Christianity – Page 27 – Growing 4 Life

A Deeper Appreciation for Grace

6 Comments / February 26, 2015 February 26, 2015

As we left the sounds and smells of Port-Au-Prince, we drove off into a dusty, drab landscape. I think I saw less than five wildflowers on our trip to the compound — not five plants filled with flowers–but five actual flowers. I counted. There was some green brush and weeds covering some areas and a few low-growing trees but that was about it.

When we arrived at the compound, it was to find out that we had no hot water, no soft place to sit, and the water tasted…thick. It had this weird texture from the chemicals needed to sterilize it. Our meals consisted of cereal with warm powdered milk for breakfast and rice and beans for lunch.

Be sure you understand that I am not complaining. It was an extremely nice place to stay in this needy, third world country and we were very well taken care of. And I am also well aware that there are some areas in Haiti that are quite lovely.

But through that week, I realized just how much I love my hot showers, sitting on my comfortable sofa after a long day, and the wonderful abundance of options I have when choosing what I want to eat or drink. I realized the precious blessing of going to the sink and being able to turn on a tap for clean, drinkable cold water and {almost} instant hot water. Do you really realize how amazing this is?? So many do not have this luxury.

I also realized that week just how much my soul is fed by the colorful landscape of my home state. Trees of all shades of greens abound and flowers in every color of the rainbow can be spotted simply on a trip across town in the summer. A trip to my local grocery store, nursery, or florist makes flowers and plants available all year round. Within a few hours in any direction, we can go to various lakes, rivers, streams, mountains, and even the beach for a weekend away. In fact, we even have the money to afford an occasional weekend vacationing in one of these spots. How blessed can I be??

The funny thing is that I am not sure I truly understood how blessed I was until I left my personal comfort zone and thought outside of myself. While a trip to another culture can help you see this very clearly, you don’t necessarily have to leave the country to discover this — a trip to your nearest inner-city, a good missionary biography, or a conversation with an older person who went through the depression or the war can also help you understand just a bit.

But it’s really hard to fully appreciate our blessings until we realize what life looks like without those blessings.

My experience in Haiti seems akin to how reading the Old Testament works in our lives as a believer. I know many people are quite satisfied to just ignore the Old Testament. They are quite comfortable in the New Testament and believe that all they need to know for the Christian life is held there. And I can honestly admit that I used to be a bit like that myself. After all, the Old Testament is filled with so much we don’t really understand and what we learn about God in those books can make us squirm. But as I was reading in Leviticus this past week, I realized that perhaps–

We can’t truly appreciate grace until we truly understand what life without grace looks like.

Of course, God has always provided a certain amount of grace to His people and provided a way to be reconciled to Him, but all of the sacrifices, and laws, and the specifics of the Tabernacle are so much to take in. This style of life is so foreign to us now. Interestingly enough, I recently watched a Frontline film (DVDs that show how the gospel is spreading in hard-to-reach places) that featured an animal sacrifice in Bangladesh. I found that especially interesting in light of what I have been reading. Some people are still sacrificing animals today to appease their god.

As I read all of the seemingly unimportant and very specific rules and laws, I ponder at their inclusion in scripture and yet God included them in His inspired, inerrant Word. There must be a reason. So what could that reason be?

I don’t presume to know God’s reasons, but what I do know is that the Old Testament is teaching me so much about God–who He is and what He’s like. I’m learning of His omnipotence, His love, His desire for my humility and obedience. I am learning the meanings of holiness and justice.

But, most of all, I’m learning what life looked like before Jesus died on the cross and provided a sacrifice for our sins.

As I read the Books of the law, *hymns like Amazing Grace, Wonderful Grace of Jesus, and Marvelous Grace take on a whole new meaning. I hope that, as you read through the Bible this year, you will notice that God doesn’t change, but through His incredible grace, He provided a way for us to be reconciled to Himself that doesn’t require animal sacrifices and obedience to detailed laws. This is amazing! This knowledge of life before Jesus’s sacrifice and resurrection leads us to a deeper and fuller appreciation of grace.

So let’s keep reading through the hard passages. It will not be in vain.

*Hymns are a wonderful way to grow in our faith. Much doctrine and depth of thought lies within their lyrics. I hope that you will consider listening to them sometimes with your children or grandchildren. While I love all kinds of music, it pains me to see beloved hymns being removed from churches. They are more than “old-fashioned” songs. They are wonderful songs of testimony and doctrine. Few worship songs (and I have nothing against worship songs) hold a candle to a hymn’s depth of lyrics. Try turning your Pandora station to hymns occasionally or read some hymn lyrics as an addition to your devotional time.

