Month: March 2016

Lesser of two evils

Election year is in full swing. Right now the party primaries are dwindling down to the front runners. As a result of that, many are looking forward to who will be running for president in November. For a Christian this can be such an important act, especially since some of our views and values do not seem to be so common anymore.

Over the years I have been in the position to live by the theory, “The lesser of two evils”. I have, just like everyone else, been in a spot where I only had a couple of choices and I was not thrilled with any of them. So what did I do, I pick the best one for the time. I chose the one that might not have been ideal for me, but that choice would get me somewhere closer to where I wanted to be. Is that the Christian thing to do when it comes to choosing for God? Notice the quote below. Where is our commitment to God? I think her quote is quite accurate, even among devout Christians. We remove God from our practice of voting because putting people in power to give us laws that satisfy our flesh or who are not of God, but get us closer to the rules and way of life we want to live in is more important that being Pro God, and only Pro God.

Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country and this world. Sharon Salzberg

Is it okay to look at, support, and vote for a candidate who talks about God or being a Christian but behaves in a manner that is clearly unbiblical just so someone else who is even more unbiblical doesn’t get into office? That is the heavenly question.

Does the bible address voting for President of the United States? I say that it does, AND it doesn’t. I say that it doesn’t because the U.S. wasn’t even here at the time of its writing. How then would Paul or anyone else know about how we elect out officials? But this would be the case in the issue of abortion too. There were no abortion clinics and Roe v Wade was not the law of the land back in Paul’s day. So how then does the bible address abortion? I believe that it does address voting the same way it addresses abortion. The U.S. may not have existed at the time, but people were still murdering each other, including babies. People were also still electing or selecting leaders of their tribes. So it is the practice that we must look at in the bible. We cannot dismiss it just because we are not talking about POTUS. The same qualifications that God gave us for leaders of the church, are the same qualifications that we need to be looking at for leaders of the community. If a man is not good enough to be the pastor of your church, why would you vote for him to be president of the United States? I have had people say, “We are not voting for a pastor to lead a church. We are voting for POTUS!” I agree, we are voting for a president of our country!! But my question is if he is not good enough to be a pastor, than why president? The only way you can answer that with an affirmative answer is if you look at POTUS as a godless position. Otherwise, our answer has to be, “He is not good enough.”I say that sternly because as a Christian I don’t think you should be voting for a person that you would not have in the pulpit AND at the head of your dinner table in your own home. I believe that wholeheartedly. Before we talk about those qualifications, let’s look at a common scripture often used to direct Christians to follow the leader, or so we think.

Matthew 22- 21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

Many shorten this up and just say, “render unto Caesar”, as if we all know what it means. But just like some other areas of scripture, people only THINK they know what they are talking about. This rendering idea comes from people trying to trap Jesus into talking defiantly against Caesar. In a lot of places in the world you are not allowed to defy the government. If you do, you will be imprisoned or killed. If you talk about Christ, the same thing.  So the pharisees asked Christ what he thought about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus asked to see the money being paid. It had an image on it, and that was an image of Caesar’s face. So Jesus simply said that if it belongs to Caesar, then give it back to him. What Christ did NOT say was give Caesar your worship, or your salvation, or your Christianity. Caesar cannot have that because it is not his, that belong’s to God. If you have Godly morals, this phrase does not support you bowing down to a leader who does not share your Christian morals.

Now that we have established that, lets look at a lesser referred to scripture on this subject.

Romans 13 1Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

Any Christian who thinks that earthly authority comes independent of God’s authority is not reading the holy word correctly. Even the pastors, or whatever name you call the leader of your church, are leaders because they are called by God. Today the churches are failing, in my opinion, because man is taking over the ordination process. You have to be elected, or voted for, or in some way approved by man no matter how you may feel called by God. Some churches say you cannot lead our church unless you have a degree. This is no where in the scripture and, in fact, we might as well throw the bible out on that standard since Paul certainly did not have a degree and God used him to record more books of the bible than anyone. The same is true for Peter, and James, and so on. This is man making up his own rules. God issues the authority. God made Christ the head of the church, then he made Christ the head of man, then man the head of woman, then woman over the children. He made that organizational chart, not me. God is the source of power and authority. He is the only one who can distribute it. I think that Christians have been convinced that they are the ones with the power and authority and so they are the ones who determine what is Godly and what is not. Wrong answer!!! Why is this important? Because of the next verse.

