Only Jesus

I was in the truck yesterday scanning the radio for a football game when I stopped to listen to a religious program that caught my attention.  As I listened I heard mentioned a number of times the name of the religion and the spotlight was on a particular New Testament Bible figure (not Jesus).  I listened for quite a while but there was no talk of Jesus nor the gospel so I moved on.  Later in the evening I was again scanning the stations and like before landed on this same station which was again was talking about the same Bible character and that particular person's holiness.

I tried to listen for a while but was grieved in my spirit. I though for a few minutes then prayed about this.  I asked God to give me insight because as I have read the scriptures the focus never seemed to be on anyone but Jesus (even the Old Testament pointed to him). All others who were lifted up, worshipped, or revered tore their garments and got low. I mean they knew their utter weakness and need for Christ.  Paul said he was the least of the Apostles and called himself "wretched".  When John fell at the feet of the angel who appeared to him the angel exclaimed, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!" Isaiah, when given the chance to be in God's presence, admitted his unholiness, "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips."

I woke up early this morning, forgetting about the radio program, I asked the Lord to give me something to say today.  I admitted to him that if I said anything from my own power it would be useless or worse, it might be dangerous.  I opened to the Book of Ephesians and began to read.  It hit me like a Mike Tyson right hook.  "Jesus Christ", "Christ", "God's Son", "in him", "through him", "Through Jesus Christ our Lord", "by the blood of Christ", "through his blood", "through the cross". It was all about Jesus. It wasn't about Paul or Peter or Moses or Mary.  From Genesis to Revelation it was about God's plan of salvation through his Only Son - Jesus - the Christ.  

Paul's letter to the Ephesians was not like his other letters.  He wasn't writing to correct one particular error but instead to encourage and build up the church. It was to remind them of the faith for which Paul himself was suffering.  It was to point them in the right direction and to focus their eyes on their only hope, Jesus.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  Ephesians 2:4-10 (emphasis mine)

In this letter Paul reminds us through whom our salvation comes (Jesus), how it was obtained (through the shedding of Christ's blood), how we receive it (by faith), and for what purposes are we saved (so that we might be blessed by God with the incomparable riches of his grace and that we might do good works).

Jesus was mentioned directly 50 times in the six short chapters and that doesn't include the indirect references (e.g. "him"). We are reminded that our lives, our holiness, and our access to the Father are "through him", "in him", "in Christ", or "through Christ" thirty times.  It was and is all about Jesus.  When we begin to focus on other people or put our hope in religion we, like Peter who took his eyes off of Jesus, will find ourselves sinking in the waves around us.  

I urge you to find twenty minutes this week to read Ephesians. Go slowly. Let each verse sink in.  God says that his Word never returns void but accomplishes the purpose for which he sends it. I promise you will be changed.

Love you guys,

David

The God on the Shelf - Who is God to You?

Who is God to you?  Really.  I mean on any given day at any particular moment who is God to you.  Now the reality is that God is who God is regardless of what you think of him but who he is to you determines how you live and how you die. You might initially give me a laundry list of the usual Christian responses:

"He is my heavenly Father."
"He is my friend."
"He is my guide."
"He is my Lord."

I'd like to give you a picture of what I believe most of us have done with God and maybe what you're doing right now.  Be careful not to put up your shield of defense right away. Instead meditate on this and let it do its work in you.  I think we all can see a little of ourselves in this.

God is often a god on the shelf; a definable, compartmentalized, usable god.  We put him on three different shelves depending on where we need him.

First, is what I see as the work shelf.  It's like a shelf in a workshop, carrying a cordless drill, a belt sander, and a couple hammers. Oh yeah, and a tiny god. He sits on our work shelf silent and lifeless until we have a job for him to do. We go about our days and weeks with little or no acknowledgment  of his presence and we rarely if ever look at him in awe of who he is.  That is, until we need a little financial help, maybe maybe we're in legal trouble, or in a relationship struggle.  It's time to go to the shelf, dust him off and see it he can get the job done.  We cry out, "Why God? Why this or that and why me?  Help me please!" When the situation passes we place him back on the shelf in case we need him in the future.  Off we go,

The second shelf is more like a mantle above the fireplace.  It's a place where we keep our trophies and various awards.  It's the shelf of religiosity of pride.  It's where we place God to show others that we have him. It may look like a weekly trip to church where we really don't meet God or truly worship him. It may look like the donations we can tell our accountant about at tax time.  However, like the god of the workshop, this god is also lifeless and doesn't play any real part in the minute by minute reality of our lives.

The last shelf is like a shelf in the medicine cabinet or vanity. Like the mantle place god this is also a god of religion but based less on pride and more on guilt.  We look in the mirror and see a blemish a rash or a sore.  We are sick or just don't look very good. We open the mirror pull out the little Bandaid god or the makeup god and cover up the blemish.  This god doesn't heal the wound or make us younger, it just makes us look better.  Then back in the cabinet, on the shelf and the mirror closes.

Before you say, "Not me!!" think carefully about your typical day.  How does it start?  Does it start in prayer, in worship, in acknowledging Him?  How do you make the hundreds of decisions you make every day?  Is God  . . . GOD . . . in your life?  I mean a living, all powerful, all knowing, ever present, eternal, Holy, loving, creator GOD in your life?  Because whether we act like it, live like it, or acknowledge it, that's who he is.

