us love Christ enough. Until the day I die it will be appropriate for me to pray, "Lord, help me to love you more." Join me in praying that prayer today. And more than that join me in living it out. Love God more than you love your sin today

Unity

How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.

It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

                                               Psalm 133

David writes this song for God's people to sing as they go up to the temple to worship. It's a simple song of praise, only three verses long, which give thanks to God for working unity among the varied throng that goes up to worship together. 

In verse two David likens this unity to the annointing oil poured on the head of Aaron and his sons which set them apart as priests to serve in the temple. David says unity is like this oil which was itself a picture of God's Spirit anointing someone to set them apart and empower them for a special purpose. David's point is that the unity God's people enjoy is a special work of God. It is the power of His Spirit that binds us together. This is a truth that the church today needs to be reminded of badly. 

As humans we naturally tend toward disunity, conflict and strife. It takes hard work to maintain unity among people so broken and imperfect as ourselves. Sometimes even with hard work, it seems like it would take a miracle for us to stay unified. And that's exactly what unity is for us. Unity among God's people is a work of God. Though David knew this, we can appreciate it even more fully from a New Testament perspective because we know that it is God's Spirit in every believer that unifies us. No matter how different you and I are, no matter how much we disagree, even if we have nothing else in common, we have enough to be unified because of this: God's Spirit dwells inside us both. The Spirit in me recognizes the Spirit in you, and it binds us together. 

But that unity is under threat right now, perhaps more so than at any other time in my life. Between politics and the COVID-19 pandemic, our country seems to be more divided now than it has been at any other time in my life. And some believers have allowed the division they feel over these matters to overpower the unity they feel in the Spirit with their brothers and sisters in Christ. You have every right to discuss your political views, but Christians on both sides of the aisle have left civil converstaion and civil disagreements behind and have resorted instead to insults, slander, name-calling, hatred, and treating all those who disagree with you like they don't deserve even the most basic human dignity.

Some of you who claim Christ have posted unChristian and terrible things about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, Barak Obama, and others. And some of you who claim Christ have posted unChristian and terrible things about Donald Trump, Melania Trump, the Trump children, Amy Coney Barrett, Mitch McConnel, and others. And not just these but you also publicly slander and insult all those who vote for or support them. You publicly accuse and slander your brothers and sisters in Christ on Facebook and then sit beside them on Sunday morning and smile at them as though nothing happened, and somehow you think it won't affect your ability to worship together?! It can't be so! It is shameful. It's embarrassing. And it threatens to tear our churches apart. 

Quite frankly some of you need to publicly repent. You need to get on your Facebook page and apologize for trying to fight the evil you see in your opponents by committing the very same sins you claim they're guilty of. You who rail against abortion (which I do believe is murder), are you guilty of murdering your opponents in your heart by your anger, hatred and insults (Matthew 5:21-22)? You who rail against hateful rhetoric, are you guilty of calling your opponents names and insulting their appearance or intelligence? You claim the moral high ground and point out their sins, all the while you double their wickedness by how you treat them and those who support them. 

Feel free to disagree with the other side. Feel free to do so strongly. Make arguments and point out inconsistencies. But do it without hatred, without name-calling or slander, or attacking anyone's appearance or intelligence. Do it without assuming that those on your side are without vice and those who oppose you are without virtue. Or have you forgotten that the tongue is a fire (James 3:5-6)? Some of you have engulfed your life, your church and your country in a wildfire forgetting that even if you win all you will have gained will be charred and ruined. 

Repent! Keep the unity of the faith. May God renew unity in our churches and in so doing may He renew unity to our nation.

This Changes Everything

This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 

Exodus 12:2-3

For the Hebrew slaves, this first Passover changed everything! It changed their future, it changed their identity, and it even changed their calendar!

Let’s start with their future. Imagine that you are one of these Hebrew slaves. All your life, all you have known is forced labor. You have scars from the whip on your back and callouses on your hands from making bricks. Your clothes are torn. Your house and belongings are meagre. On the night of Passover as you lay your head down on your pillow, you’re a slave, but by morning you will walk out of Egypt a free man or woman headed for the Promised Land. Talk about an overnight sensation! Can you imagine? Everything about their situation and their future prospects changed in a single night.

So the Passover changed their future, but it also changed their identity. This is the night the nation of Israel was born. Don’t forget that when Israel went down to Egypt they were a family of only about 70 people. While they were in Egypt they were just slaves identified by their common ethnicity. But on the night of Passover they went from being a bunch of slaves to being a nation… a people… God’s people, purchased and redeemed by Him. The family that entered Egypt with seventy people, walked out of Egypt armed for battle like a nation of probably about 2 million people.

So Passover changed their future and it changed their identity, but it also changed their calendar. God tells them that this moment is so significant that even the way they reckon time should be reoriented around it. From now on this will be the first month of the year for Israel, and He commands them to begin making preparations to celebrate Passover on the 10th day of the month. Why? I suppose because this was the tenth plague. The Passover itself would be celebrated on the 14th day of the month and it would begin a seven day feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was their new year. Every year began with a reminder of who they were and what God had done for them. 

This is instructive for us because as Christians we have also experienced a life-altering event. You see the Exodus is a picture of Christian salvation. Just as Israel was enslaved in wicked Egypt, every single one of us was enslaved in this wicked world. They were enslaved to Egyptians, we were enslaved to sin and our own fleshly desires. But a Deliverer came for Israel and a Deliverer has come for us as well. 

