Jesus shared an introductory message about God’s will for mankind, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6). In the chapters that follow, we get a glimpse of people struggling to connect His words to His ability.
There are those that believe, that with Jesus, “all things are possible” (Mark 9:23); and there are those who doubt. In many ways, this is symbolic of our own journey – times of great faith followed by times of doubt. Elijah experienced something similar in 1 Kings 19 where he runs from Jezebel’s murderous threats. But this was her response to God’s mighty display of power on Mt. Carmel by Elijah! What he experienced, and what some of the people we read in the New Testament experienced, is quite common for us, too.
Matthew records that a man with leprosy confidently asked for healing, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” After him, a Roman Centurion confidently asked for his servant to be healed. Jesus responded in Matthew 8:10, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…” Those are stories that many of us wish defined our normal behavior concerning God’s ability to answer our prayers, but many of us don’t demonstrate as much confidence as those men did.
In Luke 7:19, some of John the Baptizer’s followers were sent by John to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” It would seem that even John had doubts about this man’s identity. When we consider John's background, it would seem nearly impossible for him to doubt. After all, his mother and Jesus’ mother both conceived miraculously, both were related, and it would seem that they would have talked about this at family reunions or at the annual sacrifices they traveled to Jerusalem for. It was even John who announced, “Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Regardless of those details, John had his followers ask Jesus if He really was the Messiah. But remember where John was asking from – prison.
Our moments of doubt often come when it appears God’s plan didn’t work. Or when God must not be listening. Or that it seems He doesn’t care about our problems. John remained in prison until his execution.
What’s the lesson? Perhaps, during these trials of disease, prison, oppression, even death that plagued Jesus’ followers, they struggled with God’s timing in dealing with their problems. We do, too! Later we hear “the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again… Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” (Revelations 2:8, 10)
Doubt doesn’t mean we’re evil; it means we’re human. The real question is what do we do in response to our doubts? Reject Him? Or simply let Him lead us wherever that might lead us? Trusting in God is what this is all about. We have to feed our faith as much as possible, and when the seasons of doubt arise, we lean on people who remind us to stay faithful even through our doubts.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Are You Conforming to Christ?
In our modern culture, conformity is often used as a kind of bad word. Within the walls of congregations, conformity is our goal. But how much thought do we put into the idea of conformity? Is too much conformity bad? Is not enough conformity a sin? When we consider the self-sacrifice Jesus talked about in Luke 9:22 or Paul talked about in Romans 12:1-2, we quickly see that “conforming to His image” (Romans 8:29) is how God plans for us to become like Him, not like the world.
People conform by peer pressure, persuasion, the law, or even more subtle ways. But God designed us to look for groups to mimic; remember, Adam couldn’t find a group to “fit in” prior to Eve. Psychologists agree that human touch and affection are high on our needs list, which means we’ll do whatever we need to to get it.
That’s where conformity to the image of Jesus will help everyone experience “the touch of God,” by receiving encouragement, love, compassion, forgiveness, respect, etc. (Philippians 2:1-5). There may be times of rebuke, but always in love, and only when emptily needed.
The danger is it we rarely conform to Christ’s level of service—instead we conform to laziness, selfishness, and division. Very few give up everything for someone else who may or may not appreciate it. Very few will beg God to forgive someone who has hurt them. Very few will go out of their way to do something wonderful for someone else without ever getting recognition for it. But Christ did!
Isaiah 53:6, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way….” Sheep wander off for different reasons, but logically, they must think there’s something better over the next hill. Spiritually speaking, that is happening a lot. Many people leave the church for greener pastures. When asked, “Why did you leave?” a large number of them admit there wasn’t room for their way of “doing things” where they were. While this sounds like potential attitude for false teaching, what if it isn’t? James said in James 1:19, “but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger….”