God loves you (cordless drills, trophies, and mascara can't love). God can do amazing things in you, through you, and for you.  He is El Shaddai "God All Mighty", Elohim "God the Creator".  You see a hammer can't create.  It can only create if it is carried.  God needs no help.  He is there to help in times of need but not as a part time god on a shelf.  He is Yahweh-rapha "The God who Heals".  He heals our insides and outsides, not just covering up the wound but healing it. Jesus died so that we might have life.  He made blind eyes to see, deaf ears to hear, lame legs to walk, and brought the dead to life. If God has at times been a shelf god in your life (as he has in mine) ask him to forgive you and walk with him in a new way today.

Peace, David

I'm Sorry

I have an apology to make.  I have written for fifteen months (66 posts) and have reminded you (as the Lord has reminded me) that our man-made routines can often get in the way of seeing and hearing God.  For most of the last year I have diligently sought the Lord's direction for my posts and he has faithfully provided but I have begun to do what I wanted not to do. . . gotten mundane and predictable.  I'm sorry.


I started this post twice earlier today and both times realized that they were of me and not of God.  I believe they were scripturally true but were not what the Lord delivered today. Actually God didn't deliver anything today until He reminded me that I had been a hypocrite.  I preach fervently about following the lead of the Holy Spirit and the danger of wrought repetition.  I know that when we sit, stand, repeat the words on the screen, and follow the script we planned out days earlier and close our spiritual ears to the voice of God, we often fall short of all that God has for us.  So what have I done?  Just that.  I've written every Saturday morning at the same time.  I've pasted a neat little picture in the upper left hand corner and then hit "Publish".  I'm sorry.


I have urged people to spend more time praying and less time trying to plan and figure things out and my knees have lost their callouses.  I'm sorry.


I love God but I want to love him more.  I love people but want to love them more.  I hate sin but I want to hate it even more.  I like the world way too much.  I'm sorry.


Lord,


Refresh me and fill me to overflowing with your Spirit.  Humble me where I need humbling and show me grace where I have failed you.  


In Jesus name I pray, Amen




Grace, peace, and again I say, "I'm sorry"


David

How Far is the East from the West?

I was talking with a young man recently and he repeatedly used the word "Christian" in his conversation.

For instance:

"He is a Christian."

"She grew up in a Christian home."

So, I thought to myself, "Hmmm? I wonder what he means by that." I had a sneaking suspicion what he meant so I asked him, "What do you mean when you say the word 'Christian'? I then gave him a scenario. "If a friend, who happened to be an atheist, came up to you and told you that he was interested in Christianity and asked you 'What does it mean to be a Christian?', what would you tell him?"

The young man began to tell me that it meant having integrity, honesty, and doing the things Jesus did. So I pressed just a little farther. "So, do you mean that to become a Christian you just start to do good things, use Jesus as a role model, and then just go to a 'Christian' church on Sunday and WALLA you're a Christian?" He thought for a moment and then wasn't sure what to say. "No", I said. You aren't a Christian because you were raised in a "Christian " home. You aren't a Christian because you signed a membership card at the Church on the corner. You aren't a Christian because you listen to "Christian" music. You aren't a Christian because you do good things and wear a WWJD bracelet.

So off we went to the Scriptures and looked at what Jesus said and what his disciples said. We saw that becoming a Christian is a real transaction that occurs in the Spirit realm when a person who was separated from God by their sin and is "dead in their trespasses and sins" is forgiven, reconciled (To reestablish a close relationship) to God, and are "Born Again". This happens as a result of repentance and faith in the One who paid the penalty, who gave his life, and who was raised from the dead. I helped him to see that becoming a Christian is something that God does in us through our faith and not something we become by "signing up for" or "joining" like we would the Rotary Club or the fraternity house. We saw that integrity, honesty, love, peace, patience, and our good deeds are the fruits of that rekindled relationship not the prerequisite to it.

With that said, I want to share a few really awesome promises that the Bible gives us regarding the amazing work that occurs in those who trust Jesus Christ as Lord. I want to focus mainly on sin and what happens to all that ugly junk in our lives when that transaction takes place. It's instantaneous and it's permanent.

1) Psalm 103:11-13

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him."

2) Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

3) 2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

4) Romans 8:1

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

So, let me ask you a geography question. Exactly how far is the East from the West? OK, so you might not have the answer on the tip of your tongue so I'll give you an experiment that might help. Go out to the garage and find the tape measure in the tool box (It's probably under a pile of work gloves, a hammer, and two saws.) Now use a compass to find East. Start walking until you get to the beginning of East, nail down the end of the tape measure, then begin walking towards the West. Keep going until you get to the end of West. (You might need a few more tape measures.) Alright, I know that was ridiculous but the reality is that the distance is infinite and so is the distance from a Born Again believer to his or her sins. Will you sin again after you are saved? Likely, but two things are true about that: The Holy Spirit in you will "convict" (To make aware of one's sinfulness or guilt) you of that sin and the Bible says that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. How much cleansing? All of it!! Last thing to notice. Were all of these promises unconditional? Nope. Go back and look again but this time notice these words, "Those who fear him", "Let us reason together", "If anyone is in Christ", "For those who are in Christ Jesus"

So I hope and pray that if you consider yourself a Christian that you look an see if this actual transaction has occurred. The offer is open to all who call on the name of Jesus but without it you might just be wearing the label. The label is not good enough but the grace that comes through faith is all sufficient!

Peace,

David