And what was the means of their ultimate redemption? It was the blood of a lamb. A lamb died in their place and its blood was applied on the doorpost as a covering over their families. It is the same with us. We deserve death and judgment, every single one of us, and the only way that we can be spared this fate is by the blood of the lamb being applied to our lives. Jesus became the Passover lamb, without spot or blemish (without sin), slain in the midst of Passover week. But His blood must be applied to your life personally. The Israelites had to take the blood and apply it to their doorposts, you have to apply it to your heart. They did it with a bunch of hyssop and a basin. You must do it through belief and prayer. When a person does this, when they place their faith in Jesus and His blood is applied to their lives… it changes everything. 

Our future is changed. Israel was headed for a promised land and so are we. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Not only our future but our identity has been changed as well. When you got saved you went from being an enemy of God to being a son or daughter of God. Your salvation was your entrance into a new nation, a new kingdom, a new people, God’s people. And all of this, whether you realize it or not, reoriented your calendar as well. The Israelites shifted their annual calendar in response to Passover. Christians shift our weekly calendar to reflect what Jesus has done. Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday. That’s the day they would have gone to the synagogue. Why do we meet on Sunday mornings? Because it was early on the first day of the week, that Jesus was raised from the dead. It was on a Sunday morning that Jesus won the victory over the Enemy, and beat the power of death and opened up a way of salvation for us. So we reorient our weekly calendar around that monumental event, and our whole lives ought to be reoriented around it as well.

Your Marriage isn't About You

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:31-33

As I write this, my wife and I are celebrating our thirteenth wedding anniversary, and I can honestly say that I love her more today than I did thirteen years ago when we stood in that little church and said our vows. But every marriage has its moments. Moments when you argue with one another. Moments when you wonder if you are headed for divorce. Moments when you get so angry with your spouse that you consider doing the worst, most underhanded thing you can do in a marriage... going through the house and flipping all the toilet paper rolls so the paper comes off the wrong side of the roll and drives your spouse crazy. (Side note: if you didn't know there was a right way for the toilet paper to come off the roll, then you probably aren't married yet.) 

But in those moments when you feel angry and vindictive that your spouse isn't bending to your will, or fulfilling your every need, or doing what you want, remember what Scripture says in Ephesians 5. Your marriage isn't about you. It's about Jesus and His church. Marriage is a picture for all the world to see of Jesus' relationship to the church. Christ's relationship to His church is primary, and your marriage is secondary. 

That means that for Christians marriage is a sanctifying experience. You aren't supposed to bend your spouse to your will; you are supposed to help them conform into the image of Christ. Their job isn't to make you happy, but to live to make Christ happy. Marriage is about helping one another become what Jesus wants you to be. Sometimes that means helping your spouse see the sin in their lives. All the time that requires loving your spouse in spite of the sin in their lives. 

Your marriage has been designed by God to display the glories of Jesus' relationship with His bride the church. Your marriage should make people want to join the church. For that to happen, men must love their wives as they love themselves. Earlier in the chapter this point is made even stronger when men are admonished to "love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (v25). What man could ever live up to that standard? Wives are encouraged to respect their husbands, but again this is phrased more strongly earlier in the passage when we are told that "wives should submit to their husbands in everything" (v24). What wife could ever live up to that standard?

But if by God's grace we will pursue this ideal, we will find a beautiful version of the mutual submission that v21 requires of us. The man will sacrifice his wants and desires to put his wife's needs ahead of his own, and the wife will refuse to demand that her wants and desires be met and instead entrust herself to the husband she believes will love her as he loves himself. When both husband and wife lay their own wants and needs aside in this way, what you end up with is two people living for the other instead of two people living for themselves. And this powerfully illustrates the love Christ has for the church and the service the church offers back to Him.

So as you think about your marriage present, future or even past, consider how it might be used to serve God and His purposes. Consider how you might live to meet your spouse's needs. And make a pointed effort to lay aside your rights, your wants, your desires and seek instead the good of your spouse for the sake of Christ and His church.

Quit Talking & Get to Work (W.o.W. Rewind)

 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.

God's Commands Don't Change

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'"

Exodus 8:20

This is the same command God has been giving to Pharaoh since chapter five. Over and over again God has sent Moses to Pharaoh and had him say essentially the same thing. “Let my people go so they may worship me.” This is the fourth time now that Pharaoh has been given this command, and he will receive it several more times still.

This tells us something about God. His commands don’t change because of our disobedience. Even when you disobey, God keeps commanding obedience. It doesn’t matter how long you have been disobeying Him either. You may have been living with your girlfriend or boyfriend for years, you may have been abusing alcohol for decades, you may be fully addicted to pornography. It doesn’t matter. Over and over again, each day God confronts you again with the very same command He has always given you. Keep the marriage bed pure (Heb. 13:4). Don’t be drunk with wine (Eph. 5:18). Don’t look lustfully at someone you aren’t married to (that's a paraphrase of Matt. 5:28). 

In the same way that God confronts Pharaoh with a familiar command in this passage, God is confronting some of you in your heart right now with a command He has given you many times before. What command of God are you ignoring? Which of His commands haunt you and meet you every morning when you get out of bed? You’ve felt convicted about it for a long time but until now you haven’t obeyed. It’s time. Don't bargain with God or negotiate. Don't try to wriggle out of it. God's commands don't change. Do what Pharaoh never did. Humble yourself under God's command and offer full and whole-hearted obedience. If you don’t, trouble will follow you.

Wickedness Burns

Surely wickedness burns like a fire;

it consumes briers and thorns,

it sets the forest thickets ablaze,

so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. 

