Category Archives: Bible

All Of Me

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“… those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8)

Paul is talking about what it looks like to be a child of God: Led by the Spirit. Putting to death the deeds of the body. Suffering for Jesus’ sake. Setting our minds on the things of the Spirit.

The opposite is true for those who are in the flesh. Their focus is on “self”: Self-confidence, self-gratification, self-acceptance, self-love. They are led by the things that benefit themselves without a thought of what benefits the Kingdom of God.

Or are they?

Can’t a Christian have a tiny bit of “self” and still be ok? Does God really insist I lose my identity?

I don’t see Paul making provisions for anything other than total submission. It seems he is telling us we are either led by the Spirit, or we’re not.

Oh God, I don’t want any of me left in this body. I want you to fill me, to transform me, to live in and through me. I want to look like You, talk like You, live like You lived while you were here on earth. I want to see people like You see them, love them like You love them. Forgive me for the times when I allow myself to be led by anything other than your Spirit, even if those things sound good. I want to please YOU alone. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

That Makes Me Happy

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Some people get caught up in what Paul says in Romans 7 about divorce, and miss the point of what God wants us to know. This is not a mandate about marriage. It is, however, an example of marriage to show what happens when we accept Jesus as Savior. We bind ourselves to God, keeping ourselves only to God, as long as we live.

If I begin to worship anyone or anything else (in other words, if I put anything before God on my priority list) I am like an adulteress.

Paul is saying we were once married to the law. The Old Testament Jews were bound to the law, and found forgiveness through the Law of Moses and blood sacrifices. But when Jesus died, the Law died, too. We are now free to bind ourselves to another husband, to God through faith in Jesus.

“… we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”

I love this analogy of marriage here in Romans. I don’t follow a religion. I have a relationship, as loving and intimate as a marriage, to God Himself! I choose to love Jesus. I choose to worship him only.

I am bound by love. And that makes me happy.

The Choice

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I was reading in Psalm 90 this morning and heard the author remind me that our life spans maybe 80 years if we are strong. In light of eternity, our days on earth are but a blink. Yet these hours on earth determine our eternity. What we do with our lives is the difference between life and death.

Paul says in Romans 5 that there are only two results of a life: condemnation or justification. Jesus died for all mankind. We can be justified before God simply by accepting it. It’s an intentional act of will.

I go to God, admit I am a sinner, humble myself and recognize my need of a Savior. Then I ask God to forgive me, and to BE my Savior. That act, that confession, opens the door of heaven to me.

We are justified by faith. And there is no one anywhere who cannot be saved if they accept Jesus’ gift of grace, the forgiveness of sins bought by Jesus’ blood shed at Calvary.

But be warned. There is only condemnation for those who refuse what Jesus offers. And condemnation brings with it eternal separation from God, a hell more painful than we can imagine.

There is no Plan B. God made it plain and simple: justification or condemnation. Jesus or no Jesus. Yes or No.

I choose Jesus. I pray you do, too.

How Much Is Too Much?

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It seems a bit excessive. Sure, many people wanted Paul dead for preaching Jesus, and 40 men devised a plan to ambush and murder him. But deploying 470 troops to take him to Governor Felix might have been overkill. (Acts 23)

Yet how much is too much when protecting the Gospel? I doubt protecting the Gospel was on the mind of the commander when he went to such lengths to get Paul out of town. He was probably more concerned about his own skin should Paul be killed while in his custody.

I thank God that, when we read his Word, he nudges us at certain truths. The Bible is alive, active, powerful!

God’s nudge today finds me asking myself to what extremes am I willing to go to protect the Gospel? There are those who are planning to ambush the Church, destroy Christianity, eliminate Christians. Satan seems to be on a roll!

Am I prepared to protect the Truth of Scripture? At what cost? When I think about it, no effort can be too excessive if it will keep the truth of Jesus Christ still changing lives.

Dear Father in Heaven, once again I am amazed at how alive your Word is, how it can speak to us every time we open its pages. God, I don’t know the answer to the question you seem to be asking me this morning. I don’t know what I am willing to do to stand firm on your Truth. I’d hope that there would be no limit to what I’d be willing to do. I’d like to think I would stop at nothing to preserve the Gospel. But I don’t always reach out to my neighbor when you prompt me to. I don’t always visit or call that one who you have laid on my heart. I don’t always pray as I should. Am I waiting for the Great Tribulation or something before I begin to battle the enemy? I want to be part of the army that’s protecting the Gospel. May you find me faithful. We have some work to do, don’t we Lord?

If you say it often enough…

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Saying something doesn’t automatically make it true. In Acts 19 we see that during a riot, the city clerk stood up and said:

“Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of Ephesus is temple guardian of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Zeus? Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly.” (NKJV)

Is it a fact that some god named Zeus fashioned a statue in the clouds and dropped it in Ephesus? Is that what the city clerk said cannot be denied? Do you believe that to be true?

How often have you heard the earth is billions of years old stated as a fact that can’t be denied? What about the statement that life does not begin at conception? Or that homosexuality is a viable lifestyle? Have you heard it is possible to change your gender stated as fact? Or that marriage isn’t restricted to a union between a man and a woman? Some people even preach God is a god of love and accepts all of us just the way we are.

