Stuck in a Rut

We get up in the morning and we go about our daily routine, not even thinking about it.  We go to work at the same place, go to lunch with the same people and we collect the same paycheck all on a set schedule.  We go to the same places for vacation, not because we are thrilled about going, but because it is familiar and we know what we will encounter.  We are a creature of habit, and the same thing applies when it comes to our worship of our God.  We want what we have had because it is familiar.  We look for the routine so that we can become “stuck in a rut.” 

The author A.W. Tozer has this to say about the life of the church.  “The treacherous enemy facing the church of Jesus Christ today is the dictatorship of the routine, when the routine becomes "lord" in the life of the church. Programs are organized and the prevailing conditions are accepted as normal. Anyone can predict next Sunday's service and what will happen. This seems to be the most deadly threat in the church today. When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut. The routine dictates, and we can tell not only what will happen next Sunday, but what will occur next month and, if things do not improve, what will take place next year. Then we have reached the place where what has been determines what is, and what is determines what will be.” 

When we become complacent and expect nothing more from our worship of our God, we make Him smaller in our world.  It becomes easy for our God to give us what we want because we are not looking for more.  We belittle our God when we do not give Him the place of supremacy in our lives, looking for nothing more than what we have, or what we experienced in worship last week.  This can change, but only if we are willing to give God the glory and praise He deserves.

“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,  for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  1 Peter 1:19-21(NASB)

We need to avoid the obvious ruts in the road and look more to the “lamp shining in a dark place.”  We need to make sure that regardless of what we are doing, or who we are doing it for, that we do it giving all of the praise and glory to our God.  We need to make a concerted effort, even in the mundane, routine aspects of our lives, to praise God for the opportunity to complete the mundane, routine task.  We need to avoid the ruts in order to remain free of impediments to our worship of our Lord and Savior. 

The next time you feel like you are “stuck in a rut” praise God for His ability to pull you out of the ditch.

“in the world, not of the world”

Fooling ourselves

We will often “bend” the truth a bit in order to save face with our friends and colleagues.  One may lay claim to something that he or she thought about doing, but did not.  At other times we deny some small transgression because it did not cause any obvious harm or foul.  Either way, we are in denial of the more serious consequence and move on with our lives because it was too small for anyone to see or feel.  After doing this for some time, we find it easier and less stressful to repeat these actions, and before we know it, we have lost sight of reality, or any resemblance of the truth.  We need to get back to reality and into the light. 

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:7-10(NKJV)

The concept of sin has no levels or different means of identifying one sin over others.  Sin is sin regardless of how we look at it.  Often times we calculate the evil based on how many or who the sin impacted.  We often will look at how much damage was caused and begin to create a different level of our sin based on the outcome.  God sees things a bit differently.  He has told us that we need to stop being “liars” and come clean about any and all sin, not just those things we feel are important and may cause harm.   We all need to start walking toward the light. 

We all want to be free of our sinful nature.  We all want to “abide under the shelter of the almighty.”  Psalm 91:1(NKJV)  We just need to focus more on our daily lives and act as if we are a child of light, and not of the darkness.  We all (self- included) need to stop stretching the truth to fit our needs, or denying the obvious so that we feel better.  We all need to be honest about our sinful nature because once we realize we need help, God is there to offer His hand.  When we are aware of our actions and how God sees them, we can make the changes needed to please Him.  It’s when we allow our minds to bend the truth, feeling no remorse, that we disappoint our God. 

I’m no fool, and I don’t think you are either, so we just need to stop playing the part.

“in the world, not of the world”

No Updates Available

We get this message when we try to update our computer software.  We are constantly reminded by the software giants of the world to continuously update our ever changing editions of our trusted programs.  The computer industry has created something that will change daily, if not more often.  We will do what we have to do to have the latest and greatest version so that we can feel that we are ahead of the game, out in front of everyone who are slow to upgrade their software.  But there is one piece of software we should never update.  God’s Word will never change.  His intentions and plans for our lives will never change.  The trusted lessons included in the 66 books of the Bible will never be changed in order to be “current” or become the latest version.  They will always stand as the ultimate truth in a world that is constantly looking for a new version or update.

“Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:6-9(NKJV)

God did not create something that would need to be updated on a regular basis.  This is made known by the fact that He encourages us to “meditate in it day and night.”  If a book is going to change, we would spend more time making sure we had right version, instead of paying more attention to applying what we read.  I find myself at times reading a passage, then struggling to find application in today’s world.  The trick is to ask God to help us with this.  When we pray to God for a clear picture in our mind of what He wants, He will provide us with a clean screen ready to be updated with His will for our lives.  The Bible is fluid, applicable and current.  The problem comes when we rush through it looking for the obvious application and miss God’s intentions.  We need to update our approach to applying God’s Word to our lives, and stop looking for the latest update, because there is no need for one. 

We should spend more time looking at how we can apply God’s Word to our current situations, trusting and believing He will intercede when and where needed in order to get us through the computer crash.  We tend to try several ways of “rebooting” or simply unplugging and we hope that when the switch is turned back on, we will be fine.  We do this because we want to go back in time and do things different.  If we all had a “reboot” button, we would be much better off.  We pretend the bad situation never existed, or will disappear on its own, so we just wait for the our computer to restart. 

We need to apply the fixes we find there and stop thinking we can fix it by just “rebooting.” 

“in the world, not of the world”

Avoiding the Shame

In order to avoid feeling shame and regret, we replace our worship of the One True God with the worship of idols, or things that replace God in our lives.  These material things compete with our God for our attention, and we seem to fall prey to the allure of these idols because the world encourages this devotion and allegiance to material things.  What makes this worse is that those of us who worship our material possessions over our worship of God know better.  We often will practice this while having the knowledge we should be acting different.  It’s one thing to unknowingly give devotion and desire to those things that remove us or take away from our God, but to do this with the knowledge that it’s wrong is far worse.     

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  Romans 1:16-19(NASB)

There are times when we are ashamed of the gospel.  This shame is created when we are considered “strange” or an “outsider” by a world that relies on greed and envy as fuel for the economy.  The economy has become the driving force behind everything we do.  It tells us what we have to do to obtain the things we want.  We experience the shame when our neighbors are able to have or possess these things and we cannot.  This begins the evil process of convincing us we are less deserving, or lazy because we can’t find the job it would take for us to earn what we need in order to have what they have.  And this vicious cycle continues until we are consumed with this as opposed to paying any attention to our God.  It becomes shameful to have our attention taken up by something we can’t see or touch.  

The world convinces us to move away from our God so that we can have what everyone has, be what everyone wants us to be and act in a manner that pleases the world so that the world can reward us with more stuff.  All the while, our Bibles are collecting dust on the shelf.   While we are struggling to work more, have more and be more, we are reducing our God to nothing more than the obligatory hour on Sunday.  When we have the opportunity to share the Gospel, we shy away because there is no economic return on this investment, or we feel we don’t have the time, or worse, we are ashamed to devote our precious time to worshipping something we can’t pull out of our pocket.  We are guided in almost every decision we make by the size of our bank account, and not the size of our faith.  This is not good management of the things we have been given by a God who loves us, and wants our attention.

“And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”  Romans 1:32(NASB)

My suggestion would be to avoid the shame of being ashamed.  It may just save your life. 

“in the world, not of the world”

Getting the “last word”

We all know someone who has to have the last word.  We all know the person who always has to speak last in order to make an impression.  I used to be just like this.  I wanted to always have the last word in order to justify my opinion.  I would try desperately to speak a final word on a subject in order to leave my opinion in the minds of my listener.  We all do this at times because we feel that it is a way of making our opinion right, or rational.  If we can get our point across, then walk away before the argument can continue, we are, by default, declared to be on the winning side of the discussion.  This can be dangerous when we are debating God’s Word, or His rules for living our lives. 

