Finding Joy Through the Transforming Power of Christ

We live in a throw away society. When something breaks we toss it in the trash and head to Wal-Mart for a new one. When things go bad we seek a substitution rather than a solution. There is no better example of this than marriage. Divorce rates have skyrocketed as people have given up on transformation. Instead they take the easy way out and look for another relationship when in truth if only they were committed to making changes in their own lives the marriage could be saved.

Jesus is all about transformation. The very concept of the cross is a shining example. In the day of Jesus no one would wear a cross as jewelry; it represented the cruelest and most vile form of death and punishment. But God chose it to bring salvation and life to those who will have faith in Jesus through His death on a cross. The cross is now a symbol of hope and salvation because through Jesus’ death God transformed the entire way we view death.

The way we handle pain is another example of our desire for substitution instead of transformation. As soon as we get a little pain we head for the medicine cabinet for relief through a pill. While I am not saying that is all bad, the ability to avoid pain has created in us an attitude that prohibits growth through pain and suffering. Listen to the Word of God as spoken by Christ in John 16:21, "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.”

Jesus uses the example of childbirth to teach us a lesson. Jesus never says here that the woman’s pain is replaced by joy. Instead the woman’s pain is transformed into joy through the birth of the baby. Through the pain of childbirth comes a wealth of joy but the pain had to be endured first. If the pain, which any women who has faced it without benefit of the methods now used to block it, will tell you, is one of the worst pains one could feel. Yet a woman will continue to have children and face it again because she knows the joy of having a baby is worth taking the pain. This is an example of how we know that if we trust Jesus in our times of pain and suffering He will transform our pain into joy.

But there is a second part to get here as we look at the example of childbirth and that is that we must wait on the Lord. A woman is pregnant for nine months in which she will often be uncomfortable. Then later when the day comes she will labor for a good while until the baby is born. We must be patient in our trials and afflictions. There is a beautiful description of this in Isaiah 40:30-31 which says that “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

So we must wait on the Lord. But Jesus doesn’t leave us alone to wait. He has put His Spirit in us to live and to be our comforter and our power to go on in the pain. He has also given us the gift of prayer. After the teaching on the pain of childbirth Jesus speaks about prayer saying this in John 16:22-24, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

If we want our joy to be complete we must go to the Father in faith and in the name of Jesus. But sometimes it will seem as if He is not answering us; it will seem as if the pain continues on. In these days of sorrow and suffering we must open our Bibles and hear God’s Word so that our faith can stand strong. Read the story of Lazarus as found in John 11:1-44.  In this story we find the answer as to why sometimes it seems God has let us down.

In the story Mary and Martha have sent a message to Jesus informing Him that their brother was ill. Through prayer we contact Jesus as well with our needs. Jesus’ first response is to say “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4). Sometimes God allows things to happen, even when we have prayed and asked Him not to, so that He will be glorified.

Jesus waited so long to show up that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. His body would have been a stinking mess. The situation to Martha and Mary seemed now hopeless. Does this sound familiar? Maybe today your personal situation seems hopeless and you think God has waited too long to answer your prayer. But finish the story and see what happens.

Jesus responds to Martha saying in John 11:23, “Your brother will rise again.” Even though Jesus already knew how the situation would turn out He felt the sorrow and the sadness of His friends and He wept alongside them. John 11:33 tells us just how much Jesus understood their sorrow telling us that “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.”

The story ends with a demonstration of the power of Jesus as He raises Lazarus from the dead simply by calling His name. It was His intent the whole time to do this but in order to build the faith of Mary, Martha, and the others who would see and hear of this, Jesus acted on His time, not on theirs.

My friends, the secret to joy is to trust in Christ no matter how hopeless the situation is. As Isaiah said it is “they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

To those who have accepted the free offer of salvation through faith in Christ, joy is always there, waiting to be taken hold of. But we must trust in God, we must wait on God, and we must let Him transform us through the power of the Holy Spirit, which scripture tells us also raised Christ from the dead.

 I leave you with a scripture reading. It is a reminder of our need to praise Him always, even when it seems He has not heard us, for He is coming. Until He arrives rest in faith and be filled with joy for nothing is too hard for Him.

