Lord Is It I?

Scripture Readings: Mark 14:17-19 and
1 Corinthians 11:28

The famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper will perhaps remain the hallmark of Christendom paintings. The fictional garbage of Dan Brown will not be referenced here. Of course we have all heard the statements of how inaccurate the setting is (I am not sure what good that ever did) but the pictorial message da Vinci was portraying is one that is seldom talked about in sermons or lectures.

The most typical assumption of this painted scene is one in which Jesus has said, "do this in remembrance of Me." However that is not the moment of the meal for which the painting is struck If you examine the painting we see a lot going on, but the snapshot is of the reaction to Jesus statement, "One of you will betray Me." Three things are going on. First, the disciples looked stunned. Second they begin to ask each other and the Lord, "who will betray You?" Lastly, the Apostle John is seen close to Jesus secretly inquiring the answer to the same question. It is the pivotal moment in the meal. After that, Christ would give the most important lesson on servanthood. Most certainly this lesson is and should be the most emphasized, but what about the former moments of revealing the traitor? Judas Iscariot was controlled by Satan to carry out the deed of betrayal, but the disciples didn't know that. So they each began to examine their own hearts and motives. In connection with remembering the Last Supper, the Apostle Paul challenged us to examine ourselves as well. This process of examination we'll look at is not only beneficial but necessary for the Christian is our day to day lives.

I don't believe that any of us are in danger or want of betraying Christ as Judas did, however we do betray His plans for us and His vision for us when we sin. Something to note before going any further is that the betrayal even of Iscariot was not a sin that couldn't be forgiven. Just this morning I was thinking about the Gethsemane betrayal and remembering how Jesus addressed Judas as "friend" just before He was betrayed by him. I personally think not only could Judas have been forgiven of this act of betrayal, but that night Judas was heavily on the grieving heart of the Master. Such are we on the heart of the Lord as we sin against Him. So when we sin against Christ, we should instantly stop and examine what has been done and the space put between us and Christ as the result. Examining ourselves is the best way and the first step towards restored fellowship with the Savior. Here are some areas which this process is achieved.

First, Self Examination must be an inward desire to be most effective. The mark of the true follower of Christ is to put sin far away from them. One preacher put it this way, "we need to keep a short account with God." None of us like to go to a doctor. But when we do go it is out of need, but how much better it would be to go out of desire for prevention of a disease. Likewise we must constantly desire within us to examine ourselves to see if there be any wickedness that cuts off our fellowship with Christ. Christ is our lifeline just as is our mortal blood to our body. We do not desire bodily disease, therefore in the same manner we should not desire the encroachment of sin in our souls. However, if we shy away from looking inwardly, or, if we put it off for a more "convenient" time which never comes, we allow the spread of sin to run unchecked working its discord. It is true that one of man's superior talents is to pick out sin in someone else's life, but unless we see it for ourselves in our own life, we fail harshly in our purpose to glorify God while we bear an unsightly mark of unconfesed sin. Therefore, to invite self examination is to desire Christ's person and witness in the life of a believer to be first place above all else. May it be true of us.

Second, Self Examination must be willing to truly admit what it finds. Denial is one of man's voluntary natural reactions. When found out of some wrong doing, the first reaction is to deny out of shame or perhaps protection of one's "character." Sin is a reproach to anyone, believer or unbeliever. Yet just because a sin is not admitted to exist in a person, changes nothing. John tells us in his first epistle, that if we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us 1 John 1:8. Even though we commit a sin, we would rather put it out of our minds than deal with it. We don't like the looks of sin nor do we like the thought of us behaving shamefully. The truth is we cannot mask off parts of our lives from the eyes of God. So, we must admit our faults before Him. Notice that in confession of sin we are not bringing to God something that He is not aware of, we are simply agreeing with His Holy character that the sin does not belong. Also in true confession we cannot sugar coat or dress up our sin. For example, (none of this is intended to be critical) a person who is in the sin of adultery, we would rather call it an "affair." Another example is one who is caught up in stealing or vandalization, we wink at it and call it "mischief." One more example is one who cheats either a person or the government, we giggle and smile as we justify ourselves. God however neither giggles nor smiles. Sin must be dealt with straight on for what it truly is, not what we want it to be. Sin must be seen as an offense to God and something that needs immediate attention. We must be willing to admit we messed up, we are to blame, we are at fault, we need forgiveness.