1 Corinthians 1- 10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas still another, “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.

So let’s collect our thoughts here. First, if you are a Christian voting for God then the “render unto Caesar” verse does not work because voting is not about giving back to man that which is man’s. It is about electing a representative of God to do God’s work from any office of authority. Second, man does not declare the power and authority, God does. No matter what office you vote for that man must be under the authority of God, not his own and certainly not any special interest. Third, there is only one standard for God’s authority and that is the Holy Scriptures. In this Verse Paul is clearly saying that we, as followers of Christ, cannot go off and set our own standards, even if we think we are doing it in the name of God. Paul clearly is saying that is not right. The Church of Christ must be one in thought and deed. Paul is fighting the multiple standards that are being followed by different people. He clearly sets the standard of Christ as the only standard to follow.

1 Timothy 2- 1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Here Timothy clearly identifies Kings and how they are to be Godly people. We live in a country that allows us to pick that Godly man. How do we know that a man is godly?

Titus 1- 5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: 6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

Yes, these are the qualifications of the leader of the church. But the reason there are very few verses in the bible about how a man is to act is because all men are leaders. Whether they lead at church, home, or work, these qualifications for the men in the church are also the qualifications of being a man period. This is what a Godly man looks like, and when running for office, exercises these qualifications of God? Because he exercises them, you, having the spirit of God in you, will recognize the spirit of God in him, and when it is not in him. Is the spirit of God in a man who does not exercise sound doctrine?

Titus 1- 15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

I added this last part of Titus:1 because of verse 16. I was having a debate with a person and I stated that I did not believe one of the presidential candidates, in the 2016 primary, who said he was a Christian. Although I was accused of judging, which means to condemn, I did not condemn him, I simply said I don’t believe it. Again, we all better understand that we are to form opinions and judgments that help us be better Christians and make better God centered decisions. Not doing so means we’re making man centered decisions and that is very dangerous. We also better know where that line is that takes us from making good decisions to condemning people. I did not condemn him. Rather, I compared his visible behavior to Titus 1. Clearly, on so many levels, this man lacks these Godly characteristics. He is not slow to anger, he is given to wine, he is a lover of money (self-proclaimed), not holy, not temperate, definitely a vain talker, and so on. In Titus two we see that we are not to speak evil of no man, yet this candidate speaks evil of many. It does not take much to the person who reads the holy word, IN MY OPINION, to see that a Christian cannot vote for anyone who does not meet God’s standard.

The problem is that we become idolaters who say to God that His rules interfere with what we want. We say things like, “if I vote for a Godly man that is not in one of the two major parties, then I am taking my vote away from the party that best fits my beliefs.” Where in all the scriptures that I just cited here, or anywhere in the whole bible, does it say that we are allowed to do that? God does not care what we think; he only cares about us being obedient. God has used the word “wicked” to describe the thoughts in a man’s mind. Even if the other side wins, did God not say that we would be persecuted in His name? So again, we are saying I am going to do things my way God, and not your way because you have no idea what you are doing. I do not want to suffer for you, or your way. I want to control as much as I can by doing things my way. I caution anyone who thinks that they can vote for the lesser of two evils and think that theirs is a vote for Godliness. Godliness is spotless; there is no evil in it. We cannot have light and darkness at that same time, yet we are trying to figure out a way when we adopt the lesser of two evil theology. And even if our vote is 9 parts light and 1 part dark, God says it’s still dark. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot turn our head to the evil and see only the good. We cannot say, “I only vote for the good in him, but the evil, no I ignore that.” No, our vote is for the evil too. And if there be even one measure of evil, it is all evil because it is not spotless. I had a person tell me that she would accept the bad parts of a candidate just because one of the good parts of the candidate is that he proclaims to be against abortion, and she cannot have the blood of children on her hands. She obviously feels that voting for this candidate will get her closer to minimizing abortion, and that is a Godly position. She feels that he is a Christian, in spite of his ungodly behavior, just because he says he is a Christian. We cannot ignore the fruit. We are not only told to look for it, but we are told what it looks like so we can see it, both in others and in ourselves. I know pastors who believe that voting for the lesser of the two evils is better than a vote straight for God because they are fearful of the other party winning, which would be the more of the two evils. But I challenge all who share that view that while you vote to avoid having the blood on your hands you still turn your back to Christ and vote for darkness even if it is in only some SMALL part. I say that confidently because I do not believe Christ believes in the lesser of two evil theology. I am absolutely confident of that, and therefore, we should NOT subscribe to that as well. In fact, I believe we need to recognize that this idea is straight from the mouth of satan!!!! Who does more damage, the devil you can plainly see, or the wolf in sheep’s clothing? We are told to watch them both, are we not? Who do we think we are that we can stop the world from its destiny according to Christ? Again, you are worried about the blood on your hands; I am worried about the blood of Christ. I vote for Christ and let him worry about the babies. Christ is in a much better place than me to be in charge of that, and no matter how much you think of yourself, He is in a much better place than you to deal with that as well. I think I am rewarded for voting for Christ and putting faith in Him. Will it get better, probably not. The bible says not. So why sell Christ out for the lesser of two evils when the end is already foretold? Our country has gotten to the spiritually deprived place that it is because of the compromise of Christ. I hate it, and I refuse to participate in it any further. I stop and represent Christ immediately, and on His terms not mine.

