“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:42-44
If you are a parent, or even a supervisor of others at work, you can relate so well to Jesus already. You work day in and day out to show those who look to you for guidance how to live, work and even play. Through your love, your willingness to give up other things to serve them, your confidence, counseling and teaching you hope all that you share sinks in deeply.
And then you turn your back for a minute.
I was listening to the Talk It Out podcast the other day. It’s three friends who discuss the teachings of Joyce Meyer. This particular episode found them doing their first Covid-19 distanced podcast. One of the women shared how the day prior, when they were practicing how the podcast would actually work, she set up her two kids in the bedroom with snacks and a movie. She then went to another room for privacy. Everything was perfect. The kids had what they needed and were properly admonished.
Partway through the run-through her daughter interrupted the proceedings. As the mom turned to see what caused the interruption all she saw was a massacre. At least that’s what it appeared to be. Her young daughter had somehow gotten a hold of red nail polish and had painted her entire feet and hands. And the white bedspread.
When asking her slightly older son what happened he replied unabashedly, “I dunno, she needed me to open it so I did.”
Jesus spent three intense years teaching, showing, guiding and yet even His closest disciples struggled to model Him. And we sit here about 2,000 years later, with our red nail polish spilled all over our guidebook. Oops.
The thing about the red nail polish on the sheets is it never completely comes out. It leaves a pink stain, as the mom found out. She sat night after night staring at it. But thankfully, each time we fail to live up to the lessons of Jesus we can come with our stained hands and hearts and ask for forgiveness. We are washed white as snow.
We need to get up off our knees and try it again. We turn to Him and say, “show me, teach me.” Because He will come back into the room with us to see how well we have lived out His example.
Join me for my next series, “Jesus Mindset,” where we break down the different characteristics of Jesus and how we can live them out. We will all get them wrong at different points but God always holds out his hand to lift us up and dust us off.
From the west, people will fear the
name of the Lord, and from the rising
of the sun, they will revere his glory. Isaiah 59:19
I admit it. I have a difficult time with authority. I don’t like being told what to do and when to do it. I’m not sure how this developed in me. It’s not like, as a child, my parents encouraged me to question. In fact, we weren’t to question at all for fear of punishment. I’ve heard it said that we either grow up to be like our parents or work so desperately to be the opposite. For me, I think I so wanted to be heard and to be “right” for once that the desire became my personality.
This desire has helped me in many ways. At work I was always seen as someone with new solutions and ideas. I could cut through red tape and simplify processes. And until I garnered some maturity, I did all that like a bull in a china shop. But this way of living life can make it difficult to submit, especially to a force that is unseen.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and
instruction.Proverbs 1:7
When you read Proverbs the very first words are about wisdom and instruction. And sure, we can study our Bibles, listen intently to our pastors while scribbling notes in our Bibles but true submission to our Lord is more than that.
For a long time, I really just didn’t understand the concept of “fearing the Lord” and submission. Of course, given my nature it wasn’t like I was interested in the first place. I also wonder how many pastors these days even talk about “fearing God?”
If God is love, then why does He command us to fear Him? The fear of the Lord isn’t about being afraid of God; it’s about revering Him above all else. When we do that, we position ourselves to receive all the benefits that come with putting God first in our lives.
Dr. Charles Stanley
We humans are afraid of a lot of things – some of which we don’t even realize. We fear being made fun of, we fear being left out, we fear being unloved. I saw a movie that really brought this concept home called Defending Your Life. The main character, played by Albert Brooks, is a worrier. His fears become so overwhelming that he is stuck in a never-ending loop of inaction and regret. And then he gets hit by a bus. He finds himself in a waystation of sorts where he needs to defend the pitiful life he had on earth. And he meets a wonderful woman played by Meryl Streep. She’s opposite of him – jumped in on all that life had to offer.
It struck me that our days are filled with decisions that are made either based on fear of the world or fear of God. Do we go about our lives trying to keep our head down so the world and people around us won’t take issue with us? Or do we acknowledge that our Lord is sovereign over all and He has behavioral and moral requirements of us? Do we submit to the flesh or to the spirit?
Jesus calls us to his rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort.
I’ve come to acknowledge that while it is okay to call Jesus, “Rabbi,” or teacher I also need to call Him, “My Lord.” Because when I do it places Him above me, above all. When I call Him, “My Lord,” it means I need to submit to His will. My fear comes in as a concern that I want to be sure to serve Him and Him alone. Am I living a life that would please Him, not the world?
I don’t want to be like that Albert Brooks character when I face my Lord. Full of regret for having missed opportunities to place God as my life director.
