Bob's BLOG

Removing the Veil - The Story Week FIVE

2012-02-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

Have you ever read God's disclaimer? There are some really good ones written by lawyers in our time. A child's Batman costume that carried the disclaimer, "Wearing of this garment does not enable wearer to fly." The clothes iron that has a warning disclaimer, "Warning, never use iron clothes while wearing them." The slushy cup that warns, "Ice may be cold." There is the 500 piece puzzle box that says, "Some assemble required." The night time sleep aid that says, "Use of this product may cause drowsiness." These may seem obvious but they are there to cover the bases from the most outrageous lawsuits.

God puts disclaimers or Conditional Promises through his word. He put one in the book of Exodus. The people of Israel had been delivered from the Egyptians and were about to receive directions from God on how to live their lives, but before that he gave them a disclaimer. "Now IF you obey me fully and keep my covenant, THEN out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation." ^{Exodus 19.5-6 The Story page 59}

We need to know that every promise of God is CONDITIONAL. IF is about our actions and attitudes. Those attitudes and actions must be in line with the concept of OBEY ME FULLY. This is not based upon what we what to do but on what God has told us to do. It is based on the condition that it is fully done or completed. We do not get to choose or change the directions. We do not get to set the conditions they are directions given to us by God. People who think that they can vote to change the rules set up by God are only temporally fooling themselves. When they stand before God they will not get to argue that they had the majority vote in their favor. God's vote is the only one that will ultimately matter.

We also need to know that every promise of God is GUARANTEED. IF we do our part and meet the conditions set up by God THEN we can take God's promises to the bank. It is not that God does not want to do what he has promised it is that we more often than not refuse to do our part. That is when the disclaimer kicks in. It says IF you do, THEN God will. The opposite is also true, IF you don't THEN he won't. Expecting God to reward disobedience is foolishness to the max.

The OLD Standards or Rules
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on stone tablets. Remember that God gave his disclaimer to the Hebrews before he gave them the 10 commandments. This was not an afterthought or an 'Oh by the way,' on God's part. The Ten Commandments were not suggestions to the Hebrews. The problem with them is that they are only about external actions and easily corrupt the person who thinks by following them makes a person right with God. That was not never God's intent or purpose for them. (I will explain this shortly.)

The NEW Higher Standards
When interpreting scripture we need to remember three simple rules. 1. Scripture interprets scripture 2. The easy interprets the difficult 3. Nothing taken out of context and 4. Jesus is Boss! The last one is important to us here. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. When he spoke it was the final authoritative word on any matter. Jesus even spoke about upgrading the Ten Commandments to a higher standard. Don't remember reading that, well you may not have been paying attention because it is there. In Matthew the 5th chapter Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." ^{Matthew 5.21-22} He quotes one of the Ten Commandments as something they may have heard about and then he used one of the most powerful words in the whole world. He said 'but.' Anything that comes after the ‘but’ in a sentence is the most important part of the sentence. A husband says he loves his wife's cooking and then says but, well she will be paying more attention to what comes next. Jesus says, "but I tell you." What is really important is next. Jesus is about to raise the standards. Murder is an outward action but Jesus says if you get angry with you brother you are subject to judgment. This is about the inner person. It is about thoughts and attitude. At least five more times in this chapter Jesus raised the standards above those of the Old Testament.

The Veil ^{Exodus 34.33-35}
Moses speaks to God and his face glows. Then he comes out and talks to the Hebrew people and they can see that his face is glowing. Then Moses put on a full face veil so they cannot see his face anymore. The glow of Moses' face is about external holiness. It represents the old standards and rules. These change you on the outside but they do not change you on the inside. Jesus knew that was true. He knew that was what was wrong with the Pharisees that he had to deal with everyday. He even confronted them about it. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the OUTSIDE of the cup and dish, but INSIDE they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the INSIDE of the cup and dish, and then the OUTSIDE also will be clean." ^{Matthew 23.25.26} The Pharisees were masters at following the Old Testament law. They worked to be perfect on the outside but inside it was just the opposite. Jesus called them on it when he said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the OUTSIDE but on the INSIDE are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the OUTSIDE you appear to people as righteous but on the INSIDE you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." ^{Matthew 25.27-28} No one has ever been set free by meeting all the conditions of the old standards. That is why Jesus knew it was necessary to raise the standards. We know that "through the law we become conscious of sin." ^{Romans 3.20} The law does not make you right with God. The law is about external standards. By following the law the Pharisees were clean or proper on the outside but on the inside they were dirty, dead and sinful. The Pharisees were mad at Jesus. The old standards were the foundation of their life and Jesus was saying it was not enough.

The Power of the New Standards ^{2 Corinthians 3.12-18}
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about the choice between the Old and the New standards. He focused on helping them understand the benefits or superior position of those who accepted Jesus' higher standards. "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." Paul was sure that believers in Christ as their personal savior could know that when they approached God it was not a beggars but as His children. The problem with the old standards and the law is that it causes you to live by external standards that fade or do not last. He wanted the believer to know that "We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away." The problem with those who remain under the old law standards is "their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read." This is the veil that separates them from God. They have no way of getting through to God. For them the veil "has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away" and they have not accepted Jesus who could and would remove it. The only way to really deal with the OUTSIDE is to get Jesus on the INSIDE. "Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts." The law does not set them free is only shows them how far from God they really are. The veil separates people from God, just like the veil in the tabernacle separated God and the people. There is good news. "Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." They have direct contact with God. They now have unveiled faces because of this direct communication and the Spirit being part of their lives. "Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." This means a person has been changed on the INSIDE and that it will show on the OUTSIDE. In the end all believers are different because "we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is Spirit." The change comes from the INSIDE and shows on the OUTSIDE.

New Disclaimer New Covenant ^{John 14.5-6}
Thomas was having a discussion with Jesus. In the discussion Jesus wants them to take comfort in knowing who he is and what he is about to do for them. Thomas is confused about where Jesus is going and wants to know why this is all happening. Jesus comforts him by saying "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me." Now the disclaimer words are not written down but they are here just the same. IF you accept Jesus as the WAY.... IF you accept Jesus as the TRUTH... IF you accept Jesus as the LIFE... THEN you can make direct contact with the FATHER. The opposite is also true IF you do NOT accept Jesus as the WAY... IF you do NOT accept Jesus as the TRUTH.... IF you do NOT accept Jesus as the LIFE... THEN you CANNOT make contact with the FATHER. The NEW STANDARDS set by Jesus are not without conditional clauses. IF you do your part or meet the conditions THEN God will do his part that is GUARANTEED.

Removing the Veil ^{Matthew 27.50-51, John 19.30}
The curtain that was erected in the tabernacle that separated God from everyone else was not how he wanted it to be. It was necessary because of the sins of humanity. As Jesus was dying on the cross he cried out and declared "It is finished!" Most people miss the significance of this. They just see Jesus dying as the sacrifice for our sins. It was much more than that. Jesus died and "at that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom." This veil or curtain had grown from a thin layer to over two feet thick. It showed that God and humanity had been growing further and further apart. This veil was forty feet high and twenty feet wide. At the moment of Jesus death the veil that symbolized how far apart we were from God was removed. It is as if God reached down into the temple, grabbed this veil and ripped it apart. Jesus declared that the separation between God and humanity was finished, and to show it God torn the curtain apart. Now for those who would accept Jesus and his disclaimer or his conditional clause it was now possible to have full communion with God. No one or nothing including a veil between you and God.

The Temple of God ^{1 Corinthians 6.19-20}
It was never God's plan to be separated from humanity. When he entered the tabernacle behind the veil it was a temporary arrangement until he could take care of the sin problem. God moved from the tent tabernacle to the stone temple but that is not how he wanted it to remain. The death of Jesus was God moving from the stone temple to a new temple. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor god with your body." God moved from tent to temple to you. That is if you meet the conditions that he has guaranteed to follow.

"We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory" takes on a whole new meaning when you realize that it is the Spirit of God living in you as his temple that the world is seeing. No longer is God hidden behind a veil but he is showing his presence to the world through his followers. You are the temple of God and his spirit shines through you.

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Remember Me? - The Story Week Four

2012-02-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

What is the real meaning behind Communion?

Christianity grew out of the Jewish religion. To understand the Christian beliefs you have to know their Jewish and Old Testament foundations. In Christian churches we celebrate communion by using a small cup of grape juice and a cracker like wafer. Communion has evolved to this within the church but it is far from the Passover Seder meal that Jesus took part in the night before he died. To understand the meal that Jesus was taking part in you need to go back further to Moses and the Hebrew People living as slaves in Egypt.

God had sent Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt after 430 years. They had gone from honored guest, when Joseph was second in command to Pharaoh, to slaves struggling to survive. Moses confronted Pharaoh and with the directions from God brought the first nine plagues upon Egypt. These included the waters of Egypt being turned into blood, a plague of frogs, gnats, flies, livestock dying, boils, locust, and then darkness over the whole land. Still Pharaoh was unwilling to let the Hebrews leave. God set up one last plague. The first born of each family and the first born of all the livestock were to die when the death angel passed over Egypt during the night. The only way to avoid this was given to the Hebrew families. They were given a fourfold directive to follow.

They were to obtain a one year old lamb without spot or blemish. This lamb was to be killed. The lamb was to be cooked and would be eaten at the proper time as part of a special meal. ^{Exodus 12.5}
The blood of the sacrificial lamb was to be put on the doorpost with a hyssop branch as a marker to the death angel to pass over that home and not to kill anyone in that house. “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. ^{Exodus 12.12-13}
They were to eat a special meal. This included the lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread or cracker wafers. ^{Exodus 12.8-9}
They were to be dress and prepared to leave as soon as the command came that Pharaoh had let them go. ^{Exodus 12.11}

They killed the lamb, put the blood on the doorpost, ate the meal and left rapidly when they got the word to leave. God gave them directions to celebrate this leaving as a festival of remembrance every year. This is done today by Jewish families around the world. The festival of Passover is an eight day festival that commemorates the Hebrews being released by Pharaoh from Egypt. The focal point of the festival is the eating of the Seder meal. This meal is also about the future and the promise of the coming messiah for the Jewish people. There are four elements used in the meal which we will look at one at a time an put them in their place within the meal.

The unleavened bread or Matzah. There are three pieces of unleavened bread or crackers on the table. The father takes the center cracker, breaks it into two pieces. One piece he sets aside for the end of the meal and the other part he wraps or hides it in a napkin and sets it aside for later in the meal just before the third cup of wine. The family has prepared for this during the preceding two weeks by removing all yeast products from their home.
There are bitter herbs that are prepared to be eaten as part of the meal. These are eaten to remind them of the bitterness of the slavery and all the suffering under the Egyptians.
They will drink four cups of wine during the meal. Wine is consider a royal drink and is symbolic of their freedom from slavery. Each cup has a special meaning. (These will be covered shortly.)
The reciting of the Haggadah or the telling of the exodus story in detail. This story is told every year so that the Hebrew (Jewish) people do not forget of God's deliverance. This meal is also about the promise of a coming messiah. The Jewish people believe that Elijah will come before the messiah comes to set them completely free. ^{Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6} Jesus spoke about this in reference to John the Baptist. ^{Matthew 11.12-14} The Jewish people do not accept this as having happened and still wait for the coming of Elijah. Each year at the end of the meal they send the youngest child that can open the door to check and see if Elijah has come. When the child returns and says that Elijah was not there then the father says, "Next year in Jerusalem," and everyone replies "Next year in Jerusalem." Their hope is that by next year Elijah will have come and the messiah will be ruling in Jerusalem.

These four parts or elements of the meal have been the same throughout history. As it is today is basically as it was in the time of Jesus. It is how the early church celebrated communion. Well it is how they were supposed to celebrate communion. The church at Corinth was a church full of problems. Ten of them are listed in the book of 1st Corinthians. They 1. ought over their favorite pastor, 2. allowed sexual immoral people to remain in the church (a man was living with his father's wife.) 3. they were suing each other in court 4. they were confused whether Christians should get married or stay single 5. what foods they could eat or not eat 6. did not want to pay their pastor for his services to the church (now that one hits close to home for me) 7. were confused about the place of women in the church (When we take Paul's directions out of context we make a bigger mess of it than they did.) 8. communion was an embarrassing display of hedonistic selflessness 9. they could not agree on what language to hold their services in so they all spoke in their own language even if others did not understand 10. they thought if a person died before Jesus returned they would not go to heaven. They though when the body died the soul died too.

Their approach to communion or the Seder meal was not anything like the Jews did or what Jesus took part in. Paul describes what happened when they came together for the Passover or Seder meal in 1st Corinthians 11.17-22. Here is a church that Paul describes as “full of divisions.” I would have said they had CDS or church dysfunctional syndrome (this may exist in some churches even to this day). The families would arrive at the church with their Seder meals; their cooked lamb, bitter herbs and bottles of wine. Well, the better off families would show up with these. The poor families would just come with nothing to eat or drink. They called it the Lords' Supper in remembrance of the meaning that Jesus had given it but Paul said it was not. The rich families would set down and start eating their meals right in front of the poor families who had nothing. They would not share with them. So here were the poor members of the church standing around the walls watching the rich people eat this meal. Then to make matter worse some of them were drinking a lot more than the four cups of wine. Paul says some of the church members were getting drunk at the meal in the church. Paul said they were humiliating those who had nothing. I cannot imagine how they even functioned or called themselves a church. Yet from the description Paul gave of them we can determine seven qualities that a church should have by seeing what they were doing wrong.

Seven questions every church should ask to see if they are on the right track:

What benefit comes from being together? Paul said that their "meetings do more harm than good." We should not be selfish or self-centered when we meet as a church but the results of our coming together should be positive and not negative.
Is the church united or divided? At Corinth Paul said "I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you." The church will and should be made up of a variety of people but they should be united in the Lord and serving Him together. Look at the list of the problems in this church and you see that they were badly divided going so far as to sue each other in the local courts.
Are there both believers and non-believers in the church? Paul knew that "there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval." Paul was trying to tell them that they were outside of God's approval with the way they were living yet we need to know that a church is made up of both believers and non-believes. The believers should be setting an example of the right way to live. That would include sharing meals and not getting drunk at church or anywhere else.
Are you there for the Lord? At the church at Corinth they would eat "without waiting on anyone else." They were flaunting what they had in front of those who had nothing. They were showing off. This was not about fellowship or brothers and sisters in the Lord coming together. It was about every person or family for themselves.
Is there compassion and caring? How could they eat knowing that even "one remains hungry?" The church needs to be a place where people are cared for and needs are taken care of. (This is not about a social gospel that forgets Jesus or gives without considering the receiver. see Matthew 7.6)
Are lives being changed? At Corinth that does not seem to be what was happening. They were getting "drunk" during the Lord's Supper or Seder meal. Nothing had changed except instead of getting drunk at home now they could get drunk at the church too. The church and a relationship with Jesus should change a person's life. They should not be the same. Sinners or non-believers should not feel so comfortable in the church that they openly sin without feeling it is wrong. Getting drunk and living with your father's wife should not be the norm for believers in any age.
Is there respect for God's Church? Paul ask what had to be a rhetorical question, "Do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!" Your actions as a believer reflect upon the local church you attend and also reflect on God. If you are living as the Corinthians church was it cannot reflect the grace and forgiveness of God. They were one messed up bunch of people.

