Category Archives: Christianity

Ephesians; Royal Rules

Being an American, I’m not that familiar with British Royalty. I’m not what you’d call a Royal Enthusiast, although I do like watching the weddings. So, after reading Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, I Googled Royal Rules. Here are a few that stood out to me:

No one eats after the Queen is through with her meal.
A Royal wedding bouquet must contain myrtle.
You can’t have political views
You can’t play the board game “Monopoly.”
Married women don’t wear hats after 6 PM – bring on the tiaras.
You can’t eat shellfish
You can’t take selfies
Garlic isn’t allowed in Buckingham Palace
Neither are potatoes, rice, and pasta
You never turn your back toward the Queen

(from “50 Strict Rules the Royal Family Has to Follow, marieclaire.com)

After reading Galatians the other day, I was reminded that I am an heir, a member of the most royal family of all – God’s Church. Today I am convicted about that very thing. Paul, in Ephesians, tells us what a Royal should look like. I’m asking myself if I’m living my life worthy of the calling:

Be completely humble
Be gentle, patient, loving
Be a peace-maker
Speak truth in love
Put off falsehood
Don’t sin in anger
Don’t be obscene
Don’t be impure
Don’t be greedy
Don’t be partners with those who are disobedient

There’s more. Paul goes on to describe in further detail what we who are heirs of the Promise, children of the King of Kings should look like. I encourage you to read Ephesians for yourself.

I’m thinking if those British Royals can take that much care to represent the Queen in such a manner, shouldn’t I take more care to represent my King?

Galatians; I’m An Heir!

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Reading Galatians thrills my soul. As a Gentile, to hear God say through His servant Paul, that I am His child, I am heir to His Promise, and that in His eyes there is no difference between Jews and the rest of us, I am humbled and grateful.

God doesn’t say I am His step-child, or His foster child. He doesn’t say I’m His child except for this one thing. Or that I’m an heir of only some of the Promise. I read Galatians and rejoice in my position as a child of God, wholly His.

I’m an heir, not because of parentage or some ceremonial circumcision, but because of Jesus. I am a child of God because I have accepted what Jesus did for me on the cross.

I hope you’ll read this letter for yourself, and rejoice with me in the cross of Christ. Because, if you have received God’s grace through the blood of His Son, you are a new creation. And God, through Paul, says that’s the only thing that counts. (6:15)

2 Corinthians 7-12; Examine Yourselves

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Do you consider yourself a Christian? On what do you base that belief? Paul tells the church in Corinth:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.”

Sadly, the name, “Christian” is almost meaningless these days. Some people consider themselves “Christian” if they go to church occasionally, or if they were baptized as a child, or if they aren’t an atheist or Islamic. But Paul goes a bit deeper and asks if we are “in the faith.”

Maybe that is the litmus test. Have you put your faith in the person of Jesus Christ? Have you confessed your sins and accepted what Jesus did for you on the cross? And did that confession change you?

Consider where you have placed your faith. Is it in yourself? In a preacher or philosopher? If you haven’t placed your faith in Jesus, I wonder if you should be wearing His name.

Paul says, “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless of course you fail the test.”

Here’s the test: Romans 3:23 tells us we are all sinners. Romans 6:23 says the price of our sin is death. But God sent Jesus to die for you while you were still a sinner (Romans 5:8).

That is where your forgiveness – your justification lies. (Romans 3:24) God justifies freely through the redemption that comes by Christ Jesus. Not in right living. Not in church attendance. Not in volunteering at the homeless shelter.

Unless you have a relationship with Jesus through His precious blood, you fail the test. And if you fail the test, don’t wear His name. “Christian” doesn’t apply to you.

Examine yourself whether you’ve been calling yourself a Christian or whether you’re not sure where you stand. Take the test. It’s a matter of life and death.

2 Corinthians 1-6; Comforters

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Paul is so upfront about himself, his joys and sorrows, his victories and failures. I have to confess I’m not always so in touch with my own feelings, or honest about what is going on in my life.

As I read this portion of Scripture it occurs to me that Paul isn’t asking for sympathy, or a payoff from the church. I think his only motive was to share with them what he had received.

Comfort.

Isn’t it interesting that the word we use for a big old, soft and warm blanket is “comforter?” I live in southern Georgia, so while much of the country is dealing with freezing temperatures, it’s still in the mid 60’s here during the day.

The nights, however, are getting chilly. Last night got into the 30’s, and I was cold. So when I went to bed, I snuggled under the comforter instead of pushing it aside like I normally do. Ahh. It felt so good. And it wasn’t long before I was toasty warm, relaxed, and then sound asleep, even with the cold temperatures outside the warmth of that comforter.

We all go through rough patches in life. We make poor choices, or someone else does, and our lives get hard. Sometimes it feels as though we are alone in our struggle. Then someone comes along, wraps us up in strong arms, and lets us receive the comfort we need. That’s what Paul is doing here in this letter to the Corinthians.

