Persecuted For Righteousness Sake - Part Two

The prior part of this consideration dealt with the persecution Jesus faced in His time on earth.  It was persecution from those devoted to the Law and threatened by His relationship with the Father.

Jesus and the early apostles faced tremendous persecution from the religious order of the Jews, as did the early church.   They were being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, too.

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So, how would this play out within pagan non-Jewish cultures?

Why would a pagan culture have an issue with righteousness as presented in New Covenant Truth?

The answer is not so complicated when you think about it.  Even in pagan cultures, devotion to gods was something clearly understood.  The idea of working to be blessed was common to everyone; if someone were disloyal to or displeased the gods, it was believed they would be punished.  Often, the punishment would not be believed to just fall on that person but also on the people in the culture they were a part of.  So, the perception of danger went beyond an individual application.

To promote the righteousness that comes by grace through faith in Christ alone was to call someone away from their loyalty to other gods and into a singular belief and trust in Christ Jesus to have a relationship with the only true and living God.  This might threaten not only the individual but also the family and possibly the entire community in the people’s minds.

New Covenant Good News denounces all other gods and brings attention to the one true God revealed in Jesus Christ.  Paul pointed this out on Mars Hill when he mentioned the inscription to the unknown God.  The people were so afraid of offending a god that they also made sure to mention any god they may have missed.  Any unknown god had to be covered as well and have an altar.

Acts 17:23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:  TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.  Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

The idea of earning privilege and position is not foreign to any culture.  It is commonplace whether they are under the Law or not.  So, to come with a message of a righteousness offered from the One True and Living God that cannot be earned but is His own righteousness given as a gift by a specific means was no small matter.

This is why a person can be persecuted for righteousness sake, even among those claiming no religious affiliation or affection.  This is what is being explained in,

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Our fragrance of Christ will be most welcome and pleasant to a person drawn by the Holy Spirit.  But to the one who is disinterested and not being drawn, we will not be welcomed and thought of as something pleasant. We will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake in the many different ways persecution manifests in this world.

But never forget, such persecution is our blessing!  It is a sign that ours is the kingdom of heaven!  It is evidence of our relationship to God and His devotion to us. Be encouraged whenever you suffer persecution from anyone because you are promoting the good news of Jesus Christ and the free gift of righteousness He offers that cannot be earned.  It is a great reward.

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Persecuted For Righteousness Sake - Part One

When some hear such a phrase, they immediately think of how doing the right thing can result in persecution.  “The right thing” in the average way of thinking involves good behavior.  While it is true that taking a stand for that which is right can land someone in the persecution zone of experience, it is not what is at the heart of this phrase that Jesus made.

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The word Righteousness here was translated from the Greek word Dikaiosune, a word built from a root Greek word meaning equity (of Character or act), but more specifically, in this instance, the Greek word Dikaiosune means specifically (Christian) justification: - righteousness.

This position can be further verified by the statement that followed what Jesus said about righteousness.  “For theirs is the kingdom of God.”

We should all be very well aware that no one will inherit the kingdom of heaven by their good works.  Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of this truth. Thus, I aim to encourage New Covenant Good News every time I have the opportunity to do so.

My awareness of the New Covenant Gospel keeps me from assuming that Jesus is saying that we are blessed because we are persecuted for behaving as if behaving well would result in inheriting the kingdom of heaven.  That would mean we could earn the right to inherit the kingdom of heaven based on keeping the Law.  If works obtain righteousness, that would mean righteousness can be earned.  If righteousness can be earned, it is no longer according to grace.

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

The idea of being able to boast to others of one’s goodness may seem powerful, but it cannot impress God in any way.  God is not impressed by what we bring to the table in our own strength.  He is impressed by what Jesus did.  That’s why Paul said what He did in Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

When Jesus spoke that phrase in Matthew 5, people were more likely to be praised for their good works rooted in the Law than to be persecuted because of them.  But if they claimed they were justified by faith in Christ, they would have been heavily persecuted and even labeled as blasphemers and heretics. If you remember, Paul, who was called Saul before he encountered Jesus, and was changed. As Saul, he was zealous for the law and persecuted the church. He hunted down Christians to put them in jail and even had some killed, thinking he was doing God a favor.  Confidence in your relationship with God based on grace through faith alone can get you persecuted.  Jesus’ confidence in His relationship with the Father infuriated the religious leaders and many of the Jews of His day.  They did not want Him dead because of His good works.  They were offended by His relationship with the Father.

John 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

Jesus was being persecuted for His relationship with God and His claim to be one with God.  The sonship relationship was a primary reason for Jesus being persecuted because Jesus only did good works, He never sinned against the Law, and there was nothing there by which they could accuse Him.

John 8:46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?

They had to make up false reports against Him by taking some of His statements out of context and twisting them to say something other than He stated.  His claim to be in right relationship with the Father as a son and to be one with the Father and sent by the Father led to the persecution He suffered at the hands of the religious leaders.

