Sanctification Station (Radio / Podcast)

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
(Ephesians 2:22 – ESV)

Church is about fellowship, yes, and it is also about worship, yes, and worship in the context of fellowship is good and right. However, church is also about discipleship, and this takes leadership. All of this is necessary for the proper stewardship of a church through its members. There is no Internet site for all of this. There is no radio program that can get all that done. There is only one place that this all happens, the local church. The TV may have different channels on a religious dial, but for live action, it has no sanctification station.

Let’s look at some negative and positive reasons for attending a local church. To those who say they don't need to or have to go to church, or ask the question, "Why do I have to go to church?"

Going to church honors God, does your absence?

Preaching helps build the building (edifice - edification - preaching) and it is essential for the exhortation and comfort of believers, in addition to their regular feeding on the Word. Also, most that I have observed who give the excuse that they don't need to go to church to be fed and led aren't actually feeding on Christ at all, or very little at best.

When you avoid church, you are avoiding the community of believers that need your gifting, 1 Corinthians (12-14) speaks plainly to this. Romans 15:14 / Colossians 3:16 – you cannot admonish and edify others without fellowship! In other words, you are being selfish, and you are ripping me off personally! He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit; that is, one with Christ, AND ALSO, one with each other. Are you really part of the Body of Christ?

It is the fellowship of the church where we find Jesus Christ. Jesus is active in His Church. Yes, He is active in individual lives, but those lives find more power in the context of the local church.

It is the fellowship of the church where we find protection from the demonic forces of evil and sin in this world. We call it a sanctuary for a reason, folks.

It is the fellowship of the church where we find encouragement in life. We can't keep on the path with Christ without the help and support of other Christians.

It is the fellowship of the church where we become Jesus Christ to the world.

The church is where we can find the best vehicle for our growth. We hear the Word preached and taught, and it stimulates us in our own private devotional and study times.

That, in the “spiritual bodybuilding” aspect, is like “taking your vitamins” The second part of “getting big” is to engage in resistance training. In accordance with this idea, the environment of the church provides two important features of growth producing conflict:

Authority who will challenge you with truth and correct you when you are wrong.

The environment of believers who are imperfect and whose rough edges will serve as sandpaper to smooth out your wrinkles. “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17). Hurt feelings are probably the greatest reason why people leave churches, but deepening your roots in Christ and His Word can immunize you against such tenderness. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165).

If you think that all your need for ministry is being met by the television, you are wrong. The TV can never allow you to tune in to the sanctification station.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Fire Extinguisher (Radio / Podcast)

…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

(Ephesians 6:16 – ESV)

Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
(1 Thessalonians 5:19 – NIV)

Learning to live the life of faith can be frustrating at times; especially if you don’t understand the battleground you are on. It seems like you are on fire for God one minute, and then later it is like you are in the burning pit of hell. Why is it like this, what is going on, you might say?

Well, most Christians know that we are in a spiritual war, but did you know that the devil is not your greatest enemy? Your old man of the flesh is your greatest enemy. What the devil tries to do is set on fire the fuel that is already there. The Holy Spirit within you is also trying to start a fire, but a holy one that envelops you with a burning passion for God.

The truth is that there are two fires we must tend to as Christians. One we must stoke (2 Timothy 1:6) and one we must stop. Both fires are trying to blaze, and you are always extinguishing one or the other. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, and those are darts aimed to enflame your flesh. Either you will quench those darts or quench the Spirit, quench the devil’s fire or the Spirit’s fire. It is one or the other, at all times. There is no neutral ground; the devil will rush in to set on fire the places you are leaving unguarded (Ephesians 4:27).

You will either deny yourself or deny the power of God. In those moments that you sense your new man and your old man at war, the Spirit is not just trying to get you through that moment, and not just trying to get you to do the right thing. The Spirit is trying to sustain your life force, the fire is going out, and He is putting kerosene on the pilot light that is why it can seem like such a flare up and perhaps painful. He is reminding you that you are dousing the life right out of you. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, the shield of the flesh quenches the Spirit. Don’t quench the Spirit’s fire.

Don’t deny the Spirit’s power to live a life sanctified increasingly to God. This would be the opposite of the list in 2 Timothy 3, which talks of having a form of godliness but denying the power. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 – ESV). The Spirit gives you the power to deny yourself instead of denying God in this way.

Satan doesn't need to read minds because he has at least 6000 years of reading behavior. He can plant thoughts perhaps, but he can definitely observe when a sinful stimulus appears and our response to it, and therefore know how to strategize. Our enemies in the spiritual war are allowed behind the lines, as it were, and we had better realize that. There are no secret sins; you are putting lighter fluid on one pilot light, and putting your fingers on the other.

In those moments where you have that choice you either choose life or death, and the problem for some is that the choice of life feels like death...and it is, it is death to self, and since they aren't used to it, it is a seemingly unbearable pain, but we must arm ourselves with this mind (1 Peter 4:1). At all times, the Spirit either is working in your life or He is becoming grieved (Ephesians 4:30). You are a fire extinguisher; the question is which one?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Building Code (Radio / Podcast)

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(Ephesians 5:33 – ESV)

When counseling engaged couples, some are starting out strong and have the capacity and potential to have a powerhouse marriage, and others need a lot of work, but the truth is any and every marriage needs a lot of work. It isn’t some start at the top experience; it is a long climb up, together. Some couples have the look of a team that will be a real winner, but I always tell them all, you cannot bank on potential, you must try and fill the capacity. You must be more than willing you must be intentional. It is not about “doing stuff” or going somewhere but being willing to learn together and trusting each other. That is a building process.

