Saturday, January 23, 2016
DO YOU THINK JESUS CARES ABOUT POLITICS OR PAYS ATTENTION TO THOSE WHO USE HIS NAME?
Jesus said, in Matthew 23:15, "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."
And again in Matthew 23:27-28 He said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
Who are the scribes, Pharisees, and even the Sadducees of Jesus' day? If we know who they were, maybe we could see what Jesus' timeless words to them mean to us today. Scribes were those who taught, copied and interpreted the law. They transmitted unwritten legal decisions in their effort to apply Mosaic law into daily life. They became at some point in time, a political party and they functioned within the Sanhedrin.
The Sadducees were a religious group of priestly conservatives. They were part of Judean aristocracy and a political party in and of themselves. They were different than the Pharisees in that they believed in human freedom and thought the soul perished along with the body, therefore no resurrection would be made. They supported the rich and supported any law written in contrast to Pharisaic traditions.
The Pharisees were powerful ascetics, holding strictly to the standards of the Torah. Their main role was political although some priests were Pharisees along with some scribes. They differed from the Sadducees in that they believed in the resurrection from the dead.
They resemble the political, legal and religious leaders in their society. Jesus challenged them and they didn't like it. He saw right through them and he told them the truth of what He saw. They sound very much like groups of justices, lawyers, administrators, politicians and Christians in name only alive and well in our society today.
I hear politicians today quote Scripture and in the next breath they say something that is so contrary to Scripture. They compartmentalize what they say and what they do. They compartmentalize what they believe as true and how they actually live. They don't want a full-blown relationship with Jesus, so they use Him and dance around the edges of a relationship with Him. Some outwardly lie about knowing Him. They use Jesus as capital to lure us into supporting them.
In verse 28 (above) Jesus nails those leaders. He tells them that to a person who doesn't know, they represent a beautiful package, but they are actually not what they seem, in fact, they are just the opposite. What is inside will eventually come through. A man's actions cannot be separated from his belief system for long or else he will exhibit characteristics of the insane. Real believers can spot the counterfeit. Jesus said that His sheep know His voice. And we do! But there is a plethora of counterfeit believers promising that they are for Him and that they can deliver satisfaction, prosperity, protection and happiness.
Our country was a church plant at the beginning, and we fashioned our Constitution on God's word. We became a Constitutional Republic. Certain things will always be wrong because God says they are wrong. We can never make certain things subject to popular vote. Some things must always be off of the table according to God's word.
John Adams, one of our founding father's said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." It would make no sense to some and in the hands of some others it could become as abusive as any other form of unrighteous government. Freedom, for example, must have a framework around it. Without that framework our freedom can be abusive and deadly. That framework is God.
Great evangelists, teachers, artists, singers in America have all come bearing testimony of a great and wonderful God. But now we no longer recognize those people as having something to offer. Instead we put them on the fringe as an archaic relic to be given a nod.
Before you vote, listen. Compare what the politician says with what he does. Don't vote for the expedient or cast your vote for the most likely to win. As Christians we are to vote our conscience. Do that and let the rest up to God. Any other way takes Him out of the picture and gives power to men and empty promises. He will do wonders when we trust Him.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
GENUINE LOVE IS HUMILITY AT ITS CORE
Okay, I got busy again! I will try hard to stay current this time. Life gets in the way of my writing. Does that happen to you?
I keep a journal. After I read verses in Scripture, I address my journal writings to God. I think better on paper. I know God can see what I am writing. Besides, He knows a word before it is on my tongue. But I read it back to the Lord after I've written it, because I believe he loves to hear our voices. If you have children, you know what I mean. He gave us voices for a reason or we would only have to think something to convey information. He refers to our words and speaking all though Scripture. He spoke the world into existence, so He must see power in the spoken word.
Today I was reading Matthew 11:28-30, and the topic for me today was "Humility." Matthew 11:28-30 is as follows:
What people want deep down in their core is love. To be loved is to be valued, even though we think we have so little to offer. To be understood, even in places where we can't give voice to what we are thinking. To be encouraged even though we commit messy mistakes. And to know just how to give that kind of love to the many personalities in our lives.