Consider how the words of Paul in Romans 12:3-5 describe something that allows each of us to bring a little bit of ourselves to the body of believers. Here he reminds us to not to “think more highly of [our]self then [we] ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, or one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
When it comes to the way we serve within the walls of a congregation, we need to be careful not to simply impose “my way or the highway” on people who may be sincerely looking to be part of the body. We know that God has a will He wants us to follow, but we have to be cautious of labeling my will is God’s will, then condemning others who won’t conform to my will. After all, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the imposition of their will disguised as God’s will on people (Matthew 23). Instead, let’s be mature as we “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).
People conform by peer pressure, persuasion, the law, or even more subtle ways. But God designed us to look for groups to mimic; remember, Adam couldn’t find a group to “fit in” prior to Eve. Psychologists agree that human touch and affection are high on our needs list, which means we’ll do whatever we need to to get it.
That’s where conformity to the image of Jesus will help everyone experience “the touch of God,” by receiving encouragement, love, compassion, forgiveness, respect, etc. (Philippians 2:1-5). There may be times of rebuke, but always in love, and only when emptily needed.
The danger is it we rarely conform to Christ’s level of service—instead we conform to laziness, selfishness, and division. Very few give up everything for someone else who may or may not appreciate it. Very few will beg God to forgive someone who has hurt them. Very few will go out of their way to do something wonderful for someone else without ever getting recognition for it. But Christ did!
Isaiah 53:6, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way….” Sheep wander off for different reasons, but logically, they must think there’s something better over the next hill. Spiritually speaking, that is happening a lot. Many people leave the church for greener pastures. When asked, “Why did you leave?” a large number of them admit there wasn’t room for their way of “doing things” where they were. While this sounds like potential attitude for false teaching, what if it isn’t? James said in James 1:19, “but everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger….”
Consider how the words of Paul in Romans 12:3-5 describe something that allows each of us to bring a little bit of ourselves to the body of believers. Here he reminds us to not to “think more highly of [our]self then [we] ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, or one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
When it comes to the way we serve within the walls of a congregation, we need to be careful not to simply impose “my way or the highway” on people who may be sincerely looking to be part of the body. We know that God has a will He wants us to follow, but we have to be cautious of labeling my will is God’s will, then condemning others who won’t conform to my will. After all, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the imposition of their will disguised as God’s will on people (Matthew 23). Instead, let’s be mature as we “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Are You Living by God's Word?
The World Health Organization (WHO) is an agency formed by the United Nations in 1948 focused on international public health; both in awareness and even more hands-on preventative measures. Their stated goal is the “attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health.” In other words, they want people to experience a better, healthier life. Although they have worked at developing programs that educate people on ways to avoid diseases or infections, at some point the people have to be willing to listen or practice it.
I can’t help but see this same concept being played out in the role of the apostles after the establishment of the church. Jesus had said of them, in John 14:16-21, “[God] will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you…”
Jesus had assured them in Matthew 10 that they too would be effective to those who want to hear their message. He said in Matthew 10:14, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” Ultimately, they were given the words of God to share with people that would tell them how to be saved, but they had to want to listen to those words in order for that information to do any good.
Nothing has really changed, at least in people’s response to the good news. We’ve been given a job to share those words with people—good and bad, nice or mean, sick or healthy. Because the words of God are powerful, or as Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is alive 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.”
Mankind makes evaluations about us based on our actions, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Jesus helped reveal the hearts of those who were “leading” a nation, but really they rejected the very words they claimed to be the master of; (John 7:48-49 & John 9:34). The danger is in the fact that any of us can have the ability to reject the very life-saving words of Christ, just as eagerly as the Pharisees and priests did.
The proper response for us should be what James says in James 1:21, “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” And as Christ set the example, so those who trusted in him for salvation also followed his example and taught us to do the same. Paul said in Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
The truth is we will be saved by God’s word, we will be judged by God’s word, and therefore we must live by God’s word. Because as Isaiah prophesied about in Isaiah 55:11, “my word that goes out from my mouth, will not return
I can’t help but see this same concept being played out in the role of the apostles after the establishment of the church. Jesus had said of them, in John 14:16-21, “[God] will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you…”
Jesus had assured them in Matthew 10 that they too would be effective to those who want to hear their message. He said in Matthew 10:14, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” Ultimately, they were given the words of God to share with people that would tell them how to be saved, but they had to want to listen to those words in order for that information to do any good.
