The Imitation of Christ

On March 26, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

From The Word of the Day Archives on Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Philippians 2: 3-5


Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

There is an entire sermon in just the first phrase of this passage but I want to focus on the theme contained in the remainder of today’s selection. It is a very important topic and one that does not get a lot of coverage. That is probably because none of us really want to hear it much less teach it or have to submit to it.

The first phrase calls us to never once act out of selfishness nor to ever act on conceit. The rest of the passage takes us just a bit further. It expands on the theme. Not only are we not to be selfish, we are actually supposed to put other people ahead of ourselves; their interests ahead of our own interests. How many people accomplish this directive? Importantly, how many are even trying? Are we, as the church, even aware that we are supposed to be putting other people, their interests, their needs ahead of ourselves?

Most of us say that we want to be like Christ. We pray to the Father and to Jesus to help us to become more like him every day. Our churches teach us that we should follow his example and his path and yet how many are clearly telling us that we need to put others before ourselves in all things? And yet verse five says explicitly that this is the attitude which has always been in Christ Jesus.

First we have to learn that this scriptural imperative exists. As of today, at least you are on notice as to its biblical existence. Now we can do something about it. Most of us will need plenty of help in accomplishing this edict. Fortunately there is a Father, a Son and a Holy Spirit who can and will help us. Begin by humbling yourself before the throne. Repent before the Almighty for those times when you have acted out of self-interest. Humility and repentance are cleansing forces. They clear your heart and mind making it easier for you to connect with the Father on a deep level. Then you can ask him for help with an open heart.

I know some people don’t like repenting or asking for forgiveness. We don’t like admitting that we were wrong or have behaved in a way that is not pleasing to the Father. We can make a million excuses why it is not necessary to repent but they are all just wasted breath. Repentance is good for the soul. We are not directed to repent and ask forgiveness for God’s sake. It is for our sake. In order to walk in this kind of obedience, you will need a lot of God’s help. When you need a lot of help from God, you need to connect with him at a very deep level. The way to do that is to start with a clean slate.

I encourage you, even as I admonish myself, that you make this a goal of your heart that you walk in the same attitude as Christ. That we all learn to put other’s needs and interests before our own. I heartily implore you to embrace this way of life. I pray that we would all learn to move ourselves out of our minds and let the ego have a vacation. Dedicate this day to putting yourself out of your mind and out of your motivation. Mark others as more important than yourself and let the Holy Spirit move through you to bless you and others.

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Let Me In

On March 25, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

From The Word of the Day Archives on Thursday, September 4, 2008

Psalm 37: 25

I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken.

What wonderful news to hear this morning. In times past, in times present, God has never forsaken his righteous. He is not going to begin now and he is not going to begin with you. I know that it sometimes seems he has left you and forgotten you but it is not true. He is there with you. If you are suffering, he is suffering with you. It is we who have perception problems. And sometimes we have reception problems. You might be praying until you feel blue in your face but cannot seem to find God. Don’t you waiver. Although you cannot feel him, He is there. Sometimes, no matter how desperately we pray, we can at the very same time have a very difficult time letting God in. Even though we want him, our pain and our fear block reception of all that he wants to bring to us.

It is like this. God is knocking on your door. You keep shouting, “Come in!” This goes on and on. You get frustrated and maybe even a little angry at God. Then sometime later you realize that the door was locked all along. What a faithful God we have to keep standing there and to keep knocking at a locked door. What a loving father to persist even when he knows you are getting angry at him. He knows it is not His fault and that your anger at Him is not justified and yet He keeps standing there, knocking at your door with His arms full of all of the presents he has brought you.

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The Fight Belongs to God

On March 24, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment
From the Word of the Day Archives on Thursday, October 26, 2006 

2 Chronicles 20: 15, 17, 20

15 . . . Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. (emphasis added)

17 You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.

20 Put your trust in the Lord your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.

This is just one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I wish for you to go to the 20th chapter of Chronicles and read the entire story for yourself so you can receive the richness of this event and its telling. Jehoshaphat, King of Judah was faced with the invading armies of three nations: the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Meunites. It was reported to him that a “great multitude” was coming against him. He sought God in this crisis and God answered him telling him, through the prophet Jahaziel, to stand and watch his enemies destroyed before his eyes. Jehoshaphat set those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him before the army. The text then reads, “And when they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed.” Jehoshaphat’s army never lifted a finger. The enemy was completely and thoroughly routed on their behalf by the might hand of the Lord.