What people want is genuine love. It's hard to come by. Our love is so conditional, even when we don't think it is. My Aunt Phyllis once said to me that, when people say they love you, they mean only at that moment. Their feelings can change on a dime. Something is said, or something happens that can turn the energy of love to anger or even hate.
This world is getting further removed from Jesus, and therefore, His love. We should pray that He would help those of us who know Him to be His agents of love in this world. We need to ask in each individual case to know what to think, do, or say to be His love to that person. Jesus is humility personified. That's is why he could love so easily. He always put others first.
I get angry with people and their differences and I make that personal. When what they need is love. They need Jesus' love because mine is lacking. They don't always know that they need His love, but they do.
I am asked the question, "In what way does your understanding of your identity relate to the issue of humility in your life?" Maybe I never got enough love, praise, or acknowledgment as a child growing up. I looked for it in all of the wrong places. I promoted myself when no one else would, and did it in positive and negative ways. That is until Jesus came into my life. I haven't arrived. I'm still learning. But I can feel His love. And He's proud of me. I'm understanding how I can now love others, not because of who they are, but because of who they can become.
I keep a journal. After I read verses in Scripture, I address my journal writings to God. I think better on paper. I know God can see what I am writing. Besides, He knows a word before it is on my tongue. But I read it back to the Lord after I've written it, because I believe he loves to hear our voices. If you have children, you know what I mean. He gave us voices for a reason or we would only have to think something to convey information. He refers to our words and speaking all though Scripture. He spoke the world into existence, so He must see power in the spoken word.
Today I was reading Matthew 11:28-30, and the topic for me today was "Humility." Matthew 11:28-30 is as follows:
- "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, any you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
What people want deep down in their core is love. To be loved is to be valued, even though we think we have so little to offer. To be understood, even in places where we can't give voice to what we are thinking. To be encouraged even though we commit messy mistakes. And to know just how to give that kind of love to the many personalities in our lives.
What people want is genuine love. It's hard to come by. Our love is so conditional, even when we don't think it is. My Aunt Phyllis once said to me that, when people say they love you, they mean only at that moment. Their feelings can change on a dime. Something is said, or something happens that can turn the energy of love to anger or even hate.
This world is getting further removed from Jesus, and therefore, His love. We should pray that He would help those of us who know Him to be His agents of love in this world. We need to ask in each individual case to know what to think, do, or say to be His love to that person. Jesus is humility personified. That's is why he could love so easily. He always put others first.
I get angry with people and their differences and I make that personal. When what they need is love. They need Jesus' love because mine is lacking. They don't always know that they need His love, but they do.
I am asked the question, "In what way does your understanding of your identity relate to the issue of humility in your life?" Maybe I never got enough love, praise, or acknowledgment as a child growing up. I looked for it in all of the wrong places. I promoted myself when no one else would, and did it in positive and negative ways. That is until Jesus came into my life. I haven't arrived. I'm still learning. But I can feel His love. And He's proud of me. I'm understanding how I can now love others, not because of who they are, but because of who they can become.
Friday, July 24, 2015
WHAT OUR FATHER WANTS
I have been absent from this site for awhile. I have put this blog on hold while God had other things for me to do. Now it's time to really dig in and get the conversation going again. Will you join me? This time we will keep it going.
I was reading in Luke 11:11-14 recently. Remember the story? Jesus was giving the parable about a son asking for bread, and Jesus said, "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?" Then He speaks about an egg or a scorpion. Jesus compares what we sinful, earthly people will give our children, with what the Father will give to His children if we but ask.
Having children has taught me a lot about that kind of love. We love our children sacrificially and we want to give them every good thing. The thing we want most from them is for them to want us, to think we have something valuable to say and to learn from us. We want our children to respect us and to love us back with just a portion of the love that we have for them. Don't you want that as a parent? Isn't that birthed in a parent from the moment of conception?
