Don’t Trust the Holy Spirit?

I do trust the Holy Spirit. I just don’t trust your interpretation of the Holy Spirit sometimes. 

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When I Have Jesus

When I have Jesus, I have something money can't buy, poverty can't lose, no one can steal, death can't stop, the devil can't touch, and I can't mess up. I have something success can't secure. Failure can't forfeit. Popularity can't gain. Loneliness can't lessen. Winning can't win. Losing can't lose. Demons can't deny. People can't produce. Fear can't conquer. Politics can't control. Friends can't fracture. Enemies can't erase. The boss can't break. Taxes can't take. Suffering can't suffocate. Affliction can't eliminate. All the noise of the world can't drown out. And all the evil in the universe can't keep down. I can win it all or lose it all. But Jesus is still my all in all.

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The Success Problem

Life is full of people who have a great gift. And they use it to achieve a level of success. It seems like they’re living a blessed life. But eventually it all comes crashing down. And some of them get rediscovered, and get another chance. And they start to use their gift again. And it starts to work for them again. But they fall right back down again.

Why do people with such great gifts keep falling down? Because if your character doesn’t grow with your gift, that gift will crush you. Their problem isn’t a lack of success. Their problem IS success.   

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus said that doing what he says is like building your house on a rock. And when the storms come, the house doesn’t fall. But not doing what he says is like building your house on sand. And when the storms come, the house comes crashing down. You see, everyone has storms in their life. But not everyone’s life is built on a firm foundation.  

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Remember God’s Heart

1 John 3:20 says – Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. When John says that God is greater than your heart, he’s telling you that God is greater than your desires, your emotions, and your will. It was God’s will to baptize you into Christ. It was God who justified you, declared you righteous based on the merits of Jesus Christ. When you remember your past sins, however awful they may be, you should not despair, but trust that God is greater than your past. When your inner feelings weigh you down with guilt, God knows your full reality, and your redemption. And His mercy and grace are greater than your self-doubt. When you fear your own heart, remember God’s heart!  

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No Two Ways About It

You can’t walk the way of the world and the way of Jesus at the same time. Because they are going in two different directions. 

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Busy Avoiding God

People want goals put in front of them, something to strive for, so that they aren’t having to come face-to-face with the futility of their lives. Even people in the church are pushed this way. You’ve got to go, go, go, so we can reach the goal. But what happens after we reach the goal? Do we finally find rest? No! We find futility once again. And so, we need another goal in front of us. I’ve seen this happen with people who are over 100 years old. And I understand it, but I think most people don’t understand it. Because if you see futility, you feel desperation. And then what?

I’m not saying goals are wrong. I’m saying we can’t let goals become God. And for many people their goals are their gods. It’s the center of their lives, what drives them, motivates them, identifies them. They don’t realize the idolatry in this because they’re replacing what only God can give, which is everlasting, with what goals give, which is temporal. And they do these things in the name of God and don’t realize that what’s really at the center of their lives is themselves. And their desire for identity and to remove futility. Instead of submitting to God and finding rest in him.

In the OT mindset, there was a direct link between idolatry and futility. Because worshiping those manmade idols was worthless and wasteful. It was empty, foolish, and mindless. It meant nothing in the end, but destruction. And in Ephesians 4, Paul is saying that a futile mind leads to a futile life. And people run away from the futility by running into activity. Because in their heart they know that they can’t face the truth without having to change the way they live. And they don’t want to. So, they stay busy avoiding God. Even in the name of serving God.

Many churches are full of programs, projects, events, campaigns, and goals to achieve. Sometimes they lump it all together and call it vision casting. And they may do it in the name of serving the community and Christ. But it can serve to sever some people from the reality of their futility. Because they’re busy in the church life, so they think they’re good with God. 

And think of the end of the Sermon on the Mount. People tell Jesus that they did this and this and this for you, and we were involved in that and that and that, in your name. And Jesus says depart from me I don’t know you. And part of what he means is that you don’t know me. In the name of serving God, you can still serve an idol, because you’re still running away from the reality of your futility. You haven’t actually put Jesus in the center of your life, you have worshiped an idol, thinking it was him. But it was just you. 

