Minds Prepared for Action

{1 Peter 1:13-16; NASB}

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;  because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

One of the obstacles that I am facing right now in my obedient walk with God are unhealthy thoughts and attitudes.  I feel like I am on the cusp of the next thing God has called me to do, but I am distracted from doing it, not by outside forces, but by the workings of my mind.  These distractions take the form of dwelling on past failures, doubts about my ability and God's call on my life, and retreating into procrastination to avoid the hard work breaking through.
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Peter tells us that the first step in obedience happens before the task is set before us for we are to prepare our minds for action.  One of the exercises some top athletes will use before the big game is imagining what the game will be like and thinking through how they should respond if a certain situation arises in the course of the action.  Not only do these athletes use their imagination, but they will also use their knowledge and they will learn the play book, the signals that come in from the sidelines, and the terminology the team uses so they can know precisely what they are expected to do.
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Let us pause for a moment and ponder what implications that has for us as we follow after Jesus. First, we need to think about how we will respond in certain situations.  Imagine the difficulty you would have to respond in obedience to Jesus' command to sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and come follow Him.  By imagining such scenarios it makes it easier for us to respond in obedience when similar situations come our way.  Second, we need to spend time using our knowledge to learn what God's Word says about who we are, what we are to do, and the means that we have at our disposal to make those to things a reality in our lives.
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If we are to avoid the former lusts, the way of the flesh that guided our way of living before Jesus, then it is absolutely essential that we start with our minds.  Peter says that we lived that way because of ignorance.  We didn't know the will of God, we didn't know the weakness of our flesh, we didn't know the promise of life and new creation that is available in Christ Jesus, and we didn't know the great of the Holy Spirit who works with us to transform into the image bearers that God created us to be. To live in ignorance is to live below the wonderful life that God makes available to us in Christ Jesus.
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How do we do this?  I think it begins with surrendering our lives daily to God.  The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:1 and 2:

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).​

We come to God and offer our lives, each day, as a living sacrifice to Him.  It is no longer our life that we live, but it is His life.  As we surrender our lives we ask God to show us His will and to transform our minds.  Ultimately we need to remember that we don't have what it takes to bring about this transformation on our own, we need God's help to make it possible.  This falls into line with what Paul prayed for the Colossians:

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 (Colossians 1:9-10; ESV).

Pray that God will fill you with the knowledge of His will and with spiritual wisdom and understanding, that is the only way it will be made real in our lives.  Third, is we need to dedicate our selves to doing what God has called us to do.  This of course ties in with the first point of surrender, but it is one thing to say the words, and it is another thing to obey.  James writes:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if ​anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (James 1:22-25; ESV).​

If we are not committed to doing God's will, then we when push comes to shove we won't do it, instead we will do whatever is easiest to do.  In the process we will miss out on the blessings God wants us to experience in life, blessings that can we can use to bless those around us.
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To be obedient children we must first prepare our minds for action.  Don't neglect this, for it will enable you to do what God has planned for you to do.

Purifying Our Hearts

Part of my Bible reading this morning was James 4:7-10:

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor (NLT).

The part that stood out to me was the exhortation by James to purify our hearts. The question that immediately arose in my heart was; "How can I purify my heart?"  In my mind this purification is only something that God can do.

Almost as soon as I thought the question the answer appeared before: we must be loyal to God.  James implies that the reason our hearts need to be purified is because our loyalty is divided.  We are not totally loyal to God, instead our hearts also chase after the things of this world.  For us to purify our hearts requires us be exclusively loyal to God.

This dovetails with what I read in Not a Fan this morning.  Kyle Idleman focused on the phrase "come after me" that is found in Luke 9:23.  He pointed out that the best way to understand that phrase is to observe the way a person pursues a romantic relationship.  True romance requires a person whose heart is not divided, but is solely focused on his/her love.

He points out that this passion is seen in the parable of the pearl of great price:

 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!" (Matthew 13:45-46, NLT).

Once the man discovered the great pearl his heart was set on pursuing it, there is nothing that would distract him for obtaining it.  Kyle goes on to write:

"When we discover the life that we can have in Jesus we are to come after him like this man pursued this pearl of great price.  Fans will be careful not to get carried away.  Followers understand that following Jesus is a pursuit that may cost them everything, but it is the best investment they could ever make.  Followers will do some crazy things for love, but fans want to play it safe" (p. 133).

In order to purify hour hearts then we need to have such a focus on following Jesus that we will not be distracted by the things of this world. This intense focus will cause us to do things that will appear crazy, but in the end will be the best way to live.  When we are so loyal to Jesus then our hearts cease to be divided, and thus they are able to be healed. To passionately pursue Jesus is what we can do so that our hearts can be purified.

Can't Rush the Process

Here is a pondering I discovered in an old notebook that I have never shared before.  It was written sometime between March 2006 and September 2006 when I was working at Bruegger's Bagels in Coralville, IA.

On Saturday as I worked at my job baking bagels we experienced a rush of people who wanted to buy a dozen bagels.  I went from having baskets full of bagels to empty baskets in a matter of minutes.

The problem was that I could not bake the bagels fast enough to meet the demand during that period of time.  You have to understand that the way we bake bagels requires a certain process which cannot be rushed.  There are certain steps that must be followed for the bagels to come out of the oven looking right.

Since our bakery uses frozen dough the first step in the process is  to take the frozen dough and set it on a fiberglass board so it has a chance to thaw and rise.  This little task is called slacking.  You can imagine the little jokes I have heard while slacking the dough.

The dough is then put into the walk in cooler where it stays until it is ready to be used.  When it is ready to be baked, about a day later, it is taken out of the cooler where it needs to stay for about 5 minutes to bring it up to room temperature.  Once the raw bagel is at room temperature it is put into a vat of boiling water. Why boil? Boiling gelatinizes the starch in the outer layer of dough, giving the bagels their characteristic chewy crust. (I couldn't remember why we boiled them and so I Googled it, so this information is from All Recipes.)

After being kettled for 90 seconds the dough is strained and put onto baking sticks, five per stick.  If the bagels require a topping you place them face up and cover them with the right topping, and then you flip them over so they are face down on the stick.  Non-topping bagels naturally are placed face down from the start.  This whole procedure can take another 3 to 4 minutes.