I have a friend who is fascinated by all things British royal family. She knows just about everything you’d want to know about the monarchy. Shouldn’t we be that way about our one true Lord? Sitting in awe at His feet. Anxiously awaiting His orders. At the ready to do His bidding. Hoping to please Him at every turn. And fearing His disappointment.
By faith Noah, when warned about things
not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark
to save his family.Hebrews 11:7
If there were ever a man who had a lot to fear when it came to being judged by the people around him it was Noah. I mean, what a lunatic! Building a giant boat with no water to be seen. His “holy fear” kept him aligned with the will of his Lord.
It’s so easy to fall into a humdrum world-centered life. And it’s easy to make our prayer and worship life be rote. But if we can just picture that each morning when we rise, we step into our Lord’s magnificently built palace. Are you ready to approach His throne and submit to His Holy authority? Are you sitting in awe at His feet today, marveling at His awesome power and might? Let’s all sing at the top of our lungs today in worship of our Lord — and let the world tease us. We know who is smiling.
If we are “out of our mind,” as some say,
it is for God; if we are in our right mind,
it is for you. 2 Corinthians 5:13
There’s a lot of criticism of Christians these days. We get called any manner of names from freaks to racists and dumb to science deniers. And we shouldn’t be surprised. No one ever said this would be easy.
I wonder if that’s why so many people, including parents, choose not to share their faith? Yes, I said including parents. A friend of mine grew up with a mother who considers herself a Christian. Yet she never shared her faith with her two daughters. Never encouraged them to come to church. Never explained what her faith meant to her. I’ve heard parents say, “I’ll let my kids decide when they get older as to what they want to believe.”
But think about all the things in life we are either willing or even feel compelled to share and teach others. I, for one, have a lot of advice in me to spread about the world spanning any number of topics! From a parenting point of view do we “wait till they decide” when it comes to teaching our kids about healthy eating habits? Do we wait for them to figure out on their own how to read or write?
How did we get to this point in our faith journey where we are so hesitant to share our faith out of fear from what the world would say about us? Out of fear we will get called crazy and “out of our minds?”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him
stand on the highest point of the temple.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said,
“throw yourself down from here. Luke 4:9
Right out of the gate, before Jesus can even start gathering up disciples, our friend, the devil, comes along and tries to tear down Jesus’ confidence. He tests Him multiple times to see if Jesus is who He says He is.
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not
put the Lord your God to the test.’”Luke 4:12
I always love Jesus’ responses to those who would say He was “out of his mind.” He never fails to give me a Perspective Change Moment. He doesn’t argue with the devil about the dangers of jumping off a cliff. He doesn’t present genealogy charts and Old Testament verses from Isaiah about His coming. He just says, “Don’t even test me.” He doesn’t sound angry or offended.
Ah, to be like Jesus. When I was contemplating this post, I got convicted of something I had done the night before. My husband and I were flying home from a visit with family. As we sat in our seats on the plane my husband dropped one side of his mask while trying to adjust his hat. A woman was making her way into the seat in front of us and turned and stared at both of us. Then she looked at my husband and said, “Sir, put your mask on.”
And boom, my hackles (whatever those are) started to rise. I laughed at her. I had all manner of comments I wanted to make but some supernatural force shoved me back in my seat and clamped its hand over my mouth. I sat there steaming, irritated. Very un-Jesus like.
I could’ve used the opportunity to be a peacemaker, a practicing Christian. A Christian who shows what Jesus is about rather than what the devil is all about. I could’ve been “out of my mind” with grace and apologies rather than defensiveness. I didn’t act like I would’ve a few years ago but I didn’t act like the person I want to be. Imperfect progress as my friend Betsy likes to say. Yes, my husband had removed his mask for just a minute. But this woman was clearly fearful and needed a bit of Jesus, not the world.
I told my BSGs the other day that if there was one thing I could try to erase from Christians’ minds it is the idea that “sharing our faith” doesn’t mean standing on a street corner screaming about Jesus. It means that when, given the opportunity by God, we behave like Jesus. We speak like Jesus. We seek peace like Jesus. We teach like Jesus. And we stand firm like Jesus. We step out of our own worldly minds and into Jesus’ mind.
But we have the mind of Christ.1 Corinthians 2:16
God will give you opportunities today. It may be with your children. It may be with your neighbor. It may be with a stranger on a plane. And yes, we need to act as though we are out of our minds with the love of God.
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12
If today’s verse sounds familiar, it should! The King James’ version was our stepping off point for this new series – “That ye be not slothful…” Remembering that the Greek word for slothful, nothros, means slow or sluggish, Paul urges us to grab hold of our inheritance and be diligent to the very end (Heb. 11-12).
