Tag Archives: God

Disposition

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Matthew 5:21-22

I’m using Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount; God’s Character and the Believer’s Conduct, (Oswald Chambers Publishing, updated 2016) as I spend time in God’s Word these days. Chambers uses the word “disposition” regarding these two verses. He says we’re born with it. I had to stop and consider that for a moment, but I get it. We see it on display in newborns. Some are pleasant, joyful, sweet from the moment they’re born. Others are cranky and fussy right off the bat. No one had to teach them. It’s who they are from birth. And traces of that original disposition follows most throughout their lives.

Chambers says our disposition fashions our character. So when Jesus is using murder as an example of serious sin, we suddenly realize He’s not just about the taking of a life. He’s actually referring to grumpy old men (and women), the “Karens” of the world, the Debbie Downers, the Sarcastic Susies, and the Nasty Neds. He is speaking to people who use others as the butt of jokes, or who delight in making even their friends look like fools. Some people have to put someone down in order to feel good about themselves. Jesus is telling us that’s a problem. He says people with that disposition are subject to judgment.

I would say people born with that disposition cannot talk themselves out of it. They are incapable of changing who they are. They need a personality transplant. And that’s exactly what God offers! He wants to remove the diseased disposition and replace it with his own.

Consider Jesus’ disposition, His temperament, and personality. That’s what he’s offering to any who receive Him. For a Christian to say, “That’s just how I am,” is denying the power of God. Look how Peter’s disposition was changed. Or Paul’s. You have no excuse to continue being the “old nature” when God wants to, and can, make it new.

That old disposition might be who you were. But it can’t be who you are if the Holy Spirit lives in you.

What is Good?

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Matthew 5:21-30

Jesus, in verse 20, just got done saying our goodness must exceed that of the Pharisees, those professional do-gooders. They were men who went out of their way to be and do good, and held themselves up as what goodness should look like. Exceed that?

Then, if that’s not impossible enough, Jesus goes on to make it more impossible!

We humans look at a person’s actions and evaluate the level of good or evil. A good man is someone who does NOT murder, does NOT cheat on his wife, does NOT steal or lie or throw tantrums. A good man is someone who DOES value life, fidelity, honesty, and self-control and demonstrates these virtues by his good choices. We see his actions and say, “That is a good man.”

Most of us, if we try, can reach a level of goodness using those indicators. But Jesus reminds us we look on the outside, God looks on the heart. And that’s where the rubber meets the road.

If I have hate in my heart for anyone, if I nurture anger toward someone, if I gossip about someone or reveal things that could ruin a reputation, if I consider myself superior to anyone and treat them like I think they’re unimportant or ignorant, my righteousness does not exceed that of a Pharisee, and Jesus says heaven is closed to me.

Then Jesus throws in lust. Most people don’t literally have sex with their neighbor’s wife. But infidelity extends to our thought life, the choice to look at someone and think about having sex with them, perhaps looking at pornography, or daydreaming about sex.

We can commend the guy who has been a faithful husband for 50 years, but not realize he is addicted to pornography. We can commend a woman for her commitment to her husband and family, and not realize she thinks about leaving them every day. We don’t know what goes on inside a person’s mind. God knows. And God judges what goes on inside a person’s mind as though they were actions.

Thank God for Jesus, who took the punishment for our sins of thought and action. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts so that our thoughts and actions are pure.

Oswald Chambers, in his book on the Sermon on the Mount points out purity is not innocence. “Purity is not a question of doing things right, but of the doer BEING right on the inside.” (p 22). He goes on to say purity isn’t something we’re born with like innocence. Purity comes from conflict. Purity comes from wrestling with sinful thoughts, with ungodly attitudes, and defeating it. Purity is a result of coming through the refiner’s fire.

God doesn’t accept our goodness as a tradeoff for sin. In fact, there is no goodness in us to give. All you and I have is our badness, but when we give God our badness, He gives us the goodness of Jesus! He refines the badness into Jesus’ goodness.

Our righteousness will exceed that of the Pharisees when we are wearing the righteousness of Jesus. An impossible righteousness to achieve on our own. But wonderfully possible through the blood of Jesus.

Blessed, Not Necessarily Happy

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Matthew 5:1-20; Luke 6:20-26

I finished my time in Galatians yesterday. I loved spending time in that letter, seeking God’s heart through Paul’s words. But this morning I went to my bookcase to look for my next study and found a book I’ve had for a while but never read, written by Oswald Chambers entitled, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount; God’s Character and the Believer’s Conduct. (Oswald Chambers Publications Association Limited; updated in 2026) That got my attention. So for the next few days or weeks, I will be looking at Jesus’ sermon and considering Dr. Chamber’s take on it.

