CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU

My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19).

 

Thank God that He understands the hidden part within each of us. He understands the child in us, and He speaks to our blanket-clutching, thumb-sucking, infantile need. In spite of our growth, income, education, or notoriety, He will speak to the childhood issues of the aging heart. This is the ministry that only a Father can give.

 

Have you ever noticed that you are never a grown-up to the ones who birthed you? They completely disregard the gray hairs, crowfeet, and bulging, blossoming waistlines of abundant life. No matter how many children call you “Dad” or “Mom,” to your parents you are still just a child yourself.

 

They seem to think you have slipped into the closet to put on grown-up clothes and are really just playing a game. They must believe that somewhere beneath the receding hairline there is still a child, hiding in the darkness of adulthood. The worst part about it is (keep this quiet) I think they are right!

 

The Lord looks beyond our facade and sees trembling places in our lives. He knows our innermost needs. No matter how spiritually mature we try to appear, He is still aware that lurking in the shadows is a discarded candy wrapper from the childish desire we just prayed off last night--the lingering evidence of some little temper or temptation that only the Father can see hiding within His supposedly “all grown-up” little child.

It is He alone whom we must trust to see the very worst in us, yet still think the very best of us. It is simply the love of a Father.

JESUS CALLING

Saint James Assembly of Faith·Thursday, June 30, 2016

I AM THE TRUTH: One who came to set you free. As the Holy Spirit controls your mind and actions more fully, you become free in Me. You are increasingly released to become the one I created you to be. This is a work that I do in you as you yield to My Spirit. I can do My best handiwork when you sit in the stillness of My Presence, focusing your entire being on Me.

Let My thoughts burst freely upon your consciousness, stimulating abundant life. I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. As you follow me, I lead you along paths of newness: ways you have never imagined. Don’t worry about what is on the road up ahead. I want you to find security in knowing Me, the One who died to set you free.

JOHN 8:32; PHILIPPIANS 2:13; JOHN 14:6

If a tragedy in your life made you stronger, can you see the blessing?

Psalm 119:72

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

Triumph in Tragedy

God can take tragedy in our life and turn it into triumph. Just look at the cross to see how evil turned out for exceedingly good in regard to our salvation. Joseph told his brothers that they meant him harm or evil, but God intended it to bring much good (Gen. 50:20). Every one of us will experience, go through, or know of someone who has experienced tragedy in life. The question is what are we to learn from it? God never wastes our pain (Rom. 8:28). Can you recall an event when you or someone you know or heard about experienced a great tragedy in life but it made them or you stronger? Maybe the tragic death of someone changed our life. Maybe a horrific, nearly fatal accident made us rearrange our priorities in life. Whatever the case, we can actually be blessed from bad things that happen to us, or, as the old saying goes, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Do you believe that?

Suffering Produces Endurance

Paul knew a lot about suffering, and next to Christ, I don’t believe anyone else suffered like he did. Paul endured hunger, cold, beatings, stonings, imprisonments, and exceedingly hard work (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27), but he knew, like Peter did, that suffering produces in us a glory for God and for His purposes (1 Pet. 5:1). Paul somehow was able to rejoice in his sufferings because he knew it would produce endurance (Rom. 5:3), of which he had much. In fact, when we suffer, we share in some of Christ’s suffering (Phil. 3:10), although certainly not to the same extent. Through Jesus’ suffering, He was able to bring us to eternal life and not only us but many other brothers and sisters (Heb. 2:10).

God’s Purposes for Our Suffering

Every tragedy that happens in our life is not intended to defeat us but to make us stronger. God never brings suffering or loss to our life indiscriminately (Lam. 3:33), but afflictions, suffering, and even personal tragedy can often bring us into a closer, more personal relationship with Him (Psalm 119:67, 71). The question is what will we do with our pain or tragedy? Will it be wasted and make us bitter or make us better and be used for God’s ultimate purpose for our life (Rom. 8:28)? For many whom I have spoken with, it has turned out to be the greatest blessing of their life. They turned tragedy into triumph like Jesus was able to at the cross. Can we see the blessings out of tragedies? Can we understand that we are being refined by the fires of this life and that no matter what we suffer in this life, it cannot compare with the glory that’s coming (Rom 8:18)?

A Closing Prayer

God, I cannot always see what You are doing through my pain, suffering, and tragedies, but I know that You are sovereign over everything that happens and nothing happens that is not without a purpose of Yours, so help me to trust You more. In the glorious name of Jesus I pray.

Amen

Does God’s purpose for your life motivate you as much as other things in your life?

Isaiah 43:7

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

The Great Commission or Omission

Jesus gave the disciples and, by extension, gave us the imperative command to go everywhere to make disciples of all people (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), so we know that is at least part of God’s purpose for us as well as being created for His glory. But do these things take a backseat to other things in your and my life? Does God’s purpose for our life motivate us more, or do things in this life motivate us more? That’s a very hard question to answer, isn’t it? Some church members came to me after a service complaining that some of the members of the church were on Facebook playing games or sharing things during the sermon. My question to these members would be do they spend more time on Facebook or with their face in “the” book, meaning the Bible. I was saddened by this because I have concerns that these members were spending time on their computer during the reading of the Word in worship service instead of following along in their Bibles, many of whom don’t even bring one to church. I fear that some may just be playing church. For many, the obvious answer as to whether God’s purpose for their life motivates them as much as other things in life is no, it does not. Perhaps that’s why for so many, the Great Commission has become the “great omission.” You won’t witness when something’s not important to you.

Created for Him

God created us for a great purpose, and a great deal of that is to glorify Him in everything we do. We are called God’s masterpiece and created to do good works for His glory (Eph. 2:10), but I wonder how many of us miss His purpose for our lives. Jesus says we are His friend if we do what He commands (John 15:14). But what would He call us if we didn’t do what He commanded? Jesus says that He chose us; it was not really us choosing Him (John 6:70), but He obviously chose us for a reason. God is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit but also in truth (John 4:23), and part of our worship is to be doing good for Him (Eph. 2:10) and to seek to glorify Him in everything we do because this body of ours doesn’t really belong to us but to Him (1 Cor. 6:20). We were bought with a price (1 Cor. 7:23), and this price was the costliest purchase of all time and worth more than all the riches in the known universe. Shouldn’t that motivate us to strive for God’s purpose in our life? We were called to be holy before God (Eph. 1:1), yet we and, yes, I sometimes don’t live like it.

The God of This World

The god of this world, Satan, must love it when believers choose to love the things of this world more than the things of God, because if we love the things of the world more, the Bible says we don’t really love God (1 John 2:15). The devil has blinded those who are not saved, and they don’t even know it (2 Cor. 4:4), so some in the church might not even know they’re blind, because if anyone loves the world, they are at enmity (basically at war) with God (James 4:4). I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty but only committing to you the thought that we must all consider whether we are being motivated more either by the things of the world or by God’s purpose for our life.