Psalm 30:4-5
Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.  For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

The 4 H’s of the Christian Life

As I was studying in the Book of John this morning and reading in Warren Weisbe’s Bible Commentary he spoke about for four things that started with an h that we see in John chapter 13. As I pondered this I realized that 3 of them are positive and one is negative. But the last two are actually dependent on the first two being either present or absent in our lives. The H’s are humility, holiness, happiness, and hypocrisy. I think it is interesting to take a quick glance at these and to see where we are as Christians in our personal 4-H club.

Wiesrbe spoke on the importance of the order of the first three in our lives and humility is the very first one. Humility is probably the greatest virtue one could pursue because if anything defines Christ humility does. From the very beginning of the shift from the OT law to the NT Gospel is an act of humility as seen in Christ leaving His place of glory in Heaven and humbling Himself to come here as a man.

Philippians 2:5-8 explains as it instructs us to be like Jesus saying this, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus emptied Himself and took the form of a servant. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death. And that death was accomplished by the most shameful way possible in that day, death on a cross.  There are at least 22 scriptures in God’s Word that instruct is to die to ourselves. Maybe the most well-known is Luke 9:23-25 which a direct command from Jesus spoken Himself saying, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

Yet we rarely see humility in in the church. Just recently I observed a situation where a certain ministry which is ripe for expansion and growth be stunted because someone doesn’t want “his ministry” to be risked by moving forward with what it would take to grow and reach more in that ministry. You see the problem is that it isn’t “his” ministry; it is “His” ministry. We are just like the disciples, who even up to the night before Christ died on the cross, were arguing over who of them was the greatest in the kingdom. Oh, how that lack of humility hinders God’s work. Breaks my heart.

The second H is holiness. In order to become like Christ we must be humble. When we die to self we allow God to do the work in us He so much wants to do. When Jesus left to return after the resurrection He gave us all who are truly Christians the power to become like Him. He gave us the Holy Spirit. Here is this promise as Jesus Himself spoke it in John 14:15-17, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,  even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Romans 8:9-11 reminds us that we have the same power that raised Christ from the dead living in us as we read, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Yet somehow we don’t seem to be living this out do we? As individuals we really don’t and thus as the Church we don’teither, do we? I offer that it is because we have forgotten to put in effect the first H before we try to move to H number two. We must seek humility.

The third H is happiness. I believe when we are speaking of this type of happiness we are really speaking of joy. When we humble ourselves and then begin to become more and more holy everyday in our quest to be like Jesus we will be happy and our joy will be complete in spite of all circumstances we live in and under. Paul speaks about this very thing in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The final H is hypocrisy and is actually only prevalent when we fail to put the first two H’s in effect in our lives. Instead of being happy and filled with joy through the humility and holiness of our lives, the world then sees us as hypocrites and we lose our witness for Christ. We dim the light He shines.

So the question we all must ask of is what H’s will we let define us? All of us, whether we want to believe it or not, have these H’s sewed onto the jackets we wear in life. Being a witness for Jesus isn’t really that difficult. Put on humility and holiness and the happiness the world sees in you will be all the witness you need to be faithful in serving God. But leave off those three H’s and all that is left is hypocrisy.

God has not left us powerless. My prayer is that His church becomes what it has been empowered to be. We need revival. As my pastor often reminds us, revival starts right in our own personal heart.

God bless each of you in your journey to become humble, holy, and happy.

It's Time For Us Christians to Wake Up

Ephesians 5:8-14
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,  for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

We must take the light and shine it upon our own lives so that we can prevent ourselves from self-deception. We are sinners and we must recognize the truth of that fact. Read the entire Bible...every last word. If we just read the feel good verses we will never grasp the depths of our our wickedness. But when we compare ourselves to the perfect standard of Holiness that God is and we see in the incarnation of Christ, then we can begin the process of sanctification and begin to become more like Jesus. When that happens others will begin to see the light of Christ in us and they will be drawn towards Him. Then God will be glorified.

St. Francis of Assisi said this, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." The greatest witness is our life not our words. But we, the Church, The Bride of Christ must look different than the world. Do we? It's time to wake up.

"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

The Womb Belongs to God

Came across a verse this morning in my studies. It is a clear reminder that God is the one who gives life.

Genesis 30:22-23
Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb.  She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace."

God opens the womb. The Word of God tells us this. This means that all the excuses we come up with for allowing certain abortions are wrong. Even in a terrible thing such as a rape it is God who determines whether or not conception occurs. To abort the life that God Himself has created could not be more wrong.

