Pull Forces

“…As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you...”

II Kings 2:6

How easy is it to distract you?

If you have been encouraged to keep your eyes focused on something or someone, how quickly can you be enticed away from that attention by another affection?

Specifically, if we are told to keep our eyes focused on Christ, then how much pull from the world is required to avert your eyes?

In industrial settings there is sometimes a quality requirement specified for two joined components in an assembly called “pull force”. Often product specifications will designate the minimum pull force those components

must be able to resist before coming apart.

Yep, you know where this is headed, what is the minimum pull force required to pull you away from your focus on Christ? Would that focus fail with a minimum tug; perhaps measured in ounces? Would it fail with the exertion of a couple hundred pounds of opposing force? Would it hold up after tons of force was applied to break that connection? 

Elisha faced, and passed, a huge test. Elisha had asked for a double portion of the anointing that Elijah had. His mentor and father in the faith, Elijah, had made a promise to him found in verse 10 of 2 Kings and chapter two: “…yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise not.”

Listen to what happens next in verses 11 and 12:

“As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more.

Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.”

I don’t know how we would measure it but there is no question that there was a huge “pull force” exerted to distract Elisha but it failed. He saw Elijah taken from him.

So what?

So, how easy are you pulled away from your devotion to Christ?

Is your walk daily distracted with detours and diversions

or is it marked by single-minded devotion? 

Ask God today for that purposeful and persevering tenacity that follows despite the things that would pull your eyes away from Him.

A Couple of Recipes

“…We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

II Chronicles 20:12b

You’ve probably heard someone say: “That is a recipe for disaster”.

Usually, they are expressing that sentiment when the circumstances or events surrounding an individual can only seem to work out in a calamity or as the quote declares: a disaster. Today’s verse can, in fact, be considered just the opposite.

Instead of a recipe for disaster it is a recipe for success.

If you take the time to read the entire chapter of 2 Chronicles 20 (and I would encourage you to) you will find that verse 12 from above is the last sentence of a prayer to God by King Jehoshaphat as he and all of the tribe of Judah faced a vast coalition army of their enemies. This army greatly outnumbered the army of Judah.

So what could the King do?

More importantly, what did he do?

Among other things he declared their inability and their lack of wisdom to know what to do (“We do not know what to do…”) but, and this is the crucial part, he said to God – “…our eyes are on you.” You see it is not just enough when you face overwhelming odds to simply lament and recognize your inability to find a solution.  

Like King Jehoshaphat we too must turn our eyes to God.

He has the answers.

He is the answer.

Too often we stop at the lament – we whine.

The lesson is to move beyond recognizing your situation and recognize God as your one and only solution.  As you read the chapter you find that God did deliver Judah in a spectacular way.

Yes, they prayed – have you?

Yes they fasted, have you?

Yes they declared their need – have you?

Most importantly, though, they recognized God as their deliverer – have you?   

When you don’t know what to do – turn your eyes on Him.

Cold, Hard Facts?

“When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

II Kings 6:15-17

Sometimes our senses can reveal cold hard facts.

In our passage today the cold hard facts were revealed to the servant by what he saw with his natural eyes and this is what those facts told him:

A strong, well-equipped army that vastly out-numbered them had them surrounded. There was nothing warm and fuzzy about those facts, they were cold.

They were also hard.

They were hard to digest, hard to fathom, and hard to imagine a way out.

Here’s the reality, though, for a believer. When cold, hard facts come up against the truth of God, His truth is the only reality that matters.

You need only read the rest of II Kings 6 to understand the truth of that statement.

What is the difference?

The difference was which eyes were seeing. The natural eyes told of a very frightening outcome. But the eyes opened by the Spirit of God to see the truth had a much different ending planned. Your natural eyes and ears can see and hear some pretty frightening facts in the course of twenty-four hours. Maybe your last twenty-four have been like that. Ask God to help you see and hear those same twenty-four hours through the eyes and ears of His spirit. Ask Him to open your eyes and ears to His truth.

See if you don’t grasp things differently when He does.