Third, Self Examination must be willing to submit to the only treatment.
Once we have discovered the wrong in our lives we cannot falter on its remedy. We are so use to getting by with doing things half way. We want to make an end run around the situation without having to face up to the consequences. Naturally on the inside, we do not want to face up to God's holiness. The flesh has a tender nerve to it. That nerve doesn't want to submit itself to the forgiveness of Christ. The reason is that the flesh always wants to be first. It cannot stand it when we make ourselves lowly. When we ask Christ to forgive us our trespasses, we are lowering our position to depths of truth, but not necessarily of glamour and enjoyment. The only working prescribed treatment for a cavity in a tooth is to have it drilled out. Deliverance from its effects cannot be had any other way no matter how much we desire otherwise. Such it is in the spirit of man when we sin. Fortunately, the treatment of Christ's forgiveness is less painful than any medical procedure! But is greater seriousness, this matter of humbling ourselves is why Jesus said that there are few who find the narrow road which leads to eternal life.

Lastly, Self Examination is not something set aside for just a special occasion. We put up a Christmas tree during the holidays. We eat a turkey for Thanksgiving. We watch fireworks for the fourth of July. Each of these actions are only done at special times and never all day, every day. We cannot treat self examination in the same manner. Even though in the Old Testament the High Priest made an atonement offering for the sins of the people once a year, it is important to realize that the individual sin was to be dealt with immediately. Setting aside a time for forgiveness does not say much about our caring relationship with Christ. We cannot approach Him with the desire to know Him and love Him when we treat Him carelessly about our sin. Just as when we offend someone deeply, we do not go up to them and greet them as if nothing happened when we know there is an offense between us. Typically in a religious sense, man feels the need to confess sin at a particular time, usually for Communion, which it is commanded so. However, the heart of the true believer in Christ is not religious, but related. Our relationship to Christ pushes us towards this examination willingly every day out of love not out of duty or occasion.

When sin is uncovered by the Holy Spirit in our lives, is our default mode like the disciples, saying, "Lord is it I?" "Does this sin have presence in me?" We should always keep this mindset of examination in front of us for the reason of our love for Christ and the desire to be more like Him.

The great thing about this examination is that no matter the diagnosis, the cure is always sure, plentiful and completely effective.

Father thank You that You do not condemn us in our sins. However Lord we must realize how valuable it is in our relationship with You to keep our sins in check. We fail so often, but thank You that You're forgiving, loving and kind. Help our hearts not to be so hard as to not acknowledge our sin before You. Help us rather to be tender of heart and desirous of Your Character always. In Your Name, Amen.

A Losing Change

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 11:7-9

Change can be a good thing. On the other hand, Change can be a bad thing. I remember once in my former church we had a loose change ($) drive entitled "Change for Change." The proceeds were to help put in a new sidewalk that was more than desperately needed. This type of change was obviously good for the church as it improved the whole looks of the building. In life, all people, believers and non-believers alike are going through change of some sort. This change is obviously taking place on the physical side. Everyone gets older, feels the disastrous change of the economy, sees people live and die, experiences triumphs and failures. The list goes on. Then of course there is the spiritual side of change. Change for a believer is the increasing knowledge and practice of the presence of Christ in our lives, or, it can be a declining state of a drifting believer who is sadly away from God's best. This type of change is extremely sad both to God and to the believer, but there is a worse sort of change and that is the change occurring everyday in the unbeliever.

Typically believer's have viewed unbeliever's correctly as folks fixed in a state of condemnation and without any other hope but Christ. Again, quite correct. However even in their condemned state, an unbeliever changes. The problem with this change is that he or she as unbelievers change in the downward sense all the while they thinking they are rising higher and higher in life.