The right way to do communion 1st Corinthians 11.23-26

Then Paul reminds the church at Corinth the right reason for communion. It was "the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed." These directions are not from thousands of years in the past or from a rabbi they were given by Jesus himself. It is Jesus who breaks the bread, or the center cracker of the Seder meal. It is Jesus who at the right time retrieves the hidden piece wrapped in a napkin and says, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” This is not a meal to fill the stomachs as much as it is a meal to remember the body of Jesus stripped and pierced for our sins. Then Jesus reaches for the third cup of wine that has been poured and says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” The third cup of wine is forever changed or clarified in its meaning. Then Paul reminds the Corinthians the two things we are always to remember when we share in communion or the Passover meal. This meal "proclaims the Lord's death." It is a reminder of what he has done for us. It is to be done "until he comes." This meal is a reminder that Jesus will return and gather all living believers to join those who have already died and ascended to live with him. This coming return is to be as much of our lives as his death for our sins.

REMEMBER ME!

The Seder meal that Jesus was at was about Him. He is the sacrificial lamb without blemish or sin, who shed his blood that God would pass over our sins and forgive us. He is the center piece of bread who was pierced and whipped or stripped in our place. He is the center piece of bread who died between two sinners. He was hidden in the grave as the bread is hidden in the napkin to be discovered and to bring life to us by the sacrifice of his body. He is to be shared even as the center piece of bread is shared and eaten. He is the third cup of wine. It is through his death the old covenant of laws and ceremonial regulations are replaced with the New Covenant of grace and forgiveness.

Four Cups of Wine

At the beginning of the Seder meal the first cup of wine is the cup of Sanctification. It is based on the statement, "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." The word sanctification means to set apart or to free for use. God freed the Hebrews to serve him without the cruel Egyptians. Today through the sacrifice of Jesus we are freed from the power and will of Satan so we can serve God openly and without conflict.

The second cup of wine at the Seder meal is the cup of Deliverance. It is based on the statement, "I will deliver you from slavery to them." They were set free from being slaves and taking orders from the Egyptians. We are set free from the sinful habits that have controlled and held us captive.

The third cup of wine at the Seder meal is the cup of Redemption. It is based on the statement, "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm." God completely set them free from Pharaoh. The word redeem means to 'pay the full price.' Jesus paid the full price for our sins. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." ^{Romans 6.23} This gift is only possible because Jesus died for us. Nothing else is possible of acceptable.

The fourth cup of wine at the Seder meal is the cup of Praise. It is based on the statement, "I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God." This is the new covenant in his blood. It is why we rejoice and what we have to look forward to. We wait Jesus' return, but even if we die before he comes back we will live with him forever. This is something the church at Corinth did not understand.

It is when we become the body of Christ that the church comes alive. It is when those people covered by the blood live their lives as his followers, servants, disciples. It is when they become Christ like in their lives. “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” ^{Acts 11.26} Someone saw how they were living their lives and they said they were just like Jesus, they were Christ like, they were Christians. That others could look at any of us and say they are just like Jesus, they are Christ like, they are Christians should be our goal as followers of our Lord. Either we will be the church at Corinth, divided, despised and doomed or we strive to be like the church at Antioch and be Christ like Christians following our Lord, waiting for his return.

When we share communion we need to Remember Him and set our lives in order. Corinth or Antioch which church shall we be?

Finally as we take communion we can ask ourselves which cup we need to drink, the cup of Sanctification showing us the way out of an evil life? The cup of Deliverance, freeing us from our habits and sins? The cup of Redemption, accepting the price Jesus has paid for sins? The cup of Praise, declaring personal commitment and excitement about his immanent return? The next time you share in communion remember he is the center piece of bread. It is his blood we commemorate. He is the Lamb of God without blemish that sets us free. We wait for his return as the Church.

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Defining Moments - The Story Week Three

2012-01-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

What is a defining Moment? I wonder if I ask you what is the defining moment in the life of George Washington, what you would say? Would you choose when they tried to make him king and he refused. Or would you choose when he refused to run for a third term because he did not believe in career politicians. You might choose when he orchestrated the compromise that allowed the constitution to replace the failing articles of confederation by helping set up the senate and House of Representatives as we now have them. You could choose the little know confrontation between Washington and his officers at what is known as the Newburgh Conspiracy. The army had not been properly paid for their service. The British were leaving and some in the new government felt that they could skip any final payments to the army. The officers were planning to act against their own government and use force if necessary. The only person standing in their way was George Washington. He stood in the gap between the army and the elected officials and saved the struggling revolution and the new nation at a most critical moment. Yet, in my opinion none of these are the defining moment in the life of George Washington. The defining moment came not during the revolutionary war, or in his service as an officer in the British army when he fought against the French and Indians, the defining moment came on June 12, 1747. George Washington was fifteen years old and had received a royal midshipman's warrant from the British navy. This was before we decided to break away and form a new country they were still our friends then. This would fulfill his lifelong dream. He would escape the drudgery of the family farm and his responsibilities as the oldest male child helping his widowed mother. He arrived at the dock side that day pass his bag along to be put on the ship and waited to say goodbye to his mother, Mary Ball Washington. He told his mother goodbye and turned to board the ship when she spoke to him. It was a plea for him to stay. She said they would not make it without him. Imagine, ready to leave, friends have been told goodbye. His bag is on the ship. What he must have felt as a fifteen year old is beyond imagining. He turned and started up the plank toward the ship. His mother called to him, "George, did you hear me? George where are you going?" He looked back and said he had to get his bags that had already been put on the ship. That is the defining moment. Without it there would be no great general to lead a rag tag army against the greatest military force on the planet at that time. There would be no one to stand in the gap between the army and the foolish civilians that thought they could skip paying the soldiers that had won the war. There would not be the leader who refused to be made king or serve a third term. What if someone else had been there? A Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez or Stalin or any number of men who when faced with power grabbed it and abused it. Washington was a committed man at fifteen and served his mother and his country as a servant of all. Defining moments are usually not great victories or defeats but they are turning points that shape our lives and our destiny.

What does it mean when scripture says, "in all things God works for the good of those who love him?" (Romans 8.28) When we think of all things that covers a lot of ground, it covers good times and some really bad times. What we need to remember is that it says God works. Sometimes we think it is what we do that makes the difference, it is finally and always in God's hands to determine what he considers good. God does this on his time schedule no matter what we may think. He does it for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose. He does not do this for everyone. So two people may have the exact same thing happen to them and the one who is a believer can know that God will be using all things for good. While the non-believer will have just went through an event that carries only personal pain or joy and has no long term use or significance when put in the light of God's eternal plans. This is about God's purpose for our lives and not about our wants or desires. It is about God who sees in both directions forever working in and through our lives.

Are You Ready For IT?

"Everything that we do in life - every battle that we fight and every mountain that we climb, no matter how many times that we may fall - may be for no other purpose than to prepare us for that moment when we are called upon to make a difference.

In fact, every decision that we make, even those that seem small and perhaps irrelevant - may be moving us toward that moment when we can change a life for the better.

We may only get one change to make a difference. But there is no doubt that such a moment in each of our lives is going to come. The only question that really matters is, Will we be ready for it?" ^{Glenn Beck in being George Washington (c) 2011}

This is not reserved for great people or famous people or just a selected few. The truth is we all are challenged to make decisions and life choices that make a difference. a difference for us and a difference for others. George Washington made his first such decision at fifteen and made them over and over the rest of his life. This was also true of Joseph the eleventh son of Jacob. He had to make decision over and over and any one could have ruined his life and the lives of so many others. Yet when we look at Joseph's life we see the moment when everything comes to a climax. His brothers are in front of him tears of fear in their eyes. Joseph has the power to destroy them and he says to them, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for Good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." ^{Genesis 50.20} What brought him to this moment? When was Joseph's defining moment?

Joseph's Timeline

When we look at an overview of Joseph's life it give us a glance of the man, but it does not reflect the defining moments clearly. (We will look at them shortly.)

Born the 11th Son of Jacob and Rachel
Age 17 receives the coat of many colors from father, beaten up and sold as a slave by his brothers.
Serve Potiphar and spends time in pharaoh's prison (13 years total)
Age 30 heads up Pharaoh's save Egypt policy
Age 37+ his brothers show up to buy food.
Age 39 Family moves to Egypt to live under his care
Age 56 his father Jacob dies
Age 110 Joseph dies

It's Tebow Time

The 2012 Superbowl will be played this coming weekend and Tim Tebow will not be there. He was world famous and for a short time you could not turn on the news or sports without hearing his name. In 2011 he started twelve games for the Denver Broncos. Ten of these were in the regular season. He won eight of these and lost two. People began to discuss his miracle wins and his relationship with God. He moved on to the playoffs and was expected to lose when he beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 29 to 23 in one of the most dramatic overtime wins in football history.

Yet why is he world famous? Is it because of his football abilities? I wonder. I live in Olympia WA just 50 miles south of Seattle WA and the home of the Seattle Seahawks. I quit paying attention to them early in the season and only mildly paid any attention to them. I could not even name the quarterback for the team. He was that impressive yet when I compare him to Tim Tebow it sheds some light on the question of how good a quarterback Tebow is. I looked it up and Travaris Jackson was the Seattle QB for the 2011 season. During this past season Tebow had QB rating of 72.9%, Jackson had a QB rating of 79.2%. Tebow threw for just over 1,700 yards, Jackson threw for over 3,000 yards. Tebow completed 46.5% of his passes; Jackson completed 60.2% of his passes. The record says Jackson is a better quarterback, but no one knows who he is, not even a lot of the Seattle fans.

Again why is Tebow so famous? It could be because he is a committed Christian believer. He was a committed believer in high school, in college where he got in trouble for wearing John 3.16 stickers on those dark strips players put under their eyes. When he started winning games this year he gave God the credit. The week after he beat the Steelers a survey was taken that showed that 43% of the people though that God was helping him win games. I wondered if God is helping him win why had he lost any at all? Now I want to give Tim Tebow credit he gave God credit as the guiding force in his life but he does not think God helps him win or lose football games.

This brings me to what I think is a defining moment for Tim Tebow. The Broncos are playing the New England Patriots with Tom Brady. Brady has a QB rating of 105.6 and threw for over 5200 yards so far this season. It is the third quarter and the Pats are leading Denver by 42 to 3. It was hard to watch, when Tebow fell back to pass. He was hit hard and knocked to the ground. The backup QB for Denver put on his helmet and was ready to go in but Tebow went back to the huddle and called the next play. He finished the game with a final score of Patriots 45 Denver 10. 43% of the people must have been shocked that God could not help Tebow win the game.

The following week a medical report was released on the injury suffered by Tebow in the third quarter. Tebow tore cartilage on his fist rib where it attaches to his sternum, bruised his lung and had fluid buildup in his pleural cavity. When he was asked why he stayed in a game he was losing so badly with his injury he said,

"I just wanted to show character. You just continue to fight and it doesn't change who you are, how you play, how you go out there, you should be the same at all times... It does not matter if it was the first play or the last play or if you were down by 42." ^{(Emphasis added)} That makes this a defining moment for Tim Tebow. It was about being consistent in his approach to life no matter what was happening. Anyone can get hurt and play but who plays because "you should be the same at all times." That is the attitude a believer should have about life. Whether Tebow becomes a great QB is will be determine in the future but he has had a defining moment.

Joseph Time (defining moments)

When we look at Joseph we see moments that define him and his relationship with God. Each time he has to determine if he continues with God or quits and becomes bitter.

There is the day he is thrown into the well. This is not a good day by anyone's standards, but it is one of those all things work for good moments. There is no record what happened at the bottom of the well but the next time we see Joseph he has not stopped serving God. So when he shows up at Potiphar's house he is under the purpose and plans of God. "When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant."
There is the day he left Potiphar's house. He has to make the decision that no matter what is coming next he will not compromise or give in to evil. Things are bad but he still has God no matter what comes next.
There is the day he arrives in prison. That morning he was living large and in charge and that night he was in chains completely without any hope. How would he respond? Would he give up, quit? Why should he continue? Talk about getting dealt a bad hand. Where was God anyway? Then again this could be one of those all thing work for good days. "But while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden." One thing about Joseph he depended on God and God used him. Things were bad but God was still God and Joseph was going to serve him no matter what happened.
There is the day his father Jacob dies. ^{(the story page 41)} To understand this let me take you to a scene in a famous movie trilogy about the Godfather. It is a mafia family that is run by Don Corleone. His son Michael has become second in command and wants to deal with people who hurt him or the family but his dad the Godfather will not let him. Then the Don dies and Michael becomes the Godfather. He agrees to become the godfather to his sister’s son. While he is in church he has everyone killed who has ever crossed him. Mobsters, politicians, police, even some family members. Right after the babies baptism he has the baby’s father go on an errand. Now remember this is his brother-in-law. This is his sister’s husband. This is the baby’s father. The errand he goes on is a one way trip that ends in his being killed. Now I don't know if Joseph's brothers ever saw the Godfather but I think they knew what could happen now that their father was dead. Would Joseph get even for the well, the slavery, the time in prison? Would he strike with hate in vengeance? So his brothers send him a message asking for forgiveness. They even use the name of their dead father to touch the heart of Joseph. ^{(the story page 41)}

"When their message came to him, Joseph wept." This is no small moment. In the book of John there is the account of when Jesus is going to see Lazarus who is very sick. When he arrives he knew that Lazarus was dead. He talks with his sisters and then ask, "Where have you laid him?... Come and see, Lord," they replied. Then it says "Jesus Wept." ^{(John 11.35)} He cries his eyes out. His sorrow is so great he weeps. This is no small event. This is not two tears and let’s go raise the guy from the dead. Last year I got a call from my father. My younger brother was in the hospital but it looked like everything was going to be alright. They would run test in the morning and find out why he was feeling so bad. He was in intensive care just as a precaution. I decided it was late and would call him in the morning. Then two hours later my dad called back. He could barely talk. He was weeping. My brother had died. Even as I write this I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I sat down in my chair and I wept. No words, just weeping. No one could comfort me. It hurt too deep. So when Jesus wept it was an intense moment. When Joseph wept it was intense. No words just a man weeping. This was the moment when the last 39 years came to a climax. This was Joseph’s Godfather moment. This was the moment when everything that had been done could be dealt with. His father was dead there was no one to stop him. So how does he respond? He calls his brothers who show up and throw themselves down on the floor. Joseph says, "You intended to harm me." His brothers must have thought here it comes, "but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives." Joseph understood the all thing principle. He would not have chosen this path himself but he knew that God had chosen it. He would have liked thing to have gone differently but now he could see that the bottom of the well was used by God for a greater purpose. God's purpose and God's plan were all that really mattered.