A Closing Prayer

God, I too am convicted in the writing of this. Do I love the things of the world more than You? Do things in this life motivate me more than being driven by Your purpose for my life? Help me to examine myself, and show me where I am falling short in these areas. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray.

Amen

When is the last time you thanked God?

First Thessalonians 5:18

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Thanks for Everything

Paul gave thanks for the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:4), and he had to learn to give thanks for even the sorrows that he endured. He thanked God for the believers’ faith in the first chapters of Romans, Philemon, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians. He thanked them for their faith, for their God-given gifts, for their partnership with him, for their mutual affection, for all the churches (Rom. 16:4) and was one of the most thankful men in all of the Bible, next to the psalmist. Paul informed the church at Ephesus that he not only gives thanks but continues to always give thanksgiving for everything that comes into his life (Eph. 5:20).

When Was Your Last Thanksgiving?

Every time I eat something, I like to thank God for providing me with physical sustenance, and this includes when I’m by myself, at home, or even in public. I find it rare these days to see people bow their heads before they eat in a restaurant. I have seen it only twice in the last five years! When I do see it, I tend to go over and tell them that I appreciate seeing someone in public pray before they eat. The sin of ingratitude might be one of the most grievous sins of all because it takes God’s blessings for granted. God sends the rain on the just and the unjust, which provides for both the saved and the lost to have provisions for life (Matt. 5:45). When was the last time you thanked God for your sins being forgiven, for your family, for your home, for your job, for your spouse, for your children, and for your freedom to worship? I too am guilty of failing to give Him thanks for the innumerable blessings that He has bestowed upon me, and for that, I ask His forgiveness.

An Offering of Thanksgiving

Did you know that the only freewill offering that ancient Israel had was that of giving thanks (Lev. 7:13)? God considers our thanksgiving as a sweet, aromatic sacrifice that is very pleasing to Him (Lev. 22:29). How about giving an offering of thanksgiving for His name (Psalm 30:4), for His people (Psalm 57:9), for God being a good God (Psalm 79:13), and for His steadfast love that endures for all eternity (Psalm 107:1). Maybe you can use these ideas to pray back to God all the marvelous blessings He has given you, make it a custom of yours each day, and try to praise the Lord and give Him thanks, for He is more than worthy.

A Closing Prayer

Great God, thank You for all that You have done for me–my salvation, my family, my church, my job, my home, my friends, my freedoms–and for Your steadfast love. In Jesus’ most glorious name, I thank You and pray.

Amen

Each person has a purpose on Earth. What is your purpose?

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.

Born With a Purpose

God’s purpose cannot be thwarted in any way (Job 42:2), and in God’s sovereignty, there are no accidental births. Nothing every catches God by surprise. He knew in advance the day of your birth, and He has plans for you. The psalmist wrote that God would fulfill His purpose in him (Psalm 138:8). We know that even God’s Word goes out and does what He empowers it to do and that it always fulfills the purpose for which He sent it out to do (Isaiah 55:11), for no purpose from the Lord can ever be stopped (Jer. 4:28). Since Jesus is God, His purpose also cannot ever be thwarted (Luke 4:43), and regardless of the religious rulers rejecting God’s purposes, they are powerless against the omnipotent God (Luke 7:30). Just as Jesus’ purpose for coming into the world was to be a king (John 18:37), so too do we have a purpose. In fact, we were called according to God’s purpose (Rom. 8:28), and the purpose for believers is that we were predestined, or called; then justified; and, finally, glorified (Rom. 8:30) to become the very children of God and to be conformed into the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:29).

Created for His Glory

Since we know that the creation declares God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), so too are those who are called by His name created for His glory (Isaiah 43:7). This was clearly understood by Paul, who told the Corinthians that since we’ve been bought by the blood of the Lamb of God, we should glorify God in our bodies (1 Cor. 6:20). Since God created us to be His handiwork, He set up for us in advance good works for us to do that would glorify God (Eph. 2:10).

God’s Purpose Stands

God raised up David for His purposes (Acts 13:36). Abraham was appointed to be the father of many nations by God’s purpose (Rom. 4:11). God raised up Pharaoh for His purpose (Rom. 9:17). Paul was converted for God’s purpose (Acts 26:16), and Christ died for a great purpose (Eph. 3:11; Gal. 4:17). So what about your purpose? What is your and my purpose? I believe that we were born at the right time and in the exact place that God purposed in His heart (Eccl. 3:1-2), and that purpose is to glorify God in our bodies in living a holy life, in doing good works for His glory, and in publically sharing the gospel of Christ for His glory. We were made for His glory, and that is our purpose on this Earth.

A Closing Prayer

Oh Creator God, my Father, You created all of us for Your glory, so help me to define what I need to do in my life that would bring You more glory, for You desire those to worship You in spirit and truth (John 4:24) and to bring You and Your Great Son, Jesus Christ, glory. It is in His precious name I pray.

Amen

Satan will tempt you with lies, but do you believe my way is better?

John 8:44

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Adam and Eve Chose Satan’s Way

When Satan came to tempt Eve in the Garden of Eden, she unfortunately believed Satan over what God had said. The devil lied to Eve when he told her that she wouldn’t die if she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:4). No, she didn’t die instantly, but both she and Adam, after they took and ate, died spiritually and lost eternal life. Why was Satan called a murderer from the beginning? Perhaps it was because he was behind Abel’s murder by his brother, Cain (Gen. 4:8). Like Adam and Eve, Cain also chose to believe the enemy instead of God’s way. Ever since then, the vast majority of mankind has been following Satan’s way and rejecting God’s way. Not much has changed since the Garden, and today the world is still following the ways of their true father, the devil (John 8:41).

Instant Gratification

It seems that the devil is always in a hurry, but God takes His time. What I mean by that is that Satan wants us to choose instant self-gratification of the flesh instead of a delayed gratification. Quicker is almost never better, and the enemy often tempts us to find the easiest and quickest way out of something rather than doing something deliberately and correctly. The ways of Satan, like the ways of a man, seem right, but they always end in death (Prov. 16:2).

Challenging God’s Word

Since the very beginning, up to the time of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, Satan has been trying to get people to twist or take out of context the Word of God. Even more, he has tried to get the world to believe that the Bible is only a collection of writings by man and is not believable, despite the Bible’s claim to be the inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). You cannot believe anyone who says that the Bible is a man-made book because God says about His own Word that it was not of human origin but came about by men who were moved to write by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21), and that should settle any lie that challenges the veracity of the Bible.

