The Commitment of Our Hearts

One of the amazing promises of the Gospel is that new life is available in Jesus Christ.

This is the life that God created us to live. In John 10:10, the very passage Jesus declared his purpose to give people abundant life, Jesus called Satan a thief who steals, kills, and destroys the life God has given to people. Through Jesus, God gives life, but Satan is out there to make sure that life is not enjoyed.

 One of the ways Satan robs us of life is to convince us of lies about who we are. When we believe these lies we are prevented from taking the next step forward, we are held down with oppressive guilt, and we are impeded from developing relationships that bring accountability and encouragement into our lives. It is hard to step out in faith when you believe that you are fatally flawed in your character.

 The reason these lies are believable is because we know our weaknesses. Each one of us have sin in our lives that we have struggled with for years, and yet have not overcome.

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Created to Crave: Part 11

Trashed Significance 

Our souls crave.  We crave things like intimacy, truth, and significance.  In the Gospels we read about a man in search of significance.  Even though none of the three Gospels which record this encounter with Jesus give the man this title we have come to know him as the rich young ruler.  He came to Jesus with a question: "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?"

Jesus had finished teaching His followers about faith.  He told them that these children, who love and trust their parents, are the type of people who will inherit God’s Kingdom.  God’s Kingdom doesn’t belong to the rich and powerful or the moral and the religious, but those who live by love and trust in their heavenly Father.

Don't Let Life Slip Away

As I grow older the more aware I am of the passing moments of life.  The younger you are the easier it is to put things off by saying, "I will do it tomorrow".   With each passing day time slips through our fingers.  We have to remember that we only have a limited supply of tomorrows, and we don't know when they will run out.  The good intentions that we have will remain undone if we don't begin to make an effort to accomplish them..

We all have dreams, goals, and passions that we would like to accomplish.  Maybe you want to start improving the relationship you have with a distant brother/sister or maybe start to pursue a romantic relationship.  Perhaps you want to write a book or go back to college.  Maybe you want to change careers or start your own business.  Perhaps you want to serve God in a new capacity or go on some type of missions trip.  We will not accomplish any of it unless we put forth the effort to accomplish them.

Tomorrow will not be any less busy than today is. We can be certain that tomorrow will bring with it a new set of troubles and expectations.  The only way to achieve the good we wish to accomplish today is to start taking the steps we need to do in order to accomplish our dreams and goals.  Sooner or later we will realize that tomorrow will not come and the chances we had in the past are now forever lost.

The big problem I face in this process is the lure of entertainment.  It is so easy to get sucked into watching that next TV show we were told we couldn't miss or to watch the latest movies releases so we can have something to talk about with our friends and family.

The hours spent watching TV shows, movies, playing video games, and surfing the net are hours that we could have spent doing something productive.  Entertainment keeps us from using the blessings God has given us when we allow it to consume our lives.  I am not saying the entertainment is evil, what I am saying is that when we allow the entertainment industry to consume us we waste the time, money, and talents God has blessed us with.  We have to realize that one of the victims of our over indulgence of entertainment and other distractions are the good intentions of our lives.  Lost are the relationships we wanted to cultivate, the projects we wanted to complete, and the people we wanted to help.

In the book of Hebrews we read:

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-25; NLT).

There are two points I would like to draw from this passage in Hebrews.  First we are to encourage each other "to outbursts of love and good deeds"  It so much easier to accomplish the good we intend to do if we have people in our lives encouraging us to do the right thing rather than enabling us to waste the time God has granted.  if we do not have people in our corner urging us on is so easy just to be swept along by the current of everyday demands.  Encouragement is needed if we are going to make good on the intentions that we have.

There is is a flip side to this as well.  If we expect encouragement then it is very important that we offer encouragement.  We cannot expect from others what we are not willing to give.  I believe that was we get involved in the lives of other people we will find ourselves being more intentional with the way we use our time.

Second point is "that the day of his coming back is drawing near".  Jesus never gave us a blue print by which we are to map His return.  The "signs" that so many point to are so general that they can apply to almost any age, and as we look at history we will notice that they have been.  That doesn't mean the Jesus isn't coming back, but it does mean that we can't predict when He will return.  Even if Jesus doesn't come back in our lifetime (though I have a belief in my heart that He will) we still have the fact that with each passing day our death becomes more of a reality.  We can only put things off for so long before time and death catches up to us.  Then it will not matter what our good intentions were because they have simply remained intentions.

We can intend to do good all we want, but if we never start to work toward accomplishing them they won't mean a thing.  Unlike in gift giving it is not the thought that counts.  It comes down to whether or not we will use what God has given us to accomplish the good works that He has called us to do.  What are you doing to accomplish the good you want to do?

Good Habits

One of the realities of this stage of my life is the fact that I am unable to attend Sunday morning worship on a weekly basis. My current job requires that I work every other weekend and I am scheduled to work the 8am to 4pm shift. So I have missed Sunday morning worship more times in the last four months than I have in my entire life leading up to that point.

What I have realized is the importance of good habits in our lives. I am surprised how fast this every other week thing became the new normal and how I don't even give it a second thought now about missing Sunday morning worship. There is no doubt in my mind that without other good and essential habits it would be very easy to let the current of life to sweep me away.

One of the habits that I have is a morning Bible reading, devotional, and prayer time. These private disciplines are essential in rooting my life in God. There is no doubt that in the hustle and bustle of life that a daily time with God helps give us focus on life and taps us into God's transforming power.

A second habit that has proved to be essential is weekly participation with our life group. This is such an important time for me and functions much like Sunday morning for me. We have a time of praising God, a time of study and discussion, and a great time of prayer. To be honest without this group I would not be able to miss Sunday morning worship as much as I do. I regularly thank God for this small group of people.

The writer of Hebrews wrote:

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-25; NLT).

We need good habits in our lives. Without them we put ourselves in danger of slipping away. Cultivate good habits in your life.

We Are Supplied for Life

At times it is easy to approach the Christian life as if God has done His part in saving me from sin, but now it is up to me to do my best not to sin again.  That is why it is so easy to fall back into a life that is dominated by the law, because we believe that the main problem in our lives is sin.  In order to keep from sinning we erect all these little laws to keep us on the straight and narrow.  Doesn't that sound familiar.

