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Beliefs Matter: It Really Does Make A Difference What We Believe About the One Spirit Ephesians 4

12 Sep

One New Year’s Day, in the Tournament of Roses parade, one of the more beautiful floats suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone was able to get some more gas for the float. Do you know which float it was? The one representing the Standard Oil Company. With its vast resources of oil, its truck sat there helpless.

We need to talk today about the One Spirit, which is our power supply? How has your power supply been working for you this past week?

It matters what we believe; it affects spiritual health.   Eph. 4:5 speaks on seven 1’s which serve to unite us. As we are One Body, we also possess One Spirit, which works in each of our lives.

 How do we begin? Obviously the Spirit is holy (divine) – God is Father, Son, & Spirit.

The Spirit is spirit. He is not flesh and blood, is not tangible. That makes for much of our difficulty in grasping a better understanding of him.

he Spirit is not the same as the word. The phrase “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17) says that the word is the Spirit’s sword, so the word cannot be identical with the Spirit.

If we say “the weapon of the soldier is a rifle,” that does not mean the soldier is a rifle. Rather, the rifle is distinct from him, it is his weapon, an entirely different entity. So if the sword of the Spirit is the word of God, then the word of God is a separate entity from the Spirit, it is his weapon.

  • The Spirit is personal – a he, not an it
  • The Spirit lives inside every Christian: (Romans 8:9 NIV) You, however, are controlled not by the [flesh] but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
  • (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NIV) The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. {13} For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
  • The Spirit is powerful: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
  • The Spirit living in us is a down payment on our future inheritance: (2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NIV) Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, {22} set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
  • The Spirit living in us indicates we are God’s children: (Romans 8:16-17 NIV) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. {17} Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
  • (Galatians 4:6-7 NIV) Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” {7} So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
  • The Spirit is involved in transforming us. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. {18} And 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 the Spirit.
  • He also intercedes for us in prayer; convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; empowers us to speak boldly; and gives us gifts.

We can tell whether we really believe God’s truths by how we live our lives. Belief isn’t tested so much theoretically as practically. Again, the reason God wants us to believe his truths is not merely so we can pass a doctrinal test; rather, it is so that we will have healthy spiritual lives. If we examine our lives, that’s how we clarify what we really believe. So do you believe in the One Spirit?

One important way is to see whether we believe in One Spirit:

(Romans 7:6 NIV)  But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

What does that mean? How can we tell which way we are in fact approaching it?

Some characteristics of the old way of the written code:

  • Law, rules, focus on externals (attendance, conformity, concern over that which is outward and appearances)
  • Pride and superiority or guilt and inferiority
  • There’s comparison and concentration on human effort
  • And it is exhausting (Galatians 3:3 NIV) Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
  • If this is your pattern, Jesus wrote this: (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. {29} Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
  • Biting and devouring others (Galatians 5:15 NIV) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
  • Being a control freak, “It is our determination to be independent by being in control that makes us unavailable to God” Richard Neuhaus.
  • “Those who are filled with the Spirit have died to that determination, surrendered their right to be in control, and made themselves radically dependent on and available to the Holy Spirit.” Stephen Seamands

Some characteristics of the new way of Spirit

  • Belong to Jesus as if married (Romans 7:1-4 NIV)  Do you not know, brothers–for I am speaking to men who know the law–that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? {2} For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. {3} So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. {4} So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
  • Is your relationship by marriage dominated by rules & regulations for your spouse???
  • Bear fruit to God (Galatians 5:22-26 NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. {24} Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. {25} Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. {26} Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
  • “Ministry, if it is to be fruitful—not merely productive—must be through the Holy Spirit,” Stephen Seamands. Productive: means it likely comes from us…from our effort.
  • Changed being (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV)  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. {18} And 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 the Spirit. (whole lot easier to act compassionately if we are in fact compassionate)
  • You know the love of God (Romans 5:5 NIV) And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
  • Choose to go along with the Spirit: (Galatians 5:25 NIV)  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

(Ephesians 4:30 NIV)  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

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

How do you change to the “new way” of the Spirit

  • Deliberately stop thinking in terms of rules (cf. die to the law). Am I good enough? (of course not!). Is it a sin to…? God didn’t give us law, lists, etc. that was totally dominate our thinking…this isn’t the usual language of the new way in the Spirit.
  • It’s legalistic in its way of thinking
  • Instead, start thinking in terms of relationship, pleasing someone we love who is close to us.
  • Re-envision your Christianity in terms of being in a relationship with God. (remember, I will not leave you as orphans, children of God).
  • Talk to him respectfully but as in a real relationship, open yourself up to him, pour your heart out to him, greatest commandment is to love God w/ all our heart, soul, mind, & strength, what does that mean?
  • I’ve done this and that…”what else do you want me to do?”
  • What does it mean to love our spouses or our children or our friends? The idea of WWJD is pretty good, except that it has become pop religion and frequently doesn’t have much substance to it.
  • Can we really do WWJD or even know WWJD if we aren’t also doing what he did regularly in terms of spending time alone with God?
  • Give God opportunities to write his word on our hearts (pray, open, read, meditate)—this fits fruit-bearing. You must come to a personal understanding of what that means

 If we want the power of God to transform our lives, we need to do some work and also make ourselves available for God to do some work to transform us deep within by the power of his Spirit.

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2024 in God

 

Beliefs Matter: It Really Does Make A Difference What We Believe About the One Body Ephesians 4:4; Romans 12:3-8

09 Sep

* Appreciation to Marvin Bryant

In the year 1212 a French shepherd boy by the name of Steven claimed…he’d had a vision from God and it was an appearance where Jesus told him to go to the Holy Land and pick up a letter and deliver it to the king of France. He set out and as he traveled he told anyone who would listen and before long he had a huge crowd of children. He eventually arrived at the Marci and the waters of the Mediterranean did not part as they had anticipated. Instead they met two men, Hugo Ferris and William Porcos, who were impressed with what they perceived their mission to be….and offered them free  passage across the Mediterranean. Several hundred children boarded one of the seven ships provided…but instead of going to the holy land, they were taken to north  Africa and to the Muslin slave markets, where Steven and everyone of the children were sold into slavery. They never reached the holy land.

Beliefs matter.

If we don’t believe God’s truths, we won’t reach the promised land either. Not because we failed an arbitrary doctrinal test, but because unhealthy beliefs lead to unhealthy spiritual life; our beliefs affect the way we live, leading us to spiritual health or spiritual ruin. Beliefs matter.

We received from God’s Word much instruction on HOW we should live and WHAT we should believe. Sometimes we might tempted to think we’d like more of the HOW and less of the WHAT. I don’t know which way that may go in your life, but the fact is that God has given us both of them.

Last week we noticed that in order for us to be a genuine people of God there is a certain life we need to live and also certain belief matters we need to share. Our lifestyle is tremendously important, but in this series we are focusing on the belief matters.

We noticed that in Eph 4 God gives us 7 belief matters that we need to hold on to in order to be a part of God’s true people—these are beliefs that really matter. Today we are going to look at the first one he mentions, the one body, which is a reference to the church.

Every true believer is a part of God’s one church (Matt. 16:13-18)

(Matthew 16:13-18 NIV)  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” {14} They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” {15} “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” {16} Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” {17} Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. {18} And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

The One Body is the church that Jesus built in the 1st century.

Chrisian means “one who belongs to Christ,” and that should be our primary identity as individuals. The primary group identity is that we belong to the one body.