Jesus Is the Way

There is salvation in no one else but Christ alone (Acts 4:12). Today in the pluralistic society in which we live, many teach that there are many names for god but only one true God. Allah is not God, and Buddha never claimed to be God. The fact is, the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and Him alone (John 6:44). Another lie is that there are many paths to God. I say there are two paths to God: One leads to eternal life (John 3:16), and the other leads to God but to the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:12-15). You must believe Jesus when He said that He is the one and only way to the Father, the only truth, and the only way to eternal life (John 14:6). He is not one of the ways or one of many ways but the only way that we can be saved (Acts 16:30-31). Will you believe Jesus’ way as the only and the best way?

A Closing Prayer

Great God, our heavenly Father, we know that the enemy seeks to tempt all of us with lies that seem true but only lead to destruction. I know that Jesus’ way is not only the best way but the only way to You, so help me to believe You and that Your way is always best. In the name above all names, Jesus Christ, I pray.

Amen

Where do I fall on your list of priorities?

Colossians 1:18

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Seeking Him First

Jesus told us that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That presumes that we are also to seek first the King of that kingdom, and that, of course, is Jesus (Matt. 6:33). This would mean to honor Christ in our hearts as being holy (1 Pet. 3:15a) and should motivate us to also live a life of holiness because obedience to Him shows we love Him (John 14:15). If He is first on our priority list in life, then that would also mean we would seek Him early in prayer before our day begins and also into the night (Isaiah 26:9; Psalm 63:6; 119:62). If the first thing we do is eat, then shower, and then head off to work, is He really our priority?

To Live Is Christ

Clearly, Paul saw living as to live for Christ and death as gain (Phil. 1:21) because if he died, he’d be with Christ the very next moment (2 Cor. 5:6). He battled in his mind whether to depart this life and be with Christ or to remain, and he was torn between these two, knowing that to be with Christ was far better (Phil. 1:23) because he was more willing to be with Christ than to remain on the Earth (2 Cor. 5:8), but he also realized that he still had work to do for the Lord. You could tell by Paul’s writing how much Christ was a priority in His life. For Paul, following Him meant to forsake his own self-interests. How very hard this is I can tell you, and you can probably tell me. It’s hard to die to the self, but Jesus tells all who would follow Him that they must die to their own desires, their own interests, their own life and take up His cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34-35). If we are so busy with our own lives, we can’t possibly do that.

Crucifying the Self

Just as Jesus died for our sins on the cross, we must die to ourselves, take up our own life and lay it down for Him, and crucify the old life that we used to live (Gal. 5:24). This means that we ought to walk in Him (Col. 2:6), and if we walk with Him, He’s going to abide in us (John 15:5). As He lay down His physical life for us, we ought to want to lay down our life for Him because there is no greater love than this (John 15:13). To lay down our life is to lay down our own desires, wants, passions, and pursuits for those things that He would have us do and to seek to please Him by obeying Him. This is why we ought to take a close look at our lives to see if we are really in the faith and to see if Jesus is really in us (2 Cor. 13:5). In this way, we can really see where Jesus falls on our priorities list.

A Closing Prayer

God, I know I fall so far short of putting you first, seeking you first, and following you first in my day, so help me by Your Spirit and show me how I might better do that so that I can seek You and Your Kingdom and the righteousness of Christ first and foremost. In Jesus’ precious name I pray.

Amen

How do you react to criticism or correction from others?

Proverbs 27:6

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Better Is Open Rebuke

The Bible says it’s better to have open rebuke from a friend than a hidden love (Prov. 27:5), and also it is better to have a friend speak the truth, even if it hurts, than to have an enemy treat you with the appearance of love and smother you with flattery (Prov. 27:6). Recently, I made a mistake, one of many in my life, of course, and a friend of mine pointed out my mistake. I made a sweeping generalization. I was dead wrong, and I admitted it and apologized for it. Even so, I would rather hear that what I was doing was wrong than to go on believing I was right when, indeed, I wasn’t. My friend did me a favor by correcting me because I would rather be corrected or criticized for a wrong than to go on in my error without knowing I was in error. Yes, it was painful, but it was necessary. Your friends will tell you the truth, and it’s not always what you want to hear. Having said this, I believe it is better to do this in private so as to not humiliate someone unnecessarily. If the person is corrected in private, they are better for it. It really doesn’t do them any good if it’s done in public and, in fact, can do a lot more harm than good than if done in private.

Doing a Favor

We wouldn’t normally consider rebuking someone as doing them a favor or having someone correct us as doing us a favor, but that’s exactly what God considers it. The Proverbs frequently speak about doing someone a favor by rebuking them than if they were only complimenting or flattering them with empty words (Prov. 28:23). Solomon puts it well, that it’s much better to hear constructive criticism or receive correction from someone than to hear the praise of people that don’t know what they’re talking about (Ecl. 7:15). Even God Himself will rebuke us to humble us if we ever try to add to what His Word actually says (Prov. 30:6).

How Do We React?

I don’t always react in my mind very graciously when I am corrected. I am not above correction, though. I must remain humble and evaluate whether it’s true, and if it is, I must admit to that because God will resist me if I’m proud but only give me grace if I humble myself before Him and my friends (James 4:6). Jesus alone and, of course, God the Father are above reproach and have every right to rebuke us like Jesus did the devil and the demons (Matt. 17:18) and even the wind (Mark 4:39), but we should never even try to think about rebuking our Creator like Peter once did to Jesus when He suggested that He was not going to die (Matt. 16:22). Can you even imagine Peter rebuking Jesus and in the same sentence calling Him Lord?! If we react to criticism and correction gracefully, then others will feel they can point out when we are in error and do so safely, but if we react self-righteously, then we’ve likely lost a friend who can help us by telling us the truth.

A Closing Prayer

Father God, I know that I need correction so many times in my life, so please help me to accept it graciously and not in arrogance or in a self-righteous way because all of us make mistakes and our friends are doing us and me a favor when they point out my mistakes. I thank God for them and for Your forgiveness, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

Does fear block your view of people in need?

Proverbs 29:25

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

Fear of the Unknown

I know I’m not the only one who has a fear of the unknown. How hard it is to move to a new city, start a new job, join a new church, and go where you have never gone before, but God frequently asks us to step out of our comfort zone and step out in faith. This might mean stepping out into territory that’s uncharted for us. I was doing some street evangelism once and must admit it is a very fearful thing to do. I had a friend who went along with me and encouraged me, and we both went up to a group of men at an outdoor community event. I started telling them about what happens to people if they step out of this life without Christ. One by one they began to leave, but, even worse, my friend was stepping away, too. There I was, by myself. My friend had backed away. I was sweating, my heart was pounding, and my voice was trembling, yet I stayed and finished what I had to say until there was only one man left, who stayed and heard the gospel. I don’t know whatever became of the man, but that’s not up to me because God will send His Spirit to convert him if that’s His will. All I tried to do was be a faithful witness. But my fear has frequently blocked my view of people in need, for example, their need for Christ in order to be saved (Acts 4:12). What about you?