Today, the same thing holds for believers in Christ who take a firm, confident stand on their right relationship with God based on nothing other than grace through faith in Christ alone.  Real New Covenant truth embraced and believed will often be persecuted by those who mean well and think they are defending the church when, in fact, they are doing more to hurt it by bringing into question the completed work of Christ to reconcile anyone who comes to Him by grace through faith alone in Christ alone.  Paul said it best.

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Taking a stand on true New Covenant Biblical justification by grace through faith alone and in Christ alone can get a person in trouble in some circles of religious thought and practice.  It can even spark some controversy among those who are not religious.  Rejoicing in a justification and righteousness that came to you as a gift you could never earn may upset those who would rather think they have reason to boast of their accomplishments.  It can result in being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

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Out Of

What happens in our hearts moves us to make choices and to speak certain things from our mouths. We speak based on what is transpiring in our hearts more often than we realize.   Jesus said,

Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Our speech reveals what is in our hearts.  They will reveal unbelief, or they will reveal belief.  They will reveal what we are currently going through in a moment in time and what we believe about the situation.

1 Samuel 1:16 Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.”

Here was a situation where a barren woman named Hannah had been weeping and pouring out her grief to the Lord and, therefore, seemed drunk as she walked and talked to the Lord. You can’t help but notice her mouth is speaking out what is occurring in her heart. The priest noticed her and questioned her why she would be in such a condition at that time of day.  She answered him accordingly, making him aware of her grief. The priest tells her to go in peace and that her petition will granted to her.  She received his word of hope and promise and went away with her heart uplifted. After getting her request granted, her face changed from that of sadness to that of gladness.  She believed his word spoken to her, and her heart rejoiced in it.

Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Here, we have the religious leaders who were constantly trying to test Jesus and challenge Him.  They did not believe according to the will of God.  Their hearts were filled with the evil of unbelief.  So they were constantly speaking from that place of unbelief, which led them to challenge Jesus and look for something they could use to discredit Him. Had they believed, they could have had their hearts changed, and it would have brought forth the fruit of believing in Him. We know a heart of unbelief is evil because the Bible says so clearly.

Hebrews 3:12  Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;

In every situation of life we face, we reveal what our hearts believe by what we speak concerning it.

Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

I want declarations of faith and hope coming out of my mouth in all my situations.  I want to be in a place of believing in His goodness always.  I want His praise to be in my heart and to come out of my mouth.

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

This is my prayer, and because it is, when I discover that what comes out of my mouth is evidence of doubt, I run to Him for help in getting my heart adjusted.  I run to His word and ask the Holy Spirit to help me get a revelation of Him that I desperately need at that moment.  I want my “Out Of” to be according to faith in Him.

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Praiseworthy

Have you ever taken anything or anyone for granted by not paying attention to the ordinary things?

It’s so easy to take the ordinary things that occur so commonly in our lives for granted.  We often do not realize how much we take for granted until it is removed or lost.  The same holds true about God and how involved He is in our ordinary affairs of life.

We can take too many things in life for granted without reflecting on how involved God is in our possession of them.  When we fail to recognize His works, we also fail to give Him the thanksgiving and praise He is due.

In Psalm 107 it says 4 times - “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

The final verse in Psalm 107 offers sound advice for anyone to consider and put into practice.  After 42 other verses dealing with the things that have happened to people and speaking of God's involvement, it says, “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.”

When you pay attention to how involved God is in your ordinary and emphasize the presence of God in your life, you become more and more aware of His ever-present realness in your life.  This empowers you to practice appreciation for how amazing a privilege that is.  You get to learn to give thanks and praise to Him for His lovingkindness and desire to know you and let Himself be known by you.

If you are waiting for something absolutely amazing before you open your mouth to praise Him, you are missing out!  You are letting the devil shortchange you!  His goodness is already at work on your behalf.  It has been at work, and it is still at work right now!

Have you learned to be so aware of His nearness that you cannot stand it anytime it feels like something is trying to get between you and Him?

Are you persuaded about His love and faithfulness?  He demonstrated His love by giving His Son for us; “even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

When it comes to His lovingkindness and faithfulness, it is not about what you bring to the table!  It is who He is and what He brought to the table already!  Being persuaded in this way can be powerful.

Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul had become so persuaded of this particular truth that he could endure all kinds of hardships during his journey.  He could thank and praise the Lord in all kinds of difficult circumstances because he was persuaded of God’s love in Christ!  His lovingkindness is praiseworthy all the time!  When we observe His faithfulness in our ordinary, we become more and more aware of His lovingkindness, and He becomes more and more praiseworthy to us.

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Be Thankful

Today, where I live, 9 inches of snow are on the ground, and the morning temperature is 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit.  Brrrr, that’s cold.  This may not seem like much to my friends way up north, but it is way below average for where I live.  Here, you run the risk of pipes freezing and power going out.