(Isaiah 9:18)

It's amazing to think that the wildfires which periodically ravage forests in Colorado, California and the Pacific Northwest all start off small. They burn hundreds or even thousands of acres. They force families from their homes. They kill wildlife. But in the beginning, they are small enough to stamp out with your foot. You could prevent all that damage with a single glass of water if you were there early enough. But sadly we often don't notice these fires until they get big, and by that time, it's often too late to do anything about them.

This Scripture tells us that wickedness burns just like a forest fire. It's just as destructive. Sin will ravage your home. It will send your family away. It will take everything you hold dear away from you and leave a path of destruction in its wake. 

But, just like forest fires, we often don't notice our sin until its too late. Our sin looks so small to us. We can't bring ourselves to think it can really do any harm. We think we've got it under control, so we turn our back on it...and there in the background of our lives, it burns. While you aren't paying attention to it, your sin grows and spreads and gains destructive power. If you aren't careful one day you'll turn around and it'll be too late. Your materialism, your lust, your addiction, or your selfishness will have grown too big for you. It will be blazing out of control, and you'll have to watch it destroy everything you hold dear.

Hear this warning of Scripture before it's too late. "Wickedness burns like a fire! It sets the forest ablaze." So be vigilant! Remove wickedness far from you. Don't hold burning embers against your chest. Cast them away! Harbor no sin or deceit. Give no quarter to your enemy. Make no provision for wickedness in your life. Ask God to help you see the sin you harbor today, and turn it over to Him.

Spiritual Amnesia

Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Exodus 6:6-7

In these verses God tells Moses that His purpose for the plagues is so that Israel may know that He is the LORD. After more than 400 years in slavery Israel has spiritual amnesia. They have forgotten who God is. Either they have stopped telling the stories of His mighty deeds that He performed on behalf of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or else they have become only stories to them and they have forgotten that a real God of power stands behind them. So, through the ten plagues God is going to remind His people who He is.

The ten plagues, the exodus, all of it is designed to be a special revelation of who God is for His people. His actions in the Exodus will prove that He is the LORD. In the plagues He reveals His love, His power, His wisdom, His provision, His faithfulness and so much more to this people who have forgotten who He is. 

I’m convinced that just like Israel we are all prone to spiritual amnesia. We are prone to forget who God really is! Over time our human brains grow weary of straining to comprehend a God who is beyond comprehension. So they shrink Him down to a more manageable size and we forget who God really is. We forget the mighty deeds He has performed in the past. We forget what He has revealed to us about Himself. And as we forget these things we slowly drift away from Him. This is the human condition, the spiritual amnesia, that plagues us all as humans. 

But just like He did for Israel, God battles our spiritual amnesia by revealing Himself to us. I am convinced that God reveals Himself to you every day. He reveals His power and beauty and creativity every day, morning and evening in the sunrise and the sunset. His wisdom and order are displayed in the intricacies of the natural world. His power is revealed by wind and storm and sea. His goodness is made known by all the pleasures He makes available to us in our world. He reveals all this and more about Himself every day so that you might know that He is the LORD. 

Yet, sadly, for the most part, you are blind and deaf to all of this revelation of who God is. You rush from one place to the next consumed by the things of this world and you miss this amazing revelation of who God is. Open your eyes! Pay attention to what God is doing in our day and know who He is. Open your Bible and read what He has done in days gone by and know who He is. Open your ears and hear the birds singing, the crickets chirping, the cattle lowing, and the dogs barking as they all sing His praise. He has done all this so you might know Him. Open your eyes and remember who your God is!

The Ministry of Struggle

Praise be to... the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God... If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort,

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 6

We all go through times when we hurt, when we are weak and broken, when we weep far more than we laugh. Often in these times we want to hide ourselves away from the world. We're tempted to hide our pain, to deny our struggle, and to cover up our weakness. We see this in small gestures like when a person quickly brushes a tear away from their eye out of embarrassment. And we see it in bigger ways like when a person suffers alone, refusing to tell anyone about their struggle even years after it is done. 

We all have different reasons for doing this. You may think people don't want to hear about your problems or you may just be uncomfortable being vulnerable around others. You may even be ashamed of the behavior that led to your suffering. Whatever your reason, this passage tells that a Christian should never hide in his pain.  

Paul David Tripp puts it this way. "We all know that we don't own the blessings in our lives, that we are meant to pass them forward into the lives of others, but this passage confronts us with the fact that even our sufferings belong to the Lord for His use... This means that our suffering has ministry in view" (Tripp, Paul David, Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense. p183).

Your struggle is an opportunity for you to be comforted, and your comforting opens up fresh avenues of ministry to you. It literally trains and equips you to comfort others who struggle with the same kind of struggle you have had. This is why widows are often most effective at ministering to other widows. It's why those who have escaped the predatory porn industry have started ministries to help other porn actors escape and find freedom in Jesus as well. It's why recovered addicts play such a major role in addiction recovery programs. Those who have been through the fire, who received God's comfort in the battle, know best how to comfort others. 

So don't be greedy with your pain. Don't hide it away or struggle alone. If God has already brought you through something, then He did so in part so you could help bring someone else through something similar. And if you are in the midst of your struggle right now, then go to the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort and ask Him to minister to your needs. And let others know what you are going through. It just may be that as God comforts you you'll be able to reach out to someone you know who is struggling as well with the fresh supplies of comfort and hope that you have received from the Lord.

