28. Faithfulness is God's Gold Standard

     Faith seems to be what God values the most in His people. The "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11 lists all who exemplified faith. We are people of faith, but are we faithful? In other words, are we people who can be trusted ourselves?

     It would seem obvious, right? People of faith being faithful. We who trust God, is it right for us to be anything less than trustworthy? We believe in Jesus, but do people believe in us to be genuine?

     There is a legacy of faithfulness found in Genesis. Not perfection, although Joseph is said to be someone in the Bible who did not demonstrate an identifiable sin. And consider his legacy of faith.

• Abraham the testimony of Faithfulness, showing obedience in leaving, offering, and trusting. His testimony demonstrates that faith in God should not be based on sight, but on what and Who is unseen. First he left all in Haran and Mesopotamia for a country he could not see. Then he believed God would grant him a child in his and Sarah's old age. Abraham promised that he and the lad Isaac would return, even though he had already purposed in his heart that Isaac would be sacrificed. God rewarded Abraham with Laughter.

• Isaac was the type of Faithfulness, demonstrating resurrection from the  sentence of death. Surely he could have overpowered aged Abraham from being on the altar. Yet, he was a type like Christ, willingly laying down his life in faith. It was through Isaac that the Seed of the Woman would come to crush the serpent's head and though he favored Esau, Isaac blessed Jacob though trembling. We see twice the God of Abraham, but the Terror of Isaac (Gen. 31:42, and again in verse 53), the fear of the Lord. Isaac's faith was not in the absence of fear but in the very presence of fear and trembling, he showed the genuineness of His faith. Through his lineage would come the Christ. God rewarded Isaac with a Legacy.

• Jacob/Israel was the testing of Faithfulness through his struggles with Esau, with Laban, even with the angel of the Lord. A deceiver from the beginning, Jacob would go through the trials and testing of faithfulness. Stealing Esau's birthright, then his blessings, Jacob never had the approval from his father that his brother had. His guile was repaid when Laban tricked the trickster and deceived the deceiver. His testing of love for Rachel was vindicated not only in his labor but in his fruitfulness. When he returned to face his family, he found himself face to face with God Himself, wrestling with the Angel of the Lord. Those who face the testing of faith are used mightily but often walk afterwards with a limp, a painful reward and reminder of the test...and how they prevailed. His new name would be a lasting reminder to his 12 sons and their tribes which followed that Israel, "God prevails."

• Joseph was a triumph of Faithfulness, overcoming hardships without waivering. His faith was founded by his father's love, and that enduring faithfulness elevated him from the persecution of his brothers, the pit of their jealousy, from the prison of false accusation, and from the peril of being forgotten by the cupbearer. His triumphant faithfulness was evidenced not in vindictiveness, but in his vindication; his steadfast conviction was that God was faithful. While man intended evil, God intended good, so much so that he used evil for God's ultimate good. Joseph's reward for His faith was his Love for God and Love by God. For we know that all things works together for good for those who love God and are called to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The following devotional comes from Zondervan.

 

KEY QUESTION: 

Why is it important to be loyal and committed to others?

Faithfulness benefits the people in our lives. When we are faithful to them, they are blessed. And, over time, our faithfulness to others also has a reciprocal benefit. First, we win favor. As needs emerge in our life, people will be inclined to help us. Second, we establish a name. When our name is brought up, even when we are not present, it is spoken with high regard. A good name established through a life of faithfulness is a boundless gift to pass on to our children.

Throughout the Bible, God called believers to be faithful to his assignment for them, no matter how difficult. In fact, it was often amid the difficult seasons that they most discovered the trustworthiness of God. When they aligned their lives to God’s story, he was with them and accomplished great things through them. All believers have the opportunity to open their lives to God’s will and demonstrate their faithfulness. The results of such faithfulness can be both great and beautiful as God works through those who believe.

KEY VERSE

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3–4)

 

KEY IDEA

I have established a good name with God and others based on my loyalty to those relationships.

 

KEY APPLICATION: 

What difference does this make in the way I live?

Christians are not called to be successful as the world defines success. We are called to be faithful to God in what he calls us to do. We faithfully act in faith toward God and leave the results to him. If I die with five billion dollars in the bank but do not know and have not been faithful to God, then I have failed. If I end up broke but know God and have been faithful to his call on my life in the strength his Spirit provides, I have been truly successful.

