You don't do it alone

It seems that these days people often start their walk with Jesus by treating it as though they have crossed the finish line of a race.  Since the race is over and they are now "good" and have earned their way into Heaven, they can just keep living how they live.  Surely they will meet God someday face to face, he will pat them on the head and fuss over them a bit, and they will pass into eternity having met the standard.  Perhaps then they can just live in eternity as they live now.  They'll be with friends and family again and, oh yeah, they'll see God sometimes and that will be great too.  Surely Heaven must be like the best all-inclusive resort that we've ever been to, mostly to bring pleasure to us and sometimes to interact with God.  The trouble with this kind of thinking is that it just isn't true and is not supported by scripture.

When I first decided to walk with Jesus in college, I battled some of these mindsets.  To me the way to grow as a Christian was by doing the things I saw other Christians doing and speaking the things I heard them speaking.  They read their Bible a lot so I did as well, and I learned a lot during that time.  I heard some of them talk of Jesus often while they were walking around the Texas Tech campus, so I tried to copy their speech.  I just didn't know any better, and I look back at those times and shake my head because my thinking on what it means to be a Christian was so superficial.  But I was new to it and I didn't know better!

And yet there were moments during that time where Jesus really did a work in me.  I distinctly remember a time with him in Guadalupe River State Park.  It was dawn and I woke up early, and as the brilliant sunrise started I could do nothing but crouch with my face to the ground and worship him.  It still is one of the most real moments I have had with him.  I knew he was there with me in that moment.

Some of you may be like me, wondering how you can become more godly and how you can know Jesus better.  How, really, do Christians grow?  The truth is we already have everything we need to live a godly life.  In my first and second post about 2 Peter chapter 1, we looked at how you and I can possibly live a godly life and grow in it.  

Today we will continue looking at Peter's words from 2 Peter 1.

5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Peter starts with the phrase "make every effort" to respond to God's promises.  We can easily gloss this over and turn it into nothing but pure effort on our part, but that is not at all what Peter was saying.  The first part of the sentence "in view of all of this" points to what he previously had written, which was that we already have everything we need to be able to live a godly life.  That's because we have God's Spirit in us if we follow Jesus.  

Peter wants us to remember that while putting in effort toward some things that he lists in later sentences.  The actual word used for "make every effort" means "applying or bringing alongside."  It seems we have to keep our mind on the Christ we have with us in order to work toward the things Peter talks about.

After Hurricane Ike we had a tree on our property that fell over.  Since I had nothing else to do, I cut it up into firewood with my chainsaw.  The trouble was that the stump was still in the ground.  It had roots that went everywhere and were pretty deep.  Try as I might I couldn't pull it up, even after digging around it and getting several people to pull on it.  It just would not move.  So instead I went to get my truck and a chain.  I wrapped the chain around the stump and around the frame of my truck, put it in gear, and the stump pulled out really easily.  Incidentally, as a man, we love doing things like this!

The point is that I could not pull the stump on my own.  I needed some serious help.  The truck certainly could pull the stump out, but I needed to work with the truck to make it come out of the ground.  This is in a way like the Lord works in our lives.  He can do anything, literally anything.  But if we are really going to let him rebuild us and do a work in us, we have to let him do that work and focus in the direction he wants us to focus.  Otherwise, nothing in us will change.

According to Peter in verse 5, the starting point for a Christian is faith.  That's the moment we believe in Jesus, that he died for us to pay the penalty for our sins, and that he rose from the grave.  That's our first step with the Lord.  We know who Jesus is and want to follow him because we love him.  And this is the moment when we shake hands, as it were, and introduce ourselves.  We have crossed the starting line, and the marathon has begun.

Peter continues the thought by saying we need to add "moral excellence" and "knowledge" to our faith.  And based upon his previous language, we must work hard and focus on doing those things!  Yet we have to remember that our efforts must be made as we look to Jesus for the strength to do it.  In the Bible, the Pharisees worked very hard at moral excellence on their own, yet they didn't know God at all.  They are an example of what happens when a "religious" person (not a Christian) tries really hard to clean up their life.  They may succeed in some areas but their focus produces a dry, stale, unappealing look to anyone around them.  I think many who regularly attend church these days would fall into this category.  They try to do less of some of the bad things they used to do, but are perplexed that they just are always fighting these impulses.  I think they often give Christians a bad name because they exhibit all of the strictness with none of the love.  And that's not how it is supposed to work when you know Jesus.

That leaves the question about what moral excellence and knowledge really are.  I think Jesus did a great job of outlining those things.  In Matthew 5 Jesus lays out the need for humility, meekness, pursuit of justice, mercy, purity, peacemaking, and enduring persecution.  He teaches about controlling anger, lust, divorce, promises to others, seeking revenge, and loving enemies.  In chapter 6 he talks about giving to the poor, prayer, fasting, use of money, and worry.  He just goes on and on.  If you want to know how to work on living a morally excellent life, just look to what Jesus said and actually go obey them today.

If you are like me, you don't always want to do that.  Sure, its easy to agree with yourself that taking revenge is bad when you read Matthew 5 and for some time you may actually be able to pull that off.  But then someone stabs you in the back at work and you become angry.  Or a family member says an unkind word about you behind your back and you hurt from it.  Or you open your phone and begin reading the hateful and spiteful comments many of the people you know are making on social media.  It is even more difficult after watching your favorite TV or reality TV show or YouTuber, where revenge is promoted and even celebrated.  Refusing to take revenge is easy until your emotions get involved.  We can't do that on our own.