More than any other identity I may have as an individual, I see myself as “Christian.” Church refers to the group of all those who belong to Christ and that should be our primary group identity. More than anything else that gives me identity, I am a Christian, part of the body church.

Secondarily I may be right-handed, good-looking and funny or maybe not. Maybe I’m rich, liberal, democrat, Republican, Lithuanian, basketball player, from Montana or Tennessee, a guitar player, who loves quiche, but all that is secondary to my main identity as a Christian, a part of the church.

Because I am a believer and if you are a believer—we have a unique relationship to all others who are also part of this one body.

Let’s turn to Romans 12 for a few moments. There’s a little verse there that might “get next to you” a little. Some of the things we see in this series are going to “rub us wrong.” They have that tendency in my life, unless I take on a particular mindset. But it’s only fair that if it “bugs” me I ought to inflict some of that one you!

Being a part of God’s one church includes having a unique relationship and connection with everyone else who is a part of this group:

(Romans 12:4-5 NIV)  Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, {5} so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Did you notice anything there at “rubs you wrong?”

You’ll notice that the phrase “belongs to all the others” differs from the independent spirit Americans value, but American is not my primary identity—that’s secondary to this.

We have this God-created connection even with people who are different from us and with whom we might not otherwise associate:

(Galatians 3:28 NIV)  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Besides, those identities are secondary:

  •  But this does mean, like it or not, that we have that special connection with those Christians whose secondary identity is Democrat and those whose secondary identity is Republican.
  •  You & I belong to those believers whose secondary identity is liberal & to those whose secondary identity is conservative.
  •  You & I belong to those Christians who also, secondarily, could be described as poor, middle class, or rich.
  •  We are all one & we all belong to each other. Not all of these will meet together in the same worship assembly, due to distance certainly, sometimes due to differing languages & perhaps sometimes due to different cultural matters, but never due to barriers that are secular and fleshly.
  •  But even in circumstance when we don’t all meet together, we are all still a part of the one people of God.

As we continue to go through a list of our oneness with people of all kinds of secondary identities, at some point we may begin to wonder whether all those people are a part of God’s church….or if we can be comfortable in some associations.

It is true, according to Jesus, that not everyone who claims to belong to him really does :

(Matthew 7:21 NIV)  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

There will be times when we will have to come to some conclusions about who is part of the one body. How do we come to those decisions? We let God and His Word tell us! If we should begin a process to add shepherds to the leadership of this congregation, we would want to use God’s definition to make certain they are Christians, wouldn’t we?

While it will never be my place (or yours) to decide on the eternal fate of anyone, we will be called upon from time to time to let God’s word define and clear up some matters as they relate to our ministry here at Parkway or in the community.

According to Jesus, you know by their fruit, the way they live their lives. According to Eph 4, beliefs matter also, at least some certain core beliefs.

As we go about involving people in our various ministries and having fellowship with others, we will sometimes have to make some decisions about whether we think a person in fact is a part of God’s people, but we need to remember those decisions are not definitive. God knows who his people are; we too will often know, although not perfectly.

In this one group of God’s people, not only are we different in that we have a great variety of secondary identities, we are also different in gifts. In this way we are similar to a human body—many parts to our bodies, and each part has a different function. That’s how we are in the body of Christ.

So what? We are all a part of God’s one church, we all belong to each other, even with people who have a secondary identity that’s really different from us, and we all have different gifts/functions. So what? Well, what we really believe about these matters will affect the way we live. It’s easy to say we agree with these truths God has given us about the one body, but the test of whether we really do believe them is how we live our lives, especially how we live them in relation to the other parts of the one body

Some lifestyle matters that test whether we really believe in the One Body.

Attitude toward other members of the One body

(1 Corinthians 12:14-16 NIV)  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. {15} If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. {16} And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. (if you believe you are inferior to others in this one body, I am not so certain that you truly believe in the one body of Christ.)

(1 Corinthians 12:21 NIV)  The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (if you believe you are superior than someone else in this one body, I am not so certain that you truly believe in the one body of Christ.)

(1 Corinthians 12:24-25 NIV)  while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, {25} so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

If you believe in the one body, you know we are equally special and important!

(Romans 12:15 NIV)  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

(1 Corinthians 12:26 NIV)  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

When someone is hurting, to say “don’t cry” or “get over it” contradicts the word of God. To rejoice at someone’s misfortune contradicts the word of God. To be disappointed when someone is blessed or rewarded contradicts the word of God. If we do such things, it calls into question whether we really believe we are all part of the One Body of Christ.

Attitude toward and use of our gift(s) in the One Body.

Respect the diversity of gifts. Don’t insist everyone be like you. Do you have the misshaped idea that everybody ought to be involved in the ministry you are involved in…rather than realizing that we have different interests and talents…and we need all of them!

Don’t seek to have a gift you don’t have for wrong reasons: the ones you may humanly perceive to be more prestigious or powerful or self-gratifying. That’s not what these are about.

Whatever gift or gifts we do have, we are to use them to serve & edify the One Body.

(Romans 12:6-8 NIV)  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. {7} If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; {8} if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

(1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV)  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

(1 Corinthians 14:3 NIV)  But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

What God has enable us to do is not about me & my gift & making a name for myself; it’s about using the gifts God has entrusted to me for the benefit of others.

Whether we respect the diversity of gifts & use ours for others, indicates whether we believe in the One Body.

If we think “this thing we do called church” is primarily about attendance, I question whether we believe in the One Body.

Love for other members of the One Body.

(1 Corinthians 12:31 NIV)  But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

When it comes to my relationships w/ all the other members of the One Body, am I … (vv. 4-7)? Paul is painfully specific about what it means to be “lovers of the one body!” You don’t hear Paul saying “well you have to love them but you don’t have to like them.”  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV)  Love is patient…kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. {5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Whether we love all the other members of the body indicates whether we believe in the One Body.

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2024 in Church

 

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Posted by on August 13, 2024 in Main

 

Decision Making

28 Jul

There is a thought-provoking scene in Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tale, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  Young Alice comes to a fork in the road and asks the Cheshire Cat which direction she should take.  “‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.

“‘I don’t much care where –’ said Alice.

“‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you walk,’ said the Cat.”

Life is filled with decisions, many of which never even reach our conscious level.  Which socks to wear?  Which lane to drive in?  Most of these decisions are made out of habit.

There are some decisions that you spend time thinking about.  What sounds good for lunch?  Which voicemail needs to be answered first?  Can the haircut wait until next week?  These decisions may seem small and insignificant, but woven together, they form the tapestry of our daily lives.

Then there are life-altering decisions that cause you to struggle.  Career path? Marry or remain single?  Which church will allow you the best opportunity to grow and minister to others?  These are often hard choices that deserve a great amount of thought.

Often the same decision-making process we use for minor issues is used for major decisions as well.  So the question is: How do we choose wisely?  What criteria do we use to evaluate, to discern the best course of action?

The Priority of God’s Will

Imagine the tragedy of waking up at the end of a self-centered and meaningless life. At the brink of death you reflect upon the years of wasted time and wonder how you allowed yourself to minimize the things you knew were important by becoming a slave of routine.

Our years on this planet are brief, and none of us want to waste them. But unless we regularly acknowledge God and His desires, our lives will count for little.

Because He created us and redeemed us, God doubly owns us. We therefore have an obligation to fulfill His will as His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) and His children (1 John 3:1). Like Jesus, our spiritual food should be to do the will of Him who has called us “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9; see Matthew 7:21).

