Tag Archives: God

Faithfulness

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John 17

As I look at the Fruit of the Spirit these past few days I realize Satan is doing a pretty good job of making people believe these qualities are old-school, maybe even laughable. He’s convinced many that love is acceptance; joy can be gained at the expense of others; peace comes only if you agree with their delusion; patience is a one-way street; kindness is weakness; goodness is relative; and faithfulness is unnecessary.

I’m looking especially at faithfulness today, and I got to thinking that it might be a lost art. People aren’t faithful to marriage vows as evidenced by the fact more than half of all marriages today end in divorce – even among Christians. And even some Christians have had multiple marriages like the Samaritan woman at the well.

People aren’t faithful to their children when they adopt a hands-off, gentle parenting mode and expect their kids to raise themselves. Unfaithfulness is seen when parents are absent from the home, when they are too busy to support their children at games or concerts, or when they do attend, their eyes are on their phones.

Being faithful in the workplace? People change jobs like they are playing hop-scotch. The grass looks greener over there, so I’m out!

People aren’t even faithful to a church. Someone hurt my feelings, so I’m going to find another church (until someone hurts my feelings…)

Even being faithful to the Word of God is seen as a negative. Satan suggests we can tout the verses we like, either tweak or ignore the ones that make us uncomfortable, or claim God has a new revelation because the Bible is out-dated for our advanced society.

And yet, Jesus is our example of faithfulness. He was faithful to the Father, to the Father’s will, the Father’s message, the Father’s plan up to and including a very painful and humiliating death on the cross.

Jesus was faithful to His friends. He spoke truth to them, He protected them and provided for their needs. He never let them down, never threw them under the bus.

Jesus was faithful to the Words of God. He never altered the message to please different audiences. He spoke the same truth to lepers, tax-collectors, farmers, as well as religious leaders and even kings. He was always faithful to God’s Words.

The same faithfulness in us is an indication of Jesus’ Holy Spirit in our lives. Yes, that means being faithful to your spouse, faithful to train your children in the way they should go, faithful to those in authority over you, faithful to your Bible believing church, faithful to go and make disciples by standing on the truth found in the Bible. Faithful to God’s will, God’s message, God’s plan, and faithfully obedient to His commands.

The world might look at your faithfulness as archaic, but they will also see someone with integrity, someone who is different, better than they. They will see Jesus.

That’s what Jesus prayed right before He went to the cross. May God continue to answer that prayer in my life and yours.

Kindness

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Mark 6:30-44

The itinerate preacher was spent. Jesus and his disciples had clocked a lot of travel miles, and He had preached a lot of sermons to many crowds. And let’s not forget his cousin had just been executed. I imagine Jesus really needed to be alone to rest, recharge, and even mourn.

He invited his disciples to go with Him to a remote place. So they got in a boat and set sail for a much needed get-away. What did they see when they came ashore? Thousands of people clamoring for His attention! Put yourself in Jesus’ shoes. How would you have reacted?

You parents probably have an idea what that’s like. Your precious babies don’t consider what kind of day you’ve had. When you walk through the door they only know, “Daddy’s home!” They don’t understand the weight of trying to feed a family on a budget when the washer breaks down and the car insurance is due. It’s still “Read me another story, Mommy.” “Fix this.” “Find this.” “I’m hungry.” “She hit me.” “I want…” “I don’t want…”

Calgon, take me away! (Google it, young ones)

Here’s where Jesus’ kindness is on display. He looked at those people and had compassion on them. Instead of demanding, “Me time,” he taught them. He set aside His needs, didn’t scold or complain. He didn’t even just smile and pat them on the head. He taught them until late in the day.

Then He did the most talked about miracle in Scripture… He fed 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. They ate until they were satisfied. (Didn’t say Jesus needed to feed Himself before He could feed them. Just sayin’)

Jesus served them despite a bone-tired, mentally exhausted, emotionally drained reality. His compassion was expressed in kindness because that’s who He is.

That’s the kindness aspect of the Spirit’s Fruit. It’s Jesus in us who acts and reacts out of kindness, who considers others before self, who just does the right and good thing out of a right and good heart. It’s being kind. Thinking kind. Reacting kind. Doing kind. Because kindness lives in us who know Jesus as our Savior.