YOUR TURN

Based on what Proverbs 3:1-6 says about faithfulness, who are some of the most faithful people you know? How have they found honor and a good name in your sight? In the sight of others?

27. What does it mean to be good?

¹⁸ Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God…”

Luke 18

    The virtue in Lesson 27 of BELIEVE is goodness. It also lists the word "kindness," but in every place where the word kindness is listed, it could be translated just as accurately as "goodness." So let us use that word as our virtue word. A form of the word "goodness" is used in the story from Luke 18 known as the "rich young ruler." 

    The rich “young” ruler (the Bible never says he was young) who came to Christ was sadly unfulfilled in his life. Maybe without thinking, he called Jesus “Good Teacher.”

    Jesus immediately saw an opportunity to expose his proud, self-righteous, and empty heart. The ruler was good, but not compared to Christ or God. This ruler, who kept “all” of the commandments (or so he thought … or so he said he thought) since he was a youth, did not realize what he was lacking.

    Jesus told him no one was truly good except for God. The “one thing” the ruler lacked was actually what he had: his possessions. Jesus loved the man, and told him the one thing that would bring him true fullness—to sell all and give to the poor and follow Christ. He was impoverished by his wealth.

    The Bible never gives his name. Could he have come to Christ later? I hope so but the Bible never says.

    Contrast the rich ruler to another ruler whom was “a good man”: Joseph of Arimathea. A member of the Sanhedrin Council, Joseph did not agree with the condemnation of Jesus to be crucified. Unlike the rich ruler, this ruler risked all that he had; that is, his position on the Council, in order for him to take the body of Jesus and to lay him in his own newly hewn tomb. Luke records that Joseph was “a good and upright man” (Luke 23:50, NIV).

     Compare the rich ruler also with another man whom Luke calls “good” and who also was named Joseph (Joses in King James).  He was a Levite who sold a field and gave the money to the apostles (Acts 4:36-37). This “son of encouragement” (so named by the apostles) was like Joseph of Arimathea, unafraid to take a stand, including reaching out to the once persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus, and bringing him to the apostles (Acts 9:27).

    Luke describes this “good man” named Barnabas in Acts 11.

²² Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. ²³ When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. ²⁴ For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. ²⁵Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. ²⁶ And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

    Being good is not by merely what we do, but how much we are like Jesus who is God.

The following devotional comes from Zondervan

KEY QUESTION: What does it mean to do the right thing in my relationships?

Jesus not only showed his followers how to be good and kind to others, but he also left us instructions that are both practical and radical.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:32-36)

KEY VERSE

Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

KEY IDEA

I choose to be kind and good in my relationships with others.

KEY APPLICATION: What difference does this make in the way I live?

Out of a pure heart to do the right thing for others, we seek to build others up.

Every morning, we ask God to give us opportunities to take the good he is depositing in our hearts and give it away to others. We approach every day on the lookout to encourage others. In every conversation and encounter, we try to do something or say something kind, because it builds people up. In Christ, we have a bank account with unlimited kindness, and we seek to bless others by giving it away.

Out of a pure heart to do the right thing for others, we do not pay back wrong for wrong.

Out of a pure heart to do the right thing for others, we do the hard thing out of love.

YOUR TURN

Look around you. Where in your life do you see evidence of the kindness of God?

Week 25 Hope -- You Can Cope Because of the Hope

     Sunday in three different LifeGroups, I taught on what it means to “believe.” We discussed briefly that to believe (a verb) is essentially the same as trust (generally a verb) and faith (generally a noun of the same word believe). So what is hope?

     It's sometimes hard to see the difference in faith and hope. Perhaps it is easier to see the difference if we look at the opposites. The opposite of faith is doubt and the opposite of hope is despair. Thus, faith speaks to the intellect or understanding, and hope speaks to the emotions. Both are battles within the soul, the seat of our intellect, will and emotions. Martin Luther said that faith rests with the understanding, and teaches and prescribes; hope rests in the encouragement of the soul and gives strength and courage.