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.  But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.  For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” 1 Timothy 6:2-7(NASB) 

We all like to think that we can have the last word in any and all situations.  Human nature will not let us believe that someone else knows better, or has more knowledge or experience with our circumstances.  We can take this to extremes at times, having no regard for the opinion of others about how we should live our lives, including God.  This is not a good position to be in, because God, our creator, has the right to dictate just how we need to live the life He gave us.  God has the option of having the last word on any and all issues we could possibly come across or deal with in our lives.  The problem starts when we do not allow God to have the last word on how we need to live our lives and respect the lives of others.  We can find ourselves in a mess when we live according to our opinions and rules, and not the commandments of our God. 

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16(NASB)  It would be “profitable” for us to understand God’s Word.  This has been and always will be the last word on how to live the life He gave us.  If we want to have the last word, then we need to have God’s Word in our heart. 

We need to be prepared to teach God’s Word to others as if it is ours, then we can honestly say we are “getting the last word.” 

“in the world, not of the world”

Just like the other one

Life has been made so much simpler with the advancement of communications.  We can instantly know how everyone is living their lives so that we, too, can live ours and be just like them.  We can choose to live “just like the other one” so that we will fit in, so that we will get along with everyone and will have the same things, do the same things, feel the same way and act “just like the other one.”  We are slowly forgetting just why we have been placed in our situations because the world has an easy solution.  We just need to be like everyone else, right?

“If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,  “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”  (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?  These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” Colossians 2:20-23(NASB)

The Apostle Paul was trying to get the message through to the Colossians that they could live a joyous life without living by the worlds standards and requirements.  Paul was teaching these people to trust God for guidance, and not the teachings of man.  He was referring to Jewish customs such as circumcision or eating certain foods.  What do these have to do with praising and worshipping our Creator God?  They have the appearance of living as God would want us to live, but are of no help when striving to defeat things such as envy, jealousy, deceit and sexual immorality.  These things are defeated in the heart and soul of a person.  This is where the true battle rests.  Yet we simply want to be like the other person, even if it means doing things or having things that are of “no value against fleshly indulgence.” 

We even make this a part of our Christian behavior by attending a church because it’s where everyone is worshipping this week.  We will do good deeds only if our neighbor is doing them and we feel the pressure.  We will give to a charity because everyone else seems to be giving to the same charity, and everyone will know this because we are vocal about it.  We just want to fit in with a world that wants everybody to act, feel, see and experience things the same way.  We begin to lose our identity as a child of God, and start becoming a child of the world, worshipping things of this world, and not our God. 

When we lose our identity in Christ, we search for other things to identify ourselves with.  The world has an abundance of identities we can claim, but none are helpful when fighting evil thoughts.  We are led to believe that if we want to be like everyone else, we need to do the same, feel the same, act the same and worship the same. 

God did not create a world of clones.  God has a distinct and unique purpose for each and every one of us.  God tells the Prophet Jeremiah  “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11(NASB)

We need to focus our efforts on being the person God wants us to be.  We need to strive to be the true child of God we are designed to be.  We need to pay more attention to living a life praising our God, and not living so that we get the praise.  It starts with having a little more conversation with God.  We need to stop trying to be “just like the other one.” 

“in the world, not of the world”

Taking the chance of a lifetime

Just hearing someone say this brings about visions of magnificent and exciting chances of living a great and rewarding life, if things go as planned.  We will often bet our lives on material things of this world, hoping to win the big prize of health, wealth and wisdom beyond measure.  We tend to overlook our chances of losing, or our chances of missing out on something because we are engulfed in the effort to take the chance of a lifetime.  We may want to re-evaluate our position in our risk-taking.  We may want to forgo any future dreams of wealth and comfort and pay more attention to the life God has blessed us with. 

One of my favorite authors, A. W. Tozer, relates his position on this betting in his book Mere Christianity.  Tozer describes Christ’s return, and gives us this warning.   “It will be too late then to choose your side.  There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up.  That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not.  Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.  God is holding back to give us that chance.  It will not last forever.  We must take it or leave it.”

