On Being Part of the Permanent

1 John 2:15-17 MSGDon’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

1 John 2:15-17 Phillips Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. For the whole world-system, based as it is on men’s primitive desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid, is not derived from the Father at all, but from the world itself. The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die.

Observation

So, here we are again standing by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  John is telling us that “Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important…” is eating that same fruit.  If we do so, we are choosing to value (want) everything that is temporal, passing away, of no eternal value.  God has not said through John that we cannot have and enjoy things, or be good leaders, or attain high positions.  However, He is saying that we must watch the motives – is it to serve Him, His purposes, and His reward system or all about me, me, me and what I get out of it here and now.

I love this phrase – “The man who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die.”  This is not speaking about physical death of the body but, rather, about the permanence of the rewards of eternal life guaranteed by placing our full trust in the Father and choosing obedience over our reputation, possessions and praise for our accomplishments.  To follow God’s will be hard on all that is acclaimed and held dear by the world’s system (“men’s primitive desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid” – KJV “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”).

Impact on Me

I am guaranteed eternal life by the salvation provided in Christ.  John is speaking here to those who have done the bare minimum without any further investment in bringing the Kingdom.  John is speaking of the necessary equipping and the map for the journey of sanctification, becoming more like Christ.  Jesus tells me in Scripture to be lightly attached to the things of this world even though I must have things to live in it.  The Father knows what I need and will provide it.  He also tells me to overcome through love all that is evil in this world (driven by lust and pride).  Here John says it again.  “Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time.”  I must not value temporal things above eternal ones.

In this chapter, John reminds me that loving the Father and loving my neighbor (really anyone including my family) are interconnected.  He is warning me that the love of me and what I have at the expense of others is not moving me along the road to sanctification (becoming more like Jesus).  Being generous with what I have, content in where He places me, loving my enemy, praying for those who spitefully use me, freely extending forgiveness to those who mock and abuse me, trusting God to avenge in His time and way – these are footsteps forward on the journey.  These kinds of reactions to the world’s system may be slightly wounding to my soul (my pride, my reputation, my social status), but they are milestones on my path and please my Father in Heaven.

Devotion

Eternal Father, Redeemer, Comforter, Teacher, Almighty God, You are everything true Love embodies.  I want to do more than just the minimum.  I want to demonstrate my gratitude for all You have done for me by loving and serving all you bring my way so they may be changed by Your Love as I was.  I want to be one who is recognized as Yours in all I do.  Keep me watchful so I can always be following Your will and living/walking in the “permanent” (eternal) every day.  I ask this in Jesus’ name.

On Keeping Watch

1 Peter 5:1-4 (Phillips)Now may I who am myself an elder say a word to you my fellow-elders? I speak as one who actually saw Christ suffer, and as one who will share with you the glories that are to be unfolded to us. I urge you then to see that your “flock of God” is properly fed and cared for. Accept the responsibility of looking after them willingly and not because you feel you can’t get out of it, doing your work not for what you can make, but because you are really concerned for their well-being. You should aim not at being “little tin gods” but as examples of Christian living in the eyes of the flock committed to your charge. And then, when the chief shepherd reveals himself, you will receive that crown of glory which cannot fade.

A little different format this time…

About 20 years ago, I was the ministry leader for a team at my church that encouraged and supported ministries led by members of the congregation.  With some minor updates to make it more relevant to all, I wanted to share with you something I shared with my team.  So, this is written to a group that already has accepted Jesus as Savior and committed to serve Him. 

If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you to read the New Testament and learn who Jesus was and is and always will be.  You will never regret being His and allowing Him to be a leader in your life.  Wherever you are and whatever your circumstance, Jesus has love, grace and forgiveness ready for you.  Call on His name and He will answer you.

Observations

1.  God is committed to relationship-building.  He wants everyone to have a relationship with Christ and with others in Christ.  Therefore, He has a plan for creating an environment for life that will father, foster, and fertilize spiritual growth and friendships with others – Christian and non-Christian.  God wants us to allow Jesus to shine through what we love to do and whatever else He asks us to do in Jesus’ name.  Our Father’s goal is to have others experience Christ in us so that they will choose to become part of the family of Christ where they can have the same peace, love and security that we have.  Keep watch on who you associate with and how you treat those you meet.

