Remember

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

The words of Jesus: "This Do In Remembrance of Me." These words have echoed in my mind today. I think about this and though I don't know the Greek interpretation of the passage, I can see the heart of Jesus towards His disciples (and to us) at the meal. The most difficult and overwhelmingly despairing hour was about to come upon Him. Though He knew He would raise from the dead, and though He knew that the Father would be glorified in the cross, He knew that it would be a very long time before He would be with them for a long period of time. In fact, Jesus said that He would not eat the Passover meal with them until they were in Heaven with all the saints. We need to remember that Jesus was not only God and man, but has feelings like we do. So when Jesus uttered the words, "Remember Me" for the practice of showing His death till He comes again, I really think in the midst of all this He also included in this wants us to Remember Him as the loving Savior and Friend.

Just like you and me, we want others to think about us, in life and after death. We do not want to be forgotten and neither does Jesus. I wonder if there was angst in His foresight not for the disciples but to all who would follow Him. He knows that we drift away from Him. He knows that we can accuse Him falsely of things. He knows that things of the world cause us to misplace our focus of Him. When we do this, we forget Jesus. We forget the One who redefined what love really is and that awesome love is directed solely at our hearts. If we had a earthly friend who perhaps gave his or her life for us we would not quickly forget it. We would tell all the ones we know how this person pushed us out of the way of the falling building, took the bullet that should have been ours, or went back into the fire to get us out and dying after we were safely out. Of course we would tell others about this, but would they be constantly on our minds. This constant remembrance I believe is what Jesus had in mind. He knew the volume of love he would out pour and though He never asked we earn that love (how could we) but I think He wanted us never to forget our Supreme Benefactor over the long centuries to the time we yet anticipate His return.

So, how do we keep in remembrance the Christ who gave all for us?

Remember Him by putting Scripture to memory. Prayer and Bible reading are the staples of our Christian life. However, if we read but do not retain what we've read, we are losing valuable moments with God. You do not have to memorize long verses at first, but concentrate on the shorter verses. You cannot go wrong on memorizing any scripture because it all points to Christ. I would suggest memorizing John 3:16, Romans 5:8, John 1:1-3, Romans 8:28, Romans 12:1-2, and there are many others. Putting these to memory will help us reflect on the goodness of God and desire us to know more of Him. It will aid in troubles and comfort others in theirs. Nothing honors Him more than to desire to remember the very words He so lovingly gave.

Remember Him by having a special piece of art in a prominent place. This could be a point where there are some fundamental folks, well meaning of course, would balk at. Let me say that we should never worship art or give greater place to a statue or whatever. True worship belongs to the Person of God living on the inside of you. However, it is not wrong I don't believe to have a representation of Christ. Though we do not know what He looked like, its okay to have a visual reminder of Him as it draws our thoughts to Him. The painting in the article today is one of my favorites. I personally have several prints and a sculpture and that really does help me to think of Him. I love "religious art" when it is correctly depicting Scripture. I encourage you to have something in your home like it. If nothing else, have a Bible that has illustrations opened to a particular illustration such as "the Last Supper." Spend more time with God than the art, but definitely keep it to remember Him.

Remember Him by talking to others about how He has and is working in your life.
Of course this is the way He wants us to remember Him most. Our daily lives to reflect Him. The last recorded words of Christ in Matthew tells us to tell the whole world about Him. Personal testimony is something another person may not want to always hear, but something they cannot deny. You don't have to be a bombastic expositor or preacher to do this. In fact the most valuable testimony is just the plain simple, un-embellished facts of what Jesus is doing or has done through you. Each of us who are believers should have something to point to, some grace, some work, some help that Christ has been and is being to them. We encourage others and are the instrument of help to saved and lost alike when we remember the Lord this way.

Remember Him by not forsaking any of the worship services your church has. This is something rather of a lost importance in today's society. Not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together is sort of marginalized because our busy schedules won't allow it. Typically this comes in the form of Sunday EVENING church attendance. Anyone remember that??? It is obviously a huge pet peeve of mine. But more than that, it is a huge hurt to Christ to know His followers think so little of Him as to give Him an hour or so a week in corporate worship. Then there is Wednesday or midweek meeting that are skipped. Though Christ is hurt by our lack of attendance, we are the real losing ones. Of course there are job reasons and sickness that keep us away, but that is not what I am referring to, I am referring to a willful attitude that church is not really that important on a given time, especially when it interferes with some highly sought after earthly activity. If family time interferes with Church time, I guarantee you, you will not be sorry when your kids are grown by "keeping" them in the Lord's house every time the doors are open. As a matter of fact too often not taking them to every service as much as possible leads to shipwreck later in life because the Word of God was not firmly planted in them. Remember Christ in corporate worship.