Divisions Are Not Always Bad

2 Comments / February 23, 2015 February 24, 2015

As believers, we have seen great effort in these recent years to unite all religions that use the name of Jesus. We are told that if we do not agree with this, we are divisive and that we are committing perhaps the worst sin of all. Of course, it doesn’t seem to matter if the religion is based off the Bible alone or not, as long as they use the name of Jesus. This has been a struggle these past twenty years or so as we listen to popular pastors encourage us to partner with faiths that aren’t truly Christian.

In fact, the other day I even heard Rick Warren recommend we partner with Muslims, since we serve the same God. His mouth spoke those words. On the radio. Really?! And, yet, many people still look to this man as a godly leader. Let me state first that we, unequivocally, do not serve the same God as the Islam faith. Just because they serve one God and so do we, does not mean it is the same one.

So why this push for unity? Personally, I believe it is a puzzle piece that fits right into the end times scenario. The future power of the Antichrist will come much more easily with a global, one-world religion and we are seeing this take place right before our very eyes quite literally. Fifty or a hundred years ago, believers couldn’t have ever imagined joining with all different religions while ignoring major differences. And, yet, here we are today, being encouraged to join with other religions that don’t even use the Bible as the foundation of their faith. I wrote a post a little while ago about how easy it is for us to discern if a religion is true or false, so If you are wondering about that, you can find that post here.

Paul tells us in in 2 Corinthians 6:14–

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

This seems to make it pretty clear. But, if that isn’t enough convincing for you, I am including this by A.W. Tozer. How discerning he was way back when and how appropriate this is for us today–

Divisions Are Not Always Bad, A.W. Tozer

{italics are mine for emphasis. His insight is truly amazing!}

When to unite and when to divide, that is the question, and a right answer requires the wisdom of a Solomon.

Some settle the problem by rule of thumb: All union is good and all division bad. It’s that easy. But obviously this effortless way of dealing with the matter ignores the lessons of history and overlooks some of the deep spiritual laws by which men live.

If good men were all for union and bad men for division, or vice versa, that would simplify things for us. Or if it could be shown that God always unites and the devil always divides it would be easy to find our way around in this confused and confusing world. But that is not how things are.

To divide what should be divided and unite what should be united is the part of wisdom. Union of dissimilar elements is never good even where it is possible, nor is the arbitrary division of elements that are alike; and this is as certainly true of things moral and religious as of things political or scientific.

The first divider was God who at the creation divided the light from the darkness. This division set the direction for all God’s dealings in nature and in grace. Light and darkness are incompatible; to try to have both in the same place at once is to try the impossible and end by having neither the one nor the other, but dimness rather, and obscurity.

In the world of men there are at present scarcely any sharp outlines. The race is fallen. Sin has brought confusion. The wheat grows with the tares, the sheep and the goats coexist, the farms of the just and the unjust lie side by side in the landscape, the mission is next door to the saloon.

But things will not always be so. The hour is coming when the sheep will be divided from the goats and the tares separated from the wheat. God will again divide the light from the darkness and all things will run to their kind. Tares will go into the fire with tares and wheat into the garner with wheat. The dimness will lift like a fog and all outlines will appear. Hell will be seen to be hell all the way through, and heaven revealed as the one home of all who bear the nature of the one God.

For that time we with patience wait. In the meanwhile for each of us, and for the church wherever she appears in human society, the constantly recurring question must be: What shall we unite with and from what shall we separate? The question of coexistence does not enter here, but the question of union and fellowship does. The wheat grows in the same field with the tares, but shall the two cross-pollinate? The sheep graze near the goats, but shall they seek to interbreed? The unjust and the just enjoy the same rain and sunshine, but shall they forget their deep moral differences and intermarry?

To these questions the popular answer is yes. Union for union’s sake, and men shall brothers be for a’ that. Unity is so devoutly to be desired that no price is too high to pay for it and nothing is important enough to keep us apart. Truth is slain to provide a feast to celebrate the marriage of heaven and hell, and all to support a concept of unity which has no basis in the Word of God.

