The Christian life can be very hard. And
being a witness for Christ can sometimes seem very exhausting. But Christmas
reminds us that the Christian life is not just about weeping
and bearing our crosses and waging war against sin. It is about finding our
joy in Jesus even when we are weeping and bearing our crosses and waging war
against sin. It is living a life that says Jesus is worth it. But it is not just
putting on a happy face. It is about truly experiencing joy and peace in
believing.
Christmas proves that God cares about
you, he cares about injustice and evil, and he cares about showing you how he
is going to make everything right in the end. Christmas has the power to show
you, though all the small gifts, and smiles, and moments of fleeting pleasure
and satisfaction, something greater. That in Jesus Christ, God has given his
greatest gift, in order to give you an everlasting pleasure, and the eternal
smile of God on your soul, and a never-ending, ever-increasing satisfaction,
which you can begin to feel right now, if you want it. That’s the power of
Christmas.
Has the power of Christmas ever been
proven in your life? If so, then let Christmas stoke the fires of faith in you
once again. If not, then let God use Christmas to start the blaze of true
belief in your soul. Christmas proves that we have a power that is greater than
this world. Let’s show it to our world.
1 Peter 3:11 says – let him turn away
from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. Everybody
wants peace. But if you want peace, you have to fight. And you also have to
surrender. And everyone actually is fighting. And everyone actually is surrendering.
Now, what exactly do I mean?
Well, you see, seeking God’s peace
involves turning away from evil. If you’re going to pursue God’s peace, it
means that you do good by fighting against your sin, and giving up your war
against God. You give up your fight with God, and take up your fight against sin.
Everybody is at war, with God, or with
sin. Everybody is surrendering, to their sin, or to God. Of course, a lot of
people don’t think they are at war with God. They have just surrendered to themselves,
and their sin. But even when you’ve just given up, you are passively fighting,
rebelling against God.
You’ll either surrender to God, or
surrender to your sin. Surrendering to your sin, to yourself, means that you’re
still at war with God. This is the truth. You are either fighting against sin,
or you are fighting against God.
There is a lot of darkness in the world.
You don’t have to look very hard to see it. Darkness is all around us. The
breakdown of society. Political power struggles. Tribalism. Cancel you and cancel me. Everyone is an enemy to someone else. Bad isn’t hard to find. Good
is what takes a little looking for. And even when you find it, what you call
good someone else calls bad.
Even people with the same standards,
people with a fixed standard, can run into this problem. I am talking about
Bible believing Christians. They might point in the same direction, to Jesus
Christ, as the only real and ultimate answer. But they might still point their
finger at people, and judge their motives, judge their actions, judge their
souls.
It's easy to point into the darkness and
scream against it. It is easy to believe that you’re the one with the light. But
a light held by a monster only reveals more trouble. Why would anyone follow
someone that they think will hurt them? If we come off like a monster, we are failing
in our mission. We might even have the right light. But all people can see is
our wrong hearts.
One night I was in my bedroom, all
furious about all the wickedness people were calling good. Evil people acting
as if some evil thing was actually right and good morals. It went directly
against God, and the evil people actually knew this, and openly mocked God’s
word. I had enough. I was yelling and screaming in the dark, shaking my fist,
and pointing my finger in anger.
Then,
as I walked into my bathroom, I accidentally bumped the light switch. Suddenly,
and I found myself yelling and screaming and pointing my finger at myself, in
the mirror. And as the light came on in the bathroom, it also came on in my
mind and heart. I had a lot of heat, but not enough light. I thought I had the
light, but I was miserable. And if you don’t see your misery, you’ll never cry
out for mercy. You’ll just keep yelling at the mirror.
Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Jesus took on
human flesh that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of
death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong slavery. The fear of death is the greatest
fear. But Jesus delivers us from that. And he can and does deliver us from all
other fears. We just need to hear him speak to us. And he does, through his
word, in the power of his Spirit, by the proclamation of a faithful preacher,
who represents Jesus as the true preacher. We meet with Jesus and he calms our
fears. We meet with Jesus and he brings us faith.
As Hebrews 2:17-18 says, Jesus has become
a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation
for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted,
he is able to help those who are being tempted. Jesus sees us in our
jars of clay and shows us his power. We are human, broken, vulnerable, needy,
and guilty, and he gives us forgiveness, help, and hope. Jesus knows me. Jesus
understands me. Jesus feels me. And Jesus helps me to know him, and to feel
him, and to understand him. And that is how and why I worship him.