A good marriage is a building process, not a finished product. That is the main problem, obstacle, and failure I see within marriages of all sorts; they thought they would get by on love alone, but they didn’t understand what married love is. Married love must grow, from a “we are so in love with each other, we will always work together, and we never fight, so it will always be this way”, to a more mature, growing in grace with God union that sails through the incidental and inevitable rough seas of married life.

God allows couples to go through trials to show them, if they are willing and intentional, how strong the marriage bond can be. Steady in the midst of the storm, just like He does with all Christians as individuals in their relationship with Him (Matthew 7:24-27). This is the way of God, to show you He is there with you even when it seems like you are surrounded by opposing forces, and even death, and indeed you are. The truth is that you will be experiencing things that are unexpected because they will be unique to you as a couple, and we cannot give you a cookie cutter answer considering the dynamic, etc. However, we can teach you with the Word of God.

The devil is so into destroying marriage relationships because the marriage union is a picture of the love that God has in Himself, between the persons of the Trinity. And so when you enter a marriage covenant, you are entering into a spiritual war zone, and if you do not intend to grow spiritually, you will suffer massive loss, and perhaps even a marriage casualty. True godliness is the key to a lasting, wholesome, growing, successful, spiritual, happy marriage. One that not only lasts but also becomes more and more lovely as the years go by.

A good marriage is not one without struggles; God’s plan is for there to be struggles. God wants you to struggle, because He wants you to grow, and that takes growing pains. You can’t be knit together without having to be twisted and turned and united. Your marriage will go one of two ways. You will struggle as a team together, against some difficulty, and grow closer and stronger because of it, or you will struggle against each other and those other things will become “issues”, etc. Ask any married couple worth their salt, and they will confirm what I say is true.

You could have an individual life that is like a beautiful quilt, but if you are not being woven together then each of you will just be different cloth, and eventually one cloth will be jealous of the other, and the split will happen because their was no common fabric in the first place.

This wisdom from God is not only for couples about to be married, those already married, those who may some day want to be married, but even for those who have gone through the pain of a divorce. We need to continually make ourselves ready to be what God calls us to be, we must be ready to have a godly marriage by being submitted to godly principles before we can be ready, and if we are, we will be okay even if we don’t get married. That is the building code.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Come On In! (Radio / Podcast)

Neither give place to the devil
(Ephesians 4:27)

Is all sin the same? No, when Jesus said that to even so much as look at a woman with lust is adultery, He wasn’t saying that you might as well go ahead and do it. You have to have the sin in your heart and mind before you do it in action, but to add the act adds more sin. See?

There's a difference in degree (seriousness), a difference in progression (how far the sin has gone), and a difference in consequences. All sin has been paid for and all sin is damning, but different sins have different temporal consequences.

People often miss the point about the consequences of sin. The simplistic notion that to make more of a deal over some sins than others is somehow wrong reveals ignorance instead of a more mature understanding of the heinousness of all sin, whatever its kind.

Some sins are worse than others. Yes they are. They are worse in what they do. They wreck you faster and more completely. They damage others more severely. They reach out further and make it harder for you to come back to God. Oh, His hand isn’t so short it cannot save you, but the further you are away, the more it is going to hurt you to get back, that is for sure.

How many people are leaving the door open for the devil? Many, but how many are assigning him a permanent place at the dinner table? It is a different question, and I want to give an example for us to think about.

People are trying to convince themselves that living together, as an unwed couple, is the same as any other sin. Well, it is the same in THAT it is a sin, and it is the same in that it is the same as some OTHER types of sin, but it is NOT the same as any old sin. It has much more disastrous consequences than many people realize or are willing to admit. Staying in sin is much worse than playing with sin. Yes any sin is bad, but inviting it to stay is like inviting the devil to come in through an always-open door.

There is a difference between continuing to make bad choices, falling back and repenting, etc., and having ONE choice to make but refusing to do it, like the difference between someone who is trying to overcome homosexuality and the person who won’t move out of the house from his gay lover, and the person who marches in the gay pride parade, actively promoting it. Homosexuality isn’t the issue with this missive, however, cohabitation is.

Fornication is wrong, of course. However, moving in with and then continuing to live with a sexual partner, as an unmarried couple, is outright rebellion. It is open warfare and it is different. You are leaving the door open for Satan 24/7 while in that state. At least the fornicator who is trying to repent isn’t in that state at all times, they keep making bad choices and letting the devil in. The outright rebel who only needs to make the one choice is always in their state; they always have the devil right there. They are always leaving the light on for Satan to come on in. The person who slips falls into a snare the person who sits is living in one continually and likes it.

There is a difference, a BIG difference between someone who falls into a snare and someone who dwells in the den. The person struggling with sin is leaving God’s table and eating the world’s food. The person who stays in the house of sin is having the devil over for dinner every night, with a permanent place at the table.

Whenever we sin, we are in danger of allowing the devil to get a foothold. If it continues and forms into a habit, that foothold becomes a stronghold. Those that fall into habitual sin are battling against a stronghold that the devil has gotten in their lives, and they keep fortifying it by their sin. That stronghold becomes a fortress. In our scenario, where some live as an unmarried couple, they move into the fortress itself, and they are paying the devil for the mortgage. You might as well put a sign on the front door that says, “welcome to the devil’s place”…

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes it IS About a Building (Radio / Podcast)

…when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
(Ephesians 4:16 – ESV)

We so often hear, “church isn’t about a building”. Well let this old preacher man tell you something. They are all wrong. Yes it is about a building, a building up of one another in love, and you cannot do that sitting at home as well as you can sitting in a pew, let alone getting involved beyond that. You are better off to sit idle in church than sit isolated at home.