I know this will be a radical statement, but I believe that it is absolutely true: Sin is not the biggest obstacle in our lives!  In never has been.  Sin is but the consequence of the biggest obstacle we have to experience true life.  That obstacle is a lack of faith in God.  We don't trust God to do the right thing, to provide for our needs, or to lead us on the path of life.  Since we don't trust God we end up doing our own thing, doing what seems right to us in the moment, or going along with the flow of the world and in the process we turn our backs on God and cut ourselves off from the very source of life that we need.

The true and abundant life that Jesus promises us begins and ends with our faith in God.  We need to trust God to provide what we need for life.  Gary Carpenter in What the Bible Says about the Heart wrote, "However, God has supplied us with all we need to keep our hearts healthy, to keep the deadening effects of sin at bay, and to help us grow strong for eternal life" (p. 110).

God hasn't saved us and then set us out on our own with the command to try harder and do better.  No, he has rescued us from the clutches of Satan, sin, and death and He has set our feet on paths of righteousness.  He wants us to succeed and to have life and so God provides what we need along the way.  Peter wrote:

 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3-4; ESV)

God has promised to provide what we need for life!  We need to trust Him in this. So the question is how do we do this?  How do we learn to trust God more?

Let me offer two steps that will help us get started.  First, we need to spend time with other Christians.  The writer of Hebrews wrote:

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25; ESV)

How do we hold on to the hope of life?  We meet together and encourage one another.  A huge tragedy that existes in many church families today is that there is little spiritual encouragement.  We don't know how to talk to one another about what God is doing in our lives and we become uncomfortable when some one explains how they have experienced God at work.  In the process we miss out on the great reminder that God is at work in our lives and in the world around us.

The second step is that we need to focus on God's kingdom.  In Colossians 3:1-4 the apostle Paul wrote:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (ESV)

Our focus should be taken off the things of this world: wealth, success, politics, entertainment, possessions, and power.  Our focus should be on God and His Kingdom.  What is God's desire for the world?  How can I use my resource and talents for God's mission?  Who can I encourage with God's truth?  What can I get rid of that is standing in the way of living the life God created me to live? We need to examine our lives and determine if our hearts and minds are set on the things of this world and on godly things.

The Christian life is more than trying our best to live a godly life.  It is about learning to trust God more and more as He guides us along the path of righteousness.  We cannot create life on our own, we need to trust God to give us the life we need each day.

Citizens of God's Kingdom

{Ephesians 2:19-22; ESV}

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2:11-18, reminds his readers of their previous reality. They were excluded from God’s Kingdom, and therefore they had no hope. Yet, something happened to change their status. That something was Christ Jesus who broke down the wall (verse 14). Through Jesus they were given hope and they were reconciled to God.

Stop for a moment and remember what your former life looked like. Even those of us who have grown up in a Christian family can remember the time when we realized that we were outside of God’s Kingdom. I vividly remember the night when I realized that I couldn’t rely on the faith of my family and that I had to have my own faith. That was a scary night, but fortunately I knew the One I had to turn to in order to find forgiveness and hope.

That is what served as an introduction to what the apostle Paul wrote in verses 19-22 of Ephesians 2. What Paul wants us to understand is that we are part of a great sacred community: The Kingdom of God.

Before, while we were in our sin, we were outsiders, we didn’t belong to God’s Kingdom, but now we do. We were citizens of the world, and foreigners in the Kingdom of God, but now our citizenship has changed. The world is no longer our home, we are pilgrims in this land, because our citizenship is now in Heaven.

I want to point out two implications that come with being citizens of God’s Kingdom. The first implication is that we are not alone.  I am not the only citizen of the Kingdom, and though it might feel like I am all alone at times, that is just a feeling and not reality. In this Kingdom reside all the faithful who lived under the Old Covenant as well as all of the faithful who follow Christ Jesus. The writer of Hebrews writes of a “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). It encourages me to think about all the people who have lived faithful lives, because it reminds me that I am not the only one to experience the struggles of faith.

The second implication I would like to point out is that there are certain expectations for a citizen of God’s Kingdom. One of the things that have horrified us, as U.S. citizens, has been the accusation of brutal and inhumane conduct by our military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have an expectations that our military would conduct themselves in a better manner.

There are expectations for living the God has placed on the citizens of His Kingdom. One of those expectations is that we are to be servants. We need to help those people who are in need and in the process bring God's love and hope into their lives. A second expectation is that we live moral lives. The moral standard that we live by needs to be better than the rest of the world. People need to recognize that there is a difference in the way we live and the way the world lives.

What a word of hope we find in this passage. We are part of God’s Kingdom! You and I need to allow this reality to shape the way we live. Why? We are representatives, ambassadors, of God’s Kingdom, and is essential that we to play the part.

Be Encouraged

{1 Thessalonians 5:9-11; ESV}

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Take a moment and ponder what Mike Yaconelli wrote in his book Messy Spirituality:

Sprinkled throughout our congregations are good people who have been paralyzed by feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness, insecurity and self-doubt, insignificance and guilt, which are what cripples most of us who are trying to follow Christ. (p. 24)

Think about your church family. If we are struggling with sin, temptation, doubt, uncertainty, guilt, loneliness, insignificance, heartache, and fear, then it would seem likely that the other people we worship with struggle with similar things in our lives. Yet, there is an unspoken expectation that Christians need to have it all together, and so we end up hiding our true selves from one another. This is what Mike Yaconelli made me think about: Followers of Jesus need to encourage one another. Following Jesus is hard if we don’t have a support system to help us keeping going when we would rather give up.

I don’t know about you, but I have been there. In 2005 I was ready to throw in the towel and walk away from God, Jesus, and the Church. Guilt, doubt, and insignificance weighed me down and I wondered if this Christian thing was worth it. I have been one of those people sprinkled in the congregation, but I wasn’t an occasional visitor I was the youth minister. If I was struggling as the youth minister imagine how the occasional visitor is feeling. Think about the times you have struggled and the reasons you didn’t give up.

