Tag: sin

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Our Wise and Sanctified Souls

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"But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." Jude 1:20-21

You began your journey on the road of the sanctified life by professing your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.  You may not even have realized what that meant but, you took the step.  You began reading your Bible, going to church, seeking others of faith.  Your Knowledge Basket filled little by little.  Your soul became refreshed and watered at rest stops along the road by the Word.

The inevitable pothole leaps out at you suddenly.  You may even veer off the road a bit.  Your soul takes a beating with heartache and loss.  Your sins become a glaring, flashing red light.  But you look in your Trials Basket and remember God will never leave you or forsake you.  (Deut 31:68) You recall Him telling us to ask in His will and you shall receive.  (Matt 7:7-9)

The verses you so carefully plucked and memorized tell you the Holy Spirit is your strength and He has a plan for good.  We learn such jewels from Proverbs as, “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” (Prov 26:11)

You pick up and dust off your bruised soul and get back on the path, gathering experience after experience. Confirming over and over the truth of God’s Word.  The truth that He sees you and knows every hair on your head. (Luke 12:7) You remember each time a new pothole jumps at you to pray for His hand on your life.  You affirm to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, and He will make straight your paths.” (Prov. 3:5) 

You come to a fork in the road.  To the left you see what appears to be an open, empty road.  It’s just you and the path.  It looks so easy to take.  To the right you see broken down souls trudging outside the path.  Ones who are weary and thirsty; ones who are lost.  Ones who are being deceived.  Souls who are in need.  But you also see the Holy Spirit ahead, like a busy traffic cop beckoning you forward.  

You must ask yourself, “Do I turn left, lock my doors and enjoy the blessing of salvation by myself?” Or, do I choose to submit myself to the entirety of God’s teaching?  Will you choose to fill your Stewardship Basket? To love your neighbor, to share the Gospel with your family and friends, to give your time, talents and treasure to those in need for the glory of God? (Matt 22:39)

God’s path calls for us to submit ourselves wholly to Him – not just part.  The “easy path” so often doesn’t turn out all that easy.  It’s a mirage, set up by the devil to deceive.  James tells us a partial faith is “double mindedness.” (James 1:8) And that person shouldn’t expect anything from God.  1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  It means we take all God has gifted us and we turn it back into glorifying Him to others in need.

As our soul matures along this road, we choose.  Yes, we choose which fork to take.  We choose to submit every sin, every action, every word, every need and every gift for His Kingdom.  When we do, God continues filling our Submission Basket with new experiences and new revelations.  We trust in Him and He gifts us the best road trip snacks – peace and the security of our eternal future.

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:3-4

My friends, humans are the only created beings to which God has blessed this amazing opportunity of sanctification.  The animal kingdom obeys God’s plan instantly upon birth.  They do what they are made to do.  Yet, those actions are limited in scope.  We have so much more opportunity to glorify God with what He has given us!

God has placed us on this road to travel and gather.  Each mile marker brings us new insight into Him, the world, and the adversary.  Wisdom is not a far off mirage.  No, the jewels of wisdom sit firmly in our baskets which have been gathered along the way.

“Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.

I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.  

I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.  

I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.  

I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”  Psalm 119:98-106

One day I will be an “old soul.”  Right now, however, I’m working my way down the road of life.  Making mistakes and re-submitting my life to Christ each day.  Forgetting to pray and rely on God’s sovereignty then having a friend ask me, “Have you prayed about that?”

I can feel my soul growing wiser, growing more at peace.  I want my roots to run deep in His Word so I bear good fruit for others to enjoy along the path. (Matt 7:17-18) But most of all I want to be ever thankful that Jesus took it upon Himself to build this path toward the heavenlies.  

A Path Freely Given

He didn’t have to.  We need to remember that fact when others abuse what Jesus did for us.  When they complain when we re-affirm Jesus is the only Way.  God didn’t have to make a way at all.  Not only did He build it, He gave us the full recipe, He gave us a guide.  All so we can make it safely home.

As I write this my 86 year old, cancer riddled, atheist dad has come to live with us before he travels his final path.  I’ve had many friends concerned for how hard this will be.  It is hard at times. Especially at 2:00 am when bed clothes and sheets need changing. Or when I must choose to forgo activities dear to me. But I am at peace.  