This is not intended to be a critical review of an unbeliever's life. If we as Christians do just that we are in danger of boasting upon ourselves. Rather here are just some observations to understanding your lost friends, your lost mom or dad, your lost co-worker or employer, or anyone you may know who is not trusting in Christ. The point below each statement emphasizes how we should pray for them and be ready to help them if and when they desire to know about Christ. CHANGES FOR THE WORSE IN A PERSON'S LIFE

The more successful the less interested. Success is a good thing. Success can give a man or woman great prestige and great self assurance. The kind of virtues success brings are not bad in themselves, but when they are pushed to an extreme in the believer's life or inflated in an unbeliever's life as this case is, the less and less dependence on Christ seems necessary. Give a person more of the worldly pleasures, more of the friends patronizing them, more buying power so that nearly nothing is out of their grasp, and their view of God is replaced. After all, why do we need God? "I provide all my needs, according to my riches and glories in my success." Dependence on God is something already foreign to mankind, but when he or she is called to bow and surrender all their self made lifestyles the salt is applied to the wound. They say to themselves that God is not important and that He must be a myth. When a person witnesses to a successful lost person the typical inward reaction inside that person is why should I be cumbered and be servient when I am the master? One of my favorite preachers, the late Dr. D. James Kennedy, once said, "their are only two religions in the world, the religion of Christ and the religion of "I." While I tell you Christianity is not a religion, what he is saying is that a man or woman will either be servient to the Master or try to be the Master because anything less would be distasteful. For the Christian, our greatest time of dependence on God should not necessarily be in the times of hurt and want, but in the times of plenty, for therein lies the greatest temptation to wander from the fold of God.
PRAYER POINT: Pray that the Holy Spirit would trouble the minds of the successful to see that it is God who gives success and strength and life to build success.

The more problems the deeper the addiction. How many times have pastors and counsellors seen people who thought the end of their problems could be had at the end of a bottle, a narcotic, an affair, a gamble, or any other vice. The spiritually blind go to bars, casinos, pornographic sites, etc to solve their problems because sadly its the best they can do and the best the world has to offer. How the heart of God breaks for people who think one more drink, one more night in the wrong bed, one more futile attempt to win it all will end in triumph. They know they are destroying themselves, but it seems easier to sink further into sin than to seek the Savior. Mankind will try it all because deep inside their is an aversion to Christ. The more burdens, the more torn apart life just piles on more need to escape reality. Jesus Christ doesn't offer an escape from reality, but a pardon from sin and an escape from the next reality of eternal condemnation. The deeper the addiction the deafer the ear towards God, but not to say it is hopeless for countless people will tell you it is never too late to turn to Christ for help.
PRAYER POINT: Pray that God will frustrate them in their addiction to show them that there is no hope in them. Pray that God will bring a hunger inside for true hope found in Him.

The more philosophy the greater the deception. Sometimes men and women aren't caught up in addictions or worldly success. Sometimes the problem lies solely in listening to the wrong helper. The world is full of well meaning counsellors. However, if these counsellors are not Christians adhering as well to Biblical truth, then they too are the blind leading the blind. Everything they counsel people to do are at best a bandaid to a gushing cut. Most philosophy of the worldly sort is bad because it bases its reasoning on humanism and what seems logical to man's mind. The whole problem is the logic of man. A flawed mind cannot be cured by flawed thoughts and ideas no more than more poison can cure a person who has been poisoned. So many people flock to counsellors who make them feel good about themselves, this is the temporary fix. God's Word does not make us feel good about ourselves, rather it makes us feel our need for His good on our sinful state. That's a whole lot better. Yet Satan knows that if he can distract us by seemingly reasonable well meaning philosophers, our attention won't be where it needs to be. A person may not read after the philosophies of the "greats" but may simply listen to a "wise" friend or some weird opinionated person on radio or TV. All in all its the same problem, substituting God for lesser things.
PRAYER POINT: Pray that the Lord will open the eyes and ears of a person's understanding, seeing that the ideas and philosophies of the world really have no answer and thus gives no assurance or hope. Pray that person will have the desire to search beyond the world and desire God reveal Himself to them.