As Jesus liked to say:

“He who has an ear; let him hear…”

Carrots for Your Spirit

“But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”

II Peter 1:9

Did your mother say to you what my mother sometimes said to me: “Eat your carrots; they are good for your eyes to help you see”?

 I leave the value of that statement to nutritionists but if it is true I think I may have found its “spiritual” counterpart. Suppose you wanted to improve your spiritual eyesight, what do you think you could do? Well, Peter explains by listing for us in verses 5-8 what the meaning of “them” is from verse 9.

Look at it with me:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;

and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being

ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

None of us would knowingly desire to be nearsighted and certainly not blind,

physically or spiritually.

Peter tells us how we can prevent spiritual blindness. He lists for us these eight characteristics: Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control,

perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love.

He says we should make every effort to have these and then reinforces their importance by saying we should possess these qualities in increasing measure. In other words they are not static in nature but should continue to grow in us as we mature in Him.

I don’t know about you but apart from the enabling power of His Holy Spirit I am helpless to see that happen. There’s the key – do you see that happening? Do you see yourself abiding in Christ and relying on the enablement of the Holy Spirit? I am not talking about some New Age visualization technique but rather an understanding of the power of His word and His Spirit to change you to see what He sees in you!       

Do You See What I See?

“If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.”

Proverbs 29:18 (Message Translation)

“Said the night wind to the little lamb

Do you see what I see
Way up in the sky little lamb
Do you see what I see
A star, a star
Dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite…”

Haven’t we all heard that Christmas song?

The question asked in the song might well be asked by the Lord:

“Do you see what I see?”

If we want to know the fulfillment of His plans for us it is essential that we see as He sees. So often we fail to see through the “eyes” of the Holy Spirit and instead rely on our own natural eyes. But what we see with the natural eyes is temporary and fleeting. Spiritual things, things seen with spiritual eyes and spiritual understanding, are eternal.    

Won’t you ask God to see as He sees?

 Ask for the understanding to value and look

for the things that matter to Him in your life.

Stop seeing from an earthly perspective and begin to see with an eternal, heavenly perspective.

There is an old saying (it is not found in scripture though) that we can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. That s just not true though. Paul admonished us in Colossians 3:1 – “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

I am praying this week that our hearts (and I might add – our sight) is set on things above and not on things on the earth!

Worship Brings Freedom

Have you ever been desperate and without hope?

Have you ever been in a place where it seemed like nothing good could ever happen to you or for you?

Have you ever been in a place where time after time after time

your hopes for better things were dashed? Have you ever felt like a prisoner?

If you are not much different from everyone else then the answer to all of those questions would probably be yes. We all face times of desperation in our lives or setbacks when what we have dreamed for and believed to be our future in God seems unreachable. We seem locked up and locked away from the freedom to do and be what God has for us.

Josephs’ dream could have been lost in the pit.

Peter’s dream could have been lost in the prison.

Our own dreams can be lost in pity for ourselves.

So where does today find you?

Are you in the pit? Are you in a prison? Are you wallowing in self-pity?

There is a way out.

Worship the LORD.

Worship is the way out of the pit:

“LORD my God, I called to you for help,
   and you healed me.
You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
   you spared me from going down to the pit.”

Psalm 30:2-3

Worship is the way out of the prison:

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

Acts 16:25-26

Worship is the way out of self-pity:

“but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Genesis 4:5-7

In each case a choice to worship in God’s prescribed way was the way out of the pit, the prison and the self-pity. If you find yourself in the pit(s), the prison or as a prisoner of self-pity then hope is available to you if you choose the way out through worship! Cain, Paul and Silas and the Psalmist all had a choice to make. Two out of three chose worship. How about you?

Tests + Trials = Joy?

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James 1:2-4

Ask anyone facing a trial how they would describe it to you and chances are pretty good that one of the descriptors would not be the word ‘joy’.

Yet that is exactly the connection that James makes in his epistle.

Perhaps the secret lies in the goal. If you, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, want to be mature and complete then you will recognize the value that there is in what trials can bring into your life. The lukewarm see no value in them.

