Tag Archives: zealous

REMEMBER?

Christian Life,

Thank the Lord for the gift of memory!

Can you imagine what it would be like to wake up in the morning to a new day without no memory of yesterday? How could we learn?
How could we ever know friends and family? How could we speak, converse, connect with anyone, go anywhere? It would be impossible to live any kind of normal life without memory.

Old age has played a trick on some members of society. We call it “senile dementia” but it’s actually a form of inescapable imprisonment, locked into a fuzzy mind that remembers nothing and comprehends very little. What a cruel blow to people who have done so much and could still have so much to give!

How did memory happen in the first place? Did we evolve from animals who have limited memory to humans who have a seemingly limitless capacity to remember? Is that possible?

I choose to believe that God built into our humanity the miracle of memory that acts as a kind of adhesive that connects us with our past, our present, and everything around us, including the people in our world. Memory is like the collagen in our cells that holds our cells together and keeps our systems running smoothly.

Memory can be a vital asset but sometimes a liability if we do not choose to use it wisely. Yes, we do have a choice. Memory is like a bank, a place where we keep valuable memorials of the past safe. We store our money in the bank and only draw from it when we need it. So, too with memory.

We have the “petty cash” part of memory that keeps our day-to-day lives going, our functions and relationships, for example. Then we have the memories we keep in “safe deposit”, the ones that we don’t think about every day, the ones that are useful to keep us in touch with our past but also which we call up for specific purposes.

We can’t erase things from our memory but we can choose not to dwell on them, especially if the things we remember cause us to be bitter, resentful or angry so that we always have a, reason to blame others for the way things are now. We have the ability to choose to be the victims of our circumstances.

Some people live out of their victim mentality to the extent that their present is crippled by their past. They can’t move on. They view everything now as dark because of what someone or something else did to them years ago. They have chosen to remember what they should forget and forgotten what they should remember. They are prisoners of their past.

The Apostle Paul chose a great philosophy to live by.

He had a goal for his life…to please God, and a way to do this… all his past achievements which, so he thought, were enough to gain God’s favour.

Philippians 3:6 NLT
[6] “I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.”

Then he made a great discovery that changed his life.

Philippians 3:7-9 NLT
[7] “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. [8] Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ [9] and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.”

So, Paul changed course. He pressed the” delete” facility to every memory of his past achievements. He chose to forget everything he once done for God, and to remember what Jesus had done for him.

Philippians 3:13-14 NLT
[13]” No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Paul decided to stop looking over his shoulder at what he thought he had achieved and to keep his eyes on what lay ahead. This way of living helped him to forget his failures as well as his” successes” and to focus on the prize.

What a way to live! When Paul kept remembering what Jesus had done for him, he had every motivation to keep going, no matter how difficult the way ahead, because the prize was “out of this world”.

When we choose to forget the harm and the hurts, they pale into insignificance. The angry scowl changes into a smile of gratitude and anticipation of all that God has promised, and we keep running like crazy because there’s a great prize ahead, and guaranteed because He holds the prize and He is waiting for us.

1 Peter 1:7-9 NLT
[7] “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. [8] 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. [9] The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

So, dear reader, I think it’s time to get our memories to work for us. Like our money kept safe in the bank, but available whenever we need it, lets draw on those memories that witness to God’s goodness and faithfulness. Let’s remember, with gratitude, the promises of God, and let’s run the race of life with patience and perseverance, always looking to Jesus who is the beginning and goal of our faith.

A PARTNER OF DECEPTION

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 3:4-6 NLT
[4] “… I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! [5] I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. [6] I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.”

What Paul thought and what was the truth were poles apart. Until the moment that he met Jesus, he thought he was okay. He was doing well. He had every reason, so he decided, to be confident in his efforts to find favour with God. How deceived he was!

Paul had the right parents. He was born into the right family. His parents did the right thing to make him a part of God’s covenant with the Jews…took him to the rabbi to be circumcised on the eighth day…spot on! Tick that box!

Paul was born into the right tribe…Benjamin, one of Rachel’s sons, Jacob’s favourite wife. He was a descendant of a beloved and privileged group. There’s no question about his ancestry. Tick box number two!

Paul had the right career…a Pharisee, and an over-zealous one at that. He did his best, worked his hardest, outdid his peers in obedience to the law. He ticked every box in his effort to please God. Surely, he must be at the head of the queue when it comes to God’s approval.

To crown it all,  Paul thought he had the right attitude. He did everything he could to protect God’s commandment, “No other gods…” by trying to exterminate all the blasphemers who followed the Jesus who said He was God! This topped the list of his achievements!

Paul’s confidence in his flawless life was unshakeable until he came face-to-face with one he was up against. Suddenly, his pack of cards collapsed around him. His standard of judgment, himself, the measure he used to test himself, his achievements, didn’t work. Everything he hid behind fell apart and the real Paul was exposed, naked, defenseless. He had nothing to cover his pride…the thing Jesus hated most and the one thing of which he, Paul, was most guilty. His outside looked okay until his inside was exposed.

