Drifting

On August 17, 2008 Pastor Darrell used in his sermon Hebrews 2:1 which says, "For this reason we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." He then went on to ask, "Why would the Bible say not to drift away if it was not possible to drift away?" This is a very obvious but good question. The question touches on the issue of eternal security (another blog for another day), but I'd like to focus simply on drifting right now. I would like to look closer at Hebrews 2:1. It begins by saying "For this reason" ... for what reason? To be able to understand and logically interpret this, we must read before this in Chapter 1 to find out what reason he is talking about. As Pastor Darrell teaches CONTEXT IS KING. So, if you read Chapter 1 to get context, you find that it talks about God who spoke long ago to our fathers in the prophets. It talks about God in the last days speaking through His Son. It talks about Christ being made lower than the angels for a while but then given a greater name and place than the angels. It also mentions the angels being ministering spirits for the sake of us who will inherit eternal life. So what this verse is saying is that FOR THIS REASON .... meaning that since God has spoken to us through prophets, and angels, and even His Son .... since God has so clearly communicated to us through signs, miracles, wonders, prophecies, and undeniable events .... since His chosen vessels sacrificed so much .... since His only begotten Son became flesh and gave His life for us .... that FOR THIS REASON we should pay closer attention to what we have heard so that we may not drift away from it. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

I was thinking about drifting after the sermon and was reading Proverbs and came across Proverbs 19:15 and it seemed to explain some ways that maybe I tend to "drift". The verse says, "Laziness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle man will suffer hunger." Reading that started to convict me. I started to think about times where I've gotten lazy. Have you ever been there? Lazy in prayer time? Lazy in reading the word? Stay up late and forget about God? Sleep in instead of doing devotions? Watch tv instead of pray? Substitute any reason or excuse in place of spending time with God? We know that the problem is never with God, the problem is always with us. So we have to figure out where we are going wrong if we feel that we are drifting from God, or that our spirits are dry, or the heavens brass, or our spiritual man is starving. Pastor Darrell once said that "what you feed will grow, and what you starve will die." I think that is a very simple but very important statement. We need to watch what we feed in our lives, and we have to make sure to starve the wrong things out of our lives. We should be feeding the Spirit, and starving the flesh.

I HATE RELIGION

Hate Religion? You may say that it is not right to hate. To this I would simply ask if is it not right to have the heart of Christ? Should we not love what he loves and hate what he hates? For this reason, I'd like to share why I think God hates religion. Religion may be one of the main causes of sending people to hell, or hindering people from living truly godly lives. Listening to JR during prayer service last Sunday and listening to an old sermon by Dave Stoltzfus have led me to look deeper into this topic of "religion". Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:20, "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." As JR explained, the scribes and Pharisees were the religious leaders of their time. They were conservative, orthodox, pious, law-abiding, etc. These groups fasted, prayed, read, went to church, sacrificed, circumcised, tithed 30% of their income, were responsible for copying the holy scriptures, etc. The scribes and the Pharisees lived their life by the law. But where is God in the law? The law was never meant to save, the law was meant to show us OUR SIN. THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. They were self-righteous, putting their hope and faith in their ability to carry out the law in their flesh. God went further with them though. He pushed through their hypocrisy and went after the motive of their hearts. He exposed their "religion" by showing them how corrupt and evil their hearts were. He did this by going straight down the list of the laws ... saying that the law says do not murder, but if you hate your brother you have committed murder in your heart .... or the law says do not commit adultery, but if you look upon a woman with lust you have already committed adultery in your heart ... and he goes on. We should not exalt ourself in our ability to keep the commandments of Christ. We should not boast in our daily devotion and how we pray 3 times a day and fast more than anyone else. It is only by the grace of God that we are even saved from our own sin. We are powerless on our own. We have no ability or power outside of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are weak, and He is strong. Where is justice in the law? Where is mercy in the law? Where is faithfulness in the law? In Matthew 23:23 God calls these things the weightier provisions of the law. We should live out justice, mercy, faithfulness, grace, and righteousness as Christians and in doing so the duties of the law will not be neglected either. For we are not to neglect prayer, reading the word, and tithing, and God's commandment's ... but they are not to be our hope or the focus of our religion.