The New Testament book of Hebrews was written to a church family who were struggling. They were ready to give up in the face of persecution. Apparently they were Jews living in Rome and had accepted Jesus. These Christians had already been through one persecution where they lost most of their possessions. This new wave of persecution though was threatening their lives. A return to Judaism, which was a legal religion, was very appealing to them. It is in this context that the writer wrote:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25, ESV)

The writer of Hebrews called His readers to encourage one another, the echoes of his call fall upon us today. Following Jesus isn’t easy and we need all the encouragement we can get. How will we hold on to the hope we have in Jesus if we don’t have people encouraging us along the way? Encouragement is essential for remaining faithful through the struggles of life.

How can we receive the encouragement that we need? Encouragement doesn’t find us by accident. We have to take initiative if we hope to be encouraged in our lives. The writer of Hebrews provides us with two ways we can take the initiative to find the encouragement we need.

The first way we receive encouragement, according to the writer of Hebrews is to meet together. In other words we have to be involved in the lives of others and we need to allow people into our lives. The negative promise of the passage is that if we isolate ourselves then we will not be encouraged. We need to take the initiative to meet together.

Along these same lines we have to be willing to invite people in. Just because somebody is sitting in a pew or attending a small group doesn’t mean they are meeting together. We can be present in body but absent in every other way. By engaging other people we invite them to be part of the Church Family or the group and allow them to find encouragement.

The second way that we find encouragement is through faithful examples. Chapter 11 of Hebrews contains a list of Old Testament saints who endured struggles and remained faithful to God. It was important for the first readers to be reminded that following God isn’t easy, it never has been, and that there have been people who have endured to the end.

We need to be reminded of faithful examples. They could be ancient saints, modern day believers, or someone in between. These examples often provide encouragement and hope for the remind us what God can do through the most difficult of circumstances.

Following Jesus isn’t easy. In our church families their are dozens of people struggling with their faith, and you might be one of them. Through these dark times of we life we need encouragement, and that encouragement is found in fellow believers. Are you being encouraged? Are you an encouragement?

Righteousness Begins in the Heart

Jesus called Satan a thief who intends to steal life from us (John 10:10).  One of the ways Satan robs us of life is to get us to believe lies about ourselves.  These lies can prevent us from taking steps to change our lives, can hold us down with oppressive guilt, and can hold us back from developing relationships with other people.  It is hard to step out in faith when you believe that you don’t have what it takes or that you are a failure in some way.

This is clearly seen when we decide to attack the sin that continues to be part of our lives.  Too often the followers of Jesus label ourselves moral failures when we are unable to achieve victory over the sin that plagues our lives.

You may have tried to stop gossiping, but every now and then you can’t resist the temptation to pass along a particular juicy bit of information. Perhaps you have been trying to quit telling “dirty” jokes, but when you get together with the guys you can’t seem to pass up the opportunity to join in.  Then there are the things that you do when no one else is around, from what you look at on the internet to the movies that you watch.   All followers of Jesus have sin that seems to stick with them no matter what they do.

That is what I want to encourage all of us today. Yes, God wants us to overcome the sin in our lives. Sin hinders our relationship with Him and is a stumbling block as we try to reach out to others with the grace of God.

I believe that God is more interested in the desires of our hearts than our sinlessness. God is pleased when we enter the battle against sin and start to take action against those behaviors that have held us in bondage for so long.  Through the struggle we have with sin God shapes us into the people He wants us to be. 

Please remember have that every sin you commit doesn’t make you a moral failure.  As long as we live in these bodies of flesh in a world that is dominated by evil (things opposed to the life God wants us to live) we are going to sin. We need to remember the amazing grace of God, for without the safety net of grace every sin would result in our destruction. Not only is God patient with us but it is also only by His power that ultimate victory from sin can be achieved. We cannot undo the sin we have committed so our only hope is to be saved from sin, that is what God has done through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The habits that have been ingrained in our lives have often taken years to form, and we cannot expect to overcome those sins overnight. We are going to win and lose battles as we fight the war of righteousness. It is an act of faith and it pleases God when we engage the enemy and begin the long campaign to rid our lives of sin in order to develop the holy character God wants us to have.

The writer of Hebrews wrote about this truth:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
 
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1-4; ESV)

These witnesses to the life of faith all struggled with the sin in their lives. The great icons of faith in the Old Testament (Abraham, Moses, and David) all had periods of life when they disobeyed God and sinned, but God still counted them as righteous. Why? Because their hearts belonged to Him and they were willing to follow God wherever He led them.

What matters most to God are our hearts. We can beat ourselves up because we still have sin in our lives, but God is pleased when we faithfully follow Him. I am not saying sin is not important, what I am saying is that when our hearts belong to God then sin becomes insignificant. Sin is insignificant because we are willing to do whatever it takes to live our lives according to God’s will. That means we will repent and we will take steps to keep ourselves from falling into the same traps again. To have a heart that belongs to God means that we will fight against the sin we have in our lives.

Satan will attack us and try to get us to doubt our salvation by reminding us of the sin we cannot seem to overcome. He wants us to get frustrated and give up. Remember as long as we are in conflict with sin then God is pleased, because He knows our hearts belong to Him.

Bringing about Change

Influence is the way we help to bring change about in the lives of other people. This is true not only for us personally but also for communities and nations. The change we long to see happen in the lives of other people, in our communities, in our churches, and in our nation begins with our influence.

One of the killers of influence is power or authority. When we seek to bring about change based on our power or the position we hold we will ultimately fail to see the results we hoped to have. People may adhere as long as we are there to enforce obedience, but they will not comply when our backs are turned. A change of heart can't take place by force and resentment quickly replaces any influence we may have had.

Looking at the life of Jesus we notice He sought to bring about change based on influence. He is the one person who could have rightly demanded obedience and yet He sought to influence people by showing them respect and compassion and then providing them with a choice.

Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the apostles, and Zacchaeus (just to name a few) are people who were influenced by Jesus and decided (except Judas) to give their lives to Him. By showing them respect and compassion Jesus was able to allow these people to discover who He really was.

What we find in Jesus in in stark contrast to what we read in the Old Testament. The Ten Commandments and all the other laws given to direct Israel's daily life could not bring about change. These people continually turned away from God, even after witnessing awesome displays of His power.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons the writer of Hebrews wrote: If the first covenant had been faultless there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it (Hebrews 8:7; NLT). This doesn't mean that God made a mistake by establishing the first covenant. One of the things it does mean is that God was trying to show us the inadequacies of the ways we want to do things. Law cannot bring about salvation and Power cannot change a person's heart. God wants us to realize that every other way is inferior to the way of Jesus.