In the coming week, make plans to remember Christ in your hearts and minds by following the suggested ways. These are certainly not all the ways and not one of them takes place of prayer and Bible study, but remember, how much Christ loved us. This desire of His to be remembered by us should be our joy and motivation, becoming so intertwined with our daily lives. Remember.

Dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for remembering us in our most desperate hour. It is a shame we don't think of you more than we do. Draw our hearts to you and help us to place you in the forefront of our lives as David said in Psalm 16, "I have set the Lord before me." May this week find us closer to You than in many years. In your name, Amen.

Identifying An Idol's Ways

Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:20-21

Are there any idols in your life? You may not have a curio cabinet full of carved wooden statues honoring Diana of the Ephesians or Baal of the Canaanites, but in many cases we may just have some idols hanging around.

Like me, you have probably heard down through the years a preacher say, "the TV can be an idol, sports can be, a car, your hobbies, etc." Of course all of this can be very well an idol, but the Apostle John in this letter to the Saints really didn't have in mind the type of idols we may have, but the power over the owner and the neglect of seeing them as competition to our Lord Jesus Christ. This week lets look at the ways an idol can influence someone and take away one's interest in serving and knowing Christ.

Idols of any type begin as innocence, but end in disaster.
Satan never presents us with something irrefutably harmful to us. When he tempted Eve it was with something tangible she wanted, and something intangible she thought she wanted. Both proved to be disastrous. Whatever can possibly be taking your focus from God did not start announcing it would do so. Just a taste, a sweet taste, of even a good wholesome thing can turn into an addiction. The problem is that people scoff and say, "Oh I have more sense than to be controlled by that," or, "Something that small cannot possibly hurt me." Let's say you're into doll collecting. Nothing wrong with it, its a nice hobby. However, there is much information about various dolls. There are scads of books, periodicals, etc about the subject. You of course are diligent in your pursuits and you want to know as much about a subject as you can, so more and more of your time gets spent in studying this subject that used to be devoted to God's Word. If left unchecked, you will start to consider taking in a doll show that is on a Sunday, and the reasoning mind will whisper, "well, after all they don't have these things that often, and they try to make it convenient for everyone..." Go to one, maybe two, and your hooked. Why? Not because it was a bad thing, its because the voice and direction of God was replaced for something else. This is what John is stressing in these verses, keep yourselves from idols and know the true God and His Life that He gives, lest you give over your life for something that will perish.
Pretty soon you stop going to church altogether, always a reason. Your life starts having difficulties and you wonder where God is in all this. You have forgotten God's ways and His Word and the perils start from here until you confess it and repent of it.

Idols have no message or hope, but they seek to undermine Christ's Message to you. Back in John's day where idols were mostly carved objects, it should be easy to see how foolish it was for anyone Christian or Unbeliever to pray to and expect an answer from a block of wood or stone. Yet so many even in Paul's day were integrating certain pagan rituals with Christianity. Again we don't normally incorporate paganism, but we do incorporate rituals. The ritual of popular opinion, the ritual of worldly philosophy, the ritual of ecumenicalism, etc, all has ties to the Christian believer today. The main point is, no matter how innocent or harmless we think something to be, a little of this here, a little dab of that there and it soaks in the soul and builds a blindness and hardness towards God. All of the world's messages are attuned to our flesh. Our flesh agrees and it seems to make perfect sense. It may not overpower our thinking at once, but what it does is weaken our spiritual immunity so much that God's Word has little effect because we listen increasingly more to worldly propaganda and forget God's instructions.
Then God seems a stranger and we have seemingly lost hope.

One of the best sermon series on this topic, of which this material is not copied from, is The Danger of Drifting by Charles Stanley. Check it out for further study on this topic.