The Father is so ready for us to love Him back that way. He will come near to us, so near if we but ask Him to. He will come closer than we could ask or think. He would infuse Himself into us. We would breathe in as He breathes out. Our hearts would beat together so that it would be but a single sound. His mind would fire off a thought and it would be received in ours. And when we have no words and our hearts cry silent tears, He would instinctively know what we cannot not utter. He would then begin to mend the tiny tears in our hearts. And with His gentle but powerful strength He would hold us together from the inside out.
From the time we have children, our identity is defined in their existence. We are someone's father or mother. We take on an important responsibility and we long to see some of who were are replicated in their lives. Greater plans are executed to prepare them for a future they can't even comprehend. We move mountains and lay down our lives for theirs. Unfortunately some of them use what we've given them as a device to move away from us. They may have removed themselves from our care, but they can never remove themselves from our love.
I know there is so much more I have yet to understand about God, but I am thankful that he made me a mom so that I could know in part, His love for me. How could I choose not to have someone love me like that?
I was reading in Luke 11:11-14 recently. Remember the story? Jesus was giving the parable about a son asking for bread, and Jesus said, "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?" Then He speaks about an egg or a scorpion. Jesus compares what we sinful, earthly people will give our children, with what the Father will give to His children if we but ask.
Having children has taught me a lot about that kind of love. We love our children sacrificially and we want to give them every good thing. The thing we want most from them is for them to want us, to think we have something valuable to say and to learn from us. We want our children to respect us and to love us back with just a portion of the love that we have for them. Don't you want that as a parent? Isn't that birthed in a parent from the moment of conception?
The Father is so ready for us to love Him back that way. He will come near to us, so near if we but ask Him to. He will come closer than we could ask or think. He would infuse Himself into us. We would breathe in as He breathes out. Our hearts would beat together so that it would be but a single sound. His mind would fire off a thought and it would be received in ours. And when we have no words and our hearts cry silent tears, He would instinctively know what we cannot not utter. He would then begin to mend the tiny tears in our hearts. And with His gentle but powerful strength He would hold us together from the inside out.
From the time we have children, our identity is defined in their existence. We are someone's father or mother. We take on an important responsibility and we long to see some of who were are replicated in their lives. Greater plans are executed to prepare them for a future they can't even comprehend. We move mountains and lay down our lives for theirs. Unfortunately some of them use what we've given them as a device to move away from us. They may have removed themselves from our care, but they can never remove themselves from our love.
I know there is so much more I have yet to understand about God, but I am thankful that he made me a mom so that I could know in part, His love for me. How could I choose not to have someone love me like that?
Monday, October 14, 2013
WHO IS FAMILY, REALLY?
I was reading Mark 3:31-35 this morning. Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside and wanted to see Him. He looked at the crowd sitting around Him and asked the question, "Who are My mother and brothers?" Then He answered His own question. He said, "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
Was He rejecting His mother, His family? I think Jesus was making a point that the people who are submitted to God have a stronger bond to Him because it is a spiritual bond. Sure Jesus' mother and brother share DNA and makes them related in some ways, but it's about so much more than that.
We all go back to one ancestor. Even Eve came from Adam. Our bodies are made up of DNA, cells, blood, muscles, bones, etc., chemistry that reproduces over and over again, giving us a body, but that isn't all there is to us. We have a spirit and that spirit gives our body it's personality, thoughts, emotions, it remembers and feels. Without a spirit we are an empty shell.
I was with my mother when she died. At the instant she exhaled her last breath, her spirit was gone. She no longer looked like my mom. It looked to me like an empty suit of clothes laying on the bed where she once was. She departed from that room. I knew that in theory, but now I experienced a body void of what made it come to life.
A good example is a contractor building a new house. He builds it and it stands empty amid a row of other new houses, all unoccupied. Not until a family moves in does it become a home. They bring their furniture, pictures, their personality to the house. Now it becomes a home. There are activities happening in the house, new people are invited in, memories are being made. It becomes their home. And when they are away they say they are going back home, not to a house, because who lives there gives it its meaning and it is something different than just a house.