Nothing has really changed, at least in people’s response to the good news. We’ve been given a job to share those words with people—good and bad, nice or mean, sick or healthy. Because the words of God are powerful, or as Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is alive 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.”
Mankind makes evaluations about us based on our actions, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Jesus helped reveal the hearts of those who were “leading” a nation, but really they rejected the very words they claimed to be the master of; (John 7:48-49 & John 9:34). The danger is in the fact that any of us can have the ability to reject the very life-saving words of Christ, just as eagerly as the Pharisees and priests did.
The proper response for us should be what James says in James 1:21, “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” And as Christ set the example, so those who trusted in him for salvation also followed his example and taught us to do the same. Paul said in Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
The truth is we will be saved by God’s word, we will be judged by God’s word, and therefore we must live by God’s word. Because as Isaiah prophesied about in Isaiah 55:11, “my word that goes out from my mouth, will not return
Friday, January 5, 2018
What Are You Reading?
Every year I try to make an effort to read the Bible through from cover to cover. I know
many other people make the same goal, and I’m happy that there are people out there that see
the benefit and significance of reading the Bible. It’s a journey that can be frustrating,
difficult, even boring at times, but it can also be enlightening, refreshing, and humbling to see
how much understanding is still to be gained.
God never intended us to read through pieces of Scripture occasionally, but rather He wanted us to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV) Because, the more we read God’s word, the more we get a clearer picture of what God is looking for in us, or as Ephesians 5:17 says, “...do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (See also Joshua 1:8, 2 Timothy 4:2.)
Paul had encouraged Timothy, in 1Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” But why is this so important? As followers of a God, whom we cannot see, it’s vital that we understand His ways, which is what the Bible reveals to us. Therefore, the less we know of God’s ways, the less we’ll be able to interpret His words accurately. Unfortunately, there is an epidemic of Biblical ignorance within congregations.
Recently, in an Apologetics Press article, the author interviewed Melvyn Bragg, who is an English broadcaster and an atheist. One of the topics brought up was about the impact of Bible reading on a culture. Braggs recognized the extreme decline of people who regularly read the Bible. He said, “I think it is a great deprivation. What have we thrown away? One of the greatest pieces of art work [has been neglected]. It’s awful. Is the excuse really that it’s too difficult, really? We should be too good for that….”
Although as Christians, our view of the Bible is much greater than just a “work of art.” It is the living word of God, as Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive 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.”
This year I will be reading from the New International Version of the Bible. I hope you’ll read along. I'd love to have you join me!
God never intended us to read through pieces of Scripture occasionally, but rather He wanted us to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV) Because, the more we read God’s word, the more we get a clearer picture of what God is looking for in us, or as Ephesians 5:17 says, “...do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (See also Joshua 1:8, 2 Timothy 4:2.)
Paul had encouraged Timothy, in 1Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” But why is this so important? As followers of a God, whom we cannot see, it’s vital that we understand His ways, which is what the Bible reveals to us. Therefore, the less we know of God’s ways, the less we’ll be able to interpret His words accurately. Unfortunately, there is an epidemic of Biblical ignorance within congregations.
Recently, in an Apologetics Press article, the author interviewed Melvyn Bragg, who is an English broadcaster and an atheist. One of the topics brought up was about the impact of Bible reading on a culture. Braggs recognized the extreme decline of people who regularly read the Bible. He said, “I think it is a great deprivation. What have we thrown away? One of the greatest pieces of art work [has been neglected]. It’s awful. Is the excuse really that it’s too difficult, really? We should be too good for that….”
Although as Christians, our view of the Bible is much greater than just a “work of art.” It is the living word of God, as Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive 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.”
This year I will be reading from the New International Version of the Bible. I hope you’ll read along. I'd love to have you join me!