Not only do they not embrace trials; they run in the opposite direction. The quickest path to immaturity and an unfinished race is to duck around trials; by not letting perseverance finish its work in you. That would be too hard.

To persevere is defined as: to continue to do something in spite of difficulty, opposition, etc…

Often we are content to be disciples as long as it is easy. Ask me to sacrifice things in my life and to daily take up my cross and we transform from

disciples to ‘departers’ (as in: See ya - I’m outta here!)

The disciple who truly desires to be like the Lord recognizes that trials are opportunities. They will not be easy.

They will not be a ‘cake-walk’.

They will be valuable.

Count it all joy!   

Obedience that is Better than Sacrifice

“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of when he said:

   “‘Among those who approach me
   I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
   I will be honored.’”

   Aaron remained silent.”

Leviticus 10:1-3

This is a hard passage of scripture. I think it would be easier to read it and move on instead of reading it and considering what it is saying. There are two things we ought not to do. First, let’s not take the easy road and just pass by it without consideration and second let’s also not try to understand what we cannot definitively understand. We cannot understand with certainty what the ‘unauthorized fire’ was that Nadab and Abihu offered.

However, here is what we do know.  

It was unauthorized.

It was contrary to the LORD’s command.

Unauthorized is defined as: lacking official approval or permission.

Contrary is defined as: opposed; altogether different

Here, then, is what we do know. Nadab and Abihu did not have permission or official approval to offer in worship to God what was opposed to and altogether different from what was prescribed by God for worship.

That sounds like a pretty good definition of disobedience.

Worship matters very much to God.

Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Even when it comes to worship. Especially when it comes to worship.

Nadab and Abihu offered the sacrifice of unauthorized fire in direct violation to the instruction of God concerning worship. We have been looking at worship and we have been looking at sacrificial worship.

No amount of sacrifice can make up for disobedience – except for one.

 The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross atoned for our sins.

That, in itself, is worthy of worship!

Nadab and Abihu offered worship that did not honor God.

May we offer worship, by His Holy Spirit, that gives God alone honor and glory.

Do You Speak Christian-eze?

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14 (KJV)

Do you know and speak the right words?

For our purposes today the definition of “right” would be to speak the words people want to hear. Of course, while that may be right according to what some people want to hear, it is not always truth. We can often fool a great number of people by what we say but we will never fool God.

When our words and our heart speak differently, then the noise God hears is anything but joyful.

Worship that draws us near to God and God near to us is worship from our heart and lips that speak and do the same thing.

Sometimes we speak what you might call Christian-eze.

It is a language that sounds appropriate but rings false

because the lips speak one thing and the heart another.

Instead of a unity of body, soul and spirit in worship to God there is division and dissonance – an inharmonious sound or discord that comes from us.

How then do we worship in a way that is indeed music to God’s ears (so to speak)?

 We live a life where what we say and what we do are in agreement –

we speak and live a life that honors God.

That kind of Life is only possible through the enabling power of

the Holy Spirit but also it is a life that is pleasing to God.     

Whatever!

“…No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing...”

11 Samuel 24:24b

If you are a parent – especially of a teenager – you have probably heard today’s one word title expressed by your child and usually attached to an attitude.

Do you suppose we sometimes come to God in worship with that same sentiment and with an equal amount of attitude attached? If we approach God with our rules, our methods and our ways of worship we are sure to limit our access.

You see God has a prescribed way to approach Him and to worship Him. We often think that because the veil was torn in two at the moment of Christ’s death and access was given that same access being given means that anything goes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 A self-centered and immature person might buy their spouse a gift that more accurately reflects their own tastes and desires. It may do nothing to minister to the recipient. A self-centered and immature person will approach worship the same way.  What makes me feel comfortable and ‘good’ is all that matters and certainly sacrifice has nothing to do with it. How much further from true worship can we get?

Maybe we could call it:

“Whatever Worship!”    

King David found out that there was a prescribed way to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. His mistake cost a man named Uzzah his life.

 Pretty severe you think?

Maybe – or – maybe it places a greater value on

how we worship God then we want to admit.