Instead in the moment we must remember what Jesus said about taking revenge.  And I think we need to take it to the Lord right then and there.  I'm not saying to drop to your knees in the middle of your cubicle, although you can do that.  You just need to find a quiet place to go to your master and ask for the strength to not take revenge.  If you sincerely go to him in those moments, you will find the strength to not take revenge.  And stay in that place with the Lord as long as it takes.  That's what Christianity is all about.  It is knowing the right things to do which comes from regularly reading your Bible, and then getting the strength from the Lord to actually do those things.

Following Jesus is not about you being the Lone Ranger.  In fact, it isn't about you at all.  It is about a fully surrendered life to the one who is able to make you morally excellent as he is.  It is a relationship.  The Bible is not a book about a bunch of amazing people.  It is about a God who worked in the lives of ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  Many of them were only morally excellent, and only in moments, because in those moments they relied upon the Lord.  You can do the same thing.  But first you must recognize that you can't be morally excellent all on your own.

I encourage you this week to study, really study Matthew 5.  Then take your learning to the Lord and be bold enough to ask him to put you to the test on these things this week.  He's quite responsive on those kinds of prayers!  It will be challenging, but the benefit you get is that you will get so much closer to Jesus as he gives you the strength to endure those things.  And you'll later look up and realize that he is shining through you more than ever.  At that moment, you are truly different, and that's what our world needs to see.

Great promises that already apply

In my last post I shared what the Lord has laid upon my heart with regard to 2 Peter 1:3-4, and we will look today at the last part of that passage to complete the thought Peter is making.  It will make more sense if you read the first post though.

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Jesus is unlike anyone you or I have ever met.  He just is.  We can start with the fact that he is divine and all-knowing, which I'll explore with you in a later post.  However, he's so much different from any human relationship we have!  He knows everything about you, the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the strengths and the weaknesses, the victories and the failures, the good thoughts and the very bad thoughts.  Nothing is hidden from him.  And even though he knows you in this way, he still wants relationship with you.  And nothing you can do in this life will ever make him lose interest or give up on you.  With humans this happens all the time.  With God, it just doesn't happen ever.

Somehow through Jesus's "glory and excellence," we receive the gift of promises he has given.  What does that mean exactly?  Let's look at some wording to understand.

The original text for "has given" is important.  It means that something has been bestowed on us.  We don't use that word often, but it means that there has been a great gift given to someone.  It also means that what was given was given as an honor to someone else.  This is more than me just giving you a pencil.  This would be like a wealthy person giving you a huge house just because they wanted to.  Whatever has been bestowed on you and I is a huge gift.  This same word was used in the book of Mark when Pilate gave Jesus's body to Joseph of Arimathea.

The second important word in verse 4 is "promises."  This is not an ordinary promise.  This is a promise that is made publically, as in it is being shouted over a loudspeaker or public address system.  Such a promise must be a big deal.  For example, I might promise to you that I'll come pick you up at a certain place in 20 minutes.  That isn't worthy of any great pronouncement to the world.  Nobody else but you would care.  This type of promise carries such weight that it is worthy of announcing to the world.

Peter's language communicates that the promises being made from Jesus are very great and precious.  Peter used this same descriptive language when describing Christ's blood (1 Peter 1:19) and a Christian's faith (1 Peter 2:7;  2 Peter 1:1).  The promise being described is important and valuable.

What then are these promises that Peter describes?  Well, two of them were stated in verse 3.  We have the promise of a new birth, the promise of God's protecting power (v 5), and the promise of the Spirit's power in our lives.  What can this mean for me in everyday life?

When we decide to cross the starting line of the marathon of Christianity, an important thing happens.  It is as though we have been born once again.  In practical terms that means that whatever person you were prior to crossing that starting line is dead.  That person is gone.  All of the horrible things that person said and did and thought are all gone.  They are in the past, and the door to the past is shut and locked.  We cannot travel that way again.  And since it is a new birth, you are made into a new person.  That process begins in that moment of first having faith in Jesus and it only grows from that point.  A new birth is exciting because it is a totally new person who has never lived before.  They have different characteristics and values and morals and thoughts and behaviors than the other person because they are entirely new.

Think of it in this silly way.  Most American adults have owned several vehicles.  Back when I went to college I had a 1993 Ford Taurus.  It got me around, it was comfortable, and it got good gas mileage.  I didn't really like the car though.  I wanted a truck, and because of my immaturity at the time I did everything I could do to rid myself of this Taurus and get a truck.  But that never happened.  I stuck with that car until it had 123,000 miles on it and could barely shift gears anymore.  A lot of stuff didn't work on it by that time and I was quite relieved when I went to trade it in for a much newer, nicer car.  I was glad that Taurus died.

The thought never crossed my mind at the time to keep the Taurus and rebuild it.  Could I have done that?  Sure!  I could have refurbished the engine or bought a new one.  I could have replaced the transmission and given it a new paint job.  I could have done all of the things necessary to make it "like new" again.  The reality, though, is that it wouldn't have been new.  It would still have been a 1993 Ford Taurus.  It would still have been in existence since it was built by Ford in 1992.

You see, God knows this about old and new.  That's why he doesn't take the old you and dress you up in better clothes and change a couple of things about you to make you the "new" you.  It wouldn't work.  There would still be old and new parts of you and you would never fully function in the capacity of new, no matter what was done.  That's why you and I, when we decide to cross that starting line of the marathon called Christianity, begin taking steps as an entirely new person.  The old is gone.  The old is in the rear view mirror and the image is getting smaller and smaller with time.  The new is where we are now and is up ahead.  That's the way God works in us.

I'm certain that some of you hold on to your past self, the old, dead you.  There are things in your life that you did or said that have caused deep regret.  There are things you did that you wish now you could take back.  The Apostle Paul would sympathize with you.  He had plenty in his past that he wished he could take back.  But he came to realize that Christ simply wanted him to look ahead to the relationship they had right now versus the relationship they didn't have in his past.  He describes it this way in Philippians 3:

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[d] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

You see that Paul also refers to the Christian life as a race.