Fear of the Known

Our church started a nursing home ministry not long ago. When I started it, many showed up on that first night, but the very next week, there was no one. I had to go it alone. I didn’t know anyone, and no one knew me. Everyone looked at me like “Who is that?!” Visiting and ministering to the elderly is not easy. Sometimes they are very incapable of even speaking or hard of hearing, they speak so softly they can hardly be heard, they have to be fed, and some have to be changed, but these precious people are made in the image of God. God wants us to practice pure religion, and the way God sees it as pure and undefiled religion is keeping ourselves pure in an evil world but also visiting the orphans and widows (James 1:27). How many in nursing homes are orphans? How about nearly 100% of them. How many are widows or widowers? Again, a very high number of them. So what’s the difference between visiting the orphans and widows and visiting those in a nursing home? Not much difference at all.

Doing for the Least of These

Again, most pastors I talk to don’t want to get involved with a prison ministry as our church did. That’s sad because many of these men and women have absolutely no one to talk to or no one who writes them. So we support a prison ministry, and we also write prisoners and visit them when we are allowed. Our natural fear of the unknown keeps many from even cracking the door open to this ministry, but God has shown me, since I also was a prisoner at one time, that this is what Jesus would have us do: visit the sick and those in prison (Matt. 25:31-39). When we visit the elderly, the sick, and those in prison, we have actually done it to Christ (Matt. 25:40). Don’t let fear block your view of an opportunity to be the voice, hands, and feet of Christ. That’s why the church is called the Body of Christ–we’re to do what He would do if He was still here on earth.

A Closing Prayer

God, give me the courage to face the unknown and serve in the hard places that few dare to go and the ability to see people in need, not people in circumstances, and to be doing what Your Son would be doing if still here on earth. For His glory and in His name I pray.

Amen

Have you truly accepted the fact that in Me you are forgiven from past mistakes?

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Paid in Full

When Jesus died on the cross, the last thing He said was “it is finished,” and in the Greek, it essentially means “paid in full” (John 19:30). So my question is how many of our sins were ahead of us when Jesus died on the cross? The answer is all of them! Every single sin that we would commit would be hundreds of years in the future. Do you think Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to pay for our sins, which means that all our sins, including every past mistake we’ve made, would be forgiven? If my son came to me after committing something I told him to not do and asked me for forgiveness, would I keep bringing it up every time I spoke with him? Certainly not. In the same way, we don’t have to keep asking God over and over again to forgive us of certain sins that we have already asked to be forgiven, do we?

Do We Accept Forgiveness?

I can’t tell you the number of people I have spoken with who still feel like they’ve never been forgiven for things they’ve done in the past, even though they’ve asked God for forgiveness. They still carry around the heavy yoke of guilt and a burden that they were never intended to carry. This robs them of their joy, strips them of any witnessing they might do for the Lord, and loads them down with unnecessary guilt that they have absolutely no reason to still carry. When Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord and felt unworthy to speak with unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5), the Lord sent a seraphim to touch his lips and told him his sin is taken away and his guilt cleansed (Isaiah 6:6). That’s what forgiveness is. We who trust in Christ have been given the very righteousness of Christ, and that’s how God now sees us (2 Cor. 5:21). So why do some still feel overburdened and overwhelmed by guilt? God has forgiven them, but they won’t forgive themselves. Maybe it’s because they trust their feelings, which are highly subjective and subject to error, over what the Word of God objectively says–that our sins are all forgiven.

Washed and Cleansed

In Psalm 51, David’s great psalm of repentance, he asks God to wash away all his iniquity and cleanse him from all his sins (Psalm 51:2), to create in him a clean heart (Psalm 51:10), and to restore to him the joy of his salvation (Psalm 51:12), not to restore his salvation but the joy of his salvation, indicating that David thought he would not lose his salvation but the joy of it. David was forgiven, and he must have known it because he goes on to say that he will declare his praise and sing aloud of God’s righteousness (Psalm 51:14). Doesn’t that sound like David accepted God’s cleansing, for how can a guilty sinner who is condemned sing of God’s forgiveness like that if he has not truly been forgiven of his past mistakes? Remember that David had committed adultery of the heart, then adultery in the flesh, then conspiracy to commit murder, and then murder in the first degree, all of which were punishable by death. That’s about as serious as it could be, but later in David’s life, by reading the psalms, you could see that he didn’t carry this guilt around for his past mistakes. Guilt strips our joy away because we haven’t realized how forgiving our God truly is.

A Closing Prayer

You, Oh Father, are such a gracious God, rich in mercy and full of grace. By Your loving kindness, You sent Your Son to die for me; otherwise, I could never move beyond my guilt of the past and all the mistakes I’ve made and will yet make in the future. For such goodness of Yours, I give you thanks in Jesus’ name.

Amen

Sand and Stone

This story tells of two friends, Amanda and Margot, who were walking together on the edge of the Sahara, the desert in North Africa. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and Margot slapped the other one in the face. Mandy, who got slapped, was hurt, but without saying anything, she wrote in the sand, 'Today my best friend Margot, slapped me in the face.'

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. Mandy who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, and naturally her friend, Margot, saved her by pulling her out of the quicksand. After she recovered from the near drowning, Mandy wrote on a stone, 'Today, my best friend Margot saved my life.' Margot who had slapped and saved her best friend, asked Mandy, 'After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?' Mandy replied with a knowing smile, 'When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it, but when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, so no wind can ever erase it.' Learn to write your hurts in the sand and carve your blessings in stone.

It Happens!

Life gets so tough and in our mind we discredit God. We ask ourselves, “What can the Bible have to say about my situation?” or “How can Jesus even help?” This is not the time to get angry and turn against Jesus. He knows exactly what you are walking through. You are not alone and he has felt your pain. Cry out to Jesus with your heart. Take comfort from these words in the Bible.

What are your motives and attitudes when serving others?

1 Peter 1:12

It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

The Serving Saints of Old

We might not think about it, but these Old Testament saints were not really serving themselves but God, and they served us indirectly, although much later. They too preached the good news by the Spirit of God, although it was somewhat cloaked in mystery at the time. The message of faith in God is as old as the book of Genesis where Abraham believed God and God declared Him righteous (Gal. 3:6; Rom. 4:3). When Peter was writing in 1 Peter chapter one, who were the “they” he was writing about? They were the prophets who were prophesying about the grace that was to come (1 Pet. 5:10) and the suffering that the Messiah would endure (1 Pet. 5:11). These prophets served out of a selfless ambition, and their motive was to glorify God and not themselves.