The Apostle Paul says we have been given teachers as a gift from Jesus Himself for the building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). The text doesn’t say building up your body as Christ but THE body, the whole body, and if you are missing you aren’t being built up together you are missing out altogether. How can each part be working properly when you aren’t working with the rest of the Body at all?

Now you can say, “no that isn’t what we mean by building” and I would say I know. What you mean is that you won’t commit to a local group of people who want to worship, fellowship, and be in discipleship with one another like the New Testament teaches. You might say back, “Well how do you know what I’m thinking you’re just a stupid little old preacher man?” Well you are right, I am just a stupid little old preacher man, but that is the point now, isn’t it? Your nonsense can’t even fool me, a stupid little old preacher man, what makes you think you can fool Jesus?

Now about that building: if the true marks of the church exist, the people could meet in any facility, even outside, that is certainly true. I think we should heed God’s words in Isaiah 66:1-2. Indeed some buildings may be impressive but they aren’t holding a real church, the people in the pews and the pulpit are as pagan as can be. They are compromised and apostate. Whole denominations are like this.

However, it is the same for individuals. We must also understand that although some think of themselves as a living temple of the Holy Spirit, their heart condition tells the real story. They are dead. If you aren’t being built up along with others, you aren’t a temple you are a vacated building.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Common Clothing (Radio / Podcast)

in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
(Ephesians 2:21 – ESV)

We have previously discussed the fact that God helps those who know they are weak. While we are all indeed weak, it does not mean that we don’t act. While we must be giving thanks to God for all things, and we must cling to the promises of God, we must also realize our part in the promises. As we have seen in our discussions about the compatibility between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, we have seen the need to act in accordance with God’s decrees, in salvation and in sanctification. Now we turn to a matter and manner of giving thanks to God though Jesus Christ in our solidarity.

Solidarity is defined as common interest and active loyalty within a group. They go together: not just doing activity, and not just being within. Not on the outside and not stationary, inside and involved. Not simply showing up once in a while and perhaps participating when we want to, but staying within the group and in an active way. To both be present and to participate regularly. You can’t do that on TV, folks. Tuned in to TV doesn’t mean turned on to God.

The promises of God are yea and amen, and God wants us to possess them all in abundance. Now, while some promises are things God will bring to pass no matter what, others are like a garment waiting to be worn; they are for those who meet the conditions of them. When we meet those conditions, and we continue to pray, to give thanks, and believe in God the possibilities turn into probabilities as we put on the promises of God like a prophecy.

Of course, some only want to pick and choose what “outfits” they will wear. They excuse themselves from going to church by “doing church” on television or the Internet. Those media can be a great resource, but they are only the jewelry, the gloves, the socks, or such things, if you will. But lone rangers want to see these things as their daily garment, instead of their accessories. What they end up doing is dressing for summer all the time and suffering the bitterness of winter all by themselves. Or they dress for winter and burn up in the summer heat.

There are promises of God that have been given to the Church, but many in these last days have come to believe that these promises are simply for individuals in the Church, which to them means simply saved individuals. This is not so, however; these promises are for the universal Church, yes, but they are appropriated by the individuals who are resident and active within the universal, invisible Church’s visible expression, which is the local church. If you are missing from the local church, you will be missing some of the blessings.

Saying that you can be a believer without going to church is like saying you can be a tennis player without stepping on the court, or that you are a pro, but you don’t own a racket. People say that they have a problem, that is why they couldn’t make it to church, but in truth they wouldn’t make it church, and that is why they have a problem. God knows your heart, and God knows if you are looking for an excuse. If that problem weren’t there, would you have gone then? Then why didn’t you come that one particular week you didn’t have to work, or when you didn’t have that problem? You had better go when you can or God will make sure you can’t.

Instead of looking for one reason not to go to church we should be looking for one reason to go to church. If you are watching church programs on television or the Internet, that’s great, but it isn’t commitment. Realize that this does not resolve you of the responsibility to be in a local church, with real, live, flesh and blood, flawed but blood bought believers. Start wearing the clothes of commitment; they are common to true Christians.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

How to be Different (Radio / Podcast)

… put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
(Ephesians 4:24 – ESV)

In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul tells Christians that they must not act like they used to, being guided by the dictates of the old, hard heart and unregenerate mind that unsaved people have because they have a new nature in them, a new heart that can be renewed in its mindset and follow after God in truth. Paul says that as we learn of Christ we should act in accordance with that. Paul describes this process as putting off the old man and putting on the new, and then in vs.25-32 he gives us five specific, practical ways that God tells Christians to be different.

Truth (vs.25) – not just stop lying but also avoiding deceitfulness

Temperament (vs.26-27) – righteous anger not rage – continuing in wrath gives a place to the devil

Talent (vs.28) – ascending nature – from stealing from others to supporting others

Talk (vs.29-30) – corrupting talk grieves God, not just stop that, but start edifying instead of lying (match with verse 25)

Tenderness (vs.31-32) – forgiven people become forgiving people

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

They Are Connected (Radio / Podcast)

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
(Ephesians 5:32 – ESV)

The whole of Ephesians 5 is referring to relationships, and Paul gives us some invaluable insight, as through this chapter we see that marriage, church, and God are all connected. The commitment to one and the others are all mirrored by each other. These aspects about commitment are something we dare not gloss over. Let’s take a look at marriage, and then connect the other relationships.

Whether it is for premarital or marital counseling, we need to be clear about commitment. We often understand the bottom line, “I will not quit” facet of our vows. We are committing to covenant with the other person in an unbreakable bond, with God as the glue. However, we often are not told or do not understand that this also includes positive action, the “I will keep building this relationship” facet. It is a continuing project, with Jesus being the foundation stone and the mortar between the bricks.