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Change the World Right Now

I can change the world right now! And so can you. You can help me. The more people do what I’m going to say, the more the world would change. And even if it was just me and you, it would change our world. Are you ready? Here it is: We need to spend less time fighting what we think are other people’s sins, and more time fighting our own sins. We need to spend less time fighting what we think are other people’s sins, and more time fighting our own sins.  

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Knowing God’s Presence

In Hebrews 13:5, God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Many Christians take that promise as a means of comfort. But we should also take it as a means of conviction. And a means of courage.  

Hear what God is saying to you when he says I’ll never leave you or forsake you. Comfort – He loves you, he feels your pain, and he’s not leaving you.  Conviction – He guides you to come towards him, not towards sin. Courage – He knows your situation, and he is with you to help you.    

You can know a lot of facts about God. You can know a lot of theology. Those are good things to learn. But you should also learn to nurture the sense of living Coram Deo – which means “before the face of God,” or “in God’s presence.” Always, at all times, in all places, and all situations, God sees you, knows you, and loves you. Knowing God’s presence will change your life.

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He Gets Us. Do We Get Him?

I’m sure you’ve seen the ads on commercials, billboards, or the Internet, that says “He gets us.” And it means that Jesus gets us. The ad shows people who are misfits, outcast, downtrodden, marginalized, and oppressed. And the idea is that Jesus knows what that’s like and what you’re going through. And that’s true. But that’s not the whole message. Because there’s more to it than just that. I mean, are we just misfits in society? Or are we also defiant rebels against God? And so yes, Jesus gets us. He understands us and what we’re up against. But he doesn’t just get us. He wants to take us and make us into someone that understands him. Yes, Jesus gets you. But do you get him?

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True or Transactional Love?

In John chapter 13, at the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples before Christ went to the cross, he washed his disciple’s feet. And in vs.14-15, Jesus said – If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 

Jesus wasn’t merely speaking about washing people’s physical feet. And he wasn’t saying to only wash the feet of those who are your closest companions. Jesus was giving an example of love. It wasn’t a transactional kind of love. It was love that gave without expectations of reciprocity. He served their need without asking to them to serve his need. Jesus wasn’t giving them something to them in order to get something from them.

His motivation wasn’t personal gain. His motivation was love. True love, not transactional love. And that’s where the rest of us often struggle. We serve, maybe even sacrificially, but we look for something in return. Recognition from those we help, being noticed by others who see our good deeds, praise from people who say we live right, whatever benefit we might get that leads somewhere for me. We instinctively see love as an exchange, and we use love as a trade for something else.

But that’s not what Jesus did, or said for us to do. In fact, Jesus didn’t ask for them to wash his feet. And he washed the feet of those who were about to fail him on his way to the cross. Including Peter, who denied him. And Judas, who betrayed him. Jesus knew this. The disciples had nothing that they could give Jesus in return for what he was going to do for them. And us. This is why we sing, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.” 

Jesus stooped down to his knees, to wash the dirty feet of those who didn’t love him as well as he loved them. He didn’t have anything to gain. But he taught us that when we remove transaction from service, it becomes love. Jesus loved them, with an act that had no self-interest.

Think about a loved one you served just because you loved them. With no expectation of them “paying you back.” Like changing the diaper of a small child. Or giving to someone in need who you’ll never see again. It has happened in your life. But if you really think about it, it’s probably a lot less frequent that you might have thought at first. 

So, is there someone you’re serving that can’t pay you back? When we care for someone without looking for an earthly return, we are laying up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:20). We are following the new commandment of the new covenant.  

In John 13:34-35, Jesus said – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. This is what we know as “the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).” It is what Jesus’s brother James called, “The royal law (James 2:8).” It is the law of love (Romans 13:8-10 / Galatians 5:13-14). 

That’s the evidence of your discipleship – a love that is true, not simply transactional. A love that serves even when it’s not seen. A love that gives even when it doesn’t get. A love that counts the cost as worth it for Christ.

The Apostle Paul said the goal of our teaching is love – The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5). Has your love reached the “point of no return” with someone? Where you eventually gave up on them because you didn’t get back from them?

No one washed Jesus’ feet. He washed their feet and said they ought to do the same for each other. But then there is still a possible transactional case here because for the disciples, and maybe especially for us today, washing other’s feet could become “I’ll wash your feet if and when you’ll wash mine.” But the disciples had another example, from someone other than Jesus, only a few days before this supper, which demonstrated what Jesus said before he even said it.   

