Coming to Our Senses

Sunday, February 22, 2015, 7:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I Will Lift My Eyes.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 15:11-24 (NASB).

Loose Living

And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

Spiritually and Biblically speaking, I see four classifications of people in this world with respect to relationship to God and to eternity. The first is the non-believer in Jesus Christ who makes no profession of faith in Jesus Christ at all. The second is the one who makes a profession of faith in Christ but it is only on a surface level, for his faith never took root because it was not based in Christ, his grace and the crucified life. The third type of person is one who truly was born of the Spirit, and who walked according to the Spirit at one time, but the temptations of this sinful world beckoned to him, and so he gave in and he strayed from his pure devotion to Jesus Christ in order to go after “other lovers.” The fourth type is the one who is presently walking according to the Spirit and is no longer living to gratify the sinful desires of his flesh, but is living to please his Lord in every way, and is the Lord’s servant and witness in sharing the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ with others.

I believe this parable of Jesus is concerning this third type of person who is a true child of the Father, by faith in Jesus Christ, but who has temporarily gone astray, and has lost his way, and who needs to come back to the Father in humility and in repentance so that he (or she) can be restored and renewed in his or her walk of faith. I believe he represents many Christians in America who, although delivered from slavery to sin, have allowed themselves to be enslaved by sin and the flesh all over again. I believe many Christians here in America are living worldly lives and that there is not much difference between the church and the world now days. It seems that few believers in Jesus Christ have truly forsaken the flesh and the ways of this sinful world in order to follow Jesus Christ in wholehearted surrender and obedience. So, the church in America is in great need of revival.

Contributing Factors

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

I see two factors here that oftentimes must take place in the life of a wayward believer in Jesus in order for that person to come to his senses. The first thing is that he spent everything, i.e. he exhausted all of his resources. Many believers in Jesus don’t walk in faith and trust in their Lord the way they ought for multiple reasons. Usually life is going pretty well for them. They have a steady income, their marriage is good, their children are healthy, and they have lots of friends, etc. They seem to be able to survive in their own strength and by their own planning and resources, and so they remain self-sufficient and don’t cry out to God in desperation for help because they don’t feel they need help. But, then something happens to their job, marriage, kids, bank accounts, friendships, etc., and suddenly they are without resource to provide for even their basic needs, and then they suddenly realize that they really can’t make it on their own, and they do need God.

The second factor I see is natural or unnatural (man-made) disasters of great magnitude such as Tsunamis, Volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, wars, severe persecutions on a mass scale, famines, and plague, etc. These go way beyond us just exhausting our own resources to creating all kinds of additional havoc, pain and suffering to our lives, perhaps at a seemingly unbearable level to where we may even despair of life. We have the example of the Jewish people of the Old Testament as an example of how, many times, God had to intervene on behalf of his people with divine discipline and correction, in the form of disasters, wars, persecutions, famine, etc., in order to get them to repent of their stubborn rebellion and to acknowledge their God and to call upon him for their healing.

He Came to His Senses

But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

These two factors listed above, combined together, is what finally got the attention of this son so that he finally came to his senses. Sadly enough, it is what often happens in our lives before we wake up and realize the stupidity and the futility of what we have been doing. It is often what it takes to get us to call upon God, to humble ourselves before him, to repent of our sin and to choose once more to walk in his ways and to never look back. And, I believe that this is what is going to have to happen in America in order for the church here to wake up from her slumber, to realize the futility of following after human flesh, and to submit to her Lord as her ONLY Lord and Master of her life.

When the son came to his senses he did not merely voice the words “I’m sorry” hoping to get some immediate relief from his suffering and to be restored as a son to his father. Notice with me what he did. He humbled himself before his father. He did not expect to be given the kind of treatment he received before. He was willing to take the position of a servant. I think one of the biggest hindrances to many Christians in their walks of faith is this “entitlement” mentality where they live their lives like they owe nothing to God but that he owes them everything. We don’t deserve his grace. He gives it to us freely, though. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, either, for we could never be good enough in our own merit. Jesus gave everything he had for us so we could go free from sin. We owe him our very lives in full surrender and submission to him (See 2 Co. 5:15; Tit. 2:11-14).

The other thing that the son did is that he repented of his sins. He acknowledged that he had sinned against God, and he was fairly specific in the way in which he had sinned, too. He admitted that his sin, which was obvious in his case, was not only against his human father, but it was also against his heavenly Father. He left his life of sin behind him, he returned home to his father, and he submitted to his lordship over his life. And, this is what needs to take place in our lives, too, when we have wandered off from following our Lord Jesus in unadulterated commitment to him. We must walk away from the sin, return to our Lord, and submit to his rule over our lives, and walk in obedience and surrender to him.

The Celebration!

But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Perhaps you have been a Christian since you were a child and you have followed the Lord Jesus Christ in surrender to his will most all of your life, though not perfectly, but consistently. So, you may not be able to identify with this son. I was there at one time. I have been a believer in Jesus Christ nearly 60 years. For most of my life I have followed my Lord, though not perfectly. I have grown and matured in my walk of faith with him over these years. I had many things to learn and to unlearn, and my Lord taught me so much. Yet, there was a time in those years when life kicked me hard too many times and I gave up and I yielded to my flesh and to the temptations of Satan and I walked away from following my Lord in pure devotion, and I followed my flesh instead. I did things I never imagined I would ever do. I was going to broken cisterns that could not hold water to satisfy the unmet needs in my life and to soothe over the deep hurts, instead of turning to my Lord. So, I do identify with this son to some degree.