You know, even when people aren’t afraid
of dying, sometimes they are afraid of living. But as you mature in Christ, you
can be in awful situations, and very trying circumstances, and yet you can
still have courageous confidence, and find comfort in Jesus preaching to you.
Then you can say – I don’t know why. I don’t know how. But I know God.
Before
you come to Christ, you think – I don’t want to die.
After
you come to Christ, you think – Praise God, I’m not afraid to die.
As
you mature in Christ, you think – Lord I don’t mind leaving, and sometimes I
think I want to, because this place isn’t my home.
When you are mature in Christ, you think – If you want me to stay, Lord, I’ll live for your glory. But my greatest desire is to be home! As Philippians 1:21 says –
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Until you call me home, Lord
Jesus, keep preaching to me! Amen.
Did you know that the whole Trinity
sings? Zephaniah 3:17 says that God the Father will rejoice over you with loud
singing. And Hebrews 2:12 says that Jesus sings God’s praise in the congregation
of the saints. But what about the Holy Spirit? Well, think of it – the Holy
Spirit indwells you. And Spirit filled worship means that the Holy Spirit sings
through you. Those who have been redeemed by Christ are part of the eternal
choir. And there can be no greater worship privilege. So, worship God with all
you’ve got. Because God is right there singing with you.
1 Peter 3:4 says – but let your
adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a
gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. As we
all know, physical beauty changes over time. And yet, as my wife and I get
older, she gets even more beautiful to me. How, you ask? It’s because I see
more and more of what God calls beautiful in his eyes.
To show you what God sees as beautiful,
Peter offers a contrast. In vs.3, he says – Do not let your adorning be
external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the
clothing you wear. This is not saying that you aren’t allowed to braid your
hair or wear gold jewelry. Otherwise, it would mean that you can’t wear
clothes, either! No, Peter isn’t saying that. The Bible isn’t teaching that.
This is saying that when it comes to true beauty, as God sees it, external
things aren’t as important as internal things.
It’s not necessarily wrong for you to
make yourself up, as long as it doesn’t become your main focus. It isn’t a sin
to be pretty. It isn’t a sin to dress up. But most people are focused on the
externals. So, lots of people will appreciate them, and be attracted by them.
But those inner things are not as obvious. Less people will notice them,
because less people are looking for them. And less people have eyes that can
truly see them. The truly beautiful, in God’s eyes, are attracted to those who
are truly beautiful, in God’s eyes.
We ask, God who do you want me to marry?
Well, it starts right here. You have a lot of liberty in choosing your partner.
But if you want God’s opinion on where to start looking, here it is. Get your eyes on God’s prize.
The Greek word translated as “adorning”
in vs.3 is “kosmos”, which you’ve probably heard as “cosmos”. It is also
translated as “world”. Like John 3:16 – For God so loved the world
(kosmos). And the point I’m making is don’t let your world be all about
externals. True, godly beauty from the inside, flowing on the outside, this is
what will magnify you in the eyes of those who can truly see beauty as God sees
it.
What God says is imperishable beauty
is more beautiful than mere “hotness”. Think about it this way; the hotter something
is the more meltdowns you’ll have. What good is a hottie when they’re just a
hot mess?
So, what does a gentle and quiet
spirit mean? It means someone who is not coarse and loud. It means someone
who is humble and peaceful. Gentleness doesn’t mean acting weak. It means your
strength is under control. Quiet doesn’t mean you never speak up. It means you
know the role of submission as God sees it. You are a supportive person, not an
obnoxious person.
The hidden person of the heart means
the inner life. But it comes out in how a person lives their life, how they
act, and react, and relate to other people. Someone with eyes to see as God
sees will see that gentle and quiet spirit, that humble demeanor, that
peaceful attitude, as a beautiful adorning, and see you having an imperishable
beauty that God sees as precious.
Hotness will melt away. But what God
calls beautiful is imperishable. In other words, it will not melt away, but it
will burn like no other fire can.
If you’re not married, then put this
into practice now. Find the right fire in the first place. Ask the Lord to help
you see attractiveness as he sees attractiveness. And then start the fire. You
can make yourself attractive to the right person by becoming one yourself.
If you are already married, focus on
your inner person and not simply on the outer person. And focusing on your
spouse’s inner person will help you show them that they are not just a body,
they are a soul. If you are married, get yourself focused on becoming what you
want your spouse to be.
You attract the right person by becoming
the right person. And you stay attractive by staying focused on what God says
is attractive. And you help someone become more attractive when you model
attractiveness. You can be beautiful all the days of your life. Get your eyes
on God’s prize.