Jesus understood the all things principle. "When they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified him...." They intended to harm him. but "Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, For they do not know what they are doing."" ^{(Luke 23.33-34)} Jesus knew that God intended to use this for good to accomplish his purpose and to make his plans come to fulfillment.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ^{(Romans 8.28)}

Joseph did not allow his circumstances to make him bitter he used them to make him better. George Washington did not become bitter over his early experience and change of direction he became a better man and leader because of it. Tim Tebow was not bitter at losing the big game or even in being injured it appears he is better for the experience and his testimony has not suffered because of it. Except for the 43% of the people who think God is fixing football games.

Are you allowing life and circumstances to define who you are? Or, are you defining your life by the standards and principles of God's word. No matter what happens, that means all things; God has a purpose and plan that includes you. God has defining moments scheduled for your life. These are not usually reported in the news or observed by the majority of the world. Washington defeats British at Trenton is NOT a defining moment. George goes home with his mother and passes up British navy opportunity that is a defining moment. Tebow wins game in NOT a defining moment. Tebow staying in game while injured and losing that is a defining moment. Joseph saves Egypt is not a defining moment. "Joseph's master took him and put him in prison," ^{(The Story page 32)} that is a defining moment. Not by what is happening but by the way Joseph responds to that moment. Our response is crucial. Will we live for God no matter what is happening or will we give up and grow bitter, angry?

Remember the definition of faith says, "Whether I live or die, God is my God and Jesus is my savior." It is impossible to please God without faith and it is impossible to make it through defining moments without faith in God and the knowledge he know what is intended for evil he will use for his purpose.

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Faith For Daily Living - The Story Week TWO

2012-01-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

Do you know what faith is? Many people think faith is what God does for them. That it is about receiving blessings and physical benefits in return for believing. Faith is almost exactly the opposite of that. The first thing you need to know for sure is that FAITH IS NOT ABOUT YOU! Faith is about you and your relationship with God. When you leave God out of your faith equation you end up sinning.

WHAT FAITH IS NOT.......
It may seem like a strange place to start but if we can know what faith is not then we can prepare ourselves for what faith is. When the Devil approached Jesus in the wilderness he tried to get Jesus to use his relationship with God for selfish reasons. The word faith does not appear here but the remarkable part of the exchange between Jesus and the Devil is that everything Jesus is tempted to do is what many today think faith really is. Jesus was hungry after a forty day fast. The Devil wants him to turn some stones into bread. This is about a selfish desire to take care of yourself and use your relationship with God for personal needs and gains. There are a lot of believers today who would see nothing wrong with this. Jesus knew it was wrong and said that the spiritual trumps the physical. "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God." Wow, extreme hunger does not allow a person to use their relationship with God for personal gain. You can pray for healing or jobs or physical needs but you cannot demand or even force God to take care of these. He has a plan for your life and the tough times may be necessary to get you where He needs or wants you to be. (The next chapter deals with this in detail when we look at the life of Joseph and his ultimate understanding of why God allowed him to face such a tough life.) FAITH is not about getting my physical needs taken care of.

Then the Devil wants Jesus to show how powerful he was by throwing himself down from the top of the temple. Because he was God's only son the angels would be sent to catch him. At least that is how the Devil saw it. The Devil wants you to believe you can do things others cannot do because you are a believer. Jesus knew not "to put God to the test." He knew that God's laws apply to everyone equally and to misuse the relationship with God for personal or stupid reasons was not acceptable. The kings of Israel without exception fell prey to this lie. They thought they could do anything as God's representative here on earth and in every case they were punished by God for stepping over this line. When we ignore God's laws we will pay the price. Jesus knew that and it is a lesson we need to remember. FAITH is not about being protected by God when we do something stupid.

The Devil was not done yet. How rich did Jesus want to be? This one is really popular today. All you have to do is bow down and worship the Devil and he will give you riches beyond your imagination. This is exactly what happened to Esau when he gave up his birthright for a bowl of stew. That seems really stupid to me. One passing meal for a lifetime’s birthright that would buy you more stew than anyone could imagine. Hey how much money or gold or land or stocks will you accept in return for submitting to the lies of the Devil? Jesus knew we must "worship and serve God only." To put a price on it was not part of the covenant or contract. How many today are following preachers who tell them that their faith is evident in how richly God rewards them? Nothing could be further from the truth. FAITH is not about how richly God rewards me with earthly treasures.

WHAT FAITH REALLY IS....
If we want to know what faith is we need to remember the four rules of interpreting scripture. 1. Scripture interprets scripture. 2. The easy explains the difficult. 3. Nothing taken out of context. 4. Jesus is Boss! We learn the story about Abraham and his faith connection in the book of Genesis but we have to go to the New Testament book of Hebrews to learn what faith is. Here is the New Testament interpreting the Old Testament. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is the faith chapter. It is here we learn what faith is. The greatest problem is most people lift a verse or two out of this chapter to prove what they believe instead of learning what the scripture says faith is. So let us take a look and learn what faith really is. There are five things we can learn for sure about faith from this chapter and most of them are directly connected to Abraham and is life of faith.

First faith is always about the FUTURE
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." ^{Hebrews 11.1} Faith is not about what I have or where I am, faith is about the future. (We will define the future very shortly.) Faith uses words like hope, and says it is what we cannot and do not see. Now some want you to believe this is about that shiny new car you are hoping for or it is about what you want from God. It could not be further from the truth. This is very important and the scripture will bear this up shortly but remember faith is about the future.
Second faith is always about OBEDIENCE
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." ^{Hebrews 11.8} When God is directing our lives we need to remember he can see more of it than we can. He is looking at the whole life and where he wants us to end up, while we are looking at the immediate circumstances. Abraham had no idea where he was going to end up. He just knew that in order to live a life of faith he had to obey. It believes God has plans that are for the better no matter what is happening right now. Faith is always about obedience.
Third faith is always about PROMISES
"By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." ^{Hebrews 11.9-10} God has made promises to those who believe and obey. The scriptures are full of them. The greatest promise is not for health, or wealth or even our personal happiness. The greatest promise is the one God gives to every believer. Abraham was looking for a city. Not an earthly city but an eternal heavenly one. Every believer is promised an eternity with God. This is why Abraham did not mind living in tents he had a promise of a city built by god where he would live forever. This is the same city that is talked about in Revelation chapter 22. Remember that faith is about the future and it is in our future we will enter that great city. You might even get to live next door to Abraham.
Fourth faith is always about OPTIMISM
"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore." ^{Hebrews 11.11-12} If we are going to have faith we need to be optimistic. I do not know how much more optimistic a person can be than an eighty-five year old man with a seventy-five year old wife believing they are going to be parents. He would have to wait until he was ninety-nine or another fourteen years. Abraham was the most optimistic person who has ever lived. He is not even called by God to follow until he was already seventy-five years old.
Fifth faith is always about RISKS
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." ^{Hebrews 11.17-19} We have to be willing to put it all on the line if we are really living a life of faith. We may not be called on to sacrifice (kill) our oldest child but we are called to sacrifice, to make choices that go against the average non-believer's life style. Faith is about risks. It is about putting it all on the line.

EXAMPLES OF FAITH FROM HEBREWS 11
Faith is about the FUTURE "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future." ^{Hebrews l1.20}
Faith is about OBEDIENCE: "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family." ^{Hebrews 11.7}
Faith is about PROMISES. "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff." ^{Hebrews 11.21}
Faith is about OPTIMISM: "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time." ^{Hebrews 11.24-25}
Faith is about RISKS: "By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born..." ^{Hebrews 11.23}

ONE MORE FAITH FACT
Faith is ALWAYS NECESSARY. "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." ^{Hebrews 11.6} As believers we are called to live a life of faith. We are to focus on the future and God's long term plans. We are to be obedient and follow the directions given us by God. We are to focus on the promises and know God rewards those who live in faith. We are to be optimistic and keep a positive attitude even when everything seems to be going against us. God has a master plan and we all win in the end. We also need to remember that living a life of faith comes with risks. The safe road is not the faith road.

DEFINING PERSONAL FAITH
There is so much to learn about faith in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. There is one verse that expresses faith that is almost always overlooked. Speaking about the ultimate faith and defining faith as clearly as it can be the write says, "Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection." ^{Hebrews 11.35} These were "commended for their faith." ^{Hebrews 11.39} Faith is about life and death. It is about the future and the resurrection of the dead. Let me paraphrase this verse. What it says is 'Whether I live or die I believe God is my God and Jesus is my savior.' That is a perfect definition off faith. Every person who has ever lived their life in faith dies. Along the way there are blessings and opportunities to discover what God has planned for their life. In the end it is not about what we get in this life or how we leave this lie but about what we get in the next life. To live a life of faith you have to be able to say...Whether I live or die I believe God is my God and Jesus is my savior.

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Three Questions - The Story Week ONE

2012-01-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

Read Genesis 3.1-14

The garden went from paradise to chaos in a very short period of time. The transition was seamless and almost predictable when we look at it from our point of view. Yet, in the original setting it was anything but preordained. We have the appearance of a completely new set of characters interacting with each other.
UNANSWERED QUESTION
First there is the man and woman. They are innocent to the dangers that are real and which they have never faced before. They are like small children who are being watched over by their parents who know the danger and want to protect them as long as possible. Then there is the serpent who we later learn is also known as Satan and the Devil. This evil being will remain the protagonist of humanity and God for eternity. Now I want to start with a fact that the Bible DOES NOT tell us. This may seem to be a contradiction of terms to speak of a fact and then say we do not have the information. The popular belief or fact is that the serpent was once a beautiful angel in heaven who rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven with his followers. This is not true. Wait, let me explain. It is the common belief held by many based in most part not on scripture but on the work of John Milton called Paradise Lost. In this epic poem Milton mixes scripture, conjuncture and pure imagination to create a story that is no more Biblical true than an Archie comic book. Here is what you need to know. There never has been sin in heaven. There never will be sin in heaven. Heaven is a perfect place. It there had been sin in heaven it would not be a perfect place and it would be a place where sin could invade again. That is just not the case. So where does the serpent come from? The Bible does not tell us. The only way you get what Milton wrote about is to glue verses from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Matthew, Thessalonians and Revelation together that have nothing to do with each other. The Bible does not tell us everything but it does tell us what God wants us to know so there are some things that we just don't have the answer to.

THE 'S' WORD
Questions that have answers are easier to deal with. Like the question, what is the definition of SIN? Now here is a question the Bible DOES give us the answer to. In fact even before Eve sinned she knew the answer to this question. When the serpent first approached Eve to eat she said, "but God did say." She had directions from God.
First we learn that SIN IS WHAT GOD SAYS SIN IS!
Eve knew what God had said she now had to choose whether she would obey or disobey. God is the creator, the beginning and the end. We may see ourselves as someplace in the middle but we all will get to the end and then we have to face God. God is the adult in the room. (more on this in a moment)
Second we learn that SIN IS LAWLESSNESS. 1 John 3.4
That means it is breaking the rules. Now let me illustrate this using my grandson. When he comes over to our house he knows the rules. He has always had rules. When he was one and a half he would come over to play. He loved to go into grandma's kitchen and get into the pots and pans cabinet. He would drag them all out on the floor and beat on them, smack them together and when he was done he would crawl into the cabinet and play in there. There is a second half to this. When in the kitchen he was not allowed to get into the drawer that has the sharp knives. He was not to even touch the handle of that drawer. He did not understand the danger but he knew that was a NO TOUCH item. Grandpa, Grandma, mommy and daddy could touch it but not the little grandson. It came with a repeated DANGER warning. Now the tree in the garden came with a NO TOUCH warning. It could hurt them, they would die, whatever that meant. It was for God only because he was the adult in the room or in this case the garden. Why was the tree in the garden where Adam and Eve could touch it? Well why are there knives in a kitchen. They belong there and though we do not understand it the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil belonged in the Garden. It was supposed to be there and we will just have to accept it as so. Let’s go back to my grandson for a second. There were more items in the kitchen he could touch than those he was not to touch. Eve and Adam had more positive choices than negative choices but when they touched and ate they learned the third truth about sin.
Third we learn that SIN HAS CONSEQUENCES.
Fewer and fewer people today believe in sin and that they will pay for the wrong choices. They are denying the creator and his rules for the Garden and the world we live in. The truth of the matter is that sinning leads to death. Death is temporary as long as we are alive and can still change our course but it becomes permanent when we die and have not changed course.

WELL EXCUSE ME!
There are plenty of people who want to say that sin is excusable or that they are not responsible for their actions.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE THEN?
Was it the woman who touched first? Was it the serpent who put her up to it? Was it the man who just stood there and watched not saying anything? Was it God's fault for putting the tree there in the first place? God held Eve and Adam responsible for their actions and he holds us responsible for our actions. I read about a study done on twins. One set was raised in a home where both parents were alcoholics. The one twin was an alcoholic. When they asked him why he was one he blamed his parents. They had been his example. The other twin was a teetotaler. That means he did not drink any alcoholic beverages under any circumstances. When ask why he cited his parents drinking. Here we have two identical twins in the same environment and exactly the opposite results. They made their choice and they would each have to live with the results. The garden was the perfect environment and both of the first two children of God sinned while living there and God held them responsible for their actions. "The soul who sins is the one who will die" Ezekiel 18.4 That was true in the garden, it was true for Ezekiel, it is still true today. You are responsible for your choices.
IS IT SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE?
Today we are being told that standards have changed and that what was a sin in times gone by is no longer a sin. People have progressed and everyone is doing it. Well everyone in the garden had progress to the point of eating from the tree. Literally, everyone was doing it. That did not change the results that God had said would happen if they touched or ate. We need to remember who sets the standards of what is and is not sin. In the kitchen at our house the grandchildren do not set the standards and in the garden and in the world we do not get to set the standards. Remember, God is the adult here when it comes to what is right and wrong.
IS IT A PRIVATE MATTER?
What happens in a person’s home or between consenting adults is different according to the new standards. That means if we hid it then it is ok. Well not according to God. Adam and Eve were hiding and they were consenting adults and they had to pay the price for disobeying God. That has not changed. Everyone who sins in public or private has to deal with it before God.

TEMPTATION EYES 1 John 2.16
Here is the woman and when she looked at the fruit of the tree she saw "that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom." Genesis 3.6 Now she had her excuses lined up for eating. It was all beneficial and for her good. The truth is "everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world."1 John 2.16 We have to choose between the physical world or the spiritual world. We choose between listening to God and listening to the serpent who still whispers into people’s hearts what they need to touch and eat.
Eve saw it was GOOD FOR FOOD.
These are the CRAVINGS of sinful man justified as needs. This is calling gluttony, eating. This is calling the lust of the flesh, natural desires that should not be denied. This is giving in to the base desires and saying they are necessary and proper.
Eve saw it was PLEASING TO THE EYE.
Greed is the need to own and to control to have more than anyone else. The lust of the eyes is to be controlled by the amount of things you own or the amount of money you have in the bank. This is about power and control. It makes the person important by what they have. Often the opposite is true, it not the person who has the possessions but the person who is possessed by everything they have.
Eve saw it was DESIRABLE FOR GAINING WISDOM.
People with worldly wisdom have the ability to think on a higher plane, to be smarter than other people, even being smarter than God. This is boasting that comes through knowledge. This is the modern man who knows so much about creation that he or she denies the creator. The person who is so smart that they refute the wisdom of thousands of years because they have progressed so far in learning they can change God's rules and directions.
Eve was the first one to say this but she was far from the last. Every generation has those who say exactly the same things as they deny God's word and authority as creator to set the rules for his garden, world and kitchen. God is the adult in the room but so few are listening to him.