Once the bagels have been properly placed on the sticks they are finally placed in the revolving oven for  5 minutes.  After 5 minutes you reach in and flip and remove the baking sticks to allow the bagels to finish baking on the shelf face for another 13 minutes.  Then it was time to remove the bagels and put them in a basket so they could go out front.

When you are feeling rushed it is easy to begin to think that you can take a short cut, like not kettling the bagels for 90 seconds, but if you do that then the bagel doesn't get the nice chewy crust it is supposed to have.  Trying to shorten the baking times means the bagel won't have the nice brown color it should have.  In the end any short cuts that a baker takes results in an inferior bagel.

This is where I would like to make an application to our lives.  When Abraham was 75-years-old God promised him a son.  Abraham and his wife Sarah waited and waited and there was no son.  Somewhere around 10 years later Abraham and Sarah thought they would give God a hand, and Abraham had a son with Sarah's servant girl, a perfectly legitimate solution in that culture, but it wasn't what God had in mind.  It was another 15 years or so that God blessed Abraham and Sarah with the son of promise, Isaac.  In that time of waiting God was preparing the couple for the son who was to come, but because of their shortcut things didn't turn out like they should have.

You and I are impatient.  We want God to transform us now and give us the big assignment that will turn the world upside down, but God has a process that He wants to take us through.  There is no shortcut, you can't take a test and skip a step or start going to worship twice a week for extra credit.  God, like a good baker, is taking His time to make sure we turn out exactly like we are supposed to.

What do we need in this process?  We need wisdom.  Without wisdom we will miss out on how God is using the experiences of our lives, including our pain, to mold us into the people He created us to be.  Remember what James wrote:

Dear brothers and sisters,​ when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking (James 1:2-4; NLT).

In this process of transformation, instead of looking for a shortcut we need to ask God for wisdom, because only then can we do our part as we seek to become the people God desires us to be.

Trusting God With Our Lives

{James 1:1-4; ESV}

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

It is no secret that life is filled with heartbreak, disappointment, tragedy, and all sorts of different trials.  We understand that God has not promised us an easy life, and that He is able to use the junk that happens to us to mature our faith and transform us into the people He created us to be.  That is why we should find joy in our suffering, because God is redeeming our pain to make us new creations.

Yet, we also know that this is easier said than done.  When our lives are going smoothly, or at least manageable, we can say, "I trust God no matter what happens."  Then the clouds descend and the storm hits and before long we are questioning God's heart.  Some times we will even begin to question His existence.

How do we make the rubber meet the road here without sounding like a cheerleader?  You know the person who says, "Just try a little harder.  You can do it.  Hang in there."  That type of encouragement is worthless.  It is like trying to encourage a guy with a compound leg facture to get up and run a marathon, "You can do it.  I am in your corner.  I will pray for you."  We would recognize such behavior as cruel, and rightly so, because the problem isn't a lack of effort but a broken leg.  Spiritual growth often isn't about a lack of effort, but it is about a wounded heart.  A heart that doesn't trust that God is good.

So how can we use the tragedy and trials in our lives to mature our faith?  I think first we have to lay a solid foundation.  This has to be done before the storms hit, because once the rain starts to fall it is going to be awfully difficult to make any progress.

Jesus said:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24-27; ESV)

The reason it is so important to do the listening and the obey before the storm hits is because that gives us the experience we need to remind ourselves that God is good.  He can be trusted to bring us life, even if at the moment the flood waters seem to be winning.  Yet, even in the midst of the storm this is where we need to begin.  We will not survive, we will not find healing and life, if we do not have the firm foundation of Jesus.  So even if it is pouring down rain and the flood is rising we need to spend our time trying to find the rock that will keep us from being swept away.

Second I think we need to daily surrender our lives to God.  Read what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans:

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 (Romans 12:1-2; ESV)

In other words we have to give up control of our lives.  The only way we will be changed is to allow God to change us.  If we are going to insist on doing things our way we will never experience the life that God wants us to have.  We won't be transformed. We won't be the salt of the earth or light of the world because we will be conformed to the world around us.  This is scary because we our handing over the reins of our lives to God, giving Him control, and trusting Him for the results.

That is where the rubber meets the road: trust.  Spiritual maturity isn't about trying harder, but it is about trusting more.  We learn to trust through experience and so prayer and obedience become the route through which our faith is grown as we come to know that God is one we can trust with our lives.

To Live a Righteous Life

{James 1:19-21; ESV}

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 

James wants followers of Jesus to live righteous lives.  This doesn’t mean that we will be perfect, after all we still live in the flesh, but it does mean that the direction of our lives will be towards righteousness rather than sin.  The way we live should provide evidence of whether or not we are pursuing righteousness.

If we are going to pursue righteousness then we have to be quick to hear.  We will not discover the pathway of righteousness on our own, we need to be shown the way.  In order to pursue righteousness we have to submit our lives to the teachings of God’s Word.  If we are not listening to teachers and preachers then we will never live the righteous lives God desires us to live.

Not only do we have to be quick to hear but we also have to be slow to speak.  Too often we want to get our two cents in and share our opinion, and as a result we miss the truth that is being taught.  If we are going to listen it requires us to intentionally focus on what is being said, rather than formulating in our mind our response.

Righteousness also requires that we are to be slow to anger.  This one seems out of place, until you think about a couple of ways we avoid dealing with the sin in our lives.  The first way is to show anger at the world for the way they are living.  I have been in enough Sunday School classes and Small Groups to know that one way people avoid dealing with the truth is to talk about how evil people are and the way our country is falling apart, and some even get pretty worked up about it, but they don’t deal with how God’s truth applies to their lives.  

Sometimes we move in the opposite direction and get so angry with ourselves for not having the strength to resist temptation and sin.  The result is that you soon believe that trying to overcome sin is a worthless cause and you give up.  This is what I have done, and it led me to almost walking away from Jesus, and it is what I have to constantly guard myself against today.  Angry doesn’t produce righteousness, so there is no point in getting angry with yourself.