I realized this the other day.  It’s a peace I’ve prayed for a lot in my life.  I never expected during a trial such as this that peace would be what God gifted me on this road.  

The other day, I took my dad for his first ever mani/pedi experience to fix his old crusty toenails.  He loved it.  When I sent my Bible study sisters a photo of him in the salon, one commented: “I love that you are loving on your dad this way!  A foot washing like Jesus would do today!” 

It struck me that I have been sanctified for a time such as this. (Esther 4:14) Blessed with the opportunity to take the fork to the right and share the love, mercy and salvation message of Jesus Christ with my father.

My friends, I pray that you too will have many opportunities to do the same.

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Our final question: What’s the best lesson you have learned so far on your sanctification journey?

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It’s Not You, It’s Him

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Philippians 1:6  “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

In a survey done a few years ago about what Christians believe, more than half (55%) agree that “everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.”  I have to assume that when people answer questions like this, they’re thinking specifically about themselves and people they love.  Because friend, if you believe this you haven’t poked your head outside in a while, like a long, long while.  You haven’t been to a kid’s sports event.  Apparently, you were asleep during the great toilet paper crisis of 2019.  That’s just the small stuff.  If you really want to know how good we humans are, read up on your national and international news.  War, rampant fraud, poverty, murders, rapes, greed – getting the true picture of all that goodness?

Christians who believe they are basically good then must erase the need for Jesus.  I suppose this error still works for that 55% since the survey also found that almost half (44%) say that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.  Thus, we don’t need anyone to come and save us from our sins, right?  We don’t need anyone to clean us up, clothe us in majesty so we can stand righteously before the One True God.

That definitely wasn’t the prophet Isaiah when He was brought before God.  Isaiah 6:5 shows us his situation — “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Isaiah, when brought before God, saw how unworthy he truly was when compared to our Holy and Majestic God.  My friends, it’s not until we realize we are just as unclean can the clean-up truly begin.

When we do, so many of us start working really, really hard at getting “cleaned up.”  We clean and we clean.  And like Lady Macbeth we cry out, ““Here’s yet a spot,” she cries, desperately rubbing. “Here’s the small drop of blood still.””  Her sin caused such guilt and shame she sleepwalks constantly washing her hands. 

Oh, we may fool ourselves into thinking how much better we are for having gone (or thought about going) to church a few times, or even regularly.  In fact, our piousness may ooze out of our pores.  We give to the right causes (just enough not to hurt) and are righteously offended by other’s not-so-godly behavior.  We volunteer (or at least we want to) and we wear our symbols of our faith.  But still that spot won’t come out.

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? .... But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If you recall my first post, “The Coat of the Holy Spirit” I wrote about three phases of sanctification:

  1. You were sanctified (Justification)
  2. You are being sanctified (Sanctification or Made Holy)
  3. You will be sanctified (Glorification)

Of these, which are you to keep scrubbing away to get those spots out?  This is, of course, a trick question. It’s all Him, not you. All He asks is for you to listen, trust and obey His Word.

So how have we been sanctified?  By the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.  He chose you before time began.  Only the blood of Christ satisfies the requirement God has to give the guilty mercy and grace.  Remember, we are ALL sinners.  We all deserve death and eternal separation from the Most Holy God.  The gift of Christ was given freely because “God so loved the world…” John 3:16.

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13  

You are being sanctified right now, even by reading this post!  You are gaining wisdom (I hope), which was given by Christ to the disciples — to generations since, to me, pastors, teachers, fellow believers — imparted to you!  The Holy Spirit, imputed to you by Christ, is living inside you opening your heart, your mind, your eyes and ears to God’s Word and promises.  

“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” 1 Peter 1:3

Lastly, you will be sanctified when we see Christ again and rise from the dead, fully healed, fully restored as God has planned since creation.  How beautiful is that?  A gift from our Creator to those who simply believe.

So, who is responsible for making us holy?  The short answer is always Jesus.  When we love Him, we desperately want to obey Him, to please Him with our love. 

Thank you, LORD, for doing the work for us.  For not having us make endless, pointless sacrifices to try and wash the spots off our souls.  For being the only True God who loves us so much that He died for us.  No other man-made gods have done the same.  That is love.  And for that we can be eternally grateful.  Amen

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

This week’s question: Do you struggle with the word “obedience?”  Why do you think God calls us to obedience to Him?