The Spirit-illuminated church will have none of this. In a fallen world like ours unity is no treasure to be purchased at the price of compromise. Loyalty to God, faithfulness to truth and the preservation of a good conscience are jewels more precious than gold of Ophir or diamonds from the mine. For these jewels men have suffered the loss of property, imprisonment and even death; for them, even in recent times, behind the various curtains, followers of Christ have paid the last full measure of devotion and quietly died, unknown to and unsung by the great world, but known to God and dear to His Father heart. In the day that shall declare the secrets of all souls these shall come forth to receive the deeds done in the body. Surely such as these are wiser philosophers than the religious camp followers of meaningless unity who have not the courage to stand against current vogues and who bleat for brotherhood only because it happens to be for the time popular.

“Divide and conquer” is the cynical slogan of Machiavellian political leaders, but Satan knows also how to unite and conquer. To bring a nation to its knees the aspiring dictator must unite it. By repeated appeals to national pride or to the need to avenge some past or present wrong the demagogue succeeds in uniting the populace behind him. It is easy after that to take control of the military and to beat the legislature into submission. Then follows almost perfect unity indeed, but it is the unity of the stockyards and the concentration camp. We have seen this happen several times in this century, and the world will see it at least once more when the nations of the earth are united under Antichrist.

When confused sheep start over a cliff the individual sheep can save himself only by separating from the flock. Perfect unity at such a time can only mean total destruction for all. The wise sheep to save his own hide disaffiliates.

Power lies in the union of things similar and the division of things dissimilar. Maybe what we need in religious circles today is not more union but some wise and courageous division. Everyone desires peace but it could be that revival will follow the sword.

Why How We Live Is So Important

7 Comments / February 19, 2015 February 19, 2015

Many times, as believers, we really struggle with this concept of holiness. If we are truly saved, it is something we know is required of us and so we work and strive to be more “holy”. But do we truly understand why?

I think that is a question with several answers, but one was just made very clear to me by our scripture reading this past week.

As you read the detailed description of the tabernacle, did your eyes glaze over? I have to confess that as I read all of the specifics about the Tabernacle, I found it hard to stay focused on what I was reading. In this day and age of “soundbite” information, such detail can be hard for us to read.

So why did God place so many details about the Tabernacle in His Word? That was the question my youngest daughter and I found ourselves discussing the other day.

If God gave 50+ chapters in the Old Testament to let us know His exact requirements for the place His Spirit would reside with the children of Israel in the wilderness, then it must be important. As we discussed this question, it dawned on me that it could have something to do with helping us to understand just how holy is the place His Spirit demands as a sanctuary. It gives us some insight into just how holy and awesome God is!

Now, jump with me, if you will, to the New Testament. Suddenly, personal holiness takes on a whole new meaning–

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19)

That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. (2 Timothy 1:14)

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.(I John 4:7)

If, now, in this church age, we have become the place in which the Holy Spirit dwells, then our sin takes on a whole new light, doesn’t it? It becomes even more offensive and not something to brush off lightly, as we are so apt to do.

I would often ask my kids if they would take Jesus to that movie or listen to that radio station if Jesus were sitting in the car with them as they were growing up. But God is with them at all times. God, the Holy Spirit, is with them. With me. With you. At all times. We have a responsibility to live a holy and pure life so that we are a fitting place for the Holy Spirit to dwell.

If God gave all of that detail in the Old Testament showing us what He required (and it’s clear that the sacrifice of Jesus did eliminate all of the ritual and blood sacrifices of old — just read Hebrews 9) and if we read all of the specifics of gold and silver and bronze, of the colors of blue and purple and scarlet, the carvings of orange and almond blossoms, we have to understand that God demands the best.

Not perfection. Perfection isn’t an option in this sinful world. But the best, purest, most holy me I can be. Because if I believe what the Bible says then I understand that when I became a believer, His Spirit came to dwell within me.

Doesn’t that make us view even the smallest choices with much greater care? And even our “smallest” sins with much greater remorse? Doesn’t daily confession and the idea of repentance make much more sense with this insight? We not only represent a Holy God, but His Spirit dwells within us!

In this day and age of casual living, we tend to view God as our buddy and friend (and we are called His friends in John 15:14) but may we learn from our Old Testament reading that God is also holy and awesome and omnipotent. This hasn’t changed just because of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. And a Holy God demands a holy dwelling place. Let us not forget!

Please Note: I am presenting the insight and understanding that I am learning as we read through the Bible with each Thursday post, but may I encourage you to please do your own study using good resources to gain insight and grow in the Lord. I am doing my best to give biblical, solid food for thought as we read through the Bible, but I would be the first to admit that I am no theologian!