The more self assured the greater future shock. How awful and terrible a time it will be when at the Great White Throne a man or woman will babble their last excuse in a futile attempt to justify themselves before the Holy God. I have always thought the most terrifying reality would be to think you are alright with God and go into death believing that you'll be in comfort from woes, only to wake up in hell's fire and damnation. I recall two self assured rulers in the Bible who thought they had it made, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Pharaoh of Egypt during the Israelite exodus (possibly Ramses II). God showed both these men in their greatest moment of self assurance, just how powerless they were. Nebuchadnezzar became as a beast, out of his mind and eating like an animal. Pharaoh watched as his army were drowned by an "unexplainable" wall of standing water at the Red Sea. God has a way of sobering up both saint and sinner alike. God has no delight in planting us in the mud, but sometimes the only way for us to recognize Him is for the person to be brought low. A humbling experience has showed me lots of things. Humbling experiences are the killer to pride and haughtiness (self assurety). God hates haughtiness. King Herod the Great died from being self assured. Sennacherib lost an entire army of thousands due to self assurance. People in the 1930s jumped out of windows because their surety fell with the stock market. The RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic due to self assurance of her construction. General Robert E. Lee lost the Civil War for the Confederacy as his self assurance darkened his judgement on the third day of Gettysburg. The list goes endlessly on. All this to say, man cannot live and be self assured apart from God. The consequences are grave, the eternity unimaginable. The deeper the surety of anything but God, the harder it is to reach a lost person. Yet there is always hope.
PRAYER POINT: Pray that God will lovingly bring that someone to the point of despair and frustration as all that which they trust in crumbles around them. The trophies of Christ are those that put away the ashes of self.

To conclude
This has not been a posting on how much better a believer is, but how much unfortunate one is who decides not to believe for something or someone else. As Christians, we need to pray for and get involved in a life that is enduring losing change. Let's just simply pray now,

Lord, thank you for enlightening my heart to Your Truth. What I have in You is not self deserved but graciously given. Lord we know of lost people around us. We do not lord over them, but pray for them and help us God to understand the great blindness they are under. May You be with us and bring opportunities to throw out the lifeline to someone needing it today. In Jesus Name. Amen.


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Clothed In White

Scripture Reading: Revelation 7:9-10

There is perhaps no more beautiful a picture either in nature than a scene blanketed in heavy snow. In southern West Virginia we have had the pleasure of having some slight but pretty snowfalls. Of course now that I am a little older and more wary of slick roads my liking to snow changes with my days off or my days working. However, despite the hazardous roads everyone can appreciate the beauty of the environment.

I believe firmly that God did not create anything for a singular purpose. I believe that everything we behold in this world has its useful purpose and its purpose to cause us to think spiritually. Snow is by far the greatest illustration of who we are in Christ and what we have...His Righteousnes.

Whenever I see snow covering the ground I am always reminded that this is the way God sees the believer, clothed in righteous white. The old nature of sin is covered by His blood, but that blood washes away the sin stain and He clothes us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, this is how and why we will be able to stand in the presence of the Holy God our Father. The fundamental difference between our earthly snow and the righteousness of Christ is that our snow covers and then fades away leaving the original material unaffected. The righteousness of Christ removes and then replaces. Let's look for a minute or two about some of the attributes of this . complete covering of God's righteousness.

First, the White Clothes of Righteousness are pure and undefiled.
Snow being white has the quality of purity and anything that falls on it of any other color we denote as a stain. For example when you see mud and slush on the road or in a parking lot piled in with snow from a plow, the snow isn't nearly as picturesque. Another example is when you see blood or a leaking substance of some other color on top of snow, the snow seems a bit grimy. The best example however is when we see a deep blanket of "virgin" undisturbed snow, we see a peaceful scene. Yet when a tire track or footprints marr it up, the scene is not as refreshing.
In the spiritual sense when we sin we stain our relationship with God, but notice that sin does not have an eternal stain. The righteous clothing we will one day wear are seen on us mortals already by the Father. That is to say when we sin, though we need forgiveness to restore our fellowship with God, we do not worry that the stain of sin now keeps us from our Eternal home and placement as a son or daughter in Christ. We cannot stain, tear up, marr, disfigure or in any wise defile our eternal standing. The Bible says in John 10:29, that no one can pluck us from the Father's hand, not even we ourselves. However, even if it were possible to defile and sin our way out of righteousness, the true believer would never trade his or her old lifestyle for their new one. Just as if someone gave you a brand new, never worn white coat to wear, you would not trade it for some old tattered stained coat found on the side of the road. Neither would you take your new coat and role around in mud willingly. Thanks be to God that when we do sin, it does not forever defile our righteousness because it is His righteousness undefiled we wear.

