|
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”- Matthew 5:6
I feel like I probably talk about the upside-down Kingdom way too often in these blogs, but the truth is every time I reflect on the Kingdom of God, I realize it truly is upside-down compared to this world. The greatest become the least, faith is having evidence that is not permissible in a court room (it’s invisible), the first become the last… the list can literally go on and on. This verse contains two truths that are completely upside down: hunger and thirst, and righteousness. Allow me to explain. First, let’s tackle the hunger and thirst topic. In this world, the way to get hungry or thirsty is to deprive ourselves of food and water, or to eat something that has been enhanced… If you go without eating for 3 days, you will without a doubt be hungry. If you don’t drink any water for a day, you will be thirsty and your body will show you how dehydrated you are. Also, if you eat or drink something salty, you will become thirsty. If you eat the plain, white bread that is the cheapest in a store, you will become hungry faster than if you eat the whole grain, expensive breads. When I was in Armenia a few months ago, I ate less and was far less hungry because everything I ate there was not enhanced by our American systems (plus it tasted so much better there). So a lot of things can make us hungry and thirsty in this world. But in the Kingdom of God, the upside-down Kingdom, only one thing makes us hungry and thirsty: Him. The more time we spend with God, the more we want Him. The more time we read our Word, the more we want to read our Word. The more time we spend evangelizing, the more we want to evangelize. Why? Because He is just that good. The more we experience His goodness, the more we want of His goodness. But this verse doesn’t say, “Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty in the Kingdom…” It says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness…” Here, the point still applies. The more we hunger and thirst for righteousness, the better we will be because we find out how amazing He really is. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all the things you are worrying about will be taken care of. So what is Righteousness? Why is it good to seek for it? When God healed my body, I found out He was better than I thought. It made me want more of Him. I became obsessed with spending time with Him, as well as telling everyone I meet just how amazing He really is. I can’t count the number of people I have sat down with and told them of the beauty of His goodness, but as I type this out, I can see many of their faces. Having those conversations has been amazing, but spending time with Him has been even more amazing. One of the first things God did after my healing was to teach me about His righteousness. For example, He led me to Romans 10 and 2 Corinthians 5. The first passage tells us that people were zealous for God, but they didn’t know Him and so they pursued the wrong thing: their own righteousness through the Law. That is a huge key for us to realize. Trying to gain righteousness from your own behavior is no what God wants. The next verse tells us that Christ is the end of the law, so that righteousness is given to anyone who believes and knows God. Anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame, but instead are exalted and justified by God. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that God no longer counts our sins against us, but instead became our sin so that we could be His righteousness. So God became sin, and transformed us (who know God) from sinners into righteousness. Therefore, when Jesus instructed us to not worry anymore about anything, and to instead simply seek His righteousness, He was telling us to get to know Him and to believe in the work He did on the cross. And blessed are those who hunger and thirst for that righteousness, because they will be filled with His righteousness. This leads to the second upside-down truth found in Matthew 5:6- righteousness. See, righteousness isn’t found by our own efforts. We can’t obtain it. We cannot purchase it, earn it, steal it, or fabricate it. The righteousness of God is given by God. Righteousness doesn’t come by your ability to obey the Laws of Moses, or your ability to control yourself. That was the wrong type of righteousness which Paul wrote about in Romans 10 (technically he wrote about it throughout all of his letter to the church of Rome, as well as the churches in Galatia). When we think our righteousness has anything to do with our behavior or sinlessness (good luck with that, by the way) we are actually making two mistakes: 1) we are proving we don’t know God, 2) we are denying what Jesus did on the cross. Knowing God is what He wants from us. Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God…” Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) And just for the sake of redundancy, Romans 10:2 says, “For I can testify about them (Jews) that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God…” Secondly, if we cannot add to what Jesus did for us on the cross. Either it was enough, or it wasn’t. There are many people out there that believe we are still in the process of attaining righteousness through a process called sanctification. I understand that line of thinking, but it is wrong. We aren’t attaining righteousness from sanctification. That is what the Jews believe they are doing (according to Romans 10:2). We attain righteousness from believing Jesus is the Messiah and because we know God. Romans 3:21-24 says, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all have been freely justified by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Those who hunger and thirst for this truth, can’t get enough of it. At the same time, all the searching and constant desires of the flesh that we deal with subside in this truth. Like Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Bless you
0 Comments
 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”- Matthew 5:5
