Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
An Expectant Father
Ephesians 1:3-6
Vs.3 “…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…” This is past tense. He has already put forth the order to bless us with every spiritual blessing available in Christ Jesus. Christ said I must leave to prepare a place for you in heaven. The room is ready, the blessings are wrapped, gifts and talents are waiting. Are you ready to receive them? Are you looking? What have you found? Praise Him, thank Him. Are you living a like one who is blessed?
Vs.4 “…for the Father has chosen us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…” When God chose to create the world, He knew we would fail Him, hurt Him, and disobey Him. He looked into the future and saw you, saw me and said,
“I want that precious one. I don’t want to miss out on the chance of having this one as My own. This one is too important to Me. I will create the world and send My only Son to die for the sins of this dear one, so that she/he can be holy and blameless and be a part of my kingdom.”
Jesus said,
“This precious child is worth all the pain and suffering I will endure.”
Do you know the Father’s love? Have you received the gift of salvation from the penalty of sin that Christ died to give you? *
Vs.5 “In love, the Father, determined that He wanted to adopt you and me through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…” Adopting us brings Him pleasure and is in accordance with His will. Each of us is important enough to bring Him pleasure and be in His will. Each of us is a part of God’s plan! We are accepted, loved and pleasing to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to be a part of His will.
Vs.6 “…to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely gives us in the One he loves.” Our part in His will (as if being in His will wasn’t enough) brings Him praise- just being and choosing Him, brings Him praise. Not what we do, what we have to offer, just choosing Him and being in His will. That is amazing! Think on this for a moment….when was the last time someone appreciated you choosing him or her? When was the last time you were valued for just being and not doing?
God knew before He created the world, which ones would choose Him and follow Him. He has been waiting, like an expectant Father, for the one who would say, “Yes”. He knew your name, who you would be and what you would look like. He waited thousands of years to die for you and than waited almost 2,000 more years to have you in His family. He did this knowing how many times you would fall short. He loved each of you enough to wait anyway and loves you despite your shortcomings. Wow!
He loves you more than you will ever know.
* Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Vs.3 “…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…” This is past tense. He has already put forth the order to bless us with every spiritual blessing available in Christ Jesus. Christ said I must leave to prepare a place for you in heaven. The room is ready, the blessings are wrapped, gifts and talents are waiting. Are you ready to receive them? Are you looking? What have you found? Praise Him, thank Him. Are you living a like one who is blessed?
Vs.4 “…for the Father has chosen us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…” When God chose to create the world, He knew we would fail Him, hurt Him, and disobey Him. He looked into the future and saw you, saw me and said,
“I want that precious one. I don’t want to miss out on the chance of having this one as My own. This one is too important to Me. I will create the world and send My only Son to die for the sins of this dear one, so that she/he can be holy and blameless and be a part of my kingdom.”
Jesus said,
“This precious child is worth all the pain and suffering I will endure.”
Do you know the Father’s love? Have you received the gift of salvation from the penalty of sin that Christ died to give you? *
Vs.5 “In love, the Father, determined that He wanted to adopt you and me through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…” Adopting us brings Him pleasure and is in accordance with His will. Each of us is important enough to bring Him pleasure and be in His will. Each of us is a part of God’s plan! We are accepted, loved and pleasing to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to be a part of His will.
Vs.6 “…to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely gives us in the One he loves.” Our part in His will (as if being in His will wasn’t enough) brings Him praise- just being and choosing Him, brings Him praise. Not what we do, what we have to offer, just choosing Him and being in His will. That is amazing! Think on this for a moment….when was the last time someone appreciated you choosing him or her? When was the last time you were valued for just being and not doing?
God knew before He created the world, which ones would choose Him and follow Him. He has been waiting, like an expectant Father, for the one who would say, “Yes”. He knew your name, who you would be and what you would look like. He waited thousands of years to die for you and than waited almost 2,000 more years to have you in His family. He did this knowing how many times you would fall short. He loved each of you enough to wait anyway and loves you despite your shortcomings. Wow!
