Created4Health

Dealing with Stress and Anxiety without Drugs

2011-03-21T01:05:00.002-05:00

Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked; for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger. My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest—I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm." (Psalm 55:1-8)

One of the realities of life that our current physical science based medical system has had to admit in recent years is that there are non-physical causes to poor health and disease. One of the few non-physical causes that is widely accepted as a cause of disease is “stress.” It is quite well known today that the presence of stress in one’s life, and how one deals with that stress, has a direct impact on your health. Unfortunately, the solutions the medical system most often prescribes today for mental and emotional health are expensive drugs with serious side effects. So many people are “stressed out” that anti-depressant drugs have become a growing and prosperous business for pharmaceutical companies.

David, the second Jewish king during the monarchy period, was a man who faced tremendous stress and pressure in his life. Few of us reading this today will have faced the kind of stress and anxiety David experienced during a period of probably more than ten years of his life where he was constantly on the run from his enemies who were trying to kill him. In fact, as he records in this Psalm, it wasn’t just his enemies that caused problems, but also his “friends” and fellow believers: “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.” (Psalm 55:12-14)

Notice the signs of stress as recorded in his words in the passage above: “My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught… My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.” If David had confessed these kinds of feelings to a physician or psychiatrist today, he would have been prescribed anti-depressant drugs immediately to try and stabilize his emotional condition. He had all the signs of “mental disease” including the temptation to try and escape from all of his problems by running away from them: “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest—I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.” He was unstable, neurotic, and desperate. He would have probably been labeled as “insane” today and been committed to a mental health facility.

But David did not seek out physicians in his anxiety. He appealed to God for help, trusting that God would hear his prayers and change his condition. If you read the Psalms of David which reveal his emotional and mental condition during times of extreme stress, you will notice that David consistently took two approaches to dealing with anxiety and stress, both of which involved prayer and a relationship to his Creator.

1. David prayed to God asking him to intervene in the circumstances of his life that were causing the stress:

Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city… Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave, for evil finds lodging among them. But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. God, who is enthroned forever, will hear them and afflict them— men who never change their ways and have no fear of God. (Psalm 55:9-19)

As strong and powerful as David was, in many circumstances he was powerless against his enemies and the rulers of his day. But he knew first hand that God was not powerless, and so he appealed to God to intervene.

2. David cast all of his worries and cares unto God, trusting in him to take care of them all, and to sustain him with strength to endure everything.

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22)

These two methods of using prayer to deal with stress are even more available to us today, in the age of the New Covenant which was instituted by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The believers in the early church were often arrested and persecuted, suffering tremendous stress. The same two principles were used to deal with anxiety and stress.

Principle 1. Pray for God to intervene in the stressful situation. Here is an example of what was prayed after the believers were arrested and released for preaching about Jesus and miraculously healing a man (they didn’t follow the prescribed protocol for healthcare of their day!):

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.' Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Act 4:23-31)

Principle 2. Cast all our anxieties and care on God, trusting him to take care of all our problems and to sustain us with his strength:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 – prescription for mental health)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1Peter 5:7-11)

These are the two biblical principles of dealing with anxiety and stress, and they are the guiding principles for mental health. No drugs are needed. It requires a relationship with God through Jesus, however, and not just an intellectual knowledge about him. So the first step is the spiritual rebirth.

How do you deal with anxiety and stress? The two principles written about here are time-tested principles that have been used for thousands of years, long before modern-day pharmaceuticals came into the market place with our current medical system. They are backed by a guarantee from the Creator himself, the one who formed and fashioned you while still in your mother’s womb. Best of all, they are free!

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1Peter 2:24-25)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Prescription for drug-free mental health:

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Medicine: Idolatry in the Twenty First Century

2011-03-21T01:05:00.001-05:00

This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, the Holy One… "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17)

The book of Isaiah in the Old Testament portion of the Bible is one of the most incredible books of prophecy ever written. Isaiah was a prophet during the time the northern kingdom of Israel was deported to Assyria in 722 B.C. But not only did Isaiah write about events that were happening during his own day, he also wrote about events that would happen hundreds of years later during the days of captivity of the southern kingdom of Israel after 586 B.C. He also wrote what are called the “suffering servant” Messianic passages that prophesied about the life of Jesus Christ which would happen more than 700 years later.

In Isaiah chapter 48 we are given some of the reasons why God revealed these things to his people through the words of the prophet Isaiah:

Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they all stand up together. Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? (Isaiah 48:12-14)

What a poor comparison the idols of Isaiah’s day were in comparison to the one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth! The idols did not have knowledge of future events like the Lord did, who sometimes revealed these events to his prophets. The Israelites were called out to be a special people, different from the nations around them. They were to trust in God alone, and seek a relationship with him, as is stated in verse 17 above, where God states “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” This principle guided everything in life, and was the first of the ten commandments:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:2-6)

So why did people create idols, and what did they trust them for? Idols were looked to for guidance, power, and healing. It seems strange to us today that people would create idols out of man-made objects created by their own hands. But the reason it seems strange to us today is because the people trusted in the spirits or spirit world represented by the idols, or in some cases they may have believed that the idol itself was inhabited by spirit beings. Our materialistic culture, by contrast, believes primarily only in the physical world.

The heart of idolatry is looking to sources outside of God for our basic needs and desires in life. The idols that are erected flow out of our experiences in life, and the idol is an attempt to explain life apart from the Creator. Hence, when the Israelites were miraculously delivered from slavery to the Egyptians under the leadership of Moses, and when Moses went up on the mountain to receive the laws that were to govern them and did not return for 40 days, they assumed he was dead and they reinterpreted their experiences in life to find meaning apart from God. They assumed God had abandoned them and was no longer involved with their lives. Their experiences taught them that they had indeed been miraculously delivered from the powerful Egyptian army which was destroyed, so they had to attribute this reality in their life to something. Drawing upon their religious experience in Egypt, they decided to make an idol out of gold and use that image as a symbol of great power. (Read the story in Exodus 32)

The typical things people have historically looked to idols to provide for them are: guidance, wealth, fertility, and health. God, the Creator of heaven and earth, presents himself to his people as the sole source of these things we need and desire. God does not act like a “magician” by providing these things for us out of thin air, but most of the time he works through his natural order of creation which is upheld by his power. The creation, however, is not a closed system, and he himself is not bound to its laws. He operates outside of it also, and in the person of Jesus, especially, we saw the power of the Creator in human form interact and overcome the limitations of the physical creation in many instances. Jesus walked on water, turned water into wine, immediately healed people’s diseases, and even raised people from physical death back to life. But the decision as to when supernatural events happen always originates with God, and not the created beings. The prophets and other leaders at times were used by God to perform miracles, but the miracles were performed by God through them. “Magicians” on the other hand, those who truly perform magic (not just illusions), are interacting with the spiritual world being controlled by their own thoughts and desires, or those of the spirits who are also created beings.

Are things any different today in terms of idolatry? It has taken on a different form, but it is in essence the same thing it has always been – trust in idols rather than God to supply our needs and desires. Modern-day culture has changed dramatically since the theory of Darwinian evolution came on the scene and dominated academics in western culture, so that today the physical world is exalted above all other realities. The spiritual world is either denied or ignored. Hence, creation of physical idols is very uncommon, because current culture ignores the unseen world that could be represented by such physical manifestations.

What has replaced those idols, however, are beliefs in new ones. The most common idol in western culture today, by far, is medicine – the new “magic.” Modern day medicine has existed for a relatively short period of human history, and the creation of a body of licensed “physicians” can be traced back to the start of the vaccine movement in Europe in the 1800s, when health officials wanted more control over the population and what they perceived as threatening diseases like small pox. Today, medicine is seen as the solution to almost all of life’s problems. A pill or vaccine exists now for just about every ailment or problem in life, and for those problems that don’t have a medical solution yet, billions of dollars are spent on research to find one. The belief system currently in place is that physical science and medicine can solve all problems in life. The people who control the medical system are trained and licensed and given great authority to control our lives. Currently they have the authority to take children away from their parents, to declare someone “insane” or mentally disturbed and have them committed to an institution, force people (especially children) to use their products via immunizations, and make sweeping laws and regulations that affect the lives of everyone. It is believed that life itself is dependent on medicine, and this belief system is used to justify the authority and power the medical system has in our culture.

How have we allowed this to happen? How does the population for the most part willingly believe in the medical system and give up so many of their freedoms and so much of their wealth to this system? There’s only one rational explanation: idolatry. We are simply repeating the same mistakes that have been made throughout history, when God is removed from our belief system and replaced with a belief in something else. We learn to trust in our idols instead. If history lasts long enough, I predict that a day will come many years in the future that will look back at our current day and culture and have the same feelings of repulsion and disgust that those of us feel today when we look at ancient cultures that trusted in graven images and spirits in their idolatrous practice. “How could they be so foolish to trust in those things”, we think today, and in the future I suspect the same thoughts and questions will be pondered about our medical practices today.

The winds of change are blowing already, however, as many are beginning to see just how far we have come in this blind trust we have in medicine. Some are stepping back to try and take an objective look at the effectiveness of our drugs, and what is being seen are some very troubling facts that can no longer be denied.

First, depending on which set of statistics you look at, deaths from legally prescribed medicines and the administration of the medical system is seen as either the number one cause of death in the US today¹, or the number three cause of death just behind cancer and heart disease². This would include deaths from prescription drugs and hospital mistakes that are preventable. All of the statistics used to reach a conclusion like this are from standard published reports that come out of the medical system itself. Yet this is not widely reported in mainstream media, because of the belief that medicine and the medical system is necessary for life, and that therefore we have no choice but to put up with these mistakes and accidental deaths that are a direct cause of medicine. Anything that is put forward as an alternative to the medical system for health is generally attacked and declared illegal, and if those from within the medical system decide to become “whistle-blowers” to speak up and try to reveal the failures of the medical system, they are usually attacked and they often lose their careers. This is especially true in the vaccine movement right now, which seeks to greatly increase the number of vaccines required to immunize children and now even teenagers and adults. Hundreds of thousands of parents know first-hand that vaccines have either killed or permanently damaged their children (and this is even backed up by statistics in the VAERS - Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System – government database), and yet the medical establishment continues to deny there are any problems in the face of overwhelming evidence. While great wealth and profits are definitely tied into the vaccine and medical industry as a whole, I believe that the overriding motivation is a belief system, and not necessarily strictly a profit motive (although the profit motive is also a huge factor!) For vaccines, the belief is that if everyone is not vaccinated, dangerous viruses and diseases will spread through society and threaten life itself – the very existence of the human race. That belief, however, is not backed by objective science. It is simply a belief system, based on historical plagues and what future plagues could potentially do. It is a belief system that feeds on fear and makes no consideration that there is a God who has ultimate control over his creation.

Secondly, people are now starting to look objectively at the effectiveness of medicines, and what they are finding is very disturbing. This is especially true when it comes to psychotropic drugs within the field of psychiatry. Psychiatry is presented as a part of medical practice that supposedly has its basis in biological science, but it just simply is not true. There are currently no biological tests that can diagnose mental illness. None. Drugs are prescribed simply on symptoms. It is a $330 billion industry, and the number of antidepressant drugs prescribed has doubled in less than one decade. Most people don’t realize that the diseases these drugs are supposed to treat are diseases that psychiatrists vote on to include in their “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders” (DSM)³. There are no objective tests to detect these “diseases,” and the number of defined diseases that go into the DSM are increasing at an alarming rate, and now include such things that in the past were considered within the realm of normal behavior. One of the largest and most controversial ones is “attention deficit disorder” which is increasingly being used to prescribe strong drugs for children that are “over active” and have “behavior problems.” Even unhappiness is now considered a disease, and drugs can be prescribed for that too. Critics point out that the DSM is so large now, that it can now cover the behavior patterns of the entire human population, and effectively label everyone now as having a mental illness. What a huge market for their drugs!

As editor of Health Impact News, seldom does a week go by where I don’t see at least one story, and many now from mainstream media sources, questioning the validity of this increase in antidepressant drugs and their dangers⁴. These drugs are now being implicated in the increasing school shootings we are seeing so frequently in the news⁵, and to an alarming increase in suicide among our youth⁶. They are also being increasingly used with the elderly population who are often defenseless to defend themselves and stand up for their rights⁷.

Idolatry is the reason we have allowed this medical system, which is so wrongly labeled as “healthcare”, to become as powerful as it is today. Some may think after reading this that I am opposed to all drugs and anything involved with the medical system. That is not the case. There are real drugs that are based on real science that obviously have great benefit, and can save lives. Antibiotics are a case in point. But our blind trust in antibiotics has led to such an abuse and overuse that they are losing their effectiveness. This is because over 80% of all antibiotics are used on animals⁸ in our industrial agricultural system, and it is estimated that of the other 20% or so used to treat human illnesses, about 90% of those cases antibiotics are used unnecessarily. If we continue to follow the current path we are taking, some feel that antibiotics will completely lose their effectiveness, making it impossible to perform life-saving procedures like surgeries or emergency room trauma⁹.

Many today are recognizing the faults of the medical system, and they are seeing that what is labeled as “science” to justify this system of treating diseases is in fact primarily a belief system and not really science at all¹⁰. “Scientific” studies that are published in peer-reviewed journals regarding new drugs or vaccines are almost exclusively funded by the drug companies themselves, with tremendous conflicts of interest.¹¹

There is a solution to this mess we have created:

This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One… "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains; their name would never be cut off nor destroyed from before me." (Isaiah 48:17-19)

The cure for idolatry is belief and trust in God our Creator and Redeemer. The Redeemer Messiah had not yet been born during the days of the prophet Isaiah, but we live in a day and age after he has been born, and his name is Jesus Christ. Faith in God our Creator and the Redeemer Jesus, is the opposite of idolatry, and recognizes that life depends on God the Creator, and that redemption, the forgiveness of sins and spiritual rebirth, comes from a relationship with Jesus. When we trust in God, we trust in his word, and this is his word to us: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

Don’t put your trust in the medical system! If you need to use it, make sure you have sought the Lord first, and that he is the one leading you to the right people and the right solutions. The prescription for dealing with sickness in biblical times was to seek counsel from spiritual leaders, not doctors. Life is not dependent on the medical system, and often times there are natural solutions, and sometimes even supernatural ones. God is the author of all life, and he is the one who upholds it. Seek him first, and depend only on him!

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:14-16)

Related articles:

Who is Responsible for Providing Healthcare?

Do Doctors Really Heal?

References:

1. The medical system is the leading cause of death in the US: by By Gary Null, PhD; Carolyn Dean MD, ND; Martin Feldman, MD; Debora Rasio, MD; and Dorothy Smith, PhD

2. America’s Health Care System is the third leading cause of death in the US: by Barbara Starfield, M.D.

3. Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights: Psychiatric Disorders Voted Into Existence - Psychiatry’s New Billing Bible, The DSM: A Goldmine of Mental Disorders for Pharma

4. Here are some recent ones: Ex-Pharma Sales Reps Speaks Out – Pharma Not in Business of Health (Video), Antidepressant drugs do not work, and they have serious side effects (includes Videos), The hidden tyranny: children diagnosed and drugged for profit, Psychiatry Biggest Offender in Mis-diagnosis and Unnecessary Procedures (ABC News) – These are a small sampling of recent stories. To view the most recent ones, click here.

5. See: Take This Antidepressant, and You Too May Have a Violent Psychotic Break, and Psychiatry’s Prescription for Violence (Video)

6. See: Harming Youth: Screening and Drugs Ruin Young Minds (includes Video)

7. See: Judge Clears Way for Whistleblower Lawsuit Over J&J Risperdal Kickbacks (prescribing antidepressants for the elderly in nursing homes when they didn’t need them), Senate Aging Panel blows whistle on over drugging dementia patients

8. See: Congresswoman Slaughter Fights to Keep Antibiotics Effective, Reduce Unnecessary Use in Animals

9. See: Overuse of Antibiotics “Greatest threat to human health”

10. See: Is modern medicine more science or religion? and The Uncertainty of Medical Practice: A physician's perspective

11. See: BMJ & Lancet Wedded to Merck CME Partnership Conflict of interest on Vaccine research? and Why the media is usually wrong about health information

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God Speaks: Are You Listening?

2011-02-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets... Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. (Psalm 50:1-3)

The author of Psalm 50 was very emphatic about who he was writing about at the beginning of this Psalm, using three different terms for God, the Creator of heaven and earth. In a culture filled with idolatrous worship of other things and other “gods”, the author didn’t want to leave any doubt about who he was writing about. Psalm 50 is a clear reminder of who God is, his place in the universe, and what he expects of his people. It offers valuable lessons for us also here in the 21^st century.

First, Psalm 50 establishes the fact that God is both the owner and the ruler of the physical universe – both heaven and earth. And as the ruler, he has something to say to the inhabitants. God is not a silent ruler. He speaks. It is within our best interest to listen to what he has to say.

The main point Psalm 50 is trying to communicate is that God is not concerned about religion – a system of activities or rules that people use to try and please God or earn his favor. No, God is not concerned with religious activity. He wants a relationship with us. That is the heart of what he is trying to communicate to his people in Psalm 50.

The religious system in place during the day this Psalm was written was a Jewish system of sacrifices that were started during the days of Moses. It was never intended to be a religious system where the people would earn God’s favor by performing these sacrificial duties prescribed by the law. It was intended to be a reminder to the people of how dependent they were on God, both for their spiritual needs as well as their physical needs. The purpose was to draw their hearts and minds back to God, and to rely on him alone for all of their needs. That kind of worship, where one totally depends on God alone for all their needs by walking in faith, is what was supposed to separate the Jewish people from all other nations and religions.

So God reminds them in this Psalm that they have lost their focus, and that they have replaced their dependency on him with religious activities:

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? (Psalm 50:8-13)

Notice that he states that he is not rebuking them for the sacrifices. The acts of sacrificing themselves were not wrong, they were written in the law that he had given to them after all. It was their perspective on the meaning of those sacrifices that bothered God. He is basically saying “how foolish of you to think that I need these sacrifices for some reason. I already own the universe, including all your livestock and all the wild animals that are not domesticated. I know every single one of them. So what makes you think I need these things? You have lost your focus on the purpose of these sacrifices.”

