Called to Preach

On June 26, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 8: 18

So we’re sending with him the brother who is greatly honored and respected in all the churches for his work of evangelism.

Most of us have been taught at least something about evangelism but there is probably more confusion out there than clarity. Evangelism is definitionally associated with the public preaching of the gospel. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18 – 20). This is the passage from which many people get their ideas on evangelism, but note, Jesus didn’t say go preach at every person you think is not as holy as you or whom you think is not saved. He told us to make disciples of the nations. You may also be familiar with this passage, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,’” (Mark 16: 15). So, there is the preaching piece and we might ask ourselves, to whom does this mandate speak? Is it to preachers or to everyone?

We have adopted a belief that everyone is called to “preach” the gospel. I don’t know if that is true. Ephesians 4, verses 11 – 12 may help clarify this point, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” There are the saints and there are those who have been appointed to equip the saints. The saints do the work of building up the body of Christ. They go out and tell people the good news about Jesus. The clergy are called to teach, preach and pastor. We are all ministers of God’s gospel, but we do not all have the same function. Enlightenment in this area will help each of us and the ones to whom we wish to minister.

There is another term we use frequently; witnessing. About this Jesus said, “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth,” (Acts 1: 8). I do believe every one of us is a witness to Jesus and his ministry. Witnessing is where we get to tell people about what Jesus has done in our lives and to share our testimony. The greatest testimony any of us have is our lives. In other words, the way we conduct our lives draws people to us or repels them. When the love of God is evident in our lives it gives us the chance to talk about Jesus. Of course, most of us want to share what Jesus has done for us but that begins with living a life which makes people care what you have to say. Far too often we have confused our roles and end up in over our heads and on uncertain ground. Rather than telling people the good news about Jesus, we tell them the bad news about themselves. Somewhere we have gotten the mistaken idea that judging people’s behaviors and/or beliefs is the way to attract them to Jesus. There is nothing Biblical in that and we are doing harm rather than spreading grace. Paul said that judgment is putting stumbling blocks in someone’s way.

Our job is to spread the love of God. That’s the message of the gospel. God so loved . . .. We do not even have to decide who is and who is not a good candidate for the Kingdom. God will sort out folks and He will guide them and teach them just as He did each of us. Leave the preaching to the one God calls to the task and take up the mantle of ministry, i.e. ministering to the needs of all people. That is the role to which we are called. Carry the good news, the love and the power of God to the hurting. Lay hands on the sick and release God’s healing power. Pray miracles into people’s lives. Do the work of ministering to people’s needs and God will save their souls. I promise!

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No More Stumbling

On June 25, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 14: 13

Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Paul has an interesting message for us today. He was dealing with a problem of people judging each other. The Christian church had both Jews and Gentiles and their customs and beliefs were very different. Even their diets were different. Paul opened up the chapter by writing, “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgement on his opinion.” (V. 1). Interesting!

We have not been called to judge others, but we are very prone to it. We don’t like being judged either and we don’t usually make friends with those who judge us. So, why do we think people are going to want to become part of our Christian group when we begin with judgment? And here is a worse problem, will we have to account for those who did not receive salvation because we ran them off? That is a frightening thought.

We are told not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in another’s way. The implication is that we are barring people from reaching their place in Jesus and Paul said our judgments are largely responsible. We need to stop being the reasons people don’t want to meet Jesus. We must stop creating obstacles to salvation. Our ideas of people’s worthiness or what they should be are not furthering the Kingdom. We just haven’t been equipped with the knowledge or wisdom necessary to make those determinations. And why do we want to shoulder such a huge burden anyway?

Earlier in this same book Paul wrote, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 8: 1). He was trying to introduce people to Christ and have each one accept and honor the other. He had quite a task on his hands as the early church sought to integrate people with very different lifestyles, cultures and values. Then again, it’s not so different from what we are dealing with today.

There is not a person on this earth that God doesn’t love. They (we) are all His kids and thus, all brothers. Even the ones who do not call Him Father are still His and He loves them despite any and all flaws. He sees His beautiful child, not a flawed person. People are fleeing from the Kingdom because of obstacles we have erected. Let us make a concerted effort to break down the walls of obstruction. And by the way, most of those walls are in our own minds. Let us no longer create separation and hurdles which are causing people to stumble. Instead, let us create an inviting, loving space where all people can enter and come to know God for the first time or to get to know Him better. He is love, let’s prove it.