Yet, my Lord did not turn away from me. He was always waiting for me to come back. And, when I did he welcomed me with open arms. And, I am sure he celebrated my return. I celebrated, too. There were many tears at first, as I cried it all out to the Lord in humility and in true repentance, but then he comforted me with his love, and he held me close to him, and he restored me and renewed me and then he chose to use me once more to be his servant. That is cause for celebration! Oh, how underserving I am to be called his servant, but it is because of his grace that I am what I am, for it was his grace that saved me, and it was his grace that brought me back to him, and it is his grace that daily sustains and strengthens me and that keeps me in fellowship with him, as I daily surrender to his will for my life and submit to his kingdom work in following him wherever he leads me.

I am still not perfect. He is still working on me to make me into the image of Christ. Lately he has been reminding me much of how I/we need to be focused on him all the time and to truly be in submission to his Lordship in all that I/we do, and how I/we should guard against distractions which take our focus away from God and from what he has called us to do. If I begin to forget this, he gently speaks to my heart, reminding me of why I am here and that I need to keep my eyes fixed on him. Yet, I celebrate all the time the change he has brought about in my life, not only in saving me from sin, but in restoring and renewing me after I had fallen and had wandered off, as well as I celebrate his grace to me always!

I Will Lift My Eyes / An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;

My home, now in heav’n.

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/112516626

http://originalworks.info/i-will-lift-my-eyes-2/

Like Him

Saturday, February 21, 2015, 9:13 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Oh, To Be Like Thee.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 15:1-7 (NASB).

Cruel Reproaches

Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

There will always be people in this life who will find fault with what we do, and who will criticize what they don’t understand, when we are following Jesus Christ with our lives. Yet, we are in good company, because Jesus was continuously criticized, mocked, chastised, condemned, and falsely accused, and his motives questioned, most especially by the religious leaders of the Jewish people. Yet, the Bible says we should count it all joy when we suffer for righteousness’ sake.

So, how did Jesus respond when he was criticized? It depended upon the circumstances and what all and who all was involved in the situation. Yet, most always he took the opportunity to turn what seemed a difficult situation, at best, into a teachable moment. Sometimes he spoke harsh and very pointed words to his opponents as a means to correct and rebuke them, and also so others would know to not follow them. Other times he spoke in parables. Still other times he turned to his disciples (his followers) to teach them what is right and what is wrong and who and what they should listen to and who and what they should not.

I hear so many people portray Jesus as one who “opened not his mouth” to his accusers, yet even if they were applying that merely to his arrest, trial and crucifixion, it does not apply across the board in all situations there because he did answer them in some cases and in others he did not. And, all throughout his ministry he had times when he responded to his accusers, and times when he did not, too, perhaps.

So, if we are to be like Jesus, then how should we respond to those who would accuse and attack us? I know we should not go and tell other people, i.e. we should not gossip about them behind their backs, just so we can “vent” to our friends. I also know that we are to love our enemies (our opposition) - pray for them, do good to them and say kind things to them and/or about them. I know we are not to try to get even with them and to punish them. Yet, being kind does not mean we say nothing or do nothing and we just walk away. We need to look at all the many examples we have in the Gospels of how Jesus responded to being accused falsely and/or criticized because of his words and/or actions. From what I recall, he mostly responded to his accusers, and he told them the truth.

I find today that a good number of Christians have this notion that we should say nothing and just walk away. I don’t believe that was Jesus’ normal response. I also find that a good number of Christians think you should always say positive things because if you don’t then you are not being very encouraging, as though encouragement is always meant to just make us feel good. Lies are never kind and they are not encouraging. They may cause us to feel good temporarily but they will come back to bite us. Jesus always told the truth because he was more interested in changed hearts and lives than he was in making people feel good. He cared more about people hearing what can change them than he was concerned about whether his listeners would end up turning against him. There is a reason that the cross is an offense to those who are perishing. What is best for us is what we need to hear, but it isn’t always what we want to hear. So be kind, but always tell the truth.

Seeking the Wanderer

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

If we think of this parable in terms of sheep being those who have believed in Jesus Christ, then we will see the wandering sheep as a believer who has drifted away from his or her pure devotion to Jesus Christ and has gone back to walking in the flesh instead of in the Spirit. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will go after those who have left following Jesus to seek after “other gods.” He will do this because he loves us, and because his heart is filled with compassion, and he does not want to see us continue in sin or return to it as a way of life. He died to deliver us out of bondage to sin.

Or we might see this as those who have never believed in Jesus Christ, as the context of the passage would suggest. Those who are already believers in Jesus and who are walking in the Spirit do not need to be sought after to bring us back, unless we have wandered away from our devotion to our Lord and have returned to living to please our sinful flesh. Jesus is seeking after those who are lost and have not found their way or who have lost their way. They are the ones he must bring to repentance and faith (or renewed faith).

So, if we are to be like Jesus, how should we respond to brothers and sisters in Christ who are not walking in the Spirit but according to the flesh? Perhaps they are not really in Christ, but have only made a profession of faith, or perhaps they do know Christ but the temptations of this life drew them back to their old ways. What did Jesus do? He went out searching for the sheep that had wandered off and he brought the sheep back. He didn’t join in with the sheep in their sin. He didn’t just hang out with them and just have a good time with them. He was very intentional and purposeful in what he did. His goal was always to bring people to repentance and to faith in himself and to lead them to follow him in all of his ways and in his truth and righteousness.

