Christ Before all Others: (Luke 14:26-27)

For the most part many of us keep our lives in compartments; we keep our work in one place, family in another and church at another.  We don’t really like for these things to mix, it’s ok if maybe once in a while they collide but for the most part we like to keep them apart.  But is this how God wants us as His followers to live for Him, come to church on Sunday then once we leave Church that’s it for God?  Or does he want to be a part of all of the compartment s in or lives.   Are we as the church really trying to help others come and be a part of the kingdom of Heaven or are we just trying to get by with just enough.  This is why I want to spend the next year really taking time and studying the scriptures with you, and seeing what God has to say about our lives.  We have gone to this idea that being saved is saying a few words and then somehow by magic or some other force we are saved and have a relationship with the living God. But is that what Scriptures really says, we see a picture of Christ out with His disciples and a great crowd in Luke.  He has been preforming a great deal of miracles and the crowd is growing around and He turns and says to them.  “If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.  And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.”(Luke14:26-7) 

These words do not sound like one who is saying that it is ok to only come and be a part of His kingdom on Sunday and then not think of Him until the next Sunday.  You might say well, He only meant a select few not all of them.  But it doesn’t say He turned to a few and said, it says He turned to the crowd.  That means He is talking to everyone.  The problem then becomes what does this mean for you and me does this mean that we are to go and tell the ones close to us that we have found religion and therefore hate them?  No this was never meant to say that and it would contradict the rest of scripture.  What it means is that no matter what, we are going to follow Christ, if that means we must no longer be accepted by others so be it.   Why should we follow Christ then?  Why love Him this much?  Let’s look at John 3:16-18; ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.  “There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God.  Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished.  But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.”

We come to love Christ because He came and gave His life so that we may live in the light, so we do not have to worry about judgment.  We can choose to follow Christ and accept the forgiveness that God has for us, walk with Christ and have a deep and meaningful relationship with the Living God allowing our love for Him be made known to everyone, or we can go around keeping church a secret to some in our lives.  Think of it this way, you are married but you don’t really want people to know so you don’t wear a ring, you make sure that you never bring up your spouse in everyday conversation, and never bring them to any type of functions.  Then one day a coworker finds out your married and asks you “do you not love you spouse”?  You say I love them deeply; words cannot express how much I love them.  Do you really think that they are going to believe you?  But this is what many do with God, why because they are afraid of what other might say behind their back our worse to their face.  But Christ calls us to love Him so much that all other love looks like hate.   We go around being afraid of what others might think of us our what it might cost us to follow God, but when begin to look at what the cost of not following God is it no longer makes sense for not to.  

A Story of Faith and Obedience

At this time of year just a few days before Christmas we begin to think about a lot of things, life seems to get a bit busier.  Almost too busy, in fact each year it seems to be a bit busier than the year before.  All of a sudden we find ourselves forgetting what this time of year is all about, we say things like it is about family and the kids.  Yet it seems we have completely forgotten that it has nothing to do with either of those.  It is not about receiving Gifts or getting together with family. Do not get me wrong, these are both good things.  But it is about Christ, the coming of God’s son from heaven to earth.  If we begin to take a real close look at the actual events of what happened we see two key people who are involved in the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary.  They are almost forgotten about, we have them in the manger scenes but we don’t really look at their story.  It is really amazing when we stop and look at these two people, the faith and obedience they both had in God.  We can read each of their stories Josephs is found in Matthew 1:18-25, and Mary’s in Luke 1:26-56.

Let us just take a moment and think about Mary, we have a young teenager who is told that she is going to give to the Christ Child.  After asking how, and being told that it would be the power of the Holy Spirit she accepts what God has asked of her.  Why do I point this out, mainly because many of us may not understand what this meant for her.  It meant that she would be pregnant before being married to Joseph whom she was to marry.  Which meant he could have her stoned or break off the marriage and let her be called a harlot.  But instead she never once asked about any of this, she knew that God would work all the details out.  She knew that God had chosen her to carry His Son, and because of that she knew He would take care of her.  I am sure she might have wondered how Joseph would take the news, after all, telling Him what was going on would sound like a made up story.  But instead of worrying about it she went to Elizabeth’s home, her relative, whom she just found out was also pregnant.   She put her faith in God did not worry about what others thought of her.

We see the same in Joseph; we are told that he was a righteous man, meaning that he was a man that followed God.  He didn’t want to bring shame on Mary when He found out that she was pregnant, instead he had decided to quietly divorce her.  Then after being told what was going on through a dream, he quickly obeyed and did as he was told.  He married Mary and took care of her.  It is amazing when we read this story, we see a man who is very forgiving, he doesn’t  want to bring any type of shame to Mary, He doesn’t seem to be seeking out vengeance for what is by all outside appearance  seems to be Mary committing adultery on him.  We see both of these individuals and we see two people that teach us how we should be living our lives with God.  We are told to have faith in God, to forgive those who have wronged us and walk in obedience to God. 