What does this look like in our everyday lives?
I had an acquaintance tell me the other day that she would like her church group to start back in studying the Bible. You see, with the chaos from the pandemic their family lives have been turned upside down. Kids are constantly home and constantly needing help with getting the education our schools have neglected to provide. And so studying the Word has fallen by the wayside. They are waiting for a “better time” to reboot their studies.
Hours for the world! Moments for Christ!
Charles Spurgeon
But if we are to be honest if it weren’t the pandemic, for many Christian believers there would be something else keeping them from regularly attending church, going (prepared) to Bible Study, sitting quietly studying His Word. For my family it once was youth sports. We abandoned church for softball tournaments. We saw it as a season that would eventually change and God probably didn’t really mind.
Had I truly valued what God wants for me I would have realized that during that season I especially needed His Word. It’s when our lives seem most chaotic that we need to grasp hold of God. He is our center, our Rock, our plumb line. He puts the swirling world and all its stresses into perspective.
The world has the best of our time and our prayer closets the leftover fragments.
Charles Spurgeon
So, when Paul reminds us to not be lazy or slothful or sluggish with our obedience to Jesus he especially means during difficult times. To not turn to the flesh for solutions and comfort. He chastises us to finish strong by keeping close to God.
I’ve invited many friends and acquaintances to participate in Bible study. And every time I hear multiple people say they are too busy with “life.” Work, family, hobbies, other obligations take precedence. I get it. I’ve been there many, many times. But when I look back to those times I do so with a measure of regret. Because those times are gone forever. Times when I could’ve really used the Word of God to comfort me and to reignite my faith. There are so many instances where I needed God’s wisdom to make better choices – both for myself and my family.
We do not forget to eat. We do not forget to be diligent in business. We do not forget to go to our beds to rest. But we often forget to wrestle with God in prayer and to spend long periods in consecrated fellowship with our Father and our God.
Charles Spurgeon
Our days are numbered here on earth. Christ sacrificed Himself to a horrible death so that we may have a close relationship with God and the gift of salvation. When our ledger is opened at the end will it show that we have made God the primary focus of our time or will He be a footnote?
Be completely humble and gentle;
be patient, bearing with one
another in love.Ephesians 4:2
A prayer to be a patient person
Faithful Father, I get so caught up in the busyness of life that I forget that my needs and desires are not the same as everyone else’s. When I’m running late, I want to yell at the drivers in front of me for not moving quickly enough. The slow grocery store bagger receives my glare when she doesn’t work at the same speed which I expect. Or when a friend doesn’t respond to my text as prompt as I need, I get frustrated. I’ve come to realize, LORD, through your holy Word that my impatience is an outgrowth of my lack of humility. Your admonishment to love one another needs to be on my lips when I feel that frustration and anger well up inside me. LORD, I know there is nothing more important to you than having your children express compassion and love for each other. Rest your loving hand on my shoulder as a reminder for when I forget this. Quell my impatient heart and mind and replace it with grace. In your Son’s name I pray, Amen.
When my children were younger, I found myself praying daily for patience. My youngest had the unique ability to press all my “hot buttons” at one time. But patience seemed to allude me. I heard a pastor during this time give the advice to stop beating our heads against the wall if something we prayed for wasn’t manifesting and to pray for something else. It made me realize that maybe God wasn’t answering my prayers because He had other work still to do in me.
Fast forward a few years and I’ve finally come to realize, through God’s nudging and conviction, that I first needed to figure out why I was always so impatient. And as the verse in Ephesians today tells us we need to be “completely humble and gentle.” It was a hard pill to swallow when I pulled back the curtain to see my inner Wizard of Oz working away trying to control everything. And when people aren’t acting as I want them to, I become angry and impatient.
Whoever is patient has great
understanding, but one who is
quick-tempered displays folly.Proverbs 14:29
Great understanding. Understanding of our why’s – not just because we obviously have somewhere much more important to be than everyone else – but our “why” of why we think that. Why do we think our time and our talent or even treasure is so much higher on the scale of importance that we need to tap our feet in obvious disgust? Or we need to blare our horns and use our fingers in un-godly ways. If we are late, who’s fault really is it? If we are up against a deadline, who needs to truly take responsibility for that situation?
God’s Word is great at convicting, correcting and revealing our “why’s.” The next time you find that old foe called “impatience” welling up inside you stop and dig deeper. Pull back the curtain on your wizard and ask God to show you what’s causing so much distress. He will show you. And then He will test you, over and over.
We see you Mr. Wizard!
If we all can learn, through a renewed humbleness, to be patient and bearing with one another in love just think how much kinder this world will feel. I’m asking God to start with me.
