Is Someone Living Rent-Free in the Apartment of Your Unforgiveness?

   I often find myself judging others through a harsher lens than the one through which I judge myself. A basic human urge to not find myself worse than others can sometimes result in searching for their sin to assure my heart that I am at least no worse than them, and if I am honest, I admit to hoping to find them worse than me -- and by implication, finding my self better than them. This mindset is sin because it breaks God's command that we not judge. Jesus said -  Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37)

 

   So what's the antidote to the recurring sin of judging others? I find these things fruitful...

   1- Refuse to receive condemnation. Romans 8:1 says --- There is therefore no condemnation fo those who are in Christ Jesus...  In some places the bible speaks of Christ being in us and in others as us being in Christ. Both are true for believers. He is in us by His Spirit and we are in Him by faith. Pastor David Guzik wrote --

 

   The verdict is not “less condemnation.” That’s where many of us are at - we think that our standing has improved in Jesus. It hasn’t improved, it’s been completely transformed, changed to no condemnation.

 

   We don't have less condemnation. In Christ, we have none. Condemnation may be often offered to us by people and by Satan, but we can confidetly refuse it, citing this scripture.

 

    2- Forgive yourself of the sins God has forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift from God. A gift requires a receiver. God freely forgives as we repent, When we truely receive this gift, our sin guilt is erased. This is possible only by the Grace of God. Receive the gift of forgiveness. Let go of guilt and shame. Hebrews 4:15 says -- For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses....

 

    3- Stop collecting offenses. Start seeking opportunities to forgive others. Jesus told Peter to forgive 7 times 70 times in one day to one person's sin. Most of us will never offer that much forgiveness in a day, but we can make a choice to find opportunities to forgive each day. Pray for the Holy Spirit to prod you when those opportunities arrive. Don't allow the magnitude of the offense determine what you will forgive. Jesus forgave His killers even as they were killing Him.

 

   Often our habit of judging has been formed over many years when our flesh dominated our behavior. Now His Spirit dominates. The new has come, the old is gone... But the old flesh may try to claw its way back into our hearts. Intentionaly forgiving can replace the habit of judging.  

 

   Recieve the fullness of God's forgiveness, step out from under condemnation and live in the freedom of Christ.

 

  Who can you set free today from your judgement and condemnation?

 

   Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, [fn] and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (Gal 5:1)

A Backfired Exorcism, A Beating from Hell, and the Descendants of the Seven Sons of Sceva

  Acts Chapter 19 recounts a weird story that occurred in Ephesus. There was a Jewish high priest named Sceva who had seven sons. These brothers formed an itinerant exorcism team and attempted to make a living casting evil spirits out of people. Apparently they stumbled across information that a guy named Paul was easily and consistently casting out evil spirits in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The seven sons of Sceva decided to improve their brand by applying Paul's method, and they had some successful exorcisms by usurping the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom Paul declares. The Lord himself had predicted this possibility saying --- Many will say to me in that day, Lord have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them -- I never knew you.... (Matthew 7:23-24a NKJV)

 

   Well, it didn't turn out too well for Sceva's boys. They attempted to cast out a demon in Jesus name and got a surprising response when the evil spirit asked -- Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? (Acts 19:15 NKJV) Then he beat them up! This might seem funny, but I'm sure it wasn't to them! One evil spirit possessed man, beat all seven of them senseless, beat them out of their clothes, beat them until they ran screaming like little girls, leaving a path of blood as they fled that house.

 

  It often happens that people obtain or lay claim to a Christian title but lack the authority and power that should accompany it -- power that only God can provide and will provide to those He knows. They create a calling that they think they'll enjoy or be successful at, and claim that God has called them, much like like the seven sons of Sceva claimed the power of the Name of Jesus, but never knew Him.   