Jesus' way to bring about change is not about power, but humility and service. It isn't about authority but about influence. It is the way of the Lion who became a Lamb who was Killed (Revelation 5:5,6). Jesus gave up His power and gave His life away in order to influence people so that they might choose to change.

Change is not going to happen as the result of laws and political power, but through the influence brought about by humble and compassionate service. We will only see the change we want to happen in this country when we trust God enough to do it His way. The way of the ballot box and political clout is the way of the world, the path of Jesus is influence due to giving our lives away.

God Uses Our Pain

We have heard it said that every thing happens for a reason. While I don't know if that is exactly true I am certain that any circumstance we face can be used for good. If we allow God to lead us He will redeem even the worst experiences of our lives.

That is the example we have with Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and then imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. After he became second-in-command in Egypt and help save thousands of lives by preparing for the drought God told him would come. In this same way he was able to save his brothers. Joseph told these men; "But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me hear ahead of you to preserve your lives" (Genesis 45:5; NLT). God used the evil actions of Joseph's brothers to get Joseph right where Joseph needed to be.

Joseph was able to see how God continued to work through the evil in his life to bring about God's plan. Yet Joseph only experienced this wonderful blessing because he continued to obey God through it all. Joseph would have missed the "reason" for his suffering if he did not remain faithful to God.

When we are faced with evil circumstances in our lives we have the option to give up and participate in the sin which we find all around us or we can resolve to go with God no matter what happens. The problem with the second choice is that it could take years before we see the light at the end of the tunnel, and along the way there will be many more opportunities to give up.

This is why it is so important to have people in our lives who will encourage us and help us along the right path (one reason I find Joseph so amazing is that he remained faithful to God even though he lacked the support system of other God Followers). The writer of Hebrews reminds us:

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God
can be trusted to keep his promises. Think of ways to encourage one another
to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting
together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-35; NLT).

In this evil world bad things happen, dreams shatter, and hearts are broken. It is a reality of life and so we need to remember that God will redeem these thing if we are faithful to Him. He will use the worst and most painful experiences in our lives for good. God will not let the pain of His children go to waste.

Loving Other Christians

{Hebrews 6:10-12; NLT}

For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience.

The central command of the Christian faith is love. Love is what sets us apart from the world and makes us beacons of light in the dark world. If we are going to be lights in the world we need to love.

In this passage we notice the writer of Hebrews encourages his readers to love their fellow Christians. It is through this love, he says, that we demonstrate our love for God. I find it very interesting that he states that we are to care for other Christians. After all shouldn't we love everyone equally?

This is a valid question because we have been told that God loves everyone. I have no doubt that God loves everyone and He desires them all to be saved. The Bible tells us this much. The Bible is also very clear that we are to love other Christians first and foremost. Is this a contradiction?

Perhaps we should take a look at our lives. A teacher can love all the kids in her classroom, but the love she has for them pales in comparison to the love she has for her own children. A guy can love all his friends and buddies, but that love is nothing compared to the love he has for his wife. The fact that God loves the Church differently, and expects us to love other Christians differently, doesn't mean that God doesn't love the rest of the world, but simply points out the special relationship that the Church has with God.

Remember that Jesus didn't die for just a person, but Jesus died for a people. Jesus died for the Church, and that makes us very special to Him. We are God's Children and the Bride of Christ and both of these images remind us that we have a very special relationship with Him.

This might seem unfair, but in reality when Christ Followers love other Christians first it makes the Church a very attractive group to be a part of. The world is a hard place filled with rejection and heartache. So many people are searching for a place to belong and place to be loved no matter who they are or what they have done. By loving each other, rather than bickering and fighting with each other, we become a place of hope in a land of hopelessness.

It also appears from this passage that by loving each other we grow spiritually. The best way we grow in our faith is not through a study or listening to a sermon series, but it is through experience and community. When we are able to do things with other Christians because we enjoy their company and have their best interest at heart we begin to develop the heart of God. We desire the things God desires and we become spiritually sharp and full of passion.

It is by having this heart of God beating in our chests which helps us down the road of becoming the people God created us to be. When we care about the things He cares about we become a little more like Him. The people of faith of old were set apart because they had this heart. They were willing to sacrifice in order to do what God wanted them to do, because they wanted the same thing God wanted.

In our quest to become more like the people God wants us to be we have to start loving other people, first other Christians, and then the people around us. This is how we learn what is most important to God and allow that truth to become part of our hearts.

About Christ Following

To be a Christian means that we embrace a life of faith. We have pretty much equated faith with mental acceptance of certain doctrines.  For us faith is all about what we believe.

There  is doubt that belief is the foundational element of faith.  The apostle Paul tells us as much when he wrote:

But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! (Romans 10:14-15; ESV).

We cannot  call to God, trust Jesus for salvation, without first hearing and believing the Gospel.  Belief is absolutely essential to faith, but to always equate the two would be a mistake.  It is apparent to me that the Bible teaches that true faith is demonstrated in what we do.  I would put it this way faith is belief in action.

James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that the faith of Abraham was discovered in how he lived:

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  (James 2:21-24; ESV)

To truly have faith in Jesus means that it will be seen in how we live.  This is more than "going to church," singing praise songs, reading "Christian" books, studying the Bible, and praying.  I am not saying these things are bad, but adding certain rituals to our lives doesn't  mean we are living a life a faith.  Faith, when lived out, will affect every area of our lives.  Faith will change how we date, what we consider to be entertainment, how we spend our money, how we relate to other people, and a host of other choices we face each day.

Choosing is how faith moves from mere belief to action in our lives. Abraham had to choose to leave his home and follow God into the unknown, to obey God when it was difficult to do, and to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  Based on what he believed about God Abraham made choices that affect how he lived his life.

In the same way Christians are people who are to live by faith, choosing to do what God has told us through His Son Jesus.  The writer of Hebrews wrote:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1:1-4; ESV).

We trust God and His Word and live our lives accordingly.

The way God wants us to live is found in the way Jesus lived. That means Jesus is our example on how we are to live life.  In fact is is impossible to have a relationship with God when we don't follow Jesus.  The apostle John makes this clear; whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked (1 John 2:6; ESV). We need to follow the example of Jesus.