So what’s the lesson for us? Follow God’s prescription for worship. We have been learning about it for the past several weeks.

But, like medicine, a prescription unfilled will be of little value.

We are Not Alone!

“You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”

Nehemiah 9:6

Maybe you read today’s’ blog title and thought I was going to talk about some recent newspaper headline detailing extra-terrestrial life forms on another planet. Nope. We are not alone in our worship. I am not, however, talking about the fact that everyone worships something. Instead, I want us to understand that when we worship

the One, True God we are not alone in that worship.  

Our opening verse above talks about the multitudes of heaven worshipping Him and in the verses that follow we find others joining in worship, all nations and peoples of all languages worship Him. Rulers will worship and obey Him.

“All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord;
   they will bring glory to your name.”

Psalm 86:9

“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:14

“…and all rulers will worship and obey him.”

Daniel 7:27b

Not to mention the worship of Abraham, David, Daniel and so many other patriarchs.

We even find creation joining in…rivers, mountains and trees of the fields:

“Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;”

Psalm 98:8

“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

Isaiah 55:12

How about you? Even if you are struggling today with some great difficulty, God is worthy to be praised and worshipped. Don’t worship and give thanks for the cancer, the bankruptcy or the setback but in spite of, and through, those difficulties. Don’t make those situations greater and more worthy than Him. Join the worshippers past, present and future.

Worship Him who alone is worthy! 

The Blind Worshipping the Blind

“Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.
 They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk,
   nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

Those who make them will be like them, 

and so will all who trust in them.

Psalm 115:2-8

Have you ever been ‘blind-sided’?

  That term means: “to hit from the blind side” and has come to mean any unexpected or unseen hit, tackle or attack.

How about a blind date? Ever go on one of those?

You placed your trust in the person who set it up; didn’t you?

Last question – how many switched lanes in traffic, or attempted to, only to discover there was an unseen car in your blind spot?

All right – the common word in all of our examples is “blind”.  I have talked a few times in this blog about self-examination and the value of it. Sometimes, though, I think we need to emphasize the “second opinion” always present when a believer examines their relationship with God. You see when it comes to idols we become deaf, dumb and blind to our devotion (see verse 8 above). Even our self-examination is tainted by our idol worship. That is why we need the Holy Spirit and the second opinion that He brings. We are blind to our own areas of idol worship. We rationalize our long hours of work and certainly don’t consider it an idol. We excuse away the devotion to that celebrity that steals all our time and attention. We are blind to the sum total of dollars we spent in pursuit of leisure because; after all, what is more important than our well being through recreation?

Self examination can be futile when we refuse to be honest with ourselves or fail to acknowledge what the Holy Spirit may be revealing. We need hearing ears when the Holy Spirit lays it on the line and tells us in no uncertain terms what has become an idol in our lives.  

Ask God to help you to be honest with yourself and with Him and to have no other gods before Him. Allow Him to reveal those areas where He has been second fiddle or where it may be that you are walking dangerously close to that line.  

Focused on God

“I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.”

Jeremiah 32:3

How focused are you on God in your life?

Are there numerous small distractions that keep you from staying focused? Maybe it’s just one big attention-grabber that steals all your time and before you know it, your day and your chance to impact your world are gone until the next opportunity arrives tomorrow.  Some time ago on a Sunday morning we had an impromptu and very un-scientific survey that made one point very, very clear. More people had brought a cell phone to church than had arrived with a Bible. Could something as simple, useful and ‘necessary’ as a cell phone become an idol, distracting our focus from God? Remaining focused is not an easy task but it is essential and must be deliberate if we want to be a people who reflect His likeness and make our lives all about Him. It is far too easy to be distracted by so many “good” things in the course of our day. Here is something Pastor Tim passed along and is a thought provoking contrast between two competing focuses:

Cell phone vs. Bible
Do you ever wonder what would happen if

we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to our children as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something that should make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill;

and that, with no dropped calls!
Makes us stop and think: “Where is our focus?”

Golden Calf Casserole

“When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.”

