The Four Bes

Monday, August 08, 2011, 7:07 a.m. – The song, “So Many Times,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 18:1-30 (quoting vv. 1-8):

The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

For the rest of the chapter: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2018&version=NIV1984

My Understanding: There are four sections to this passage of scripture (vv. 1-30), which represent four lessons Jesus taught. As I read about the persistent widow, the Pharisee and the tax collector, the little children and Jesus, and the rich young ruler, the Lord gave me Four Bes to illustrate four attitudes he requires and/or desires of his followers: 1) Be Persistent, 2) Be Humble, 3) Be Childlike, and 4) Be Willing.

Be Persistent

Jesus told this parable of the persistent widow to illustrate the principle of perseverance in suffering and in waiting on God’s timing for when he finally brings about justice on the earth, and Jesus returns for his bride. A time of spiritual decline among the people of God and a time of great persecution on the Lord’s faithful servants has come upon the earth, though it is going to get much worse before the end of time. For those of us in the USA, we have been touched little by severe persecution for our faith in Jesus Christ, though most certainly discrimination against true believers in Christ is occurring today in America. And, I believe one day we will all know the severity of persecution personally. When one is going through such a time of great oppression for his or her faith, perseverance and persistence in believing faith is essential. We must never give up hope in the promises of God.

Our adversary is Satan, so the justice that we hope and pray for is not against our fellow man, but against our true adversary, the devil. Jesus Christ defeated him on the cross when he died for our sins, and he defeated him when he rose victoriously from the grave in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin. Yet, one day Jesus will return for his bride and he will give Satan, the beast and the false prophet the destiny they have chosen for themselves and that they deserve, which is eternity in the lake of burning sulfur. And, justice will be served. Yet, I believe a greater justice against our adversary is when God’s church gets revived and the gospel of Jesus Christ is spread throughout the earth and Satan and his schemes against us are defeated by victorious living Christians who are faithful in love and service to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, my persistent prayer is for revival.

Be Humble

In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus addressed the problem existing among those who were confident in their own self-righteousness and who looked down on everyone else who was not like them. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector both went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” The Pharisee was not really praying to God. He was pontificating, i.e. he was “speaking about something in a knowing and self-important way, especially when not qualified to do so” (Encarta). His prayer was a farce (circus; charade). He was full of self-importance and thought that because he held to specific religious rituals and rites that his religiosity made him better than everyone else.

The problem with the Pharisee was two-fold: 1) He thought he was better than everyone else because of his religious activities, and 2) He faked true righteousness in order to appear righteous before men to impress men with his goodness, yet his heart was full of evil. Many among us today may be guilty of one or both of these characteristic traits of a Pharisee. Perhaps our problem is that we see ourselves as better than others because we don’t do certain types of things that others do or because we hold to specific religious rituals that we think make us holy, but do not. We are not better. The Bible says that all have sinned and there is no one righteous (in himself). We have all gone astray. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. We must be so careful to guard against spiritual pride in our own perceived goodness that sets us above others.

We must also guard against fakery, lies, shams, charades, etc. that make us appear better than what we really are in order to convince others we are something that we are not. We may not fall into the category of thinking of ourselves as better than others. We may be well aware of how sinful we truly are, but yet we might have a problem of trying to appear better than we really are by faking our Christian experience, our prayers, and even our beliefs in order to give others an impression of us that is not true. We need to examine our hearts before Almighty God to see whether or not any pride, resulting from a feeling of self-importance and a belief that we are somehow better than others because of our religious rituals, exists within us. We also need to do a heart examination to see whether or not we are pretending to be someone or something we are not in order to give off an appearance about ourselves that is not true to who we really are for whatever reasons we might do so.

In contrast to these characteristic traits of a Pharisee, which we must guard against in our hearts, is the illustration Jesus provided for us of someone who was considered lowly among men at that time, i.e. a tax collector. Tax collectors were despised then. They were grouped with all sorts of people of bad repute. Some of them may have been deserving of that reputation and some may not. The tax collector had no reason for self-pride or a feeling of self-importance, so his approach to God and to prayer was completely different from that of the Pharisee. He bowed his head, beat his breast in grief over his sin, and prayed to God for mercy for himsel, acknowledging that he was indeed a sinner. Jesus stated that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, was justified before God. Then, Jesus taught the lesson: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Be Childlike

There is a huge difference between being childlike and being childish. If we act childishly, we are acting in a manner which is immature, selfish, demanding its own way, lacking good sense, etc. Yet, to be childlike has to do more with being sweet, innocent, unspoiled, and trusting, having the qualities of honesty, openness (transparency) and humility. A small child is often so much more sensitive to the voice of God speaking and much more responsive and willing to believe God and his many promises. So, when Jesus stated that having childlike faith was a requirement for entering his kingdom, he was speaking of the kind of faith that believed what it professed to believe, as shown by its faith in action.

