Jesus Said, "Follow Me"

 

(Almost) every Monday I text a couple of groups of men. I call it "encouragement" because I figure that is what most of them (and I) need on a Monday morning. Many of these guys pour themselves out for their families, and their jobs during the week and their church on the weekends, and I want to try to pour a little back into them. 

I am also trying to be more disciplined in writing and blogging; so to kill-two-birds-with-one-stone so to speak, here is the Monday Morning Encouragement for this week: 

Good Monday morning men. A little encouragement from the Lord's word this morning. 

Yesterday we studied John 21:15-19, where Jesus forgave Peter and restored his faith. At the end of v.19 it says, John 21:19 NLT ... Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.” These were the same words Jesus used when He first called Peter to be His disciple. Those two words (follow Me) reveal Jesus' love and grace. They are an invitation to a relationship, or in this case a continuing relationship. Jesus wanted Peter to continue in a relationship with Him, and stay close to Him. 

Sometimes when I sin and fail, I think the Lord is so disappointed in me that He wouldn't want to even be around me, much less want me to identify with Him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The problem with my thinking is that I focus more on myself and my failure than I do on Jesus and His grace. He reminds me that His grace is greater than any and all sin I have committed. Though there may be consequences for my sin and failure, one thing that never happens is that Jesus gives up on me and distances Himself from me. On the contrary, He comes to me, like He did Peter, and restores me and says, "Keep following Me." 

Jesus wants us to stay close to Him even when we have failed. What an amazing Savior!

Love you guys. Praying you have a blessed week!

If you'd like to be added to a text group (guys only 😉) you can comment on this post (only I will see it) and I will reach out to you to get your number (or just text me if you already have my number).

And sometime today, out loud and on purpose, praise the Lord! (DD)

Contending with the Dark Side

Wednesday evening we began a new Bible study on forgiveness. To guide us in our study, we are using a book written by a friend of mine, Dr. Randall O'Brien, (who graciously provided the books for us). I had read the book several years ago, and was helped and encouraged by it.

The first chapter is "Understanding our Dark Side." By "dark side" Dr. O'Brien is referring to the carnal, sinful nature ingrained in every human being. The Bible calls it our "old man" and we all have one. Even those of us who have been saved still have to deal with the old nature. Even the Apostle Paul recognized he had dark side. In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul declares, "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'—and I am the worst of them all." (NLT) Notice Paul doesn't say, "I USED to be the worst of them all," or "I WAS the worst of them all." He said "I AM the worst of them all" - present tense, active verb.

Paul also reveals his battle with his dark side in Romans 7:15-23. He wanted to do right, but didn't; he didn't want to do wrong, but he did. He even says there was a war going on within him (v.23).

The reality is saved sinners still sin. Though we should sin less, we aren't sinless (only Jesus achieved that status). So what do we do when our dark side flairs up and gets the best of us from time-to-time? How do we contend with our dark side? A few suggestions ...

1. Run to Jesus. Sin has separating effect on our relationship with God and the old man wants to run and hide when we've sinned and messed up. This has been true from the beginning (see Genesis 3). But don't do it; don't run from Jesus, run TO Him. Paul knew this. At the end of the confession of his battle with his dark side, Paul writes - "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 7:24-25 NLT) Even though his old man was undoubtedly wanting to run and hide like Adam and Eve in the garden, Paul knew that he had an advocate with the Father who had atoned for his sins, and he could run to Jesus knowing that he was forgiven.

The Apostle John writes: "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.  He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins..." (1 John 2:1-2a NLT) Jesus knows we will sin, He's accounted for it and He's already taken care of it. That's not a license to sin (note the first line of the above verse, "I'm writing this to you so that you will not sin"), but it is a recognition that the sovereign Lord of the universe isn't surprised by our sin, and He isn't discouraged by it, because He has already dealt with it. You can run to Him because He loves you, forgives you and restores you.