Be Someone's Aaron

The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

Exodus 4:27-28

God told Aaron to go meet Moses in the desert and where should they happen to meet but at the very mountain of God where God had recently appeared to Moses in a burning bush. And there Moses told Aaron what he had presumably told no one else. Scripture doesn’t record that Moses told his wife or sons or his father-in-law or anyone else why he was heading back to Egypt. But Scripture does tell us that now he told Aaron. He told Aaron that God had spoken to him out of a burning bush on this mountain, and he told Aaron that God had heard the cries of His people in Egypt, that He had seen their affliction and that He himself was coming down to rescue Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. God was sending Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let His people go.

Moses told all of this to Aaron, and from that time on, with a few notable exceptions, Moses and Aaron were one. They were a team, each one supporting the other and helping out where the other was weak. As they walked into Egypt and told the elders of the Israelites what God had planned, they were one. When they stood before Pharaoh and delivered God’s message to him, they were one. As they unleashed God’s plagues on Egypt, they were one. Together they bore the weight of leading probably 2 million people out of Egypt and through the dessert, providing food and water for them. These people grumbled against them and repeatedly threatened to rebel and return to Egypt; and through all of this, for nearly forty years (Numbers 33:38), they were one. Aaron was always by Moses’ side.

Be someone’s Aaron. We weren’t meant to do life or ministry alone. We need someone to be with us, to help us, to encourage us when we are discouraged, to correct us when we are wrong, to intercede for us and pray for us, to work alongside us. We find this principle all throughout Scripture. Jesus sent the Disciples out by twos. Paul didn’t go on his missionary journeys alone. He took Barnabas, or Silas, or Timothy with him. Even after Aaron died, Moses had Joshua.

So we all need at least one person in our life who will walk with us as we follow Jesus. We need someone with whom we can share the callings God has placed on our hearts. Be that for someone. Find someone that you can help accomplish what God has called them to do. Sunday School teachers need an Aaron. Deacons need an Aaron. College and high school students need an Aaron. Mothers and fathers need an Aaron. Be someone’s Aaron!

The Bible is a Mirror

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

James 1:22-25

Doesn’t that capture perfectly what Scripture is like and what so many of us are like? Scripture is like a mirror that lets us see ourselves clearly. We read Scripture or we hear a sermon and we are pricked in our conscience. We see something about ourselves, some part of our life that is out of joint that is sinful and wrong- cause that’s what sin is like. It’s like a clump of hair sticking up on the back of your head. It’s out of place and it hurts your overall appearance and everyone else can see it better than you can. But then Scripture shows it to you. And for most of us our first instinct isn’t to look deeper into the mirror and fix the problem we are seeing for the first time but to look away from the mirror as quickly as possible and try to forget what we saw so we don’t have to deal with it.

If you aren’t careful that’s what you’ll do when you read the Bible. You’ll be reading along and you'll come to a verse that speaks to your situation, and the Spirit will convict you of some sin in your life but you’ll just shoot past it. You’ll just keep reading quickly on trying to get your mind to focus on the next verse instead of lingering on that conviction. “I’ll come back to that and think about it later” you tell yourself, but in reality you are running away from that verse as quickly as you can. I know because I've done this.  

Or the same thing happens when you hear a sermon. At times a sermon can bring Scripture to bear on the sin in your life and cause you to come under the conviction of the Spirit, but often we are masters at wriggling out of that conviction aren’t we? We ignore it and tell ourselves that “God will forgive me.” Yes, He will if you repent and stop sinning against Him, but not if you persist in rebelling against Him. Or the pastor will point out something in Scripture that we don’t like, that convicts us and we’ll say to ourselves “Well I just don’t believe that.” You don’t believe what the Bible says?! It doesn’t work that way. Or we’ll convince ourselves that we just aren’t strong enough or a good enough Christian to obey God in that way yet. "One day," we tell ourselves, "one day." 

Be careful that you don’t fall into this trap. Be careful that you don’t sit in church week after week hearing the Word preached to you and coming under the conviction of the Spirit but refusing to be changed by it, refusing to put God’s Word into practice. If you quench the Spirit long enough you may just succeed in hardening your heart against Him, you may just succeed in deafening your ears to His pleas and blinding your eyes to your own sin. Then what hope will you have?

So when you hear a sermon or read God’s Word, the question you should be asking yourself is this: What would God have me do about this?! Be doers of God’s Word, and not hearers only.

Lord, Lord

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

Notice, these people have done some pretty impressive things. I haven’t driven any demons out of anybody. I’ve never performed any miracles. And yet Jesus tells these people with these impressive resumes that they won’t get into Heaven. Why?

Look at verse 23. They may have accomplished a few big and impressive things, but the day-to-day fruit of their live must not have been very good because Jesus calls them evildoers. You see, salvation isn’t something you can earn. It’s not about doing a few big things that you can put on your Christian resume. It’s about having a relationship with Jesus that so thoroughly changes you that it shows up in how you live- not just in a few, big impressive ways here and there but in the day-to-day fruit of your Christian life.

We see this illustrated in the life of Judas. He was one of the twelve disciples. He had done some pretty impressive things. Matthew 10:1-3 tells us that he (along with the other disciples) was given authority to cast out demons and heal every disease in Jesus’ name. Can you claim to have accomplished more in the faith than Judas? Probably not, but none of us expect to meet him in Heaven. Why? Because we know his faith didn’t prove true. In the end he proved to be an evildoer by his actions. He never knew Jesus in a saving way.

Sometimes, just like Judas, people hide behind big, impressive accomplishments that appear to be the fruit of a Christian life when in fact they have no relationship with Jesus at all. Being a Christian isn’t about what you have accomplished; it’s about what He has accomplished on your behalf. It doesn’t matter how many people know you and are impressed with all you’ve done for the Lord. What matters is this: Does He know you? Is your name written in Jesus’ Book of Life. Has He changed you? Has He made you a new creation, so you might live for and obey Him? That’s what matters. 