We also have an obligation to ourselves to discern and fulfill His will for our lives. Positively, it is only by making this a top priority that we will find the joy and satisfaction of an ultimately meaningful existence on this earth.

Negatively, it is only in this way that we will avoid the undesirable and sometimes devastating consequences of pursuing our own will while rejecting God’s.

The initial pleasures of sin do not outlast the guilt and disillusionment that are its final product. God loves us and desires what is best for us; He is also omniscient and knows what is best for us. Since His will for our lives is “good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2), it is in our own best interest to affirm His desires even when they are contrary to our own.

There is also the obligation to others. We cannot choose to live in a vacuum–the decisions we make will inevitably affect others, sometimes in ways we could never imagine. God has entrusted each of us with the stewardship of a unique sphere of influence. In the decisions we make and in our resulting life-styles, we are called to be faithful ambassadors of Christ to the believers and unbelievers we touch.

Psalm 37:23-24 (NIV) If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

The biblical model of knowing God’s will centers on a relationship, but we must be careful to use the right earthly analogy. In some relationships we simply want to be told what to do or we want to get approval for our predetermined plans.

A better analogy is that of the joint decisions reached by a married couple who enjoy an intimate relationship of mutual concern, respect, and trust.

In this case, both are involved in the decisions that are reached, and it is sometimes impossible to distinguish the parts each played in the process.

I suggest that the will of God is a divine/human process, not solely divine or solely human. When we consciously acknowledge His presence and depend upon Him in the course of making decisions, the choices that are made are both ours and His.

God’s will, then, is not an end but a means of knowing Him better and becoming more like Christ.

A SUBTLE VOICE

Because God honors our choices and desires our unforced love, He does not overpower or coerce us.

James Jauncey: “God never burglarizes the human will. He may long to come in and help, but he will never cross the picket line of our unwillingness”

He speaks to us in a subtle voice, and we may be unable to hear Him when there are too many distractions in our lives.

Just as we would have trouble carrying on a telephone conversation in a room full of blaring music and chattering people, in the same way the clamoring voices of selfish desires, lack of submission, pride, independence, and unforgiveness prevent us from being receptive to the quiet voice of God.

“Does God guide? Yes, I believe that he does. Most times, I believe, he guides in subtle ways:

  • by feeding ideas into our minds
  • speaking through a nagging sensation of dissatisfaction
  • inspiring us to choose better than we otherwise would have done
  • bringing to the surface hidden dangers of temptation
  • by rearranging certain circumstances. . . . God’s guidance will supply real help, but in ways that will not overwhelm my freedom.”–Philip Yancey

There are a number of decisions that are significant enough to capture our attention in the course of each day. A deliberate acknowledgment of the presence of God during these times will carry us far in making God’s will a way of life rather than a crisis experience.

The fabric of our lives is woven out of the threads of such minor choices, so it is wise to form the habit of being conscious of God while making them. This habit of taking God seriously in small decisions will make major decisions less traumatic.

Poor Conceptions of God’s Will

  1. I must pray about each decision I make.

Some decisions follow logically from others, and do not need to be prayed about. If you decide to go to college, you do not need to ask God whether you should attend classes and do the required work. Many other decisions, like what clothes to wear and how to behave in different social situations, are matters of common sense.

  1. God’s will is often contrary to human reason.

While it is true that God’s thoughts are much higher than our own, this does not mean that His will for our lives is erratic and peculiar. He gave us a rational capacity and wants us to use our minds in the decisions we make.

It is our responsibility to submit our thinking to the truths of Scripture and the illumination of the Spirit so that we will have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). God may direct a believer to do something that does not seem to make the best sense, but this is exceptional, not normative.

  1. To submit to God’s will, I must give up my happiness.

God is not a majestic monster who wants to make us miserable. His will for us is the only pathway to freedom, fulfillment, and joy Psalm 37:4 (NIV) Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

John 15:11 (NIV) I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. He loves us and offers an abundant life to those who walk in His ways

  1. If I follow God’s will, my problems are over.

A quick reading of the book of Acts makes it clear that an abundant life does not mean a trouble-free life. Obedience to God prevents and corrects many problems but does not exempt a believer from trials and temptations.

  1. If I stray too far from God’s will, He won’t be able to use me again.

God does not exempt us from the consequences and scars of sin, but this does not mean that He puts us on the shelf.

When we acknowledge our sins He forgives and cleanses us (Psalm 51:1-13; 1 John 1:9) so that we can be used again in His service. Some of the heroes of Hebrews 11 were also great sinners.

The Power of Prayer

God is sovereign.  That being the case, in what sense can we say that the Sovereign Lord, the One who transcends all imaginable boundaries and who knows all things, makes decisions?  There has never been an event that took God by surprise, and there never will be. 

He causes or allows everything to occur upon this earth, and I’ve said before that I think He allows natural law to reign much of the time (allows).

There is great comfort in this, because we come to realize that as imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world, we can never really disappoint God.  We can grieve him, but we cannot thwart or frustrate him.

In spite of how our world appears to us, it is exactly the way he knew it would be, and we are right on schedule in the unfolding of his plan to bring us to the best of all possible worlds.  God has even incorporated the foolish, sinful decisions of people into his divine scheme.

Things that were meant for evil and harmful purposes, God weaves into his good will to accomplish his program in our world:

  • Because he is omniscient, his plan is based not on appearances but on consequences.
  • Because he is omnipotent, he is able to fully accomplish his purposes.
  • Because he is omnipresent, his dominion continually encompasses the created order.
  • Because he is not bound by space and time, he views all things from the perspective of an eternal now; a particular moment to us can be an eternity to God, and yet the entire life span of the cosmos can be an instant to him (2 Peter 3:18).

Though the Lord our God sits enthroned on high, he “stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth” (Psalm 113:6).  He is transcendent and majestic, but he is also imminent, attentive and compassionate.

Even though God is all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present, the Scriptures portray his very real interaction with his people in earthly time and space and affirm that our prayers make a difference in the outworking of God’s purposes.

Philip Yancey writes: God is not a blurry power living somewhere in the sky, not an abstraction like the Greeks proposed, not a sensual super-human like the Romans worshiped, and definitely not the absentee watchmaker of the Deists.  God is personal.  He enters into people’s lives, messes with families, calls people to account.  Most of all, God loves.

Theologians from many different backgrounds find common ground in the important role of prayer.  John Wesley is frequently quoted as saying, “God will do nothing in the affairs of men except in answer to believing prayer.”

Jack Hayford says, “You and I can help decide which of these two things – blessing or cursing – happens on earth.  We will determine whether God’s goodness is released toward specific situations or whether the power of sin and Satan is permitted to prevail.  Prayer is the determining factor.”

The Danger of Excluding God

No decision is wise if it’s made independently of God.  In Joshua 9, the people of Israel made a terrible decision because they left God out of their plans, and had to live with the consequences of a decision which God did not approve:

“Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things – those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon…came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.

“However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.  The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes.  All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy.  Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”

“The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us.  How then can we make a treaty with you?” “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?” They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God.  For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan…. And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’  This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you.  But now see how dry and moldy it is.  And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are.  And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”

The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.  Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. — Joshua 9:1-15, emphasis added

The Israelites gathered data (vv. 7-14), but they missed a crucial step in the process.  “The men of Israel…did not inquire of the Lord” (v. 14). 