Idols have no genuine affection for you, but they cause doubt about the One who does.
It is purely the work of darkness that would captivate a man or woman to think that some inanimate object cares for their soul and physical well being. Yet in so many deceived minds that is exactly what takes place, a feeling of belonging to a god that does not hear, nor speak, nor gives hope beyond what someone imagines. We have the Bible, God's spoken Word. We know it is true for many reasons but especially the way it works in peoples lives, changes their hearts, and has lasted for at least four Milena without change or error!!! Only the power of God's marvellous Light can do this. So, can a Christian really fall for some other fancy and expect more from it than from God? Yes. The reason is because we still have the flesh, and when we feed it the more powerful it becomes. Thankfully our salvation is not dependent on fleshly strength or weakness.

Here is the real issue. People become disappointed with God over some thing and these things did not turn out the way the person thought God would act, therefore they think God must be unreasonable, He probably does not love me, maybe there is someone or something better.

This is tragic thinking, but it is easily slipped into when we take our eyes off God. All of the sudden, sin looks practical. False ideas seem plausible. All sorts of old enemies surface as "friends" to help you in your derision. It's not however that we wholesale go for all the things the world throws at us, it's the fact that we compare them with God's Word and start to distrust God and doubt Him. When we lose our confidence in God, we have wandered into the most helpless miserable place.

Idols have no identity or future, but they cause us to protect them from the Truth.
Here is perhaps the most entangling influence of idols. Even though we know in our souls there is nothing to what they say or do, the longer we stay wrapped up in them, the harder it is to rid ourselves of their deceptions and lies. In fact we protect them when another Christan rightly confronts us with the True Faith of God's Word against what we are doing. We put up walls and spar with believers, so intoxicated with the world we forget we are not of the world but of Christ. It's like uncovering a wall that has had years even decades of vines growing over it. The years have produced a thickness that we have become accustomed to. We forget that underneath there is the True identity of Christ within us. The longer we give place to whatever idolic influence, the harder it is to brake away. This is why John said shortly but firmly, "Keep yourself away." Don't grow accustomed to sins and false teachings! Just because they may have made you feel good or appealed to your flesh doesn't mean they are for you or are correct. The only way to deal with this is to rip away the cancer feeding on your soul. Stop whatever is feeding your desire to be turned to idols than to Christ. Then spend time in God's Word. You must rebuild that which was lost and renew that which was forgotten. Only then will idolatry leave you alone.

Are there idols in your life? If that question offends you, then it is a sure sign that they are present. Consider the source of idolatry and consider the dangers, then consider Christ, it will be purely obvious what to do and Whom to turn to.

Father thank You today that we are not cast away from You even when we turn to idols. Forgive us wretched creatures for even drawing a chair up to listen to what they have to teach us, and cleanse us from any stain they have had on us. I pray as those who read this will be challenged and convicted, but more importantly set free by returning to You. Thank You for the great bond of perfect love we have in You. May we make the most of our time at Your Feet and not those of another. In Your Name, Amen.

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Bringing Sons To Glory

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 2:9-11

Recently I was reminded of a song that is so expressive in its wording and powerful in its imagery that it is becoming one of my "top ten" favorites. Most of my top ten spots are held by the famous hymn writer Charles Wesley. This songwriter however, evokes some of Wesley's words in his famous hymn, "And Can It Be." This newer song is entitled, "The Father's Love," by Stuart Townsend. There are many great phrases that describes the Lord's passion for our salvation, but one caption in the first verse, echoing the roots of its words from Hebrews, says volumes: "Bringing many sons to glory." Before I go on, here is the first verse by Townsend,

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Imagine and involve your mind in the context of this last stanza. Does it impress upon you the awesome love with which we are loved? Satan has a way of turning our heart's attention from the awe of this love, by dangling some worldly fancy. How sad it is to lose ground in relationship to the supreme love of God for some foolish thing or idea that will ultimately betray us. God never stops loving us. But isn't it more than a tragedy to think of all He went through to secure our salvation and for us not to love Him and worship Him? Let's pick apart the phrase and spend a moment exploring the concepts behind the words.