When our spirit is born again, our spirit uniting with Jesus', we are a new person. It is like an egg and a sperm coming together at fertilization. A new person is born. That makes us family with others who share the same Father. Now we share a family history. That bond is stronger than the DNA we share with other mortals.
I am sure Jesus loved His earthly family, but He came to call us to a more secure family. He was teaching that to His disciples. Did they understand? Do you?
Was He rejecting His mother, His family? I think Jesus was making a point that the people who are submitted to God have a stronger bond to Him because it is a spiritual bond. Sure Jesus' mother and brother share DNA and makes them related in some ways, but it's about so much more than that.
We all go back to one ancestor. Even Eve came from Adam. Our bodies are made up of DNA, cells, blood, muscles, bones, etc., chemistry that reproduces over and over again, giving us a body, but that isn't all there is to us. We have a spirit and that spirit gives our body it's personality, thoughts, emotions, it remembers and feels. Without a spirit we are an empty shell.
I was with my mother when she died. At the instant she exhaled her last breath, her spirit was gone. She no longer looked like my mom. It looked to me like an empty suit of clothes laying on the bed where she once was. She departed from that room. I knew that in theory, but now I experienced a body void of what made it come to life.
A good example is a contractor building a new house. He builds it and it stands empty amid a row of other new houses, all unoccupied. Not until a family moves in does it become a home. They bring their furniture, pictures, their personality to the house. Now it becomes a home. There are activities happening in the house, new people are invited in, memories are being made. It becomes their home. And when they are away they say they are going back home, not to a house, because who lives there gives it its meaning and it is something different than just a house.
When our spirit is born again, our spirit uniting with Jesus', we are a new person. It is like an egg and a sperm coming together at fertilization. A new person is born. That makes us family with others who share the same Father. Now we share a family history. That bond is stronger than the DNA we share with other mortals.
I am sure Jesus loved His earthly family, but He came to call us to a more secure family. He was teaching that to His disciples. Did they understand? Do you?
Friday, October 11, 2013
WHO IS FORGIVEN
I was on my way to stay with my grandson today and as I was driving I was remembering the sins of my past. It's like I have no connection with the young woman I used to be, except to use what I know to help someone else. That's the benefit of being a repentant sinner.
When I got to my daughter's house it was quiet, my grandson was still asleep. I kept thinking of who I used to be. Mulling over the past can overwhelm you sometimes. I began to read what was next on my reading plan in my Bible, Mark 3:28-30, that all sins are forgiven. Jesus made sure I got the message today. He read the question in my mind. He most likely knew before time that on this day that grown up little girl from Pittsburgh would be reading these words and that they would sustain her. I praised, "You are unfathomable Lord!" And I asked, "Expand my mind, my imagination to begin to rightly explore the never-ending mystery of You Jesus."
I sing praises to The Lord at times, and I began to sing Blessed Assurance. And the words of the song hit me. I am born of the Spirit and washed in Jesus' blood. How awesome is that? Just because I know Jesus, I am clean. What's even more is that I get eternal life thrown in. What a mind blowing deal! Then I asked, "Why did you choose me Jesus? And why don't more people see what I just did?"
But verse 29 says that the person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Is it the unbelief that comes because they don't understand how Jesus gets on the inside of people, therefore they don't believe it? Is it that people believe Jesus existed, and even that He is God, but He died and now the world is on auto-pilot? Maybe they just can't believe that Jesus can still be on this earth in the souls of mankind. They have trouble with the supernatural aspect in what they cannot see.
I pray, "Open their eyes Lord. Blow their minds with a supernatural display of who You are that they can't explain away. Leave them speechless. Overwhelm this country one person at a time."