Grace and Introspection

8 Comments / February 12, 2015 February 12, 2015

Sometimes we approach the stories we read in the Bible with a bit of arrogance, don’t we?

“Well, I would have never done that!”

“I can’t believe anyone could have acted {or reacted} like that!”

If you are reading along in the Bible Challenge, we have arrived in one of the most exciting books of the Bible–

Exodus.

In this book we witness God’s power through many different miracles, we see His care and protection for His people, and we read of God’s faithfulness and sinful man’s faithlessness.

It’s the faithless stories that drive me a little crazy. One of these is told in Exodus 14:10-12. Here’s what it says–

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. ¹¹Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ¹²Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

My initial reaction when reading this was to condemn the Israelites harshly. For goodness’ sake, they had just lived through the ten plagues where they had witnessed miracle after miracle. They had seen the lives of their firstborn children and livestock spared, while the firstborn sons and livestock of the Egyptians were killed on one dark, dark night. There was only one explanation for how they could even be beside the Red Sea at that very moment and that explanation was God. God had worked miraculously to bring them to this point. They had seen it with their very own eyes!

And yet they doubted.

How could that be?

But then I remember times in my life when I do the same thing. Oh, it may not be in such dramatic fashion. I’ve never had the waters part for me or food fall down from heaven, but I’ve seen the hand of God work in mighty and wondrous ways– ways that defy circumstances and could never be called coincidental. And then, after all that, the impossible scenario comes along and I throw up my hands with questions and doubts, all the while wondering if God really does care for me.

One thing I have learned over the years is that when we are in our lowest, most hopeless place is when we see God work in the most incredible ways.

If we can do it ourselves and fix it ourselves and, through our own effort, solve our own problems then we have no need for God.

But when we reach that hopeless place–when we are smack dab against the Sea with nowhere to run and the enemy is headed towards us at breakneck speed-that’s when God shows His power!

Sure, we can criticize the Israelites’ reaction as they sat in that terribly hopeless place, but I am pretty sure we would have done the same thing. After all, we do do the same thing.

As we read through the Bible and even as we interact with other believers, let’s remember to do so with humility, love, and much grace. We don’t know how we would act in any circumstance, but one thing we can be sure of is that we are sinners, just like everyone else. And that fact alone should keep us humble and full of grace. And let’s keep our eyes open, because our God is still working in our most hopeless situations!

Where Were You?

4 Comments / February 5, 2015 February 5, 2015

As a friend recently pointed out to me, Job is not only about suffering but it is also about the very nature of God. If you are still reading along with us in the 2015 Bible Challenge, we are just about at the end of Job. The book is filled with men giving their eloquent (and dare I say long-winded?) interpretation of why Job is suffering and their personal descriptions of God and life.

But finally God speaks. In Chapter 38, we hear God’s response to Job.

I am always put to shame with the words of God. It is such a lesson in submitting to God’s Sovereignty.

Where was I when the foundations of the earth were laid?

Have I commanded the mornings since time began?

Can I loosen the belt of Orion?

When we read God’s response to Job, we can respond two ways: Submission or Rebellion. There is no neutral.

So let’s move ahead many thousands of years. What does this have to do with life today?

As you read Job 38, can you understand why it was so critical to Satan that people stop believing in a 6-day literal biblical creation?

For when the world system undermines our belief in God as Creator and Designer, then it undermines our complete and total understanding of God, as presented in the rest of the scripture. This naturally leads to rebellion towards God, rather than submission.

Many Christians say it doesn’t matter if we believe in a literal creation or not. But it does. Job 38 is one of the reasons. If we don’t believe in creation, then Job becomes a poem to us– something that we can learn from and that sounds beautiful in a literary, symbolic sort of way instead of being the true, inspired Word of God. And when that happens, God’s Word loses its power in our lives.

This is a big deal. As believers, we need to understand the critical nature of believing in a literal 6-day creation. It is the foundation of the rest of the Word of God. And we know what happens when a foundation is destroyed– it isn’t long before the rest of the house comes tumbling down. I think we can already see this playing out in the modern-day church.

But let’s make this even more personal. How we deal with the unanswered questions we have as we read is very important. I have no doubt that you have many, after having read Job. There are just some really puzzling verses within this book of the Bible.

We can get frustrated as we read and start focusing on our questions, rather than on the words themselves.

When I asked my brother, Pastor Dean, a particularly burning question that several people have asked me about this book, he encouraged me to let my readers know that they should not worry too much about the unanswered questions, but instead focus on what we can know.