This is the same power that is at work for you today. You don’t even have to lift a finger. You spend your time serving the Lord and let him fight your battles for you. The mightiest warrior of Judah that day did not even draw his sword. Jehoshaphat’s battle plan ended up being singing and praising the Lord. Wow! Can you imagine today a general directing his forces to stand with their weapons sheathed but their voices lifted to God? People would think he was crazy, at least until the battle was over. About the enemy of Judah that day the Bible says “no one had escaped.” There was no loss of life on Judah’s side. What a wonderful report that would be to give to the people. Before hand, though, the general would look like a complete idiot. The moral of this story might be that sometimes you might appear crazy when you stand in faith but the results just cannot be beaten.

The lesson of the story is to let God fight for you. Stand firm and watch him deliver the enemy into your hands. How do you stand? Just stay resolute in faith and in speaking words of faith instead of words of doubt and struggle. Do what you are called to do and don’t be distracted by the attacks of the enemy because that is exactly what the enemy is trying to do, distract you. Let God handle the battles as you go about God’s work and you sing praises to the Holy One.

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God’s Plan for Mercy

On March 21, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 25: 17, 22

And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. And there I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim.


God directed Moses to make an ark which was a box about 3 ¾ feet long by 2 ¼ feet wide. Within the ark God had Moses place the tablets upon which the law was written along with some manna and Aaron’s staff. A top was made for the ark. That lid is called the mercy seat or some translations call it the atonement cover. Both names convey God’s intent to show His people mercy.

Many people think that the God of the Old Testament was a vengeful, angry God but look at His kind, tender mercy here. He covered the law with the mercy seat. Not only that but also bear in mind that God told Moses that they would meet above the mercy seat between the two cherubim. God didn’t tell Moses to take out the tablets of the law and hold them up in order to meet with Him. No, He, instead, showed Moses a picture of the grace He longed to shower on His people.

Whenever you read the Old Testament you should constantly tell yourself that you are under a much better covenant enacted on much better promises (Hebrews 8: 6) and sealed in the blood and testimony of the Messiah Himself. Nonetheless, how can one not be blessed by seeing that even in the Old Testament, even in the desert when the Israelites were sorely trying His patience He covered the law with mercy? And whenever He met with Moses they were both constantly put in remembrance of His great mercy. God put mercy above the law. He never wanted to give His people law or a king other than Jesus but we have proved to be a rebellious and stubborn species. God’s great love has consistently been poured out upon us anyway.

God’s hands always were full of love, charity and mercy and are so even to this day. The law will always lead to bondage but the love of God always brings deliverance. There is no chain on you that the mercy of love cannot break. Receive His mercy today and know that He loves you.

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The Light of Wisdom

On March 20, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 4: 17 – 18

This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

In this passage Paul distinguishes the Christian walk from the walk of the Gentiles, “the walk” being a metaphor for how each lives and moves through life. The Gentiles, or the uninformed, walk through life guided by their minds. Paul tells us that this is a futile, useless, way to live life. They are not enlightened. Instead their understanding is darkened. These two are in exact contrast to one another. Their ignorance has barred them from the life of God.

Our arrogance is barring us from a life with God and the life of God. We have so convinced ourselves that we have great intelligence and reasoning powers that we have become hard-hearted and in so doing we have excluded ourselves from living in the grace of God. We have forgotten that we are just a vapor, just a brief “poof” in the fabric of eternity. In the process we have actually convinced ourselves that we have some measurable intelligence on par with God’s all knowingness. Even as we try to argue that we know that God is omniscient we enthrone our great intellect on the throne of our lives. How shall we even seek God’s great wisdom when, in truth, we think ourselves great discerners of life’s mysteries?

God has given us intelligence but it is a mere whisper, a shadow, of the true intellect. Each of us has been in existence less than one hundred years which is nothing in the vastness of time. My point is that even if we have great intelligence, we just don’t live long enough to learn a thimbleful of all there is to know. And frankly, most of us are not Mensa level intellects. Even if we were, that is nothing in light of the Father’s vast wisdom.

If we would humble ourselves before our God, He would give us great wisdom, even full wisdom. He longs to reveal Himself to us. But our hearts have become hard and calloused and true wisdom can only be known in the heart. God would pour all that He is into us if only we would repent of our foolishness and bare our hearts to Him. He is so willing, even longing for just that but we have given our hearts over to an idol. We worship at the throne of self-glorification.

