Monthly Archives: September 2023

LOVE EQUALS OBEDIENCE

Christian Life, ,

LOVE EQUALS OBEDIENCE


“And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”
1 John 2:3-6 NLT

How many church goers today live in self-deception!  Claiming to be “born-again” believers is no criterion unless obedience to Jesus as Lord accompanies the claim.

Jesus gave His disciples a simple test… “Do you love me? Then do what I tell you.” He asked a question of those who persistently followed Him without ever having any intention to be true disciples.

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.”
Luke 6:46-48 NLT

Obedience to Jesus’s teaching is the only proof that we are His disciples, in union with Him through the indwelling Holy Spirit and representing Him to an unbelieving world. Such followers experience the power of His life working in and through them.

Unfortunately, there are streams in the modern church that go after “signs and wonders” to prove their allegiance to Jesus. Some claim supernatural offices and accompanying “ministries” as their superior authority in the church.

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day, many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ “
Matthew 7:21-23 NLT

Jesus set a different, simple test to authenticate a true disciple. “Knowing Him” is the real issue.

“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”
John 17:3 NLT

What does knowing Him mean?

King Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, failed to live up to his father’s example. He lavished his wealth on himself instead of caring for his needy subjects. God came down hard on him, revealing, at the same time, His criterion for knowing God.

“But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know me?” says the Lord.”
Jeremiah 22:15-16 NLT

So, we can only prove any claim that we know God to be true if we genuinely share Jesus’ heart for people. This means doing something about their needs if we can. Of course, we can’t save the world but, as Mother Teresa said, when challenged, “I can save this one!”

Jesus judges the nations by the same standard as He judges individuals.

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “
Matthew 25:31-36 NL

Just imagine, if the church, including those who fight about doctrines, claim illegitimate authority, or sniff out those who don’t believe or do what they do, cared more about loving Jesus by loving His people, what a witness to the world that would be!

HE LEFT HIM TO DIE

Christian Life, ,

HE LEFT HIM TO DIE

Mary of Bethany… Little cameos of Mary’s life give us insights into her spiritual journey.

Martha and Mary, two sisters living together, with Lazarus, their brother, in a little home in Bethany…Jesus used their home as a place of fellowship and even refuge from the ever-present Pharisees.

Martha – the busy one.
Mary – the contemplative one.
Lazarus – the invisible one.

Mary catches my attention. She was the quiet one, perhaps introspective, internalising her experiences and pondering deeply on Jesus and His teachings.

She sat quietly and unobtrusively at His feet as He taught about the glories of God’s kingdom in her home. The disciples ignored her presence since Jesus allowed her to stay in their company.

Fascinated by His teaching, Mary was forming her opinion about this man. Could He be the Messiah? Gradually her opinion changed to conviction and trust until…

The Lazarus event!

The “invisible” brother enters the picture. Until now, we know nothing about him. Did he have reservations about Jesus that kept him out of the story? Was he skeptical, indifferent, opposed to Jesus and His friendship with Martha and Mary?

Despite his absence from the story, he was beloved, both by his sisters and by Jesus.

Lazarus falls deathly sick….

“So, the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
John 11:3 NLT

Jesus was close to the Father. He recognised the moment… the Father’s opportunity for Jesus to reveal Himself to this family and far beyond.

And so, Jesus begins the course of events that would bring Him to the greatest revelation of who He was, through to the final countdown to His death.

The sisters’ message goes unanswered. It’s as though He had not heard their plea to come quickly. His disciples are puzzled. It was not like Jesus to ignore an urgent request. He just stays where He is, makes no effort to get back to Bethany.

One day, two days go by then, finally, Jesus moves. “It’s time, guys. Let’s go back to Bethany.” His disciples are, by this time, convinced that He was hiding from His enemies. What now?

Jesus ignored the danger He was in. He had work to do regardless of the plot against Him. This Lazarus event was the key to His future. Lazarus had to die to live again. So, He, too, had to die to live again.

His return to Bethany, albeit too late to save Lazarus, sparked a mixed response from the sisters. Martha, quick to meet Jesus with her rebuke, “Why didn’t you come?” expressed her disappointment in this “Messiah” she had come to trust. Her rebuke runs into one of Jesus’s greatest claims, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Wait and see, Martha. I will show you who I am.

This exchange between Jesus and Martha is almost a theological discussion, somewhat detached from Martha’s heart, her true feelings about Jesus and His failed response to their predicament.

Mary, the quiet one, shuts herself away, so disappointed, devastated, and disillusioned that she doesn’t even want to see Jesus.