Fortunately, God does not simply stop there with pointing out their faults. His criticism is a “constructive criticism” designed to get them to change their behavior for their own benefit. He goes on to state what he really desires from his people:

Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. (Psalm 50:14-15)

God knows that we can do nothing apart from him. The very air that we breathe every second of our existence is dependent upon him. He desires a relationship, not religion. He wants us to come to him for everything, both in good times and in difficult times. When we enjoy any good thing in life, he wants us to thank him. That’s a sacrifice, because it takes a sacrifice on our part to set aside time to focus our thoughts and mind on God and thank him for his blessings in our life. When things are not going well in our lives, he wants us to turn to him for help, because he is the best person in the universe, being its creator and ruler, to supply what is lacking in our lives.

Things have not changed much today. The principles all remain exactly the same. Most of us have religious or what we consider “spiritual” activities that we do, and it is easy to think and engage in these activities thinking that we are pleasing God somehow. But God is not pleased with our religious activities. He wants a relationship with us. He speaks to us all the time, and perhaps he is speaking to you right now through this message you are reading. Will you make a sacrifice of thanks to him today, and take time to listen to him? He knows what your needs are, and he has the solution.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. (James 5:13)

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7-11)

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:15-17)

Related Articles:

How God Speaks to Us Today

How Can We Please God?

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How to be Restored from Sickness

2011-02-13T12:33:00.000-06:00

The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. (Psalms 41:3)

The way sickness was viewed in Biblical Old Testament times and the way sickness is viewed today in the 21^st century is almost in completely opposite terms. In Old Testament times, sickness was primarily viewed as a judgment from God for sins. This view primarily stemmed from Israel’s experience in the Exodus from Egypt, when God inflicted plagues on the Egyptians.

He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you." (Exodus 15:26)

In our modern day post-Darwin era, sickness is almost always viewed as strictly a result of natural causes, with no thought given to spiritual issues such as sin. Medicines and other cures are seen as the remedy for all sicknesses. If a cure does not exist in medicine, it is believed that one will be discovered in the future through scientific research.

Both of these views are extreme and imbalanced. The Book of Job in the Old Testament, the record of a righteous man and his sufferings and sickness, completely contradicted the belief that righteous people never suffer, and that all suffering is a result of some sin in our life. Here is what was written about Job:

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1:1)

But as the story unfolds, Job loses everything and suffers terrible sickness as part of God’s plan for his life. His “counselors” came to try and convince him he was suffering because of some sin in his life. But God himself had declared Job “blameless.”

Jesus also contradicted the belief that all sickness was a result of personal sin:

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:1-3)

The naturalistic view today that all sickness is a result of natural causes that man can control and cure through medicines is certainly not supported by real science. There is no medicine or natural cure that works 100% of the time, and properly prescribed medicines today kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, and are the third leading cause of death in the US. Our current day medical system, which historically has only been around for a relatively short time, began post Darwin and ushered in an era of great hope and expectations with the belief of being able to cure all the world’s diseases through medical technology. Many are now seeing the limitations and problems inherit in the medical system and its underlying philosophy and approach towards disease, and many are now beginning to lose faith in the medical system which is dominated by politically and economically powerful forces that dominate western culture.

David’s words in Psalm 41 give us great wisdom regarding how we can be restored from sickness:

Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. I said, "O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you." My enemies say of me in malice, "When will he die and his name perish?" Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad. All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, "A vile disease has beset him; he will never get up from the place where he lies." Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. But you, O LORD, have mercy on me; raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever. Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. (Psalm 41:1-13)

As I have noted in other articles about the life of David, sometimes he suffered sickness because of personal sin in his life, and at other times he suffered because of persecution – the sins of others. But his approach to being restored from sickness is very consistent throughout his writings. Notice the principles he teaches in this Psalm:

1. He looks to the Lord in his helpless condition.

2. He trusts in the Lord for his healing.

3. He confesses his sins.

4. He depends on the Lord’s mercy for healing – he does not see healing as something he deserves or he can purchase from disease specialists.

5. He is honest before the Lord, and before others.

David saw healing as an act of mercy from God. Being sick puts us in a helpless situation, where we recognize our dependency on God. David was honest about his own weakness and sins, and he depended upon God’s mercy for healing. “Mercy” means receiving something you do not deserve as an act of benevolence. You can’t purchase mercy – it’s free and it is totally dependent on the benevolence of the one offering it.

Contrast this with the way most people view being restored from sickness today. We are not honest about our sinfulness and dependency on God. We believe that sickness can be remedied by counter-acting the illness through drugs, rather than dealing with the root problem of the sickness. We don’t believe we need God – we believe that science and medicines have the answers to our problems via man’s knowledge, and we put our faith in medical experts. Sadly, many people only turn to God after much suffering, and when they reach a point where they understand that man’s knowledge is insufficient, and that medical technology has its limits and faults. They spend great resources and sometimes even give away their entire wealth and family inheritance to the medical system in fighting the sickness, rather than being honest and acknowledging the source of the problem and asking God to act in mercy, trusting in him rather than man’s wisdom and technology. And while the medical technology does work sometimes, it only deals with the symptoms, and not the root cause of the problem. Hence, even in those situations where relief is accomplished, true restoration from sickness is not accomplished, since that depends on our relationship to our Creator.

The ultimate restoration from all sickness, of course, is in redemption from our sins through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As I have written in other articles, viewing sickness from strictly a physical perspective is historically a unique view on health, unique to our day and age post Darwin. Other cultures throughout history have always viewed the process of healing as part of the spiritual realm as well, and healing was always accomplished through appeasing those in the spirit world (usually through offering some sort of sacrifice at an altar), in addition to any physical remedies that might exist. This is viewed as “primitive” today, but it would seem that “primitive” man may have been more intelligent than modern man in some ways, because they understood that true health could not be accomplished strictly through physical remedies. The spiritual restoration from sickness has existed for a couple of thousand years, however, and is solidly based on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and restoring man to a proper relationship with his Creator by dealing once and for all with the spiritual and physical consequences of man’s sins.

How do you approach healing and restoration from sickness today? Do you only seek physical remedies while never giving thought to the spiritual causes of sickness? If so, you can find greater success by following the five principles listed above that David followed to be restored from sickness, and acknowledge that healing has a spiritual aspect also. Being honest before God about our spiritual condition and looking to him for healing can result in our own spirit being completely renewed through the rebirth process.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1:8-9)

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. (1Pe 1:18-25)

Related Articles:

What is Health?

Do Doctors Really Heal?

Who do You Run to When You are Sick?

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Dealing with Unhealthy Anger

2011-02-07T12:50:00.000-06:00

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed.... (Psalm 37:7-9)

Psalm 37 was apparently written by an older and wiser King David (I was young and now I am old… v.25.) If you know anything about the life of David as recorded in the Bible, you will know that David suffered through many trials and persecutions throughout his life. Many people hated him and tried to kill him throughout his lifetime, including government officials, “friends”, and even his own son. Psalm 37 deals with the heart of the issue of injustice in the world, and the anger it can produce in our life. He writes:

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. (Psalm 37:1-15)

Dealing with the injustices that we see in the world and in our own personal lives begins with a faith in God, believing that he created everything and has absolute control over his creation, including the affairs of man. “Evil men,” as David calls them, those who do not believe in or serve God, have no future either in this life, or in the life to come in eternity. God has a master plan. He has the last say. A long-term view of life sees that God and righteousness always win. So when we see injustice and things in life that are just “not fair,” we need to first understand that God sees it also, and he has a plan to make all things right, to bring everyone into an account for their actions someday. Having this understanding, our proper response is to wait for God to take action, and follow his leading in our life to accomplish his purpose in us, the purpose for which he created us. Anger is not a proper reaction, because it pre-supposes that God either does not exist, or that he exists and just doesn’t care; that he has no plan to take care of things and bring about justice. According to David, this incorrect view of God leads to anger and negative results in our life.

Look at the benefits, however, of trusting in God in these situations:

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (Psalm 37:3-6)

What a wonderful promise he makes to us if we trust in him! With such a wonderful promise from someone who never lies and never goes back on his word, why would we ever have any reason to be angry at the difficulties life puts in our path? We know what the future holds, and we know that there is an all-powerful God who will make all things right.

Are you caught in a circle of anger and frustration over the “unfair” circumstances of your life, and your powerlessness to be able to do anything about it? If so, then be assured that you are right where God wants you to be, in a position to come to him in faith and helplessness and to “wait patiently for him.” Replace your frustration and anger by “delighting yourself in the Lord,” and you will soon experience the joy and peace that comes from trusting in God. If you are delighting yourself in the Lord, you will then find out that the things you desire in life are the things God wants you to have, and that he delights in giving them to you! All the reasons to be angry will then just fade away…

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. (Psalm 37:23-26)

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Where does Healing Come From?

2011-01-30T09:22:00.000-06:00

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life…’” Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.” (Isaiah 38:1-5,21)

The record of King Hezekiah’s life; his illness, his prayer, and what the Lord spoke to him, provide valuable insights for us regarding healing. Let’s take a look at some of the principles this historical account teaches us.

First, healing comes from God, the one who created us. God also controls the timing of our physical death. Hezekiah developed some kind of sickness, and God sent word to him through the prophet Isaiah that he was not going to recover – he was going to die. Hezekiah then cries and prays to God. God hears his prayer, and decides to add fifteen years to his life. After delivering this message from God to Hezekiah that he would recover, Isaiah then uses “a poultice of figs” to apply to his skin disease as a remedy. If Isaiah (or anyone else) had tried to use this natural remedy prior to the Lord declaring that Hezekiah was going to be healed, it would not have worked. God made the decision: Hezekiah and Isaiah just followed his directions.

Modern day science is based on the foundation of evolution, and the belief that the universe is a closed system. It sees the universe in primarily physical terms. To have such a belief, one is forced to not believe in God or creation. However, God does exist, and his existence is not limited to the confines of his creation, e.g. the universe. He also exists outside of it. Therefore the universe cannot be a closed system. God created it, and he interacts with it as he chooses. The historical records of the life of Jesus show that Jesus constantly defied what evolutionists would call “the laws of nature” by doing such as things as walking on water, turning water into wine, healing diseases, and even raising dead people back to life.

Unfortunately, modern day medicine and modern day naturalism/alternative health primarily base their systems of healing on the evolutionary foundation which believes in a closed system. Healing is believed to exist primarily within the physical realm. So the medical system trusts in its medicines, and the naturalist trusts in natural substances such as herb, nutrients, etc. That these physical remedies do indeed have therapeutic value cannot be denied, even as people during the days of King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah probably understood that “poultices of figs” also had therapeutic value. But as noted above, God had already spoken regarding Hezekiah’s condition, and no natural or man-made remedy could have changed that. Among all the medicines and natural remedies known to man today, none of them affect healing 100% of the time. People still get sick, and people still die.

The second major principle we can learn from this account of King Hezekiah, is that God hears people’s prayers, and he is moved by them. The fact that God can “change his mind” regarding future events is also documented in other places in the scriptures. One of the best stories is the one of the prophet Jonah. Jonah was sent to preach against one of Israel’s enemies and go to the city of Nineveh. He tried to resist God, but that was futile. So he entered the city and proclaimed the word of the Lord, which was that Nineveh was going to be destroyed within 40 days because of their great sin. But as was similar in the story about Hezekiah, prayer was offered up to God, and God changed his mind:

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. (Jonah 3:6-10)

Could it be that in the case of Hezekiah God was allowing certain things he had sown in his life to take their course in his illness until Hezekiah humbled himself before God and came to a point of recognizing his own sins and shortcomings, much like what happened with the king and citizens of Nineveh? I think we have the answer in Hezekiah’s own words after he was healed:

Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. (Isaiah 38:17)

Hezekiah apparently saw his illness as an opportunity to humble himself before God and change his ways. He could not say “you have put all my sins behind your back” if he was not aware that he had sinned against God. His illness humbled him and made him aware of his failures before God, and he turned to God for forgiveness and help. That was a good thing, and it moved God to change his mind!

Contrast that with the way our modern culture approaches healing today. Starting with a presupposition of a universe that is a closed system and where God does not exist, we approach all illness as a result of “natural causes” that can be observed through empiricism. God is never considered, and any sins committed against God are considered only as part of religion, and certainly not part of modern day healing. Spiritual health conditions are almost never related to physical health conditions. Remedies are sought only in the physical realm, and restoring one’s relationship to their Creator is not considered.

As I have noted in other writings (see links below), such a narrow concept of health and healing is a recent phenomenon in human history. Even within ancient Greek culture, which brought to us empiricism and much of the beginnings of modern day "science" academic thought, they believed in a spirit world and approached healing from not just the physical realm, but also the spiritual. They looked to their Greek gods, such as Apollo and Zeus, for healing in addition to using physical remedies. They understood that there was a spiritual aspect of health also, and they sought the favor of their gods.

I have also noted in other articles that our personal sins are not always a direct cause of our sickness. Sometimes our health can suffer through the sins of others, or from direct causal relationships to things such as pollution or toxins in our environment. But the source of healing is always the same in all circumstances, whether we recognize it or not.

I am the LORD, who heals you. (Exodus 15:26)

Where do you see the source of healing coming from? Who do you turn to when you are sick? When you are healed, who do you give credit to?

O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. (Psalms 30:2)

The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. (Psalms 41:3)

Do Doctors Really Heal?

What is Health?

Who is Responsible for Providing Healthcare?

Who do You Run to When You are Sick?

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The Key to Happiness and Long Life

2011-01-17T22:47:00.000-06:00

Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness? (Psalms 34:12)

I come across articles and advertisements quite frequently within the world of nutrition, natural foods, and alternative health that advertise or make claims to supply “long life” and happiness. There is even a whole field of science today called “longevity” which studies ways of slowing down the aging process. While there is wisdom and good practical advice within this field, it comes up short of delivering what is promised or hoped for, because of the way our culture defines “happiness” and “long life”. Happiness is usually thought of as a life free of stress and troubles, and long life is concerned only with our short (compared to eternity) life here on earth.

When you study the writings of King David in the Psalms, you learn a lot about happiness and longevity. It is interesting that the prelude to Psalm 34 does not put David safe and secure in his royal palace at the time of writing this Psalm. It puts him in that period of his life where he was constantly on the run from King Saul, who was always trying to kill him. He had to hide in caves and constantly keep moving to keep King Saul and his forces from finding him. That meant at times going to foreign countries that were enemies of Israel, and trying to convince the leaders of these countries not to kill him also. At times he apparently pretended to be insane to these foreign rulers just to protect himself. Doesn’t exactly sound like a happy existence with a future, does it?

But David never defined happiness as the absence of conflicts or struggles. On the contrary, happiness was found in the midst of them. Psalm 34 gives us the keys to David’s contentment in the face of life’s difficulties, and he instructs us how to live a long life with happiness.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (Psalms 34:4-10)

When David faced difficulties in life, he turned to his Creator for help. David had a relationship with God. He knew that God loved him, and he trusted God to take care of him through all of the junk life can throw our way! As David ran for his life during the years Saul was trying to kill him, look at the statements of health that he wrote in the verses above. He prayed to God, and God delivered him from all his fears. His confidence in the Lord made him “radiant” and his face displayed joy instead of shame. His experiences in the presence of God are described as pleasant to his senses, as he uses such words as “taste” and “see.” In his distress he did not suffer from hunger and weakness – the Lord provided for all his needs, because he looked to the Lord alone as the source of everything he desired.

David enjoyed life, even in the midst of persecution and tremendous difficulties. He also wanted others to enjoy life as he did, and live long on the earth, so he wrote the secret to enjoying life and living long on the earth:

Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honor the LORD. Would you like to enjoy life? Do you want long life and happiness? Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart. (Psalms 34:11-14)

It is very interesting that the first thing David wrote as the key to happiness and long life is what comes off of our tongues! This is probably because our speech reflects what we believe and what is in our hearts. I have written about the healing power of words in another article. Our tongues have the power to destroy or heal others, and according to this statement by David it also affects our own life as well. If we are speaking things that are not true, we are out of step with our Creator and the purpose he created us. To be happy and live a long life on earth, we need to “Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart.”

The key to doing this is to understand that God is in control of all things, and that we don’t have to take things into our own hands every time something goes wrong in life. We have to trust that God has a master plan, far above and beyond everything we could possibly know, and that we just have to trust him. To think that life is meant to be free of troubles or concerns is a wrong perception of the truth and reality. So many people who are chasing happiness and longevity are pursuing an empty dream of something that does not exist in this life. This produces frustration and the desire to blame other people and other things for all our troubles. But David clearly writes here that happiness and long life are accomplished in the midst of troubles and difficulties in life, by having an attitude of trust and faith, and turning to God when we need help:

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all… (Psalms 34:15-19)

So the key to happiness and long life is not the absence of difficulties, but the proper attitude and response towards them. This attitude is much different than the world’s attitude of trying to control our environment and circumstances to produce a life free of troubles and difficulties, pursuing the false dream of something that does not exist in this life. Hence, our modern day culture has replaced faith in God with faith in science, technology, and medicine, foolishly believing that these man-made objects of our faith will produce happiness and longevity. The “naturalists” are not much different, concentrating mostly on the physical realm and simply replacing technology and medicines with vitamins, herbs, etc. But both approaches start out with the wrong presupposition about life (evolution) and the difficulties we face in life (survival of the fittest or ”advancing” in the evolutionary process), and how to deal with them, because they leave the Creator out of the discussion.

David then concludes this Psalm with this thought:

Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The LORD will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalms 34:21-22)

God has the last say. We are all mortal and we will all die a physical death and come face to face with our Creator. Those who have depended upon God and have gone through the spiritual rebirth process will not be condemned, because Jesus was condemned in our place. Those who trust in anything besides God throughout their life will suffer the consequences. So how you deal with life’s difficulties and pursue happiness and longevity in this life also affects what happens to you in the rest of eternity!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:16-21)

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The Health of Waiting

2011-01-08T19:04:00.001-06:00

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill." Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30:15-18)

The Jews were facing certain destruction at the hands of the Assyrian army. In the physical realm, it looked hopeless. The enemy was too strong! So they started to act in the way they thought was best, by looking to Egypt for help against a common enemy.