It’s truly terrifying to me that Jesus says there will be “many” people who will be shocked to learn they aren’t saved on that final day. What a troubling thought that many people think they stand on solid footing before the Lord, many people think they are headed for Glory when in fact they will end up being cast into Hell. What a terrifying thought!

It may be cliché, but you really do need to make sure that you are ready! Be SURE of your salvation. Don’t put it off until later. Don’t leave it up to chance. Don’t count on a resume of a few impressive accomplishments. “Lord, I went on mission trips for you. Lord I was a church member. Lord, I gave thousands of dollars to the church.” All of these are good things, but they won’t save you. 

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Does He know you? Has He changed you and given you a new heart? Is that showing up in the day-to-day fruit of your life? If not, then stop kidding yourself…you aren’t saved.

I Love the Church! (W.o.W. Rewind)

 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?

2 Samuel 7:23

What David couldn't have known when he said these words was that a community even greater than Israel would come. A people taken from every nation, tribe, and tongue. A community redeemed not from slavery in Egypt but from slavery to sin and from living after the pattern of this world. This is the church. An imperfect group of people plucked from the hand of the enemy. 

Why has God done all of this for us? "To make a name for himself!" So it's truly a shame that so many refuse to give God glory for His church and instead enjoy heaping slander and accusations on His people. Even Christians seem to enjoy saying awful things about the bride of Christ, God's church. Do they not know that Satan is the one who slanders the saints? For 'slanderer' is what 'Satan' means in Hebrew, and that is his nature. He slanders and accuses, and they cast their lot in with the enemy to attack their brothers and sisters in Christ. They accuse the church of being hypocritical, fake and judgmental all the while failing to see how they are hypocritically judging the church.  They are the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. They cast dispersion and judgment on all churches for the sins of but a handful of people they personally dislike.

I refuse to join in! Yes, the community of Christ is imperfect. We often get things wrong, and we do need to become more like Christ; but often the reason why we struggle to live up to our lofty goals is because we are so very open. We could kick all those who struggle out of the church, but we do not. We accept people as they are and seek to move them toward Christlikeness from there. This takes time and patience and grace. And often things get messy along the way.

In any church there are committed believers who were addicted to drugs just a few years ago. There are teens and children who have suffered so much that they've contemplated suicide. There are married couples struggling to hold it together. There are senior adults whose children and grandchildren have broken their hearts and taken advantage of them. And there is probably a pastor desperately trying to serve the Lord without letting his own ego get in the way.

With all this hurt and weakness and imperfection and humanness, we don't always get things right. But it sure is beautiful to watch God's people try. What a sight it is to see a community of people offer one another grace and forgiveness and encouragement to keep moving forward when they fail.

I love God's church, and no matter how often we get it wrong I know that eventually we will get it right; because I believe in the power of God. Ultimately, it is His Spirit who is conforming each of us individually and collectively into the image of the Son; and He will complete the good work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). So don't give up on the church. If you have had a bad experience with one then try another, or better yet stay where you were hurt and be the example of grace that church needs.

The Narrow Road

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 

Matthew 7:13-14

Why would anyone choose this narrow path? Its entrance is narrow and hard to find. More than that it is inconvenient for you can't pass through a narrow gate with all your baggage. You must lay down nearly everything you have to enter through it. This is, of course, a picture of Jesus You must lay down all your sin, all your pride, all your hopes and dreams and all your allegiances. You must make Jesus your all in all to enter the Christian life.  

And that’s only the beginning. Once you're on the road you must then persevere in walking its difficult path which is marked by persecution and hatred. Always you will be under attack by the people of this world. Always they will shout taunts and discouragements at you. Then besides the opposition there is also the great difficulty which the road itself presents for it's a difficult path, unpaved in many places, at times unmarked, up hill, over gorges through ravines, it will take you right down through the valley of the shadow of death. So again I ask, why would anyone choose to walk this path?

For one very simple reason: it’s the way to life! In other words, the destination’s worth it! 

For a little while in college I enjoyed mountain climbing. Now mountain climbing is one of those combinations of words that sounds very exciting. It sounds like I was hanging on the side of a cliff and climbing up the mountain, but that would be rock climbing. Mountain Climbing much more often looks like walking… up hill… for hours. Now, the only reason a sane person would willingly hike uphill for hours on end and then back down again is because they believe that the reward, the view from the top, is worth it. If they didn’t believe that, they would never do it. 

It’s the same with the Christian life. Why would anyone choose to follow Jesus down the narrow road with all its sacrifices? Because they believe the reward is worth it. You see at the end of the narrow road is life and walking the narrow road is the only way to reach this life. That makes it all worth it. 

So, consider your end. Forget about what you want or what would be easier for you right now and answer this one question- Where do you want to end up? Many of us have at different times in our lives tried to take the easy way out. We’ve taken shortcuts. We’ve gone down the easy path. And we have learned from experience that it doesn’t matter how easy the road is if it takes you to the wrong place. Make sure you are headed in the right direction. If you aren’t sure that you are, then turn around and let Jesus place you on the right path. Because I can tell you from experience that it’s worth it.

Runaway Child

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights... And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 1:17 & 2:10

Why did God provide the fish? It's a simple question, but it's one you may not have thought about. 

Certainly you remember Jonah's story! God told the prophet to go to Nineveh to preach to them, but Jonah couldn't bear the thought that they might turn from their wickedness, repent and be forgiven, so He disobeyed His God. He ran. He boarded a ship sailing in the opposite direction. 