“Martha, where is Mary?” Reluctantly, Mary leaves her room and goes out to meet Him at His call. Same words of rebuke as Martha’s, but loaded with anger, doubt, and grief, not only because Lazarus was dead but because JESUS LEFT HIM TO DIE.

Mary is distraught. Her anguished sobs move Jesus to tears. He is angry, not with Mary, but because Mary’s grief and disillusionment have brought her into this unnecessary pit of despair. Her faith in Him did not go far enough.

Had Mary only trusted Him beyond the present, she would have reaped the full glory of this Lazarus event. Her heart would have rejoiced in the victory of true faith devoid of regret for not trusting Jesus.

How often does Jesus not weep for us when our faith falls short of victory! We could save ourselves from emotional devastation if we would just wait until He has completed what He has begun.

“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Hebrews 6:12 NIV

Perhaps our greatest life’s lesson is that final moment when patience wins over unbelief. Only when we choose to wait on the Lord and allow Him to bring the test to its conclusion, will we understand that God is utterly faithful and reliable to do what He has promised.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world…. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:6-7, 9 NLT

A few more minutes of expectant faith in the Jesus she thought she trusted would have saved Mary from her terrible grief. Could He raise the dead? After four days? This Mary must learn, as did Mary, the mother of Jesus, that…

“With God nothing will be impossible.”
Luke 1:37 NKJV

Had Jesus, her Messiah, the one she thought she had come to trust implicitly, failed her?

Mary had to learn that He was writing her small story into His big story, leaving no detail out but putting everything into the perspective of eternity.

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”
2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT

We have a glimpse, in the following chapter, of the outcome of Mary’s fiery trial.

“Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.”
John 12:1-3 NLT

Mission accomplished!  Her fiery trial produced pure gold. Mary had finally become a worshipper.

” But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:23-24 NLT


GOD WILL FINISH WHAT HE STARTED

Christian Life, ,

GOD WILL FINISH WHAT HE STARTED


God’s story begins in Genesis, with a promise, strangely, not to humans but to the devil himself.

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15 NLT

Let’s fast forward, past the long history of God’s wayward nation, to a little teenage girl, Mary. She’s confronted by a high-ranking angel, Gabriel himself, with another promise directly connected to God’s first promise. Put that into your memory bank, Mary.

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David…. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
Luke 1:26-27, 30-32 NLT

She, little Mary, a virgin engaged to be married, is about to become pregnant with a son, not just any son and certainly not her fiancé’s child, but God’s Son. Impossible? Not if God’s in it.

Little Mary submits and puts that memory into her bank of precious memories.

Strange and unusual things happen at the birth of this Son. Shepherds come to the house in Bethlehem where He was born. Who sent them to this address? Angels! So they said.
She puts this visit in her memory bank too.

Then two elderly people meet them at the temple in Jerusalem, eight days later. Joseph and Mary, are on their way to make the required sacrifice for the birth of a boy when an old man meets them, prophesies nice things over the baby, says a word for her that sends chills down her spine. Into her memories goes that one too.

Two years later, magi from a far Eastern country pitch at their home in Bethlehem. Who sent them? A star! So, they said. Another memory to store.

Soon after, a death threat. So, they flee to Egypt… and boy toddlers are murdered because of Him. Such scary things to remember, not forgetting God’s oversight in this emergency.

“The murderer is dead,” so, they are told. “You can go back home.” So, they return to Nazareth in Galilee, as far from the seat of government as possible.

Little Mary is puzzled by the behaviour of her always-compliant, twelve-year-old Son. He goes awol, absent without leave, after a visit to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. She can’t get inside her Son’s mind. What was he thinking? Why did He just disappear? His answer puzzles her even more. “I’m about my Father,” He says. Another piece in the story to remember.

And so, the years roll by. Jesus grows up, leaves home to begin His life’s work as the Son of God. Little Mary’s memory bank is filling fast… treasured memories of a perfect Son… puzzling memories of a Son who says and does things beyond her finite understanding.

Then the event predicted by the old man 33 years before! The sword pierces her soul. She gazes, aghast, appalled at the sight of her shredded, bloodied, precious Son impaled on a Roman torture stake. Was this what He was about? All His years to end like this?

Wait, little Mary. God’s story hasn’t ended yet. One more chapter to be written.

Three days later, Mary’s Son lives. The impossible has happened. The serpent’s head is crushed, Gabriel’s prophetic message fulfilled, God’s work complete, sin atoned, forgiven, removed from the record. Salvation accomplished. IT IS FINISHED.