     Hope brings joy and its opposite, despair, brings sadness. Faith is an “evidence,” (see Hebrews 11:1) and its opposite, doubt, is also fueled by conflicting evidence. But Paul adds a third part to the faith and hope discussion--love (1 Cor. 13:13). All three must be used in the battle within our souls. Faith fuels the battle of the mind with unseen evidence; Hope fuels the battle of our emotions with courage and joy; Love fuels the battle of our will with a sacrificial motivation for all we do. Love is greater than faith or hope and it will also endure. 

The above was originally published on September 5, 2016, when Believe was just starting. We are now in Week 25 of 30 weeks of studying our basic core beliefs. The following devotional comes from Zondervan in preparation for BELIEVE.

It is impossible to cope without hope.

False hope causes people to plan, build and risk for something that is not likely to happen. The Bible identifies several things humans unfortunately place their hope in only to be disappointed in the end.

False hope ... in riches.

Because of his fearless confidence in God, David is able to hurl condemnation at his enemy who trusts in wealth. (See Psalm 52:1–9.)

False hope ... in people.

The psalmists tell us that we will be disappointed if we place our hope in people rather than God.

Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. (Psalm 146:3–4)

False hope ... in idols.

An idol is any object we place above God. The prophet Habakkuk declares how foolish it is to place our hope in such man-made inventions. (See Habakkuk 2:18-19.)

Hope is only as good as the power and character of the one who offers it. Since God’s character is rock solid, trustworthy and true, we anchor our hope in his promises to us.

KEY VERSE

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. (Hebrews 6:19–20)

KEY IDEA

I can cope with the hardships of life because of the hope I have in Jesus Christ.

KEY APPLICATION: What difference does this make in the way I live?

Hope in Christ gives us a different place to look.

The author of Hebrews describes how hope gives us a different place to look: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

24: Self-Control -- What stone will you take or sacrifice will you make?

     Self Control, as found in the fruit of the Spirit, is a word that used to be translated as “temperance.”

     In my family McKeown Bible from the 1870s, there are pages filled with births, marriages and deaths. Strangely and I am sure purely accidental, the only page that is blank was the page entitled “Temperance Pledge,” which in the day meant a pledge against partaking of alcohol.

     As a result of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, our “self” is controlled by God’s presence and Holy Spirit, not as a result of will-power or simply by “thinking.” In BELIEVE, the first 10 weeks is on how to “think” like Jesus, but it is more than that. It is as the title states, we need to really believe that Jesus is with us always and at all times and then behave and become like Jesus.

     In the story of David and Goliath, all of David’s brothers and Saul’s army believed in God but only David put his faith into action. With Abraham, he believed but it was only evidenced and actually realized when he offered Isaac as a sacrifice. Hebrews says “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”

     David’s faith led him to go to battle with a sling and a stone. Abraham’s faith led him to pledge that both he and the lad would return from Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:5, Heb. 11:19). What action is your faith leading you to have “temperance.”

Today's devotional comes from Randy Frazee. as we finish out the week of preparation for BELIEVE. 

KEY QUESTION:

How does God free me from addictions and sinful habits?

God desires all of us to have self-control over things that can destroy us and others. The writer of Proverbs places options before us, clearly showing the virtue and benefit of self-control.

•          Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32)

•          The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered. (Proverbs 17:27)

In essence, self-control means having power over one’s own impulses, reactions and desires.

The Bible offers practical instruction on how to grow in the virtue of self-control. One of the primary applications is to “flee” — flee from the person, environment or situation that tempts us to lose control.

We can tame our tongues, reduce fights and quarrels amongst us, control our selfish desires and mitigate against the negative influences of the world and the devil. But ultimately complete self-control is unattainable. Our sin nature, or flesh, eventually wears us down and gets the best of us. The ultimate solution to gain self-control is “God-control.” The believer has the presence and power of God within them to live a life not undermined by our inner desires and the corruption of the world. As believers, we are to draw on this power to live productive and effective lives.

KEY VERSE

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11–13)

KEY IDEA

I have the power through Christ to control myself.

KEY APPLICATION: What difference does this make in the way I live?

As we develop the virtue of self-control, our sin will decrease and our character will increase.