I should close by saying recognizing that fallen man is a sinner, all of us. Even the minister who was my most favorite pick and was out of the race early on. He is a sinner too. But he is a repentant sinner, and a man who puts God first. There is a difference between being a saved creature who is living Titus:1 and a man who cries LORD LORD, and then attacks women, and has contention in his mouth. No one is perfect, but use your eyes and compare to the LORD’s admonition to these people seeking to be our leader, not mine. Read his expectations and and hold each candidate to the LORD’s example. Does he fit? If not explore options. When it comes to president, I ask for a write in ballot. I vote for myself because I know I, and my entire cabinet, will serve God!

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God, and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Kick back and relax

About the photo– I have been in a lot of church houses in my life, both protestant and catholic. I have been in churches with roles that exceed 600 members. This small little church house has more love, and from what I seen and felt, more people striving to live a Godly life than any other church house I have ever been in. There is no show, no theatrics, just the Spirit and His children!

So this past week I spent a lot of time thinking about what “deny yourself” really means. I found out that the meaning is hard core. So hard core that most Christians just like me say we do it, but really we don’t. The meaning is so hard core that understanding what it really means makes some not even want to follow Christ. The meaning is very simple; it is very black and white, it is very clear. There is no watering it down, and there is no manipulation, no wiggle room. Either you deny yourself and follow Christ or you choose to follow yourself and not Christ.

Luke 9- 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Mark 8- 34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Matthew 16- 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Jesus himself said that in order to be a true follower of Him, we must deny ourselves. The bible offers a definition of what this means.

Galatians 2- 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

“I have been crucified” means I have died. Before Christ, I was an unrepentant sinner. Either you were too, or you still are, only you and God know which. We were doomed. We lived for ourselves and through ourselves. When Christ went to the cross, His perfect sacrifice gave us a way to repent and be redeemed for all eternity. In the act of salvation, we- the old unrepentant sinners that we were or are- is crucified, we die to our self.

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” After Christ enters in, we are now alive IN CHRIST. This is the meaning of rebirth. The old man dies and a new man is reborn in an instant. We are now alive because of Christ and for Christ. This means that you and I are to take on the characteristics of Christ. If we were a drunkard before, we are to be no more. If we had hate in our heart, we are to love instead. If we were sexually immoral, in ANY way, we are to stop and cherish our body as the priceless gift that it is. If we were proud and boastful, we are to be meek and humble until our second death. If we think about the NT, Christ spoke about the Father all the time. He wanted to lead people to God the Father. Jesus was obedient to His Father. Christ not only spoke these words, but He lived them as well. He was the model of the life He requires of His followers. No, it is not an option. He has said so over and over.