So, if we are to be like Jesus, we also should be very intentional in our relationships with others, and we should seek after those who are lost and/or who have wandered off and with the goal and intent to share with them and to model for them how they can come to know Christ and/or to lovingly confront them with their sin and to lead them to repentance so that they can be healed and restored/renewed and/or regenerated of the Spirit of God.

I find today that a good number of Christians are teaching and are believing that we should just mind our own business, that we should “stay in our lane,” and/or that we should not insert ourselves into the lives of others. Many of them also are teaching and believing that we should just go around blessing people by doing good deeds and that we should not share the gospel because we don’t want to appear pushy, or because we don’t want to offend people or make them feel uncomfortable or judged, and so we only say what we think will make people feel good. Yet, is that what Jesus did? No! He inserted himself into people’s lives consistently and that is what got him hated and killed, yet he did so because he loves us, and because he wants us to have lives that are transformed of the Spirit of God and that are no longer walking in the flesh, but in the Spirit and by the Spirit of God. And, we should have that same compassion as Jesus in intentionally seeking after the wanderer to bring him or her to repentance and to faith or renewed faith in Jesus Christ.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J. Kirkpatrick

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

Counting the Cost

Friday, February 20, 2015, 10:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 14:25-33 (NASB).

Following Jesus

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

On a surface read this sounds pretty drastic, as well as contradictory to Jesus’ other teachings on how we must love others. So, when we come up against a passage of scripture which seems to contradict other scriptures, then we have to compare scripture with scripture, we have to read the passage in context, and we have to look at what other possible meaning could be gathered from the passage that would fit with the context. Above all, we must pray and ask the Spirit of God to guide us into all truth and to grant us wisdom and insight into what the passage is teaching us, because this is to be spiritually discerned.

So, what is the context? Jesus was teaching the crowds who were physically following him that if they truly wanted to be his followers, i.e. his disciples, that there is a cost to following him. What is the cost? They must hate their family members and even their own lives. Yet, since the second greatest commandment (of the two greatest) is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (See Matt. 22:36-40), I don’t believe Jesus is teaching that we should literally hate others or ourselves. So, what could he possibly mean? I believe Jesus’ words, as is recorded in Luke 9:23-25, help to shed light on this subject. This is where he said that if anyone would come after him he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow him. He said whoever tries to hold on to his own life will lose it for eternity, but whoever dies to his old life has eternal life. So, how does this help us with Luke 14?

I believe that to “hate” our family members and ourselves means to let go of them in the sense of not holding on to what we want for our own lives or what we hope to gain from those family relationships, because following Jesus means he is Lord and Master of our lives and he is now the one who calls the shots. When we truly follow him in this way, and we do his will, it may mean we will be rejected and even persecuted by our family members or that we will have to leave them to go where God wants us. So, we must consider our own lives and the lives of others as not our own to possess or to hold on to, and we must not seek to please ourselves or others, aside from pleasing God, or we may have divided hearts and loyalties, and we may end up choosing ourselves and/or our family members over God. Our Lord has to not only be in first place in our lives, but he must BE our life!

So, if we want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, which is what a Christian is, then we must give up our lives and what we want and lay it all down at Jesus’ feet, and we must go wherever he leads us to go, and to be and to do whatever it is he would have us to be and to do, even if it gets us rejected, persecuted or killed in return. We must trust in the absolute sovereignty of God over our lives, trusting that he knows what is best for us, and that he has a plan and a purpose for everything he allows in our lives. We must never compromise who God created us to be, or our faith, in order to please ourselves or others, but we must be sold out to God and to his kingdom work, even if it means leaving behind all that is familiar and secure to us. “All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give…”

Counting the Cost

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

So, now that we know what the cost is to following Jesus Christ with our lives, we must count the cost. So, how do we do that? Well, let me first talk about what happens when we don’t count the cost.

So many people today are teaching that coming to Christ merely means we pray a prayer to receive Christ and now we have the hope of heaven when we die, we are forgiven of our sins, and we won’t face eternal punishment in hell. And, that is where they leave it. Added to that, though, they teach that God is pleased with us no matter what we do and that he smiles on us even when we are sinning against him, because when he looks at us he only sees Jesus. So, what is wrong with this? It teaches that God requires nothing of us, and so it ignores all the teachings and instructions (commands) of Jesus Christ. It does not teach that we have to repent (turn from our sins), that we have to die to living for sin and self, that we must be changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we are now given new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived in the power of the Spirit in walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to our flesh.

So, what happens then is that the “follower” is not really a follower of Christ because he is still holding on to his old flesh, because he was never required to give it up. It means he continues to live pretty much the way he did before, except he may begin to clean up a few things in his life and to attend church services regularly. It means he has not ceased to be conformed to the patterns of this sinful world, and so he has not really been transformed in the renewing of his mind. He still does what he wants to do, for the most part, only now God is included in some of the things he does, or so he thinks. Yet, what he has been given is a false hope absent of true grace, for God’s grace 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 Christ’s return. Jesus did not die to give us free license to continue in willful sin without guilt and without remorse. He died to free us from slavery to sin, and to purify for himself a people eager to do what is good (See Tit. 2:11-14).