These promises from 2 Peter 1:3-5 tell us something important.  We have access to God everyday.  Since we have access everyday, his very divine nature can work through us everyday if we allow it.  We don't need to do anything different or special because those things have already been bestowed upon us.  They are already there, in the new you!

If you find that living out this kind of Christianity is hard, you are not alone!  It IS hard, and some days are harder than others.  That's why you and I must be in daily relationship with the Lord.  Only through that do we find the necessary surrender so he can work out these great promises in us.  Jesus himself even said that this race is a hard one.

Matthew 7:13-1413 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

If Jesus said it would be hard, then it is going to be hard!  Count on it!  Pray about it!  But above all things, just don't give up.  The reward for running this hard marathon is that you know Jesus more personally and you see him working through your life in larger and larger ways.  And as you see that larger work he is doing, you only want more of it!  That is the life of beauty and significance that most of us really want, but oddly it comes from dying first.

So if you are not a follower of Jesus and you have a past, know that this new birth can be you.  You really can leave it all behind, and Jesus will help you to do that.

If you consider yourself a Christian but feel stuck, there is hope.  You already have everything you need to live a godly life.  And what you have is Jesus himself.  Spend time in prayer and in silence with him.  Put in the time to get to know him and to speak to him.  He will meet you in that moment, right where you are.

May God reveal himself more and more to each of you as you pursue a deeper relationship with him!

How to be godly: relationship first

When I was what I considered to be a new Christian in college, I experienced a pretty dramatic change in my lifestyle.  I went from being a man ruled by anger and bitterness to deeply desiring God in so many moments in life.  I began waking up every day and reading God's word, devouring every bit of it that I possibly could.  It was like I was reading it for the first time and day after day I learned new things about what the life of a Christian is supposed to be like.  

Like many new to the faith, I began thinking that much of this change that was supposed to be occurring in me would be based upon my own work.  If I read the Bible more, surely this would make God happier with me.  If I memorized scripture, I would gain his favor.  I developed this kind of mindset that I could work my way into Christianity.

While there is some work we can do to deepen our faith, a focus on that sort of thing by itself is wrong.  It elevates us in our own minds to being super-powerful.  In its worst form it can become an idol, making us think that we can truly do anything including gaining greater stature with God.  I think that's why so many of us know people who are churchgoers who don't actually behave as a Christian.  Sure, they attend church and may know what some scripture says, but they rely on themselves to apply it in their lives which leads to an eventual failure because they go in their own strength.  They never actually surrender themselves to this God that can take up residence inside of them and change them over time.  It's all about them.

If we are unable for long periods of time to be more godly, how can we actually become more"godly?"  How can our small measure of faith that we have in Jesus Christ turn into anything larger?  Are there actually next steps to faith?

Peter wrote some great words about it that I have copied below.

2 Peter 1:3-4- 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Immediately this passage turns our ideas of godliness on its head.  Peter openly states that we have "everything we need for a godly life."  We already have it.  If we already have it, it must have been given to us somehow and by someone.  The next sentence completes the thought.

We received this gift by coming to know Christ.  Now let's consider what this really means.  I believe American Christians may believe that this indicates that when we "accept Jesus into our hearts," this gift that Peter describes is immediately given.  That does have some element of truth but is far too simple of an explanation.  This is rooted in the misconception that "accepting Jesus" is like crossing the finish line of a race.  Once you have crossed it, you have gotten your way into Heaven and nothing else is required.  The trouble with that sort of thinking is that it is not supported anywhere in scripture.  Jesus himself spoke many things that contradict that idea as did all of the apostles who followed him.

Christianity is instead portrayed in the Bible as more of a marathon that is difficult and challenging and follows a path that few people actually follow.  What if "accepting Jesus" is instead the crossing of the starting line in a marathon?  What if in doing that you've only just begun the race and you still have 26.2 miles to go?  When you realize that, it changes everything about how you view your relationship with God.

When Peter says in the second sentence that we receive this "by coming to know him," he's making an important statement.  He is implying that coming to know Jesus is a process instead of an event.

Think of it this way.  Imagine the person on this earth that you are closest to.  It may be a best friend or your spouse or significant other, a brother or sister.  When you first met that person did you truly know them?  Did you know everything about them at that moment?  Did you know exactly how they think and suddenly have the ability to complete their sentences for them?  Did you know at that moment everything they like or don't like?  Did you know their past and their dreams for the future?  Of course not.  That kind of knowledge takes time to develop, and it is developed by spending time with them and talking to them and listening to them.  Even after 22 years of marriage, I'm still learning new things about Amanda!

If that's true in your everyday life, why would it be any different with Jesus?  You prayed a prayer in church one day and you suddenly know everything about Jesus and how he thinks and how he interacts with people?  No, it just doesn't happen that way.  When you invited Jesus into your heart to stay, you in effect have just said the initial "hello" to him.  It's like shaking hands and introducing yourself to someone for the first time.  That was just the initial encounter and there is so much that remains to be seen in your life.  His purpose for you is so much more grand than you can even imagine!

How, then, do we "come to know him?"  It takes time!  Lots of time.  In my life it began with devouring scripture and thinking on it.  Later it came with studying in greater depth what a passage meant.  Still later it came with promptings Jesus put into my life and my decision in that moment to obey or to not obey.  And it continues to this day as I go through day to day life, the high highs and the deep lows that come from obeying (or not obeying) Jesus everyday.  With each instance, I gain a little more insight into what he wants for me.  I learn a little more about his character as he speaks to me, by looking at the things he speaks to me about through scripture, and also by his moments of silence.