If we are going to live righteous lives we need to put away filthiness and wickedness.  This requires two actions.  First, it requires that we get rid of those things and people that lead us into sin.  Two years ago I reduced the size of DVD collection (which is very tame compared to collections other Christians have), and the criteria that I used was what my first thought was when I picked up the movie.  If it was an implied sex scene (I didn’t have anything that was more than implied) or a woman in a scantily clad outfit I threw it out.  We have to be strong enough to admit that there are some things we just can’t handle, and we need to put up defenses to protect our minds and hearts from those things.

We also have to identity areas of sin in our lives and start taking steps to get rid of that sin.  Simple things we can do in this process is to pray (something that has helped me in this regard is to lay down “my right” to sin at that feet of Jesus), find accountability partners, establish goals, and find professional help.  God is not going to take away our ability to sin, and therefore it is something that we must choose to do.  It is an act of faith to take steps to eliminate sin from our lives.

Finally, we need to receive with meekness God’s word.  We can’t rely on our own understanding and cleverness in the battle with sin.  We need to rely on God’s word, and the requires us to apply it to our lives.  Instead of just believing the Bible, we have to apply it to our lives.  This takes work.  Change doesn’t happen just because we hear something and accept the truth of it.  Change happens because we apply that truth to our lives.  The key here, according to James, is that we are to be humble.  If we are proud or think we can figure things out on our own then we will miss out on the wisdom found in the Bible.  The meek person understands that he/she doesn’t have what it takes to be righteous and that they need help and guidance.

We are called to live righteous lives.  The problem is that we can’t live righteous lives on our own we need help.  That help comes from God.  He makes it possible for us to righteous through Christ Jesus.  Righteous living is the result of following Jesus.  He is our guide on the pathway of righteousness.

Being Truly Religious

Do you consider yourself to be a religious person? I know I do, in spite of the fact that I am told that Christianity is a “relationship not a religion.” The reality is that religion is how we communicate our love to God since we cannot relate to Him in the same way I can relate to my friends and family. Religion is how we have a relationship with God.

Some of the rituals that are part of religion have been handed down by God. This is especially true with Judaism. The books of Exodus and Leviticus contain the rules and regulations of how Israel was to relate to God. A person cannot help but notice as they read through these books that God was very specific on how things should be done.

Some of these rituals that make up religion are the result of tradition and are the product of human ideas of what should be done in order to relate to God. They have little or no Scriptural base, but they are accepted because that is how things have been done.

As a person who follows Jesus I recognize that most of the laws and rituals handed down by God to the Israelites applied specifically to Israel as they tried to be God’s holy people. So I don’t offer sacrifices or keep the Sabbath, instead I trust in Jesus’ sacrifice and weekly observe the Lord’s Supper. I also recognize the benefit of some traditions as well such as the celebration of Christmas and church buildings. Our traditions have a place in our worship of, and thus our relationship with, God.

Besides helping us relate to God, religion has another purpose for our lives. That purpose is to help us change. I can’t speak for other religions, but the purpose of Christianity, those rituals and traditions that we do, aren’t just to help us to relate to God but also to help us become the person God created us to be. Read what James had to say about religion:

If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you (James 1:26-27; NLT).

James spent much of the first chapter of his book talking about how trials, God’s wisdom, and God’s Word are needed to help us become the people God created us to be, because sin has corrupted us. What James points out in these two verses is the truth that going through the motions of religion, doing the rituals and the traditions, is not the same thing as changing. If we can’t learn self-control, if we can’t have compassion for the needy, and if we cannot remain pure in this sinful world than our religion is worthless.

The only way religion has any effect on us, this is also true for trials and God’s Word, is if we first commit ourselves to being faithful. Faith, our choice to commit and trust God, is what makes the difference. Without faith religion is just empty rituals and traditions. Without faith the trials and tragedies of life serve no purpose. Without faith God’s wisdom, which is found in His Word, is nothing more than a nice way to live.

Faith, our trust in God, is what makes all the difference. God cannot change our lives, cannot restore us to true life, until we trust Him. So in the end it isn’t about being a religious person, but it is about being a faithful person. Two questions we have to consider are: Who am I faithful to? Will I trust Him with my life? If the answers aren’t Jesus and yes, our religion just might be worthless.

There is Good in Hardship

"It becomes more than obvious the longer you walk with God that His teaching environment for us really is life. And allowing us to fail is not a punishment from God, but a part of God's process for shaping who we are." ~ Erwin McManus, Seizing Your Divine Moment

Spiritual growth is not easy. It requires more than reading books, singing songs, listening to sermons, and giving a few dollars. For spiritual growth to happen we have to follow Jesus, and we do that by applying God's Word to our lives.

Since this is the path of spiritual growth Satan, our great enemy, will throw many different obstacles along the way in hopes of tripping us up. He throws out fear, and we hold ourselves back from going into the unknown with Jesus. Satan sits the trap of temptation and we miss out of the experiences God has planned for us as we pursue the pleasures of sin. He digs the hole of guilt and we fall in overwhelmed with the evil we have committed and forgetting to rely on God's grace and forgiveness.

The good news is that God even uses Satan's obstacles as opportunities to make us better people. Just as Joseph told his brothers; "As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil" (Genesis 50:20; NLT), we can recognize the good that can come out of our failures. God is so powerful that He can even turn evil into good!

If we are going to become productive citizens of God's Kingdom it is going to require us to apply what we have heard. God's Word does us no good if all we are going to do is listen to what it says. Ultimately we have to start showing it out in our lives. What many of us Christ Followers need is not another book to read or class to attend, but to simply do the good we have already been taught. Spiritual maturity is the process that happens as we begin to live by faith, regardless of the consequences.

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. ~ James 1:2-4; NLT

James says that we should approach trials with joy, because we know God can use them to produce in us the character He desires. Because God loves us He will not waste our painful experiences, our failures, or our troubles. He will use them to make us stronger, and in many cases, He will use them for the benefit of others as well.

When trials, troubles, and failures come our way shouldn't get discouraged and wonder where God is. Rather we should respond with trust knowing that through even the most horrible of circumstances God can bring about His will and create us to be a little more like Jesus.

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.