But I give thanks to God that through this time of below-average temperatures and an unusual snowfall, my wife and I are safe and warm in our home, enjoying running water, both hot and cold, working appliances, and gas heat.

I thank God for food in the kitchen, reliable vehicles parked outside, clean clothes to put on that will keep us warm, and little birds in a cage that sing and make merry on gray, cold days.

I am thankful that I share all this with a lovely, faithful wife who loves Jesus.  Being thankful is something that requires being intentional.  To verbalize one’s gratitude is a good daily practice.

The thing I am most grateful for today is that I awakened to His new mercies and was aware that this is the day He has made, and I get to choose to be glad and rejoice in it.  His new mercy affords me that grace!

This idea of practicing thanksgiving is promoted in Scripture.

Ephesians 5:20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

With the right view, it is possible to be grateful under all kinds of circumstances.  With practice, it, like anything else, becomes easier to do.

I do not desire to be known as a man who complains and always finds something wrong with everything.  I desire to be known as someone who is grateful and appreciates even the smallest things in life.

I have found that most people can enjoy and appreciate a grateful person far more easily than they can one who is always complaining.  I have discovered in Scripture that even God appreciates and delights in those who are grateful and appreciative of all He does to supply our every need in Christ Jesus.  Actively giving Him thanks for everything, both small and great, in our lives is an act of humility because it recognizes that even the physical and mental ability to make a living comes from Him.

I find giving thanks to be a healthy exercise, and the more I participate in it, the more fun it becomes.  It is good for my soul.  I encourage you to intentionally give thanks for even the smallest things in your life today and experience the warmth of knowing how much Jesus cares for you.

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The Waste Of Worry

Like so many others, I have had my share of worrying about something in my lifetime.  So, I understand it, have experienced it, and can testify that there is no fruit in it.

This morning, although we had nine inches of snow on the ground and it was fifteen degrees outside, I was compelled to put some seed out for the birds in the feeders in my backyard.  It got me thinking about how God takes care of them, and they do not have to work for it.  Then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of this passage in Scripture.

Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you, by worrying, can add eighteen inches to his stature?

Watching various birds come and delight themselves at my backyard feeders delights my soul.  I get pleasure from supplying them, and they get pleasure from the supply.  It is an interesting and rewarding exchange for both parties.

I believe it is the same regarding God supplying our needs.  We delight in knowing He cares that we have what we need, and He delights in the supplying.  That is basically what Jesus was conveying, was it not?

After all, Jesus observed and asked, “Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Our Father delights in supplying birds. Will He not be even more delighted to supply us?

We cannot grow taller by worrying about how short we are.  Neither can we increase our finances by worrying about how short we are.  We cannot poof a pair of pants into existence by worrying.  We can surely weary ourselves worrying about such things, but for all that energy spent, we have nothing to show for it.

It is far better to rest on His promise to provide and care for our needs according to His riches in glory.   He has promised to supply our every need in Christ.  In other words, we cannot have a need so great that He cannot meet it.  After all, He conquered death, hell, and the grave just to save us.

I leave us with this thought from an amazing passage in the Bible:  Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

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Better Things

When I went to bed last night, after hearing the weather report, I expected to wake up to a lot of snow cover and unpassable roads.  However, when I awakened, I noticed that not so much snow had fallen, and the roads looked fairly clear.  The situation was better than I was led to believe it might be.

To say something is better is to say it exceeds one’s expectations or excels in quality, worth, and value compared to what is thought good.

Psalm 63:3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.

The Psalmist here declares that God’s lovingkindness is better than natural life.  In other words, the life he is living and the desire to keep going and to flourish is not on par with God’s lovingkindness.

When informed that something better is coming, hope can be generated in the heart.  The expectation of the better lends itself to hope.

There is then the matter of something better already being in place but not realized.  It can be present but not detected as yet.

Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Here, believers are told they have come to better things, and various contrasts are offered to demonstrate why it is better.  One such thing that is better is the New Covenant.  It is better than the Old one.  But here, Christ’s blood is compared to Abel’s.

What is the difference we are meant to see and understand?  As told in Genesis, you may recall how Cain killed his brother Abel.  But did you pay attention to what God said to Cain?

Genesis 4:10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.

Abel’s blood was crying out to God from the ground.  It was crying out, “Avenge me and give me justice!”

On the contrary, Jesus’ blood cries out, “Forgive and wipe clean the sin!”

This dramatic contrast in these two types of blood is why the blood of Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel.

Because Jesus shed His blood for us so that those who believe in Him can have their sins past, present, and future removed completely and they can be washed clean, makes His blood superior and speak better things!  Today, I leave you with one more better things statement from Scripture.