2. Give yourself some grace. I'm always harder on myself than anyone else. I don't know about you but I tend to dwell on my failures. I can still remember striking out in a Little League baseball game with two outs and two runners on base and the game on the line ... and I still feel bad about it. (I even remember the name of the guy who struck me out ... 44 years ago.) I also tend to dwell on my spiritual failures, and not only do I feel bad about them, I usually beat myself up over them.  I also have an accomplice that helps me with my self-abuse - the devil who is the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev 12:9-11). He likes to help me beat myself up and tries to convince me that God is mad at me, and that I'll never change, and God could never love me or use me. None of that is true, of course, but it hurts.

In times like these when I get down on myself I have to remind myself that I am loved by God. And though He doesn't approve of my sinful behavior, He has already proven His love for me, and He has already forgiven me through His grace (see Romans 5:8). If God has forgiven me, and has shown me grace, I can have grace for myself ... and you can too. There is nothing you have done that would ever cause God to love you less. Your sin is dealt with on the cross and your forgiveness is secured by Christ ... so give yourself some grace. What happened has happened, and there is nothing you can do to change it, but you can move on from it in His grace.

3. Give grace to others also. Everyone has a dark side - that means every person you meet every day has the nature of sin and the potential for their sin to hurt you. When my "old man" slips out and I sin, it doesn't affect just me, it affects those around me as well ... and vice-a-versa. And just as I need grace from God, I need grace from others, and they need grace from me. If we aren't gracious toward others who have a dark side, we haven't fully understood the gospel. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We can love those who hurt us because we have been loved by the One we hurt the most. His grace is sufficient ...

Contending with our dark side is an ongoing war. Through Christ we will overcome and experience ultimate victory over the dark side (ours and THE dark side).  Even if we lose a battle every-once-in-a-while, don't give up, don't give in, and don't stop fighting the good fight of faith and grace. Contend with the dark side knowing that the outcome of victory is already secured.

#ThankfulThursday

Always be joyful. Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

As Paul is wrapping up his second letter to the church at Thessaloniki, he kind of creates this "punch-list" of things Christians should be doing, or at least that's what it seems like. It could be kind of a check-list that we could run through and check off. But the things he lists can't be done in a short time or even a day - these are lifetime practices. Really what Paul is describing is what should be the default setting for every follower of Christ, but Paul makes the list, because he knows (and God knows) we are a work in progress and need to be reminded and encouraged. 

In the heart of this punch list, Paul gives what I think is the Big Three - Always be joyful, never stop praying, and give thanks in every situation and circumstance. While I think they go together, it is the last one that Paul says is "the will of God in Christ Jesus for you all." They're all important commands, but Paul spotlights giving thanks as God's express will for our lives. 

I'm not sure we value the giving of thanks as God would have us to. As kids, we’re taught that “please,” and “thank you” are magic words— a formula that will compel adults to give us stuff. As an adult who follows Christ, I've treated the giving of thanks as a perfunctory duty, something I generally do before committing the sin of gluttony at the meal table. Even when I would read a "thanksgiving" passage in the Bible, I would just kind of skim over it and not really think about it. I trivialized the word “thanks” so much that it doesn’t stop me when I read it. I don’t think about what it means. 

The Bible makes a big deal about giving thanks. The word or concept is mentioned more than 200 times between the Old and New Testaments. There are several words that are used for giving thanks, but the two big ones are "yadah" in the OT and "eucharisteo" in the NT. 

Yadah is defined as "Acknowledging what is right about God in praise and thanksgiving" (Baker, Word Study Dictionary). In it's earliest form it meant to "throw or cast" with the hand. It came to mean expressing with words and actions, a deep appreciation for God and His goodness. I love the Hebrew definition of thanks because it is totally tied to who God is. The more we learn about God, the more we should praise and glorify Him.

Eucharisteo means "To show oneself grateful, to be thankful, to give thanks..." (Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary). It is formed from two Greek words - eu (good) and charis (grace), so literally it means expressing "good grace" or we could also say, "thanking God for His good grace."

What both of those words mean is is that giving thanks is not just a thought process or attitude, it is an action - we are to GIVE thanks, express our gratitude toward God, not just for what He does for us, but for who He is to us. Giving thanks not only recognizes God's goodness, but it spotlights His greatness of character and being. He is God and there is no other - give Him thanks and praise! 