Peter goes further at the end of verse 3.  He says that as we get to know Jesus, his call comes by "means of his marvelous glory and excellence."  We read in scripture that Jesus is God's son, that he is divine, and that he is God in the flesh.  As we read about his life on earth we see a picture of his glory and excellence through his love and caring for the worst of sinners and through his everyday obedience.  He never sinned!  Not once!  

But Peter's statement about us "coming to know him" takes it so much further than that.  As we learn to hear Jesus speaking to us through daily Bible reading, through promptings in our brain, and through others speaking to us, we begin to get a glimpse of how incredible he truly is!  He sees everything, intimately knows us and what we are going through, sees our highs and lows, our obedience and our disobedience, and he still loves us and interacts with us.  This is attractive to me because it is unlike any other relationship I have in my life!

Like you, I have many relationships with many different people.  Some are true friends and know what's happening in my everyday life.  They are the ones who know how to pray for me and my family, and they are few.  Others are people I like but I don't speak to on a regular basis.  Still others are colleagues, and we may talk when one of us needs something but not otherwise.  Even when it comes to my closest friends, though, there are things that I can do to cause severe damage to the relationship due to my own behavior and choices!  Some of those things could even damage the relationship beyond repair!  It just isn't that way with Jesus though.  Even though he has had countless reasons to abandon me, he never has.  And he never will.  Someone like that is unique, and it makes me want to know them more.

What you discover over time is that when you begin to learn more about Jesus, more of his character begins to shine through you in ways that you just don't expect and never intended.  Your desires change from material things to just desiring more time with him.  And as you spend more of that time with him, he continues to poke holes in you and create cracks in your old self to where he shines out of you to a greater degree.  And then it all becomes visible to others.  For me, that's a large reason why I write this blog!  It helps me to consider at a deeper level what Christ is speaking into my life.  Who really cares if anyone reads it!

The point Peter is making is that we won't become more like Jesus on our own.  Trust me, I have tried.  Instead, Peter is saying that the power to do that comes from Jesus himself!  And it is given in greater and greater measure as we spend more and more time with him.  This just comes through everyday experiences with him, through reading scripture, prayer, "chance" encounters in everyday life whether in your community or at a local store or shop or at work.  Jesus is in all of those things!  In those moments we can either see them as they are, God's interaction in our life, or we can just see them as random encounters.  One leads closer to Jesus;  the other does not.

You may find after reading this that you don't know Jesus like I'm describing.  You thought you had crossed the finish line a while back when you "accepted Christ," but you just haven't seen anything since then.  The relationship you thought you might have had seems like stale religion.  You look at others who talk about Jesus with excitement and you wonder why you don't feel that same way, so you begin to feel that's unique to some Christians.  But it isn't unique.  It's available to you too.  

If you find yourself in that spot today, I encourage you to go put away all of your electronic devices and just start reading in the book of Matthew.  Read as much or as little as you would like, but stop periodically to see what it is telling you about Jesus.  Pay attention to the questions it raises in your heart and seek some answers from a good Bible commentary or from a friend who you think can help you.  Above all things, spend some time in prayer!  As I have said before, sometimes just sitting in silence before the Lord is incredibly impactful!  In this manner at times you may see something he will lay on your heart.  It takes time, but he has all of the time in the world.  And if it takes more of your time than you would have chosen, is that really a bad thing if in the end you begin your departure from the starting line and begin really heading down the path?

We will continue unpacking this passage in my next post.

What's the point of discipline?

 

Proverbs 3:11-12  My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you.  For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

1 Peter 4:12-13  Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.  Instead, be very glad- for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

These scriptures greeted me one morning last week and I knew that the Lord was speaking to me.  They spoke on the same subject and were just part of my Bible reading on the same day.  Something was up and it troubled me most of the day until I saw the reason they were spoken.  The circumstances that day are not important but I will say the verses were dead on and spoke to the specific situation I was having to deal with that very day.

You have likely had moments in life like that. While your life is likely full of many good and happy things, it also has some moments that are just hard.  You have had to endure a trial of some kind that wasn't fun at all.  It seemed to suck the life and joy out of you, leaving you feeling alone with no one to turn to.  Many times you may have gotten through those moments wondering what that was all about.  What was the purpose in it?

At times you may have even wondered if your circumstances were a punishment for the bad things you have done.  Maybe God finally got fed up with you and decided to punish you really good for what you had done and show you who's the boss.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        In our world today the line between discipline and punishment has been blurred.  Discipline is generally viewed as corrective in nature or a teaching moment.  Discipline definitely has a sting to it, but its purpose is to instruct so the person does not go that way again.  Punishment, on the other hand, is retribution for something someone has done.  In Old Testament times the "eye for an eye" law stands out as an example.  If you poked out my eye and were found guilty of doing that, I could do the same to you as your punishment.  If you burned my house to the ground, I could do the same to you.  There is a small teaching component (fear of the punishment) and a large component of just making the person pay for their actions.  These two concepts overlap pretty often, so I won't spend time unpacking a bunch of different examples.

Let's focus on the Lord's discipline, though.  Its purpose is the same as stated above:  his aim is to teach and correct so that we don't go that particular way again.  It can go much deeper though.  If you are being tested like Job was, the discipline you experience isn't because you were going the wrong way but instead is intended to deepen your commitment to the Lord.  

                  Romans 5:3-4- We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.                                                                                                                                                                                             

King David experienced discipline after committing adultery with Bathsheba, stating in Psalm 31 that his body "wasted away" and that he "groaned all day long" and that his "strength evaporated like water in the summer heat."  And once David finally confessed his sin, the son conceived in his adulterous affair with Bathsheba died.  David's actions brought the death of Bathsheba's husband, and the Lord took the life of someone dear to David.  All of that was because David refused to confess his sin. Yet David's response to all of it was correct, and I believe it was in the Lord's plan.  We see in 2 Samuel 12 that he spent time in prayer and fasting prior to the child's death, and afterward he went to the temple to worship the Lord.  He got closer to the Lord in spite of it all, and he felt the heavy hand of the Lord's discipline.