Hebrews 6:9  But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

I hope you are becoming more and more aware of just how much better of a covenant you have been brought to in Christ, how much better the promises are in Him, and how much better the hope you can cling to because of Him. Be encouraged in Him today and always.

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God’s Generosity

If you had millions of dollars, would you be inclined to be even more generous on a broader level?

Would you give more if you knew you could help people and not suffer financial loss?

If you had more than enough food, clothing, etc, would you desire to bless others with some of it?

When a person has boundless resources to the point that they do not have to think about how to replenish them, they can choose to be generous to whomever they wish to be generous.

God is boundless in His resources and power.  He chooses whom He will bless with them, too.  But one thing is for certain: He is not stingy.  He is not a miser.  All that He has and gives is good.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Good comes from God, and bad and evil come from the Father of lies and are the result of living in a fallen world wrecked by sin.  But those who know the Lord have a much brighter outlook in life than those who are the children of the devil.

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory;  No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!

The term walk uprightly is there because the covenant the psalmist is under is the Old Covenant.  It is another way of saying walking in relationship with God.  That is why it says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in You.”

The way this is realized today is through knowing Jesus by faith.  When I was born again, I became the very righteousness of God.  In other words, I was imputed righteousness to be placed in a relationship with God as His child.  This is the New Covenant Jesus established.  The blessings promised under the law only if one kept the law in order to be righteous, are now available to those who are in Christ by faith.

All the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ.  Walking uprightly with God under the New Covenant is still about trusting in Him.  It is still about knowing His goodness, made evident through Jesus Christ.  Jesus came and revealed to us the nature of the Father towards us.  Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.  God desires to show Himself strong in your life and do you good.  He wants to show His goodness with great generosity, too!

It is always available to us, but His goodness is always received by faith and is rooted in our trust in Him based on what we know of Him.  This is why growing in our revelation of Him as Jesus presented Him is so important.  Every day is a new opportunity in our lives to discover just how much He loves us and desires to do us good.   Our God is very generous!

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Overwhelmed

Shortly after being born again, another monumental experience dramatically impacted my life.

I was in my early twenties and living in a small trailer with my older brother, his wife, and his son.  I had a tiny room in the middle of the trailer with a small bed and my drum set, so it was hard to maneuver in that room.

When I would spend time there in prayer, I had to lay on the bed as I meditated on the Lord and talked with HIm.  One day, as I was doing this, I recalled a passage I had read.

2 Chronicles 6:18  “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!

I mulled it over in my heart and soul that  God was so great and huge that He filled all of heaven and more.

To me, it was like saying the universe and all of heaven could not contain Him.  That thought just put a hook in me.  As I lay there thinking about it, I couldn’t help it from becoming very personal.  I began to say to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, Your word says you are so great and so immense that the universe and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, and to me, that means You are very great and very large, and there’s more to You than I currently know and probably possess.  So I want You to give me whatever I might be missing. I am asking You to fill me up.”

When I said that to the Lord, I began to feel like electricity was pulsing through my body as if to lift from my bed, and it was so intense and powerful that I began to say, “Lord, please stop, or I will die.”

After that moment, I realized I had come to know God, and He was no ordinary God. He was God all-powerful, and although that experience was a bit scary to me, it was also reassuring.  After that experience, I began to know things I could not know on my own accord about situations and people, and I began to prophesy.  I did not know it was prophesying at the time because I did not know the gifts of the Spirit.

Shortly after, a friend who had also come to Jesus invited me to His church for an evening service.  We had played in bands together before we were saved.  That night, when I went, he wasn’t there, but I met a man who took me to the balcony and sat with me.  As things began to start, I looked down, and there was a cloud in the place so thick you couldn’t see below, and the worship music was playing.  The Lord spoke to me and told me He would raise me up in that house and send me out from there to accomplish His purposes in my life. Then, a man began to speak, and the cloud lifted, and I could see everything. On the stage was a set of drums I had sold to a church while I was a lost man needing a car.  The man spoke about being baptized in the Holy Spirit and about the gifts of the Spirit, and that was when I first realized what had happened to me that day on my bed.  That experience brought a dramatic change in my life that I have never regretted.

The Lord did exactly as He said He would that night.  Jesus raised me up in that church under the mentorship of that man, and years later, I was sent out from that church by that man and the other elders to plant a church which I still pastor to this day.  I am so glad the Lord overwhelmed me as He did that day on my bed.  I am glad He is still overwhelming at times.  There is still so much to experience and discover regarding Him and His ways.  I never want to lose the wonder of Him.  Have you ever been overwhelmed by Him?  You can be.  If you hunger to know Him the way He wants you to know Him, you will find He is willing to reveal Himself in supernatural ways to you.

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The Shift

I remember it like it was yesterday.  It is still so vividly locked in my memory.  God confronted me with Himself, the reality of Jesus, and the fact that I could not live for Him out of my strength and be good enough.  He took away my chief argument for why I couldn’t be a Christian, and I surrendered to His wisdom and His call to believe.