John 14- 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Jesus expects those who chose to follow Him to obey Him. “If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” Notice this is written in the plural. And notice that ‘My” is capitalized. That means the commandments that are spoke of here are the LORD’s commands, not yours, not mine, and not satan’s. Many think this means love everyone and you will be okay because love is the greatest gift, or because it is the command above all commands. But that theology negates that there are more than just that one command. There are hundreds of commands in the NT that we are to live out. They are not hard, they are not complicated. They are all wrapped around Christ and His agape love for us. We are to live according to His will, not our own. When we do that, Jesus says that He will advocate on our behalf to the Father. The Father will send the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, to us. The world does not know the truth, because they do not have the spirit. But because we live according to Christ, we have the spirit and we know the truth.

The truth is we are a fallen man, and sometimes we hold on to the parts of us which are dead, or at least are supposed to be dead. Hate, fornication, murder, lying, idolatry and such are not behaviors of Jesus, but of the devil. If you are the center of your universe, Christ is not in you. You simply have not denied yourself. That is simple and it is the truth. I don’t need to be Christ to make that call. Christ has left the word here for all of us to know what the fruit of the spirit looks like, and that rotten fruit of idolatry, man centered anything, tells all who know the truth, and have the spirit so that we can recognize it that the  spirit is not in that man centered person. It is not hard really. In fact, it is more simple and plain than most people think. People only think these words are complicated or have more complicated meanings because they want to feel comfortable in their sin.

We must become a people who are in submission, that is, submitted completely to the mission of the Church, ‘in statu missionis.’ Thus, living fully within the mainstream of grace, under the mantle of God’s divine authority, and by uniting ourselves to the obedience of Christ on the cross, we participate in the reversal of Adam’s sin.

Michael O’Brien

For many years I refused to go to church. I had a number of bad experiences and ended up saying that Church is not for me. I used to say, all the time, “I can have a relationship with God without having to go to church.” Even after I went back to church, I used to say; “nowhere in the bible does it say you ‘HAVE’ to go to church.” Let me tell you, I was wrong and so is everyone who is saying what I used to say.

Hebrews 10- 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

These verses indicate that not only are we to go to church, but we are to urge and encourage others to go to church. It also indicates that not going to church is not a new idea. There were people thinking what I thought long before I thought it. These verses tell me it wasn’t right then and it isn’t right now. Finally, as it states, we should be gathering even more as the end times approach. No, this is not a quatrain declaring the end date! But my eyes work, do yours?

John Gills comments, “Now to “forsake” such assembling, signifies a great infrequency in attending with the saints, a rambling from place to place, and takes in an entire apostasy. It is the duty of saints to assemble together for public worship, on the account of God, who has appointed it, who approves of it, and whose glory is concerned in it; and on the account of the saints themselves, that they may be delighted, refreshed, comforted, instructed, edified, and perfected; and on account of others, that they may be convinced, converted, and brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ; and in imitation of the primitive saints. And an assembling together ought not to be forsaken; for it is a forsaking God, and their own mercies, and such are like to be forsaken of God; nor is it known what is lost hereby; and it is the first outward visible step to apostasy, and often issues in it.”

The great King David proclaimed that we need to Praise God in His house.

Psalm 150- 1Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Apostle Paul said we need to get together for the purpose of learning and growing.

Colossians 3- 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

How do you teach and admonish one another if you are at home alone? This is a command that we do this. Today, people want to accuse others of judging because they don’t like what’s being said. Funny connection, the devil doesn’t like the truth too! Sometimes people are wrong, that’s why the mirror is an important piece of equipment. That’s why brothers and sisters need to be more honest with each other. On brother says another brother said I should stopped swearing. He is at home, who does he ask. If he is at church he can ask other brothers, is it true, should I stop. Everyone who loves this brother should tell him the truth. Yes, you swear too much and you need to stop. If you have numerous brothers and sisters agreeing that this something amiss in your worship, then a wise person should be convicted to check himself. People don’t go to church anymore, at least the churches that still preach the truth, because they want to remain comfortably in sin. People want to kick back and relax. They do not want to be corrected because they do not want to deny themselves. There is just too much fun in sin. Isn’t that some sad short term thinking?

Christlike communications are expressions of affection and not anger, truth and not fabrication, compassion and not contention, respect and not ridicule, counsel and not criticism, correction and not condemnation. They are spoken with clarity and not with confusion. They may be tender or they may be tough, but they must always be tempered.

