Ever hear the saying, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything". When we hear something like that, we have to ponder, "What am I standing for?" but also, "What am I standing on?” I am reminded of the old hymn, "Standing on the Promises of God". Honey, all else is shifting sand! (Psalm 127:1, Proverbs 9:1, Matthew 7:25-27) Just because you believe something with all your heart doesn't make it true. Years ago, engineers, scientists and mathematicians believed with all their heart that the world was flat! But guess what, we know it isn't. The same thing is happening today. Some people, with all their heart, believe there is no God; some believe with all their heart that there is God, or a Buddha or multiple Hindu deities. So the issue is not just "taking a stand" someplace. The issue is taking a stand for what is true. If you believe something that is not true, wouldn't you want to know it? And especially so if it is a spiritual area that involves your eternity! God has it covered – seek God and you find God. But if you seek peace and tranquility, you'll probably run into an Eastern religion. If you seek order, control and tolerance, you'll probably run into Secular Humanism. But if you seek God, you'll find God; and when you find the true God, you'll run into Jesus, for He is the way, the truth and the life. Better start building. Build on sand (beliefs) or build on rock (truth) – your choice. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold!
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One of my favorite writers, Philip Yancey, wrote in Christianity Today (“Back Page”, Mar 2007 [120]) "Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. Prayer offers no ironclad guarantee, but the certain promise that we need not live that mystery alone". Oh how true. I can certainly take solace in that. But where does that solace come from? To whom or what are you praying? Some pray to ancestors while surrounded by the wafting smell of incense; others pray to a statue of a pot-bellied, cross-legged man; others pray to multi-armed, multi-headed beings. Some get solace not from any deity, for they don't believe in any deity but rather in goodness and kind deeds. Others find solace from the harshness of life through drugs, sex and alcohol. Homeless, jobless, childless, disease wracked, desperate, abused; prayer sounds so useless in all these areas – more like a Band-Aid on an infection rather than a cure. Well, if you are praying to the "air", you're wide open to chance, luck, fortune and that useless “Band-Aid”. But if you are praying to the true and powerful God, then you get His results – sometimes that is to calm the storm, other times it is to calm you in it. No matter whether you stand on God's truth or the foolishness of all else, it can't be denied, life is a mystery. Two people with exactly the same circumstances, one lives, one dies; one is healed, one is not; on and on through the ages. We can choose the temporary solace of the things of the earth or we can ride triumphantly on the greatest journey you'll ever take, with a life in Jesus Christ – mystery and all! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Forget the sin stuff, give me the healing! Yesterday's comments addressed this attitude a bit. But as I read through the scriptures, I see a trend. Mankind is always addressing his "physical" side and God's answers are always addressing man’s "spiritual" side. Now that is not to diminish the physical side – no way – that hurts for sure! I broke my wrist a few years ago in a bike accident while training for a triathlon. I love the Lord with all my heart but my wrist was still broken. I didn't get a miraculous intervention with a burst of light coming from heaven aimed at my wrist that automatically healed the bones. Plan B came to fruit and I brandished a cast for 12 weeks. But I still went to the Lord, and out of that pain and inconvenience came many spiritual insights. So many people, especially Christians, seem to concentrate an inordinate amount of time on the physical problems and getting relief from them. It is, of course, necessary to tend to food and housing and transportation and medical needs, etc. But I wonder how many people get so tormented over the many dents banging up their physical world, but don’t ever agonize one bit when it comes to the sin in their lives! Tons of literature, ministries, TV "church" and the like address physical suffering and what to do about it; how to "ride it through" in Jesus. But how many address the suffering inherent in sin? Do you "suffer" when you sin? Is there any "torment" in your heart when you grieve God? Jesus was so aware that our spiritual "diseases" have more devastating effect on us than any physical problem! Maybe we could meditate on that a bit and ask God to help us to avoid spiritual disease and injury as much as we do the physical. I grew up hearing "Be careful, you'll shoot your eye out!" But I never heard, "Be careful, you'll shoot your soul out!" Let's keep the seriousness of both on the front burner! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Hey God, are you deaf? Didn't you hear me? We sometimes treat God as if He is deaf! That's because we don't understand Him. We ask for one thing and yet He very often gives us something else – even the opposite of what we ask. Remember that account in the Gospels about the paralyzed guy that had four friends dig a hole through the thatched roof of a house where Jesus was visiting? Because the guy can't walk and the crowds are too large to haul a stretcher through, they lower him inside from the roof; now that’s some faith! I suppose, though, as little bits of dirt and hay started falling down on the occupants of the house, they would take notice! So Jesus is watching this scene and when they lower the guy down into the room He goes over to him. Now, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to guess what the paralyzed guy wanted when he was placed in front of Jesus; the same Jesus who was doing all these miraculous healings. And Jesus said to him – hey dude, your sins are forgiven. Well, He didn't really say "dude", but you get the picture. I am sure they were all stunned. They were probably thinking, "Sin? Who mentioned sin?" The poor paralyzed guy must've been thinking, "Are you blind and deaf, it's my legs – I can't move them – I need them fixed, not sin". The onlookers even asked “who is this guy that he thinks he can forgive sin?” What great lessons here. Jesus knows that every person He heals – it is only temporary, because even though physically healed, in case you haven't noticed – every one of them still dies! So Jesus in this account was trying to show the more important "healing". Physical healings are temporary; but the forgiveness of sin, the spiritual healing, is eternal. What a God we serve! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Show me the money! It seems so many times that we think if we just had more money, everything would be so much better. Hm-m – let's take a look at people with a whole lot more money…sports figures and Hollywood stars for instance. If money makes you stable and happy, why aren’t they stable and happy? Headlines are full of the rich and famous heading to divorce court, DUI convictions, kids who are really messed up. Whaaat? What about all the money? More often, it seems human beings have an entrenched inability to handle wealth and fame! Instead of making people humble and submissive to God, it seems to work the opposite. Money in and God out! Ever notice that when you are in want...you want God! But if you have so much that you don't need anything, it usually means you don't need God either. Hm-m, must be why God said in Matthew 5 that the poor in spirit are blessed and in Matthew 6 not to just lay up earthly treasures which rot, but layup heavenly ones. It doesn't mean you can't be rich – I say go for it! But it does mean to watch out. The human nature tends to put God away while on the way to the bank! So, if you have just enough, or maybe even a smidge more – be grateful. You have one less hindrance to be used against you in growing closer to God. Rich in the Messiah, not your money, is your true fortune. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Years ago, when I first went to Bible College, one of the courses I took was on the book of Ephesians. The professor was an elderly man who loved the Lord with all his heart. He cried as he read Ephesians! Then and there I asked God to open the eyes of my heart to the incomparable riches of God's grace. The whole book of Ephesians is full of such incredible good news, no wonder he cried. The good news of God's plan, and yes, FYI, in the midst of the fog of our earthly existence, there is a plan. God's plan is one of soft and sweet love for His little handicapped children; His gone astray, lost little cherubs that He will woo until their final day. No matter if you are a prisoner or a Pope, a pauper or a prince, God cares for you. So if you are discouraged and wonder if God really cares; or are seeking God with all your heart but are weary and questioning if you can go on…Ephesians is the place for you. Go ahead…double-dog dare you to read the whole book. In it, you'll find that you’re chosen by God, redeemed by the Son, sealed by the Spirit, made alive again to God, and encouraged to believe and belong to His family of saints. It tells you how to put on the new self and be filled with the Spirit; run a family and a nation; and how to fight this battle of life using the armor of God. Whew, no wonder the old prof cried. His tears were "liquid love" for God and His plan. Join in and have God’s "river of life” flow out through you. Onward to victory. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Hey, now that the God thing is in you, why aren't all your problems gone too? In the Scriptures (Romans 7), Paul addresses that as he laments that sometimes what he wants to do he doesn't; and what he doesn't want to do, he does. He cries out "who shall save me from the body of this death?" Zip, read on, Romans 8:1, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus". What an answer! That same power that raised Jesus from the dead actually "enlivens” us and raises us up from the “death” of our sins. Can we say "word picture" here? These aren’t stories and myths, folks. God is unfolding His plan before our very eyes. Before Adam even disobeyed, God had the rescue plan in place. It's the time frame that freaks us out. Thousands of years go by and then Jesus is placed on the earth; thousands of years go by after He walked on the earth and we stand here scratching our heads, crying, "but You said You'd come back soon"! If I were God, I would cross my arms and look down on the world and say, "Wimps". Or better still, I'd be standing there, with a smoking gun and all the Earth would be destroyed while I was saying, "Any other stupid questions?" Thank God none of us are God! We have a limited understanding, limited faith, limited hope, limited love, heck, we have a limited life (in comparison to eternity). All that from Adam's disobedience but removed by Jesus’ obedience. The Scriptures are so much more than what we have assessed them to be. They are really God's letters of encouragement, instruction, and lo-o-o-n-g history of His love for us. Jesus’ death on the cross was not only Jesus taking the "capital punishment" for our sins; it was also the word picture for us as to how far we must also go with our own flesh (mind, will, emotions)...to the death of them! God tells us to "crucify the flesh" (worldly ways), just like Jesus did. But it didn't end there, not for Jesus and not for us. The Spirit of God raised Jesus from that death and He does the same for us. What a word picture that is! We are made alive in Christ, too! Alive from the death of sin; and imagine all of heaven watching this unfold, unhindered by the ball and chain of time. Century after century, human after human being raised from the death of their sins and made alive in Christ! God is having His way and waits in eager delight with all of creation for the "sons of God to be revealed". All of our spiritual victories accumulate in a vivid crescendo before God; the groaning creation is freed and healed! God will not give up on us, so do not give up on Him, He will set you free…if you let him. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Legalism is a huge problem to the broken human nature. Obeying a bunch of laws, both for the Jews in the Old Testament and for the Christians in the New Testament, only succeeded in making people "feel" holy and not really "be" holy. "But", you say, "I thought God said to obey his laws?" You are right. And Jesus Himself said He didn't come to "abolish the Law but to fulfill it". So – what does all this mean? It means the laws, the "rules", the 10 Commandments are helpful and good, but all they can do is expose what is wrong. Knowing how bad or weak you are lets you know there's a problem, but, dude, – it doesn't help make you any better! Well, what good is the law then? Comparative analysis, bro, comparative analysis! The "laws" God has given over time have shown us a basic code of morality, sort of an ideal to reach to please God and most wisely and effectively live with others. But that can be as frustrating as asking a quadriplegic to paint a house…it ain't gonna happen! As we compare what God asks us to be and what we can actually achieve, we all see that we fall short. As that occurs, a number of things can happen. You can just remove the law from your life, as many have today. There, that's better, "no rules, just right" and end up with the moral melee that we see around us. Or, you can dive in and try to obey them diligently and then disappointedly discover you can't ever get there and so you dig in more and more with the fanatic pursuit of legalism. The former gives you enough rope to hang yourself leading to moral death; the latter gives you enough rope to wrap yourself so religiously tight that you never have the freedom and life God says are available in Him! "Who shall save me from the body of this death", lamented Paul! Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Jesus Christ". That doesn't mean you can go and sin all you want and fall short of the glory of God, expecting Jesus to cover it all. With that attitude, I doubt you have Him in your heart. Nope – what it means is you don't follow the law because you love the law; you follow God's directions as a labor of love of God, not legalism. You do it knowing your nature will always fall short but that you are determined to crucify and fight that broken nature and practice letting only the nature of God rule and reign in you. In doing that, day by day and little by little, you will become the model of God's ways, because He is in you with full vibrancy and life. Let Him be your thoughts, your words, your deeds; you'll never have to have a law show the way again. The love of God in you is His Law! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Forgiveness–touchy and sensitive subject. Forgiving someone doesn't mean they get away with what they've done to you. No, they are still accountable before God and man. But what forgiveness means, is that you finally decide that what they did to you will not rule your every waking moment. Remember, the one who angers you, controls you! In reading over some of Philip Yancey's comments in his devotional, "Grace Notes", I am reminded of that powerful admonition and am more convinced than ever that unforgiveness is a worse burden and punishment upon me than on the one who hurt me. Is there someone that you have not been able to forgive? Maybe if you think on a few things today, you could begin the journey to heal... by forgiving them. Don't stop here now, read on. When you dwell on what someone has done to you, without having forgiven them, you enter into the rat trap. Perpetually, you will run circles on the path of pain – blame – pain – blame, ad infinitum. The only way to break that cycle is to break the chain around your neck that keeps you bound to the cause of the situation. And the only way to do that is to seek God to guide you and help you to forgive that person and break the bondage to your pain. Another consequence of forgiving someone who has sinned against you and hurt you deeply, is that it opens a unique opportunity for the offender to be loosened from their own guilt about what they've done. Did you ever think that they, too, may be in a stranglehold? They may never respond that way, but you can never know unless you forgive them. Even if they're in jail for their wrongdoing, knowing they are forgiven by the one they have hurt has a powerful influence which may, just may, open their heart to a restoration with God and others. Lastly, forgiving someone for their actions against you allows you to take a break from hating them and just may give you pause to think, "There, but for the grace of God, go I". Yes, this forgiveness thing is more important than you think; it really frees you from that dark pit of anger, hatred and revenge. "But they won't get what they deserve", you cry out. Be careful, compadre, because of Jesus, you didn't get what you deserve, either! Endure the fire... It's producing pure gold! For today’s “From the Crucible”, I thought I would pass along a few sayings I have picked up along the way. Just a few thoughts to ponder:
These may be overly simple comments with a bit of humor in some, but read them over again. They are really full of God’s truths. I am not saying to get caught up with worldly, cutsie sayings. I am just saying, take time with God. If you’re in tune with Him by His Spirit, even the cutsie sayings will catch your eye and you’ll be able to relate it to Him. He has told us in Romans 1:19, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” Be thrilled with God and His creation; enjoy what He has given you and seek His face when the challenges of life come. What a God we serve! Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold! |
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