What is your personal response to your personal failures? I'm not talking about when you miss a fee-throw in a pickup basketball game, I'm talking about when you fail God. Let me speak more plainly: when you sin against God and then repent before Him, where do you go from there? Chances are that you fall into one of two groups. Group 1 feels so grieved over their sin that they seem incapable of forgiving themselves. Their motivation is probably pure in that they understand the holiness of God and mourn deeply over the fact that they have violated Him by a personal act of sin. These people may go days before they feel willing to risk open communion and confident expectation in their relationship with God. Their theology is sound butthey feel much more like they have been put on probation rather than pardoned completely. To them, fully resting in God's grace, walking in joy and assurance, and expecting Him to bless them as if they had never sinned is a non-reality. Truth be known, they place upon themselves some form of personally imposed penance before they feel able to enjoy oneness with God again.
Group 2 will appear very flippant to the aforementioned group. They might commit the same sin as has been committed by an individual in group one, turn from it in repentance, and immediately appropriate an amazing sense of fellowship with God. They will not grieve for hours, much less days. They will realize that wherever sin abounds, grace abounds more. Outwardly, could we read their hearts, it might seem as if they have shrugged it off. If we could see into their souls we would actually find that their theology so anchors them in the truth that they are either fully forgiven, or not at all forgiven, that they translate this into an immediate sense of fully restored fellowship with the One whom they previously violated. Their comprehension of Christ is bigger than their comprehension of their personal failure. They grasp grace in a manner that makes most believers uncomfortable.
Into which group do you fall?
Landon taught me something about this on Wednesday afternoon. He is only four and was very nervous when I called him into account over a silly lie that he told me. I asked him about it and he stood with a quaking voice and lied about it two more times. The little man was sticking to his guns. I calmly told him not to lie to me anymore and told him that he could go back to what he was doing- he never confessed and I chose not to force him to do so. I rubbed his hair and gave him a hug. Ten minutes later he came back to me, looked me in my eye and with calm courage said, "I'm sorry I lied to you, dad." I immediately embraced him, told him that I loved him, and smiled when I told him that he did not have to lie to his father ever again. My forgiveness was immediate, in effect prior to his confession, without a second thought, of whether to extend it and it fell fully upon his reassured countenance. It was then that God spoke to me: That's how I forgive you, Jeff. every time and for any sin.
Landon didn't hang his head nor retreat to a corner. Neither will I when God's full forgiveness comes at such a price. Walking in the freedom of a full pardon should never make us flippant when we sin; but, again, never should we erroneously believe that we need to add our own morose response to the priceless blood of Jesus in order to ensure that God knows how seriously we take our transgression. What proves the solidity of our remorse for our sin is that we do not commit it again. Hanging your head does nothing. Holding His hand is what makes the difference.
“If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” – Hebrews 11:15-16 {ESV}
Looking at a calendar which is soon to denote a new year, I’m thinking forward.I’m curious as to what 2010 will hold for me and my family.Our church family has some large hills which need to be conquered and I’m confident that the faith we had yesterday will prove insufficient for tomorrow.The fact that there are high hills, fortified walls and looming giants is something I’ve grown used to.In years past my prayers would focus on my desire for God to rid me of these obstacles and opponents; their absence would have been a great comfort to me and I would have presumed my God to be intimately with me in those days of resistance-less sunrises.Yet we have learned that God loves us too deeply to allow us to remain here uncontested.He has always fought for us and now He has deemed it necessary to fight through us.Yes, we have entered the battlefield and there is no stepping off.
The writer of Hebrews hits upon something you will need to win the forthcoming challenges to your faith.It is an interesting element and one that is essential if we are to consistently prevail.What is it?It is the undeniable requirement of removing any thought of ever going back.He speaks of the Hebrew patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and people of faith like them.The writer tells us that they forsook where they were and what they were and began to seek something different, something new, something better (11:14).Motivated by God and His revealed will, they walked away from the ease of the known and entered into the mist of the unknown, secured only by the presence of God who commissioned and accompanied them.The writer of Hebrews is teaching us that this is an undeniable element of faith.How comfortable are you with the possibility that God may expect you to commit to the unknown in the upcoming year?