Now, the person may have genuinely repented of his sin and he may have been born of the Spirit of God, but not taught the cost of following Christ, and so he remains an immature believer until he learns that following Christ means letting go of everything on this earth. As well, we don’t get perfect at this immediately. We are always growing and learning. I know I am. The Lord Jesus is still perfecting me in this area of letting go of what I want and laying it all at his feet, and letting God have his way in my life, even when it hurts like crazy sometimes. Yet, Jesus made it quite clear that if we don’t lay it all down to follow him that we cannot be his disciples. Not one of us will do this perfectly all the time so what does this mean? I believe it goes to the subject of lifestyle and submission to Christ. If we just pray a prayer and think we now have our ticket into heaven but that nothing is required of us and so we continue to live pretty much as we did before, we are in danger of hearing Jesus say to us one day, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

So, how do we count the cost? First of all we need to know what the cost is so that we can count it, and then we need to decide if we are willing to lay it all down and to go with God or if we still want to hold on to our own lives and continue to be our own boss. If we choose the latter, scripture teaches that we don’t really know God and he doesn’t really know us. So, make sure you really know him today, because your life depends on it. Give your all to Jesus, nothing held back. Let him have his way in your life. Surrender all to him, and be willing to be, to say, to do and to go with him according to his will and his purposes for your life. “I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

Do you want healing for your life? Have you been hurt by sin’s deceitfulness or disappointed by how things have turned out for you, or crushed in spirit due to mistreatment by others? Then, lay it all down at Jesus feet, surrender all to him, consider the cost of following Jesus, and go with God wherever he takes you, and trust him to work all things out for good.

Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me;

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.

http://originalworks.info/broken-and-contrite/

https://vimeo.com/118841304

Peace or Division?

Thursday, February 19, 2015, 5:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 12:49-53 (NASB).

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Came to Cast Fire

Jesus had just finished speaking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. He spoke with them about how they appeared clean on the outside but inside they were they were full of greed, robbery, and wickedness. They were big on tithing but short on justice and love for God. They loved feeling important and being publicly recognized. They weighed people down with all sorts of external requirements which did nothing to change people’s hearts. As well, they honored those who killed the prophets - who were God’s servants and messengers. So, God was holding them and their generation accountable for the shed blood of innocent lives. And, lastly, not only did they did not possess the key of knowledge that would give them eternal life with God in heaven, but they tried to hinder those who were entering. As a result of what Jesus told them, they plotted against him to try to trap him.

A little while later Jesus addressed his thoughts to his disciples concerning the Pharisees. He warned them against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. And, then he told them of a time coming when all that has been covered up will be revealed, and when all lies will be exposed for what they are. Words that have been spoken in secret, i.e. primarily with the purpose and intent to deceive and to plot evil, it would appear, will be proclaimed on the housetops. I can’t help but think here of all the words that are spoken via email and private messaging and chats and text messages that are so vulnerable to exposure, as well as how even our phone calls can be monitored and recordings made of conversations we have had.

And, then Jesus spoke words of encouragement and comfort to his disciples. They were not to fear those who could kill their physical bodies, for after they had killed them, they could do them no more harm. Instead, they were to walk in the fear of the Lord – to show him honor, value, respect, esteem, reverence, loyalty, devotion, commitment and obedience. He is the only one who has the power to do harm to people once their bodies are dead, for he has the power and the authority to send people to hell. And, yet, he encouraged them that they are not forgotten by God and that God is completely sovereign over every aspect of their lives, down to numbering of the very hairs on their heads. We are valuable to God!

Then he talked about how if we confess him before men, he will confess us before the angels of God, but if we deny him before men, we will be denied before the angels of God. This is obviously not speaking of making a verbal confession, though that is certainly part of it, for many make professions of what they do not truly possess. We confess or deny Jesus Christ by our very lives – our thoughts, words, behaviors, and deeds. As well, Jesus also spoke of not focusing our attention and value on the things of this world but rather we should be seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness, and he will provide all that we need. He spoke, too, of making sure we are ready to meet Jesus Christ when he comes again and that we are busy doing the work of the Lord to which he has called us when he returns.

It was in this context that Jesus said he came to cast fire on the earth, and he wished it were already kindled. So, what is the context? The context is one that addresses the subjects of judgment on sin, warnings against sinning and warnings of judgment, confronting sin, hypocrisy, calling for changed hearts, the fear of the Lord, hell, damnation, loyalty, devotion, obedience, encouragement, hope, healing, humility, faith, priorities, greed, idolatry, generosity, hardship, persecution, martyrdom, God’s kingdom work, last days, and Jesus coming again, and of us being ready to meet him when he comes, and of us being his faithful servants in doing his kingdom work up until the day he returns.

So, the fire that Jesus came to cast upon the earth is both the cleansing fire we experience in regeneration (our salvation), and in revival (renewal), as well as it represents the cleansing fire of judgment on the earth, which is meant to correct wrong, expose lies, and to purify hearts, as well as it is intended to judge and to destroy what is evil.

A Baptism to Undergo

But first he had a baptism to undergo. He was speaking of his suffering and death on the cross that had to take place for us to be saved of our sins, so we could be set free from the punishment of damnation in hell, and free from slavery to sin, and so we would be free to walk in his righteousness. He had to die so that we could be given the hope of eternal life with him in glory. He had to die so that we would be free to no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See 2 Co. 5:15). He had to die so that he could forgive us of our sins, and so we could be restored to a right relationship with God Almighty. His death had to take place first before all of these other things could come into being.

In order for us to be saved, which is only by God’s grace to us and via the shed blood of Christ on the cross for our sins, we must believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. To believe in him means that we die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, that we are changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we are given new lives in Christ to be lived in the power of the Spirit within us in walking daily in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. In order for us to be saved, we must surrender our wills to the will of the Father in heaven, submit to the cross of Christ in our lives, and follow Jesus Christ in obedience wherever he leads us, and to be and to do whatever he has for us. It does not mean we will live in sinless perfection from this point on but that our goal will be to please our Lord in every way, and that we will not continue in willful sin against God.