But God sent them a message through his messenger, the prophet Isaiah. The message: wait! The answer to their problem did not lie in alliances with other countries or by running away: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…” The solution to their problem did not lie in the physical realm. The answer was in their relationship to their Creator. They needed to repent of their sins, and then simply wait in quietness and trust.

Waiting is difficult, however. It is always easier to take action immediately and take matters into our own hands. Yet learning to trust in the Lord and wait for His timing reaps great benefits! The leaders of Israel, who listened to the word of the Lord and waited, saw great victory in the face of seemingly hopeless situations. Read about King Hezekiah who did just that in 2 Kings 18:17 through 2 Kings 19. The result was that “the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp” forcing their troops to withdraw from their attack on Jerusalem. The Jews never even had to fight! The words of Isaiah were proven true: “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (See above)

Isaiah the prophet had a keen understanding of the principle of “waiting” upon God, and wrote about it often. He stated that those who waited upon God could gain great physical strength:

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (Isa 40:28-31)

This phenomenon of great physical strength was observed many times among the people who waited for God in faith. David waited on God for probably more than 10 years before he was installed as king over Judah and Israel, and all during that time he faced tremendous persecution and had to constantly hide from King Saul who sought to kill him. A couple of times David had the opportunity to kill Saul himself and end the madness, but he refrained, choosing instead to wait for God’s timing. David’s writings in the Psalms frequently attest to the great advantages of waiting for God:

A Psalm of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust, do not let me be ashamed; do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed; those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Make me know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:1-5)

Waiting for the Lord is not strictly related to just the physical battlefield either. Waiting for God is related to faith in God, trusting that he controls all things and has a master plan where everything works out in the end to accomplish his purposes. Waiting is a kind of trust knowing that things as we see them now will not always be the same, because God controls the past, present, and future. This kind of waiting and faith takes away all cause for anger towards injustice, and the things in life that just don’t seem fair:

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. (Psalms 37:7-9)

Today, unfortunately, we live in a world that has no patience, and where waiting has no value. We are taught that “time is money,” and time is seen as a commodity that can be bought and sold, and something that should not be wasted. But time is also eternal, and in light of eternity, its value for the present becomes greatly diminished. Believing that one has no time to wait, or no time to spend getting to know our Creator, is a huge misconception. When our current culture approaches the issue of sickness, for example, we believe that we don’t have time to wait for our healing, or an extended period of time to rest and to seek the Lord for understanding about what his purpose might be in our illness. Viewing time as a commodity and something that should not be wasted in “unproductive” rest and waiting, we seek “magic” pills instead to make us feel better, never taking the time to wait and understand what the underlying cause of our illness is, and the long-term cure, because we believe we don’t have time to wait. How tragic! The result is that today, “properly” prescribed drugs (separate from the recreational use of drugs which is also a big problem) is now the fourth leading cause of death in the US, causing more than 106,000 deaths each year. Unfortunately, impatience often kills. Waiting on the Lord, however, can bring great healing. Are you willing to wait?

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion... Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30:18)

Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40:31)

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Do You Know Your Creator?

2010-12-07T20:41:00.000-06:00

more precious than gold, than much pure gold… (Psalms 19:10)

When David finally took possession of the nation of Israel and was installed as king, he became a man of great wealth. When we read the Psalms he wrote, we see the things he valued most in life reflected in his writings. David valued his relationship to his Creator above anything else on earth. Knowing God was the most important thing in David’s life. As he wrote in Psalm 19, understanding God’s revealed word was more precious and valuable to him than gold or anything else life had to offer him.

Psalm 19 shows us three truths about how God communicates with us, and how we can know him. As I have written previously, the word “know” or “knowledge” has various meanings. One can “know” facts or truths about someone without ever meeting that person, such as reading books about the person. This is a different kind of knowledge than knowing someone through a personal relationship. The first two truths in Psalm 19 are concerning knowing about God, and the third truth is concerning having a personal relationship with God. So the first two truths are one-way communication of knowledge from God to us, and the third way is two-way communication between God and us.

Truth One: Knowing God through Observing His Creation (Science) - Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. (Psalms 19:1-6)

David starts out the Psalm by writing about how God speaks through his creation, specifically the “heavens.” The “heavens” here is referring to parts of creation we can observe in the sky, specifically the stars and the sun. According to Genesis 1, the stars, sun and moon were all created on the fourth day of creation:

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)

We can see several purposes of the elements we can observe in the heavens from these verses: signs to mark seasons and days and years, to give light on the earth, and to separate the night from the day. David states in Psalm 19 that these signs in the heavens communicate with their own language, and that they “declare the glory of God.”

Throughout much of the history of mankind the concept of the word “science” meant to study the creation God had created and learn from it. As I have written in other articles, the English word for science used to be synonymous with the word “knowledge” before it took on its more narrow meaning in modern times. Much of early science was concerned with studying the heavens for purposes of navigation when the world still traveled around primarily in ships. We also read in the book of Daniel in the Bible that the Babylonian culture (and later the Mede/Persian culture) had knowledge in the study of the stars, as these “wise” men, which included the Hebrews Daniel and his friends, included “astrologers.” It was this knowledge that led the Magi from Persia many years later to follow the Star of Bethlehem to find the Messiah, the Jewish King, born as a baby in Bethlehem who was named Jesus. (There is an excellent documentary made on the Star of Bethlehem by Rick Larson which is worth watching: http://bethlehemstar.net/ )

In the Book of Romans in the New Testament portion of the Bible, the apostle Paul writes that the creation of God teaches us about God’s moral character, and that the truth of God and his existence is evident to all who look at the creation. God’s creation speaks to us and there can be no doubt that God created us, and that we have a responsibility to understand who God is:

While observing the creation teaches something about God and leads us to seek out our Creator, the second way God communicates with his creation is through his revealed written word.

Truth Two: Knowing God and What He Expects of Us through His Revealed Written Word - Psalm 19:7-11

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalms 19:7-11)

Observing the universe that God created and learning from its language teaches us some things about God. But what God’s expectations and standards are for those of us who live in this world had to be revealed to man by direct encounters with God. Throughout the history of mankind God chose certain people to communicate these standards and directives. Many of them were directed to write down these messages from God, referred to in Psalm 19 by various words such as laws, statutes, precepts, commands, and ordinances. The Bible today is the best collection of the written record of these revelations from God.

Moses was the main person who recorded the laws of God in Old Testament times. God had made a covenant with Abraham, the forefather of the Jews, which is recorded in Genesis 12:

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)

Israel was the chosen nation from which God would bless all other families on the earth. But during the days when Moses lived, the Israelites were slaves in the land of Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt miraculously, and then he revealed to Moses a system of laws and commands by which they were to live. These commands were dictated to Moses in his own language. This revealed law from God that Moses wrote down is contained within the first five books of the Bible that Moses wrote. It is this body of writing that King David is mainly referring to in Psalm 19:7-11, which he placed greater value than anything else that existed on earth. Notice how David describes God’s written revealed word:

It is perfect, reviving the soul.
It is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
It is right, giving joy to the heart.
It is radiant, giving light to the eyes.
It is pure, enduring forever.
It is sure, and altogether righteous.
It is more precious than gold.
It is sweeter than honey.
It warns/protects us.
There is great reward in keeping it.

Living and ruling the nation of Israel by this system of laws that God had revealed to Moses allowed David and the nation of Israel to prosper. A partial fulfillment of the Abraham covenant was fulfilled, particularly during the rule of his son King Solomon, where Israel had rest from all their enemies, and all nations of the world came to Jerusalem to worship God and learn the wisdom of King Solomon which was based on the written revealed word of God: The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. (1 Kings 10:24) Solomon wrote much of the “wisdom” literature contained in the Old Testament portion of the Bible, particularly the Proverbs.

The Old Testament Law is still valuable to us today in understanding God’s expectations and standards. It is still the basis of most legal systems around the world today. In the New Testament the apostle Paul wrote:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

“Scripture” is another word used to refer to God’s revealed word in written format, and we use it today to refer also to the New Testament writings of the Bible. But when Paul wrote this, he was referring mainly to the Old Testament writings because not all of the New Testament writings had been recorded or collected yet. The laws of God are seen as “useful,” not only for rulers and legal systems of nations, but for the “man (or woman) of God” who wants to be “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Throughout history rulers and religious leaders have sought to keep the Bible from being translated into the common language of the masses, so that they could be kept “in the dark” and easily controlled. Many of these “dark ages” passed away after key reformers took on the task of translating the scriptures into the language of the common people in the face of terrible persecution, such as John Wycliffe (English) and Martin Luther (German). Their efforts transformed societies because of the great knowledge of the scriptures that was made available to the masses. In more modern times, the atheistic communist regimes have sought to keep the scriptures from being available to the masses of people during the “Cold War” period.

Truth Three: Knowing God on a Personal Basis – Psalm 19:12-14

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:12-14)

While the written revealed word of God communicates standards and principles that God desires everyone to live and abide by, he wants us to move beyond knowing about him, and come into a personal relationship with him. David not only knew about God through looking at the creation and studying the revealed written word of God, he had a personal relationship with God, where God communicated with him on a personal level, guiding him and directing him according to the path that God had planned for his life.

What makes this kind of relationship possible is the act of forgiveness. While studying the laws of God teaches us what God expects of his creation, it also teaches us that we fall short of meeting those expectations, and that we are incapable of living by those expectations perfectly. Once we understand this, we understand our need to be forgiven by our Creator in order to come into a personal relationship with him.

Fortunately for us, God has provided a way for forgiveness that does not compromise his own character of holiness, purity and righteousness. Since God is both the law-giver and the law-ruler, he cannot pervert justice by allowing guilty people to go unpunished. That would violate his own character and the very moral fibers of the universe. In Old Testament times, a blood sacrifice was commanded to atone for sins. The writer of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament explains that the act of an animal sacrifice in and of itself did not atone for the person’s sins, but that it was their faith in God. Faith in God that he would atone for their sins was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, referred to as the “lamb of God,” whose sacrificial death on the cross atoned for the sins of the world. Forgiveness of sins is now available to anyone without the need for animal blood sacrifices. A desire to turn away from one’s sins (failure to keep the standards of the law) and find forgiveness, trusting in God’s provision in satisfying his demand for justice through the death of Jesus Christ, results in a person being born again spiritually and coming into a personal relationship with him. Do you know your Creator? Or do you only know about him? For more on the born again experience, read here.

Once our sins are forgiven and we have a spiritual relationship with God, we can communicate with him on a personal level, receiving wisdom and guidance from him that is specific to our life, and the plan he has for us!

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

WHO You Know is More Important Than WHAT You Know!

How God Speaks to Us Today

The Voice of God: Your Path to Healing or to Suffering

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What does it mean to be a “Christian?”

2010-11-03T17:51:00.000-05:00

The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. (Acts 11:26)

The name “Christian” carries a wide range of meaning and understanding today, as it has throughout history. It is obviously related to “Christ,” which is from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “Messiah,” and refers to the person of Jesus Christ. A general definition of “Christian” then would be someone who follows the teachings or doctrine of Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus Christ are contained in the Bible, but how they are understood and what kind of people should bear the name “Christian” is highly debatable, and by no means universally accepted or understood.

It is interesting to note that the followers of Jesus during his lifetime on earth and shortly after did not refer to themselves as “Christians.” In the New Testament writings of the Bible, those who followed Jesus and his teaching referred to themselves as “disciples,” “believers,” “brethren,” and other similar terms. When they were gathered together in one place they referred to themselves as the “church,” which has a very different meaning in the way it was used in the Bible than it does in contemporary culture. It meant a gathering or assembly of people for a specific purpose. The word was used not only in a religious sense, but also in a secular sense such as in Acts 19:39 where the word is translated as a legal “assembly” in relation to the Roman government. The focus is on the people and their gathering together, not on the place or building they gathered in, or in some organization or institution, as the word has come to mean in contemporary culture.

The original disciples and followers of Jesus were all Jews. Therefore in the very early stages of the development of church gatherings in and around Jerusalem, which grew at a rapid rate where sometimes thousands of people were added to the assemblies at one time, the disciples were seen as a sect, or branch, of the Jewish religion which centered around the teachings of Jesus Christ. Sometimes the disciples were referred to as the sect of “the Nazarenes” by those who opposed them, because Jesus and many of the original disciples came from Nazareth. It was believed that no prophet or person of note would ever come from that area of Israel, so it was a negative term used by those who opposed the early believers. But they were still viewed as Jews.

All of that quickly changed, however, when non-Jews began believing in Jesus and joining the assemblies, and even starting their own assemblies. Non-Jews were called “Gentiles.” The first large assembly that quickly grew of mainly non-Jews was the one in Antioch. To refer to these believers as a sect of the Jewish religion or “Nazarenes” was no longer appropriate. Hence, the people living in that area began calling them “Christians.” It does not appear that the believers themselves were using this term: it appears that it was used by those outside the church, to distinguish them from Jewish believers. It is likely that like “Nazarenes,” the name “Christian” was used negatively.

Besides Acts 11:26, the word “Christian” is only used in two other places in the Bible. One is in Acts 26, when Paul is being held prisoner by the Roman Governor Festus before going to trial in Rome, and he appears before the Jewish King Agrippa and eloquently defends his faith in Jesus as the Messiah. King Agrippa then asks Paul: “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28) Since the term “Christian” seemed to be only used for Gentile believers, the Jewish King’s question could be interpreted as a question of denying his Jewish faith. Paul does not give a direct yes or no answer, but instead replies: “Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” (Acts 26:29) He basically avoids the term “Christian” altogether, since in his defense he mentions how strictly he adhered to the conservative form of the Jewish religion as a member of the Jewish Pharisee party. To “become like Paul” in this context therefore was to be like a strict conservative religious Jew who had accepted Jesus as his Messiah.

The final occurrence of the name “Christian” appears in 1 Peter chapter four. In this chapter the apostle Peter is explaining to believers that those who follow Christ will suffer hardships, and that this is normal. He draws a distinction between those who suffer simply from associating with Christ even though they have done nothing wrong, and those who suffer because they commit offenses against others. He writes:

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (1 Peter 4:12-16)

It would appear that within this context, again it is those who are opposing the believers that are using the name “Christian.” But Peter says that in such a situation we should not be ashamed of the name, since it includes the name of Christ. We should praise God in such a situation.

So should believers of Jesus Christ today use the name “Christian” to describe themselves, even though the earliest disciples did not? There is probably no right or wrong answer to that question. The answer really depends on what one wants to communicate by using such a name, and how the people you are communicating with understand the meaning of the name. The name “Christian” is understood in many different ways, especially among various cultures and languages around the world, since there is so much history and politics associated with the name. One should consider carefully how the name is understood within their particular context and culture.

Of much greater importance is the issue of what Jesus himself thinks about the use of names and associations. As I have pointed out in other devotionals, there is a vast difference between knowing about someone and truly knowing that person through personal association. One can say, for example, that they know the President of the United States, because they know the President’s name and know some things about the President and the political party the President is associated with. Such knowledge comes from reading what others have written, or listening to what other people have said about the person. The number of people who “know” the President this way could well number in the hundreds of millions, if not billions of people. But the people who truly know the President through personal association, who have actually met the President and spent time with the President, would be a far smaller number by comparison.

Knowing Jesus is the same way. Jesus strictly warned people that those who only know about him, including religious people, will have no place in his eternal kingdom:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Just as there are very many people who know about the President of the United States but only a few people who truly know the President, so it is with Jesus. Bearing the name of “Christian” or believing in a certain doctrine will not impress Jesus when you meet him in eternity after your physical death, if that is the first time you are meeting him. Even those who live “good” lives and try their best to follow the teachings of Jesus and the Bible will not impress Jesus. Only those who truly know Jesus will enter into his eternal kingdom, and Jesus himself said that the numbers who enter will be few:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Notice in the passage above how Jesus describes those who truly know him: “but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

Jesus himself was the perfect example of someone who only did the will of his Father in Heaven, and never did things to serve his own self-interest:

I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does….. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:19,30)

There is a God who is the Creator of the world, and who also created you. He has a specific will for your life. Everyone is either learning to follow God’s will for their lives, or following their own personal interests while ignoring God. Jesus knew God perfectly and perfectly followed his will. Those who know Jesus and are his disciples are in the process of learning how to deny themselves and their own personal agendas, and how to follow God’s will and plan for their lives.

Do you know Jesus? Are you one of his disciples? This question is far more important than what label you carry, or what other people call you. To know Jesus, we first have to meet him. We do this spiritually, by being born again spiritually. To learn more about the spiritual rebirth, read the foundational article here. Once we meet Jesus, our personal agendas in life need to be given up and laid at the feet of Jesus as a sacrifice, so that as disciples of Jesus we wait for his instructions to accomplish the will of God in our lives. Our will is sacrificed for his. We will find true health and fulfillment the closer we draw to him and follow his plan, as we get to know him better and remain in his presence each day accomplishing his will!

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:4-19)

Re-Creation: The Rebirth

WHO You Know is More Important Than WHAT You Know!

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Joy within Sorrow: The Great Paradox of Life

2010-08-14T10:55:00.000-05:00

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

The time of Jesus’ earthly ministry was drawing to a close. Soon he would have to walk that lonely road to the cross where he would be crucified, and separated from his family and friends. He knew that his family and friends would initially experience great sorrow over his execution and death, but he also knew what wonderful things were going to happen in the future on the other side of the cross, when he came out of the grave and rose again from the dead. So he takes some time with his closest disciples to try and prepare them for what is about to happen.