You see, there was another supper before the Last Supper. And someone DID wash Jesus’ feet. And it cost her plenty. But she did it with no other motivation but love for the Lord.

In John chapter 12, Mary of Bethany took a pound of expensive ointment…and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. Judas protested, knowing that the money from the ointment could have gone into his pockets. His transactional heart was exposed. He didn’t have gratitude, he had greed. But Jesus said leave her alone. And speaking of the same event, Matthew 26:13, Jesus says – Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. 

Mary wasn’t being transactional. She was giving worship and love, and Jesus says this will be remembered. If we know Jesus, we should follow Jesus. We are not burdened by having to fulfill all sorts of exacting rules and standards. We are called to fulfill the commandment of Christ, the law of love. If you want to wash the feet of others, if you want to show Jesus’ love so that people will glorify God, if you want to know Christ in a deeper, more fulfilling way, go and do likewise. Don’t demand that people help you in the way you want to be helped, or you’ll say they are unloving. Instead, serve people with true love, not simply transactional love. A love that serves even when it’s not seen. A love that gives even when it doesn’t get. A love that counts the cost as worth it for Christ. Amen.

 

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Help Me or Else

Help me in the way that I want to be helped. And if you don’t help me in the way that I want to be helped, I won’t be helped. And then I’ll blame YOU for not helping me.  

Loving people means serving people. But it is not loving for people to demand that you must serve them in the way that they want, otherwise they’ll say you aren’t loving them. 

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God Guides You

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God Doesn't Make You Believe

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Jesus Didn’t Buy God’s Love

Christ did not come to buy the Father’s love FOR us. He came as a gift of the Father’s love TO us.

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When Goals Are Gods

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Jesus is Irresistible

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Jesus' Love Language

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True Intimacy with Jesus

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Christian Differences

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You're More Important than Me

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Your Dream is Your Idol

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God’s Word Tests You

In Matthew 13, vs.19-22, Jesus is talking about His word being tested in your life. We have some sort of experience with God, and now we think that everything just sort of works on automatic after that. But the truth must work its way deeper and deeper into our hearts to be able to face the realities of life with faith. And often we don’t realize what’s going on, so we fail, and we think this proves the word isn’t true. But rather, it proves the word IS true. Because it’s just like Jesus says. The devil tries to steal it. The world tries to stop it. Our hearts try to squash it. And you should expect it. But even when you’ve failed, you now have the opportunity to turn this into real repentance, growth, and stability. And you can give God praise for allowing you to see the truth of his word.

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Grace before Faith

It’s not what a person does with God’s word that saves them. It’s what God’s word does with a person that saves them.   

Yes, we are saved by grace through faith. And we are also sanctified by God’s grace through faith. But it’s God’s grace that produces that faith. 

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You Believe the Virgin Birth

Some people believe in the virgin birth of the universe, but they don’t believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Or you could say it this way…People believe in the virgin birth of the cosmos, and not in the virgin birth of the Christ.

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Idols in the Church

Part of proclaiming the gospel is pressing it’s demands. Yes, the offer of forgiveness is free. But the gospel demands that you let go of your idols and cling to a new identity. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 says that Christians are those who turn away from serving idols in order to serve God.

Of course, you don’t lose all your idols at once. But as you come under true gospel preaching, idols are exposed and confronted. And Christ is presented as greater than what you’ve been holding onto, and you let the idol go and cling to Christ more fully, and deeply. But too many people are still clinging to their idols. I’m not talking about some statue. I’m talking about the idols in your heart. And true gospel preaching doesn’t feed your idol; it finds it and roots it out. 

So, some people leave the church because they’re not getting what they want. But they’re not getting what they want because their idol got smashed. 

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Faith as an Idol

What do you think will give you security and joy, and that without it you won’t have security and joy, even if you have God? That’s an idol.

The irony is that idolizing something ultimately keeps you from being able to enjoy it. You fret so much you can’t rest. For instance, many wealthy people are paranoid about their money. And many healthy people have an unhealthy obsession with their health. And many Christians, who are active in the things of God, never enjoy God’s grace, because they idolize their faith, and worry about losing it. 