 

  I recently read that the average American pastor spends ten minutes a day in both personal prayer and bible study with the Lord, and the average Christian spends three minutes a day. If these numbers are even close to accurate, it seems like Sceva's boys have multiplied, and taken over our churches, claiming the Name, the Authority, and the Power of someone they don't even know. They also claim a right to the benefits that accrue to Followers of Christ, without a clue of how to follow or even find Him. It would be like declaring yourself married to a spouse you never saw, couldn't describe, didn't really know where they lived or how they felt about you. That kind of marriage would result in a relationship that had very few benefits!

 

 Paul wrote that we should all - Desire the greatest gifts.... of God. That's a good thing. But we'll never acquire them unless we intimately know the Giver. That doesn't require much, but it's apparently more than many will give. It requires time spent daily in intimate prayer, and time spent in His Word. There is no substitute for either. Its really that simple.

 

   If you encountered a powerful minion of the Devil from Hell, how would he react to you? Would he see you like Paul, walking in the authority of one of Christ's own, or would he laugh and beat the hell out you?

 

   We aren't told what ultimately happened to Sceva's sons. It is possible that this experience turned their hearts to Jesus. I hope so. Their time has come and gone, but the end of our story is not yet written.

 

   Will your next chapters be written describing your intimacy with God? Will Jesus one day welcome you as an old friend, or will He wonder who you are?

 

 

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be reprinted in whole or in part if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are You Brainstained?

    I said to myself concerning the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts." (Ecclesiastes 3:18 KJV)

    Do you ever talk to yourself? I'm not asking about insane mumblings or whispered narration of tasks you are performing. Solomon often uses the expression -- I said to myself... What are you saying to yourself? What is the inner voice that provides a narrative of life as it passes by saying to you? Is it opposing God and Godly thought or affirming God and Godly thought?

   Ever hear the term "brainwashing"? I just Googled it. Here's how Wikipedia defines it -- Brainwashing (also known as thought reform or as re-education) consists of any effort aimed at instilling certain attitudes and beliefs in a person — beliefs sometimes unwelcome or in conflict with the person's prior beliefs and knowledge, in order to affect that individual's value system and subsequent thought-patterns and behaviors.

 

    Is your brain stained? Are you allowing your mind to continuously deepen the stain, or are you washing it with the Word of God? God needs to quiet the -- I said to myself... voice in our heads, and replace it with an ear tuned to the inner voice in our hearts, the voice of the Holy Spirit.

  Could your faith life use some thought reform? Continuous spiritual improvement requires  tuning into God's voice, and a simultaneous tuning out of the inner shouting which childishly demands our attention to its unending stream of worldly opinions. We cannot wash our own brains clean of sin stains. Jesus has to do that. The mind cleansing Word says -- He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. (Titus 3:5,6)

Where are your thoughts unreformed? Where is your brain stained? Are there areas of thought where you have giving up and stopped scrubbing? Is there a part of you that you've allowed your inner voice to convince you Jesus is impotent to transform? Open the Word. Pray. Scrub your brain stains. Tune in to God. Tune out yourself.

And He was saying to them, Take care what you listen to... (Mark 4:24)

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

The Word, the Root, and the Branches Search for Unity

And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. (Romans 11:17-21 NKJV)   

 

   According to church researchers most Christians have an ambiguous theology. We kind of know generally what denominations we disagree with, but we are unable to articulate the particulars of the disagreement. The Holy Spirit instructed me years ago to “die to denominationalism”. Over time I have concluded that every born again Christian is my brother or sister in Christ. This has made me realize that I am coupled at the root with believers with whom I may have sharp theological disagreement. It has become obvious over time, that two Christians, both bent on "rightly dividing the Word of God", my still find themselves in disagreement on minor theological issues. My sense is that God is focused on unity while our flesh, wanting to be right, distinguishes the differences.