Take some time to day to express in words, through prayer and maybe even writing, your gratitude to God for who He is and for all He has done for you!

x

Because I Am Yours

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

Last week, while preparing for a sermon Romans 1:5, "The Purpose of the Gospel," I came a across this beautiful story of the amazing grace of God. I found the story on a blog written by Jerry Bouma, which you can find here. But the story itself is from a book called "PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace" by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones. The book is available at Amazon. 

In the book, Timothy Paul Jones writes about how a trip to Disney with his adopted daughter taught him an incredible lesson on the gospel and God's amazing grace. Here is the story: 

“Because I’m Yours” 

I never dreamed that taking a child to Disney World could be so difficult — or that such a trip could teach me so much about God’s outrageous grace. 

Our middle daughter had been previously adopted by another family. I [Timothy] am sure this couple had the best of intentions, but they never quite integrated the adopted child into their family of biological children. After a couple of rough years, they dissolved the adoption, and we ended up welcoming an eight-year-old girl into our home. 

For one reason or another, whenever our daughter’s previous family vacationed at Disney World, they took their biological children with them, but they left their adopted daughter with a family friend. Usually — at least in the child’s mind — this happened because she did something wrong that precluded her presence on the trip. 

And so, by the time we adopted our daughter, she had seen many pictures of Disney World and she had heard about the rides and the characters and the parades. But when it came to passing through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, she had always been the one left on the outside. Once I found out about this history, I made plans to take her to Disney World the next time a speaking engagement took our family to the southeastern United States. 

I thought I had mastered the Disney World drill. I knew from previous experiences that the prospect of seeing cast members in freakishly oversized mouse and duck costumes somehow turns children into squirming bundles of emotional instability. What I didn’t expect was that the prospect of visiting this dreamworld would produce a stream of downright devilish behavior in our newest daughter. In the month leading up to our trip to the Magic Kingdom, she stole food when a simple request would have gained her a snack. She lied when it would have been easier to tell the truth. She whispered insults that were carefully crafted to hurt her older sister as deeply as possible — and, as the days on the calendar moved closer to the trip, her mutinies multiplied. 

A couple of days before our family headed to Florida, I pulled our daughter into my lap to talk through her latest escapade. “I know what you’re going to do,” she stated flatly. “You’re not going to take me to Disney World, are you?” The thought hadn’t actually crossed my mind, but her downward spiral suddenly started to make some sense. She knew she couldn’t earn her way into the Magic Kingdom — she had tried and failed that test several times before — so she was living in a way that placed her as far as possible from the most magical place on earth. 

In retrospect, I’m embarrassed to admit that, in that moment, I was tempted to turn her fear to my own advantage. The easiest response would have been, “If you don’t start behaving better, you’re right, we won’t take you” — but, by God’s grace, I didn’t. Instead, I asked her, “Is this trip something we’re doing as a family?” 

She nodded, brown eyes wide and tear-rimmed.
“Are you part of this family?”
She nodded again.
“Then you’re going with us. Sure, there may be some consequences to help you remember what’s right and what’s wrong — but you’re part of our family, and we’re not leaving you behind.” 

I’d like to say that her behaviors grew better after that moment. They didn’t. Her choices pretty much spiraled out of control at every hotel and rest stop all the way to Lake Buena Vista. Still, we headed to Disney World on the day we had promised, and it was a typical Disney day. Overpriced tickets, overpriced meals, and lots of lines, mingled with just enough manufactured magic to consider maybe going again someday. 

In our hotel room that evening, a very different child emerged. She was exhausted, pensive, and a little weepy at times, but her month-long facade of rebellion had faded. When bedtime rolled around, I prayed with her, held her, and asked, “So how was your first day at Disney World?” 

She closed her eyes and snuggled down into her stuffed unicorn. After a few moments, she opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Daddy,” she said, “I finally got to go to Disney World. But it wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours.” 

It wasn’t because I was good; it’s because I’m yours. 

That’s the message of outrageous grace. 

