Are You Alive?

To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Revelation 3:1

The church at Sardis had a reputation of being spiritually alive, but their reputation didn't match their reality. Jesus saw past their false reputation and pronounced them dead!

I can’t help but wonder how many churches that have a great reputation are actually dead?! How many churches whose pews may be full of people, whose worship services may be the envy of many smaller churches around them, are really spiritually dead?

And I can’t help but wonder how many of the people in our churches who have a reputation for being spiritually alive are actually dead? How many people enter your church week after week just to play a part. They can dress for church with the best of them. They can sing hymns and praise choruses with the best of them. They can pray and read their Bible in Sunday School with the best of them. But on the inside, in their heart of hearts…they are DEAD! There is no spiritual fire, no obedience, no faith, no Holy Spirit, no salvation.

And I can’t help but wonder, are you one of those people? Are you dead? You may have a reputation for being spiritually alive. But are you really dead? You may have been able to fool many people into thinking you’re a Christian. You may have even fooled yourself into thinking you are saved. But you haven’t fooled God. And right now in your spirit you hear Him saying, you are dead!

Stop playing the part. Stop trying to fool everyone else. Stop fooling yourself and you can experience real spiritual life today. Ask Jesus right now to forgive of your sins. By praying something like this in your heart… 

Dear Heavenly Father, I know I am dead inside. I have sinned against You and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus took the punishment for my sin on the cross. I believe He rose from the grave to give me new life. I confess Him as Lord of my life right now. Forgive me. Save me. Change me. Fill me up with your Spirit right now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Carrying Your Deliverance

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary. They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity. 

“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:1-4

Lately, I have fallen into some bad habits. I'm spending too much time on my phone and too much time watching TV. Now, I am not watching anything particularly sinful, but the effect it has had on my spiritual life has been devastating, nonetheless. I get stressed, so I consume more entertainment to "unwind." It never fully recharges me like I think it will, so I have to stay up later to watch more TV and scroll further on social media. This causes me to go to bed later. Which means I don't get up and have a quiet time in the morning. Since I haven't spent time with the Lord, I am far more easily stressed and overwhelmed the next day. My problems seem so much bigger when I haven't recently been reminded of how big God is. So, I come home the next night stressed, and I turn once again to entertainment to recharge my batteries. And the cycle repeats. 

I am like a castaway at sea, drinking saltwater to quench my thirst. It sounds like a good idea in the moment, but in the end it only makes my situation more desperate and myself thirstier. 

God speaks to a similar situation in Isaiah 46. He calls two of the primary Babylonian gods, Bel and Nebo, by name. These were false gods, idols, that men looked to for deliverance. God points out just how useless and utterly unable to deliver anyone these idols are. They are so far from delivering anyone in fact, that they are a burden! They have to be moved from one place to another by beasts of burden. They are unable to help themselves, unable to move on their own. Why would anyone look to them for deliverance?!

In sharp contrast to these false gods, is the one true God. He doesn't need His people to carry Him. No! God carries His people. He isn't a burden to them. He has been carrying them since their birth, like a good father, and He will continue to sustain and carry His people.

When you compare God to the false idols that men look to for deliverance there really is no comparison. God can carry you and deliver you and idols only weigh you down and make matters worse! 

 

Is there something or someone in your life that you are looking to for deliverance but is actually only weighing you down? If so, quit burdening yourself with extra problems! What little appearance of help these false idols give you is far outweighed by the trouble they cause you. 

There is a better way! God has carried you since you were born. He says to you today, "I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Make sure you are turning to the right place...to the right Person for help, for deliverance, for rescue. Cast your burdens on Him (Matthew 11:28-30). Don't take up additional ones.

Your Church Needs You

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

Acts 6:1-4

Up to this point the apostles had done it all, but now the church had grown possibly to number as many as 10,000 including women and children. There weren’t enough apostles to go around. They needed help. If the church didn't raise up more leaders, its growth would be stunted.

There’s a lesson here for the modern church. A church can have a do-it-all pastor if they want, but they’ll never reach a lot of people. The church with the do-it-all pastor grows only to the point that his abilities are maxed out, then he becomes the bottleneck. Once the pastor is maxed out the church can’t grow anymore because people’s needs stop being met. 

What the early church needed and what the church today needs is for other faithful Christians to rise up and use their gifts to serve. How did they handle it? The church as a whole selected seven men who were full of the Spirit to serve the church. Many believe these men were the first deacons in church history. 

Verse 7 tells us the outcome. It says... "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." Two things resulted from the apostles empowering the people of God to use their gifts for ministry. First, the word of God spread. Second, the number of disciples increased rapidly. When the bottleneck was removed, the church grew rapidly. People got saved. When God’s people are empowered to do God’s work, the church grows! 

