A call to repentance

I heard someone speaking the other day about the economic condition in America and how it correlates to other things going on in the world and then the secular theories and psychological theories that an unsaved world sees going hand in hand with the trends and habits of the current society.  One of the things mentioned was the increasing number of single mothers and how that group is getting continually younger every year.  This trend is considered a sign of economic collapse.

Why would it be considered a sign of economic collapse?  A single mother struggles to provide food, shelter, love, a family structure, a secure environment, and a financial future of some kind.  In a God ordained structure, the family unit is comprised of two adults leading, grooming, supporting, loving, encouraging, and procreating.  In this rapid acceleration of sexual immorality we see a single family unit struggling to survive and many times, not succeeding very well.

In the book Hosea, chapter 4:1-3 God is talking to Israel but this applies to todays world as well.  It applies as a warning.  "Hear the word of the Lord, Your children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:  'There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.  By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint.  With bloodshed upon bloodshed.  Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away."  Do the actions described here sound anything like what you see on the news and hear around the water cooler?  Do the Facebook posts you read and the drama you observe have any assimilation to this description?  Does our legal system embrace truth, mercy or at the very least knowledge of God?  I think not.  The lack of restraint in relationships now is absurd.  People walk away from a relationship and trade in out of discomfort, impatience, selfishness and convenience rather than staying together and learning the art of communication, submission, restraint and compromise.  Two become one....when you take two different colors of Playdoh and squish them together, it takes work to get them to meld together.  They are never going to be one color or the other but eventually, after much kneading and rolling and contorting, become a whole other color.  That is what marriage is like.  Even if you take and try to separate those colors again, they will always have remnants of the other color in them.  They will never be what they were originally.

We have forgotten how we came to be on this earth.  God is loosing His patience, I believe and is quietly making His presence known.  The weather becomes more extreme, man becomes bolder in their interference and blatant disregard for God and we are seeing things happening that we will not be able to control.  We are but a speck in the universe and our existence is less than a moment in time.  Share this with people you know who are not paying attention.  God is walking away from us and the church is quietly observing this retreat.  We are looking at society and embracing the sin as well as the sinner instead of standing up for what is biblical and what is true.  Can we reverse the motion of the world?  Perhaps not but more so, perhaps we can take a stand and bring in a flush of new souls to the gates of heaven rather than watching the march of souls into Hell's lake of fire.

Why can't they see?

Why can't they see?

Last week we talked about walking before you run.  This week, let's talk about our walk a little. 

When we become saved, asking our heavenly Father to forgive us our sins, cover us in grace, and invite Jesus to live in our hearts, we are separating ourselves from the world.  This separation happens as a course of lineage.  Like a prince here on earth is separate from the "common" people, so a child of God is made different than the rest of the world.  If you are a Christian and other people in your house are not Christians, you know exactly what I mean.  It can be frustrating to be the only one on that island, too.  Especially when you desire that those who are closest to you make the same choice and you are so very excited about the gifts that are freely given and the eternal life that is  promised.  And so we pray for them and ask the Holy Spirit to intervene and cry out to God and ask Him to soften their hearts and open their eyes.  But why do they not see?

I Corinthians 2:12-16 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who us from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?  But we have the mind of Christ."

I love that it is explained here that words are not how we speak, necessarily, but that the Holy Spirit challenges us to compare spiritual things to spiritual things.  This is how you know if something is true to the Word.  The Holy Spirit will allow you the wisdom of God to see what is right and true because as a child of God you have been given the mind of Christ.  It also answers the "why" question about how a non-believer will say that what we believe is crazy or doesn't make sense.  Also applicable here, the application of choosing a pastor or leader for your church.  People can put on a good act with the right training and someone who has attended seminary has the training and tools to "act the part".  It is imperative that the body of Christ come together in prayer and seek the Holy Spirits' guidance in selecting a leader in the church.  Compare spiritual things to spiritual things.  Did you know that, on average, seminaries are full of more non-Christians than Christians?  I mention this only because someone who is raised in the church can talk the talk but when you compare them side-by-side to someone who is truly saved, the passion of the Holy Spirit shines through because the unsaved, churched person cannot know the things of God.  

I encourage you to pray for those around you and make prayerful decisions for those who will lead you. Be examples of what Christs' influence on your life can be and draw off the patience of the Holy Spirit when dealing with those around you who do not understand.

How to Choose a Leader

Leadership

The position of leadership can take many forms.  There are Sunday School teachers, hall monitors, instructors, head tellers, department heads, police officers, lead surgeons, head detective, union reps, and the list goes on.  We are a people of titles and classification and the Scriptures speaks to us about respecting our leaders and obeying our masters whether they are saved or unsaved and doing it to the glory of God. (I Timothy 6:1-2) But what makes the position of leadership in the church any different from any other position in the world?

Choosing the Leaders

Paul writes to Timothy about the qualifications of overseers and starts out with an old saying, " If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good thing."  He is very specific as to the qualifications of a bishop and his position in the community as well as the church.  I Tim 3:2 states "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate (patient), sober-minded, of good behaviour, hospitable, able to teach; not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.  Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."

