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”

Like a thief in the night

Like a Thief in the Night

Ever stop to wonder where that saying comes from?  When we are shocked and amazed at how quickly something can disappear, or how fast we find ourselves on the losing end of a deal, we can’t seem to come to grips with it.  It can seem like we were visited by some awesome power and allowed this thing to remove something near and dear to our hearts.  When I was spending time in God’s Word today, I came across this very statement, so I’m convinced it has biblical origins. 

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.   For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.  For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.  But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.  You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5(NKJV)

The point here is this, we need to be alert and on our guard, lest we are visited by the “thief in the night.”  No one knows when Jesus will make his triumphant return.  No person here on earth can predict with any reasonable accuracy, the return of Christ to this world.  But there is one thing that can be counted on.  He will return.  Yet we continue to live our lives as if there is no fear of anyone having to deal with “a thief in the night” scenario.  We all simply go about our daily lives feeling protected and secure because we feel that we have plenty of time left to prepare.  Should we consider this a false sense of security?  Should we be dealing with all the issues in our lives, getting things right with our God, because we have no clue when it’s game over? 

In today’s world, we are often confronted with choices and decisions that move us further away from the truth.  We try very hard to please the world, to get along in our daily lives without paying any attention to what God wants from us, or what God has in mind for our lives.  And we never think that Jesus will return, like that dreaded “thief in the night.” 

We may want to think more about how we can be ready for the “thief” and not so much about building our walls and fences in order to keep Him out.  That’s what we do when we pay no attention to how God sees things.  We are simply too busy trying to impress the world.

Are you making room for Jesus, or are you building up your walls with “peace and safety” in order to feel secure?   

“in the world, not of the world”

Running in the opposite direction

Running in the opposite direction

Do you ever feel like you are going against the flow of things, trying to swim upstream against a raging current?  Life can throw some nasty detours at us on a regular basis.  We often will give in and simply go with the flow, following all the others down the wide interstates and moving through the huge gates flung open so that many can fit through.  We do this so that we can be included or a part of a society that encourages us to follow their directions, or take their map for reference.  We do this because we want to be like everyone else.  God gives us the option of taking a detour, a different route that leads to eternal life.  Jesus offers this advice in the Book of Matthew.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14(NKJV)

I realize that it’s hard to go against the flow of things.  It can be very difficult because we are standing out in a crowd, running in the opposite direction in order to find our detour.  God encourages us to stay on His route, following His directions and mapping our way to our promise of eternal life.  The world wants us to simply give in, becoming mindless drones that are easily persuaded to take the wide road and the broad gate.  Life is much easier when we do this because the world is busy removing all of the obstacles, or so they would like us to think. 

God never promised an easy road.  In fact, several times throughout the bible God reminds us that His way may be more difficult and challenging.  But His destination is far better than anything the world can promise.  Our time here on earth may be seem like on big detour, but it’s what has to happen if we are going to move on to the next life.  The narrow gate and the one lane road may be much more difficult as far as navigation is concerned, but the destination can be reached if we remain faithful, and follow God’s directions. 

I think I will just keep runnin2Him.

“in the world, not of the world”