Romans 8:28 says that "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." To abort a baby under the terms of rape would be an act of rebellion against God who has promised to work things out for your good in "ALL" things. It is an attempt to be your own god.

Yes, God may allow you to abort that child. Yes He will forgive you and restore you to Himself if you seek Him and acknowledge your sin by accepting Christ's work on the cross. And we should not condemn those who live with the past sin of abortion.  But why take the path of sin?

Please take a stand for God in this matter. Please come alongside those contemplating abortion and reach out to women who struggle with the past guilt to find the forgiveness of Christ.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:8

Don't Judge Me

“Don’t judge me”. I cannot count the number of times I hear people say that these days. And you know what? If you are not a follower of Christ then you are right to say that. It is not my job to judge you. But fellow Christians if that is a statement you are intent on making I am here to make a judgment on you. You see for a Christian to deny the judgment of a fellow Christian is to deny the truth of the commands of the Bible.

The first judgment I will make upon Christians is that we do not read the bible. Oh we like to read the good stuff. We love the Psalms and we love the parts about God being love. We really like the parts about grace and forgiveness. Some people even lean heavily upon Proverbs, which quite frankly, like much of the Word, can be isolated out so that we can defend just about any lifestyle we want. So we read that stuff. The problem is that God through His Holy Spirit inspired the writers and then through the early church fathers had the entire Word of God put into written form with a specific plan in mind. You see we are to read the entire Bible and we are to interpret it through the teachings of the Holy Spirit by interpreting scripture with scripture. You have to read it from beginning to end so that you can understand what it is commanding us to do.

When it comes to judgment people cling to one scripture in particular. Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

The usual interpretation here is that Jesus is saying we should not judge each other. A lot of Christians have committed this to memory. The problem is they fail to finish the rest of the reading. This becomes the ultimate “out of context” quote. Let’s read on.

Matthew 7:3-5
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Jesus is not telling us not to judge others; He is telling us first to judge ourselves, to remove the problem we have in that area before moving on to others, and then we can see clearly to help them get the speck out of their eye. In his book Horizontal Jesus, Tony Evans gives a good analogy. He tells how when we fly on an airline the flight attendants give instruction that if the cabin loses pressure be sure to put on your oxygen mask before trying to help others. We can be little help to others if we are without oxygen as we will soon pass out and all of us will die. Jesus is saying we must take care of the things that will hinder us in helping others with a sin we ourselves have not been able to remove from our own life so we can better help them and not fall into worse sin ourselves.

In truth the Bible is replete with commandments for Christians to come alongside each other in our efforts to become like Christ. Listen to Paul’s instructions from Romans 15:14, “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”

Take note of the word used in that verse. Some translations use the word admonish, others use warning, so we need to take a quick look at the Greek to be clear what the command is. The word used is noutheteô and the basic meaning is to counsel, advise, warn, and to steer. The discipline of Biblical Counseling leans heavily on this word as it is simply to counsel. What Paul is saying is that we are to counsel each other. Isn’t that what mature brothers and sisters do? When I look back at my past mistakes I wish I would have had someone I trust to counsel me with solid Biblical advice.

Paul gives the reason for this command in Colossians 1:28 saying, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

The goal of the Christian life is to glorify God and to shine the light of Christ and the way we do that is to become like Him. The reason we admonish each other is “so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” I am not complete in Christ. I need mature believers to come alongside of me and counsel me in this effort. My bet is that so do you.

So you see to simply tell other Christians not to “judge” you is to deny the calling of the body of Christ. But there are right and wrong ways to do this. The Bible teaches this as well. We see that Paul did not take this command lightly. Back in Romans 15 we read that Paul was convinced they were “full of goodness.” We must be filled with the Spirit before we move on because only God is good.

He says in Acts 20:31 that "night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.” Admonishing someone should not come without serious love and compassion. Ephesians 4:15-16 tells us we must be “speaking the truth in love” so that we “…grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Love must abide in our hearts when we go to a fellow Christian with admonishment.We must be willing to shed tears out of our deep love for them and for Christ.