Patience

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Luke 9; Hebrews 12

Jonathan Landry Cruse, in his book entitled, The Character of Christ; The Fruit of the Spirit in the Life of our Savior (Versa Press; 2014) suggests this aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit comes in two parts: forbearance and long-suffering. Here are my thoughts.

When God revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 34 He gave a description of Himself:

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

I see a God whose mercy and grace, steadfast love and faithfulness, produces perfect patience toward us, the forbearance part of patience.

Sometimes we may wonder, “How long, Lord, are you going to put up with this corrupt, sin-filled world before you come back and end it all?” I hear God say, “Be patient. People are still being saved from their sins. I can wait.”

Jesus demonstrated forbearance in a little Samaritan town where He was not welcome. His disciples were angry and wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy those evil people right then and there. Scripture tells us Jesus scolded his disciples for that attitude, I think in part, for their impatience toward sinners.

God doesn’t want anyone to die without Him. He can wait until the last soul is saved before He comes back and this life is over. I am happy for that last redeemed soul. It could have been me.

The other half of the Spirit’s patience is long-suffering, according to Cruse. I wonder if we really believe the best is yet to come? Do we consider our problems in this life light and momentary compared to what is ahead? Are we able to face the hardest of our circumstances with confidence and even joy, knowing God is working all things out for our good as we wait patiently for Heaven? Can we suffer long, trusting God for every detail?

The more you know of Jesus, the more you see how long-suffering He was. He waited patiently until the Father said it was time for the cross. He endured the awful pain and humiliation of the cross with patience so that our sin debt could be paid. Not only was Jesus patient with people who followed Him, He was patient with the people who tormented Him. And He was patient during the most unimaginable pain, the most awful circumstances we can imagine. He endured for the joy set before Him, the joy of that day when you repented of your sin and accepted His grace.

Jesus is our example of patience. He lived one day at a time until the right time. He trusted the Father, obeyed the Father, He patiently put up with the foolishness of people, and the evil in people because He knew something better was ahead.

We’ve all heard it said, “Lord I need patience… NOW!!!). Well, friend, if Jesus is your Savior, the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart, He IS your patience. And the expression of His patience through you in those difficult circumstances and around those difficult people is evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit in you.

Don’t say you don’t have patience. If you have Jesus, patience dwells in you!

Joy

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Luke 10:1-24

The second aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit is joy. Did Jesus express this characteristic? I guess I haven’t spent a lot of time considering whether or not Jesus was a joyful person… until today.

Jesus was serious. He was stern. He was loving. But was He happy?

Head slap! Of course He was!

I never got into watching “The Chosen” but from what I see they portray Jesus as someone who laughed, who enjoyed life, who joked with His friends. A joyful man. I’m thinking that’s probably accurate. People were drawn to Jesus. I don’t think that would have been the case if He was an old stick-in-the-mud.

Jesus used parables to teach important truth, and one of those truths was the fact that God is joyful. Think of the parables of the lost treasure, the parable of the talents, the prodigal son. God is filled with joy when a lost soul is found.

Think of the Beattitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Joy is the blessing God gives to the mournful, the humble, the merciful, etc. A Christian has reason to be the most joyful person in the room!

If I want to express the character of God in my life, there is no room for a gloom and doom attitude. There is no excuse for seeing a glass half empty, or looking for the other shoe to drop. My sins are forgiven. I am loved by the Creator God, I am blessed beyond imagination, and I will live in paradise forever. I have the power of Holy God in me, and I am given the joy of the Lord to fill me and flow through me, no matter the circumstances.

I recently bought a new journal. I go through them quickly as I write my thoughts every day about what God is teaching me in His word. This particular journal has a Bible verse at the bottom of each page, and I’m going to leave you with the verse at the bottom of the page on which I wrote my thoughts for this blog post.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. (Jeremiah 17:7)

Be blessed. Be joyful!