So, back to the verses at hand:we are told that, if they failed to disassociate themselves with what was behind them, then there would always be the potential of returning.They were being called to forget the former and move out in faith.How does this apply to you and me?There is no doubt that we are a presumptuous generation.We presume God will always engage us according to former patterns.We have been successful therefore we will always be successful.We have been healthy therefore we will always be healthy.We have relied upon our loved ones therefore they will always be there to be relied upon.We have lived here in this place forever therefore God will always leave us here in this place.We subtly believe that God is as afraid of changing our lives as we are afraid of having them changed.We are first-class presumers.We are anchored to the known and will gladly serve and honor God if He will but do us this one teeny-weeny favor – namely, let us retain some control.When He chooses to boot us out of the nest and unapologetically turns life upside down on us…we have a tendency to long for former days.The writer of Hebrews says, “You don’t really want to do that.”
Yep, it’s time to move forward and something tells me that this year is going to be like none other I’ve ever experienced.
Let’s look ahead, you and me.Let’s appreciate the former days for what they were: bridges to bring us to the now and hereafter.God has some tomorrow-steps for you and me and we can’t make forward progress with our necks crooked backwards.Gratitude does indeed look backwards but Trust always looks ahead.If we are looking and longing in reverse then we are staggering and sputtering on the path God has placed us upon.He has prepared some moments on the hill before you that can refine and refuel your faith.Don’t shuffle your feet at the bottom of the incline, trying to decide if the first step is worth it.If I may be so bold, everything you want and need is waiting for you on that hill in front of you.There’s treasure in the shadow of those giants you see – that’s why they are positioned there to fight you.Jesus the Captain has some great prize at the hill’s crest; you can’t see it down here at the bottom.Yes, the incline is steep but it is only because it leads you up, up, up.So let’s do this thing.Let’s trust Him.Forget yesterday and all it contained.There’s nothing for you back there because it is engraved in historical stone.The future is yet to be written and God has required your presence as He unfolds the next chapters one page at a time.He invites you to turn the pages so keep your ears open to His narration and acclimate yourself to the cadence of His words.
Take the first step.You won’t be the only one to do so today.
What a wonderful week off. I checked out of all normal duties and responsibilities around 3 PM last Monday and have been blessed to enjoy a satisfying week with my family. The kids have been a delight - especially intoxicated on Christmas Eve and Morning with a surplus of gifts from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and anyone else who happened to be willing to practice the spiritual blessedness of giving. At this stage, my little ones prefer the practice of receiving.
I was plumb pleased that I managed not to stuff my face beyond the norm of one-plate-per-person. My plate happened to be as wide as a trash-can lid but, still, it was technically only one plate.
Amy was her normal chipper and cheerful self on Christmas morning. She reverts back to a childhood ease and goes back in time to when she loved no day more than Christmas. It's fun to see her like that with her family. It took me three years of marriage to stop feeling awkward at the holiday family gatherings with her people. They are love-gushers and God placed me right in the middle of it to learn how to become a people-lover too. That's a great gift from above that I enjoy each and every Christmas.
To top it all off I get to hear one of my favorite preachers this coming Sunday. I've taken the day off on Sunday and invited Jon Reed to come and preach to us at Meadow. Jon's gifting from God and easy-going personality are coupled with a faithfulness to the Scriptures that results in a motivating and edifying time around God's Word. He's my favorite evangelist in the world and we are looking forward to being blessed by God through the Word he brings.
On the backside of a few more days off before the new year I have some very large challenges awaiting me. I'm preparing my soul, mind and body for the first few months of 2010. If you pray for me, I could use some extra intercession for me to have pinpoint wisdom, steadfast patience, and a tenacious trust in God who seems to be investing in my need for growth in these areas. At times I feel that my back is against a wall but then I remember what God did at Jericho. He's an amazing God and I am excited to see what He does in the upcoming weeks.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
I’m writing to many busy saints this morning.What a delight it is to know that many of you have committed years in living for our Lord Jesus Christ.You have worked, you have wept, you have wearied, at times you have wavered and at times you have won.We truly understand at this juncture that our life for the Lord is a steady marathon which is run not on an even plane, but rather through a series of high hills, low valleys and intermittent plateaus.The terrain so often factors into our current state of the race.