This has always been both a simple Beatitude for me to comprehend, and a very difficult one. On the one hand, being meek has always been a quality of God that I am attracted to, and when I meet meek people, I always enjoy being with them. Meekness has always been something that I enjoy. In that way I always understood this Beatitude. The Greek word for “meek” is “Praus” which means to be gentle, humble, considerate, patient, or kind. So someone who is meek is someone who is gentle towards others, humble, considerate, patient, and kind. That’s pretty basic. Obviously, God loves people like this. Throughout the Bible, we find passages where God desires for us to be these things. Passages like Philippians 2:3, which says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” are simple and clear. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind… it does not boast…” God’s love is all about meekness. The part that was more difficult to understand about this Beatitude was inheriting the earth. I’ve never thought that inheriting the earth was something that I should pursue. I want to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus tells that the goal should be the Kingdom of Heaven. In 1 Corinthians 6:9, Paul states the same basic thing. Inheriting the Kingdom of God/the Kingdom of Heaven is our goal. And the 1 st Beatitude was the one that tells us how to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Not only has that, but James 2:5 reminded us that Jesus taught us how to inherit that kingdom by summarizing Jesus in Matthew 5:3… Also, in verse 10, it says those who are persecuted because of righteousness have the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is clearly my goal, as it is for all of us. It is because of this I have always struggles with inheriting the earth. When looking for better understanding, I came across Isaiah 57:15: “For this is what the High and Exalted One says— He who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is remorseful and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the repentant.” It’s here in Isaiah that I found a better understanding of what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:5. When we are Meek- gentle, humble, kind, considerate, patient- it is because we have a heart of contriteness (remorse), we are lowly in spirit. When we get to this place, Holy Spirit has access to our soul and can bring comfort. When Holy Spirit does this, He not only revives our soul, but also our spirit, and I have never met anyone who has been revived by Holy Spirit who was struggling with their thoughts or emotions. People who have been revived by Holy Spirit have personally tasted and seen the goodness of God. They know Him. They are permanently impacted by the Presence of God- the Doxa presence. The old no longer has any appeal. The more we encounter Holy Spirit, the stronger we get. But the strength that comes from Him isn’t a strength that manifests as power, in the sense of bullying and violence. It is a strength of character, as if we stand on a foundation so strong that even when massive winds and waves come we don’t falter. We don’t waiver. Every person I have ever met that has this calm assurance inside them has been meek. They are always gentle, always humble, always considerate and patient, always kind. I don’t mean they are individually perfectly gentle 100% of the time. I’m saying that every person is gentle and humble, considerate and patient, and kind. I am saying that meekness is a true characteristic of the person who has been revived by God. And for these rare people, who have surrendered their pride, their ego, their excuses, they are unfazed by the world. The earth, its prince, and principles have no effect on these people. It’s as if they are King, and they know it. They don’t lose their character when bad things happen. They don’t lose their faith. They are like David: a man who pursued God’s heart. They don’t worry when crazy things happen. David’s son wanted to be king and talked most of the country into letting him be their king. David let it happen. He didn’t freak out when his throne and crown were taken from him. His loyal soldiers wanted to kill the people who turned on him, and they wanted David to take his throne back. But David didn’t do that. He remained meek, because he had been revived by God. From a lowly shepherd, God revived David, making him the hero of the nation, and then He made David king. David knew God had chosen him, not his son to be king. David didn’t panic. He actually calmed everyone else down, and eventually got his throne back. David never doubted. Why? Because he had been revived. He had become meek. Nothing the earth can throw at us can affect us, if we are truly meek. Why? Holy Spirit will make sure that when He revives our lowly, repentant hearts, He brings true transformation. The toughest, most violent among us become gentle. I knew a man, who has passed in recent years, that was a brutal man of the world. He did drugs, sold drugs, and even killed some people. He was a cold-blooded killer, with no remorse. One day, he met God, and he began to change. Holy Spirit saw the remorse in his heart, and entered in, transforming him into a bold, yet meek, preacher of the Gospel. I went on many mission trips with this man, and listened/watched as he led countless people to Jesus. I didn’t know him personally before he met God in my grandfather’s church, but I know many people who did. To give you a sense of the type of man he was before he met God, he actually came to kill his wife during church, carrying a loaded pistol. Before he could pull the trigger, in the middle of the Sunday morning service, God met him and transformed him. I knew him for 22 years, and never saw him lose his temper. I never saw any violence in him. But he also was as bold as any man I ever met, as he would talk to anyone about Jesus. Always with the most gentle voice, most patient heart, most kind and considerate humility. May we all be as meek as Jesse was. Because the earth will be our inheritance… Bless you. It's been a while since I posted a blog, so as you read this one, I encourage you to go back to the previous blog (Part 1) to be acquainted with the scriptures.