At the beginning of the fourteenth chapter of the gospel of John, we have the words of Jesus recorded that he spoke to his closest friends just before he was betrayed and handed over to the Jewish authorities to be arrested and executed:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:1-3)

Jesus’ words here contain an exhortation, and some promises. The promises are:

1. My father has a “house” with many rooms. This place is not in the current physical world, but in heaven.

2. Jesus was going to this place in heaven, and preparing a place for his friends.

3. Jesus is coming back to take his friends with him to this place in heaven.

These promises then formed the basis for his exhortation: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” Things were going to get ugly very quickly. A group of soldiers were on the way to arrest Jesus, and he was about to be tried and convicted, and then sentenced to execution. Things would appear to be hopeless. It would appear that they would be completely separated from Jesus, never to see him again, as they would watch him die a painful death being executed on the cross. But the truth of the situation was that his death was temporary. Wonderful things were going to happen as a result of his death, which was actually part of an overall plan to bring salvation to the world. So he takes this time just before he is arrested to comfort them with the truth, and exhort them to not let their hearts be troubled, but instead trust in him and the things he had taught them.

Our hearts represent the seat of our emotions. Our emotions can get out of hand and betray us, and sometimes we need our mind to take over and control our emotions. This is what Jesus was attempting to teach his closest disciples, and he further elaborated on this concept in John chapter 16, where he compared the current situation they were going through with the example of a woman suffering while giving birth to a child:

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:20-22)

A woman can have joy in the midst of her pain and agony while giving birth to a child, because she knows what the result will be in the future after that event is over. The result is something very positive and joyful. Jesus stated that his followers would experience the same thing: a time of grief followed by great joy. This is the truth of the great paradox in life: the greatest joy is found in the midst of pain and suffering.

Outside of the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus explained in John chapter 15 that this concept of having joy within the midst of pain and suffering was an ongoing process – not just something that happens occasionally in life. It is God’s way of “pruning” us and keeping us connected to Jesus:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful… No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:1-11 italics added)

While the pruning can be painful, the outcome is “fruitfulness” and joy. The more we experience the love of God by remaining united to Jesus, the more joy we have. But along with that joy comes opposition by the world and the world system. This opposition brings pain and suffering into our life. But that pain and suffering should not snuff out our joy, because we know the outcome of our faith and what is in store for the future. Jesus overcame the world system that opposed him and led to his execution, by rising from the dead. He lives in heaven now, and his followers will also join him there.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

The world’s philosophy of life, built upon the faulty foundation of evolution, is in direct contrast to this paradoxical truth of joy in the midst of pain and suffering. If you are not joyful, their solution is to give you a pill and hide the pain and suffering. Their incorrect thinking is that the world is becoming a better place through science and technology, and that pain and suffering will one day be overcome through man’s superior intelligence and technical skills. They believe medicine will one day eliminate diseases, for example. Unfortunately, there is no true joy in this view of life, because there is no hope for the future, after physical death. Only despair. Science and technology are poor objects of faith to trust in when the pain and suffering of life hit you hard.

Jesus, on the other hand, is a person worthy of our trust and faith. He gave up his own physical life on the cross, and now offers a place in heaven in God’s house to all who trust in him. Knowing Jesus and his love for us, will give us great joy, and complete joy, during the times of pain and suffering in this life. He doesn’t remove the pain and suffering from our lives: he himself had to walk the road of pain and suffering to the cross. But he offers us strength, encouragement and hope, which leads to joy. Do you trust him? Do you have complete joy in your life?

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

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The Superiority of Spiritual Food

2010-07-17T17:41:00.001-05:00

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:31-34)

Did you know that there is physical food and there is spiritual food? One may be enjoying good nutritious physical food and be completely nutrient lacking in spiritual food, or even starving to death spiritually. We wrote previously regarding the necessity of spiritual food, as taught by Moses in the Old Testament writings of the Bible. Moses wrote:

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

The spiritual food that Moses wrote about was symbolized by the physical manna, which was a heavenly bread that God gave to the Israelites all the years they sojourned in the desert after they left Egypt, and before they came into the promised land. But the actual spiritual food was “every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Jesus states this very same truth regarding spiritual food in John chapter 4 in the verses above, when he took time out to talk to the Samaritan woman at a well near the Samaritan town of Sychar. His disciples had gone into town to buy physical food to eat. When they brought the food back to presumably start preparing for a meal (probably no ready-made fast food in those days!), they urged Jesus to eat with them. But Jesus had just finished a long discussion with this woman explaining that he was the Messiah and the fulfillment of their prophecies, and she was now bringing the rest of the town out to meet him and hear his teaching. This was no time to eat! Jesus took time to meet the spiritual needs of the people in the town before he took care of his own physical needs for food, because this was what God was telling him to do at that particular time.

Jesus demonstrated the superiority of spiritual food over physical food. Obviously it is not wrong to eat a meal at meal times, but in this particular situation God had a specific plan for Jesus to accomplish, and that was Jesus’ spiritual food. Jesus stated on many occasions that while he lived his life on earth, that he never did anything that God wasn’t already telling him to do. Jesus did not speak or act out of his own initiative. He only spoke the words God gave him to speak, and only did the things God told him to do. Always.

Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (John 5:19)

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30)

So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. (John 8:28)

Jesus had perfect spiritual nutrition, because he perfectly heard and perfectly obeyed everything God told him. Now we can have spiritual food also, by listening to Jesus and obeying his instructions for our lives. Spiritual food is superior to physical food, because it leads to eternal life and spiritual health, whereas physical food only nourishes our body, which will eventually die and decay.

Jesus came into a village one day where two sisters invited them into their home. One of them busied herself with preparing for the meal, while the other one took time to listen to Jesus’ teaching. One was concerned with physical food, while the other was concerned about spiritual food:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)

On another occasion Jesus was teaching in a rural area where several thousand people showed up to listen to him teach, and to perform miracles of healing. On that occasion he took “five small barley loaves and two small fish” and multiplied it into enough physical food to feed thousands of people. It was such an incredible miracle, that the people wanted to make him king right then and there. But Jesus knew that they were more concerned about physical food than spiritual food, and tried to teach them the difference. Here is the conversation as recorded by John:

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, "I came down from heaven'?" "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:25-63)

Jesus tried to explain to them the superiority of spiritual food over physical food. Remember, spiritual food is defined as hearing the voice of God and obeying it. Jesus did this perfectly, and had perfect spiritual health. The main principles regarding spiritual food that Jesus taught in the passage above were:

1. To recognize Jesus’ voice and the truth he was speaking, one had to know God first, and most of the Jews of his day did not. Manny of them knew about God through the writings of Moses and the Old Testament scriptures, but few actually knew him personally. If they were not already being nourished with spiritual food by listening to and obeying the voice of God, as Moses had taught them, then they would not recognize Jesus’ voice either.

2. Spiritual food is more important than physical food, because it has eternal value: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”

3. Jesus spoke of spiritual food symbolically by calling it his flesh/body and his blood. He was of course referring to his sacrificial death on the cross which as yet had not happened when he spoke these words in John chapter 6. These statements about his flesh and blood brought tremendous confusion to those present, and most of them stopped following Jesus, probably thinking he was crazy. But a short time later Jesus’ body was pierced as he was nailed to the cross, and his blood spilled onto the ground. That voluntary death broke the power of sin and physical death over the human race, allowing Jesus to offer spiritual life and eternal life to all who believe in him and accept his free gift of salvation. It is a spiritual salvation that results in us being reborn spiritually. This act of faith in accepting Jesus’ spiritual gift of salvation is in essence our first spiritual meal. Jesus instituted a kind of memorial meal just before he died on the cross that is commonly known today as “the Lord’s Supper.” It took place during the Jewish Passover meal:

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:14-20)

This memorial dinner Jesus had with his disciples just before he went to the cross was to symbolize the New Covenant Jesus was instituting by his sacrificial death. Just as a lamb was sacrificed under the Old Covenant that Moses had instituted, and the blood of the lamb was put on the doorposts of the Hebrew slaves living in Egypt so that the angel of death might pass them by, so now Jesus was becoming the Lamb of God whose blood spilling on the cross would take away the sins of the world.

This is where your spiritual nutrition starts, and your first spiritual food. It starts by believing in Jesus for your spiritual health and spiritual rebirth. Then it continues as we listen to Jesus and his instructions for our lives as we live out the rest of our days here on this earth. The closer we listen and the more we obey and carry out the instructions he gives us, the healthier we are spiritually.

What is your spiritual health like today? Are you lacking in spiritual nutrition, or perhaps even starving to death spiritually? Physical food will only nourish your body which one day will die and begin the process of decay, returning to the dust of the earth. But your spirit will live on into eternity. Is your spirit currently nourished, or famished? Spiritual food comes from Jesus, and it is FREE! Ask him today for your daily bread, his specific instructions for your life, so that you will not go spiritually hungry.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

The Necessity of Spiritual Food

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The Validity of Testimony vs. Science in Understanding Truth

2010-06-29T20:58:00.001-05:00

I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? (words of Jesus in John 3:11-12)

We have seen in a previous devotional how the meaning of the English word "science" has changed over the years. Originally a French word derived from Latin, its original meaning was synonymous with "knowledge." In the 18th and 19th centuries its meaning was generally equated with the field of "philosophy," but in 20th and 21st centuries its meaning is much more restricted and is generally equated with knowledge "obtained and tested through the scientific method and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena." (Full quote and reference here.)

The problem with this very narrow definition of science used in modern times is that there are very few things in real life that are proven via "the scientific method." Proving historical events, for example, cannot be done via the scientific method. We can read historical records of events, but we have to trust the person who recorded the event since there is no scientific method for proving historical events. This is also the reason we have a judicial system for trying legal cases. Our system of determining guilt in a historical crime such as a murder, for example, is heavily dependent upon the testimony of witnesses. The scientific method might be used for the gathering of data and certain kinds of evidence, but an eye-witness testimony from a credible source is usually considered the strongest evidence in a court of law to prove something as true or not.

The Jews in Old Testament times similarly placed great weight on the validity of testimony. A sentence of death could not be applied without the testimony of "two or three" witnesses:

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Hebrews 10:28)

The weight of testimony in determining truth is also dependent upon the credibility of the witnesses. When the Jews tried to accuse Jesus of blasphemy, for example, and sentence him to death, they apparently had a hard time finding two or three credible witnesses:

Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.'" Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. (Mark 14:55-59)

When we consider the truth about Jesus, it is important to consider the testimony about him and his identity, and his own testimony to the truth that comes from God. The first person recorded in the Bible who gave testimony to the identity of Jesus is John the Baptist. John was considered a prophet by the populace, and he caused quite a stir among the religious leaders of his day as he quickly gathered large crowds who came out to be baptized by him. He was a threat to the religious leaders and was eventually beheaded because he opposed the corruption in the government of his day. But at the height of his popularity, it is recorded that the religious leaders sent a delegation out to him to try and figure out who he claimed to be. John replied by stating that his purpose was to testify about Jesus, who is the Son of God:

This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,' as Isaiah the prophet said." Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." ...The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' "I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God." (John 1:19-34)

Notice the testimony that John gave about Jesus: 1. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, 2. He existed before John (even though John was born before Jesus), 3. He saw the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus out of heaven, 4. Jesus would baptize people in the Holy Spirit (as opposed to only water as John did), 5. Jesus is the Son of God.

After John the Baptist was imprisoned, Jesus began his own ministry and soon his popularity far exceeded John's because of the incredible miracles that Jesus performed. The religious leaders also confronted Jesus, because he was threatening their power base:

The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name testify of me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:24-30)

Jesus apparently did not answer them directly and use the term "Christ/Messiah," because the title was understood mostly as a political title, and someone coming from the line of David and claiming the Davidic throne would have been considered a political threat to the Roman government that ruled in Israel. Instead, Jesus testified about his relationship to God whom he called his Father. This was considered blasphemy by the Jews, and they tried to arrest him, and on at least one occasion even tried to stone him. But the crowds following him were still too powerful. So they continued to try and engage him in public debate and trap him. Using the law of Moses, they accused him of false testimony:

The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:13-19)

Jesus stated that his testimony was true, and that God himself testified about who Jesus was. There were many ways God testified on behalf of Jesus. One of the ways God testified about Jesus was through the miracles Jesus performed, such as miraculous healings, miraculous feedings, and even raising people from the dead.

The miracles I do in my Father's name testify of me (John 10:25)

Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. (Acts 2:22)

When Jesus walked the earth, there were also several occasions God spoke to Jesus in an audible voice from heaven:

"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine." (John 12:27-30)

Since the crowds that followed Jesus were frequently divided between those who believed his testimony and those who did not, presumably those who believed in him heard this voice from heaven, while those who did not believe him thought they heard thunder.

But the main way God testified on behalf of Jesus was through His Spirit. We read in a previous devotional that most of our direct knowledge comes through personal relationships, and not scientific discovery. Jesus constantly stated that those who knew his Father, God, also would know him. This is because Jesus never spoke on his own initiative, but only spoke the words God was speaking to him. So those who knew God (via a personal relationship as opposed to simply knowing about God through the Old Testament writings) and recognized the word of God, would recognize Jesus. This is the reason that John, the author of the gospel of John, referred to Jesus as "the Word."

I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. (John 5:30-38)

The religious leaders of Jesus' day were mostly corrupt (although there were some notable exceptions - see the story of Nicodemus in John 3:1-20), and only had intellectual knowledge about God through the Old Testament writings. They did not know God personally, and therefore they did not recognize Jesus or accept the abundance of testimony about him.

Things are no different today. Living in our modern western culture which is built upon a theory of evolution, most people try to understand truth strictly through the physical realm, foolishly believing in the myth that science can prove all truth. But there are many things we base our lives on today as truth that are not learned through scientific discovery. If you want to prove your birth, for example, you produce a birth certificate which is based on testimony, usually the testimony of a physician or person who helped your mother with your delivery. If you want to prove your marriage, you produce a marriage certificate, which is based on testimony, usually the testimony of the person officiating your wedding ceremony, etc. These are examples of the many things we hold true that can NOT be proven through scientific discovery.

So do you believe the testimony about Jesus and his claims? He claims to be the Word of God, the Son of God, the Creator of the World, the firstborn of the dead having risen from the dead and walking out of the grave after three days, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, offering eternal life as a free gift to all who believe him.

Jesus came from heaven as the Word of God, and spoke the words of God. John, the author of the Gospel of John, explains that those who receive the testimony of Jesus certify that God is true, and receive God's Spirit as a certificate of his ownership over us. This certificate guarantees that we will inherit eternal life. Those who do not believe the testimony of Jesus must bear the penalty of their own sins. When they die the physical death, they will not meet God with the certificate of the Holy Spirit that those who are born again spiritually have. Do you believe the testimony of Jesus? Do you have the certificate of the Holy Spirit necessary to enter into eternal life? You don't want to die without it, because faith in science will not prevent your physical death or guarantee your entrance into heaven!

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is true. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:31-36)

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Are You Relying on God’s Love?

2010-05-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

When Jesus walked the earth in human form and began his three year ministry, many believed in him and followed him as disciples. Among those disciples, there were twelve that he chose at the beginning of his ministry. These twelve were with him during the entire three years his ministry lasted, up until his death and resurrection. Eleven of these twelve went on to become apostles and leaders in the early church. Out of those original twelve, he had an inner group of three that were closer to him than the rest: John, James, and Peter. Of those three, it seems apparent from the New Testament writings that John probably knew Jesus the best. Both John and Peter went on to become major leaders of the early church, while James (the brother of John) was executed early on in the beginning of the spread of the gospel message in Jerusalem.

In John’s biography of Jesus, which is unique and different from the other three biographies written (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), he never referred to himself by name in his writings. Instead, he usually referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (e.g. see John 20:2 and John 21:7). This man John, who was apparently the best friend of Jesus, defined his relationship to Jesus as “the one whom Jesus loved.” He had experienced that love first hand, and when you read his writings in the New Testament, it is the foundation for everything he wrote and taught – the foundation of truth itself.

The letter of 1 John is perhaps the greatest teaching ever written on the truth and meaning of love. The truth statement “God is love” is not simply an intellectual declaration. John knew God’s love. It was not simply the intellectual kind of knowledge where one examines all the evidence and then makes a decision, but the kind of knowledge that comes only through a relationship and subjective experience. John knew God’s love because he experienced it during his time with Jesus. His knowledge of God’s love moved far beyond intellectual understanding. He relied on that love as the basis for everything in his life.

As John came to experience and know God’s love, he realized that God is the source of true love, and that the only way we can love others, is to first receive the love that God has for us. We cannot give something to others that we ourselves do not possess. God gives it to us first, and then once we own it, we are free to give it to others.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)

God’s love is a free gift, packaged through the sacrifice that Jesus made when he shed his blood on the cross. There is nothing we can do to earn such love. We can only believe in it (intellectual knowledge), and then receive it (faith/action) and start relying on it. When we receive God’s love through Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we are born again spiritually. Once we are born of God spiritually, we possess his unlimited love, and can now love others with the same love.

The first person we should love with the same love that God loves us, is God! How do we love God? John wrote:

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:3-4)

The motivation for obeying God’s commands completely changes once we receive God’s love and are born again. Our motivation changes from a sense of obligation or fear in trying to earn God’s favor by obeying the law, to joyfully serving God and delighting in finding out what his plan is so we can obey it and show our love to him.

In the Old Testament there were laws regulating the use of slaves, and one part of the law allowed for a slave to willingly and joyfully stay with the master’s family because he (or she) loved them:

But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant. (Deuteronomy 15:16-17)

Obviously the motivation for a slave to obey his master because he was sold into slavery and had no choice, and the motivation for one that chooses to remain a servant voluntarily out of love for his master, is completely different. The work that needs to be done is the same, but the relationship is completely different. When we obey God after we are born again, it is like the servant in the Old Testament that voluntarily let their ear lobe be pierced, because they loved their master. The best way we can show our love to God is to offer ourselves back to him as a living sacrifice to do his will:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

We obey God out of love because we want to, not because we have to. But if our motivation to obey God is simply fear, then we do not yet know God’s love perfectly:

In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:17-18)

And when we willingly offer ourselves to God to obey his commands, as John writes, we do so in faith, and our faith grants us access to God’s power which overcomes the world! (See 1 John 5:3-4 above.)