Paul was wise to tell the Corinthians to prioritize steadfastness.How we need this word in our generation today when the goal of our culture seems to have migrated from steadfastness to spectacular.There’s a lot of chasing the glitter going on today and, if you’ve ever tried, you know that glitter easily escapes your grasp.As the year is drawing to a close I have to confess my annual introspection and evaluation of the last twelve months.God has invested in my growth through a ceaseless series of testings – something I would not have ever requested, but something I desperately need.He has scarcely allowed me three weeks of the fifty-two on my calendar when my limits were not stretched, my calendar not weighted down, and my mind not at a whirr.I’ve laughed so much this year as He has gifted me with timely leisure.I’ve wept more than I care to acknowledge.Amy and I have been sewn into a marital cocoon filled with fresh air and relational depth.Humanly speaking, my wife is my rock who well knows how to invest herself into her husband and children, even when others might expect her to expend herself in some lesser works.The challenges of ministry have pressed the best out of me like oil from an olive while, at the same moment, these same challenges have brought forth the nasty dross out of me to be discarded as unprofitable.The pressure and the flame are incredible instruments of God in the lives of His children.We must never seek to avoid them.
I wish I could say that this year has been one of sheer delight in all moments but I don't desire to deceive anyone.Never have I been more confronted with the faulty parts of people (I know that I am a people too).I’ve never seen more people quit when the battle rages hot.Steadfastness has been forsaken as a faithful companion as some have chased after the seductress called Personal Ease.She’s a sensual and flirtatious one who promises strokes and kisses of comfort and affirmation.Steadfastness pledges to be there at all times and to make her companions strong and fruitful.Personal Ease puts on a dark shade of lipstick and decks her bed with tapestries, fine linen and spices (Prov. 7:16) and welcomes all who long for their own private delight.They hop in that bed with convinced hearts only to find that, beneath the promising decking, there is nothing but a cold slab of stone.Steadfastness forsaken, Personal Ease obeyed…and nothing gained.Paul saw this danger for the struggling Corinthians and called them not to move out, not to quit, not to give up; his plea for them to remain unmoved so that they might abound in the Lord’s work rang more clearly than his call for them to be mighty, successful and personally liberated.He wanted them to prove the foundation of their commitment sure before they sought to build upon it.I wonder if they passed the test.I wonder if you will.
I’ll be enjoying some time off the next two weeks.I usually run very hard for about the first nine months of the year and then try to pack my time of personal vacation and rest between September and the first week of January.Christmas is calling and the Lyles are geared to making some memories.I hope to blog while I’m away and I want to wish all of you who read here a very merry Christmas.I pray that God will attune your hearts to His indescribable voice and that there will be harmony in your hearts.I pray that you will see Him in the simplest of things – a smile, a gift, a time of quietness.Watch the children around you this Christmas and remember that Jesus exalted their ways as being significant in the components of His kingdom.Children have an easiness of delight at Christmas; they receive easily and they are typically fluent in their celebration.May God grant you and me a heavy measure of their simplicity and joy in our grown-up hearts.Please remember the end of Paul’s word to the Corinthians above: your life work is not in vain. For most believers this has been a trying year and - look! - you made it all the way through. Isn't God good? For those who will obey the high call to hang in there, there’s a glorious day coming when we will unwrap our reward.
Hebrews 11:6 – “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
Is anybody out there tired?Anyone brave enough to confess that they have grown weary?Who among us would dare to openly confess that life has become exhausting and they find themselves frustrated that God appears to be indifferent by way of declining to change things on your behalf?
Since nobody spoke up I guess I need to proclaim that this person is me today.
If you can’t hack the reality that a pastor, teacher, Christian blogger and ministry leader has an obvious threshold for life’s difficulty then please read no further.I don’t wish to shatter anyone’s illusions so don’t say I didn’t warn you if you choose to read on.
