Daily Archives: March 5, 2013

Jesus Misunderstood

Christian Life, , ,

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD

“Someone out of the crowd said, ‘Order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.’

“He replied, ‘What makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?’“Luke 12:13, 14 (The Message).

This is a typical misunderstanding about the way God works in human lives. Because we know He is all-powerful, we assume that His ‘power’ extends to pushing us around like puppets. But this is not true and Satan loves to use this lie to discredit God so that we have reason not to trust Him.

The greatest gift and the greatest snare God gave to man is his right to choose. God respects that gift far more than we humans do and He never violates it, even when we persistently choose against Him. This gift is a snare because it gives us the power to decide our own future and our own destiny. We are what we choose.

He placed us on the earth to rule over His creation as He vice-regent, under His authority and within the boundaries of His law. That rule does not include our ruling over another person’s right to choose. Of course that applies in our personal lives. God set governmental authority over us to maintain order in society. We also have the choice to obey civil law or not and to take the consequences of civil disobedience.

When man chose against God in the Garden of Eden, he transferred his allegiance from God to himself and unwittingly put himself under Satan’s influence. This opened a Pandora’s Box of unexpected and unpleasant consequences, the worst being death, which God warned would happen.

The outcome is the world we live in today. The mess we have made of the world is the outcome of our choices and God doesn’t just make them go away. We have to live with them because that’s what we keep choosing. Without consequences we never learn.

This man incorrectly assumed that Jesus had the right to decide for his brother. But Jesus quickly put him right. He was saying that, even if He were God, He still had no right to interfere with human choices. If the brother chose to be selfish and greedy, that was his choice and He would not step in and force him to act differently.

This is the point of our misunderstanding and accusation that God doesn’t care because He ‘let it happen’, a divorce, a fatal car accident, an unwanted pregnancy, a son or daughter gone astray or whatever tragedy has hit our lives. But who made those choices – God or us? So why blame God for what we did? Did He make us or anyone else who affected us do it? Of course not!

How, then, can we say that God is all-powerful? What’s the point of trusting Him if He can’t stop us from harming ourselves or others? This is exactly the point. The Apostle Paul said, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28 NIV). God has the power to turn every bad thing that happens to us to our good if we love and trust Him.

Peter is a case in point. Jesus warned him that Satan had designs on him. Peter failed to heed His warning and fell headlong into Satan’s trap. He miserably denied Jesus when Jesus needed his support. But Jesus had assured him, “‘I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail.'” Was Peter destroyed? Not at all. Peter became a far more ‘real’ person because he had come face to face with his real self. All his blustering self-confidence was flattened in that moment.

When we finally ‘get’ this lesson, it will free us from trying to get other people to do what we want and it will release us from being suspicious about God because He doesn’t stop bad things from happening; He uses them to shape us for His glory. And that’s a much better deal!

Is Jesus a Devil?

Apologetics, , ,

IS JESUS A DEVIL?

“Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, ‘Any country in civil war for very long is wasted. A constantly squabbling family falls to pieces. If Satan cancels Satan, is there any Satan left? You accuse me of ganging up with the devil, the prince of demons, to cast out demons, but if you’re slinging devil-mud at me, calling me a devil that kicks out devils, doesn’t the same mud stick on your exorcists? But if it’s God’s finger I’m pointing that sends the demons on their way, then God’s kingdom is here for sure.'” Luke 11:17-20, (The Message)

Talk about twisted thinking! In their eagerness to discredit Jesus, these opponents forgot to think logically. In fact they were teetering close to being taken over by demons themselves. Who thinks up an accusation like that except Jesus’ arch-enemy? To be saying what they said without considering the implications of their accusation meant that their brains had been overtaken by the deceiver.

Jesus’ reply was masterfully simple and wise. One wonders whether they were dumbstruck by His reply or just plain obstinate in sticking to their opinion. How can a divided kingdom or even a divided household stand firm? Division is the opposite of unity. Since unity (ECHAD), which represents the very image of God, is what holds the universe together, then division will tear it apart.