 

   Reluctantly, I have tilted in favor of unity. It is amazing how my interaction has changed when I have abandoned the need to explain to others the failings perceived in their theology. I now consciously resist letting the theological anger of another lead to mine in return. Paul’s words to the church in Rome remind to re-center my focus on Christ -- But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

 

  

   This may seem to be an odd comment coming from a man who has written about the bible and the Lord for years, but I wonder if the root of our disagreement isn’t fed from our habit of spending more time reading the uninspired words written my mortals about the God than we spend simply reading the Word and praying. It seems we’ve become as a church a little obsessed with the next cool explanation. In other words, we boast about the man who has written about the Root rather than boasting about the Root he is writing about.   

   John Wesley called himself a man with a one book library. His method of bible study was simple. Read a verse and pray. If he still lacked understanding he next read every other verse about the same subject or that contained the same word and prayed more. Then he’d ask a trusted Christian friend to do the same and he’d discuss their understanding. (By the way, this included his dear friend George Whitefield who had a very different theological view). As a last resort he’d look to the church fathers and what they’d written.

   First the Root, then the branches.   

   Are you a student of the Word, or of what has been written about it by its branches?

   Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be reprinted in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to: http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

Confessing Praise......

   Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15 NKJV)

 

     Human praise is often well intended false praise. If my friend sings a solo that is actually painful to listen to but immediately asks me how he did, I will undoubtedly praise him. Sometimes I want to praise someone to encourage them but find myself looking hard for something praiseworthy. If I find nothing, I select the best thing I can find and praise that. I think it was Joan Rivers who said -- Anything a man says to a woman about her shoes, weight, dress, hair, eyes, face, ears, shoes, height, shoes, weight, or shoes is probably a lie. Sorry ladies, I really don’t care about your shoes as much as some of you do.

 

…let us continually offer… In the original Greek, this is better translated as continually confess.... This offering requires praise mindedness. If the weight of the Lord’s salvation alone has settled in my heart, how can my praise ever end? Since I recognized the truth of the Gospel, I have lived a life observed through a God-lens provided by the indwelling Spirit and focused by the Word. All provision I see as from Him. All favor from Him. Luck and happenstances are things of my past. My Father is watching over me, attending to my needs, pruning dead limbs and pouring mercy and grace over my life. In the days of the tabernacle and temple, praise was offered at certain times and in certain places. The old is gone, behold the new has come. My continuous praise exists because of His continuous Presence in my life.

 

….a sacrifice… When I research a Greek word it typically has multiple meanings that are dependent on context or other associated words. Here the Greek word means only sacrifice. It is used 29 times in the New Testament and it is translated as sacrifice all 29 times. What do I sacrifice when I praise God? I sacrifice my flesh, my ambition, my pride, and my desire to be worshipped. Praising God in truth sets not only Him in proper perspective, but myself also. When I pour out an offering of words to describe the greatness of my Lord, my prideful somethingness fades to humble nothingness.

 

…. of praise to God… In praising a person or any created thing I can easily outreach the truth, but it is not so with God. With the Lord if I simply state the truth of what He is and has done, I can never exaggerate and I can never finish. That is authentic, the fruit of our lips, worshipping in spirit and truth, God praise. My praise cannot be mechanical, a fleshy offering of my good praise works. It has to be an offering poured from my grateful heart, giving thanks to His Name….

 

 Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted in wole or in part without prior permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com   

Brand Evangelists, Downton Abbey, and Loving My Enemies.....

   It is absolutely thrilling when the Lord uses us to bring someone to the knowledge of His saving Grace. It encourages us to want to repeat the process. If we began by sharing our personal salvation testimony, we are encouraged to share it more frequently. If we began by sharing the Gospel, we are encouraged to share it more frequently. But a stubborn fact remains. For everyone we lead to the Lord's salvation, scores will reject His message. Those rejections can accumulate. If we see them as personal rejection of ourselves or failures of ourselves to effectively communicate they can become an obstacle to our holy boldness. Insurance salesmen are trained to expect twenty rejections for each sale and often speak of "collecting the no!", until they have collected enough that they finally get a yes! Too often, we approach the spiritual by trying to apply what works in the natural.