Paul had no option but to surrender. Since all his defenses were gone, he collapsed at Jesus feet, busted and finished, to bow to Jesus as Lord…and bow he did!

From that moment on, Paul took all the lies he had ever believed with such pride, and tossed them onto the garbage heap, his “righteousness… filthy rags, his” obedience”…dung, his “good works”…rotten, stinky self-effort, his pride…the stench of his very being. For the first time, he was honest with himself. He saw it all clearly, a package of lies he to which he had entrusted his eternal destiny.

Philippians 3:7 NLT
[7] “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”

What did Paul see in that moment of revelation? Did he see, in the Spirit, a torn and bloodied figure hanging on a Roman cross? Did he have a flashback of a smashed and broken man, surrounded by an angry mob hurling stones at him? Did he hear him whisper with his final breath, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them”? Did he feel the pain of those he dragged back to Jerusalem to be tried and condemned for following the humble Nazarene?

Something inside turned him the right way up. At last, he knew the truth, deep in his soul. Jesus is Lord! From that moment, he bowed to a new Master. For the first time, he saw all the lies he ever believed, all the false ideas he tenaciously followed, all the  hypocrisy he had hidden behind, for what they were…the GREAT DECEPTION. He had fallen headlong into the devil’s trap.

All his life, he had been feeding and nuturing his pride. Self, with all its ugly tentacles, had captured his heart…self-worth, self-esteem, self satisfaction, self-effort, self-will…and all the other sins of selfishness, had turned him into a helpless slave to himself… until he met Jesus.

In the matchless words of Charles Wesley, Paul could sing…

1. And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

2. ‘Tis mystery all! Th’Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine!
‘Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

3. He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

5. No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
(Author: Charles Wesley (1738)
https://hymnary.org)

Paul came alive, a new man!

ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE

Bible Study, ,

ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE

“Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in travail in the pains of childbirth until Christ be formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone because I am perplexed about you.” Galatians 4:17-20.

Bull’s eye! Paul hit the nail on the head.

Those who were going behind his back, teaching the new converts that they had to become Jews in order to be Christians had a hidden agenda. They were more concerned about being right so that people would follow them rather than following Jesus. Just like the Pharisees who were constantly in contention with Jesus over the interpretation of the Torah because they wanted to dominate people, so these men were trying to draw new believers to themselves by alienating them from Paul.

We have to ask the question: Was Paul doing what they were doing – attaching people to himself rather than to Jesus? No, a thousand times! It was always his passion to point people to Jesus – he never gave up on his fiery contention for the completeness of Jesus’ work on the cross for salvation. He could not bear for a moment to take anyone away from absolute loyalty to Jesus and absolute confidence in His finished work.

“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:1b-2.

Paul’s passion for Jesus was so strong that he felt as though he was in labour, travailing for these beloved spiritual babies like a mother about to give birth. He felt the pain in his heart like a woman feels labour pains in her body. What was his passion? That Christ be formed in them. What did that mean?

The gospel of Jesus Christ is ultimately about God’s plan to have a family of sons and daughters who resemble His Son. Jesus came to earth to reveal the Father and to reconcile us to the Father so that we can be restored to Him as His children. Living under rules and regulations defeats His purpose because those who do that are acting like slaves and not like God’s children. They are more concerned about trying to be perfect and win the Father’s approval (and never succeeding) than about relating to the Father in love because they are already His children.

It is a good thing to be zealous, “But,” said Paul, “zeal for the wrong reasons is worse than no zeal at all.” Religion makes people zealous for doing wrong things, even evil things, like murdering those who do not subscribe to their beliefs, even if they murder their own family members. How can ruthlessly killing someone who has the right to choose what to believe, ever be right, just because your god says you must?

Zeal, like sincerity, that is misplaced, is dangerous. Zeal for the one true God demands that we always do the right thing according to God’s nature.  He gave every person the right to choose, whether we choose to do right or wrong and He jealously guards and honours that right even if our choices destroy us. God never uses force or coercion. He tells us the truth and appeals to our minds to think and choose what is true and right.

Everything God does for us and to us is governed by His love for us. He is always nudging us towards Jesus because He is the model of a true and perfect son. When we are joined to Jesus by the Holy Spirit through faith and obedience, He can change us from the inside to become like His son so that we can be fashioned into a family of people who are one with Him and with Jesus.

The Holy Spirit in us replaces God’s demand that we obey the rules. He leads us from within if we listen to Him. He is Jesus’ personal representative, always guiding us towards Jesus and into the truth about Him and about ourselves. He is like a mother-figure who tenderly nurtures us, feeds us, teaches, and corrects us in order to produce the family likeness in us so that we will wear the family name with honour and integrity.

We are not slaves; we are sons.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.