Exodus 32:19-20

They say: “You are what you eat!”

We’ve been talking about worship and that you become like what you worship.

I know of no other picture in scripture that more vividly drives this point home than the passage above. The Israelites had worshipped the Golden Calf while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the laws of God for His people. Moses burned the idol and ground it to powder and sprinkled it on their water making the rebellious children drink in their idolatry.

 They literally consumed what they had worshipped.

Their god became their nutrition.

 That is a pretty scary thought considering what they had been worshipping.

After all what could a calf fashioned by man’s hands do against the God who had rescued the Israelites from the mighty Pharaoh’s army?

 Not many people would knowingly ingest poison and yet if you stop and think about it; isn’t that what we are doing if we choose to worship ‘other gods’? We bow our knees and offer allegiance to those same things that are slowly choking off our life and yet refuse to worship the one who alone is worthy. Take stock and, if need be, renounce the idol worship you have been engaged in. God offers life through Him and then admonishes us to choose life:

“…Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”

Deuteronomy 30:19b   

When you worship Him you are choosing life!

Alternative Worship

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Exodus 20:4-6

We have been learning so much about worship.

One fact that should be clear to us is that we all worship something or someone.

 No one is exempt. Maybe, in your case, it’s your job. Maybe it’s another person in your life or a celebrity from politics, movies or sports. Some people idolize a vacation spot or just their ‘alone’ time.

Anything we worship besides the Lord is a ‘cheap alternative’ that causes us to fall far, far short of our created purpose.

God’s good plans for us include the worship of Him as our Father. Not because He needs an ego boost but because, as we have learned, we become like what we worship.

God is our loving Father who cares for each one of us in ways we cannot fully comprehend. As we worship Him and as we spend time with Him we become like Him. We have all heard of, or maybe know, some married couples who have been so in love with one another for so many years that they begin to look like each other. That is what I am talking about. Who do you resemble? Is it evident to others that you are a child of God or do they walk away from you wondering where in the world you learned the behavior you just exhibited to them? I hope it is the latter.

What I am calling ‘alternative worship’ is worship beneath what you and I were created to do. Let God do some serious heart cleaning in your life and determine to worship God alone and not some second rate and non-fulfilling alternative.

Church, it’s time to jettison the idols! 

Your Time, Talent and Treasures

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

I Peter 4:10

I am writing this blog in obedience to the Spirit of the Lord. I could be doing a million other things but there is an opportunity daily to sacrifice some of those other things and be obedient to the Holy Spirit of God or surrender to those million other things and not sacrifice anything. That is not to say that I am a hero because the truth is every one of us has the same choice between surrendering to self or sacrificing for the Lord and His kingdom many, many times in the course of our day. Sometimes we sacrifice and sometimes, sadly, we don’t. Authentic Worship requires sacrifice. That was the message the Pastor preached last Sunday but he did not have opportunity to cover all of the points.  He has passed along these three ways to worship sacrificially. 

1. Daily sacrifice your time for God’s plans.

2. Daily sacrifice your treasure for God’s causes.

3. Daily sacrifice your talents for God’s people.

Three words were repeated – ‘daily’, ‘sacrifice’ and ‘yours’.

Daily: because sacrifice should characterize the life of a believer. It is not a one time only effort but an on-going way of life.  

Sacrifice: because that is exactly what it is. If it were easy it would hold no value to you and the sacrifice would be no big deal.

Yours: because it is meant to be personal. It is much easier to steal someone else’s time, to give away their treasures and to reap the benefit of their talents but much harder when they are our own.

Oh, did I miss one word that was also repeated in those three statements? You’re right.  The word ‘God’s’ was also repeated in each one because ultimately our time, talents and treasures come from Him and what better way to worship Him than to offer them back in sacrificial service to His plans, His causes and His people.

Your Sacrifice Can Change Lives

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house

to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I Peter 2:5

A few weeks ago some people sacrificed a few hours of their Saturday morning to run a race and raise funds for the developmentally disabled in our community. Did anyone in the race die that morning? Did they sacrifice their all? No. Were millions of dollars raised that morning? No. But make no mistake about it; sacrifices were made and lives will be changed as a result.