Second, the White Clothes of Righteousness are costly. Even though salvation through Christ cost us nothing, it cost Him everything. He gave us His coat of pure righteousness that no one but Himself owned and traded it for our stinking, vile, rotten tattered rags of sin. I am afraid we as believers today take little appreciation of the gift we are given. We see little how sinful we are and how perfect Christ is. This free white clothing of ours is an exclusive garment. Exclusive garments always cost. Christ willingly laid down not only His life, but His sinless reputation on our execution block. He willingly submitted to the death of the lowest human sort and descended down to the most miry depths of filth, who knew no such filth, that we might have His life, who knew no such glorious life. Its a complete loving concept I can never describe the whole of because there is nothing to relate it to in human terms. Even if we give our life for another man, we still don't pay as much to give our mortal existence as He did to give us His Heavenly existence for eternity.

Third, the White Clothes of Righteousness are everlasting and unconditional. If there is any greater depth of understanding and appreciation of what Christ has done for us in giving His unspotted Righteousness to us, is that it cannot be voided or have an end. We have nothing to compare to this in the world. Everything we have, earn, and have attributed to us will desert you in the hour of death. This is why nothing can satisfy. King Solomon spent most of his life in the pursuit of every possible pleasure only to find everything was of no value. The fundamental reason for this is worth writing down, All of your possessions and fame are of this world, you are not. So this makes the free gift of God even more attractive. God does not give us something that we will see become worn over the centuries. Righteousness never gets old or needs replacing. The effects of sin cannot touch your eternal righteousness in Christ because sin will never be present where the redeemed soul dwells. The clothes of righteousness simply cannot wear out because they are your whole being, not a covering.

Just as the clothes of righteousness are everlasting they cannot be removed for any reason. It was customary in Biblical days for a ruling family to be stripped of all their power and glamor when they were conquered or forced into exile. A king without a kingdom or devoted servants was no more royal or of noble status than the common man. Furthermore, a person could not become a person of nobility unless they had it in their bloodline. However, none of us who have been given righteousness has any other claim to the Heavenly throne of our own selves. Conditionally speaking, as humans none of us have any sure lasting claim to the glorious Hope. However again, Christ did not come to save on the premise of quality or special birthright. To take away our righteousness, someone would have to be more powerful than the King who gave it. There are none to do this. God told Isaiah, there are none before Me, there shall be none after Me. What we have in Christ is most solid and secure.

Lastly, the White Clothes of Righteousness are the mark of a changed life. Many people can say they are turning over a new leaf in life, or making change happen, but unless they have Christ and His righteousness present in them, all they do will not matter. Most worldly change is social in nature, that is to say, more common good for man in charities and housing is done, more communal enrichment, more cultural enrichment, etc. While all this is very good, its not good enough. The inner man is still sinful, he or she has the same morality problems, the same personal hangups, the same cold spiritual temperature no matter how much religion is included. A Truly Changed life wears Christ righteousness. A person truly changed in Christ sill contributes to society in a positive way, they hopefully have good relations with the world around them, yet in all they do the reason is because they are eternally minded and desire not to build their own reputation, but give God all the glory in what they do. Advancing the Kingdom of Christ is the truly changed person's ultimate goal, for they know that all of what we have here on Earth will quickly dissolve and only what is done for Christ will last. That greater good work for mankind will focus more on the salvation of souls as we help with the earthly needs.
If you experience a person, who despite the worldly norm, are different in character, spiritual desire and desire for God's glory is one whom Christ has clothed in White. This is the person all men should desire to be, yet few will desire the narrow road. But we know according to John 1, whoever believes on the name of Christ will be called the sons and daughters of God and be changed inside out.

In conclusion, Are you Clothed in White? Does the purity and unconditional cloak of Righteousness cover you? Simply a decision to trust in Christ, changes you forever and gives each of us what we all need but none could afford--Clothes of Unblemished, Unstained, Unrestricted White.

Dear Lord Jesus, we simply thank You for something so amazing and wonderful that you freely give us. Thank You for Your desire for we the undeserving to be joint heirs with You. Thank You for Your White Righteousness that makes us holy before You for all Eternity! Amen.