"Blessed are Those who Mourn..." One of the things that stand out most about the Beatitudes is how helpful they are. A lot of people struggle with the idea that they are impossible to truly live out. As a matter of fact, in my bible classes back in college, I was repeatedly told they are impossible to live out. I was told they are at best simply suggestions, but when we truly analyze them, they would fall apart. This was always a struggle for me to accept, and I often wondered if anyone believed what we were hearing. For me, they aren’t just suggestions. The older I get, the more I realize that these Beatitudes are great advice for getting through life. Even better, more than just getting through life, they are perfect for thriving in the toughest situations. Throughout our lifetime, we will all go through many times of difficulty, as well as wonderful times. Sometimes, the difficulties are so overwhelming they cause us to lose sight of God. When we lose sight of God, I find that the next step in the progression is to blame God for the bad in our lives. We tend to think that God is in control, so if bad things happen, it must be because He allowed it or even caused it. I understand that line of thinking, because I used to think that way. If you know my testimony, you know how I blamed God for the bad things in my life… the Lord gives and takes away. The closer I get to God, the more I realize how sad that line of thinking is. God doesn’t give and take away. I know Job said that, but Job was wrong. Job 1:22 doesn’t say Job was right when he said that, and it doesn’t say that it wasn’t a sin when he did. It says God didn’t count it as a sin… That’s different than saying it wasn’t a sin. Job was wrong, and Jesus cleared it all up in John 10:10. Regardless of whether we blame God or not, when bad things happen, it hurts. When we lose people, we should mourn. It’s a healthy response. But we have to mourn the right way. Sometimes, I find people mourn loss a little too hard. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 says, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” We put our hope in Jesus, and His ability to resurrect our loved ones. What does it mean to mourn too hard? I believe it means when we are so sad that it causes us to lose sight of Jesus, to blame Him, or to turn our back on him. I had an encounter with a young man a few years ago who had lost his parents when he was a child, and then lost his grandparents as a teenager. He was furious at God because people had told him that God had taken them home. He wanted them here, with him. He missed them. In his grief, he decided to turn his back on God and instead he made his decisions with the mindset of making God angry. He hated God. So, God had our paths cross. Here I was, absolutely in love with God because I saw how wonderful and kind He is, whereas this other guy was filled with hatred toward God because he was convinced that God was cruel and unjust. We talked for a short while, maybe 15 minutes. It was all I needed to clear up everything for the young man. I will never forget his response… “You mean all I have to do is tell God I’m sorry, and He will forgive me of everything I’ve done to Him?” I answered, “You don’t have to say you’re sorry, bro. He already forgave you. That’s how good He really is.” He fell on his knees, with tears streaming down his tattooed face, “I really am sorry though. I’ve just been so mad!...” It was a beautiful moment, watching him get healed by the Father’s love. It was there that this Beatitude began to change it’s meaning for me. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. All the pain, the anger, the sadness, the hurt will be changed when we stop looking at the issues and fix our gaze on Jesus. It reminds me of Isaiah 61:3- where it says Jesus will bestow on us “the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” God loves to trade our bad things for good things, our heavy things for light things. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” How amazing is God? He cares about us. If we go to Him, He will take all the bad stuff away. And I love this Beatitude because it tells me it’s okay to mourn. We just have to make sure we keep our eyes on Jesus. When we mourn with God, He takes the pain away, brings gladness and praise to our lives, and helps us to get going again. He wants us to mourn… with Him. He wants us to mourn with the knowledge that He gives life, He loves you, and He will never forsake you. What happens if we don’t mourn? There are a lot of people who don’t take their pain to God, nor do they mourn on their own. These people shove the pain deep down, and try to cover it all up. What happens to them is for a while it looks good, things are okay, but eventually it finds its way to the surface. That is never pretty. If we don’t allow ourselves to mourn, we will eventually be left with an emotional paralysis. We can’t function. We can’t move forward. We may not have the pain, but we don’t have anything at all. If we don’t mourn when we are needing to, it causes us serious problems. David mourned the deaths of Jonathan and King Saul, and of his son Absalom. Nehemiah mourned at the news of Jerusalem. There is no greater comfort than to be in the arms of our Heavenly Father when we need Him. I find that when people worship God, He often brings the buried issues in our hearts to the surface and He deals with them, healing our hearts in the process. He doesn’t want us to mask anything. He wants us to be free, from everything that could hold us back or contaminate our relationship with Him. I hope this encourages you today, or in the future. I pray that this blog would be something you remember in times of hurting. It’s okay to hurt. Take it to the Lord. Don’t try to heal yourself. Don’t pretend to be fine. Talk with your Heavenly Dad, share your feelings and thoughts. Let Him love you in the midst of the pain. Bless you… Matthew 5:1-13