THREE QUESTIONS?
There are three questions we need to be able to answer. They were first asked to Eve and Adam in the garden but they are just as relevant today as they were then.
Question ONE - WHERE ARE YOU?
God came looking for Eve and Adam. He is looking for everyone and is calling to each person to respond. Are you hiding from God? Living in the trees where you feel safe? Hoping that he does not notice you are not around? You might want to make a personal evaluation of your life. Take stock of where you are in your spiritual relationship with God. Do you have a spiritual life plan or are you just hoping you make it through without being noticed by the creator? He cares and is looking for you.
Question TWO - WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
God ask them, who told you were naked? Who have you been talking to? We are either listening on the Lower Story level where we do not take into account the final outcome of our actions or we are listening on the Upper Story level where we know God knows and sees all and where we trust his judgment. The lower level is about feelings and the upper level is about faith. The lower level is where the serpent operates, the upper level is where God guides and protects.
Question THREE - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
We will all give an accounting for our lives someday. Getting ready for that moment the believer needs to first acknowledge some things that they need to stop doing. Actions or attitudes that need to be corrected should be corrected. The believer should also look at the things in life that need to be repeated. Things that need to become life habits. These actions and attitudes are the way a person should live their life. There are things you need to stop doing and things you need to start doing.
Here is the challenge. You need to answer these three questions honestly. You need to know that excuses or hiding out will not get you past God. You have choices to make and if you are reading this it is not too late.

Where are you? God wants to know.
Who are you listening to? God wants it to be him.
What have you done? God will ask you that question face to face sooner than you think and you better be ready.

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The One Thing That Matters Most - The Story Introduction

2012-01-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

With all the modern gadgets we have to communicate it is remarkable that people know so little about the Bible. This is especially true when we see how available the scriptures are to anyone and everyone. It is the most printed book in history. It is free to download unto any smart phone, tablet or computer. Yet the only way it can make any difference in any person’s life is if they actually read it and apply the principles found there to their life.

THE BIBLE:

The Bible is actually 66 books written over many thousands of years. It comes in two sections. The first section is the Old Testament which was written in Hebrew and Aramaic. These traces the acts of God from the creation of the world to his developing a close relationship with a special group of people know to us as the Jews. God directs and corrects His people. The Old Testament ends with 400 years of silence as God moves all the pieces into place for a grand plan he has been working on since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. The second section is the New Testament. It was written in Koine Greek which was the common language of the day. It opens with the four gospels telling the life and sacrifice of Jesus and then moves through Acts and the history of the early church, then through the letters and theology of the Church to finish up in the Book of Revelation. Many do not understand this book but it really is simple. The message of Revelation says God wins and everyone on God's side wins. In fact that message is repeated seven times in the last book of the Bible.

The Bible was not compiled in chronological order. It overlaps and when read through can be very confusing. This along with all the names, details of sacrifices, tabernacle and temple construction make it at times a bog that is almost impossible to get through.

The Bible has a remarkable and storied history. It was translated into Latin early in the life of the church (which was the common language of the time) but as less and less of the general population spoke Latin the Bible became obscured from the general public. It would remain so for the next 1,000 years until 1380 and John Wycliffe tried translating it into common language from Latin. He was persecuted by the established church for this. After his death they found where he had been buried, dug up his body, burned it and declared him a heretic. The next big event for the Bible was when it was published on the Gutenberg press around 1455. This was a great advancement more people could have it than ever before, the only problem was it was still in Latin. Then in 1525 William Tyndale started to translate the Bible into common language. He wanted to translate it from Greek and Hebrew text to make sure it was accurate. He worked on this, against the wishes of the church, until 1536 when he was arrested and burned at the stake. Friends finished this translation in 1537. It was the first Bible in common language in over 1,100 years.

This was followed by a series of Bible translations to meet the needs of Protestants, Catholics, and various rulers. The Great Bible was the next successful translation. This was followed in England with the Bishop's Bible translation. Then in 1611 King James ordered a new translation of the Bible. In reality it was just the Bishop's Bible reworked to make the king happy. This was the authorized King James Bible which remained the leading English Bible translation for over 300 years.

The next great breakthrough came with the uncovering of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. These opened the door to modern translators returning to some of the earliest text available. The most remarkable part of this is that after 1800 years of the Bible being translated and hand copied over and over the texts were almost exact. The biggest problem was translator's notes that had been included and needed to be removed from the text. Yet for some Protestants the King James Bible has become what the Latin Vulgate Bible was to the Catholic Church when Tyndall and Wycliffe worked to translate it. Even though it is in English that was used over 400 years ago they hold to it with a devotion that overlooks it’s weaknesses and use of inferior text to translate from.

Today there are dozens of translations of the Bible in English. I counted 27 versions that I have access to on my smart phone. It is available on the internet in 100's of languages for free. YET if people do not read it and apply it to their lives, what good is it?

THE STORY

The story is the Bible as one continuous narration. It has 31 chapters that cover the main themes and people from the Bible. The stories are placed in Chronological order for better understanding. Transitions have been added but are clearly marked so as not to be confused with the Bible text. The Bible translation used is the new International Version published in 1978. When you read The Story you are reading The Bible. The key differences are the order it is in and the many details that are skipped or jumped or to keep the Story from bogging down the average reader.

The story comes in two parts. There is the upper story which is from God's point of view. This is the large picture without time restraints or human limitations. This is the story we see in the first chapter of Genesis as we watch God create everything. There is also the lower story which is from the view point of humanity. It is confined to the perspective and the time of individuals. It is defined by the moment and current events. This lower story is seen when we look not at all of creation but at Adam and Eve and their personal life struggles against temptation and sin. It is this Story in two parts, the upper and lower, we will look at and see if we can understand over the next 31 weeks.

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE WORD

Emperor Menelik II was an African ruler who defeated the Italian army at Adwa in 1896 and established the nation of Ethiopia. He believed the Bible had power to cure illness, and he would eat a few pages of it any time he felt sick. He suffered a stroke in 1913, after which he ate the entire Book of Kings. As a result, his bowels became obstructed and he died of related complications. (from The Emperor Who At the Bible, © 1991 Scot Morris, Published by Doubleday).

This is not a way to get the best and most out of your Bible. Now it does need to get on the inside of you, but not into your stomach. You need the word in your heart and mind. When tempted by Satan it was Jesus who said, "It is written; 'Man does not live on bread alone, but, on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" The Bible is intended to be part of our protection from doing evil and missing the mark God has set for each of our lives. The psalmist put it well when he wrote, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” ^{Psalm 119.12} When everything is whittled down to its core it really is only a matter of direction and there are only two directions to choose from.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3.16-17
This scripture shows us one of the two directions life can take and what it takes to keep going the right way. The teaching of scripture gets us pointed in the right direction but sometimes we make a wrong choice and stray off from where we should be. That is when the scriptures rebuke or show us we are going the wrong way. If we listen then we will follow the correction and get back on the right path. If we fail to do this and continue away from the teachings of scripture as inspired by the Holy Spirit we move from needing correcting to needing to repent because we have sinned.

Our Goal is to stay on the path of righteousness or the path of making correct decisions each day. This is the direction the believer’s life should be on. Those who reject scripture and the teachings of God have chosen to take the other path. They are choosing a life of unrighteousness. They are being disobedient to God by ignoring the teachings, rebukes, correction and path of righteousness. Here in the lower story we choose which path we will take but God is watching from the upper story.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO?
When I was a small boy, four or five years old, I would visit my grandmother at her country house. Now she was not rich, just the opposite was true. It was not only their country house it was their only house. It had no running water and limited electrical connections. There was a hand pump at the kitchen sink and there was one in the front yard. If you wanted water you had to pump the handle to get it. My brother and I loved to play on the pump in the front yard. We could just reach the handle, but boy could we pump. We would start pumping and listen as with each stroke we could hear the water rising in the pump. The suddenly the water would come gushing out. The water was always waiting but we had to pump the handle to get it. We also had to keep pumping the handle to keep the water flowing. That is what Jesus was talking about when he said,
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” ^{Luke 6.38}
If you are going to succeed spiritually you have to do your part. The living water is waiting to come into your life but you need to pump the handle. That includes Prayer, Bible reading, giving, sharing your faith and finding a personal ministry. You need to stretch, evaluate and devote if it is going to work. You have to stretch and do things you have not done before. You have to evaluate your life decisions and make changes where needed. What to keep doing, what to stop, what new things you need to do. You have to devote yourself, that means you will sacrifice, surrender and spend the time necessary to keep on the path of righteousness.

There is a game show called Deal or No Deal. In the end the contestants have to make a choice between cash and a briefcase that could contain a large amount of money. They have to make a choice of either taking the safe way or risk it all. When it comes to many people they take the safe path in life and never see what could be waiting for them in God's plan. This year are you willing to take the briefcase marked "The Story" or will you continue to play it safe? This year you can go through the Bible in just 31 weeks and discover that the path of righteousness is filled with rewards. These rewards are pressed down, shaken together and running over. God wants to shower you with more blessing than you can imagine. The one question you have to answer is, are you in or out? Will you take this spiritual journey or not? It comes down to four words, "DEAL OR NO DEAL?"

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Watch OUT!

2011-11-06T20:41:00.001-08:00

Watch out for FALSE PROPHETS!

Matthew 7.15-27

Jesus was aware of the challenges that the church and believers would face. He also knew that the enemy would use every tactic at his disposal to defeat the church. The enemy knows that the leader of a group can do more damage from the inside than an enemy can do my attacking from the outside. That is why he has placed as many of his workers in church leadership as he can.

WHAT IS A PROPHET?

Whether it is the Old Testament or the New Testament the responsibility of the prophet or preacher who is called of God is always the same. He or she is to tell the truth for God and in some cases to foretell the truth about the future for God. They are messengers for God. The problem is when the messenger begins to see themself as more important than the message.

THREE TYPES OF PROPHETS

The prophets can be broken down into three groups. The first are the Major Prophets. These were the ones who wrote the large books and did the big miracles. Guys like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Elijah and Elisha. They are will know by everyone. In our modern times these are the pastors of the large churches and authors of popular books. They head multi-site churches and run large staffs. The second type of prophets are the Minor Prophets. They wrote small books or were unknown to almost everyone. They may have only preached one great or important message. They were guys like Hosea, Jonah and my favorite Amos. Here is the typical minor prophet. He spends most of his time taking care of a small herd of sheep and preaching to his small group in the middle of nowhere. Then he gets the call to preach one key message of God and he responds. In our modern times minor prophets are the pastors of small churches. They don't have a staff and rarely write a book. They do everything and anything to keep the church going and they fly under the radar and are usually not known outside of their local church. Then there is the third type of prophets. These are the ones Jesus warned us about. These are the False Prophets placed by the enemy in church leadership. They may be pastors of small or large churches. On the surface they look like the real thing but they feel they have enough personal knowledge to speak for God and they rely on their feelings and what the people want them to say to determine their messages.

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Jesus knew that it is not easy to tell the difference but he knew how. He said we should check their fruit. The false prophets will have rotten fruit. The end result of their ministry will not be changed lives and people living closer to God. They will produce soft believers without commitment and with a true knowledge of God, his Son and without a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said we should ask questions and check the results of the ministries of the pastors and leaders of the church we attend. This is about checking the fruit and being sure that that they are serving God and not themselves. Fruit is not about the size of the church or ministry. A false prophet can be a major or minor prophet. They can pastor a small or a large church, but how do you check the fruit?

FRUIT CHECKING

It may not have been something you have thought about but some of the pastors you hear preach will not spend eternity with God. Jesus was clear that some would get in and some would not. The criteria that is used is simple. The ones who do the will of God who is in heaven will get in. Now some prophets are serving a smaller god. They may be serving the god of pride or money or popularity but that will not get them into heaven. Anyone can preach but only the prophet of the true and living God can preach for him. James warned that "not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." ^{James 3.1} No one should presume to represent God. It takes a call from God.

Jesus knew what they thought would be most important to God. They would say that they had preached, taught and prophesied in his name. Using God's name and actually representing God are two different things. "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." ^{2 Timothy 4.3-4} Preaching and teaching what people want to hear is not doing the will of God. They will tell God that they dealt with evil, that they have driven out demons in his name. Standing against real evil is more than a publicity stunt. They will point to the miracles they have done in his name. They will point to large churches, books written, budgets and their personal accomplishments. These false prophets think that their personal actions cover their dark hearts. They will say to Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ His reply will shock them. ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Bad fruit is never used to make a pie in heaven! Jesus says about false prophets that no matter how much they can claim they have done he will still say, "I never knew you, away from me you evildoers!" They have received everything they deserve while here on earth preaching to etching ears.

Everyone is warned to beware of false prophets or wolves in sheep skins.

THEREFORE

Every believer needs to answer questions if they are going to stay safe from false prophets.

Are you listening to Jesus? There are real false prophets in the world. They are in pulpits of churches and need to be avoided. You need to be able to tell the difference. You are supposed to check their fruit. You should not look at the glitter or how popular they are but if they really speak and live for God.
Are you living for Jesus? This is about the spiritual house you are building. You get to choose the materials and you get to choose who builds in your life. The preacher and church you attend is the foundation of your learning and makes a difference in how you live.
Are you getting ready for the storms? Jesus said that the rains, wind and floods would come. The foundation of your life will determine if you survive the spiritual storms. Either you are ready or you are not ready when the storms of life arrive. When the rain starts falling it is too late to think about building an ark.

This last year Harold Camping predicted the end of the world, twice. On May 21st I did not feel any difference. The world was the same. Then Camping said it only started on May 21st and would finish with a visible return of Jesus on October 21st. It is now November and we are still here. Jesus did not return and Camping is a false prophet, and yet he has many followers. His, oops, seems to be enough for them. His response was unique and telling. “If people want me to apologize, I will apologize…I did not have all that worked out as accurately as I should have had it. That doesn’t bother me at all because I'm not a genius.” He is not a genius and he is not a prophet of the living God either.

BOTTOM LINE

Watch out for False Prophets.
Always check the fruit.
Prepare for the Storms now!

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Life's Interruptions

2011-10-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

It can be anything, large or small, but it can be an interruption. It is one of those events that inserts itself into our life. It can be a sick child, a flat tire, an unexpected visit from a relative, a myriad of events. It could be positive or negative. Elizabeth Kramer worked for the Peace Corps. She had stayed up late on Monday night finishing up her master's thesis. She ended up late leaving for work on the following Tuesday morning. As she traveled to work she heard the news. An airplane had slammed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade center. It was the tower she worked in. Life had just been interrupted on several levels. By being late it was positive for her, but for over 3,000 others it was a negative.