He loves you more than you will ever know.
* Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Where do you stand? Where do you live?
Psalm 84:10
“Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
It’s easy to say that we’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God rather than dwell in the house of the wicked but during our day, week, month and year where do we spend more time? Are we filling our time with things from God and for God or evil? Do we really take the time to distinguish what is truly wicked/evil in our lives?
My immediate thought is that anything against God and His desires could be classified as evil. And maybe even that which keeps us from doing what God would want is evil. I know that can be described as extreme or too black and white but think about it. If your sports activities, volunteer time, work, “good” book reading time, “good” TV time, vacationing…keeps you/me from spending time with Jesus in relationship and friendship, it is not for God, therefore, it is against God and ‘evil.’ (Luke 11:23)
Just a thought…
I know in my own life Jesus is causing me to look more carefully at my life. I want true intimacy with Jesus and I pray for this. But I have to look at what in my life is getting in the way of this. I can want something and pray for something for a very long time but what am I willing to do to move towards that intimacy? I also need to pray for the eyes to see through the “good” things and see what is truly getting in the way of the intimacy I desire. There was a phrase I used to use to evaluate decisions and give advice to others I was holding accountable: “Is it a good thing or a God thing?” So many times the “good” things get in the way of what Jesus really wants for us and what we really want from Him and with Him.
I am reminded of a theme verse from a retreat I attended
James 4:8a (NASB) “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…”
“Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
It’s easy to say that we’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God rather than dwell in the house of the wicked but during our day, week, month and year where do we spend more time? Are we filling our time with things from God and for God or evil? Do we really take the time to distinguish what is truly wicked/evil in our lives?
My immediate thought is that anything against God and His desires could be classified as evil. And maybe even that which keeps us from doing what God would want is evil. I know that can be described as extreme or too black and white but think about it. If your sports activities, volunteer time, work, “good” book reading time, “good” TV time, vacationing…keeps you/me from spending time with Jesus in relationship and friendship, it is not for God, therefore, it is against God and ‘evil.’ (Luke 11:23)
Just a thought…
I know in my own life Jesus is causing me to look more carefully at my life. I want true intimacy with Jesus and I pray for this. But I have to look at what in my life is getting in the way of this. I can want something and pray for something for a very long time but what am I willing to do to move towards that intimacy? I also need to pray for the eyes to see through the “good” things and see what is truly getting in the way of the intimacy I desire. There was a phrase I used to use to evaluate decisions and give advice to others I was holding accountable: “Is it a good thing or a God thing?” So many times the “good” things get in the way of what Jesus really wants for us and what we really want from Him and with Him.
I am reminded of a theme verse from a retreat I attended
James 4:8a (NASB) “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…”
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Giving joy away
It is always pretty amazing when the communications/worship leader is the one who does the sermon. I often marvel at the way these people in particular can take what they are speaking on and carry the theme of that message all the way until the end leaving us with a complete package of what the message was.
This happened again this morning. Our worship leader did the sermon at our church. We have been going through Philippians and the message this morning was on chapter 4 verses 1-7. I have heard and read many different messages on this popular portion of scripture. I have even written on this portion of scripture. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me at how He can teach us something new from an “old” or familiar portion of scripture, if we keep our minds and hearts open to Him. This morning was no exception. Tom, our speaker/teacher this morning drew something from this passage that I don’t think I’ve heard before. He focused on the relationship and responsibility of the church to help bring resolution to conflicts and unity back to the church by helping two women who were having a conflict in the church of Philippi. He also brought out the Webster’s definition of rejoice that also shed new light unto the passage for me. Rejoice according to Webster means to give joy. To attempt paraphrase a 30min sermon, Tom was telling us that in and through Jesus we can give joy to those in the church to bring unity, resolution of conflict and in his words, power. Our willingness to give joy through word and action is powerful. He weaved the illustration of this power in light. He had a light bulb and then at the end a woman danced in the darkened auditorium with illuminated balls on string. It was a very powerful illustration for me regarding the power of joy as we give it to others.