Outrageous grace isn’t a favor you can achieve by being good; it’s the gift you receive by being God’s. Outrageous grace is God’s goodness that comes looking for you when you have nothing but a middle finger flipped in the face of God to offer in return. It’s a farmer paying a full day’s wages to a crew of deadbeat day laborers with only a single hour punched on their time cards (Matthew 20:1 – 16). It’s a man marrying an abandoned woman and then refusing to forsake his covenant with her when she turns out to be a whore (Ezekiel 16:8 – 63; Hosea 1:1 — 3:5). It’s the insanity of a shepherd who puts ninety-nine sheep at risk to rescue the single lamb that’s too stupid to stay with the flock (Luke 15:1 – 7). It’s the love of a father who hands over his finest rings and robes to a young man who has squandered his inheritance on drunken binges with his fair-weather friends (Luke 15:11 – 32)…It’s one-way love that calls you into the kingdom not because you’ve been good but because God has chosen you and made you his own. And now he is chasing you to the ends of the earth to keep you as his child, and nothing in heaven or hell can ever stop him…

Beautiful, huh? Now go wipe your eyes, blow your nose and praise the Lord who loves you not because of what you do for Him, but for who you are to Him; and enjoy the rest of this blessed day!

A Lineage of Grace

Last year I began H.E.A.R. journaling through the Gospel of Matthew. (H.E.A.R. is a Bible study method developed by Dr. Robby Gallaty and stands for "Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond." You can learn more about it here [or HEAR, lol]). This has been good prep for preaching through Matthew this year.

The first 17 verses is the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph, the man God chose to raise His Son. There are  names of a lot of the great men of the Old Testament like Abraham and David, but I'm always struck by the fact that Matthew lists four women in the genealogy of the Lord. This is unusual because women are rarely listed in genealogies in the Scriptures, but what is even more remarkable is the women Matthew chose to include:

• Tamar, who deceived her father-in-law Judah into sleeping with her and bore him twins (Gen 38).
• Rahab the prostitute of Jericho who spared the Israelite spies (Joshua 2). Rahab eventually married an Israelite, Salmon and they had a son named Boaz, who would eventually marry...
• Ruth, a Moabite widow who followed her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem where she met and married Boaz (Book of Ruth) They also had a grandson named Jesse who becomes the father of Israel's greatest king, David. And David will eventually meet ...
• Bathsheba, not mentioned by name in the genealogy but is the woman with whom David had and affair and then kills her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 11).

Matthew reveals some the “skeletons” in Jesus’ family closet.

As I was thinking through the application, I was reminded that God OFTEN uses the least likely candidates to accomplish His plans and purposes. The genealogy shows that God is not limited by human perspective and understanding; His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. God often uses people we would write off as disqualified. But the truth is that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace, nor beyond His ability to be used for His glory.

The "R" in H.E.A.R. journaling stands for "Response" which means - what is my response to what I learned from studying the passage. My response to the genealogy of Jesus: Don’t write people off because of their past sins or current circumstances. Don’t attempt to limit God’s ability nor His plan. God can accomplish whatever pleases Him through whomever He pleases. Don’t miss His work or His blessing by judging others or writing them off. Join God in seeing all people as valuable, beautiful and useful to the Lord and His work. This is something I have known, because God should have written me off a long time ago, but He has faithfully pursued me and called me back to Himself and to His ministry. I'm thankful for His faithfulness even when I am not, and for the reminder of His faithfulness through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.

THE GRACE OF GOD

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Bible says that God's grace is sufficient. The context of that verse is very important. The apostle Paul has been plagued by what he calls a "thorn in the flesh". We're not told what his thorn was, other than it is identified as a "messenger of Satan" given to Paul specifically to keep him humble (I'm thinking it was one of those "sandpaper people" that always rubs the wrong way). Paul prayed three times (the number of holiness) for it to be removed, but the thorn remained. God's answer to Paul's prayer was "no, but ... My grace is sufficient for you." And then God explains why: "My strength is made perfect in weakness." In other words, when you are faced with a situation that you can't fix, a problem you can't solve, a weakness you can't overcome, that's when God takes over. He works in you, through you and around you to do what you can't. He shines the light of His love into your darkness.

I love Paul's response, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:9-10)
When we face our most serious challenge, we can rejoice, because God is about to show His power. When we are at our weakest , we can "take pleasure" because God is about to show His strength. When we shrink down, God shows off.