You see, sometimes if we hear the statement Sacrifice Changes Lives we immediately think of grand and mighty acts of sacrifice. I think we sometimes do that as a cop-out. After all, we say, I am not capable of making the sacrifices that Jesus or the Apostle Paul or even Mother Teresa made. Maybe not; but who says you have to? The Bible tells us in Zechariah not to despise the day of small beginnings. Maybe your life has been marked by selfishness, but as God has been speaking to us about sacrificial living, you have determined to be obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit as He leads you.

Small beginnings can lead to great endings.

Jesus talked about it when he spoke of faith and likened it to a mustard seed.  

So you want to move from selfishness to sacrifice. Don’t be frustrated by baby steps. Those baby steps can still change lives and that includes the changes God wants to accomplish in you. The sacrifice you make of a T.V. program to pray for someone who is in need of prayer can mean the difference in that person’s life. Extending kindness instead of rebuking the sales clerk who made a mistake in your transaction may not seem like a huge sacrifice but maybe it is enough to make all the difference in their crazy day. You wanted to respond in anger but instead sacrificed the flesh on the altar of self-denial and responded with the love of Christ.

A small beginning?  Maybe.

But maybe it was a small beginning that changed a life.

Theirs and yours.     

The Rewards of Sacrifice

“During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

 ²² The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

   But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

 ²³ The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

 ²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. ²⁵ He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

 ²⁶ The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

   But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

 ²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

I Kings 3:19-27

Sacrifice is rewarded by God.

The Bible is filled with examples.

The lives of Abraham, Joseph, Job, and particularly Jesus himself confirm this truth.  

The scripture passage today is most often used to display the wisdom given to King Solomon by God but as you read it did you note the sacrifice the real mother was prepared to make and how the King, through that wisdom he had received, recognized her as the genuine birth mother and rewarded her with the life of her son. She was prepared to sacrifice raising her own son to another person so that he would remain alive.  Her reward was immediate. Ours may not always be.

The Bible tells us that Jesus endured the cross for the hope that was set before Him. His reward was on the other side of the cross. Our reward may lead us through some difficulties first but make no mistake God sees our sacrifice and He is a debtor to no man. That means our sacrifices will be rewarded.

As you walk obediently before God offering your life as a living sacrifice remember the truth of His reward for those who have sacrificed for His sake and for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Love is a Nine Letter Word Spelled Sacrifice

“and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Ephesians 5:2

Sacrifice proves what I love.

That was part of the message from Sunday morning. I can talk about sacrificing until I am blue in the face. In other words I can talk and talk and talk and talk but, as they say, talk is cheap. There is another expression we are all familiar with that says:

“Put your money where your mouth is.”

That challenges us to live up to our words.

God lived up to His words. To that there is no doubt.

Romans 5:8 says that: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Not only did the Father and the Son prove their love through the ultimate sacrifice; they did it while we were yet sinners, while we did not honor, bless or esteem them. Just the opposite, they sacrificed while we were their ‘enemies’.  That is sacrificial love on a level we genuinely struggle with.

 “This is love: not that we loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his

Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” I john 4:10

You see; we do well to offer ourselves as living sacrifices just as we learned about yesterday but don’t ever think you can “outdo” God. He sacrificed His life for those who were not friends but enemies. That is true, sacrificial love.

Sacrifice proves what God loved.

Sacrifice proves what God loves.

Do your sacrifices reflect Him?

T-I-M-B-E-R-R-R-R!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

The two-man saw slides back and forth through the tree’s trunk inching its way

little-by-little-by-little

to the point where, at long last, the two men working the saw jump quickly back and one of them shouts at the top of his lungs: “T-I-M-B-E-R-R-R-R-R”!

The large tree comes crashing down having been brought low by the hard work and determination of the men. The tree wasn’t felled by wishing. It wasn’t brought down by a person wielding a butter knife and it certainly did not drop because someone told it too. No amount of wishing or wanting, no application of the wrong tools and not a single word could have been successful in cutting down the tree.

