Whitewashing the Trueth

Well it is getting to be politicin’ time. I know you are watching the debates. Sizing up candidates. (Not me I am staying up late writing blog entries.)

Ever get the feeling you are not getting the whole truth? I know you are not, because, politicians want you to think the best of them. I do not want to pick on politicians. That is not my point. This is the deal, You are bombarded every day by people who what you to believe a story. I did not say lie. Although most of the time it is. Advertisement, political groups, civil groups, lobbyists, friends, and more importantly religious leaders, preachers, authors, and professors are all trying to get you to buy into something.

Watch out! Generations of people have fallen for lies.

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign Lord. I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel’s record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

“This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash! Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down. And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, ‘What happened to your whitewash?’ Ezekiel 13:8-12

This is the Question: Are you taking what you hear about God hook line and sinker or are you checking it out? Do you buy what you are reading from the religious gurus of today or are you searching out God’s truths for yourself?

The words God spoke through Ezekiel echo to this day. Watch out. You may believe a lie.

God bless. Be vigilant.

A Message from God

I was reading through the Psalms. I came upon Psalm 50. I asked myself, “Is this a message for today?”

The Lord, the Mighty One, is God,
and he has spoken;
he has summoned all humanity
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines in glorious radiance.
Our God approaches,
and he is not silent.
Fire devours everything in his way,
and a great storm rages around him.
He calls on the heavens above and earth below
to witness the judgment of his people.
“Bring my faithful people to me—
those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices.”
Then let the heavens proclaim his justice,
for God himself will be the judge.

“O my people, listen as I speak.
Here are my charges against you, O Israel:
I am God, your God!
I have no complaint about your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.
But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.
For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for all the world is mine and everything in it.
Do I eat the meat of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?
Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Then call on me when you are in trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory.”

But God says to the wicked:
“Why bother reciting my decrees
and pretending to obey my covenant?
For you refuse my discipline
and treat my words like trash.
When you see thieves, you approve of them,
and you spend your time with adulterers.
Your mouth is filled with wickedness,
and your tongue is full of lies.
You sit around and slander your brother—
your own mother’s son.
While you did all this, I remained silent,
and you thought I didn’t care.
But now I will rebuke you,
listing all my charges against you.
Repent, all of you who forget me,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will help you.
But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

I know this Psalm was written thousands of years ago concerning the nation of Israel. But I ask you, who is this Israel today? Is it not Christians, God’s people set apart. Those who partake of the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. We drink of this covenant when we participate in drinking from the cup.

So God calls us to him in judgment. Does he have good to say about your behavior? No. He is not interested in money or offerings. Everything is his. I hear him when he says, “If I were hungry I would not tell you?”

Then when he chastises the wicked. Isn’t he talking about people who call themselves Christians. Not the worldly wicked but those who “recite my decrees and pretend to obey.” Ouch. Wake up before it is too late.

Be thankful. More than that, act like it.

His Yoke is Easy

We sang this old hymn Sunday night. The words touch many aspects of my relationship with Jesus and where we have all been. I hope you find the words encouraging.

His Yoke is Easy

Daniel S. Warner

 

I’ve found my Lord and He is mine,
He won me by His love;
I’ll serve Him all my years of time,
And dwell with Him above.

 

No other Lord but Christ I know,
I walk with Him alone;
His streams of love forever flow,
Within my heart His throne.

 

He’s dearer to my heart than life,
He found me lost in sin;
He calmed the sea of inward strife,
And bade me come to Him.

 

My flesh recoiled before the cross,
And Satan whispered there,
“Thy gain will not repay the loss,
His yoke is hard to bear.”

 

I’ve tried the road of sin and found,
Its prospects all deceive;
I’ve proved the Lord, and joys abound,
More than I could believe.

Refrain:
His yoke is easy, His burden is light,
I’ve found it so, I’ve found it so;
His service is my sweetest delight,
His blessings ever flow.

The hymn is inspired from the words of Jesus recorded by Matthew.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Why do people recoil from Jesus and claim that He demands too much? Why do we think it is so hard to follow Jesus? Is it because we do not believe? Jesus himself said “I will give you rest.” Is it because we are afraid to trade one set of burdens we are comfortable with with another we fear? All the while we think we can handle our own burdens. Never realizing we can set them down.

God bless. Swap yokes.

Way of Life Village: Longing

I found a new blog this week and wanted to share. This is a Phil’s post Longing…

O how I long for everyone to discover our God and what he is like!  Surely we will all fall in love (all over again?) with him who first loved us, and fall down before him, choosing to completely obey the King of kings, the only One worthy of our allegiance.  Come on, let us join our Creator in his mission to re-create this precious world back to its original beauty and intended purpose!  Let’s join him now!

The work they are doing and the blog entry made me think of Paul’s attitude about reaching the lost. Romans 10:1 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.” I think this is exactly the attitude Phil, Meredeth, Ed, and Katie have working in East Hollywood, CA.

May God bless their work. Check out their blog.

The Eyes Have It

I know you have heard all the time management gurus tell us, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” If we do not have a goal to complete, a target to hit, or a destination to go, we will fall short of what we hope to achieve. This is true in sports, business, and also in our spiritual walk.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

No one plans to sin? We do not go out looking for entanglements? Ever want to fall and flounder around? We do not want to fail. But do you have a target? If it is anything but Jesus the race will be hard to finish.