The truth is that when making a marriage covenant, it is not just a commitment to avoid breaking up the relationship; it is also a commitment to be actively building up the relationship. It isn’t just “I won’t cheat on you” it is “I won’t cheat from you” by failing to give your all to the relationship, holding back a corner of your heart.

This is true for all types of counseling, and discipleship. Liken these “breaking up” and “building up” principles to our relationship with the Lord, which Paul does liken to marriage and our relationship to the church. These things are connected, so says Paul with words written with the pen of Inspiration. If you are not building your relationship to your wife, your relationship to God is suffering. If you are not building your relationship to your God, your relationship to your wife is suffering. If you are not building your relationship to your local church, your relationship to God is suffering, and your relationship to your brothers and sisters in Christ is suffering.

If you are not actively building your relationship to your wife, your God, and your local church, what exactly are you spending your time on? Paul was in jail when he wrote the book of Ephesians, yet he was still focused on building up the local bodies of believers.

Do you realize that if you are not building these things that you are in effect breaking them down? We can say that we will never lose our trust in the Lord, and we will be committed to the church, but are we actively building up those relationships, or are we fooling around in our marriage to God and our brothers and sisters? It is time to stop being just a cheerleader who says they are on the team while wearing another team’s jersey. It is time to start building your relationship to your wife, to your church, and to your God. Not just “I won’t break up”, but “I will build up”. Many think they haven’t broken up but they have broken away, and that certainly isn’t building up, it is tearing down.

All the assertions of “I won’t give up” are no good if there is not an active “I will build up” attached to it. They are connected. Are you?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Building Code (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(Ephesians 5:33 – ESV)

When counseling engaged couples, some are starting out strong and have the capacity and potential to have a powerhouse marriage, and others need a lot of work, but the truth is any and every marriage needs a lot of work. It isn’t some start at the top experience; it is a long climb up, together. Some couples have the look of a team that will be a real winner, but I always tell them all, you cannot bank on potential, you must try and fill the capacity. You must be more than willing you must be intentional. It is not about “doing stuff” or going somewhere but being willing to learn together and trusting each other. That is a building process.

A good marriage is a building process, not a finished product. That is the main problem, obstacle, and failure I see within marriages of all sorts; they thought they would get by on love alone, but they didn’t understand what married love is. Married love must grow, from a “we are so in love with each other, we will always work together, and we never fight, so it will always be this way”, to a more mature, growing in grace with God union that sails through the incidental and inevitable rough seas of married life.

God allows couples to go through trials to show them, if they are willing and intentional, how strong the marriage bond can be. Steady in the midst of the storm, just like He does with all Christians as individuals in their relationship with Him (Matthew 7:24-27). This is the way of God, to show you He is there with you even when it seems like you are surrounded by opposing forces, and even death, and indeed you are. The truth is that you will be experiencing things that are unexpected because they will be unique to you as a couple, and we cannot give you a cookie cutter answer considering the dynamic, etc. However, we can teach you with the Word of God.

The devil is so into destroying marriage relationships because the marriage union is a picture of the love that God has in Himself, between the persons of the Trinity. And so when you enter a marriage covenant, you are entering into a spiritual war zone, and if you do not intend to grow spiritually, you will suffer massive loss, and perhaps even a marriage casualty. True godliness is the key to a lasting, wholesome, growing, successful, spiritual, happy marriage. One that not only lasts but also becomes more and more lovely as the years go by.

A good marriage is not one without struggles; God’s plan is for there to be struggles. God wants you to struggle, because He wants you to grow, and that takes growing pains. You can’t be knit together without having to be twisted and turned and united. Your marriage will go one of two ways. You will struggle as a team together, against some difficulty, and grow closer and stronger because of it, or you will struggle against each other and those other things will become “issues”, etc. Ask any married couple worth their salt, and they will confirm what I say is true.

You could have an individual life that is like a beautiful quilt, but if you are not being woven together then each of you will just be different cloth, and eventually one cloth will be jealous of the other, and the split will happen because their was no common fabric in the first place.

This wisdom from God is not only for couples about to be married, those already married, those who may some day want to be married, but even for those who have gone through the pain of a divorce. We need to continually make ourselves ready to be what God calls us to be, we must be ready to have a godly marriage by being submitted to godly principles before we can be ready, and if we are, we will be okay even if we don’t get married. That is the building code.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Yes it IS About a Building (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

…when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
(Ephesians 4:16 – ESV)

We so often hear, “church isn’t about a building”. Well let this old preacher man tell you something. They are all wrong. Yes it is about a building, a building up of one another in love, and you cannot do that sitting at home as well as you can sitting in a pew, let alone getting involved beyond that. You are better off to sit idle in church than sit isolated at home.

The Apostle Paul says we have been given teachers as a gift from Jesus Himself for the building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). The text doesn’t say building up your body as Christ but THE body, the whole body, and if you are missing you aren’t being built up together you are missing out altogether. How can each part be working properly when you aren’t working with the rest of the Body at all?

Now you can say, “no that isn’t what we mean by building” and I would say I know. What you mean is that you won’t commit to a local group of people who want to worship, fellowship, and be in discipleship with one another like the New Testament teaches. You might say back, “Well how do you know what I’m thinking you’re just a stupid little old preacher man?” Well you are right, I am just a stupid little old preacher man, but that is the point now, isn’t it? Your nonsense can’t even fool me, a stupid little old preacher man, what makes you think you can fool Jesus?