The thing about sin though, is that always brings a storm into our lives. For Jonah it was a literal storm. The Almighty bore down on that ship with a storm was so powerful that the ship threatened to break apart. The sailors threw everything they could overboard and prayed to every deity they could think of to try to keep the ship from sinking. Finally, Jonah told them it was his fault. He told them that if they didn't throw him overboard into the sea the weight of his sin would sink their ship. These good sailors didn't want to do it, but because of the power of the storm they relented and cast Jonah into the sea. 

Which brings us back to our question. Why did God provide a fish to swallow Jonah? To save him! To bring Jonah back to God! 

You see, God discipline's His children like a Father discipline's the son he loves. If God wanted to kill Jonah, He would have had him drown. God didn't do that because punishing Jonah wasn't His purpose. He wasn't punishing Jonah, He was disciplining Jonah and bringing him back to Himself. This is a minor but important difference. God wasn't trying to get even with Jonah or pay him back for his sin. He was trying to get his attention and place him back on the narrow way. That's why God provided a big fish instead of a watery grave. 

Remember that the next time you think God is out to get you. If you are one of His children, it may very well be that He is...out to get you and bring you back to Himself. God chases down His runaway children just like any good Father would. But when will we learn to stop running away?

Don't Judge

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Matthew 7:1-2

The word “judge” in this passage can mean to judge, to condemn, or to discern among other things. I think it’s best understood to mean condemning people in this passage. Jesus isn't saying that we can't speak the truth. All throughout Scripture we find Jesus and the apostles speaking the truth to people. In fact, the Bible tells us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). So, I don’t think it’s wrong for me to say that homosexual activity is a sin or that under normal circumstances killing a child in the womb is wrong or that sex outside of marriage is a sin anymore than I think it is wrong for me to say greed or selfishness are sins. When I say these things I’m not judging people, I’m simply stating what Scripture says. I’m trying to speak the truth in love. But were I to go beyond this and go stand outside of abortion clinics or pride parades and hold up signs and shout at people that they're going to Hell, then I wouldn’t be speaking the truth in love any longer but would be playing the judge and heaping condemnation on them. That would be wrong. So, a believer is allowed to have a mind and say what is right and wrong, but we aren't allowed to sit in judgment of others.  

There are several reasons for this. The first is that you aren’t qualified to judge anyone! You aren’t qualified to assess their guilt before the Lord or what their punishment should be. Only God knows their heart and their intentions. Only He knows if they acted willingly or under duress, or if some terrible trauma in their life has led to their actions. So, you aren’t qualified to judge them.

But not only are you unqualified, you’re also unworthy to judge them. You are a sinner too! That means that you are also liable to judgment. You who are to be judged shouldn’t play the judge over others or else when the real judge comes you may find that you don't like moving from the judge’s seat into the defendant’s chair. 

But even beyond being unqualified and unworthy, there's yet another reason why you shouldn’t judge and Jesus points it out in this passage. It’s in your best interest not to judge, because how you judge others will impact how you will be judged. It says with the measure you use it will be measured to you. This word ‘measure’ means the standard of measurement, or the measuring rod or cup you use. This means if you hand out condemnation by the dump truck load but dispense grace by the thimble full then you should expect the same from God. If that’s how you judge others then He’s going to use your very own thimble to dispense His grace to you. This is part of the fairness of the final judgment. 

So then, even though we often think we’re standing up for ourselves by holding grudges and getting even with those who hurt us. That isn’t true at all! Refusing to show grace doesn’t help you, it actually hurts you. It only stores up more judgment for you. So, show others grace for your own sake! Give them the best reading of the circumstances. Especially when they have hurt you. I’ve seen so many believers fail here. When they are personally hurt they suddenly become an expert on the human heart. They claim to know for a fact that the other person hurt them on purpose. Remember, you don’t know everything. So, be gracious to others so you too will receive grace. And if you know you haven’t shown enough grace to someone, then repent and ask forgiveness.

Think about Death

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

There is a tendency toward self-deception about death in all of us. We all claim to know that we'll die one day and yet when it begins to look like that may become a present possibility on any particular day we are taken off guard. Why is that? It's because we are easily self-deluded about our own mortality. We would much rather turn a blind eye and go on thinking about something more pleasant. In other words, we would rather go to the house of feasting than the house of mourning. 

But Solomon says it's better to go to the house of mourning. Why? Well, what benefit can one get from going to a feast? Perhaps a little happiness or merriment but no positive life change. But, when you go to a funeral there is at least a chance that you will consider your end and adjust your way of living accordingly. Though the Hebrew is hard to understand, I believe this is what Solomon means in verse three when he says "by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better." No one has ever become a better person because they went to a party, but some lives have been changed for the better by great loss.

So take a page out of the playbook of the wise. Even though you would rather do about anything else, discipline yourself to think about death for "that is the end of all men." And I would add that of all people it is believers who should be able to think the most clearly about death because we know that it no longer holds power over us. Death has been swallowed up in victory in Christ Jesus our Lord and one day it will be no more. Until that day, be ready and live in such a way that death won't take you by surprise or leave you ashamed of the life you lived.

Poor in Spirit

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:1-3

Jesus has reached a point of some popularity in His ministry. Crowds of people are following Him now. So, He climbs up a mountain, sits down, and delivers a sermon that calls His followers to a radically new way of living, one that is deeply at odds with this world. He calls us to live in light of Heaven, to live like we believe Heaven is really real. And He starts this sermon on the mount by turning our idea of what it means to live the good life on its head. He starts by telling us who the truly blessed people in this life are. And the very first people that He says are blessed are the poor in spirit. 