We may want to take a look at how we place our bets.  We may want to take a good hard look at how God wants us to behave, and compare this to our actual behavior.  I’m looking at this from a personal perspective and a more global view as well.  We need to make a decision now, before it becomes too late to change, too late to become a member of God’s family.  We have no clue, as well it should be, as to when this event will take place.  Yet we continue on in our risky behavior of self-centered activities and having no regard for God’s plan for our lives.  When we do this, we give evil a definite advantage, making room in our lives for all those things that offer nothing with regards to winning our bet.  To the contrary, we work hard at increasing our possessions here on earth while diminishing our chances to celebrate a life well lived in the eyes of our Savior.  God chooses to warn us of this all through His Story, even to the end. 

“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  Revelations 21:7-8(NASB)

God blessed us with the gift of free will so that we could bet our lives on a life well lived, according to God’s grand design.  Instead, we choose to bet on a losing concept of greed, wealth and comfort in order to make our lives more enjoyable.

God is betting on us.  He sent His one and only Son to pay our ransom.  We do not need to blow our chances at eternal life.  We do not need to risk our promise of life ever after in order to enjoy the here and now.  There is no mystery that we actually have the chance of a lifetime to follow Him. 

“in the world, not of the world”

Asking for Directions

It is a man’s worst nightmare.  A simple question needing to be asked can create such an argument with the opposite sex.  Men, you know what I’m talking about.  We hate to admit being lost.  We despise the act of asking a complete stranger to help us solve this problem.  We will do everything possible to avoid making the stop to ask for directions to a place we should know how to get to.  Thomas may have felt this slight embarrassment when questioning Jesus on what road to take in order to get to Heaven.  He admitted not knowing these directions, or doubting what he had heard.  But Jesus responds with a very good route to take.

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.  And you know the way where I am going.”  Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?’  Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”  John 14:1-6(NASB)

The one thing I do not hear in these directions is where to make a turn.  I think it’s because there is no turn, no alternate route, no detour and no map.  In fact, Jesus makes it very clear how to find our way to “My Father’s house.”  We just need to follow these very simple directions.  Some other things that I don’t hear from Jesus is that this route will be the shortest, easiest, less stressful and well-marked or popular route.  I do not hear any promises of taking the easy way out.  What I do hear is Jesus explaining to His faithful followers that there is only one way, one route, one road to take. 

If you are like the average person, you want to think that you obviously know where to go and how to get there.  You feel that no one can have the sense of direction  that you have.  We all like to feel as if we are expert navigators that have no need for maps, Garmin, corner gas stations with weird looking clerks, or other sources of presumably “trusted” information.  We need to realize there is only one trusted source, one trusted route, one trusted way to our Heavenly destination.  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  When Jesus says that no one, and He means no one, comes to Heaven, or to the Father, but through Him, He is speaking directly from God. 

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”  John 14:10-11(NASB)

We have no other way to Heaven outside of believing Jesus Christ is just who He claims to be.  We have no other route to take outside of accepting Christ for who He is, and praising our Holy Father for what He did for us through Christ.  We need to do this in order to remain on the right road to Heaven.  When we feel we know a better route, a better road to take, we make the mistake of not trusting our God to lead us down the right road. 

We need to decide it’s time to pull over and ask for directions.  Our God is waiting behind the counter.

“in the world, not of the world”

The right thing for the wrong reasons

There are times when we come across someone who is doing the right thing, but only because it is popular, or what everyone is doing.  These individuals are seeking to increase their acceptance in the much larger group.  But when the tide turns, and the group goes down another road, they will follow along, even though it’s obviously not the path they should be taking.  These individuals are like feathers in the wind, blowing as the wind blows and having no way of changing course.  They will cling to the group that has the highest approval rating and tag along, proclaiming the message of the group and enjoying their popularity. 

The Apostle Paul discovered this during his imprisonment.  When writing to the church in Philippi, he emphasized that these people were actually helping to spread the message because they were talking about Christ, discussing Christianity and proclaiming parts and pieces of the Gospel even though their motives were self-centered. 

 “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”  Philippians 1:15-18(NKJV)

As Christians, we need to take advantage of someone preaching Christ and Christianity even though it may be for personal gain, or for selfish reasons.  We need to take full advantage of any conversation relating to this issue and proclaim the truth in order to clarify the message.  We need to show the world that God is not a God of personal gain, or the genie in a bottle, but a God that loves, a God that can overlook the transgression of proclaiming His name for the wrong reasons and use the opportunity to set things right.  We need to be ready to proclaim the gospel for the right reasons, and not because it seems to be the trendy thing to do right now. 