And they keep saying it, and saying it, and saying it.

The sad truth is, if you tell someone something often enough, very often they’ll begin to believe it.

But I’m here to tell you I can certainly deny that city clerk’s story about the statue. I know for a fact that the earth is thousands, not millions of years old, that there is nothing normal about homosexuality, and abortion is murder. I stand on the truth that God is not only a God of love, he is Holy and demands holiness of his children.

And none of that is true just because I say it is.

I’ve read the Bible from cover to cover several times. And each time I do, the more I realize I cannot deny it is true. It has so many checks and balances. This book, written by many writers over many years, clearly presents God as Creator, Almighty, True, a God who loves each and every one of us, a God who demands our obedience and deserves our worship.

In its pages we see Him proving He is who He says He is. And not just once. He chose the physical nation of Israel, and then the Church, to show us exactly what he expects, the consequences of disobedience, the blessings of faith in Him, and the grace that is ours through Jesus. You have to admit that the fulfilling of so many prophesies is hard to deny. Who else but God could bring that about?

I have learned to check what I am hearing with what is written in God’s Word. The voice of Satan is loud and repetitive. And if I’m not carefully guarding my heart, I might begin to assume he’s telling the truth.

Dear one, let’s determine to depend on God’s Word to be our plumb line. Let’s allow God to be the Cornerstone from which everything is measured. Don’t fall for “popular opinion” or you might start believing a statue fell from heaven…

News Flash: Life Isn’t Fair

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It wasn’t fair. Paul and Silas had been severely beaten and thrown into prison and they had done nothing wrong. Now I know people say there are no “guilty” people in prison. But in this case, Paul and Silas were truly not guilty of any crime. (Acts 16)

How did they handle that? By praising God and singing until midnight. The other prisoners listened to them. And when the angel came and set them free, they stayed right there. Their example led the jailor and his whole family to the Lord.

Things happen in this life that just don’t seem fair. Cancer isn’t fair. An unfaithful spouse isn’t fair. It’s not fair when there’s no money to pay the bills, or the car breaks down, or someone lies about you. But trust me when I say people are watching how you handle it when things happen to you that aren’t fair. They wonder if you go through trials and hardships any differently than they do.

So do you complain, or praise God? Do you express anger with vulgarity, or do you sing about God’s Amazing Grace? Are you pushing people away from, or inviting them into their Savior’s embrace?

Life isn’t fair. How you handle it, however, could make the difference in someone’s life eternally.

Dear God, I don’t pretend to know what those who read this blog are going through. I don’t walk in anyone’s shoes but mine. But I pray for all of us, Lord, as we live through yet another day. Some of us are facing life threatening challenges. Some hearts are broken. Some of us don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Remind us, Father, that you are there in the midst, that you want to be our strength, our hope and joy. As we face these difficulties, I pray that you will be evident in our lives. And may our example, like Paul and Silas, draw someone to your saving grace. Hear our prayers. Accept our praise. And may Jesus be glorified in us today no matter how unfair our lives seem at the moment.

Godly Leaders

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I am one who was saddened by the recent Supreme Court’s decision on marriage. I had hoped our leaders would have upheld our laws. But in this day and age, leadership seems to be following opinion, and not always the opinion of the majority.

Ok. That was purely opinion. But I was reminded this morning as I read God’s Word, how important it is for those in positions of leadership to be led by God. Leaders have enormous influence and, with it, great responsibility.

Solomon was a great leader, as we read in 2 Chronicles. But he raised a stupid son whose first act as king was to alienate the people and destroy the kingdom. (2 Chronicles 10)

The people of Lystra wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas after Paul healed a lame man. (Acts 14) But when the apostles told them they were mere men and not gods, the Lystonians turned their attention toward Jews from Antioch who spoke against Paul and Barnabas. The result? The people of Lystra went from wanting to worship them, to wanting to stone them. Just like that.

The Bible is not wrong when it calls us sheep. Too often we follow the leader blindly, without question, without thought. Those of us in positions of leadership, whether Sunday School teachers, CEO’s, policemen, pastors, History teachers, parents… need to go about our responsibilities prayerfully, soberly, intentionally because people are following our lead. People with eternal souls.

Who do we go to for advice? What do we read? What voices are we listening to? Are we leading according to God’s Word, or on the word of popular opinion?

Dear one, let’s determine to pray for our leaders. We’ve got leaders in government, in civil service, in churches, schools, and homes. And, in reality, all of us have leadership responsibilities in one form or another. Let’s ask God to be our Guide. Let’s spend time in his Word, seeking his will, hearing his voice and drowning out the voices that would lead us astray.

I said I was saddened by the actions of our Supreme Court. But maybe this is the wake-up call we Christians need to get involved in leadership positions in our nation. Maybe this ruling will be what the Church needs to stand firm as we follow our Lord. No doubt God can bring something good out of even this, if we hear his voice and obey.

