Life in Death

On September 11, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Corinthians 4: 10           NIV

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

I will begin by honestly confessing that I do not understand the depth of this verse so I offer it to you for your contemplation. Why does Paul admittedly carry around the death of Christ in his body?

Allow me to show you this passage in context from the New American Standard Bible beginning with verse 8: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” This version shows us that Paul didn’t just carry around the death of Christ in his body but the reality of the dying of Jesus. Paul uses a progressive tense. The truth of Jesus’ death is a continuing reality in Paul and through that the ongoing and increasing life of Christ manifested in his life and in his body.

There is life in death. That is Paul’s ultimate message. He and his team were constantly in peril of death but he shows us that though they were afflicted and persecuted those afflictions and persecutions were not the end of the story. The life of Christ in them sustained them so that they were never crushed, despairing, forsaken or destroyed. In here we see the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus laid down his life. He died but in his death was the seed, the seed of life. He laid down his life and arose with life eternal. When we receive the death of Christ as a personal reality then we also die. We die to ourselves and arise to the life of Christ. We crucify our flesh in a way which is similar to Jesus’ crucifixion. Then we bury the old self and arise a new person in Christ Jesus.

However, this passage leads one to conclude that this is not a once and for all procedure. Paul said that they were “always carrying about . . . the dying of Jesus.” That event became written on Paul’s DNA. He was crucified with Christ and that reality was imprinted in his body. Since he carried an always present impression of the dying of Christ in his body, there was always a constant regeneration of the life of Christ in his body as well. The life of Christ was not just given to us as in a past tense event. No, the life of Christ is continually manifesting in the children of light. His presence within us is constantly renewed. It is growing as we allow more of his death and ours to permeate every cell of our bodies. So, the more we yield to death, the more life is generated. Crazy huh? But that is how a seed works. Through death it yields life. The more seeds you can convince to die, the greater your harvest will be. Hence, the more we die to self the more we live to Christ which simply means the more of Christ’s life and the fullness of who he is manifests in our experience. His breath becomes our breath. His life permeates our muscles. He becomes the strength in our bones and sinew so that we are in a constant state of regeneration. Life from death. If you would live, then you must die. If you want life continuously renewing in your body then you must continuously give yourself over to the dying of Christ. Carrying Christ’s death in your body is like having a seed planter within you which is constantly sowing life. You will be in a constant state of reaping. You only have to die to live.

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Sweet Aroma

On September 10, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

2 Corinthians 2: 15           NIV

For we are to God the aroma of Christ.

One of the most empowering things we will ever do is to attempt to see ourselves as Father God sees us. We are not worms in the dirt. We are not wretched sinners. Jesus changed all that. We are a sweet aroma to God, the very picture of Jesus himself. You see, that stinky you died and was nailed to a cross on Calvary. The message of the new birth is that you have been born again, born a new. That old person should be buried because it is full of nothing but rot and decay. 

However, there is a new you created in the image of God, beautiful and holy. God does not perceive the stench of your past when he looks at you. He smells the sweet aroma of Christ on you. Eau de Jesus is a sublime fragrance. Unlike most colognes and perfumes, once you apply the scent of Jesus it won’t fade. It stays on you and with you forever. It even grows in strength the more you spend time with him. Jesus gets all over you and his glory fills every sense. 

The only one hanging on to your rottenness is you. In God’s perception you are clean and aromatic. Put yourself in God’s position and begin to smell the sweet aroma of Jesus wafting from you. It is a comforting aroma which draws all people. Not only are you pleasing in God’s eyes but you are also pleasant to his sense of smell.

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My Kingdom For . . .

On September 9, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 10: 7

And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to the, then they will be your servants forever.”

King Solomon has died and his son Rehoboam has succeeded him to the throne. He consulted with the elders regarding how to deal with the people. Today’s verse is the advice they gave. Unfortunately, he did not have his father’s wisdom and did not receive the elders counsel. Instead he turned to the young men, his friends and contemporaries, and asked their advice. The young men gave opposite advice to which Rehoboam acceded. Thus begins the fall of the lineage of David. In one generation the throne will be torn from David’s family although God’s intent was that an heir of David would sit on the throne of Israel forever. This great fall begins right here, with a young man not listening to the wisdom and advice of the elders.