In other words, childlike faith believes that Jesus died to save us and to deliver us from sin, so childlike faith will repent and will turn from sin and will turn to God in obedience to his commands. Childlike faith will jump into the arms of a parent and will trust that he or she will be caught. When we come to our Lord with that kind of childlike faith, we put our lives in his loving arms in the same manner, not holding on to the things of this world, but allowing ourselves to be enveloped in God’s grace and mercy. Childlike faith is the kind of faith that is revealed by the things that we do in response to the word of God and its teachings. Children very easily believe and they very trustingly act upon what they believe. Oh, that we might have the faith and trust of a small child in our relationships with Jesus.

Be Willing

A rich ruler came to Jesus and asked him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus acknowledged that the man knew the commandments of God. The man said he had kept those since his youth. Yet, Jesus could see inside the man’s heart. He told him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The man responded to Jesus’ words with great sadness, for he had great wealth. Then, Jesus used an illustration that has presented problems for Bible translators and commentators alike. Some see “camel” as representing a rope made of camel hair which would be difficult to fit through the eye of a sewing needle. Others have suggested that the “eye of a needle” was a small gate which would pose great difficulty for a camel to pass through. I don’t believe we should get hung up on the illustration. Jesus’ point was clear. Something that seemed impossible with men was not impossible with God.

Jesus’ words to this man are not universal truths to be applied to us today. We are not saved by giving away everything we have nor are we unsaved if we do not give away all our possessions. Again, Jesus knew this man’s heart, and he knew what was keeping him from believing in Jesus Christ. He had great wealth, and his wealth had become his god. It was more important to him than his relationship with the one and only true God. And, since his wealth stood between him and genuine faith in Jesus Christ, he was not saved. Jesus Christ provided salvation for us through his death on the cross for our sins and through his resurrection, i.e. it is by his grace that we are saved. We are not saved by good works. The bible makes that clear. Yet, the Bible also states that we are saved through faith, so faith is required. This man’s wealth stood between him and that kind of believing faith, so that is why he was not saved.

Although Jesus’ specific words to this man are not his words, in general, to all of us, still there are Biblical principles taught here through this illustration which do apply to us today. The first principle is that we cannot come to God through human effort. It did not matter how well this man had followed the Ten Commandments. His heart was given over to his riches, not to God. So, no amount of goodness on our part can earn our salvation with God. It is impossible for us to be saved in our own human effort, but with God, and in his divine power and will for our lives, and via his saving grace in providing us with the perfect sacrificial Lamb Jesus Christ to take away all our sins, we can be saved.

The second principle is that we can be really good persons who do good things and who basically keep the Ten Commandments, and yet we can still not be in genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ does not want our good works. He wants our hearts. We must humble ourselves before God, admitting and turning from our sin, and having childlike faith that truly believes that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins so we could go free from the penalty and daily control of sin over our lives, and so we could be free to walk in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ on a day-to-day basis - faith proved true by its actions.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ with humility of heart and mind, childlike faith that is pure in heart and believes (trusts) in Jesus Christ and in his words, and faith that is willing to give up all to follow the Lord Jesus Christ wherever he leads us, we will receive the blessings of God in return, some during our lifetime and others in eternity. The main blessing of God that he gives to us is eternal life with him, beginning now and lasting forever and ever. One day Jesus will return for us, His bride, and we will receive our heavenly reward. Until then, we need to be persistent and persevere in our faith, even in the face of great suffering, and we must never, ever give up!!

So Many Times / An Original Work / April 19, 2011

So many times when I hear Your word
Your Spirit speaks and my heart is stirred.
Send a revival my Lord, I pray.
Won’t You be Lord in our hearts now and always.

Humbly and gently I bow the knee.
Yours to be only is now my plea.
I come to Jesus at Calvary.
His blood provided the way we could be free.

Gracious Redeemer, my Lord and friend,
I know You’ll be with me to the end.
A crown awaits me in victory.
Jesus, enthroned above all humanity.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song

Be My Lord Today

Friday, August 05, 2011, 5:10 a.m. – The song, “Jesus, Lead Me,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 14 (quoting vv. 25-35):

The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

My Understanding: Jesus began this speech with a hyperbole, i.e. a “deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for effect” (Encarta). His statement concerning hating one’s family members as a requirement or a prerequisite for being his disciple cannot be taken literally to mean actual “hate.” Otherwise, Jesus would be contradicting his very nature of love and his teachings on the subject of loving one another as ourselves, which is the second greatest commandment. A hyperbole often compares two objects, which was the case in Jesus’ example of what it means to follow him as one of his disciples. He was contrasting our feelings and devotion for our family members with what our feelings (devotion; commitment; allegiance) should be toward him. He expressed this contrast through the use of a rhetorical device in order to have a persuasive effect on his listeners. If the choice ever came down to following the will of the family vs. following Jesus Christ and his will for our lives, Jesus Christ had to be the one we choose to follow, hands down.

