The Enemies of Jesus Remain United - So Must His Friends

    On the morning of His death, three competing factions found unity in their hatred of Jesus.

    First, the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel comprised of High Priests, lesser priests, Levites, and some ordinary Israelites. They had lost continuous conscious contact with the Almighty who their greatest King David had known well, and they had instituted in its place religion. They were what I once heard called "religiousy" people. Religion prefers its own thoughts to Truth. They also hated the conquering Romans -- until they needed the Truth destroyed and lacked both the power and authority to accomplish it by themselves. Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate. (Luke 23:1 NKJV)

    Pilate initially sent Jesus to Herod Antipas - a tyrannical fiend from a long line of Herodian fiends. He had once amused himself by beheading John the Baptist. He also wanted to be amused by Jesus' power. When Jesus refused to even speak in the presence of such evil, Herod, unamused, had the Lord mocked and beaten, then sent him back to Pilate. Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. (Luke 23:8 NKJV) 

    Pontius Pilate, the prefect of Judea, desperately tried to deflect responsibility for dealing with Jesus. When he learned Jesus was a Galilean, he sent him to Herod (who sent him back). Pilate eventually ordered Jesus crucified at the insistence of the Chief Priests, but denied responsibility for His death. Can you imagine a ruler with absolute power pointing his finger at a bunch of unarmed priests and yelling, "They made me do it!" And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod.... (Luke 23:7 NKJV)

   While Pilate who ruled over Judea and Herod who ruled over Galilee and Perea both served at the pleasure of Rome, they were competing enemies - and both of them hated the Jews and the Jews likewise hated them - until that day when they found a common enemy in Christ. The old saying goes -- The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Here's what the bible says --  That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other. (Luke 23:12 NKJV)

   Today we find similar forces aligning against Christ. Often these forces are in political or social enmity but become friends for the cause of opposing Jesus. Entire Christian denominations have diminished views of both the written Word and the Living Word and they hate we who have high views of both. They mock us and try every means to have us and our faith destroyed. Some seek to diminish Christ but like Pilate look for someone else to take the rap for their actions. Some take the Herodian approach and seek an association with Jesus only for the good it will do them or for their amusement. Are you being influenced by these destructive forces? Are you unwittingly supporting their effort? 

    How do you react when you hear of see your best friend attacked? Do you stand idly by or do you defend them? If someone is gossiping about your best friend do you intervene? If someone is spreading damaging lies about your best friend wouldn't you immediately correct them?

   My friend Pastor Dave Farmer of David Farmer Ministries recently wrote this -- When the church stops using the method and the message of biblical Christianity; they turn to the methods of the world. They substitute the power of the gospel for performance and programs. The result is professing believers who will not witness (for their friend Jesus).

   The question pleading with my heart today is - what kind of friend am I to Jesus?

    Copywrite 2012 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted or used without prior written consent if a link is provided to www.wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

How to Fall Out of Love..... (With God)

When we find peace with God, its easy to love Him while basking in the glow provided as we are cleansed by His grace and showered with His mercy. Our need for Jesus is so obvious while the recognition of ourselves as sinners is fresh. Jesus said -- `YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' (Matthew 22:37 NKJV) As in personal relationships, the initial passion we feel for the Lord can easily fade. Many once passionate Christians have by a thousand paths found how to fall out of love with God. Here are a few we need to avoid.

1- Don't let your prayer time become a succession of complaints. When the realization hits new Christians that life with Christ will remain seasoned with many challenges, some  become disillusioned. I've heard many prayers that are actually thinly veiled gripes against God, betraying a lack of trust in Him and blaming Him. This immature prayer treats God as weak and in need of our instruction. It seeks to supersede His Divine will for our lives with our own. Paul wrote, I have learned to be content.... (Philippians 10, NKJV) Our prayers should be vessels of praise, trust, and humble worship. Blame breaks relationships. If we complain and blame Him we will find ourselves falling out of love with God.

2- Without intimacy in service with Christ, relationship lapses into religion. Our lives should emanate from the whispered leading of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. In obedience to that still small voice we'll find ourselves not sent out by the Lord, but going out with Him. I have many intimate friendships which were bonded on the mission field while walking out not only a God inspired, but also a God led mission. On those missionary days, as my heart was knit together with my fellow workers in the harvest, it was even more tightly bound to Christ. Don't just serve Him, serve with Him. If we fail to live in intimacy with Christ, we will quickly find Him distant and fall out of love with Him.

3- I once read a book called How to Learn to Love Your Boss. I've never had a bad boss, but apparently there are many who are capricious, arbitrary, self centered and unreliable. Some of us have had parents who have displayed similar bad qualities. God is our ultimate authority figure, and we can easily assign to Him the poor qualities of our lesser gods. No one will ever have a boss like God -- one who always loves us perfectly, always wants and knows what is best for us, and always knows exactly what we need. If we assign the vices of our failed authority types to the Lord, we will fall out of love with Him.

YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.

Jesus didn't speak delicately about the need for us to live with Him in a passionate, driven, fearless, all consuming trusting relationship. The church at Laodacea did not, and he told them - I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

There is no such thing as lukewarm love for Jesus. The Laodaceans tried it -- and fell out of love with God.


