Some of you may remember that old 60's song with the verse that asks, "What condition my condition is in?" The apostle John asked the same thing in 1 John 3:16–24. He challenges us to take a threefold look at the condition of our hearts. Do we have a confirming heart, one that has an assurance of our salvation in Jesus? It is not the good works you may do that are the grounds to determine if you are saved; they are the result of that salvation. Your assurance is founded on the Word of God, the Work of Christ and the Witness of the Holy Spirit. Or do you have a condemning heart, one that goes by your feelings instead of the facts? God is way greater than your heart, so no matter if you feel it or not, God saves! Lastly, maybe you have a confident heart. Don't you just love those moments when you are so at peace with yourself and God that you come confidently before Him! You have confidence toward God, not because you have done something meritorious but because Jesus on Calvary has taken care of your sins; so think it over, what condition is your condition in? Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold!
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Remember the story of the Three Little Pigs? One built his house with straw, one built his house with sticks and one built his house with bricks – which one do you think survived the attack by the wolf? In today's world, we find ourselves surrounded by wolves so we'd better be building our spiritual "houses" with the bricks of the word of God and obedience to Him. Our wolves are the world, the flesh and the devil. The world has the foolishness of its own wisdom; the flesh has the heart of man which is desperately wicked; and the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy. On top of that, they are all clouded in deceit..."Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves..." (Matthew 7:15-27). So what are we to do? Follow the truth in Jesus. In Him you will know the wolves among us; you will be protected; and you will find the true and safe way to heaven. So what are you using to build your spiritual house – straw, sticks or bricks? Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Read Matthew 18:21 – 35. In this account, God is setting a standard for us...He is not telling us that we will not be forgiven, He is telling us we have to meet His standard within which we receive His ever-glorious forgiveness. Repentance, confession and returning the favor to others is all wrapped up in the package. In understanding forgiveness, we need to look at the original meaning of the Greek word, aphiemi. It means suspension of a just penalty; send away; completely cancel the debt; to release; unconditional favor. Whoa…I like that! For God, His love makes that forgiveness flow smoothly toward us; but that is nearly impossible for us to do because we are so often ruled by the Adam nature and not the God nature. Are you willing to forgive someone to that extent? No way, you say. But don't forget all things are possible in Christ Jesus. So get busy crucifying the flesh that cannot forgive and get busy submitting to the Spirit of God which can forgive. In forgiveness is freedom! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Are you more devoted to Christian service than to Jesus? Only you can answer that question. It is easy to be a "Martha", tending to others instead of a "Mary" tending solely to Jesus. It is all too common to have the details of the day crowd out the necessary determination to satisfy the Lord. There is an old saying "time is a treasure for which there are many robbers"...that is so true, especially in today's hectic whirlwind of activities. The old devil will be glad to oblige you and bring you a boatload of confusion, anxiety, conflict, and overload to get you off track…don’t let him! But how can you know what pleases and satisfies God? Duh…just ask him! Look over Psalm 139:23 – 24, which asks God to search you, try you and see if there’s any hurtful way in you. Get you out of the way and He will show you what satisfies Him. All throughout the Scripture, God tells us He is satisfied with obedience, prayer, praise, forgiveness, truth, purity, kindness, generosity, love, peace, patience and things like these. But this is not just another list of Christian "to do" activities. All of these things develop and gain strength in your inner being as you seek intimacy with Jesus. So be diligent to not only serve God, but also to satisfy him. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Something can look like pure gold but that won’t be seen until it goes into the fire. If it is pure gold, there is no junk (dross). And so it is with us. As we encounter various fiery trials (our crucible), either our fleshy Adam nature rises up or the pure nature of God shines forth. There is no such thing as "almost" pure. Even if something is 99.9% pure, that 0.1% makes it impure. If any part of the flesh is there, at that moment you are not pure. Let’s be reminded here, Jesus was never polluted, not even 0.1%. Not so for us, unfortunately, we were born that way, but in Christ, we are made acceptable to God...100% pure. Without Him…it’s “dirt city”! Why is that important…because NOTHING UNCLEAN can be in the presence of God! Oh, oh. That is why we must have some of these “fiery trials”. The heat of the moment, the pain, the challenge, the loss, etc. is needed to cause the “dross” to come out and those impurities to rise up allowing God (the perfect refiner) to skim it off. We all want that fiery trial only once in a lifetime; sadly, we have a lot of impurities ingrained in us from our world, our backgrounds, our culture and any and all ungodly influences that are passed on down or have seeped in. Sorry ‘bout that…no free ride…the heat has to be applied! But you can trust God to know what He is doing. Any good refiner knows that if the heat is too low, all the impurities won’t come out; and if the heat is too high, it ruins the properties of the element. Even when we want to jump out of the fire…don’t do it…stay right there and you will be purified and strengthened beyond measure. Let us then strive to put away any defilement of sin (physical, mental, spiritual)...remember…even if it is as small as 0.1%, it’s not pure. No excuses…just do it! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Yesterday, we talked about Jesus being our mediator and the great privilege He procured for us of being able to be in God's presence. I would hope that you would take some time and step away from the rat race for a momentary, restful break with Jesus and fully meditate on that and the Scripture noted. You are a chosen people. God is not up there using us as a cosmic ring-toss game where some are lucky enough to get the ring around their neck – no way – it is not by chance but by choice that you belong to Him. It is both His choice as a call to you and your choice to respond Him. "Chosen" – makes me feel all warm and fuzzy! You are a royal priest and part of a holy nation. No more identity crisis here. You belong to God, with others, who are a functioning group of vibrant and lively royalty. Step up to the plate with purpose and vision. God is in you to make this all work together for good. And no more wondering what your purpose in life is. You are chosen to declare the praises of God because He called you out of your foolish darkness and into His marvelous light. Wow – now you know who you are, why you're here and what you have to do. What a God we serve! Go get ‘em, Tiger. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! There is one mediator between God and man and that is Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). When you think about it, that is pure genius. God knows how to cut out the red tape and bureaucracy we are plagued with down here. Those born before Jesus had to go through a hierarchy of people before they could reach God. The era of the patriarchs or kings or judges or the priesthood with all the laws given to Moses – all of that was not direct access to God and certainly was not available for everybody. But now, in Jesus, the most amazing privilege of all – direct access to God! Each and every one of us common critters can talk to, be involved with and have a glorious intimate relationship with God! We don't have to go through the king or the judge or the law anymore – just you and God. Jesus is our mediator to God because He is God. Heck, I can't even get in to see some lowly local county official without special reason, coordination and scheduling – yet, I have 24/7 access to the King of Kings! Are you blown away by that yet? What a God we serve. God is powerful – yes; all-knowing and all present – yes; but also merciful and compassionate. Don't be afraid to come into His presence. Don't think you have to wait until you are clean and perfected to meet with Him... He takes you as you are. He does the cleaning, He does the perfecting. Just go to Him. No one can make you love Him, and sitting in church as a dutiful response to some church law doesn't cut it either. Give your inner being over to Him and He'll take it from there. Wow – you get a seat right in front of the King. Doesn't get any better than that! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Many people are familiar with the saying "let go and let God." I'd like to extend that a bit – so when you eventually do "let go and let God," you also need to, "let God be God"! Sometimes when we bring our circumstances to God in prayer, especially those extreme circumstances, we not only outline the case to Him, we often frame up the answer we want Him to give! Don't inadvertently set up in your mind what you want God to do in response to your plea – you limit God by the smallness of your vision. This is a great, big, powerful, "thinking outside the box" God that we serve. He knows what He's doing...so let God be God! When you lose a job or don't get the one you want, don't dismay – keep pressing in. There may be someone in that pipeline that is going to know someone who knows someone and God is directing all the work that is going on behind the scenes to eventually land you an even better job through people you didn't even know! And none of this would have happened had you not been fired, or as is often the case, you hang in limbo a while, forced by the circumstances to have nothing except God! Aw, poor baby...only God is left! Most of us have been there, done that and will go through it again before finishing our journey on this earth. All of that has the underlying treasured result of being built up in faith and trust in God. That, of course, is more important than just the remedy to your dilemma. There is a plan and if you want the best spiritual result, give it up and let it be His plan and not yours. No problem praying specifically, no problem reminding God of which way you want a circumstance to go...just be open to a different route for God to orchestrate. If you do, it will be an answer that will not only take care of you and yours but also carve out God's much broader spiritual direction. God is really good at being God...and you’re not! So let God be God. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Are you the “doubter-in-chief”? Sometimes I have been, even though I hate to admit it. Questions like, "Does what I do even matter," "Are you really there, God," "Is there really life after death," and "Am I really saved?" etc. These questions don’t dog me like they used to because faith always wins out for me and hopefully you, too. I am talking about faith now, not “belief systems”. Faith, as used in the Bible, comes from a root word that means binding, not just believing…huge difference! Can you imagine if the Bible translations were a bit truer to the original meaning of that word? If it was written as, “be bound to the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved," instead of "just believe," as if your brain could save you! One meaning gives a rich picture of being tied and connected right to Jesus; the other just connotes some brain acknowledgement of His existence. In being "bound" to Jesus, not just believing that He exists, you have an unending well of faith from which to draw and when those doubts come, and they will come, you can rely on those developed habits of prayer for help in your unbelief and the practicing of being "bound" to Him for what He has said. Being bound to Jesus doesn’t stop doubts from coming to your mind, but it does stop doubts from staying there! Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold! |
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