As Tom was speaking of the light and the power of the light, I couldn’t help but remember 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...” We can only give powerful and lasting joy away when we have gotten it from Jesus Himself, the Light of the world. There was one moment when Tom was standing near the light and from my perspective his face was obscured by the brightness of the light. Essentially, Tom disappeared and only the light was visible. Isn’t this what we want in the church? If we are close enough to the Light and interact with others (the church in this sermon) those we are interacting with won’t see us at all just the Light, Jesus.
Hmm….something to meditate on….
Another interesting thing about Tom’s sermon was his challenge to us to not give up on each other. We have the choice to just do nothing, nothing at all. When we choose to do nothing either the person we could have brought power, hope and joy to will die in some way or we will. So we either choose life or we choose death. This weekend my husband and I were on a retreat for our church and Tom and his wife were there as well. Tom may not have realized it but his comment to me about how he has read my blog when it’s posted on our church facebook page, brought life (power) to me. As you know, I have given into the relaxed schedule of the summer and have not posted a blog for some time. His simple comment encouraged me to make the time to sit down again and do what I know God has asked me to do. Thanks, Tom for bringing power into my life by giving away some the joy Jesus has given you!
Cavat: I just learned from Tom that Jeff Smith was the one who helped with the program. Way to go Jeff!
This happened again this morning. Our worship leader did the sermon at our church. We have been going through Philippians and the message this morning was on chapter 4 verses 1-7. I have heard and read many different messages on this popular portion of scripture. I have even written on this portion of scripture. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me at how He can teach us something new from an “old” or familiar portion of scripture, if we keep our minds and hearts open to Him. This morning was no exception. Tom, our speaker/teacher this morning drew something from this passage that I don’t think I’ve heard before. He focused on the relationship and responsibility of the church to help bring resolution to conflicts and unity back to the church by helping two women who were having a conflict in the church of Philippi. He also brought out the Webster’s definition of rejoice that also shed new light unto the passage for me. Rejoice according to Webster means to give joy. To attempt paraphrase a 30min sermon, Tom was telling us that in and through Jesus we can give joy to those in the church to bring unity, resolution of conflict and in his words, power. Our willingness to give joy through word and action is powerful. He weaved the illustration of this power in light. He had a light bulb and then at the end a woman danced in the darkened auditorium with illuminated balls on string. It was a very powerful illustration for me regarding the power of joy as we give it to others.
As Tom was speaking of the light and the power of the light, I couldn’t help but remember 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...” We can only give powerful and lasting joy away when we have gotten it from Jesus Himself, the Light of the world. There was one moment when Tom was standing near the light and from my perspective his face was obscured by the brightness of the light. Essentially, Tom disappeared and only the light was visible. Isn’t this what we want in the church? If we are close enough to the Light and interact with others (the church in this sermon) those we are interacting with won’t see us at all just the Light, Jesus.
Hmm….something to meditate on….
Another interesting thing about Tom’s sermon was his challenge to us to not give up on each other. We have the choice to just do nothing, nothing at all. When we choose to do nothing either the person we could have brought power, hope and joy to will die in some way or we will. So we either choose life or we choose death. This weekend my husband and I were on a retreat for our church and Tom and his wife were there as well. Tom may not have realized it but his comment to me about how he has read my blog when it’s posted on our church facebook page, brought life (power) to me. As you know, I have given into the relaxed schedule of the summer and have not posted a blog for some time. His simple comment encouraged me to make the time to sit down again and do what I know God has asked me to do. Thanks, Tom for bringing power into my life by giving away some the joy Jesus has given you!
Cavat: I just learned from Tom that Jeff Smith was the one who helped with the program. Way to go Jeff!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
silence vs. speaking out
I have just completed reading the blog for June 15th from National Community Church's read the Bible in a year. The reading for that day was Acts 25-26 when Paul defends himself to Festus and King Agrippa. The writer of the blog note, Maegan Stout, challenged us with the following words.