Jesus kept his eyes on his goal. He let nothing keep him from completing His plan. He set his heart on doing the will of God and endured the cross. His reward, the right hand of the throne of God.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. And you will not grow weary and lose heart.

God bless.

You Might be an Older Brother: Hard Heart

It has been a while since I wrote about the older brother. The book of Hebrews has many themes that relate to the problems the older brother had. First and foremost is about heart conditions. The older brother definitely had a serious heart condition. It was hard.

Symptoms of a hard heart include, apathy, hate, judgmental attitudes, stubbornness, and worst of all spiritual blindness. Individuals diagnosed with a hard heart include, Pharaoh, the Apostles (from time to time), Pharisees, and of course the Older Brother. One diagnosis came from Jesus while speaking to a group of people.

Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus. Mark 3:4-6

The Pharisees in this account refused to answer Jesus’ question because they could not bring themselves to acknowledge Jesus’ authority. They refused to answer the question because they knew they would be exposed. Just too stubborn to change. To hard to be molded into the image of God.

The author of Hebrews warns his readers too.

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:12-14

Warning: Check your heart condition, not evil and unbelieving, typical symptoms of hard hearts. Hearts deceived by sin and hardened against God. The result of a hard heart, turning away from God.

Encouragement: TODAY! Hold firmly to your faith, trust God. Be careful because sin (something we might claim to be able to control) will lead us away and deceive us.

Want to share in all that belongs to Christ? Sure you do. Start working on your heart. Sprinkle a little heart softener around. Faith in God, hold to what you believe, resist sin, trust God.

God bless. Stay soft.

What Pleases God?

Have you ever felt like you were working overtime to please someone but end the end found out you had no idea what would make them happy? Confused?

How often have you bent over backwards trying to do something for someone else and they never ever appreciated what you did for them?

It happens all the time. We work hard, sacrifice the things we want, spend time with people we do not want to, obey unwritten rules, and basically make ourselves miserable trying to get the next promotion, win a mate, satisfy a friend, or _______. You fill in the blank.

Unfortunately the world is doing the same thing with God. Stop and think of all the ways, methods, rules, and groups worshiping God. The funny thing is, there is only one Bible that tells us about God and what he wants. I just cannot imagine that God ever intended it be so complicated.

Know what? It is not complicated.

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. Hebrews 13:15-16

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “What does God really want?” The world’s religions are looking for the perfect sacrifice to appease God. AND all he really wants is for us to do good and to share. Christians the world over could do no better this Christmas than to proclaim allegiance to God and offer to him a sacrifice of praise, good works and share.

I am reminded of what God said through Micah,

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Stop sinning and stop loving the wrong things. Walk, walk humbly with God. Know Him, love Him, rely on Him. Glorify Him.

God bless. Be simple.

Do You Feel Okay?

Do you feel saved? Do you feel like you are doing the right things? You might even have a checklist of things you do to make you feel okay about yourself.

• Went to Church on Sunday – Check
• Read my bible this morning – Check
• Fasted yesterday – Check
• Did not eat meat on Friday – Check
• No Catfish – Check
• No Pork – Check
• Dressed up for Church – Check

Alright that is enough, I am not trying to pick on anyone. (There is certainly nothing evil or wrong about having rules and rituals, we all have them.) I just want to make the point the Hebrew author made in Hebrews 13:9.

So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them. Hebrews 13:9

The author is talking about the struggle Jewish Christians had converting from Judaism. They grew up with  many rules and regulations governing their spiritual and physical lives. When they converted to Christianity they put the law and its regulations behind them and their faith and trust in Christ.

They found that hard. Especially when all those things made them feel okay. We can fall into the same trap when we put trust in doing certain rituals or abstaining from things to feel okay. This is a problem because it is very easy for us to fall away when our human strength cannot keep us on the straight and narrow.

The good news is we do not have to worry about these things any more. Our strength comes from God’s grace, not from what we do to feel okay.

God bless.

Free From Money

Do you feel as enslaved to things and money as I do? I really wish I could be content with what I have. Not wanting another thing. Free.

Impossible you say? (I am there with you.)

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

The practical implication of these verses is fantastic! Never left alone, God as my helper? Can this be true?

Question: Will you trust him? Really trust him?

Answer: Pray

Lord, teach me to trust you.
Open my heart and my eyes.
I want to see your presence in my life every day.
Forgive my unbelief. Amen.

God bless. Pray like your life depends on it.

Die, Endure, Confess, be Faithful

If we die with him,
we will also live with him.
If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is. 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him to stay faithful. This short poem, Paul called it a trustworthy saying, reminded Timothy of some basic truths of the early Christian faith.

I suppose the early Christians may have memorized and repeated this poem to one another for encouragement.

Die & live

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:4

Endure hardship

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Confess don’t deny

“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. Luke 12:8-9

God is faithful

True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,

“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win your case in court.” Romans 3:3-4

Please forgive my taking this verse out of context a little. However, my point is, even when due to hardship and struggle we feel faithless, God will never give up on us. When He makes a promise it cannot be broken.

The early Church knew they had to stick together and they did. Encouraging one another to remain faithful to the end.

God bless. Die, endure, confess, be faithful.