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Day 30 In Christ Alone

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“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. Psalm 62:1

Earlier this year I trained to be a discipleship coach for an online ministry.  Anyone who searches the internet using certain, key words may encounter the link which offers a free course called Knowing Jesus.  People from all over the world work through the free  course seeking to grow closer to God through the truth of Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Bible.

I recently had a student who said Jesus was a very obedient servant of God.  While that is true, I told her that limited view of Jesus doesn’t ensure we understand the full holiness and deity of Christ.  I explained to her Jesus was fully man and fully God, a sometimes confusing concept.  I asked if that information was new to her, a self-professed, occasionally attending church Christian.  She replied,  “Yes.”  

That one word actually made me sad.  Sad over how the “church,” meaning we, the body of believers have sometimes failed to make clear the place that Jesus sits in heaven.  How we have failed to loudly celebrate that only Christ can be the one to cleanse us of our sins so we can, with His cloak of purity laden over our shoulders, come before the Father.  And the way churches, fellow believers allow our friends and neighbors to remain in the dark about the love the Trinity has shown all humanity  —  when God humbled Himself to walk among us and give us the message of eternal life.

You see, without seeing Jesus in His rightful Holy position we also can’t look to Him for all hope and strength and peace.  Because no average man can give us that.  No, it takes a King of Kings, a Lord of Lords, a solid cornerstone.  Christ alone.

Jesus, the man, was tender, strong, felt pain, and was ever obedient to His Father.  At the same time, Jesus, the Word in flesh, was sinless, wise, merciful, a healer, a life-giver, prescient, could calm storms, and fill nets and endless food baskets.  But most of all Jesus the Holy One was the required sacrifice for our forgiveness of sins.  

He gave His all for us  He suffered much for us.  He loved tremendously for us.

When this same student mentioned she’s too tired on Sundays to regularly attend church, I told her I too used to think church was just another thing on my to-do list.  But when I realized the amazing gift that He gave us in Christ I was compelled to worship Him in gratitude and submission.  Instead of obligation, church became a soul-filler.  When I lift my hands up to Him in love, He reaches back to me through the Holy Spirit and grabs hold of me.  I know that nothing else in this world can ever pluck me from His hands.  He will never let me go.  He brings us home in victory.

If you don’t have this relationship with Christ, call on Him today.  Give Him your all.  And the Lord of All will give all eternity to you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the past 30 days of Worship as much as I have!  If you missed any posts, I’ve compiled the entire series here.  Please share with your friends today to support this ministry and help be a light out into the darkness.

To listen to today’s song, click here: In Christ Alone

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Day 25 For All My Life

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“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  Mark 8:34-35
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight  Proverbs 3:6

I’ll admit that for almost half of my life I relied on one person to resolve all my problems, to quell my fears, and to help me succeed in life.  Myself.  While I did a decent job of pulling myself up and around by my own boot straps, I also did a bang up job of living a life of stress, anxiety and worry.  When I met my husband, he called me the queen of “woulda, coulda, shoulda.”

In other words, I would regret and worry about every single decision I made.  If I “fixed it” and it didn’t turn out very good then I was also the one to take much of the blame.  I leaned heavily on my own understanding.  The burden became unbearable.  I put the same pressure on friends, family and acquaintances to take on the same responsibility.  When they didn’t, I would look on with annoyance that they weren’t doing life “right.” 

That type of living doesn’t keep quality relationships.  It definitely doesn’t bring joy and love and goodness.  

The study I did this summer on being a slave to Christ (Slave by John MacArthur) has further revealed to me how being owned by Jesus is so much easier than being a slave to a sinful life outside His will.  When we let Him take the lead and shine the light on our paths, we can take a deep breath of fresh air.  We view troubles, challenges or even failures in a different light.

We may not always see our life with Christ as a straight and beautiful path of goodness.  But that’s just the world trying to speak back into us.  As long as we have our eyes always on Jesus it doesn’t matter what seems uncertain.  The North Star is always where it should be even if the road is a bit squiggly.  He will guide you right to Him.

Click here to listen: For All My Life

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Day 23 All My Praise

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Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Luke 5:23-24
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1

I recently read about the Free Grace movement which started around the late 1980s.  Their basic belief is that you need only to say you believe in Jesus to receive eternal life in the Kingdom of God.  No repentance necessary.  No change in your ways.  You don’t even need to say you “follow” Jesus.  