This is what being a Christian is all about.  We often get so distracted from this main thing that we have forgotten what true faith is.  To live a life of faith, for a Christian, means to follow Jesus.  We cannot call ourselves Christians if we do not follow Jesus' example in how we live.

So how do we follow Jesus? It isn't like we can physically follow Him since He ascended into heaven 2,000 years ago.  Not only is Jesus not here for us to physically follow, but there are also many people who claim Jesus for their personal agendas, and so it can become very difficult to understand who Jesus really is.  Is He a feminist? A Republican? A vegetarian? A Muslim prophet?

The starting place for following Jesus begins with the four Gospels which record for us Jesus' life. That means we need to be people of the text as we learn about how Jesus lived and what He taught.

Following Jesus isn't just about being people of the text, but we must also choose to apply that text to our lives.  That is why the disciplines of study, meditation, prayer, and fellowship are so important in our lives.  These are the means by which we take the text and process it so it becomes part of our lives.

If we are going to follow Jesus it begins by believing in Him, but then it moves to obeying Him.  Faith is the combination of belief and obedience.  We are people of faith when adjust our lives to the will of Jesus.

Don't Give Up

We have all experienced the unfairness of life. We may have been overlooked for a spot on the basketball team because we didn't have the right last name. Perhaps we were passed over for a job promotion because of our personality, or perhaps the girl of our dreams rejects us by telling us that she loves us like a brother. There is doubt that life is filled with periods of time when thing just don't go our way.

These periods of time can be very disheartening and cause us to want to give up. It is bad enough to watch the unfairness of life happen to other people. From rich people getting way with murder to the horrible deaths of young children it easy to become overwhelmed with evil in the world. Yet we can stand back and intellectually give an account for why these type of things happen and distance ourselves from them.

It is another story when the unfairness of life comes into our lives. Though we may not verbally say it we believe that because we are Christians God should shield us from the evil which exists in the world, but He doesn't (at least not in the way we want Him to). After faithfully following Jesus we shouldn't God reward our service by giving us the life that we want? When He doesn't we are tempted to throw in the towel and just do our own thing.

Christians through the centuries have struggled with this feeling. People have turned away from God because He did not come through the way they expected Him to. It made it seem that all that they did and all their prayers meant nothing. If God isn't going to come through for us why should we give Him our lives to Him?

For you who have children you know that you cannot give into their every whim. Why? Because they don't about the consequences of their action, they have limited knowledge of how their actions affect their future. While you are doing what is best for them they often think you are being unfair.

The same is true with our relationship with God. We have a very limited knowledge of the future and what God is doing in the world. This limited knowledge makes it seem that God is unfair when He doesn't come through in the way we want Him to. Sometimes we have to trust God will the right thing even though it makes no sense to us.

The early Christians struggled with wanting to give up too. The trusted God and followed Jesus, but for many of them life didn't get better, it actually got worse. They were expected to make bigger sacrifices while being opposed by friends, family, religious authorities, and governmental authorities. They thought God was unfair.

The unknown writer of Hebrews wrote:

For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown you love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience (6:10-12; NLT).

We will never fully understand everything that God does or why He allows certain things to happen to us, but as we continue to follow Jesus and love one another we begin to develop a better understanding of what God is doing. Not because we gain some special knowledge, but because we experience God working though us to restore His Creation.

We Will Have Fear

I believe that one of the greatest obstacles that we have to overcome as we strive for maturity in Christ Jesus is fear.  Fear is what prevents us from stepping out in faith and experiencing God at work in us as well as in the world.  We choose comfort and security over risk and uncertainty.  At face value it seems like a no brainer until we realize that are stuck in a rut of existence rather than traveling the road of life.

John Ortberg had this to say about fear:

The fear will never go away. Why? Because each time I want to grow, it will involve going into new territory, taking on new challenges.  And each time I do that, I will experience fear again...The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort.  This  means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life (If You Want to Walk on Water You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat; p. 21)

You and I will always experience fear, even as we follow Jesus, but our goal is not to allow that fear to determine the choices that we make.  To live with courage is not to live with out fear, but to make the right choice in spite of the fear.  How do we do that?  Let me offer a few suggestions.

First I would suggest don’t go it alone.  My personal experience has taught me that it is easier to respond with courage with a friend by your side.  We need the help of other people if we are going to grow.  Perhaps that is why we are constantly urged in the New Testament to be part of each other lives.  Hebrews 10:24-25 reads; And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (ESV).  We need to ENCOURAGE (fill each other with courage) each other as we follow Christ Jesus.

Second I would suggest that we meditate and pray.  Sometimes we get ourselves so worked up over a situation that we totally lose perspective on it.  Whatever is causing us fear can seem so huge to us that it ends up pushing God totally out of the picture.  This is why it is essential that we take time to sit down, pray, and think on words from Scripture.  Words like these well known words from Psalms:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me (Psalm 23:1-4; ESV).

Prayer and meditation help us regain a proper perspective on reality.

A last suggestion I would make is that we need a Kingdom mindset.  I think the reason why fear is such a powerful force in our lives is because we are focused on our lives.  What we are seeking is to make a nice little comfortable life for us and we don’t want anything to come in and tear that life apart, so we hold back.  Think about these words from Jesus:  “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33; ESV). The context for this saying is Jesus’ teaching on not to worry, for God knows our needs.  What Jesus tells us us that when we seek after His Kingdom then everything we need for life and godliness will be given to us.  We may not always get what we want, but we will receive what we  need.  This promise should provide comfort as we face the fears in our lives.

We will have fear, but it doesn’t have rule our lives.  May we be people who live lives of courage as we follow after Jesus.

To Be Different

One of the expectations God has for His people is that we live differently than the rest of the world.  There are areas in life where I find this quiet easy to do, but there are other areas when it is a huge struggle.  I want to be different, but the way of the world seems to be the better way to go.

When we don’t live differently from the world, not only are we saying that we don’t trust God to provide for our lives, but we also hide the light God has placed in our lives.  It is through the process of being different and stand apart from the world that we become lights in the darkness.  For this reason the apostle Paul wrote:

Don’t participate in the things these people do.  For though your hearts were once full of darkness, now you are full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it!  For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true (Ephesians 5:7-9; NLT).