Both Joseph and Mary Glorified God in how they lived their life, they placed their faith in Him and obeyed Him.  We are also called to live for God to trust Him and follow Him where He leads.  For Colossians 3:1-16 tells us this; “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power.  Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.  For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.  God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things.  You used to do them when your life was still part of this world.  But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.  Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds.  In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.  In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

 Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

 Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.  And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

A response to Evil in The World

Many people may be looking for answers after the events of this Friday’s shooting at Newtown.  Some may be asking where is God in all of this, how can a loving God allow such a thing to happen, couldn’t God have prevented this?  All of these are good questions, but not all the answers to come are going to be.  I have already heard some of the answers given they are neither biblical nor correct.  I want to go to the bible and look for the answer.  I hope that by the time we are done here we are going to have better picture of the loving God.  Let us start with Job chapter 1:13-2:10,  we see in this small frame of time much evil happening to Job both natural and human.  Raiders came and  stole his animals, his children were killed in a wind storm, then we see that Job is covered in many painful boils.  The bible does not hide the fact that evil exist, Job is a great example of that, along with many other pieces of scripture paints us a picture of an evil world.  Even in the Christmas story we are shown how evil man can be.  We see in Matthew 2:16, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.”

Does all of this mean that there is no God at all, or that God does not care about us at all.  I believe that this evil in the world actually proves that God does exist.  Let’s look at what Paul told the Romans “¹² God will punish the Gentiles when they sin, even though they never had God’s written law. And he will punish the Jews when they sin, for they do have the law. ¹³ For it is not merely knowing the law that brings God’s approval. Those who obey the law will be declared right in God’s sight. ¹⁴ Even when Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. ¹⁵ They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right. ¹⁶ The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone’s secret life. This is my message.”(Romans 2:12-16)  Paul states that Gods law is written on all men’s heart, we all know right from wrong, we may not know God but we know right from wrong.  Evil exists because of the broken image of God, we were originally created in His perfect image.  When the fall of man happen the image was corrupted by sin but not taken away. 

So if God is Good and He is, then why does all this evil seem to prevail around us?  I believe David Platts answers this question better than I could. “At the same time, we sometimes see Scripture pointing to how God permits sin. The way this is often phrased in Scripture is in the language of God giving His people over to their sin. In Psalm 81:11-12, God says, “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.”Then in Romans 1:24, Paul writes, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another….Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts….Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.” So God permits sin in the sense that He gives us over to our sin.

At the same time, God also limits sin. Even here in Job 1-2, God puts a limit on what the devil and his demons can do to Job. And then God uses sin, meaning that God, in a very real sense, uses even evil to bring about good. This is evident in Genesis 50:19-20 when after Joseph’s brothers had sold him to slavery, Joseph says to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” God accomplishes ultimate good even through evil.

Now we must be very careful here, in all of this, to realize that God never sins. God never directly causes sin, and He is never blamed for sin in Scripture. This is clear all over the Bible, and it’s summarized in James 1:13-15: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”(The Gospel and Newton)

                  What does all this mean for you and me?  One it shows us our need for God, for if we want to be able to truly live a life of rightness we realize we cannot do it on our own.  The Bible makes that clear along with the history of mankind. But we know that God is good, Psalm 107:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”  Ezekiel 33:11 “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?”  There are so many other scriptures that tell about the Goodness of God.  As we look at the Bible for answers we see that all the evil in the world turns us back to the salvation we find in Christ.  It is clear that we ourselves cannot turn from evil or save our souls but God created a way for us.  It is through the cross where Christ hung and died for all of our sins.  We see His love and salvation, once again I turn to the words of David Platts. “This is shocking. Where else—in what other religious system—do you see the incomprehensibly great, indescribably good Creator taking upon Himself the payment due evil creatures? What love…what mercy…what greatness…what goodness. God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, God’s relationship to good and God’s relationship to evil—they all come together when we understand that God ordained the murder of His Son to be the means of our salvation. Listen to Peter’s words in Acts 2:22-23: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Did you see the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man in the murder of Christ? Is God sovereign over Christ’s murder? Yes. But who is responsible? “You crucified him…you killed him,” Peter says. Both are true: God is sovereign and man is responsible. Sinful men chose to crucify Christ under the sovereign wisdom of God. What a mystery…yet God ordains this for the salvation of sinful men. Oh, consider this: the very people who are crucifying Christ, in their sin, are providing for their own salvation. The very sins of the murderers are ultimately the means of their deliverance. This is shockingly glorious—that God is present amidst evil, and that Christ has taken the ultimate payment due sin and evil upon Himself. What goodness and love—that He is present amidst evil. That men, women, children, and families in Newtown, Connecticut, today, and all over a sin-sick world are not alone. God is not distant from us, but present with us. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses….Let us then draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).”