As to God’s commands, they are simple! Love one another with the same love God has loved us:

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:23)

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:19-21)

Remember that “love” here is defined by God’s love for us. God is love, as John wrote, and the love that he has for us is an unconditional love via the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins. So it is not based in anything “loveable” about us, and it is not something we deserved or earned. It is given. We deserve death as a punishment for our sins, but Jesus took our place.

So now we are to love others the same way. This command is simple and easy to understand once you know God’s love personally. But implementing it is not so simple. It is not easy to love someone who is wrong, or has hurt us, or doesn’t deserve our love, or is just simply not “loveable” for a multitude of reasons. But that’s the way God loves, and it is the command we are to desire to follow. It takes God’s Spirit living inside us to be able to do this. That’s where the reliance comes in that John wrote about in the verse that we started with above:

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

We can’t rely on ourselves, and we can’t rely on others. We can only rely on God’s love. It is not enough to just simply know about God’s love intellectually. We have to have the kind of experience with God and his love where we rely upon it, because we are living inside God’s love, and his love is living inside of us through the Holy Spirit. That kind of experiential knowledge of God’s love will change our life, and the lives of those around us. Are you relying upon God’s love today?

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:10-11)

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The Healing Power of the Truth

2010-05-12T02:38:00.001-05:00

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:5-10)

If one wants to live a truly healthy life, it is absolutely necessary to live in the truth. What is “truth”? Truth begins with the reality that there is a God who created all things, that he controls all the affairs of the universe, and that he knows who we are and why we exist:

LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (words of King David in Psalms 139:1-16)

Starting with this foundational truth, we then understand that since there is a Creator who knows us and created us for a purpose which he established, our lives will experience the greatest health the closer we follow his plan for our lives. A perfect world would be one where everyone followed God’s plan. That is the condition of a place called heaven today, and at one time it was also the condition of the earth we live on. But when the created beings stopped following God’s plan and came up with their own plans instead, everything got messed up. This is what the Bible refers to as “sin.” There are many negative consequences to sin, including the decay of our bodies and physical death. Death was not part of the original plan, but God implemented it as a punishment for sin so that people who did not carry out his plan and purpose would not go on and live forever following their own ideas and plans.

So one would think that the solution is simply to get with the plan that God has for the human race, and start obeying him and living by his plan and purpose. And indeed that is what man has tried to do throughout much of history via religion. God appeared to Moses and the Israelites in Old Testament times, and gave them a system of laws that they could use to live their lives and judge others who did not live according to the plan. That system is still the basis of most legal systems throughout the world today.

There is a problem, however, with religion and laws and man’s attempts to get back with the plan and follow God’s purpose in life by following a system of rules and regulations. We can’t do it. We don’t have the power or strength to follow such a system perfectly. Our natural tendency is to do things our own way, rather than follow someone else’s rules and regulations. Especially in modern day American and western culture, we pride ourselves in being independent and subservient to no one. Modern culture is built upon a foundation that is a lie, evolution. It denies the spiritual realm and denies God’s existence, allowing man to set himself up as the one who establishes “truth.” But this whole system is a system built upon lies, and is not the truth. Following a system built upon a false foundation of lies results in poor health.

God, being the Creator and owner of all things, is certainly within his rights to exert himself through his superior power and strength, and force everyone to do his will. And we are told that one day he will indeed do that. But God did something that is absolutely incredible, and that separates him from all the religions of the world: he sent his son into the world as a perfect human being to show us the way to get back with his plan. Jesus carried out God’s plan and purpose perfectly and never committed any sin – the only human being to ever live a sinless life. He did not deserve the punishment of death for sins, but he ended up sacrificing his life for those of us who could not live sinless lives ourselves. He then broke the power of death by rising from the dead three days after he was killed.

So now there is a new plan in New Testament (or New Covenant) times, after the time period when Jesus died and rose from the dead. It replaces the old plan which was religion and a system of rules and regulations, and imperfect animal sacrifices that were intended to please God and have him forgive us for all the times we followed our own way and not his. The new plan acknowledges that Jesus Christ was the only human being who completely followed God’s plan and that now he alone is able to give eternal life to those who trust in him:

Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” (John 5:19-21)

This is a very important truth about the new plan: real health and eternal life with a place in God’s Kingdom cannot be earned by religion or good works. It is something that Jesus gives to those whom he wants to give it to. Fortunately for us, he is the most generous and gracious person in the universe, and he wants to give it to everyone! It is a free gift, and it is available to anyone who wants it:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

This is the truth that trips up most people, because it is hard to believe that someone will actually give away something for absolutely free, especially something as valuable as real health and eternal life with a place in God’s kingdom. People don’t like charity. We’re too proud. We want to earn our way – we don’t want handouts. But that’s the new plan! The only condition is that you have to believe it is true, and you have to take it. Most don’t.

So as we have written previously, there currently exist two kingdoms on earth in the spiritual realm: the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan who is called “the father of lies” in the Bible, and the Kingdom of Light ruled by Jesus. Everyone is in one or the other of these kingdoms spiritually. One kingdom is built upon a system of lies, while the other one is built upon a foundation of truth. We are all physically born into the kingdom of darkness, because we inherit the sin nature from our parents and are totally incapable of following God’s plan. We enter into the Kingdom of Light by receiving the free gift Jesus offers, and then we are re-born spiritually. The spiritual rebirth gives us a personal relationship with Jesus through his Holy Spirit. We are then capable of walking in the light, and following Jesus as his disciples (students), and learning directly from him what God’s personal plan is for our life. This is the truth that brings real health and sets us free from the sickness of sin:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

Are you living in the light? Do you know the truth that transforms lives and brings perfect health? Are you following Jesus as one of his disciples? As the apostle John wrote above in the opening Bible passage, those who confess their sins come into the light and understand the truth, while those who deny they are sinners do not know the truth, and base their lives on lies (like evolution and the belief that God doesn’t exist or doesn’t care.) Some people come into the light and recognize the truth, but then wander back into the darkness still trying to follow either their own plan, or the first plan of religion and a system of rules and regulations. But to know the truth is to know the source of all truth, and that is Jesus Christ. Do you know him today? If not, accept his free gift of eternal life and invite him into your life right away! Then you will experience real health.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

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Is Your Life Effective and Productive?

2010-04-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8)

According to the apostle Peter in this verse, if we possess knowledge of Jesus Christ, our lives are to be effective and productive. I think what makes this verse difficult to understand in modern times, is our western concept of “knowledge.” When we read a verse like this in the ancient scriptures, we bring our western cultural understanding into the text, and we are probably thinking of “knowledge” as an accumulation of facts. We probably think of knowing about someone, such as reading about that person in a book.

But as I have pointed out in previous devotionals, the mindset of those who wrote the Bible was not western, and they did not tend to look at life strictly in terms of “scientific knowledge.” They placed a much greater emphasis on personal knowledge through relationships, the kind of knowledge that comes about through subjective experience, as opposed to only objective facts about something.

For example, one could read about the richest person in the world and accumulate lots of facts about that person. If they are the richest person in the world, there is probably a lot of written material about that person that one could spend time reading and studying. The more you read and study, the more you will know about that person. One can have a specific kind of “knowledge” then about that person obtained through reading and studying the facts about them.

But how useful will that knowledge be if you have never actually met that person, and if that person has no idea who you are because there is no personal relationship between you and that person? Will the wealth that person possesses be able to help your own financial situation? Obviously it is highly unlikely this person would help you personally with their vast wealth (although reading about the principles of how they became wealthy might help you obtain your own wealth). The only use your intellectual knowledge would have of such a person would probably be if you were to meet someone else who has less intellectual knowledge of that person than you do, and you were able to educate them. Or if you met someone who thought they knew some facts about this person, and tried to argue with you about those facts without having actually “done their homework” and spent the time reading and studying about them like you did, then you could probably win a debate with them and display your superior “knowledge.” But still, that knowledge you possess of the facts would not help your financial situation at all in obtaining access to some of this person's wealth if you did not have a personal relationship with the richest person in the world. Knowing facts about this person is is a completely different kind of knowledge than really knowing this person through personal contact.

So when Peter writes “they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” I doubt seriously that he is writing about simply knowing facts about Jesus. I am quite certain that the kind of knowledge he is talking about, the kind of knowledge that allows one to live “productive and effective” lives, is the kind of knowledge that is the result of actually meeting Jesus, and having a personal relationship with him. Having only factual knowledge of who Jesus is, even if you have memorized the entire Bible, will only help you educate others about those facts, or win debates about him. But it will not necessarily help you be effective and productive in life.

So what are the qualities of an “effective and productive” life as Peter wrote about? Here is what he wrote:

Being effective and productive in life begins with our minds, and understanding the “great and precious promises” that Christ has given us, and the “divine power” that is available to us. But it then moves beyond the intellectual knowledge, and produces faith in our life to put into practice the things we know are true. What good are great and precious promises and divine power if we never put them into practice? When we put them into practice, we possess the qualities of an effective and productive life that are listed here by Peter: faith – goodness – knowledge – self control – perseverance – godliness – brotherly kindness – love.

The knowledge spoken of here then is much more than just possession of facts. It is based on a relationship to Christ in the spiritual realm, where he communicates with us on a continual basis giving us direction and guidance in our own personal lives. The end result, if we listen to what he tells us and practice it, is always love! This is the “agape” (unconditional) love that comes from God and was demonstrated to us by the earthly life of Jesus, who died on the cross for us, even when we didn’t deserve it. Jesus not only taught and preached about God's love, he demonstrated it with his own life.

So the person who is productive and effective in their life is the person who is increasing in agape (unconditional) love, and transforming other people’s lives and their culture. It is a person who is living their life in direct contrast to “the corruption in the world caused by evil desires,” because they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and the wealth and power of Jesus is available for them to use.

Is that the life you are living? Is your life effective and productive, or do you mostly only have the intellectual kind of knowledge about Jesus that can educate or win debates, but that is ineffective and unproductive in regards to producing a life of love that transforms yourself and others around you? Do you truly know Jesus, and is he guiding your life to be effective and productive?

WHO You Know is More Important Than WHAT You Know!

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Spiritual Cleansing and Detox

2010-03-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7)

We live in a very polluted environment these days, and much of our food is mass produced and altered in such a way that we end up consuming toxins that our body needs to process and eliminate in order for us to enjoy good physical health. There are a variety of cleansing and detoxification protocols and products used today for these physical cleansings of the body.

But your spirit also is subject to spiritual toxins, and we are all in need of spiritual cleansing on a regular basis to keep our spiritual life healthy. The initial spiritual washing and renewal happens during our spiritual rebirth. As is written in the verses above in Paul’s letter to Titus, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Without this spiritual rebirth and cleansing, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God and inherit eternal life, and the new future body that God has for each one who is a member of his spiritual kingdom.

As this passage in Titus states, before we experience the spiritual rebirth we are “enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.” (Some translations say “lusts” instead of “pleasures.”) These are the spiritual toxins in our life that cause us to live “in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” When we are enslaved to our sinful nature and the passions and lusts of our sin nature, we produce many spiritual toxins. There are many lists recorded throughout the Bible that give us examples of these types of spiritual toxins. Read the words of Jesus himself:

He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man "unclean.'" (Mark 7:20-23)

So the first step in spiritual renewal and cleansing is the spiritual rebirth. When we repent and receive God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ, we receive a new spirit, and we are no longer slaves to our passions and lusts.

But we still have the sinful nature, so spiritual cleansing and detoxification is a continual and ongoing process. Those who concentrate only on the physical body and physical health are missing an even greater opportunity to achieve real health, which first comes through the spirit, NOT the body. Your spirit will live forever, while your current body is decaying and growing old, and is only temporary.

If one is truly born again spiritually and has the Holy Spirit living within them, then the spiritual cleansing and detoxification process is one of submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and allowing him to work in and through our lives, rather than giving in to the passions and lusts of our flesh:

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:16-26)

Notice the list of spiritual toxins that Paul wrote here in this letter to the Galatians, and its contrast to the fruit of the Holy Spirit. A spirit cleansed from these toxins can produce the spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit which accomplishes God’s purpose in our lives.

When we do fail to listen to the Holy Spirit, and instead give in to our sinful desires, we can experience immediate spiritual cleansing by confessing our sins to God:

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

No one likes to think of themselves as a bad person, so our natural tendency is to deny our sins, or excuse them away. These are the spiritual toxins in our life. “Repentance” means “to change one’s mind,” to admit and confess the sins in our life. Truth must have its reign in our hearts and minds, leading us to spiritual renewal and cleansing.

The first truth we must recognize and acknowledge is that evolution is a lie, and that there is a Creator God who created you and has a specific plan and purpose for your life. The second foundational truth we must recognize and acknowledge is that we are sinners before God, and that our only hope for spiritual renewal and life is through the forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers us through his death and resurrection. If you don’t have a clear understanding of these foundational truths, take some time today to read the foundation articles on this website that clearly explains these truths. Then take time each day to spend in prayer and reading God’s word to have your mind and spirit renewed, and find the spiritual cleansing and detoxification that leads to total health!

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

Defilement: Are You Shaping the Culture, or is the Culture Shaping You?

Arguing is not Healthy!

2010-03-07T09:58:00.000-06:00

Americans love to argue and debate! As one who has traveled extensively and lived in Asian cultures, I can testify to the fact that Americans are viewed as arrogant and rude by most cultures in the world today. Being opinionated, debating, arguing, and criticizing others have become virtues in our culture. Turn on any cable news network and you will constantly find people of opposing views arguing and attacking one another. And the shows that do it the most have the highest ratings! Americans love this kind of behavior.

So this may come as a surprise to most Americans who read this, but such behavior is viewed in the Bible as wrong! The verse above written by Paul to his young co-worker Timothy is one of the best statements attesting to this truth. Timothy was a missionary like Paul who preached the gospel message about Jesus and established churches in new places. There were many people in his day that opposed his ministry, as well as the ministry of Paul. In this instructional letter to Timothy, Paul makes it very clear that Timothy was NOT supposed to argue with those who opposed his teaching.

The command to not argue did not mean that he was not to oppose false teaching and false doctrine. On the contrary, we are encouraged to always be ready to make a defense to those who oppose our message. Notice how the apostle Peter addressed this issue:

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15-16)

Our communication and defense of the truth is to be “with gentleness and respect” – not arguing and attacking. Take a look at the entire instruction Paul gave to Timothy in this respect:

Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)

Timothy was instructed to oppose those who taught false doctrine, but by “gently instructing” and not by debating or arguing. The key point here I think is respecting the person or persons who are opposing you, realizing that if they are trapped in false thinking, they are walking in the kingdom of darkness. Therefore they have desperate needs to change their way of thinking (repentance), and come to a knowledge of the truth about Jesus and salvation. Their very lives and eternal destiny are at stake, and we must have compassion and love for people who attack us and oppose us!

While confrontation and arguing is seen as a virtue in American culture, many cultures in the world today value non-confrontation and courtesy. This includes the Middle Eastern culture of which much of the Bible was written from. During Paul’s day there was undoubtedly a conflict of cultures between the Semitic Jews and the Roman/Greek Gentile culture, which is the foundation of Western culture today. And since Timothy was brought up in the Greek culture (he was not from Israel), Paul considered it important to cover these issues regarding how to oppose and confront others. As a missionary, this was part of Timothy’s ministry. What made it even more difficult was the fact that Timothy was young, and considered a “youth.” Notice how Paul instructed him to confront others:

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (1 Timothy 5:1-2)

Is this the way you confront others? Or do you follow the popular American culture which values “sticking up for your rights” and participate in arguments and debates that seek to tear down and humiliate the person you are opposing? Unfortunately, that is the American way, but it is NOT the way of the servant of Christ. Those of us serving Christ are called to be courteous and respectful to those we are opposing, loving them and desiring that they come to a knowledge of the truth about Christ and salvation.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. (1 Timothy 2:1-8)

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Dealing with Despair

2010-02-28T08:53:00.002-06:00

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26)

The record of the life of Moses in the Bible is a story that tells us about the successes and failures of the man Moses. Few have walked this earth and experienced such contrasting experiences of despair and joy.

As I have written in other articles, we are all created for a purpose, and we find that purpose for our lives by developing a relationship with God, listening to his voice, and following his plan for our lives. Moses was a prophet, but he was unique among all other prophets in his age, and in the ages to come before Jesus came to earth, in that he regularly talked directly with God:

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. (Exodus 33:11)

When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. (Numbers 12:6-8)

Moses carried on conversations with God, apparently in his Hebrew dialect. The task God was giving to Moses was so fantastic, so significant, that God had to make sure there was no doubt in Moses’ mind that it was him who was speaking to him, and telling him what his purpose in life was.

Moses was a Hebrew born in Egypt during a time when all the Hebrew baby boys were commanded to be put to death. Moses’ mother hid him and he was found by the king of Egypt’s daughter. So he was raised by a princess.

When he became an adult, however, he saw how his people were mistreated as slaves, and apparently God put it in his heart to be the deliverer of his people. Unfortunately, he tried to do this in his own way, and ended up murdering an Egyptian who was beating one of the Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, heard about it and tried to kill Moses, but Moses ran away into the desert to hide. He lived there for 40 years as a shepherd, got married, and raised a family.

Then one day, God appeared to him in a burning bush, and started talking to him. He told Moses to go back to Egypt and deliver his people from their bondage as slaves. He made it clear to Moses that he would be with him and that he would show his power to Pharaoh. Moses did everything he could to try and convince God that he had the wrong man, but God was not persuaded. This was God’s purpose and plan for Moses, and when your Creator talks to you face to face in your own language, there can be no doubt!

So Moses goes to Egypt along with his brother Aaron to confront the king and watch God make a fool of Pharaoh, and bring about a great deliverance for his people. He told his people the news, performed a couple of miracles and they cheered him on. Everything was going well. God spoke to Moses. Moses listened. Moses obeyed. Moses followed the plan perfectly. But then his world fell apart.

I am convinced that Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh as recorded in Exodus chapter 5 was probably the lowest point of his life. He did everything God asked him to do, but it only infuriated Pharaoh, and in turn he made life even more difficult for the Hebrews, increasing their labor and hardship. The Hebrews wanted nothing to do with Moses after that (I am sure some wanted to kill him), and Pharaoh had basically laughed at Moses and mocked him and his God. Moses did everything right, but everything turned out wrong! The result was loneliness, anger, and despair.