Today’s passage is one of the best instructions on interpersonal relationships ever. Look at it closely. If we will be kind to people, endeavor to be pleasing to them and speak good words then they will turn to us favorably and be dedicated to us forever. You don’t need a weekend course on interpersonal relationships (though that is good). If we will dissect this one statement we will hold the keys to good relationships. And consider this, these elders, the ones that Rehoboam ignored, are the men that served with King Solomon, the wisest man ever. They learned under an administration that knew incredible success and wealth. They learned what worked and what didn’t. They had walked in the reign of wisdom and yet the new guy eschewed their advice. We, though, have our own choice of whose advice we will follow. Will we listen to these astute elders?

And gentlemen, I am going to help you out today. I have heard men say that they will never understand women. First of all, if that is you, change your confession. Secondly, it is easy, with the accent on easy. Ask the women in your life about today’s passage or better still run an experiment. Treat them with kindness, speak nice words to them and please them. Believe me; they will do everything for you. Women are natural servants in the model of Christ. They want to do for folks. But they have to withdraw within their shells when they feel threatened. Harsh words and criticism are the quickest ways to make them retreat. But show women kindness and compassion and they will treat you like a king.  

In today’s story Rehoboam chose to use force and power to make the people treat him like a king. The people reacted by withdrawing from him. They all went home to their own tents, to their own tribes and his kingdom immediately shrunk. That is the way people always react to harsh treatment. Had he listened to the elders he could have easily maintained the vast kingdom that his father and grandfather had carved out. Instead, he began the destruction of the kingdom. It was all so easy. All he had to do was to choose his words more carefully and be kind to folks. He would have reigned in glory.

We can learn a valuable lesson from Rehoboam’s foolishness. Apply kindness and win the world.

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The Greater Blessing

On September 8, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Acts 20: 35

“In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Do you really believe that? We have heard this expression all our lives and we have each experienced those moments when giving something to someone else really did bless us but, do we actually believe this statement in our hearts?

Sometimes I think the world is divided into two groups, the givers and the takers. It seems sometimes that people do not flow from function to function but rather remain fixed in their group. I have observed folks who are accomplished givers. They think of things the rest of us would never have considered. It isn’t that we wouldn’t do some of the same acts if we thought of them, we just never think of others that sincerely. We live in a society that tells us to “Get all you can for yourself” and “He who dies with the most toys wins.” This is not the Christian ethic so there are warring messages inside of us. To which of these voices will we surrender?

I want to send out encouragement today in the hopes that the result will be each of us looking around for someone to give to. Proverb 19: 17 reads, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” I would venture to say that anytime you give to others, whether or not they be poor, God is well pleased. The way I see it, that provides a number of motivators for giving. First, it pleases God. Second, it is like giving to the Lord. And third, self-interest is advanced. Don’t think the third one is “dirty”. God rewards his kids and it is His pleasure to do so. Besides, isn’t self-interest the reason most of us are not more generous in the first place? 

I honestly believe that this “giving thing” is a real big deal to our Father. We are supposed to be like Him and we all know that He is a giver. Additionally, we are told that kindness is one of the traits we are supposed to exhibit (Gal. 5: 22) and the verse from Proverbs makes me think that kindness leads to charity. Charity is part of a generous heart.

Here is what I would like to suggest. Let us all give something today. Let’s just all unite in a spirit of giving for this one day. Find some way to give something to someone. Now here is a thought. Make it personal. The easiest thing to do is to give to a national charity. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t require much of us personally. It would be really great if we could all do something for someone where we can look them in the eye or make some kind of personal contact. We should endeavor to give out of our hearts not our pocketbooks. The two can go together but the former cannot be overlooked. One other caveat . . . I learned this from Joyce Meyer; don’t just give away something that you don’t want or are done with anyway. Give something meaningful. It does not have to be expensive but it should come from that good place inside of you. Maybe it is nothing more than buying someone in the break room a drink. It doesn’t have to be big but you should extend yourself out of your comfort zone a little bit.  