Lionel Kendrick

 

I will conclude with the parable of the rich young ruler

Key Verses

Luke 18- 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

And this is the truth more often than not. The idea of hell scares people, so they seek Christ. The idea of heaven is so comforting. A lot of people want Christ right up until Christ starts to infringe on one’s health, wealth, loves of entertainment and happiness, idea of fairness, and so on. God is good as long as the sinner comes first and God comes last. People, there shouldn’t even be balance. It is ALL for God, nothing for you. This ruler had power and possessions and wealth. To him, Jesus told him to deny himself because Jesus knew the ruler had a love for that stronger than his love of Christ. Christ new He was not first in this ruler’s life. But that ruler wanted it all. He wanted all he had on earth, and he wanted heaven, and he wanted it for him, not for Christ. When Jesus infringed on that, when Jesus told him to put Christ first and deny himself, that was too much to bear. He walked away sad. But he could not stay sad forever, right? So what did he do? Probably the same thing we do. We start saying there is no God, and there is no heaven and hell because I have to do something with this fear of hell. So if I negate the truth, and everything that reminds me that this is the truth, I can remain comfortably in my sin. That is why there are fake Christians in the world, and people who walk away. Everything is great until God asks us to sacrifice that which we love. Here is a plain and easy example. God tells me to love my wife like Jesus loves the church. Now, I don’t know about all husbands out there, but there are times when I do not want to love my wife. Sometimes I want to walk out that door. That would be a bad choice. Why? Because that is a choice made under extreme emotion, where I am lacking a God grip on my life. That would be Mike’s will, not God’s. God wants me to stay there and love her enough to let Christ take care of the devil who is trying to destroy my marriage. I have to love God enough to love my wife even when my flesh is screaming not to. I have to deny myself. What God may be asking you to do, or not to do, can be different than this. And knowing it is easy. Are you doing it, or do you have it for God, or for yourself. Deny yourself, die to your flesh. Life is not about you!

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God, and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Satan was working overtime!

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever. Mahatma Gandhi

This past week has been a winner. Satan was working overtime, at least in my life. I had a lot of anxiety and troubling thoughts go through my mind. I have prayed over those things, and that is all between God and me. However, the lesson that I learned from it is what has brought me peace. I know I did the right things, as it was all in my service to God. I cannot tell you about the peace that came over me after reading His word. There were two major events this past week. The first was in my private life and the other in my work life. It was the word of God that delivered to me the message that I am going to share here. I praise God for it, and beg that the spirit guide me through.

Matthew 6- 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

About the picture;

I was out hunting for Turkey once and snapped this photo with my phone. I was laying in a hole, and turned my head and saw this little guy hard at work. I wondered what this spider was thinking as we were both doing the same thing, looking for food. I was willing to work for it, and obviously so was he. I came to the conclusion that he probably wasn’t thinking about much at all. He is doing what God designed him to do, he is never going to run out of that silk to make the web, and God is going to send some insects into that web for provisions, just as God promised He would do. Nope, that little guy probably wasn’t worried about too much of anything. Unlike me, who was worrying about whether or not I was going to see a turkey.

John Calvin says, “By these words it is far from being our Lord’s intention to encourage us to indolence and sluggishness. All that he means is, that, though other means fail, the providence of God is alone sufficient for us, for it supplies the animals abundantly with every thing that they need.”

So I start off this week knowing I have a big Friday meeting. Not that many people were attending, but ‘big’ in the importance of the topic. I had limited contact with my boss, and one helper (she was and awesome helper by the way). The topic of the meeting was not something that I like to do. I know it is a weakness of mine, and I feel that I am very bad at it. It is not something I ever professed to be good at, but as a part of my job, I have to do it. As Friday neared, my anxiety increased.

Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained- Arthur Somers Rache

 

At the same time, I am dealing with a couple issues in my private life. First, my dad saw a doctor and was told that he has a medical issue that is known to be a cancerous condition, so he needs to go see a specialist and have tests done. Then satan rears his ugly head in the relationship of some church goers. Lies, evil speaking, contention, resistance to righteous correction, and flat out meanness abounded every single day this week. I was grateful for Wednesday night prayer service, but I was even more grateful for the Holy Spirit that leads me daily. I am even more grateful for the word of God that comforts me and teaches me. I am grateful for Matthew 6.