In Hebrew, the word dabar means both “word” and “deed.” Just like it’s hypocritical not to practice what we preach, deeds without articulating Christ is not the full story. Paul exchanged his defense for an opportunity to share the good news of Christ and therefore did both.
We won’t all be called on to stand before kings and risk our lives, but do we know the gospel is good enough news to share within the spheres He has placed us? That’s part of our voice - through word and deed, we all have a unique and specific way to express the gospel. Are we communicating it?
For me these words are good ones to "chew" on. You know how you read something and it just requires more contemplation. That's where I am with this. For so many years I have just charged into situations and conversations and counted the cost later. I am in sorts a daredevil - looks good, do it, think later. In some ways that has been good, when God led me to do some pretty crazy things but in other ways I have hurt myself or others with this blind rush forward. Consequently, my words have been tempered and more thoughtfully expressed.
Now recently, I have been challenged to ask myself if my more tempered pursuit of life is indeed led by fear - fear of disappointing God and not going in the direction He has for me, fear of what others may think, fear... So along with Maegan's challenge and Paul's example I prayerfully wonder if it's time to just move forward in the direction I know God has laid out for me.
Definitely food for thought. This topic will obviously need to be continued at a different time. If you have time, please pray for me as I pursue this new idea.
In Hebrew, the word dabar means both “word” and “deed.” Just like it’s hypocritical not to practice what we preach, deeds without articulating Christ is not the full story. Paul exchanged his defense for an opportunity to share the good news of Christ and therefore did both.
We won’t all be called on to stand before kings and risk our lives, but do we know the gospel is good enough news to share within the spheres He has placed us? That’s part of our voice - through word and deed, we all have a unique and specific way to express the gospel. Are we communicating it?
For me these words are good ones to "chew" on. You know how you read something and it just requires more contemplation. That's where I am with this. For so many years I have just charged into situations and conversations and counted the cost later. I am in sorts a daredevil - looks good, do it, think later. In some ways that has been good, when God led me to do some pretty crazy things but in other ways I have hurt myself or others with this blind rush forward. Consequently, my words have been tempered and more thoughtfully expressed.
Now recently, I have been challenged to ask myself if my more tempered pursuit of life is indeed led by fear - fear of disappointing God and not going in the direction He has for me, fear of what others may think, fear... So along with Maegan's challenge and Paul's example I prayerfully wonder if it's time to just move forward in the direction I know God has laid out for me.
Definitely food for thought. This topic will obviously need to be continued at a different time. If you have time, please pray for me as I pursue this new idea.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Death of True Life – Pure Life
James 1:14-15
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
I don’t want death. Jesus died to give life; complete life, whole life, pure life. I don’t want to have any death in me. In my mind this death is like a stench to You. I know that spiritually by believing in Your Son and receiving the cleansing of my sins by His death, I have received spiritual and eternal life, but what does my continued sin look like to You? Can You smell it like rotting flesh? Or does it merely sadden You; deeply sadden You? You know the plans You have for me, plans that do not harm me but prosper me. Yet there are times that I choose sin and even choose to allow it to become fully grown and bring a death unto myself.
This death that I have brought on myself…what form does it take? The only answer that comes to mind is the death of the life and blessings that You intend and want to give to me. Death of times I can participate in Your plans or fully receive the blessing of participating in Your plans. Whatever form the death takes, it is not Your best for me. I want Your best for me. I want to experience You fully and truly, nothing held back.
Forgive me for allowing my desire to birthed into sin and get fully grown leading to a death. Forgive me Lord Jesus for choosing my desire over You, for accepting a hollow shell of fulfillment instead of a fulfillment and blessing from You that would be lasting and precious.
By the power of Your Name and the blood that was shed for me, cleanse me from all unrighteousness and help me to allow You to purify my mind and heart to live the life You desire for me; one that is intimately connected to You. I want all You have for me, Lord. I want the intimate love relationship that brings true and lasting fulfillment and joy; completeness.