We need to live out our true beliefs so that others want to tag along with our group.  We need to become the majority in a world looking for something to grab on to.  We need to do all of this because it is the right thing to do, and the right time to do it.  If we preach the gospel for the right reasons, others will want what we have.  Soon, we become very influential in a world that despises truth and wants no part of “loving its neighbors.”  But it takes effort.  It means sticking to our original story and not changing because the world changes.  God will be the same God tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.  Our story about God should do the same. 

 

“in the world, not of the world”

Hearing what we want to hear…

I can be victim of my own hearing at times.  When carrying on a conversation, I will put words into the mouths of the other person because it’s what I want to hear.  It makes my world complete when I can hear things said the way I would say them, or the way I would interpret them.  We all can find ourselves doing this at times, to the point that we rewrite history in order to make it more palatable to us.  We forget the things we do not wish to think about, and we dwell on the good things because it makes us feel better.  This is fine, until we carry it a bit too far.  We want to rewrite the Word of God so that it, too is more palatable, easier to live by, or just softer because that’s the way we like it.  God’s Word was not meant to be edited in order to take out the tough and “not so loving” portions so that we could easily digest the true meaning.

“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  Revelation 22:18-20(NASB)

In these trying times of uncertainty, we struggle with living the life of a true Christian.  This life is not the easiest or “better tasting” way to live.  This life can be extremely difficult and demanding.  When we choose to live a life pleasing in the sight of our God, we are making the choice to follow His Word to the letter.  We are promising never add nor take away from His Word.  We are promising to live by what was written thousands of years ago in order to reap the reward of His promises.  The last thing we want is to add or subtract “from the words of the book of this prophecy.”  I, for one, do not want to be the cause of the next big plague. 

The Bible is the Word of God.  We cannot, nor should not dispute this.  We should also never, ever attempt to improve on it or to take things from it.  It was written to reflect God’s plan for His people.  I will always believe in God’s promises, including the one in Revelation where He tells us to leave His Word alone.  Modern society thinks it can rewrite history in order to make it easier to move forward, forgetting all of our past discretions.  We go along with this because it makes us feel better.  We will even take this to our Bible, reading into God’s Word just what we want to get from it, and not what God wants us to get.  This happens when we have an issue or we are struggling with a situation, we open our Bible and begin to search for the right passage or the right chapter that will say what we want to hear.  What we need to do is to pray, open our Bible and be lead to the passage we need.  God has a way of letting us know where to look and what to listen to.  He will help us “hear what we want to hear because He loves us.” 

 

“in the world, not of the world”

For the Love of Money…

I used to hear this growing up, being said in place of using profanity, but in a manner of speaking, we are still spewing profanity by simply putting the words “love” and “money” in the same sentence.  The dreams of great wealth can overcome our hopes of eternal life and take over our lives completely.  I’m sure you have been tempted to chase after your dreams of being wealthy, only to realize that one can never be satisfied because money does not do that.  Money will never be able to replace God, nor will it make us happy and satisfied.  As children of our God, we are not wired to love money.  We are wired to love our God, to worship our Holy Father, not the almighty dollar.  The Apostle Paul reminds his friend Timothy of this and other perils associated with the desire surrounding the dollar. 

“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.”  1Timothy 6:6-9(NIV) Paul was trying to encourage his brother in Christ to be content, to be happy with what he possessed.  In my opinion, we would all benefit from this contentment, this satisfaction with what we have, versus loving what everyone else seems to have.  We all are guilty of these feelings of resentment and envy when we consider all the riches of our neighbor.  Paul encourages Timothy to avoid this at all costs, no pun intended. 

“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.”  1Timothy 6:10(NIV)  Maybe this explains why we feel like we are “stabbed in the back” when we find ourselves on the short end of someone’s newfound wealth.  We often will resort to desperate measures just to have what everyone else has.  We will sell our souls to have the latest and greatest gadget, car, house or other worldly good.  This is why Paul calls it the “root of all evil.” 