Gaining more of an idol actually increases your fear, because nothing other than God can sustain the weight of your soul. You can make an idol of your imagination about yourself, because you fear the truth about yourself. You fear the loss of your feeling of control. Don’t make an idol of your faith. 

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Get Your Heart Right

You don’t have to get your heart right to come to the Lord. You have to come to the Lord to get your heart right.

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Maturity in Christ

You see, it seems to me that even when people aren't afraid of dying, sometimes they're afraid of living. But when 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 Christ preaching to you. Then you can say, I don't know why, I don't know how, but I know God.

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Eternal Choir Privilege

Those who have been redeemed by Christ are part of the eternal choir. And there can be no greater worship privilege. There can be no greater worship privilege. Stop looking at Sinai. Go to Zion. So, worship God with all you've got. Because God is right there singing with you.

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The Cost of Truth

Some people are lying when they say they want the truth. Because you can tell someone the truth. And you can show someone that the truth you tell them is believable. But that doesn’t mean they will believe that truth. Because if they believe that truth, it means they’ll have to change something in their life. And they don’t want to pay that price. The cost of believing the truth is too high for them to believe it. So, they don’t believe it’s true. Or they don’t believe the consequences of not believing that truth is real. And they will defend their disobedience to the truth through cognitive dissonance. And try and rationalize it with any number of questions they use as a shield in their continued war against the truth. And that’s the truth. 

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Sin and Self-Hatred

Do you feel a distance between you and God? King David felt it. And he asked God to lead him back to worship. Psalm 43:3 says – Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Amen.

1 John 1:9 says – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God has forgiven Christians because of Jesus. But they still confess the sins they commit as a matter of cleansing.

But maybe you hate yourself because you keep doing the same sins. So, you stop coming to God with it. And what’s keeping God from you is you’re keeping yourself from God. Your desire to cleanse yourself won’t work. Because sins you refuse to bring to Jesus are sins that continue to control you. Let Jesus do his job. When Jesus told Peter seventy times seven, he wasn’t just talking about you forgiving others. But Jesus forgiving you. 

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Focus Your Hope

When you feel bad, when it looks bad, when it IS bad, what can you do? Here is what the Bible says. This is King David preaching to King David. Psalm 42:5 says – Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation. David was in a bad place. So, he focused his hope. And your hope is not in your situations. Your real, true, greatest and ultimate hope is in God, who is orchestrating your situations for your good and his glory. So, you lift up your soul, by proclaiming your hope, and praising God. Don’t let your situations preach to you about God. Preach to your situations about God. He will save you.

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The Totalitarian Trail

Recently, we’ve had clashes in the streets of Minnesota and Oregon. We attacked Venezuela and captured their dictator. We attacked terrorist sights in Syria and Somalia. We’re talking about attacking Iran and toppling the government. And taking Greenland by force. We’re threatening Cuba as well. All sorts of social, political, and economic action taking place, some apart from the normal checks and balances built into our system. Where are we headed with all this?

Theodore Roosevelt said walk softly and carry a big stick. I don’t think he meant we should be surprising and smashing. And I don’t think this is what when Ronald Reagan meant when he talked about peace through strength.

Yes, the Pax Romana of 27 B.C. to 180 A.D., with its relative peace, prosperity, new roads, and a common language, helped Christianity to spread. But I don’t think that’s what’s happening in today’s world. Some believe that we are called to implement a sort of Christian hegemony. But are we following Jesus down the narrow road? Or travelling down the totalitarian trail? 

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Hot Coals on their Head

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Can God Be Wrong?

Can God be wrong about the future? If the answer is no, then even considering our free will, and our responsibility for what we do, people won’t do anything other than what God already knows they’re going to do. So, that means the future is already fixed. But how is the future fixed?

If God does it, then you can be confident that there is a good purpose behind all you see, even if you can’t see it now. But if God doesn’t do it, then God wouldn’t have a planned-out purpose for all the evil that happens. God just learns what happens, and then reacts, causing good to come from evil.

But that would make the universe bigger than God, because God would be dependent on other things. And that God may be the biggest thing in the universe. But that God can’t be God, because you can imagine something greater. And that God is smaller than the God of the Bible.

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