Open your eyes and look at the world a little differently. Look for ways to bless folks. I am hoping that you will have a lot of fun. I am also hoping that you will write me this evening telling me how you were blessed.

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Fruit that Satisfies

On September 5, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 18: 20

With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

A friend of mine says that I should write a Word of the Day about the power of the tongue at least every month. Well, I should, perhaps, be reminded even more frequently than that. I am amazed at how little we guard our mouths. Even the secular world recognizes this spiritual law. Read self-help books or listen to PMA teachings and you will hear these teachers over and over again educating people that their mouths determine their futures. If secular instructors recognize this spiritual law, how is it that we Christians continue to spew doubt and negative confessions out of our mouths day and night? We really should know better.

I think part of the answer is that we really do not pay attention to what we say. Listen to yourself for a day. Then take every single thing you say literally. For one day do not give yourself poetic license. Presume that when you are “tickled to death” you are going to die. What if you were literally “blown away” (one of my personal favorites)? Now those are some examples of the innocuous things we say but what of the more significant ones? Do you constantly say that you are having senior moments? Guess what, if you keep saying that you are going to have more. Do you ever make negative statements about yourself or your future?

I know some people argue that words are not really that important, that they will not carry out the purpose of their meaning. People say, “Well, I didn’t mean it literally or I didn’t mean it like that.” Well, how did you mean it? If a word has a specific meaning then why does it not mean what it is supposed to mean?

Now here is the point. Why even use those negative or fruitless expressions? Will you die if you stop saying that you were tickled to death? Is there no other way to express that you thought something was funny?

That is the negative side of the coin. The positive side is that you can improve your present and your future by changing your language. Your business is inspired by positive affirmations, not negative. That is why God tells us that our stomachs will be satisfied by the fruit of our mouths. He is trying to teach us that we can fill our stomachs and even our pocketbooks with the fruit of our lips. And here is the thing, this is a free service. It costs you absolutely nothing to speak well of yourself, your business, your family and even your church and pastor. You can even talk yourself into happiness. Watch what you say. Police your language and then thoughtfully speak. Make a determined choice about the things you let come out of your mouth. Listen to what you are about to say before you open your mouth and let it fall out. I promise you that you can change your life.

One last thing, if you have already passed this class, then begin to watch what you think about yourself, family, etc. Begin to police your thoughts. You can fend off depression, worry and a whole lot of other negative experiences if you will watch what you say to yourself internally.

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The Old and the New

On September 4, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Kings 1: 7 – 8

And he said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”  And they answer him, “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

Elijah was a prominent figure in the age before Jesus.  If you read the Old Testament accounts of him you will be inspired.  But there is an interesting New Testament chapter to the story of Elijah and I think when you consider these New Testament connections you will perceive that our Father had a plan all along to bring redemption and grace into the world, and that He hasn’t changed.  Why is that important?  There are some great promises from the Father that are recorded in what we call the Old Testament and as such many Christians stumble over whether they can rely on what they perceive as Hebrew promises.  When you see that it is all one continuous strategy then you will appreciate that God made those promises to you just as much as whatever He may tell you today.  There is no Old or New Testament to God.  To Him there are just His kids and His plan to sweep us all into eternity with Him.

Let’s begin in Matthew Chapter 17.  Jesus, Peter, James and John were coming down the mountain where the three disciples saw Jesus transfigured before their very eyes.  Interestingly enough, while Jesus was in that transfigured state, lo, Elijah and Moses appeared and engaged in conversation with him.  Elijah made a New Testament appearance.  Not only did Jesus see him but also the three disciples saw him. 

When they witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus they began to understand something about this man whom they followed.  I believe in that moment when they beheld him in his glory they became believers that he was, in fact, the son of God.  They got a revelation of this man as the Messiah.  But as so often happens with revelation knowledge it inspired them to further thought and questions.  So, on the way down the mountain they questioned Jesus.  “Why then” they asked him, “do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?  Come first before what?  Before the Christ.  You see, they just got a revelation that this Jesus was the long awaited Messiah but immediately their theology jumped up in the way.  “How can this be the Messiah,” they mused, “when we have been taught that Elijah must come first?”  Obviously, they were asserting that Elijah had not yet come which is so interesting considering they were leaving a place where they had just seen Elijah.  Anyway, Jesus answered them.  “I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished.” 

