Healthy Relationships Part Two

Until Christ arrived and changed things Jews were considered the people of God while Gentiles were dogs, they were pagans, rejected people as it pertained to God. This led to an attitude of competition and jealousy that reared it’s ugly head even in the church.

This attitude of superiority is what fueled the Judaizers and corrupted the faith of many a Gentile believer by bringing them into works righteousness and away from true faith.  All because someone played the superiority card which will tend to fuel envy and jealousy. It will draw people into error and it can divide relationships.

The fact is there are no elite people in the Kingdom, all are equal in God's sight through Christ.  We are either in Him or we are not.  Being Jewish will not make anyone any more important than another and there is no greater spirituality to be gained by it.  Nor will being rich elevate someone to a place of prominence in the Father's courts.  It has nothing to do with your human birth right, social status, gender or race.  It has to do with Christ.

Elitism spawned through misunderstanding the work of Christ causes divisions, it did so in the eraly church.  What was the fix?

Ephesians 2:9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 11 ¶ Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens’’ by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 14 ¶ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.

God has only one way to correct dysfunctional relationships and that is through the cross. The cross is the place where I die to myself and come to grips with what God says about me, my situation, and the others involved. It is God’s means of bringing death to self so Christ might be seen in me.

Healthy Relationships Part One

The more time I spend in Scripture the more convinced I become of how important relationships are to God.  But relationships are not just important to God, they are important to us as human beings. From the beginning of time man has had a need to have relationship even when he had sweet fellowship with God himself.

We were created to engage in relationship with others.

Adam walked in the cool of the garden with God, he enjoyed wide open fellowship with his creator. But as he named the animals he noticed they came in pairs. Each male had a companion.  This must have registered in Adam’s heart. God knew Adam needed help so he caused a deep sleep to come upon him and he made a woman for Adam from Adam’s rib.

Adam knew he needed relationship in this life with another human being.

We are all in the same condition as Adam. We are created to have relationship.  Some happen to be better at it than others.

One thing is for certain ever since Adam sinned relationship dysfunction has been a reality.

Sin caused Adam to blame Eve. The person he longed for, and loved to the point of sacrifing for he later blamed. This is true because sin brings dysfunction into any relationship.  Think about it.  Adam was willing to wilfully partake of the fruit knowing it was forbidden because of his desire for Eve.  But after it was accomplished and sin was conceived Adam was trying to put the blam on her.

Sin devalues relationship. The absence of valuing relationships and the inability to give honor to whom honor is due is a reflection of decay and weakness, not strength.

It is a common place practice in the world, but did you know Christians struggle with this as well?

James 4:1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong —you want only what will give you pleasure.

It is possible to be born again and still be engaged in dysfunctional relationships all around you.  Believers can continue to be carnal.

Jealousy and envy are still alive and well in humanity and the church is made up of redeemed human beings. If we stray from holding the Lord as precious and seeing Christ we can begin live only for ourselves. This leads people to jealousy and envy of others as opposed to wanting the best for others.

In families sometimes siblings will become jealous of one another based on what they think might be favoritism being shown to a particular member.

The age old wanting what belongs to someone else has been a plague for all human history. Cain killed Able out of jealousy. Josephs brothers sold him into slavery to get rid of him. The disciples argued over who would be the greatest as they walked along the road with Jesus.

This competition for prestige or prominence has been the ruin of many relationships throughout history.  Sin has damaged relationship with God and with others.  Only through Christ can we truly engage in healthy relationship again.

The Call to Follow Part One

Mark 8:34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 "Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

We should take note of the fact that Jesus was addressing more than just the twelve who had left everything to follow Him. He is addressing a crowd and He uses the term “whoever.”

Because of the whoever, this truth about following Jesus applies to anyone and everyone without exception.

Jesus just took away any option of following Him on our own terms. He set the terms and made them very clear. They appear here in Mark 8, in Matthew 16, and in Luke 9.

This is the language of salvation. Being saved means following Jesus. There is no salvation apart from following Christ.

There are no differing plans when it comes to salvation. This is about eternal life, not insurance, there is no base plan that costs less yet covers all the basics.

So we find that in these terms set by Jesus there is the issue of denying oneself, taking up our own cross, and following Jesus.

I love this particular call to follow because it defines purpose for all who follow Christ. If you ever needed a vision for life here it is. This is the essence of what it means to be His and walking with Him in life.

The Fear of the Lord Part Four

Godly sorrow produces a work of repentance that releases the life of Christ in me. A life that gives to others good things.  This is a New Covenant work of the fear of the Lord! It is rooted in my actions and their impact on my relationship with God and others.

New Covenant grace does not grant us the freedom to do as we would wish, but rather, it is to bring us into relationship with the God who loves us and is now able to dwell in us. It places us in relationships within the body of Christ where we are meant to grow.

God is still in the business of transforming lives by turning enemies into sons. Sons who love and respect their heavenly Father and once Jesus is living in them they delight to do His will.  God promised He would give a New Covenant in which he would write His law on the hearts of those who believe.  He has written that Law and it is not the Old Law. It is the Law of Christ.

The Law of Christ is love one another. It is in engaging this practice that we embrace our cross and find ourselves walking in the fear of the Lord.

Usually when someone speaks of taking up their cross they apply it to keeping some aspect of the law more devotedly. They speak in terms of giving up some particular thing in life. The cross of Christ was about more than just paying for sin. He paid for sin because sin was standing between us and God and it interferes with our relationship one to another.

Taking up our cross is realized in the giving of ourselves for one another in life. The cross Jesus bore was for others not Himself. Taking up my cross involves preferring you and wanting to see you walking in right relationship with the Father and with me.

This is what empowered the apostles under the influence of the Holy Spirit to address misconduct in the church by reminding them who it is they claim to have believed and what that means regarding their relationship to God and to one another.

Legalism demands a cold adherence to rules because it thinks sin is the only issue with God. It is concerned about appearances more than people.

Legalistic people can cut someone off someone without so much as a wink. They cut and run when the going gets tough. They do so claiming that they are walking in the fear of the Lord while they are oblivious to how it is directly tied to our relationship with the Father and our relationships within the body of Christ.

They do not direct others to Christ on the basis of grace because they do not understand that only through the grace of Christ can true change really come. They are sin conscious based on appearances and therefore unable to deal with others on the basis of relationship.

If you want to see a believer change point them to Christ.

If you want to see a sinner saved point them to Christ.

The power to change is found only in Christ.

The Christ who lives in us walks in the fear of the Lord which teaches us to hate evil, shouldn’t that effectively influence us to love God and each other?

Growth and change will always be relationally based. Our forefathers in the church grew stronger as they lived in the fear of the Lord. A fear of the Lord that was relational and others minded.

How is your relationship with the Father?

How are your relationships in the fellowship where He has placed you?

Are you committed in relationship to a group of believers?

The Fear of the Lord Part Three

For the New Covenant believer the fear of the Lord is all about being like Christ in my relationship to the Father and my relationship to others. If I walk in the fear of the Lord I am aware of the importance of the relationships I have been given. Primarily the one I am privileged to enjoy with God at the expense of Christ! This leads me into genuine transformation!