Living What You Believe

Originally posted Monday January 30, 2006

What does faith look like? Our image of faith is often a person believing certain things: That God exists, Jesus' Resurrection, and the like. Of course in a different religion faith would look different because there would be different things to believe. But I don't think this is the full picture of what Biblical faith truly is. When it came to talking about faith the authors of the Bible turned to the example of one man to serve as an illustration.


This is what James writes:

Don't you remember our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did--by his actions. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous." He was even called "the friend of God." So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, no by faith alone (James 2:21-24; NLT).

I think people have always struggled with equating faith with simply believing the right things. Certainly belief is part of faith, but it is not the only part of faith. Faith is also about trusting God. Trusting God so much that we will obey Him completely in every area of our lives.

The examples of faith that we read in Hebrews 11 are all about people who not only believed in God, but allowed that belief to influence their behavior.  In other words they trusted God. Belief if it is not accompanied by action is worthless. What God is interested in is our beliefs being lived out in our lives. Ultimately what we really believe is communicated through our behavior.

This is why it is no contradiction for the Bible to say that our salvation is tied to our belief and to our actions, for both are a part of faith. The Bible is clear that we are saved by God's grace through our faith and not our good works. Our good works don't get us into heaven, but they do set us apart as faithful people.

When it comes to how I live do people see that I am trusting God? Would the people who I interact with on a regular basis know that I am a Christian if I didn't tell them that I was a follower of Jesus? These are questions worth considering because the way we live shows the world what we truly think about God. I believe that being the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world" is about how we live in front of an unbelieving world.

For one semester in college I had a roommate who was from China. He was in his mid-thirties and wanted an "American Education," but he had a hard time getting accepted to college in the United States. For some reason he ended up at Nebraska Christian College even though he had no Christian background, and planned to transfer to another school (I guess it is easier to get accepted once you are in the States) as soon as he was able. One night towards the end of that semester he asked me if I was a Christian since all he saw me do was goof off, watch movies, and play video games and that he did not see me pray or read my Bible. Now in my defense I did do that when he was not around, but the reality is that I did not make that a real visible part of my life.  In a way that was a crucial experience for me because that is a question which still haunts me to this day almost 14 years later.

Faith is more than what we believe, it is also about how we live. We need to trust God more than we trust ourselves. When we step into the unknown trusting God to lead the way, like Abraham, that is when faith is truly evident in our lives. When we do the right thing even the we are faced with dreadful temptations, like Joseph, that is true faith in action . When we boldly proclaim the Gospel regardless of the circumstances, like Paul, is faith that makes a difference in the lives of others. When we help other people, like the early Church, that is faith that is able to change the world. Faith is about living out what we believe. What is your life saying about what you believe?

Discover the Good in Trouble

We would like life to be comfortable and easy, and yet we all know that life is anything but easy.  Life is difficult and full of unexpected problems.  We can react to these problems in one of two ways.  We can see them as thorn in our sides or we can see them as a way God grows us into the people He wants us to be.  Erwin McManus wrote Seizing Your Divine Moment; "It becomes more than obvious the longer you walk with God that His teaching environment for us really is life. And allowing us to fail is not a punishment from God, but a part of God's process for shaping who we are." 

Spiritual growth is not easy. It requires more than reading books, singing songs, listening to sermons, and giving a few dollars. For spiritual growth to happen we have to follow Jesus, and we do that by applying God's Word to our lives.

Since this is the path of spiritual growth Satan, our great enemy, will throw many different obstacles along the way in hopes of tripping us up. He throws out fear, and we hold ourselves back from going into the unknown with Jesus. Satan sits the trap of temptation and we miss out of the experiences God has planned for us as we pursue the pleasures of sin. He digs the hole of guilt and we fall in overwhelmed with the evil we have committed and forgetting to rely on God's grace and forgiveness.

The good news is that God even uses Satan's obstacles as opportunities to make us better people. Just as Joseph told his brothers; As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil‚ (Genesis 50:20; NLT), we can recognize the good that can come out of our failures. God is so powerful that He can even turn evil into good!

If we are going to become product citizens of God's Kingdom it is going to require us to apply what we have heard. God's Word does us no good if all we are doing is listening to what it says. Ultimately we have to start living it out in our lives. What many of us Christians need is not another book to read or class to attend, but to do the good we already know we are to do. Spiritual maturity is the process that happens as we begin to live by faith, regardless of the consequences.

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. ~ James 1:2-4; NLT

James says that we should approach trials with joy, because we know God can use them to produce in us a stronger Christian character. Because God loves us He will not waste our painful experiences, our failures, or our troubles. He will use them to make us stronger, and in many cases, He will use them for the benefit of others.

When trials, troubles, and failures come our way shouldn't get discouraged and wonder where God is. Rather we should respond with trust knowing that through even the most horrible of circumstances God can bring about His will and create us to be a little more like Jesus.

Wisdom is Essential

I don’t care who you are sooner or later life becomes difficult.  For us living in the United States with all of our wealth and technology we experience the tragedies and trials of life, just as the people being oppressed in Third World countries experience the evil side of life.  Certainly they are not the same type of struggles, but they are all difficult.

One of the realities that Followers of Christ must confront is the reality that our faith doesn’t deliver us from these struggles, and at times we could say that our faith increases the difficult of life.  In other words Jesus is not the answer or the key to living a problem and hassle free life.  If that is what we expected when we put our faith in Christ Jesus then we will end up being disappointed.

That doesn’t mean that our hardships have no value.  One of the great promises of the Bible is that God is able to use the bad in this world for our good (Romans 8:28) and therefore we have no reason to despair when life begins to crumble around us.  We need to trust that the One who began to transform our lives will bring this work to completion (Philippians 1:6).  In order to have that type of trust that hopes in the midst of despair we need to remember what God has done for us in the past.

We also need to remember what God is doing in our lives.  Our heavenly Father wants to restore our hearts, souls, and lives to what He intended them to be.  In other words He wants to re-create us into people fit for Heaven.  Part of this process of re-creation requires the furnace of trials.  This is what James wrote concerning these trials; Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4; ESV). 

We are to find joy in the suffering because we know that God is using these trials for our good.  He is purifying our hearts by showing us that we cannot make it through life on our own, that we need to rely and trust Him for our life and our guidance.  God wants us to become perfect and complete, mature men and women who are able to serve Him in His Kingdom.  We can’t become servants until we lay aside our rights and surrender to authority of Christ Jesus.