Last year while I was doing my first read-through of the Bible, I became aware of two things–

1. If I focused on the questions, I would stop reading. There are so many unanswered questions– particularly in the Old Testament. I had to allow God to give me insight into what He chose and stop thinking I needed to understand it all.

2. I also realized –and this is really important–that if I understood it all, I would be God. Do you get what I’m saying here? We live in this culture where we think we have to understand everything. The age of reason has affected us in more ways than we even know. And, while I don’t recommend living a life of ignorance, we do have to come to God’s Holy Word with an attitude of submission and humility, recognizing that we aren’t going to understand everything because He is God. And we are not.

And so let’s move on from Job assured that God is God. He is sovereign and does what is best, even when we don’t understand why. And while God does give us more and more insight, the deeper we dig into His Word, let’s remember that we are never required to understand it all, but only to submit and obey. For therein lies the key to the joy of the Lord and the peace that passeth understanding.

A Picture of Repentance

2 Comments / February 2, 2015 October 29, 2016

So let’s say you and I live in Indiana. You are without a car and license but have an urgent need to get to California. I am your best friend and am out of a job right now, so you ask me to drive you there.

Okay, so that probably wouldn’t happen, but stick with me, would you?

We get in my car and start off on our adventure. You aren’t paying attention to the road signs as we talk with one another. An hour or two later you grow drowsy and fall asleep. When you wake up a few hours later, you see a big sign that says “Welcome to Pennsylvania”.

What?? You are quickly wide awake. You ask me what in the world are you doing? with some panic in your voice. I look at the sign and then look at you. I calmly acknowledge that I am definitely not going in the right direction.

What do you want me to do at this point? How would I acknowledge that I am serious about the grave error that I have committed against you?

Would I simply stop the car and tell you how very sorry I was? Or perhaps go buy you a nice dinner?

Obviously, I would turn around and start going the right direction.

So, here’s the thing– why exactly aren’t we taught that this is the natural response of someone who truly believes in God for His free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? We have committed a grave sin against God and yet many of us say we’re sorry but then keep living the same life we have always lived, never changing direction and continually abusing the grace of a loving, holy God. Could that possibly mean that we haven’t repented at all? It is something very serious to ponder.

So why don’t we view a decision to follow Christ with this in mind?

Probably because Satan has weaved a fantastic lie that is extremely appealing to all of us in our human form– we can be saved (and skip hell) by just saying a quick prayer, letting Jesus know we believe that He died for us. But that’s just not true.

Yes, I said it. It’s not true. Nowhere in scripture is there indication that this is true. True salvation is always followed by some form of fruit. You cannot read the Bible without understanding this very important fact. (Matthew 7:16; I John 2:3-6; Galatians 5:19-26)

Remember my favorite saying?? It’s about direction; not perfection. When we are saved, we turn around and start heading a different direction– one that goes against the crowd. Oh, sometimes we mess up and get turned around briefly, but, generally, we are going towards God and away from the world. The very nature of salvation demands this change in direction. It’s not something you can choose or have to choose. It just is, according to God’s Word.

Now, lest you think I am teaching a works-based salvation, I certainly am not. There is nothing you or I could do to merit salvation. Ever. We have broken God’s laws– no matter how little we have sinned and that sin demands justice. Jesus died to pay the price for our sin. When we get that– I mean really get that— then repentance isn’t a “have to” but a “want to”. The change in direction is as natural as breathing. It’s just what you do if you are a true disciple.

Don’t let the lie of easy believism steal your soul or the souls of those you love. If someone claims to know Christ but has never shown any fruit whatsoever, talk to them. Don’t tell them they are going to hell– since you are not the judge and that method won’t be effective, anyway. But it’s ok to share your concerns. In fact, if a bus were heading towards your loved one, wouldn’t you shout a warning? I would say the same holds true if we are fearing eternal damnation for them.

Look, I know we are worried about what people think. I struggle with that, too. We don’t want to be “over the top” and we don’t want to annoy anyone. We don’t want to be called the “Jesus freak” or ruin our reputation at work or in the family. But I have to wonder– wouldn’t that mean that we are more concerned about ourselves than we are about the person who is in danger of eternal hell fire?

It is certainly something to think about, isn’t it?

Unfinished Houses

4 Comments / January 26, 2015 January 26, 2015

As we traveled through the Ukrainian countryside, I took in the scenery with amazement. For there, dotting the countryside in great numbers, were unfinished houses. Some of these brick structures were only half-built, but most looked almost finished, slowly fading in the Ukrainian sunlight as they waited for owners to fill them with life.