In Acts 16:16-24 we see Paul and Silas delivering a slave
girl from demon possession. But that woman had made her owners a lot of money
by fortune-telling. So, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the
marketplace before the rulers. The whole crowd got riled up at the accusations
laid against Paul and Silas. And the magistrates tore the clothes off of Paul
and Silas and had them beaten with rods. And then Paul and Silas were put in the
deepest part of the prison, where there was no light, and their feet were fastened.
Then, in Acts 16:25-34, we see that about midnight Paul
and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were
listening to them. They were praising God for who he is, because he is worthy,
no matter where they were. They were going to worship God whether they were going
to be released or not. How do we know this? Because there was an earthquake,
and all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. Yet
no one left. Not Paul and Silas, and none of the other prisoners either.
Think about that. Paul and Silas worshiped God, apparently so
loud that everyone else heard it. And then the earthquake had shaken the
prison. But the earthquake wasn’t what undid all the chains, all the fastenings.
No, that was something else. That was a miracle. And the prisoners were amazed.
But Paul and Silas somehow knew that the miracles were just beginning.
The jailor thought everyone was going to escape, so he was
about to kill himself. But Paul shouted out, “Do not harm yourself, for we
are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and
trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought
them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were
in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their
wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought
them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his
entire household that he had believed in God.
Sometimes we are so eager to be delivered from some hard situation
that we miss the real depth of our deliverance. Paul and Silas didn’t. They didn’t
leave the jail, they waited on God. There was more to come. They were already set
free. But they knew others would be set free too.
You need to wait on God. Now, waiting on God doesn’t mean that
you can’t rejoice and leave the prison when your deliverance comes. It means be
ready to respond to the ministry right where you are. And waiting on God doesn’t
mean you have an excuse to be lazy, it means you have a reason to be ready. Being
patient doesn’t mean you don’t act; the best prayers have legs. But being
patient means you keep on praising God when all the action seems to be against
you.
Right there in the darkest midnight, in the place where there
doesn’t seem to be any light, God can break in and break you out. But maybe he has
more in store than just your immediate needs. Maybe he is meeting eternal needs.
Make room for the miracles, for YOUR miracle, and the miracles for others. And wait
and see, there always seems to be more miracles attached to your miracle if you
are looking, not just for your deliverance, but the deliverance of others. Just
when it all seems the darkest, praise God, because more can happen in a minute
with God than a lifetime without him.
Can Christians who believe
different things work together on similar things? Even when they belong to
dissimilar churches? Or they have some very dissimilar ideas about doctrine?
Yes, if they will draw the right
lines for the right situations. And those lines will necessarily depend on the
scope of the work. Let me say it this way. If the mission is broad, the lines
are narrow. If the mission is narrow, the lines are broad. And that’s a good
thing. It is a good and necessary distinction. And more people ought to get a
hold of this, and save themselves the frustration of wondering why we can’t all
just get along. We can, if we draw the right lines.
So, let me do the work of explaining
what I mean by that.
The members of a local church
will need more areas of agreement than the members of a parachurch ministry.
This is because a church will participate in a broader spectrum of life and
ministry than people who come together for a particular parachurch ministry.
Churches will draw different
lines than parachurch ministries. A church will have certain doctrines and
emphasize certain positions. Still, a church can work together with another
church to accomplish some common goal. Even when they are not in the same
“group” or denomination. Because they don’t have to agree on every doctrine to
agree on a certain ministry mission. It is a limited partnership, and therefore
it requires a more limited number of agreements.
For example, there can be a lot
of different churches who work together to provide disaster relief. Or who work
together in a serving line for a soup kitchen. Maybe they come together for a
season to advocate for a new Christian clinic.
Now that’s church to church. Of
course, inside a single local church, the lines are drawn differently. In a
sense, more narrowly. Full cooperation within a church will require adherence
to certain standards. The number of common commitments will be greater than
with a parachurch ministry because the fellowship is more central, more
pervasive, more permanent. The idea is not to make a church unique, and so
narrow that no one can fit in. However, the teaching of certain distinctives
will not be able to be avoided.
In a parachurch ministry, those distinctives
are less necessary. The amount of non-negotiables will be less. The lines are
broader, because the mission is narrower. A parachurch ministry is usually
devoted to a more singular emphasis, something specific, a more particularly
focused mission. Therefore, it will be more limited and minimal in its formal
positions. And so, there is room for people of different opinions on secondary
matters to work together towards that mission, unless their practice of those
opinions hinders that mission.