Love

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Mark 12:30-31

For the next few weeks I am going to be looking at the character of Jesus as revealed in the Fruit of the Spirit, and see how I can apply it to my own walk with God. (The Character of Christ, the Fruit of the Spirit in the Life of our Savior; Jonathan Landry Cruse; Versa Press, Inc., East Peoria, IL; 2001

Today I looked at the first aspect of that Fruit – love.

We know God is love. We know Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus is love, and His Spirit in me is love. What does that look like? I looked up some of the things Jesus said about love.

He commands us to love. Not an option. We are first of all to love God. And not just to feel kindly toward Him, but to love Him with all our heart, our very soul, and our mind. Jesus is the example of that love; the “not-my-will-but-Thine-be done” kind of love; all in, nothing held back.

Here’s the thing – when we accept His salvation by faith in Jesus, God who IS love, inhabits us, transforms us so that loving Him isn’t just something we do – it’s who we are!

My heart beats His heart, my mind thinks His thoughts, my soul is connected to His and He loves through me. In fact, the second command Jesus gives is that we love one another, love our neighbor.

That command has become so distorted these days because we think it means tolerance, acceptance, live and let live. But Jesus tells us to love in the same way He loves, with agape love that says: “your eternal soul is more important than my comfort, or whether or not you like me. I will gladly endure any hardship if it means you will find the Savior.”

I don’t know about you, but I have my limits. I might be able to handle a rebuff now and then, but beyond that, I’m not so sure. Jesus knows that so He says, “Let me love through you. Here is the gift of my Spirit which is love. Let it flow and you will love with agape love.”

Plus, Jesus expects that love to extend to my enemies. Jesus tells me I am to love them, too. Really, Lord? But here’s what I learned today: He’s not talking about friendship or a warm fuzzy feeling for them. He’s talking about agape love which is that selfless love toward another’s eternal soul. Love them like Jesus loves them.

Jesus embodied love. When I am His through His shed blood, He pours out His love on me, fills me with His Spirit so that I can love Him back, and reveal His love by the way I allow His love to flow through me.

It’s a gift!

A Fruit Is Not A Vegetable

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Matthew 7:15-20

Prophets, teachers, preachers – are we to judge them? The answer, according to Jesus is, yes. Jesus gives us two criteria: their doctrine and their actions. If either is in question, you are looking at a false prophet.

I wonder if the same standard applies to all of us who wear the name of Jesus? Shouldn’t we all speak the truth and shouldn’t we all bear good fruit? Of course we should. The preachers and teachers might be held to a higher bar, but there is a similar bar for all of us.

Oswald Chambers in his book on the Sermon on the Mount says this: “You do not gather the vindictive mood from the Holy Spirit; you do not gather the passionately irritable mood from the patience of God; you do not gather the self-indulgent mood and the lust of the flesh in private life from the Spirit of God.” (p 90 of the updated 2016 version)

Can a person be negative, fault-finding, complaining, and have a biting tongue and be a Christian? Honestly, I don’t see how.

We are like fruit trees. We all bear some kind of fruit. The question is, is it good fruit or bad? Does it come from a heart connected to God’s, or a heart connected to the world? It can’t be both.

An apple or a grape is produced out in the open. A fruit is not a vegetable which grows underground and out of sight. Chambers tells us the world has a prefect right to watch the private lives of Christians to see if the fruit of our faith is genuinely good, or sadly rotten.

If I claim to be a Christian but live a life connected with the world – I am not a Christian. A good tree CANNOT produce bad fruit. Coarse language, dishonesty, negativity, meanness, self-centeredness cannot be the Fruit of the Spirit in us. If those things are present in our lives, the Holy Spirit is not.

We are to be a light to the world, a city on a hill for all to see. Like it or not, the world is watching you to see if your claim to Christ is real or not. They will rightly judge you by your fruit. May it be sweet, genuine, and as good as the Spirit in you.

No Worries?

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Matthew 6:25-34

“Faith is our personal confidence in a being whose character we know, but whose ways we cannot trace by common sense.” (Oswald Chambers; Studies on the Sermon on the Mount; Oswald Chambers Publishers; updated 2016; p 59)

Chambers says common sense is mathematical. Faith works on illogical lines. We want to believe that if something happens, there is a result we can predict. If it rains, flowers will grow. If I get married, I will be happy. If I am good, good things will happen to me. But we all know life is messier than that.