Now about that building: if the true marks of the church exist, the people could meet in any facility, even outside, that is certainly true. I think we should heed God’s words in Isaiah 66:1-2. Indeed some buildings may be impressive but they aren’t holding a real church, the people in the pews and the pulpit are as pagan as can be. They are compromised and apostate. Whole denominations are like this.

However, it is the same for individuals. We must also understand that although some think of themselves as a living temple of the Holy Spirit, their heart condition tells the real story. They are dead. If you aren’t being built up along with others, you aren’t a temple you are a vacated building.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Common Clothing (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
(Ephesians 2:21 – ESV)

We have previously discussed the fact that God helps those who know they are weak. While we are all indeed weak, it does not mean that we don’t act. While we must be giving thanks to God for all things, and we must cling to the promises of God, we must also realize our part in the promises. As we have seen in our discussions about the compatibility between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, we have seen the need to act in accordance with God’s decrees, in salvation and in sanctification. Now we turn to a matter and manner of giving thanks to God though Jesus Christ in our solidarity.

Solidarity is defined as common interest and active loyalty within a group. They go together: not just doing activity, and not just being within. Not on the outside and not stationary, inside and involved. Not simply showing up once in a while and perhaps participating when we want to, but staying within the group and in an active way. To both be present and to participate regularly. You can’t do that on TV, folks. Tuned in to TV doesn’t mean turned on to God.

The promises of God are yea and amen, and God wants us to possess them all in abundance. Now, while some promises are things God will bring to pass no matter what, others are like a garment waiting to be worn; they are for those who meet the conditions of them. When we meet those conditions, and we continue to pray, to give thanks, and believe in God the possibilities turn into probabilities as we put on the promises of God like a prophecy.

Of course, some only want to pick and choose what “outfits” they will wear. They excuse themselves from going to church by “doing church” on television or the Internet. Those media can be a great resource, but they are only the jewelry, the gloves, the socks, or such things, if you will. But lone rangers want to see these things as their daily garment, instead of their accessories. What they end up doing is dressing for summer all the time and suffering the bitterness of winter all by themselves. Or they dress for winter and burn up in the summer heat.

There are promises of God that have been given to the Church, but many in these last days have come to believe that these promises are simply for individuals in the Church, which to them means simply saved individuals. This is not so, however; these promises are for the universal Church, yes, but they are appropriated by the individuals who are resident and active within the universal, invisible Church’s visible expression, which is the local church. If you are missing from the local church, you will be missing some of the blessings.

Saying that you can be a believer without going to church is like saying you can be a tennis player without stepping on the court, or that you are a pro, but you don’t own a racket. People say that they have a problem, that is why they couldn’t make it to church, but in truth they wouldn’t make it church, and that is why they have a problem. God knows your heart, and God knows if you are looking for an excuse. If that problem weren’t there, would you have gone then? Then why didn’t you come that one particular week you didn’t have to work, or when you didn’t have that problem? You had better go when you can or God will make sure you can’t.

Instead of looking for one reason not to go to church we should be looking for one reason to go to church. If you are watching church programs on television or the Internet, that’s great, but it isn’t commitment. Realize that this does not resolve you of the responsibility to be in a local church, with real, live, flesh and blood, flawed but blood bought believers. Start wearing the clothes of commitment; they are common to true Christians.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Sanctification Station (with audio)

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In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
(Ephesians 2:22 – ESV)

Church is about fellowship, yes, and it is also about worship, yes, and worship in the context of fellowship is good and right. However, church is also about discipleship, and this takes leadership. All of this is necessary for the proper stewardship of a church through its members. There is no Internet site for all of this. There is no radio program that can get all that done. There is only one place that this all happens, the local church. The TV may have different channels on a religious dial, but for live action, it has no sanctification station.

Let’s look at some negative and positive reasons for attending a local church. To those who say they don't need to or have to go to church, or ask the question, "Why do I have to go to church?"

Going to church honors God, does your absence?

Preaching helps build the building (edifice - edification - preaching) and it is essential for the exhortation and comfort of believers, in addition to their regular feeding on the Word. Also, most that I have observed who give the excuse that they don't need to go to church to be fed and led aren't actually feeding on Christ at all, or very little at best.

When you avoid church, you are avoiding the community of believers that need your gifting, 1 Corinthians (12-14) speaks plainly to this. Romans 15:14 / Colossians 3:16 – you cannot admonish and edify others without fellowship! In other words, you are being selfish, and you are ripping me off personally! He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit; that is, one with Christ, AND ALSO, one with each other. Are you really part of the Body of Christ?

It is the fellowship of the church where we find Jesus Christ. Jesus is active in His Church. Yes, He is active in individual lives, but those lives find more power in the context of the local church.

It is the fellowship of the church where we find protection from the demonic forces of evil and sin in this world. We call it a sanctuary for a reason, folks.

It is the fellowship of the church where we find encouragement in life. We can't keep on the path with Christ without the help and support of other Christians.

It is the fellowship of the church where we become Jesus Christ to the world.

The church is where we can find the best vehicle for our growth. We hear the Word preached and taught, and it stimulates us in our own private devotional and study times.

That, in the “spiritual bodybuilding” aspect, is like “taking your vitamins” The second part of “getting big” is to engage in resistance training. In accordance with this idea, the environment of the church provides two important features of growth producing conflict:

Authority who will challenge you with truth and correct you when you are wrong.

The environment of believers who are imperfect and whose rough edges will serve as sandpaper to smooth out your wrinkles. “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17). Hurt feelings are probably the greatest reason why people leave churches, but deepening your roots in Christ and His Word can immunize you against such tenderness. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165).