If we stop short on our understanding the fear of the Lord we relate it only to sin. Remember it is to hate evil. The evil spoken of targets others. Our understanding the fear of the Lord should include the why we should hate evil. That involves relationships.

I've many Christians over time speak of not grieving the Holy Spirit and they are usually applying it to moral behaviors based on Law keeping.

The Scripture in Ephesians regarding grieving the Holy Ghost has to do with how we treat each other. He is grieved when we fail to walk in the fear of the Lord. A fear of the Lord which is aware and concerned for the good of others around us.

In 1 Corinthians Paul had written regarding a situation where a person was engaging in immoral behavior and nothing was being done about it. In fact the Corinthians instead were boasting of how merciful they were for not taking a grossly immoral man to task, and this was beginning to have a negative impact on the church. Paul wrote to help the Corinthians see how this man was bringing harm to others because of his practice of evil and how they as well were hurting others by ignoring it. Paul spoke sternly to them about this and it made them upset with Paul as a result. But they changed their minds about it and embraced Paul’s instructions. In turning their hearts to God in the fear of the Lord that considers others they were empowered to handle the situation and they opened their hearts again to Paul.

2Corinthians 7:10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

Godly sorrow brings about change. It brings repentance! New Covenant grace has not taken away this work of repentance in the lives of those who put their trust in Jesus.

True repentance alters the way in which I live based on the life of Christ now in me. My repentance is not based on an emotion. It is not saying I am sorry just to silence the other party because they bother me. It goes much deeper than that. I am repentant because my heart is softened once again to care.

It is the ability to recognize how my actions or decisions have affected those I claim to care about. When God is at work bringing me to repentance it involves the impact my actions have had on my relationship to Him and with those around me. Only then can I be aware of a genuine sorrow because it is godly in that it is others aware.

The Fear of the Lord Part Two

In the book of Acts there is a man named Saul who was going from town to town causing Christians to suffer. He was being evil, while he was deceived in thinking he was doing good.

In his zealousness for the Law he hated Christians because through their faith in Christ and promotion of the gospel many of the Jews were being brought out of the Old Covenant system of righteousness into grace righteousness made possible by Jesus.

One day, while Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute more Christians, Jesus revealed himself to Saul asking Saul why he was persecuting Him. Saul was made to realize the evil he had been doing and he repented and was born again and renamed Paul. This brought about a time of peace to the church since their greatest enemy was now made a friend. Paul’s experience of a real work of the fear of God caused him to love the ones he had before been mean to. As a result it had an impact on the church.

Acts 9:31 The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.

There is something stated in this passage I want us to take particular notice of. It says that the church became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord!

The word fear in the Hebrew is used in two ways. It is used when someone is afraid of something. That is a general use.

But it is used in a different way when it is applied to God. When it is directed towards God it means reverence, respect, awe, piety.

The fear of the Lord does not mean I get more serious about keeping the law. That is not what is at the heart of it.

The fear of the Lord is relational. I desire to be like that which I admire and respect. When in relationship to God through Christ I have Christ revealed to me more and more by the work of the Spirit I find I long to be more like Him.

The Fear of the Lord Part One

Those who are born again are called the temple of God because Christ now dwells in us. A prophecy concerning Christ might give us a clue about what that will produce in us.

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

It is interesting to me that among this list is the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

Jesus walked in the fear of the Lord. He hasn’t changed who He is in order to live in us.

So, how can we know if we are walking in the fear of the Lord?

Proverbs 8:13 All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.

How many? All!

What will they do? Hate Evil.

But why will they hate evil?

The Hebrew word translated evil here is interesting. It is the Hebrew word ra-ah and in almost every scenario it implies something really bad. It implies hurtful things, destructive things, mean things. In one of it’s definitions it uses the word malignant. That is a word we associate with cancer in a very negative way. A malignant cancer is of the worst sort. Another definition speaks of being vicious in disposition. It involves what someone does towards others. Evil’s goal is to use and hurt others.

Using others for selfish gain and being mean towards others is something Jesus hates. Jesus taught His disciples to pray keep us from evil.

How Forgiven Are You? Part Five

The issue that makes the Old Covenant obsolete is one of source. Christ dealt with the very source of our sin and He did this in the Holy of Holies in heaven itself, thereby making it possible for us to worship God the way we were meant to!

Our consciences are now made clean through His blood so that we can, with no condemnation, approach God freely! The Old Covenant is what made us aware of our sin and continually reminded us of our unholy nature and behavior.

Hebrews 9:15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

Under the New Covenant we are set free from the penalties and liabilities of the Old Covenant that condemned us to death and refused to allow us access to God!

You may be saying I cannot approach God in the condition I am in. Jesus says, I paid for that! Come near! Find grace to help!

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Romans 3:21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.  23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

How forgiven are you?

Comparisons between the Old and New Covenant

1a) The Old Covenant was a covenant between God and a specific race of people.

1b) The New Covenant is a covenant between God and His Only Son Jesus Christ and people of all races and walks of life are invited to partake of it.

2a) The Old Covenant was a covenant of death intended to prove to men they could not be holy through any effort on their part.

2b) The New Covenant is a covenant of life that makes men holy through the work of Christ.

3a) The Old Covenant was a temporary covenant between an infallible, infinite God and fallible, finite men.

3b) The New Covenant is everlasting because it is between the infallible, infinite God and His infallible, infinite Son.

4a) The Old Covenant could only work from the outside in and therefore depended on men's ability to do something in order to be holy.

4b) The New Covenant makes someone a New creature on the inside making them holy by faith in what Jesus did.

5a) The Old Covenant demanded that men fix themselves, which is impossible.

5b) The New Covenant works from the inside out and makes men what they could never be by any self effort.  New Creations.

6a) The Old Covenant concentrated on what a man can do.

6b) The New Covenant focuses on who a man has come to know.

Why would anyone want to live under the Old Covenant when the New Covenant is far superior?

How Forgiven Are You? Part Four

The Old Covenant would need to done away with and a New Covenant established for all time, put in force by Christ before the issue of a clean conscience could truly be a reality for the people of God. We now have a High Priest who sat down because His one sacrifice took care of the issue of sin for us once and for all. No need for any more trips to the mercy seat to remove sin.

Hebrews 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 9:11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood––not the blood of goats and calves––he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

We can be confident that our sins past, present and future have been taken care of is because JESUS went into the real holy of holies, the one in heaven, and He sprinkled His own sinless holy blood on the, God made, original, mercy seat!

Jesus did not play with prototypes made by human hands!  Little girls play with dolls and doll houses in preparation for the real deal when they mature, get married and start families.

What mature, sane woman, would wish to replace her home, her children, and her husband with a doll house and dolls?  What could ever convince her to go back to the former days?

Once she has the real thing she has no need or desire to go back to the preparation phase of living.  Jesus is the real thing and He entered the real Holy of Holies in heavn itself and He sprinkled His own blood on the real mercy seat!

Hebrews 9:13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Oh the blood, of Jesus! He has done it! Once and for all!

How Forgiven Are You? Part Three

The Law magnified the issue sin and placed Israel under a very detailed and involved system for addressing the sin problem. It also placed hindrances on their experience of God personally as the High Priest was the only person allowed beyond the veil.