From that moment, everything began to change without my trying to make it so.  It was so incredible.  Things that were once appealing to me had suddenly lost their appeal. I was a different person.  I wasn’t waking up each day saying I would be different; I just was a new and different person.

On my way home that day, while driving, I noticed the blue sky and the birds singing, and joy filled my heart. Things I could not appreciate or be thankful for suddenly grabbed my attention, and my heart rejoiced.

The Bible describes this phenomenon.

2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

I had come to know Jesus Christ.  I was born again by the power of the Holy Spirit at work.  Before I hit the floor that day, all I could think about was myself; when I got up off that floor, my eyes noticed many things that I was blind to.  I was different.

I knew that I had encountered God and that He had changed me by convincing me of my need for Jesus.

I was made aware by the Holy Spirit of my need to seek the Lord daily, aware of how great a privilege it is to know Him.

Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

When He comes, which I am certain will be soon, I will be caught up to meet Him in the air as promised in His word.  In the meantime, I aim to share the good news of Him with others and encourage others in their walk with Him.

I am convinced there is no better way to live than to live as a believer in Jesus, aware of being in Him and having Him alive in me.  Having this shift occur is a wonderful and beautiful way to live.  I trust you have experienced the shift that occurs from being born again; if not, may I implore you to believe Jesus died for your sins, was raised the third day from the grave, ascended on high, and is coming again soon.  May I encourage you to believe and confess to someone that Jesus is Lord?  Knowing Him brings a shift!

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Change Your View

2Corinthians 3:4  And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I’ve been thinking about this reality of through Christ lately and the Holy Spirit gave me some practical ways of looking at it.

One example involved my truck.  When I need to get somewhere, I go out and get in my truck, and when I do, my view is altered.  I no longer see myself as being so exposed to the things around me.  It can be raining, but it doesn’t bother me any.  It could be snowing, no problem.  It can be windy and cold, but I do not fret about it.  It can be an extremely hot sunny summer day with high humidty, no biggie.

The reason I do not fret about my circumstances while driving in my truck is because my view is changed by being in my truck and looking through the windshield of it.

I trust I will get to my destination able to do what my purpose was for going there in the first place.  Not only that I get to where I am going much quicker when I am in my truck.  If I were to say I can do this all on my own, I don’t need the assistance of this vehicle.  Of course, that would be insane if I needed to make a long trip.  Our journey in the Lord through our days here on earth is just that, a long trip.

Jesus wants us to learn how to do things and see things through Him.  Our relationship with Him is meant to be personal, purposeful, and powerful.

Being in fellowship with Him to the degree that we begin to see things in the through Christ way produces fruit in our lives.  It produces fruit in a more effortless manner.

In other words, we begin to rest in Him while moving forward in the things He has called us into.

These passages provided today are not fictional or hopeful; maybe they work, or maybe they don’t passages.  They are factual, spiritual realities for every believer.  God will uphold His end every time, and when we look through the view of through Christ we are able to experience what these passages are promising to us.

I encourage you to meditate on what it means to change your view and see life and situation from your position in Christ.  If your view has been you, then change your view to Through Christ!

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More Than

More than is a next-level phrase.  It means the expectations for something were not only met but exceeded.

I knew I was getting a special woman when I met and married my wife, Sheila, in 1986. These many years later, I would say she is more than I expected in so many good ways. She exceeded my expectations in so many ways.  She is more than a wife; she’s my best friend, trusted companion, confidant, helper, and much more.  She’s funny, witty, pretty, fun to be with, intelligent, loves Jesus, easy to talk to, I could go on and on too.  We have a healthy relationship filled with “more than.”

So I could simply say she is “more than!”

That means she is above average, not the status quo, not ordinary.

For those of us who have come to know Jesus, we too have become above average, not status quo, not ordinary.

Romans 8:37  Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

We have become and continue to become more than through Jesus!

This more than experience is because Jesus is more than enough.  Now, what is said here about being more than conquerors was in the context of hardships and difficulties and how nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

There’s something so reassuring and confidence-building in knowing nothing can separate you from the love of someone great and important in your life.  This is especially true when it comes to someone like Jesus, who is the most important person and relationship in any believer’s life.

This more than conqueror status is given to us because of the love of Christ and the love of God.  Not only is it impossible to separate us from Christ’s love, but it is also impossible to separate us from God’s love.

Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Your experience of being more than an overcomer manifests when you become persuaded.  You are already “more than,” but you realize and manifest it when you become persuaded of His great love for you.  My encouragement to you is for you to become fully persuaded of God’s great love, which is in Christ Jesus, Who now lives in you and in whom you have been placed.  I pray that you will become more and more aware of just how much more than an overcomer you really are.

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We Were Once...

There was a time in my history when I was known as someone and something I am no longer known as today.  It is all in my past and left behind me, and I say good riddance.