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. The Beatitudes He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Reading just the “letter” can be quite confusing since, in the natural, they seem to contradict each other. For example, poor inherit the Kingdom of Heaven seems very similar to the phrase “you have to spend money to make money.” But we know that the “letter alone kills, but the Spirit gives life.” - 2 Corinthians 3:6 When I was in my Christian studies classes, I was told quite often just how impossible this passage of scripture is to live out. I heard, too many times, that this passage should be titled “the Impossible Sermon.” I’m sure this was repeated by many professors because it is impossible for us to live out in our own strength, and if we are trying to make ourselves conform to this we will never accomplish our goal of becoming like Him. What does it mean to be “poor in Spirit”? Well, the word for “poor” here is “Ptochoi,” which means to be dependent on someone/something, and in this context means dependent on Holy Spirit. We know that Holy Spirit is here to equip each of us, personally, with the tools and ability to walk as Jesus walked. Without Holy Spirit, we can do nothing. But it doesn’t just rest fully on Holy Spirit, either. See, Jesus had to first come to redeem us so we can be given a new life- because there was none that were righteous. That is, until a new righteousness came by grace, through faith to them that believe in Jesus (see Romans 3:9-24). So Jesus brought this new righteousness to us, He presented us as holy, blameless, and above correction or accusation to the Father, and then Holy Spirit was sent to earth to walk us through the training course of life, teaching us how to leave the old life of sin and death, equipping us all as we learn to walk in the spirit. What are we Poor in Spirit for? What is the purpose? What is the benefit? Well, it certainly isn’t for ourselves- to look good, to puff us up, or to impress others. As a matter of fact, learning to partner with Holy Spirit is a particularly scary thing for me. Being completely dependent on Holy Spirit means that I can’t stand on my own 2 feet without Him. It should be scary. It should cause you to feel doubt. It means that without Him actively helping me, I can’t do anything. This reminds me of Jesus in John 5:19- “…the Son can do nothing by himself…” And those who are willing to allow Holy Spirit to lead them in all things and at all times are constantly challenging themselves to surrender more and more control over to God. The more dependent we are on Holy Spirit, the more of the Kingdom of Heaven we will see on the earth, as Jesus desired it to be: “…Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…”- Matthew 6:10. The Beatitudes are a paradox because so much of what Jesus said was backwards/upside-down. Jesus said blessed are the poor… that should never go together, and definitely doesn’t go together in this world. But we know that the Kingdom of God is upside down compared to this world: the first are last, the greatest are the least, the meek and the humble are who God desires, the sinner is a saint. The word for “blessed” means to endue with power. The world would say blessed are the rich, but Jesus says “blessed are the poor.” This is a paradox, and precisely why we say Jesus spoke in riddles. He purposefully chose to say what He did, to challenge the world, to show mankind that we cannot perceive the things of God without His help. It is precisely for this reason, at least 1 of the reasons, that we must be poor in Spirit in order to comprehend such a truth. I can imagine the Pharisees on that day, listening to Jesus speaking, hearing Him say this first beatitude and laughing at the thought, entirely. “Surely, this man knows nothing of God. Everything he is saying is backwards and foolish!” All the while, they were hearing God’s heart and advice for us all, for the first time, but they lacked ears to hear. Let this be a caution to each of us. And even more, let us each strive to rely more and more on Holy Spirit, to guide us through life (not just on the surface, with decisions and direction, but) as we build relationships with people. I find that too many relationships are built on relatability and personality, and not on the Love of Christ. Jesus had an ability to love the people no one else could. How? He was poor in Spirit. May we be the same… Bless you.  Any time we spend a week away from our place of work, our friends, or our family it feels and seems like an eternity of things have happened in our absence. It can be a bit overwhelming coming home because people seem to have new inside jokes, or they’ve had a million conversations, or a ton of events took place while you were gone, to the point where we ask ourselves things like, “How did so much happen when I was only gone for a week?”