The Dorment Periods of Life

Scripture Reading: Romans 6:11-13

January through April are usually the coldest months of the year. The air is biting. For some places the snow comes regularly, and our part of the world becomes dormant, even dead. "Old Man Winter" sets up his frosty reign. However, the spring comes upon the Earth and that which lay silent is now springing to life. What a picture of the Death and Resurrection! The Earth begins to die off in its vegetation in late October as the leaves give one last brilliant show. Then those leaves fall lifeless having no nutrients. The leaves wither and turn grey as is the color of death.
But for the trees and annual plants, this "death" is more of a dormant period, or a time where growth sleeps and does not engage itself. Out our window, the ground is cold and hard. Yet I know that beneath the ground there are a row of Gladiola bulbs and such that will at the appointed time shoot out of the ground again--just like the Resurrection!

Okay, I used the illustration of the Resurrection twice now, but its because I would like to talk to you about not bodily resurrection, but a resurrection of the spiritual appetite from a period of inactivity or disinterest. Notice that dormancy does not mean a period of rest, but a protracted period of inactivity or lifelessness that comes from an indulgence in sin or a veering away from God in some fashion.

Dormancy occurs in the believer's life when he or she has found a loss of interest in growing. This may result from unconfessed sin, an offense from another believer, depression, grief, or a lack of being spiritually fed. Many times the latter of the reasons is the culprit. It is important to note that not being spiritually fed, that is to say not being challenged or growing in the faith, is not always the fault of the church. Many people will leave a church complaining they are not growing because of the quality of preaching and other ministries lacking. Of course this has a lot to do with it, but, if you are not growing in the Lord it is a personal choice.

Too many people today are on a spiritual starvation diet. They get all the spiritual food from usually one, one hour church service a week. Now as sad as this is, the blame does not rest here. We never would just eat one meal a week, we constantly feed our bodies, yet during the week between church services, the Bible is never opened. We choose our own rate of growth. Because we for some reason do not feel Christ important enough to spend time with, we starve ourselves spiritually and wonder why we aren't any more encouraged, more faithful, more knowledgeable, more caring, and more dedicated.

Any believer who has been saved for even five years can tell you about a period where the fire of the spiritual life or the flame of faith has now gone down to embers. The same principle applies to a wood fire. Leave a fire burning without putting more wood on it, and the fire will go down and even out. The question is what happens to us in this time, what are the consequences, and how do we find new life and escape the cold gray clutches of dormancy?

First, here are the the problems of being dormant. The chief problem is discouragement. When a person is most discouraged it is due to being overly tired and not eating. When we don't exercise the privilege of studying God's Word, or at least reading it, we lose layers of faith and being to question God and begin to be vulnerable to worldly hopeless advice. As our Sprite becomes more frail then the eye of Satan gets more sinister in its stare. Satan begins to move toward us like a wolf toward weak prey. Satan knows he is not successful when the armor of God is wrapped tightly around us, but when we choose to forget Godly instruction that armor falls off. Then out of nowhere comes the Accuser shooting his arrows of doubt, fear, discouragement, and bitterness. Being too spiritually weak from lack of proper nutrition we cannot stand up and fight or even run. We wallow in the net of pity and fear. Like a body that is susceptible to disease we languish in the effects of the evil one. When certain matters like fear come upon us we get all uptight and worry. By now trusting God has become a distant memory. We are hindered in our witness. We present no reason why unbelievers should desire Christ in their life. Then we see God as imperfect, powerless, or worse not caring for our lives. When we don't physically eat we become irritable, irrational and unstable. Such descriptions are the same in our spirit.

Secondly, the resulting consequences of being dormant. The question is, "Does it seem possible for a person who is spiritually dormant to go through life this way and still go to Heaven?" Salvation is a personal seal at God's expense and strength to preserve us, it does not depend on us. However, Jesus said that people will know you're a disciple if you show forth fruit, or, actions identifying a change in your life. All true Christan's have fruit, but many times that fruit goes unharvested and rots. The chief consequence of being spiritually dormant is Spiritual Rot. Rot is the decay that comes from no attention paid to the upkeep of something. Spiritual Rot starts to turn a believer's heart away from God, questioning everything that He does and says in His Word. The believer gets cynical and irritable, unwilling to associate with other Christians. It can go so far as beginning to mock other Christians in their worship and practice.