If you think that all your need for ministry is being met by the television, you are wrong. The TV can never allow you to tune in to the sanctification station.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Come On In! (with audio)

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Neither give place to the devil
(Ephesians 4:27)

Is all sin the same? No, when Jesus said that to even so much as look at a woman with lust is adultery, He wasn’t saying that you might as well go ahead and do it. You have to have the sin in your heart and mind before you do it in action, but to add the act adds more sin. See?

There's a difference in degree (seriousness), a difference in progression (how far the sin has gone), and a difference in consequences. All sin has been paid for and all sin is damning, but different sins have different temporal consequences.

People often miss the point about the consequences of sin. The simplistic notion that to make more of a deal over some sins than others is somehow wrong reveals ignorance instead of a more mature understanding of the heinousness of all sin, whatever its kind.

Some sins are worse than others. Yes they are. They are worse in what they do. They wreck you faster and more completely. They damage others more severely. They reach out further and make it harder for you to come back to God. Oh, His hand isn’t so short it cannot save you, but the further you are away, the more it is going to hurt you to get back, that is for sure.

How many people are leaving the door open for the devil? Many, but how many are assigning him a permanent place at the dinner table? It is a different question, and I want to give an example for us to think about.

People are trying to convince themselves that living together, as an unwed couple, is the same as any other sin. Well, it is the same in THAT it is a sin, and it is the same in that it is the same as some OTHER types of sin, but it is NOT the same as any old sin. It has much more disastrous consequences than many people realize or are willing to admit. Staying in sin is much worse than playing with sin. Yes any sin is bad, but inviting it to stay is like inviting the devil to come in through an always-open door.

There is a difference between continuing to make bad choices, falling back and repenting, etc., and having ONE choice to make but refusing to do it, like the difference between someone who is trying to overcome homosexuality and the person who won’t move out of the house from his gay lover, and the person who marches in the gay pride parade, actively promoting it. Homosexuality isn’t the issue with this missive, however, cohabitation is.

Fornication is wrong, of course. However, moving in with and then continuing to live with a sexual partner, as an unmarried couple, is outright rebellion. It is open warfare and it is different. You are leaving the door open for Satan 24/7 while in that state. At least the fornicator who is trying to repent isn’t in that state at all times, they keep making bad choices and letting the devil in. The outright rebel who only needs to make the one choice is always in their state; they always have the devil right there. They are always leaving the light on for Satan to come on in. The person who slips falls into a snare the person who sits is living in one continually and likes it.

There is a difference, a BIG difference between someone who falls into a snare and someone who dwells in the den. The person struggling with sin is leaving God’s table and eating the world’s food. The person who stays in the house of sin is having the devil over for dinner every night, with a permanent place at the table.

Whenever we sin, we are in danger of allowing the devil to get a foothold. If it continues and forms into a habit, that foothold becomes a stronghold. Those that fall into habitual sin are battling against a stronghold that the devil has gotten in their lives, and they keep fortifying it by their sin. That stronghold becomes a fortress. In our scenario, where some live as an unmarried couple, they move into the fortress itself, and they are paying the devil for the mortgage. You might as well put a sign on the front door that says, “welcome to the devil’s place”…

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Change You Can Believe In

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 3:18 – ESV)

I want us to consider the prayers that Paul prayed for other believers. Of course, the specific content of the prayers themselves is vitally important, and each passage could make up many messages. However, what we want to focus on is the fact that these prayers represent our need for change. In doing this we will see some very important truths that God wants us to realize about change in our lives. We not only want to pray these prayers, we want to live them out, and by thinking about these prayers as a unit we can know God’s will.

The NT teaches that we are supposed to be changing, and Paul wouldn’t pray for change if it wasn’t possible. Prayer is the pipeline for God’s power, and Paul prayed not as much for their situations to change as for them to change. We need to believe that God answers these prayers. You must learn to be a twig before you become a tree. God isn’t a quick fix, change is more process oriented than crisis oriented, not a moment but a momentum. God’s power for change is something you can believe in.

Ephesians 1:16-19
Ephesians 3:14-19
Philippians 1:9-11
Colossians 1:9-12
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Change is Possible
* No matter how good your situation is
* No matter how bad your situation is

Change is Providential
* Through God’s power
* In God’s will

Change is Prayerful
* We should pray for it
* We should be mindful of it

Change is Predestined
* A process
* A guarantee

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Let the Good Times Roll!

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
(Ephesians 5:18-21 – ESV)

Now this text doesn’t mean you can only be filled with the Spirit while you are inside of the church building or at some church function. We are to be filled in our everyday lives. This text is simply telling us that we need to be plugged into a local body of believers and doing the speaking, singing, sanctifying, and submitting in that context, and then we can expect to be filled with the Spirit in other situations we live in as well.

Is your time being given to being filled with the Spirit? That is the proper pursuit, whether it be in the context of church, home, work, recreation, service, friends, or whatever and whenever and wherever you may be, you can keep being filled with the Spirit. Diligently seeking, that is how to let the good times roll. Otherwise we are just drunk on the devil’s plan.

If you find yourself going after God’s plan, you will find things working out right more often than not, and even when things seemingly go wrong, you will have a different perspective about them, and you can be filled with the Spirit through them, and actually learn something so it wasn’t all a big waste. As good as things could be, that is how good they can be, even in bad situations because you are FILLED with the Spirit!

God wants you to be filled with the Spirit and live the Spirit filled life in any and all the endeavors of your daily existence. We are not talking about staying in a closet or being some kind of monk, we are talking about living your life to the glory of God. The way to be refreshed in life is to keep being filled with the Spirit. To not do that is to take God’s Word and commands and hold them in contempt, and God opposes the proud, remember?