I’m tired.I don’t know exactly why I’m tired or what is specifically tiring me, I only know that I’m tired.I told someone the other day that I can physically run on very limited sleep.God gives me rest and I much prefer being engaged in something rather than just sitting around.Ministry is demanding but it is also extremely fulfilling.I love what I do; I enjoy the satisfying hours I put in, I love making a difference in people’s lives.Praying, studying and preaching are such immense privileges that I sometimes sit in silent wonder that God allows me the opportunity to enjoy this as my life-work.I have a supportive and doting wife and nothing thrills me more than to enjoy a fulfilling day of ministry and then to run home to see the three I love the most.My body is not tired, my spirit is enjoying the strength of God and my emotions are consistent with a replenished body and strong spirit.
That leaves only my mind.I’ve pinpointed that this is the place of my current weariness.Truth be known, my mind has always been my greatest asset and now it is becoming the place of my greatest vulnerability.There’s too much piling up in there.I cannot process at the same rate that I’m taking in and now I’m backed up – hey, that’s it, I’m mentally constipated!I have a platoon of questions standing at rank in my head awaiting their marching orders.They’ve been standing at attention for a while and The Commander has not given any marching orders in the form of answers.God is being still and quiet while I’m seeking His wisdom. He's refusing to become hurried with me. He fails to match my level of urgency and while I'm asking a hundred questions He's just smiling at me as if it really isn't all that important. It is important, isn't it? Isn't it? Somebody tell me it is important so I can feel justified in my demands for solutions to my challenges. Where did everyone go? I hear crickets.
Here’s how it works for me when I need some answers from God:
Week 1:Heavenly Father, thank you for these challenges.I gratefully await your deposit of wisdom and instruction. How joyous it is to petition Thee in faith.
Week 2:Dear God, through your silence You are causing me to draw near more diligently for my answers.Thank you for stretching my faith.
Week 3:Lord, now that I’ve relearned what it means to be still and patient, You may freely answer me the petitions I have left with you. Feel free to hasten Thine answers to me.
Week 4:Kind Sir enthroned above, perhaps I’ve failed to clarify that I’m in need of some intervention.Would you mind taking care of my request before You move onto other issues? I politely submit that I'm in a bit of a hurry.
Week 5:To Whom It May Concern, what’s going on up there?!!
Week 6:Never mind, I’ll figure it out on my own.Thanks, anyway.
Okay, you probably should not smile so much because you do the same thing occasionally but you’ve never been brave enough to write it down like that.Week 6 expresses the weariness that we all feel from time to time and it is absolutely the worst response we can give during times of testing and divine delays.For those of us who are peculiarly tired and growing more so, chances are that we are handling things on our own because we are not trusting or patient enough to wait another week on God’s answer.The opening verse from Hebrews 11 states a very plain fact that cannot legitimately be misunderstood:God rewards the people who continue to seek Him diligently.Plain and simple, God will do something if you keep pursuing Him.Don’t hit me up with a bunch of spiritualized qualifications about what I just wrote because the truth is simple.This isn’t a complex issue for those of us in Christ.My Bible tells me to diligently search out God in all aspects of my life and that He, Himself, will reward me.Do you believe Him?
Well, I do.So I’m going to take my weary self back before His throne and start over with Week 1's wisdom.My plan is to stay put right there and, if the weeks pass on, I will retain my position. If you feel led, pray for me about this; my mind is weighed down with "stuff" when it should be airborne with delight in Christ.With legitimate responsibility there can often come about an improper sense of illegitimate personal essentiality.Frankly, I probably need to relearn that God works through me but not for me.I’m called to fulfill His desires, not vise-versa.