Let me tell you a story. The late George Gallup Jr. was a good friend of mine who significantly helped me in the early journey of forming these thirty key ideas of the Christian life. In one of our several all-day sessions in Princeton, New Jersey, tucked away in the gunroom of the historic Nassau Club, we were discussing this virtue of self-control.

I was pontificating proudly on how Christians just need to get their act together and be self-controlled. In George’s always kind and gentle demeanor he stopped me and said, “Randy, you’re not an alcoholic, are you?” Startled by the question, I said, “No, I’m not.” He went on to say, “Well, I am. My father was also an alcoholic. When I took my first drink, something happened to me that likely didn’t happen to you or many others. I was hooked and couldn’t stop. Even as a Christian, I tried and tried and tried. I felt so defeated, and it was ruining my life. Then in a moment of quiet desperation, I heard Jesus whisper to me, ‘George, if you never lick this, that is okay. I died for this struggle in your life, and I still love you deeply.’” He paused for a moment, reflecting on that tender encounter with the Savior, and then said, “From that very moment I haven’t had a drink. It has been over thirty years.”

At that meeting, we added the phrase “through Christ” to the key idea of self-control: “I have the power, through Christ, to control myself.” Yielding to the love, grace, and presence of Christ in us is the only way we can be victorious. While not every Christian struggling with an addiction may experience the deliverance George did, the truth of Christ’s commitment and deep love applies to all of us.

YOUR TURN

Why is self-control important in living a Biblical lifestyle? How does self-control relate to other fruit of the Spirit? 

23 Peace -- Where do I find strength to battle anxiety and fear?

     On Sept. 3, Labor Day Weekend, I posted the devotional below, anticipating this week's study on PEACE. Six months later, we are at Week 23 in our BELIEVE study. How have you grown in this study? Did your grow in the virtue of JOY last week? Are you ready to grow in PEACE?

     For me, as I anticipated, this section of study on virtues has been the most convicting. Last week, I was actually embarrassed to admit I struggle with the virtue of Joy, or being content. This week will also be a week of conviction to be at peace, with Shalom.

     I was mentored in hospital visitation by a missionary who would visit, read a Scripture, and then pray with the person in recovery. (I will always remember our first visit was with a man who asked "Do you want to see my scar?" I don't know why he asked because he went ahead and showed us anyway!) My mentor always used the same verse, Philippians 4:6-7. Years later, I understand why. No other verse fits any better for hospitals than the one which speaks on having a "peace that passes all understanding" to guard and protect our hearts and our minds.

     Come to think about it, Philippians 4:6-7 fits just about any situation and struggle that we face in life that makes us prone to worry. Read it outloud, from the new New International Version:

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in every situation,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

     Labor Day weekend during presidential elections is typically the weekend that many people get serious in thinking about who to vote for. Today’s devotional speaks about peace and one of the readings in Week 23 will be passages that speak about praying for those who have authority over us, including the government, that we may “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence,” 1 Timothy 2:2.

     A common greeting in Jewish custom is “Shalom,” meaning peace. I like to think that when Jesus would greet the disciples such as in John 20:19, 21, 26 and other places that He would say, “Shalom.”

     I am finding the most conviction of the BELIEVE study in these virtues. I can intellectually and Biblically defend the theology aspects we have learned. But these lessons on “love”, “joy”, and “peace” will hopefully bring the most life change in me and in our church. After all, Jesus said that if we make peace, we will be most blessed (Matthew 5:9).

The following devotional comes from Zondervan. Be sure to check today’s Killeen Daily Herald about our church and BELIEVE.

Most of us think of peace as a feeling. We want to trade our anxiety, depression and fear for calming tranquility. There are many harmful and ineffective ways people attempt to achieve this feeling, most notably by using alcohol or drugs. Biblical peace, however, starts not with the feeling of peace but with the root cause of it, meaning a strong and healthy relationship with God and with others. Of course, peace with God is made possible only through the Prince of Peace. When Christ establishes his eternal kingdom, societal peace will be the norm.

Two-thirds of the use of the word “peace” (shalom) in the Old Testament involves the fulfillment that comes to humans when they experience God’s presence. Such peace can be experienced from God’s presence in our lives even in difficult circumstances.

