Tag: Truth

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Truth Sessions (part 6) Doing YOU…is not doing good!

Luke 17:28-29: 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Live your best life…
You do you…
Live your dream…

I can keep going, but you get the picture. On their face those words of advice sound harmless. Actually, they sound pretty good. But, Jesus actually teaches the opposite. People focus on the sin being done in Sodom as the reason for it’s destruction. In the verse above you see Jesus giving a more insightful reason…living your life in a manner which bears no acknowledgement to God or the heavenly pursuits. The people just “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building” were destroyed right along with the wicked behaving ones. Verses 32-33 of the same chapter in Luke goes on to warm us about the consequences of holding on to our own pursuits in life.

In reflecting on this truth I am reminded of an old song by Steven Curtis Chapman called “More to this life”. Here is the chorus:

But there’s more to this life than living and dying,
More than just trying to make it through the day;
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see,
And there’s more than this life alone can be.

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Faith files… (part 2)

Great Faith

Matthew 15: 21-28

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Christian faith is based on God’s promises, rather than feelings, or things you can see. Great faith holds fast regardless of outward appearances.

Great faith is properly focus, repentant, reverent, persistent, and humble. In the text above you find a Canaanite woman coming to Jesus. This is a Pegan woman whos culture worshiped idols and false gods. Upon encountering Jesus she places the focus on Him. This wasn’t a “pray for me, send good thoughts, send good vibes my way” kind of situation that I see way too often on Facebook (and from Christians I might add…). Jesus was the focus of her request. Jesus was the focus of her worship. Jesus was the focus of her faith.

Great faith is repentant. In verse 22 she cries “…have mercy on me!” Mercy denotes the giving of something that is not deserved. She is coming at Jesus from a stance of unworthiness. Being in a culture that worships idols and false gods her coming to Jesus indicates that she turned from them to God. That is repentance.

Great faith is reverent. Again, in verse 22 she addresses Jesus as “Lord, son of David…”. She calls him Lord. The Greek translation uses the word Kyrios meaning master, or one who exercises absolute authority or ownership rights. She is recognizing Jesus’ sovereignty. She also calls him son of David. That is a Messianic title making reference to His right as King. Her acknowledgement of Jesus’ position is an act of reverence.

Great faith is persistent. In the text you notice first that Jesus doesn’t respond to her. Silence. His apostles finally come to him urging him to send her away because she keeps yelling. This indicates that some time has past. She just kept yelling. This reminds me of my kid’s persistence with the “Daddy, daddy, daddy…”. When Jesus does respond He says “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”. Not dissuaded she responds “Lord, help me!”. Jesus throws up another barrier by saying “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Not to be denied she responds “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Wow! First Jesus ignores her, then disqualifies her, and then calls her a pet and her response after all that was “even so, help me…” Great faith is persistent.

Great faith is humble. As you read in verse 25 she knelt before Jesus. More accurately translated as kneeling down and putting your face in the dirt. She put her face in the dirt, said no I am not a Jew, I am not of your chosen people, but you are not just the son of David, you are Lord, an I am subject to you. Humble.

There is one other place in the New Testament where Jesus makes reference to someone with great faith (Matthew 8:5-13). Here Jesus is dealing with a Centurion (Roman commanding soldier). A couple of interesting observations about these two instances of Jesus acknowledging great faith. One, their faith was focus on Jesus and their ask was for others. Great faith is not asking and believing in a “financial break through” or that “new car”. Two, the Centurion and the Canaanite lady were non-Jews. Great faith is not steeped in tradition or dependent on culture. It is rooted in faith that is counter-cultural and non-traditional. Great faith is genuine faith.

Have you had a situation where you had to exhibit great faith?

Past Series Posts: Intro Part 1

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Truth Sessions (Part 5) – Worshiping God doesn’t get you to Heaven..

Acts 16:13-15(NIV)

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized,she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

There are many subjects in the Bible that God choose not to fully reveal the answers to. But, there is one that He has made very clear. In order to have eternal life with God you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Why isn’t worshiping God enough? I mean, I acknowledge Him as my creator, I follow the 10 commandments, I love people and help the less fortunate, I attend church regularly… isn’t that enough?