Whom Are We Really Serving?

If we examine whom we are serving, we are serving the saints in the church, yes. But the bottom line is we are really serving Christ, and that will be from Whom we will receive our reward (Col. 3:24). Paul’s motivation was to serve the Lord and Him alone, for that is Who called him into this ministry, and that was his attitude even through the tears and trials (Acts 20:19). Even Jesus, Who is the Son of God, didn’t come to be served, even though He deserved to be because He is a king. Instead, He came humbly and to serve others by giving His own life as a ransom for those who have trusted in Him (Mark 10:45). That was His attitude and motivation for coming: to redeem us, who deserved God’s wrath.

The Mind of Christ

If we examine the mind of Christ by His service and sacrifice, we can see that He came with the same attitude we are told to have (Phil. 2:5). The Great God, Jesus Christ, descended to our level and now calls us His friend (John 15:15). What motivates friends to serve? It is purely out of a brotherly or sisterly love for their friends. There is usually no hidden motive when we serve those in the body of Christ and those we love, and our attitude is typically the attitude that Christ had, or at least should be. I know my own heart is deceitful, and I know my own motives and attitude are anything but always pure, but I strive to have Christ’s mind and am constantly examining my intents. Am I doing things of service for my own interests? Surely I am at times, no doubt, but unless I have Jesus’ own mind, I cannot really serve with an attitude or motive of the love of God.

A Closing Prayer

My Father, please forgive me when I have tried to serve others out of a purely selfish motive and not for the right reason, which is to glorify You and to be part of the body of Christ–Your hands, Your feet, Your mouth, Your ears. Forgive me where I fall very short in these areas, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

How do you respond during a spiritual attack?

Ephesians 6:11

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Armor Up

The enemy of God, Satan, and his minions are very clever. They look for cracks in the armor and try to send an arrow right through that small opening, just as King Ahab of Israel was slain by an arrow that passed between the sections of his armor (1 Kings 22:34). The question is not whether we will experience a spiritual attack but when and not if but how intense it will be.  Paul tries to equip the believers in Ephesus for these sure and certain spiritual attacks that had come and will come again. How do you respond? I ask for God’s shield to watch over me, and like God had put a hedge around Job, so I plead with Him to put one around me (John 1:10). When the enemy hits you with the fiery darts, I suggest you pray to God and put on the whole armor of God mentioned in Ephesians chapter six.

No Flesh and Blood Battle

It would be easier if it really were an actual flesh and blood battle, but it’s not because our enemy is invisible (Eph 6:12a), we battle the high powers in high positions, and the prince of the power of darkness has a lot of people working for him (Eph 6:12b). It’s harder to battle the enemy and his army when you can’t see them, but you can see the results of the damage they can do, like prayerlessness, apathy, feelings of condemnation, discouragement, and avoidance of the Word of God. Let me suggest you do what I do. After I pray, I take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Eph 6:16c). I want something that has the real power of God (Rom 1:16). This is how you can put on the belt of truth (Eph 6:14a), for His Word is truth. You can read about the source of the breastplate of righteousness (Eph 6:14b), which is in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21). The Bible equips you with the shield of faith (Eph 6:16a), which doesn’t depend on your strength or any work you must do (Eph 2:8-9) so that you can put out the fiery darts of the enemy (Eph 6:16b). You have all you need to fight the enemy with prayer and the Word of God. So how do you respond during a spiritual attack?

He Fights for You

I think that we are wise to pray and then equip ourselves with the Word of God. But what’s next? Back to the Word of God and reading how God is really the One Who fights for us, for if it depended upon us, we are no match for Satan and his demons. When ancient Israel feared their enemies, God told them to not be afraid, for it was He Who would fight for them (Deut 3:22). He went before them, clearing a path (Deut 1:30), and even when the odds were against them (Deut 20:1), God was not only the One Who fought for them but assured them of the victory (Deut 20:4). Trust God and respond with prayer, the Word of God, and the knowledge that Satan and every demon under his sway are no match for the God we worship. Our mighty God fights for us. Who would dare bring any charge against God’s elect (Rom 8:33)?

A Closing Prayer

Father God, You are mighty and strong, and only You can do what I cannot, so I trust You and thank You for Your Word. I give You praise for giving me the victory that I could never achieve by myself, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

Do you allow the truth of reaping and sowing to affect your actions?

Galatians 6:7

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Reaping What We Sow

There is no doubt the Word of God teaches that, whether for good or for bad, we reap what we sow. If we plow evil, we’ll sow trouble (Job 4:8); if we sow sparingly, we’ll reap sparingly; and if we sow bountifully, we’ll also reap bountifully (2 Cor 9:6). We cannot deceive God like we can a man or a woman (Job 13:9). There are consequences for our actions–either blessings or curses. Sin brings death (Rom 6:23a), but God’s gift through Christ is eternal life (Rom 6:23b). Just like a soft answer turns away wrath, so does a harsh word turn up anger (Prov 15:1). My cousin is very hot-tempered. I hate driving with him. When I was much younger, he got road rage really bad, and the guy came back behind us and pulled up next to us–with a gun, no less–so his hot temper stirred up quite a conflict, but after talking to him patiently, he grew a lot calmer (Prov 15:18).

Do Reaping and Sowing Affect Your Actions?

I knew a very generous man who started tithing, and then he started giving more and more away until he was tithing nearly 90% of his income, but he kept having more and more blessings poured back into his lap (Luke 6:38). He ended up receiving more blessings than he ever gave. It’s true: You can’t out-give God, and he proved it. I would have been terrified to try that. This man’s faith was very strong, but he proved to me that God is faithful, and he reaped so much more than money for his generosity. He had a wonderful family and a very good job, and he was one of the happiest people I have ever met. Did sowing affect his actions? Without a doubt it did! He proved to me that the generous will themselves be blessed (Prov 22:9) and that a giving person will prosper like few others (Prov 11:25).

A Natural Law

Nature itself proves to us that what we sow we will reap and that we will reap exactly what we sow. If we sow a lot, then we’ll reap a lot, but sow sparingly and the harvest will be small. In other words, we reap in proportion to what we sow but almost always much later than we sow. The farmer never gets discouraged by sowing wheat. In one month–nothing.  In two months–nothing. No, he is patient, for he knows that what he has sown will surely be reaped but much later than he sowed. The truth about reaping and sowing is that no one reaps an immediate harvest. The exception to this might be that when you sow some terrible things, you might reap instant consequences or in a shorter time than when you sow righteous seed and reap much later. Back to my hot-tempered cousin. He once was in such a hurry that he got a speeding ticket. He was very angry, but he sowed the bad seed of civil disobedience and reaped an immediate harvest (as in a ticket).

A Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your generosity in blessing me, even when I am not sowing good seed. Please help me to understand that I will reap what I sow and that the consequences may not be what I desire. Thank You for Your biblical wisdom in knowing the truth about sowing and reaping, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

What time in your life did you feel the most at peace?

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

After Leading Someone to Christ

I have never felt such joy and peace as after leading someone to the Savior, with the understanding, however, that it is God Who saves them (Acts 2:47; 1 Cor 3:6b). Let me put it this way: It takes a man of God with the Word of God with the Spirit of God to make the children of God for the glory of God. Of course, you insert a woman of God in that, too. My point is that salvation is fully a work of God, but we can share the gospel with the lost in the hopes that the seed of the Word takes root (Matt 13:8). It’s not our responsibility to save them; it is their response to His ability. But it is our responsibility to tell them (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Even when the seed doesn’t take root immediately, perhaps I have watered what someone else has sown or have fertilized someone else’s labor. But God is the God of the harvest (1 Cor 3:6; John 4:38); I’m not. We may never see the root and the fruit, but, surely, even in failed attempts, there is nothing that produces more peace than after leading someone to Christ or in sharing the gospel. In fact, it is more than peace; it brings joy!

Funeral of a Believer

I have had funerals of unbelievers, and these are the hardest funerals of all to do, but for those who have repented and put their trust in Christ, there is such joy and peace that follows because we know it’s not goodbye–it’s see you later! We know that those who have passed from this life to eternal life are finally at peace and in the presence of the Lord, so there is great peace for believers to know that they’ll see their loved ones again. We don’t grieve like those who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13). Yes, we do grieve, and that’s not only normal, it’s healthy, but we have more peace after their passing than those who have died without Christ.

The Peace of God

When we were still enemies of God (Rom 5:10) and wicked sinners (Rom 5:8), we rejoiced when we were finally saved because then we were finally at peace with God by the free gift of Christ’s justification (Rom 5:1). At that point, there wasn’t any more condemnation because of Christ’s death for us (Rom 8:1). Shouldn’t that give you the peace that surpasses all human understanding (Phil 4:7a)? That peace can guard our hearts and minds (Phil 4:7b). Is there any greater peace than to know that you have passed from death to life (John 5:24; I John 3:14)?

A Closing Prayer

Great God in Heaven, oh Father, you are so kind to send Your Son to die for me when I truly deserved Your wrath (John 3:36b). But You placed Your wrath on Your Son so that I wouldn’t have to bear it, and for this I thank you and pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen

DO YOU TRUST ME TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR FINANCIAL NEEDS?

Philippians 4:19

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

God Is Able

Many people are in financial binds today, and part of the reason may be that they give absolutely nothing to God. When a couple once came to me in financial trouble, I asked them how much they were giving to the church or to other ministries. They said they couldn’t afford to give anything right now and haven’t been able to for years. So they say that they can’t afford to give anything to the church, and I thought maybe that’s the trouble. They can’t afford to not give, at least a widow’s mite. If they could give only a small amount, that’s fine, but by not giving anything, it’s like they don’t trust God to take care of their financial needs, so they don’t give anything. I told them that God is able to abundantly supply every need of theirs (2 Cor 9:8), but they must trust Him. Remember the widow’s mite, or really her two copper coins? She gave more than the rich, who gave more by sheer numbers, but she gave all that she had (Mark 12:41-44). I’m not suggesting giving all you have, and my point is not to get you to tithe or make you feel guilty by not giving but to trust God, Who is more than able to supply every need, if only you would trust Him.

We Say Yes, But Worry Says No

We might say, yes, we trust God, but if we worry about our financial security, do we really trust Him? Remember that He holds the future (Isaiah 42:9). Worry is the opposite of trust, isn’t it? Worry says I don’t; trust says I don’t worry. We can say we trust God for our salvation (John 3:16) and in our trials (Rom 8:28), but when we worry about our financial future, we really tell God that we trust Him for most of what we read in the Bible but not all of it. The only place in the Bible where God actually gives us permission to test Him is with our money (Mal 3:10-11), a test that Israel failed and caused Him to say they had robbed God (Mal 3:7-9). Go outside or look out the window as soon as you finish reading this. Do you see any birds? Guess what? God takes care of them even though they never reap, sow, or store away food, and we are most certainly more valuable than they are (Matt 6:26). You trust John 3:16 with your eternal future, right? Why can’t you trust Matthew 6:26 or Philippians 4:19?

Look To His Creatures

I’ve seen lots of humans do this, and God takes much more special care in His love for them than for His creatures. God takes care of the ravens, the cattle, the sparrows (Psalm 147:9), and every other creature He has created (Psalm 104:27), including every creature in the sea, badgers, goats, trees, and plants (Psalm 104:18-28). So we need to trust Him to take care of those of us who are His own children. As a father, I would never let my own children go hungry, but how much more does God have than I do! He promises to never let the righteous beg for bread (Psalm 37:25) or His children suffer from famish (Prov 10:3). So turn your worries over to the God Who owns more than the cattle on a thousand hills and every beast of the field (Psalm 50:10); He also owns the hills!

A Closing Prayer

God our Father, please help me to trust You more than I trust what I see with my eyes, for You see the future and I see only the present. So please forgive me for the times I lack trust in You, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

QUÉ número de sus días?

Salmo 90:12
    Enséñanos de tal modo a contar nuestros días, Que traigamos al corazón sabiduría.Nuestros días están contadosDios declara que Él nos vio en el vientre de nuestra madre, siendo un embrión. No sólo eso, cada uno de nuestros días se registraron en su libro (Salmo 139: 16). Cada día de nuestra vida ya ha sido aparentemente determinado por Dios, y que no puede ser superior a ellos por un bit (Job 14: 5). Al parecer, esto era de conocimiento común en el Antiguo Testamento, pero no creo que mucho de ello hoy. De hecho, Dios sabe que tenemos sólo un cierto número de días en nuestra vida, por lo que se nos insta a hacer que cada uno de ellos cuentan al máximo. Debemos contar o número cada día y considerar cada una como un regalo de Dios.