Let’s face it, this isn’t easy to do.  We can know the doctrine and understand that through the trials of life God is growing us, but in the midst of the pain and struggle we still shake our fist towards Heaven and shout, “Why God are You doing this to me!?” That is why James didn’t finish his teaching with verse 4, because there is something that we need if God is to truly to redeem the hardships and pain of our lives.  That certain something is wisdom.  James goes on to write; If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:5; ESV).

Wisdom is the essential component we need to grow into the people God created us to be.  The problem is that wisdom isn’t available at school or even from life experience and so we can’t get wisdom on our own and by our own efforts.  Wisdom comes from God.  We find wisdom in the Bible, but often we don’t understand it for what it is, and so we need to be taught the wisdom that we find on the pages of Scripture. 

How does that happen?  It happens through humility.  We have to get to the point in our lives when we realize that we don’t have what it takes to get through life, let alone to become mature in the process, so that we will turn to God for help.  Humility will drive us to our knees so we will cry out to God for wisdom, and the promise is that God will give us the wisdom that we need. 

Without wisdom we will discover the trials of life serve little value, and thus we will declare that life is meaningless and look for ways to numb ourselves from the pain that we experience.  Wisdom not only helps us see how God is working in our lives, but it also opens our eyes to what God is doing all around us, which will give us peace and joy in the crazy messed up world that we live in. 

We are not going to escape the troubles of life, but with God’s wisdom we will be able to make the most out of the trials we do experience.  God’s wisdom is essential for us to become truly human, the people God created us to be.

God Cares

{1 Peter 5:6-7; NLT}

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

There are times in our lives when we are convinced that no one is able to understand what we are going through. Even when we know that other people have been through a similar circumstances we tell ourselves that what we went through is so much worse.

What happens in these circumstances is that we have our focus in the wrong place. Our focus is all on us and what we are feeling, which then leads us to get so consumed with our feelings that we lose sight of everything else. It becomes a vicious cycle that will guarantee that we will continue to feel worse and worse and more and more isolated until something is able to come in and break it.

That is why Peter’s command in 1 Peter 5:6 is so vitally important. Humility helps us put things in their proper perspective, which allows us to deal with them more effectively. It also allows us to open our eyes to see what is happening to other people, which will allow us to realize that many people are worse of than we are. Finally, humility helps us to remember that God is still on His throne working out His plan to bless the entire world through Christ Jesus, which allows us to remember that we are just playing a small part in a bigger story.

If we continue to look at what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:6 he goes on to say that at the right time he will lift you up in honor. God does not intend for you to stay in the depths of hardship, misery, and tragedy which should add comfort to our lives, for nothing lasts forever, not even our pain.

Yet it is in these depths that God molds us into the people He created us to be. Much like the refining process which requires heat and fire, the hardships of life help refine our character and faith. As painful as these time are God is able to use them for our good. God loves us so much that He will not waste the pain we experience in our lives, but He will use it to make us more like His Son Jesus.

I want you to stop and ponder this thought for a moment. God doesn’t waste the hardships of our lives! What a wonderful thought to remember! He will use this awful experiences for our good. When Peter says that God will exalt us, he is implying two very important realities: the hardships of life are useful in our character development and they will not go on forever.

While hardships are necessary and God uses them to bring change to our lives, that does not mean that He is indifferent to our fear, pain, and suffering. God loves you! The fact that God experienced the pain of death of His Son Jesus reminds us that God knows what pain is and that He is willing to do whatever it takes to rescue us from this world of sin and death. That is why Peter, who knew about pain and tragedy, is able to write that God cares about us. What a wonderful promise this is, and one that we often forget.

Since God cares for us that means that He is not bothered by the hardships and pain in our lives, even if think they are insignificant. God wants us to come to Him with everything on our hearts and to ask for His help and guidance. That doesn’t mean that He will make everything better, but it will mean that He will give us the strength and wisdom to get through the situation.

James tells us:

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking (James 1:2-5; NLT).

The only way we can look at life’s troubles with joy is if we have God’s wisdom to guide us. It is also the only way we will be able to understand that God cares about us when we are in the middle of a tragedy. God loves us and when we go to Him in prayer He will give us what we need to get through whatever we are experiencing.

God desires that we experience life, but the problem is that in order to experience life we have to be changed. Change, as we know, often requires hardship and difficulty, which is never easy. It is in moments like those that we have to hold on to the promise that God cares about us and turn to Him for help. I believe that if we turn to God in the moment of crisis He will provide the encouragement and the strength we need to get through to the other side. Why do I believe this? I believe it because God cares about what happens to us.

A Shut Door

Originally posted on December 13, 2004

God is surrounded by mystery. Yes, God has revealed Himself to us, and as a result we can understand certain aspects of who He is. We cannot understand God in His entirety, there is no way our finite minds could understand God in His entirety. God’s ways are not our ways, so there will always be a mystery about God.

When we ignore this reality and construct a box to put God into we miss out on the opportunity to experience God at work in our lives. One way this is seen is the common belief that God opens “doors” to reveal His will to us. By doing this we miss out on experiencing so much of what God wants to do through our lives.

Many times in the Bible God didn’t open doors for people to go through. One might even conclude that God revealed His will and then locked the door. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh to demand that Israel be sent free. Moses went, but the task was not easy. Obstacle after obstacle was put in Moses’ way. There were Pharaoh’s hard heart, Israel’s unbelief, and Egypt’s dependance on Israel’s cheap labor. Given our thinking Moses would have given up after the miracle of turning water into blood didn’t convince Pharaoh. It was Moses commitment to God’s will that he, along with all the Israelites and Egyptians, eventually experienced God’s power.