This verse is especially significant as I prepare for our mission trip to Guatemala. Even though I've gone before, there is always that concern about what "may happen". I'm such a control freak, and being in a country where I can't speak the language, and can't navigate the streets takes me WAY out of my comfort zone. There's also the concern over being able to share the Gospel, which is my main reason for going. Will I have an opportunity to share the Gospel? Will I know what to say? Will I be able to communicate clearly? All those things keep running through my mind ... and then God speaks, "My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect (complete) in your weakness (frailty)". Therefore I rejoice in the unknowns, uncertainties, and challenges of the trip, for in my weakness, He will be strong. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace!

A Believing Pharisee???

Last week I attended a leadership conference at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC with a couple of guys from church. It was a pretty intense one-day event. We heard some of the best preachers in the country: Perry Noble (host pastor), Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, Jud Wilhite, Judah Smith, Steven Furtick, and Andy Stanley. All of these guys and their messages had a different impact on me. Some of them encouraged me, some challenged me, and all of them taught me. And God used them to help me see some things that I hadn't seen before.

For example, Andy Stanley preached on Acts 15, on "Four Gravitational Pulls Every Church Experiences." It was a great message; very practical, inspiring and helpful. But God also opened my eyes to a verse I had not paid much attention too before. The context of Acts 15 is the controversy over whether Gentiles could be saved by faith alone, or if they had to be circumcised and keep the Jewish laws. The first Christians were Jews and they were having a difficult time accepting that God could save people outside of the Jewish faith.

The verse that really jumped out was Acts 15:5. I've read this verse numerous times, but suddenly it captivated my attention: But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." (NKJV) What? Pharisees who "believed"? I just kept reading those words: "the Pharisees who believed; the Pharisees who believed; the Pharisees who believed." Then the Holy Spirit spoke - "A Pharisee who believes, is still a Pharisee." He believes in Jesus, but he is still holding on to his religious traditions and trying to impose them on others.

To the Pharisees' credit, the things they were holding on to were pretty important. In fact, they had been given to them by God - circumcision as a sign of the covenant, and the Law of Moses as the means of keeping the covenant. It was their "old-time religion" and if it was good enough for Abraham and Moses, it was good enough for them, and it would be good enough for the Gentiles as well!

The problem was, the "Old-Time Religion" wasn't good enough (see Acts 15:10), and so God was doing something new. He had established a new covenant through His Son Jesus. A covenant of faith, not religious ritual. The Pharisees knew of Jesus, and according to the Scriptures, even "believed." But they couldn't let go of the past. And they couldn't let go of their old ways of doing things, like imposing their beliefs on others (i.e., "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.") Consequently, they were causing division in the church.

Here's the point God gave me - "A believing Pharisee, is still a Pharisee, and will always try to make people do/see things his way. But the church can't be held hostage to the ways of the Pharisee. Grace must (and will) always prevail." Believe me, there are still Pharisees in the church today, and they will always try to control the work of God and make it fit into their theological framework, and by imposing their personal beliefs on others. But, as Jesus said, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.” Matt 9:17 (NLT) The "New Wine" of Christ will not be contained by the old religious traditions held on to by men, and eventually He will break free from them.

AGAIN

My life seems to be one long series of beginning again I'm determined to do this blogging thing, so I'm beginning again.

I'm thankful that God lets us begin again. I've started over many times in my relationship with Him. Not really a "starting-over"; He let's me pick-up where I left off so to speak. I don't have to earn my way back into His good graces, I just have to honestly admit I've screwed up and ask for His forgiveness. I usually add a few promises to do better in the future, but He knows whether that will be true or not. His grace is truly amazing.

I also take comfort in knowing that the people who have messed up the worst are the ones God often uses the most: David and Bathsheba, Peter denied Christ, Paul consenting to Stephen's stoning, etc. God used/uses some pretty rough characters to do His work. I think He does it that way because it gives evidence of His great power, and His amazing grace.

I don't know if anyone actually reads these posts, but if you've come across it and you happen to be struggling in your relationship to God because you feel like you've screwed-up greater than God could ever forgive - trust me, your wrong. Where sin (screw-ups) abound, grace MUCH MORE abounds! Hallelujah!