The Apostle Paul was also disciplined, being chained to a Roman guard in a dungeon for several years simply for speaking the name of Jesus.  Shortly after Paul met Jesus for the first time on the Damascus road, Jesus himself stated that he would "show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake."  Paul, it seems, would be disciplined over and over again through suffering intended to deepen his commitment to the Lord.  Paul in fact did experience that throughout his life, experiencing beatings and shipwrecks and having to run for his life over and over and over again, all because he followed Jesus.  The trials, however, brought Paul closer to the Lord.

Moses was disciplined in the desert for 40 years after killing an Egyptian.  This discipline involved herding sheep in a deserted place for his father in law, leading a life of complete isolation and insignificance.  God had to show Moses where real power and influence come from, and the source wasn't within Moses.  The Moses who steps out of the desert 40 years later is a man who is entirely different than the one who walked into it.  He is humble and realizes how weak he truly is, and God moved so powerfully in him as a result that he made himself known to an entire country through plagues and the escape through the Red Sea.

Old Testament Joseph was also disciplined by the Lord for 13 years, living a life in slavery and imprisonment before being lifted up to be prime minister of Egypt.  The Lord had to show Joseph that there was a bigger plan that he was a part of, and taught him to wait on the Lord and trust as he waited.

There was great purpose in each of these men being disciplined.  God had specific things in mind that each of them needed to learn.  The discipline for each of them was quite painful.  For some, it was emotional pain.  For others, it was physical pain.  For others, they experienced both physical and mental pain.  Discipline from the Lord, it seems, doesn't feel good and is an experience that we humans do not enjoy.

The purpose of discipline from God is that you and I learn something new about God.  It's far too simple to think he simply wants to "impart wisdom" to us or toughen us up.  God's purpose in your life, his end for you, is himself.  While you and I may experience other benefits from being disciplined, his main purpose is that we would simply know him better.  To know him better is to trust him more.  To trust him more means he can do greater things in your life than you ever imagined.  And when he can do greater things in your life, he gets the glory for it because with you it is just flat out impossible.  It's the difference between walking across a canyon on a bridge with nice sturdy guardrails versus crossing the same canyon on a tightrope with nothing to hang on to.  Nobody is amazed by walking across a bridge;  everyone is in awe of the one who walks unsupported.  

Could the Apostle Paul have evangelized and church planted the huge area that he did on his own?  Sure, but it wouldn't have taken off like it did.

Could Philip on his own evangelized all of Africa?  Very unlikely, but God used a moment in time on a "chance" encounter with an Ethiopian (Acts 8) to make a way for that to happen by using Philip on one encounter.  And God gets the credit for that, as he should.

Could Moses have read a bunch of leadership and strategy books and effectively have lead the Israelites out of Egypt on his own?  Perhaps, but then there's the whole problem with the Red Sea.  So God instead chose to turn a plan that should have taken months into a plan that took 40 years.  And Moses, refined, the new Moses, was the product.

I'm not sure what you are going through right now that is discipline from the Lord.  You may be waiting on something and you have been waiting a really long time for it.  Don't stop waiting.

You may have thought that your life over the next 5 years would look one way and it turned out looking like something entirely different, and you are disappointed.I just want to remind you that it has a greater purpose.  Don't give in.

You may have become a Christ follower, thinking that God would use you to influence many people for Jesus and yet you find yourself with no one.  Maybe you didn't do anything wrong.  Maybe that was God's plan all along.

Discipline from the Lord is painful.  The Lord knows that, sees that, and allows it anyway.  You may be a Moses in the making.  You may be Elijah in the desert following a huge spiritual victory, camping by a dried up spring, asking the Lord just to end it all.  Just remember that the Lord's plan, his primary plan, is to change YOU and to make YOU know him better.  So rather than fighting it, rest in that instead.  Your Father cares so much for you that he would shut off all of those earthly items of "significance" in your life just so you would know him better.

 Instead of isolating yourself and believing the lie that it is all without purpose, I encourage you to go to the Lord in prayer.  Find a quiet spot and put your phone away.  Ask the Lord what it is about and read scripture prayerfully, asking God to speak.  You may not be able to figure out what it is all about just yet.  Moses and Joseph surely didn't.  But what you will find is your heavenly Father who is waiting on you with open arms, ready to embrace and comfort and strengthen you for those times when you need it most.  

So go to him, run to him, stop, and listen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Faith Forces a Decision

Why did he show up?  What was it that made the Apostle Peter show up on the night when Jesus was first put on trial?  He had just completed about 3 years with Jesus, heard the teachings, shown flashes that he understood what Jesus was there to do, and seemed to be on track in his faith.  He had eaten a nice meal with the Savior and was told bluntly at that time that he would fall away and deny that he knew Jesus.  He had just spent the night with Jesus, dozing off repeatedly while Jesus stayed up all night praying fervently about the next few hours.

Yet he still showed up after Jesus's arrest.  The Bible says that he even followed behind the procession to the high priest's house that night at a distance.  He wouldn't get close to his mentor, yet he couldn't break away either.  Later he was there in a courtyard sitting by a fire as Jesus met with the first group of his accusers.  They accused, taunted, and mocked Jesus, and all the while Peter listened in as this was going on.  I would imagine he was nervous, perhaps too nervous to get closer to the action and too nervous to leave.

And in that moment Peter was unfortunate to discover what Jesus had really come to do.  During that cold night, he began to see that Jesus's purpose in that moment was to force Peter to decide which way he would go, whether the way of the world or by the Way.  Jesus always, eventually, forces us all to make that decision.  During his several hours of waiting by the fire, it is possible some of Jesus's words flashed across his memory.