This past weekend, several of us had a girls’ weekend in Gatlinburg, Tennessee to attend the Gaither Family Fest. While we were there, one of the ladies received word her brother had had a stroke and they were rushing him to a hospital in Jacksonville, about 60 miles away from his home. Our friend was stuck hundreds of miles away, unable to be with him and their family at such a critical moment.

We all know her brother. Rick is a good man, a deacon at our church, a willing servant of God, and a lover of Jesus. How do we make sense of his trouble at this time? That’s where faith comes in.

First let me say, as I think about this portion of Scripture, not one of the seven of us in that mountain cabin ever asked how something like this could happen to such a good guy. No one said, “He doesn’t deserve this.” I don’t think any of us questioned why this was happening. But all of us went to God in faith, trusting God for the outcome. Knowing the character of God, we can rest in His love of and care for Rick’s physical body. He’s the same God who cares for the flowers and the birds, and Rick is more dear to God than any flower or bird.

God has already done the best thing for Rick when He took care of his sin problem by dying on the cross. Rick is God’s precious child through his faith in the saving work of Jesus. We can trust God for Rick’s eternity. Certainly we can trust God for Rick’s present.

Jesus tells us not to worry. So what does it say when someone claims they can’t help but worry? Do they not have faith in God’s power and promises? If Jesus tells us to do something, and we say we can’t do that thing, is that disobedience?

Jesus doesn’t tell us not to be concerned. He doesn’t tell us not to seek medical help, or to erase Rick’s situation from our minds, and pretend it’s not happening. What Jesus is saying is not to waste time wringing our hands or pacing the floor, imagining worst case scenarios, and being paralyzed by fear. We are praying for Rick with open hands, trusting that the God whose character we know and love, is working even this out for Rick’s good and God’s glory.

Paul expressed this kind of faith in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Rick’s need right now is physical healing. As people who love him, we are praying that his physical body will be healed so we can enjoy this ornery guy for a long time yet. But we hold on lightly, understanding this life is not the end.

Chambers asks this important question for all of us: Are we going to be true to the revelation that God is good? Are we going to be true to His honor, whatever may happen in the actual domain?” (p 60)

My prayer is yes.

PS: I had just hit the “publish” button when I got a text from Rick’s sister saying that after the doctor looked at the test results and spoke with Rick to find an improvement in his speech, they cancelled surgery! God answers prayer, dear ones. I know not every situation has the same results. But God is good and works for the good on behalf of his children. Rick’s not out of the woods, and we will continue to pray, but I just wanted to share the good news with you. May God be praised!

Jesus Just Doesn’t Let Up

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Matthew 5:38-42

Have you ever heard anyone say this passage in confusing or even that it certainly can’t mean what it says: should women stay in abusive marriages? Should I sit back and watch a thief ransack my home and not defend it? Should I give money to every bum with a cardboard sign by the side of the road?

I want to share what Chambers says about this: “We always say we do not know what Jesus Christ means when we know perfectly well He means something that is a blunt impossibility unless He remake us and make it possible.: (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Oswald Chambers Publishers, updated 2016, p 40).

Throughout his sermon, Jesus is speaking about our character, our disposition, our integrity. In these verses He continues that lesson using shocking examples from their culture.

To us He says: “Think of the worst insult or disrespect you can imagine, the biggest offense against you, the most unfair treatment you’ve every encountered. Then imagine you not having the desire to defend yourself or get even. Imagine you reaching out to the offender with generosity. Imagine you being kind to the person intent on hurting you.”

“Impossible!” you say. “That person doesn’t deserve my kindness.”

God’s answer? “Did I ask you to treat them the way they deserve? Do I treat you the way you deserve?”

Jesus doesn’t let up, does He? He’s always revealing one hard truth after another. This time He is addressing humble obedience. It has to do with letting go of my perceived rights and allowing Him to live His character through me. I have to surrender my will and accept His will.

Nowhere does Jesus talk about money in this passage. But we read these verses and interpret them materially. We read it and think about the bum on the side of the road. It’s a lot easier to think that way than to face my pride and my self-esteem or my skewed sense of fairness. Yet those are the things God is asking us to face.