John Henry Jowett said: “God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.”

Have you ever been the recipient of God’s comfort through one of His children? Then pass it on to someone who needs that same comfort through you. Call them, or better yet give them a visit. Wrap your arms around them while they weep. Listen to them without trying to give solutions to their problems. Share the love of Jesus at a time when they might feel totally unloved. Let them snuggle in the comfort you have to offer, even if the problems around them aren’t going away.

We have a very real privilege to be a comforter in a world that needs comforting.

I Corinthians 11-16; But I Love Him (Her)

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How do you know if you’ve found Mr. or Miss Right? I was talking to someone recently who commented on the high number of divorces happening in Christians marriages these days. Our society has screwed up the definition of “love” so much, how can anyone be sure their marriage is going to last?

If you are considering marriage (or hoping to some day) I would encourage you to use I Corinthians 13 as your rule book. Ask yourself these questions about the person you hope to spend the rest of your life with: (I’ll be using the masculine pronoun but this is not just for women loving men. Men, ask yourself these questions about that lady in your life, too)

Is he patient? How does he treat the waitress when the food takes too long to get to the table? How does he treat you if you aren’t moving as fast as he wants you to? How is he when your mom has one more thing to tell you before you go?
Is he kind? How does he treat your annoying niece? Does he help you carry that heavy grocery bag, or better yet help an older woman struggling with her own? What is his tone of voice when he talks to his mom?
Is he jealous? How does he handle your relationship with your best friend, or parent? What do you see in him when someone else gets that promotion at work?
Does he brag? Does he have the ability to turn conversations back to himself so he can share what accomplishment he’s made?
Is he proud? Does he have an air of superiority? Does he flaunt his successes?
Is he rude? There are people who have no problem demanding attention no matter what others are saying or doing. Is he one of them?
Is he self-seeking? Is life only about him? Do you always end up doing what pleases him? Does he make choices based on what’s in it for him?
How is his temper? Do you find yourself walking on eggshells for fear of an outburst? What’s his reaction when someone cuts him off in traffic?
Does he tend to throw things that you’ve done in the past at you during an argument, or maybe as a way to control you?
Have you watched him lie to people?
Do you truly feel like he’ll always have your back?
Do you trust him? Really?
Would you say your relationship is one of hope for the future? Be honest. Do you see him committed to you for the rest of your life?
Do you see him working on this relationship? Or are you the only one doing the work?
Does he fail you? Not just the occasional disappointment. That’s being human. But are you disappointed more times than not?

I would say if you can’t answer these questions in a positive light, he’s not right for you. End it before you bind yourself to a spouse who doesn’t love you like you deserve to be loved.

Now, go back and honestly answer those same questions about yourself. Because you might not be right for him, either, if you can’t answer them in a positive light concerning your part in the relationship.

You might take this little test and realize things aren’t as they ought to be in your relationship. “But I love him (her)!

Dear one, that’s not love. It might be lust, it might be obsession, it might be the idea of love. But don’t kid yourself. God has revealed what love looks like. If yours doesn’t look like I Corinthians 13, it isn’t love.

And please don’t believe the lie that you can’t help yourself. You are a thinking, feeling, intelligent human being, not a dog in heat. Use your God-given abilities to make good choices. Because love IS a choice, and being loving takes intention.

Some of you reading this may already be married. Maybe you and your spouse might want to ask these same questions of yourselves and talk about how to improve your marriage. Warning: you might hear some hard truths about what your spouse sees in you. Take them seriously instead of blowing them off, or starting an argument about them. Don’t do this exercise unless you are willing to do some work on yourself. You can’t change him (her). But you can change yourself. Remember, you promised to love this person until death parts you. YOU promised to love.

For those of you who are single, I pray that you will only commit yourself to a person who loves you like God describes here in I Corinthians 13. And I pray that you won’t commit yourself to anyone that you don’t love like that, too.

And to those of you who are married, I pray that you and your spouse will consider your marriage in light of God’s Word, that you’ll both be willing to make changes if need be, and that your love for each other will grow as you love like God describes here in I Corinthians 13.

May God bless Christian marriages.

I Corinthians 6-10; Life in a Nutshell

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Paul gives us many examples of what life should be for the Christian. And his descriptions are so politically incorrect, it’s almost laughable.

In his letter to the Corinthians he tells us Christians ought not to sweat the small stuff. We shouldn’t be making mountains out of mole hills. We shouldn’t be blowing up over trivial matters. The world is watching how we handle the small stuff. Does our example convict them, or does it validate their own bad behavior?

The Christian life should be pure. Yes, I know that’s an old-fashioned word. But purity should describe we who serve a Holy God. Again, the world is watching us. Do they see us with self-control, with unwavering morality? Or do they see the same depravity in us they see in themselves?