“The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord.The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished.I may share the truth with the unconverted; I may try to encourage believers; I may relieve the distressed; or I may, in other ways, seek to behave as a child of God; yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, may result in this work being done in the wrong spirit.The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and to meditate on it.Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed.”George Muller, May 7, 1841
Let me tell you what happens when you as a believer read Muller’s words:you instantly acknowledge that his words are true and should be your own mantra for life.Frankly, we know the man to be spot-on in what he said nearly 170 years ago.Yet, most of us will sigh when we read those words and silently ask how this could ever be our own reality.Muller taught himself to function healthily on no more than six hours of sleep when he was physically strong.He prayed most days for hours before he ever encountered another person in his life.His intercession for the work of God is unparalleled in our modern era and, needless to say, so are the visible results.He was, perhaps, the busiest Christian of his day but not too busy as to neglect the key essential for his life.He was a man of open bible and bended knees.
This year is drawing to a close and I wonder if yet another 52 weeks have escaped you and you’ve still not returned to your first love?I’m quite confident that you are fond of your Bible but do you, with Job, esteem it more essential than your daily food?Is the beckoning of God muffled in your life between the closed covers of your copy of the Scriptures?We seem to answer everyone else's calls, texts, emails, and appointments . . . but does God Himself hold a prominent place in our schedule?What about a preeminent place?I write today’s entry for me and those like me:busy people.I never woke up and declared to the heavens that my chief aim in life is to cultivate a ridiculous schedule.I certainly desired a full life which typically would assume a fair amount of activity, but the degree of buzzing around my personal hive is a little silly when I take a step back.In case you are curious I am already taking steps to delegate much of what has dominated by 2009 so I don’t drag it too far into my 2010.It’s a great day when we realize that some of our activities are simply not worth the time.I don’t have any hobbies so all of my busy-ness is typically connected to some form of ministry and I ultimately concluded that there are others who can do some things I am doing with greater proficiency, zeal and results.When my morning hours alone with God started to become morning moments with God, the red flags started flapping and snapping.Crowd people out of one’s schedule?It could be necessary at times.Crowd God out of your schedule?Mercy, let that thought perish.
Dear friend, pick up your Bible every morning.This is not legalism, it is liberation.God still speaks in spite of what the frozen chosen in our churches believe.He has not weakened in strength.He’s not discouraged and sullen.God Almighty thunders and He still does so through His word into the hearts of prayer-soaked saints who hunger for Him to call back unto them.He has much to say and we have great need to listen.Are you indeed His child?Then please consider stopping in with Him to sit for a while and listen.Then you may talk to Him.Then He will speak back unto you.It’s at that moment when you will realize how much you’ve missed Him.
He’s gracious, merciful, patient and kind to those who will return to Him.We may leave our first love from time to time.He never has.
"And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” Numbers 13:30-31
Standing on the precipice of inheriting the blessing, the people of Israel were faced with a choice.Through Moses, God had instructed the leaders of Israel to go into the promised land and take an inventory of what awaited them there.These leaders (‘rulers among them’ – Numbers 13:2) returned with a clear description of a land of blessing and battles which awaited them.The future of Israel hinged on which of the two aspects owned their hearts – the battles or the blessings.
Unfortunately for the people of Israel the appointed leaders gathered a consensus that the battles outweighed the blessings.Caleb and Joshua as the lone exceptions, these leaders declared that the challenge was bigger than them and therefore bigger than the command and power of God.The leaders lilted and therefore the congregation crumbled.All of these fearful leaders would die in their unbelief and so would the people that aligned themselves with their faithlessness.It was a forty year scene of futility and failure.
It is a good time to ask you who you are listening to.God is gracious to put a few Calebs and Joshuas into our lives.These are people that still believe God is great and well able to bring victory to those who trust and obey Him.They are not ignorant of the particulars of the test which lies before you, but they also refuse to ask God to curtsy to the facts as He politely excuses Himself from the challenge.They hear God thunder while others listen for a sigh.They see God rise up when others assume He is backing away.These courageous types of people tell you to humble yourself before the Almighty and stay there until He exalts you at the proper time.God is their Father and they know Him only as a faithful Father indeed.