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
I don’t want death. Jesus died to give life; complete life, whole life, pure life. I don’t want to have any death in me. In my mind this death is like a stench to You. I know that spiritually by believing in Your Son and receiving the cleansing of my sins by His death, I have received spiritual and eternal life, but what does my continued sin look like to You? Can You smell it like rotting flesh? Or does it merely sadden You; deeply sadden You? You know the plans You have for me, plans that do not harm me but prosper me. Yet there are times that I choose sin and even choose to allow it to become fully grown and bring a death unto myself.
This death that I have brought on myself…what form does it take? The only answer that comes to mind is the death of the life and blessings that You intend and want to give to me. Death of times I can participate in Your plans or fully receive the blessing of participating in Your plans. Whatever form the death takes, it is not Your best for me. I want Your best for me. I want to experience You fully and truly, nothing held back.
Forgive me for allowing my desire to birthed into sin and get fully grown leading to a death. Forgive me Lord Jesus for choosing my desire over You, for accepting a hollow shell of fulfillment instead of a fulfillment and blessing from You that would be lasting and precious.
By the power of Your Name and the blood that was shed for me, cleanse me from all unrighteousness and help me to allow You to purify my mind and heart to live the life You desire for me; one that is intimately connected to You. I want all You have for me, Lord. I want the intimate love relationship that brings true and lasting fulfillment and joy; completeness.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tasting Good
What Do You Taste Like?
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
As I continue to read the Bible in a year program LXVI with National Community Church, I found myself in 2 Thessalonians. I was reading chapter 1-3. The blog author for that day, Jason Yost, looks at it with a little different angle.
“I have always understood the mentality that you should work hard for a living and provide for your family and not be lazy. Reading this passage through the lens of your household makes perfect sense, right? But what if you read it through the lens of the church. Yowzer! It puts new meaning to the phrase “if you don’t work you don’t eat.” Have you ever felt this way or ever heard someone say, “I don’t feel like I am getting fed at this church”? My question to you would be how have you invested in that church? Because this is saying if you don’t work first then you do not eat.” http://fromgardentocity.com/blog/post/those-who-are-lazy/
Jason makes a really good point but as I mediated on his thought, I took it one step further. If people are coming to church to “eat” and partake of the Spirit of God and we are the temple of the Spirit of God, these very same people could potentially be getting some of their spiritual food from you and me. Are you still with me? We interact with people while we are there, whether we speak with others or simply walk right past them and ignore them. We greet people or teach in classes or preach from the stage or participate in leading/accompanying the singing during the service or do the Bible reading for that service or collect the offering or help people through the parking lot and hallways. Whether we serve during the service time or come and participate, we interact with the others around us.
While we interact with these people, we are getting/giving some form of spiritual food in the form of love, encouragement, hospitality, generosity, God’s Word, wisdom from the Word, praise/worship of God, serving God and His people, hate, gossip, angry words, resentment, selfishness, etc. The list could go on and on in a positive direction or a negative direction.
• What do you taste like to others when you come to church or when you interact with people on a daily basis?
• Are they walking away with the sweet and moist taste of the Spirit, when they walk away because we have made sure that we asked for the Spirit of God to fill us that morning in prayer and reading or meditating on the Bible?
OR
• Did they walk away with the dry nasty taste of Renee or you, without the filling of the Spirit of God or even any season of Him at all?
Maybe Jesus doesn’t “taste” good to others because WE don’t taste good to them.
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
As I continue to read the Bible in a year program LXVI with National Community Church, I found myself in 2 Thessalonians. I was reading chapter 1-3. The blog author for that day, Jason Yost, looks at it with a little different angle.