Not only are we to understand this in the context of our family members, but Jesus applied this principle to our own lives, as well. We must have this same attitude about our own lives, i.e. our love and commitment to Jesus Christ should be so strong that, by stark contrast, our feelings for our own selves should appear as hate. We obviously are not to hate ourselves, otherwise, again, it would refute his second greatest commandment of loving others as we love ourselves, yet, his point was clear. We cannot be his disciples if we are holding on to family ties, earthly treasures, and/or our own desires for our own lives to the point to where we would choose anyone or anything else above, or in place of our love, commitment, allegiance and faithfulness to Jesus Christ. He has to be number one in our lives. That is why he also said that “anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

So, what does it mean for us to carry our cross and to follow Jesus? Luke 9:23-25 says (Jesus speaking):

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

Clearly, to take up one’s cross means self-denial on a daily basis. It means losing our own self-will and self-desires in favor of Jesus Christ’s will and desire for our lives. If we try to hold on to our old lives, including holding on to relationships, possessions, our reputations, and our own personal goals for our lives over and above our commitment to Jesus Christ, to follow him wherever he leads us, then our lives become a huge contradiction, because we are professing to be followers of Christ, but in reality, we are followers of men, including self. That is why Jesus demands that his followers abandon their own selfish wills and desires and that they surrender their lives to Jesus Christ to do whatever he requires or desires of them, and that they don’t waver back and forth. The cross means death – death to self and death to conformity to the pattern of this world. For our lives to be saved, we must first of all die, and then we can be resurrected to new life in Jesus Christ.

Then, Jesus took his teaching a step further. Not only does being his disciple mean death to ourselves and our old lives, but it is essential that we understand this upfront. In other words, many teachers of the gospel today are giving a watered-down presentation of the gospel message. They are leaving out the fact that we must repent or perish. We must die to our old lives. We must leave everything, i.e. we must be willing to give up anything and everything in order to follow Jesus Christ, first of all in our hearts by surrendering all to Jesus, and then literally, as God leads that direction. Many are even going so far as to tell their listeners that repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are not necessary for salvation and that Jesus Christ is pleased with you no matter what you do. Yet, Jesus makes it clear that we must understand the cost of following him before we make the commitment, lest we fall by the wayside because we thought we had signed up for the easy life.

The people of Jesus day understood the meaning of Jesus’ words. They understood the meaning of the cross, for they had seen many people crucified in this way. They knew that believing in Jesus Christ would most likely make them hated, rejected, abandoned, ostracized, and even killed for their faith in Jesus Christ, even by family members, which is why Jesus spoke to them in such strong terms concerning their commitments to family vs. their commitment to him. They had to be willing to have their families totally reject them. They had to understand the cost of following Jesus. And, we need to tell people what it truly means to follow Jesus, too. We need to stop soft-pedaling the gospel, thinking that somehow we are doing people a favor by making belief in Jesus Christ more inviting and palatable. We need to tell people the truth, because if they don’t understand the cost of truly following Jesus Christ, chances are they will follow a false hope all the way to hell.

Jesus used the illustration of salt losing its saltiness for a reason here. And, he was tying this illustration of salt losing its saltiness together with what he had just said previously concerning the cost of being one of his disciples. Salt is used as a food seasoning and as a food preservative. Salt is also something that adds taste, flavor, or liveliness to food. If it loses its saltiness, then it is no longer of value, i.e. it no longer serves its intended purpose. In the same way, as believers in Jesus Christ, we should have certain characteristics and traits that mark as us true believers in Jesus Christ, as is mentioned above – denial of self, death to self, death to living according to the pattern of this world, and surrender of everything one has, including relationships, our own rights and dreams, etc. to Jesus Christ. Then, we can be useful for his service as his true disciples. Yet, if we lack these characteristic traits of what it means to truly follow Jesus Christ, then we are of no use to Christ Jesus in his kingdom work because we are still holding on to our old lives.