Anyone who has ever truly come to know Jesus has experienced this change in their lives.

There are times, though, when a person who has come to know Jesus needs a reminder.

Ephesians 5:8  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

We who have come to Jesus were once darkness.  Something changed.  We are now light in the Lord.  That comes with an expectation from the Lord Himself.  We are to do life as children of light.  What does doing life as a child of light look like?  It is a life that exhibits the fruit of the Spirit.

We are meant to put on display - goodness, righteousness (relationship with God), and truth.

There is yet one more thing involved in the expectation of the Lord as it pertains to us.  We should be finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.  This is elaborated on with good reason.

Ephesians 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The Lord desires us to be wise.  The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  I do not find it odd that it says we should walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise.

It will always be wisdom to make the most of the time that we have.  That is what redeeming the time means.  There is so much evil at work in the world today that it is all the more important that we heed this saged advice.

To redeem the time, be wise, and walk in wisdom, we must operate in something of great importance.  We must not just know what the will of the Lord is. We must understand it.  To get to such a place, we must know Him!  An ongoing relationship with Jesus that is active and alive is necessary to take part in this type of instruction.  Without knowing Him as He intended, we will not know and understand what His will is.

You can be aware of what something is without fully understanding it.  I may know it is God’s will that I be sanctified, but do I understand what it means to be sanctified?

We were once darkness, but now we are light in the Lord, and if we understand His will concerning this simple thing, we will live as children of the light and walk in the light.

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Knowing The Time

It’s not a strange thing to prepare for something you know is coming.  In the springtime, if the windows are down on your vehicle and a storm is approaching, no one would think it was odd for you to go out and close the windows on your car.  Every winter, when the temperatures drop, people cover up the outside faucets in their homes to avoid having them freeze and cause problems.

My point is simple: there are many things in life we just naturally prepare for when we know they are about to happen.  The same holds true spiritually speaking.  Something is coming, and it is drawing near.

Romans 13:11  And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

It might trouble some to be told, “Do this.”  But there is a reason for the apostle to say such a thing.  “Knowing the time.”

Knowing the time and what is coming is the reason to do something.  What is coming?  Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

This statement runs against the casual idea of going to the altar to get saved, and that’s it. This says something about our salvation, implying there’s more to it than just getting to heaven when we die.  It’s interesting how the language changes in the next verses.

Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.

As a person prepares for the day ahead, we should prepare for His appearance.  How is this done?  By putting off certain things contrary to who we are now in Christ and putting on the armor of light.  He expounds his point by saying, “Let us walk properly,” and then gives an example of what properly is not.  It is not the party life, it is not drunkenness, it is not cohabitation and fornication, it is not pining after the things of this world as though that is living, it is not arguing and being divisive to cause contention, and it is not being jealous of others and what they have.

This could almost sound as if it might be law-based were it not for the instruction on how to avoid these things.  It is not law-based to live as someone who has been changed by His presence in you.  It is not law-based to contrast what it looks like versus what it doesn’t.

Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The idea conveyed here is that if we are not pressing into Christ and discovering who we are in Him, we are more susceptible to things we should not be given to. The way to make no provision for the flesh is to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.  In other words, be captivated by and submitted to Jesus.  Hand over the reigns to Him!  Knowing the time, let Jesus have control of your life.  Your salvation is nearer now than when you first came to Him.

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What Jesus Loves & Hates

Sometimes, knowing what a person dislikes or, even better, what they really hate can be helpful.  It is a part of knowing and understanding them.  This is true when it comes to knowing Jesus.

Most can easily talk about what Jesus loves, but it seems as if the knowledge of what He hates is missing.

For some, the idea of Jesus hating is not in their wheelhouse at all.  They cannot bring themselves to think there could be anything He would hate. But there is something He hates.

Psalm 45:7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;  Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

Jesus does not like it when there is a disregard for righteousness.  Jesus loves righteousness.  When a disregard for righteousness leads to living contrary to it because of holding the truth of righteousness in contempt, Jesus hates that.  That is wickedness or lawlessness.  He knows the theft that it is in someone’s life.  It suggests that God is not good in all He is when someone holds righteousness in contempt and embraces wickedness.  Therefore, it is something He hates.

But we should notice something else in this passage.  Because of this attitude in Jesus, we are told God anointed Him with the oil of gladness more than His companions.

An attitude of loving righteousness and hating wickedness can release an anointing with the oil of gladness.  Jesus loved righteousness and knew He was righteous by the nature of the relationship He enjoyed with the Father.  Righteousness doesn’t exist without the concept of being right with a purpose.  That purpose being in relationship with God.

Unrighteousness does not experience a relationship with God.  To have a relationship with God, one must be righteous.  It stands to reason, therefore, that anyone desiring a relationship with God would love righteousness.