2.  God wants every Believer to GO be His ambassador, evangelist, missionary in and to the world and culture in which they live.  Some are called to go to places that are strange and unfamiliar to them, but, wherever we are planted, we all are called to carry the Gospel in our daily going and being.  Therefore, God is for us as we create opportunity and support for this to happen.  A question I ask myself is:  Am I making GOING a priority in my everyday life?  Do I pray for opportunities to share the Gospel with my actions as well as my words?  How am I encouraging and inspiring others to answer this call?  How am I equipping those who have a heart to go but feel ill-equipped?  How are they responding?  Keep watch on who is in charge of your schedule, as well as what you say and do.

3.  We operate from a position of advantage.  We serve the Almighty God, Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is never surprised by the latest moves of the enemy.  He is never unprepared or taken aback by what happens.  God made His plan before Creation and has no Plan B.  Additionally, He feels no pressure or compunction to react or act according to any plan or timetable other than His own.  He is never concerned about what people will think about an individual battle that seems to us to be lost.  He will partner with us to accomplish His plan and fulfill His will and purpose (which must be like working with a child learning to bake which takes 3 times as long and creates triple the mess).  BUT God will not necessarily bless any short-sighted plan we come up with on our own.  He has already won the war and will lead us into that victory if we will just follow in His footsteps.  It is worthwhile to invest whatever time it takes to hear from Him and be wise enough to embrace His our part in His plan for us.  Keep watch on remembering Whose you are, Who you serve and whose plan you are following.

4.  We have been given superior weapons.  The weapons He gives us are not the weapons the world sees as powerful but are the ones which exercise overwhelming spiritual power and authority.  These are radical weapons against which the enemy has no defense – agape love, unending grace, complete forgiveness, undeserved mercy, self-sacrifice, humility, the armor of God along with all the other fruits of the Spirit and virtues demonstrated by Jesus.  When I truly forgive another, there is no foothold for bitterness or hatred.  I love Micah 6:8: “Do justly, walk humbly, love mercy”.  This is impenetrable armor against the arrows of the enemy of our souls.  The enemy gains no victory if and when we respond according to the Word of God rather than react according to our flesh. While we are not to be ignorant of the enemy’s devices, we should be diligent to learn how to use the weapons God has given.  Keep watch on which weapons you wield in the battles of life.

5.  God is not performance-based.  We live in a culture that defines our worth by our achievements, our status, our possessions gained.  Heavenly culture puts no worth on these.  Will we be judged one day by Jesus for the works we performed in His name?  Absolutely!  James 2:18-24 tells us that our faith is dead without the good works it should produce.  However, showing up at the Heavenly Gates with the many lists of the good things we did in our own strength without consulting Him will not impress Him.  We will enter in simply because we are in Christ.  To hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” will depend on how well we listened and obeyed in whatever He asked us to do by faith.  If we can trust God enough to pray and wait to hear His plan, truly setting aside the urgency creating by our timetable and the need to appear pleasing or productive in the eyes of men, we will find that our joy will be full because we have endured to give Him joy in His heart.  Keep watch on who is getting the praise for all you do.

Devotion

Lord God Almighty, Everlasting Father, Redeemer Son and Grace-filled Holy Spirit, You are so gracious, so patient, so kind to include me in fulfilling the plan You set in motion before Creation.  What a mess I can make by anxiously going off in my own direction to fix the world around me.    My intentions are good, but my actions are foolish unless they are what You have asked me to do.  Slow me down, fill me with Your peace, equip me with weapons that wield Your power and authority, and let me see with Your eyes so I will have faith enough to wait for Your directions and obey them.    I want to be that good and faithful servant.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Which of Us Deserves Mercy

Jonah 3:4-6, 10; 4:1-4 NIV  “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust…10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