So, what’s the bottom line? We need to understand upfront what it truly means to be a follower and a disciple of Jesus Christ, i.e. we need to know and comprehend the cost of following Jesus Christ with our lives in believing faith that begins and continues daily with repentance and complete surrender and total commitment of our lives to Jesus Christ, being willing to suffer as he suffered, to be rejected as he was rejected, and to follow him wherever he leads us, even if it means following him to our actual physical deaths for our faith in Jesus Christ. Then, once we have counted the cost of being his disciple, we need to willfully choose Christ over everyone and everything else in our lives in total abandonment to him and to his will for our lives. We must daily die to our own self will, and daily make a conscious choice of the will to surrender all to Jesus Christ and to follow him wherever he leads us, holding nothing back.

When this is our understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and/or when we are willing to have this kind of relationship with Jesus Christ, then, we can pray this prayer in this song with complete sincerity of heart in asking the Lord Jesus to lead us, to open our hearts to him, and for him to be the Lord of our lives.

Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011

Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead alway.

Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song

The Narrow Door

Thursday, August 04, 2011, 6:53 a.m. – The song, “In That Day,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 13:1-9, 22-30:

Repent or Perish
1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

The Narrow Door
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

My Understanding: In Matthew 7, it is recorded that Jesus spoke about the narrow and wide gates: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Jesus continued by stating that, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” And, a little further on down in Matthew 7, it is recorded that Jesus also said that everyone who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock, but everyone who hears his words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The wise man’s house stood against the storms of life because it had its foundation on the Rock, Jesus Christ, but the foolish man’s house fell with a great crash.

Luke 13 follows a similar theme in recording the teachings of Jesus. In this passage, it is recorded that Jesus stressed the importance of repentance, i.e. turning from sin and from our old lives of living according to our fleshly desires and turning in the opposite direction to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. We have all sinned. No one is better than another. Unless we repent of our sins and turn to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, we will perish, i.e. we will spend eternity in hell.

Jesus has given all of us ample opportunity to repent of our sins and to turn to walk in faith and obedience to him. Yet, many are still outside of faith in Jesus Christ. And, many profess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and yet have never repented, perhaps because they have believed a lie that says that repentance and obedience are not necessary for salvation. There is still time, but none of us knows how much time. One day Jesus will return, and the door to heaven will be shut, and those who refused to repent and obey, or who felt they were not required to repent and obey, will be shut out of heaven forever.

So why is the door to heaven a “narrow” door which few find? What is this “narrow” door? The “narrow” door is our passageway to heaven. Jesus provided the way for us to be with God forever in heaven when he died on the cross for our sins so that we could free from the penalty of sin (eternity in hell) and we could be free from the daily control of sin over our lives. We enter that door through faith in Jesus Christ, so that is the first requirement, and truly the only requirement, if understood correctly.

So, what does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? According to these two passages of scripture and Jesus’ own words, as well as according to the whole of the New Testament, faith in Jesus Christ means repenting of our sin, bearing good fruit for the gospel of Jesus Christ in how we live each day, doing the will of God in our lives, and hearing the words of God and putting them into practice (obedience) in our daily lives. Jesus said that if any man would come after him, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Christ. So, it means death to self on a daily basis, and it means following Jesus Christ wherever he leads us daily. It means offering ourselves to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, forsaking conformity to the world and its pattern for our lives, and instead being transformed into Christ’s likeness by the renewing of our minds. This is why it is called a “narrow” door, and this is why few enter it.

Many today are trying to make the door to heaven wide so that many can enter, but this is false teaching and is not supported scripturally. If someone is telling you that you don’t have to repent and you don’t have to obey God and that God is pleased with you no matter what you do, it is a lie! These two passages alone refute that idea. In the day of our salvation, God’s wrath (anger) is turned away from us and we are granted entry into his eternal kingdom, and he is our salvation and we have much to thank and praise him for. Yet, make certain that you are entering the narrow door (the only door) to heaven, so that one day you will not hear, “I don’t know you. Depart from me,” but you will hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter my kingdom!”

In That Day / An Original Work / May 21, 2011

Based off of Isaiah 12

In that day you will say: “I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were angry; anger’s turned away.
God is my salvation; I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, my strength; the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my salvation; Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll draw water from salvation’s wells.

In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His holy name; make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s exalted. Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is glorious; make this known to all.
Shout aloud; sing for joy, people of Zion;
Great is the Holy One, who among us dwells.”