When I expressed my wonderment at this unusual sight– for there were many of these houses, not just a few– whoever I asked just shrugged their shoulders and said that the owners ran out of money. Apparently, after the Soviet Union broke apart, these bricks and other building supplies were available at deeply discounted prices and so lots of people started building these beautiful homes. But a functioning house is much more than the lumber and bricks of its shell. And so funds ran out and the owners walked away.

Because they did not count the cost.

I was reminded of this incident a few weeks ago in our Sunday School class. We are doing the Radical series by David Platt and he was talking about Christianity as Jesus defines it in the Bible. It is very different from the cultural Christianity that demands nothing– that requires no sacrifice– that only needs a prayer to declare oneself as officially in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He used the following quote by John Stott. Actually, this is a bigger portion than he used, but it’s all so good, I wasn’t sure what to eliminate–

Jesus never concealed the fact that his religion included a demand as well as an offer. Indeed, the demand was as total as the offer was free. If he offered men his salvation, he also demanded their submission. He gave no encouragement whatever to thoughtless applicants for discipleship. He brought no pressure to bear on any inquirer. He sent irresponsible enthusiasts away empty. Luke tells of three men who either volunteered, or were invited, to follow Jesus; but no one passed the Lord’s test. The rich young ruler, too, moral, earnest and attractive, who wanted eternal life on his own terms, went away sorrowful, with his riches intact but with neither life nor Christ as his possession…The Christian landscape is strewn with the wreckage of derelict, half built towers—the ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. For thousands of people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so. The result is the great scandal of Christendom today, so called “nominal Christianity.” In countries to which Christian civilization has spread, large numbers of people have covered themselves with a decent, but thin, veneer of Christianity. They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to be respectable but not enough to be uncomfortable. Their religion is a great, soft cushion. It protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life, while changing its place and shape to suit their convenience. No wonder the cynics speak of hypocrites in the church and dismiss religion as escapism…The message of Jesus was very different. He never lowered his standards or modified his conditions to make his call more readily acceptable. He asked his first disciples, and he has asked every disciple since, to give him their thoughtful and total commitment. Nothing less than this will do”
― John R.W. Stott, Basic Christianity

I guess the deeper my relationship grows with Jesus Christ, the more I realize that much of what passes today as Christianity isn’t really true Christianity. This is such an unpopular message. And I can understand why! Because true Christianity costs us something. Yes, it’s a free gift, but it costs everything. But when our hearts are changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, our lives are transformed. This isn’t a begrudging obedience to God’s laws — a list of do’s and don’t’s that plague us and keep us from having any fun.

Instead our stone hearts start beating with love for the Father and following His will not only becomes a pleasure, but our main priority.

This brand of Christianity sounds so foreign to most of us. Even as I write, I realize this. And I wonder– what does this mean for all of us in this day and age? How does this kind of Christianity look in a Western culture where indulgence and comfort reign supreme?

All I know is that I am not walking away from an unfinished house. I will keep working and building until I die or my Lord returns. Yes, it’s hard. And yes, there is sacrifice required. Great sacrifice. There is turning away from the world, being unpopular with people, doing what’s right at all costs. It means we love and forgive even when we don’t feel like it. It means we stand alone if we have to. And that our time and resources are no longer our own. This does not sound all that appealing, does it? But when we read in the New Testament, we can’t help but conclude that this is what it’s all about.This is what Jesus demands of His disciples.

And, honestly, the costs for us are really nothing compared to so many of our Christian brothers and sisters. I can’t help but think of them as they give up homes, loved ones, and even their lives for the sake of Christ. I can’t help but wonder how comfortable, indulged America would respond in the same situation. Oh, may we be found faithful if (or shall I say when?) that happens to us!

If you have started your house of faith but are ready to walk away, please don’t. If the enemy of your soul is throwing arrows and you are just so tired, hang in there. Open your Bible and read Ephesians 6, put on your armor, and beg the Lord for strength to keep going. Let’s keep our eyes focused on eternity instead of the here and now. And, remember, God’s great power is shown best through our great weakness. You aren’t alone. Don’t give up. Keep building.

Why didn’t I ever see this before?

4 Comments / January 22, 2015 January 23, 2015

I can’t imagine why I never noticed this before. I have read the story of Joseph and his brothers many times. And yet, I had never considered this one thing.