For example, a counseling
ministry wouldn’t be addressing young earth vs. old earth creationism. That
would be irrelevant to accomplishing the mission of the ministry.
Another example would be that a
Calvinist and an Arminian, or a Cessationist and a Continuationist, or a
Pre-tribulation dispensationalist and an Amillenialist, these can work together
in a homeless or rescue mission, unless one or the other “pushes their brand”,
trying to prove their position and focusing on those things as essential to the
mission. They are not.
A third example would be that of
a Christian K-12 school attached to a Pentecostal church. They teach biblical
lessons, but they don’t focus on teaching students to speak in tongues, and
they don’t require teachers to be Pentecostal. And those teachers who aren’t
Pentecostal don’t teach against it. Rather, the school and its teachers focus
on academics. And as far as religious instruction, they focus on the Gospel,
the existence of God, and the authority of the Bible – God is real, the Bible
is true, Jesus is the only way. Societal and political issues may be touched on
in clear cases. The point is that it is a K-12 school, not a denominational
seminary, and not a church.
Christians can work together, between
the lines, in the same place, if they will do the work of drawing the right
lines in the first place.
Have
you ever “fallen out” with someone? There is some sort of extended relational
trouble. There was close friendship. Now there is cold formality. Something has
happened, and now both sides are distant. Maybe there hasn’t been what people
call ghosting. There is still some level of involvement. But it isn’t like it
used to be. Maybe there hasn’t been what people call gaslighting. We haven’t
tried to convince the other person that they are the villain. But it isn’t like
it used to be. And maybe the reason is that our hearts are holding forgiveness
hostage.
There
is probably blame on both sides. But both sides are probably entrenched in a
stubborn standoff. There hasn’t been any sort of actual attempt at biblical
forgiveness. There hasn’t been any real Mark 11:25 in our hearts, and so there
hasn’t been any real Luke 17:3 in our practice.
Now
we may think or convince ourselves that we are willing to forgive. But we are
only willing to forgive if it happens on our terms. This isn’t a real
willingness. This is holding forgiveness hostage until our ransom demands are
met. It feels like this…
I
feel like you started it. So, I won’t come to confess and ask you for forgiveness
until you come to confess and ask me for forgiveness first.
I
feel like your part is the bigger part. So, I don’t want to admit my part in
the wrong until I feel like you have admitted your part in the wrong.
I
feel like you don’t see your part in this. So, I’m not going to come to you and
ask for forgiveness when I know that you won’t reciprocate.
I
could go on, but you get the idea. This is sinful stubbornness. I need to feel
vindicated. But I am actually being vindictive. You are holding forgiveness
hostage to your feelings. And it is hurting you. Because holding forgiveness
hostage is holding your healing hostage.
In the light of another tragedy, another wicked display of violence, another school shooting, we are faced with choices, once again. What will we do? What should we do? What can we do?
Well, there will be calls for
more gun control. Calls for stronger laws against violent crime. Calls for more
education and programs such as mental health screening and counseling. And
more.
I’m sure that there will be a lot
of disagreement about what we think needs to be done. But I’m also sure that
everyone will agree that we need to do something.
And this is good, and right. We
need to limit the violence. We need to address these issues. But there is a
deeper issue. Because preventing access to the means of murder does not prevent
the ammunition of a murderous impulse. Penalizing violence won’t stop some
people from being violent. Educating people can only go so far in reforming
people. Identifying mental health issues doesn’t eliminate those issues.
The only way we will silence the
violence in our world is if we silence the violence in our hearts. The first
step is yourself. One changed heart makes one step toward a changed world.
Now, we don’t want to be naïve.
We could make great strides toward some sort of utopian society, where people
are at peace with themselves and one another. And yet, while we are on our way,
we would still have many problems. There would still be violence. And of
course, we aren’t currently on that path to peace in any large measure anyway.
So, in this world, you may be at peace, but you may still wind up being a
victim of violence. Like those innocent children, attacked and murdered for no
other reason than pure evil. That young man may have had a serious mental condition.
Something made him feel like acting out was justified. But the act was still
wrong. It was evil.
All of these answers, gun
control, stronger laws, education, etc., they might be good and right steps to
help limit the onslaught of violence. But the only way we will silence the
violence in our world is if we silence the violence in our hearts. We need
peace in our souls. And the only way to do that is to surrender to the Prince
of Peace, Jesus Christ.