Hebrews 9:8 By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.  9 This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. 10 For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies––physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

Under the Old System there was no way to put sin behind you because the thought of it would be ever before you. That is the fruit of the Old Covenant. That was it’s purpose. God intended that to be the case in order to set the stage for His Only Son to come and be the final sacrifice for all eternity!

It was never God’s intention to permanently deal with the sin problem in the Old Covenant. It was God’s intention to set the stage for His Son to come and establish a New Covenant that would deal with the problem once and for all and last forever.

Under the Law man’s conscience is plagued by the guilt of sin continually. This is still the effect of the law and of observing any of the ceremonies attached to it’s keeping.

Notice how it makes it clear that the gifts and sacrifices were unable to cleanse the consciences of the people who brought them.

There was no once and for all solution to the sin problem under the Old Covenant. This is why we have Hebrews 9:10 “For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies––physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.”

How Forgiven Are You? Part Two

Sometimes ignorance is born of an arrogance that leads someone to think mankind can achieve holiness by self effort. Misplaced Confidence is usually rooted in pride and arrogance.

Fact is no one is made holy by behavior. The reason is we would have to be able to change ourselves into being holy at our core, we would have to be able to change our very nature otherwise any attempt at holiness would be tainted by our unholy state of being.

Being holy is more of a source problem than a behavior problem. Behavior is a byproduct of who we are at our core. Self righteousness denies that source is an issue. This is why God hates self righteousness in any form. It is a denial of the truth concerning the sin nature inherent in mankind which is the real reason for our inability to be holy without Christ.

So God gave Israel the Law and made sure they understood that to offend in just one tiny thing was to offend in everything. So for these Israelites there had to be a means of addressing the sin problem that was about to be made amazingly evident by the entrance of the law. How can already sinful man rid himself of sin?

Under the Old Covenant the means of handling sin involved continual sacrifices being offered and an annual atonement sacrifice made by the High Priest for the sins of the people once a year.

Animal blood was used to purge the holy articles made by human hands because they were tainted as a result of being made by sinful man and thus under the Law they had to be purged with blood.

So the High Priest had to be cleansed and also had to cleanse the articles of worship before going into the Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 9:21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. 23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.

How Forgiven Are You? Part One

Is there such a thing as overconfidence, or misplaced confidence?

Based on an Alliance for Excellent Education Fact sheet dated March of 2008

The following details how fifteen-year-old students from the United States compare with fifteen-year-olds in other Developed member countries in the Program for International Student Achievement measures of academic proficiency.*

Science: We are ranked 21st of 30 countries.

Reading: We are ranked 15th of 29 countries.

Math: We are ranked 25th of 30 countries.

Problem Solving: We are ranked 24th of 29 countries.

Other sources site that one area where American youth excel is in the arena of confidence. We are first place in confidence despite our poor academic performance, and problem solving abilities.

Even the low achieving of society score high in self confidence.

Perhaps this generation suffers from the same dilemma Israel suffered from when she was brought up out of Egypt.

I say that because self confidence was Israel’s problem when they stood at the base of Mount Sinai after leaving Egypt.

They were ignorant about the fact that as human beings they had been born into sin, by nature they were already unholy. The Commandments were made on the basis of holiness and perfection. These Israelites were so self confident that they failed to understand that they would never be able to do what God in His holiness would demand. But you know, they had self confidence!

Israel at the base of the mountain said to Moses, you speak with God and whatever He tells us to do we will do. They had tons of self confidence! In their minds they were going to adhere to whatever God said they should, and they were sincere about it.

Plenty of misplaced confidence! Did they understand holiness?

Everlasting Glory Part Four

The veil robs people of what is available to them only through Christ. It is not Christ ..... and.

Once the veil is lifted we will reflect!

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord––who is the Spirit––makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

The glory of the New Covenant is not partaken of through the use of the Law in any form.

The glory of the New Covenant can only realized through faith in Christ alone and as we believe, we behold, and as we behold, we are changed.
 
Understanding the nature of this New Covenant matters because it will be what gets us off the roller coaster ride that is so common to Christians today.

Believers can fall prey to spending a good amount of their lives in a spiritual turmoil. Plagued by an insecurity born from guilt and fear that somehow they will never measure up because they are comparing themselves to a system that is obsolete and has been replaced!

I have good news! In your own efforts to be good you will never measure up!

Why on earth is that good news? It is good because that is exactly why Christ came to earth. He came to initiate through His death and resurrection a better hope. A better covenant not dependant on our effort but one that relies entirely on His works.

The only thing we bring to the table is a faith made possible by the working of the Spirit in our hearts.

Under this New Covenant, it is all of God and the glory is not a fading one it is a growing one as mankind is made to look into the brightness of the glory of the Messiah who has come!

What does this mean for us here today?

It means that by grace we can continually approach His throne and find the help that we need. As we do, we grow spiritually and we reflect more fully His image and His glory is seen by others through us.

Jesus is desiring to reveal Himself to others through a people who by grace through faith, not the Law manifest His life at work in them. That is the living gospel this world needs to see!

Everlasting Glory Part Three

Everyone does not enjoy this revelation of a New Covenant. Sometimes this glorious truth hits the intellect of some whose minds are hardened to it and they refuse to see it because they demand something different.

2 Corinthians 3:14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

There it is clear as day. Those whose minds are hardened have a veil over their face and cannot see clearly because of it. It specifically refers to Law lovers. They are hardened in their thinking towards anything that even hints of replacing what they have known, or what they think they know about the Law given through Moses.

But if through the preaching of the gospel they are turned to Christ, the veil is taken away and they begin to understand the freedom that is theirs through Christ and the life of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

But what freedom is spoken of here?

The freedom spoken of here is freedom from the veil!

Freedom from legalistic living and thinking! Freedom from Old Covenant death and condemnation brought on by attempting to adhere to the law. Freedom from the spiritual death it produces in man.

Galatians 3:1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

Behaving well will never make someone a son, but a son will behave.  Knowing Christ changes us, we do not change ourselves and then claim Christ.  It is by faith we are made righteous and enabled to receive.  This is the beauty of the New Covenant, Christ made a covenant with God the Father.  Now we stand in what He did apart from the empty man made promises of better behavior.

Everlasting Glory Part Two

There are some who argue that what Jesus did in establishing His New Covenant merely renewed or made better the Old Covenant.

Ever traded in an old car for a new one? The number one reason for trading in an old car for a new one is that the old car has become obsolete. Therefore a new one is needed.

Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Jesus is the Mediator of a New Covenant. But not just a New Covenant, a new and better Covenant. It is better because it has no expiration date on it. It is everlasting and it comes with an even greater glory than the first that isn’t fading!

2Corinthians 3:8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. 11 So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

This is good news folks! What Christ accomplished replaces anything and everything that existed before. But it doesn’t replace it with a mere equivalent to what was before, it offers something far superior! Because it is so superior we can have great confidence and boldness.
 
2 Corinthians 3:12 ¶ Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.

This New Covenant glory is not a fading glory because it will never be replaced or improved upon. It is also not a glory that requires we hide it by veiling our faces because it is not a ministry of death like the covenant of Moses was. The Old Covenant Moses brought was a covenant of condemnation and death. The Scripture makes this plain. We already read in VS 6 “The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.” Jesus brought us glorious life.