There also remain not a few who perpetuate the faithlessness of the other Hebrew leaders and seek to regularly tell us why the challenge before us is an impossible one.These pitiful paupers give lip service to the might, love, grace and willingness of God to act mightily . . . but to them it is only theory.God can, but He won’t.The current situation is always the exception to the God-will-show-Himself-mighty aspect of the life of faith.They have learned to treat desperate faith as a dirty diaper that should have been tossed out long ago.It’s simply unfit for enlightened people.Masters of condescension, they smile politely as you insist on waiting for God to turn the battle tide.To them your faith is quaint but wholly irresponsible.Trusting upon and waiting for God is precious to teach a first-grader but we are men and women of capability and we should proactively seize the situation and make something happen.
There’s a great Aramaic word for counsel like that:Bull.
If you must welcome input and influence into the challenges life brings you, please choose your counselors wisely.Not everyone sees the grapes in the land of promise; most will see the giants.When I forget the grapes and focus on giants it makes me want to run.If we run, then we never get to behold what God would do.Risk losing it all if that is what it takes in order to ensure that your pure confidence is in God.I would rather get crushed by a giant (with the taste of grapes in my mouth!) while I’m trusting God than to turn back to the land of my slavery because I really didn’t think God would come through.I’d much prefer to lose a fight while I wait on Father God than to manufacture my own counterfeit victory as I employ steps to take according to my own wisdom.Friends, don’t bow to the ever increasing trend to pray, speak, sing, and preach like God is God, but then to lose that confidence when it is time to make the final decision.
The Promised Land awaited Israel.They missed it completely until the element of unbelief was purged.Don’t make the same mistake. He is trustworthy today. He always has been.
Good Tuesday morning, friends. This week is a crazy week for me around Meadow so I probably won't be able to write anything with substance until tomorrow or Thursday. I did want to make a quick announcement regarding a new companion website. Over the years we have had requests for online video to be made available but have never really had the time/funds/understanding how to make video available for free to the website visitors. The videos on meadowbaptist.com tend to clutter up the website so we did not want to post them there. Over the last few months I've been working with makeitloud.net and my friend, John Lehmberg, to design a simple site where interested parties can watch video of the sermons from home. The finished product (minor tweaking still going on to design elements) is now up and running. Check out redeemedtube.com if you are interested in watching videos of recent services. My plan is to post at least one new video a week but it is taking some time to ramp up to doing so. I think there are about 8 vids out there now. We hope this turns out to be a blessing to people who are interested in what God is doing at Meadow and Transforming Truth. Have a great week!
Children are precious little gifts to the world.My thoughts have rested upon children the last several days as Christmastime begins to find our shores.My young son, Landon, was unusually affectionate with me towards the end of the week and it did us some good just to cuddle with each other and talk.I don’t know if it is because I’ve been gone more than usual lately but he kept telling me how much he loved me and, rather than kicking me in the legs and punching my Yuletide gut as he normally does, he just crawled into my lap and sat with me.These moments will vanish in the upcoming years so I milked it for all I could.Alicia is always willing to give affection and she and I enjoy reciprocating daddy-daughter love as often as possible.My children keep me grounded concerning the most essential things of life.
Tonight is Meadow’s children’s Christmas play.The little ones were swarming all over the sanctuary yesterday as they put the finishing touches on the program.We have a married couple at Meadow that hazards their mental health each year by coordinating the play and they were in an appropriate state of disorder yesterday as they herded the children towards the big presentation tonight.Hundreds will gather this evening at 6 PM and cameras will be flashing, video rolling, laughter spilled out, and a strong layering of joy and satisfaction will fill our hearts as we fix our eyes upon…children.
My adult friends, let me gently encourage us to retain a child's sense of wonder in life.Deadlines, duties, and distractions tend to fill my calendar before I even get a chance to vote on the events of the week.I’ve long since abandoned the notion that my life is intended to be carefree and easy.Yet, what of the thought that, because of my deadlines, duties and distractions, I am exempt from delight?Have I truly lost the opportunity to experience lasting and fueling joy?I’ve chosen not to believe so.For many of us there is a dynamic of faith which demands that we pull the diamond of joy out of the coal pile of pressures.Faith discovers the radiance of preciousness in the midst of life’s have-to’s.When I watch my children I am instructed about what it means to live appropriately carefree.My children trust their father implicitly.There is no sense of hesitation in them to ask of their mother whatever they desire.They have a formula engraved in their young hearts that Jesus taught us adults to retain:“Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you.”If we aren’t careful we will deliberate instead of asking, hesitate instead of seeking and frustrate instead of knocking.I reckon we could learn a little from a dirty faced little four year old who says with no guile, “Gimmee.”
