On the Other Side of Death (W.o.W. Rewind)

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:15

People love a come from behind win. There is nothing more exciting or dramatic in all of sports. You can see it all over the fan's faces. They are already feeling the sting of defeat and then, at the last possible moment, their team starts to close the gap! With the clock winding down the last goal is scored and they win the game. At times it can seem almost miraculous. For many fans there is no sweeter victory and no more crushing defeat than a come from behind win. 

We see this same type of drama unfold at the cross, except (as He is prone to do) Jesus takes it one step farther. Jesus doesn't nearly lose. By the world's standards he does lose. The whistle blows, the buzzer goes off. Game over. The Messiah has been crucified. Jesus has lost. The Adversary has won. The Devil and his demons dance with delight.

And yet, Colossians 2:15 teaches us that at the cross Jesus not only triumphed over Satan and his minions but He made a public spectacle of them. What seemed like Jesus greatest defeat was actually His greatest victory. What does this teach us about the Christian life?

Here is the spiritual principle for us. Spiritual victory always lies on the other side of some form of death. This is what Jesus reveals to His disciples in Mark 8:34-36

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

The Christian is called to live not for this world, but for the world to come. This world has a different set of priorities, a different perspective, and different values than the believer does. You simply cannot "win" by the world's definition and gain the spiritual victory as well. Gaining a spiritual victory always requires you to sacrifice things that this world values. It always requires you to put to death your sinful desires. It always requires you to loosen your grip on this world as you reach out to grab hold of the next.

Before He could swallow death up in victory (I Corinthians 15:54-57), Jesus first had to give Himself over to death. It is the same for us. Before you can provide for the orphans and the widows, you must die to your desire to spend your time and money on yourself. Before you can win a soul for Christ you must crucify your fear of man, your desire to be held in high regard. You must be willing to be mocked and ostracized for caring enough about your faith to share it with others. Before you can help win a lost people group for the Lord, you must be willing to die to your personal American dream...you must be willing to move to that remote continent and give your life to sharing the gospel with them.  

Spiritual victory always lies on the other side of some form of death. So how are you going to die today? What are you willing to give up for the kingdom? Before you answer that question consider the parable of the treasure in the field (Matthew 13:44) and remember the precious promise that no matter how much you give up, what you will gain in eternity far outweighs your sacrifice.

Hope from Lazarus (W.o.W. Rewind)

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone... and [Jesus] cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 11:39-41 & 43-44

I don't know what you struggle with. It may be a bad habit or an addiction. It may simply be lack of self-control in general. But no matter how long your particular area of struggle has had power over you, the story of Lazarus is good news for you. By raising Lazarus from the dead it is as though Jesus wrote in large letters across the pages of Scripture, "YOU ARE NOT TOO FAR GONE FOR ME TO SAVE!"

Lazarus had been in the grave for four days! That is enough time for visible decomposition to have started. His body would have been bloated and it would have already started to smell. Consider that four days is merely how long Lazarus had been in the grave. We don't know how many days it was before they buried him. All of that to say... Lazarus was dead-dead. I know that isn't the medical term for it. But this isn't someone whose heart restarted after 20 minutes. This isn't someone who woke up from a coma. He was D-E-A-D. When they obeyed Jesus' command and opened the tomb, everyone standing around would have known this for sure, because they would have smelled the decomposition, the smell of death.

But then, a miracle happened. Jesus spoke! And the same voice that called life into being at creation, commanded Lazarus to come out of that tomb. In the face of the indisputable fact of death, Jesus spoke in faith. And the voice of the Creator reached into the grave, into death itself and set Lazarus free from its icy grip. You can imagine the decomposition reversing itself rapidly under the grave clothes. The synapses in Lazarus' brain began to fire slowly at first and then more quickly. His heart began to beat again. His lungs drew in that first precious gasp of air. In that moment Lazarus himself must have smelled the death all over him, and yet there he was alive again. He walked out of that tomb bound by the trappings of death, but what did Jesus say next? "Unbind him, and let him go."

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that what binds you is too strong for Jesus. Don't believe the lie the Enemy whispers in your ear, that you will never be free of your alcoholism, or nicotine addiction, or overeating, or pornography, or masturbation, or whatever sin entangles you. Jesus is powerful enough. You aren't too far gone. He can save you. You can be set free. Indeed, those of you who believe in Jesus have already been set free; you just haven't learned to walk in freedom. Romans 6:18 says, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  

Be Rich Toward God

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Luke 12:16-21

On earth he was a rich man; in Heaven he was a pauper. He had hoarded up wealth for himself on earth but had made no provision or preparation for Heaven. In other words, he had a bad investment strategy. Heaven doesn’t take Visa or America Express. The almighty dollar has no value there. Neither do euros, pesos or yen. If you and I are to be rich toward God then we need to convert earthly wealth into heavenly currency. Don’t be a fool! Don't let greed for something that is temporary (earthly wealth) keep you from riches that last forever. 