Little Mary’s story can be ours if we allow God to finish what He started.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Philippians 1:6 NLT

Faith in the fire loses its dross, emerges pure and precious, the highway to heaven’s glorious completion, written in blood, His blood and ours.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world…. The The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:6-7, 9 NLT

“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Hebrews 6:12 NIV

BEARING FRUIT

Christian Life, ,

BEARING FRUIT

It seems that bearing fruit is something important to God, so much so that Jesus said that our bearing fruit glorifies the Father.

“When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

John 15:8 NLT

If fruit-bearing is so important to God, then we should know and understand what the Bible means by “fruit-bearing”.

SEED PRODUCES NEW LIFE

First, God’s Word is a seed. Therefore, any fruit we bear in our lives must come from the seed that has been sown in our hearts.

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word.”

Luke 8:11 NLT

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT

God’s Word produces the “new birth”, therefore, the first fruit we bear is the new life that comes from believing the Good News about Jesus and what He has done for us.

“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

1 Peter 1:23 NIV

Hearing the message about Jesus gives birth to faith in our hearts, and begins the process of bearing fruit in our lives.

“So, faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

Romans 10:17 NLT

New life in Christ, then, is the first shoot that grows from the seed of God’s Word. However, every plant, every tree, doesn’t grow for the sake of growing. It grows to produce fruit in which the next generation of seed forms to reproduce itself.

So it is with the believer. New birth is not static. Like a newborn baby, it needs food and time to grow, mature, and reproduce. Therefore, we desire God’s Word, and Jesus, the Living Word, and we satisfy these desires by feeding on God’s Word .

“But Jesus told him (Satan), “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:4 NLT

SEED REQUIRES NOURISHMENT TO GROW

However, to return to the metaphor of a seed, without the correct soil and  nourishment, the new seedling will die. For the seed to germinate, grow, mature, and bear fruit, it must have sunshine, water, and nutrients, and a weed-free environment in which to flourish.

So, for the spiritual fruit that God desires in our lives, we must provide the environment for growth. We do this by nourishing the soil of our hearts with right living, right company, right spiritual food, and an environment free of ungodly company and temptation to do wrong.

How do we keep our hearts pure?

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

John 15:1-3 NLT

Again, Jesus provides the answer in the metaphor of the vine.

Remaining in Him as a branch is attached to the vine keeps the life of the vine flowing through the branches. His life in us overshadows the pull of the flesh and keeps moving us towards maturity.

NEW LIFE PRODUCES FRUIT

The purpose of new life is to grow into a mature plant that will produce fruit in which seed will grow. Fruit nourishes the present generation while the seed in the fruit produces the next generation. So, the cycle of life continues.

FRUIT REVEALS THE NATURE OF THE SEED

Fruit is the delicious, edible part of the plant which identifies the plant’s nature.

“Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

Matthew 7:20 NLT

Just as fruit is the expression of the tree’s nature, so our mouths reveal the nature of our hearts. Out of our mouths comes the evidence of what’s inside.

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad…. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

Matthew 12:33, 35 NLT

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 18:21 NIV

FRUIT HIDES THE SEED OF THE NEXT GENERATION

The final purpose for fruit-bearing is to produce the seeds that will reproduce the plant. What the plant or tree is, the new plant will become, and so, when the tree or plant has finished its work and dies, it will not be lost.

NATURE’S LESSONS

How wonderfully God illustrates spiritual truth in the natural world! Jesus often used parables about nature to teach His disciples the deeper truths of His life in them.

Two lessons emerge from this metaphor regarding fruit-being.

1. The character of the believer – the fruit of the Spirit in him/her.

Since the fruit reveals the nature of the tree, what kind of fruit grows in the lives of those who are connected to the True Vine?

Paul answers the question in Galatians 5:22-23.

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

Since God’s focus is always on people and relationships, the Spirit produces fruit in us that fosters loving and harmonious relationships in three directions….

With God – love, joy, peace – Jesus’s legacy to His disciples before He died (read John 14 to 16).

God’s love is an unconditional guarantee that nothing can ever happen in our lives that He has not filtered through His love for us. We can be so sure of that love that we rest in the security that He is working, in all things, for our good.

The Holy Spirit pours God’s love into us so that we, in turn, can love Him and His people with the love He has for us.

Living in the love of God produces such joy and peace that we are free to worship Him in everything we do with continuing thankfulness.

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

Colossians 3:15 NLT

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

Colossians 3:17 NLT

“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”

1 Peter 1:8 NLT

With others – patience, kindness, goodness…

Harmonious relationships with one another depend on attitudes that reflect God’s nature in us. God gave us His nature and the potential to live it out, through His promises.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV

When we are patient, kind, and good to others especially when they treat us badly, we are displaying God’s nature and grace working through us.