 4:1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Observation

Jonah can be called the antithetical messenger (reluctant prophet?) of God’s global mercy.  The Jews of his time were very insular and possessive of Yahweh – He belonged to them and them alone.  Despite the fact that He was creator of all people and over all the earth, they did not see Yahweh as God for all peoples.  This mindset is evident in Jonah’s resentment of the mercy shown to the Ninevites.  After all, the pagan Ninevites were cruel conquerors feared throughout the world.  Jonah saw them as unworthy, undeserving and unforgivable.  How could his God possibly consider offering even one chance at grace and mercy to such evil people?  After some persuasion (three days in the belly of a fish), Jonah went to Nineveh with a message of imminent destruction.  When the city humbled itself in repentance, Jonah was furious with God for the mercy given.

Jonah was upset at God for “making him a liar” but also for being so generous with grace to  a people who were known as evil, cruel and pagan.  I suspect that Jonah’s original reluctance to go could have been based in fear of what the evil Ninevites might do to him – torture and death.  He relented and obeyed only when the consequences of disobeying God  became more real and frightening than the alternative.  At least the message he was asked to deliver was one of destruction – just what the Ninevites deserved!!  But God, rich in mercy, disappointed Jonah again.

Impact on Me

This grace and mercy toward the pagan, unlovely, even cruel is a foreshadowing of the new covenant in Christ.  Jesus, “friend of sinners,” demonstrated God’s liberality in pouring out grace to whosoever would come without exacting punishment or requiring rigid slavish rule following (earning grace points by good behavior and other works that we check off on a list).  This was a major paradigm shift for the disciples in His time.  I believe we suffer from the same human failing when we judge someone worthless, unworthy or unforgivable.  Do I write some people off in my heart as worthless, unworthy or unforgivable?   Am I like Jonah, resenting when God shows favor to someone I consider evil or cruel?  Who are my Ninevites?

I also have to examine the reason behind what I do in the name of Jesus.  The works I do should be based in and flow from my gratitude for the love, grace and mercy extended to me by God, not as a public demonstration to show others the depth of my spirituality, my faith, my fear of God.  Works performed to gain grace and favor with other people or God are completely rooted in duty and miss the point.  It is by grace we are saved, not our works.  Salvation comes through repentance because God has mercy on us – even when we are worthless, unworthy and unforgivable.  My gratitude for His redemption should result in works of serving with compassion, grace, humility as I live a life of love which reveals Christ to others.  May this always be my motivation.

Devotion

Almighty God, Creator, Redeemer, God of Mercy and Grace, I give You all the praise for all the work of my hands.  Lord, never let me get away with allowing the fear of what any person can do change my YES to whatever You ask me to do.  Give me the wisdom to know when I should say “No” or when my motivation is not gratitude for all You have done for me.  I want to live a life that announces out loud Whose I am, Whom I serve and Who deserves all the praise.  In Jesus’ name, I pray you will make it so.

On Did You Forget Who I AM

Mark 4:35-41 PHILLIPS   On the evening of that day, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.”  So they sent the crowd home and took Him with them in the little boat in which He had been sitting, accompanied by other small craft.  Then came a violent squall of wind which drove the waves aboard boat until it was almost swamped.  Jesus was in the stern asleep on the cushion.  They awoke Him with words, “Master, don’t You care that we’re drowning?”  And He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Hush now!  Be still!”  The wind dropped and everything was very still.  “Why are you so frightened?  What has happened to your faith?!’ He asked them.  But sheer awe swept over them and they kept saying to each other, “Who ever can He be? – even the wind and waves do what He tells them!”

Below excerpted from the JESUS STORYBOOK BIBLE

“Jesus stood up and spoke to the storm.  “Hush!,” He said.  That’s all.  And the strangest thing happened….  The wind and the waves recognized Jesus’ voice.  (They had heard it before, of course – it was the same voice that made them in the beginning.)  They listened to Jesus and they did what He said. 