Lastly, the escape of dormancy. Just like a vegetable left on a vine will putrify, so will a life that is not maintained by prayer, serious Bible study, and the fellowship of fellow believers. But before this can ever take place, there needs to be a movement of the heart in repentance towards God. Without the heart involved in the matter, all the rest of the acts and motions are dead. Many times God spoke of Israel in the Old Testament lamenting how they would go through all the religious motions yet the heart was somewhere else. Spiritual life is not mechanical or automated. It must be focused intently on God and His restoration. When this is achieved we must ask God to forgive us of being dormant and inactive when He called us to be the opposite. Then we must ask Him for a renewed desire to follow after Him. Then we need discipline to get back into a good routine of prayer and Bible study. Note that routine does not necessarily mean thoughtless mechanical process. Discipline is key here as in dormancy everything has lapsed. Notice too that results take time. However, building up a foundation of Spiritual activity gets stronger and stronger as the process goes on.

Do you find yourself in a period of dormancy? Does the quality of your Spiritual life seem on the decline or in decay? One of the greatest dangers is the denial of a decaying existence. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, a man should examine himself to see if he or she is truly in the faith. May today be a turning point in this aspect of your life.

Heavenly Father, today we acknowledge that we have been, are, or feel a propensity in becoming spiritually dormant. Lord please forgive us for our turn to selfishness and enliven us to live as You have commanded. Help us to desire Your Word and the practice of it in our daily lives and in the lives of others may it be shown from us to them. Lord we are a failing people. Help us not to go into a spiritual coma. Encourage our hearts this day O Lord and renew a right spirit within us. We thank You for loving us still. In Your Name, Amen.

Are We Receiving?

Scripture Reading: Revelation 13:9 See also 3:22

While I am writing this, I am without mobile cellular communication.  Fifteen years ago this would be the norm for everyone.  Not so today.  My cell phone was going on the blink and finally laid down and died.  Needless to say that put this little ear receiver out of commission too.   If you're not familiar with this device, it can be either a blessing or an irritant.  This is a typical Bluetooth headset made by Motorola.  It allows the user via voice commands in certain phones to make calls, receive calls, and perform other various functions while your hands remain free.  That is the blessing part.  The irritant part is walking about talking to someone and people give you weird stares as if you're talking to an imaginary friend or having an emotional fit.  Other than that they are nice.  

The one problem with these receivers are that they receive.  So in order to work, they need to have something to send them what they need.  If no phone is actively online and sending transmissions to them, then they are useless pieces of Star Trek looking technological jewelry. Yet they serve one purpose if you're looking for it, and that is a reminder of our relationship with God.  

If we look at our relationship with God as believers in a metaphorical sense, then God is the Transceiver (phone) we are the Receiver (headset).  Now important to note that God does not stop transmitting willfully due to error on His part.  However, we stop receiving willfully due to errors on our part.

First, we stop receiving from God because we get out of range.  A Bluetooth receiver does a good job, but only when its close to the source that feeds it.  When we let unconfessed sin linger in our hearts we drift farther apart from God.  The farther along we go from Him the weaker His voice is heard.  This desire to separate ourselves from Him comes from a lack of understanding His Word.  We see other people seemingly getting by with sin, so why not we? Lovingly that is where we are far different from the world.  The world has a father who doesn't care at all what happens to them.  The father of this world doesn't show any remorse when the children get into deep trouble because of their sin in fact, its welcomed to him.  Our Heavenly Father sees ahead of what we do and knows the consequences.  This is why when we get out of range we feel His discipline rather than hear His voice.  What better a thing it would be to hear a gently rebuke than feel a stern lash.  

Another reason why we drift out of range is because we get overly confident in our own strength.  The fundamental difference in God's parenting and the world's example is that God does not want us to become independent from Him.  God never pushes away a child from His house so that child can go it on his or her own.  Yet we get the urge to leave the comfort of the Father's care for some trifling matter.  We see others seemingly making it in the world without dependence on God so it naturally occurs to us that the same should be true of us.  We resent that Divine hand upon us at times.  