A Divided House

I hear so many people these days describing Jesus as someone who just went around doing good, loving on people, accepting people right where they are, not judging anyone, and teaching peace and harmony all the time, as though he was one who came to this earth to bring about world peace and unity among all peoples and all religions.

He did teach that we should not war against one another and that we should live at peace with all people, as much as it depends on us, but never with the thought in mind of us becoming people pleasers or compromisers of faith in order to not make waves, and so everyone will like us. He did not try to not offend people with the truth of the gospel just so their feelings would not be hurt and so they would feel accepted. He did heal the sick and raise the dead and he cast out demons and he comforted the mournful and sorrowful. He did have tremendous compassion on the hurting, the lonely, the afflicted, the persecuted, the sick and the injured. And, yet he spoke the truth boldly, confronted sin in sinful human beings, and he chastised those who were living hypocritically or who lacked faith or who served Satan’s purposes in casting doubt on Jesus’ words. And, that is what got him killed.

If we are to be like Jesus, which we are, then should we not emulate him? Why is that we have this idea that being a Christian means we just go around “blessing” people via good works but we shy away from talking with them about the gospel of their salvation so as not to offend them or to come on too strongly? Why is that we have this idea that we have to develop relationships with the unsaved people of this world over long periods of time, perhaps even years, before we can earn the right to talk with them about Jesus? What happens if they die in that period of time? Then what? Why is it we have this idea that we should dilute the gospel message or only share the non-offensive parts of it, at least initially, so that we don’t scare people away with the truth? Why is it that we think Jesus didn’t judge people? He did! All the time! Why is it we think Jesus just accepted people where they were? Didn’t he regularly confront them with their sin and call them to repentance? Yes, he did! Oh, why can’t we be more like Jesus and less like the world?

When we live our lives after the model of Jesus Christ and his ministry on this earth, all in the power, strength and working of the Holy Spirit within us, then we should be sharing the hard truths of the Word of God and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it should offend people, because the cross is an offense to those who are perishing. When we are no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, and we come out from the world and are separate, and we live holy lives unlike this sinful world because we are becoming like Christ, then it should be obvious to the world around us and they should hate us. Even the ungodly within our churches should be offended by us and by our message and they should hate us as they hated Christ. Even those within our own households should oppose us and mistreat us and perhaps even be among those who persecute and put us to death.

Jesus didn’t come to earth to make peace with the world. The world is at enmity with him. He didn’t come to make nice with them, but to confront them with their sin, to tell them the truth about their eternal destiny, and to call them to repentance, faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his teachings (instructions/commandments). And, we should do likewise. He didn’t come to make life easier for us, either, free from complications, persecutions, hardship or sword. In fact, we are destined for them. What he said here is that when we commit our lives to him, to follow him in surrender and obedience, and to be his servants and witnesses, that even the people of our own families will turn against us and will hate us. Yet, we should rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the gospel and the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the salvation of souls for eternity.

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee / Henry Van Dyke / Beethoven / MacMillan

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,

Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;

Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;

Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.

Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,

Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

Full of Light

Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 5:40 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Full Release.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 11:33-36 (NASB).

Not Hidden

“No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.”

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (Jn. 8:12). So, he is the Light. Jesus also said that we, as his followers, are “the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). This is because we reflect him, who is the Light. For those of us who have believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of our lives, we have the Spirit of God living within us, and living his life out through us, when we surrender our lives to him. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). So, Jesus is the Light and we are the light when we have the Spirit of God living within us and living the life of Christ out through us, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

So, what is this light? We know it is the opposite of darkness. In the light we can see clearly. In the dark, we cannot. The light lights our way so that we know where to walk. In the dark we stumble around and run into things and fall down. Light is God (and of God). It is truth, righteousness, life and holiness. Darkness is anti-God, anti-Christ, and of the devil. It is wickedness, lies, death and lawlessness. Light is the gospel of our salvation. Darkness is all that is opposed to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, our lamp is lit with the true Light when we accept God’s invitation to his great salvation by God’s grace, through faith. We humble ourselves before Almighty God, admitting that we are sinners and that we need the Savior to save us from our sins. By God’s grace we, thus, turn away from living for sin and self, we submit to the Spirit’s work of transformation in our hearts and minds, and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived in his righteousness and holiness – all in the power and working of his Spirit within us.

But, it doesn’t end there. We don’t receive the Light and then hide it in the basement so that no one sees it. We allow the Light to shine through our lives by submitting to the Spirit of God and to his work of grace and transformation in our lives, throughout our lives. This means we walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. We no longer live our lives for sin and self but for Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for us, for that is why he died (See 2 Co. 5:15). The Light is also not just in a small corner of our lives where it is barely noticed or effective, but it permeates our lives so that we walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, and so we live holy lives pleasing to God by his power at work within us. It also means that we share the gospel of Jesus Christ – the gospel that was taught by the apostles – so that others can come to know Jesus Christ, too.

Watch Out

“The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.”

The eye is not only the part of the body with which we physically see, but it can also be understood to mean “judgment, appreciation, discernment, or observation.” If our judgment and discernment are healthy and pure of heart, then what is received into the body (mind, soul, heart) is the true light, and thus the body (our whole being) is full of light. Yet, if our eye, i.e. our ability to make right judgments and to discern correctly is unhealthy spiritually, then what we will take into our lives will be of the darkness (wickedness, lies, deception).