Everlasting Glory Part One

Scripture reveals that God often chose to use physical realities as prophetic parallels. For instance:

In 2 Kings 13 King Jehoash of Israel was told by Elisha the prophet to take a hand full of arrows and strike the ground with them. The kings half hearted attempt resulted in a limited victory over his enemy Syria. Had he struck the arrows five or six times as opposed to just three it would have meant that his enemy Syria would have been completely destroyed.

When Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments from God he had a glory on him that resulted in his having to wear a veil over his face. Moses had to go up into the very glory of God in order to be given the commandments that marked the Covenant made between God and Israel. It was a glorious Covenant to Israel, the first one they had ever received as a nation from God. It began with glory.

But the Bible tells us clearly that it was a fading glory.

2 Corinthians 3:7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.

God was saying something prophetic through the veil Moses wore. He was speaking prophetically through the natural. How can we know this?

The veil hid a glory that was fading. The Old Covenant written on stone tablets was a fading covenant the veil of Moses was meant to reveal it would not be an everlasting covenant.

God was prophetically speaking to the people of Israel that they should not look to this covenant as the one that will be with them forever but that when One greater than Moses comes a New Covenant made through Messiah would replace this Old one.

2 Corinthians 3:5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

Just as Jesus is superior to Moses, the Covenant Jesus set in motion is superior to and replaces the Old Covenant brought through Moses.

Hearts for the Kingdom Part Four

At home sometimes we play a music channel while we do chores etc. On one particular day I happened to notice the background for the music channel that was playing and the scene was breath taking.

In the background were these majestic mountains and someone apparently laying on their back and taking in all this amazing beauty of creation, because in the foreground was a pair of feet with hiking boots on pointed to the sky.

The sky above was rich blue with billowing white clouds dispersed in it and these amazing mountains in the background. I thought to myself what an amazing creation of God.

It was then that the Holy Spirit broke in on my thought and said, "If you think that is amazing just open your eyes each day you walk out your door. Every time that you look at another human being you are beholding the greatest work in all creation. Nothing in creation exceeds the handiwork of God revealed in mankind."
 
I began to think of how devalued mankind had become in my own heart. I was reminded how that in the gospel mankind is not a devalued creation at all. The Creator Himself came to earth to redeem mankind, to reconcile the crown of creation to Himself.  This most beautiful and marvelous aspect of creation has been marred by the fall and Christ came to reclaim it.

Through the gospel I want to have a different motivation towards men. I want to stand in awe of what God originally made and have my heart ache as His does over the distortion of it that took place in the fall. I want the gospel to produce in me a fresh desire to see this crown of creation restored in newness of life to the One who made it.

May God grant us even more boldness to proclaim His word to those we encounter each day as we go about our lives.

May He open up the riches of His grace and truth to our hearts not so we could hoard them for ourselves but so we might know the abundance of His generosity and shed our spiritual poverty realizing we have more than enough to give to others simply because we are in Christ.

May we begin to see our world through the eyes of a kingdom driven heart and may His presence ignite us to be His all the time.

Hearts for the Kingdom Part Three

Acts 4:31 is built on the foundation of two men who had the courage to expect God to do something in the marketplace and use it as a door to preach the gospel and as a result were arrested and persecuted for their preaching of the gospel.

They were not arrested for the man being healed, seldom will anyone be persecuted for such a wonderful miracle. They were arrested because they went beyond the miracle and spoke specifically about who did it and why. They preached Christ!

They gave credit to Christ and then spoke forthrightly concerning the truth about Him. For this the leaders of the temple sought to silence them with threats and held them overnight in jail.

After being released and having stood their ground in the gospel they met with the believers and prayed for more of this kind of ministry to happen so that others might see, hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Their motive in prayer? Others might see, hear and know Christ!

They prayed Scripturally concerning the prophetic words concerning Christ and for themselves they simply asked for boldness to preach.

They were determined to see the kingdom advanced. From this heart motivation they simply lived their lives and God confirmed their living with His presence wherever they went.

There is no great concern revealed here in this portion of Scripture for how lively of a meeting they might have. They appear to me to be more concerned about the gospel going forth and people being set free by the truth of it working in their hearts. As a result their meeting together was by nature more lively!

There is a freshness in such thinking and living. There is a presence of God that is manifest to a generation when a people determine to be committed to what matters most.

Hearts for the Kingdom Part Two

Peter and John were simply doing their usual thing and going up to the temple to pray around 3 in the afternoon when the two of them witnessed a man lame from birth being placed at the gate called Beautiful to beg.

On this particular occasion it must have registered in Peters spirit that the Holy Ghost wanted to do something. I say this because the lame man is no stranger to the people who go up to the temple. All know his story and are familiar with his suffering in life. He is there to beg regularly. So we can assume Peter and John would know something of this man as well seeing they are not strangers to the temple either.

But on this day, Peter decides to do something. He approaches the man and stretches forth his hand with a simple statement. I have no silver or gold but what I do have I give to you.

What did Peter possess?

He was a possessor of the Kingdom he had Christ living on the inside, he was full of the Holy Ghost. Everything that defies the status of a broken fallen world was residing in Peter and John. It resides as well in us.

What I have I give to you! Where did learn such an extravagant generosity that sets no prerequisites on what a man must do to receive?

Maybe it is revealed in the name he spoke when he told the man to rise up and walk. Peter had witnessed extravagant love unbound, untainted, pure and unsullied expressed through Jesus. He had witnessed the free will offering of Christ, he had seen the generosity and willingness of a savior who would not only do good for those who were seeking help, He would even lay down His life for those who were to be called His own.

At one point in Peters life he had denied, ran away and hid himself, and eventually came out of hiding to go fishing.

Like the rest of us he struggled with his faith and he struggled between what his mind wished to analyze and what his heart desired to believe. Reconciling the two would be a journey for Peter just as it was for all the others who followed Christ and will be for us.
 
But by this time in Peters life he and the others had at least come to terms on some simple realities.

1) Christ was alive because they had seen Him after he had raised from the dead.
2) The kingdom of God was to go forth in the earth conquering the hearts of men and women everywhere according to God’s will and power at work in them through the gospel.
3) They were commissioned to speak this good news wherever they found themselves.

These three basic realities fueled a fresh motivation in their hearts that stirred their prayers and moved them to action each day they went about their usual business.

Hearts for the Kingdom Part One

Acts 4:31 (NKJV) And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Most would enjoy being part of a meeting where the place was shaken. I’ve been at prayer meetings where they prayed the place would be shaken. But is it accurate to pray such a thing?

If we separate Acts 4:31 from what precedes it and what follows it we might assume it is a recipe for meeting prayers.

But never once did even one of the believers in Acts 4:31 ask that the place be shaken. It simply says when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Somehow I do not think these believers were worried about the meeting itself. I think they were praying from a motive to advance the Kingdom of God where they lived!

In Acts 4:31 believers in Christ were doing life with a kingdom heart and mindset. As we go about our business and engage each day with a kingdom heart and mindset we too can discover the willingness of God to manifest His presence to others.