“I have always understood the mentality that you should work hard for a living and provide for your family and not be lazy. Reading this passage through the lens of your household makes perfect sense, right? But what if you read it through the lens of the church. Yowzer! It puts new meaning to the phrase “if you don’t work you don’t eat.” Have you ever felt this way or ever heard someone say, “I don’t feel like I am getting fed at this church”? My question to you would be how have you invested in that church? Because this is saying if you don’t work first then you do not eat.” http://fromgardentocity.com/blog/post/those-who-are-lazy/
Jason makes a really good point but as I mediated on his thought, I took it one step further. If people are coming to church to “eat” and partake of the Spirit of God and we are the temple of the Spirit of God, these very same people could potentially be getting some of their spiritual food from you and me. Are you still with me? We interact with people while we are there, whether we speak with others or simply walk right past them and ignore them. We greet people or teach in classes or preach from the stage or participate in leading/accompanying the singing during the service or do the Bible reading for that service or collect the offering or help people through the parking lot and hallways. Whether we serve during the service time or come and participate, we interact with the others around us.
While we interact with these people, we are getting/giving some form of spiritual food in the form of love, encouragement, hospitality, generosity, God’s Word, wisdom from the Word, praise/worship of God, serving God and His people, hate, gossip, angry words, resentment, selfishness, etc. The list could go on and on in a positive direction or a negative direction.
• What do you taste like to others when you come to church or when you interact with people on a daily basis?
• Are they walking away with the sweet and moist taste of the Spirit, when they walk away because we have made sure that we asked for the Spirit of God to fill us that morning in prayer and reading or meditating on the Bible?
OR
• Did they walk away with the dry nasty taste of Renee or you, without the filling of the Spirit of God or even any season of Him at all?
Maybe Jesus doesn’t “taste” good to others because WE don’t taste good to them.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
religions...spirituality...
Acts 17:16-34
Paul visits Athens while he waits for Silas and Timothy in Berea. While he is there, he walks around the city and marketplace discovering the people. He “reasons with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks in the synagogues, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
One of the things he discovers is that the people of Athens are “in every way very religious.” They even have an altar in the marketplace for an unknown god. The poets of Athens even write of us as being God’s offspring. They appear to be open-minded. There are even some men of the Areopagus who consider themselves to be the custodians of teachings that introduce new religions and foreign gods. Paul knew that being religious wasn’t enough and we cannot capture Him in objects to worship. He also explains that in the past God overlooked the idol worship of Gentiles (He didn’t overlook it for the Jews, as seen in many accounts of the Old Testament). No longer will the Gentiles’ worship of idols and other gods be overlooked by God. We are all held accountable for our decisions and there will come a time where we will have to answer to God for our decisions.
Does some of this sound familiar to you? Aren’t we encouraged in this day to be open-minded and tolerant of other religions and spiritual practices? People are even described as being spiritual and this is a positive comment and sometimes a compliment or a way to tolerate your form of worship. This is not what Paul is saying here in Acts. Not all forms of religion/spirituality are acceptable to God. We must examine what we are choosing to practice and how we practice it. We may go to a church that speaks of Christ but is it a form of religion for us, going through the motions or a love relationship with Jesus where we are seeking to know Him more and love Him well?
Don’t get caught up in religion and spirituality and be deceived that it is enough. Jesus doesn’t simply want you to know that He lived here on earth and ascended to heaven, He wants you to know that He came to earth especially for you to make a way for you to follow Him to heaven. He wants YOU to be with Him in heaven. That’s why He died on the cross and rose again. He paid the price for your sin, my sin, so we wouldn’t have to and so we could one day be with Him in heaven. This isn’t religion; it’s discovering who Jesus is and why He loves us so much and how this can make a difference in your life like no other form of religion or spiritual practice can.
Paul visits Athens while he waits for Silas and Timothy in Berea. While he is there, he walks around the city and marketplace discovering the people. He “reasons with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks in the synagogues, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
One of the things he discovers is that the people of Athens are “in every way very religious.” They even have an altar in the marketplace for an unknown god. The poets of Athens even write of us as being God’s offspring. They appear to be open-minded. There are even some men of the Areopagus who consider themselves to be the custodians of teachings that introduce new religions and foreign gods. Paul knew that being religious wasn’t enough and we cannot capture Him in objects to worship. He also explains that in the past God overlooked the idol worship of Gentiles (He didn’t overlook it for the Jews, as seen in many accounts of the Old Testament). No longer will the Gentiles’ worship of idols and other gods be overlooked by God. We are all held accountable for our decisions and there will come a time where we will have to answer to God for our decisions.