Anyone with a little bit of understanding knows that division in the ranks, be it in an organization, or in any group, human or animal, will cause it to disintegrate. Division in the function of the body is called sickness and will bring about death if not treated. How then can Jesus be driving demons out using Satan’s power? The idea is ludicrous.

Just the opposite is true. What Jesus had just done and what He was doing across Israel was a witness to something very different. He was getting rid of the illegal occupants in people’s lives and restoring God’s rule in human bodies and human spirits. For too long Satan had had his way with people, deceiving them into believing that he was in charge. Jesus was setting the record straight by evicting him from the people who belonged to God, not to him.

The very fact that the demons gave way at His command was evidence of who was really in charge. This was building up to an even greater victory over Satan, already accomplished from eternity’s perspective but to be effected in time when His enemies, under the influence of His great enemy, would have Him killed, thinking that was the end of Him!

What a blessing that we are part of that living proof of who is actually in charge. Through the same ‘finger of God’, the Holy Spirit, all who believe in Jesus have been rescued from the kingdom that is causing the world to fall apart, and are now a part of the kingdom over which Jesus rules, and are being restores to perfect oneness with God.

In It For The Entertainment?

Christian Life, , ,

IN IT FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT?

“As the crowd swelled, He took a fresh tack: ‘The mood of this age is all wrong. Everybody’s looking for proof but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you’re looking for is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. But the only proof you’re going to get is the Jonah-proof given to the Ninevites, which looks like no proof at all. What Jonah was to Nineveh, the Son of Man is to this age'” Luke 11:29, 30 (The Message).

It seems that human nature has never changed. Jesus had issues with the people of His day because they had a lust for entertainment. To many of them, He was nothing but a great entertainer. They followed Him in droves to watch what He could do and to get what He could give but, when it came to the tough decision to identify with Him and take the flak for being a follower, they opted out because the price was too high.

Their excuse was that they wanted ‘proof’ but, no matter how much proof He gave them, they were always demanding more. What did they mean by ‘proof’? Proof of what? Jesus offered them one sign, which He called ‘the sign of Jonah.’ What was the sign of Jonah? Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a fish because of his reluctance to offer Nineveh God’s mercy.

God was merciful to him. He sent him to Nineveh a second time to warn them of His coming judgment because of their wickedness. Why did God want to warn them? Why not just dump judgment on them? Was it not because God was merciful? He wanted to give them an opportunity to repent.

And they did.

Jesus spent three days and nights in a grave because of God’s mercy to all mankind. He rose from the grave as a witness that He is who He said He is, the Son of God and that God is merciful to all who believe in Him. Because of His suffering and death, God can offer forgiveness to every person who responds to His offer and receives Jesus as Lord. Faith in Jesus involves active participation in His life, following, imitating and obeying Him as Lord.

But nothing has changed. Whether it is secular or spiritual, people generally love to be spectators; sport, TV, pop festivals, no matter what form it takes, we sit on a seat somewhere, in front of the TV, in a sports stadium or a concert hall or even a pew in church and watch.

Christian TV is big business. TV channels are mushrooming. Which are the most popular and lucrative? Is it not those that offer the most entertainment and the biggest rewards for ‘sowing into their ministry’?

Jesus’ solution is simple but radical. ‘Whoever does not take up his cross daily and follow me, cannot be my disciple.’ The Jonah-sign demands an active response of trust and obedience, getting up off the seat and following Jesus, right to the death of the self-life and into a life of self-giving for the sake of others.

God’s Underground

Christian Life, , ,

GOD’S UNDERGROUND

“‘When they drag you into their meeting places, or into police courts or before judges, don’t worry about defending yourselves – what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you the right words when the time comes.”’ Luke 12:11-12 (The Message).

No matter how good an earthly father we might have (or have had), he cannot always be with us when we need him. Daddy is supposed to be his children’s protector but he is limited by his humanity. He has his own issues to contend with and fails us constantly because he is just like us and we are just like him, human, fallible and weak.