Jesus wants His gospel proclaimed and He will manifest Himself to others as do life with the motive of advancing His kingdom.

Acts 4:31 does not exist as a motivational passage for powerful meetings. It exist as a passage sandwiched between many other passages revealing a lifestyle and motivation that existed in the hearts of those early believers.

Without what happened to Peter and John as they did ordinary daily life we would not have an Acts 4:31 passage to begin with.

Standing in the Truth

1Corinthians 5:1 ¶ I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you––something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2 You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

What on earth is happening here?

As a pastor I have discovered deception can masquerade in many forms.  Here we find the Corinthian church was deeply decieved.  In these last days it should not catch us unaware that we too will encounter people who lack discernment and the courage to deal in the truth with those who practice gross immorality.  Let's draw our attention to the man mentioned in this text.  

I look at this and I see that the man would likely claim there is no pretending in his life.  He is still mingling with others in the church but he has not hidden the sin he is in.

Grace is not about tolernace.  It is not true grace to allow such a vile sin to go unchecked in a church body.  Here was a man, in a sin, that even the godless pagans would find offensive and yet he still expected to enjoy fellowship with believers in Christ as though he were normal since he was not hiding his sin from anyone.

The church in Corinth was allowing this man to be in charge of their response to his sin by pretending along with him that what he was doing was okay.  They were obviously pointing to this situation as the proof of their love because Paul says they are proud of themselves about their acceptance of this man despite his sin.

But we discover their "love" was no love at all in this case.  They were deceived in their handling of this man up to this point.  If they loved him they must take the difficult stand against what he is doing and they must realize that if they continue in their loving tolerance mindset they are condoning his behavior and it will become a license to others to follow his example.

Can a church grounded in grace actually bring discipline to a member in deep sinful behavior?  Absolutely, and it should when appropriate.

By Grace Know Your Place Part Four

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If we wish to be Christ like in our character humility is a must. Jesus humbled Himself, so we too must humble ourselves. This is an act of the will on our part.

True humility at work does not see others as stepping stones for something I need in life. Others do not exist for my benefit, I exist for theirs.

Humility enables me to serve others and feel grateful that I can do so on any level.

Humility enables us to fulfill Philippians 2:14 ¶ Do all things without grumbling or questioning,

Just imagine how much would get done in the kingdom of God if the body of Christ embraced in this type of humility?

In fact the way to be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in such a generation as we live in can only be realized through humility.

If you want to be relevant in this generation and make your mark as a shining light then humility is the way to do so!

Do you know your place?

On the job? In the home? In the church? In your neighborhood? Among your friends? At school? In society at large? At this season of your life?

How do you respond to those in authority in your life?

It is one of the surest tests we have for evaluating the level of humility we walk in. Christ humbled Himself and became a servant and so will we if we walk in humility.

Superior minded people seek to be served by others, but the humble desire to serve others and delight in the privilege to do so.

By grace know your place and enjoy it!

By Grace Know Your Place Part Three

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In the order of things in life anytime something or someone gets this wrong it creates a situation that we define as dysfunctional. Original sin makes mankind by nature dysfunctional. Observe.

A marriage relationship where the wife lords over her husband is considered dysfunctional, a child who tries to force their will as opposed to the parents creates a dysfunctional home. An employee who thinks they can boss the boss creates a dysfunctional work relationship. We would think it strange if someone tried to arrest a policeman just because he gave them a ticket.

Where there is humility and mutual submission there is peace and harmony.

Leaders who lack humility can become manipulative tyrants or too timid to address or accomplish anything. Avoidance for the sake of convenience and comfort is self serving and lacking humility. Being a tyrant is about the same thing but achieved in a different but more obvious way.

Leaders aren’t perfect just as those who follow aren’t perfect. Leaders are placed in authority by someone else in authority. It always has to come from someone with greater authority. There will always be leaders and followers. Although it is true leaders aren’t perfect it is still possible to have good leaders and still have conflict and tension.

Knowing our place is important for more reasons than we realize.

Submission and a gracious response to authority on any level is most difficult where there is a lack of humility in either the authority themselves or the one under authority.

Philippians 2 has some very eye opening and heart challenging revelation about the character of Christ in it.

Philippians 2:1 ¶ So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 ¶ Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14 ¶ Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Wow! Even Jesus knew His place.

By Grace Know Your Place Part Two

I often hear people trying to define or measure grace based on how tolerant of sin or obnoxious behavior in others we might be. The nicer we are to them the more grace we exhibit. Although it is true that grace can change the way we respond in situations involving sin it also enables us to understand our place in all areas of life and keeps us from barging into things we have no business being in.  Grace enables us to respond to authority with humility.

We are living in a generation that seems more and more out of touch with this truth in life. There seems to be a growing contempt for authority on any level.

For instance: Scripture teaches us to respect our elders due to their years of life and wisdom. A humble person is more than willing to extend this kind of courtesy to the elderly.

In the Scripture we are told that the older women in the church are to teach the younger women some specific things about life.

The only way this exchange of wisdom and practice can occur is if the older women are willing to impart and the younger women have the humility to listen, watch and learn.

If we remove the ability to know our place in the body we all will eventually suffer from it. Although we have all received grace and our salvation is on equal footing, there is an order to things.

In speaking to the church of Corinth regarding the issue of order the Holy Spirit moves Paul to use the analogy of the human body and express what kind of chaos would result if certain body parts started to think they no longer needed each other or decided they wanted to have a more honorable position.

1Corinthians 12:18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

We need each other and we need each other through humility to know our place and by grace enjoy being there.

By Grace Know Your Place Part One

Luke 14:7 ¶ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus was watching the others in the room and observes something that opens a door to teach. Life is filled with teachable moments for anyone humble enough to be taught.

Jesus used this parable to teach two important things that should never be ignored:

1)  By grace know your place and enjoy it

2)  Humility leads to honor, high mindedness leads to disgrace.

The art of knowing ones place is based on an attitude of humility. Nothing teaches us our place in life better than grace. It is God who calls us and gives us our place in the body of Christ. It is by grace we have been saved through faith, it is not of ourselves it is a gift. We did not earn the right to be His because we possess some amazing ability to choose better than others. That would mean we were smarter and with that attitude we are likely to look down on those not as wise as ourselves in their choosing.

In this parable a lot of assuming was going on. A Pharisee was hosting a feast and obviously invited his religious elite friends to it.  Self righteous people can tend to be oblivious to the truth concerning their place and these folks were of that sort. They were coming into the feast and choosing the choicest seats without any thought that the seat they were choosing may be meant for someone the host has preferred to give it to.  They just assume the host would consider them of such great importance that they should take the choice seat. People who think too much of themselves and their abilities end up in humiliating situations over and over again from not knowing their place by grace.

Jesus portrays the one who invited people as the only one with the authority to determine which seats belonged to whom and what measure of honor they should be given. We do not get to determine the level of honor we are due. That is up to God and those He has placed in authority in our lives.

The Key To Personal Revival Part Five

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited.

Have you ever tried being friends with a conceited person? Superior minded folks are usually critics and are difficult to fellowship with. No one else ever measures up and they act as though they are doing you a favor by giving you five minutes of their time.