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Confident Heart

On June 24, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 57: 7 – 10       NLT

My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises! Wake up, my heart! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Again I find myself understanding why God said David was a man after His own heart. We might say, “He touches my heart,” and how could the Father’s heart not be touched from such an outpouring of love and gratitude?

Personally, I am stirred by David’s confidence. Continually the trust that David had in God appears in his songs. This confidence, or trust, was very real for David. He hung his life on that confidence. Even as a youth, David believed God and His word over the circumstances in the world. That was evident when he faced Goliath for he said to King Saul, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine,” (1 Samuel 17: 37).

It also seems that David’s confident trust goes hand in hand with praise. Which came first, I wonder. Did praise strengthen his heart? How does one grow into the depth of faith David had in God’s faithfulness? He wrote that his confidence inspired praise, but from where did the confidence originate. One might say, “David was able to exhibit confidence in facing Goliath because he had overcome both bears and lions,” but where did he get the confidence to face a lion?

David was the youngest of all his brothers. His older brothers were experienced, strong soldiers while he was still tending sheep and yet he had the faith of a giant. When he faced Goliath, he wasn’t tall or strong, he wasn’t arrayed in the finest battle armor. Instead, he said, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts.” Now that is some confidence!

I find myself envious of that depth of faith and my soul yearns to stand as tall as that young shepherd boy. Not only did he shame the Philistine army but imagine the reaction of the army of Israel? His own brothers were part of that force, a force that was afraid to march out against Goliath and his cohorts. Were they inspired by David’s heroism? Were they ashamed of their lack of faith in the mighty hand of the Lord? Let us hope that most of them took inspiration from his confidence in God’s unfailing deliverance. What of us? Can we look at this lad and from his faith and actions draw strength into our own spirits? Are we bolstered by his praises and confidence?

If one young shepherd boy can rise from oblivion to the throne, overcoming titanic obstacles along the way, then what can we do, we who have not only the throne of God as our backstop but also the faith of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit? What prevents us from being the mighty warriors of our age? I hope you, like me, feel that longing in the pit of your stomach. I hope you find a voice of praise which rivals even that of David because I believe we will find strength, trust, confidence and might in those praises. Lift your eyes, lift your voices and be strengthened in the innermost parts of your being.

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Comfort

On June 21, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 51: 12

I, even I, am He who comforts you.

You do not have to rely solely on the comfort of friends because God has assigned the task of comforter to Himself. It is great to have the comfort of friends and family, but they are not always available. There is only one who is with you morning, noon and night. Yahweh, Father, Holy God is with you in all hours of the day. Furthermore, He knows your problems intimately so he can address them better than anyone else.

What’s more, He loves you so much that He does not want to leave the comfort of you to anyone else. He wants to be the one you call first. And you won’t awaken Him if you call Him in the middle of the night.

This is part of your covenant with the Lord. We didn’t even have to ask Him for His part of the bargain. He has freely offered to be your shelter, your refuge. It is a job He sought, not one that we gave to Him. That alone should give you some amount of comfort. He will take away all the sorrow, grief and worry. Just put everything on His shoulders and let Him be the comforter of your soul.

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Right Hand Man

On June 20, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 109:31

For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.

Who among you is without need? If you have any need, this verse is for you. Who among you has been judged to your detriment? This verse is for you too. God, the Almighty creator is your right hand man. He stands by you to save and to vindicate. His hand is not so short that it cannot save, that it cannot provide for your needs.

Do we, though, really expect God to be an active player in our lives? Is he more a theological paradigm whose significance is only important when we die? Your answer to that question resolves the question. In other words, how you answer that question determines God’s level of involvement in your life. The writer of this psalm knew God as an active participant in his life.

Culturally we have made God an idea more than a vibrant personality. We have banished Him to the heavenlies instead of allowing him to roam the earth and interact with us. Recall that He walked in the Garden with Eve and Adam. There is no reason He can’t walk in your garden with you too. Jesus has restored what the first Adam lost. That means the original relationship with God, before sin every entered the world, has been restored.

The New Testament revelation is that God’s wants to be involved in our everyday lives. We are beginning to learn what that looks like and how to have it for ourselves. The first key is desire. God promised He would give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37: 4). So, we must begin with a heart desire to have God active in our lives. The second key is belief. As a group, we are increasingly accepting that God is willing and able to participate in our daily lives and not from a removed perspective but right here in the trenches with us where we can feel Him and hear Him. Then as we pray, or talk, with Him about it, mediate on words like the one for today, and ponder these ideas, God speaks to us and leads us into a revelation of living in Him and with Him.