Jesus understands what it means to have life interrupted. One day as he traveled surrounded by his disciples and the crowds he is stopped by a frantic father pleading for his sick daughter. Jesus accepted the interruption and said he would go with the father. As they walked down the road, following the father, Jesus suddenly stopped. He asked in a firm, loud voice, "Who touched me?" What a question. Surrounded by so many, his disciples cannot understand the question or why he would ask it. Yet he asks it a second time. As the crowd draws back from him there in the open circle stand Jesus in the middle. The father standing there with a worried look in his eyes, every minute puts his daughter's life in danger. There on the ground is a woman. She had touched the hem of Jesus' robe. Jesus had felt the power go from Him to her. Now the father who had interrupted Jesus finds that his trip with Jesus has been interrupted. If things were not bad enough word arrives that she has died. His grief must have been evident to everyone. Jesus turns back to him after helping the woman. Jesus then continues to help the father by raising his daughter from the dead.

Life is full of interruptions. Yet, we can prepare for the coming interruptions. Now we will not know what they are going to be in advance, but we can still get ready for them. Paul wrote a letter to the church at Colossae. They were a mix of paganism, Judaism, Greek thought brought together with a common belief in Jesus. Paul was working to straighten out their problems. Right in the middle of the letter Paul gives them directions that help them and can help us get ready for life's interruptions. Read Colossians 3.12-17

Preparing for Life's Interruptions - Know who you are!

Paul reminded them that they were GOD'S CHOSEN. They were part of the family of God. All their differences were not important in when they consider that they had a common link through their heavenly father. We need to always put our relationship with god first. If we allow our difference to be the dominate feature of our lives together we will not be able to deal with interruptions. Second, Paul reminds us that we are HOLY. The word holy has a threefold meaning. It means we are to be physically pure, mentally pure and spiritually consecrated. Physically pure means we are taking care of our bodies and not addicted to sinful desires. Mentally pure means we have control of our thoughts and are not putting into our minds that which would lead us to sin or separate us from God. In today's world that is more difficult than we think. Television, movies, the internet they all scream and pour out materials that the Christian should avoid. Spiritually consecrated means we are obedient and involved in the fellowship of the saints and following the directions given us by Jesus. It is worship, it is baptism, it is communion, it is taking time out of our busy lives to commune with God. Finally we all need to remember that we are DEARLY LOVED. This places us in the watchful eye of God. We are surrounded by the Holy Spirit and have the power of the blood of Jesus protecting us.

If we are going to be ready for life interruptions we need to know who we are. We are God's chosen, holy and dearly loved.

Preparations that take time - EXTERNALS.

If we are going to be able to handle life's interruptions you need to start making preparations now. Paul tells us to CLOTHE YOURSELF with character qualities. It is important to remember that you wear clothes on the outside and all these are qualities that must be shared or that are visible to the world around us. Each of them can be improved on and we should not make excuses if they are not part of who we are today. That is why we need to prepare. We need to develop the ones we have and learn how to put on or clothe our self with the ones we don' have now. Paul says we need:

Compassion: Seeing the potential in others and giving them a helping hand.
Kindness: This word means to have excellence. We are to live our lives expecting only to do our best for the Lord.
Humility: This is about not being self-centered. It is not speaking above your abilities. It is also about using your gifts for the family of God and his church. Humility is not doing nothing.
Gentleness: Is about not making matter worse and helping making things better.
Patience: Taking time to get it right. Taking time to listen, to be long-suffering. People like to say they don't have the patience but it really means they don't want to be patience.
To bear with each other: The word means "patience to the max." You are to use all your patience and then you are to find some more.
Forgive as the Lord forgave: How much should you forgive? How much have you been forgiven? When asked by the disciples how much to forgive Jesus said 70X7 just to start with. When you put that with having patience to the max you have a lot of forgiving to give.
Put on love that unites us: This is love that is on the outside. It is something we wear that others can see it as part of our lives. It is as obvious to those who see us as their ability to see we are wearing clothes.

A small boy had a riddle for his father. Dad if there are three frogs on a log and one decides to jump in the pond how many are on the log? The dad sad, "Son that is easy. Two!" "No day, you got it wrong." The dad repeated the question and said the answer had to be two. Again the son said he was wrong. The father finally asks how that was possible. The boy said, "Dad, he only decided to jump, I did not say he did it." You will not accomplish the clothing of your external self unless you actually do it. The direction to clothe yourself is not about deciding it is about actually doing it.

[note: When we put the these into action they are not to be wasted on EVIL people. We are to show them toward those who are SINFUL and have not found God but they are not to be misused. Jesus ate with sinners and showed great patience with those who did not have a personal relationship with God. He also had no patience with the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Jewish scribes when they claimed to represent God and only drove people away. They were evil in how they represented God. Jesus warned us not to throw our pearls before swine.]

Preparations that matter - Internals.

It is vital that you MAKE SURE that you not only take care of the externals you have to make sure that the internals are properly taken care of. People can fake the externals but the internals are what makes the difference when you are faced with the unexpected interruptions of life. Paul says there are four internals we must make sure of. They are:

We must have the PEACE OF CHRIST ruling in our heart. This is about having a growing personal relationship that starts with our repentance and grows for the rest of your life.
We must be THANKFUL. This is really appreciating what God has done and is doing for you. We need to stop and think about how much we have received. Those who are thankful are paying attention to their relationship with God.
We must INTERNALIZE THE WORD. If we are going to be ready for life's interruptions we need to remember that some of those interruptions will be sent our way by the enemy. Jesus was victorious over the enemy because he had internalized the word and made it a part of his very being.
We need to enjoy WORSHIP TOGETHER. Psalms means we use music. Hymns means we are to use words. Spiritual songs means we use both of them together as we worship and commune with god together.

Putting it into PRACTICE!

It is not if you have some Life Interruptions but it is when you have them. You need to have yourself clothed properly with the qualities that people can see. You need to have filled your very being with the presence of God. In fact Paul says whatever you SAY, or ATTEMPT or whatever you ACCOMPLISH it must be for God. You must remember when Life Interruptions come your way that you are a CHRISTIAN. You represent Jesus no matter what is happening. You need to remember to PRAY. Prayer is one of the best ways to prepare for Life's Interruptions. The Christian believer should always be ready to represent Christ when your day is interrupted by life.

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Spiritual Warfare Part TWO

2011-09-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

What can I do that will help me defeat the enemy?

Read 1st John 2.15-17

A friend of mine just got back from a family trip to jolly ole England. He, his wife and their two college age children made the trip. They planned the whole thing, book the flights, the rooms, set the itinerary, they did it all. He said the hardest part of the whole trip was the driving. The steering wheel is on the other side of the car. They drive on the opposite side of the road. He told me that his family has never paid so much attention to his driving as they did while they were in England. He had six extra eyes keeping track of every turn, sign, oncoming vehicle and were ready in half a heartbeat to help tell him how to make corrections. The hardest part of driving for him was the round-abouts. He was already fighting his very nature to stay in what seemed like the wrong lane with traffic passing him on the wrong side of the car and the steering wheel on the wrong side of the front seat. Now he had to go left to enter a round-about. It just seemed wrong.

Now he had learned to drive here in America and was now being told that there was another way that was the right way to drive. It was learned and had to be unlearned if he was not going to get himself and his family killed. This principle is also true in our spiritual lives. Much of what we have learned growing up could be attributed to being worldly and not spiritual or Christian (Christ like).

REVIEW - The Spiritual Battlefield

We are a threefold or three part being. We are a body, mind and a spirit. Often we are not aware of these parts of our being but we need to know that the enemy of our soul is. He is aware that each of us is weak or susceptible to attack at one of these parts. He does not waste energy and attacks us at our weakest point. He attacked Eve and Adam with a full frontal attack tempting them in all three areas. They saw the forbidden fruit as food for their body. They saw it as a way to gain wisdom and expand their minds. They saw it as something beautiful to be desired and sought after to enrich their spirits. They saw sin as the enemy wanted them to see it and were fooled into giving in and eating what was forbidden.

Jesus was attacked exactly as they were. He was asked to turn bread into food for his body. He was asked use human wisdom, his mind, to use the word of God for his own benefit. He was asked to surrender his spirit before the enemy and receive riches and authority in return. His body, mind and spirit were attacked. He was tempted exactly as Eve and Adam were. He was attacked just like we are today.

YOUR Spiritual Battlefield

Today the tactics are the same the enemy has just dressed them up in modern garb and is pawning them off as good as anything God has to offer. Only that is a lie. Paul warned the Corinthians about this when he wrote, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." ^{1 Corinthians 6.9-10}The enemy attacks and temps the body with cravings for alcohol or drugs or sexual encounters. The enemy attacks and temps the mind with boasting and greed for physical items that you can own and which can control you. The enemy attacks and temps your spirit with lust for power and position over others. He attacks and temps the body, the mind and the spirit. The battlefield and the tactics have not changed from the beginning.

What has changed makes all the difference. Jesus has come died for your sins. He has shown that the enemy can be defeated. When the devil had finished tempting Jesus he just left. "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit." ^{Luke 4.14} This same victory is available to us. We used to be sinners, defeated by the enemy again and again "but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God." ^{1 Corinthians 6.11} When you believe in Jesus we know that the following three things have happened.

First you are WASHED: That means that you have been prepared and are being prepared to be used of God. There are four washing that apply to the believer in the New Testament. The washing of water - Baptism. The washing of feet. The washing of suffering and the washing of the Holy Spirit. The washing of the individual is to prepare the body for surrender and spiritual control. It is to help remove the influence of the enemy and to deal with our physical cravings. (Detailed info about the four washings are available in the book "The Journey, The six basic truths that are the foundation of the Christian faith. by Bob Highland III)
Second you are SANCTIFIED: The reason God prepares us is so that we can be used as part of his kingdom. We are filled with his spirit and set aside for his designed purpose. We discover that we are not alone and we can submit to God's plan for our lives. The lusts of the spirit are replaced with a humbled and obedient heart.
Third you are JUSTIFIED: This word comes from the King James Bible of 1611 and was a great word to use then but has lost its meaning in our world. If you were taken into a courtroom and put on trial in 1611 at the end of the trial the judge could have pronounced you justified. He would have been saying you are innocent. The enemy is the accuser of our soul (mind) and he always wants to remind us that we are sinners. The truth is as a Christian you have been declared justified or innocent and as such the enemies words are a lie and should not affect how you live your life

Galatians 6.16-26 shows the two different natures that a person can have. On the one side is the sinful nature. Paul gives a list of items that separate a person from God. They are present when a person surrenders to the enemy and disobeys the directions of God. Just like Eve and Adam there are consequences for violating the directions given us by God. Some people read the list looking to see if they can skirt the edge by saying what they are doing is not on the list. Paul knowing people’s hearts finished the list with the words, "and the like." Even if it is not on the list you know if it is covered by the principles that make up the list. Control of the cravings of the body, stopping of boasting of the mind, leaving the lust of the spirit for the things of this world behind are all parts of defeating the enemy.

On the other side for the Christian is the Spiritual Nature. This runs contrary to the world. It is like driving on the other side of the road. You cannot just do it you have to concentrate and commit to making it happen. Instead of the wife and kids you have the Holy Spirit helping with directions. Instead of road signs you have the Word of God. Instead of the actions of the sinful nature, "hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions," you are given "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

There are three questions you need to answer:

Are you WASHED? Have you allowed God to completely cleanse you with his blood. Are you living an obedient life and submitting to God's will for your life?
Are you SANCTIFIED? Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to become a permanent part of your life? Are you listening to the directions he is giving you instead of the lies the enemy wants to whisper in your ear?
Are you JUSTIFIED? Have you fully accepted what God has done for you and to you. You are free from the guilt of past sins and able to live without fear a part of God's family.

You need to be completely submitted. Physically, intellectually and spiritually you need to be living for God and standing up against the enemy. Do that and you will experience what Jesus did after the temptation in the wilderness. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. You can have the same victory and power as part of your life. The choice is yours. Follow the path of Eve and Adam and be defeated or follow the example of Jesus and defeat the temptations of the enemy.

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Spiritual Warfare Part ONE

2011-09-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

What tactics does the enemy us to trip us up?

Can we learn how to win if we know these tactics?
Read 1st John 2.15-17

Bill Hybels tells a story in his book "Who You Are When No One's Looking" about a boating trip he took with his wife. They had borrowed a friend’s boat to sail around some Caribbean islands. They began to have problems. The motor overheated and the boat would barely move through the water. They were forced to stop and have the motor looked at. The mechanic replaced some worn hoses and said he hoped it would take care of it. Even as they started out of the port it was not running well. The boat was sluggish and had no power. The mechanic was standing on the dock as they pulled out. Bill called to him that it was not much better. The mechanic called back to check the propeller the first time they got a chance because it may have barnacles build up on it. Several hours later the boat was over heating again. Bill stopped the boat and decided to check the prop. He dove in and found that it was so incrusted with barnacles that it looked more like a ball than a propeller. He searched the boat to find something to remove them. All he could find was a butter knife. He had to dive under the boat with the butter knife and chip off some of the barnacles. With bleeding knuckles he was able to get enough off to stop the engine overheating and to finish the trip without any further problems. Until he knew what the real problem was he could not fix it. When he found out he had to work at it because it had built up over time because of neglect of the owner.

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." The boat with barnacles on the prop will not get anywhere, but the boat with a clear prop makes the whole trip safely. How we respond to the world and the tactics of the enemy will determine if we make the whole trip or get tripped up by the enemy.

The Spiritual Battlefield
I used to be a civil war buff. My favorite battle is Gettysburg. I have visited the battlefield in Pennsylvania on a number of occasions. Most people think Lee attacking across a mile of open ground is crazy and cannot understand why he tried. What most people don't know is that Lee had planned for mounted cavalry to attack from the rear. This would have broken the northern lines and brought a victory. The only problem was a young lieutenant officer stumbled on the southern cavalry and was able to turn them back before they came near to the main battle. The union officer was Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer. Both generals knew the battlefield and Lee knew that only a surprise attack from the back could bring a victory.

There is a spiritual battlefield that we need to know and understand if we are going to be victorious. The enemy of our soul is aware of it and has a set of tactics that he uses to defeat us. It does not have to be that way. We can be winners in this spiritual battle if we know the battlefield and stop the enemy from sneaking up behind us.

Paul knew this battlefield well. He wrote to the church at Thessalonica, "May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." First you need to know that you are a three part being. You are a body, a soul (mind) and a spirit. We may have trouble telling the difference between the mind and the spirit but God recognizes the difference. He has even designed His word so that "it penetrates even to dividing soul (mind) and spirit. ^{Hebrews 4.12} Then enemy know us better than we know ourselves. In fact his tactics are the same today they were on the first time he attacked.

The First Battle
Adam and Eve were living in the garden and everything was going great until the first attack of the enemy. He tempted Eve to eat. "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it..." ^{Genesis 3.6}

The enemy attacked the body by appealing to hunger. The enemy attacked the Spirit by showing her how good it looked and appealed to her pride and greed. The enemy attacked the Soul (mind) by making her believe that she could know more than God. The first battle was fought and over before anyone knew what had happened. The enemy used the same plan he has always used. He attacked where they were vulnerable. The first battle was a loss for humanity and a win for the serpent, the enemy, the devil, Satan was the winner.