God has gifted you to serve His church as well. You may not be a deacon or a Sunday school teacher, but you can do something. And your church won't reach as many people as it can if you don’t use your gifts. It's time for you to step out of your pew and step into your gifting and serve the church. Find your place and serve!

Stuck Between Terror and Trust (W.o.W. Rewind)

 I remember my dad using a pocketknife to remove a splinter from my hand when I was a kid. I trusted him, but I wasn't so sure that I should trust him when he was pressing a blade up against my hand to pick a splinter out. I remember feeling this odd mixture of terror and trust. I felt the same thing when my mom would use a safety pin to remove a splinter or when one of my parents would pull my loose tooth. In fact, I think I felt this way a lot as a small child. Anytime my parents needed to do something that would be painful to me in the short run, even though I knew it was good for me in the long run, it created this tug of war in my heart between terror and trust.

I think the disciples experienced a similar mix of terror and trust in the hours leading up to Jesus' crucifixion. Jesus had been hinting at His impending death for days or even weeks (one example can be found in John 12:27-33). Then came the night of the last supper. After He had washed their feet, Jesus told the disciples that one of their own would betray Him (John 13:21-30). Then at the same meal Jesus revealed that one of their greatest leaders, Simon Peter, would fall away and deny Him three times before the next morning (John 13:36-38). Taken together in short succession, the predictions that Jesus would be murdered, that one of them would betray Him and that even Peter would fall away must have been the most painful news the disciples would ever hear. You can imagine how filled with terror and confusion their hearts must have been. And as they reeled, struggling to make sense of it all, Jesus comforts them with these words.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. (John 14:1)

He tells them not to be anxious or distressed, but to simply believe in God and in Him. In essence, Jesus tells them to wait, to be still, and to trust. The same things my parents told me when they needed to do something that was ultimately for my good but might cause a little bit of pain in the short run.

I don't know what you are going through right now. I don't know what is troubling you or causing anxiety or distress in your life, but I believe God is trustworthy. So, if you find yourself stuck between terror and trust, choose to trust God. Submit yourself to Him, even when He puts you under the knife to perform surgery on your life. Wait. Be still. Trust. He has a plan. He is in control. And it will work out for your good, believer.

Thinking About Truth During a Pandemic (W.o.W. Rewind)

The following post was written in March of 2020. It felt relevant to me today as we face another wave of COVID, I hope it encourages you. 

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My family has spent the last eight days quarantined in our home awaiting test results that would tell us if our four month old little girl has COVID-19. The night before all this began our four month old threw up. Then we noticed she was running a fever and coughing. The next morning we called her pediatrician. I was certain the doctor would not want us to bring our baby in during this pandemic and would simply tell us what to watch for instead. She called us in. When the doctor came into our room she was wearing a protective gown, gloves, a mask and a face shield. Nurses spoke to the doctor and slipped testing items to her through a crack in the door instead of coming into the room. These were all necessary precautions. My anxiety increased. They decided to test my daughter. I thought we would know in three to four hours max. They said it would be three to four days. That was eight days ago.

Understandably the lab has been overloaded with tests. We just found out this morning that our daughter's test came back negative. She does not have COVID-19. Over the course of this past eight days there were many times when I was sure the test would come back negative, but there were also times when I thought about the potential danger of it being positive and of this virus killing our sweet little girl. A few times during the week as I held her in my arms and sang to comfort her an intrusive thought slipped into my mind. What if I have to hold my baby in my arms just like this and sing to try to comfort her in vain while she dies?

Now, if I had indulged that thought I could have lived in fear of it all week and the enemy could’ve gained some power over my mind. But instead, I thought on what was true. Yes, this virus is dangerous, that’s true. Yes, my daughter could have had it. And yes, I could not guarantee that she wouldn't die from it. All of these were true, but they were only half truths because I didn't even know yet if she did have it. So I chose to think on the greater truths of God. I reminded myself that God is good, that God is in control, that He has a plan, and that nothing will come to pass without His say so. I chose to fix my minds on these truths.
In God's good providence I was preaching on Philippians 4:8 this past Sunday which has to do with just this topic. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

It's hard to know what’s true in our world today. Scripture tells us that Satan is a liar. In fact, he is the father of lies and half-truths. He has deceived the whole world. He holds power over the people of this world through his misinformation. You and I cannot afford to let him into our heads. How do we keep his lies out? By thinking on what's true. Fix your thoughts on what you know to be true, that is on God and His Word, including His gospel. Think on the things that have been proven true by these.

Be careful to filter your thoughts through the Truth during this difficult season of anxiety.