Coming back from Florida, this week has been one of those weeks for me. I came back to a long list of things to do, and it feels like I haven’t had any time to even breathe. Of course, that is not true, but it feels that way. There have been a lot of things I have had to deal with, both personal and for the church. Some of the things I have had to catch up on and deal with have been pretty stressful for me, and the stress has brought a lot of “noise” with it. By “noise” I am referring to thoughts I do not like and feelings that I should not ever have. Any time we have difficult circumstances that require difficult or uncomfortable decisions to be made, these noises surround us. So what do we do with this noise? Do we ignore it, pretending we are good and these things don’t matter? Do we fight the thoughts with better thoughts? How are we supposed to fight feelings? What do we do with all the noise in our lives? These noises are just distractions to keep us focused on the wrong stuff… This week, I got lost in the noise. It was so overwhelming. I tried to fight it with every technique I could think of, but I was quickly losing the battles and was about to give up hope. Sometimes we look at the greener grass on the other side of the fence, and it just gets so difficult to talk ourselves out of desiring to climb over to the other side, wishing for better. That is where I was yesterday. I had both hands on this fence, and I was just gazing over to the beautiful, green grassy field on the other side, weighing the pros and cons of moving over, imagining how easy it would be to live on that side. Then I heard the voice of God, and all the noise left. You see, God’s voice calms us, whereas the noise causes us to obsess over things. God’s voice comforts us, while the noise only causes worry. God’s voice gently leads us, while the noise pushes us. God’s voice encourages us, while the noise causes fear and doubt… Psalm 46:10 is a verse I use when I the noise gets me too obsessive, when my thoughts are relentlessly on repeat and I can’t calm myself. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 23:4 is a verse I use when I find myself worrying about a lot of things and need comfort. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Luke 24:50-51 is a passage I use when I feel like I’m being hurried and pushed into a corner. “When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.” John 14:27 is a verse I use when I need encouragement. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” I also use Romans 8:26-27 and Philippians 4:4-9 for reminders of what to do when the noise is drowning out God’s voice. What I love about God is that He cares so deeply for us that He pays attention to every single thing that goes on inside of us, and He actually does things to help. Yesterday, just as I was about to give up, I talked to Him and told Him how I was feeling (of course He already knew, but He enjoys and desires the conversation), and I asked Him what He wanted me to do. Now, I need to say that I was not frustrated with Him or anything, as matter of fact I was way past that and closer to giving up. Instead of crying out in frustration, I have learned to simply talk, and that is what I did. About ten minutes later, someone came to my office to talk. The first thing they said was, “I just feel like I have to tell you how grateful I am for your boldness and how you refuse to compromise…” It hit me so hard and it sobered my thinking, instantly. The noise was gone. How? It was because I had brought it to the Lord, and He spoke through this person, who had never visited me in my office before. As a matter of fact, truthfully, their first comment was, “Oh wow, you have your own office! I didn’t even know this was here!” God’s voice destroys the noise when we listen, even when it comes through His children. Get close to Him, talk calmly to Him, and tell Him everything. Allow Him to show you the things that are in you that He doesn’t want to be there. He will not fail you. His peace, the peace that flows like an ocean current will fill you, and that noise will subside. Bless you…  Last night, I felt the Lord press upon my heart to go into today's prayer set the following morning without any preparation. No songs printed out, and no agenda prepared. With about 10 minutes until time to start, my friend and I got on the ground, guitar in hand, mics on, and started to just be honest about the “giants" or "mountains” we individually, and as a whole, are facing. Just us talking into the mic with no audience, but all of heaven in attendance. These heart cries began to pour out and ring into the air.