Since it is essential for the followers of Christ Jesus to be different there is a question we need to ask ourselves: How do we prevent ourselves from being influenced by this culture in which we live?  I believe the writer of Hebrews has provided us with some answers to these questions:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.  And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.  He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward.  Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven (Hebrews 12:1-2; NLT).

In these two verses we find four actions we must do if we are going to live differently from the world.

First we must remember the people of faith who have gone before us. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith...

Hebrews 11 is filled with the examples of faith.  Men and women who trusted God through the ups and downs of life.  The writer of Hebrews then tells us: be encouraged by these people.  The examples of Abraham, Moses, Ruth, David, Esther, Daniel, and Peter should give us encouragement as we attempt to live faithful lives in our culture.  Remember there is a reason God preserved the examples of these men and women on the pages of Scripture so lets learn from them.

It is also important to remember that through the past two thousand years more and more people have been added to this huge crowd of witnesses.  People like Martin Lurther, John Calvin, Alexander Campbell, Jim Elliot, C. S. Lewis, Lillian Trasher, Rachel Scott, and Si Steele (my grandfather).  In other words we are still surrounded by witnesses, both living and dead, of the life of faith.  We can gain encouragement and wisdom by turning to their examples faith.

The second action we need to do is remove the hindrances; let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.

Change is difficult.  One reason it is difficult is because it means admitting that our way is wrong.  If we were already living faithful and righteous lives then change wouldn’t need to happen.  A second reason why change is hard is because sin tends to be habit forming.  Therefore, our bodies have developed the habit of not trusting God, and like any other habit it is hard to break.

Keeping those things in mind we still need to face the reality that there are areas in our lives that need to be changed.  We all have junk in our our lives which will need to dealt with.  Part of the problem is that each one of us have a different set of junk that needs to be dealt with, and therefore there are no easy answers in the process of life change.  Yet whatever our sins and issues maybe they are all hindering us from become the people God created us to be.  That is why it is so essential that we deal with them, even if that means going to a professional for help.

The universal weight that is hindering us is sin.  Yes, the weight of sin will different for us, but each of us has sin in our lives.  We need to attack it, struggle with it, confess it to God, and continually turn our hearts back to God (that is what repentance is).  We cannot go with God and allow sin to remain in our live unchecked.  If we are not struggling to rid our lives of sin then we are not living a life of faith.

The third action we must do is run the race; And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

I like what Erwin McManus wrote in Seizing Your Divine Moment:

“God has created you to do something.  It is not enough to stop the wrong and then be paralyzed when it comes to the right.  God created you to do good.  And doing this requires initiative.  There is a subtle danger of hiding apathy behind piety.  Getting rid of the sin in your life?  Great.  Now it’s time to do something” (p. 35).

God has created us to do good.  That means we are to bring love and truth into the lives of other people.  I like to say that we have been blessed so that we can be a blessing.  Running the race that God has given to us is about doing the good works that God has planned for us when He created us (Ephesians 2:10).  When we use the blessings (talents, resources, and relationships) God has given us to bring good into this world then we are running the race of faith.

The final action is to remember Jesus; We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
First, we need to remember who Jesus is and what His life means for us.  Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  His sinless life allowed Him to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins, His brutal death was the price that redeemed us from our sins, and His resurrection not only confirms the reality of our forgiven sins, but it also becomes the promise of new life for you and me.

Second, we need to follow the example of Jesus.  The way Jesus lived, loved, and worshipped God are the examples for us in how we are to live our lives.  Jesus’ life and teachings provide us with the best interpretation of the Law, God’s expectation for how His people are to live, and so it is only by following the example of Jesus that we can live up to that example.

We can only keep our eyes on Jesus and reflect on his life by learning about his life.  I think one of the reasons we fall is because we have created an image of Jesus that appeals to us rather than discovering who Jesus really is.  So if we are truly going to understand Jesus then we need to spend time in God’s Word, especially in the Gospels, so we can have a better understanding and appreciation of who Jesus is and what He did for us.

Followers of Jesus Christ need to be different from the rest of the world.  This doesn’t mean that we seek ways to be strange and to stand out from the crowd, but it does mean that we are intentionally following Jesus rather than allowing ourselves to be pushed along by the trends and fades of this world.  Let’s face it, the easy way to live is to participate in the activities of this world and to go along with our culture, so we must fight the hard fight to be different.  This fight begins, not by making a list of resolutions or trying to summon up the strength to tackle the sinful habits and the dark passions of our hearts, but by falling on our knees and crying out to God for love, forgiveness, and His Holy Spirit.  In other words, this is not about our strength, but it is about relying on God for His strength, and that is what will make us different from the rest of the world.

Great Friendships

One of the virtues that runs through J. R. R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings is the virtue of friendship.  It is obvious to anyone who has read the story that Tokien put a lot of value in the positive impact friendships can have in our lives.  One of the places this value is seen is during the selection process of people who will make up the fellowship.

‘But that will leave no place for us!’ cried Pippin in dismay. ‘We don’t want to be left behind. We want to go with Frodo.’

‘That is because you do not understand and cannot imagine what lies ahead,’ said Elrond.
‘Neither does Frodo,’ said Gandalf, unexpectedly supporting Pippin. ‘Nor do any of us see clearly. It is true that if these hobbits understood the danger, they would not dare go. But they would still wish to go, or wish that they dared, and be shamed and unhappy. I think, Elrond, that in this matter it would be well to trust rather to their friendship than to great wisdom. Even if you chose for us an elf-lord, such as Glorfindel, he could not storm the Dark Tower, nor open the road to the Fire by the power that is in him’ (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; p. 310 ; emphasis added)

I would suggest that the desire for good strong friendship is a desire each one of us possesses. We long to have people in our lives that we can count on through thick and thin. People who we know will be there for us no matter what happens. People who we can love, serve, and with whom we live life.

Let’s face it, this world has hardship and pain in store for us. I am willing to be that if we received right now the detailed accounting of the rest of our lives each and every one of us would be afraid to continue. Our future holds the death of loved ones, the slow decay of our bodies, money problems, relationship issues, and various other struggles. The future is a scary place.

We can come up with answers and theories for all these various problems on this side of our lives, before we go through those trials, but those theories mean little once we get there. C. S. Lewis wrote the book The Problem of Pain which gave a logical and thought out answer to why a loving God allows pain and suffering in this world. Those answers provided little comfort as he dealt with his wife’s death and authored A Grief Observed.