Jesus on the Battlefield
Remember the tactics never change. The enemy knows the battlefield and he attacks to win. Jesus was lead into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. After forty days of fasting the devil arrived to attack. "The devil said to him, "if you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."" He attacked the hunger in Jesus' BODY. "The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” He attacked Jesus MIND trying to convince him to use scripture for his own benefit. "The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” The devil attacks and temps the SPIRIT of Jesus by giving him a shortcut to what appeared on the surface to be his goal.

Then enemy was using the same tactics on Jesus he used on Eve. He went after the body, the soul (mind) and the spirit. The difference is Eve did not stand a chance. She was not ready for the battle and she was completely defeated.

The Results of the Jesus Battle
Jesus was ready for the enemy. He knows his scriptures and has a personal relationship with God that goes deeper than just a few hours here and there. When he says "It is written.." he knew the power of those words and the need to be able to use them against the enemy. He is able to say, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written..." The battle here is not one sided. The battle is the enemy attacking and Jesus standing his ground. Jesus won and the enemy lost big time. "When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." The devil was not able to get through Jesus defense and had to withdraw. When it was over it was nothing like Adam and Eve being driven from the garden. Here is Jesus returning victorious "in the power of the Spirit."

Your Spiritual Battlefield
We live in this world with all its temptations. Much of what we have to make decisions about are put there by the enemy to trip us up. "For everything in the world - The cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the father but from the world." The attacks and the temptations we face are the same as Eve faced. They are the same as Jesus faced. First there are the CRAVINGS of the body. This can be food, drugs, alcohol. It is physical habits that move from wanting to wanting so bad they become cravings that control us and separate us from God. Second there are LUSTS of the Spirit. It is what we don't have but what we want. It is pleasing to the eyes. It is the kingdoms we want to rule over. It is the items of the world that we want and are willing to sell our souls for. Third it is the BOASTINGS of the Mind. This is the pride to believe we are smart as God. It is what you have or what you know. It is control and power of position. The attack is always in one of the three areas, the body, the mind or the spirit. It is always a craving, a lust or boasting. The enemy has had millenniums to perfect the attack and alone we cannot win the battle

Winning the Battle
Jesus gives directions to us as believers that are designed to help us get ready for the battle. ^{Matthew 6.1-18} We learn about three things we can do to prepare to win when we are attacked. Jesus says we are to GIVE. ^{Matthew 6.1-4} We learn to share instead of hoard. The spiritual principle of Give and it will be given takes over when we are living as spiritual beings. We are humbled by our relationship with God. The enemy attacks us with lusts. Jesus says we are to PRAY. ^{Matthew 6.5-15} We need to learn how to depend on God and not get caught up in the wanting of what we don't have till it takes over our life direction and purpose. We learn to pray for God to supply our needs and not our wants. The enemy attacks with boastings. The enemy attacks our body with cravings. Jesus says we are to FAST. ^{Matthew 6.16-18} He is using fasting to represent the learning how to control our cravings instead of them controlling us.

Part of the Battle is learning to Give, Pray and Fast. It is when we submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to change us and prepare us for the battle. You need to find ways to practice these three as a regular part of your life.

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Dealing with the really BIG problems in your LIFE!

2011-08-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

How do we handle the BIG problems in our life?

Read 1 Samuel 17

The problem with life is there are problems in every life. Now that may seem obvious but most people live life trying to avoid their problems. That can be a huge mistake when you consider the results of ignoring or refusing to face you problems. They usually get worse or they take over our lives to the point of making us incapable of functioning on any level of success or happiness.

I have always liked to root for the underdog. That may be why I make such a good fan of Seattle sports. We had the Sonics but now they are playing ball in the mid-west. We have the Mariners who were 1/2 game out of first place at the all-star break but now are 20 games back and fading. We have the Seahawks who did make it to the Superbowl and LOST! I root for them for the same reason I can root for a number 16 seeded team to win the NCAA basketball tournament. I like rooting for the underdog. The Bible details one instance when what appeared to be the biggest or smallest underdog won. That was David over Goliath. We all know the outcome but do we know why David won and why it helps us live our lives today? How can studying little David help us overcome or deal with real problems today? It would be good if you read 1Samuel 17 but even if you don't I can help you.

What are the Giants we could face in our life?

Giants are problems, issues, hang-ups, hurts, habits, obstacles
Giants taunt us... intimidate us...frighten us
Giants stand in our way
Giants keep us for living the life God has for us.
Giants can be relationship issues (family, marriage, friends)
Giants can be addictive bad habits, a crutch we use to escape (alcohol, drugs food, sex, TV, internet, sports)
Giants can be a fear that you are unwilling to face
Giants will paralyze us into doing nothing day after day
Giants are battles we are afraid to fight.
A Giant can be

can be a spouse who is mistreating you
can be a boss/supervisor who is harassing you
can be a church member who demands their own way and on one will deal with them
can be an adult taking advantage of a child
can stop you from dealing with sin
can be an excuse to keep from serving God
can be a money issue (too little or too much)
can be a health issue (yours or a love one)
can be loneliness, fear, doubt, lack of confidence, insecurity,...etc.

The simple fact is we all have giants we have to deal with and often don't. Giants can stop individuals, families, churches, nations. One giant stopped the nation of Israel and made them run in fear every time he came out to taunt them. That is something giants are good at. They like to taunt, they want to be noticed, and they want to make sure you are afraid of them.

NEGATIVE PEOPLE

There is a person you will have to deal with before you ever face your next giant. That is the well-meaning friend, family member, co-worker or fellow believer who just has to tell you why you cannot deal with your giant and why it is not a good idea to even try. First David had to deal with his negative brother Eliab. What are you doing here? Have you left the sheep to die? You are so wicked and conceited. I bet you came down here just to see the battle. Eliab knew every reason that David should not be here dealing with his giant. Eliab could not deal with the giant and I am sure he did not want to be made to look bad by is little brother. Negative people just seem to know how to push your buttons and to get you where it will hurt.

Then David has to deal with King Saul. Hey David you are too young. You are too small. You don't have the experience to handle a giant. David has to decide if he is going to be stopped by negative people and their words or if he is going to trust God for his strength and courage. It is only after you have dealt with negative people that you can deal with the real problem, the giant.

FACING YOUR GIANTS

When you are preparing to face your giants you need to

FACE them as quickly as possible or the will paralyze you with fear. The longer you wait the harder it will be. Fear eats away at your confidence and the longer it takes you to act, the more of your confidence it can erode.
FACE them or they will taunt you. The taunts will be waiting for you when you wake up and will be there when you are trying to go to sleep at night. The army of Israel heard it first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. They were being overpowered by the taunts (negative thinking) of the giant.
FACE them in your own way. You cannot wear the king’s armor and your abilities and experience are different from others. You need to be able to defeat the enemy not learn a new way of life.
FACE them in the name of the LORD God Almighty. You are a child of God and He wants you to be a winner. The real battle is His. He is the one who guide and teaches you how to deal with giants. You must remember you are never acting alone. Leave the negative people with their negative thinking behind and move forward with God.

WHAT YOU GET FOR FACING YOUR GIANTS

David wanted to know what he was going to get. He could expect to get wealth, the princess and no taxes for life. You may not expect to get rich facing your giants. Your wife will not let you keep the princess and I know the government is not going to let you go on without paying taxes but there is a greater reward. Any time you defeat a giant in your life you are able to move forward and to enjoy life free from the taunts and hindrances that come with such big problems. You will be free from fear. You will not have those negative thoughts every morning and every evening. You will discover that there are great rewards waiting for you beyond where you are now. You will be able to move on and live your life.

WHY GIANTS USUALLY WIN

Giants usually win, not because they are so big, but because of how we respond to them.

We forget to trust God. We see the giant and forget our God is bigger. Not David he served a victorious God
We remember our past defeats and failures and project them into the future. Not David he only remember his previous victories.
We trust in armor that is not made for us. Not David he used this God given gifts.
We believe the negative words of others. Not David he ignored his brothers and rejected the negative words of King Saul.
We listen to the taunts of the giant. Not David he knew no one was invincible.
We don't consider the rewards. Not David, there was money, a princess and no new taxes.

Not one of these should stop us, but usually they do. We don't lose to our giants because we as smaller, we lose because we let the giant win. It is not part of God's plan for giants to win over believers.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU WIN

Most people don't know what they are supposed to do when they win. David knew what to do and how valuable a win was to his future. Most people are overcome by the negatives in their life. They stew over them so much and so long that they are ingrained into their very being. We need to learn how to let go of our losses and how to us our wins. As a boy David kills a lion. No small feat for anyone. What does David do? He mounts the lion’s skin on his wall. Every day he can be reminded of his victory. As a boy David kills a bear. What does David do then? He mounts the bear skin on the wall so that every day he can look at it and be reminded that he is a winner. When David is confronted with a giant what does he remember? He remembers that he has a bear skin and a lion skin on the wall at home. Why not put a giant's spear up there too? David did the three things we have to do with any victory. First he CELEBRATED his victories. I can just see him dancing around the dead lion and bear. He skinned them and ate the meat. Then he took the hides and put them up on his wall at home. That way he could CHERISH these victories over and over. He could replay them in his mind and every time someone was over he could retell the story of his victories. Finally he COPIED his victories. Hey he killed a lion why not a bear. Hey he killed a lion and a bear why not a giant. Winners learn how to win and how to keep on winning. They copy their success and avoid repeating the loses. Each victory should be CELEBRATED, CHERISHED and COPIED.

DEALING WITH YOUR GIANT

FACE your giant head on. Warning this will place you in a situation you have been trying to avoid. The closer you get to your giant the bigger the giant gets. You have to face your giant up close and personal if you are going to be a winner.
RESPOND quickly or you will be paralyzed with fear and negative thoughts. You have to fight to win and you cannot fight if you are so afraid that you cannot do anything.
VISUALIZE your life without the giant. Great dreams require personal action. What can you do when you have dealt with your giant? How much better will life be? How well will you sleep at night knowing that there will be no taunting giant waiting for you tomorrow? It can and should happen.
FOCUS on a great-big God who loves you. He wants to help you deal with your giant.

The choice is yours, are you going to defeat the giant or are you going to continue to listen to the negative taunts of defeat? Gather up your stones and go get the giant that is stopping you and discover the freedom from giants.

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A Life Full of Ditches

2011-08-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

Why do we often miss the blessings of God?

Read 2 Kings 3.9-20

The answer to that question is we are not ready and we miss the blessing that God has provided. It is not that God does not do His part; it is we do not do our part and the blessings just pass us by.

Three kings start off to war against the king of Moab. These three kings are quite different. The first is a non-believer (Joram King of Edom), the second is a surface believer (King of Israel) and the third is totally committed to the Lord God (Jehoshaphat King of Judea). They take their armies the back way across the desert to have a tactical advantage over the King of Edom. Here are three armies in the desert loaded for battle and they run out of water. The two less religious kings want to call on some standard everyday prophets to guide them into knowing what to do but not Jehoshaphat. He knew that if you want to know God's will you need a prophet that is in touch with God. He wants well know Prophet Elisha. He has succeeded Elijah as the prophet of God and does not mess around. When he was taunted by a flash mob of teenagers who would not leave him alone and were making fun of his bald head he put a curse on them and forty-two of them were mauled by two bears.

When Elisha is called on by the kings he almost refuses because he does not want to help the two less religious kings but give in to help Elisha. Then he does the strangest thing he says he needs a harpist to play before he will speak for God. Elisha wants to have a religious service complete with music. Here he is in the desert with three armies dying of thirst and he wants to worship God. Then Elisha gave them directions to prepare for God's blessing and makes a promise if they follow his directions.

“This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you."

So here are three armies digging ditches in the desert. There is not a cloud in the sky, they are out of water. Some of the men must have thought they were digging their own graves. They go to bed tired, and very thirsty and when they wake up in the morning there is water flowing from the mountains running across the desert floor filling up the ditches they had dug the day before. If they had not dug those ditches the water would have run right past them but because they were ready for the water everyone had all they needed and more.

What Will it take for you to have water flowing in the ditches of your life?

When you have a need, a problem to deal with, when circumstances are beyond your control and you need God's help will that help come? There are five checks you can make in your life to be ready to receive the blessings God has for you. Remember if you are not ready to receive the blessings of God that does not mean God is not doing His part. How many times do you miss the blessings because you have not made preparations and the blessings just flow right on by?

CHECK #1 What Is Your Personal Relationship With God?

The three kings show us the levels that people can be at. Which king best represents your relationship with God?

King number one: The king of Edom. He was a non-believer, a pagan, a guy who had probably heard about God and hoped He existed but was not interested in a personal relationship. This is the type of person who keeps his fingers crossed just in case there is a God but who lives his life free from any personal relationship with the guy up there.
King number two: The King of Israel. Joram was a good king. Most of what he did in public was morally right and would lead you to believe he was a follower of God but a closer look at his life showed there were areas where he live like God could not see everything. He had a public relationship with God and a private life where he did not allow God access. He was a fan of God but not a fanatic for God. Now I am a fan of the Seattle Mariners. I would watch them the first half of this year. They went into the all-star break a half game out of first place in their division. We are now halfway through the last half of the season and they are NINETEEN games back and fading. If this was a horse race they would be running in the wrong direction. So I have stopped watching them play. As a fan I want to watch a winner. Now I have friends who are fanatics of the Mariners. Last place they still watch every game. If we lost every game it would be a record and they would celebrate. They are totally committed. Now Joram was a fan of God but he was not a fanatic. His commitment required no personal sacrifice.
King number three: Jehoshaphat had a personal relationship with God. His life was completely turned over and there were no hidden rooms in his life. He was the reason Elisha was willing to help.

Which King best represents your life and relationship with God? Your answer will not fool God so why not be honest and make any changes you need to prepare for his blessings in your life.

CHECK #2 What Is The Source Of Your Spiritual Information And Formation?

There are two choices we find here.

The prophets of your father and prophets of your mother: This was the prophet of the King of Edom and the King of Israel. Religion was something they knew about but it was not a deep personal thing. This means you are getting your information from a church or a pastor who is not in touch with God but who is popular and makes you and others feel good. This is not about church size as much as it is about the spiritual growth you can get from being part of that fellowship. According to a 2001 survey only 15% of the members of the Church of Sweden say they believe in Jesus, while 40% identify themselves as either atheist or agnostics. The church of Sweden has around 6.6 million members and around 100,000 show up on any given weekend. That is 1.5% show up on any given weekend. Another survey of the church of Sweden showed that the majority of their pastors are atheist or agnostic and the people prefer it that way. Not the type of church or leadership you need when you have a real spiritual need.
A prophet that may inquire of the LORD. This was the prophet that the King of Judea, Jehoshaphat, wanted to hear from. This is not about being popular or the biggest but about knowing God and having personal contact.

You need to make sure you are tied to a spiritual church with a pastor that believes in God and preaches, teaches and lives the word of God. He may be a little out of the ordinary, Elisha was. It may not be harp music but no matter the beat or the instruments it should bring you closer to God.

CHECK #3 Are You Involved In Worship That Brings You In Contact With God?

