Don't be a Hypocrite, Be Real

I just can't shake the false-advertising indictment of fig tree by a hungry Jesus. I love the faith-focused answer to His men. Indictment: Don't claim to be something you're not. Don't give false impressions of fruitfulness. Answer: Honestly and humbly lay hold of the power that is yours in Christ. Professed faith must have fruitful proof. Power comes through Christ-honoring dependent prayer.  Seems that Christ is teaching two related lessons in Matthew 21:18-22: one aimed at our low road tendency to fake it and one pointing to the high road of faith in Him. Lesson 1: Don't be a hypocrite. Don't, like the false-advertising fig tree, pretend there is fruit in your life when you are bone dry. Don't wear the 'everything's fine' facade. Don't put on the 'I'm a good growing Christian' mask if it isn't true. You may deceive others and you will surely deceive yourself, but you will never fool God. Lesson 2: Be real. Genuinely trust God and obey His will. Tell people you are hurting. Declare your dependence and need. Set your pride aside and cling dependently to Christ. Believe God can do the humanly impossible. Believe He can pull you out of the pit and set your feet on higher ground. Don't doubt His ability or desire to help you. Those who come to Christ dependently obedient experience His blessing and power. Professed faith must have fruitful proof. Power comes through Christ-honoring prayer. 

The Number One Thing You can do about the Current Political Situation

To hear some Christians talk you'd think their eternal salvation hinges on whether their candidate or pet issue is voted in. To hear some speak (depending on which side of the aisle, or which section of the arena they are) you'd think that being a Jesus-loving, Bible-believing Christian equals whatever political party with which they are affiliated or whichever point of view they hold. I have never put much stock in a candidate or an issue defining my personhood so much that it majorly affects the way I interact with others or how I view the world. Why is that so? Because by the grace of God I seek to hold to a Biblical worldview and let that drive my thoughts and actions. I am an American and proud of it but I am a citizen of heaven first, foremost and eternally. So the answer is easy when I am asked what we can do about the coming elections. The number one thing we should do regarding the elections is really, really clear. Just do what 1 Timothy 2:1-6 says to do. "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayer, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, whichis the testimony given at the proper time." This is the cause I want to be about: Pray that God would move in the hearts of man. Pray that people would bow before Christ's throne. Salvation is found in no one but Jesus. Testify to that fact. The gospel must be our first concern, above politics, policies and preferences. My life calling is simple and I am very thankful for it's beautiful simplicity: Love Jesus and people, preach the Word and engage in prayer, uphold biblical truth and shepherd people, all the while trusting our Sovereign God and Savior in all things. Pray people!

Hearing the Voice of God

I heard God's voice today. It was clear. It was powerful. It was Genesis chapters 20-25, Psalm 32 and Hebrews 4:7-12. I have a lot of issues but praise God He speaks to me every day through His Word and He is changing me daily into conformity to Christ. I seek His guidance and will. But I have noticed an error of scary proportions among Christians who want a personal experience of God "more" than daily fellowship with God by His Spirit through His Word and prayer. They seek an emotional feeling, an experience that makes them feel closer to God. Many are sincerely seeking and sincerely wrong. What they seek is a special 'word' just for them. I understand, I want that too. They want to 'hear' His voice. Me too. But sometimes I find that we don't mean the same thing. We all want to be led by God (Ps. 32:8) and we seek His direction. But what if the 'word' they receive contradicts Scripture? What comes forth can sound a bit gnostic at times - "I have secret knowledge from God that you don't have, therefore I must be really walking in the Spirit". I praise God they seek a word from Him but grieve over teaching that contradicts Scripture or causes beleivers to feel "less than". God absolutely leads us. He does so by His Spirit, through His Word. But people bypass the Word in search of an emotion-driven experience. God works in mysterious ways and we cannot put Him in a box. He enables our trust and obedience. His provision is sufficient, not deficient. So why seek something 'more' than what His gracious, overflowing grace has already provides? Here is what I have found: Some people are so fixated on 'hearing the voice of God' that they get bizarrely wierded-out in mystical imaginings, all the while missing the true voice of God. They begin to hear things that God isn't saying. Maybe it's their mind playing tricks on them. Maybe it is the world infiltrating their thoughts. Or worse, maybe it is the devil decieving them. Test it: does it jive with, walk in lockstep with, line up with, the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God? If not, reject it and run to the true source. God is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, including His Word. Don't be so fixated on hearing a voice that you look in the wrong place and miss the living and abiding Word of God - His true voice. By the way, I have not run into this error recently. Nothing specific set me off. I was just reminded again today that the Word of God is totally sufficient. Our only rule for faith and practice. As the Grace Brethren say, "the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible" (the God and Savior it reveals, the teachings it contains)is what our faith and hope should be built on. Our rule for faith and practice. Jesus Christ is our adequacy. His Word will stand forever. See the following Scriptures: Isaiah 40:8; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16. Then take a long look at Hebrews 4:7-12. Do you see the tie in between verses 7 and 12?