 Luke 22:31-34 (NLT)

³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. ³² But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

³³ Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.”
³⁴ But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

The point is, at some point all of us have to decide which side we are on.  And our decision will be tested.  

Saying that we follow Jesus is one thing.  

Following Him with our life is something entirely different.

So as Peter is sitting by the fire, he is approached 3 times by people who recognize him.  The first recognized Peter after the fire is lit, and Peter denies knowing Jesus.  This must have only heightened Peter's anxiety.  He probably wondered if, in admitting that he knew Jesus, he would be put on trial as well.  Yet something made him stay there by the fire.  I wonder if he was still attempting to have the best of both worlds:  the benefits of knowing Jesus with none of the pain.

About an hour later, someone else approached and recognized Peter, stating again that he "must be one of them!"  Yet again Peter denied knowing Jesus.  Peter then had an hour to think about that.  It must have been absolute torment to think about what he had just said, twice!  Remember, Jesus himself had looked Peter in the eye and said that this would happen.  I'm certain he remembered that prediction.

And finally, about an hour later someone around the fire commented that Peter "must be one of them" because he was Galilean just like the others.  Impulsive Peter then loudly proclaimed that he didn't know what the guy was talking about.

A rooster crowed, and Peter's world turned upside down.

Then Jesus, in the midst of being accused by the crowd, turned and locked eyes with Peter.  That look must have been one of the most terrible looks in all of history.  I don't believe it was a look of anger or hate since that wasn't Jesus's way.  Instead, it was the knowing look of one who has been betrayed and knew it was coming.

The point is this:  to be a follower of Jesus requires your life.  In a spiritual sense, you and I are to die to ourselves and be reborn as a new person.  That happens with the decision to follow.  But many Americans stop at this stage as though they have crossed the finish line of some race.  They think that a decision to allow Jesus in their life is it, and that they can go on living a life of comfort.  But Jesus never promised that sort of thing to us.  In fact, here's what He said about Himself:

 Luke 12:50-52 New Living Translation (NLT)
⁵⁰ I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. ⁵¹ Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! ⁵² From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

To divide people against each other means that all of us face a very real choice.  We will either follow Jesus with our lives or we won't.  I've seen this in a very real sense in talking to people about Jesus.  Simply mentioning His name generally elicits one of two reactions.  Either the person is interested and peaceful, or they get angry at the mention of His name.  Personally, the interactions I have seen fit into one of those categories.  There hasn't been an in-between.

Attending church does not necessarily indicate that you have fallen on one side or the other, either.   
Each Saturday and Sunday, lots of people in the Houston area go to church.  For many, it fulfills a mental checkoff on a list that they did it and have done God a favor in doing so, or it is part of the local culture to attend church.  Many of these may think that they've made a decision for Jesus,  yet there isn't life change to indicate that that decision was real.  They live and talk one way on Sunday (or whatever day they attend church), and a completely different way on every other day of the week.

When we lived in the Northwest, the majority don't go to church but for maybe 1-2 times for year.  They claim to believe, yet they don't regularly pray, don't know what the Bible says, and can't point to anything that has changed in their lives as a result of knowing the Lord.  Thinking of this in terms of earthly relationships, that is like getting married and then never spending time with your spouse.  Or, it is like saying someone is your best friend but then never talking to them or spending time with them.  How can you say you have a relationship with Jesus if you never spend regular time with Him?

Peter had a tough choice to make that evening, and he chose incorrectly.  He tried to make a happy medium only to discover that a happy medium in following the Lord does not exist.  You are either all in, or you are not.  

I know when Peter fled the fire pit area that he was grieved by the decision he had made.  In fact, vs 62 says that Peter was "weeping bitterly" as he walked away.  That might have been the most difficult night of his entire life.  In his mind it was over.  The Lord was right in what He had said about Peter betraying Him.  Peter wasn't as strong as he thought he was.  What now?  What did this mean for him?

Peter did what most of us would have done at this point, making the pragmatic decision to return to his former line of work.  Jesus was dead, right?  He had correctly predicted Peter's denial.  What else was there?  So we find Peter back in his fishing boat, exactly where he started when the Lord found him originally.

John 21 recounts the sweet reunion between Peter and Jesus, where Jesus forgave and restored Peter in the company of 6 other disciples.  Peter's life was never the same from that moment on.  In fact, if you read the book of Acts there are times where he seems like a different guy altogether.  He is powerful in speech, faces opposition fearlessly, and proclaims the most important things Jesus taught with certainty.  He had betrayed the Savior to his face and been forgiven for it, and was on a mission in the world as a result.

As it was with Peter, so it should be with us.  If and when we decide to follow Jesus, things will be different.  We will think differently, look at the world differently, and behave differently.  Sin is rooted up and rooted out, friendships we maintain might look different or change altogether, and our speech may change as we talk about different things than we used to.  To be reborn is no small thing.  In being reborn we are being remade.  The road we used to follow is closed.  A new path has opened, and we can only travel on one road or the other one. 

I encourage you to examine your life closely.  Is there evidence that you have faith in Jesus Christ?  What is that evidence?  And remember, this evidence you mention should be something others can see, so we are not talking about ideas floating through your head that nobody but you can see.  We are talking instead about outward, visible evidence.  Jesus said a tree is known by the fruit that is produced.  He also said that the words you speak indicate what is in your heart.  Do you know him, or did you just pray a prayer and nothing else changed?

Jesus comes into our lives not to make us nice people, but to make us new.  A decision is required.  Will you allow Him to do that?  Will you allow Him to tear you down and rebuild you in His image.  That is what is required, and you and I should not take that decision lightly.