Here is another example. God crowns Saul as king, but the Philistines are in control of Israel. Saul’s first duty is to gather an army to kick the Philistines out. An army of 3,000 is raised. 2,000 stay with Saul and 1,000 go with Jonathan. Jonathan takes his 1,000 men and begins to attack Philistine outposts. The result is that Jonathan and his men experience success. Jonathan’s men had so much success that the Philistines send in 30,000 men along with horses and chariots. Israel had 3,000 men and two swords and no spears. Out manned and out gunned all but 600 men run into the hills and in the process the door was slammed shut in the face of Jonathan. This is when we say, “I guess it is not God’s will for me to fight the Philistines.” If you read the account in 1 Samuel 14 you discover that was the reaction of King Saul, but Jonathan took his sword and his armor bearer and took the fight to the Philistines. God didn’t open a door for Jonathan, but He did give Jonathan an understanding of what His will was, and as a result the Israelites and the Philistines experienced God’s power.

James 1:12 reads; God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him (NLT). An open door is no more an indication of God’s will than a closed one. We experience God’s blessing when we do what we know God’s will is, even when all the circumstances are against us. We have been taught to give up too soon, and the result has been that we have missed the blessings God has wanted to give us.

Stop waiting for God to open the door before you take a step of faith. Start moving toward the wall and trust God to get you to where you need to go. It is this act of faith that will lead us to experience God’s power first hand.


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The Foundation for Discipleship

Much has been said about nominal Christianity. It appears to many of us that a good percentage of people who claim the name Christian are not truly following Jesus. This is evidenced in the fact that Christians in the United States live no differently than the rest of the culture. For all the effort we have put into trying to be “relevant” to the culture, it seems that we have not connected with people in the way it mattered most.

How do we move people from having a belief in Jesus to becoming disciples of Jesus? Remember that on the day of Pentecost 3,000 people believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, repented, and were baptized. This presents a huge task for the 120 or so disciples of Jesus, for they were now expected to help mature these new believers into disciples. What did they do? Acts 2:42 gives us the answer: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (ESV).

In this one sentence Luke shows us the foundation of discipleship that the early church used. Their discipleship process was focused in four priorities. As we take a look at these four priorities I think we can get a picture of what we need to do in order to help people move from merely claiming to be Christians, to truly be disciples of Jesus.

I think the first thing that needs to be pointed out is that the early church was devoted or committed to these things. What I want to make sure that we all understand is that these priorities must be what we, who are following Jesus, are devoted to. As people observe our lives they will begin to understand that these things are important in our spiritual growth.

The first priority is that the early church was devoted to the apostles’ teachings. As we continue in Acts 2 we discover that these first Christians met daily in the Temple for prayer and teaching. They knew they need truth and application if they were going to live like Jesus in the world. This is the starting point of all discipleship, being humble enough to be a student of the Bible (the New Testament being a collection of the apostles’ teaching). We also have to remember that being a student is not enough, we also have to be doers. James tells us:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (James 1:22-25; ESV).

The true benefit of teaching isn’t the information that we receive, but the knowledge that we gain. True knowledge is seen in applying what we have learned. If we are not doers of God’s Word, then we haven’t been devoted to the apostles’ teachings, and we are not true disciples. Commitment requires both actions: hearing and doing.

The next priority is that of the fellowship. What this means is that they were committed to each other. This is plainly seen in Acts 2:43-47. They ate together, worshiped together, and generously helped each other. To be committed to the fellowship isn’t about attending events, but it is about doing life together. One of the place where we see this taught is in Hebrews 10:22-25:

...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 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. (ESV)

The key phrase in the passage is let us. To Christians who were struggling in the face of persecution and who were considering returning to Judaism the author of Hebrews encourages them to do life together. That is what true fellowship is all about. It is hard to come by in our culture, even in the Church, but it is so essential for our discipleship. We need people who will encourage us, who will come alongside of us, and who we can love and serve as well. Find Christian friends with whom you can do life together.

The third priority is that of the breaking of bread. Now there is some debate over what this means. My position is that this refers to communion. The reason I say that is because in the Greek it literally says; the breaking of the bread. While breaking of bread refers to the simple act of sharing meals, the extra “the” I think indicates something specific, and that would be the Lord’s Supper (which was observed during a common meal, so in a sense both meanings fit). The reason Communion is so vital to our discipleship is because it is our time to examine our hearts and our commitment to Jesus. Yes, it is a time for us to remember Jesus and His sacrifice, but that is not its only purpose. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 wrote:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. (ESV)

One question that we have to consider when it comes to Communion is: “Do I want to be a part of God’s Kingdom?” The answer to that question will tell us a lot about the condition of our heart and what we truly want our lives to be about. When we take Communion we are reaffirming our desire to be part of God’s covenant people, and thus it provides us with a brand new start. That is why Communion is so vital to our lives as disciples.

The last priority we find mentioned in Acts 2:42 is that of the prayers. The early Christians were not only devoted to praying, but they were devoted to praying at certain times of the day. It is my belief that they continued the tradition of the Jews to pray at 9AM, Noon, and 3PM. One reason I think that is that in Acts 3:1 we read that Peter and John were going to the Temple at the time of prayer. To be devoted to prayer isn’t just about feeling comfortable about praying throughout the day, but have a set time each day when we do not let anything else interfere with our conversation with our Heavenly Father. A great example of this is found in the Old Testament. Daniel was a man of prayer, and because some people were jealous of his success they were able to trick the king into passing law that forbid praying. The penalty for praying was death. This is what Daniel 6:10 tells us: When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously (ESV).

Not only did Daniel pray in the face of death, but he also thanked God while in exile. Right there we find two excuse many of us would use for not praying. How can we pray when it would cost us our life? How can we thank God when our lives aren’t what we hoped they would be? Yet, Daniel was committed to praying three times a day. If we are going to following Jesus then we must see how vital it is to have this daily time of communication with our Heavenly Father. Prayer was an essential part of the life of Jesus, and if we are going to follow His example then it is going to have to be an essential part of our lives.

We have quickly walked through the four priorities the early church were committed to keeping. Much more could be said about each of these priorities, but hopefully you have begun to see how vital they are to the life of the Church. If we are going to have truly devoted followers of Christ, then we must insist that our church families make these four priorities the foundation of whatever discipleship program they implement. After all, if the early church found these four priorities to be essential to their growth, then it is a good bet they will be essential for our growth as well.

Working For or Against the Kingdom?

I can be dense at times. There are certain truths or lessons that some people pick up right away while it takes me a while to understand. I think the revelation that I had today falls into that category, something that many of you already understand, but it took me 35 years to figure out. This flash of truth came to me as I pondered James 3:1-12, particularly verses 9 through 12:

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water (James 3:9-12; ESV).