Simply as wanting more of Him, and not trying to “will” something to happened, beg, or speak with empty words. One of the prayers that came was for there to be an alter before us and so we could bring whatever situation was around us and drop it, while at the same time letting it go, moving our hands up and staying in a surrendered posture! Then the Lord brought to mind the story of Moses and the battle of Amalek. See, what’s beautiful about this story is that Moses, in the middle of the battle, had to stand with his hands up in what we today call a “surrendered posture”. This posture is a universal stance that everyone understands. It shows everyone who can see that you are surrendering, with no weapons, and it truly is a vulnerable posture as you are fully exposed. Every time Moses would put his arms down, the Israelites would begin to lose. So what happened? Aaron and Hur put a rock there for Moses to sit on, and they came and stood beside him, one on each side, and helped hold his arms up in the midst of being tired, for the rest of the battle, until sunset they stood together and the battle was won. Exodus 17:12-13 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. There is so much to learn from this story, but what I want you to take away right now is that no matter the situation, giant, mountain or Amalekite that is facing you, know that you are not alone. Even though we could be in the middle of a battle, and it doesn't make sense to the world, get yourself in a surrendered posture. Surrender it all to God, and rest on the rock that is Truth, Life, Peace, and Joy and hold up your arms steadfast to Him! And if you begin to grow tried or weary know that He has sent those around you to help hold your arms up. Don’t isolate yourself in anything you are facing, and don’t let fear keep you from those around you. We, as brothers and sisters, are to help carry each other’s burdens and point their hand to God.  When reading the bible, especially the Gospels, you can find that partnership in the kingdom is key. By partnership I mean that we are to partner with the Holy Spirit in all that we do. In a conversation I had recently, the question was asked: Are we in constant partnership? For instance are we partnered with God or with the enemy?
In John, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees and tells them that their “father” is the devil because they desire to carry out his plans. In other words, they are partnering with the plan of the enemy instead of partnering with God. John 8:44 - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. This makes me think, how often throughout our day do we step out of partnership with the Lord and step into it with the enemy? It’s as simple as believing a lie. For Example: “I’m always sick” “I’ll never be set free from______.”(Fill in the blank) “I will always be a sinner” “In not good enough” “Jesus can’t save me” “God can’t forgive me because of the things I’ve done” These BIG lies pull us into partnership with what the enemy says. Because we know he is the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy and Jesus came to give us a life of abundance. (John 10:10) These phrases feel right when we say them, or they just fly out of our month without a thought. But when this happens we must be aware and renew our mind and speak life. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. We carry power in our words because of the partnership we are in. In the book of Acts, Jesus was talking about us when He said “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes,” and we will be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. We must be in a constant state of abiding (partnership) with God and listening to His voice so that when the enemy comes we know the difference and can speak the truth of freedom in Christ. Knowing that it is also simple to get back in to partnership with God is essential to our walk because we know He is Loving, Faithful, Kind and Forgiving. He wants us to know our identity in Him, and to know how to walk in it. This requires a constant, continuous partnership with Him. So, what have you been partnering with today?  I am officially announcing it to everyone, I am ready for Summer! Man, oh man, do I want to play in the sand and the sun! Many of you know that I love the water. Well, last night, I found myself looking at the monthly calendar in my living room, staring at the crystal clear waters on some white-sand beach. It was there and then that I announced to my wife that I need to get in some water soon. So, today, after we worshipped in the sanctuary of our church, I went to my office to start working. The first thing I did was turn on the worship music, but the second thing I did was open up a YouTube page and started to watch videos of fish. (There are some really good videos out there that even tell you the names of every fish they filmed, showing you some of the most beautiful reefs in the world.)