I have always heard that the beginning of Jesus’ sermon contains the Be-Attitudes we Christians should have in all circumstances, that IF we are happy in hard times, THEN God will bless us. But I’ve always wondered that if that were the case, what does it say about Jesus? He got angry. He was sad. He was impatient and discouraged at times. Would He tell us to do something He Himself didn’t do?

Of course not.

Dr. Chambers got me thinking about something maybe you’ve always known but I’m still figuring out. These verses express God’s view of us, not our view of ourselves. It’s not that Jesus is telling us to be happy when we are broken, but rather we can rejoice in our position as children of God that results in: comforting in sorrow, the filling of the Spirit, the ability to see God’s hand at work, the assurance God cares for us and is preparing a place for us. No matter the situations we face, God blesses us with Himself.

I think Jesus is telling us that when we go through hard times, we can be assured our Heavenly Father wraps His arms around us and becomes everything we need to get through. I wonder if we can read these verses as though God is speaking:

You are blessed WHEN your spirit is broken BECAUSE of the confidence you have in the fact that you belong to Me no matter what.

You are blessed even WHEN you are in mourning BECAUSE you know that I am your comforter.

You are blessed WHEN you humble yourself before Me BECAUSE I can use you to reach the world.

You are blessed WHEN you want more of Me BECAUSE of my promise to will fill you to overflowing.

You are blessed WHEN you show mercy to others BECAUSE it’s My mercy you are revealing.

You are blessed WHEN your heart is pure BECAUSE you then can see My hand at work in every aspect of your life.

You are blessed WHEN you are a peacemaker BECAUSE that identifies you as My child.

You are blessed even WHEN you are treated unfairly because of your love for me BECAUSE you have confidence in the fact that one day I will usher you into My presence forever.

If we read the Beatitudes and tell ourselves our attitudes during hard times are tied to God’s blessings: the If… then interpretation, I think we will be discouraged. I don’t think that was Jesus’ intention. But if we read them as reminders of God’s favor, His precious blessings on us as His children, I think it gives us reason to get up in the morning and face even the most difficult day. God’s blessings are contingent on His character. Whew!

Now in Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus reminds us we do have reason to be happy and rejoice, not as conditions for blessings, but because we are so blessed by God. No matter what happens as a result of our commitment to God, even if we are treated unfairly, we are not alone.

And one day we know we will see Him face to face as He welcomes us into His forever kingdom.

Hallelujah!

I’m Free!

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Galatians 3:27-4:11

A little boy was standing in his front yard when a man, just freed from prison, ran past him, hands waving in the air, and shouting, “I’m free! I’m free!” The little boy watched the spectacle a bit confused, not understanding the man’s excitement. “So what?” he shouted after the man. “I’m four!”

I wonder if we are ever underwhelmed by the freedom we have in Christ because we don’t really understand it. The little boy in my story certainly didn’t understand what “free” meant. Do we?

We do this or that. Or we don’t do this or that. We say the right things. We smile, lend a hand, and all the while we hope it’s enough. We struggle with sin, we are paralyzed by guilt, we doubt, and we hold back. We stand in a prison God has freed us from by the blood of Jesus.

Satan loves to convince us that God’s grace is not enough. But he is a liar. What he doesn’t want you to believe is that if you repent of sin and accept Jesus as your Savior… YOU ARE FREE!

You’re free from the punishment of sin, you are free from the power of sin over your life. In Jesus, there is victory, cleansing, joy. Satan cannot confine you with the chains God has already broken.

So don’t let him. Yes, there will be struggles. Surrender them to God. There will be failures. Ask God to forgive. There will be doubts and fears, but God wants to free you from those and replace them with the assurance of His presence and strength.

Dear one, if you have accepted the free gift of God’s grace, don’t live like you haven’t. Don’t stay a prisoner when the prison walls have already been destroyed and your chains have already been broken. My prayer is that you, and I, will surrender today to the One who has freed us, that we will allow Him to be our strength. We will be reminded that Jesus has set us free from the bondage of sin and death. His death is enough.

I’m free to love Him! I’m free to receive Him! I’m free to call Him Father! I’m free to go to Him boldly in prayer! I’m free to rest in Him! I’m free to obey Him, not out of duty or out of hope He will accept me. I’m free to show Him how much I love Him by the things I do so that others can find Him, too.

I’m free! I’m free!