What will get us through the through the tough times that lie ahead is not just wisdom and truth, but also the love and encouragement found in friendships. In the dark times in our lives what we need most are not answers to questions but companionship. We need people willing to come alongside of us and offer a word of encouragement, to serve us in our needs, and to show us they love us when the loneliness threatens to overwhelm us.

This type of companionship is to be found in the church.  Consider what the Bible says about what our relationships with other Christians should look like:

Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law (Romans 13:8; NLT).

Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him ( Ephesians 5:1-2; NLT).

Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25; NLT).

We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters. But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help—how can God’s love be in that person? (1 John 3:16-17; NLT)

God wants us to love each other.  So our church families should be refuges from the divisions, gossip, and hatred that plagues the world.  Yet, I believe that within this big picture we need a group of 5-10 fellow believers that we are intimately connected with, people we know have our backs. That is how we are going to make it through life.

God could have revealed to us all the secrets of the universe and given us all the wisdom we need to answer any question that came up as we live our lives. Instead God provide us with the church and from within the church He has provided us with friends. Great wisdom and knowledge are not the only provisions we need to get through this life, we also need great friendships.  I hope that you have a few.

Spirit Led Sexuality

I was at Walmart a few nights ago and I decided to go back to the magazine section to see if there was an issue of Backpacker Magazine available.  As I scanned the shelves in a vain attempt to find the magazine I was looking for I was assaulted by sex.  Sex dominated the magazine covers from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and other men's magazines to the promises made of the covers of the women’s magazines.  It would not be an exaggeration to say the sex occupies a central place in our culture, and thus in our lives.

Sex is everywhere and it is so very easy to go along with the culture and not give this great blessing of God the place of honor that it deserves.  Followers of Christ Jesus need to remember what the writers of Hebrews wrote: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous (Hebrews 13:4; ESV). This begins in our thoughts and desires, which means if we are going to hold sex in honor then we need to break away from the patterns of this world.  In other words we can no longer allow our flesh to guide our sexuality.

Our flesh (I dislike the term “sinful nature”) is firmly rooted in the things of this world.  It craves things that are sensual, things that can experienced by the five senses, and thus it is selfish.  Since the flesh is selfish it distorts the cravings for the good things God has given and goes on an all out pursuit to consume those things.  I think sex and food are two blessings God has given that our flesh selfishly consumes with negative effects on our bodies and souls.

The problem for you and me, even though we follow Jesus, is that we live in a world that has gone wrong, and we are faced with the reality of people being lead by their flesh in pursuit of sex, and it is easy to think that this is what sex is meant to be.  Things as innocent as love songs, chick flicks, and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to culturally accepted things like steamy movies, homosexuality, and pornography to disturbing things like child pornography, bestiality, and sadism cry out the terrible truth that our sexuality has gone terribly wrong.  When left unchecked our flesh will take us to places we never intended to go, and so it is very important that we don’t allow it to lead our lives, and that includes our sexuality. How do we break free from being led by the flesh?

The simple answer is that we allow the Spirit to guide our lives.  The apostle Paul wrote; But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Galatians 5:16, 17; ESV).  Paul is clear that if we don’t want to gratify cravings of our flesh we need to let the Spirit guide our lives.  The trouble that we run into, at least the trouble I have had, is that I haven’t always been clear on how we let the Spirit lead our lives.  When we read on in Galatians 5 we don’t find a guide on how to be Spirit led, but we get two pictures.  In verses 19-21 Paul gives us a description of what it looks like to be lead by the flesh and in verses 22-23 Paul provides the image of what it looks like to be guided by the Spirit, but he doesn’t tell us how it is done.

Let me offer a few insights I have had as I have sought to live a Spirit-guided life.  First, it requires that we offer our lives to God.  In the often used passage of Romans 12:1-2 we read; I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (ESV).  In other words we have to understand that our lives are not our own, but they are God’s and we need to live them is such away that will please Him (Galatians 2:20).  We do that by rejecting the ways of this world and seeking God’s will.  We have to intentionally move away from the influences of the world and soak our minds and hearts in God’s Word.  If we don’t make this break we allow this world to give strength to our flesh.  You know what?  If we truly offer our lives to God it will mean that we won’t be able to consume the media, the philosophies, and standards of this world like we have in the past.  In fact, gasp, it might mean turning off the television and picking up the Bible.  If we want to be free from the leadership of the flesh we have to be ruthless with it.  Paul tells us; And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24; ESV).  If we are not ruthless with our flesh it will weasel its way into the leadership position of our lives.


Not only do we offer our lives to God, but we invite the Spirit into our lives.  Colossians 1:9-10 has become a favorite passage for me.  The apostle Paul wrote; And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (ESV).  We need to pray for and ask God to fill us with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding so we are able to live lives that honor Christ Jesus.  In this same vein I don’t know why we shouldn’t pray and ask the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and guide our lives, including our sexuality.

We need to offer our lives to God, we need to invite the Spirit into our lives, and we need to love people.  Remember I said that our flesh is selfish.  It wants to consume to that it feels good.  So to combat this selfishness we need to intentional love people.  We need to ask God to give us eyes of compassion instead of eyes of lust and we need to choose to extend a helping hand rather than a groping hand so that we understand that life is greater than our desires.  Love helps us move past the idea that others exist for our enjoyment to understanding that others exist, just like me, to worship God.  It is this type of serving unconditional love that only comes from the work of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22).

Sexuality is too precious of a gift to allow our flesh to be our guide, because in its pursuit to consume it will destroy the gift.  The Spirit will lead us to place sex in a place of honor in our lives, and when it is in its proper place we will experience the enjoyment of sex that God intended for us to have from the beginning.  Yet, this won’t happen magically, it requires that we intentionally surrender our lives to Christ Jesus by offering our lives to God, by inviting the Spirit to be our guide, and by committing ourselves to love people. Great sex happens, not because advice offered in some magazine, but because the guidance of the Spirit.

God Cares About Our Lives

Each of us has worries. Some have worries about health problems and medical tests. Others have worries about relationship issues. Still others have worries about money and bills. Worries are universal, we all experience them.