The Stuff that makes Faith Grow

A thought has haunted me for as long as I have been a Christian:  what is required of me to have more faith?  I find that in moments I have had faith that was truly unshakable, and at other points I have questioned what the Lord was doing in my life at the time, usually during tough times.  But how does one develop faith that is deep and unshakable all of the time?

The Bible defines faith this way:

Hebrews 11:1  Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

So faith is not something tangible.  As such it is tied to hope, and its evidence is not something we can see.  We have faith in many things on a day to day basis.  Every morning I have faith that my alarm clock will go off on time.  When I get into my car, I have faith that it will start.   At the end of the month I have faith  that my employer will pay me on time.  When I get home I have faith that I will be able to have something to eat.  At times I have been disappointed that these things haven't happened when I expected them to and my faith in that thing or event was shaken, but I didn't give up.

But having faith in the Lord is a different kind of thing entirely.  I had and still have faith that the Lord called our family to adopt kids.  I didn't receive certified letter in the mail from the Lord directing me to do that, but I'm certain He did tell me to do that.  I had faith that the Lord was calling my family to the Pacific Northwest for His name's sake, but I didn't get a text on my phone from Him saying "go now."  I believe the Lord exists although I've never seen Him and have never heard His voice.  I have faith that when I die I will actually live on with Him because He covered me once and for all for all of my sins.  I can't see that though, and I won't until it is time for me to leave this planet.

And while "faith" in earthly things is developed usually by seeing, faith in things of God's kingdom isn't developed that way, and only deepens in times of difficulty when things don't make sense.  Many so called teachers these days will incorrectly proclaim that the life of a Christian is easier or made better in an earthly sense.  That isn't true.  The further I go down the road as a Christian, the harder it gets.  When I was in college, my trials usually consisted of taking a simple stance for my faith.  As I became an adult, my faith was stretched when one of my kids made it into the hospital right after birth with a serious illness.  When I got older, my faith was stretched in adopting and is tested daily in the trials related to that obedience.  And when I thought I had it made in life, my faith was stretched further by willfully leaving my dream job, family, and friends to come to a part of the world where I knew nobody, just because Jesus asked me to do so.  And 5 years later, by faith I had our family move back to where we came from to serve at our church, and leave my career altogether.  The trials, if anything, get more and more difficult as you walk through life as someone who pursues the Lord.  In fact, many days I feel weaker and less able to do the things the Lord asks than I did even a few years ago!

The Apostle Paul knew about this more than you and I do.  In 2 Corinthians 6 we get a window into his world.

⁸ We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. ⁹ We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. ¹⁰ Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

So it's not difficult to read between the lines and see that Paul was, at times, despised by other Christians.  He was slandered, ignored, weak, scarred, destitute (by world standards) and experienced sadness.  Yet he kept going.  His faith seemed to be unwavering.

James, another apostle, put it in this context.  I believe we can see Paul's example in his words, too.

² Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

So the hardships Paul experienced, and probably James too, deepened their faith because it developed their endurance more fully.

Endurance is a great word, but it isn't a fun word.  I think of that word when I think of running.  If you are a runner you know what I'm talking about.  When you decide to start running you likely were not able to just jump out there and go 4 miles.  It took you a long time to work your way up to that level.  During the time in which you worked your way up to that level, it hurt a lot.  You were sore later and tired.  You probably faced many times in which you didn't want to go out ever again.  Hopefully you got over that and went out there, but some of you may not have.  

Faith is like that too.  It is strengthened in difficulty, in things that aren't fun, in things that don't make sense, and in things that may look foolish to someone who is watching you.  And situations requiring faith are more than a bad day.  Everybody has those and many of them have nothing to do with developing faith or endurance.  Instead, the trials Paul went through and the ones you go through will likely be things you simply have to trust God on.  Paul had to believe that his difficulties had to do with opposition to his message, and his faith made him keep going.  Your trials of faith probably look different, but they are always things you are having to trust God for.

I don't know what you are being called to have faith on right now.  Perhaps it is just finding a job after a long time of not working.  Perhaps it is reconciliation in your marriage or in a broken friendship.  It might be having faith that your child who is in active rebellion against the Lord finally comes to know Jesus.  Maybe you have to have faith to get through depression or anxiety, just believing that Jesus is with you in it and has purpose for it.  Whatever it is, know that the Lord is teaching you something.  These things give us a choice to desperately cling to our Lord or to push away.  If we cling to him we will know him better and see his deliverance in whatever form that eventually takes.  If we walk away, the trial has not taught us anything meaningful because we still think deliverance can come from us.

Only the Lord can turn a terrible circumstance and make it into something that would benefit you.  Only one can do that.  Only he can see the full scope of everything going on around you and can steer things for your ultimate good.  No one else can do that.  No one else knows how.

So whatever burden you carry today, get on your knees, be quiet, and hand it over to the Lord.  And in the moments when you want to take it back and carry the burden yourself, go back to that place of quiet before him, offering it up yet again.  In these still moments you will learn to know the Lord better than you ever have, and will rediscover hope.  And hope rests in him alone.

Dare to be Different

 

I am often troubled by how my own behavior is no different from that of people who don't follow Jesus.  I get irritated by something someone says or writes and feel like I have to respond.  I spend most of my day thinking on things of myself and not things of the Lord.  I criticize others in private when I should either be silent or offer to help.  My list of failings in this area is quite long, with recent examples.

Christians need to be interested in what it means every day to be "in the world but not of the world (Romans 12:2).  When we allow God to move in us like this, we are naturally different from everyone else we encounter.  It should be that way!  Scripture says that our home is not here.  We are literally foreigners in this land, and foreigners do not follow the customs of the local culture.  All they know are their own, and even when they learn the local ways, they do not often adopt those ways.  