The concept of "Bringing,"
God sent His Son on a precise mission. A mission no one could undertake but Jesus. If you want to put a human parallel to the ministry of Christ you could aptly say that Christ was the Author and top Person of the Divine "Search and Rescue" operation that targeted mankind. Jesus Christ not only came into the world to die for us, but He also promises us that we will be "taken," or "brought" to His eternal home. It is awe inspiring in itself to understand how little we have to do with our own destiny! But the greatest issue of love is found not only in the searching, but the rescue. Searching does no practical good unless the victim of sin is found, and then brought out of his or her desperate surroundings into safety. We may not see it, but all around us are forces of darkness attempting to drag us down and discourage us from looking and helping those outside the fold of God. Let us press onward as He did. Not that we can save anyone, but we are left in the world to be His "search parties" in seeking the unredeemed. What love there is in bringing! A favorite Greek word of mine is "euongolizomai" meaning "the one who is bringing good tidings." This is what and who we are, those who bring. For if nothing good is brought, then nothing can be found to rescue.

The concept of "many sons."
The King James often uses a dual gender meaning in a masculine sense. The verse can be rightly translated as sons or daughters. The emphasis here is on the quantity, "many." Note that not all called to from the search light of the Gospel will desire to be rescued. However Christ is determined and willing that not one should perish, so He plays no favorites either. His chief desire for you and I is that we might desire to be with Him. Christ for sees the end of all things and the condemnation that awaits mankind. Fortunately Heaven's halls will be lined with those who said, "yes" to Christ's saving hand. The fervency of Christ's desire sweeps through the ranks of the living on earth and the dead of the earth in the physical sense. When Christ returns, He first will let his Calling unto the saints take a faster than light stroll through the cemeteries of the world. He will sweep through and not forget to raise anyone who placed their trust in Him. He remembers that prayer of faith said hundreds of years ago or perhaps days ago. He remembers each man, woman and child's name and according to I Thessalonians 4:13-18 they shall all be changed and brought together with those who are living. Speaking of living ones, not one of them who has their faith in Him shall be left on the Earth. The concept of "many sons" will be seen throughout the skies as the once dead of the ages and the living are all united again, just as He said. This is His Joy.

The concept of "to glory."
We discussed glory two weeks ago. It's a subject inexhaustible by the mind of man. Sufficient to say, we know it is the express desire of Christ to clothe us with His glory. To give us all the rights and privileges of the greatest Royal Family that ever reigned. What we shall be in physical form we do not know, but we know from John's first epistle, we shall be like Christ, and that is definitely more awe inspiring than anything we can envision. His Glory is His Home and now it will be ours! No one has come so far as the wretched mess of a sinner who exchanges his or her filth for the most purest robe of righteousness there is. Christ is not stingy. He desires each of us to share with Him. He even desires that we reign with Him! He desires the most ultimate existence that no science fiction author can dream up, nor any philosopher can theorize on. The love is perfected in us. The measure of His goodness is weighed on the scale of our sinfulness. No one commits more sin worthy of death than others, for all have been condemned. But put Christ and His desire for our glory on the scale, and the weight of His love dispels and buries our sin in the grave of "non-remembrance."

When we consider how wretched we are and how merciful He is, it cannot be thought adequately on how loving God is towards us. We see only the earthly disasters, God foresaw the eternal disasters.

Guard against carnality and cynicism. Drifting away from God will dim your sight of this awesome phrase and reality in the Scriptures.

If you know Christ, you are the very target of that Divine power that sought you and bought you from the condemnation of sin. Take some time this week to reflect on the Supreme Sacrifice for your soul. It is most probable that we cannot take it all in of who we were and what God has done. If we could take it all in and have perfect understanding, it may be that salvation through Christ would be an unappreciated favor, not, the most grandest, sophisticated, hope bearing mission that ever was made: Bringing You, bringing me, to Glory.

Father, how we thank You for not exercising Your right to turn away from us in our sins. You turned away from Your Son for us who were no sons or daughters, but became such as we believed on Christ. Thank You for Jesus. Help us not to be religious in our walk with You, but lovingly related and connected to Your heart. Thank you in advance for the home that awaits us with You, and all the saints for all times. In Your Gracious Name, Amen.

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A Future Completed Work

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:13

No matter what your vocation or hobby or interests, we will all have tasks and projects to undertake. Most of us in the workplace are given assignments with deadlines. I am currently working on a marketing advertisement for a local Heating/Cooling owner and wonderful saint of the Lord. I have been given a deadline and am trying to complete it beforehand.