The apostle Peter wrote; So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you (1 Peter 5:6-7; NLT).

One of the amazing truths we discover in this passage is that God cares about us! The implication of that reality is that all of our worries and cares matter to Him. He cares about those silly fears we have about talking in front of a group of people, being in the dark, or of thunderstorms.

The big worries also matter to God. He cares about the fact that we worry about the salvation of our friends and family, that we are unable to find work, or that our parents' are sick.  Everything that causes us to worry or that we care about, God also cares about. How do we know that? Peter tells that  God “cares about what happens to you.”

The evidence of God's love for us is seen in the blessings He so generously gives.  This is why I think it is important to take a few minutes on a regular basis and write a list of the ways God has blessed your life.

The life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus is more evidence that God cares for us.  He is the one who took the initiative to save us when He had every right to allow us experience the pain of our rejection of Him.

The knowledge of God's love for us should motivate us to pray. Knowing God cares about the smallest detail of our lives should help us understand that there is a great importance in taking time to pray about the circumstances in our lives, the wounds in our hearts, and the problems of our loved ones.

Because we have a limited perspective on life means we will not always agree with how God works in our lives or answers our prayers, but I am certain that as we live a life of faith we will be able to look back on our lives and see God's handiwork.  When all is said and done we will realize that God led us by the best road.

I think this passage provides us with a great picture of God. We matter to God, and He cares about what happens in our lives. May this truth motivate us to come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it (Hebrews 4:16; NLT).

Leave a Legacy

I have been going through some of my old writings and I came across this pondering that I wrote eight years ago when Paul’s Ponderings was a weekly e-mail “devotion” that I sent to friends, family, and the youth I ministered to in Stronghurst, Illinois. It was eight years ago this week that I attended my Grandpa Steele’s funeral, and I thought this would be a good time reflect on the legacy he left behind.

“All of us have adults in our lives who have encouraged us, prayed for us, and helped us ‘live the life.’ We need to treat them with respect and thank God for the godly example they have been to us. Our generation so desperately needs role models worth following.” ~ Rebecca St. James, You’re The Voice: 40 More Days With God

Last week I attended the funeral of my Grandpa Steele. One of the themes that ran throughout the whole service was the Christian heritage that Grandpa left to his family. I am privileged to have had him as my grandpa and I have benefited from his faith.

Reflecting back on what I remember about my Grandpa Steele, two lessons come to mind. These are the lessons I believe he would want his family to remember and pass on to the ones they know.

The first lesson is be a person of the Word. Grandpa was a farmer, and that is what he did to make a living in this world. That was not, however, his entire identity. He was also an elder and Sunday School teacher at the Sutherland Church of Christ. Grandpa didn’t have a Christian College Degree like a few his sons and grandsons had, but he knew the Bible. He studied the Bible, he read the Bible, and he made it a part of his life. It was obvious to us as grandchildren that he did these things because of the open Bible that was constantly next to his chair.

This means we have to be reading the Bible. It is God’s Word to us so that we will have a firm foundation for life. If we want to live the life God created us to live then we must be in His Word, for it is what will guide us on the path of righteousness. Reflect on what the author of Hebrews wrote; For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. (Hebrews 4:12; NLT)

The second lesson is the need to be part of the Church. It was mentioned over and over again, by family and friends, that every time the church doors were open Grandpa and Grandma were there. Church attendance was a fundamental part of their lives. My Grandparent’s involvement with the church went further than just going to services. It was found forming relationships with the people who were part of that local body of believers, inviting visitors home for coffee, helping with work that needed to be done, and praying for those in need. To Grandpa church was not so much something you attended, but it was something you to which you belonged.

We treat church as one of the many activities “good” Christians do. It is more than that. The Church is God’s design for His children on earth, and therefore the Church should be a family in which we have strong loving relationships with the other Christians. When Church becomes just an activity to attend we miss out of the wonderful blessing God intended the Church, His family, to be. The writer of Hebrews urged Christians to be in fellowship with one another:

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25; NLT)

The two lessons that I want to pass on to you from my Grandpa’s life are (1) study the Bible and (2) be part of the Church. If we were more committed to doing these disciplines we would be better equipped to love God and to love our neighbors.

We all have people who have guided our lives and who influenced our faith. I am indeed thankful that not only do I have Christian parents who have richly blessed my life, but also two sets of Christian grandparents that have been role models for me for my life.

The Hurt of Healing

The past two days have been a roller coaster ride of emotions for me. God has used circumstances in my life to bring much needed healing to my heart, but it was not an easy process. It was a painful process that forced me to look at a place in my heart that I would have rather ignored, but it was something that needed to be dealt with if I was ever going move forward in faith. The amazing thing to me is that intellectually I know this needed to be done, but emotionally I feel like I have lost a significant part of my life. To be honest it hurts like crazy.

I think the reason so many of us miss out on the healing God wants us to experience in this life is because we are scared of the momentary pain of letting go of the things that have us in bondage. I know for me I was terrified to let go of what God asked me to lay at His feet because it was how I learned to cope with my loneliness. "To give this up," I thought, "means I have face the reality that I am alone" (that I am without romantic attachment, not that I lack friends.)

Because we give into the terror we choose to cling to whatever SEEMS to give us hope, peace, love, etc. rather than trusting that God will lead us to a place of freedom and healing.

Remember in Exodus, the children of Israel cried out to God to be delivered from slavery in Egypt, but after they experienced some difficulty in the desert they cried to go back to Egypt rather than to trust God to provide for their needs and protection. Given the choice they would have rather spent their lives in the misery they knew than go through the process of finding freedom by trusting God.

As strange as it sounds the same is true for us. We may call out for healing and deliverance, but when things become difficult or painful we give up, deciding that it is easier to live in the misery we know than to go through the pain we don't know.

Here is what I want to communicate today: in order to experience God's best we have experience the pain of deliverance. I think this is why the author of Hebrews wrote:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. (Hebrews 12:1-4; NLT)

Think about the price God has paid for our deliverance. Because He was willing to do whatever it took that should give us the motivation we need to pay the price that will lead to our deliverance and healing. Not only that, but because of the pain God went through we can trust Him to get us to the right place, even if the process is painful. The promised land of healing is on the other side of the wilderness of hurt, so don't give up, but trust God to get you to the right place.

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