Tag Archives: steal

OPTIONS! – 1

Christian Life, ,

Despite the result of Adam’s terrible decision, there is one thing God never took away from humans…the right to choose. It’s this power to think, choose, and make decisions that makes us responsible for what we say and do, and accountable to God for our actions and their consequences. Our decisions and choices affect us and those around us continually whether we like it or not.

Unfortunately, many people, if not most people, don’t accept or live by this truth. Like Adam, they play the “blame game” because it’s easier to blame someone or something else for whatever wrong they do than to take responsibility for the choices they make.

People have been taught to believe that their “mental illness” is a medical condition over which they have no control, which is given a fancy diagnosis behind which they shelter and hope that the drugs they swallow faithfully will cure their condition. So, they live as victims of people and circumstances, hiding behind other people’s words or behaviour as an excuse for their sin.

There is a plethora of mental “diseases” filling hundreds of text books which psychiatrists, who having spent many years studying and practicing what they have learned, inflict on sufferers to no avail. Patients are locked up in psychiatric facilities to keep them from harming others. Families wring their hands in despair because medical science is nowhere near to helping their loved ones overcome their condition even after years of treatment.

Imagine if all this research and knowledge were dumped for the Bible’s simple diagnosis…sin…and the powerful and effective remedy, faith in the blood of Jesus which provides forgiveness and peace!

God has never tried to hoodwink humans into believing that the devil or anyone else is responsible for what we do. He wrote it bluntly in His manual for living.

Ezekiel 18:19-20 NLT
[19] “‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?’ No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. [20] The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness.”

That’s clear, isn’t it?

You see, Jesus attributed everything bad we think or do to unbelief in Him which is what God judges. So, sin and all its consequences, are the fruit of refusal to turn away from selfish, sinful behaviour and to entrust our lives to Jesus.

Does this also include “mental illness”? Surely it must because mental issues are the outcome of sinful behaviour…feelings of fear, guilt, and shame. These hidden emotions produce all kinds of “disorders” which psychiatrists try to treat with counsel or medication instead of uncovering the roo cause.

John 3:18-20 NLT
[18]“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [19] And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

Since people love their sin and refuse to turn away from their unbelief, the consequences are death…to peace, contentment, and freedom which are the fruits of choosing to live in the light, in the truth of who God is and what He has said.

The devil, who is the powerful influence over the world’s systems, has lied to us. He says that selfish indulgence is the way to live, so people choose selfish indulgence and blame others when they feel bad.

Jesus promised a rich and satisfying life to those who believe in Him.

John 10:10 NLT
[10]”The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

How can we have this life?

John 10:9 NLT
[9] “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.”

We can only enter into this abundant life by, first, trustingvJesus’ promises for the forgiveness of all our sin, the very reason for our mental disorders, second, cleansing from all our wicked ways and, third, the new life Jesus gives to those who follow Him.

Who is the thief? In the context of Scripture, the religious leaders, who led people astray by their wrong teaching. The same can apply to anyone, including medically trained people, who teach us that we are “sick” and need their treatment to recover.

So, what’s the real problem with us?
We have chosen to look for the rich and satisfying life by ignoring God’s way and trying to do life on our own. Bad choice. It doesn’t work… never will! God created us in His image, to live in harmony with Him, His way. Any other way leads to disintegration, falling apart.

How, then, can we overcome the issue of bad choices?

To be continued…

WHO IS THE HIRELING OF JOHN 10?

Apologetics, , ,

WHO IS THE HIRELING OF JOHN 10?

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10

Times without number, I have heard preachers, teachers, and every other category of believer in Jesus, refer to the devil as the one who comes to “kill, steal, and destroy”. Never once, in all my Christian experience, have I ever heard or read a query to this interpretation.

Yet, when I read Jesus’ words in John 10, nowhere does He refer to Satan in His teaching about the hireling and the Good Shepherd. His debate was not with the devil whom He could vanquish with the Word, but with the religious leaders who twisted the Word to suit their own purposes.

In His teaching on the Good Shepherd, Jesus contrasted Himself with the “hireling” who had no interest in the sheep but in what he could gain from shepherding them. When danger or difficulty came, the hireling abandoned the sheep to save his own skin. No mention of the devil here!

By contrast, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, not only takes good care of the sheep whom He knows by name, but He also sacrificed His own life for His flock.

Who, then, was the hireling? Surely, Jesus was referring to the religious leaders, with whom He continually contended because they cared more about themselves than about God’s people. He called them “hypocrites”, play-actors who played the role of “shepherd” to impress their audience.

Matthew 23:2-7; 13-36 is a painful exposure of those who masquerade as shepherds but behave as hirelings. On many occasions, Jesus pointed out their dishonest use of the Law.

“For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’  In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.  And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” Mark 7:10-13 NLT

These religious leaders were so dishonest that they refused to weigh all the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. They rejected His claim that His authority came from God. Instead, they crucified Him as a blasphemer because He claimed (and proved by the Word, His works, and the witness of the Father) that He was the Son of God.

Yes, Satan was behind their attitudes and behaviour but, in the end, they made their choices and were the greatest threat to Jesus’ mission. They influenced the people against Jesus despite all the miracles He did for them. Although they made the decision to crucify Jesus, they were ultimately accountable to God, the highest authority, for what they had done.

“Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.” Matthew 27:20 NLT

‘Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!” Matthew 27:24-25 NLT

Peter laid the guilt for Jesus’ death squarely at the door of the Jews, including all those, led by the religious leaders, who had clamoured for His death.

“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.” Acts of the Apostles 2:22-23 NLT

Nowhere did Peter on the day of Pentecost, give credit to the devil for having Jesus crucified. It was the human will by human hands that killed Him. What of today?

There are many “hirelings” in places of leadership in churches across the world today, people who are filthy rich at the expense of the  “sheep” who depend on them for care and guidance. These are the ones who kill, steal and destroy since those who follow them are robbed of money, wisdom and life itself.

Unfortunately, these hirelings are often difficult to identify because they masquerade as shepherds or, as Jesus said, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We can identify them by their fruit.

I am very wary of those who get people to give either by offering them a reward or by making them feel guilty if they don’t give. Many great so-called compassion ministries are built on the money the big names get out of their followers while they gather wealth for themselves. Some even claim that their wealth is their “reward” for their service. Really! Where do they find that in Scripture?

Three things motivate the hireling that contradict what Jesus taught about the way of God’s kingdom; fame, power and money. Look for these “fruits” in the lives of false shepherds and stay away from them and their teachings.

The tragedy is that, though these false shepherds will take the rap for what they have done, the sheep who blindly follow them will also be lost because they have exchanged the truth for lies.

God holds every individual responsible for what he/she believes and how his/her belief system directs their lives. He has given us the New Covenant in His Word to show us how and provide everything we need to live godly lives.

“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

No one can hide behind ignorance as an excuse. We are told to test everything and hold fast to what is good.

“Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 NLT

Jesus warned us that deception will be the greatest threat to believers as time draws to an end. Fear and deception are the devil’s most effective tools, and hirelings his most efficient allies in his quest to draw people away from simple faith in Jesus.

So, my beloved friends, beware of the hirelings who are everywhere and out to lure you away by their smooth-tongued and convincing words that twist God’s Word, pander to your flesh and set you on the path to destruction.

Remain “in Christ”, abide in Him and in His Word. He is your only place of truth and safety.