But the reality of our heavenly Father’s presence cannot be overstressed. When Jesus promised His disciples (and that includes us if we are serious followers of Jesus), ‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you,’ (John 14:18), He was promising us that we have a Father who is unlike the very best of all earthly fathers.

The tragedy of many us, who believe and follow Jesus, is that we have not fully grasped the significance of Jesus’ promise. God is our Father and we are His sons and daughters. And the best of all is that Daddy will never leave us. It does not matter where, when or how we need Him, He is always with us, in fact even better; He is in us.

There is a word that does not exist in God’s vocabulary – the word ‘stress’. He has deleted it and replaced it with the word ‘rest’, and He promised that, when we live in His rest, He will fight our battles for us. He is available if we are ever put on trial for our faith in a court of law. However, for most of us that will not happen, but we are often on ‘trial’ in other situations where we need divine wisdom.

Jesus assures us, ‘You don’t need to think ahead. You have a divine ‘Underground’ who is with you and has gone before you, clearing the way and working on your behalf.’ Isn’t that an invitation to rest in God? This is non-negotiable. The Holy Spirit is in us; He is our advocate, answering through us, for us.

In this section of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 12:1-12), having exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, Jesus tenderly instructs His disciples with the truth. What is He trying to get His disciples to understand? Unlike the Pharisees who believed that they had to work hard to keep God’s attention and approval, Jesus was assuring His followers, ‘God is your Father. He is a perfect Father. You don’t have to perform to earn His love. He knows what it means to be a father.’

God places a far higher value in us than any of His other creation because He has invested His own life in us. He paid the ultimate price to redeem us from our self-inflicted slavery. He is determined to shape us into a perfect family of sons and daughters just like His Son and He’s always with us, on the job, patiently completing what He started.

So He says, ‘Will you trust me to do what I said I would do?’ Trying to negotiate life’s obstacles and issues on our own only delays the process. We might as well learn quickly that God can do a much better job guiding us through than we can. So, just trust Him. He is Jehovah Shammah – the God who is there!

Empty is Dangerous

Christian Life, , ,

EMPTY IS DANGEROUS

“When a corrupting spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn’t find anyone it says, ‘I’ll go back to my old haunt.’ On return, it finds the person swept and dusted, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits dirtier than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse than if he had never gotten cleaned up in the first place.” Luke 11:24-26 (The Message).

According to Jesus, just as it is impossible to be neutral when it comes to our attitude to Him, it is also impossible to remain empty of a spiritual ‘master’. The human spirit was created to be in submission to God. Satan’s lie is that a person can be his own master. He sold that lie to Eve and it landed her, Adam and the whole human race under his dominion.

The attitude of the human being is expressed in Psalm 2:3, “Let’s get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah”, with the mistaken notion that he can be independent of any controlling spirit.

The opposite is true. If Jesus is not invited in to become the master of our hearts, once we have repudiated demonic occupation of our hearts, we must not think that we can go it alone. He will return and if he finds no-one in charge, he’ll invade with a whole hoard of controlling spirits worse than himself.

How does this work in practice? Many believers think that they cannot be influenced by demons, but this is not true. What happens when someone is falsely accused, insulted or offended in some way by another person? The first reaction is to be hurt. Anger follows, to cover up the hurt, self-pity, feeling like a victim, the desire to pay back, taking it out on someone else, usually a family member…these are all sinful responses to emotional pain.

An even worse scenario when life deals a believer a blow is to blame, turn on and abandon God as though He were responsible for the suffering. “Why did God allow this to happen to me?” is the question asked, as though God somehow manipulates people’s wills to do things His way. Man chose to turn from God, (and he still does) and there are always consequences, often involving innocent people.

This leaves the vacuum of which Jesus was speaking and demons, under Satan’s direction, capitalise on the opportunity to invade and occupy. How often it happens, when a believer abandons faith in God because of false expectations, he throws all caution to the wind and becomes more sinful than he was before he believed in Jesus.

This is a warning every believer ought to heed. God is not responsible for our woes but He is always ready to bring good out of evil if we choose to keep trusting in His goodness. He never disappoints those who put their trust in Him.