To be poor in spirit means you're deeply aware of your own need. It means you approach God not with arrogance or self-righteousness but with lowliness and desperation. You approach Him with empty hands confessing your unworthiness and crying out for mercy. 

This is the tax collector in Jesus’ parable who went to the temple to pray but stood at a distance and wouldn’t even look up to heaven but beat his breast and prayed “God have mercy on me a sinner” (Luke 18:9-14). This is the prophet Isaiah who upon seeing God in a vision cried out “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips…and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).

Being aware of your own sin, of your unworthiness before God, isn’t something our world encourages. We are surrounded by distractions that keep us from thinking like this. There are an endless number of ways to puff our egos up falsely and shift the blame onto someone else so we never have to admit our sin. But in this first beatitude Jesus reminds us that ignoring our sin actually hurts us in the long run. There’s a peculiar advantage to being deeply aware of your sin, of coming before God knowing you have nothing to offer, because that’s the only way to receive mercy and grace and it is the only way to enter the kingdom of Heaven.

You can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven all puffed up with self-righteousness. You must first be broken by your sin and cry out for grace. And having entered the kingdom like that, we dare not turn back to arrogance and self-righteousness. Of all people Christians ought to be poor in spirit. We ought to easily and regularly acknowledge our need and our sin before God. 

When was the last time you confessed specific sins to God or wept over your brokenness? Take time to do this. Cultivate a heart that is poor in spirit before the Lord, and you will be blessed for it.

Sleeping through the Storm

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up...But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

Jonah 1:3-6

Sin brings storms. So many Christians today seem to think they can rebel against God and live unaffected. They think that as long as they believe in God, they can disobey Him as much as they want. But they are wrong because they have no fear of the Lord. And because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) we know that they are foolish as well. Don't follow their course. It will throw your life into turmoil every time. Let's see how it affected Jonah. 

First, we see that Jonah's plans were thwarted. He has set himself against an all-powerful God and now he has an all-powerful enemy opposing him. God is standing in his way, blocking his path, and he isn't going to get to Tarshish. You can’t direct your life away from God’s will and expect to get where you want to go. It’s not gonna go how you think.

Second, we see that Jonah has blessings removed and curses applied. What started out as an easy trip has become anything but. There is no smooth sailing for the disobedient child of God. The storm threatens to tear the boat apart. The wood is cracking and splintering. An all-mighty God is using his power to violently get Jonah’s attention. Do you want him doing that with you?

And where was Jonah in all of this? He was asleep, completely unaware of the danger he was in. Maybe you are like Jonah- a child of God, living in disobedience and completely asleep and unaware of the danger you are in. The wrath of a Holy God is seeking you out. God is trying to get your attention! Wake up, cry out to God and deliver yourself before it’s too late!

The Lost Art of Repentance

The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 3:5-6, 10

When was the last time you were broken over your sin? When was the last time you really spent time in prayer asking God to forgive you? Or better yet, when was the last time you confessed your sins to another Christian (James 5:16) and asked them to pray for you as you tried to break the power of sin in your life? Or even more rare, when was the last time you repented of how you had been living publicly, like maybe before your church? 

Chances are you haven't done any of those things recently, because most believers don't really ever repent. It's a shame really because there is power in true repentance. It saved the city of Nineveh when Jonah preached to them (Jonah 3). It saved the wicked King Ahab of Israel (I Kings 21:17-29). And it saved the wicked King Manasseh of Judah (2 Chron 33:1-13). True, heartfelt, gut-wrenching repentance is a key to unlocking God's compassion.

"How do I do it?" you might ask. Well, the Ninevites, for all their wickedness, give us a pretty good example to follow. when it comes to repentance. Kings Ahab and Manasseh follow pretty much the same model as do many more in Scripture. 

First, their repentance was wholehearted. They believed God's Word and acted in keeping with it. Second, they humbled themselves with fasting and sackcloth (itchy garments used for repenting and mourning). This was a way to show God and themselves that they really meant it. Third, they repented publicly. They knew that there was no private way to cover up their public sin. If your sin stays between you and God then confess it to God privately, but public sin requires public repentance. They repented publicly in a big way. And it yielded God's compassion.

Remember that God does not change. When you find yourself deserving of God's wrath, enslaved in sin, and ashamed of yourself the old course of action is still the best course of action. Fight off your instinct to cover up your sin. Instead come clean. Drag it into the light and beg for mercy. True repentance will bring compassion out of a gracious God.

Too Small a Thing (W.o.W. Rewind)

And now the LORD says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:6

Why is it "too small a thing" for Jesus to save only the Jews? Why does God insists, even as far back as this Old Testament prophecy predicting Christ as the Suffering Servant, that His salvation must reach the "ends of the earth?"

There are many reasons. For one, God is no respecter of persons. He loves all the nations and offers forgiveness to all. Here's another, no one people group is any more deserving of God's free grace than another. But in his book entitled Let the Nations be Glad, John Piper draws our attention to a reason that we often overlook. He argues that God is more glorified by saving people from every nation, tribe and tongue than He would be simply by saving a large number from a few people groups. Why is it more glorifying to God to ensure His salvation reaches the ends of the earth?

First, if He is God of all, then He deserves praise from all. How can He be the one true God, the Creator of all the earth if He is worshiped by only one people group? It doesn't fit. The one true God deserves to be worshiped by all. God deserves to be praised in Swahili. He is worthy of adoration in French, Books ought to be written about His greatness in Farsi.