    The Church is supposed to lead the culture, reform the culture, and watch the culture be transformed by the Word, the Spirit, and Gospel. However, I often hear churches today  instead adopting the culture, and in that also adopting  secular sales and marketing rhetoric. Individual churches speak of "marketing their brand" as if they stood separated from Christ, and even applying secular marketing methods to the gospel. We are not called to be  "brand evangelists" for Christ.

 

   The message of Christ is meant to be transferred by attraction rather than promotion. What reflection of Christ in me will attract someone to saving faith? Often we are more like the servants in the kitchen at Downton Abbey, gossiping about those who reside  in the same home rather than loving them so much that we are distinguished by that love. Jesus said --

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. (Luke 6:35 NKJV)

   Love is the most distinguishing reflection of Christ. Radical love, love that loves its enemies, hoping for nothing in return, is virtually non existent outside of hearts transformed by Christ. Too often it resides in seclusion within the those hearts which have found it. Jesus also said -
 

But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. (Luke 6:32 KNJV) Has your love reached beyond those easy to love family and Christian friends, or does it appear only where it is comfortable?

  

   The door to the Gospel is most easily opened by the power of love. Not some fictitious love, feigned for sake of opportunity, but simple love, genuine love, the love of God which has taken residence in our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 13, the Lord assures us of the power of love with this simple verse -
 

Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8 NKJV)
 

That's a promise from God. Test it. Try being the love of Christ in the lives of those for whom you are praying that they will find saving Grace, and watch the door to the Gospel fly open!

Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8 NKJV)

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted or reprinted in whole or in part without prior permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday

  

I am ready to perform My word. (Jer 1:12) God is ready. Are you?

    

    I use a simple (cheap) spiral bound notebook as a prayer journal. When one gets full, I start a new one. I recently ran across an old prayer journal that was only slightly used. It was dated from 2005-06. I turned to the page listing those for whom I was praying for salvation. Most on that old list have been saved, but only after years of prayer. The others I still lift in daily prayer.

 

   I pray because God answers prayer. His Word is replete with examples of answered prayers in both the Old and New Testaments. My life as a Christian is also replete with answered prayers. I am not sure how long I would have continued sending requests to the Lord if He had never responded. His word assures me --  Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24) and... If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:7)

 

   So I pray.

 

   In personal evangelism, I have a tendency to want to also pray. By this I mean that I can easily fall to the terrible practice of fleshy evangelism based on my skills at quoting the right scriptures and my power of persuasion. That kind of prideful evangelism doesn't emanate from the Lord. My prayer journal always contains a short list of names of people I am asking the Lord to save. I ask the Lord to lead me to a scripture to pray over them when I sit with Him in prayer. I keep my list short -- ten or twelve at the most. I lift them in prayer every time I sit with the Lord. When the Lord's salvation comes to one of them, I mark down the date, then add a new name and scripture to replace them in my daily prayer time.

 

   Today I added a name, and got a scripture to pray over them during my prayer time, and I prayed for them. Having prayed for their salvation I consider them saved. Believing the promises of God, I know it is no longer a question of if they will be saved, but instead, when. God does not disappoint me in these prayers, although His timing and His methods often baffle me. 

 

   I believe this sad truth. Millions are lost in their sin because no one is praying for their salvation.   

 

   Who are you asking daily for the Lord to save? Hoping for the salvation of others is nice, but meaningless. Telling other Christians that you wish someone you love would give their heart to Jesus is just as useless. However, spending time in prayer, worshiping God, praising Him, and then pleading for the salvation of someone you love until it arrives will produce the fruit of salvation.

   Start with a very short list - two or three loved ones you really want to find the peace of Jesus, then pray each day. Stop hoping. Start waiting expectantly.

 

  Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things..." (Jer 33:3)