Paul goes on to talk about Deacons in the church and how they need to be reverent and not gossips, greedy, or drinkers and "holding on to the mystery of the faith with clear conscience".  I just love that phrasing.  The mystery of the faith.  It almost gives the same precious preservation as the relationship of a man and woman to be husband and wife and preserving that intimacy until after the vows are spoken.  He also makes a point to say that they need to first be tested and THEN let them serve.

Making the Choice

It takes a strong person of character to stand up against a whole church when you believe a choice or action to be wrong.  The people who hold the church accountable cannot be embarrassed or wavering.  They must be strong and they must be sure to have Scripture to back up their words.  It is not something that is based on gut feeling but rather on the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  We are responsible for choosing the right people as well as ensuring that our churches are strong, defensible, godly places where the world has no place except on their knees.  I implore you to take the stand and make a difference in your communities by holding your leaders to a standard that will glorify God and not just make the world "comfortable".  Put people in place that allow the Holy Spirit to work and convict and curl toes.

Found as a Man

Have you ever considered what it must have been like for God...the Almighty, Creator of the universe, Alpha and Omega, ...to come to earth in human form? To separate from His heavenly being to become a man? To live in a place where perfection is the status quo and not the goal.  To live where sin never exists, hatred and jealousy are extinct and then to come to earth as an infant and be born in a stable, to an unwed mother, into - essentially - a blended family where his father, Joseph, would hopefully love Him as his own child though He was not.  To be "different" from the beginning.  Did He grow for nine months with the essence of God in the womb or did that not happen until Christ emerged from the womb.  Was He wise from the very beginning? He never sinned so He must have been the easiest child to raise in that family and I am sure amazed His mother.  The two mothers, Mary and Elizabeth, what did they think about these two children who were so very different from the rest of the children?  John the Baptist is said to have lived in the desert as a child (Luke 1:80) until he appeared publicly to Israel.  These mothers knew they had special men who were destined only for service to God and were God sent, God indwelled and for Christ, God Himself!  Amazing.

Philipians 2:5-11 is Paul talking to the church at Philippi about being like-minded with Christ and emulating Him. He states that Christ, "who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped."  How humble a perspective that is that Christ, who is God, realizes His inequality with God in human form. "..but made  himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." He knew He was God's Son but also knew, in that human form that He was set apart from His heavenly Father.  What a separation that must have been mentally for Jesus Christ as He came from God, was God and yet was in human form a Son, in a submissive position.  Paul goes on to say "And being found in appearance as a man," which I find interesting as it is almost like He woke up and found Himself in human form one day.  I can imagine that, in that infant form He woke up and looked at His hands and feet and moved around a little like newborns do and thought to Himself,  "huh!  so this is what it feels like to be an infant!"  I wonder if He was a little surprised by the limits of the infant body and the process of growing and actually being inside the body that is changing, developing, maturing.

Fat Man Laughing

I know it has been a minute since my last post.  I have been busy with life...I am sure you all know how that goes!  Recently, I have been reading Paul's letters.  Specifically Corinthians and Timothy.  I am concerned about our complacency in the church family.  I am concerned about what we are considering acceptable and what we are tolerating.  There is no reference or command for us to tolerate anything in the church and we are warned against complacency because it makes the church weak.  Complacency is a place of contentment with where you are and a sense of self-sufficiency that lacks a need for growth or instruction.  The church, the body of Christ, is largely complacent as we all sit smugly by like fat, rich leaders of a starving nation.  We find ourselves about the need for more instruction and overly confident in our strengths, laughing and jovial, arms crossed across a belly jiggling with smug laughter.  What happened to the hungry, humble, hard-working church?

Do we feel no need for further instruction?  Longing for a shepherd or father who will take us and not only guide and instruct us, but who will hold us accountable and be desiring to be held accountable as well.Why do we sit obligatorily in our cushioned seats every Sunday with coffee and snack, thankful for the reprieve of a work day but with a lack of humility and submission that is now considered "old school" church?  Do we think we are everything God wants us to be?  Are our churches bringing joy to the Father?

My mother has the gift of prophecy....and not to the point that she can forecast the future in a crystal ball or tell you the exact date of the end of the world, but she has the responsibility of holding people accountable and calling out false prophets and false teachers in the church.  Her life has been, at times, very lonely.  She has not been favored among women because she has no tolerance, a highly sensitive Spirit, and a willing heart to act on the communication and wisdom revealed to her by the Holy Spirit.  I have found the prodding of the Holy Spirit asking me to hold my church accountable.  I am also being held accountable.  My spirit is not content to sit by and be the "fat man laughing" but I am rather uneasy in the reckless contentment I am finding in the many churches we have attended in search of a "family" where we feel content.

Are we finding more people in our church who are laboring in the gospel or are we finding less?  And of those people, how many are our leaders?  I Timothy 5:17  "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine."  Verse 21 says to the church body, "I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.  Do not lay your hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure."