He wants to be our right-hand help. His plan is to be fully intertwined with us so that it even becomes difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. I encourage you to keep pressing in on this idea because Yahweh has a huge revelation that He wants to give to us all. How will life be when God is your right-hand man?

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Anger to Compassion

On June 19, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Psalm 56: 7

They don’t deserve to get away with this! Look at their wickedness, their injustice, Lord. In your fierce anger cast them down to defeat.

This verse stands alone well enough but take in consideration the previous two days’ verses because all three of these have been from Psalm 56. David said that people attacked him, plotted against him and twisted his words against him, hounded him, slandered him and sought his life. He had it pretty rough and surely, he was angry and wanted vengeance. He wanted God to punish them for what they did to him. I’ve been angry like that before too and I’ll wager you’ve been in a similar situation at some time in your life. Sometimes you just want God to pay them for what they’ve done, you want them to get what they deserve. Oh, but God has introduced us to a new way of life. It is a life full of God’s compassion and forgiveness.

David wanted God to make those people suffer for all the wrongs they did to him. We know David knew God personally so he would have known God is compassionate and eager to forgive. David’s songs reflect his own experience with God’s unending mercy. Why, then, would David pray for an angry out lash from God?

There is some basis for David’s prayer. In Chronicles God warned, “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm,” (1 Chronicles 16: 22). David probably meets the requirements of each of those offices, and he was the king designate, anointed by Samuel. David respected the office of king, prophet and those anointed by God. He wouldn’t harm Saul even though many would have thought him justified simply because Saul was the king who was appointed by God. David did want God to strike his enemies though. However, God doesn’t have to send a lightning bolt from heaven to strike those who touch his anointed. God’s warning was given as a protection measure just as you warned your children not to touch the hot burner on the stove. God’s anointing carries protection with it so that when someone harms the anointed, there is a backlash against the offender. God doesn’t have to unleash His anger. The anointing is potent enough.

David was angry and wanted God to strike those who harmed him, but he probably also knew that their own acts would betray them. Seeds of aggression always bite the aggressor. Always! Sometimes it appears they have gotten away with it, but it isn’t true. Those offensive acts, like a snake, turn and bite the hand of the wielder. That is why we should pray for these people. As much as we don’t want to, as surely as they don’t deserve it, they need God’s grace and mercy more than anyone. If they have harmed you, plotted against you or twisted your words, they have an axe of doom hanging over them, an axe of their own making, no doubt but a sharp, severing blade none the less. They have sown the seeds of their own demise. Pray for God’s great compassion to wrest them from their deserved harvest. Let your heart feel compassion for them because they are truly wretched, pitiful creatures. Pray that God’s forgiveness and mercy will save them.

God’s heart is not for punishment but for rather for saving grace. He doesn’t want to vent His anger. He wants to redeem. You are His beloved and anointed. Use your standing to save those who have brought the curse on their own head. They don’t deserve kindness and forgiveness but then, neither did we.

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Trusting You

On June 18, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 56: 3, 4b               TPT

But in the day that I’m afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart. The roaring praises of God fill my heart, and I will always triumph as I trust his promises.

I am enjoying Psalm Mondays and I hope you are too. I wanted to stay with Psalm 56 for another day or two to soak in what David had to share. His experiences are different from ours but the trials themselves are common to us all and I think by reading David closely, we get some important clues as to how to deal with difficult situations. David also teaches us much about trust, praise and a personal relationship with God.

We have learned that fear is a very dangerous pastime. It is fear which nearly destroyed Job’s life. None the less, it is a state that every one of us will experience from time to time. There are several characteristics of David’s writing which I appreciate. First, his honesty and transparency are laudable. He isn’t so tied up with his image of himself that he won’t express the truth of his fear. The other thing that I value so highly about David and am so appreciative that he shares is how he works his way out of fear, despair or sorrow. He expresses the truth of his state and is eloquent in divulging the depth of his emotion, but we also get to follow along as he works his way back to faith.

In today’s passage we see that praising God is what lifted him out of despair on this day. Praise set him free from fear. He took his fears to God and he walked away with trust and the assurance of triumph. I am sure if we could have stopped David in that moment when fear turned to confidence, he would have expressed an unwavering, absolute belief in his upcoming victory.

We too can trust God’s promises and the trust itself becomes the catalyst for success. Trust begets belief and Jesus said we can have what we believe. It certainly worked for David and my bet is that it can work for us too. Be blessed my fellow believers.

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