It is not weird or odd to hate whatever it is that opposes what you love.  That’s why when I am being conformed to His image, I hate wickedness all the more, just as He did and still does, and my love for righteousness grows just as He loved righteousness.  The fruit of this reality of transformation comes with an anointing with the oil of gladness.

I have found that whenever I have ever operated outside the confines of the righteousness He has made to be in Himself, my gladness suffers a blow.  But when I live submitted to the righteousness He has made me, I experience great gladness.  It is me being what I was created to be in Him, and the anointing of the oil of gladness is a beautiful thing to experience in Him.

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The Reality Of The Unseen

In pioneering days, way out west, people would take out an ad in a paper for a wife back east.  There would be some correspondence via mail, not having ever seen each other, and committing to marriage by mail.  Then, a woman would take a stagecoach to meet the man out west and marry him.

As I heard recently, even those of us who dated, became engaged, and then later married still did not know all there was to know about the person we married.  In fact, after all these years, I am still discovering new things about my wife of thirty-seven years.  But it doesn’t lead me to quit discovering or to stop loving.

Throughout history, people have done things and made decisions without seeing the outcome before they set out.  Columbus sailed the ocean blue when it was believed there was nothing out there but death awaiting.  He imagined something different, and history tells us just how important it was that he ventured out as he did.

There are a great many things we do without knowing how they will turn out.  We do not think about it too much in the moment because we dream of better things coming from our endeavors.  We often persist until we are either proven wrong or get the result we were hoping for.

Millions go to pharmacies every day to get medications they were not there to see produced and have no idea about the process or who may have handled it.  Yet they believe they are getting the right medicine for the problem they are treating.  They think nothing of it.

As my friend Greg Mohr says, I wasn’t there to see Jesus rise from the dead, yet I believe it.  I have never seen heaven, and yet I believe it.  I didn’t witness my name being written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but I believe it is there.  How long am I to believe these things that I was not a witness to?  All my life!  All the way into eternity! I am to spend my life here believing in things I have not yet seen and not think of it as strange or odd.

Why is it that believers in Jesus can believe in these unseen things with such endurance but struggle to believe the promises with endurance?  In fact, believers have believed the aforementioned things even in the face of profound persecution and stood their ground in their beliefs about them, even to the point of death.

Scripture reveals that with the heart, man believes unto righteousness, and with his mouth, he confesses Jesus is Lord and is born again.  Something unseen is believed, and confession is made concerning it, and then the fruit of it is manifested through a changed life.  But it still requires believing in something unseen.

With all this evidence of what it means to believe in things unseen, why should anyone struggle with standing in faith for healing, a miracle, financial blessing, or help in a time of need?

The Bible says all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus.  Believing is a very practical proposal when you think about it.  Confessing what one believes is just as practical.  So why should we feel strange in speaking of such things and giving praise to the One who makes all these things possible?  Why should we ever be ashamed of believing in things unseen?  The reality of the unseen is often more real than what we can see.

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Happy New Year!

At this time, every year, millions make New Year’s resolutions that will be broken before the year’s end.  But there could be one resolution that would be of the greatest benefit ever to anyone who might get started on it.

What if everyone resolved to know Jesus?  What if a real determination settled in to seek Him with great diligence for no reason other than getting to know Him better?

What if we were resolved to know Him according to how He wished to reveal Himself to us and through the means He prescribed to do it?

What if we were to adopt the attitude of the great apostle Paul? Where he declared in,

Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

If all were to press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, this world would see Jesus in the church more than ever before.  Everything pertaining to life and godliness is in Christ!

That means if all were to pursue Jesus with the kind of passion Paul describes here in Philippians, there would be no way anyone outside the church could say they had no example of what it means to know Jesus and to walk with Him.  Better than that, many would walk with such strong assurance of faith and hope, experiencing transformation in their lives and knowing Jesus more intimately. The excitement over the promise of His soon return would be great, and the desire to see others know Him would also increase.

There’s just no way to lose when we purpose to know Jesus more.  So, with this thought in mind, I wish you a Happy New Year filled with knowing Jesus more intimately than ever before.

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Such Were Some Of You

It’s such an odd statement, yet powerful.  The statement “such were some of you” implies that someone is no longer what they once used to be.  They are no longer identified the same way they used to be identified.

I was a child long ago, but I grew up and became an adult, and now that I have reached sixty years of age, I am a long way from being sixteen and just getting my driver’s license.

At one time in my life, I was single, but I married the love of my life thirty-seven years ago, and ever since, I have identified as a happily married man.

I was not a father once, but then we had four children, and I became a father.  Since then, I have become a grandfather.

Some change is inevitable.  It happens very naturally based on progress in life over the years.

“Such were some of you” speaks of a change that requires the help of the Lord.

1Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

I love the past tense language used in this passage.  But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified.