Worry is the chief robber of peace in our lives. It prevents us from lying down and sleeping in peace at night. It keeps us on edge during the day. Our Prince of Peace, Jesus, emphasized the immense capacity of God the Father to love and care for his people individually before they let the worries of this life overtake them. He also stressed the important role of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father, in supporting God’s people. [See Matthew 6:25-34.]

KEY VERSE

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)

KEY IDEA

I am free from anxiety because I have found peace with God, peace with others and peace with myself.

KEY APPLICATION:

What difference does this make in the way I live?

When it comes to difficult situations you can’t immediately change or fix — broken, hurting relationships; illnesses or diseases; financial crises — go to God in prayer. Begin by rehearsing all the things you are thankful for — down to the smallest bit of beauty. Leave no stone unturned. Then lay your request before God. Just speak it out to him in complete honesty and clarity. Be specific. Offer to him the things beyond your control and ability to fix. 

As you engage in this spiritual practice of prayer, a peace beyond your comprehension will begin to bud on the end of your “branches.”

Let me tell you a story. In 1956, when Steve Saint was five years old, his father, Nate, flew with four other missionaries into the jungles of Ecuador to attempt to make contact with the most dangerous tribe known to man, the Waodani. After several months of exchanging gifts with the natives, the five men were speared repeatedly and hacked to death with machetes. Years later, Steve found out that a tribe member named Mincaye had delivered the blow that ultimately killed his father.

At the age of nine, Steve went to the Waodani territory for the first time to visit his aunt, who was a missionary there, and he visited every summer after that until her death. Her affection for the tribe was a major influence in Steve’s life.

When he was fourteen, Steve and his sister, Kathy, decided to be baptized by a couple of Waodani tribe members in the water next to the beach where their father had been killed. Steve says he has never forgotten the pain and heartache of losing his dad. “But I can’t imagine not loving Mincaye, a man who has adopted me as his own, and the other Waodani,” he says. “What the Waodani meant for evil, God used for good,” says Steve. “Given the chance to rewrite the story, I would not be willing to change it.”

This famous story of martyred missionaries and their families could have a much different ending — one filled with rage, bitterness, and hatred. But they pressed on despite horrible personal tragedy and saw God work miracles. Why? Because through forgiveness, the peace of Christ was chosen both as a response to the Waodani and as an eternal gift offered to the tribe. Once again, God used his people to bring peace and reach the unreachable.

Chapter 22: Joy -- The second part of the fruit of the Spirit

    Several people in our church come to mind when I think of people who are joyful despite adverse circumstances. In addition to love, can you think of a characteristic more appealing than a person who has joy?

     In the fruit of the Spirit listing found in Galatians chapter five, right after love is the word “joy.” It seems as if Paul is saying that in addition to love the number 2 characteristic for a Christian should be joy.

    And why not? We have a God who loves us and wants a personal relationship with us. We have eternal life, and rewards in heaven waiting for us. Even when we fall into times that tempt us to fall away, Jesus’ own brother said we are to count it all joy when those trying times come. Hebrews even says Jesus endured the cross because He knew what joy awaited him afterwards.

This devotional from Zondervan is day two on virtues we Christians should possess.

KEY QUESTION:

    What gives us true happiness and contentment in life?

     God may shower us with blessings and circumstances that bring joy to our lives, but true joy is found not in those things themselves but in their source. Joy can also be fueled and found in living out God’s Word and trusting in the promises God gives us in his Word.

    I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. (Psalm 119:14)

    Jesus confirmed that two commands from the Old Testament — love God and love others — as the greatest of all the commandments during an encounter recorded in the New Testament between Jesus and the religious leaders. [See Mark 12:28–34.]

     God’s promises find their ultimate fulfillment in his Son Jesus. So when we abide in the vine of Christ through obedience to his commands, his nutrients of joy run through our spiritual veins from the inside out and produce the ripe, juicy fruit of joy in and through our lives. [See John 15:1-10.]

KEY VERSE

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

KEY IDEA

     Despite my circumstances, I feel inner contentment and understand my purpose in life.

KEY APPLICATION:

     What difference does this make in the way I live?