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/in-that-day

Keep Watch in How we Live

Wednesday, August 03, 2011, 7:36 a.m. – The song, “Oh, What Joy!” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 12:1-48 (quoting vv. 1-12):

Warnings and Encouragements
1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

8 “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9 But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

My Understanding: Luke 12 begins with words of warning and encouragement. The first warning is that we are to be on our guard against hypocrisy, i.e. “the false claim to or pretense of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings,” (Encarta) while knowingly being just the opposite. If one claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ, this is not a claim to sinless perfection. We are still in earthly bodies and thus are still subject to failure. Yet, if one claims or professes a belief or principle and the totality or majority of his life reveals this claim to be false, then he is living in hypocrisy. Hypocrisy really has to do with leading others to believe something about you that you know is not true for the purpose of giving a false appearance and giving a false image of oneself, so it is truly rooted in deception.

The second warning, which Jesus coupled with encouragement, is that we are not to be afraid of men and what men can do to us. In other words, we are not to live our lives in fear of man to where we allow men’s actions, attitudes, beliefs, and treatment of us to cause us to be fearful of them to the point to where we conform to worldly thinking and attitudes and we back off from our faith and pure devotion to Christ Jesus. When we fear men in this way, we become followers of men instead of followers of God. So, we should never back down in our faith and our commitment to obeying the Lord Jesus out of fear of the reactions or rejections of mankind against us. If we pretend to be a friend with the world so that men will not hate us, then we are living a life of deception out of fear of man.

I find it interesting that this warning followed directly after the warning against hypocrisy. We can be hypocritical by pretending to be living lives above reproach while knowingly we are committing willful sin behind closed doors. Yet, this warning against not fearing men, coupled with the warning against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, sheds another light, I believe, on the subject of hypocrisy, and that is that we may have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, and we may have been living in obedience to Christ, but then when we give way to the fear of man and we disown our Lord out of fear of man and we join in with men in their folly so as not to be rejected or thought odd, then it is kind of a reverse hypocrisy in that we are giving an image of being one with the world when we are really married to Jesus Christ, and in doing so, we are disowning our Lord Jesus.

Jesus said that we should rather fear the one who has the power to send us to hell. He was referring specifically to fearing man in the sense of man literally putting us to death for our faith in Christ, but there are many ways man can put us to death if we cave into pressure and we become like men to be accepted of them rather than us becoming like Christ and sharing in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

Jesus was speaking to his disciples; his followers; his servants. He warned them against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the danger of them becoming like them. He warned them against fearing man, and told them that they should rather fear the one who has the power to throw them into hell after death. And, he also warned against disowning him before men, that they would be disowned by him before the angels of God.

This teaching presents a difficulty theologically, as the disciples represented those who were close followers of Christ and were his servants, yet we know that one was a betrayer, all abandoned him, and another did disown his Lord 3 times, yet he repented of his sin, and the Lord raised him up to be the one who gave the first presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ at which time thousands were saved and the church began. Yet, the disciples were still under the old covenant relationship between God and man, so perhaps some of these warnings must be considered in that context, and Jesus was giving them the opportunity to choose him over man, because he knew they would all abandon him at the cross one day.

Yet, as believers in Jesus Christ, the warnings still apply to us today to not become hypocritical in our faith by pretending to be something we are not in order to gain approval of man. The warning still applies to have respect, awe, honor, allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ (fear of God) in place of caving into man’s thinking, actions, opinions, and/or treatment of us out of fear of what man might do to us. We are to be followers of God instead of followers of man. And, the warning still applies to us today to not disown our Lord Jesus by our words and actions in order to gain man’s approval. When we deny our Lord in anything we do or say, we break that fellowship with him and we have the potential of losing out on his blessings upon our lives that could be ours as his heirs.

As well, the encouragements of Jesus apply to us today, too. God is very much involved in our lives. He knows everything about us. He created us. He knit us together in the wombs of our mothers and all the days ordained for us were written in his book before one of them came into being (see Psalm 139). He knows the number of the hairs on our heads. We are not forgotten by God, although we may forget about him in our day-to-day lives. There is not anything in our lives that he does not know about and that he cannot handle. We are to always put our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior and to never cave into the pressure of man to be less than who we are in Christ and who he made us to be. If we acknowledge - recognize or admit the existence, rights, or authority of somebody or something, i.e. if we own our relationship with Jesus Christ before men, i.e. his Lordship (ownership and authority) of our lives, he will also acknowledge that we are his before the angels of God.

One day Jesus is going to return. We need to be watching and waiting, expectantly in how we live our daily lives. We need to be living in obedience to our Lord in our service to him, which begins at the cross when we repent of our sins and we choose to walk in faith and obedience to our Lord from that day forward. And, it continues throughout our Christian lives as we take up our cross daily and follow Christ, and as we present our bodies to Christ as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our reasonable service of worship to him; no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but being daily transformed into Christ’s likeness in the renewing of our minds so that our lives are proof that God’s will for us is being lived out through our daily lives (see Luke 9:23 and Romans 12:1-2).