I’ve said this multiple times before, but I’m gonna repeat myself here anyway… I love the ocean. There is nothing more beautiful to me than the ocean. Some people love the mountains, some love the plains of the Midwest or Africa, some love snow… but I love the ocean. Even the dark, green, muddy waters are beautiful to me. Beaches are great, but it’s what is beyond the sandy shores that I find breath-taking. Sunsets are beautiful, but put me 40 feet below the surface of some turquoise sea and I’ll have more peace than anything else this world can give. Today, as I watched these videos of fish, I was reminded of scripture. Psalm 8 says, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?...” Psalm 95:3-6 says, “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” That is exactly how I feel when I consider the works of His hands. God made it all. Everything my eyes can see was made by God, and the things I find beautiful, He made just for me. Sea turtles, dolphins, manta rays, barracuda, whale sharks… there is nothing more stunningly beautiful that watching life under the waves interacting peacefully. I’ve never seen fear from any creature under the sea, unless they come in contact with us. They live in perfect harmony with God. Job 12:7-10 says, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” In Job 38:16 God asks Job, “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?” God walks the depths of the ocean, my favorite place, and I truly feel Him there. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 3 foot deep swimming pool or 80 feet deep channel; just let me sit at the bottom, because I feel God there. Am I trying to convince you to join me? No. I’m simply sharing my favorite experience with you, and I know that you have a favorite place, too. I can’t quite get to mine at the moment, but I hope you can get to yours. I hope that you have a favorite place, and that you know how to get there, that you spend as much time with God while you are there. If it’s just a back road somewhere at 10:00 PM and you just pull over and sit on the hood of your car to stare at the stars, I hope you do it with God. If it’s on your front porch and dusk, and you enjoy feeling the breeze and watching the sun set behind the horizon, I hope you do it with God. Make some time. If your favorite place is your living room, with your kids all around you, make it happen… but make sure you invite God. Because it’s His favorite place, too.  A friend and minister friend of mine recently posted on his social media:
“Men who hunger for the word of God are Men who are truly after God’s heart.” Man, I felt that. When I first read it, I got really excited. I love the Word of God, and as many of you know, I quote it all the time. One of my greatest passions in life is to help others fall in love with the Word of God, and I always have this hope that whomever I talk with will desire to feast on the Word. But then, after thinking a little bit on this post, I realized how wrong it really is… bear with me. “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” 1 Samuel 13:14 “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” Acts 13:22 You see, David was the man after God’s own heart, but David did not hunger for the Word of God. His hunger was to be close to God, and even more he desired greatly to bless God. David cared about God’s will, especially God’s secret desires. He got so close to God that he discovered God’s secret desire for His people to build Him a permanent dwelling place so they could worship Him 24/7. David went on to hire over 4000 musicians and singers to fill God’s house with worship (like it is in Heaven). That is what made David the man after God’s heart. NOT his love for scripture. I read the Word every day, sometimes for hours. I study it constantly, learning new revelations, seeking new, deeper understanding so that I can apply it better to my life. I am constantly opening my bible while in prayer for God to teach me something new. I don’t try to memorize scriptures, but instead I try to live it out. I want to learn how to be free from my old self, and I am always looking for new insight that will help me, as well as anyone else I meet. I, WE, need to have a deep hunger for the Word of God. It is essential to our Christian walk. But it will not make me a man after God’s heart. Only Worship can do that. The uncomfortable truth is that reading the Word of God guarantees us nothing for salvation. There are many people who read the Word daily that don’t know His voice. I have met atheists, and know of many from other religions that have memorized the entire bible, only to find errors and places where they can disprove Christianity. They have a deep hunger for the Word of God… but definitely don’t have or care about His heart, even denying Jesus completely. So yes, we have to have a deep, passionate hunger for the Word of God. But if you want to have a heart that pursues God, that blesses God, it won’t come from reading the Word. It only comes from Faith- because without faith it is impossible to please God. God wants us to be close to Him, not to follow Him or even to be consumed with obeying Him (as we learned the past few weeks). Isn’t it amazing to know that when Jesus called His twelve disciples He first and foremost anointed them to be with Him? That’s found in Mark 3:14. God just wants us to be with Him. What do we do when we are with God? We worship Him. Everyone who gets close to God (or even His angels) in the Word immediately bow down in worship. So, I hope that after you read this blog, you worship God. While you worship, I hope He encourages you to read your bible… but more than that, my biggest hope is that you simply get as close to God as you can. Be blessed…  After calming down a bit from last week’s thoughts, I began to think about the answer to that first thought in last week’s post:
Why do we as Christians insist on teaching obedience to the Law? As I asked the question, I came up with three simple answers. First, because we know Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” (John 14:15) In this verse, we confuse Jesus’ teachings with Moses’ teachings. Moses gave us the Law. Jesus gave us grace and truth (Look up John 1:17). We assume that the Law is what Jesus commanded. That is because we know that Jesus came to fulfill the Law, and the Law is perfect. But we fail to realize that the Law empowers SIN, not our walk. Also, we don’t understand that love naturally obeys. We think we have to teach obedience, as if Holy Spirit doesn’t do His job. We assume it is our job to encourage and teach and push people to read their bibles, instead of showing them the wonders and glory of having a close and intimate relationship with God. No one has had to encourage me to read my bible in years. Holy Spirit does it every time. He even calls me out when I don’t read, convicting my heart to make more time for Him. The second reason I came up with for why we insist on teaching obedience is because Satan knows that the Law empowers sin, so he has kept us bound to the Law. We must realize that if we aren’t walking with Holy Spirit, we will be walking with the devil. I know that is an extreme sentence, but it’s still true. If I walk in the Spirit, I will not give in to sin. But if I walk in obedience to the Law, I will sin more and more. It’s a hard pill to swallow- that there are many “Christians” out there preaching a strong message about obeying the Law, and we don’t even realize they are closer to the devil than they are to Jesus… because Jesus didn’t preach the Law, He preached Grace through Holy Spirit, and it’s the devil who preaches the Law. It is my hope that someone here would read this and realize this error and get free from the bondage of obedience. The third reason we insist on teaching obedience to the Law is there is comfort in following a list of do’s and don’ts. As long as my eyes are on a list of what to do and what not to do, I will stay a victim to the schemes of the devil. When I do what I want to do, it’s good. But when I don’t do what I want to do, or I do what I don’t want to do… well, that’s bad, isn’t it? And suddenly, we all find ourselves relating to Romans 7 more than we do to actually walking in the light and glory of God, in the freedom that He promises. It’s in chapter 7 that we find the promises of God to be a foreign dream, and not a reality. We don’t even realize that chapter 7 was written to explain what life is like when we are pursuing obedience to the Law more than actually pursuing Christ. Just remember what Romans 5 tells us: where sin abounds, death reigns (which is also why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 15:35-58). In response to these 3 answers, I would like to take us to Galatians 2:19-21. “For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing!” That’s some real truth right there. As Paul wrote in Romans 6, I am supposed to consider myself dead to sin, but alive in Christ. It is He who is alive in this body. I don’t focus on obedience to the Law, but instead I focus on the grace of God. If obedience to the Law has value for my soul, then Jesus died for nothing! What’s even more amazing is what Paul writes in Galatians 3, particularly in verses 10 and 11: “All who rely on observing the Law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the Law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” When we feel that our obedience to some of the Law is of any value… for example, if I believe that I have more value than someone else because I have never murdered anyone… then that means Jesus dying on the cross has equal or less say than my obedience to the Law. That would be ridiculous. No one is justified by the Law, regardless to how well we have been able to follow the Law. Also, if I believe that my ability to not sin adds any more value to my life, then I am denying the power of the Cross, saying it doesn’t have full say in my life. Remember, “the Law is not based on faith…” (Galatians 3:12a). In fact, Faith and Obedience are and WERE at odds with each other, and faith defeated obedience at the cross. Faith brings us close to Jesus. Obedience pushes us away from Jesus. Again, I’m referring to Obedience to the Law*, and not to Jesus’ commands. Remember, in John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands,” but this was not in reference to the Law. This was referring to Jesus’ commands to love each other and love God, as well as to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and cleanse lepers. Jesus was referring to partnering with Holy Spirit, and make your body a home for God to dwell. And again, we aren’t saying the Law is bad. We are saying that committing your life to obeying the Law will never work, and if you place any value in your ability to follow some of the Law, then you are actually denying the Cross’ work in your life, or at least devaluing Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Why is this so important? Because we need to realize that we must walk in faith, not in obedience. The righteous live by faith. Our justification does not come from anything but Faith. The more we focus on doing things, the less justified we are, and eventually it will lead to a denial of God’s goodness… which is why many Christians preach the wrath of God instead of the kindness of God. So this week, let us strive towards letting go of the desire to be good, do good, and earn anything. Let us all focus on what Jesus has already done for us. I pray that each of us realize that Jesus has done enough, that we don’t have to do anything else to gain value. We are all priceless to God. Be blessed… |
AuthorWritten by a few for the many. Archives
July 2023
Categories |
RSS Feed