You see, I have always viewed this story from Joseph’s point of view. I have thought of how it would feel to be him—lonely, despised, framed, imprisoned. I have admired and respected his strong stand for God as he suffered many persecutions and rightly so.

But I missed one really important point. Until today.

When Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt for food they were completely unaware that their brother would be the one giving them food. But we know as we read the story how it ends. And today I realized that God took something completely evil and not only rewarded Joseph but rewarded the evil-doers! God used the brothers’ gross sin against Joseph and actually turned it into something good not only for Joseph but for the brothers, as well.

I just never thought about that before.

I mean we often trust God to use the evil, hurtful things against us for good, but I guess I never thought about the fact that God can take something I did that was sinful to bring about something good for me.

Doesn’t this give us a different perspective about our past?

I guess as I think about this, it does make sense. For some of us have had the same thing happen to us—

-Out of sexual immorality came a beautiful child.

-Out of a broken marriage or a stay in jail came eternal salvation.

-Out of a rebellious youth, where we chose to marry an unbeliever, God drew us to Himself and rescued both for His glory.

We have seen these occur. And we see how God plucks some (not all) from the mire and mess they have made and blesses them.

I don’t know the hearts of the brothers. We know by some of their conversation that selling Joseph has weighed very heavily on their hearts for a very long time. It would seem that they are extremely sorry about what they did. (Genesis 42:21-24)

And so could it be that God will not choose to bless us until we come to a point of repentance, where we admit our guilt?

And, once again, we come upon that word humility. If there is anything I have learned through my Old Testament readings it is how much God hates pride!

And so, let us remember that God can use even our most wicked sin and turn it into something good for us. But, first, we need to have a heart of repentance and humility.

Now, the following is specifically for my Bible Challenge readers–

I hope that you are sticking with me on the Bible Reading Challenge. By now, it may be getting rough. You have read things that don’t make any sense and you are struggling. Or life has happened and you are behind a couple of (or more) days. I want to encourage you to keep going! You will be so glad you did! I promise you this. I also want to encourage you to focus more on what you do understand and the lessons you are learning from these stories than on what you don’t understand. You won’t understand everything but that’s okay. Just keep reading. Remember we are reading to know and understand God better–it’s not about us or our enjoyment of what we are reading! It may be helpful for you to read (or re-read) the most common Bible Study Trap, at this point.

Why Waiting Is Sometimes the Best Option

3 Comments / January 15, 2015 January 15, 2015

I think I may have done the same thing. It’s hard to know, isn’t it? But if my husband would have been promised heirs as numerous as the dust and I very obviously couldn’t have children, I may have tried to fix it, too. Because that’s what we humans do. We try to fix uncomfortable, inconvenient, unpleasant situations.

Only sometimes –many times– it backfires.

I couldn’t help but think of this as I read Genesis 16. If you are doing the Bible Challenge this year, you will have recently read (or will soon read) about Sarai giving her maid, Hagar, to Abram to bear children for her. In a culture like theirs we can’t conceive of giving our husband another woman, but that was a different time and place and Sarai was obviously desperate for a baby. So instead of waiting, she took matters into her own hands. As we read on, we see that her decision to do that not only caused heartache for her and her family, but caused strife and anguish for generations to come. She took matters into her own hands and many, many people suffered –and continue to suffer–because of it. For Ishmael is considered to be the ancestor of the Arab nation and this seems to be the birthplace of the historical strife between them and the Jews.

It is easy for me to sit back and point a finger at Sarai. How could she be so hasty and foolish to think she could fix a problem that only God could fix? And, yet, how often I am guilty of the same thing.

I have been known to rush in and try to “fix” my husband and my kids on many occasions. I have tried to fix situations at church and in my extended family. These efforts are usually not helpful and I have been slowly learning to back away and pray instead.

Of course, sometimes, God would lead us to confront someone (Matthew 1815-17) or to pull them from the fire (Jude 1:22-23) but this should only be done with much humility and after much prayer. There is a place for thinking outside of the box to solve problems and giving our energy to changing our own bad habits but human efforts should never be done impulsively or out of desperation. They should never take precedence over God’s will. And we should never, ever try to change someone else’s bad habits unless they ask for our help. Because I have learned that this is a completely fruitless and utterly hopeless task.

Of course, this is so easy to write about but much harder to put in place. For example–

The other day, I found myself growing extremely frustrated that once again my floor was filled with muddy footprints. I found myself in a bit of a panic, as Bible Study was going to be taking place in my home shortly and my family seemed to have no care about this, but continued to walk across my clean floor with their wet boots on. And so I took matters into my own hands and started yelling. Yeah, like that’s going to fix it. In my experience, yelling has never fixed anything. So why do I keep doing it?