If you know today that you have been living to please men over pleasing God; if you know that you have been living a hypocritical life, i.e. that you are pretending to be someone you are not in order to gain the approval of man; and/or if you know that you are denying and disowning your Lord Jesus by how you live your life each day, i.e. in following the ways of the world and conforming to the pattern of the world instead of taking up your cross daily and following Christ where he leads you and being daily transformed in the renewing of your mind, then my prayer today is that you will humble yourself before our Lord Jesus, that you will repent of your sins, and that you will make a renewed commitment today to follow him with all of your heart, even if it means rejection, persecution, disapproval, and perhaps even death at the hand of mankind for your faith and commitment to Jesus Christ.

Oh, What Joy! / An Original Work / July 8, 2011

Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace
There will be when Christ you meet.
Oh, what love He imparts,
When Christ comes within your heart –
Saving you from all your sins;
Holy Spirit, now within,
Teaching, guiding you each day,
As you bow your knees and pray.
Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace
When you sit at Jesus’ feet,
List’ning to your Lord speak;
Obey Him throughout the week.

Oh, what grace He provides;
From our past we step aside;
Turn from sin; cleansed within;
Walking with Christ; died with Him.
He paid the price for our sins,
So our new lives we begin,
Living for Him ev’ry day,
Doing all that He did say.
Oh, what grace He provides
When we walk at Jesus’ side;
Follow Him where He leads,
Loving others; their needs meet.

Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace
When Christ Jesus soon we meet.
He will come in the sky
To take home with Him, His bride.
We are waiting His return.
For our Savior, our hearts yearn.
We keep watch in how we live.
To our Lord, our hearts we give.
Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace;
Live with Christ eternally!
Reign with Him; His kingdom;
We will be forever Home.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matt 24:30-31).

Leap for Joy

I read Luke 6:20-36 a few days ago, and the Lord really spoke to my heart through that passage of scripture. What jumped out at me the most is that, when we are faced with mistreatment and rejection from people who are not particularly fond of us, we are to "leap for joy" for great is our reward in heaven.

Leap for Joy / An Original Work / August 2, 2011

Leap for joy in that day.
Great is your reward in heaven.
Blessed are you who are poor;
Blessed are you who hunger now.
You will be satisfied and
You will laugh if you weep now.
Blessed are you when men hate you
And exclude you because of Christ.

Leap for joy in that day.
Love your enemies who hate you.
Do them good; say kind things;
Pray for those who treat you wrong.
If you love those who love you
What reward is there for you?
Love your enemies and your
Reward will be great in heaven.

Leap for joy in that day.
You will be sons of the Most High.
Be ye kind; merciful
To the ungrateful always.
If you love those who love you
What reward is there for you?
Do to others as you would have
Them do to you every day.

Leap for joy in that day.
Great is your reward in heaven.
Blessed are you who are poor;
Blessed are you who hunger now.
You will be satisfied and
You will laugh if you weep now.
Blessed are you when men hate you
And exclude you because of Christ.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song

Luke 6:22-23, 27-28: “Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

The Light within You

Tuesday, August 02, 2011, 8:20 a.m. – The song, “God’s Great Commands,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 11:33-36 for my quiet time with the Lord.

The Lamp of the Body
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

My Understanding: There is an old expression that says that “The eyes are the window to the soul,” and it is based off of this passage of scripture. Eyes can be deceptive, though, and/or misinterpreted. Yet, there is a lot of truth to this statement. We can tell a lot about what a person is thinking or feeling based upon looking into his or her eyes. Yet, we must be careful to not judge one another based upon eyes or body language because that may not always be the case. Yet, this is one way in which this passage can be understood.

The eye, as well as possibly reflecting what is in one’s heart and mind, is also an organ that “converts light into impulses that are transmitted to the brain for interpretation;” and it is “power of sight; the ability to see;” (Encarta). The eye is also “judgment; appreciation; sense; discernment; and observation” (MS Thesaurus). So, the eye is a part of the body which takes in the light (or shuts it out), interprets it, discerns and makes judgments concerning the light, has the power of insight and discernment in comprehending the light, as well as the eye reflects the light or the absence of light coming from within the soul.

So, it appears that there is a direct correlation here between the term “eye” and our hearts, souls, minds, attitudes, discernment, and understanding, etc. So, when Jesus stated here that a person’s eye is the lamp of his body, he was speaking metaphorically concerning what is in one’s heart and soul that is often revealed through the physical eye. An eye of a storm is the center of the storm, as well as the eye of the body is its center, i.e. the eye is the heart and soul of man.