With ourselves – faithfulness, meekness, and self-control…

These are qualities that show to what  extent we have control over our old sinful nature. Where selfishness still reigns, the old nature still dominates. There is an ongoing war between flesh and spirit. With the Holy Spirit’s help we are to kill the works of the flesh.

“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

Romans 8:12-14 NLT

… We are evidencing the Spirit’s work in us.

With these attributes of God reigning in our hearts…

With harmonious relationships with people around us – patience, kindness, goodness – the qualities that smooth conflicts and make friends of enemies.

With peace in ourselves – faithfulness, gentleness (meekness), self-control – the qualities in our relationship with ourselves that rein in the flesh by dying to self and being led by the Spirit.

…we bear witness to God’s life in us.

2. The reproduction of the life of Jesus in others – the fruit from him/her.

It is the fruit of of character and harmonious relationships that alerts unbelievers to the supernatural work of the Lord in us.

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

John 13:35 NLT

“I am in them, and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”

John 17:23 NLT

The love and unity that exists in God’s family can never be reproduced in the world where selfishness reigns.

So, this is the place where the two kinds of fruit come together. Without the witness of the character of Jesus being formed in us, our witness to the world will be empty of truth. The life of Jesus becomes real to others when they witness it at work in us.

Bearing fruit, like the branch in union with the vine, requires no effort on our part but the “effort” of remaining in union with Jesus. His life is us through the Holy Spirit, as we live by the Spirit, will mature us in our character, freeing us from the power of sin and molding us into the image of Jesus.

GOD’S CRAZY SOLUTION

Gospel, ,

GOD’S CRAZY SOLUTION

“Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.” But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

Psalms 2:1-6 NLT

Imagine yourself a citizen of a kingdom of people who were born hating and rebelling against their King. No matter how well he treats them and how good he is to them, nothing can stop their hatred and defiance.

This realm includes all the citizens on earth who have the same hatred for their King. Their plan is to rid the earth of him so that they no longer need to submit to his government. They amass an innumerable army from all the nations and gather all the most sophisticated of modern weaponry to take on the King in the war of all wars.

Unfortunately for them, the ruler of this kingdom has power and authority far greater than the collective armies of the world. Although this is a fool’s errand, and they know it, they continue in their madness, believing that they can win the war.

The King tries everything in his power to win them over but to no avail. Eventually, he takes counsel with his associates and comes to this conclusion. “This madness must stop. It’s time for us to put into action the plan we made before we created the universe.”

He turns to His Son and asks, “Are you ready to go to earth, live as one of them under my rule, and then face my fury for their sin and pay the debt for all this enmity against us as though you were part of the rebellion? I will crown you King, give you total authority, and give all the nations to you as your inheritance if you take their punishment by dying their death.”

To the third member in this Council of Three, the King says, “To you I assign the task of convincing my subjects of the wisdom of this plan and awakening in them a new attitude to my rule in our realm.”

“Done!” says the Son. “Done!“ says the Spirit, and the three equal parties in the Royal Council agree to implement the plan.

In due course, the Son enters this earthly realm as a new-born infant, grows up under the government of His Father, the King, and in the earthly realm of his rebellious subjects, faces the hatred of the King’s enemies, and eventually suffers the cruelty and dies at the hands of the King’s so-called “representatives” in this realm.

On the third day, the King restores His Son to life to vindicate His innocence and elevates Him to His rightful place as King in Zion, His centre of government in earth.

The nations are still amassing their armies to take on the King. The Father installs His Son as His anointed King on Zion’s Hill, gives him the highest title, Lord, and authority to rule the nations with a rod of iron.

What is the Father’s final solution to the enmity of his subjects? He offers them hope through the forgiveness his Son bought by His death on the cross. He calls the people to run to the very person they are running from. Yes, they killed the one they hated but they can never get rid of Him because He is alive forever.

The Father’s wrath against the sin of the world came down on His Son. His anger was spent on Jesus. Now His love calls all people to lay down their arms and come to the one they killed.

“I am the living one. I died but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.”

Revelation 1:18 NLT

How crazy is that! God gave the world what it wanted – the death of God! But death could not hold Him. By dying, He broke death’s power and now He gives life to all who believe in Him.

People are still running! Those who run from Him cannot escape death. Those who run to Him receive mercy, forgiveness, and His infinite grace that changes their hearts and restores His own nature in them to be God-lovers and God-worshippers instead of God-haters.

Which way are you running? It’s your choice. Run to Jesus. Choose life.