I am being called to call out the actions that should not be acceptable.  I will not be a popular member of my church but I will respond to the cry of the Holy Spirit within me.  I Timothy 6:20-21  "O timothy!  Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge- by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith."

A Need for Escape

I Corinthians 10:12-13 says "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

I read somewhere that temptation is like someone looking through the keyhole into your house but the actual sin is when you open the door and allow that "peeping Tom" to come in. It seems to me that people use this Scripture as an excuse sometimes in that, if they wind up giving in to temptation, they say they "couldn't help themselves".

 It takes strength to resist evil of any kind.  Where does you strength come from?  "My strength comes from the Lord." (Ps 28:7, Ps 121:2) If we are not in communion with God the Father or welcoming the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have no support.  We cannot hear the guidance of the coach if we are on the other side of the field.  So as we traverse the temptations in our lives, we need to stay close to God for His strength and His guidance so that we can search for the "way of escape".  If you were in a corn stalk maze, you would have to search for the exit.  Sometimes there are dead ends, or you get turned around, but if you wave your flag for help, the guide in the watchtower will point you in the correct direction.

Don't assume there will be no temptation because you are a Christian.  Rather, shore yourself up, stay close in communion with the Guide and look sharply for your way of escape.

How to be a True Friend

Service

My devotions took me to II Timothy 2 today.  I have been asking God to open doors for me for service as I am missing the chance to do that and time restrictions and schedules don't allow for me to participate in "structured" events.  So, as is true to form, the Holy Spirit blessed me with both conviction and inspiration.  This devotional reading confirmed my conviction.  Paul is talking to Timothy about service and the different types of service, as far as approved and disapproved service.  He wanted Timothy to serve the Lord with pure motives and clear conscience.  Starting in verse 22, he says, "Flee youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife."  I felt inspired that Paul is encouraging having correct friends surrounding you.  Earlier in the chapter (vs 17) he refers to two people who were negatively affecting the church with their tainted words and twisted beliefs.  Here he is telling Timothy not to be reckless with his choice of surroundings but to choose servants who have the same type of heart that he does to partner with.  I think it is important to remember that friendships are relationships and good relationships take maintenance and hard work.

Friendship

I have been blessed with a friend at a very lonely point of my life.  When I first met her, I was struck by the light of her smile and the peaceful enthusiasm that she attacked life with.  My heart leaped inside me that the Lord had provided a friend so joyful!  We struck up a friendship right off.  Now this lady had twin girls 6 years old, 1 daughter 5 years old, a son 2 years old, and a new born (5 months).  Her husband has the same enthusiasm and he is joyfully establishing a country life for his kids.  They were originally city folks and have now migrated to the country with an 8 acre wooded property, nice house, he added chickens, hunts rabbits out back and just got a German Short-haired pointer puppy (7 weeks old) to add to the mix.  They want to put in a garden and are thrilled with the space God have provided for them to care for!  I stopped by to drop off some plants for her garden one night and saw an exhausted mom, nursing her infant, a puppy begging to come out, kids running around upstairs, dad exhausted, and a niece and nephew who came to stay the night.

The house was evidence of extreme busy-ness. We have tried to get together on numerous occasions to no avail and I was a little hurt.  But then the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and softened my heart.  "Put yourself in her shoes.....how would you be doing?"  I was bothered by this thought for a few days and then an opportunity presented itself.  I had 4 days off in a row and list a mile long that I wanted to accomplish. The very first day, it poured down rain and I had my plans squashed.  So I sat having my coffee that morning and praying and the Holy Spirit said, "Go see your friend."  So I took my daughter and we went to see her.  It was 9:30 in the morning and we walked into the house to see her daily mayhem underway.  My daughter took off with the girls and was in her glory.  The kids were eating Graham Crackers and milk for breakfast and Ginny was nursing the baby.  There was a huge bowl of celery on the table and her son was apparently learning how to cut celery with a butter knife.  The puppy was crying to go out, the kids were all in pajamas and running around, the laundry was escaping it's space, etc.  I had brought her a bag of fresh rhubarb and she was smiling ear to ear and exclaimed that she was going to try and make jam!  I laughed at her joy and started picking up and wiping down.

Verse 24 says, "And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."  The devil had been working on a corner of my mind and a corner of my heart as well.  Until I laid my burdens at the foot of the cross, let the Holy Spirit intercede for me, and asked forgiveness for things both known and unknown to me, I could not escape that snare.  My friend asked why I was helping her and we talked about the things that God was showing both of us.  We talked openly and healed our hearts together.  So I talked and listened to my friend, took the puppy out a few times, cleaned up puppy food, wiped down the table and all the chairs, did the dishes, folded laundry, switched a load of wash into the dryer and found the whole container of fabric softener had been washed with the load, started a new load, cut up and froze the rhubarb for her, planted her strawberry pot, gave out hugs and left her to her day.  I was blessed for being a servant and she was where God allowed me to serve, and I know she was blessed for having a friend who followed the urging of the Holy Spirit.