¿Qué pasa si usted sabía?¿Qué pasa si usted sabía cuando su vida terminaría? ¿Le mira la vida mucho más diferente? Yo diría que sí, es muy probable que lo haría. He tenido familia que terminó con el cáncer. A pesar de que no podrían haber sabido el número exacto de días que habían dejado, sabían que el final estaba cerca, en un tiempo relativamente corto, y cuanto más se acercaban al final de su vida, más se cambió la forma en la que se veían en la vida. Se valoran los pájaros cantando en la mañana, trataron de pasar tanto tiempo con sus hijos y nietos como pudieran, y muy valorados y apreciados cada día como si fuera el último, ya que podría haber sido. Dios nos ha dicho en su Palabra que todos tenemos una cita con la muerte y luego vamos a ser juzgados (Hebreos 9:27). Eso por sí solo debería hacer todos nosotros valoramos cada uno y todos los días tenemos en esta tierra porque, como lo que sabemos, podría ser la última.

Hacer que cada día cuenteNo estoy sugiriendo que contamos cada uno y todos los días y los marcamos fuera nuestro calendario. Pero cada día nos acercamos más a la eternidad, así que no debemos presumir de lo que haremos mañana (Prov 27: 1), porque nuestra vida es como un vapor. Viene y se va tan rápido, y de repente se ha ido (Santiago 4: 13-14). Nuestros días están en las manos de Dios (Salmo 31:15), y cada uno de nosotros tenía un tiempo para nacer, al igual que también tendremos un tiempo para morir (Eclesiastés 3: 2), por lo que debemos hacer cada día importar. Tuve el gran privilegio de dirigir un anciano al Señor sólo tres días antes de morir. No tenía idea de que su tiempo era tan corto, pero él puso su confianza en Cristo al final de su vida, así que traté de hacer mi tiempo con que cuente y le dije lo que podría heredar la vida eterna en Cristo. Dios sabía que el tiempo asignado de este hombre fue casi gastado y llegando a su fin (Job 21:21), pero no lo hice, así que no quería tener nada que lamentar, no hablarle de Cristo. Si sabía que tenía sólo días de vida, ¿cómo vivir su vida de manera diferente? Le sugiero que vivir cada día al máximo.

Una Oración FinalSeñor Dios, ninguno de nosotros sabe cuándo nos vas a llamar a casa. Por favor me ayude a hacer que cada día cuente como un regalo precioso para no dar por sentado. Ayúdame a saber que nunca pueda tener una segunda oportunidad para decirle a mis seres queridos lo que siento o para decirle a mi amigo que la eternidad está a la espera para él o ella y que si se salen de esta vida sin Cristo, van a tener una eternidad de pesar. En el nombre de Jesús oro.Amén

DO YOU NUMBER YOUR DAYS?

Psalm 90:12

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Our Days Are Numbered

God declares that He saw us in our mother’s womb, still an unformed substance. Not only that, every one of our days were recorded in His book (Psalm 139:16). Each day of our life has apparently already been determined by God, and we cannot exceed them by one bit (Job 14:5). Apparently, this was common knowledge in the Old Testament, but we don’t think much about it today. Indeed, God knows that we have only a certain number of days in our life, so we are urged to make each one of them count to the max. We should count or number every day and consider each as a gift from God.

What If You Knew?

What if you knew when your life would end? Would you look at life a lot differently? I would say yes, you most likely would. I have had family that ended up with cancer. Even though they might not have known the exact number of days they had left, they knew the end was coming in a relatively short time, and the closer they got to the end of their life, the more it changed the way in which they looked at life. They valued the birds singing in the morning, they tried to spend as much time with their children and grandchildren as they could, and they highly valued and esteemed each and every day as if it were their last because it could have been. God has told us in His Word that we all have an appointment with death and then we’ll be judged (Heb 9:27). That alone should make all of us value each and every day we have on this earth because, as far as we know, it could be our last.

Make Each Day Count

I am not suggesting that we count each and every day and mark them off our calendar. But each day we grow closer to eternity, so we shouldn’t boast about what we’ll do tomorrow (Prov 27:1) because our life is like a vapor. It comes and goes so quickly, and then suddenly it’s gone (James 4:13-14). Our days are in the hands of God (Psalm 31:15), and each of us had a time to be born, just as we’ll also have a time to die (Eccl 3:2), so we should make each day matter. I had the great privilege of leading an elderly man to the Lord just three days before he died. I had no idea that his time was that short, but he put his trust in Christ at the very end of his life, so I tried to make my time with him count and told him how he might inherit eternal life in Christ. God knew this man’s allotted time was nearly spent and coming to an end (Job 21:21), but I didn’t, so I didn’t want to have any regrets and not tell him about Christ. If you knew you had only days to live, how would you live your life differently? I suggest you live each day to the uttermost.

A Closing Prayer

Lord God, none of us knows when you’ll call us home. Please help me to make each and every day count as a precious gift to not take for granted. Help me to know that I may never get a second chance to tell my loved ones how I feel or to tell my friend that eternity is waiting for him or her and that if they step out of this life without Christ, they’ll have an eternity of regret. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

SMALL LIES AND HALF TRUTHS

Ephesians 4:15

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

A Half-Truth Is a Whole Lie

Do you remember in the Garden of Eden where Satan deceived Eve by trying to make her believe God said one thing when He actually said another? He asked Eve whether God told her that she couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden (Gen 3:1). Eve corrected him and said that they could eat of any tree in the garden except the one that was in the midst of the garden and that if they did they’d die (Gen 3:2-3). But then Eve added something to what God had originally said. She said you can’t even touch it or you’ll die, so she ended up telling a half-truth to the father of lies (John 8:44), Satan (Gen 3:3). Satan tried to tell Eve that she wouldn’t die, but, of course, you can’t ever trust anything the Devil says. Satan has had his conscience seared so much that it doesn’t bother him to tell lies. If we tell half the truth, we have really told a whole lie because anything less than the whole truth is a whole lie. Does it bother you to tell a half-truth?

Sins of Omission

When I was a young child, I was babysitting my brother and sister. They ended up breaking something in the living room, and I was watching TV while they were playing. I should have been watching them because they were playing with a ball in the house, which I was told was forbidden, but I didn’t do anything about it. Sure enough, the ball bounced off the floor and into a ceramic fruit dish and shattered it. When my parents got home, I said, “I had no idea they had a ball in the house, and I didn’t even see the ceramic fruit dish get broken.” I had just told one lie (I had seen them with the ball in the house) and then a half-lie (I didn’t really see the broken dish), but it was really two lies. In fact, I didn’t see the ceramic fruit dish get broken; that was part of the truth. But the whole truth was I knew that what they were doing was wrong and I didn’t stop them from playing ball in the house, so I was responsible. I had committed a sin of omission. By omitting part of the truth, I had told a whole lie.

