It is Sunday morning, and on Sundays my thoughts usually go to Church services and tradition. Christians love to get together to worship God on Sundays. It is as old as the resurrection of Christ. But actually, it isn’t just Christians who value corporate worship. Most people of all faiths find or make time to join their hearts together to praise their object of affection. I could call it a phenomenon… but it isn’t. Corporate worship is natural. We were made to do it. What is unnatural is for someone to say, “I don’t need to go to church to worship God,” or, “I don’t want to go to church to worship with others.” That is unnatural because it goes against our nature. This is especially true of redeemed believers. People who worship false gods have rituals and a desire to worship in the context of community. How much moreso should they who know the truth and have come to know the One who actually created them with that specific need and desire. Ask 10 Christians why they go to church on Sunday and you will likely get 25 different answers, ranging from the music, to the preaching, to the children’s department, to getting ‘refueled’ for the week. But God did not give us the desire and need for corporate worship so we could get fueled up… but rather so we could empty ourselves of ourselves in giving our adoration to God. Corporate worship is not for us. It is for Him. Surely we reap the rewards of faithful worship. But going to church should not primarily be done as an act of self-fulfillment no matter how pure the motives. Corporate worship is as natural and necessary as breathing. Look at what the Psalmist says… “Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly. Let Israel celebrate its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and lyre. For Yahweh takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly celebrate in triumphal glory; let them shout for joy on their beds.” (Psalm 149:1-5) God created us to be in community, and He created us to worship. I believe He created us so that the merging of worship and community would be as fulfilling for us as it is honoring to Him. When you worship with others, enjoy the fellowship, the Word, the music, the gifts. But never enjoy all of these things without celebrating the One who makes it all possible. He is the reason we are alive, the reason we thrive, and the reason we drive… to worship with others who have been given eternal life. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. “There's two things I can’t stand… a thief and a liar.” This was the mantra of a generation who saw things as black and white… some things as acceptable, and others as not. One of my best older friends used to say this while he was still with us. He would get a stern look on his face, shake his head from side to side, and deliver the serious judgment. People don’t say it much today, perhaps because we can stand thieves and liars. Maybe because we want to leave the door open to become thieves and liars ourselves. Whatever the reason, you just don’t hear this as much as you used to. Yet we have more of this activity than we used to. I wonder why these two acts of evil stand out in the statement. Well, both of them are tied together in deceit and underhandedness. And both of them are in the Bible. Of course there are a lot of sins listed in the Bible. But let’s look at the connection between these two. They are both in the list of the 10 Commandments. Satan is our soul’s enemy, and he is labeled as one who is a liar and a thief. Jesus said, “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10) When speaking to some people who were working against God, Jesus also said, “You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.” (John 8:44) The apostle Paul weighed in on the subject with this, “I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) And again Paul says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) You see, lying and stealing are very similar. When you lie, you are stealing the truth from a situation. And when you steal, you are acting as if something is yours when it is not… which is a lie. That’s why some people can’t stand thieves and liars. The trust factor is utterly destroyed. You can’t trust a thief and a liar except to steal things that don’t belong to them and twist the facts to their own purposes. You show me a thief, and I will show you someone who has to lie to cover up their sin. Satan is a master of lies. He is a master thief. He doesn’t have anything good, so he has to steal from those who do have good. He does not like the truth, so he has to lie. He has been lying since the beginning as Paul mentioned above. His first conversation with humans gave us the greatest lie of all time, “You [can disobey God by eating of the tree] and you will not die [even though God said you would die].” In getting Eve and subsequently Adam to believe that lie, he stole life from humanity. The lie set up the robbery. Today you will hear many things. Be wise and do not listen to or believe the lies of the enemy. The Devil lies to you so he can set up a robbery. He is trying to steal your faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, etc. The only way he can steal that is to lie to you about your situation. Do not fall for his lies or you will be a victim of his thievery. Pray to God right now. Ask Him for protection and guidance. The Holy Spirit is in you as a believer to guide you into all truth, and secure your soul. Surrender to His protection today. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Did you ever hit a cold streak in life? You know… when you can’t seem to do anything right? It happens. It is frustrating. It is discouraging. It could even make you want to give up. Everything is not always going to go well. We know that. No one with reasonable expectations expects to be successful at everything all the time. But neither does anyone expect everything to go wrong all the time. It is how we respond during these times of failure that will define our future. This happens in sports as well as other parts of life. Batters in baseball go on cold streaks where they can’t seem to hit any pitch. Kickers in football go through cold streaks where everything is wide to the right or left. Basketball players go through times where they just can’t hit a shot. Whole teams go through streaks where they just can’t seem to get a win. One major league baseball manager said, “Losing streaks pile up faster than winning streaks." Losing, or missing on a regular basis can have a negative psychological effect that makes it difficult to break the streak or cycle. So how do you break a bad streak? Several years ago I ministered as the chaplain for the men’s basketball team at the University of Tennessee. I would sometimes hang out at practice and talk with the players or coaches. One day as a player was getting a rest I asked him this question, “What do you do when you go on a cold streak with your shooting? When you can’t seem to hit anything, what do you do to get back on track?” He looked at me and said, “You take a lay-up. You do something very basic so you can get a ‘win’. When you start hitting, you get your confidence back.” Take a lay-up? Hmmmm… Take a lay-up. You take the easiest shot in basketball. A lay-up is when you run right up to the basket and lay it up into the rim. It is the highest percentage shot you can take. Basically you can’t miss a lay-up. It has probably a 95% success rate… or higher. You get two points for a close shot that you lay into the basket just like you get for a 17' shot. But the success rate for a 17' shot is going to be around 50% during a game. So I thought to myself, how does that apply in the spiritual realm? When you can’t seem to hit anything, is there a lesson in the lay-up? What is the lay-up? Well, I think there is something to the idea that we need to do the basics in the Christian walk. Sometimes we try to be all deep and inspiring, but we can’t seem to get anything right. Perhaps God allows us to fail so that we can learn humility or dependence on Him. Maybe it is so we will go back to trusting the basics. Whatever the reason, at times we can’t seem to get a win in our lives. That is frustrating and discouraging. After a few failures you can wonder if you even have a relationship with God. The enemy likes it when you are in the valley of doubt and despair. That’s where he does some of his best work. If you will go back to the basics, you can start to see success. So what is a spiritual lay-up? What are the basic things you can do to see some wins in your life? I believe there are several. But they are so basic, you may be overlooking them. We like the flashy. We love the profound. We tend to stay away from the ‘boring’. So we skim past or leave the basics. Some of the basics are praise, prayer, Bible reading, serving, gathering together with other believers for worship or study. The apostle Paul put it this way… God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing. Now we ask you, brothers, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-24) Are you on a losing streak? Are you missing every shot you take? Do these basic things, knowing that God is the one who will empower you and bring the increase. Are you missing the long-range shot? Take a lay-up today. Pray for peace from the Prince of Peace. Pray for it until you get it. When you feel that wave of peace flow through you, build on that success for the next shot. Pretty soon you will be walking through deep waters again. But never leave the basics. There is power and confidence in the basics. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. We sometimes have a ‘Santa Claus’ view of God, and a ‘Park Ranger’ view of Jesus. The many ‘Jesus’ films haven’t helped. He is often portrayed as a soft-spoken cutie-pie who is in our lives to make us feel better and help us become nicer people. Even the paintings we have of Jesus (none of which were done by people who actually saw Jesus) do not help in our understanding of the Son of God. We tend to treat Jesus as one of our friends rather than our only Savior. So I thought I would post a section of the book of Revelation today. This was written by one of the closest friends of Jesus. His name is John, and Jesus came to him in his old age, many years after He had descended to Heaven. John loved Jesus, and knew Him as well as any human ever did. One would think that when he saw Him again it would be a very normal and easy exchange. But look at how he relates the surprise meeting… The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves what must quickly take place. He sent it and signified it through His angel to His slave John, who testified to God’s word and to the testimony about Jesus Christ, in all he saw. The one who reads this is blessed, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near! John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the One who is, who was, and who is coming; from the seven spirits before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—the glory and dominion are His forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him. And all the families of the earth will mourn over Him. This is certain. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.” I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of God’s word and the testimony about Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven gold lampstands, and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool—white as snow—and His eyes like a fiery flame. His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading waters. He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at midday. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this. - (Revelation 1) Even when Jesus’ closest friend meets Him again, he responds with great fear and reverence. Jesus may be your best friend… but He isn’t your ‘boy’, or your ‘bud’, or your ‘homie’, or your ‘bro’. He is God almighty in the flesh. He is the Everlasting God. He is holy and to be honored. He is pure and powerful. He is true and triumphant. He is more than we can imagine and all that He promises. When you pray today, seek Jesus. Not the one you see in Sunday School books or the one in the painting at church. Seek the true Jesus who is as mighty as He is merciful, and as terrifying as He is tender. This is the Jesus Who will drive out the Devil from your life and hold you when the storms are too great for you. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. The sun is 93 million miles from the earth. It takes just over 8 minutes for sunlight to travel from the sun to the earth. Light goes wherever it wants, unless it is impeded. It can travel 93,000,000 miles, but if you put your hand up, you can stop it, casting a shadow where the light would have gone. It is impressive to think that we can so easily stop something traveling so fast and so far. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, many people came to Him with a wide variety of requests. Some wanted physical healing, others wanted spiritual deliverance. There were some places where He healed everyone in the city. There were other villages where, because of unbelief, He couldn’t heal anyone. He healed the poor and those with means. He healed the young and the old. He healed men and women. He healed Jews and Gentiles. Besides being a miracle-worker, He was also a teacher. Wherever He would go people would ask Him questions about life, relationships, the Scriptures, money, etc. One of the more common question raised was, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is the most pressing and important question anyone can ask. One may think Jesus would give a very simple answer like, “Just believe in Me and you will have eternal life.” But over and over Jesus gave different answers, and usually told stories or asked other questions in return. On one such occasion we find this exchange… Just then someone came up and asked Him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” He said to him. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he asked Him. Jesus answered: “Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself.” “I have kept all these,” the young man told Him. “What do I still lack?” “If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22) So that is kind of interesting. This story is found in three of the four Gospels. It is through all of them that we find this was a ‘rich, young, ruler.’ When he asks Jesus about the path to eternal life, Jesus gives him a list of sorts. “You need to keep the commands.” The man basically attests to the fact that he has been a good person, fearing God and following the Law. Jesus does not contradict him, probably because he had never killed anyone, stolen, committed adultery, or violated the other laws Jesus mentioned. SO when he said he measured up in those areas, Jesus did not correct him. But when he said, “I’ve done all of this… what else am I lacking?” Jesus told him to go and sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and follow the Master. Each of the versions of the story tell us that at this point the man became very sad, and walked away unwilling to part with his earthly treasure to gain eternal life. A couple of things stand out to me… Whatever stands between you and Jesus also stands between you and eternal life. Jesus asked this man for one extra thing, and the man couldn’t… wouldn’t make it happen. The light had come all the way from the throne of Heaven, but it was stopped by this man’s wallet. The apostle John wrote, “The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:9) For this man, it was possessions. For you, it may be something else. What is Jesus asking you to give up for relationship with Him that you are not willing to let go of? This man basically took inventory of all of his earthly possessions and valued them above eternal life. This seems silly because it is silly. Taken on face value, if you owned a trillion dollars worth of tangible stuff, it may be hard to part with it for something you can’t see. Obviously the exchange would be worth it, but still difficult to explain to your business manager. But frankly, most of us don’t have that much. We aren’t making a choice between a trillion dollars and eternal life. We are making a choice between basically junk and eternal life. How silly of us? Today you will hear from Christ (the only way to eternal life). He speaks to you. He calls you to follow. Along the way He asks you to give things up in your life that are taking up space He could use. How will you respond to His request? Will you hold onto those things, walking away sad in your spirit because you don’t want to let go of something that is blocking the light in your life? Or will you release that good or bad thing that is keeping you from the best thing, and follow Him into greater things than you can imagine? The light has come a long way to help you see truth. Don’t let something temporal keep you from the eternal. Don't let something that will pass away cast a shadow on your future with God. Do not come to the giver of abundant life and deep joy, only to walk away sad. [Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.] Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. |
AuthorMy name is David, and I want to know God more, and help other people find Him. Archives
March 2019
Categories |