Remember the two thieves at the cross? One said, if you are the Son of God then get us down from here! The other one wouldn’t even look at Jesus and he said please remember me when you come into your kingdom. One was humble the other arrogant thinking he deserved better oblivious to his guilt and just punishment and unable to recognize the love, mercy and greatness of the one next to him. He had a sense of entitlement but he received nothing.

A lack of humility makes us blind and numb. It leads us to having a sense of entitlement in life. A, “you owe me” attitude. Entitlement treats others as though they owe us something and if they fail to deliver we become angry with them.

How many people have you ever encountered who are angry with God because he did not do for them what they felt they deserved and now they are bitter with Him?

Humility has always been and will always be the key to personal revival in our lives. Humility makes me able to realize I need you and you need me and we both desperately need Christ all the time. It is the gateway to grace being put to work in me.

My personal revival begins when I humble myself, approach His throne of grace boldly to get the help I need so I can also be of help to you even when I am weak. Humility such as this is the key to my personal revival and yours. I encourage you today to come boldly before His throne of grace and find the help you so desperately need! He still revives the heart of the humble!

The Key To Personal Revival Part Four

Have we forgotten the encouragement of Colossians 2:6&7?

Have we testified that we are rooted in Christ but neglected being built up in Him and established in the faith?

We are continually built up in Him by remaining receptive to His grace. When we receive we realize how it is of Him and not us. How can we discern we are receiving as we ought?

The common response to receiving is, “thank you.” This simple response reveals the level of humility a person walks in. It is not demonstrated when someone refuses to look you in the eye, or speaks in a timid monotone voice. Humility is most rightly expressed through thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the recognition that I have received something from someone other than myself. I did not do this on my own and therefore it is right to say thank you to the one responsible for making it happen.

While my father and mother were alive it would have been most inappropriate for them to thank me for being their son. I did not choose them they chose me when they decided to bear a child together. Instead the appropriate response would be for me to thank them for giving me life in the first place.

You know you have been embracing a wrong gospel when it fails to produce in you a genuine gratitude for God that results in giving thanks to Him for His great mercy and generosity.

What kind of thanksgiving am I referring to?

Athletes who receive honors will out of courtesy say thank you. But it does not mean they have this same spirit of thanksgiving at work in them. They may feel that they earned the trophy or award by their hard work and amazing talent. Their “Thank You” is appropriate to say, but in such a case it is said based on their appreciation that someone noticed their achievement. This civility is accepted as an appropriate response in such situations. But it is not the thanksgiving spoken of here in Colossians.

A humble act of thanksgiving recognizes the contributions made by others realizing that without them one would not have achieved anything at all. An example of this would be reflected if that same athlete were say, “I want to give thanks to God who gifted me with certain abilities that have enable me to achieve great things in this sport, I wish to thank my trainer and coach who have helped me focus so I might improve at what I do, I wish to thank my Father and Mother who gave me life and sacrificed to make it possible for me to engage in this sport investing their time and resources into making my dream a reality, and I wish to thank the fans whose encouragement helps me strive to do better.”

Humility has always been a difficult practice to embrace in the church when people embrace wrong doctrine regarding the gospel. Paul had to ask the Corinthians, “what do you have that you did not receive from another?”

Humble people recognize the contributions of others and thank them for what they mean to them this is why without humility at work in us we are unable to experience genuine community and fellowship as the body of Christ. We miss out!

The Key To Personal Revival Part Three

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."


1Peter 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."


We need to return to where we were when we first came to Christ.


ESV Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.


How did we receive Christ?


We had to come to the foot of His cross empty, sinful, helpless and humbled. We had nothing to give Him and we were made aware by His Spirit that He had everything to give to us.


We brought Him our unrighteousness, our self will, our independence, or brokenness. He gave us His righteousness, His love, His purpose, His life, His power, and His healing. We came to Him empty and we were filled. This is how we are to walk daily with Him. We are to empty ourselves out to Him so we might be filled with all His fullness. This is done in humility and faith.


A humble person never loses sight of their need for Christ and His willingness to love them and empower them with His grace.


This is what Paul spoke of when he was saying in his weakness Christ is made strong. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, we ask God to help us in our weaknesses by filling us with His Spirit afresh.


We stumble when we embrace the deception that we could manage on our own and stop asking for His help.

The Key To Personal Revival Part Two

The prescription for restoration, for healing, for a fresh start, and for empowerment from God, is the same for all of us no matter where we find ourselves. If you are in this condition and needy today I have good news for you, there is hope! There is an answer!

First: we have to cease pretending to be something we’re not. This despair will not be broken by putting up a front that we have it all together. This is likely the greatest hindrance there is to personal revival. Honesty and vulnerability is the only thing that can help any man or woman, and yet, it is the hardest thing for someone who is struggling to walk in.

I am not superman! I am not a man of steel there are many things I can be weakened by in life. I am a man, a human being and I have weaknesses and frailties, emotions, and five senses that God gave to me for a purpose. These things can sometimes be an asset and sometimes they are my greatest weaknesses. Sometimes what we think to be our greatest strength can become our weakness.

No matter how weak I might feel, no matter how defeated I may appear to be, no matter how strong the snare of the enemy, the prescription of God remains simple, it stays constant, it never changes!

It is the solution to sin, to prayerlessness, to a lack of hunger for the word, to my avoiding Christian fellowship, to feeling inferior to others who seem more spiritual. It is God’s timeless answer.

What is it?

Humble yourself! God revives the humble!

Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Humility is not a last option when all else fails, it is our first and only option else we fail.

The Key To Personal Revival Part One

It would seem of late as though the only way one might be validated is if they have either had and are still having supernatural experiences or are being used to bring about such experiences in others. There can be an addiction to spiritual highs. I enjoy the spiritual highs as much as the next person. They are exciting!

But what about those who are in the midst of struggle?

What about those who feel very distant from God right now?
Seventy disciples had been sent out two by two by Jesus. When they met with Jesus they reported how demons were subject to them in His name and were all excited about it Jesus said in:

Luke 10:20 “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.”

Jesus gave them something constant to rejoice in because men of God have their mountain top experiences as well as their valley experiences and both spiritual experiences have their place and purpose in our lives. We all love the spiritual high times when we feel most like we have it together as we should, but they are not the constant in our lives, nor are the valley experiences, thank God.

It is the valley experience that gives validation to the idea of personal revival in the first place. The fact that I can struggle and need God can be a good thing. But there has been a strange ideology sweep through Christianity that implies that the less dependent upon God we become, the better off we are. Some propose it is Christian maturity. The fact is you and I need grace just as much today as we did when we came to Christ at the first.

Paul the Apostle boasted in his weaknesses because it was through those weaknesses that Christ was made strong. When Paul was in weakness and something was accomplished there was no mistaking it was Jesus who made it possible, the idea that others would have to acknowledge Jesus was doing it thrilled Paul.

Life has a way of making us feel numb sometimes. It has a way of beating on us until we begin to wonder if we are conscious or not. It can come at us so fast that we wonder what to do next.