Immediately the wind stopped.  The water calmed down.  It glittered innocently in the moonlight and lapped quietly against the side of the boat, as if nothing had happened.  The little boat bobbed gently up and down and there was a great quiet all around.  Then Jesus turned to His wind-torn friends.  “Why were you so scared?” He asked.  “Did you forget Who I AM?  Did you believe your fears instead of me?”

Jesus’ friends were quiet – as quiet as the wind and the waves.  And into their hearts came a different kind of storm.  “What kind of man is this?” they asked themselves anxiously.  “Even the wind and the waves obey Him!” they said because they didn’t understand.  They didn’t realize yet that Jesus was the Son of God.

Jeus’ friends had been so afraid they had only seen the big waves.  They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, they had nothing to be afraid of.  NO MATTER HOW SMALL THEIR BOAT OR HOW BIG THE STORM. 

Observation

This lake was familiar to them; it was their usual fishing grounds.  As fishermen, they knew how to handle a boat in rough water and how to judge the weather to know when a storm was coming.  This one surprised and frightened them with its intensity and their inability to control the situation.  If these fishermen were panicky and terrified, it was surely a wild, violent and powerful storm.  Surely, they would have thought it strange that Jesus could remain asleep in the chaotic buffeting of this storm, but they were so focused on the wind, the waves and the water washing into the boat that they had stopped thinking.

Jesus wanted them to move their thinking, their understanding, out of the natural – what is humanly possible – into the supernatural – what is possible for God.  When it came time to feed the 5000, hadn’t Jesus taken a meager and insufficient little boy’s lunch and supernaturally made it more than enough for everyone to eat and be filled?  When the incurably sick came, was Jesus able to heal every disease?  This stormy trip was a new circumstance but the same Jesus. 

So, here Jesus gives them a dose of truth and grace by asking, “Why were you scared?  Did you forget who I AM?  Did you believe your fears instead of me?”  Then, instead of bringing the boat under control, He calms the sea.  He wanted them to understand, to embrace, that all needs, all circumstances, all storms, all insufficiencies, all scary situations are subject to God’s power and authority in and through Him.  “Jesus’ friends had been so afraid they had only seen the big waves.  They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, they had nothing to be afraid of.  NO MATTER HOW SMALL THEIR BOAT OR HOW BIG THE STORM.”

Impact on Me

“Why were you scared?  Did you forget who I AM?  Did you believe your fears instead of me?”  These are questions I revisit in every scary storm of life, every time when there is not enough, every time sickness threatens, every time the world seems out of control, every time evil seems to be winning.  I am always tempted to believe as a new year passes that we can leave the stormy times of the past behind – years filled with pandemic, death, rioting, rising crime rates, conflict driven by anger, injustice, loss of trust in those who rule over us (federal, state and local), misinformation & conspiracy theories, war and every other disruption of our usual “fishing grounds”. 

For any student of history, all of these circumstances are not new.  These life events are part of the human condition, repeated over and over from ancient times.  They are the legacy of that first mutiny by Adam and Eve in the Garden when they chose to take control away from God and into their own hands by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  I have made the mistake of eating that fruit many times in my life. However, I have come to know through the experience of my life that the only guarantee of security and peace in life, the only foundation on which hope can be built, has been, continues to be, and will forever remain depending upon this same Jesus that calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee all those years ago. 

So, when I am buffeted by a storm, I need to stop to revisit the questions above and remember that all creation (seen and unseen, emotional, physical, natural or supernatural) is subject to Him.  “The wind and the waves recognized Jesus’ voice.  (They had heard it before, of course – it was the same voice that made them in the beginning.)  They listened to Jesus and they did what He said.”  Jesus has promised to never leave me or forsake me so He will always be in my boat.  Whether He is awake or asleep, when I think my boat is about to sink, I need to go back and sit down next to Jesus, trusting that we will make it to the other side – regardless of the intensity of the storm along the way.

