Choice Fruit

On March 29, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22 – 23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This is the companion verse for 1 Corinthians 13. I am not going to go through them one by one like we did for 1 Corinthians 13 because many of them are the same. These two verses list the personality traits of the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God. These are the characteristics of God’s Spirit, so where the Spirit of God is, you will see this fruit demonstrated.

Compare these traits with what we learned of God’s essence in 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” There is that kindness again. These two passages of scripture describe God. They are a description of His behavior pattern.

There is another facet of this verse though. The Holy Spirit has come to live in us. That means that we can also express these characteristics through our thoughts, words and behaviors. We are integrated with the Divine Trinity. They are part of us and we are part of them. Their characteristics are our characteristics but only as much as we will allow ourselves to be influenced by them. If we act from our old nature then we have separated ourselves from Christ. To be in him, though, is to be part of all that he is. As we allow ourselves that closeness with him, allowing him to influence every part of our lives, we become more like him and express more of his nature. You have heard it said that you become like who you hang out with so as we hangout more and more with Jesus, we become more and more like him.

We are being transformed into the very image of Christ. That transformation yields good fruit. We let Christ in us show more and more. We can learn to bury the old self and leave it buried, taking up our new life in Christ. And, wherever there is Christ, you will find these choice fruits. Conversely, no fruit – no Christ. Don’t be misled by what people say. Instead, check the fruit on their tree. What is inside of us always makes its way to the outside.

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Kindly

On March 28, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Let’s not leave this kindness topic just yet. In fact, for those of you who do word studies, look this one up on BibleGateway.com (There is also a link to Bible Gateway on my website). You will be impressed at how many times God brings this up.

Today’s verse gives us a little better insight into what kindness looks like in application. The first is so obvious that we sometimes miss it. Kindness is Christ. As we read the scriptures and watch his interactions with the world we begin to see what a sanctified life really looks like. Jesus was moved by compassion. That means that he did something. He was moved to do something. Also, though, let us not lose sight of the fact that he felt compassionately. What does that mean but that he allowed his heart to feel something for someone else’s situation. Of course, we know that love is not selfish but when I think of Jesus experiencing emotions based on a life not his own it makes me think how I should be less absorbed with how I feel about my world. It also highlights for me that Jesus was a person of emotion rather than one of a stoic stiff upper lip. We should feel and those emotions should not be spent only on our own stuff.

Secondly, God wants us to be tender-hearted. What? Does He not realize we are western, rugged individualists? What is He thinking? I remember a commercial from many years ago were the announcer declared that something was “rough and tough like alligator bags.” I was young and was influenced by that slogan. I thought we were all supposed to be rough and tough. I have worked on it for many years now and believe I have developed proficiency in this only to find that Abba, Father wants me to be tender-hearted! What a kick in the teeth. Don’t you feel like you open yourself up to being hurt if you go through life tender-hearted? Well, I certainly did but I am learning a new reality, a reality born of the Kingdom of God rather than of the world. It turns out that when we live in the Spirit, walking hand in hand with him, he cares for our hearts. We can be tender because he has our hearts in his hands. Who knew?

Kindness is important to God. If it is important to Him then it stands to reason that it should be important to us as well. Is it? Have we ever prayed asking Him to teach us and lead us in kindness? Most of us need that kind of help. There are some of you who are just nice but the rest of us need direction. We can no longer be self-centered and achieve a kind heart because kindness requires us to think of other people’s needs and comfort. This is an area that we really must proactively pursue with God. It may not always be easy but it is the way of God’s heart.

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The Simple Truth

On March 27, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverbs 19:22

What is desirable in a man is his kindness, and it Is better to be a poor man than a liar.

I appreciate when God is very clear about what He wants in and from us and this verse certainly meets that litmus test. Obviously there are two parts to this. First, kindness is a premium value in God’s heart. We saw from our study of 1 Corinthians 13 that one of God’s characteristics is that He is kind. He wants us to be people of kindness too. Maybe He even expects it of us.

Kindness is one of those things which can be demonstrated in many ways. Often, kindness is found in the small matters. I think of it as preferring others’ comfort. Some people seem to have a talent for doing the small things that just make you feel better. Others of us are going to have to be purposeful about kindness. Sometimes kindness is found in the way we speak to others and well as the way we behave. The thing we can do is to ask our Father to teach us about His kindness and then be sensitive to how He leads us.

The second part of this verse really amazes me. One might expect that this is a message which never need be spoken and yet I am continually amazed at how Christians will bend the truth, avoid the truth, deceive, mislead and even outright lie. If you looked up the things God hates last week then you know that two of them are liars (Proverb 6: 16 – 19). With that staring at us, how can we still play around with this. God tells us it is better to be poor than a liar, this coming from a guy who paves His driveway with gold. Jesus told us that lies and lying are of the devil (John 8: 44) so we must do whatever is necessary to walk in the truth.