The second area in which we stop receiving from God is  that we are interrupted by other signals.  This is sort of like the previous paragraph with one difference.  The difference is that we are trying our best to depend on God, yet the world's distractions are so great and boisterous we lose our spiritual concentration.  There is so much out there clamoring for our attention.  TV ads, newsstand ads, seemingly innocent humor (that consequently we haven't noticed how gradually rough and evil it becomes).  There are demands on our schedule, listening to complaints and "wisdom" from friends who don't know Christ.  There is loud noise all around out spiritual ears so that it is hard to concentrate on Bible study, prayer, and Christian living according to God's standards.  The way we turn down the noise is to escape the source.  Now of course, we are not totally to separate ourselves from worldly contact, for we have no one to fulfill the Great Commission upon.  Yet, like the old adage, "one rotten apple in the barrel spoils the rest," certainly does apply.  The more we become involved with the practices of the world, the less we are receptive to God.   We need to spend time alone, even if its for a few moments, talking to God in a quiet place, reading a Scripture or reciting one committed to memory.  We cannot make it without Scriptural Truth and devotion towards God.

Lastly, we fail to make the connection many times when God is speaking.  This can result from many things, but somewhere in all the reasons, bitterness and disgruntlement are at the core.  We tend to judge God as we judge men, this is our first mistake.  Too often we see no need in ourselves to listen to God if we have judged God to have seemingly acted in "error" in our lives by not giving us something, allowing something other than we wanted, not answering us on our timetable, etc.   I cannot be writing to you now and say I am innocent of this.  In fact I fail at this a lot.  We question God's sovereignty.  We doubt His ability.  We question His willingness.  All these things compacted together makes us stop our Spiritual ears when God speaks.  To better term it, we go to our spiritual "pouting place."  I am not saying life is easy.  Contrary to modern sermonizing in today's pulpits, life is not getting better, its getting harder.  Jesus plainly told us that you can expect tribulation in this world.  Our joy comes from the certain knowledge that this world of trouble is not our permanent residence.  So when we choose not to hear from God, we typically are angry in some fashion with God.  The wonderful part of this is that God doesn't get as angry with us as we do with Him.  Is He displeased with us when we act so?  Yes Hie is.  Does He come down on us in punishment as we deserve? No He does not.  Yet being angry or unwilling to hear from God can be fearful.  In fact it may be that putting you in a place of fear is the only way you will desire to hear Whom you have shut off. I believe this is a mark of a true believer.  The one who desires to come back to the Father as the prodigal, is one who is truly a Son or Daughter of God.  

So how do we stop being unwilling to listen to God.  First repent (turn from) whatever reason you have to hold against God.  Second, re-committ a desire to talk to Him and spend time with Him.  Third, be thankful we have Him as our Helper and ask Him to safeguard our hearts from foolish behavior.  

Are you receiving from God?  Do you desire to be in contact with Him? Or are you still desirous to make it on your own without being connected?  Remember what Jesus said in John 15:5  "I am the vine, you are the branches....apart from Me you cannot do anything."

Heavenly Father, help each of us today to be desirous of Your guidance and Voice.  Help us not to look fondly after what the world calls pleasure.  May we be in tune with Your will.  Thank you for lovingly taking us back when we wander from You.  In Your Name we pray.  Amen.







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SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST

Hello everyone,

This is not my weekly posting, but I thought this is such a good way of communicating that I would share with you a prayer request in addition to my weekly posts.

The man pictured at the left is my cousin David. David and his wife are Christians. Not too long after this photo was taken, David had some pains in his stomach and went in the hospital on July 3rd 2008. Ever since then he has been in either hospitals or rehab nursing homes.

I didn't discuss posting this with him, so briefly, due to complications in an operation and later a cyst that invaded his stomach, he has lost his appetite. David has lost well over 100 pounds and is too weak to sit up or walk, or move much at all. When it seemed like he was getting better, he would have a setback. So many of these setbacks have left him very depressed, as it would any of us. Since he is too weak to maintain a rehab regimen, he will be sent home this week.

Please pray, as some of you already have faithfully, for him and his wife. They are in much need of prayer and encouragement. Please pray that he will feel like moving and exercising his legs to help him walk again, and that after months without eating hardly anything due to stomach problems, his appetite will return. If he regains a normal appetite he should regain enough strength to complete rehab.

Again, any and all prayers are greatly appreciated. If you would care to send them a card, please email me jonbrowning@suddenlink.net and I can get you an address to send it to. This would be so appreciated.

Many Thanks,

Jon