Scripture does not tell us how long the interval was between Moses’ first and second encounter with Pharaoh. His subsequent meetings with Pharaoh were much more successful. It could have been days, weeks, months, or even longer before he dared to go back to Pharaoh a second time in obedience to God. We do see that the conversation between Moses and God continued during this time, as Moses expressed his anger and complained to God: Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23)

Since Moses himself is the one who recorded these events, there is probably a lot he left out in his writings of this time period, since it was such a depressing time for him. I imagine his complaining and anger towards God were much more involved than what is recorded here! He would naturally be brief in his record of those dark days, and instead emphasize the victories that followed in his writings. After such humiliation and disgrace, I am sure there were many other conversations with God, and there are 39 verses written before the next encounter with Pharaoh happened, suggesting that this was the longest interval between Moses’ encounters with Pharaoh. It was undoubtedly one of the darkest periods of his life, if not the darkest. He was alone and rejected by his people, and even his wife (who was a Midianite, a descendant of Ishmael and not a Hebrew) had abandoned him on the way to Egypt, returning to her father with their children. But God had not abandoned him, and he kept talking to him. Moses listened. He didn’t have too many other choices.

Most of us know the rest of the story, and how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and inflicted many plagues on him and his country, until they lost everything. The Hebrews plundered their wealth and left their life of slavery in Egypt to journey to the Promised Land. God did just what he said he would do, and Moses became one of the most famous people in all human history. Imagine how the course of human history would have changed if Moses had given up after that first encounter with Pharaoh, where Pharaoh mocked him and then punished his people in return by making their lives more miserable. It would have been easy for Moses to give up after his first defeat. After all, his family was back in Midian, his home of 40 years, and how were they supposed to get along without him? He could have come up with some very good reasons to quit and go back home. And who would have blamed him? Everyone would probably have been happy to see him leave at that point! They were undoubtedly saying things to him like: "Nice try Moses, but go back to the desert where you belong! You're only making things worse here!" But that wasn’t God’s plan, and Moses chose to keep listening to God and to keep doing what he told him to do, even in the face of complete opposition and humiliation.

There are some incredible lessons for us to learn from Moses’ life, and his conversations with God. When we listen to God and obey his plan for our life, there is no guarantee that things are always going to go well. In fact, we may experience some of the most difficult times in our life just after making a decision to obey God and to take a step in faith. We may find depressing times in our life where everyone has abandoned us. During those times, it is crucial to follow Moses’ example, and to not turn away from God in anger during those times. Being angry and expressing our anger to God is OK, but we need to keep talking to God and keep listening to him, so we can believe and trust that there is master plan that will all work out in the end. That’s what faith is. Faith is trusting in God not only when things are going well, but when life is darkest. It is easy to trust God when things are going well and we are seeing God work and do incredible things in our life. But faith is what is needed when we sink to the lowest pits of despair. Blaming God will do no good in such situations. We need to express to him our feelings, but then we need to listen to his response. He won’t disappoint us like others in our life will.

Are you going through difficulties today? Are you turning towards God in your situation, or away from him? Are you listening to him, or avoiding him? One way leads to despair and sickness, the other way leads to healing and restoration by strengthening our faith.

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:6-9)

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The Ultimate Training Program

2010-02-21T15:11:00.001-06:00

Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

Physical fitness and training is a huge business in our culture today, as we become a more sedentary population in the age of science and technology. During biblical times, the apostle Paul often referred to athletic events that were a part of the Roman culture and the precursor to today’s Olympic Games:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)

Athletes must plan and implement a specific plan to train physically in order to compete successfully. Likewise today, many of us who lead sedentary lifestyles must make specific plans to stay physically fit through regular exercise, or our health will deteriorate.

But Paul told Timothy that training to be godly was far more beneficial for one’s health than physical training. He stated that physical training was only of some value, whereas godliness has value for all things. Physical training is only good for as long as your body lasts in this life, while godly training has value both in the present life and also in the future life to come. This principle is especially true in our modern society, as we exalt and emphasize the physical realm, and either ignore or deny the spiritual realm altogether.

So what is “godliness?” It is a lifestyle that honors God as the Creator of all things; a lifestyle that is lived out of a correct doctrine of who God is, and who Jesus is. Notice how Paul starts chapter 4 in his first letter to Timothy:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. (1 Timothy 4:1-7)

So godliness begins with correct thinking; correct teaching that starts with a foundation of understanding that Jesus is our Creator and our redeemer. False teaching begins with the foundation that there is no God, and that life is a part of the evolutionary process. One doctrine leads to godliness and health, the other leads to ungodliness and death.

As has been written previously, there are two spiritual kingdoms in the world today: the Kingdom of Light ruled by Jesus in the spiritual realm, and the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan in the spiritual realm. We are all members of one kingdom or the other. The kingdom of darkness in its current modern form is built upon a foundation of evolution that worships science and technology. The Kingdom of God is built upon the firm foundational truths contained in the Scriptures, the ancient writings of the Bible, which teach that God is the Creator of all things, and that Jesus is the mediator between God and man offering eternal salvation through his sacrificial death on the cross.

Just as it takes discipline to become physically fit, so too it takes discipline to become godly. If you never exercise, you just naturally become flabby and fat without too much effort. The same is true spiritually. If you don’t make any effort to study God’s word regularly, and spend time with him in prayer regularly, you will just naturally become ungodly without much effort. The result is that you will look just like those walking in the kingdom of darkness. But if we train ourselves to be godly, we will naturally clash with the kingdom of darkness, and suffer persecution:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:12-17)

We are very fortunate that we do NOT have to be godly to be loved and accepted by God. He loves us with an unconditional love, simply because he created us and sent Jesus to die for our sins. But if we want to find purpose and meaning in life, fulfilling God’s specific plan for why he created us, then we need to make a commitment to go into training to become godly people. It doesn’t happen naturally. Each day you should take time to spend with God, letting the Holy Spirit direct your thinking into the truths of God’s word, and applying the scriptural principles to your own specific life and situation. Just as there is pain, suffering and self-denial in training to be an athlete, so too there is pain, suffering, and self-denial in becoming godly. It takes training in faith to go against the crowd that is walking in the darkness, and who will mock you and even attack you for being godly. But it’s worth it! Have you begun the ultimate training program yet?

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

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What Kind of Sign is Your Life?

2010-02-07T09:06:00.000-06:00

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

In the previous article (Life’s Not Fair!) we looked at the life of Joseph, and saw how he was treated unfairly. He had to live many years as both a slave and a prisoner, suffering for wrongs he never committed. But he never abandoned God’s calling in his life, and the dreams that God had given to him as a youth. The result was that he prospered in everything he did, and people were drawn to him, and trusted in him. His life was like a giant billboard, testifying about his faith in God, and people looked to him for help.

What kind of sign is your life? When the difficulties of life overwhelm you, what do people read in you? Do they see a person of faith trusting in the love and grace of God, or do they see someone who complains and gets angry over the trials of life?

The church in Thessalonica was a shining example of believers facing adversity in the days of Paul. They faced tremendous persecution for the stand they took for Christ, and their faith was like a big billboard proclaiming who they were trusting in, as Paul wrote: “among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

Paul prayed for these believers in Thessalonica the prayer that is recorded above. When God calls us out of the kingdom of darkness and brings us into his kingdom, it is not something we have earned or deserve. We simply receive his calling in our life by faith. But once he brings us into his kingdom, it should be our goal to become worthy of his calling. It is not something we can do in our own strength, which is why Paul prayed that the Thessalonian believers would receive God’s power to accomplish his purpose in their lives, and that their actions would be prompted by faith instead of fear, or anger. They faced tremendous persecution and suffering for following Christ.

He then goes on to give the reason why he prayed for this: “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him.” Our lives are to be a sign to others that the message of Jesus is real. The strength by which we are to face trials and suffering to display this sign is “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The grace of God is a power that nothing in this world can overcome. Paul goes on to write later in the letter: “May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

Facing loss of family, job, and even life for the result of believing in Christ is not something most people in America have to face. Yet many Christians around the world today do face these kinds of trials as a result of their faith in Christ. Their life is a sign to others that the gospel of Jesus is true, and that it is possible to forsake the ways of the world and fully trust in God.

One of the places where this kind of persecution is currently happening today is in Nigeria. Here is a letter from a believer in Nigeria as posted on the Christian Aid website this week:

I want to give you the following story, just told me by Pastor Darlington Elekwa, who was discipling the boy. Darlington was one of my student leaders in the early '80s:

“I learned just this morning how my beloved boy, John Nfon Nsima, was murdered in cold blood by terrorists at Gada Bako, Nasarawa Gwom. He was only 20 years old. One of John’s colleagues was taking him home on a motor bike. About 100 Muslim youths waylaid them, demanding that they declare that they have become Muslims. The rider of the motorbike did, but John refused. He maintained that he was a Christian and would die a Christian. Right there, they cut him down on the spot with axes and machetes. They gave the other one some cuts and let him go.

This surviving colleague of John's who rode the motorbike told us the story. We have gone round all the hospitals in search of his remains, but to no avail. Unfortunately his body must have been among hundreds of others given mass burial. We are obviously proud of our late brother who stood gallantly and refused to deny Christ even in the face of death.”

You can read more here.

John Nfon Nsima’s life in Nigeria was a sign that pointed people to Jesus. God made him worthy of the calling in which he was called. And through God’s grace, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was glorified in him, and now he is glorified in Christ.

How about your life? What kind of sign are people reading in you? Is the name of Jesus glorified in you? Or do you look like the majority around you in the world today, walking in the kingdom of darkness?

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

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Life’s Not Fair!

2010-01-31T10:10:00.000-06:00

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, provides a wonderful illustration of the truth that while life is not fair, God is in control at all times, working things out to accomplish his purposes. Life may not be fair, but God is, and he has the last say in every matter.

If there was anyone who ever seemed to have a “right” to complain that life was not fair, it would certainly have been Joseph! As a youth God gave him certain dreams about the future which showed that his older brothers would one day be bowing down to him. These dreams, together with his father’s favoritism, caused a deep jealousy and anger among his older brothers. So one day they took advantage of a situation out in the fields to get rid of him, and sold him as a slave to a caravan of traders heading to Egypt. An unfortunate incident, but some could claim Joseph caused some of this problem himself by his arrogant attitude.

Once he reached Egypt however, the story takes on a whole different tone. Joseph is purchased by a wealthy and influential person named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) and the captain of the palace guard. The story shows how God blessed Joseph in this new occupation, and how Potiphar recognized that blessing, as the Lord gave Joseph “success in everything he did.” Potiphar put him in charge of his entire household, and “with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.” He apparently became a very wealthy man because of Joseph.

But Joseph had one problem: Potiphar’s wife. She kept making advances towards him! Joseph’s response was: “No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Joseph was trustworthy both to his earthly master and to his heavenly one. He did not give in to temptation. Unfortunately, when the wife saw she could not get her way with Joseph, she wrongly accused him of attempting to rape her, and Joseph was convicted and put in prison. Not fair! Joseph did all the right things, and look what he got in return!

But Joseph did not wallow in self pity while serving his time in prison. He again succeeded with God’s blessing: “the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” (Genesis 39:21-23)

Then one day Joseph put his ability to understand dreams to good use, by interpreting the dreams of two different prisoners. One was the cupbearer of the king, and the other the chief baker, both of whom had been thrown into prison for reasons we do not know. Each had a dream that greatly disturbed them. Joseph listened to the dreams and gave the interpretation to each one, as God revealed the interpretation to him. The cupbearer was to be restored to his former position, but the baker was to be executed. It happened just as he stated, and he asked the cupbearer to remember him and help him get out of prison. But when the cupbearer got out of prison, he forgot all about Joseph! Unfair! Here was Joseph being good and faithful in everything he did, but he just couldn’t catch a break. A righteous and talented man like him was just wasting away his life in prison for crimes he never committed. Life seemed so unfair!!

But God had a master plan. He had not abandoned Joseph. Everything that had happened to Joseph was part of his perfect plan for his life, and also for the lives of many others. The key here, I believe, is that Joseph never seemed to despair and give up hope. He continued serving God, and was continually blessed, even while he served as a slave first, and then later as a prisoner.

Finally, one day his chance came. Pharaoh the king of Egypt had a dream that none of his magicians could interpret. The cupbearer all of a sudden remembered how Joseph had interpreted his dream and the dream of the baker who was executed some two years earlier. So he tells Pharaoh about it, and Pharaoh apparently investigates the matter and orders that Joseph be brought before him. Joseph is cleaned up and given a shave and brought before Pharaoh. Little did he know that all the “unfair” things that had happened to him through the past several years were a preparation for that one day before the king. He interprets the king’s dream which was a prophecy about seven years of abundant harvest followed by seven years of severe famine. Joseph recommends that they store up grain during the abundant years to have available during the years of famine. Everyone agrees with the interpretation of Joseph, and Joseph is promptly made second in command of the entire nation of Egypt, second only to the king. Talk about a rags to riches story – this one beats them all!

Later, during the midst of the years of famine, all the surrounding countries come to Egypt to buy grain, because they are the only ones who have any to sell. Joseph, of course, is in charge of the storehouses of food. So imagine his surprise one day when his brothers show up from his homeland to buy grain! They of course do not recognize him, and bow down before him to ask for food to feed their families back home. Joseph’s first dream from so many years earlier had come true! Eventually he makes himself known to his brothers, and arranges for the whole clan to be brought to Egypt, as there were many more years left of drought. The entire Hebrew nation was preserved during that time as a result of Joseph being in the right place at the right time.

As you can imagine, Joseph became very wise and very wealthy. He learned a lot about life and “fairness” and also about how God works everything out to accomplish his purposes. So when his brothers came to him after their father died, fearing that he might take out revenge on them, he replies with the verse we quoted above:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

He was not bitter towards his brothers at all! He could have said the same thing to Potiphar or Potiphar’s wife, and something similar to the cupbearer who forgot about him: “You messed up and did the wrong thing which was not fair and hurt me, but God took that circumstance and used it for good, and we are all blessed as a result.” Life is not fair, but God is. We may not be able to see the results of current injustices that we are suffering here in this life, but in time God’s justice and his plan will always prevail. He’s the Creator. He wrote the story. He knows the ending, because he wrote it!

It takes faith to believe that God has the kind of knowledge, foresight, and power to make all things work together for his good purpose in the future. The key, as it was in the life of Joseph, is to not stop believing and to not give up hope. When life deals us something unfair, we have two ways to respond. We can respond with anger and bitterness, complaining about our unfair circumstances. Or we can respond in faith, believing that God is in control and will use our unfair circumstances somehow for something positive. One response will reap sickness and despair, the other one health and confidence, the kind of confidence that the world, with its belief in evolution and no master designer controlling everything, cannot understand.

Joseph the dreamer never stopped dreaming, and never gave up hope. He suffered unfairly as a slave and a prisoner for many years. One day his dreams came true, far beyond his wildest imagination. Have you given up on your dreams? Have you believed the lie that the enemy tries to sow in our minds that life is not fair, and so we should just give up hope? Joseph was alone and separated from his family, suffering the unfair circumstances that caused him to be a slave and a prisoner for years, but God had not abandoned him. He simply had to keep faith and wait for his time to come. God never abandoned Joseph, and he has never abandoned you either!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:28-31)

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Are You a Model Believer?

2010-01-24T08:44:00.000-06:00

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia… They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

Are you a “model believer?” This passage gives us a good description of what was considered a “model believer” in the early church. It was someone who turned away from idols (and idolatry) to serve the living and true God. It was someone who set their hope for the future on Jesus, and his eventual return to earth to one day set up his physical kingdom here. As we saw from the passage in Colossians in the devotional last week, it was also someone who set their hearts and minds on the things above, where Jesus currently is, and not on worldly things.

But to fully understand what a model believer is as defined in these verses in 1 Thessalonians, we need to define “idolatry.” The word “idol” means an image, and in the context of the biblical literature it referred to man-made images of deities or “gods” that people worshiped. The image itself is man made, and therefore has no power of its own.

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6)

The Bible clearly teaches that the worship of images as idols is the result of rejecting God as their Creator, and that this leads to immoral behavior:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:18-25)

Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 10 that idolatry was associated with demonic powers. Participating in idol worship was to be a participant in demonic activities. This was especially true during his day and age with food that had been sacrificed to idols, which was in direct contrast to the partaking of food in the Lord’s Supper:

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:14-21)

Interestingly, there appears a whole word group in the Greek language used in the New Testament for idols and idolatry that does not limit itself to just images. This word is used in Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5, for example, and is equated with immorality and “greed.”

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5)

This follows along closely with what Jesus taught about pursuing wealth, which can become an idol: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)

Another interesting observation about the Greek words for idolatry is that they were often used in a list of sins and closely linked to the Greek words pharmakeia and pharmakos. We have discussed this word group in previous articles, and have noted that in our English Bibles they are most often translated as “witchcraft” or “sorceries.” But it is also the same word group from which we get our English word “pharmacy” and could be properly translated “medicines” or “drugs.” Here are the passages where both the Greek word for idolatry and pharmakeia or pharmakos are used:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 – pharmakeia is translated “witchcraft” here.)

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21 – pharmakeia is translated “magic arts” here.)

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8 – “those who practice magic arts” here is from one Greek word “pharmakos” – similar to pharmakeia which means “magician, sorcerer, or one who poisons with drugs”)

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Revelation 22:15 – “those who practice magic arts” is one Greek word, “pharmakos,” as in the verse above.)

Let’s now return to the text in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 where we are told that the “model believer” is one who turns away from idols “to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” There is a tremendous amount of text written in the New Testament warning believers to avoid idols. Are we to assume that idolatry was simply an old fashioned belief system that was strictly tied to worshipping images in pagan temples? Hasn’t modern day “science” disproved all that and eliminated idolatry, at least in developed “modern” cultures?

