When I was a kid, I remember reading “Dear Abby” in our local newspaper. Readers would write in with questions and she would give an answer. Sometimes I would agree with her answers, but often I would not. So who was right, Abby or me?
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No doubt Abby had many more years of experience than I did, but I consider my own mother who has lived in this world for more than 6 decades. She didn’t always agree with Abby either. So where should I get my advice- from a dear Abby or from dear Mom?
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We should seek advice from others. The problem we face is that human hearts and minds have been corrupted by sin and often the advice we get encourages sinfulness rather than godliness. Consider the advice that is often given when someone has done wrong to us. So much of the worldly advice we receive concerns how to get back at them or to show them how it feels to have been done wrong. Such advice encourages bitterness rather than meekness.
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Consider what James wrote in dealing with this very subject: “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” (James 3:13-18)
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Notice what the scripture says. The sort of wisdom that says you should have bitter envy and strife in your hearts doesn’t come from God; it comes from the earth, from our own passions, and from the devil. The wisdom that comes from God is not ready to pick a fight, but is rather ready to look for peace. This doesn’t mean we compromise truth, but it means that we submit to God’s wisdom rather than our own or the devils. It means setting aside our selfishness for God’s glory.
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It actually sounds a lot like the fruit of the Spirit that we read about in Galatians 5: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 5:22-6:1)
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So who’s advice do I want- Mom’s or Abby’s? I want God’s advice and thankfully I have a mother who does as well. “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25)
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
How Much Can I Get By With?
How much will God let us get by with? When I worked as a chaplain with the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Department, I would regularly do ride alongs with the deputies while they were on patrol. When it came to enforcement of the law, they were concerned for the safety of the drivers as well as others on the roads, but they actually let people get away with a lot. They had a speed that was well above the posted limit that they would allow the drivers to drive at. Now I am not encouraging drivers to ignore the posted limits, but I do recognize that our human nature wants to push the limits as far as it can.
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Perhaps that was part of the motivation for a question that Christ was asked in Matthew 22:36, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Christ’s answer was quite simple: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
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So does that mean that as long as you are loving God with your all, and your neighbor as yourself, then you can get by doing whatever you want? Well, actually if you do really love God with your all, you will already be doing what He expects and will be treating your neighbor right as well. You see, if you love God that much, instead of seeing what you can get by with, you will be looking for ways to serve and honor Him.
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Notice how Christ said that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. That means that all the commands God gives us are based on our love for Him and others. No doubt a society that follows the rules of God treats their fellow man much better.
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Instead of showing us what we can get by with, Christ’s response shows us the importance of all of God’s commands. Consider what James wrote, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10) In other words, if you violate the least of the commands, you are guilty of violating the most important command of loving God completely. No wonder we are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
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There is good new though. Christ came to pay the penalty for our sins. By believing on Him, trusting Him for our salvation, realizing that He died and rose from the dead for our sins, we too can have eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
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Once we really believe in Him and trust Him, our love for Him motivates us to want to obey. It is no longer about what we can get by with, it is about believing that His way is best. You see, it isn’t about cleaning up your life so that you can trust Him. It is about trusting Him and letting Him clean up your life because you love Him.
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Perhaps that was part of the motivation for a question that Christ was asked in Matthew 22:36, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Christ’s answer was quite simple: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).
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So does that mean that as long as you are loving God with your all, and your neighbor as yourself, then you can get by doing whatever you want? Well, actually if you do really love God with your all, you will already be doing what He expects and will be treating your neighbor right as well. You see, if you love God that much, instead of seeing what you can get by with, you will be looking for ways to serve and honor Him.
-
Notice how Christ said that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. That means that all the commands God gives us are based on our love for Him and others. No doubt a society that follows the rules of God treats their fellow man much better.
-
Instead of showing us what we can get by with, Christ’s response shows us the importance of all of God’s commands. Consider what James wrote, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10) In other words, if you violate the least of the commands, you are guilty of violating the most important command of loving God completely. No wonder we are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
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There is good new though. Christ came to pay the penalty for our sins. By believing on Him, trusting Him for our salvation, realizing that He died and rose from the dead for our sins, we too can have eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
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Once we really believe in Him and trust Him, our love for Him motivates us to want to obey. It is no longer about what we can get by with, it is about believing that His way is best. You see, it isn’t about cleaning up your life so that you can trust Him. It is about trusting Him and letting Him clean up your life because you love Him.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Do You Have the Wrong Number?
You know you’re in a small town when someone dials a wrong number and you talk to them for five minutes. We actually get a lot of wrong number calls from people trying to reach Spa dee Dah. Now I do not know how to do makeup or to cut hair, so all I can do is tell them to call 2772 instead of 2702.
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Now getting a wrong number in a small town isn’t that big of a deal, but what if you got the wrong number when trying to reach God? I fear that is happening more often than we would like to admit. Too many people don’t know God’s “number,” so they end up trying whatever they think might work. Romans 10:3 says, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” The point is, when we try to do things by trial and error because we do not know what God expects, we cannot reach Him any more than we could reach an old high school friend just by dialing random numbers on the phone.
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Now if you dial 885-2702, you will reach the church, and you can talk to me, but you still will not be reaching God. You see, I cannot get you to God, all I can do is tell you how to reach Him, just like I can tell callers how to get ahold of the Spa. I am not the mediator, I am simply the messenger. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (I Timothy 2:5).
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You see, you do not get ahold of God, by reaching me or any other clergy for that matter. You have to get ahold of Christ Jesus. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). To reach God, you do not dial a number, you trust in a Savior. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
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If you want to call God, you don’t need to know His number, you need to know Him. God came to this earth in the person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ in order to die for your sins and to raise again victorious over sin and death. If He had the power to do that He has the power to save you and to hear your prayers when you call out to Him. You don’t have to worry about a bad connection if you will humbly submit to Him, turn from your sin, and trust Him as you call out to Him. He promises, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37).
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Many have tried to reach God using the wrong number when His way is so straight forward. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) So if you have not yet gotten ahold of God and turned to Him, call Him now. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
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Now getting a wrong number in a small town isn’t that big of a deal, but what if you got the wrong number when trying to reach God? I fear that is happening more often than we would like to admit. Too many people don’t know God’s “number,” so they end up trying whatever they think might work. Romans 10:3 says, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” The point is, when we try to do things by trial and error because we do not know what God expects, we cannot reach Him any more than we could reach an old high school friend just by dialing random numbers on the phone.
-
Now if you dial 885-2702, you will reach the church, and you can talk to me, but you still will not be reaching God. You see, I cannot get you to God, all I can do is tell you how to reach Him, just like I can tell callers how to get ahold of the Spa. I am not the mediator, I am simply the messenger. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (I Timothy 2:5).
-
You see, you do not get ahold of God, by reaching me or any other clergy for that matter. You have to get ahold of Christ Jesus. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). To reach God, you do not dial a number, you trust in a Savior. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
-
If you want to call God, you don’t need to know His number, you need to know Him. God came to this earth in the person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ in order to die for your sins and to raise again victorious over sin and death. If He had the power to do that He has the power to save you and to hear your prayers when you call out to Him. You don’t have to worry about a bad connection if you will humbly submit to Him, turn from your sin, and trust Him as you call out to Him. He promises, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37).
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Many have tried to reach God using the wrong number when His way is so straight forward. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) So if you have not yet gotten ahold of God and turned to Him, call Him now. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
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