Dave Stoltzfus in his sermon used Colossians 2:6-9, "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one take you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according the to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of this world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Diety dwells in bodily form." You can see that these verses focus on walking IN CHRIST and being rooted built up IN HIM. These verses also warn us not to be taken captive and to guard against being deceived. How does this happen? We forget Christ and we go through RELIGION - empty deception, philosophy, and traditions of men. WE CAN NOT GET CAUGHT UP IN RELIGION. Religious traditions and the law keep us from getting to God's grace. It is by grace we are saved through faith! Praying, tithing, fasting, reading the bible, attending every church meeting and activity, giving to the poor, taking communion, keeping the ten commandments, and any other thing can not earn us righteousness! Our righteousness is through Christ!

If you look at Matthew 23:15 it says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around the sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." This is why in the opening of my blog I said that RELIGION may be one of the main causes of sending people to hell, or hindering people from living truly godly lives. Because when religious people "share their faith" with sinners, they change them from a non-believer into a false christian. Religion withouth Christ is counter-productive and gives false hope and empty deception. Sinners who enter into these traditions of men and religious practices find no freedom and find no salvation! All they find is more condemnation but they are too blind to see! We need to get rid of empty RELIGION and simply preach CHRIST!

How easy is it to look at the scribes and Pharisees and point out their faults, but what about me? What is in my heart? Sure, I can condemn the life of the Pharisee ..... but would someone looking at me consider me a Pharisee? Do I try to appear righteous before my fellow Christians and win the approval of men? Do I neglect prayer during the week and then pray loud in church so people can hear and know I am praying? Do I ignore what God is telling me to do in my life, but then point out everyone else's shortcomings? Do I point out everyone else's faults and confront them without ever offering a prayer for them? Do I offer others godly advice that I don't even follow myself? Do I just read and pray out of duty or because I want to grow in Christ? Do I get lost in keeping a checklist of do's and dont's instead of having a relationship with God?

God forgive me and change my heart. As Keith Green's song lyrics say, "I want to, I need to be more like Jesus!"

Wisdom

To follow up my last blog about making godly decisions, I wanted to add godly wisdom into making godly decisions. I think it is quite obvious that we need godly wisdom to be able to make godly decisions. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." So, we see from this verse that we cannot lean on our own understanding but in ALL that we do we need to acknowledge Him and trust him to direct us. But if we can't rely on our own wisdom or understanding, then where do we get our wisdom to make decisions? James 1:5-6a says, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting . . .". It's that simple. If we want wisdom from God, we simply have to ask in faith without doubting His Word and He will give it to us GENEROUSLY. Why do we need this kind of wisdom though? The previous verse from Proverbs says that I shouldn't lean on my own understanding, but can't I just read the Bible and just use that as my guide to make decisions? Well, that's a good start, but God's Word says that there are two kinds of wisdom. James 3:13-17 basically compares the wisdom of this world that is earthly, full of jealousy and selfish ambition to wisdom which is from above that is pure, peacable, gentle, reasonable and full of mercy. So along with using the Word as our guide, we need to pray to God for wisdom from above and not use our own wisdom in making decisions. Proverbs 2:1-7a says,"My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright . . .". After reading this passage, we clearly see that it must be our want and desire to receive God's wisdom. This passage shows us plainly what we must do . . . we must MAKE our ear attentive, INCLINE our heart, CRY OUT to God, LIFT our voice, SEEK for understanding, SEARCH for wisdom. These are the actions we must take if we want God's wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

Along with these biblical principles, I came up with my own little checklist for making decisions:

1) We cannot rely on our own wisdom
2) We must be dead to our own plans, wants, and selfish desires
3) We need to pray for wisdom from God
4) We need to consult the Word of God
5) We need to plan ahead of time to make godly decisions
6) We need to believe in faith that God's plan and wisdom are best
7) We need to act on the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom God gives us
8) We must not waver or back down from decisions we know are right