Second, different people groups and cultures worship God in different ways. God is too diverse in His beauty, character and excellence for any one people group to reflect back to Him all the worship He deserves. Piper puts it this way. "More depth of beauty is felt from a choir that sings in parts than from a choir that sings only in unison. Unity in diversity is more beautiful and more powerful than the unity of uniformity" (Piper p.222). Our worship is inherently more beautiful when it is offered by a diverse body of believers. 

Third, it shows the greatness of God's true worth. "The fame and greatness and worth of an object of beauty increases in proportion to the diversity of those who recognize its beauty. If a work of art is regarded as great among a small and like-minded group of people but not by anyone else, the art is probably not truly great. Its qualities are such that it does not appeal to the deep universals in our hearts but only to provincial biases. But if a work of art continues to win more and more admirers not only across cultures but also across decades and centuries, then its greatness is irresistibly manifested" (Piper p.222). 

This means that you and I must do more than simply worship God in the way that best fits our culture and skin color. We ought to pray for the gospel to reach unreached people groups. And we should push the gospel to the ends of the earth by giving to missions, going on mission trips, and encouraging our churches to become more ethnically diverse. Let's make Jesus' name great at home and to the ends of the earth because He is worthy of all worship! 

Fullness of Joy (W.o.W. Rewind)

What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    O most beautiful among women?
What is your beloved more than another beloved,
    that you thus adjure us?

Song of Solomon 5:9

The world asks Christians this same question every day. "What is your God more than any other god? Who are you to say your god is better then mine? What is it about your God that makes you so sure He is the only one?" Believers better be prepared to answer this question just as the bride-to-be in the Song of Solomon was. She replies, "My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand" (Song of Solomon 5:10).

That there is no other god like our God is fundamental to Christianity. but we no longer extol God's glories in our churches. Our sermons focus more on the duties of man than the glories of God. We shy away from reveling in God's beauty for fear that it sounds too spiritual or too mystic. Or perhaps we have simply fallen out of love with God altogether. Perhaps we have lost our sense of awe at who He is. When spending time meditating on His Word or communing with Him in prayer feels like drudgery to you, you know you're in trouble.

To enter into God's presence, to gaze on His beauty, to study His wisdom, to gain knowledge of the divine, these are the greatest gifts a human could dare hope to receive. This isn't drudgery. This is the very fullness of joy!

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11- emphasis added)

You may find some measure of happiness or even joy apart from God in this world, but fullness of joy is found nowhere else but in His presence. There is joy unspeakable in the private prayer time spent in the presence of God. There are tears of joy, heart-bursting hope, doubt-smashing faith, clarity of thinking and the boldness to persevere even when all seems lost- these are all found in God's presence alone.

When we lose sight of this, we can no longer satisfactorily answer the world's question "What is your God more than any other god?" But more than this, we have lost our own way. When we cease to see God as that which will make us supremely happy, we start to turn to lesser gods for our happiness. As the prophet Jeremiah said, "my people have... forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water" Jeremiah 2:13.

Turn back to God and find fullness of joy in Him alone. I promise you He is the only place you will find it.

The Light of the World

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world. Pause and feel the weight of that for a moment. There are souls languishing in darkness and you are God’s rescue plan. You are the light.

At the time Jesus spoke these now famous words they used small oil lamps to light their homes. They would light the small lamp and they would place it on a stand to elevate it and maximize the light it could give to everyone in the house. Jesus’ point is that you should let your light shine before men so they may see your good deeds and glorify God in Heaven.  

God wouldn’t have called you to be a light if He didn’t have a lamp stand to set you on. He will put you in situations that allow other people to see you shine. So shine! Be the same person in front of believers and unbelievers. Act the same all the time. Don’t dim your light to make unbelievers more comfortable. Don’t hide your light. Don’t be embarrassed to be a good person and do good things. Don’t hide your compassion or kindness. Do good openly not to get credit or glory or yourself but so God can be glorified.

When you do that, when your life is demonstrably good and everyone can see how you serve those around you, then your life will be a light for everyone. Sure! Some will reject you. They may even persecute you for shining your light in their eyes. But they will have seen the light all the same and you will have done your job. They won’t be left without a witness and God will receive the glory. So shine your light today, believer. Bring glory to God. 

Pause (W.o.W. Rewind)

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

I pride myself on being a hard worker...though some days I wonder if this is more pride and less a fair evaluation of my work ethic. Still I try to live up to the standard of my heroes. I try not to give in when things get difficult or give up when something doesn't quite come together. This is good, but there are limits. It is possible for a person to work himself into the ground. It's also possible to work and work and work and never quite get anywhere. 

The teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes understands this well. He laments the vanity of life, the cyclical nature of our world that makes it hard for any one man to make a lasting impact. 

All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. (Ecc. 1:2-5)

You do the laundry, and the clothes get dirty again. You mow the lawn, and the grass keeps growing. No matter how hard you work there will always be something else to do and what you have done will almost invariably undo itself again. So how are we to live in a world this maddening?!

Our passage for the day gives us insight. We should be careful not to get caught up rushing, rushing, rushing all the time... doing things that don't make any lasting change. Ultimately, we can't break completely free of the cycles of life. In some ways we are stuck on this hamster wheel. We can run as fast as we can but all we'll accomplish is making the wheel spin faster. We aren't really getting anywhere. 

Instead, the teacher challenges us to pause. To look around us and consider what God has blessed us with and what has come out of all our hard work. Take time to enjoy the gifts God has given you, not selfishly, but expressly as gifts from God. Take time to thank Him for these things. You just may find that taking time to pause and turning to God in gratefulness will foster more spiritual growth than all your activity ever has.