Regardless of what is happening on earth, and in your life, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Information is increasing, technology is advancing, civility is declining, and persecution is coming, but God’s truth is as true as it ever was and will always be. Same old sin, the same old humanity, and the same old need for Jesus. But the word of the Lord remains forever. “And this word is the good news that was preached to you" (1 Peter 1:25). No matter what the change the power of God remains. Our constant hope is that God is God, and He demands that we pursue being filled with the Spirit.

Again, speaking, singing, sanctifying, and submitting in the context of community. This is being in God’s will and how we can be developing a Spirit filled life. That will bring the light of Christ to our situations no matter how they appear to the rest of the world. Believe me, in these coming dark days God will still be calling people into His marvelous light. The question is, will you be consumed with the darkness, or will you let your light shine? Are you going to be filled with fear, or filled with the Spirit? It is high time to let the good times roll!

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

God Knows My Heart

submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ
(Ephesians 5:21 – ESV)

Some people might think that in talking so much about being filled with the Spirit that I am touting an overly personal, mystical, and esoteric Christianity, but no, I am preaching about Biblical Christianity, and it is those who want to live outside the experience of church life that are actually having their own brand of experimental Christianity, and they count their personal experience as somehow equal to God’s design. It seems more holy to them, and so they think they are being godly, but they are becoming their own God. Their will is to do sanctification their own way, but we don’t have the right or the true freedom to do that, because it isn’t God’s will. It may look shiny but it is actually selfish.

Think about it, and how many people who think they are saved are counting on some experience or something they think is deep inside them that is good, and they talk about God when you are near, or they send you religious emails and all that, or they will come to church once in a blue moon and they will relate to you of some experience they have had, but they haven’t had the born again experience! It’s obvious.

Now I am not saying all religious emails are bad, but more often than not they are just promoting the American civil religion, the pick yourself up by the bootstraps, rugged individualism ideal that has nothing to do with the Spirit of God exalting Jesus Christ in your life. Again, I am not against people talking to me about things that inspire them, but this doesn’t justify them from their sin in God’s sight! You don’t need to prove to me how holy you are.

How many times have you heard, “well, God knows my heart”? This happens so very often with people who want to justify themselves from the fact that they are blatantly ignoring the teachings of the Bible. Now if someone is actively longing and looking for committed fellowship and discipleship, well their intentions are indeed known to God, and He will help them, and I am not criticizing them at all. However, most are not trying and wanting that, they are trying and wanting to get out of having to be a vital part of a local church. They say, well God knows my heart, and I say yes, He absolutely does, they are right about that. The problem is that while God knows your heart, YOU don’t know your heart, and let me prove it to you. You say God knows your heart, and God says the Bible is how you know what He is thinking about your heart.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

His Word reveals the condition of your heart, and this passage in Ephesians tells you what God says being filled with the Spirit looks like. So no matter what you think your heart looks like, God says that if you aren’t speaking, singing, sanctifying, and submitting to others in a community of believers, then you are not filled with the Spirit. Yes God knows your heart, and He uses His Word to reveal to you the condition of it.

Proverbs 28:26 (KJV) – He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Proverbs 21:2 – Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.

Perhaps it is time to pray Psalm 19:12-14 / Psalm 139:23-24, and then ask God to show you from His Word about that “heart surgery” you need.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Filling or Faking

always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Ephesians 5:20 – NET)

We can see from this text (Ephesians 5:15-21) that being filled with the Spirit is God’s will, very easy to see, right? Well, let’s think about that because you cannot tell me you are filled with the Spirit if you don’t go to church. This passage makes it obvious that you are not. If you are not plugged in, you are losing power.

A person who wants to believe that they can stay away from church and grow might say, “Well I am living better than I ever have, I sin less, I am a better Christian”. No, you only think you are, this text teaches that you are foolish, you are using selfish measures, you are not living out your holiness in the midst of all us sandpaper people, you’re cheating, and your growth is just your head swelling ‘cause you don’t cuss no more.

You are cheating on us too, because you aren’t giving your gifts back to God’s people, the very gifts God has given you for others. It’s not only what you aren’t doing, but what you are doing. You might not be sinning by commission, but by omission, and really it’s both. You may not be cursing as much by staying home, but you are cursing God’s design for the sanctification of your life. You may not be getting drunk with alcohol, but you aren’t drinking deep at the fountain of God’s Spirit, you are wallowing in the shallow waters of kiddy-pool Christianity. Life in the Spirit is cultivated in the context of a local church community.

You need to follow God’s design because if not you will fall further away from the faith, guaranteed. You need to examine yourself in the light of this text, and in the light of His Word, not just the bits you enjoy. You see it is especially dangerous when your measure is your personal ideas about holiness, because especially if your personal, biblically under-examined experience convinces you that all is well, that is what truth becomes to you regardless of what judgment the Word of God says to that experience. You need to look at the light of this text.

Listen to me carefully; even if you seem to be doing worse when you consistently come to church, the biblical truth is that you are still being sanctified by it. It is just like having those rough patches in your marriage; it is all part of God using it to sanctify you and your spouse. Marriage will give you the butt whipping you need!

If you are not married this doesn’t exclude you, I was just using marriage as an illustration, and it still applies to singles, young people, widows and widowers, and everyone else. Eventually your Christianity has to work itself out in a certain place at a certain time. Regardless of where you end up, you will experience tension and have problems. The truth is that this imperfection may be precisely what you need in order to deepen in the knowledge of God.

You need to be filled with the Spirit, and it is done in the context of church and living a godly life in its community! Stop being a fake, and start getting filled; let the good times roll!

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Filled Up or Falling Down?