This may sound like a repeat to the last question but it is about how you are involved. You can go to the most spiritual church in the world but if you are not worshiping you are in need of some real help. There are two types of worship you need to be involved in. If you don't have both the blessings may be passing you by.

PERSONAL WORSHIP

This is a personal quiet time with God, his Word and his Holy Spirit. It is a relationship that is transforming you because you are meeting with God.

SHARED WORSHIP

This is about the worship you share in a service with other believers. It is not about showing up, they do that in the Church of Sweden, well 1.5% do. It is about being part of and worship God as part of a group of believers who have a personal relationship with God and who want to celebrate and share together.

You need to make sure you have personal and shared worship as part of your relationship with God.

CHECK #4 Are You Digging The Ditches Needed To Hold The Water From God?

Make this valley full of ditches. You need to have a life full of ditches ready to catch the blessings God has for you. A believer is directed by God to get ready for the blessings God wants to provide. The same blessings would pass a non-believer by.

You are called to dig lots of ditches. This is your responsibility. If you don't get ready don't be upset with God when you don't receive what you expected. Jesus said Give and it will be given. In other words dig the ditches if you want them full. With the measure you measure it will be measured to you. The more ditches you dig the more you can get. The Christian life is one of service, sacrifice and sharing. It is also one of receiving blessings from God.
You have to dig the ditches before the water comes or you will miss the blessings.
There is no warning that the water is coming, God works beyond where we are. Elisha said they would see neither cloud nor rain but the water would come. God was making it rain in the mountains the day before so it would fill up the ditches. We do not see how God always works but we can always be ready for the blessings.
There will be more water than you can handle so dig lots of ditches. When God give in good measure it is good measure. It is more than you can handle. It will be running over no matter how many or few ditches you dig.

CHECK #5 Are You Enjoying The Full Benefits Of The Water God Provides?

It is more than you will ever need.
All who stand with you will receive rewards even if they do not stand for God.
It is to refresh and revive you so you can go on the victory.
It is to be a deception and stumbling block to your enemies. The Bible says that when the water came the enemy army looked across and saw the sun reflecting on the water and thought it was blood. They thought the three kings had turned on each other. Then the King of Moab pulled a Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg and charged across and open field against a larger force that was well dug in. The results were the same. MOAB LOST!
It will lead to new victories that you cannot even imagine. The blessing of the ditches is not only in the moment of refreshment but in providing strength to win the battle that is still coming.

What Will it take for you to have a life full of ditches?

Every time there is a need, a problem or a circumstance you cannot handle you should start digging ditches to get ready for the blessings God is going to send your way. Here are three things you need to remember in applying this to your life.

You do not have, because you do not ask God. ^{James 4.2}
You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. ^{John 14.14}
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ^{1 John 5.14}

When you ask God he will show you where to dig those ditches. So dig them deep and long and prepare for a blessing beyond what you can imagine. Tough times are ditch digging times. Tough times we need to be giving so we can receive. Tough times are when we need to focus on God and what he is able to do for us. A life full of ditches is a way to know god is always at work in your life.

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Stand Firm

2011-07-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

What qualities are present in a church that makes it a place to attend and grow
as a Christian?

Read Philippians Chapter 4

The church at Philippi was a small church in a major non-Christian, pagan community with a large contingent of retired Roman military personal. Yet this small church was developing as a center of faith for strong Christian believers. Paul spoke of five qualities he saw in any strong church. Paul said with these qualities they "should stand firm in the Lord."

We in the modern church may not all face the same problems that they faced in the first century, but we need to be aware it could happen again. Just six months ago Egypt had a tolerance policy for Christian believers. Yet, look how fast the world changes. This past week a pastor of a church was killed. His church was burned down and the believers in that village are in hiding in fear for their lives.

Here in the United States we find that it is open season on believer in different ways. Let me set it up for you. This week a congressman from NY State was caught sending sexually explicit twitter post. As the story came to light he has been doing this for at least three years. Personally as a Christian believer I find this behavior unacceptable and I will say it, “SINFUL.” Speaking about this on his show this week Chris Matthews of MSNBC said the following about how Christians had responded to this. “"people in the rural areas of this country who are Christian conservative culturally - you can say backward if you want...don't like this kind of stuff.“1 We as Christian believers need to be aware that such attacks are growing more frequent and more open. Because of this we need to understand what Paul is talking about when he says “Stand firm,” it is about our position in this world and how we are viewed by this world. If Matthews wants to call me as a Christian, using his word, BACKWARD, then I can live with that. Now let me put it in a different light. Backward means I am going in a different direction than Mr. Matthews and his crowd. Backwards means I am still following directions given to me by God, His son Jesus and His Holy Spirit. Backwards means that I still read and believe the Bible. With this in mind, I choose to go backwards because it is actually toward God and away from sin.

Here is the basic you need to know this morning, even if you don’t hear anything else. “YOU SHOULD STAND FIRM IN THE LORD!” Then Paul list five qualities you will find in a spiritually strong church that is standing firm.

I. A Church That Is United! Philippians 4.2-3

There appeared to be problems in the church at Philippi. Paul encourages two women in the church, Euodia and Synthche, to agree with each other. He wants them to get along and stop causing problems. This does not mean we will always agree, what it does mean is that just because you do not agree that does not mean you get to be disagreeable. In the church we either choose side or we choose unity, but it is one or the other. Choosing sides leads to an ugly fight. Sometimes people just do not agree, that does not mean they have to be disagreeable. We are here to help each other as Christian believers. We are not here to take sides. It is supposed to be about eternal life not eternal strife.

In the article Four Ground rules for Life Giving Meetings by Brady Boyd ² he gives four points for having a good meeting. These also can be applied to getting along in the church and still having differing opinions on matters. Boyd points out that "A good meeting sounds like an oxymoron. Meetings are normally not the highlight of the day at the office or at the church. People dread them like a root canal and for good reason. Usually, a lot is said, nothing is decided and very little is done after the meeting is over. Either the meetings need to be cancelled or we need to change the way we do meetings. Let me make four suggestions.

1. Don’t put anything on the agenda that cannot be debated. (Here is the need for the local church to understand and to PRACTICE OPENNESS in their fellowship)* Patrick Lencioni wrote a classic book on this idea called, “Death by Meeting.” It should be required reading for anyone who leads. Lencioni compares a great meeting to a great movie - both need tension to be awesome. There are lots of rules that need to be made clear before you launch into a meeting filled with debate. First, all debate must be respectful and never become personal. Throw the grenade in the middle of the table, not at one another. Second, no one can be punished for asking the tough questions. Third, the leader of the meeting must encourage input from everyone in the room, not just the three or four strong personalities who love debate. Often the best ideas come from the people in the meeting who actually think before they speak.

2. Start on time and be on time (The church members need to SHOW RESPECT to each other. They will end up spending eternity together, one way or the other.)* My time is valuable and so is yours. If there is a meeting at 2pm, the proper time to arrive is 1:55pm. I am not a military dictator, but I do think it is rude to arrive late. It is also bad manners to start a meeting late and to go longer than announced. Start on time, be on time and finish on time.

3. Hold each other accountable for what was decided (The church needs a plan and it needs to have ACTION STEPS that make that plan happen.)*Lencioni has another classic book called “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” He believes most teams have little or no accountability and I agree. Meetings should produce action steps or resolves. Someone in the meeting must take ownership of each decision and be expected to report on the progress after a reasonable time.

4. Debate in private, support in public (It is not enough to talk about the unity of the church the members need to DEMONSTRATE UNITY as part of their fellowship. The world has seen enough church fights.)* If the team makes a decision that you do not agree with, the time to bring up your concerns is in the meeting and not later while in the break room. To be clear, the leader of the meeting needs to make sure everyone is heard and all the debate has happened before a decision is made. But once that happens, it is required that everyone own the decision and be willing to defend it publicly.”

II. A Church That Has Joy! Philippians 4.4-7

I believe that a church that is really serving the Lord, a church that is full of born again believers, a church that is committed to the sharing of the good news (gospel) of Christ is a happy, joyous place to be. Yet what bring a church to the place that they experience a real joy and can "Rejoice Always?" They will have qualities that are obvious to anyone who attends that church.

1. The Lord Jesus comes first. Paul said, "The Lord is near." He knew that it cannot be just a place that talks about Jesus it must be a place where his presence is real.

2. They do not worry. They are to be "anxious about nothing." The Lord is their provider, protector and is always present with them. So why should they worry or fear?

3. They are a praying people. "With petitions and thanksgiving and request" they are constantly taking their needs, concerns and hearts to the Lord.

4. They trust God to guard their HEARTS and MINDS so they can live at peach with each other.

Joy is not what you want to happen; joy is what happens when a fellowship of believers is practicing His presence in all their lives.

III. A Church That is Positive - Philippians 4.8-9

Norman Vincent Peale wrote a book titled "The Power of Positive Thinking." In his book Peale asserted that people practicing his “techniques” would give the reader absolute self-confidence and deliverance from suffering. He was highly criticized but was extremely popular. Peale saw the world in a very black and white contrast. The book was on the New York Times best seller list for 186 consecutive weeks. It sold around 5 million copies. I read it in high school and it did have a positive effect on me. Here is something interesting his greatest critics who were non-Christians said he used hypnotism on people and was “too religious.” His Christian critics said he was “too secular” and did not quote the Bible enough.

Positive thinking means you are focused on the things Paul listed. Things that are TRUE, NOBLE, PURE, LOVELY, ADMIRABLE, EXCELLENT, PRAISEWORTHY. Church members need to be positive people and they need to make sure they are focused on the ministry of Jesus and not the differences they have with each other. Pastors need to have positive messages about the Christian life and the response should be positive and produce people who are positive believers.

IV. A Church That Is Committed - Philippians 4.10-13

A church that is committed is not limited by circumstances. The church at Philippi was located in some tough circumstances. Surrounded by pagans the small church was a light of truth in a world that was extremely hostile to them. They had limited resources but they knew it is not what you have but who has you that makes the difference. It is not where you are but who is with you. It is about being content no matter what is happening knowing God is in charge of your life and that He makes no bad or wrong choices for those who trust Him.

V. A Church That Cares - Philippians 4.14-19

Every church should have a missional heart. This means that the church is committed to taking the news of Jesus to every part of their world. They are willing to see their responsibility like ripples in a pond, ever expanding. These ripples can be seen as they are here in our local church.

Local Church.... meeting each other’s needs and supporting the church and ministry through time, talents and financial gifts.
Local Community... It may be a ministry through boy scouts, a crisis pregnancy center, a youth program, a battered women's shelter, the key is that the church has to reach out to the world around them and make a difference.
State ministry... We support the Pacific North West Association of the Church of God. Our support reaches out to help struggling churches, youth camps, minster training and an inner constructiveness of fifty churches doing more together than anyone could do alone.
National Programs... Church of God ministries, located in Anderson Indiana coordinates ministry for the movement and is a vital part of our local identity and ministry.
World Outreach... The support of missions around the world. We support the Nachtigalls in their ministry in Europe.
Let me put this in perspective and show you what even a small church can do. In the first six months of 2011 Sonrise Church has sent out nearly $10,000.00 to missions at all layers beyond the local church.

That represents a church that is committed and cares about sharing the message of the good news.

A Church That STANDS FIRM!

We know that a Church that Stands Firm:

Is filled with UNITED believers who are looking forward to spending eternal life together.
It filled with JOY that they share together often and openly.
Is POSITIVE and shows the world that Jesus is the best thing that can happen to a person.
Is COMMITTED for the long haul and is not easily swayed or deterred by changing circumstances.
Is a church that CARES about sharing the message about Jesus with others without reservations or regrets.

All believers should be part a church that STANDS FIRM for their Lord and Savior Jesus. The best way to attend such a church is to make sure you are demonstrating these qualities in your own life. It is contagious.

Watch the message here.

See all available resources.

1 Read more: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2011/06/10/matthews-weiner-trouble-because-his-behavior-offends-culturally-ba#ixzz1OtREDl7b

2. The whole article is available here Four Ground rules for Life Giving Meetings

* Items in article in parentheses are added by Bob Highlands for his blog post.

Working On It - A look at Salvation

2011-06-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

When is a person finally saved? I know when they are completely saved. A person is completely saved when they accept Jesus as their personal savior. Just, some people see this as a get out of jail free card. It is not the start of a new life it is something they will use someday, but until then they just go on living and little if anything changes in their lives.

His name is Rollen Stewart. He is the guy who held up the John 3.16 signs at over 1,000 sporting events wearing a rainbow colored afro wig. He was married twice, and divorced twice. Rainbow Man or "John 3:16" guy has been seen by over 2 billion people around the world: World Series, Olympics, Superbowls, PGA golf, Miss U.S.A. pageants, the Pope in Alaska, Charles/Diana wedding. He has been parodied on The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, and other TV shows. He saw it as his mission in life to get the message out and hopefully to make some money along the way. The second divorce was when he choked his wife for holding up the John 3.16 sign at the wrong time. He was briefly jailed by Moscow police at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He used stink bombs in a Robert Schuler's Crystal Cathedral, a Christian bookstore, a newspaper office Trinity Broadcasting Network and several other locations. Then on September 22, 1992 he thought the end of the world was only six days away. He wanted to draw attention to this fact so he kidnapped two day labors and a chambermaid with a gun at a hotel at the LA airport. When cornered by the police he wanted to make a three hour press conference to tell the world about the coming end. Instead they used concussion grenades and arrested him. Following a trial he received three life sentences for kidnapping. People weekly ran an article about him that was aptly called “END OF THE RAINBOW.” He was last denied parole in 2005.

Now I am not his judge when it comes to his soul, but I do hope he has repented and gotten his life back on track. Somehow I do not believe that this is how God wants someone to live as a witness for Jesus. Non-Christians or Pre-Christians (new term I thought you would like) anyway pre-Christians make fun of him and use him as a reason NOT to believe.

The messenger may be tainted, but the message is not, or at least it should not be.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ^{John 3.16} What I want to know is does it make any difference how a person lives between the time someone believes and when they receive eternal life. Eternal life does not start until after you have died. Is it possible for a person to "believe" and not get eternal life?

SALVATION 101 - "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." ^{Romans 1.16} The gospel or good news is that Jesus died and rose again for the payment of our sins. Yet it is conditional you have to believe. It is not just given to everyone even though it is available to everyone. Those who believer have experienced salvation which changes them from a sinner separated from God to a child of God waiting to spend eternity with their heavenly father.

WORKING IT OUT

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." ^{Philippians 2.12-13} emphasis added Paul clearly says salvation is something that has to be continued. It is not static or an event isolated in time from the rest of your life. It is something you have to work at. It is not something you put away and wait to use at some later date. Yet, we need to be careful that we do not think we are earning our salvation in any way. Even here Paul lets us know that it is "God who works in you." We are to continue to work out our salvation. This means every day we are to live in such a way as to show the world and our heavenly father that we are saved and changed because of it. The life we lived before we got saved is no longer acceptable. We are now in a new relationship with God and need to make adjustments in our life that reflect it. Our decisions, actions and attitudes should reflect the presence of God in our lives. Yet salvation is not the end but the beginning.