     The joy of Christ will replace or reduce stress. Joy becomes a filter through which we view life. We’re not talking about rose-colored glasses, but about actually having brand-new eyes! Joy can change our perspective and our perception of negative circumstances. We aren’t simply in denial, sticking our head in the sand, but rather we choose to rise above the circumstances and adopt an eternal mind-set. Stress can come from many different factors today. We can worry and fret because we feel we’re not in control. Joy is an ongoing reminder that God is in control — that he is in charge of the outcome. Joy comes from trusting the controller of all things.

     The joy of Christ will become contagious through us.

     The joy of Christ will draw others to Christ.

YOUR TURN

What aspects of your faith give you the most joy? Join the discussion today and use the hashtag #BelieveTheStory

Not My Will But Your Will Be Done

Read Rom.7:14-25; 1 Peter 4:1-6; Gal. 5:16-21; Luke 22:39-45; Phil. 2:12-18

More powerful than our mind and more powerful than our emotions is the act of our will, or in the case of the Christian, the submission of our will to the will of God.

Nowhere do we see that battle better than in Romans 7, where Paul acknowledges the war raging in his soul, “to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find.” Although he is writing in the present tense, it is a victory that he will explain in chapter 8, and obviously he knows it in chapter 7 but is allowing the readers to journey with him into the solution.

He also alludes to this fight in Galatians 5, describing the flesh lusting against the spirit and vice versa, with the field of combat waging in his soul. Peter also speaks of doing the will of the Gentiles (that is, those who are not led by the Spirit). Paul discusses that the mind of Christ submitted to the will of God, and that gave Him and us the victory over the flesh. The will of God is stronger than the will of the flesh for those who submit to it.

It was the mind of Christ who prayed “let this cup pass from Me” but it was the will of Christ submitted to the will of God which prayed, “nevertheless not My will but Thine be done” (see Luke 22:42). Like a body builder who works out his muscles, we are to work out our salvation by allowing God “to work and to will according to His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

Suddenly, when we surrender our will to His, His pleasure becomes ours. Paul said in the next few verses that it was his pleasure even to be poured out as a drink offering for the church at Philippi (2:17).

Someone asked me the other night what JUBILEE meant. It was taken from the Levitical law, Leviticus 25, when the people celebrated their freedom, when they were released from their debts. They sounded a trumpet. We burned a note of our debt.

But when we celebrate the fact that we are spiritually set free, we do something even more powerful than burning a piece of paper or blowing a sound through a ram’s horn. We surrender to God, heart body and soul. And it is then that we find true liberty and freedom.

Letting God get the best of our emotions

The Emotions and The Will

Read Psalm 42; Matthew 21:12-16; Gal. 2:11-21

Don’t you wish your emotions were a little more under control? The psalmist in Psalm 42 seems to have his act together and all under composure.

The writer didn’t give up on God when bad times came. He was emotionally “cast down” in his soul, but not in his relationship with God. His response was “Yet shall I praise Him.” (Ps. 42: 5, 11; 43:5). He knew that “the Lord will command His lovingkindness” (42:8). We should “pant” after God like deer pant after the water in times of distress.

I say should because many times our emotional and hardships do not drive us to yearn and thirst for God.  Avery Willis in MasterLife Book 2 talks about how to take “action” over your emotions. Granted, trying to control your emotions needs to first presume that you are in a rationale state of mind to begin with! Often times, our emotions run roughshod over our mind and even our will.

The solution? Willis lists six actions steps to deal with the emotions

Acknowledge the emotion…Don’t deny or excuse it

Confess the sin...and then consider why you have that emotion

Thank God that He will help you master your emotions and keep it from becoming sin.

Identify the biblical response to the emotion…If anger, don’t let the sun go down on it; if hatred, love your enemies, etc.

Obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting, which is almost always in contrast to the world’s response or our human reaction.

Nurture the appropriate fruit of the Spirit (see Gal.5:22-23)

 When we read about Jesus casting out the money changers from the temple (Matt. 21:12-16) or when Paul confronted Peter for his hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-21), we may at first instinctively think that their emotions got the best of them. However, God does not want us to be emotionless Vulcans like Mr. Spock from Star Trek. God gave us emotions but he wants us to control them and not have them control us.

We will see tomorrow some verses about how the will, that is, God's Will working out in our lives, is the decision maker for our mind, emotions and the battle in our souls. 