Jesus said that no one is good but God, so in this sense, the word “good” can be understood as describing one who is completely upright, respectable, decent, moral, virtuous, righteous, and blameless. No human is 100% good, and true goodness comes only from God. So, for our eyes to be good to where our bodies are full of light, then this must be speaking, today, of those who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ and have been made righteous because of what Jesus Christ did in dying on the cross for our sins and in rising from the grave, triumphing over sin. In other words, the eye (the center of the person) received the light (Jesus Christ and the gospel of Christ), understood it, accepted it, and appropriated what Christ Jesus did for him into his life via faith, repentance and obedience, so that his life now reflects the light of Jesus and the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If one has a “bad eye,” it means his soul is still in darkness.

Jesus cautioned his listeners to see to it, then, that the light within them was not darkness. In other words, there were those who thought they were righteous, but they were not. They thought they had received the light of truth within them, but they had not. They were still full of darkness. Whether or not they were full of the light or full of darkness was reflected out through their souls – attitudes, actions, behaviors, words, etc. As long as we live in these bodies of flesh our flesh will war against the Spirit of God (the light) within us. So, we may still have parts that are still dark or that give way to the dark from time to time, and must be daily cleansed by the blood of Christ, so that Christ’s light will fill us to overflowing and we will be completely lighted so that the light within us can shine out through us. Yet, we should not have lives that are full of darkness and are absent of the light of Christ.

So if our eyes (souls) are good because of our relationship with Jesus Christ, then his light should shine out through us. We, if we are full of his light, should not hide that light from others. Our light (Christ and his gospel) within us should automatically shine out through us. We should put the light on a stand, so that everyone can see the light of Jesus within us. A stand is a framework or a supporting structure. The light of Jesus within us is supported by our daily times with the Lord Jesus in his word, in prayer, and in obedience to what he teaches us each day. If we are not in daily communion with him, listening to him and obeying what he says, then that light will fizzle out. A stand is also an attitude, opinion, to be in an upright position, to get up on one’s feet, a state of mind, and/or to fight resolutely for something you believe in. Jesus Christ needs to be reflected in our daily attitudes, actions, determination, resoluteness, etc. He must be the center of our lives, i.e. his light completely filling our souls, so that what comes out from us is his light.

So, when Jesus cautioned his listeners to see to it that the “light” within them was not darkness, and he coupled that statement with the fact that no one lights a lamp and then hides the light, and he coupled that statement with the fact that our eye (soul) is the lamp of our entire being, he was, in essence, saying that if his light, including the light of the gospel, is not being reflected through our lives in our attitudes, actions, behaviors and speech, then we need to do a heart examination to see whether or not the “light” that we think is within us is really darkness. Many are teaching salvation absent of repentance and obedience, so that many believe they have the light within them, but they are still walking in darkness. Although we will not reach absolute perfection until the Lord returns and we receive glorified bodies, still our lives should daily reflect Jesus Christ, his love and his gospel. If his light is not what is coming out of our mouths, attitudes and actions each day, then we need to ask him why, and we need to seek his face to see what needs changed.

God’s Great Commands / An Original Work / July 10, 2011

Loving God and loving others
Are the Lord God’s great commands.
On these rest all of the others;
Live by them and you’ll not fail.
Be a witness, share the gospel,
Be a light in this dark world.
Share the love of Jesus always
To a world who has not heard.

Serving others; be like Jesus;
Wash their feet and pray with them.
Be a healer; mend their hurts and
Show them how to turn from sin.
Be a living example of
How to live for Jesus Christ,
Walking with Him in His footsteps,
Leading others to new life.

Give to God and give to others
Of yourselves in ev’ry way.
Obey your Lord, do His bidding;
Bow your knees and humbly pray.
Pray for others to know Jesus.
Tell how they can be set free
Of their sins and live for Jesus;
Walk with Him eternally.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song

The Father's Love

Monday, August 01, 2011, 6:25 a.m. – The song, “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Luke 11:29-32 for my quiet time with the Lord.

The Sign of Jonah
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

My Understanding: In the verses preceding this passage, Jesus had just driven a demon out of a man who had been made mute by the demon. The crowd was amazed at this miracle of deliverance, yet some in the crowd assigned this miracle to Satan, as though Jesus had driven out a demon by Satan’s power. Jesus strongly refuted this illogical statement. Others in the crowd demanded a sign from heaven, as though Jesus’ teachings, miracles of healing, miracles of raising people from the dead, as well as his miracles of deliverance of people from demons was not enough of a sign for them to believe in him. A woman in the crowd blessed Mary, the mother of Jesus, for giving Jesus birth and for nursing him. I love Jesus’ response to her, which is very fundamental to all that he taught and lived: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Jesus’ response to this demand for an additional sign beyond the miracles he had already performed was to call that generation a wicked generation. He said that no additional sign would be given that generation of people except for the sign of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of God, but a reluctant one when it came to going to the people of Nineveh and giving them a message from God concerning judgment on them. He ran from God, was thrown overboard into the water and was swallowed by a huge fish, perhaps a whale. He remained in the belly of the fish for 3 days and 3 nights, and then he called on God in repentance. God had the fish vomit him up, and then Jonah was willing to obey God by going and telling the people of Nineveh: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” The book of Jonah, chapter 3, records that “The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth… When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”