May God grant us all a strong and abiding sense of His very near presence today.Get up and get moving and look for someone whom you might bless today.Take great satisfaction in being unusually kind to somebody who could never repay it.Smile in the mirror a few times before you leave the house.Smile big, make your face hurt, pretend you just got your teeth whitened and go advertise your shine.Give away some portion of your life today and look for an opportunity to deny yourself something you deserve.Sing loudly every chance you get today.Sip your coffee and meditate on one or two Scriptures this morning instead of guzzling your cup of Joe and breezing through an entire chapter of God’s Word.Please don’t forget to listen for Him when you pray this morning.He has things to say too.God smiles upon those who honor Him so listen hard for His smile and then embrace it when it comes.Christmas is good.Children are good.Salvation is good.
Is it reasonable that we should aim for allowing for the experience of some level of felt guilt in those with whom we share Jesus Christ?Are we Christ-like in seeking to employ methods or techniques which arouse a dreadful sense of culpability of sin in people that we are sharing the Christian faith with?I believe a more imperative issue is to learn whether or not it is even possible for a person to come to Christ before they sense some level of guiltiness and the dread which should accompany it.Can someone actually be delivered before they sense that they have been enslaved? Let’s think on this.
Mega-ministries do scriptural gymnastics in order to avoid passages which may cause listeners to feel uncomfortable.Great strides are taken to soothe potentially convict-able souls so that the minister gains the prize of a return audience the following week.He or she speaks slickly with a buttery smile radiating from a tanned face anchored below exquisite hair.The message is ecstasy to the carnal soul because it constantly echoes that all is well with the listener because they are good, God is good, and life is good.This is the platform for Crowd Building 101.Then, in contrast, you have a prayed up teacher who approaches a nondescript wooden lectern with his bible.He has chosen a non-stroking passage which realistically reveals the fallen nature of man.People shift in their seats as his unpolished words fall on ears which rest on either side of a mind being challenged to believe.Only sixty people have arrived to hear him this morning but something he is saying awakens them to a reality different than the one they thought upon as they rode to the building.They sense that they are being warned.Now they find themselves uncomfortable.He speaks of their personal guilt and some of them feel resentment rising up in their hearts.Now he pulls back, even his voice lowers and softens as he speaks of the Son of God who loves them in spite of their rebellious hearts.They feel torn between resisting the message and thirsting for a remedy to what they’ve heard.They hate it but…they need it.The teacher has made them cringe.God makes them cry.He asks them to stand.God then asks them to bow.He tells them to decide.God makes it impossible for them not to.Something has happened on the inside and now they inexplicably understand that their answer is Jesus Christ.An hour earlier they weren’t even aware that they held the question.
Few people understand expressly how rapidly the professing church is running to the extreme of professional, profitable religion.Pseudo-spiritual leaders have bitten into the apple of modern day tactics which bring visible results but little lasting fruit.My comments should be viewed here as simple observation. I'm no longer concerned with the potential to be viewed as a cranky sour-puss who seeks to hold on to the lost art of biblical exposition. This abandonment of prophet-like preaching is the new undeniable reality for our age.Preachers have avoided the sin of making people uncomfortable and replaced it with the virtue of salving them into a devil’s hell.