As long as we walk in our own minds, our understanding will be darkened and we will be excluded from the life of God which is the very thing that Jesus came to earth to give us. But this isn’t meant to be a hard, condemning message. It is meant to free you from death and delusion. It is meant to be a key for the shackles that bind so that you can live in the freedom that Christ purchased for you.

This heart journey can be difficult. I do not deny that but everything of worth requires something of us. For those who have courage the pathway to God is revealed. It is in the mind of Christ which is spoken through our hearts. I know that you have been hurt and have built great walls around your fragile heart but God is our fortress and in Him is our great hope. It is in Him we were supposed to deposit our hearts. His walls are strong and unshakeable and within the fortress of our God is everything we need and everything we want. We will never gain our desires if we rely on our own intellect but in God there is all wisdom and the answer for every situation. Open your heart to Him. Tear down the walls that enslave you and rip all idols from their thrones. Bow your intellect to Jesus so that He can fill you with the wisdom of the ages.

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He’s listening

On March 19, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Peter 3: 12

For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. Who among us is righteous? We all are but not because of anything we have done. Today’s scripture can be a great breakthrough for someone but it has to be read through 2 Corinthians 5: 21 which reads, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God made Jesus to be sin so that we could be the righteous. There is nothing you can do about it; you are the righteousness of God. This is a part of the substitutionary work of Jesus.

Now if you have fully accepted that you are the righteous then you can get very excited about today’s verse. God’s eyes are upon you. That is shouting ground right there but read on. It also says that He is paying attention to your prayer. His ears are tuned to your prayer line.

Did you ever wonder if God was listening to you when you pray? You no longer need be concerned about that. He is listening. He is waiting for you to say something and His angelic host is standing by to carry out their marching orders when you speak out words of faith. Everyone is attentive and listening. Now, what would you like the angels to do for you? Speak to your Father in positive, Word inspired, action words. If all we do is complain about our circumstances the angels have nothing to act on. We need to direct their actions in affirmative ways and the absolute best way to do that is to say what the Bible says. They know how to implement the promises of the Bible. So now that you know God is listening say what the Bible says about you. Speak the promises of God into your life. Ask God to fulfill His Word in you.

He is listening. What have you to say?

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Let God be God

On March 18, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 46: 10 King James Version

Be still and know that I am God.

I am again on this journey to better know God. It is a daily journey for us all but do you also have seasons where your search is hungrier and your need to know Him more compelling? That is where I am and I would like to take you along with me on this journey and really I have little choice because I cannot separate anything I am doing from this deep need to know Him better. It is my prayer that my exploration will benefit you.

Clearly God is telling us in this verse that to know Him better we are going to have to be still for a bit. I wonder if he had our time and our culture in His mind when He gave these words to the psalmists. We are a busy people and being busy is a badge of honor most of us wear proudly. I have found that I can fill up a day with no trouble. Sometimes I get to racing around so fast that even when I sit down to have some quality time with our father my insides are still racing a mile a minute. I don’t think we are ever going to know our father at the deepest levels if we do not learn to slow down and be still. This stillness certainly starts in our bodies. It is difficult to quiet your mind if you can’t first slow down your physiology. How long can you sit absolutely still? You should time yourself. I found I was terrible at just being physically still.

Next, can you release the thoughts going through your mind? I found that I had a very undisciplined mind. It was constantly on one thing or another. So I focus on a picture. I have a couple that I use. Sometimes I picture Christ on the cross. That is very sobering for me and slows me down. At times, though, seeing our Lord on the cross is too much so I picture him beside a stream at one of my favorite places. It is a spot along the Appalachian Trail in South Carolina where I used to like to stop, take off my boots and put my feet in the cool water and its being very picturesque and detailed helps me to focus. Still sometimes that doesn’t work either and then I imagine a single candle burning. I watch the flame dance around. When I can slow down I invariably find Father awaiting me. I am sure that you have ways of quieting your mind, heart and body. When you do, there is the place where it is easiest to hear the father.

However, there is something deeper in this stillness than just slowing our spirits, souls and bodies. In this passage I hear, “Cease your endless striving and experience me, know me as your God.” So many of my prayers over the years have asked God what I should do. Increasingly the answer has been, “Nothing. Just pray.” Now I hear Him saying “Be still and know that I am God.” In other words, He wants us to let Him be God. He wants to show Himself in our lives and through our lives. The key for me is to let God be God and endeavor not to get in His way. “Don’t worry. Don’t strive. Don’t let anxiety have a place in your heart. Be still and at ease knowing that I am your God. I will keep you and care for you.” This is what I hear God speaking to us.

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