Finished

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Galatians 3:1-14

Paul goes on to explain how believers are justified by faith, and continue to live by faith. He wonders how anyone can look at Jesus on the cross and think they could do more.

How can anyone look at the Mona Lisa and think they could take a paintbrush and add a little color around the eyes. To do so would cheapen the finished work – or worse – reduce its value to $0.

Jesus’ work on the cross is enough. He said, “It is finished,” not “I’ve done my part so now it’s your turn.” Our good deeds are unable to change our sin to righteousness. A sinner can’t just one day declare himself not a sinner.

The curators at the Louvre in Paris care for Da Vinci’s finished work. They protect it, treat it with utmost respect and honor, they share its beauty with the world. But none of those deeds painted the picture or add to its worth.

I was at the hairdresser’s yesterday and, you know how those women can talk! They were speaking about the wife of a man who had just left, how kind and sweet and good this woman is. One of the ladies said, “If Sue ain’t gonna go to heaven ain’t no body gonna go.”

What a tragic belief. When Sue faces God she will be judged exactly the same way the rest of us will be judged. Did she live by works, or by faith in Jesus for her righteousness? Sadly, if she is counting on her own goodness instead of wearing the righteousness of Jesus, she ain’t gonna go to heaven.

We who have been entrusted with the Gospel are like the curators of the Mona Lisa. We love the Gospel, protect it, share it. But those deeds add nothing to the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

It is finished. And it is enough.

Wonder No More

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Gal 2:11-21

To anyone who wonders if, or hopes they’ve done enough good to go to heaven – READ THESE VERSES! Paul answers your questions clearly:

You are not good enough!

No amount of law-abiding behavior, no matter how loving or compassionate you are, no matter how many times you go to church, or how well you are thought of at work – you aren’t good enough to earn your way to heaven. Good people go to hell the same as bad people.

The fact is, Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty for sinners. We all have sinned. Even you. What Jesus did there on the cross is the difference between heaven and hell. You can’t come close to equalling that.

If we could somehow pay the death penalty for our sin then live again, or if we could do enough good to erase the sins we’ve committed, Jesus should have just stayed in heaven. His painful death would be worthless.

Paul tells us he was crucified with Christ. We know he wasn’t put on that cross with Jesus. But Paul often talks about the surrender he made to Jesus that changed his life. He calls it dying to self. Paul doesn’t live on his own anymore. It’s Jesus living in him! I hope you can say the same.

Do you wonder if you’re going to heaven? Answer this: have you repented of your sin and accepted the work of Christ on the cross as the payment for your sin? Have you surrendered to God and is Christ living in you in the person of the Holy Spirit? Are you, like Paul, allowing God to live through you?

If you can’t say yes to those questions then Scripture tells us you aren’t going to heaven. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one goes to the Father except through Jesus. There is no room for, “well he’s such a good person. Certainly God will accept him.”

My prayer is that you can honestly say yes to those questions. I pray that Jesus is your Savior, that you have surrendered to Him and accepted His grace, the forgiveness of your sins. Heaven awaits you.

If you wonder if you are going to heaven, wonder no more. The answer is as plain as day.

Find Us Faithful

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Genesis 50

G. Campbell Morgan once said that a believer’s work in the world is not finished when they put him in the ground. Think about that for a minute.

Joseph was a faithful and productive servant of God during his 110 years on this earth, and continued to be used by God for the next 400 years after his death. He was probably embalmed and placed in a sarcophagus since he was an Egyptian ruler. But the Israelites held onto the remains even after they were forced into slavery.

What did that coffin represent to the generations after Joseph? Salvation!

Joseph’s last words to his family was when – not if – God comes to your aid and takes you back to Canaan, take my bones with you and bury me there. Joseph’s remains were a constant reminder of God’s promises to Israel, and the hope of His salvation.

Years ago Steve Green wrote a song entitled “Find Us Faithful.” It is my prayer. The chorus says:

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.

Google the lyrics, or better yet go to You Tube and hear Steve Green sing it. It will make you stop and think.

What is it you want the memory of you to inspire? When your children think of you after you’re gone, what do you hope comes to mind? Your money will be spent, your belongings will be discarded. But your influence will live on.

Understanding that truth, there might be some changes you (and I) might want to make while we still have a chance. The footprints we leave will lead somewhere. Do you care where? Will they lead our loved ones to God, or away from Him?

May all who come behind us find us faithful.

When I Die

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Genesis 47:28-48:22

I suppose the older you get the more you think about dying. In truth, our bodies begin to fail, reminding us that we won’t live forever. So we tend to sit more and have more time to consider what’s ahead. We write our wills to assure our children are cared for when we’re gone. Jacob did that.