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart
(Ephesians 5:19 – ESV)

It’s all too easy to fall into the same old traps. That is why in Ephesians 5 Paul says we need to be careful with our time, and wise about our walk (vs.15), rescuing our time from being wasted on evil things (vs.16). Don’t let the devil steal your day. We must stop being foolish and learn to be understanding God’s will (vs.17), and not allowing excesses and lesser things be our source of joy, but endeavoring instead to be filled with the Spirit (vs.18). If you are not doing this, then this is why you are having trouble.

Now going forward we see from Ephesians 5:19-21 what are certain results of being filled with the Spirit. We cannot ignore what the Bible says we need to be doing in this text and still think we are trying to consciously and diligently seek God. Speaking, singing, sanctifying, and submitting in the context of community; this is being in God’s will and how we can be developing a Spirit filled life.

Lots of people know that being filled with the Spirit is the key to the Christian life, but there are marks to identify what being filled actually results in. Too many think it just means being overly emotional and they act as if being filled with the Spirit means they lose self control, but the fruit of the Spirit IS self control (Galatians 5:23). Now it can be exciting, but there are markers of the Spirit filled life, and this text points them out. Too many are all barks and no marks when it comes to being filled with the Spirit.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Keep it Full

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18 – ESV)

We all want to have a good time, but over the course of time, what we like changes. What tickles a toddler’s fancy is different from what an adolescent finds enjoyable, and young adults and maturing adults often want to do very different things with their time. The truth is that our tastes change, but we all want to have a good time.

The truth for Christians is that our idea of a good time is transformed as we grow closer to God. God uses the Bible to redefine what a good time really is, and gives us pictures of what that looks like. It is not just about fun, but about faith, the word “good” meaning not just enjoyable but honoring to God, goodness and joy in God, redefined to be closer to His ideals as we grow in His grace. It can happen; we can have a good time doing good things. Even in bad times, we can let the good times roll.

We learned in the previous verses that we should examine our stewardship of time (vs.15), exercise our discretionary time (vs.16), and elevate our spiritual time (vs.17). Today’s text is about glorifying God with our time by being filled with the Spirit, that is what it takes to let the good times roll no matter our current situation. The Greek in vs.18 literally reads as a command, “be being filled with the Spirit”. This is God’s will for our lives, to keep pursuing godliness, to keep being filled.

The context of being filled with the Spirit is living that out in loving relationships. It is speaking to one another, singing to each other and in our hearts (vs.19), sanctifying our relationships with prayer and thanks to God for each other (vs.20), the NET translates verse 20 this way, “always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”, and submitting to one another in our God given roles (vs.21ff). Again, speaking, singing, sanctifying, and submitting. This is giving the praise to God.

Now this is not so much a list of how to be filled as it is a picture of what it looks like when you are filled. That being said, it is obvious that doing these things is being in God’s will and developing a Spirit filled life, and a key in staying full. The things in this text are showing you where you can start. Do this and be full, says Paul. This text tells us, literally, to “keep being filled”, and so we ought to keep doing all of these things. In contrast, as Paul points out, drunkenness is no good. In the filling of the Spirit is where our sin meets its match.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Fire Extinguisher

…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

(Ephesians 6:16 – ESV)

Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
(1 Thessalonians 5:19 – NIV)

Learning to live the life of faith can be frustrating at times; especially if you don’t understand the battleground you are on. It seems like you are on fire for God one minute, and then later it is like you are in the burning pit of hell. Why is it like this, what is going on, you might say?

Well, most Christians know that we are in a spiritual war, but did you know that the devil is not your greatest enemy? Your old man of the flesh is your greatest enemy. What the devil tries to do is set on fire the fuel that is already there. The Holy Spirit within you is also trying to start a fire, but a holy one that envelops you with a burning passion for God.

The truth is that there are two fires we must tend to as Christians. One we must stoke (2 Timothy 1:6) and one we must stop. Both fires are trying to blaze, and you are always extinguishing one or the other. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, and those are darts aimed to enflame your flesh. Either you will quench those darts or quench the Spirit, quench the devil’s fire or the Spirit’s fire. It is one or the other, at all times. There is no neutral ground; the devil will rush in to set on fire the places you are leaving unguarded (Ephesians 4:27).

You will either deny yourself or deny the power of God. In those moments that you sense your new man and your old man at war, the Spirit is not just trying to get you through that moment, and not just trying to get you to do the right thing. The Spirit is trying to sustain your life force, the fire is going out, and He is putting kerosene on the pilot light that is why it can seem like such a flare up and perhaps painful. He is reminding you that you are dousing the life right out of you. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, the shield of the flesh quenches the Spirit. Don’t quench the Spirit’s fire.

Don’t deny the Spirit’s power to live a life sanctified increasingly to God. This would be the opposite of the list in 2 Timothy 3, which talks of having a form of godliness but denying the power. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 – ESV). The Spirit gives you the power to deny yourself instead of denying God in this way.

Satan doesn't need to read minds because he has at least 6000 years of reading behavior. He can plant thoughts perhaps, but he can definitely observe when a sinful stimulus appears and our response to it, and therefore know how to strategize. Our enemies in the spiritual war are allowed behind the lines, as it were, and we had better realize that. There are no secret sins; you are putting lighter fluid on one pilot light, and putting your fingers on the other.

In those moments where you have that choice you either choose life or death, and the problem for some is that the choice of life feels like death...and it is, it is death to self, and since they aren't used to it, it is a seemingly unbearable pain, but we must arm ourselves with this mind (1 Peter 4:1). At all times, the Spirit either is working in your life or He is becoming grieved (Ephesians 4:30). You are a fire extinguisher; the question is which one?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©