The blood of Christ washed away my sin!  I was set apart by the Holy Spirit of Promise when I became a child of God.  I was made so clean by Jesus, and my sin was removed so completely by His blood that my former guilty verdict was changed to not guilty.  I was presented before God as perfect and without sin because of Christ.  I was justified.

What I was before no longer identifies me, and I no longer identify as that.

What was the condition of those Paul was speaking of here in Corinthians?

1Corinthias 6:9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Jesus can save anyone regardless of how bad a background they once had.  Not only can He save us, but He can keep us and ensure we make it all the way.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

There might have been a time when you were a part of this list given to the Corinthians, but everything changes when a person surrenders to Jesus in faith.  His disciples used to be characterized as, but not any longer because He made them new in Himself and gave them the same Spirit He relied on when He walked this earth as a man.  We are not bound to live in shame of the past when we come to Jesus.  We are set free to live according to hope for the present and the future based on who He says we are now that we are His.

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Sanctified

If you were close to your time of departing this earth and knew you had but one more opportunity to pray for those you love and care about, would you pray an ordinary just get it done kind of prayer?

I would bet that you would pray a very deliberate and important prayer at such a time.  That’s what Jesus did.  Jesus prayed, and it is recorded in the gospel of John.

John 17:15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. 20   “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

Jesus was not of this world, and neither are those of us who have been born again by faith in Him.  We are no more of this world than Jesus was.

Jesus also deeply desired our sanctification and attached it to the truth.  It requires adopting the truth as God speaks it and has spoken it.

What did Jesus mean when He said I sanctify myself?  Jesus was going to have to go through the Gethsemane experience, where He would wrestle in anguish over the type of death He was about to face and would submit Himself to the Father’s will regardless of the pain and suffering involved.  He asked if there was any possible way this cup could pass from Him but qualified that if it were not possible, then the Father’s will be done. Jesus put the will of God and the way God had ordained for Him above His own safety and natural survival in that moment. He saw all of us and the millions of others who would be reconciled to God through His surrender, and He loved the Father so much that He was willing to sanctify Himself to the word of God regarding the means of our salvation and hope.

Jesus set Himself apart unto the will of God.  That is what sanctification means.  It means to be set apart.  It involves having a purpose other than what is ordinary in this world.

Sanctification will always involve surrender to the will of God to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, He suffered and died to pay for the sin of the whole world, and He was raised again to life after three days just as God spoke He would be.  He is coming again soon, just as he promised.

When we believe such truth, we are born again by the Spirit and made clean so we can receive the Holy Spirit, Who sets us apart!  We are set apart by the fact that we have the Holy Spirit living within us, which the world cannot know unless they believe in the gospel as we did and receive HIm.  By being born again and filled with the Holy Spirit by faith, we become very different from those of this world.  We become sons of God, children of the Living God, and we are empowered by His Spirit to live according to His will for us.  That is some powerful sanctification when we yield to it in faith as we should.   Jesus did not pray amiss in John 17.  He prayed with a laser focus and deep heart longing.  Those who believe and love the will of God are the fruit of that prayer.  Are you living as one who is sanctified?

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Virgin Birth Validation

Professor Peter W. Stoner was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College and Chairman of the science division at Westmont College. In his book Science Speaks, Professor Stoner outlines the mathematical probability of one person in the first century fulfilling just eight of the clearest and most straightforward Messianic prophecies.

We find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 11017 (1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000).  In case you’re wondering, the Mega Millions had a $1.6 billion jackpot in October 2018, and the odds of winning it were merely 1 in 302,575,350.  Stoner calculated the probability of one person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1010157.  In case you’re questioning whether Professor Stoner’s math was wrong, H. Harold Hartzler, Ph.D., of the American Scientific Affiliation, Goshen College, writes in the forward of Stoner’s book:

“The manuscript for Science Speaks has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate regarding the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability, which are thoroughly sound, and Professor Stoner has applied these principles properly and convincingly.”   Courtesy of Josh McDowell Evidence That Demands A Verdict

In other words, you stand a greater chance of winning a huge lottery than Jesus would have stood, fulfilling just eight of the multitude of prophecies we find in Scripture well before he was ever born.

But let’s look at what is said about Jesus’ birth by a man who was prophesying somewhere around 740 - 687 BC.  A prophet whose words were confirmed by the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered 100 years before the birth of Jesus and confirming parts of Isaiah.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

The virgin birth of Jesus is of great importance as it fulfills the word God spoke through prophets many generations before His arrival so that mankind could know who the Messiah was with certainty.

Luke 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”  29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”  34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

The prophecies of His birth have a specific location, a virgin mom, and other specifics, all fulfilled by Jesus!  Fulfilling eight prophecies so specific seems impossible. Imagine fulfilling 365!  Then think of His promise to return!

Acts 1:9   Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The miracle of a virgin birth should tell us to trust in all of His promises and prophecies! Jesus is coming again soon!

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