Do you think it odd that these two ideas are contained in the same sentence? It is as if God says to us that we cannot accomplish the first directive, to be kind, without first abolishing lies from our lives. And here is a news flash, just in case you didn’t know, many times, most times probably, people know when you are lying to them. They may not say anything to you (probably because they are exercising kindness) but they know. Think of that the next time you are tempted to lie. Just think, “This person is going to know that I am lying to them”. If that does not help you restrain yourself, then we need to have another discussion and that one will also involve the word kindness.

Because we truly love our Father, we want to please Him. Well, today’s verse is a prescription for doing just that. Honor others around you by telling them the truth and being kind. Remember, you do not have to do it on your own. Your Dad is happy to help you.

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One Way Road

On March 24, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 32: 11                    NIV

Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promise on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I quoted from Dr. Jim Richard’s book How To Stop the Pain earlier this week. In that book Richard’s teaches that the way to happiness and a life of security and freedom is in following Jesus wholeheartedly. I would suggest that advice shows the way to the promised land that our Father has for us.

God is not trying to keep us out of the promise. He is trying to lead us into receiving all of His good gifts. Unfortunately, sometimes we quit on Him or do not go in the direction where the provision lies. I often think of it like the old Pony Express system. The riders needed to follow a prescribed route because that is where there supplies were stationed. God has already provided everything we need also but it is on the prearranged path. God has told us that He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29: 11) and He has laid out a course and provisioned that route so that we arrive in the promised land on time, nourished and without injury. We just need to stay on track.

How is that actually accomplished though? We speak and write a bit figuratively so how does this apply to real life? I believe there is a practical truth revealed in today’s verse. Although we are living in different times and in a different situation than the Israelites I believe the truth and the revelation is in following Jesus wholeheartedly. I also believe there are several layers of truth in that statement.

First, there are a lot of lukewarm Christians out there. You know them. Some of them even attend your church regularly. Sometimes I fear one of them looks back at me from her home in my mirror. How do we prevent ourselves from being what I call a “Cultural Christian”? Somehow our Christianity ought to color our lives. There ought to be a difference in our lives since Jesus came into it and I do not mean that we attend church every week. A cultural Christian can do that. No, this is a heart matter. There ought to be something changed about us so that Jesus, his current thoughts, his teachings and his example are important to us. Do we really consider what it means to be under his lordship on a daily basis? Do we let him affect our thinking and decisions? Do we talk to him as if he really is our very best friend? Are we following him wholeheartedly or maybe just halfheartedly?

Second, as I said, this is a heart matter. Apparently we are supposed to follow Jesus with our hearts, even our whole hearts. So, our life in Christ is an internal matter. It is not for others to determine the commitment of our hearts. This wholehearted devotion to our professed Lord is not external, in other words, it is not about the things we do. It is not even mental as in study. A heart that loves Jesus will certainly show itself in study and actions but they are only the product. We are meant to have a heart connection with Jesus. He is supposed to influence our hearts and perhaps we even affect his. This is not an intellectual relationship, it is not a work relationship. We are supposed to follow Jesus with our hearts. For some people this is challenging because we have anesthetized our hearts in a vain attempt not to feel or express emotion. But we have learned that we will not enter the promised land if we do not follow Jesus wholeheartedly. This is not because our Father doesn’t want us reaping all the blessings of the promised land. It is just simple logistics. The way to the promised land is through Jesus and the way to Jesus is through the heart. It’s just how it is.

There is a way. The way has been marked out for us. Supplies have been stationed all along the way so that we will always have our needs met. However, there is only one way whether we like it or not and that is in following Jesus, his ways and his teachings with our whole heart.

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Cross the River

On March 23, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Numbers 32: 5

“If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

There are some passages of the Bible that just make you grieve. This is one of those for me but it is good for us to read it and learn from it. The background here is that the Israelites were on their journey from Egypt to the promised land. They were led by Moses. As the nation of Israel passed through the lands of Jazer and Gilead two of the twelve tribes, seeing that the land was good, petitioned Moses to give them this land rather than making them continue across the Jordan. Do you know what was across the Jordan? Yes, the promised land.

Yahweh promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey, a land ordained and set apart for them, the land of promise. Canaan, the land across the river, held all of that good promise but these two tribes wanted to stop. They wanted to quit. They gave up on the promise of God just shy of everything God promised them. How very tragic.

Why is this story in the Bible? It is there for our edification. There is nothing we can do to go back and help those two tribes but in the telling of their story, perhaps they can help us. How often have we stopped just short of the promise? Have we gotten tired, lost hope or our will to go on and stopped shy of God’s promise to us? It is easy to do but our God is a god of hope. In Him is our hope and the ability to go on.