Does some of this sound familiar to you? Aren’t we encouraged in this day to be open-minded and tolerant of other religions and spiritual practices? People are even described as being spiritual and this is a positive comment and sometimes a compliment or a way to tolerate your form of worship. This is not what Paul is saying here in Acts. Not all forms of religion/spirituality are acceptable to God. We must examine what we are choosing to practice and how we practice it. We may go to a church that speaks of Christ but is it a form of religion for us, going through the motions or a love relationship with Jesus where we are seeking to know Him more and love Him well?
Don’t get caught up in religion and spirituality and be deceived that it is enough. Jesus doesn’t simply want you to know that He lived here on earth and ascended to heaven, He wants you to know that He came to earth especially for you to make a way for you to follow Him to heaven. He wants YOU to be with Him in heaven. That’s why He died on the cross and rose again. He paid the price for your sin, my sin, so we wouldn’t have to and so we could one day be with Him in heaven. This isn’t religion; it’s discovering who Jesus is and why He loves us so much and how this can make a difference in your life like no other form of religion or spiritual practice can.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Noble in Character
Acts 17:10-15
I love the example of the Bereans! Can you imagine having Jesus describe you as “more noble in character?” The Bereans received the message with eagerness and then examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
These are dedicated and responsible people. Before they cast judgment on Paul/Silas, they listened with eagerness and not jealousy/judgment and then they went to the scriptures to verify their words before they responded.
When presented with a message from the Bible, we must listen with eagerness, ready to receive something new from the Bible. We listen with open and discerning hearts as the message is presented. But this eagerness is not without wisdom. These Bereans didn’t just take Paul at his word. They listened with eagerness and then examined the Scriptures every day (in most towns Paul spoke daily). They tested Paul’s gospel message against the Old Testament and verified that he was speaking truth. Then they decided to believe his message, receive Christ’s gift of salvation and start another church. They took their faith and new belief one step further by protecting Paul and helping him to escape the mob from Thessalonica by escorting him to Athens.
So in review, the Bereans listened to the message with eagerness, tested the message against the scripture, believed in Paul’s gospel message and then in faith stepped out to help Paul in a dangerous situation.
• Listen
• Discern
• Test against Scripture
• Believe
• Move forward in faith
Another take away from this passage is the reminder that people who teach or speak about the Word are not perfect people and they in and of themselves are not to be followed. We prayerfully check scripture and verify that what this person speaks is truth. Then we follow Christ and His Word spoken through a man/woman.
I love the example of the Bereans! Can you imagine having Jesus describe you as “more noble in character?” The Bereans received the message with eagerness and then examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
These are dedicated and responsible people. Before they cast judgment on Paul/Silas, they listened with eagerness and not jealousy/judgment and then they went to the scriptures to verify their words before they responded.
When presented with a message from the Bible, we must listen with eagerness, ready to receive something new from the Bible. We listen with open and discerning hearts as the message is presented. But this eagerness is not without wisdom. These Bereans didn’t just take Paul at his word. They listened with eagerness and then examined the Scriptures every day (in most towns Paul spoke daily). They tested Paul’s gospel message against the Old Testament and verified that he was speaking truth. Then they decided to believe his message, receive Christ’s gift of salvation and start another church. They took their faith and new belief one step further by protecting Paul and helping him to escape the mob from Thessalonica by escorting him to Athens.
So in review, the Bereans listened to the message with eagerness, tested the message against the scripture, believed in Paul’s gospel message and then in faith stepped out to help Paul in a dangerous situation.