PRESS ON!

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." ^{Philippians 3.12-14}

There is no doubt that Paul does not have it in his grasp yet. It is still to be obtained. Like a runner in a race he has to look forward and not look back. If he is going to win he will need to keep his eyes on the prize that is ahead of him. He knew that Jesus had said “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” ^{Luke 9.26} He knew of the warning the messengers had given Lot when he and his family hesitated in leaving the city as God had told them to. "When he [Lot] hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” ^{Genesis 19.16-17} Jesus warned to press on and not look back. Lot was warned to flee and not look back. Paul instructs us to strain "toward what is ahead." We are to "press on toward the goal to win the prize."

THE PRIZE

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." ^{1 Corinthians 9. 24-27}

The Prize, eternal life, is still in the future. We are running a race, living our lives, striving to finish what we have started with Jesus. If you do not finish the race you will not get the prize. You are to run to finish. You are to run to win. Paul, the great saint of God, who has one of the most dramatic salvation experiences on record. He got to visit heaven while still alive. He has a life of dedication compared to none. This is the guy who wrote 27 or 28 of the New Testament book or over 40% and he still says he has to make sure he is not disqualified. Then I sure better pay attention and be aware that what I started is not finally finished until I stand before God and hear well done.

I watched a show about Navy seal training. It is six months of grueling mental and physical training that is so tough that half are out in the first week. The end of the training is a physical exercise that can break some of the toughest. On the show they are laying on their backs in rows passing a log back and forward. It is night, it is raining, cold and the wind is blowing. Back and forward they pass this log until one guy says he wants out. The seal commander for that exercise stopped them and ask the guy, "are you sure." He said yes and was told to go ring out. He had to go the up and ring a bell which meant he quit. He rung it and just collapsed. Meanwhile the other guys are there holding logs over their heads when the commander blew the whistle and yelled, EVERY BUDDY UP! It was less than a minute since the guy rang the bell when they were told. Congratulations you are now navy seals! The guy missed it by just that much.

Paul is warning us that we cannot see the end but we need to run planning to win the prize. We need to make sure we are there when everything is made final. Paul is warning us not to give up and miss what we have lived so long for.

FINAL ADOPTION

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." ^{Romans 8.22-25}

It's not over till it's over. We have been included into the family of God through our salvation. This inclusion will be made final when we stand before God at the end of our lives and receive our new bodies. "In this hope we were saved." Hope is about the future and is what keeps a person going. "We hope for what we do not yet have." That is a time when we are finally saved, a time when we are no longer in the race. The time when we have entered into eternity and no longer hope but are actually experiencing the complete presence of God as a member adopted forever.

When a couple wants to adopt a child they go through a long process. It may take years and it is not complete until they stand before the judge who declares the adoption final. At that moment the child goes from being adopted to finally and completely adopted. There are reason that could keep it from happening, but when it happens it is final.

When a person is saved it starts at a moment in time when they believe and call on Jesus as a personal savior. This is the past for anyone who in a believer. They then have to live every day with a goal in mind, with the prize in the future. The day they look forward to is when their adoption is complete, when they enter into eternity, when they have the prize they have sought for all their believing life. Any time before the end of their lives they can turn away from Jesus. They can choose a different path. The believer can leave the race and live their life anyway they want to. It is their choice, but if they do they lose the prize. Eternal life with God will not be waiting for them.

DROPPING THE TROPHY

It had been 18 years between wins of the Copa Del Rey soccer trophy for the Madrid team. As the team celebrated and rode through the streets of town on an open top buss it was defender Sergio Ramos holding the 33-pound trophy up over his head. It was 4:15 a.m., it was raining and he is not a goalie so he doesn't use his hands most of the time, but whatever, it was then when it slipped out of his hands, tumbled down the front of the bus and was run over by the right front wheel. The club said that the trophy will be repaired. "It is not in good shape, evidently, it was run over by a bus," Madrid spokeswoman Marta Santisteban told The Associated Press. "It has to be fixed."

It was tragic but not the end of the world. More tragic is never getting to the prize. We are to live our lives, run the race, press on, and continue to work out our salvation right up until the very end. We start by believing and accepting what Jesus has already done for us. It is a lifelong process like a race that we run to win. The prize has been provided by God, it is eternal life. We are not done or finally adopted until we stand before God who judges all and hear him call us as his children into eternity with him.

You need to "continue to work out your salvation" by living your life every day for God as a believer in Jesus who is your personal savior.

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Understanding Jesus

2011-05-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

What was Jesus doing here, anyway?

Read Philippians 2.1-11

Remember that Jesus is God. It took the church over 400 years to figure this out. That Jesus is all God and all human at the same time is beyond what we can really understand, but it is true.
What reason would he have for coming here as a human? Was he in need of a vacation? Was he checking how the other side lived? Was he hiding out from an overload of prayer request? Did he have a reason for coming and becoming a human?

We are faced with an IF, THEN proposition. This is the same thing we use with our kids. We tell them, IF you eat you veggies, THEN you can have a cookie. If we have been united with Christ and it has had a positive impact on our lives; If we find comfort from his love so that we have a deep relationship; If you have fellowship with the spirit on a daily basis; If this has brought any tenderness and compassion so that you feel about things as God does, THEN there will be results in our lives. Then we will think like Jesus, like what Jesus likes, be an unselfish person who puts the interests of others first.

Doesn't sound like your life? Sounds more like a fantasy or an ideal you cannot reach. Or you are thinking that was easy for Jesus because he was God. Well it was not easy for Jesus because he was a human. It comes down to the attitude we take about life. We either have a positive attitude or we have a negative one. We will need to discover how to think and love like Jesus did if we are going to be successful in our lives. BUT how can this be possible? We are only humans.

UNDERCOVER BOSS?
Reality TV is television at its lowest level. It borders on mindless. Now before you think I am putting you down because you watch Dancing with the Stars or American Idol let me set you mind at ease. Two of my favorite shows are reality TV shows. Dirty Jobs is about this guy Mike who goes around and does the jobs that people do every day. He does jobs like cleaning out a sewer or raising baby alligators or pumping septic tanks. In every show he says something like, "Man that is the worst smell I have ever smelled." The other show I like is Man VS. Food. This guy travels around the country eating food with more calories and fat per bite than you should take in during a day. Then at the end of the show he has an eating challenge. Can he eat the eight hottest hot wings in the world? The people who cooked them had to wear rubber gloves and special breathing masks to keep from getting pepper burns. I watch it to see if he will explode or have a heart attack.

This brings me to Undercover Boss. The website for this reality TV show says, "Undercover Boss is a reality series that follows high level corporate executives as they slip anonymously into the rank and file of their own companies." Right, a guy shows up for work, puts on a hat, apron, and punches in while be followed around by a film crew and no one notices. Really? They guy is an executive who pays more for his shoes than any of the people he is going to work with make in a week. Even they are not that naive. This is how some people think Jesus came to the world. They think it was a temporary assignment. They think that Jesus slipped in for a few hours or days and then went back. That is about as far from the truth as you can get.

JESUS IS GOD
That brings us to what really happened. "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." The fact is that he was God in every way before he came to earth. Yet here we find that he needed a way to not be God or not be God completely. He, Jesus, God, made himself a servant. He, Jesus, God, made himself a human. Now that is a really big step. He went from God to human in one great step. This step was so that he could do the three things that God cannot do. Yes I know God is all powerful, all knowing and all present. Yet there are three things God needed to do in order to help humans that he could not do as God. He was made in human likeness. This is not to look like or to imitate like an undercover boss, this means he became human. He was just like us or in human likeness. He did this to accomplish his goal of helping humans. So Jesus, God, had to do what God cannot do.

THE TRANSITION
First God has no beginning. One of the key elements that makes God, well God, is that he is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. Humans on the other had all have a beginning. We all start our lives as babies. That is all the further back we go. So God who has no beginning came to earth in human likeness as a baby. So he who is eternal also has a beginning as a human.
Second God cannot be tempted. God is all powerful and there is nothing that can tempt God. Being tempted is a human condition. The first humans were tempted and gave in; just as every single one has since then. When Jesus came as a human he was then subject to the human condition of being tempted. The difference between Jesus and all those who went before him was he was prepared to resist. He was tempted in every way as we are. He was tempted in body, soul and mind. In the wilderness Satan came at him from every direction. Jesus was tempted but did not give in.
Third God cannot Die. God is eternal and eternal means forever in both directions. Before anyone or anything existed God had always been there. When everything is gone God will still be there. The human condition is to die. Every human is subject to die. Some sooner than others but everyone dies. When Jesus, who is God, became human it also made it possible for him to die. Jesus died on the cross for us. This is not the action of an Undercover Boss. This is the action of a person who has committed everything by being made in human likeness.

UNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSE OF THE TRANSITION
"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" This was not some stunt for a reality TV show. This was deadly serious. He took on the "appearance as a man" so that he could die. It was a death to pay for the sins of humans who had been tempted and sinned. This separated them from God the father. Jesus came as a savior or the one to take their, our, place. He had come to die on the cross. This was necessary for our restoration to fellowship with God and it was a payment for our sins. Without this no one could ever have their sins forgiven.

TRANSITIONING BACK
We learn that after he had died and was resurrected for the sins of human kind he was again lifted up so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." There are no exceptions to this rule. Whether they accept the death of Jesus on the cross or not everyone will find themselves before him in eternity. There is no exception to this rule. They will confess the Jesus is God and Lord. They will either be before him with gladness, anticipation and great expectations or they will be there with sadness, regret and the knowledge that they will not get another chance.

YOUR ATTITUDE
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." This is referring to how he handled his life here when he was human. We are talking about when he was faced with temptation and all the challenges of life. How did he do it and can I do it. You know we are only human. Remember Jesus was human. He showed us how to do it. He showed us how to live our lives day in and day out. He was born just like the rest of us. He was tempted and did not give in. He wants to help us to overcome temptation. He died for our sins and he has prepared a place for those who believe to live eternity with Him. Jesus was human and he showed us how. We can do it with his help. We need to have the attitude that Jesus had when he was human.

What was Jesus doing here, anyway? Besides dying for our sins he was showing us how to live our lives every day.

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WHATEVER HAPPENS!

2011-05-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Living Out Loud
Whatever Happens

Dateline May 21, 2011 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. DID YOU MISS IT? It was a monumental event that was covered by the news on almost every channel. One man spent his entire life savings putting ads up on New York City buses and in train stations. It was billed as a onetime event, never to be repeated. What was it? It was the END of the WORLD? So where were you when the world came to an end? I was at my office desk where I had been for four hours. I was finishing up this sermon wondering if I was wasting my time. Why get ready to preach if the world is coming to an end? Yet I knew it was not going to happen. Jesus is very clear in scripture that no one knows the day or hour. ^{(Matthew 24.36)}Yet here were people getting ready for a certain date and a certain time even though Jesus said no one knows. I have a personal theory that God will never let the world end on a day one of these preachers of doom says it is going to happen. That guy would walk around heaven going "I told you so." We would never hear the end of it. God would not do that to the rest of us.

The problem is people either do not know what the Bible says or they do not believe it. In either case they are leaving themselves open to crackpot preachers spouting bad theology that will mess up their lives. This also applies to other scriptures. When someone takes a scripture is taken out of context it can be made to say a whole different thing than was ever intended by the author or his God who inspired him to write it.

When we read "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" ^{Philippians 4.13} do we know what Paul is making reference to? First do we know what it means and second do we believe it? In the movie Master and Commander a British ship captain has to train and then push his crew to their limits. At one point he is pushing them to load their deck guns twice as fast as they ever have done it before. He is trying to get them ready to take on another ship that has they outgunned. The have to learn how to do it better and faster because their lives depend on it. We have to learn how to live in such a way that permits us to face the toughest the world can throw at us and still be able to follow Jesus. Paul had been through some pretty tough times before he wrote Philippians 4.13.

"I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." ^{2 Corinthians 11.23b-28}

Whatever Happens

First Paul is not the guy I want to travel with. He is on by personal no fly with this guy list. Yet, Paul was able to write "I can do everything..." Well everything happened to Paul and on a list of tough stuff his beats anyone list I have ever seen. Paul wrote to the believers at Philippi, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel." ^{Philippians 1.27} Now "whatever happens" covers a wide spectrum. It would include everything positive and everything negative. It means when Paul was lost at sea he was still a believer representing Jesus. When I was in college I worked in a grocery store. I was the only Christian in the whole crew and as an assistant manager going to school to be a minister they watched me closely. One day I smashed my had between a large stocking cart and a freezer door handle. One minute everything was alright and the next I was on my knees my hurt hand in my lap. The pain was so severe that all I could see was a speck of light in my eyes. Then I heard it from one of my co-workers, "go ahead and cuss it will help." They had never heard me cuss and it was what they thought I should do under the circumstances. Here I was in some of the worst pain I have ever known and still I had to represent Jesus. To "cuss" at that moment would have hurt my witness for Him. Whatever happens means even in the worst of circumstances you are to "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel." Paul says "it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had.." ^{Philippians 1.29-30} If you believe then you can also expect to suffer and struggle. Not exactly what you are hearing from most pulpits, but that is what the New Testament says.

Don't Embarrass Your Parents

Now before I go on I need to make sure you understand this principle clearly. When I was a small boy my dad would look at me and my brothers and say, "now don't embarrass your parents." That covered everything you could imagine. When in church set still and listen. When spoken to by an adult say "yes sir" or "yes ma'am." It meant wherever we were we represented out parents and if we did something wrong it would reflect on them. That applies to us as Christians we are not to embarrass our heavenly father. Even if we have just got our hand smashed and are in extreme pain. Don't embarrass God. If you are lost at sea, don't embarrass God. You are to "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel." How do you conduct yourself then? Paul said that the believer needed to do three things. They need to stand firm in one spirit. This unites them with God. They need to contend as one man for the faith of the Gospel. This unites them with other believers. They need to do this without being frightened in any way by those who oppose them. They are united against the forces of evil. That way whatever happens they are doing the right thing and not embarrassing God.

Do Everything

How are you supposed to handle these situations? "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." ^{Philippians 2.14-16} We are to be a positive people. When something tough comes our way we need to take it as a challenge to be conquered. As children of God we are to be pure and blameless or we are not to embarrass God. The world is crooked and depraved and embarrasses God every day. Make God proud, he wants to boast about your life.

I Can

This brings us back to where we started. Here in Philippians 4 Paul lays it all for us. "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." ^{Philippians 4.10-13} What has God given him the strength for. In every situation, in every circumstance, whether he has plenty or is in need. When he was hungry God was there. It does not say he got food it says it was given the strength he needed when he was short of food. "Whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want I can do everything through him who give me strength." Here it is as simple as it can be said. Whatever happens do not embarrass your heavenly father!

I Choose Jesus

by Bob Highlands 2011

Lord I place within your hands

All my life, my hopes my plans.

You make the choice

I but listen for your voice.

If my life should overflow

Or just hear a gentle no

I want to be content

And go where I am sent.

Even when it is dark as night

Every way with you is right.

Whatever happens I say

Thank you for another day.

I want to make you proud

And hear you say out loud

Well done, well done.

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