 Sometimes we wish for things to happen in our lives. We apply some sincere effort to making it happen. We even use the tools from our tool shed but to no avail. How come? Because there is a prescribed way that God has determined it will happen. No shortcut, no matter how sincerely attempted, will work.

Worship is that way too.

 Far too often we have watered it down and whittled it down in our understanding to being nothing more than songs and music. God has a different definition and in the end guess who’s right? Not that it is a contest of one-upmanship but rather the created being instructed by the Creator. You see from our verse today that true worship, as defined by God’s Word requires a sacrifice. Guess who gets to climb up on the altar? You do; every day as a matter of fact.

Remember that tree? It didn’t have a choice as to when and to whom it would be sacrificed. It was felled by two men and a saw. You are being sacrificed every single day of your life but you get to choose whom you will fall down before? Will you fall, as a living sacrifice, before your Creator?

T-I-M-B-E-R-R-R-R-R-R!

Ear, Ear, Mouth – A 2:1 Ratio

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”

James 1:19

Somebody once said that God created us with two ears and only one mouth so that we could understand that we should listen at least twice as much as we talk. Sadly, that old saying is lost on too many of us. It is as though we are created with ten tongues and only one ear. We move through life so often talking and too seldom listening.

James echoes that sentiment to some degree when he points out in our verse for today, one thing we should be quick to do: listen; and two things we should be slow to do: slow to speak and slow to become angry. I view today’s verse kind of like a see-saw with the phrase ‘take note of this’ as the pivot point or fulcrum. On one side of that pivot point is the audience he is addressing. Just like the lesson from yesterday we find this is not addressed to “Dear Unbeliever” instead it is addressed to you and I as he says “My dear brothers and sisters…” On the other side of that pivot point is the command to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Now why should he have to tell believers to take note of those commands? Well unless you are a monk living in a monastery, you have probably been at the receiving end of someone who was quick to speak and quick to anger or maybe you yourself have done so. You were slow to listen and quick to speak, turning the admonition on its’ head. I think the truth is we have all been victimized and we have all been guilty.

So what to do?

Surrender your all to God and that includes your ears and your tongues. Ask God to help you to be that one who is, in fact, slow to speak and quick to listen. Others will take note. Even better, when you do open your mouth, trust God to fill it with His words and not your own. I would encourage you to meditate on this verse:  

“The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,

and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.”

Proverbs 17:27    

I’m No Judas!

“Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.  From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

Matthew 26:14-16

We were asked a pretty tough question this past Sunday morning that went something like this: “What would it take for you to walk away from your relationship with Jesus?” In other words we ask the question that Judas asked: “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” Don’t be so quick to answer. You say: “I would never do that!”  Peter said he would never deny him and yet we all know the results of that commitment.

Peter denied him, Judas betrayed him and most of the disciples scattered when he was arrested. It is easy to talk big when you have not been challenged face-to-face as some of the Apostles were. I would like to believe I am a better man than Judas but I find an admonition in scripture that reminds me to be careful when it comes to these things. It is in Galatians chapter six and verse one:  “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”

Did you see the audience? It is to “Brothers and sisters…”. That would be you and me. But, it goes even further when it says: “…you who live by the Spirit…” It sure sounds to me like he is not only addressing believers but in fact he is addressing mature believers. Even this audience receives the warning: “…But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” We need to remind ourselves that we are never beyond temptation, especially if and when we find ourselves ministering to one who has struggled with a particular sin. It is often at that point that, if we are not careful, pride can creep in and cause us to believe we are better than the one who stumbled and are able, in our own strength, to withstand what they were not able to resist.   

We are not left comfortless and the strength of the Holy Spirit is there to help us in those times of temptation. But His help is quenched when we think more highly of ourselves and our own strength than we ought to think and rely on that rather than Him!

Instead of being quick to respond to the question of: “What would it take for you to walk away from your relationship with Jesus” stop and think for a moment of how much you need the Holy Spirit to keep you in that place of abiding in Christ and in stead of boasting pray that you would continue to abide in Him.