Chapter 12, Prayer: Making Prayer Personal

     It’s hard to believe it’s only been a little over a year since War Room came out (the picture above is when we rented out a movie theater on Aug. 30, 2015) and then the DVD was released on Dec. 22, 2015. So much has happened in the past year. Since then, we’ve taught “The Battle Plan of Prayer Bible Study” several times with nearly one hundred who have gone through the course. I have sensed a growth in our church in regards to prayer: our Wednesday night prayer attendance is up, as is our men’s prayer time on Thursday. There is a sense of spiritual strength in our church and I believe it is because of prayer.

     But we can always grow in our prayers, not as a duty, not to get what we want, not to even seek God’s blessings...We need to pray because prayer is a personal communication with our God who loves us. This Sunday we will study Prayer and in the Spring, I plan to have five different Discipleship  tracks for us to study what I believe are the five essentials to Christian ministry. Those five areas are:

Prayer & Worship

OutReach & Evangelism

InReach  & Fellowship

Need-meeting & Missions

Teaching & Discipleship

     Please pray for these five key essentials in our church. This is week 12 in our BELIEVE series. Prayer is a vital action in our foundation of beliefs. If you wrote down your prayer requests when this blog was first published on Aug. 25, 2016, review your prayer list and see how God has answered your prayers.

The following devotional is from Zondervan.

KEY QUESTION: How do I grow by communicating with God?

 Our God is a personal God who desires a real relationship with us. He is not a distant, cosmic being, but a good father who longs to interact with his children. Prayer is a conversation between God and his people. We serve a God who is not threatened by our questions and doubts. We don’t have to put on a false persona to please him. He permits us to be honest about our fears, our feelings of isolation and our disappointments. When we rehearse our story before him, we see his good involvement in our lives.

Because we are God’s most prized creation, he wants to know the desires of our hearts. Scripture encourages us to, without hesitation, lay our requests before him. For example, see Gen. 18:20-31 for a conversation between Abraham and God that displays the freedom we have to talk honestly with him.

KEY VERSE

 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! (Psalm 66:18–20)

KEY IDEA

 I pray to God to know him, to find direction for my life and to lay my requests before him.

KEY APPLICATION: What difference does this make in the way I live?

We pray to align our lives with God’s will and story. We pray to lay our burdens before God to find peace. We pray to avoid making any major decision without seeking God. We pray for others.

Let me share a story with you. Our son David was born without a left hand. Prayer was a key spiritual practice to not only help me process this difficult event in our lives but also to move the reality of my identity, and my son’s identity, in Christ from my head to my heart.

During this time, I began by praying psalms of lament to the Lord: Why, Lord, did you let this happen to me? I serve you as a pastor of a church — not perfectly, but wholeheartedly. Why could you not pass this burden on to someone who doesn’t even believe in you? Have I done something wrong to deserve this?

I never sensed God was angry with me for speaking to him with such honesty. Actually, I felt as though he were whispering to me, Go ahead, I can handle this. I love you. Keep talking honestly to me, and we will get to the bottom of this. I will show you something I have wanted you to see for a long time.

In many extended moments of silence, when I didn’t know what else to say or how to pray, God began speaking back to me — not in an audible voice, but directly to my spirit. “Randy, my son, I have nothing in my being that seeks to harm you. The darkness and pain of the world are caused by sin, not by me. I have come to redeem the pain caused by sin. Randy, my son, I will use this situation to show you — and your son — who I really am. If you capture this, it will be more valuable than having three hands. Randy, my son, I have given your son everything he needs to be and do everything I am calling him to be and do. Randy, my son, it is time to shift your sense of worth from your performance to your position. You are my son. You do not have to perform to be a somebody; you already are a somebody in my eyes.

“Randy, my son, you need to teach this to your son. He will learn this from how you live, not by your words alone. You have four years before he realizes he is missing a hand. This gives you four years to learn to place your identity in your position as my son. Randy, my son, if you get this truth embedded into your heart, you will be free — free from the exhausting life of trying to gain and sustain status in the world. This is a great gift to give to all your children.”

Prayer is a conversation with God. We lay our honest requests before God, our need for daily bread. Yet, we clarify, as Jesus did, that we want God’s will to be done over our will, trusting his way to be good and right. As we rest in the presence of God, he will speak and show us his will in his perfect timing.