Too many of us are hasty in rejoicing that Jesus “was slain for me” without pausing to mourn over the truth that He “was slain by me”.I simply cannot get over the fact that I killed the Son of God with my sin and He responded by pursuing me in love to tell me that He forgives me.Then He tells me that we will spend eternity together.Again, He cries out that He loves me and has purposed to bless me with the best He has to offer.Please don't expect me to ignore the reality of my judicial guilt. My justification is not given to me so that I might dismiss all sense of former culpability. The fact that the guilt is gone is such fertile ground which allows gratitude to eagerly thrive. Those who easily dismiss their guilt also fail to maintain gratitude. C.S. Lewis told us that ingratitude was the first step towards apostasy. Someone forgot to sound the warning alarm in the American church! Does the pardoned criminal fail to compare his current freedom with the memory of his cold cell? Does he not rejoice because the judge has set him free when he would have been justified to let him rot there? Dear reader, you have escaped! Breathe in deeply the fresh air but - for the glory of Jesus Christ the Lord - never forget the price of your pardon. Don't live in the guilt but don't dismiss it before you realize that it could have owned you forever. I directly question the reader today:how can I truly believe these things and remain flippant about Him?How can this truth not shake me to my very core until my heart melts as wax and my gut trembles with the admixture of awestruck wonder and holy fear?Finally, why would any of us seek to live and serve in a way that minimizes this component of Christian commitment?
May God grant us all the ability to ponder these things.May He equip us to answer them for ourselves.
I really wanted to blog today something edifying, something substantial, something helpful. I'm sad to report that the well is slightly dry and I have none of those things to offer. So I thought I would take the risk of beginning to type having no idea of what I'm going to write. This is now my fourth fully typed sentence and I still don't have a clue what topic to broach. Fifth sentence, still nothing. Sixth....nope, all I hear is the sounds of crickets chirping into the nothingness. Maybe a new paragraph will help.
I tabbed down and waited about 20 seconds staring at my monitor and , with great force and suddenness, nothing came to me. I guess then that today's blog should be about nothing. Yes, nothing is the topic we shall discuss today. I've researched nothing on and off for the last three decades and found nothing new to report about nothing. It has always been a shallow topic that tends to leave us wanting. When we talk of nothing in our homes, nothing good happens. When we do nothing at our job, nothing is rewarded. When and if we choose to believe nothing theologically we reap a bountiful harvest of nothing. Teach your children nothing and they'll inevitably learn something from someone. Kids aren't satisfied with nothing so they are naturally looking for something and if you teach them nothing then they will buy into anything. We call up a friend and say 'What are you doing?' to which the friend replies, 'Not much'. Did you know that 'not much' is much better than nothing? Many people choose not to rise to the level of 'not much' because they don't believe they will ever attain 'very much' which outlook, inevitably, leads them to accomplish NOTHING.
What are you investing proactively in your relationship with God? One might answer that salvation is wholly of grace and to exert a proactive "something-ness" in one's relationship with God is to usurp grace and trust in human effort and merit. These people glory in their deeply theological offering of nothing to God. God is supremely glorified in the vacuum of my efforts and people should be able to magnify Him by seeing my profound faith that results in nothing for His glory (yes, I've met more than one person who truly thinks this way). Guess what that type of theology yields in the end? The answer starts with an N and ends with a G.
So in my closing remarks about nothing I'll need to say that we should avoid it at all costs. Nothing is bad. Nothing can never be good. Not much is better than nothing, something is better than not much, anything may be bad or good depending on the particulars. All I know is that nothing is really bad. Don't do it today. Don't do nothing because you were created for something. Nothing is really sinful because God made you for something. Something here, something now...not anything, but something. Think on this concept of nothing today and feel free to let me know your thoughts. Just don't say nothing. Nothing is not good.
Now my brain hurts from writing this profound blog concerning something about nothing. I probably should have refrained altogether but then I would have done nothing...and If we have learned anything today it is that something is much better than nothing.
Transforming Truth | 1446 Calvin Davis Circle | Lawrenceville, GA 30043 | Phone: 678.551.7333
Email: info@transformingtruth.org
This ministry is funded entirely on the freewill offerings of those who are being nourished by it. If you are able to invest in the raising of funds, please acces our donation page by clicking below. You may also donate by phone at 1.800.930.5194 or by mail at the above address. All online donations will generate a receipt for IRS purposes from Transforming Truth.
Please click below to donate using your PayPal account or any major credit or debit card.