When we try to change our greedy ways, particular towards our neighbor, we realize it’s going to be a battle.  God wants to help us “fight the good fight” because that’s what it is.  We are about to do battle with the world because we want nothing of its riches.  “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of the faith.”  1Timothy 6:11-12(NIV)

Paul goes further to instruct us to “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1Timothy 6:17(NIV)  We need to take note of these instructions and begin living a life that has hope in our God, and not the almighty dollar. 

Our society needs to rethink its love of money and focus minds on loving our God. 

 

“in the world, not of the world”

We Are Not Alone     

It sounds like the intro to some kind of horror flick.  Strange and solemn music begins to play softly in the background as the wind begins to blow, leaves begin to rattle.  Then a deep voice echoes in the night, “we are not alone.”  It would be enough to scare the bravest of people.  Truth is, we are not alone.  We are blessed with the very presence of Christ in our heart.  We know this to be true because Christ told us this when addressing His disciples.  His peace forever resides in our hearts.  If only we could live our lives reflecting this reality, without the fear of things that “go bump in the night.”

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.” John 14:25-28(NKJV)

It can be very easy to carry on about our daily business never realizing that we do have this Spirit with us, guiding us, granting us peace.  This peace, according to Jesus, is not available through the world, but only with His gift of the Holy Spirit.  This would be good to remember when we search the world high and low for some sort of peace and comfort.  We will never find our peace in worldly things, worldly possessions, worldly ideas.  In Christ and Christ alone will we find real peace, because He promises us this.  We just need to drop the notion that we will ever find any amount of peace with the world, and turn our attention to God, and to His Son who gave His life so that we could find peace. 

We often will find comfort in things or situations, relaxing on the beach during vacation, enjoying our hobbies after work, listening to our favorite band on a summer evening.  These things are good times, peaceful times, but they are temporary.  Soon, we are back to the reckless pace of living.  We have nothing but faint memories of these peaceful times.  Jesus Christ promises a more permanent peace, a life-long comfort and the knowledge that we are not alone. 

The next time you are in a storm of life, take out your Bible and get a hold on some of the peace and comfort offered there.  God has plenty to go around. 

Just remember, you are never alone. 

“in the world, not of the world”

God and Homosexuality

 When our founding fathers drafted our Declaration of Independence, they did so with the understanding that we were aspiring to be a nation based on Christian principles.  This was an indication that the Bible was a very critical point in our existence.  Lately, we seem to be looking at ways to change our basic principles.  We are a nation of civil liberty and of personal and inalienable rights.  This cannot be disputed.  But we are moving away from the very principles we were founded on.  We are trying to rewrite God’s initial instructions for a nation, and we are attempting to shape and mold His Word in order to fit our lifestyle.  This cannot have a good ending.  The Bible offers some insight into this. 

“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” Leviticus 18:22(NKJV)

“If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” Leviticus 20:13(NKJV)

 

These words were given to Moses by our God.  They cannot be changed, nor should we change them in order to justify our behavior. 

When Jesus was teaching His Disciples on the mountain, He was trying to explain a point we often miss.  Jesus was telling them that just because He was proclaiming a new way of life, a different way of looking at things, He was not replacing anything that had already been written.  In fact, He was here to make sure things were set right, that we all understood our role as the Christian we all aspire to be.  “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:17-19(NKJV)

Now, I do not proclaim to be an expert in the field of human rights.  I seem to struggle at times with the attitudes and opinions of those who claim to be these so called “experts.”  My only concern here is that we are taking the Word of God and changing our interpretation to better suit our needs.  We are rewriting portions of the Holy Bible in order to feel better about how we treat each other.  We are bowing to the minority in a case where the majority feels pressure to do so.  And all the while, things are getting progressively worse in our world.  We wonder why.  It seems as if the “end times” are closer than we like to think.  We are all playing a dangerous game when we take the God’s Word and make a few changes. 

The Holy Bible has been around for thousands of years and has managed to stay on top of the best seller list.  It’s time we start acting as if we are the ones keeping it on the list. 

“in the world, not of the world”