While you can find places in the New Testament where people received salvation from Jesus for believing, one has to ask in the modern world the question of what does “believing” mean?  

Your definition of “believing” is important because if you believe Jesus was just a guy who lived a long time ago or a prophet who did some miracles then you won’t believe He forgives our sins and with compassion blots out our transgressions.  You might think Jesus had some good life advice that may or may not apply to you.  It certainly doesn’t lead you to get on your knees in submission and praise. 

If you believe He is God but don’t seek through the Holy Spirit a repentant, changed life then you might find yourself facing a Jesus who says to you: “You say Lord, Lord but I didn’t know you.”

Easy “believism” doesn’t lead to a life of divine-given fruit through our act of acknowledging our sin nature.  People Jesus encountered throughout His time here and believed were always told to go and do something.  Sin no more, tell someone, worship differently, give up something.

The Lord Jesus wants not just our words, He wants all of us.  He expects believers to see Him as the God who reigns over every single aspect of our lives.  He wants the repentant not the unrepentant in His Kingdom.  And it’s only Him that can forgive and transform.  It’s that Jesus that causes us to be thankful, grateful for removing the scales from our eyes so we can see Him clearly.  

And for that we should give Him all praise because in the end that’s truly the only thing we can offer back to the God of the Universe. 

Click here to listen to today’s song: All My Praise

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Day 5 Gratitude

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  Ephesians 1:3-4
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens…. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Psalm 8: 1 & 3-4

Have you ever had someone do something for you that was unexpected and thoughtful?  A few months ago, I was so sick with the flu I could barely walk from my bed to the bathroom.  A friend of mine heard how sick I was and that day left a care package of healing teas at my door.  It was a loving, unsolicited gesture — wanting to help nurse me back to good health

When I hear this beautiful song by Brandon Lake I am overwhelmed by God’s unwarranted love and care for me.  I’m a sinner from way back.  I’m a backsliding sinner.  I will probably manage to say or do something today that I shouldn’t.  Yet, the God of the universe, the Almighty One, still loves me and sees me and provides for me.  He loves you too, fellow sinner. 

His love is freely given.  His offer of salvation is crowned upon us without us having to lift a finger.  We need only to believe.  No trying harder.  No paying a fee.  No list of things to accomplish.  No shame.  Just a heart that says, “I believe you and I want to have you as my Lord.”  After that He infuses Himself with us through the Holy Spirit.  The free gift of an ever present counselor, comforter and guide who reveals God’s will for our life.  

How can we not get emotional over something so staggering, so loving, and so unexpected?  We throw up our hands and praise Him over and over for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ who died to cleanse us of the stain of sin.  We shed tears knowing how much we don’t deserve this love yet are showered with it each day.

All I can say to that is Hallelujah and Amen!

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Enjoying the Right Side of Life

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I’ve mentioned in past series that I wasn’t raised in a Christian home.  My father is, to this day, an atheist and my mom is well, just sort of lost.  In my younger years, I would probably tell you I believed in God but I didn’t really know what that meant.  God was the creator and He was still hanging around, I supposed.  If I had died back then I would’ve had the same judgement as my father, I believe.  Because just like my atheist father, I didn’t have God as the centerstone of my life.

I hate to say it but I talk to a lot of folks who seem to be in this same boat.  They might even call themselves “Christian.”  But dig a bit deeper and they don’t believe the basic tenets of the faith.  Such as Jesus being full man and fully God who died to cover our sins and make us righteous before God.  Or that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.  Without these basic truths to help us navigate through life what’s to keep them from wandering off the path?  To avoid a life of fool-hardy behavior and thinking?  To be led by foolish teachers and pastors?

“Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left.” Ecclesiastes 10:1-2

Back in the ancient world of King Solomon, the right hand represented the place of honor and power.  The left hand (sorry lefties) represented weakness and even rejection.  In this introduction to chapter 10 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon shines the light on our propensity to lean a bit too far into our personal temptations and sins.  We give way to the left-hand side of life.  Those sinful “flies in the ointment” create a life that looks a lot like one without knowing or trusting in God.