Christians should be content, faithful in marriage, busy serving God. If they see us sleeping around, divorcing because we fall out of love, or neglecting our families or our ministries, what is different about us than what they have in their own homes?

Paul challenges us again today to stop looking out for “number one,” and step aside for the benefit of others. Who cares if the new sanctuary color isn’t to your liking? Or if that lady in your Sunday School took your favorite pyrex dish home after the last pot-luck dinner? Who cares if Suzie got the choir solo you wanted to sing, or if you weren’t asked to sit on the AdMin committee again this year.

Get over yourself.

The world tells us to stop being a door-mat. The apostle seems to be telling us being a door-mat has its purposes.

Paul said he gave up so many rights to take on his ministry. He said he became whatever was needed in order to win people to the Lord. That must have been exhausting. He did it anyway. He denied himself a spouse, he turned down wages, he gave up the comforts of home. For what?

Time is running out, he told the Corinthians 2,000 years ago. And, friend, if time was running out then, it’s closer yet today. Paul didn’t have time to be self-absorbed when there were people who still needed the Lord.

Do we? Paul tells us to be single minded. Focus. You can’t live with one foot in God’s kingdom and one foot in the world. Are you trying to make God mad? (10:22)

Life in a nutshell? Jesus said we are to love God and love our neighbor. (No mention of self-love, is there?) Paul tells us whatever we do, whether we are eating or drinking, “do it all for the glory of God.” (10:31)

Life in a nutshell is not about you.

I Corinthians 1-5; A Little Yeast

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It occurred to me as I read this portion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that we Christians are concerned about the state of the world; we lament over the blatant sin, the disregard for Christianity, the increasing ungodliness accepted as normal. And we are right to do so

But Paul is talking about caring for the temple. I wonder if we’re as concerned about that as we are about the world. It’s easy to point fingers, to talk about “they.” It’s not as easy to point those fingers at ourselves.

Paul tells us we ourselves are God’s temple. (3:16) He asks us to consider our foundation, and our building materials. Are we building our faith on the standards of the age, the wisdom of the world? Or is our foundation Jesus Christ, our faith built on Scripture, God’s wisdom? Is our temple built by we who are servants, obedient, faithful?

Paul warns us not to go “beyond what is written.” Do we even know what is written? Building and protecting this temple called Connie involves reading and studying God’s Word apart from anything else. It means obeying God by keeping myself pure, by listening to His voice and sharing Him with others. Caring for this temple, where God lives on earth, involves effort, intentionality, humility.

Now, I believe if we Christians took better care of our temples, our own lives and relationships with God, then our world wouldn’t be in the state it’s in.

But God pointed out something else to me this morning. We Christians aren’t taking very good care of God’s Church, either. I guess that’s a direct result of not protecting ourselves from sin. But Paul addresses the problem of ignoring sin in the church. He even said the church in Corinth was proud of the fact that they embraced a man guilty of a sexual sin. “Shouldn’t you rather be grieved over this sin,” he asks?

I can’t help but think of whole denominations that embrace homosexuals in their congregations and their pulpits. Shouldn’t God’s people be grieved instead? But Paul doesn’t stop with the sexual sin this particular church-goer was guilty of. Paul includes, “greedy, an idolator or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler” in his list of people who should not be comfortable in our pews.

Paul goes so far as to say they shouldn’t be welcome in the church. I know that goes against what many of us believe these days. But I think we need to consider the truth of what God inspired Paul to write.

I remember years ago, after the contemporary movement was introduced as a result of surveys given to unchurched people about what they would like to see in churches that would encourage them to attend, Ravi Zacharias said something to this effect:

Church should be the last place a sinner feels comfortable.

And I believe that. A church that prides itself on tolerance, on open doors, on a come-as-you-are-and-stay-that-way approach, isn’t a church at all, no matter how involved they are in their communities. It’s a social club. I think I’ve shared about the “church” that advertises by saying, “Come worship with us. We won’t tell you what to believe.” Is that where we’re heading?

It is if we don’t start protecting our temple, caring for our churches. It has to start with each of us individually. But it also has to spill over into our churches. Do we allow sin into our midst, hoping that somehow it will turn into purity? Paul says beware, a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast.” (5:7) I think that is true both for my heart, and in my church.

If I accept a little sin here and there in my life, it doesn’t stay little. It grows, and it invites its friends in. If we accept, or ignore, a sin in our church it won’t stay little there, either. One sin becomes two, then four, and we end up with an unusable batch of dough. Paul challenges us to become “bread without yeast,” a fellowship without sin.

I hope you’ll read these chapters in I Corinthians. There is so much here. Some of it is hard to hear, some of it will thrill your soul. Let God speak to your heart today, and may it change us. May it change the Church.