With regard to our salvation, before we come to know Christ we are all sinners in need of a Savior, so not one of us is righteous, and thus we are all incapable of making righteous judgments. Yet, by God’s grace, through faith, our eye is made clear so that we can judge correctly in order to receive the true light into our lives. Yet, there are many who have made a profession of Christ only, but have never had a true heart transformation. They were not sincere in their desire to walk in holiness, when they made their profession of faith, and so their eye is not clear. So, they did not receive the true light but only a fake version of the true light which promised them heaven absent of the crucified life. And so, the “light” in them is not the true light but is really darkness disguised as the true light.

So, this is a warning to make sure that the “light” we have received is the true light and not the fake light which is no light at all, but is darkness disguised as light. This is a call to be discerning about believing that which is false. We will never be discerning about receiving the fake light, though, if we willfully continue to walk in darkness, i.e. if we are not willing to die to our old lives of living for sin and self and to submit our lives to Jesus Christ to allow him to live his life through us. If Jesus is just our ticket into heaven but we have not submitted to the cross of Christ, and we are still trying to control our own lives and to do what we want to do, then our eye is not clear and it is bad, and so we will continue to walk in the fake light which is not light but is really darkness disguised as light. So, if we want to walk in the true light we must submit ourselves to our Lord Jesus Christ, turn from walking according to our own sinful desires, and by the Spirit walk in the Spirit in true holiness.

Full of Light

“If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (Jn. 8:12). So, what does it mean to follow Christ? Basically it just means we obey him. We are not to be just hearers of the Word but we are to be doers of the Word. This “doing” is not just following a set of rules, though, so that we can check them off a list. Jesus has to BE our lives, i.e. he has to be the reason we live and breathe and walk the face of this earth. He has to be more than just a “belief,” but he has to be the very purpose for which our lives exist! What this means is that we understand that our lives are to be fully submitted to him, for his will and for his purposes, and that we live like this is true. It means that each day we deny our self-life, we die to sin and self, and we follow our Lord Jesus in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives (See Lu. 9:23-25).

What this also means is that daily we allow the Spirit of God to cleanse and purify us of anything that might be hindering us in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord. We willingly submit to the Spirit’s voice in putting a finger on anything in our lives which is not pleasing to our Lord, and we cooperate with the Spirit’s work in purifying us and in ridding our lives of all those hindrances (See Heb. 12:1-2). So, in all practicality, what should this look like? I believe it means that we regularly do self-examinations before our Lord in prayer, asking him to reveal to us areas of our lives which are not pleasing to him and areas of our lives in which we are still walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit, and then we should do what he tells us to do about them.

For example, our dedication to Christ may be confined merely to a short period of time each day where we read his word and pray, and/or it may be to attending church services a couple of times a week, and/or to committing ourselves to some type of Christian service. Yet, the rest of our lives may be lived how we want, doing what we want, without regard for whether or not God is pleased, or whether or not he has something better for us to do. We may even be watching TV or movies which glorify sin, or we may be involved in unhealthy and ungodly relationships, or we may be addicted to pornography, food, gossip and the like. So, if we want our lives to be full of light – the light of Christ – then we must surrender our all to that Light and allow Him to truly be Lord and Master of our lives in ALL ways.

Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012

Walking daily with my Savior

brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus;

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence,

oh, what peace.

From my self-life

He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.

Hope and comfort,

peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully,

oh, what love

That He gives me

through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above.

Loving Father; precious Jesus,

He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit,

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior

bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered

So that we might be alive.

http://originalworks.info/full-release/

https://vimeo.com/115169203

Free From Distractions

Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 4:46 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken & Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 10:38-42 (NASB).

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Troubled and Distracted

Martha invited Jesus into her home. Her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his word while Martha was busy in the kitchen making meal preparations. Martha’s attention was focused on what she felt needed to be done in order to minister to Jesus’ needs while Mary was focused on Jesus and on listening to his words. So, was Martha wrong in what she did? Should Mary have been out in the kitchen helping her? In all practicality, we do have to eat, so someone has to prepare the food, is this not true? People have to earn a living, pay bills, clean house, cook meals, wash dishes, do laundry, grocery shop, go to school and take care of kids, etc. We can’t all just sit at Jesus’ feet all day long reading his word, can we? So, what are we to take away from this story? What is the lesson that is to be learned here?

Several scenarios come to mind. The first one is that many people, myself included, may, at times, get so busy doing for God that they fail to seek God’s face to find out what he desires and to do what he wants. They get so bogged down with the details and all the preparations that they miss out on what is most important – time spent with Jesus just listening to what he says and enjoying the fellowship with him and personal time of worship of him. The things they are doing for God may, in fact, be good things, but they are not what is God’s best for them. It is not the best use of their time. Yet, some people may prefer to live this way because they are the ones in control, and they are the ones who determine what they will do or won’t do for God, whereas those who listen to Jesus’ words and do what he tells them are those who have found what is best – to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

So, what kinds of things distract us and get us troubled about thinking they are necessary when they are not, or that actually pull us away from doing what is God’s best for us? I can think of some of the things that might be distractions for me, at times, and you may identify with some of them. We live in a technological society here in America. I have a smart phone, a tablet and a laptop computer. I am on Facebook because that is where I connect with family and friends and it is a place of ministry for me, too. I have chat, email and responses to posts which I check daily. I play only one on-line game, which is Words with Friends, but that can be time consuming, as well. I have had to turn off most all my notifications of incoming email, chats, and responses to posts, etc. because that is a distraction. Sometimes I get bogged down with aesthetics (visual appearance and beauty), which is also time consuming, and is not really important in light of eternity.