Blessed is the man who has the God of Jacob for his Helper; he need not fear either want or pain, or death. The more you can realize this, the happier will you become; and the only means for so doing is to hold frequent communion with God in prayer. Get alone with Jesus, and He will comfort your hearts, and restore your weary souls.”

Charles Spurgeon

No only had I not put God as a cornerstone of my life I put so many other things and people there in His place.  In Solomon’s words I put “fools in a high position” (Ecc 10:6).  And wisdom?  Let’s just say it wasn’t a top priority for me.  

“The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.” Ecclesiastes 10:15

What a sad state to be in, as so many are today.  Lost amongst well-travelled roads.  Thinking they know the way to enjoying life to the fullest only to find themselves each morning back on the wrong side of a meaningful life.

I’ll make a confession to you.  I started having sex when I was about 16 years old – sad to say that may be a bit old nowadays.  By the time I met my future husband at age 22, I had been with more than 15 different men.  The first few sexual relationships were ones I sometimes, still today, thank God that He didn’t allow me to become pregnant because I was also unprotected.  In the midst of my sexual promiscuity years something inside me knew what I was doing was wrong but it didn’t stop me.  I plowed ahead in my left hand life.

Later, I even realized my behavior was borne out of a need to seek love and acceptance.  Of which, I usually received the exact opposite.  Folly, folly, folly.  And more wandering over the same roads.

My centerstones, or my go-to experts, were like-minded travellers.  Women’s liberation bullhorns, pro-abortionists, people who believed we deserved to do what we please, and others who scoffed at the religious right and their limiting “rules for life.”  I was going to do what I wanted, with whom I wanted, and was going to be happy and successful.  

Until I wasn’t.

As a person searching for a meaningful life, that younger me was bombarded by foolish rulers.  College teachers who were all about living the life that was “true to yourself.”  The people I worked with had no place for God and encouraged debauchery and folly.  Even the pastor of the church, where I spent about 10 years as  a new Christian, never talked about sin.

Now, as a Christ-centered Christian, it angers me that there are pastors who fall into these same categories.  Their own lives and their teaching don’t reflect God as their centerstone.  They are ok with abortion – murdering the innocent.  They are just fine with people having sex outside of marriage.  With living immoral lives as long we know we are “loved” and “don’t judge.”  They’re apparently reading from a different Bible than the one I have.  

They are not leaders of the right handed side of life.  When we look at who we’ve put as our centerstones we have to ask: are they simply leading us back around in circles to all our old sinful paths?

Click here for Enjoying the Right Side of Life Part Two as we discover the path straight to love and joy.

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Enjoying Life With Gladness

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At this point in your life, you’ve probably been asked one or both of these questions:

  1. If you were told you were to die tomorrow, what would you do?
  2. If the world were to end tomorrow, what would you do tonight?

They are two different scenarios.  The first sees life moving forward for the rest of the world without you in it.  The second is a complete destruction of all we know.  For me, however, the answers are both the same.  I would gather my family and others that I love.  We would spend time in prayer asking God to sustain us through the trial so that we would see His face at our end.  I would want us to gather in laughter, remembering all the wonderful times God has provided us throughout our time together.  We would eat a scrumptious meal, most likely prepared by my husband, enjoy good wine, and pray some more.

Here’s the thing, we should always assume these two questions are a distinct possibility.  That is, if we truly believe the message of the Bible.  First, we will all die, just as we have seen in earlier chapters of Ecclesiastes.  It’s not if but when.  For every single one of us.  Secondly, if it’s not the rapture coming upon us then we should be honest that the world is now filled with weapons that could easily kill us all.  Does this mean we live every day in fear of these two truths?  No, but truth can and should set us free to live in reality.

“All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.” Ecclesiastes 9:2

That “common destiny” is the evil we call death.  So, what do we do with this truth?  We live each day serving the one true God and live in gladness.

“Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.” Ecclesiastes 9:7-8

Gladness is not hedonism.  Gladness is not escapism.  Gladness isn’t folly.  You could easily imagine, in fact movies and books have taken the “if the end were tomorrow what would we do” topic and shown us the possibilities the unrighteous might take.  Some might go on drug, alcohol or sexual benders.  Getting blotto to ease their fears or pain.  The age-old “eat and drink because tomorrow we might die” path toward annihilation.  It’s a twisting of the message found throughout Ecclesiastes.  Other might go on a theft and destruction rampage.  That thinking shines the light on people who live without wisdom or God.