Jesus suffered the greatest
injustice the world has ever known. The only completely innocent person who ever
lived, was violently murdered. So that he would bring peace to those who
believe in him. And that he could create a new world. One day, when he returns,
there will be ultimate justice. And there will be ultimate peace.
Give up your war against God. Ask
Jesus silence the violence, to bring his peace into your soul. And then you
have truly begun to heal your world.
What is the first truth that the
Bible teaches? Well, what are the first words of the Bible?
Genesis 1:1 – In the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
·There was a beginning
·God was before the beginning
·God created the beginning
These are the first truths that
the Bible declares. And they are all so vital and valuable and connected. And
they are echoed and expanded upon by John 1:1, using similar language.
John 1:1 – In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
·The Word was also before the beginning
·The Word is distinct from God
·But the Word is also God
Genesis 1:1 tells us that there
is one God, one creator, who was before the beginning. But we see a fuller
picture of this one God in John 1:1. We see a distinction as to persons but not
a separation of those persons. In other words, the Word, who we know as Jesus,
he is a distinct person from God, but he is also God. So, here we have God the
Father and God the Son.
John 1:2 says – He was in the
beginning with God. Here, we see the Son, the Word, Jesus, was with
God the Father in the beginning. We know that this Word, who was and is God,
and who was there at the beginning, also created when we see John 1:3. It says
– All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made
that was made.
Jesus is not a created being. He
is uncreated. He is God. As Jesus says in Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha
and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty.”
So, when Genesis 1:1 says God
created, it means both God the Father and God the Son created. And we know that
this Word is God the Son because we see it in John 1:14, which says – And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as
of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. As
John 1:18 says – No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the
Father's side, he has made him known. God the Father and God the Son,
both eternal, and both the Creator, are both God, of the same essence, but
distinct from one another.
And then we see a third person
who is God, who was also with God in the beginning, and who also was involved
in creation. Genesis 1:2 says – The earth was without form and void, and
darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over
the face of the waters. And then you see the events of creation unfold
in vs.3 and following. So, this “Spirit of God” is also God. And God the
Spirit is Creator. And we know God the Spirit is involved in the ongoing
maintenance of creation. As Psalm 104:30 says – When you send forth your
Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
Now, you might think that this “Spirit
of God” is not a distinct person. But Jesus, the Son of God, the Word who
is also God, he calls the Spirit a person, who is still God, but who is
distinct from both the Father and the Son. In John 14:26, Jesus says – But
the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, he will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you. You see all three, Father,
Son, and Spirit in this verse, presented as distinct persons.
In John 15:26, Jesus says – …the
Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he
will bear witness about me. Once again, you see all three,
Father, Son, and Spirit, presented as distinct persons.
Romans 8:26 says – Likewise
the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
groanings too deep for words. The Holy Spirit feels you, he prays for
you, better than you can pray for yourself. He is a person, a person who was
there before the beginning, a Creator, a person who is God.
So now, if Father, Son, and
Spirit were before the beginning, and all are Creator, and all are God, but
there is only one God, then what is the answer to all this? The answer is that
God is one in essence, but three in person. This is what we call the Trinity,
or Triunity of God. In a very real sense, the Trinity is the very first truth
to know about God. It is the first truth of the Bible.
Romans 12:2 says – Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that
by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable
and perfect.
This text is pointing to your
need for the word of God in your life. The Bible is the means of renewing your
mind, changing what you think, how you think, how you process life, and how you
make decisions.
But there is an issue, right here
in this text.
As the text clearly says, being
transformed by the renewal of your mind is the way to avoid being conformed to
this world. And that is the issue. Transformation requires both positive and
negative actions. In other words, you need to get the word of God working in
your life, but part of that includes putting off those old patterns of life. Putting
off the world, and putting on the word. These things work together, in concert
with each other. Renewal is meant to be replacement.
What about you, though? Do you
feel as if the word isn’t working for you? Is there a reason? Well, let me talk
about one sure way that hinders the word of God in your life. There are others,
but this is the big problem for most people.
The problem for most people is
that they aren’t getting enough word. More precisely, they aren’t letting the
word get into every part of their lives. Stay with me, this may not be what you
think. In growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ, there will be other issues to
address, but this issue must be addressed. You need to be immersed, marinated,
saturated, in other words, fully engaged with the word of God. This is the only
way that you will be renewed in your mind to such a degree that you are
transformed in every area and arena of your practical life. Perhaps you’ve been
dipped in it, maybe bathed a little in it, or even some parts of your life are full
of the word of God. But again, you need to be immersed, marinated, saturated in
the Scriptures. In other words, you need to be dunked in it, rolled around in
it, and so well soaked that you are permeated with the word of God.