• Listen
• Discern
• Test against Scripture
• Believe
• Move forward in faith
Another take away from this passage is the reminder that people who teach or speak about the Word are not perfect people and they in and of themselves are not to be followed. We prayerfully check scripture and verify that what this person speaks is truth. Then we follow Christ and His Word spoken through a man/woman.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
an angry mob
Out of jealousy the Jews of Thessalonica grab “bad characters” and stir up much trouble for Paul and Silas in Thessalonica and eventually Berea, causing them to leave each city. (Acts 17:1-9)
I have witnessed disputes and participated in disputes, some went well and some didn’t. As in everything, we must pray and seek God to examine our hearts before we begin a dispute or accusation. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us our hearts are deceitful about all things. We cannot trust ourselves and our opinions even when we have verses to back up our thoughts and opinions. We must check our motivations before bringing up a discussion or dispute especially one that could easily turn into an accusation. Our anger and unchecked hearts may just be working against what God is trying to accomplish in our lives, churches, places of employment, etc.
There was one time when I was first married that my husband and I stood up with friends and battled it out in a church meeting over a right that we thought we had. We had Biblical ground for the right we were defending. No verses said that we couldn’t do what we wanted to do. The church leaders, however, said that we could not be church leaders if we did this thing. In looking back on those nights, I know that our belief was Biblical but I cannot say that my attitude or the way I presented everything I said was Christ-like. Now it’s been many years since those discussions but it does proof a point. Even when battling legalism we must first seek God and ask Him what He wants us to do. Paul says that when he was on his missionary journeys he was all things to all people so that many would be saved. He knew his freedom in Christ but in no way did he want to make someone stumble in their personal walk with Christ, so if they refrained from doing something, in their presence he refrained and vise versa. (See 1 Corinthians 10:31-33)
The questions I should have asked myself were
• Is this discussion one that Jesus wants me to have?
• Can I say my heart is not filled with hatred and anger right now?
• When I defend my point, would Christ be pleased with me?
• Am I willing to surrender my right to follow Jesus’ plan for my life right now or is my right more important?
• Why is defending this right so important to me at this time?
There are many rights and beliefs that God does want us to battle for and sometimes to the death, as many Christians in foreign lands do today, right now. But before we battle to the proverbial death (in America), we must know that our hearts are right with Jesus, our motivation is pure and acceptable to Him, and we in all ways honor Jesus.
I have witnessed disputes and participated in disputes, some went well and some didn’t. As in everything, we must pray and seek God to examine our hearts before we begin a dispute or accusation. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us our hearts are deceitful about all things. We cannot trust ourselves and our opinions even when we have verses to back up our thoughts and opinions. We must check our motivations before bringing up a discussion or dispute especially one that could easily turn into an accusation. Our anger and unchecked hearts may just be working against what God is trying to accomplish in our lives, churches, places of employment, etc.
There was one time when I was first married that my husband and I stood up with friends and battled it out in a church meeting over a right that we thought we had. We had Biblical ground for the right we were defending. No verses said that we couldn’t do what we wanted to do. The church leaders, however, said that we could not be church leaders if we did this thing. In looking back on those nights, I know that our belief was Biblical but I cannot say that my attitude or the way I presented everything I said was Christ-like. Now it’s been many years since those discussions but it does proof a point. Even when battling legalism we must first seek God and ask Him what He wants us to do. Paul says that when he was on his missionary journeys he was all things to all people so that many would be saved. He knew his freedom in Christ but in no way did he want to make someone stumble in their personal walk with Christ, so if they refrained from doing something, in their presence he refrained and vise versa. (See 1 Corinthians 10:31-33)
The questions I should have asked myself were
• Is this discussion one that Jesus wants me to have?
• Can I say my heart is not filled with hatred and anger right now?
• When I defend my point, would Christ be pleased with me?
• Am I willing to surrender my right to follow Jesus’ plan for my life right now or is my right more important?
• Why is defending this right so important to me at this time?
There are many rights and beliefs that God does want us to battle for and sometimes to the death, as many Christians in foreign lands do today, right now. But before we battle to the proverbial death (in America), we must know that our hearts are right with Jesus, our motivation is pure and acceptable to Him, and we in all ways honor Jesus.
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