Why shouldn’t we think this way?  I mean your life is about to end, right?  Let’s remember the times when Moses and Abraham negotiated with God to save their people.   

“Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”  Genesis 18:23-26
“ But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.” Exodus 32:11-12

So here you are, you’ve committed every sin possible against man and God the night before you are to die and suddenly a righteous person pleads for mercy on the world’s behalf.  The ungodly will surely find themselves on the wrong side of that historical moment.  Or maybe that person is praying for your healing because you have been personally given that death sentence.  Will God abide or will He see justice done?  

That’s what the “fear of God” is about.  Knowing there is a presence higher than us who will one day serve justice to all.  Do we love God and therefore want to live our lives in service to Him?  Or do we grieve the Holy Spirit daily, hourly even, and turn our backs on Him?

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. 6Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:5-6

Until the day we actually die we still have time.  Time to submit ourselves over to the Lord Most High.  Time to reconcile with loved ones.  Time to give out mercy and forgiveness in abundance.  Time to enjoy our lives with gladness.  Because once your time is up, the dead have no such chances.

Joy is the serious business of heaven.”  

C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcom

Rejoicing our lives in gladness means we make the most of every moment.  We make as many everyday moments special.  Because they are special.  That moment right now, you will never have back.  The moments pass by so quickly in our short lives.  Do you want to live them in bitterness and anger?  In the fog of folly and hedonism?  Or in joyfulness and with endurance?  

I saw a great example of taking everyday moments and making them full of gladness.  Once a month a mom of four young children creates “Fancy Dinner Night.”  The children all dress in their finest clothing.  She makes picture menus of the meal she has planned.  There’s candles and cloth napkins and the fancy china.  She plays the role of waitress and hands out the menus as though she is serving clients at a 5 star Michelin restaurant.  Even the toddler has a picture menu from which to choose his meal.  She is training them not only to enjoy an everyday moment but how to act with character at mealtimes.  It was so sweet and beautiful!

Console yourself, dear Battos.  Things may be better tomorrow.  While there’s life, there’s hope.  Only the dead have none.”  

Greek Poet Theokritos

There is always hope for tomorrow; a tomorrow filled with gladness.  Why? Because we have the life and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He suffered the most gruesome of deaths to take on our sins.  He sacrificed not only His human body but His heavenly one when he came to earth to live among us.  He showed us what the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven will look like – ones who fully rely on God, they forgive and are forgiven, they put others ahead of themselves, they mourn over their sin.  And when He was resurrected, He proved that those Kingdom Citizens will also be raised from the dead and be given yet another new life.  What amazing hope we have for our eternal lives after this short time here on earth.

When we live in gladness and joy, we seek to serve others in His Holy Name.  We love others well in His name.  We take every moment, even in the trials and tribulations, and thank Him for providing for us, for healing us, and being our guiding light.  So why oh, why would we want to miss out on that hope?  Why would we not want to share that hope with those around us who choose daily leaning toward something less?

It’s not by searching for special things that we find joy, but by making the everyday things special.” 

Warren Wiersbe

Friends, our time here is truly short so consider well your answers to the first two questions I presented.  Because eternity is forever.  A forever spent in the presence of the glory of God or of the pain of hell.

"So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.” Ecclesiastes 9:1 

King Solomon eventually, in his study of the meaningless life, discovers that we do, in fact, know what awaits us.  If we take the narrow path set before us by Jesus we are greeted with unmeasurable love.  Our knowledge of that truth should give us the endurance to live each day in gladness.  And to spread that truth to so many others.

Are you the type that tells your family and friends that your best china is sitting locked away in some dusty cupboard?  “It’s for special times.”  And those times never seem to come?  Break out that china, the linen napkins, the candles, even if it’s just you enjoying it or grab a few neighbors you’ve always wanted to meet.  Make your everyday special in some way and rejoice with gladness!

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

C.S. Lewis
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Enjoying the “Enough” Life Part Two

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Did you miss part one of Enjoying the Enough Life? Click here!

Enjoyment without God is merely entertainment.  

Warren Wiersbe

No one on this great blue planet is without sin.  Without sinful desires and thoughts.  Without sinful emotions.  So, if we seek contentment, or unconditional wholeness solely from within what do we find?  Our sinful selves just like I did when I embarked on my happiness journey a few years ago.  And we turn back to the unfulfilling emotion of fleeting happiness.