It is in these weak moments that we least expect God will use us to do anything. It is in these types of moments that we, based on our feelings, feel far away from God. It is at these times that we question whether we can hear clearly from the Lord or not. We wrestle with ourselves and with the principalities. Sometimes we become disappointed and find ourselves tempted or even giving into sin in some area.

How can we ever be restored?
How can we who are in such despair get free?
Where is personal revival for those of us who feel as though we have forgotten what it means to walk with Jesus?

I can promise you this. The prescription for restoration, for healing, for a fresh start, and for empowerment from God, is the same for all of us no matter where we find ourselves.

If you are in this condition and needy today I have good news for you, there is hope! There is an answer!

An Exhortation to Disciples Part Seven

2Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

There are Three important things we should note here regarding the Scriptures we dealt with the first two in a previous post and will address the third in this final post:


3) The purpose intended in the proper use of them.

a. Making us competent (Competent is a loaded word here. It is translated in other versions as complete or perfect. The idea is that of it being a tool used of God in our lives to bring about growth in the life and righteousness we have received through faith in Christ. It is intended that what we have received within become outwardly expressed as we grow in the truth. It is used in the sense that we were custom made for a specific purpose and through knowing the truth we discover what we are fitted for in life and we become effective in the gift we have been given.)

b. Equipping us for every good work (It is in the Scripture that we discover: Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

God has a wonderful plan for our lives that is not discovered ambiguously by us but rather as we invest ourselves in knowing His word and allowing the Holy Spirit to use that word to unveil to us His heart and plan for us intended to be known though belonging to Christ.)

As you can see these few verses of Scripture are loaded with sound instruction for any disciple of Christ who is serious about knowing Him and desiring to live godly “in Christ.”

These passages will only prove to be frustrating for those intent on adding to what has already been done as opposed to desiring to understand what has been done so they might walk in fullness of faith regarding what has become their through knowing Jesus Christ.

These passages reveal their riches to those in relationship with God through Christ alone.

An Exhortation to Disciples Part Six

We should never seek to diminish or marginalize the importance of the Scripture in our lives. It is through the Word of God that we discover the truth concerning Christ. There is a reason the Holy Spirit moved on men to write it for us. There is a reason God has so well preserved it throughout the ages for us. It needs to once again become cherished in the church. Here we find that the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul to Timothy is going to promote the use of it in the life of a disciple of Jesus for some very specific reasons. It is true there are those who use it maliciously to abuse others or to try and control others with it but we should not allow the misuse of it by others to make us disinclined to being good students who use it properly.

2Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

There are Three important things we should note here regarding the Scriptures in this post we will cover the first two:


1) How much of it is God inspired. (Here the Holy Spirit makes it clear that all of it is God breathed. There are not portions that are more inspired than others, all of it is useful to us when properly used and understood.)

2) What things it is profitable for in the life of a disciple of Christ.

a. Teaching. (It is clear that it is intended that Scripture be taught. It is meant to instruct us in matters of relating to God through Christ, in matters pertaining to understanding life in this world being lived as disciples in Christ, and in matters pertaining to how to rightly relate to one another through love and the responsibilities that brings upon us. Our Father has not left us without a means of insight into His character and His direction for our lives.)

b. Reproof. (This word has more to do with getting something right than it does the typical notion associated with it. Most see this word and think of being set straight by someone. The idea here is a positive right discovery of the truth rather than a negative shaking of the finger in ones face and being told one is wrong. It speaks to the idea of our discernment growing and being fine tuned by the instruction of Scripture.)

c. Correction. (This word is just as it appears. The way we discover we have missed the mark in some area is through an understanding of Scripture. But this is not about becoming astute in the Law. It is about becoming astute in matters pertaining to the truth. We need adjustment in matters pertaining to the differences between the old and the new covenant for instance. It is through having the Scripture opened to us by the revelation of the Spirit now that we are in Christ that we discover the benefits of New Covenant grace.)

d. Training in Righteousness. (This language implies that it is already a done deal but now it is time to understand what the done deal is and how it is meant to work in our lives. This is training meant to make us righteous, we already are made righteous through faith in Christ alone. This is more to do with bringing us to the place of revelation understanding regarding what this imputed righteousness we have been given produces in us as we yield to the work of the Spirit and the life of Christ in us.)

An Exhortation to Disciples Part Five

2Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

We are to know three important things: Vs14
 
1) Who we learned the truth from (herein lies the secret to exposing untested and possibly unreliable teachers that abound through the avenues of media and other sources. There are many good teachers and gifted men and women out there but there are also as many if not more unreliable ones. Here we find the Holy Spirit admonishing young Timothy through Paul to know who he has learned the truth from. There is relationship involved and it is supposed to count for something in our efforts to rightly discern who we should trust and what teachings to believe. When we know who we learned from we also know the way in which they have lived and the example they have set for us through practice. Embodied in this may well be the instruction found in:

Hebrews13:17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

If someone doesn’t trust the ones in leadership where they enjoy Christian community and are being taught the Scripture, then why would they wish to be there? A disciple should be able to trust that the men in charge of caring for their souls are genuine, sincere, equipped and discerning. Men able to teach who are sound in their understanding of Scriptural truth and committed to the gospel. A disciple engaged in Christian community should at least have enough knowledge to know and trust that the leaders follow Christ. This is why there is a list of credentials for elders and deacons in the church.)

2) We should know the benefit of being acquainted with Scripture from childhood (If you have had the privilege of growing up in the church or in a Christian home where the Scriptures have been taught to you then you are a blessed person indeed. There seems to be a growing number of people who speak about this particular privilege as being negative. They wish to marginalize this great experience. Truth is, those having this advantage should count it a blessing. In Timothy’s case Paul is viewing this to be of great advantage to him and a reason to expect that Timothy should conduct himself in a responsible and discerning manner. It is not a negative thing to be acquainted with the Scriptures from childhood. This to me this is a good basis for promoting the idea of children being taught to memorize the Scriptures. Familiarity with the Word of God is a good thing. On the flip side, if you did not have this privilege it is never too late to familiarize yourself with the Word of God. Begin to study it consistently and look for Christ being revealed in the pages of it. It will be a blessing to you in more ways than you can even imagine.)

3) We are to know that the Scriptures are able to make us wise regarding salvation through faith in Christ (Notice how the Holy Spirit stays consistent with the full purpose of Scripture. He makes sure Timothy sees the importance of being wise about salvation through faith in Christ. Any salvation that goes beyond being through faith in Christ alone is no real salvation for it is limited in both its scope and it’s power. The idea of promoting the understanding and study of Scripture is not so we can simply be smarted or possess a little more Bible knowledge. The end is meant to be that we become wise with regard to salvation and that we understand that it is through faith in Christ that we are saved. This text is not outside the gospel of grace but is rather rich with it.)

An Exhortation to Disciples Part Four

2Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

We are to continue in two things: Vs14

1) What we have learned (Doctrine is important. The word doctrine simply defined is a structured teaching. Everyone has followed some sort of structured teaching along the way. The question is what structured teaching have you embraced? Can your structured teaching be defended soundly by Scripture as a whole? The ability to deceive others is heightened where the idea of not having sound doctrine is promoted. The conscience is undeveloped or deceived where the Scriptures are not properly taught. True and healthy discernment is the byproduct of sound teaching and belief. Sound teaching and doctrine take into consideration the whole of Scripture.)