Dear God, I thank you for our leaders. I pray for President Obama and ask that he would be drawn to you, that he would obey your voice for the decisions he makes concerning our nation. I pray for Senators and Congressmen, for court officials, for our military and our police force. I pray for pastors, teachers, leaders of industry, supervisors, coaches, parents. May hearts be humbled before you and may you find us all willing to follow your lead. I pray that you would lay on the hearts of godly men and women to get involved in the politics of our nation. And may your children support them with prayers and votes. And, Lord, no matter what leadership roles we find ourselves in, I pray that we would look to you for guidance. May you find us faithful.

I Forgive You

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When a hate-filled young white man walked into a church attended by Christians of color, they welcomed him. He sat with them for over an hour, heard them talk about their Savior, listened to their prayers, then pulled out a gun and killed nine of them, just because of the color of their skin. He may have wanted to start a civil war. What he got, instead, was something he never imagined.

At his bond hearing, several loved ones of his victims spoke to him. If you get a chance to hear their statements I hope you take the time to do so. Through their fresh and devastating grief, they forgave the killer. They asked him to repent, to turn to Christ. They refused to allow hatred into their souls.

In this day and age of Ferguson and Baltimore, these people have demonstrated what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ. They set aside their “right” to seek revenge, and held on to the One who is the final judge of us all.

If you don’t understand how these people can forgive, or if you don’t believe they really have forgiven this murderer, you don’t know their Savior. I invite you to read the book of John in the Bible and get to know Jesus, who forgave his own murderers.

What Satan intended for evil, God will use to bring about good. You see, the people who died that day closed their eyes in prayer, and opened them face to face with Jesus Himself. Do not grieve for the lost lives. Rather pray for those who are left to live with the void their deaths bring, until the day they are reunited. And they will be reunited because of their faith in Jesus.

Dear Comforter, I pray that you will wrap your arms around those who mourn in Charleston today. I pray for that church. May the members stand together and strong in their obedience to you. I pray for the shooter, that he will humble himself and accept what Jesus died to give him – forgiveness. And I pray for everyone who reads this blog or hears the testimony of the grieving loved ones. May hearts turn to you by the thousands. Maybe this will spark the revival we so need in this country. May we not be overcome by the evil played out here, but overcome the evil that led this man to commit this crime, with good, with love, with faith, and following the example of the people in Charleston, with forgiveness.

Wishing Doesn’t Make Is So

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I was reading in Acts 4 this morning and ran across the verse many people wish didn’t exist. Peter, just a short time after he’d watched Jesus ascended into heaven, stood before the Jewish leaders – men who studied the Law of Moses, men who were respected, who were obeyed – and said that he was proclaiming Jesus, the Son of God, whom they crucified, Jesus who died and rose again, Jesus the Cornerstone by whom everything is measured. Then he said:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (4:12)

Some people don’t like to hear that. They want to believe they are good enough on their own, because if they believe in Jesus, they have to believe they are sinners in need of a Savior. They have to repent, which means turning from sin and to a Holy God. They want to believe good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. They want to believe sincere Muslims, devout Jews, peaceful Buddhists, kind agnostics, will get to bypass Jesus and go to heaven.

What does Scripture say? What does “no other name” mean except NO OTHER NAME?

Don’t be fooled. Heaven is reserved only for those who accept God’s gift of forgiveness, paid for by his Son Jesus on the cross. Wishing that wasn’t the case doesn’t change the fact.

Acts 4:12 doesn’t stand alone. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father expect through ME.” John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in HIM will not perish but have everlasting life.”

The fact is we are sinners. We have failed a Holy God. There is nothing in any of us that can measure up, that can make up for our failures, or cover the cost our sin debt has incurred. We need Jesus.

I pray you know him, that you have humbled yourself before him, taken responsibility for your sin and asked him to forgive you. Don’t think for a minute you don’t need to. There is just no other way. I promise that if you do go to Jesus on his terms, you won’t be sorry. In him is eternal life, that’s true. But also in him is a glorious today.

Dear Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, thank you for providing forgiveness. Thank you for providing the avenue to God, to everlasting life, to fellowship with you as I walk this earth. I pray for those who read this blog today. Draw our hearts toward the truth of your written Word. And may we all rejoice in the fact that you, Jesus, the name given to us through which we must be saved, have made salvation possible through your precious blood.

Completely Loved

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I’m not married. And sometimes when I read about Ruth’s declaration of love, I get jealous. I have never been loved like that. I believe I have the capacity to love like Ruth loved. But I haven’t had the privilege of being loved so completely.

Then, in the midst of my pity party I almost hear God say, “What about Me?”

I read in Luke 19 where Jesus, surrounded by screaming fans, wept over Jerusalem. He wanted to protect them from what was ahead. But he loved them so completely he continued into their midst, knowing it meant his death.

I am reminded Jesus loves me like that. As beautiful as is Ruth’s declaration of love for Naomi, Jesus’ declaration of love for me is even more so. And every time I see a cross I am reminded of that declaration of love, a love that sent Jesus to Calvary. There is no greater love.

My response?

Don’t ask me to leave you, God. Where you go, I’ll go. Your people are my people. I’ll live and die with you. And, in death, I’ll continue to be at your side.