James tells us that there are two uses for our tongues. We can bless God and others with our words or we can curse God and people with our words. Of course there is a spectrum on which our words fall, but ultimately we are speaking to building others up and praise God or we are speaking to tear others down and curse God.

When this thought hit me I then made the application to our actions. What James teaching us in this passage has wider implications than just the words that come out of our mouths, for it also applies to how we live. With these bodies God has given us we can either sin and rebel against God or we can obey and worship God. While our actions fall on a spectrum of those two realities, in the end we are either living in obedience or we are living in sin.

In his book Surprised by Hope Bishop N. T. Wright devotes a whole chapter to “building for the kingdom.” Bishop Wright writes: “But what we can and must do in the present, if we are obedient to the gospel, if we are following Jesus, and if we are indwelt, energized, and directed by the Spirit, is to build for the kingdom” (p. 208). How do we build for the kingdom? I would argue that we build for the kingdom whenever we devote our lives to doing good works in the name of Christ Jesus.

Here is the point I want us to get today: just as our tongues can curse or praise God, our lives can either work for His kingdom or they can work against His kingdom. Ultimately what sin is is rebellion against God, and it has a corrupting nature, not only in our lives, but in the world. Remember, this world was created good, and Satan, sin, and death have been corrupting it. We are to leave sin behind because to sin is to join Satan in his effort to corrupt the good nature of creation.

On the other hand, we are called to obedience and good works because it is then that we join God in His effort to redeem creation, which includes other people. Our good works are not our effort to make us right with God, rather they are our effort to partner with God in bringing His Kingdom to earth.

I think the implication of this is that the more are devote our lives to God’s Kingdom the less we will be involved with sin. The reason is because we come to understand that our sin is corrupting the good work that we are trying to do. Just as salt corrupts fresh water, sin corrupts good works. Consider what the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians:

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6:7-10, ESV).

Here we discover the key to good works: being led by the Spirit. The best way I know to allow the Spirit to lead our lives is be by students of God’s Word and to be involved in a church family. If we care about doing what God has called us to do, if we desire to be led by the Spirit, then we will make those things priorities in our lives. That way we can partner with God and work for His kingdom, rather than trying to work against God and His kingdom, because in the end that is what is futile.

Lying to Yourself

Have you ever lied to yourself? I know I have. There have been a couple of times when I have had an obvious stain on my shirt and I told myself, “It doesn’t look that bad.” The lie that I am battling right now is the fact that I ordered an iPod Touch because I told myself that I can use it to keep myself organized, when I know the reason I ordered it is because of the internet capabilities that it has (I am planning on returning it when it arrives). I think we lie to ourselves quite often.

It is this tendency of lying to ourselves that James addresses in James 1:22-25. Read what the brother of Jesus had to say:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (ESV)

Commenting on this passage David Nystrom in The NIV Application Commentary: James wrote; “But hearing alone is insufficient. To hear and not to take action is to lie to oneself” (p. 94). The three other commentaries that I read said similar things. We deceive ourselves when we hear God’s Word and do not live God’s Word.

Why does James say that we deceive ourselves when we are only listeners and not also doers? I think it comes down to the reality that God’s Word shows us what true humanity is to look like, and when we refuse to take action we are saying that we are already what God desires us to be. That is the point of the illustration that James uses. A man who looks in the mirror and does nothing is saying that he already looks good enough. His hair needs combed, his faced needs to be washed, and his beard needs trimmed, but he has convinced himself that he is presentable as is.

The person who is able to listen to God’s Word and doesn’t take action is saying that he/she is already measuring up to what God desires. They are deceiving themselves. To aid this deception they will point out other people who need to hear this “Word from God”, but in no way will they admit that it applies to them.

What do you do with God’s Word? Do you enjoy listening to it thinking of how it applies to others or critiquing it for correct doctrine? Do you listen to it and think how it applies to your life? Do you allow the truth be told or do you look for ways to lie to yourself?

One of the ways we experience God’s grace in our lives is through His Word. God wants to guide our lives and help us understand the best way to live. I hope that we can be humble enough to accept His Word, not only as truth to be learned, but also as instructions to live. Be truthful to yourself: listen and obey.

Becoming Better Stewards

I am going to make a little confession today. It will shock a few of you, as least it will shock my parents. One of the things that planned to do on my camping trip to Colorado was to sit around the campfire and smoke a cigar. For whatever reason cigar smoking has intrigued me for the past several years, and then this summer I had a friend give me two cigars. I smoked those and decided that it would be cool to be able to do that around the campfire, and so I ordered several cigars online.

Like many new activities I was excited when the cigars came, and I smoked a few before I left on my trip (this has taken place over several weeks, so it wasn’t like I was lighting up on a daily basis). The funny thing is that by the time I actually got out to Colorado, the newness of cigar smoking had worn off, and I wasn’t all that excited about smoking anymore. In fact the last cigar I smoked I didn’t even finish, I just throw it into the campfire.

This got me thinking about how I spend money. This was a classic example of using the money God has blessed me with on me. Way too often I look at the money I have in my bank account and think about what I can get for myself. Rather than looking for ways to give generously I look for ways to satisfy my desires. What ways am I missing out on being a blessing because I am only looking to bless myself?

James wrote:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-15; ESV).

When we have the means to help, especially when we have the financial means, then it is our responsibility to help those in need. Prayer is important, but it is also an act of faith to give, and so we should commit to doing both.

Here is where the rubber meets the road for me: after tithing and providing for my needs my next obligation is to give to people in need. I need to be more intentional about helping people in need. After all, God has blessed me so that I can become a blessing to others.

I am not saying that we have to give up our hobbies and the little pleasures we have in life, rather I want us to consider if they are justified when there are people who are in desperate need. After all, I think all of us can identify areas in our lives where are money, sometimes quite literally, goes up in smoke. Perhaps it is time we intentionally become better stewards of the gifts God has given to us.