Ronald Reagan is credited with saying, “America was founded by people who believed that God was their rock of safety.  He is ours.  I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God is on our side, but I think it’s all right to keep asking if we’re on His side.”

If we assume that God is always on our side, we will fall headlong into foolishness.  We should search ourselves regularly to make sure our thinking is in line with His will.

We should strive to develop the character and conviction to make decisions that are products of our relationship with God.

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2024 in Miscellaneous, Sermon

 

Decision making skills and techniques

25 Jul

We use our decision making skills to solve problems by selecting one course of action from several possible alternatives. Decision making skills are also a key component of time management skills.

Decision making can be hard. Almost any decision involves some conflicts or dissatisfaction. The difficult part is to pick one solution where the positive outcome can outweigh possible losses. Avoiding decisions often seems easier. Yet, making your own decisions and accepting the consequences is the only way to stay in control of your time, your success, and your life. If you want to learn more on how to make a decision, here are some decision making tips to get you started.

 decisions2A significant part of decision making skills is in knowing and practicing good decision making techniques. One of the most practical decision making techniques can be summarized in those simple decision making steps:

 Identify the purpose of your decision. What is exactly the problem to be solved? Why it should be solved?

 Gather information. What factors does the problem involve?

 Identify the principles to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgement criteria should the solution meet?

 Brainstorm and list different possible choices. Generate ideas for possible solutions.

 Evaluate each choice in terms of its consequences. Use your standards and judgement criteria to determine the cons and pros of each alternative.

 Determine the best alternative. This is much easier after you go through the above preparation steps.

 Put the decision into action. Transform your decision into specific plan of action steps. Execute your plan.

 Evaluate the outcome of your decision and action steps.What lessons can be learnt? This is an important step for further development of your decision making skills and judgement.

 Final remark. In everyday life we often have to make decisions fast, without enough time to systematically go through the above action and thinking steps. In such situations the most effective decision making strategy is to keep an eye on your goals and then let your intuition suggest you the right choice. 

Brainstorming tips for better time management

The major bottleneck in any planning or problem solving process is brainstorming or generating new ideas and options for specific actions and solutions.

The resulting outcome of your solution or plan is only as good as your best options and ideas you put in it. It is also important how fast you can come up with new ideas, as you will need many of them in your time management and decision making.

Fortunately, there are ways to significantly improve your effectiveness in brainstorming new ideas.

Though sometimes word brainstorming refers to group brainstorming sessions, here we will look at how you can brainstorm to generate ideas on your own. 

With very few exceptions, everyone already has a natural ability of creative thinking. Yet, that creative ability is fragile. It is easy to block it just by the way you use it, by your attitudes, by the way you think.

Here is a selection of brainstorming tips that can help you to unlock your idea generation ability. Those tips are like brainstorming tools that you can use systematically every time you need new ideas.

The best practical way to have good ideas is to have many of them first, and then to select the best ones. Generating many ideas fast is what brainstorming is focused on.

 In your brainstorming session you can follow these steps.

decisionsFirst, take a few minutes to think about what it is you would ideally like to accomplish. How clear a picture you see in your mind? Try to refresh and extend your view of the problem. In particular, think of 5 people you know that come from different background than yours. Imagine what each of those people, one by one, would see in your problem, how they would approach it.

Now it is time to start the actual brainstorming exercise. Take a sheet of paper, a pen, and your watch. Set a goal to write a certain large number of options (over 10 or 20) or ideas within a specific short time interval (minutes). A good example is a goal to write 20 ideas within 5 minutes.

What is important in this activity is that you focus on quantity of ideas, not quality. When you brainstorm, you just write in a list manner whatever comes into your mind, and write fast. You let your imagination flow, you play. Forget all judging or analyzing, common sense, rules, or practicality.

A pressing, almost unrealistic, deadline plays an important role in the brainstorming session. It mobilizes your subconscious and conscious minds. It helps to paralyze your judgment, analysis, and other mental blocks, freeing your imagination.

After the time is up, take a few more minutes to brainstorm a few more ideas, until you feel you cannot squeeze anything more out of your mind. Often those last ideas will be the most valuable ones.

At the end of this brainstorming exercise you have a long list of ideas, options, and thoughts. You will discard most of them later, at the judgment stage. Yet, the ideas you eventually select tend to be much better than something that would logically follow from what you had in your mind before the brainstorming exercise.

The outcome may surprise you. It is worth every minute you spend on it.

 
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Posted by on July 25, 2024 in Encouragement

 

Psalm 46: Our Sufficient God

18 Jul

God is our refuge and strength (His Encouragement) | A Heavenly Home

As you probably know, one of the more heated debates in Christian circles concerns the role of psychology in the Christian life. At the heart of that debate is the question of whether the Bible and the resources it points us to–a personal relationship with God, forgiveness of sins, the promise of eternal life, our riches in Christ, the fellowship of the church, etc.–are sufficient to deal with the complicated problems people face, or whether we must supplement these things with the insights of modern psychology.

John MacArthur (interview in “Servant,” 9/91) tells about being on a Christian talk show where he said to the host, “Don’t you believe that the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the living Christ are fully sufficient for our sanctification? Psychology is only a hundred years old, people have been being sanctified a lot longer than that.”

She said that some people can’t get into the position to be sanctified until therapy helps them deal with some psychological issues. MacArthur comments, “That God can’t do His work in you until a good therapist gets it started is a frightening concept.”

In his book, Our Sufficiency in Christ [Word, 1991], MacArthur tells about his church being sued over a counseling case. During the trial, a number of “experts” were called on to give testimony. He says (p. 57), “Most surprising to me were the so-called Christian psychologists and psychiatrists who testified that the Bible alone does not contain sufficient help to meet people’s deepest personal and emotional needs. These men were actually arguing before a secular court that God’s Word is not an adequate resource for counseling people about their spiritual problems!”

In the same book, in referring to so-called “Christian” psychology, he states (p. 31), “The clear message is that simply pointing Christians to their spiritual sufficiency in Christ is inane and maybe even dangerous. But on the contrary, it is inane and dangerous to believe that any problem is beyond the scope of Scripture or unmet by our spiritual riches in Christ.” Please be clear: At issue is not whether Christians need counseling. The question is, do they need the counsel of the ungodly, or is Scripture sufficient?

This psalm refers to the time when King Hezekiah of Judah was surrounded by the army of Sennacherib, King of Assyria. Forty‑six towns and villages in Judah had been sacked. Over 200,000 residents had been taken captive, along with much spoil. At least 185,000 troops surrounded Jerusalem, and it looked like only a matter of time before the city fell.

But proud Sennacherib did not reckon with the fact that Hezekiah’s God is the living God who will not be mocked. Hezekiah prayed, God spoke, and in one night the angel of the Lord defeated Sennacherib by killing 185,000 of his soldiers (2 Kings 18‑19; 2 Chronicles 32; Isaiah 36‑37).

Whether out of that situation or some other, Psalm 46 was written out of the crucible of extreme adversity from which God had provided deliverance. It relates to anyone who is in a time of trouble, or to anyone who will face trouble, no matter how extreme, in the future.

It tells us that When trouble strikes, God is sufficient to get us through.