When I got to my daughter's house it was quiet, my grandson was still asleep. I kept thinking of who I used to be. Mulling over the past can overwhelm you sometimes. I began to read what was next on my reading plan in my Bible, Mark 3:28-30, that all sins are forgiven. Jesus made sure I got the message today. He read the question in my mind. He most likely knew before time that on this day that grown up little girl from Pittsburgh would be reading these words and that they would sustain her. I praised, "You are unfathomable Lord!" And I asked, "Expand my mind, my imagination to begin to rightly explore the never-ending mystery of You Jesus."
I sing praises to The Lord at times, and I began to sing Blessed Assurance. And the words of the song hit me. I am born of the Spirit and washed in Jesus' blood. How awesome is that? Just because I know Jesus, I am clean. What's even more is that I get eternal life thrown in. What a mind blowing deal! Then I asked, "Why did you choose me Jesus? And why don't more people see what I just did?"
But verse 29 says that the person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Is it the unbelief that comes because they don't understand how Jesus gets on the inside of people, therefore they don't believe it? Is it that people believe Jesus existed, and even that He is God, but He died and now the world is on auto-pilot? Maybe they just can't believe that Jesus can still be on this earth in the souls of mankind. They have trouble with the supernatural aspect in what they cannot see.
I pray, "Open their eyes Lord. Blow their minds with a supernatural display of who You are that they can't explain away. Leave them speechless. Overwhelm this country one person at a time."
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Satan, People and Sin
From John Piper's book "Life as a Vapor:
O Lord, Your ways are not our ways, and Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Yours are unsearchable and often baffling to our finite minds. You have chosen to give Satan freedom to do great damage, when it would be no injustice to him to destroy him now. We bow before Your wisdom. We embrace with Jesus the cross that saves our souls and sends us into battle with faith in the superior beauty and worth of Christ. Go withus. Help us.
Why did God permit the Fall? How could sin spread over the world that God made good? Why did God just put a "Do Not Enter" sign over an open door to keep Satan from disrupting His world? Why not just close the door?
What is your answer?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Awaken the Church
T.M. Moore, Dean of Chuck Colson's Centurions Program says:
"In our day again the Gospel of the Kingdom has been substituted for by an inadequate and false gospel, a gospel of personal peace and wellbeing. This false gospel loads believers with false assurances about their eternal state even as it distracts them from the pursuit of holiness, minimizes the life of discipline and obedience, fosters an idolatry of material success, redefines the go/tell mission of the Church, and leaves the larger issues of culture and society in the hands of the children of the kingdom of darkness."
"The Gospel of the Kingdom has become captive to mere personal interest, felt needs, aspirations of prosperity, postmodern relativism, and social and political ambitions. Certainly there are aspects of most of these in the Gospel of the Kingdom; however, the Gospel of the Kingdom is much broader, much deeper, much more integrated, and much more sweeping in its implications and power than any or all of its present-day substitutes. What we need today is a movement to restore the gospel of the Kingdom - Christianity as a worldview - to the churches and the publice square. This will not happen without the deliberate, coordinated effort of those who share a burden for such a broad and deep renewal."
"In our day again the Gospel of the Kingdom has been substituted for by an inadequate and false gospel, a gospel of personal peace and wellbeing. This false gospel loads believers with false assurances about their eternal state even as it distracts them from the pursuit of holiness, minimizes the life of discipline and obedience, fosters an idolatry of material success, redefines the go/tell mission of the Church, and leaves the larger issues of culture and society in the hands of the children of the kingdom of darkness."
"The Gospel of the Kingdom has become captive to mere personal interest, felt needs, aspirations of prosperity, postmodern relativism, and social and political ambitions. Certainly there are aspects of most of these in the Gospel of the Kingdom; however, the Gospel of the Kingdom is much broader, much deeper, much more integrated, and much more sweeping in its implications and power than any or all of its present-day substitutes. What we need today is a movement to restore the gospel of the Kingdom - Christianity as a worldview - to the churches and the publice square. This will not happen without the deliberate, coordinated effort of those who share a burden for such a broad and deep renewal."
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