Thankfully, this pathetic effort at trying to fix something in my life in the wrong way only humbled me and reminded me of my great sinfulness. I was absolutely mortified to be yelling at my family just before my friends walked in my house. And instead of fixing the situation, I had just made it worse.

Which is what usually happens when I try to fix something without praying and considering the ramifications beforehand.

And this was just a wrong response to a muddy floor– a tiny blip in the timeline of my life with no long-lasting consequences. I can’t imagine how Sarai must have felt after she tried to take matters in her own hands. A lifetime of strife would follow and she was to blame. Taking matters into our own hands can have minor consequences or they can have major ones, but there are always consequences.

And so perhaps we would be better off if we would wait quietly, taking time to consider and pray, bringing our baffling problems and unsolvable puzzles to the Lord instead of trying to impulsively fix them ourselves.

And the wonderful thing about doing this is that so many times, the Lord proves Himself so faithful in these situations! Even just recently, a friend shared how God worked in an absolutely astounding and surprising way to solve an impossible situation. For it’s only when we can’t solve it ourselves that we really see God work, just as He did in Sarai’s life by giving her baby Isaac. For, with God, nothing is impossible.

What Kind of Advertisement Are You?

Leave a Comment / January 5, 2015 January 5, 2015

Have you ever seen an unfit, overweight personal trainer? How much confidence would you have in them helping you reach your goals? I am reminded of a shop I was in that had a prominent display for some magic weight loss formula sitting on the counter. Staring up at me were photos of smiling, super-fit people and words that held incredible promises for a changed body. My eyes inevitably swung to the shop owner. It seemed to me that if this wonderful weight loss product worked miracles, this owner would be living proof. But that was not the case.

And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it rather undermined my confidence in trying that particular product.

And I guess that is exactly how it is when we Christians try to tell people how wonderful Jesus is, all the while standing in a filthy mire of our own making. We don’t trust, we don’t forgive, we love the world, we worry, we use foul and crude language, we walk away from distasteful and unpleasant situations, we lie, we cheat, we quarrel, we envy, we betray, we complain incessantly, we have a bad work ethic, and our entertainment choices are just like everybody else’s. In other words, it would appear as if Jesus just doesn’t make a bit of a difference. Why would we expect someone to want what we have?

Of course, sometimes Christians fail. That is a fact of life. There are lovely, godly people who are divorced, who have spiritually lost their children, and who have had abortions. I am not talking about the past. And I am not talking about the flesh that continues to plague us even after salvation. We do slip in our language sometimes. We go to a movie and realize half-way through that this was definitely a wrong choice. We struggle through forgiving. But the key word is struggle— sincere believers are continually fighting their sin.

What I am talking about are the patterns of sin that are so ingrained in us, we aren’t even aware of them.

What kind of advertisement are we for our Savior? Seriously. Let’s stop for just a minute and think about our last 24 hours. If someone saw where we went, the words we spoke, the entertainment we set before our eyes and ears, and the food and drink we consumed, would they give evidence that we are a follower of Jesus Christ?

There is so much talk about “God looking on the heart”– and so he does–but that doesn’t excuse sinful actions, for out of a pure heart comes a holy life. We certainly do not need works to be saved but our works our evidence that we are saved. (See I John 2:3-6; 2 Peter 1:5-9; Matthew 7:16-20)

You can have righteous actions without a right heart, but you cannot have a right heart without righteous actions. It’s impossible.

I hope and pray that I am a good example of a believer. I mess up so often– especially at home. Many times I don’t even feel qualified to be writing. And yet God leads me on and continues to nudge me to keep writing.

I just know I don’t want anyone to wonder at my funeral whether or not I was a believer. I don’t want any “I think so’s” or “she said a prayer when she was little but…”

Instead, I want people to say with confidence that I was someone who followed hard after God. I am certainly far, far from perfection. Each day brings me deeper and fuller knowledge of just how far, but I want to be going the right direction, without question and without wavering.

I hope that you want the same to be said of you. Because it is only through this that we can make any difference at all. After all, what good are we if we look just like everyone else? If our decisions are made from our feelings and emotions, just like everyone else? If we don’t handle life’s tough situations differently, if we don’t bring integrity to the work place, or love and kindness to our relationships, then we are like that shop owner. We are advertising something that obviously isn’t working.