I believe this last one is a huge problem for the modern church of today. Many churches spend so much time on the show, outward appearance, and on doing what will attract the world to their churches and to their meetings that nearly everything is orchestrated and planned out by humans so that there is no room for the Holy Spirit to do his work. Ouch!

At the Feet of Jesus

Mary found what was best. She sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his words. So, in all practicality, how can this be applied to our lives? As stated above, we can’t spend every day, all day long, sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to his words, or can we? What does it really mean to sit at his feet and to listen to him speak? I think some people get the idea that this is a formal time of Bible study, prayer and personal worship which they must schedule each day and then that is it for the remainder of the day, and so then they just go about their business as usual. Is that really how it is supposed to be?

The Lord Jesus just reminded me of Isaiah 58. The people of God seemed eager to know God’s ways. They asked God for just decisions. They fasted in order to be heard by God. Yet, on the day of their fasting they did as they pleased, and they did wicked things. So, God asked of them, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only a day for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?” He said they sought him out, as though they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God, yet they could not continue to do this and expect God to hear their prayers. They went through a religious ritual, but their hearts were far from God. They thought they could just “do” for God and that he would be pleased, but what he wanted was their obedience, i.e. their hearts fully devoted to him.

The same principle applies to our lives and to our relationships with Jesus Christ. He doesn’t want us to just spend a short period of time at his feet each day in a time we call “devotions,” and then go about our day with little to no thought of him at all, doing what we want without regard for what he wants. Time at Jesus’ feet does not need to begin and end with a specified period of time which we call our “devotions.” We should be “on call” with Jesus 24/7. We should be listening to him all the time throughout our day no matter what we are doing. If his word is hidden in our hearts and not just in our minds, and if we are sensitive to his voice, and we are desirous to hear him speak and to do what he says, he will speak to us all throughout the day and even into the night at various times. He often speaks to me through scripture songs while I am cleaning house or doing laundry or whatever. I just need to be receptive to his voice and to learn what he wants to teach me and then to be ready and willing to obey him. I need to not “do” for God what I think is a good thing to do, but I need to find out what pleases him and then do it.

One Thing is Necessary

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

We read in Romans 12:1-2 concerning the type of sacrifice which is acceptable to God. We are to give our lives (our whole being) to God, holy and pleasing to him. This is our reasonable service of worship of God. So, what does it mean to be holy? It means to be different from (unlike) the world because we are like Christ. It means to be set apart from the world and to be set apart to God and to his service. We are to no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we are to be transformed of the Spirit of God in the renewing of our minds so that we can discern what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. And, we are to find out what pleases him and to do it. He is not interested in all the things we want to do for him. He wants our obedience and our surrender to his will for our lives. We can’t live like the world and live holy lives pleasing to God. They don’t mix.

So, this song provides a prayer we might pray to God in repentance over the knowledge and conviction of heart that we have, in some way or another, been guilty of “doing” for God instead of listening to hear what he wants, and then doing that. It may also be in response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning all the distractions in our lives which keep us from sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to him speak, and then doing what he shows us. It might be, as well, that we are guilty of spending too much time on aesthetics, thinking that is important, when the Lord Jesus has better things for us to do with that time that would be for his kingdom work. The part of this song which stood out to me this morning was “Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders my walk with you, now I pray.” I don’t want to be wasting time on doing even good stuff if it is not what is God’s best for me. I need to be more sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and to inquiring of my Lord as to what is next for me rather than me determining how I should spend that time.

Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me;

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.

http://originalworks.info/broken-and-contrite/

https://vimeo.com/118841304

In Need of Healing

Monday, February 16, 2015, 6:57 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 10:25-37 (ESV).

Do This To Live

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

We know from reading the gospels that not one of us can be saved by merely following a set of rules or by keeping the law. For one, not one of us could ever keep the law perfectly. We all stumble in many ways. We are born into sin. There is no one righteous, no not one. Not one of us could love the Lord God with our whole heart, soul, strength and mind 24/7. I know that especially today. I don’t do well when storm systems come through. They play havoc with my head. I don’t always get headaches, but I feel like I am driving through the mountains or like my head is in a tunnel. The Lord woke me 6 hours ago to write this, yet I am just now really getting started. I allowed myself to get distracted with other things, as well. So, if I had to love God with all my heart, strength, soul and mind in order to be saved, let alone loving my neighbor as myself, I would not make it. I am a clay vessel.

So, why did Jesus tell him if he did this he would live? Jesus obviously knew the man could not do this. Perhaps it was to make the man aware that it was humanly impossible for him to be saved. No amount of good works or trying to keep all the law would save him. Yet, nothing is impossible with God, according to his righteousness. Jesus made the way possible for us to be saved apart from human works and apart from keeping the law with absolute perfection, since none of us could do this. Jesus Christ, God the Son, became human for us and died on a cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world. He paid the price for our sin so that we could be saved, and so we could live eternally with God. It is by God’s grace, through faith, that we are able to receive such a great salvation (See Eph. 2:8-9).

Nonetheless, our salvation is not absent of works (See: Eph. 2:10) nor is it absent of the necessity of love for God and obedience to his commands (See: Ro. 6:16; Heb. 5:9; 1 Jn. 2:3-5; 3:24; 5:3; 2 Jn. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:2). The difference now is that, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are saved by God’s grace, our sin atoned for, and we are forgiven because of God’s great love for us. We are now empowered with the Holy Spirit to live for God. We don’t have to live perfect lives and keep the law perfectly to be saved. We don’t earn or deserve our own salvation. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Yet, God’s grace is also not a free license to continue in sin thinking we now have our ticket into heaven and that God requires nothing of us. He demands obedience, repentance and genuine love for himself, not to earn our salvation, though, but as a love response to him for what he did for us, and as evidence that we have truly trusted in him as Lord and Savior of our lives.