The key to maintaining the strength to continue is to not rely on our strength or our will. Our strength is in the Lord and it is His good will to lead us by the hand. Our labor, our task is to learn to trust Him and to be led by Him. There are 57 uses of the word “strength” in the Psalms. In the 28th psalm we find this encouragement, “The Lord is their strength, And He is a saving defense to His anointed” (v. 8). Too bad the two tribes didn’t have a revelation of this. We, however, have been given these words in order that we might not lose our strength. We can understand that if we allow God to be our strength, our strong right arm, there is no need for us to get tired and fall short of the prize. Isaiah 57: 13 reads, “But he who takes refuge in Me shall inherit the land, and shall possess My holy mountain.”

We have only to take our refuge in the Father and we shall inherit the land and all of the fullness thereof. So, learn to lean on the Father. Use His strength and wisdom. Let Him carry you to the promised land where your life will flow with the proverbial milk and honey.

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Freedom

On March 22, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 1

It was for freedom that Christ set us free.

I recently read How to Stop the Pain by Dr. Jim Richards. Though my copy of this book is highlighted throughout and hand-written notes garnish every chapter, there was one page, one paragraph that was so loud to my Pastor’s heart that I determined I must share it with you.

It is from this premise that Jesus came to set us free that Dr. Richards writes, “Following Him (Jesus) wholeheartedly is the safest life in the world. It has the greatest peace; it has the emotional freedom we all desire. To follow Him wholeheartedly, though, requires that we trust Him enough to apply His truth to our lives” (P. 94). Therein lies the rub. The freedom Jesus bought for us on Calvary is wrapped in the cloak of trust. If we put on this cloak and enfold ourselves in it we will absolutely be protected from the storms but how do we trust Jesus to the extent that we are willing to take those first tentative steps? For some people it comes from desperation. When we get ourselves in a deep enough mess, sometimes that is enough to allow us to make that leap of faith. Dr. Richards continues, “We must walk in love. We must discard our former way of finding safety and happiness and follow His teachings.” This requires us to do things differently and that can be a challenge.

Truthfully, most of us are not making cognitive choices about our interaction with the world. We just do what we have always done or what we were taught to do. This freedom in Jesus requires us to abandon our ways and live according to his ways. Even if we know the difference rarely do we make contemplative choices. We live according to reactionary patterns. It is possible, though, for his ways to become so ingrained in us that they surface without cognitive thought. In order for that to become our reality, though, we must spend quiet, meditative time with Jesus and with his word. It is not enough for us to merely read a chapter a day. That is good and fine but what we are talking about here is that word getting down in your heart. Whatever is in your heart will come out when faced with a situation. Many times we do not even have the luxury of thinking about our choices. Sometimes we just react and those reactions come from whatever we have sown in our hearts.

Truly the freedom that Dr. Richards encourages is from following Jesus wholeheartedly. As we spend time with Jesus, talking with him and listening to him, and as we observe him through the scriptures we gain a new reality in him. His ways become our ways and the chains that he came to set us free from fall away. There is freedom in Jesus. It is in trusting him and following him. It is in putting our feet in his footsteps instead of following the ways we have learned in the world. Knowing Jesus, not just knowing about him but knowing him is to know freedom. Trust him and be free.

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Longing, Yearning and Seeking

On March 21, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 63: 1

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Here are the words of someone who loves God, I mean who really, really loves God. Who do you think wrote these words? If you said, “David” you are right. One of the things I love about David is his passion for the Lord. He inspires me but also shames me a little. Another thing I appreciate about him is his willingness to express his love and devotion to the Father. I also am impressed with his ability to express these ardent emotions.

For those of us living in the western world, the expression of emotions is almost a lost art. We have learned to spurn emotions themselves, how much more the expression of them? God, though, is emotional. He is love which is more than an emotion but certainly involves the emotions. He also hates. Did you know that? Run a search on that and you will see. He and David had a love relationship with each other and neither was afraid to admit or express it. David was so demonstrative of his love for God that he made his wife mad. Maybe she was a bit jealous.

I admit that David embarrasses me a little with his confessions of love. Here is today’s verse as it appears in the Amplified version, “O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” His longing for God is palpable. You can feel the deep yearning in his soul for the touch of God, for God’s presence. I find David’s desperate need for communion challenging but God says of David that he, “is a man after my own heart” (Acts 13: 22). David longed for the Father, trusted Him and sought to follow His ways. Some people talk about David’s sins but until God recognizes me as one after His heart then I will refrain from judging David. In fact, I look forward to meeting him and telling him how much his songs inspired me. Oh that I might be like David and yearn for the Father will all my being as he did; with a desire so strong for fellowship with the Father that he ached in his emotions and even in his body.

We are blessed that David shared his emotions and his relationship with God with us. We, like peeping Tom’s, get to peer inside and gain a new perspective on the depth of relationship we can enjoy with the Father even while we are here in the earth. “Bless the Lord oh my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name” (Psalm 103: 1) and teach me to seek Him as fervently as did David.

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