Mercy Seekers Unite!

In Matthew 20:29-34, two blind men humbly cry for mercy. 

1 Peter 2:10 once you had not recieved mercy but now you have received mercy. 

Mercy seekers cannot be proud. Jesus gives sight to the Messiah-seeking humble blind. Jesus restores the Christ-dependent needy who ignore the crowd's rebukes and continue to call on Him, stopping the traffic with their persistent cries. 

Mercy seekers are so desperate for mercy that they humbly seek Jesus, and His message of hope then spreads to more and more people, bringing more and more praise to God. 

Ransomed

Most of us in Christ are humbled by life. Like cowering puppies. Oliver Twists. We mourn the weight of our sin. Guilty liars. Captured thieves. Broken hearts. Sometimes we prop ourselves up with false exaltation. Trying hard to mask our insecurity. Or we deem ourselves unworthy of any good. We stay in jail when a pardon has been granted. But the ransom was paid. Freedom granted. Released. Set free. A death occurred. Brutal. Bloody. Christ in our place. Substituted. For us. Mercy extended. Grace offered. Life received.  All praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for God's glory alone. Jesus loves you!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

We always want to go and DO something. What did Jesus want His disciples to go and do with what He said in Matthew 20:17-19? Nothing really. He wanted them to receive it and wait. Don't run out and change the world just yet. Marinate in the truth first for a little while. Wait. Just like after the cross and resurrection. Go to Jerusalem and wait. That doesn't work with adrenaline junkies. Extreme sports enthusiasts can't relate. We want to act now. Get it done. Bang it out. Check it off the list. We take pride in knowing AND doing. But we run into a brick wall with waiting. We don't do waiting. We hate waiting. We were promised a burrito in two minutes or less and we will time them. We expect results right away and are offended when anyone else is late. It's my money and I need it now! Somebody take initiative and just do something. We get it. But sometimes that something is to wait. It burns us up. Kills us. We choke on time. We have a stopwatch. "The sands of time are sinking" and all that. There comes a time to act. Decisively. Boldly. Confidently. But it follows a period of waiting. You mix the ingredients, put them in a pan, close the oven, and wait. Then you eat your cake. The best things involve waiting. Sex in marriage. A beautifully prepared meal. A hand-sewn dress. A painting. Coffee. Sunset. Sunrise. Fruit. Sometimes days, weeks, years. I left a melon plant on June 24 and came back to a growing melon on July 14. In the Lord my soul does wait. From Him comes your fruit. Wait on the Lord. Cultivate faithfulness. The temptation is always to leap and look later. To barge in, jump the gun, false start, take it by force. The way of peace is to wait. Jesus wanted them, and wants us, to stockpile the truth. Tuck it away for safekeeping. Keep it in mind. Hide it in your heart. So that they, and we, would know the truth, prepare and in time (after letting it take root in the heart) proceed with cautious confidence.

Christ is Stronger

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that life is hard and without Divine intervention, can be unbearable. Pain will kill you. Adversity will beat you down. Conflict will break you. Ask anyone who has trusted in their own resources and they will tell you the well ran dry. Atheists, agnostics, even professing believers will say otherwise but quicksand is their foundation. Because Jesus is God He endured. Because He endured we can really live. But flesh and blood cannot reveal this to us. We must be born of (and led by) the Spirit of God. We must be changed by God and thereby want Him to rule over us. Jesus is the Righteous One. The Beginning and the End. Thereat Creation and coming again. The Lion and the Lamb. Vengeance and salvation is assured. Nothing else matters, really, in light of that fact. So what will you do with your brokenness? Offer it to Jesus. The pain won't kill you, but make you stronger. Adversity will spur you on to godliness. Conflict will drive you to the Fountain of Living Waters. Trust God's unlimited resources rather than your puny offerings. Jesus never runs out of juice. He is all-powerful. All things are possible with Him. You can do everything God wants you to do through Christ who strengthens you. He is stronger.