No problem, whether emotional, physical, or spiritual, is too big for our God. If we will learn to take refuge in Him and lean on Him alone for strength, then with the psalmist we can face the most extreme crises with quiet confidence, because God is with us and He is sufficient. But we would be in error if we thought that God insulates us from problems. The psalm makes it clear that …

  1. Trouble will strike the godly.

The fact that God is our refuge and strength does not mean that we are immune from troubles and problems. The abundant life is not a trouble‑free life.

We need to be clear on this because many false teachers today claim that it is God’s will for every person to enjoy prosperity and perfect health. They teach that since Jesus has promised to answer the prayer of faith, all that stands between you and material prosperity and physical health is your lack of faith. Confess it as yours by faith, and it’s yours, according to this heresy.

But the Bible teaches no such thing. It teaches that God is our help in trouble, not that He will exempt us from trouble. The psalm mentions catastrophic trouble: global changes (46:2), severe earthquakes and storms (46:2‑3), and wars (46:6, 9).

Hebrews 11:35-38 (ESV) Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38  of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

These verses mentions all sorts of terrible trials which faithful believers have had to face: being homeless, without proper clothing and food, mockings, torture, beatings, imprisonment, and various forms of cruel execution.

God does not protect Christians from this sort of thing. When a plane goes down, God does not make sure that there are no Christians aboard. When war ravages a country, God does not preserve the believers from its effects.

God does not allow cancer to strike only those who have lived a life of sin. No, trouble will strike the godly as well as the ungodly. The question is, when trouble strikes, do you want to face it with God as your refuge and strength or do you want to find help elsewhere? Psalm 46 shows that when trouble strikes,

2. God is sufficient to get you through. Let’s look first at the God who is sufficient and then at how we can lay hold of His sufficiency in our troubles.

A. The God who is sufficient.

The psalm falls into three sections:

46:1‑3: God, the refuge against the raging of nature.

46:4‑7: God, the resource against the raging of nations.

46:8‑11: God, the ruler over the rebels of earth.

(1) God, the refuge against the raging of nature (46:1‑3). The psalmist pictures one of the most frightening and catastrophic natural disasters imaginable: an earthquake so severe that the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. In California, we who lived in the mountains used to joke about how, after “the Big One” hit, we would have beachfront property. But the psalmist is picturing a quake so big that the mountains get swallowed up by the sea! He is saying that in the worst disaster we can imagine, God is sufficient as our refuge and strength so that we need not be terrified.

As our refuge, we can flee to God and find relief and comfort. As our strength, we discover that His strength is made perfect in our weakness as we trust in Him (2 Cor. 12:9). And, God’s protection and strength are immediately available (“a very present help”) the instant we turn to Him. While He may delay delivering us to show us our absolute need for Him or for reasons we can’t understand, we can always have immediate comfort and calm when we flee to God for refuge and strength.

During an earthquake a few years ago, the inhabitants of a small village were alarmed by the quake, but also surprised at the calmness and apparent joy of an old woman whom they all knew. At length one of them asked her, “Are you not afraid?” “No,” she replied, “I rejoice to know that I have a God who can shake the world.”

Whatever personal catastrophe you face–a major health problem, the death of a loved one, the loss of your job, emotional problems, relational conflicts, or whatever–God is bigger than your problems. He is readily available to help if you will take refuge in Him and trust in His strength.

(2) God, the resource against the raging of nations (46:4‑7).

“There is a river ….” Jerusalem is one of the few ancient cities not built on a river. Ancient cities needed water close at hand, especially during a siege. When Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem, he was sure that their lack of water would ultimately drive them to surrender. But unknown to Sennacherib, Jerusalem had a source of water. Wise King Hezekiah had built an underground tunnel which secretly brought water 1,777 feet through solid rock from the spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam. That little stream supplied all of their needs during the siege.

That river is a picture of the greater spiritual resource of the Lord Himself: “God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved” (46:5). He is the living water who alone can quench our spiritual thirst. He is the God who is powerful enough to quell the uproar of the nations by simply raising His voice (46:6).

Whatever problems rage against us, God’s Spirit is the ever‑flowing river who sustains us and gives us gladness even while we’re under siege (Ps. 46:4)! If Christians would learn to drink from the abundant river of God’s Spirit, why would they ever turn to the supposed wisdom of godless men like Freud, Jung, Rogers, and company? God is our refuge and resource in times of trouble.

(3) God, the ruler over the rebels of earth (46:8‑11). Nations may rage and proud men may rebel, but God’s sovereign purpose will be fulfilled. He sets up kings and removes them as He wills. He is God; He alone will be exalted in the earth (46:10). When Christ returns, He will crush all opposition to His reign. The mightiest armies on earth are no match for His sovereign power.

B. How to avail yourself of His sufficiency:

(1) Depend on Him as your refuge. On Him! It is God Himself who is our refuge and strength‑‑not our armies, not our fortresses, but God. It’s so easy to build up our own defenses against trouble and to put our trust in them instead of in God. We trust in our bank accounts, our insurance policies, our schemes and plans for the future. There is nothing wrong with these things‑‑the Bible, in fact, urges us to be prudent in planning for the future. But those things can become wrong if we allow them to shift our trust from God alone.

How can you learn to depend on Him alone? Get to know who He is as revealed in His Word. Trust springs out of knowledge. A person who has little knowledge of flying will be greatly afraid in flying through rough weather. An experienced pilot, who knows flying and knows his aircraft will not be afraid. Because he has greater knowledge, he has greater trust.

The refrain (46:7, 11) suggests two areas in which you need to know God:

(a) Know Him as the Lord of hosts. “Hosts” refers both to the heavenly bodies (the universe) and to the angels. Our God spoke this vast universe into existence and rules over the billions of stars and planets. He is the Lord of all of the armies of heaven. With short, crashing phrases that hit like hammer blows, the psalmist shows us the might of our God: “The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us” (46:6). God is not some feeble, senile old man with a long white beard, sitting in heaven worried about the rebellion of man. He is mighty! If such a God is for us, who can be against us (see 2 Kings 6:8‑23)? If you know God as the Lord of hosts, you will depend on Him.

(b) Know Him as the God of Jacob.

This points to God’s sovereign grace. God chose conniving Jacob over nice guy Esau so that everyone could see that He saves us on the basis of His choice, not because of our good works (Rom. 9:11). One of the errors psychology has brought into the church is to try to build people’s self-esteem by telling them, “Christ died for you because you were worthy.” Not so! He died for you while you were an unworthy sinner (Rom. 5:8).

But the good news is, if He chose you apart from your worthiness, He will keep you and enable you to persevere unto the day of Christ because He is the God of Jacob.

So you can depend on Him, even if you’ve failed, if you know Him as the God of Jacob. His help in a time of trouble is not conditioned on your great strength, but on His great grace. When you are insufficient (which is always), depend on the Lord of Hosts and the God of Jacob as your refuge.

(2) Draw on Him as your resource. If you know Christ as your Savior, then you have His life within you. His Holy Spirit is that river of life, sufficient for your every need. He is that “river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Ps. 46:4). Draw on Him. How?

(a) Drink from Him daily. You have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in you! You are “a holy dwelling place of the Most High” God (46:4)! You are privileged to be able to draw upon His strength daily. He refreshes. He brings gladness and joy. Do you drink from Him daily? Do you have a time when you meet alone with Him in the Word and in prayer? Do you walk each day in conscious dependence upon Him, confessing your sin and yielding to His way? The river is there, but you’ve got to drink daily or you’ll dry up spiritually.