Making Godly Decisions

I decided to write a blog after listening to Soldiers by B.H. Clendennon and hearing the sermon by Gary Thull on When and Why to Make Godly Decisions. Clendennon said in his sermon that "it takes more courage to be right and take a stand than it does to fight a war". That phrase seemed to burn in my memory and it's been the topic of my study in the recent past. When he made this statement, Clendennon was talking about how Christians need to have courage that is born out of conviction to stand up for what is right. While I was thinking on this topic, the same Sunday Gary Thull preached on godly decision making and it seemed to go perfectly with what I had been hearing and thinking about. One of the examples he used was Daniel who had made up his mind not to eat the choice food and defile himself. He went on to say that as Christians we need to make up our mind to follow Christ. Before we get into a situation where we have to make a crucial decision, we should already have prepared our hearts and made up our minds that we are going to please Jesus Christ. If our minds are made up beforehand, then when a seemingly hard decision comes our way there will be no struggle. We have to PLAN to make godly decisions. Gary's quote of the day that seemed to sum up his whole sermon for me was, "God has required us to plan, but with a renewed mind in the context of his will, and willing to change as God directs." We need to PLAN to carry out God's will and PLAN to make godly decisions so that we will be ready to live for Christ no matter what we face.

Nothing Compares

After listening to "Nothing Compares" this morning by Third Day, the chorus lyrics were stuck in my head all day. "Nothing compares to the greatness of knowing You, Lord". How true it is. Nothing can compare to having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 103:10-17 says "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is his lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us. Just as the father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him." Doesn't reading that just make you happy? How could anything compare with the Lord of the universe not punishing us for our sins like we deserve, and not only that but he removes them from us further than we can even fathom. The Lord is so merciful and compassionate. And as the scripture quote finishes up it shows you how short life is, and to waste that time chasing pleasures, riches, popularity, power, prestige, fame, status, or any other worldly thing is so foolish and vain. But to simply know God and live in his lovingkindness is beyond compare. Psalm 63:3, "Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise Thee." Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

Lord AND Saviour

After reading a blog from a very intelligent pastor friend, I could not agree more with what he had to say. His argument was that you cannot have Christ as Saviour and not Lord. Christ must be Lord AND Saviour. At the moment of salvation, you are accepting Christ as your Saviour .... but in order to be your Saviour you must let Christ reign in your heart as Lord. You cannot claim Christ as Saviour and then still be Lord of your own life. Your life is no longer your own, but it was bought with a price. Jesus cannot be your Saviour if he is not also your Lord. People are often told that "they need to accept Christ as their personal Saviour". As my friend pointed out, this is not untrue, but it misses the very heart of the gospel. He went on to say that "Jesus’ work to be our Savior was for the purpose of vindicating his claim to be our Lord. Lordship is the fundamental means by which God relates to us as his creatures and his children. Yes, the Lordship of Christ gets worked out in our lives not all at once, but progressively in sanctification as we learn to walk in holiness before God. But he doesn’t become Lord sometime down the road. It is as Lord that He saves us. He is the Sovereign Lord, we are his servants." I thought that was such a great point, and worth sharing with you all.

But God . . .

A short phrase of two simple words, but it is becoming my ultimate favorite phrase of the bible. These two words are repeated quite often throughout the bible, and usually represent a contrast between our total inadequacy and the awesomeness of God. The transition from the words right before BUT GOD to the words right after are usually so significant. To me, they are some of the most powerful pictures in the bible of what God has done and is doing for us. God makes all the difference. May God increase, and everything else decrease. I'll post a few verses on here, but I encourage you to do a word study on "but God". I think it would be a great blessing to you, it was to me.

I Sam 23:14 "... Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand"
Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever"
I Cor 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it"
Romans 5:7-8 "For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

How do you define success?

How would you define success? Being the richest? Smartest? Most talented? Reaching your goals? Many people would give you many different answers. But the best definition I ever heard comes from teaching that I've heard my dad give many times as a youth pastor and senior pastor. I am not sure if he came up with it himself or heard it from someone else, but he defines success as "being where god wants you to be, doing what God wants you to do, at the right time, with the right attitude". I love that definition. Think about it. No matter what, if you are where God wants you to be, you are in the right place. If you are doing what God wants you to do, you cannot be doing anything better. If you wait for God's timing, and don't try to do it on your own, you cant go wrong. And if you adjust your attitude and align it with God's your heart motive will be right.