Devotion

Lord, You are the Creator of all the good that exists.  You still have all authority and power in heaven and on earth.  You are executing Your plan created from the foundation of the Earth.  It is overwhelming to realize the You love and care for me in spite of all I am and do.  How many times have I given in to my fears and run in panic to You or, so much worse, away from You.  Yet, You still rescue me.  What kind of love is this?  Holy Spirit, renew my mind so that my thinking can move from the natural to the supernatural, that I may see with the eyes of Jesus and understand with the Father’s heart.  Teach me to walk fully in Christ, functioning in my perfect place in His Body, equipped with the weapons of His warfare and always choosing His side of every battle, keeping my eyes on Him regardless of the circumstances swirling around me, content to ride out every storm sitting next to You as You sleep in my boat.  Make it so, in the name of Jesus.

ON THE WALLS WE FACE

Isaiah  30:12-14  (MSG) Therefore, The Holy of Israel says this: “Because you scorn this Message, preferring to live by injustice and shape your lives on lies, this perverse way of life will be like a towering, badly built wall that slowly, slowly tilts and shifts, and then one day, without warning, collapses — smashed to bits like a  piece of pottery, smashed beyond recognition or repair, useless, a pile of debris to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”

Observation

People like you and me make up every society in every nation of every time in history.  We can forget that they are people with families, hopes, dreams and challenges whether in 1000 BC or 2000 AD.  There are and have always been people who live in a way that pleases God and others who seek only to please and profit themselves at the cost of others (“live by injustice and shape your lives on lies”).  Because we have a perspective limited by mere decades of life, we can wonder why God does not move more quickly to execute justice.  Sometimes it seems in our lifetime that the wall is not tilting and shifting because the movement is imperceptible to us in our short lifespan.  We want Him to do so according to our time schedule – NOW.  We want to see results!

“…then one day, without warning, [the wall] collapses —   smashed to bits like a piece of pottery, smashed beyond recognition or repair, useless, a pile of debris to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”   I take note of the “without warning”.  Even when we look back, we lack the experience of being there, living in that society and under those conditions.  We are removed from and unaware of the deplorable condition of society that led up to the wall collapses that have come over the millennia, such as the revivals that completely turned a society right side up, the revolutions that have overthrown unjust rulers, and the social reforms that have succeeded against entrenched power/traditions.  There is no way to explain with words the history leading to those powerful events; you must live them.   Perhaps, now we are beginning to see the wall tilt.

Impact on Me

As I look around at the culture that surrounds me, I often feel like a foreigner in a strange land.  And, then I realize that I am!  In Christ, I am a citizen of Heaven, an ambassador and missionary on mission to this Earth.  If I begin to feel intimidated by the seeming height, size and strength of the walls of ungodliness set to block the truth I am sent to share, I pray that I will be reminded that these are “towering, badly built wall[s]” that can fall as quickly and completely as the walls of Jericho did when the Hebrews just obeyed the directions of their God – even when it did not seem to make sense.

In those times of doubt, I want to remember that I have experienced miracles that cannot be explained with words – miracles of provision, healing and restoration.  There is nothing that compares to being in the midst of the power of God working, impacting your situation, making possible what is impossible, demonstrating that His eyes and attention are on you, filling you with a joy and peace that is immeasurable. 

These kinds of experiences fill me with hope for the next impossible challenge.   They also cause me to recognize that it is not what talents, abilities, resources, experience, training or status I bring to the table that matter; it is only my faith, my willingness to be used and my obedience to His instructions that matter.  His success does not depend on me, but mine entirely depends on Him.

Devotion

Lord, God Almighty, Everlasting, Ever Faithful, may I never forget Who You are and will be in and through me when I just obey.  I may look at the walls that stand between the deceived and Your truth as walls that must tilt and collapse, “smashed to  bits  like  a  piece  of  pottery,  smashed beyond recognition  or  repair,  useless,  a  pile  of debris to  be  swept  up  and  thrown  in the  trash.”  Remind me always that Your time frame is based on Your eternal strategic perspective, not mine.  May I never lose hope in Your faithfulness and the fulfillment of Your Word when the time is right and most profitable to Your Kingdom purposes.  Romans 15:13 (JBP) “May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope.”.  Let me know that the wall will fall when You are ready.  In Jesus’ name, I   pray.