(b) Meet with His people regularly. Jerusalem was the “city of God” where God dwelled with His people in a special sense (46:4-5). The temple was there; it was the center for worship. Today God lives in every believer individually, but there is a special sense in which He dwells with His people corporately. God never intended of us to live the Christian life or to face trials in isolation.

We need one another in the Body of Christ: to encourage one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. For this to happen, you’ve got to be involved with the Lord’s people beyond our Sunday worship service. The Lord is the river, but believers are the streams. To drink fully from the river, you’ve got to be in connection with the streams. You drink of the Lord through His people.

Thus to lay hold of His sufficiency: Depend on Him as your refuge; draw on Him as your resource.

(3) Defer to Him as your ruler. God desires that you submit to Him voluntarily. If you do not do it voluntarily now, a day is coming when you will do it under force: Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11).

There are two things to be said with reference to deferring to Him as your ruler:

(a) Behold His works (46:8). In the context the psalmist is referring to God’s miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem in destroying the Assyrian army. But we can apply it as an invitation to review God’s works down through the centuries. See how He has delivered His people time after time, both in the Scripture and in church history. The God of Abraham, Moses, David, Hezekiah, Peter, and Paul; the God of Luther, Calvin, Edwards, and Spurgeon, is your God. Behold His works and you will submit to Him as your ruler when you face a crisis.

(b) Bow to His ways (46:10). He is God. The command to cease striving is God speaking to the nations who are fighting against His people and His purpose. “You won’t win, so quit while you can!” But we can also apply it to ourselves. When trouble hits, don’t strive against God. Know that He is the sovereign God, even over your crisis. As God, He will be exalted and glorified in the earth. He wants you to exalt Him by submitting joyfully to Him through your trouble. The chief end of man is not to live a happy, trouble‑free life. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We glorify Him when we defer to Him as our ruler in times of trouble.

Conclusion

Psalm 46 inspired Martin Luther to write his triumphant hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”

Luther faced numerous dangers and threats on his life from the pope and his forces. At one point he spent 11 months in hiding in Wartburg Castle. In the face of opposition, excommunication, and pressure from every side to back down, he stood firmly for the truth of salvation by grace through faith alone. When he had occasion to fear or grow discouraged, he would say to his friend and co‑worker, Philip Melanchthon, “Come Philip, let us sing the forty‑sixth Psalm,” and they would lift their voices:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.

Our helper He, amid the flood, Of mortal ills prevailing.

Luther wrote, “We sing this Psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us, and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His word, against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin” (in The Treasury of David [Baker], by C. H. Spurgeon, II:384).

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2024 in God, Sermon

 

Disappointments New Christians Face #5 Disappointments New Christians Face:  False Conceptions About Prosperity – Disappointed by lack of success: Thinking that they will become rich.

15 Jul

Introduction

In the light of Scripture, we see that the prosperity gospel is flawed. There is perhaps one general reason why the prosperity gospel is a wayward gospel: Its faulty view of the relationship between God and man. Simply put, if the prosperity gospel is correct, grace becomes obsolete, God becomes irrelevant and man is the measure of all things. Prosperity teachers seek to turn the relationship between God and man into a financial quid pro quo transaction. As scholar James R. Goff noted, God is “reduced to a kind of ‘cosmic bellhop’ attending to the needs and desires of his creation.”[17] This is a wholly inadequate and unbiblical view of the relationship between God and man.

“To live with the object of accumulating wealth is anti-Christian.” Charles Spurgeon uttered these words over a century ago. Over the years, however, the message preached in some of the largest churches in the world has dramatically changed. This new gospel has been ascribed many names — including the “prosperity gospel.”

No matter what name you use, though, the essence of this new gospel is the same: God wants believers to be physically healthy, materially wealthy and personally happy. Listen to the words of Robert Tilton, one of the prosperity gospel’s most well-known spokesmen:

I believe that it is the will of God for all to prosper because I see it in the Word [of God], not because it has worked mightily for someone else. I do not put my eyes on men, but on God who gives me the power to get wealth.[2]

The prosperity gospel continues to be in the headlines. How should we think about the prosperity gospel? Is the prosperity gospel only a mildly different teaching, or is it an entirely different gospel?

The prosperity gospel is not just a different teaching; it is a different gospel.

Error #1: The Abrahamic Covenant is a means to material entitlement.

One of the theological bases of the prosperity gospel is the Abrahamic covenant. Prosperity gospel advocates are correct that much of Scripture is the record of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, yet they do not maintain an orthodox view of this covenant. In particular, they hold to an erroneous view concerning the application of the covenant. Researcher Edward Pousson explains,

[According to the prosperity gospel,] Christians are Abraham’s spiritual children and heirs to the blessings of faith. . . . This Abrahamic inheritance is unpacked primarily in terms of material entitlements. [4]

In other words, God’s primary purpose for the Abrahamic covenant was to bless Abraham materially, they claim. Since believers are now Abraham’s spiritual children, they have inherited these financial blessings of the covenant. For example, prosperity teacher Kenneth Copeland writes,

Since God’s Covenant has been established and prosperity is a provision of this covenant, you need to realize that prosperity belongs to you now! [5]

To support this claim, prosperity teachers appeal to Galatians 3:14, which refers to “the blessings of Abraham [that] might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.” They conveniently ignore the second half of the verse, which reads, “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Paul was reminding the Galatians of the spiritual blessing of salvation, not the material blessing of wealth.

Error #2: Jesus’ Atonement extends to the “sin” of material poverty.

Prosperity gospel advocates also misunderstand what happened on the cross. Theologian Ken Sarles wrote that “the prosperity gospel claims that both physical healing and financial prosperity have been provided for in the Atonement.”[6]

This seems to be an accurate observation in light of teacher Kenneth Copeland’s comment that “the basic principle of the Christian life is to know that God put our sin, sickness, disease, sorrow, grief, and poverty on Jesus at Calvary.”[7]

This misunderstanding of the scope of the Atonement stems from two errors that proponents of the prosperity gospel make.

First, many who hold to prosperity theology fundamentally misunderstand the life of Christ. For example, teacher John Avanzini proclaimed, “Jesus had a nice house, a big house,”[8] “Jesus was handling big money”[9] and He even “wore designer clothes.”[10] It is easy to see how such a warped view of the life of Christ could lead to an equally warped misconception of the death of Christ.

Second, many prosperity gospel teachers misinterpret 2 Corinthians 8:9, which reads,

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

A shallow reading of this verse may lead you to believe Paul was teaching about an increase in material wealth, but a contextual reading reveals Paul was actually teaching the exact opposite. Indeed, Paul was teaching the Corinthians that since Christ accomplished so much for them through the Atonement, how much more ought they to empty themselves of their riches in service of the Savior?

This is why just five short verses later Paul would urge the Corinthians to give their wealth away to their needy brothers, writing “that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack” (2 Corinthians 8:14). Jesus did not die to save you from material poverty.

If the prosperity gospel is correct, grace becomes obsolete, God becomes irrelevant and man is the measure of all things.

Error #3: Christians give in order to gain material compensation from God.

One of the most striking characteristics of the prosperity theologians is their seeming fixation with the act of giving. Students of the prosperity gospel are urged to give generously and are confronted with such pious statements as, “True prosperity is the ability to use God’s power to meet the needs of mankind in any realm of life,”[11] and, “We have been called to finance the gospel to the world.”[12]

While these statements appear to be praiseworthy, a closer examination of the theology behind them reveals that this emphasis on giving is built on anything but philanthropic motives. The driving force behind this teaching on giving is what teacher Robert Tilton referred to as the “Law of Compensation.” According to this law, which is purportedly based on Mark 10:30,[13] Christians need to give generously to others because when they do, God gives back more in return. This, in turn, leads to a cycle of ever-increasing prosperity.