Romans 10-16; I’ve Got My Rights

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Our country is in trouble these days because many, many people are fighting for their “rights” at the expense of the “rights” of others. Personally, I think we’ve pushed it to the point of insanity.

Paul has something to say about “rights.” And I think it’s a timely word for us in 2018.

Paul says we all have rights. We have the right to eat meat or not eat meat. We have the right to treat one day holy, and we have the right to treat every day the same. We have the right to drink wine, and the right to abstain. I’d go so far as to say we have a right to wear dress clothes to church, and a right to worship in torn jeans and dirty sneakers. We have a right to prefer hymns, and a right to enjoy a rocking praise song.

Paul says this about our rights. “Let’s stop passing judgment on one another.” (14:13) But here’s the kicker: he goes on to say, “instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” He’ll go on to talk about why setting aside our right to do certain things is the right thing to do.

“But,” you might argue. “I have my rights. If someone has a problem with that, it’s their problem not mine.” I’d like you to show me a verse that supports that argument. I honestly don’t think you’ll find one. From what I read here in Romans, I think God is saying it’s very much our problem.

If you’re worried about your rights, you are focused inwardly. Remember, this life as a child of God is no longer about you. It’s about that unsaved person sitting in the cubicle next to you at work, or living next door. Before you exercise your rights, think about how that action will look to someone who doesn’t know your Savior. Think about that weak Christian who is struggling with sin in regard to what you perceive as your “right.” Paul goes so far as to say that if someone is distressed because of your exercising your right to do something, “you are no longer acting in love.” (14:15) And doesn’t Jesus tell us love is what identifies us as His?

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men…. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (14:17-21)

I believe our churches, and our nation, would be healthier if we laid our rights at the feet of Jesus, and truly lived as servants of God, setting aside our “rights” for love of Him who gave Himself for us, and for our neighbor who needs Him.

Romans 6-9; The Struggle Is Real

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Do you relate to Paul? I sure do. I’ve been a Christian long enough to know there are some things I should do, and some I shouldn’t. There are thoughts and actions that honor God, and some thoughts and actions that go against everything He stands for. I know this. So why do I find myself committing the same sin He’s already forgiven dozens of times before?

Paul says it’s a battle. I relate. As I’ve been thinking about this passage for a couple days I found myself wondering why it is Christians sin. I’m tempted to use the every popular excuse, “Because we’re human.” But it has occurred to me that with the Spirit of God living in me, I’m not just human.

I have a daily devotional book, “What Every Christian Ought To Know Day by Day” by Adrian Rogers (BH Publishing Group, Nashville, TN, 2008). I read today’s thought, (November 23, page342) before reading Romans and was once again blown away at how God reveals Himself. Because Adrian and Paul were singing the same song.

Dr. Rogers says our struggle with sin is a result of our understanding that God forgives. We pray that part of the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our sins.” But we don’t understand the “lead us not into temptation” part. Rogers says:

“The reason we have to come back to God so many times asking forgiveness is that we have not put on His protection that would keep us from falling so repeatedly.”

If we continue to read in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he will tell us often that the Spirit in us is more powerful than the temptation to sin. So why aren’t we putting on that protection?

Yes, God is faithful to forgive 70×7. So going to Him with a repentant heart will result in forgiveness every time. But be warned. Paul makes it pretty clear that our actions are a result of what is in our hearts. And if we continue in sin, we need to consider whether or not we’re really children of God.

I would encourage you to read all of the chapters today. But at least look at 8:5, 11, 13-17, and ask God to speak to you about what is there.

If you find yourself under conviction for committing a sin you’ve already asked Him to forgive, ask for forgiveness one more time. Then ask God to put that protection around you that will keep you from that temptation. Ask God to remove the temptation, or cause that temptation to have no effect. Ask God to give you strength and desire to resist that temptation. He’ll be happy to answer that prayer!

Yes, Paul admitted it was a struggle. But he never tells us to give in to the struggle. He never tells us to go ahead and sin because God will forgive it anyway. In fact, God through Paul tells us it’s very important that we not only ask for forgiveness, but that we turn from that sin, that we die to that sin, that we flee from the devil.

Don’t forget, if you know Jesus as your Savior you have the Holy Spirit. Take advantage of that. Don’t ever think you are helpless because you are “only human.” You are a human with the Spirit of God living in you!

alighttomyway

LOVING God's Word, LISTENING to God's voice, LEADING others to God's Son, Jesus Christ

Category Archives: Christianity

Ephesians; Royal Rules

Galatians; I’m An Heir!

2 Corinthians 7-12; Examine Yourselves

2 Corinthians 1-6; Comforters

I Corinthians 11-16; But I Love Him (Her)

I Corinthians 1-5; A Little Yeast

Romans 10-16; I’ve Got My Rights

Romans 6-9; The Struggle Is Real