What guides a person to being truly joy-filled or content in every situation? How do we achieve that “unconditional wholeness” researcher Daniel Cordaro mentioned after visiting that Himalayan tribe?  It requires something outside us to guide us through the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations of life.  It’s easy to enjoy a new car.  But what about when it breaks down?  It takes no effort to enjoy the birthday party at the park you so expertly planned but what happens when it rains?  Does your happiness bucket completely empty and you turn into Attila the Hun, raging at others?  Or you weep and sulk feeling the cosmos hates you?

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  Philippians 4: 11-13

That strength to endure a peasant life that Tolstoy witnessed, a life of labor and toil, a life of disappointments and tragedy, and yes, even a life full of wealth comes only from God.  (Ecc 5:19 & 6:2) Through the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell in us when we say, “Yes!” to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  It’s the fountain from which we draw on every single moment of every day to guide us and strengthen us.  Because my friends, you cannot find wholeness without Him.

Deep-seated in the American mind, for example, is the disastrous idea that we should pursue happiness. But what is happiness? And what are the realities through which one could achieve it? And how, practically speaking, does one pursue happiness? One might pursue happiness on the carpe diem principle. But that can be understood in many ways. It could endorse a sensuality of the present moment or endorse devoting the present moment to improvement of one’s character, to serving others, or to serving God. Usually in our times, however, it is some form of sensuality. Our choice between these options will have profound implications for our efforts to become a genuinely good person and to live harmoniously with reality, with how things really are.

Dallas Willard

My Bible study ladies are currently studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkins.  In the first week we read and discovered the messages behind the first 12 verses, also known as the Beatitudes.  Jesus’ goal in this sermon was to re-define for the disciples what not only the Kingdom of Heaven looks like but what its citizens look like.  The first four beatitudes describe the character of its citizens:

  1. We Are Poor in Spirit: accepting we are weak and sinful in need of a strength outside ourselves
  2. We Are Mourners: we recognize our sinfulness and weep over it daily.  Asking God for forgiveness for each time we act, speak or think (even feel) in opposition to God’s will for us.
  3. We Are Meek: in modeling Jesus’ submission to the Father in going to the cross for humanity’s sins and therefore suffering a terrible death, we too seek humility and submission to God. 
  4. We Are Hungry and Thirsty: not for earthly glory, praise and wealth but for our hearts and minds to be daily cleansed.  We constantly seek His will for our life so that we can glorify Him.  We cast off our old selves and thirst for the new bodies and New Eden to come.

These citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven?  They will be abundant with fruit and content in all situations.  The fruits of love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, patience, self-control and faithfulness can be seen by all around them.  They spread that fruit and His Word throughout our families, communities and the world.  We achieve the ultimate peace in the face of persecution.  Peace with God.  Our friction between us is gone.  We are made whole because He breathes the Holy Spirit into us, making us one with Him.

"And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one… 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." John 17: 11 & 22-23

One with the Creator of all things seen and unseen – Elohim, Jehovah.  What more could a tiny, sinful human want for all eternity?  All other pales in comparison!  No self-help book without God can help you achieve such gloriously contented status. King Solomon discovered that our sinful toil without God is usually for our own gain and our appetite is never satisfied on our own (Ecc 6:7).

"The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good." Psalm 14:1-2

I once saw an interaction with a non-believer and a street preacher.  The young, unbelieving woman stated, “How can you say I won’t go to heaven (which as a non-believer why would she care?) when I’m a good person.  I’m better than most Christians.  I don’t lie, cheat or steal.”  Yet, as Jesus reminds us further in the Sermon on the Mount if you even let your heart yearn to do any of those things you are guilty.  And I would bet all that I have she has, in fact, actually lied.  She has probably stolen something – maybe someone’s dignity by gossiping about them.  And cheating?  She might have thought that little deed or breaking some municipal law wasn’t that “big of a deal” but it’s still cheating.  She is at odds with God, broken and not whole.