Where Are You? #2

Questions are a part of life. We ask questions in order to learn information, but God asks questions so we will take time to examine our lives. You don’t have to go very far into the Bible to find God asking a question. It is there in the third chapter of Genesis. Humanity has not been on the earth very long, but their actions require God to ask them a question so they will understand what has happened.

In Genesis chapter 3 we find Adam and Eve in the paradise that God created for them. God provided for everything they would need to have a good life, which even included purposeful work to provide mean to their lives. They had all the food they could want, companionship, and a beautiful home to live in. There was not one thing they needed.

Adam and Eve were at this time innocent. In other words they were personally unaware of the consequences of sin. God had told them what would happen if they disobeyed Him, but outside of this knowledge they had not experienced that consequence, which meant they enjoyed a very special relationship with God. God came and personally communed with them. Amazing!

Yet, in the midst of all of this perfection discontentment crept in. James wrote:

13 When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 14 Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. 15 When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15; ISV)

Keep what James wrote in mind as you read through the account of the first sin.

1 Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Is it really true that God said, 'You must not eat from any tree of the orchard'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, 'You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.'" 4 The serpent said to the woman, "Surely you will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:1-9; NET)


There is too much in this story for us to cover in this series of ponderings. The bottom-line that we need to remember is that both Eve and Adam knowingly sinned. Sure Satan played a part, but Eve and Adam gave into their desire. I would also point out that Eve sinned because she wanted to be like God, but Adam chose being separated from God over being separated from Eve. I wonder how many people miss out on God because they have chosen friends and family over God?

Adam and Eve sinned, the ate the forbidden fruit, and then came to realize that they were no long fit to be in each other’s presence, let alone in the presence of God. It was at this moment that reality sits in, because God comes to pay a visit to our first parents. Knowing that God was on His way the couple hid. They hid because they were naked and were ashamed of what they had become. They hid because they were guilty and couldn’t face the holy God after they had chosen to be unholy.

When we feel like hiding from God it means that there is something wrong in our relationship with Him. Have you ever felt like hiding from God?

Misusing Christianity

Originally posted on Wednesday, 24 November 2004

“But, Sir, his religion has been greatly corrupted, and many of his professed friends have been his real enemies. The gospel has been made an engine of power in the hands of kings and priests, converted into a matter of state policy, made subservient to the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life.” ~ Alexander Campbell in a letter to Charles Cassedy (The Millennial Harbinger; May 1833)

Many times in an effort to discredit Christianity people will point out all the bad things “Christian” people have done all the while proclaiming they were doing what God wanted them to do. From the Crusades to the guy who bombs abortion clinics Christianity has been misused and misquoted to justify doing evil. While these people professed to be God’s friends they were, and are, actually His enemies.

The misuse of Christianity by people claiming to be Christians is not evidence against the truthfulness of Christianity. It is evidence that people are ultimately responsible for their own actions. God is no more responsible for the sinful actions of the "Christian" man who lives a double life of adultery than He is for the actions Charles Manson. We are all responsible for the choices we make.

It is also evidence for what the Bible says: Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors. Even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior and they will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world (1 Peter 2:12; NLT). A faithful life brings honor to God, but when Christians are not careful on how they live and they openly disobey God, then the opposite will happen. God will be ridiculed, the love He has for people will be questioned, and the Way He has established will be opposed.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ continues to be corrupted and the world continues to question its validity. Here is the great mistake that the Church in the United States has made: we have made our morality a matter of state policy. We have some how gotten it into our minds that in order to honor God we have to stand up and fight for the morality He has established. That would be true if Jesus died to make men moral, but Jesus died to make men alive.

God is not honored when there is an amendment to the constitution defining marriage to be between a man and a woman. God is honored when a Christian couple remains married in the face of the immorality which is all around. God is not honored when the Ten Commandments are posted in every court room in the country. God is honored when Christians love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength while loving their neighbors as themselves. God is not honored when people say a pray before a school event. God is honored when Christian people, when they are alone, spend time in prayer to their Creator.

God is honored when Christian people stand up and become a voice for the unborn. God is honored when Christian people sacrifice and adopt unwanted children. Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us (James 1:27; NLT). As Christians we need to fight for those who have no voice.

Here is my point. What God is interested in is not that Christians stand up and get laws passed based on the morality He has given to us. God is interested in people accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This country is going to come to an end, and it is going to happen if homosexuals are allowed to marry or not. Yet every single person living in this country will exist forever. That means the most important thing we can do is help people find life, not force them to live to our morality.

Our Moral Responsibility

Originally posted on Wednesday, 10 November 2004

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or who are greedy or are swindlers or idol worshipers. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or a swindler. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your job to judge those inside the church who are sinning in these ways. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.” ~ 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; NLT

The greatest frustration I have with the Church in the United States is our political involvement. We are horrified that the people of the world are acting like the people of the world and we want to be put a stop to it. The result has been Christians mobilized to go to the voting booths to vote their “conscious” so that the country they live in will reflect their morals.

As a result Christians have forgotten two important truths. First, people without Jesus are not saved, no matter how they live. The heterosexual couple living together outside of marriage is just as evil as the homosexual couple seeking to be married; God draws no distinction between the two. By keeping them from doing certain behaviors doesn’t make them people fit for Heaven. While we would love for the entire country to have the same morals as we do it isn’t morality which saves people. People living seemingly moral lives helps us forget their great need for a Savior.

Second, the greatest danger to the Church of Jesus Christ is not the morality of the world, but the morality of those who call themselves Christians. This is where the Church should focus their energy; not the immorality of the world. When so-called Christians fail to live up to the teachings of Jesus then the Truth we have to share loses its value in the eyes of the world.

Church, you want to make a difference in this world? You want to stop abortions from happening? You want people to live moral lives? Then get out into the world and live like followers of Jesus. Love the unwed mothers. Care for the helpless and the weak. Take time to make a difference in the community you live in. The early church made an impact in their world not because they petitioned the Roman government, but because they sacrificed and lived like Disciples of Christ.

In the Old Testament the morality of Israel was very important. Under the New Covenant what matters is not the morality of a nation, but the morality of God”s People, the Church. When the Church lives the way God has commanded it effect the world. Our main concern as Christians is not getting our moral agenda passed by the Government, but living moral lives which affect those around us.
Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. ~ James 1:27 (NLT)