Now I’m getting at something here
that may seem like you’ve heard it all before, but maybe you really haven’t. I
don’t want to make you feel guilty, I want to show you how to grow. I want you
to feel good, and hopeful, and confident that there is a clear path and
definite plan for you to start getting the word to really have an effect in your
life.
Sometimes
people might not realize how little space they leave for the word in their
lives. People are immersed in the culture, they marinate their minds with
social media, and they are saturated with virtual reality, with politics, with
any number of other things. That’s what’s having the most effect on them. The
word of God is crowded out, or placed in a “Sunday morning and hopefully for
less than 30 minutes” space. And maybe just every other week or so. You might
think you’ve got to have your alone time, your family time, or whatever. I’m
not trying to begrudge you that. And I’ll talk about your time in a minute. The
point is that instead of the word saturating every part of your life, it is
compartmentalized for when you think you need it. It is as if you expect that
since the word of God is divine that it will replace your discipline. It will
not.
Romans 12:2 comes on the heels of
Romans 12:1, which says – I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. When you put
Romans 12:1-2 together, it tells you that you need to sacrifice some of those
things you might like to do for the most important thing you need to do. There
is your answer. You have to give up some things, sacrifice them, to make time,
in order to get the word working in your life so you won’t be fit into the
pattern of this world and you’ll be able to live out the will of God in your
experience.
You don’t need more time; you
need to better use your time. To replace your time. To make time. You see, I’m
not saying that you just need to add more and more Bible to your routine. I’m saying
that you need to change your routine. I don’t want you to wear yourself out. I
want you to wise yourself up. Replace time in the world with time in the word.
That will always work.
You can fool me, but you can’t
fool God, and please, don’t fool yourself. You don’t get to shortcut the
process of permeation. Your lack will catch up to you. Yes, you should memorize
verses of Scripture. But you don’t get to just memorize some verses and then
think you can just whip them out like some “pocket Jesus” for those times you
need extra help.
A lot of people can know a lot of
Bible but still have only a little of the word working in their life. They
treat God’s word like a college course that they just need to get through in
order to graduate. But the word of God working in your life is a lifetime
journey. It’s not a side issue.
When your child has a “boo-boo”
and says, “It hurts when I touch it”, what’s the first thing you say? Don’t touch
it. And this is right. If something is upsetting you, the first thing to do is
to limit its influence. If the news is making you angry, don’t watch it. If
social media makes your blood boil, get off of it. Learning to stay away from certain
things is wise. It is biblical. Romans 13:14 – put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
But you can’t always stay away. Sometimes
there is no way to avoid something. For the angry, and for the anxious, a “turn
it off” approach is a step in the right direction. But it can’t be the whole
plan. How many TVs will you have to turn off, how many websites will you have
to log off, how many people will you have to put off, how many things will you
have to swear off, until you realize that the issue is not outside of you, the
issue is inside of you?
James 4:1 tells it like it is – What
causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your
passions are at war within you? The reason you have a war outside of
you is because of the war inside you. There is something God is wanting to do inside
you, and you are resisting, and so you have a war going on in your soul. And that
inner war comes spilling outside.
There is a reason that you are
always just a moment away from exploding
There is a reason why you think
isolation is the only answer
There's a reason why you always
think something else is the problem
There's a reason why you're so
easily frustrated
There’s a reason why you’re so
quickly annoyed
There’s a reason people find you
irritable
There's a reason why you're so
often disappointed
There’s a reason why you’re so
offended
There's a reason why people so
often fail to meet your expectations
There's a reason why you feel
slighted, unrecognized, under-appreciated, taken for granted
The reason is always related to
pride
The remedy is always related to
humility
Vanity, jealousy, and even
insecurity is rooted in pride. Deal with that, and you’ll learn to deal with people
better.
The
best way to evangelize at work is by being an excellent worker.
The
best way to evangelize your family is by serving your family.
The
best way to evangelize your spouse is by being a good spouse.
The
best way to evangelize your friends is by being a faithful friend.
The
best way to evangelize someone who is suffering is to suffer well yourself.
The
best way to evangelize is by adorning the Gospel as a credible witness. A
consistent witness. Your life speaks. And if it speaks well, people will speak
to you about it.
When
you show people hope, they will open their ears. When you give them hope, they
will open their hearts.