It is only through the gift of reconciliation for our sins, no matter their size, of which Jesus Christ paid for, that we can come upright before the God of the Universe.  Where we receive mercy and forgiveness so we don’t have to live in shame and hurt, grasping for pleasures to dull our pain.  No, instead He brushes us off and clothes us in white garments.  He brings us into His family and calls us His sons and daughters.  He pours out His love and gives a piece of Him to live in us so we can have that “unconditional wholeness.” He gifts us with “enough” each day so that we may be satisfied.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  James 1:2-4

We are made perfect and complete, meaning made whole, when we face life’s trials and rely on the God who gives us strength and hope.  We are honed and shaped into the image of the only being that walked this earth who was sinless and fully content — Jesus.

Friend, if you want to get off the roller coaster of seeking “happiness” and then being brought low by trials, look to our All Mighty God and His Son.  He is our provider, our protector, our armor, our joy, our hope.  He has never broken a promise and He never will.  He promises you a new life at the end of the rainbow – not a pot of gold.  And with that promise and hope we can live a contented, meaningful life of “enough” in a world of chaos.

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Enjoying The Gifted Life Part Two

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Did you miss part one? Go to Enjoy Life: From Meaningless to Meaningful

I heard a pastor recently talking about our wants and needs related to our prayer life.  How we try to manipulate God into approving our behaviors.  We mask our sinful desires by praying for prosperity yet have no plans to serve the kingdom with gifts, or we do so meagerly.  We pray for the right house to purchase and won’t open our homes to our church needs.  A better car, a good vacation, a husband or wife, a job, or even children.  And all along we don’t ever plan to surrender all those over for God’s holy work.  Or we make a deal with God to get what we want knowing full well we won’t uphold our side of the bargain.  

" And he (Jesus) said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

False “needs” and empty prayers.  They lead to greed and coveting.  It all comes down to not trusting in God for our provisions.  And not being good stewards of what we have been gifted.  We tell God over and over what He needs to do for us.  If He doesn’t perform that particular miracle then darn it, we are going to make it happen for our ourself.  Or worse, reject God.

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.  Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.  For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. " Ecclesiastes 5:1-3

Let your words be few, King Solomon warns us.  With few words yes, but with listening ears.  The Bible tells us to come before the Lord with our requests.  However, night after night, morning after morning we roll out our list of wants and needs.  Do we ever ask God if those are what He wants for us?  Imagine a relationship here on earth like that.  Your friend is constantly complaining about what she or he doesn’t have and what they want.  And they never, ever stop talking (sounds like a toddler!). Our prayer life and quiet times with the Lord are supposed to be a two-way street!  Not a drive-through ordering system.

In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart. 

 John Bunyan

A few weeks ago I read an account by Christian teacher Kay Arthur about the night, at 29 years of age, that she was truly saved.  “I’d been at a party.  The only thing I remember about that night was that a man named Jim looked at me and said, “Why don’t you quit telling God what you want and tell Him that Jesus Christ is all you need?”  His words irritated me.  “Jesus Christ is not all I need,” she replied.  My reply was curt.  “I need a husband, I need a…” and one by one I enumerated my needs.  I turned my heel and went home.”  

Her family was very religious but the Bible had not been a central part of her life.  She went to church but no one had ever asked her if she had been saved.  She hadn’t realized going to church and being a “good Christian” weren’t the keys to salvation.  She knew her sins were obvious and she was in deep spiritual and emotional pain.  The next day after that party, she couldn’t face going to work and called in sick.  She found herself at the edge of her bed crying out to God for a healing of peace.  She discovered the God who provides, the God who heals. She gave her wants and needs completely over to Him to purge and refine.

Are you constantly making a list of all the things you expect God to do for you?  Yet don’t plan on obeying and serving Him?  Are you usurping His authority over your life and building up all your stuff to fill yet another room or another storage unit rather than re-gifting your blessings to His Kingdom?  King Solomon starkly tells us this is all so meaningless.  In his study of this life, he ends chapter 5 reminding us everything we have is of God — gifts from heaven to be used and enjoyed accordingly.

“Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart."  Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

The apostle Paul carries this theme of God as our great provider throughout the epistles.  Setting our sights not on stuff but on the Lord.  More importantly, setting our hearts to the heavens.

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:12-13

Is it time to do your own room-by-room inventory? An inventory of your prayer life?  An inventory of the room of your heart?  Maybe it’s time to give, give, give.  And to quietly listen for His Word so He can set you on the path to enjoyment.  For when you do, our Lord and Savior has promised us, “for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”