Paul explains more of how this admonishment must be accomplished in 1 Corinthians 4:14 where he said that he did “…not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as beloved children.” You see our hearts must be pure when we come to each other with admonishment. This is not easy as our own brokenness tends to get in the way. But sometimes the truth must be spoken. We cannot continue to allow each other to walk the Christian walk in a way that does not shine the light of Christ. We cannot fulfill the Great Commission of Christ to take the Gospel into the world if we are not showing them Jesus in our own life. The greatest witness to the world is our life not our talk.

It’s time for the church to rise up and become all it can be. The end seems near and for sure each day it is one day closer. We must be the light of Christ to the lost and dying world. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in us and to empower us to do the work but He also established the church so that we would not have to operate alone amongst the evil that seeks to stop us. We must be united and we must help each other.

So I say to my Christian brothers and sisters, “Judge me.” Help me. It is not easy being a Christian. More often than I care to admit I stray off the path I’m supposed to be on. But let us admonish each other with the truth of God’s Word and let us love each other through it.

I leave you with more scripture that remind us how to live with each other.

2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

1 Thessalonians 5:11
 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Hebrews 3:12-13
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

We aren’t always going to get this right. One last verse to remind us how to live it all out.

1 Peter 4:8
 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

God Bless You Who Read This.

3 Good Things About Being Persecuted

Many Christians are afraid of persecution. Here in America we are only seeing the very beginnings of religious persecution. Rarely here does one die for his faith. In other nations being a Christian can and does get you killed, your house burned down, your family beaten, and oftentimes you will be jailed. Yet here in America, where little persecution occurs, we find Christians expressing fear and concern, as it appears the party is soon to be over here. Persecution is coming. What are we to think of that?

This morning as I was studying the Gospel of Luke I discovered that persecution will actually be a good thing. Why? Three reasons.

First of all when we suffer persecution it is for the sake of the name of Christ that we will suffer. Listen to what Jesus says about this in Luke 21:12, “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.”

Secondly when persecution comes the world thinks it is bringing dishonor to us. But in truth it is an honor to suffer for His name’s sake and it brings joy to the Christian as having suffered for Christ brings honor to us. In the Book of Acts we see this occurring to the disciples. Acts 5:40-41, “…and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” Persecution did not stop the disciples at all. Verse 42 says that, “…every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

But the third positive about persecution is the greatest. Simple people like you and me will have the opportunity to witness and possibly that witness will be to people in higher positions than we would not normally be able to reach. Luke 21:12-13 promises this saying “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.  This will be your opportunity to bear witness.”

Friends we need not be afraid. Nothing happens that God isn’t aware of or that He doesn’t allow. Listen to the words of Peter from 1 Peter 3:13-17, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.  For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

Persecution? Yea it’s probably coming to America. So get ready. Pray and study God’s Word. Ground yourself in faith. Trust God in whatever comes your way. If we say we trust Jesus for our eternal destination then we must also trust Him for our life on earth. The word martyr used in the Bible means witness in the Greek. As the end grows closer we must be His witness. That might be hard at times. But isn’t eternity with Jesus worth it?

Forgiveness - A Perpetual Act

Being a Christian comes with heavy demands. One of them is forgiveness. Jesus does not mince words in Luke 17:3-4 saying, “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

True Christians forgive. Always. The Bible is clear about what love looks like and forgiveness is the hallmark of love. Nowhere is this more important than in our marriages. Countless times I have heard Christians say things like “I’m tired of him/her. I’m done with them.” These complaints come from things as serious as adultery but also are spoken about the littlest things like leaving clothes on the floor instead of picking them up and putting them in the laundry basket. Listen to Jesus as recorded by Dr. Luke.

Luke 17:3-4
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Notice anything there? Look again. “…if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

The implication here made by Jesus is that people are going to often do the same thing over and over. And we do. All of us. Our reaction is to say, “Enough! I am tired of you doing the same thing over and over.” But Jesus says that doesn’t matter.

Most people don’t like this verse and want to argue it out. The truth of what Jesus is saying is that we are not to stop forgiving. Instead of harboring resentment towards others we need to follow our command to forgive. Become about restoration. Yes we are supposed to confront each other with our sins. Jesus did say to rebuke the sinner. But then forgive him. Then help him.

We can change marriages and relationships by simply living this out. Is it easy? No, but the true Christian is not left to fight this through alone.

I leave you with more words from Jesus that explains how to live this out.

John 14:15-17
 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “

Make forgiveness a priority in all your relationships. It will change your world.