When you look at the animals in nature, do you ever wonder if they worry? According to this scripture, they do not. God takes care of them. I believe they don’t even have the capacity to worry. They simply do what they were designed to do, and don’t think of anything else. Once again, it is man that messes that up. If God takes care to dress the field, feed the birds, and bring beauty to the flower, what is it that makes us feel like He will not take care of us. Well, what are the last five words of verse 30. “O you of little faith”. We make ourselves feel that way because of our lack of faith. How do we get to the point where we lack faith? We take our eyes off of God.

Matthew 6- 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God has stated over and over that he knows what we need. So there I sit, allowing the thoughts of how I hate this piece of my job, and how I believe I stink at it consume me instead of just turning it over to God. I am worried about how I will present, and what will I say. I shut the rest of the job out on Friday to focus on the coffee, water, snacks, hand-out materials, and so on. Instead of seeking the kingdom of God, I focus on the “in front of my face”. One would think that this lesson pressed upon my heart would be sufficient here. The spirit kept on pressing.

KEY VERSE

Matthew 10- 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.

So why is a verse that tells me Jesus did not come here to bring peace being pressed on my mind by the spirit when peace is what I am looking for? God did not send Jesus to this world to fix anything. He did not send Jesus to make anything right, as a matter of forced behavior. He sent Jesus to teach us how to be right, how to fix our own lives through that teaching. The sword that is mentioned here is the gospel. And the gospel cuts through the darkness separating the obedient from the disobedient. Jesus did not come to lump everyone together and makes us all followers against our will, so that we could all be the same. He came to tell the truth, which is His gospel, and for you and me to use it in our own lives. Does it make sense that free will could be the greatest gift and the greatest curse? Instead of lumping us together the sword of the gospel separates us according to our faith or lack thereof. The world tells me to worry about that meeting, and pay attention to all these worldly things. The Gospel says accept Christ as the head of your life and let God worry about these things. So peace comes, but only by accepting Christ.

John Gill says, “By the “sword” may be meant the Gospel, which is the means of dividing and separating the people of Christ from the men of the world, and from their principles and practices, and one relation from another; as also of divisions, discords, and persecutions arising from it: not that it was the intention and design of Christ, in coming into the world, to foment and encourage such things; but this, through the malice and wickedness of men, was eventually the effect and consequence of his coming where, instead of a “sword”, it is “division”; because the sword divides asunder, as does the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.”

 

Matthew 10- 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

To further illustrate this point Jesus tells us that our focus on Him should look so singular, that our affection towards our loved ones should look like we do not love each other at all. Now Jesus doesn’t expect children to hate their parents and parents to hate the children. He expects you to love Him so much more that these. This is an illustration of what looking above looks like. That there is nothing, not our wives, husbands, children, parents, no person that comes before God, and that the next person in line does not even come close. Picking up your cross is an illustration of denying yourself. Not only should your love for God be so great that it looks like you do not love anyone else, but also that you do not love yourself. When Jesus took up his cross, it was the burden for being God. It was not something he wanted to do and only had to deny being God to be able to put the cross back down. Picking up the cross and following Christ is the illustration of you saying, “I am a child of Jesus Christ, and I deny my flesh and all my desires of this world to follow Him.” God comes first. When you have that, you have a “God centered” worship.

John Trapp writes, “God will have us to hold him to be better to us than ten sons: and to bestow all our love upon him, as most worthy. What he gives us back again, we may bestow upon others; loving our friends in God, and our enemies for God. But the love of Christ must constrain us to part with all, though never so dear and near unto us, for his sake.”

Half way through the day on Friday I prayed over this meeting. I turned it all over to God. It was a great meeting. I was supposed to have more than one helper, but God sent only one. God knows what he is doing. She was the only helper I needed and she was awesome. I am hopeful for the future endeavors with these people and the mission of this meeting. With regard to the other attacks, I examined the things I said and the purpose for which I said them, regarding the person in the church. I believe the words were right, I believe the correction was stern, but with love. I believe that no matter how it was received I believe I was in the service of the LORD. ‘Man centered’ worshippers rarely want to hear correction, no matter how you deliver it. I planted the seed, the rest is up to God. I am confident that I put God first in that too. My hands and mind are no match for cancer. That is turned over already!

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” Henry Ward Beecher

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God, and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!