Copywrite 2012 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted or used without prior written consent if a link is provided to www.wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

Disciples of the Technology Tribe (1)

  

If God were writing the tenth Commandment today it might sound a little different. To refresh our memories, The Great I Am said -- "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17NKJV) If spoken today, the Lord may have instead said, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his iPad, Not his iPhone 4g with Siri, nor the English lady inside his Tom Tom that tells him where to "exit the motorway", nor the voice activated GPS feature that helps him find the nearest Chinese restaurant, nor any of his apps."Coveting may be our most egregious sin in M3 America, and often what we covet most is the latest technology. Forget about the rapture, most Christians already feel "left behind" when some technology advances to one level better than what they own.

In an spirit of transparency I must admit I love many of these devices even though I cannot afford to own some of them. What I do own I have no difficulty rationalizing as ministry beneficial, and some of it actually is. Skype closes the distance to my overseas Christian friends. I've read nineteen books (about half Christian books) on my Nook this year, and my daily "washing in the Word" is done on the same device. I like keeping up with second and third tier friends via Facebook fellowship instead of having to commit to a phone call of indeterminable length.

Is this bad? Is desire for the latest technology coveting? Well, maybe. Let's look more closely.....

God calls coveting sin. What is coveting and how does it differ from ordinary wanting or aspiring to a better standard of living? Baker's Theological Dictionary defines covetousness as -- A strong desire to have what belongs to someone else. So wanting something isn't sin in and of itself. Wanting something that belongs to someone else is. We can also covet what God has provided to others and not to us. I have an iPhone 3G (no Siri). I never wanted Siri until I heard her on my brother's phone. Then I experienced a -- strong desire to have what belongs to someone else.

As a marketing program, what Apple did and still does to convince us to covet is genius. When they introduced the iPod, their advertising primarily displayed images of cool people with their ear buds installed and the rest of the not quite as cool folks suddenly experienced a need to join the ear bud tribe. In the Technology Tribe, social status can only be maintained by owning the newest and the best without regard for necessity. It boils down to this - Are we substituting membership as disciples of the Technology Tribe for time alone with God? My friend Pastor MK Babu in India put it this way in the latest online edition of www.PraistheAlmighty.com –

This is nothing but hypocrisy; it demands repentance......... God has not introduced and instituted a substitute way to fellowship with Him. He made everything needed perfectly in order to have fellowship with us. Without a devoted time and a committed (prayer) life in His presence none of us is going to have fellowship with Him. There are only two ways to live our lives on the face of the earth. Either live with God or without Him. There is no middle path. Our apathy towards developing and maintaining a relationship with God will result in a godless life.


Technology has provided instant and mobile access to information and has made it possible for us to become instant Jesus information junkies. Dr. Skip Moen (www.SkipMoen.com) recently suggested in his daily Greek and Hebrew word study, Today's Word, that it is possible to become a disciple of learning (about Jesus) rather than  disciple of following Him. Disciples of the technology tribe can morf into remote observers, information gatherers, and disciples of learning about Jesus, yet never leave the Technology Village to follow him by walking out a Jesus centric life.


Is the Technology Tribe leading me to a more intimate relationship with God, or have I become a disciple of learning instead of a disciple of following? I can only have intimate fellowship with the Lord in prayer and worship, and by the way........there's no app for that.


Copywrite 2012 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted or used without prior written consent if a link is provided to www.wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com




  

Joy in the Hill Country in Judah



Artist's depiction of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth

 Now at  this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." (Luke 1:39-45 NKJV)

    For the period of time just prior to these verses, the lives of Elizabeth and Zacharias had been pretty amazing. Zacharias had a conversation with the angel Gabriel. Because he had failed to believe Gabriel, Zacharias spent five months unable to speak. His wife who was had thought to be barren was now pregnant. Her unborn child had an amazing assignment from God, and she had been filled with the Holy Spirit. That's a pretty good run! Most of us might feel very blessed by events like these. Just as Elizabeth and Mary are cousins, often so are blessed and prideful. Its a small step from being humbled by God's blessing to feeling superior by being called by God.



    Elizabeth (Elisheva in Hebrew) displayed no envy at Mary' arrival. Informed by the Holy Spirit Elisheva said in humility, And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? Elizabeth received her secondary role in God's redemptive plan with grace as would her son, John, years later at the Jordan. Could I have done that? I'm not certain it would have been any easy thing.

    I suppose its coincidental that the words ministry and vanity rhyme. The bible says - For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Cor 4:7 KNJV) Pride is a sledgehammer that demolishes ministry (both corporate ministry and personal ministry). Paul has taught us in 1 Corinthians 12 that the distributed gifts in the church are distinct but of equal value. The same is not necessarily true with ministry. Some ministry is huge and immediately fruitful for the Lord's Kingdom while others struggle to blossom, leaving us to wonder why. Elizabeth didn't waste time wondering. Instead she gave herself over to God's plan. Much time can be wasted struggling to accomplish under the power of self what God would have done effortlessly in the wake of a submitted heart. Pride focuses on human evaluation and recognition while submission focuses only on the Lord's leading and direction.

   Do you walk in an Elisheva Spirit of submission to God's plan for your life? Do you begin each day recognizing in prayer your need for God to accomplish His call on your life, or do you wave Him off each morning with an "I've got this one covered" attitude? In your heart do you believe..... that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her (you) by the Lord." Elizabeth received God’s will for her life as a blessing and His calling on her life as a privilege without comparison to Mary…and more….she rejoiced for her cousin Mary’s superior role as mother of God Incarnate, Jesus.

Today let’s thank God for His call on our lives and recommit to resubmit without regard for what the world (even the Christian world) thinks about it.