In this passage, Jesus gives us a key principle. The Christian's entire life, including how they steward their money, must be rethought in light of the coming kingdom of God. So, a Christian's financial outlook ought to look different than a non-believer's financial outlook. 

A typical investment portfolio might have bonds, mutual funds, an IRA, and even some real estate. And a Christian's investment portfolio will necessarily have some of the same. I understand that it is necessary for us to make money and even save money to prepare for our future, BUT don’t forget to be rich towards God! So a Christian's investment portfolio should also include investments in the kingdom of God. This would include things like giving to the poor, helping save a family member from bankruptcy, supporting an orphanage in Africa, sponsoring a child, supporting a missionary in Nicaragua, giving to your church, etc.

When you get to Heaven you are never going to look back and think I wish I drove a nicer truck on earth or had a bigger house or more expensive clothes but you very well may regret what you didn’t invest in the kingdom of God, what you didn’t give. So, be wise in diversifying your investments! Don't hoard all your wealth on earth, store up treasure in heaven. There it’s permanent. Here it’s temporary. So be rich towards God!

Solomon's Warning About on Money

Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Solomon is uniquely qualified to give the believer advice about how to deal with money. First, he is the wisest man (apart from Christ) to ever live. Second, he was the richest king in his lifetime. Solomon not only has the wisdom; he has the real-life experience to boot. The Bible says Solomon became so wealthy and gold and precious stones became so common in his kingdom that silver was of little value in his day. Silver was as common as stones in his capital city of Jerusalem (I Kings 10:27). In other words, Solomon has more experience and success in this area than any of us and we would do well to heed his advice on the topic of money. 

And here is basically what he says. Money can’t be your purpose in life. 

Money is a great tool. It can be used to give your family a better life. It can be used to advance God’s kingdom or feed the hungry or educate our children. Yes, money is a great tool but it’s lousy reason for living. 

Solomon had tried it! He knew what it meant to have money and he was searching for the meaning of life, and he testifies as one who has been there that money cannot make you happy. It cannot give you purpose in life. It can't be the reason you get out of bed in the morning. If you begin to love money, if you begin to live for it, then you will never be satisfied. Matthew Henry in his renowned commentary on the whole Bible says, “Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable.” If I am hungry and I eat food, my hunger goes away because it is a natural desire. But when I have a corrupt desire, when I lust after riches, then no amount of money will ever satisfy me. Henry adds more clarity. He says, “Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.” 

Wanting to be rich, loving money is a trap. And if you fall for it, you will never be satisfied! Consider what 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says on the subject. 

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Don’t add needless grief to your life. Beware the love of money. Guard your heart against it. Ruthlessly weed it out of your life. Use money. Earn money. Spend money. Save Money. But DON'T love money.

The Magi: Eagerly Seeking to Know Jesus

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

Magi were interested in all things mysterious. Many were experts in astrology and how the stars might give portents of the future while others focused on magic, dreams, or prophetic books. Some were honestly seeking truth; others were less sincere. But I like to think that the magi who visited Jesus were sincere truth seekers. And there can be little doubt that they eagerly sought Him and went to great lengths to meet Him. 

The Bible tells us the magi came from the East. It gives us no other details than that. Some speculate that they came from Babylon. There was a large Jewish settlement there which would explain how they came to know of the Jewish expectation of a coming Messiah. If they did come from Babylon, it would have been an 800 mile trip taking about 40 days for them to see Jesus. And that doesn’t even include all the time they spent trying to figure out what the star meant when it first appeared, or the time they spent preparing for the trip. All that to say, these men went to great effort to seek Jesus. Shouldn't you do the same?! 

I want to encourage you to make a great effort to get to know Jesus in 2020. Eagerly seek Him. Might I suggest you start a Bible reading plan here at the beginning of the year? Reading God's word is one of the most important things you can do for your spiritual growth. Pick a translation that works for you and read it early in the morning, or on your lunch break or before you go to bed. Or get an Audio Bible and you can listen to the word of God on your phone or in your car. Many free Bible apps already come with a version of the Audio Bible. Find a way that works for you and do it. I promise, whether it is your first time through the Bible or your hundredth, you won't regret carving out the time to seek Jesus. 

All throughout Scripture God promises to meet us halfway when we seek Him. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” And in James 4:8 we are told, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” So, what do you have to lose?  Don't you think it is high time that you made a great effort to know God?! I do. 

If you need a place to start, here's the plan I will be using this year. Bible Reading Plan 2020.