As Gloria Copeland put it, “Give $10 and receive $1,000; give $1,000 and receive $100,000;… in short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal.”[14] The prosperity gospel’s doctrine of giving is built upon faulty motives. Whereas Jesus taught His disciples to “give, hoping for nothing in return” (Luke 10:35), prosperity theologians teach their disciples to give because they will receive a great return.

Error #4: Faith is a self-generated spiritual force that leads to prosperity.

Whereas orthodox Christianity understands faith to be trust in the person of Jesus Christ, prosperity teachers espouse quite a different doctrine. In his book, The Laws of Prosperity, Kenneth Copeland writes,

Faith is a spiritual force, a spiritual energy, a spiritual power. It is this force of faith which makes the laws of the spirit world function. . . . There are certain laws governing prosperity revealed in God’s Word. Faith causes them to function. [15]

This is obviously a faulty, if not heretical, understanding of faith. According to prosperity theology, faith is not a God-centered act of the will, stemming from God; rather it is a man-centered spiritual force, directed at God. Indeed, any theology that views faith solely as a means to material gain rather than the acceptance of heavenly justification must be judged as faulty and inadequate.

Error #5: Prayer is a tool to force God to grant personal prosperity.

Prosperity gospel preachers often note that we “have not because we ask not” (James 4:2). Advocates of the prosperity gospel encourage believers to pray for personal success in all areas of life. In regard to the power of prayer, Creflo Dollar writes,

When we pray, believing that we have already received what we are praying, God has no choice but to make our prayers come to pass. . . . It is a key to getting results as a Christian. [16]

Certainly prayers for personal blessing are not inherently wrong, but the prosperity gospel’s overemphasis upon man turns prayer into a tool believers can use to obtain their desires from God. Within prosperity theology, man — rather than God — becomes the focal point of prayer. Curiously, prosperity preachers often ignore the second half of James’ teaching on prayer which reads, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3). God does not answer selfish requests that do not honor his name.

Certainly we should make our requests known to God (cf. Philippians 4:6), but the prosperity gospel focuses so much upon man’s desires that it may lead people to pray selfish, shallow, superficial prayers that do not bring God glory. Furthermore, when coupled with the prosperity doctrine of faith, the teaching upon prayer within the prosperity movement may lead people to attempt to manipulate God to get what they want — indeed, a futile task.

This is far removed from praying to God to see his will accomplished.

 
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Posted by on July 15, 2024 in Disappointments

 

Disappointments New Christians Face: #4 Living in the World – Disappointment by the World

11 Jul

Worldly discouragements:

Some Christians become discouraged at the wickedness in the world. Lot’s soul was vexed by the wickedness he witnessed every day (2 Peter 2:7–8 (ESV) and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

Some Christians become discouraged by persecution (1 Thessalonians 3:1–8 (ESV) Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain. 6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.

Some Christians become weary of struggling against sin (Hebrews 12:3–4 (ESV) Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 4. Some Christians become discouraged by crisis. Job suffered a crisis that none of us have or likely will experience. While he did experience discouragement, he remained faithful to God

(James 5:11 (ESV) Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

We sing a song titled “I Have Decided To Follow Jesus” (#299), and the second verse reads, “Tho’ none go with me I still will follow, no turning back”. This is the attitude we ought to adopt.

What you can do:

  1. Be encouraged by Jesus’ prayer. Jesus warned that disciples would have trouble in the world (John 16:33), but Jesus prayed to the Father asking that He would “keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
  2. Be encouraged by Jesus’ example. Jesus understands the temptations and discouragements we face and can sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:14–16 (ESV) Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus Himself endured all manner of sufferings because He kept in view the joy that was before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

  1. Be encouraged by God’s Sovereignty. Whatever we face, God will ensure that all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28 (ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

What can others do?

  1. Demonstrate what it means to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33).

Does your daily life exemplify this to the people you work with? to your family and to your friends? Are you making it clear to others where your priorities lie

  1. Make it clear by your example who it is we love the most (i.e., not our jobs, hobbies, etc.) (1 John 2:15–17 (ESV) Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
  2. Develop close friendships with new Christians (Acts 2:46; 4:32; Romans 12:15). Friendships centered around Christ and His work, not just social interests.

Often the new Christian is drawn away from a consistent Christian life by the cares of the world–by the job, the family, hobbies and pleasures of life. Not necessarily bad in themselves but so time consuming that they take up all free time. No time left for Christ.

Your friends will often serve to discourage you by luring you back into the things of the world, the old self-destructive patterns of life as well as harmless hobbies and pastimes that just take up too much time. We’ve got to “wise up” to these subtle temptations.

Paul warned “Do not be misled: bad company corrupts good character. Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God…” (I Cor. 15:33-34)

Pleasures and responsibilities Luke 8:14 (ESV) And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Discouragement by friends 1 Corinthians 15:33–34 (ESV) Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

Developing relationships that are in the Lord, not just social interests. Develop close friendships with Christians IN THE LORD

Friendships centered around Christ and His work . Not just social interests.

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2024 in Disappointments

 

Things to Do in the Face of Disappointment

08 Jul

Living In Grace Blog: Dealing with disappointment

You didn’t get the job you wanted. Somebody you love let you down. Whatever the circumstances, it didn’t turn out how you expected, and now you’re disappointed.

You prayed about it, meditated on scriptures, sought Godly counsel, and things still didn’t work out for you. You wonder what happened to “ask and you shall receive.”

You’re left paralyzed, wondering how to pick up the pieces and make your next move.

To say it’s painful is an understatement—no matter the magnitude of the disappointment. If you don’t tend to those feelings, it can cause you to spiral into deep depression and despair.

Disappointment is a hard pill to swallow. Nobody likes it, but it’s something we will face throughout our lifetime.

If you stop and think about, the Bible is full of disappointed people—John, Moses, David, Jacob, Hannah, etc.

Even Jesus experienced disappointment on many levels during His life: when people didn’t heed the Good News, when His disciples didn’t believe, when He encountered the ritualistic mindsets of the Pharisees—to name a few. Perhaps His greatest disappointment was when God didn’t save Him from the cross.

The good thing is that those biblical characters all overcame disappointment to accomplish their goals and do great things. We all know Jesus overcame the greatest disappointment for us.

We will face disappointment again and again in our lives, but how we respond to it should change over time.

We shouldn’t go on the emotional roller coaster every time we don’t get what we want or what we expected.

It should become less about what we desire and more about what God desires for us. As Jesus prayed when He asked God to spare Him the suffering He knew He would face on the cross, “yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

It’s also important to remember that God didn’t disappoint you—life’s circumstances and people disappointed you. When something bad happens in life, it’s not a time to blame God, it’s a time to run to him.

Since disappointment is something we’ll all experience, it’s important to be able to respond to it in a positive manner.

Here are three healthy ways to deal with disappointment:

MOURN, THEN RELEASE YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT TO GOD

You experienced a loss, so it’s natural to mourn. Have a period where you feel sad about the situation, then pick yourself up.

It might take time, but you must make a decision to move past the disappointment. Don’t run from it—face it and release it.