Jesus then did a comparison between the sign of Jonah to the Ninevites and the sign he would be to the people of his generation. Jonah was a man. Jesus was both man and God, the second person of our triune and only true God. Jonah was a prophet of God, i.e. one who spoke God’s exact words to the people as given to him by God. Jesus was/is God, so when he spoke/speaks, he spoke and speaks the very words of God. Jonah was a reluctant prophet, yet he finally obeyed. Jesus Christ willingly left his throne in heaven to come to earth, to take upon himself human flesh, to suffer as we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and to die a cruel death on the cross, although he had done no wrong. Much greater than that, though, when he died, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world, crucified our sins with him, buried them with him, and then he rose from the dead victorious over Satan, hell, death and sin. So, it is difficult to see how Jesus was saying that, as Jonah was a sign to Nineveh, so also would Jesus be to his generation.

Although there were these distinct differences between Jesus Christ and Jonah, yet there were also parallels with individual dissimilarities within the parallels. Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus was buried in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. Jonah was cast overboard and was swallowed by the fish due to his disobedience and his unwillingness to do what the Lord God had commanded him to do. Jesus was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights due to our disobedience, i.e. our sin, which he took upon himself in our place. Jonah was rescued from the belly of the fish due to his calling on God in repentance and his willingness to obey God. Jesus was resurrected to life because of his obedience to the cross of Christ, his willingness to die for our sins, and because he was our perfect Lamb sacrifice to take away our sins. For him to deliver us from our sins, he had to conquer sin by taking our sin with him to the grave and then by rising victorious over our sin. And, we are saved from sin because of God’s grace in sending his Son to die in our place and through our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior via repentance and obedience.

So, the sign of Jonah was two-fold: 1) It represented judgment for disobedience (sin), and 2) It represented salvation through faith, repentance and obedience, which goes back to Jesus’ statement to the woman in v. 28 when he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” The reason Jesus said that the generation of people of his day were a wicked generation was because, even though they heard the word of God via Jesus’ preaching, they refused to believe and repent of their sins. That is why he contrasted them with the Queen of the South who traveled a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon. He also contrasted them with the people of Nineveh, who immediately repented of their sins at the words Jonah spoke to them in the power of God Almighty. Now Jesus Christ - God in the flesh - was among them, and yet they refused to believe and they refused to repent. That is why Jesus said that the Queen of the South and the men of Nineveh would stand and would rise at the judgment to condemn this generation.

The following song speaks of how deep the Father God’s love is for us that he would give his only Son to die on the cross for our sins. As well, Jesus Christ, God the Son, had great love for us that he was willing to leave his home in heaven, to become a man and to die for us, i.e. to take the punishment for sin that should be upon us on himself so that we could go free, not only from the ultimate penalty of sin, i.e. eternal separation from God and eternal punishment and torment in hell, but he freed us from the daily control of sin over our lives. Our Father God did not give up his Son to die for us, and Jesus Christ did not willingly go through all that he suffered for us so that we would continue in our sin with little regard for what Jesus accomplished on the cross when he took our sins upon himself. So many are preaching salvation absent of true repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ, yet this passage of scripture, as well as the whole of the New Testament makes it quite clear that repentance and obedience are essential for salvation. To do anything less makes a mockery of what Jesus Christ did for us and is a slap in the face to God Almighty.

A wicked generation wants the blessings of God without the sacrifice, but they go hand-in-hand. We cannot claim salvation from our sin and belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord if we are still the ones controlling our own lives and we refuse to repent and to obey. Jesus said that we are blessed if we hear the word of God and we obey it. And, we will be condemned at the judgment of Almighty God if we refuse to repent. Judgment is inevitable whether we like to accept that reality or not. One day we will all have to come before God and to give an account of what we did with his Son and with His salvation that he provided for us. Many will hear the words, “I never knew you. Depart from me.” So, make sure today that you are among those who will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” If you are still living in sin and are refusing to repent, I pray today that you will give your all to Jesus.

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us / Philips, Craig and Dean

Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulder…

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Link to song