I think not. The old idols have just been replaced with new ones that aren’t so new at all. They just have different names. Greed and love of wealth are still around, for example. And so is pharmakeia and pharmakos. It’s just that they are seldom practiced outright with witchcraft anymore, but instead with science and modern day medicines and drugs. Our evolution-based science has supposedly eliminated the need for the supernatural, so it is simply replaced with humanism and the same belief that we don’t need a Creator God, because we now have science, technology, and medicines. These are our modern day idols, and the demonic influence behind them is as strong as it has ever been in the history of man. Paul’s description of idolatry in his day and age is just as true today:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:20-22)

The truth that Paul wrote about images that were idols is also true today: “We know that an idol is nothing.” For just as man-made images serving as idols had no evil power in and of themselves (it was the worshipping of them and the demonic influence behind them), so too most idols today are not evil in and of themselves. Science, technology, wealth, and medicines all have good purposes. But when they replace our faith and worship of God, they become idols and tools that Satan and his army of demons can use. The “model believer” will not trust in them, but trust in God alone, waiting patiently for Jesus to come back to earth and set up his kingdom. The model believer is heavenly minded, and not worldly worthless. Are you a model believer, or an idolater?

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Before and After Pictures

2010-01-17T09:27:00.000-06:00

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— (Colossians 1:21-22)

Weight loss advertising is in full swing these days, and one of the most effective means of advertising weight loss products or services is to publish “before and after” photographs. The “before” photos show an over-weight unattractive person, and the “after” photo shows a slim attractive person who has supposedly used a specific product or service to lose weight. So the “before” photo is “ugly” and undesirable, and the “after” photo is “beautiful” and desirable.

There are “before and after” pictures in the spiritual realm as well. As we have discussed in previous articles, there are two spiritual kingdoms co-existing in the world at this present time: the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan, and the kingdom of light ruled by Jesus Christ. Everybody walking the face of this earth is in one of these spiritual kingdoms. The kingdom of darkness is the majority kingdom, and the one we are born into by default because of our inherited sin nature. It takes a spiritual rebirth to come into the kingdom of light where Jesus rules. Jesus himself said that only a few will find that narrow path:

In the letter to the Colossians (and other places) Paul elaborates on this by saying that when we live in the kingdom of darkness, we are enemies of God. Our thinking is wrong, and our behavior is evil. In this condition of walking in the darkness, we are on a road to destruction.

But when we humble ourselves before God and receive the forgiveness Jesus offers, our spirits are recreated and we become a new person: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) In this new spiritual state we are “holy before God, without blemish and free from accusation.” To be “holy” before God means that you are special – God has a special plan and purpose for you! In the physical realm you sill have an imperfect body and you still have the sinful nature present, but in God’s eyes you are perfect! God is not limited by space and time, so he can see you as you will be in the future, in the resurrected life in heaven.

So here are the spiritual before and after pictures:

BEFORE: alienated (separated) from God, an enemy of God, wrong thinking, evil behavior

AFTER: holy before God (united with him for a special purpose), no blemishes or imperfections, not guilty of any of your sins, because Jesus Christ already paid the punishment with his blood sacrifice on the cross

Please note that a changed spiritual life should result in a change of behavior as well! But this will depend on where our hearts lead us, and how much of our hearts are consumed with the love of Jesus and heavenly things, or with temporal worldly things:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:1-10)

What does your spiritual picture look like today? Is your spiritual picture the “before” one, or the “after” one? What have you set your heart’s desire on for today, tomorrow, and your future?

Re-Creation: The Rebirth

Living in the Kingdom of Light

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The Most Remarkable Person You Will Ever Meet

2010-01-10T04:30:00.000-06:00

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Colossians 1:15-19)

How well do you know Jesus? In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he wrote what is one of the most comprehensive descriptions of Jesus that was ever written. I see at least 10 attributes here:

1. He is the image of the invisible God. The apostle John wrote that no one has seen God at any time, but that Jesus came to earth to reveal him to us (John 1:1-18). If you know Jesus, you know God.

2. The firstborn over all creation. Jesus existed before anything else in the physical universe was ever created.

3. He created all things. Obviously number 2 has to be true first. If Jesus created everything that is a part of creation, he had to exist before the things he created existed!

4. Everything that exists was created for Jesus. Jesus owns everything. If Jesus owns you, doesn’t it make sense to know as much about him as you can? The most important questions you should be asking Jesus are: Why did you create me? What do you want me to do?

5. He is before all things. Similar to number 2, Jesus has always been around. He is eternal. He was born in the flow of human history as a baby on Christmas, but he existed before then.

6. In him all things hold together. Jesus is not only the creator of all things, he also is the force that keeps all things alive, or in existence. He is the energy source of the universe. He is the one who electrifies and keeps every molecule or atom in its place.

7. He is head of the body, the church. The word “church” here, also described as a “body,” consists of all born again believers in the kingdom of light. The body, or church, is a single living organism, with one head who controls the whole body. That head is Christ. This is not to be confused with “church” organizations, which are restricted by geography and usually appoint other heads besides Christ to direct their organization/business.

8. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead. Jesus was the first human being to rise from the dead in a new body. Death’s power could not keep him in the grave. He is now the “firstborn” among all those who follow him in the resurrection from the dead.

9. In everything he has first place. Jesus is the most important person in the universe. No one can compare to him in dignity, honor, power, glory, majesty, beauty, or any other adjective we can think of to describe a person. He is higher than all kings or spiritual powers, and he is our high priest before God.

10. All the fullness of God dwells in him. Jesus is perfect. He lacks nothing! Every good thing about God exists in the person of Jesus Christ. All of God’s divine attributes exist in Jesus. Jesus has no limits. He knows all things, and is not limited by time or space. He can be everywhere at all times. While you may not be able to get an audience with some famous person here on earth, Jesus has the ability to give you his full attention and see to every one of your needs and concerns! He’s not in a hurry either. You can take as much time with him as you need.

While all of these attributes make Jesus the most remarkable person you will ever meet, even more remarkable is what he has done and accomplished for us. Jesus’ obedience to God in dying on the cross for our sins allowed God to welcome us into his kingdom through Christ:

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Colossians 1:13-14; 20-23)

Jesus did all the work that we could not do to overcome sin and death, and earn a place in God’s eternal kingdom. We can never measure up to Jesus’ standards. We can never be perfect like him, and we can never accomplish the things that only he could accomplish. How wonderful that we don’t have to! We can have all our sins forgiven and become members of God’s kingdom, as members of Christ’s body, with Jesus as our head. Jesus loves us, and he provided the way to become a part of his body, the church, and be part of God’s kingdom.

But just understanding who Jesus is is not enough. Satan and his host of demons in the kingdom of darkness know who Jesus is, probably even better than most “Christians.” But they are not part of his kingdom. We need to move beyond just knowing about Jesus, and begin to have a relationship with him. We meet him and become part of his body by having our spirit recreated. Then, we acknowledge him as our head, and begin to understand our role in his body and in God’s kingdom.

This is where true health begins! We need to meet Jesus and be reconciled to God through the rebirth process, and then understand the purpose for which we were created. Have you met Jesus yet? He is the most remarkable person you will ever meet!

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What is Your Goal in Life?

2010-01-10T04:29:00.000-06:00

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

What is your ultimate goal in life? Do you have any goals, or do you merely follow the circumstances of life and just try to survive?

Paul was a person with definite goals in life. As we have seen in previous articles, he was afflicted with some kind of physical disability and suffered from sickness. But he never used his illness as an excuse to give up or stop him from accomplishing God’s purpose in his life. He was driven by his purpose in life which defined his goals:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

So what is “this” that he had not yet obtained, and what is “it” that he had not taken hold of yet? These terms refer back to what he had just written in the previous verses:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)

These verses make it very clear what it was that Paul valued in life: “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Paul was very well educated and once had a very prominent status in society as a leader in his religious class, but that became worthless to him in comparison to the value he placed on “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” This value and desire shaped his ultimate goal in life: “I want to know Christ…” He already knew Christ as he had met him on the road to Damascus many years earlier, but he saw his relationship to Christ as a continuing growth process. He learned each day how to live more by faith and how to allow Christ’s power to work through him in increasingly greater ways during the difficult circumstances he faced. “Knowing Christ” was not a one-time event for Paul, but a daily learning experience that one day culminates after dying the physical death and meeting Christ face-to-face in the resurrection: Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12) Christ knows us perfectly, but we don’t know him perfectly yet.

Paul wrote these words to the church at Philippi while sitting in prison. He understood that the result of knowing Christ and serving him was a road of suffering and persecution. So when rough times came, they did not cause him to alter his course through life. He saw that his sufferings in his service to Christ were a way of sharing in Christ’s sufferings, which result in physical death, but then a resurrection from the dead in triumphal power. So he did not set his heart on or value the things of this world, because he knew where his true citizenship was, and what kind of future awaited him:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21)

What is your ultimate goal in life? Are you running the race of the course set before you with the goal of winning the prize that God has for you in the future? Do you realize that our sickly “lowly bodies” and sufferings are part of this temporary life, but that those whose citizenship is in heaven have new bodies waiting for them in a place where there is no suffering and death? Are you consumed with the needs and troubles of this life, or are you consumed, like Paul was, with knowing Christ more? We live in a day and age that values physical knowledge and science built upon a faulty foundation of faith in evolution. But the value of knowing Christ has far greater advantages, especially in the life to come, and is a value that should shape our goals in this life as we look to finish the course God has set before us. What is your goal today, and for the future before you? As you look to the future, is knowing Christ better one of your goals?

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

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Who is Your Head Pastor?

2009-12-22T16:50:00.000-06:00

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." (Luke 2:8-15)

There has been much written over the centuries speculating as to why these shepherds around Bethlehem were the first to hear about the birth of the Messiah on that first Christmas evening. Historical documents seem to suggest that shepherds were among the lower cast of society during those days, being considered dishonest “shady characters” along with the Jewish tax collectors of the day. But one thing we can see from the text in Luke, is that they responded to the message of the angelic host in faith, and went to Bethlehem to see the baby that was born in the line of the great Old Testament shepherd, King David, and that would one day fulfill all the prophecies and become the great Shepherd of the flock of born-again believers.

In our English translations of the Bible, we have two words that mean the same thing and are translated from the same word in the original Greek language. Those words are “shepherd” and “pastor.” The term can refer to someone who is occupied tending livestock such as we see in the Christmas story in Luke, or it can refer figuratively to rulers and leaders. In secular classical Greek, for example, Homer, Plato, Socrates and others used the term metaphorically to refer to leaders, rulers, commanders, and others. In other ancient texts among the Sumerians and Babylonians the concept of pastor is used figuratively of both rulers and divinities, with the people under their rule being their “flock.”

In the Old Testament portion of the Bible the LORD God is often referred to as pastor, although the English word almost always used is “shepherd,” such as Psalm 23, one of the most well-known passages in the Bible. Likewise in the New Testament, the only person to be referred to as “pastor” by name is Jesus, the Messiah and heir to the Davidic throne. The term is used 18 times in the New Testament, and most of the time it refers to Jesus or God. In Hebrews 13 Jesus is referred to as the “great” (Greek word “megas”) Shepherd:

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

The exceptions where the term “shepherd” does not refer to Jesus are Luke 2, the shepherds in the fields at the time of Christ’s birth (see above), and Ephesians 4:11. In our English translations of the Bible, only in Ephesians 4:11 is the word “pastor” used:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ… (Ephesians 4:11-12)

In all the other references “shepherd” is chosen. In our modern day English, the term “pastor” is usually associated with a religious leader in a church organization. But as we have already seen, in the Bible the term was used almost exclusively for Jesus. The use in Ephesians 4:11 does not specify an office or official position in the church. It is linked together with “teacher.” The leaders described in the New Testament churches were described by different words: elders (also translated "overseer" or "bishop") and deacons. Specifications are given for the offices of elders and deacons (see 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1,) but never for “pastors.” Pastor is never attached to anyone’s name outside of Christ, leading one to believe that it was more of a function than a title.

I think we can learn a lot about the term shepherd/pastor in Jesus’ great discourse in John chapter 10:

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:1-16)

It seems to me that Jesus is very clear here: there is one flock and there is one shepherd. So what about the reference in Ephesians 4:11? Maybe we can get a clue from Jesus’ words to Peter just before he left the earth and ascended to heaven: Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." (John 21:16)

Who do the sheep belong to? Jesus said “Take care of my sheep.” We belong to Jesus. He is our head Pastor. There is only one flock, and only one shepherd/pastor. In John chapter 10 Jesus refers to the others who tend the sheep as either thieves and robbers, or “hired hands.” The thieves and robbers in Jesus’ day were the religious leaders who opposed Jesus because he threatened their power base. “Hired hands” or employees don’t usually look after affairs with the same care that the owner does.

But when we are reborn into Jesus’ Kingdom, we become co-heirs with him. (See Galatians 4:1-7 and Romans 8:14-17) We are no longer employees or slaves in God’s Kingdom, but adopted sons. We have a new motivation to serve Christ, our head Pastor. We represent him in our service to the flock. It is true that the verb form of “shepherding” or “pastoring” was used of the church leaders: the elders and deacons. (See Acts 20:28 for an example.) But the job of shepherding is not limited to only leaders in the church. There is only one Pastor, and all shepherding is done under his leadership.

So why did the angels first appear to these Jewish shepherds around Bethlehem that first Christmas night when Christ was born? We probably cannot fully know the answer to that question, but who else would recognize and understand the significance of the birth of the “mega-Shepherd” than those who were shepherds by profession and responsible for the food of the people? They may have been outcasts in their society, but they heard the angelic message and responded in faith – the first ones to do so that Christmas night so long ago.

Today, we are in dire need of true leaders who will shepherd Jesus’ flock. As elders in the church are called to shepherd just as Peter was, one of the things we see they are responsible for is caring for the sick. According to James, the brother of Jesus and one of the elders serving in the church at Jerusalem, elders are to pray and care for the sick:

Who will accept the call of Jesus, the head Pastor over the one true flock, and tend to his sheep? Who will pray in faith with the power and authority that Jesus offers to affect true healing for the multitudes that are suffering in the 21^st century? Who will deal with the disease and effects of sin and receive the forgiveness from Jesus that cleanses and heals? The great Shepherd, our one and only “head Pastor,” came into the world on Christmas, and the world has never been the same. The power that created the world humbled himself and entered the flow of human history as a helpless baby, but he was only recognized by a few humble shepherds, while he lay in a simple shepherd’s manager. Who will recognize the head Pastor today? Will you?

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Do Doctors Really Heal?

2009-12-13T10:01:00.000-06:00

She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. (Mark 5:26)

To answer the question “Do doctors really heal?” one must first define the term “health.” As we saw in the article last week, the concept of “health” was understood very different among the ancients in biblical times. Among the people of faith, health was defined in terms of a proper understanding of truth, and a restored relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus. So if we understand health the way ancient people in the Bible understood the term, the answer would be that most modern day doctors who are licensed physicians and practice medicine generally are not healers in terms of helping people to understand the truth of God, and come into a restored relationship with him through Jesus Christ.

As we saw in the last article when we compared how modern English understands the word “health” with how people in biblical times would understand the same concept, so too the word “doctor” or “physician” in modern English takes on a completely different meaning from what people in biblical times would understand when using words that are today translated into “doctor” or “physician.”

Starting with the verse above from the Gospel of Mark, we see that the term “doctors” is used negatively in terms of being able to heal someone, while faith in Jesus brought about healing:

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, "Who touched me?'" But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:24-34)

What the “doctors” could not do for 12 years while taking all of her money for their services, Jesus accomplished in a moment through the faith of the woman - free of charge.

So who were these “doctors?” How was this title used in biblical times? When we use this word today in English, we automatically imagine someone in a white coat at a clinic or hospital who examines people and prescribes medicine or other medical procedures designed to deal with physical sicknesses. We would not think of a “doctor” as someone who looks at spiritual issues in addition to physical issues, and tries to find remedies through invoking certain spirits, through incantations, spells, or magic. We would not imagine someone working in a temple offering up sacrifices to “gods” as bearing the title “doctor.” No, we would not imagine “doctors” like this today in the “modern” world. Since the days of “enlightenment” and since the time of Darwin and the new age of evolutionary science, such practices have for the most part ceased to be a part of popular western culture.

When you see the English word “doctor” or “physician” in the biblical literature, however, this is just how the word was understood in those days. They bore some resemblance to the doctors people pay to see today, in that they accepted money in exchange for “health” services or products. But the types of services and products were vastly different in the ancient world. Dealing only with the physical realm is a recent development in human history, particularly post Darwin and the theory of evolution. In the ancient world, if you went to see a doctor you would most likely be going to some pagan temple where sacrifices were made to appease the spirits or gods that were causing the illness, and trying to get on the good side of the spirits or gods that supposedly had the power to heal you. There were also physical remedies that were used in the physical realm, as the Greeks were strong in empiricism and rationalism and used empirical examinations to find causes and effects to problems. But they combined this with their belief system in their gods, especially Apollo who for a period of Greek history was considered the mediator of healing between men and Zeus, one of the highest Greek gods. When Paul and Barnabas conducted a healing in the name of Jesus in the Roman town of Lystra on one of their missionary excursions, the people were so impressed with the healing that they concluded the Greek gods themselves, whom they associated with healing, had come down to visit them, and they called out the town priest to offer the appropriate sacrifices.

In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. (Acts 14:8-13)

Understanding then how “doctors” performed their healing arts in ancient times, it is easy to see why the nation of Israel was forbidden to participate in the healing arts of magic and witchcraft which called upon the spirit world. They were to only worship the one true God and depend solely on him. So when we read about what King Asa did when he was crippled in his feet and how he went to the physicians instead of to the LORD, we may be tempted to think “What was so bad about that?” given modern day Christians' acceptance and high regard of the current medical profession. But what was more than likely happening was that the King of Israel was running away from God and was seeking a pagan priest with his magic, spells, and potions instead of seeking the one true God of Israel through the Levitical priests:

In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. (2 Chronicles 16:12)

This was considered idolatry, and something that God hated. Israel’s belief and service to the one true God was what separated them from all the other pagan nations around them.