Consider Matthew 3: 4, “Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather belt about his waist.”  Now re-read today’s passage.  Do they seem similar to you?  This description of John the Baptist is in the Bible so that we can make the connection between him and Elijah, between the Old Testament and the New.  There is continuity between the two sections of the Bible and you can find many verses that have a sister scripture in the other testament.  But let’s continue on with Elijah.  There is an implication here, at the least, that John the Baptist was the Elijah that was to be the precursor of the Messiah.  Jesus does not want us to have any doubt or misunderstanding though so he comes right out and says, “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come” (Matthew 11: 14). 

So what’s my point?  My point is that the “testaments” are an artificial construct.  Just like the chapter and verse designations, the testaments have been created in order to help us in studying the bible.  They are not meant to be divisive but rather instructive. Christians do themselves a great disfavor when they consider the first thirty-nine books of the Bible as belonging only to the Jews.  I am not suggesting we should live under the Levitical law but we certainly don’t want to cast aside the Psalms and the Proverbs.  Neither do we want to make those the only two Old Testament books we ever read.  There is a bunch of great stuff back there.  Besides, we are the heirs of Abraham in Jesus and if you want to see what our inheritance is, you are going to have to go to that Old book and read.  We certainly do not want to miss out on Deuteronomy 28: 1 – 14.  So enjoy your Old Testament and take possession of the promises of God and the revelation of His will.

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Dangerous Friends

On September 3, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 15: 33       NIV
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

This is the tune that parents have sung for hundreds and even thousands of years. You will become like who you hang around with. How does the expression go, “Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.” King Solomon would have been benefited from hearing Paul’s sermon. Solomon was an extremely blessed man. His father, David, left him an intact kingdom, one that was finally enjoying peace. Solomon had fame, honor, and extreme wealth. He had everything! Still, he fell. And do you know why? He hung out with the wrong people. He had heathen friends and heathen wives, heathen simply meaning that these were not people of the kingdom. They were not Israelites and more importantly they did not practice the Hebrew ways.

Have you ever noticed that in associations the lower person usually pulls the other down rather than the higher pulling the lower up? I do not know why this is the case but it is typical. It sure was the result in Solomon’s life. These non-believers, if you will, corrupted his testimony. He became like them instead of them becoming like him. He even ended up building altars to heathen gods. It is hard to believe that the son of David could fall so far. This is Solomon who was chosen to and in fact did build the temple of God. Then later in life he built pagan temples and altars. It is hard to fathom. The end of the story is that Solomon fell hard. The throne was torn from his lineage except for one tribe. And all of this happened because he did not choose his friends wisely.

Who you hang out with will affect you. Period. We must zealously guard our hearts or the thief will steal our fervent love for God. The next thing you know your life has made a radical departure from your former self. Of course, the other danger is that we lie to ourselves saying that we are still serving God, we still love Him but in the depths of our hearts we know that we have left our first love. So here is the question, “Where are we allowing our associations to lead us?” We’ve got to be honest with ourselves in answering this question. We should also be aware that it is not only the people that we associate with that entice us away from time spent with God. We can also be lured away by “things.” That new boat can become an idol or even a new house. A book series can become an obsession. In short, there are many things that can tempt us away from God. We’ve all spent too much time at work or too much time at play so this isn’t a recrimination. It is a warning. Look at who you are associated with. Ask yourself if they are leading you towards or away from God. Assess where your time is spent. Besides work, what dominates your time and thought? Be cautious, otherwise the enemy will steal your zeal for God. Before you even know it you find it easy to cut church when you used to attend regularly. You never pick up your Bible anymore and your prayer life has become a burden rather than a joy.  

Everything you need for life is in the Lord our God. Do not be misled. Turn your face to God and be blessed and renewed.

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