If you want this too, add the prayer to your daily prayer list and watch and see how God works in your life!
When my youngest daughter and I started working on our relationship I prayed, a lot. I prayed what to say the first summer she was home from college. I prayed each time I visited her. I asked God to put the right words in my mouth at the right time, with the right heart. I prayed to have my need to feel hurt and offended by her words be taken from me. I wanted God to change me so dramatically that my daughter could see that change. She needed to see that I was doing the work on my own issues. I had two God moments that have stuck with me during that time. The first was the summer after her freshmen year. I knew, from my older daughter, that life was going to change at our house. We would now have four adults living in our home – no children. And so, I prayed for the right words at the right time. James has taught us so well that when we rely on God in times of trial that wonderous solutions come to us that we might never have thought. I prayed that her newfound relationship with Jesus would also guide our conversations.
The last few words in the Book of James is really a summary. He tells us to take all of the wisdom and expectations of the five chapters and work together for the glory of God. To help those Christians who wander off God’s track and bring them back into his loving arms. To guide our children to a life of grace, wisdom and forgiveness.
My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
James 5:19
Which brings me to the second of those God moments. My daughter and I were on the phone having yet another tense conversation while she was back at school. Full of misunderstandings and secret expectations (She has since told me she had long felt I had extremely high expectations of her and she didn’t want to fail me). I took a breath and prayed for God to speak through me. I stopped talking. I started listening. And finally, the right words came.
Me: “I have something to ask of you.”
Her: “What?”
Me: “I am working really hard on trusting God to handle a lot of stuff – including my fears and hopes and dreams for you.”
Her: “Uh uh.”
Me: “But I fail, a lot. I’m very impressed how you give a lot of grace and forgiveness to your friends, coaches, and teachers. What I’m asking for is that you give me some of that same grace and forgiveness for when I fail.”
Pin drop. God’s words not only diffused the situation but it called on her to look on her own faith. It asked her to treat me just like any other Christian to whom she shows love. It took me out of being “just her mom” to being a person. God was doing a mighty work in that moment.
On a “back to school” road trip
As Christians we probably have Christian friends. We might have Christian children and spouses. We should have the expectation to which James exhorts us, which is to help keep our brothers and sisters on track. We might cringe at that thinking, again, we don’t want to be judgmental people. But by relying on our faith and reminding others of their faith helps us all to grow closer to Christ. It’s that Imperfect Progress my Bible study girls like to talk about.
What is more worthwhile than saving someone from death and covering a multitude of sin?
Faith That Works
If we are in the mindset that our faith is ours and ours alone, we won’t reach out and bring others to Christ. We won’t help our brethren when they fall. I was in a Bible study group once where a woman stated she had never had a conversation about Christ with someone other than people at her church. She seemed ok with that. It made me sad. I know that God had put multiple people in her life along the way (she was in her 80s) to help do His work. I know that because that is God’s nature.
Every person you meet is providential, not accidental.
Phil Hopper, Pastor, Abundant Life Church
So often we think about going out to foreign countries to share our faith when in our own homes and neighborhoods and schools and play groups and Bunco groups and dinner clubs there are people who need Christ. There are Christians who need our support. It’s one thing to gain wisdom from studying His Word and yet another to actually use that wisdom to glorify God.
May we be lumps of salt in the midst of society.
Charles Spurgeon
I like that visual. To be placed around our neighborhoods and cities for the people to gain something good. We aren’t to be stockpiling our salt for our own personal use. We should be anticipating those moments God says, “Here, help my beloved.”
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.
Phillipians 2: 3-4
In other words, if we look at our salvation as a gift from God, we must also share that gift. We must also share the love and teachings of Jesus. By using Jesus’ ways as our touchstone, we can guide others along the way.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10: 24-25
My daughter now will give me biblically based advice when I am struggling. She reminds me to lean into and on God. She gently pushes me closer to Jesus. I had a older friend, who at the beginning of the Covid19 crisis, I checked in on. I considered him a leader in our church, a man of strong faith. He was distraught and depressed. He said to me, “I just can’t see God in any of this to be honest.” And me, a person who struggles with memorizing any scripture spoke these words back to him: “You must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a boat on the waves of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6) This man of great faith was silent. And then he said, “Thank you.”
As a Christian, I need my Christian friends and family to remind me of the promises God has made. I need nudges back toward His light. I may even need a whack over the head once in a while. If we choose not to help each other, think of all the opportunities we have missed to glorify Him and the people we will not have helped save from death. And as for my older daughter, I pray every day of my role in bringing her to Christ. More importantly, I pray that a Christian friend of hers will tell her their testimony and invite her on The Way.`
emboldened.net 