YOUR TURN

What do you learn about prayer from David’s psalms? (You’ll find some ideas in Psalm 77:1-20.) 

Eternity: This is the promise

1 Corinthians 15:1-28, 35-58.

Have you ever heard? Someone who died and came back to life has written a book about the experience, telling us what heaven is like. Oh? You have heard? It seems that dozens, if not hundreds, of “someones” have done that.

I and many people I know do not put a lot of “faith” in those stories. We are apparently in the minority, judging from the popularity of those books. While the books are interesting and many have even found them encouraging to their faith, they are not reliable, not objective, not verifiable and according to Father Abraham and Jesus Christ, they are not what we should build our faith upon.

Paul is one of those “someones” who went to heaven (the third heaven or paradise, he called it) and was so humbled by the experience, he described it in the third person as if it happened to someone else and could not verify if he was “in the body or out of the body.” You can read about it in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, but don’t expect a New York Times best seller, as he said it was indescribable and inexpressible on what he saw.

Another apostle, John, also had a vision of heaven, found in the book of Revelation. Try as he might, John’s description is almost incomprehensible. The best and most understandable part is Revelation 20:11-22:21. Randy Frazee encouraged us to read it aloud when we get the chance and I’ll tell you, it is exciting.  

Paul said that if the resurrection was not true, then Christians of all people are to be the most pitied. Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection and the promise of eternity. If Christ is not raised, then our faith is in vain. The tree of life is from Genesis to Revelation, meaning that the overarching theme of the Bible is eternity which was forbidden for us in our fallen state, and only granted to us because of Christ’s sacrifice. And yet so many people do not know what the Bible teaches it means to have eternal life.

This is week ten of BELIEVE, and we are one-third of the way through this study. This chapter also concludes the section on “what we think” or the theological portion of the study. These ten weeks have been deep, challenging, thought-provoking and even troubling for me personally … and I have been to seminary, prepared sermons and have studied the Bible for decades. 

Some have said they opted out of BELIEVE because it was too shallow (they must have CLEP’ed out of quantum physics in grad school) while others have said they didn’t participate because it was too much work. Indeed, the reading material has been 90 to 95 percent Scripture and perhaps ten times as much Bible as our regular Bible Study material. We will get a break from BELIEVE next week, as we prepare not only how to believe, but now for the next ten weeks, how to behave.

Eternity will be too late to show mercy on the poor and needy

The poor and needy scavenge the dump just outside Matamoros, Mexico.

     Unlike Elijah and the chariots of fire, we cannot emphasize enough how much we know about eternity because of the short parable of the rich man and Lazarus, found in Luke 16:19-21.

     First of all, after death there is a literal and an immediate judgment, either good or bad. There are two choices for us to make. I once witnessed with an atheist who said that wasn’t much of a choice between heaven or hell. “Yes,” I said, “but yet you are choosing hell by rejecting God’s free gift of salvation.” What’s more, that argument didn’t change his mind. The rich man was in literal, physical agony, with eyes to see, a tongue burning from the flame.

     Secondly, we cannot judge our eternity based on our earthly circumstances. On earth, Lazarus longed for the crumbs from the rich man’s table. Since he was at the gate, he was probably eating what was thrown out as left over garbage. Even more humiliating, dogs were licking his sores. Meanwhile, the rich man, dressed in purple fine linen, lived every day in luxury. For all eternity, however, the situation would be reversed.

     Thirdly, judgment is final. We get no second chance. We also have God’s perfect justice on our hearts. Abraham agrees with God that the rich man and his brothers have ample opportunity to choose righteously. There is no hope for the rich man that he will escape his torment. His suffering won’t release him. No prayers can be lifted up for him. No offerings can be made on his behalf. Both he and his brothers had enough chances to choose differently.

     There are other lessons I am sure, but one final lesson is not for eternity, but rather for now. The rich man could have had more pity on Lazarus. Although our eternity is not based on our earthly compassion, Father Abraham remembered the disparity of the rich man and Lazarus. Do you have food in your pantry? Are dogs licking your wounds? Have you seen someone who has less than you?

   

     Eternity will be too late for you to show mercy.