Many times though we get hindered or do not complete the projects given us. To complete a project we must put continual effort into it. Sometimes we have trouble getting started and we give up. Sometimes we get discouraged at the end when it does not turn out right. However, many experts agree that the crucial barrier in any project completion is about the mid point. Half way through is when we get the most hindered. At first we had great enthusiasm, but that quickly wears off when we start getting into the hardships and obstacles. At this point it seems that the end is so far off and the beginning didn't seem like that long ago.

The Heavenly Father on the other hand does not see us as we see our earthly projects. He sees us as the completed task and is willing to put the constant effort into us to bring us up to the finished product. There are perhaps better Scripture references for this topic such as Philippians 1:6, but the phrase in this 1 Thessalonians passage seems to fit, "to the end may He establish your heart." God has a desire for you and me. This desire does not wane and He fully intends to complete it with no lack of zeal.

Here are three areas to consider our lives as works in progress.

1. The Father knows that ongoing progress is necessary over immediate completion.
Many people wonder, "if God is omnipotent and really interested in perfecting me, why does He not go ahead and take me to Heaven?" If God did this, then we would have no effective service in the world. God put us in this world to be His representatives. The task is by far awesome to think of, but is no less unimportant. If we were completed works living in the world, we would not be an effective witness either. Suppose we were walking perfection incarnate, who would be attainable to us? Even though we are saved, we are still in the flesh. I think God allows us to be weak so we can relate to weak people. To the Christian's detriment, we have purported ourselves to be exclusively holy, which in reality we have the holiness of God, but not in this body. Thus we have alienated ourselves from the unsaved world. The world fears being shamed if they walk into a "sacred church." They see the looks of self righteousness they get from redeemed folks, who, are not totally perfected in this body themselves. We use the holiness of God upon us wrongly. We still sin, we are still weak, yet we are not condemned. In all this we can easily slip into living the perfected life in an imperfect body and an imperfect world. God knows that the more we are worked upon the better we will become. Just like a plaster or concrete mold that has been poured, it needs to age and cure to ensure better strength, rather than call it completed before its time.

2. We have Someone who does not tire in His work.
The resulting look of the craft, solely depends on the intent and energies of the Craftsman. A project that has been done hurriedly or haphazardly shows glaringly. If we half heatedly go about constructing or completing our tasks, we show ourselves to be the poor character and deportment as portrayed in our work. When God works on us He does so with His greatest skill applied. If we have a project that goes on for some time to complete, we tend some days to put our full resolve into it, on other days, we sort of slack off. God on the other hand, puts His full effort every day into us. His Character could do no less. His "arms" do not ache. His purpose in each of us does not inspire fatigue.

3. We have His attention and constant effort to show us His love.
Another area that would potentially cause a lack of continual work is that the project in the eyes of the creator has lost the interest it once held. Do you feel as if God has lost interest in you? Do you think that God has given up on you? I think we all have been there before. Some of us may be there now. The truth is according to the passage, that God has the desire to see each of us through because He loves us. In fact there is nothing to take away God's attention. No greater fancy or ambition keeps God's attention away from us. Suppose that God had a workshop, like a carpenter shop, (this is so relevant in knowing Him, it was a metaphor of His working with mankind as He did in the shop) and that He has a shelf. On this shelf were half completed projects such as clocks with no movements, picture frames with no channels cut, machines with only half the gears, etc. These projects sit on the shelf year after year with heavy layers of dust and spider webs growing over them. What does this image tell us? That God has put us aside in the pursuit of something better and that our lives are not as important enough to complete. In seeing this we could correctly surmise that the love of God has failed. Now this is how we can treat God, but it is never the way God treats us. If we are "set aside" for a season its not that He doesn't love us anymore, its because we are unwilling to be worked on. But God always has that heart for us and actively works on us for completion.

Let us be glad that God has not given up on us for any reason and that we will be part of a great rejoicing for what He has perfected in us. Not only His rejoicing, but our rejoicing at being finally completed.

Father thank You for your constant care and love for us. Thank You for all the work You put into us and are not willing to cast us aside. Help us to be workable in our daily lives. Help us to be gently taught by the instruction of Your Word. In your Name, Amen.

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