2) What we have firmly believed (not a passing belief in something but a belief we are willing to contend for. Firmly believing implies that it is a belief that at this point and time is non negotiable and strongly set in us. Is there a body of truth that you believe so firmly by a convinced faith you are unwilling to let it go? We are for instance encouraged to earnestly contend for the faith. What faith? The faith once handed down to the saints. Faith in this case is not an abstract concept of believing for something but rather believing in something. More particularly a person, Christ Jesus. In such a case getting the gospel right would be a tremendous significance.)

An Exhortation to Disciples Part Three

2Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
There are Four important things to note at the start of these two verses we just read, we've already covered the first three so now we will cover the fourth.

4) The places where this persecution is likely to occur: Vs 13


a. In the world (Since evil people aren’t likely to be found in churches it stands to reason that they would be encountered in our day to day affairs in this world. The work place, schools, the market place, our communities where we interact with people outside our church community.)

b. In the church (Imposters are pretenders and to be such they must be found in an environment where they can pretend to be what they are not. This means we should expect to sometimes encounter persecution even within the church when it involves an encounter with an imposter.)


Because of the growing threat regarding the ones desiring to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, a threat which is directly tied to the eminent worsening condition of the opposition that will be surrounding them, advice is given here that should be heeded by anyone who is serious about following Christ in these last days.
Consider the nature of corruption and decay if you will.

Ever noticed something that has been weakened by decay?

Would you be willing to cross a deep gorge on a dry rotted and frayed suspended rope bridge?

The ever worsening condition of evil men and imposters will be such that they will be like a dry rotted and frayed suspended rope bridge to all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. They will seek to deceive those of us committed to Christ in an attempt to validate themselves, and the way they live. They will be very convincing since they will be deceived themselves already and therefore deeply believe what they practice to be true. They actually believe the lies they have embraced and can be passionate and sincere about them. It would be foolish for us to refuse to heed the counsel of Scripture regarding this.

2Timothy 4:1¶ I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,  4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.  5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

An Exhortation for Disciples Part Two

2Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

There are Four important things to note at the start of these two verses we just read I have covered the first two in a previous posting and will address the third in this post.

3) The reasons for this promise of persecution are simple: Vs 13 It involves; (a. & b.) two types of people, (c.) their declining conscience towards anything good, and (d.) their evangelistic nature regarding their deception.


a. Evil People (Evil people are those who are just plain bad, they enjoy sinful pleasures at the expense of others. You are not likely to find these people in churches but you will encounter them in day to day life.)

b. Imposters (Imposters are those claiming to have faith while practicing sin. They may very well go to church and seem sincere on Sundays, but during the week they live a different lifestyle.  They are also often symphathizers with the ungodly)

c. They will go on from bad to worse (They will not improve with time. They in fact will go from bad to worse.  Many attempts at reasoning do nt prove succesful in stopping their decline.)

d. They will be deceiving and being deceived (They seek to deceive others by dragging them into their own deception, a deception they too embraced from others. They are trapped in a cycle of deception. They are evangelistic according to their deception. They cannot be happy unless others are joining them in their ideas and opinions.)

An Exhortation for Disciples

2Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.


There are FOUR important things to note at the start of these two verses we just read.  I will seek to cover just the first two in this post.  The first two are as follows:

1) Those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Vs12

     a. This is given as a guarantee, a promise if you will we know this based on the use of the word, indeed.
     b. The reason for the persecution is based on having the desire to live a godly life in Christ.

     c. This persecution is not random in its selection. It clearly says who and how many of them will experience this and it is “all who desire to live godly lives "In Christ."

2)  The issue presented has to do with desiring to live a godly life “in Christ.” (We should not read this as saying those who wish to be godly now that they have received Christ. That is not what is conveyed here. To miss the point of it being about being “In Christ” would be a great mistake to make. We are already made godly by being “In Christ” and our goal is to better understand what that means to us as we seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. The attempts to move us away from this rock of truth that anchors the soul will be many and of great influence. Therefore it is of great importance that we understand just what is being instructed here. Great deception is predicted in the last days so we will do well to equip ourselves in the sound truth of Salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. But make no mistake here, the idea conveyed is about a desire to live a godly life. Understanding it correctly enables us to realize that we are to do so not with despair when we miss the mark, but with joy knowing we are “in Christ” and therefore we do not become discouraged and give up as those without hope. We get back up and brush the dirt off our clothes and start walking again. We desire to live godly lives but we are “IN Christ.”)

Just A Thought

2Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

It seems to me of late that the amount of publications and comments on persecution appear to be more geared towards sympathy for the ungodly as though they are the ones persecuted somehow. 

Those seeking to live godly lives in Christ become accused of being critics even if they live their lives quietly because a life lived for Jesus Christ declares righteousness even when the mouth is silent.  I will agree that those who make it a practice of being obnoxious or hateful should not claim they are persecuted for this reason stated.  No one likes arrogant, conceited and hateful people who speak down to others.  But can we honestly say that the arrogant superior minded believer is in the majority?  It hasn't been my experience.

Meanwhile, it would appear that the ungodly falsely accuse and criticise the godly and find sympathizers within the church to support their claims.  Some seem to wish to define love as never saying anything to another person regarding the danger of sin.  It is becoming more and more acceptable to think that living as the world does in order that they will not think Christians are mean or out of touch is the way to be relevant.  So those who think differently and actually seek to live differently in devotion to Christ are persecuted for it.

I have never known anyone to seek out a homeless man for advice on new home purchases or becoming rich, or an addict on how to kick a habit.  People who know they are in bondage, or who wish to succeed, generally seek out those who have proven themselves.  They look for the ones who appear to have an answer.

If sinners are to find the grace available to them through Jesus Christ they must observe it at work in the lives of His followers.  Should this not lead them to expect that believers in Jesus would be different in some way and speak the truth in love to them?  The Law will have to be used lawfully in proving that sin is exceedingly sinful and destructive before the grace offered through faith in Jesus Christ will be amazingly glorious and wonderful. This means, like it or not, morality will have to be discussed on some level with those who live ungodly lives.

To speak with any authority on the subject of morality grace should be effectively producing the fruit of righteous behavior in us.  We do not do good to earn anything from God, but we do obey the Spirit and cooperate with His work of sanctification in our lives. He leads us out of our old ways of living independent of Christ and doing our own things, into a life surrendered in obedience to Christ.  Living "In Christ" means we will be a reflection of His character and attitude in life.  Like Jesus we will live to bring honor to the Father.

This is why we must be reconciled to realizing that, "those who live godly "in Christ" will suffer persecution.

I seem to recall that most of the multitudes who at one time followed Jesus for the fishes, loaves and miracles deserted Him when the going got tough and may have been part of the crowd shouting crucify Him before Pilot.  To argue that only the religious leaders persecuted Jesus would be a complete denial of the facts represented in Scripture regarding the crowds at the trial of Christ.  Society turned out to turn against the Savior on that day.

If they persecuted Jesus, why not those of us who follow Him? 

Have you experienced the fulfilment of that prophecy and promise of persecution yet?