Jacob didn’t write down his wishes and have it notarized. His word was as binding as any contract as he spelled out what he intended for each of his and Joseph’s sons. Warren Wiersbe in his study on the Psalms entitled Be Authentic (David C Cook publisher) points out that Jacob went a step further than merely planning ahead for his children. He even planned his own funeral.

Jacob did not want to give the wrong impression by being buried like an Egyptian in Egypt. Even though he most likely would have had an impressive send-off, Jacob did not want anyone to question where his heart was. He insisted on being buried with his family like a believer in Holy God. Make no mistake, Jacob was saying he rejected the gods of Egypt, and wanted that to be a plain message even after he died.

I’ve told my family I really don’t care if they have a public funeral service for me or not. I won’t be there, so whatever they need is fine with me. But if there is a service at all, I do want it to glorify God. I want the Gospel clearly and powerfully proclaimed. I want hymns sung – especially “And Can It Be” (all the verses) and the song “Find Us Faithful.” I want my send-off to be less about me and more about the God I love, the God I serve, the God who loved me and loves everyone who would attend my funeral enough to die for us. I want it made known that with my final act, I invite them to give their lives to Jesus so that my funeral will not be, “Good-bye,” but “See you later.”

Maybe I should write this down.

Protecting Sin

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Genesis 44

Joseph’s brothers had changed. Twenty years earlier they didn’t give one thought to their father when they walked away from Joseph in that pit, then sat down to dinner. Now, they couldn’t walk away from Benjamin for fear of what losing him would do to their father. Judah was the spokesman, but all the brothers tore their clothes at the thought of their father’s reaction should Benjamin be forced to stay in Egypt.

But sorrow and regret are not the same as repentance. They had lived with the guilt of their sin for twenty years. They’d gotten pretty good at carrying that load while living life. They needed to repent.

And so do we. We, too, can become comfortable carrying around the guilt of a sin we’re protecting. We tell ourselves we deserve to be happy, or that we’re not hurting anyone, or that no one knows. We might have to lie to protect the sin, but even that gets easier with practice.

We can go to church, maybe even serve God with a smile on our face. And we can put the matter out of our minds as we live life, just like Joseph’s brothers.

We can feel guilty. We can tell God we’re sorry. But until we submit that sin to God and walk away from it, we have not repented. And true reconciliation is dependent on repentance.

God prompted Joseph to test his brother. It wasn’t just for Joseph’s sake. His brothers needed to know for themselves how deep the change in them ran in their own hearts.

Are you protecting a sin in your life? Don’t just be sorry. Don’t just get used to carrying the guilt. Repent. Submit to God and walk away from that sin. The reconciliation we’re going to read about in the next few chapters of Genesis could not have happened without repentance.

And reconciliation between you and God can’t happen without repentance, either.

Guilt is Not Just A Feeling

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Genesis 43

In his book Be Authentic (David C. Cook Publisher), Warren Wiersbe points out that the brothers were relieved when they were invited to a banquet at Joseph’s house instead of being thrown into prison for the confusion over the silver the last time they were in Egypt. But, as Wiersbe says, “it’s one thing to be relieved and quite something else to be forgiven and reconciled.” The brothers had not confessed their sin from twenty years earlier, and they were not reconciled with Joseph.

Recently I heard of a newly retired man who shared that there were certain pieces of equipment he had used on the job that he wanted to keep for himself. The thing was, he was required to turn in everything on his last day. So, he went to the warehouse where the company kept old equipment that would eventually be sold or trashed, and found pieces of equipment like the ones he wanted. On his last day, he turned in the equipment he’d stolen from the warehouse, and took home the things he had used for years on his job. He rationalized that the company wasn’t using those things and they would eventually get rid of them anyway. He said that he didn’t feel guilty about what he’d done.

I thought of that as I read about the brothers in Genesis 43. They thought they were in trouble, and felt relieved, safe, maybe even thankful that they weren’t going to jail. But how they felt didn’t change the fact that they were unrepentant sinners.

The man I told you about might not feel guilty. But he is. Feelings aside.

How easily we all are to rationalize our own sin. We might tell ourselves it’s no big deal, no one is getting hurt, or everybody does it. We most likely convince ourselves we deserve whatever it is we’re doing because it makes us happy. And we can harden our hearts and not feel guilty.

Dear ones, every sin is serious. Every sin is a slap in the fact to God. Every sin comes with a death sentence – no matter how good you feel about yourself.