Mixing Truth with Error

Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, had just sold some of their property and pretended to say they gave it all to the church. Part of it they did give to the church, but part of it they withheld, so their lying cost them their life (Acts 5:1-1). Paul had to constantly deal with Judaizers who were trying to mix legalism with the gospel, and Paul was no doubt angry when he wrote the Galatians that he was amazed they had so quickly departed from the real gospel and believed another gospel, a perverted version of it (Gal 1:6). Parts of the gospel the Judaizers told were true–the part of Jesus’ death on the cross–but when they added legalistic requirements to it, it became perverted and not the real gospel at all (Gal 1:7). If I offered you some bottled water but told you that there was only one tiny drop of poison in it, not actually enough to kill you or even hurt you, you’d likely not want any of it. So we should all be troubled if we are telling a half-truth or omitting all the truth. Pride is almost always at the heart of it so that we’ll look better in other people’s eyes or we won’t hurt someone’s feelings, but we must always speak the truth, even if it’s painful, and do it in love (Eph 4:15).

A Closing Prayer

Great, righteous Father, please forgive me when I omit the full story and deceive people by telling them half-truths and when I mix error with truth. Help me to always speak the truth in love at all times, and in Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

IS THE DIALOGUE IN YOUR HEAD GODLY?

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Desires of the Eyes

The Apostle John warned the church in 1 John 2:16 that all that the world has to offer are the desires of the flesh, the desires of what our eyes see, and the pride of life; however, each of these first had to start in the mind. In other words, the dialogue in our heads is where sins are first conceived. First, the temptation enters into our minds. Then comes the evil desire of the temptation in our minds. Then it literally gives birth to sin (James 1:14-15). Instead, we must submit to God’s Word and then resist Satan’s temptations or the temptations of our own making, and then the temptation will leave us, just as Satan does if we resist him (James 4:7). This is what Eve experienced in the Garden. Before she ever sinned, she saw that the forbidden food was good for food (desire of the eyes), that it was a delight to the eyes (desire of the eyes), and that it would make her wise (pride of life), but she first had to have this dialogue in her head before she finally took of it and ate and sinned a great sin (Gen 3:6).

The Desires of the Flesh

Jesus said that we can commit adultery without even committing the physical act because even if we think about sexual immorality, we’ve actually done it in our hearts or minds (Matt 5:28). Paul really struggled with sin, just as we all do (Rom 7:15), and he had his own battles with the flesh. Maybe that’s why he suggested that we all need a renewal of the mind for the transformation that is necessary (Rom 12:1-2) to keep our thought life pure. The war was in Paul’s mind (Rom 7:23), just as it is in all of ours, so he strained to keep godly thoughts in his mind to resist the pulls of the flesh. God’s Word is a great discerner of our thought life and the intents or motives of our heart (Heb 4:12), so staying in the Word of God can help us to squelch the desires of the flesh and make the dialogue that goes on in our minds more godly.

The Pride of Life

Pride is such a systemic problem in humanity, and I suffer with it perhaps as much as anybody does. The sin of pride is listed among the most heinous of sins by God, and pride, called “haughty eyes” in the text, ranks at the top of the list of what is commonly called the “Seven Deadly Sins” in Proverbs 6:16-19. Haughty eyes are those which look down upon others in arrogance, and if that were not clear enough, God puts it at the top of the list. Pride is the lack of having a godly dialogue in our minds because we are told to esteem others better than ourselves and do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit (Phil 2:3), but we sometimes esteem ourselves higher than others. God searches our hearts and examines our minds, so we should realize that God knows what we’re thinking (Jer 17:10). So what do we really have to boast or brag about anyway (1 Cor 4:7; 2 Cor 10:17)? There is no reason to be filled with pride because the dialogue in our minds is deceiving us.

A Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father above, please forgive my arrogance and pride, my selfish interest, and my fleshly desires that war against the Spirit of God. Please help me to have a more godly dialogue in my mind since you already know my thought life and the intents of my heart, and I want to please you and not my own flesh or pride. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen

HOW DO YOU HANDLE SICKNESS IN YOUR LIFE?

Psalm 41:3

The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.

Is God Trying to Tell Me Something?

When I am very sick sometimes I think God could be trying to tell me something, like slow down! Perhaps He is trying to get my attention to tell me to take better care of myself, to get some rest, or to just take a day off once in a while. I am a bivocational pastor, and at times I get worn out, but, thankfully, I have not gotten sick that often. Maybe it’s because others are praying for me. Maybe it’s because I try to take at least one day a week and get some rest. But God could be telling me something when I get sick, and I try to learn from it. When one of my family members, friends, or church members gets sick, I sometimes handle it worse than when sickness hits me, and it makes be more fervent in prayer and beseeching–no, begging–God to intervene on their behalf. I feel more helpless, to be honest, when someone I love gets sick than when I do. It makes me feel helpless in the sense that all I can do is to pray for them. But instead of looking at it like praying is the least I can do, it is really the most I can do, so I tend to pray more in these cases because I know that God’s eyes are upon us when we pray, and He promises to hear our cries, even when they’re for someone else (Psalm 34:15).

Praying in Faith

I love to pray in faith to ask God to heal this person because I know that a prayer of faith can make all the difference in a sick person’s life (James 5:15), but I also ask the person if they’ve requested the prayers of the saints or elders and anoint them with oil if they don’t object to it (James 5:14). I never force myself on the needs of sick people but place myself at their service. Maybe it’s an unconfessed sin that could be involved, and, if so, we can be forgiven (1 John 1:9). The prayers of the righteous saints of God can make all the difference (James 5:16). God is still doing miracles today, but maybe He is wanting us to see just how important it is to us before He answers. The same God Who performed miraculous healings with Elijah is the same God we worship today. I am not saying that God promises to heal each and every time because God is sovereign and He always does as He pleases and what is best for us (Rom 8:28). Even the spiritual giant Paul prayed three times to be healed, but God said that His grace was sufficient (2 Cor 12:8).

Reading to Recover

When I’m or others I know are sick, it makes me dive into Bible reading more, and that’s what God would desire anyway. I’m not saying God sent an illness to me or a friend of mine for that reason but there is so much hope that we can gain from the Word of God when we’re ill, things like our assurance of God’s value of us, more than His created creatures (Matt 20:29-31), that God’s purpose in our lives will stand no matter what we experience (Psalm 138:8), that our hope is secure in Christ (Rom 8:29-39; John 10:28-29), and that we need not fear even death or the shadow or appearance of death because He goes through these valleys with us (Psalm 23:5).

A Closing Prayer

Great God in heaven, You alone are sovereign over all things in our life, and You allow nothing that does not first come through Your hands. I know that whatever happens, Your purpose for us cannot be altered or changed, and I thank You for Your faithfulness. In Christ’s holy name I pray.

Amen