You and I both know Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. Here, in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, He is telling us how that looks in real life.

Impossible on our own. But very possible, a done deal, when the Holy Spirit is free to express the character of God through us.

I Will

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Matthew 5:31-33

People who marry take an oath before God and witnesses. They give their word to be faithful to one person for the rest of their lives. We tend to make these verses in Matthew about marriage and divorce. But the real message Jesus is trying to get across is much wider and deeper than that one issue. He’s been talking about integrity in this Sermon, about character and disposition. He’s been talking about the seriousness of sin and its effect on our spiritual health.

Then he uses the marriage oath as an example. We ought not to read verses 31-32 without verse 33. It’s a shame the Bible publishers put in that arbitrary break. So let’s not, for sake of argument today.

If you make an oath of any kind (which Webster defines as “a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one’s future action or behavior”), you had better honor and protect it. If you don’t, and you break that solemn promise, you are no different than an adulterer. Jesus is painting a word picture, using marriage as an example of someone who doesn’t keep his or her promises.

Sometimes I think we consider an “oath” as a big deal, like a doctor taking an oath to do no harm, or a witness taking an oath to tell the truth in court. But if I know Jesus, He’s not only talking about the “big.” He always gets to the heart of an issue, doesn’t He? That’s what I believe He is doing here.

Have you ever heard someone referred to as a “man of his word?” What does that mean? I think most of us know at least one person who has the kind of integrity that if he says he will do something, you know he will. He always does what he says.

We, as Christ followers, ought to be men and women of our word. Whether it’s a promise to pay our loans on time, or take out the trash, if it’s the promise to our employer to do our job, or a promise to our child to go to the dance recital, if we say we will… we will. Jesus was a man of HIs word, and if He is our example, we ought to be, too.

I believe Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, is laying out the truth for believers. We are held to a higher standard. Our faith is evidenced by the kind of life we lead. More than anyone, a Christian ought to be the person who has integrity, honesty, the person who will follow through with what is promised.

If you say, “I will,” will you?

I’ve Got Rights

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Matthew 5:29-30

Paul tells us we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God. I think Jesus is saying the same thing here in these verses.

I’m all about submitting my heart to God. I truly want to be salt and light, separate from the world, wearing the righteousness of Jesus, and pointing others to the saving grace of God. But I don’t think I’ve ever really considered what that should mean for my physical body.

Oswald Chambers in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (Oswald Chambers Press, updated 2016), points out that it’s easy to give up bad things for the sake of our spiritual lives. Yet God asks us to give up good things, too, and that might not be so easy.

We know our society is “rights” focused. Often our “rights” are exactly what God wants on the altar.

I have a right to drink alcohol. I have a right to get drunk. I’m an adult. I have a right to go to R rated movies. I have a right to sleep in on Sunday mornings. I have a right to eat as much as I want. I have a right to over-eat. I have a right to piercings and tattoos. I have a right to have consensual sex with anyone I like. It’s my body. I have a right to support abortion and transgender causes. I have a right to work two jobs to provide luxury for my family.

Not all our rights are bad. Some are more easy to surrender than others. Yet God says we are to surrender them all. Our relationship with God is not just spiritual. It’s physical, too. It’s this flesh and blood body surrendered to God, giving Him all rights to use as He sees fit.

Sometimes He asks us to “cut off,” or “gouge out,” some things for the sake of our spiritual, eternal life. Sometimes it hurts.

Chambers ends his commentary on these two verses with this:

“…are we prepared to give up the best we have for Jesus Christ? The only rights we as Christians have is the right to give up our rights.”

Think about that for a second. God wants us to give Him all. I think that includes mind, body, heart, and soul. I think it includes our right to our hands and our eyes, our homes, our families, are talents, are finances, our health, our future. A.L.L.

In fact, and here’s what hit me today as I read Chambers’ opinions concerning this whole cut-off-your-hand-and-gouge-out-your-eye thing. This is another quote from page 32. I’ll leave you with this:

“If we are only willing to give up wrong things for Jesus Christ, we should never talk about being in love with Him.”