Pray about it, being honest with God about how you feel. But don’t let disappointment be a shadow over your life.

EVALUATE AND ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS

There is another side to disappointment. It can be crippling, but it also can be humbling, since it is a way to examine where and in whom we place our hope.

Misplaced hope ultimately leads to disappointment. Assessing that disappointment can be a starting point in readjusting our expectations about the things we want in life.

It’s natural and normal to want things and to want to excel, but issues arise when we begin to believe our happiness is based on achieving that goal or being with that person.

What happens when you lose that job you love? Where do you turn when that person walks out of your life? You become deflated, hopeless.

Learn to place your hope solely in God. That truly is the most secure place for it to be.

GET MOVING

Don’t wallow in your disappointment. Wallowing is not productive and can actually be harmful.

Get your mind off your circuitousness and get active. Pick up a new hobby, visit friends or volunteer at an organization that inspires you. Reach beyond yourself and help somebody in need or help someone achieve their goals.

Disappointment can also be a time of renewed resourcefulness. Try something else, go in a different direction or maybe approach things a new way. If one dream dies, pick up another one and keep moving forward in life.

We will all face disappointment many times in our life. We were never promised everything we want or an easy life. We live in a broken world and that is not possible. In fact, Psalms tells us “the righteous person may have many troubles” (Psalm 34:19).

However, you can rest assured that even though you didn’t get what you wanted, God is with you and will never forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). In fact, He will still use that disappointing situation for your good (Romans 8:28).

 
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Posted by on July 8, 2024 in Disappointments

 

What Happened to Conscience?

04 Jul

What Good Is A Conscience? - Doug Husen - Business mind, Pastors Heart | Corona District 4

The early morning crash of a Brink’s armored truck on a Miami highway in January held up a mirror to our nation’s cultural decline. While the driver and a fellow Brink’s officer lay bruised and bleeding, a festive atmosphere broke loose outside the truck as thousands of dollars blew n the breeze.

Motorists stopped in rush hour traffic, then scooped up cash before resuming their commutes to the office. Thousands of crisp bills and shiny coins rained down an overpass onto a Miami neighborhood. Below, mothers with babies grabbed coins and piled them into strollers. An elderly woman filled a box. A young school girl dumped her book bag and loaded it with coins and bills.

Onlookers and participants had plenty of justifications and rationalizations.

“Which is more moral,? asked one resident of the impoverished neighborhood, ‘to return the money and leave your children improvised-or maybe send them to college and enrich the family for generations”‘

“We deserve a little something,? said another.

“The Lord was willing for it to happen here,? one man commented. ‘there’s a lot of poverty. It was a miracle.’

Police estimated that more than 100 people helped themselves to money during the melee. Middle class on their way to work made off with thousands.

Was this a shocking event? It shouldn’t have been. What happened in Miami was born out of a cultural drift that has left us unsure of absolute right and wrong or at least unwilling to live by such a code. We reward rule-breakers and ridicule those who extol morality. Life’s ultimate reward is money and having it is the end to our worries.

Maybe the Miami incident says more about character than we care to consider.

There were some heroes on that day in Miami. Several people came forward and turned money over to authorities.

“I have children, and I needed to set a good example,? said Faye McFadden, a mother who earns $5.00 an hour at a department store. “It was important for me to do what I felt was right.’

Herbert Tarvin, 11, came forward after his teacher at St. Francis Xavier Elementary School lectured students about making the right decision. He went to police with 85 cents.

“I knew it was wrong for me to keep anything,? Herbert told a television reporter, “and I knew if I kept it I would have been stealing.’

Manny Rodriguez, a firefighter who recovered a bag containing $330,000 in cash, summed things up pretty well.

“People were almost killed in that truck and people are calling it a blessing from God. That wasn’t a blessing; it was a test. The rich, the poor, the middle class-everybody should have a conscience.?

The trouble with the advice, “Follow your conscience” is that most people follow it like someone following a wheelbarrow—they direct it wherever they want it to go, and then follow behind.

Conscience tells us that we ought to do right, but it does not tell us what right is—that we are taught by God’s word.

Did you know that ever since 1811 (when someone who had defrauded the government anonymously sent $5 to Washington D.C.) the U.S. Treasury has operated a Conscience Fund? Since that time almost $3.5 million has been received from guilt-ridden citizens.

Myself

I have to live with myself, and so I want to be fit for myself to know, I want to be able, as days go by, Always to look myself straight in the eye;

I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun, And hate myself for the things I’ve done.
I don’t want to keep on the closet shelf A lot of secrets about myself, And fool myself, as I come and go, Into thinking that nobody else will know The kind of a man I really am; I don’t want to dress up myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect, I want to deserve all men’s respect; But here in the struggle for fame and pelf I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to look at myself and know That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show. I can never hide myself from me; I see what others may never see;

I know what others may never know, I never can fool myself, and so, Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free. Edgar Guest

Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a “necessary evil,” it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil. – Sidney J. Harris

Conscience is that faculty in me which attaches itself to the highest that I know, and tells me what the highest I know demands that I do. It is the eye of the soul which looks out either toward God or toward what it regards as the highest authority. If I am in the habit of steadily facing toward God, my conscience will always introduce God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The point is, will I obey? I have to make an effort to keep my conscience so sensitive that I walk without offense. I should be living in such perfect sympathy with God’s Son that in every circumstance the spirit of my mind is renewed.

The one thing that keeps the conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When there is any debate, quit. There is no debate possible when conscience speaks. – Oswald Chambers

What is conscience and why is it important? Conscience is the inner sense of right and wrong that guides our actions and choices. It helps us to act in accordance with our moral values and to avoid harming others or ourselves. But what are moral values and where do they come from? Morality is the system of principles and rules that governs our behavior and judgments in relation to ourselves, others, and the world. Morality can have different sources, such as nature, reason, emotion, intuition, tradition, culture, religion, or law.

Conscience is not a fixed or universal concept, but rather a dynamic and personal one that can vary depending on these sources of morality. Conscience can also change over time as we learn from our mistakes and grow as human beings. Conscience plays a vital role in our ethical decision-making and moral behavior. It helps us to evaluate the consequences of our actions and to choose the best course of action in different situations. Conscience also motivates us to act on our moral convictions and to stand up for what we believe in. Conscience can also help us to cope with guilt, remorse, or regret when we fail to live up to our moral standards or when we harm others or ourselves.

Conscience is not always easy to follow or to understand. Sometimes we may face dilemmas or conflicts between our conscience and other factors, such as social pressure, self-interest, or emotions. Sometimes we may ignore or suppress our conscience because we fear the consequences of acting on it or because we rationalize our immoral behavior. Sometimes we may have doubts or uncertainties about what our conscience is telling us or whether it is reliable or accurate.

Conscience is not a perfect or infallible guide, but rather a fallible and imperfect one that requires constant reflection and evaluation. We need to examine our conscience regularly and critically, and to seek feedback from others who can help us to clarify our moral values and judgments. We also need to educate and inform our conscience by learning from various sources of moral wisdom, such as philosophy, religion, literature, history, science, and art. We also need to respect and appreciate the diversity of conscience among different people and cultures, and to engage in dialogue and cooperation with them.

Conscience is a precious and powerful gift that makes us human and moral beings. It enables us to act with integrity, responsibility, compassion, and justice. It also challenges us to grow and improve as individuals and as members of society. Conscience is not something that we have, but something that we are.

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2024 in Miscellaneous

 
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