These sins of idolatry are also prohibited in New Testament in the Christian writings. One of the more interesting Greek words that is usually translated as “witchcraft” or “sorcery” in English is pharmakeia, from which we get the English word “pharmacy.” Outside of the biblical texts, it would probably most often be translated into English as “medicine.” It is used in Galatians 5:20:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

Can you imagine using the English word “medicines” in place of “witchcraft” in the list of sins in the verses above? Obviously the modern translators of the English Bible could not, and yet that was the word the ancients would have used for our modern day word “medicine.” It is also used in the book of Revelations in a couple of places:

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21)

In this verse the word pharmakeia is translated “magic arts.” It is used below in referring to Babylon:

The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. (Revelation 18:23)

Here the word pharmakeia is translated “magic spell.” Again, “medicine” did not seem appropriate to the translators in these verses, because of the current acceptance and understanding we have in the word and concept of “medicine.”

When we look at the word group for “physician” in the New Testament, we see the verb form of that word was used quite a bit for the activity of Jesus, such as:

And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all. (Luke 6:19)

The verb “healing” here comes from the same root word used in the noun “physician” in Mark 5:26 above.

Interestingly, it is in Luke’s writings where this verb form of the word was used most often to describe the healing ministry of Jesus. Could this be because Luke was at one time numbered among the pagan physicians, but now had turned to the true healer and had become like Jesus in looking after men’s souls? When Paul referred to Luke as a “physician” he qualified it with the word “beloved,” no doubt to distinguish him from the commonly understood meaning of that word among the pagans who practiced magic and witchcraft: “Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings…”(Colossians 4:14) I think Luke chose this particular word to describe Jesus' healing ministry to distinguish him from the professional physicians of his day who could not accomplish true healing.

Who are you trusting in today for your healing? Do you hold on to a belief system based on evolution that sees “health” as purely a physical condition? Or have you come to understand the biblical definition of health which defines health in terms of our relationship to our Creator? There is only one physician who brings true health, and that is Jesus. Physical health may have some value in the short term during this life time, but by itself it holds no value for the future when you enter eternity through physical death and meet your Creator. All the lies of evolution and modern-day science will prove worthless then.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

What is Health?

Who do You Run to When You are Sick?

Who is Responsible for Providing Healthcare?

Life and Prosperity or Death and Destruction: Which will You Choose?

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What is Health?

2009-12-06T08:59:00.000-06:00

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2)

When we use the word “health” in the English language today, we think primarily of physical health, and how our body is functioning. If we want to communicate something besides physical health, we generally add another word as an adjective, such as “mental health” or “emotional health.” But the word “health” itself is mainly used in terms of physical health, and the domain of “health” in western culture today is the domain of a large medical system which is called “healthcare.” It is an extremely influential and powerful system in most countries, controlled by pharmaceutical companies and licensed physicians, and regulated by the government.

Such a concept of “health” however, is a recent development in human history. So when we read ancient texts such as the Bible, and read the English word “health” which is used to translate words from the original languages of ancient cultures, it is very helpful to study how these words were understood in the original languages and cultures. Otherwise we read our own cultural understanding of English words into ancient texts, and that can result in an inaccurate or incomplete understanding of the meaning of these ancient texts.

The passage above in the third letter of the apostle John is a good example of how the term “health” was understood in the day of the biblical writers around the time of Christ. In the salutation that John uses, the word “prosper” is used twice, and he makes it clear in the second usage that he is referring to more than worldly or physical prosperity. He is also referring to those spiritual things that cause the soul to prosper.

So what about the word “health?” From this letter by John we can see that in the context of the following verses, he is linking the concept of health to “walking in the truth:”

For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. (3 John 1:3-4)

Within this context, physical health is not the main concern. The later writings of the New Testament deal with a lot of problems in the church, particularly false teachings and false believers, and there is a lot of emphasis on correct teaching (or “doctrine”) about Jesus and the gospel message. Health then is connected to correct thinking about God and Jesus, and the lifestyle that results from such correct thinking and belief.

The Greek word here that is translated “health” is found in 23 other passages in the New Testament in either its noun or verb forms, and it is not always translated “health.” For example, in Paul’s letters to Timothy he uses this word to refer to correct teaching, or doctrine, and it is usually translated in English as “sound.” Some examples:

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:13)

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:8-11)

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions… (1 Timothy 6:3-4)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

The word translated “sound” in these passages is the exact same word John uses in his third letter, which is translated “health.” But because the English word “health” or “healthy” has such a narrow meaning in our culture today, it was not considered a proper word to use in translating these verses dealing with doctrine.

This word is also used in the famous story of the prodigal son who returns home to his father:

And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.” (Luke 15:27)

The word is translated here “safe and sound,” because there is nothing in the text that would suggest that the prodigal son was sick in the way we normally define “sickness.” He had left his father’s household with his inheritance and squandered it all on a sinful lifestyle. Coming back to his senses, he returned to his father’s house and was restored to his position as son in the family. His “health” in this situation is defined in terms of his relationship to his father and his place in his father’s household.

Of the 23 occurrences of this word in the New Testament, there are some uses where physical health is involved. These occurrences are in the gospel records of the life of Jesus, and also in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and describe their healing ministries. Some examples:

So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:31)

Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand!" He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. (Matthew 12:13)

In the first passage in the gospel of Matthew which is describing the ministry of Jesus, the word is translated “restore” in relation to “the crippled.” Again, the English word “health” or “healthy” does not seem appropriate here, as healing a cripple is not something that can generally be done with medicine. Same in the second passage where a man with a “withered” hand is healed. To translate the verse as “it was restored to health” seems awkward to us, as we think of health as something being restored from an illness with medicine, or other remedies. So it is translated as “normal,” i.e. the way it was before it became deformed.

In Acts 4:10 we do have the word translated “health” in one translation as Peter describes the healing of a man who was lame:

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by this name this man stands here before you in good health. (Acts 4:10 NASB)

But more modern English translations of the Bible choose to translate this verse slightly different:

then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. (Acts 4:10 NIV)

“Healed” seems more appropriate for our modern day English as it has a broader range of meaning that can exclude medicine or cures, such as setting a broken bone or putting a dislocated joint back in place.

There are other Greek words that were used in the Bible for “health” other than the one we started with in 3 John 1:2 (hygiaino), and if we were to study their usage we would also see that they were used and understood quite differently from our modern day word “health.” The concept of health in the biblical documents did not have the narrow meaning that our culture gives it today, where it generally refers to physical health and the domain of medicine and doctors. It started with correct thinking about the truth and the way we think about God and Jesus. And like the story of the prodigal son who returned home to his father “safe and sound,” health was seen as having a right relationship to God through Jesus, by accepting Jesus' sacrificial death for our sins, which allows us to be reborn spiritually and begin a relationship with God as his adopted child. We come home to God, just like the prodigal son did. This is where true health begins, and it cannot be purchased from drug companies or doctors. It is the realm of God, and he gives it to whomever he desires as a free gift. Are you truly healthy today?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

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What is Your Attitude towards Sickness?

2009-11-29T09:39:00.000-06:00

As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. (Galatians 4:13-14)

The apostle Paul was a great missionary who had a ministry of taking the good news of Jesus to places where people had never heard about Jesus before. His ministry was often conducted with miraculous signs. One of the miracles frequently seen during his ministry, similar to the ministry of Jesus and the other apostles, was the miracle of healing. His ministry of healing people was so powerful, that even articles of clothing that touched his body were used to perform healings:

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. (Acts 19:11-12)

But this ministry of healing did not exempt Paul from experiencing sickness himself, as the verses in Galatians above state. While Paul could see God work through him to heal others, what was the reason Paul himself sometimes suffered sickness?

While there may be many reasons that we cannot fully know, one thing we do know from these verses is that Paul’s sickness resulted in him having to stay among the people of Galatia, where he may have only been passing by and had not intended to stay. As he stayed among the people in his weak and sick condition, he found the opportunity to preach the gospel (good news about Jesus) to them, and apparently many became believers in Jesus. A church was stared there, where previously there was none. Later he would need to write a letter to this church covering key doctrinal issues, and that letter became one of the foundational writings of the New Testament in the Bible. All this happened because Paul got sick and had to stop there, and because Paul had a positive attitude towards his illness.

We can make some interesting observations about this event in Paul’s life. First, he was human just like us and got sick, even though he saw others healed through his ministry. Second, when he got sick and it interrupted his schedule, he did not stop carrying out God’s purpose for his life and start feeling sorry for himself because he was sick. His sickness disrupted his schedule, but it did not prevent him from accomplishing God’s purpose for him. He did not focus his attention completely on himself, but instead focused on the people around him and took care of their spiritual needs, while they took care of his physical needs.

Now of course God could have gotten Paul’s attention in many other ways and directed him to preach the gospel to the people in Galatia without him having to suffer an illness. Previously, for example, God had spoken to Paul directly in a vision about a location he was to travel to and preach the gospel:

A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:9-10)

We cannot possibly know all the reasons God may have allowed Paul to be sick in this situation when he was passing through Galatia, but we do see one other reason Paul suffered sickness from another situation he wrote about in his second letter to the Corinthian church:

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was some kind of physical weakness or sickness that God was not willing to remove. Notice the reason that Paul gives for his sickness: “to keep me from exalting myself!” Paul was a great leader in the church, and in the previous verses he recounts how he received a special revelation in heaven. Satan attacked him through a messenger, and God allowed it to apparently keep Paul humble, so that he would rely on the power of God through God’s grace, and not his own strength. This was apparently the key to his miraculous life and ministry. So just as he saw his sickness that caused him to stop in Galatia as something positive, so too he saw this “thorn in the flesh” that he asked God three times to remove as something positive. He did not allow physical weakness and sickness to prevent him from accomplishing God’s purpose in his life. In fact, it made him more powerful as he was more dependent on God’s grace in his weakened condition.

Are you facing trials through sickness today? How are you handling it? Can you look at it in a positive light as Paul looked at his sickness, and find some reasons why God may be allowing you to go through these trials? Or do you look at your sickness the way the world does, the way people who walk in darkness with an evolutionary basis of life view sickness? In this view, God’s plan and purposes are not even considered, and sickness is seen as strictly a physical condition caused by natural forces that can only be cured through the purchase of medicine or medical services. This humanistic view of sickness and disease based on an evolutionary world view believes that man can overcome sickness through counter-acting the natural processes, and that there is no intelligence guiding either the sickness or the cure. The resulting attitude is often one of helplessness and depression, being self-focused on one’s unfortunate condition. The belief is that health can be purchased via medicine and doctors as man advances in the evolutionary process and finds cures for everything, one day eliminating even death itself through his science and technology. If the science or technology has not reached a stage yet where the specific cure for an illness can be accomplished, the condition is often diagnosed as “terminal” and all hope is lost, resulting in despair and self pity. Belief in God and his purpose in sickness is replaced with only a faith in doctors and medicine, which has its limitations and disadvantages. How sad!

The Bible does not teach any kind of blueprint or laws to affect healings, and there is no single cause of sickness taught in the Bible either. God has a specific plan and purpose for everyone in life, and the trials and difficulties we all must walk through are unique to that specific plan and purpose that God has for us.

But there is a blueprint given for seeking the answers to our problems and sickness:

Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:13-16)

Our first course of action should always be prayer! God made you. He put you together. He upholds the universe by the power of his word. Nothing happens that he is not aware of, and all roads in life lead to a final destination that he has already determined. So shouldn’t he be the first person you consult? And if you are having problems understanding or communicating with him, the next step is to consult with those who know God and can also pray for you. These actions are the actions of people of faith, who believe that God created us, and that he loves us and has a wonderful plan for our life.

One of the reasons God allows us to become sick is to humble us, like he did Paul, and remind us that we are dependent upon him for our health. If we believe that he loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, we will see the times we get sick as new opportunities for God to accomplish some purpose in our lives, even though they interrupt our schedule and often seem to prevent us from doing the things we wanted to do. But as we saw in Paul’s life, his sickness did not prevent him from accomplishing God’s purpose for his life at all. On the contrary, it made him even more powerful in his ministry. He maintained a positive attitude with his faith that positively affected the people around him. What is your attitude towards sickness today?

…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:23-32)

What is the Purpose of Your Sickness?

Who do You Run to When You are Sick?

Who is Responsible for Providing Healthcare?

Why is there Thanksgiving?

2009-11-22T09:50:00.000-06:00

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9:11)

Paul was an apostle in the early church, and we are blessed to have many of his writings in the New Testament to read. The word “apostle” is not an English word, but a transliteration of the Greek (the original language of the New Testament portion of the Bible) word apostolos. Sometimes this word referred specifically to the 12 men who followed Jesus during his earthly ministry, but at other times it was used in a more general sense. The word means “one sent out,” like a messenger or ambassador. In the Christian context its best translation is probably “missionary.”

Paul had a skill and trade that he used to participate in the economy of his day, and it was the business of making tents. He was also a scholar among the Jews and from the strict sect of the Pharisees. When he became a Christian, Jesus sent him out as a missionary to the non-Jews, the Gentiles. Much of his activity as a missionary to the Gentiles was preaching and teaching them the gospel message about Jesus (gospel means “good news.”) Whenever he could, he would do this full-time, traveling about from city to city spreading the good news about Jesus and God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

During the course of his traveling ministry, he sometimes had to take time out and practice his trade of making tents to support himself and his ministry team. So as new churches were planted in various places where he had visited, he would ask the believers in these churches to contribute to the needs of spreading the gospel message to places where the people had not yet heard about Jesus and God’s love for them.

In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he writes some very interesting principles about investing in the kingdom of God by contributing to the needs of those who are preaching the gospel and planting churches. Here is what he wrote:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

Notice some of the principles of giving that Paul wrote here.

1. The more generous you are, the more blessings you will reap from participating in God’s work.

2. We should give cheerfully as God has directed us, and not under compulsion.

3. God’s grace is the basis for our wealth which is given to administer for his purposes.

4. As we learn to give generously and be faithful in managing God’s resources, our wealth will increase.

5. Our giving from the wealth God has given to us through his grace results in thanksgiving to God!

While there are many things that we could be thankful for, the things that make us most thankful are the things we receive that we did not earn or deserve. Since we cannot earn it, the only thing we can do once we receive it is give true thanksgiving, from our hearts. This gives great joy to the one who is the giver. We can experience that joy ourselves through giving generously, and as Paul wrote above, it can result in grateful people praying for us!

The greatest gift of all of course, is God’s gift to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and his sacrificial death for our sins. We can’t earn that, and we don’t deserve it. That is the true reason for why there should be thanksgiving!

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

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Are You Truly Sorry?

2009-11-15T09:42:00.000-06:00

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

There are two types of “sorrow” in life; two kinds of sorrow that lead people to say “I’m sorry.” One is a Godly sorrow that leads to life and spiritual health, and one is a worldly sorrow that leads to sickness and death.

We see the worldly sorrow all the time. It is a story all too often seen. It usually starts like this: “I am sorry, but…..” followed by an excuse for the behavior causing the offense. A professional sports player makes some critical comments of his team members or his coach, for example, that get printed in the media. He is forced into a public apology that goes something like this: “I am sorry my words caused hurt feelings, but I am a very competitive person and I just want to win...” Or sometimes we get angry and we say something to the person we are angry with that we know hurts them, and we go to them later after we have calmed down and say something like this: “I am sorry for the things I said to you, but you really made me angry by [enter excuse here about why the other person caused you to be angry.]”

These are examples of worldly sorrow. In such situations we are feeling sorry for ourselves, and we excuse our behavior. We don’t want others to think badly of us, and we may even feel embarrassed by our outburst of anger, so we “apologize.” But there is no true repentance. If the same situation happens again, we are likely to react in the same way, if we cannot restrain our actions or words.

The word “repentance” does NOT mean that we completely change the way we act. It does not mean that we stop being “bad” and start being “good.” The word repentance actually means “to change one's mind” about something. It means we stop thinking that something we hold as true is correct, and change our mind and start thinking that it is not true, and not correct.

In the situations where we get angry and say or do things that hurt others, we need to stop thinking that we have a “right” to be angry when others hurt us or do things to make us angry. We need to instead think and believe that our appropriate response is to love and forgive the person hurting us, seeing their needs and the reason they did what they did as more important than our own needs. This is the way God acts, and as his children we are to act the same way. Only by changing our thinking, our beliefs, can we see a real change in behavior. Then we will truly see that what we did was wrong by God’s standards, rather than excusing our behavior. Then we will be truly sorry for the way we behaved. That is Godly sorrow.

Godly sorrow and repentance starts with the way we think about ourselves in relation to God. If we believe that God is not fair, that he has given us a “raw deal” in life, or “bad luck,” then we will tend to feel sorry for ourselves and the circumstances in our life. We see ourselves as “victims” who deserve better. This is the worldly sorrow that leads to sickness and death.

Godly sorrow believes that God is perfect and just. It believes that we are the ones who are sinful and imperfect, and that we don’t deserve anything good. God is good. God loves with a perfect love. He is also gracious, and gives us his love when we don’t deserve it. We are not good, because our life in these current bodies has a sin nature, and our natural tendency is to be selfish. We are the ones who have to change, and it begins with changing our thinking about God and about ourselves.

The process of renewing our minds to think the things that are true about ourselves and about God, rather than the things that are false, begins with the spiritual rebirth.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:9-10)

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

People who never start this process face a very dark future, when they leave their earthly bodies and face their Creator. They tend to live lives that are full of anger and bitterness, because their thinking is not true about themselves and about God. They feel sorry for themselves and completely miss out on the love that God has for them, until it is finally too late.

Is God speaking to you today? Does he want you to repent, to change your way of thinking, so that you can receive all of his love and blessings that he longs to give to you? Are you truly sorry for the way you have lived the life he has given to you? Or are you only sorry for yourself and all the bad things that have happened to you in life – a worldly sorrow? The worldly sorrow leads to death. Not just physical death, but spiritual death and separation from God. He is patient, and waits for you to change your mind. But that patience will some day come to an end, and it could be today!

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12-13)

Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7)

Is the Way You Think About God Healthy?

Do You Deserve a Break Today?

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