Justifying and Rationalizing

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

The man, possibly realizing that he could not do as Jesus had said, looked for a loophole. He tried to find a way around obeying the Lord, i.e. to justify himself, knowing that he was not loving God fully and that he lacked in love for his neighbors. That is human nature, is it not, to try to find ways around obeying what we know is true? We justify, rationalize and modify so that we can continue to do what we know is wrong or so that we can excuse away not doing what we know is right for us to do. Yet, even when we are faithless, Jesus remains faithful. He will lovingly and gently speak truth to our hearts in ways that will let us know that we are not going the right way or that we are lacking in love and devotion for him or in love for our fellow humans. And, then he will tell us to now do what he has shown us. He will challenge us to not only just listen to the Word but to do what it says (See Jas. 1:22-25).

Jesus’ Life Through Us

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

In order to get his message across to the man, Jesus gave him the message in the form of a story (a parable) to illustrate his point. I believe there is a message for all of us in this story. Not one of us loves perfectly. I know I am always growing in this area of loving others with God’s love and according to how God loves me. So, I am praying that the Lord Jesus will teach me what he wants me to learn from this lesson today.

I want to first of all look at who this injured man might represent to us today. The main point of the story, I believe, is that someone was hurting and that he needed help, mercy and healing. There are many hurting people in this life all around us every day. First and foremost, I believe, are those who are dead in their sins, beaten down by sin’s deceitfulness who need salvation. Then, there are those believers in Jesus who have fallen prey to deception and the tricks of the devil who have fallen for false teaching or for Satan’s lies which tell them it is ok for them to continue in sin and that God is still pleased with them. Then there are those who are physically hurting, perhaps due to the mistreatment at the hands of others, or just because they live in flesh bodies on this earth, or because of damage they have done to their own bodies, etc. And, then there are those who are hurting emotionally, either because of painful childhood memories, or because of being beaten down emotionally (and verbally) by others, or because of the death of a loved one or some other kind of loss, or because of loneliness, disappointment or discouragement, etc.

These people are all around us. We can either choose to look the other way and to ignore their pain and suffering, or we can pray for a heart of compassion, mercy, understanding, and sympathy, and for wisdom and discernment to know how best to meet their real needs. And, I believe what I just said there is KEY to their healing. We need to see what their real needs are so we can meet them. There are some people who are the sympathetic kind who genuinely feel with others in their need, but they try to put Band-Aids over serious wounds, or they tell them lies just to make them feel good. Lies are never kind and neither are Band-Aids over serious wounds, though in no way here am I am diminishing or discounting the necessity of a kind word, or a hug or a smile. Those things are essential, too, and we all need them!! I do!! My grandchildren’s hugs are some of the best medicine ever!!

The thing I noticed about this Samaritan who stopped to help the man is that he took this injured man’s needs seriously and he went the extra mile to make sure that the man was brought to complete healing. He didn’t do a quick fix and then go on his way. He didn’t say a bunch of flowery words hoping it would make the man feel better about his wounds. He bound up the man’s wounds and poured on them oil and wine. I imagine that this stung, initially, but that it soon brought relief and much healing. Sometimes, if the wound of people is a sin wound, in particular, we may have to give some words of counsel and correction, and those may sting initially, but if received well, they should result in much healing. The Samaritan assessed the man’s wounds, determined what was necessary for healing to take place, and then he applied the necessary treatment which he believed would bring true healing to the man. Quick fixes or lies to make people feel good never addresses the real wounds and therefore true healing cannot take place.

The Samaritan didn’t just leave the man then, hoping that would suffice. He went the distance. He made sure that the man was cared for, even if he could not care for him himself. We can’t always do this. Sometimes we meet people only briefly and we share words of encouragement, hope and healing with them, and then they are out of our lives. Sometimes people are not receptive to our words or actions meant to bring healing to them, for they want to continue to live with their serious wounds seething, i.e. they don’t want our help. But, as we have opportunity, and if follow-up is possible, and the injured seem receptive to our reaching out to them in love, then we should do what we can to help see them to complete healing (man to man and woman to woman). But, in order for us to do this, again it is imperative that we do like this Samaritan did in assessing the seriousness of the situation and by applying what is truly necessary for the wounds to be healed. God will give us wisdom in this if we call upon him and ask for help.

Sometimes we may be the wounded who are in need of healing, too, and perhaps everyone is just looking the other way or they are ignoring our wounds, which only compounds them more. Sometimes those who should reach out to us in love only wound us more with their rejection, hatred, persecution and mistreatment of us because they don’t want to be bothered with us because we don’t fit into their plans for their own lives or for their “church,” for that matter. We are too messy to them, and they don’t want to be bothered. And, so it is just easier for them to pass us by or to send us somewhere else, but with no plan for our healing and with no follow-up. They are just discarding us, period!

So, no matter where you are right now, i.e. if you are the wounded needing a healing touch, and/or if you are the one needing to reach out to others in need of hope and healing, we should take our burdens to Jesus Christ, lay them at his feet, pray for wisdom and for understanding, follow him wherever he leads us, and be Jesus to the world around us.

Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me;

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.

http://originalworks.info/broken-and-contrite/

https://vimeo.com/118841304