The answer is NO it is not. God is holy by nature and infinite. His requirement for living with Him in Heaven is to be holy. Sinfulness​ is the antithesis to holiness. We humans have a sinful nature and are finite. So, there is nothing a person who is finite and sinful can do on  their own to satify a requirement of a being that is infinate with a holy nature. It takes someone who infinate and holy to meet a requirement of someone who is infinate and holy.

God’s word states that forgivesness of sin must come through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). God provided a way for sinful finite people to meet this by allowing Jesus who is God (infinate and holy) to come down to earth and shed his blood as a remission for all sin. By accepting Jesus’ gift, our sins are forgiven and God sees us as holy. Through Jesus alone has the requirement been met. Worshiping God in and of itself is good but does not get you into Heaven (John 14:6). Lydia is an example of this. Are you Lydia?

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Truth Sessions (Part 3) – Blessings don’t come from prayer…

One of the most frustrating things that happen when people become Christians is that they don’t experience the radical life change and blessings raining down from Heaven as they are lead to believe by what I call the “Slot Machine in the sky” sermons so prevalent today.  Say the prayer and accept Jesus, go to church, tithe (if you want to), be a good person, and pray and God will bless you with health and prosperity.  That is the checklist straight from the “Christians for Dummies” book.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a big proponent of the “…for Dummies” books.  But, there are no shortcuts or clef notes when it comes to God.  He already provided complete instructions called The Bible,  the perfect example in Jesus Christ, and the consummate instructor in the Holy Spirit.

Joshua 1:6-9 NIV

6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.

7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In this text, God was speaking to Joshua just before Joshua was to take over leading the Isrealites after Moses’ death but this instruction is a recurring theme through God’s word and is still speaking to us today.  God’s blessings does not come from prayer even though prayer is of the utmost importance in a Christian’s life.  Blessings come from obedience.  Ephesians 2:10 states that we were created in Christ to do good works which God had already planned for us. Once saved we are remade and re-purposed.  When you get a new job you don’t continue to do your old job and expect raises, bonuses, much less a continued paycheck!  Yet, we apply that logic to becoming reborn in Christ.  Jesus provided the new job discription in Matthew 28:19-20, demonstrated how to do the job in the life He lead on earth, and provided a life coach in the Holy Spirit to ensure we will always have the proper guidance. To unlock the ubundant life we are so desperate to have is not through prayer, it is through obedience…Matthew 6:33

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Truth Sessions (Part 1) – People don’t go to hell for not believing in Jesus…

The God of the Universe, the creator of all, is so powerful and grand yet will send His creation to hell for not believing in His son???  Through the ears of non-Christians that makes God seem rather petty.  To be honest, I can’t say that I disagree. Yet, this very message is spouted from the pulpit, the pews, out on the streets, and in the mission fields and it couldn’t be more wrong!

Revelation 20: 12-15 (NIV)

“12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

John the apostle was very clear in the above passage that people are judged by their deeds and punished, or sent to hell, based on them.  The Bible states that no one is righteous on their own. Every one has sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10).  Because of this our deeds are evil.  All men and women have broken God’s moral law and the punishment for such an infraction is eternal separation from God or hell in other words.  Sin is the problem. Not believing is Jesus doesn’t send people to hell.  Sin does.

Just as a judge has the prerogative to grant a pardon to whomever they wish, God has exercised His holy prerogative by sending His son, Jesus, to pay the punishment for human’s sin.  Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is God’s pardon offer.  This offer is the only way to get into Heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

This is a very important distinction.  If you don’t understand that and sign on to Christianity under any other pretenses (i.e. to get blessings) you will feel like you were sold a bill of goods.  That is how Christianity gets a bad rap and it all starts with the message. As rough and sobering as it is, it must be told. We all are sinners, we can not do enough good on our own so we are damned, yet God is gracious and He offered us a pardon…that pardon is Jesus!

Either Jesus can pay for your sin or you can.  It’s that simple.