                

Link to David Platts "The Gospel and Newton:

http://ht.ly/g7XrN

Do We Have a Trust issue With God?

Most people that go to church do not want to say they have a trust issue with God.  But if I had to guess at some time in our walk with God have had just that.  But that is ok, when we look at the first Chapter of Luke we see the story of a man named Zacharias.  Zacharias is about to learn that he is going to become father, not in the traditional fashion though, an angle of the lord is going to tell Him.  While being told this Zacharias ask this question, “how will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”(Lk 1:18)  Zacharias is told that God is about to do a incredible miracle and instead of jumping up and down, he says I’m old.  This is a common thing though in our own walk with God, is it not?  Only many times we have different responses, how can God love me because  of all that have done?  How do you expect to not sin? I have sinned my whole life.  You want to speak to whom about you, do you know what they are like? 

Just like Zacharias and many others we forget that we serve the God that created the universe, that God  sent His Son to earth so that we may come to know Him.  Christ who died rose from the Grave defeating death so we would not have to fear it.  We forget, this is common, let us not forget how quickly Israel forgot on the way to the promise land, and they watched God separate the Red sea.  In the first chapter of Deuteronomy we read about many those who went to see the land that God had promised to give them came back and said that they could not conquer the land.  In many ways they were correct, but they forgot they did not need to fight they just needed to remember that God was going to do the fighting for them.  They didn’t trust God and so they were not allowed to enter into the promised land they had to walk around the desert for forty years.    We too are like Zacharias and Israel we come up with all kinds of reasons not to put our trust in God, we say how can God do such a work, we forget that He is a mighty God.  He is the one who created this earth put in place the laws of physic and made sure everything has its proper place. 

When we decide not to trust God we miss out on His blessings, we miss out having true peace in our hearts.  We are able to watch God do some amazing things in our life if we put our trust in Christ and realize we are able to live a life pleasing to God.  For Romans 3:21-26, “ But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago.   We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.   Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times.  And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.”

Are We Truly in Love With Christ? (John 21)

We all love Peter, we love to look and say things like I can’t believe he denied Christ not once but three times, and Christ still loved him.  I would never deny Christ, but what if I told you that I believe you have, in fact I would dare say more times then you may realize it.  Do not worry I include myself in this statement.  Let us take just a moment and think about this for just a moment  in Revelation 19:7 we are the bride of Christ.  “Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.”(Rev 19:7)  Think about the implications here, when I was engaged to Autumn I didn’t go around and tell other women that I was single, and as far I know Autumn didn’t go around with her ring off.  But how often did or maybe some of you are still struggling with sin in life.  Each time we sin we are denying Christ, denying that we know him.  Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him.  But the Good news is we do not have to live this type of life.  But most people are not really wanting to, they want to continue to live as they have been. But what was the change what happened in Peters life that changed him forever?

If we begin to look at chapter 21 of John we see the disciples fishing, nothing really wrong with that, but as they are coming, they see Christ.  What does Peter do when he realizes that it is Christ on the shore waiting for them?  He jumps out the boat and heads as quickly as possible to get to Him.  Then a while later Christ ask Peter three times do you love me?  I want to just quickly look at these three times, the commentator tells us this. “Three times the Lord asked Peter if Peter loved Him. The first two times, Christ used the word agapaō, signifying a love of commitment, a love of the will. Peter responded with the word phileō, indicating his strong emotion for the Lord. The word suggests warmth, fondness, and friendship.  When Peter acknowledged that he loved Christ, the Lord gave him the task of feeding His lambs and taking care of His sheep. Expressing love for Christ implies accepting a duty to do the work of God and to be faithful. Peter had some difficulty with such faithfulness during Christ’s earthly ministry. As Christ was getting ready to depart, He wanted to elicit a commitment from Peter.  The third time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him He used the word phileō, indicating strong friendship. Christ had taught that a friend who loves will lay down his life for a friend. Peter, instead, had denied Christ three times. With Peter’s final response, “You know that I love You,” Christ had drawn a commitment from Peter and assured the other disciples of the bond between Himself and Peter. In the process, He demonstrated His complete forgiveness of Peter. With this exchange, the Lord restored Peter to a position of leadership in the ongoing ministry of the gospel.”^[1]

But What I really think is important happens at the end of the conversation when Peter looks at John ask about him.  What does Christ tell him, do not worry about him.  I believe that too many times  we are too busy looking behind us and saying what about them?   We get too busy worrying about what others are doing that we forget we are to be taking care of one another, making sure that we are growing in are relationship with Christ.  Think of a husband who is looking behind and saying to his wife, why don’t you do what she does, or look like her.  It’s not good for Him or the marriage.  We need to be looking forward and moving forward in Christ.  Paul told this to the Corinthians, “Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win.  All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”(1^st Cor 9:24-26)

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^[1]Radmacher, E. D. 1999. Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary. T. Nelson Publishers: Nashville