What, instead do we see in these days in America?  We see far too many supposed followers of Jesus Christ who are indistinguishable from those around them.  These folks listen to the teachings of Jesus and agree with them, but then don't follow them at all Monday through Saturday.  Too many are quick to argue, quick to judge even when the "plank" hasn't been removed from their eye, quick to fight, quick to get angry, and quick to use harsh or insulting language against someone who disagrees with them.  And on top of that, they support public figures who do these things and even defend their actions.  

When the world sees Christians behaving that way, why would they want that?  The apparent difference is in words only, with no actions to back it up.  

In contrast, the Apostle Peter wrote some wonderful words describing what daily life of a true follower of Jesus looks like.  These days it seems that many who call themselves Christians have forgotten them, or feel they don't apply in all contexts.  And yet the words are timeless and are spoken as commands!  Let's have a look.

1 Peter 3:8-9 (NLT) Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters.[a] Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 

There is a lot here.  Let's start with "be of one mind."  Peter is speaking here to Christians being of one mind, which means we agree on the important things.  We agree that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died for our sins and was resurrected and seen by many, and then ascended to Heaven.  These are the foundational things that we must agree on.  And being of one mind means that there are secondary things that we may feel a little differently about but can move past.  There's a huge list of those things, depending on the local church and circumstances.  Being of one mind means we will let it go when someone says one of those secondary items and we don't die on that hill.  We maintain peace between us because Jesus Christ is the only thing that matters.

Sympathizing with each other means we care for each other.  We know what is happening in each other's lives because we care, and we work to share those burdens.  That means when another is hurting, we hurt with them.  When another person is joyful, we rejoice with them.  We are in their lives and they are in ours.  We have sympathy for them because we know what has been going on with them and have been down that road too.  We are the good Samaritan who stops to help the man who has been beaten and robbed so that we can bandage the wounds and nurse them to health.  We are the one who sees someone without enough food or who has lost a loved one and we sit there with them in that mess.  We are Job's friends in the first few chapters of the book of Job who simply sat in silence as Job mourned his countless losses.  We don't avoid the trouble others are having because we ourselves have experienced trouble and hurt and hardship and were helped by Jesus.  I am thankful he never abandons us or walks by when he sees us in a tough spot.

We also love each others as brothers and sisters.  Brothers and sisters don't always agree and they don't have to.  But brothers and sisters never give up on each other because they are family.  Brothers and sisters apologize when they have offended the other.  Brothers and sisters step up when the other is in hardship or hard times so that they can help.  That all comes from love, which is a bond that isn't meant to be broken between siblings.  In fact, Jesus himself said that Christians will be known by their love for each other (John 13:35).

Being tenderhearted and maintaining a humble attitude means we know we are not always right, and we don't have to be right.  We listen before we speak, and when we don't agree we just let it go as long as it doesn't have to do with the main thing, which is who Jesus is and what he did.

And perhaps the words that cut the deepest in our society are from verse 9.

9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 

In our society loaded with public figures and social media posts which regularly label others as idiots, liars, totally evil, etc, we need to remember these words.  If you share your opinion, particularly on spiritual matters, and are called by one of these names or worse, you are to do nothing in return but bless the person.  That's right.  Nothing.  No words need to be said in anger or otherwise.  Even if you share your opinions on other matters and are insulted, do nothing.  You don't need to respond!  That's what the rest of the world does, and you are not part of this world, Christian!  Jesus went so far as to say if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn your head so they can slap the left one too (Matthew 5:38-42).

And what about those around you who engage in such behavior and profess to be Christians?  Here we find an interesting statement from the Apostle Paul that runs completely counter to the way many churchgoers today feel.  Many today believe that they should isolate themselves from the world and do everything they can to insulate from nonchristians.  This affects the friends they have, the schools their kids attend, and the neighborhoods they live in.  And yet the Apostle Paul said these words:

1 Corinthians 5:11  I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believerj yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

If you have read the New Testament you see a picture of Jesus living this out.  He spent all of his times with society's outcasts and the worst of the worst sinners, even eating dinner with them.  And his most harsh words were for the ones who supposedly were the religious leaders.  Let's follow his example in our day to day life!

Now let's wrap this up by making it practical in your life.

• If we aren't supposed to repay evil for evil, why do we tolerate public figures and politicians who do the same with their words?
• Why do we give our attention to podcasts and talk radio hosts and TV personalities who frequently call people names because they have a belief different from their own?
• Why do we pay attention to friends and family members on social media, and even respond, when they have posted things that are inflammatory towards other people?
• Why do we entertain ourselves by watching TV shows or YouTube clips of people who tear others down or deliberately get into arguments?

Just.  Stop.  Paying attention to media like this is a choice.  Defending the evil, cutting words of others because they happen to agree with you on a matter is also a choice.  It isn't something you are forced to do.  And consider this:  has paying attention to any of those things actually improved your life?  Do you feel better about things or worse when you spend your time on the items above?

The danger is that we get into the mindset that we must follow these things as rules.  It becomes a Christian checklist.  What Peter is actually describing, though, is the outcome of having Jesus in your life.  Having him in your life is different from praying some prayer to "ask him in your heart" and then going back to life as it was.  His description is what it looks like for someone who has surrendered themselves to the Holy Spirit and allows him to work everyday in their behaviors and speech.  That makes all of the things that Peter listed become indicators of the work that happened in the heart.

Think of it this way.  How do you tell when a piece of fruit is ripe?  You look at the color and the smell and the feel of it.  An apple that is red on the outside should be sweet on the inside.  

In the same way, the outward actions and words of a Christian should reflect what has happened on the inside.  It is impossible to fake this for very long.  Either the change has occurred inside or it has not.  To do this right, I think we need to be silent before the Lord and allow him to work to change us.  We should read the words in the Bible and ask the Lord to help us work these things out in our lives.  We should submit our mouths, and our keyboards, to the Lord before we say anything.

Let's dare to be different.