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April 14, 2014

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:12 ESV)

For those who have been redeemed by Christ, life always has meaning. We are captured for a purpose. In his letter to the saints in Philippi, Paul explained how his life of seeking righteousness by legal precision and pedigree was vanity—mere rubbish. Life in the righteousness of Christ, on the other hand, includes suffering, but is filled with power. We are captured by a perfect Savior for the purpose of capturing (i.e., laying hold of) the righteousness that is found in him. Christ has made us his own, and we are to work diligently to display that we are owned by a Savior.

Paul presents this picture of diligent effort to live a life that is different than the world around him. Yet, part of that difference is that the new life is not something in which he can boast. The status he pursues is given to him, and he must strive to live in it. The irony is that his striving does nothing to secure the status; rather, his striving confirms that he possesses the status.

As you face the challenges of life today, keep before you that you are captured for a purpose. You direct the thoughts of your mind and the actions of your will toward the goal of pursing the perfection of Christ that the Spirit is working within you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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April 7, 2014

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]A few weeks ago, I was completely out of joint. Rising from a chair was an ordeal because standing led to a shooting pain across my lower back. My walk seemed uneven, like one leg was shorter than the other. And the muscles in my neck cramped, which led to a low-level headache. I finally gave in and scheduled a visit to the doctor. He felt my neck and back, took an X-ray, and concluded, “Your lower back is out of joint, and your atlas is out of place.”

I didn’t know I had an atlas. I remembered the name from Greek mythology, but I do not usually associate parts of my body with Greek gods. The doctor informed me that the atlas is the top-most bone in the neck that holds up the head. If the atlas moves out of place, the resulting pressure at the top of the spinal cord affects the nerves of the rest of the body. He adjusted my back and reset my atlas. I walked out of the office pain free.

A few days later, I was emotionally out-of-sorts. I had little patience, as everyone seemed to be doing things the wrong way. I needed a realignment of my spiritual atlas – a realignment like Romans 12:3:

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

My frustration with others almost always flows from an overdeveloped view of myself. My needs are most important; my convenience is the priority; my opinion is the best. In a word, I view myself as godlike, and I want those I consider to be minions to cater to me. I am “drunk” with my opinion of myself.

Through the apostle Paul, God reveals such an attitude is common to mankind. The ailment is overcome only by the work of God’s grace whereby a fallen creature sees his position before a majestic God. This sobering realignment humbles, but does not humiliate, us. As Romans 12:1-2 make clear, I live by the mercies of God, set apart as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to him. I am everything and nothing at the same time.

This divine view of self is the lens by which I must view others. I am redeemed to serve God – the God in whose image others are made. I am a minion, called to serve those the Redeemer places in my life today. Even more encouraging is the reality that the mercy of God by which I am saved is the same mercy by which I live. In him, I am strong enough to put self aside in order to serve. Realigned by the word and work of God, I go forth with my attitude adjusted by him.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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March 31, 2014

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]WSC 1 – “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Jesus describes what it takes to glorify God in John 15:8 (ESV):

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

As the New Year dawned, a friend from St. Louis posted something on his blog that challenged me. He coined a new term that described well an idol that I embrace – “productionism.” Productionism is “the belief that a man’s value comes from his ability to accomplish or produce something. In other words, a good man is productive every day.” It is a variation of perfectionism, but differs in that productionism focuses on getting things done, not necessarily getting things done perfectly.

At one level, being productive is not bad. Bearing fruit for God means that I produce something. The problem is that I tend to define my worth by what I produce rather than focusing on the One who produces through me. Jesus also said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:5, 9 ESV).

In my fight to produce, I am prone to taking my eyes off Jesus. Another friend preached a sermon recently in which he rightly stated that a minister’s job (and the words apply to all followers of Christ) is to point people to Christ. I am prone to focus on getting things done rather than pointing people to Christ. Rather than bearing fruit, I bow at the idol named “Productivity.” When displaying the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control could point a person to Jesus, I often choose to find the easiest path to get the task done. Instead of bearing fruit, I complete a task. The problem is that so many of the tasks I complete in the name of productivity all appear to be done in the name of ministry. In other words, my idol is well camouflaged.

As you get things done today, ask yourself, “Am I bearing fruit or merely being productive?” Fruit comes from abiding in Christ. Yes, you get things done – but you work by the power of his Spirit within you. You reflect his character and priorities (which includes considering others as more significant than yourself – Php 2:3) as you do what he commands.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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March 24, 2014

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The end result is nice, but getting the job done can be overwhelming. People call it “spring cleaning,” when the dreary deadness of winter is cleared to make room for the newness of spring. Yet, the job can be so big; it is hard to know where to start. I have a tendency to be a “hummingbird cleaner” – flitting from area to area doing just a little before I’m off to something else. There is great activity, but what I accomplish is often not thorough.

The other day, I realized my spiritual life is like that. God has redeemed me to be a new creature, and now I participate in a new life being formed in me by the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Colossians 3:9-10, “… you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

But, the job can seem so overwhelming. Frustration comes when I look only to the job as a whole and lose sight of the individual, “bite-size” projects that lead to the end. God has renewed all of me, but my experience of that victory can come in increments, as he files away the ugly edges one by one. Rather than flitting here and there, I need to focus on putting off the old practice, and putting on the righteousness of Christ. I need to ask, “What sin pattern is God revealing to me today? I want to submit humbly to his renewing work to make my thoughts and actions more like him.”

Unlike my earthly home, I know the hope of personal righteousness is certain because the end of salvation is glorification, where those who are in Christ will fully and perfectly reflect him. The Spirit who accomplishes that work will not give up, and he most certainly will not fail. By the sanctifying grace of God, may I put off today that which is not pleasing to him, and put on the character of the son he loves – the son who lived and died to make me clean.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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March 17, 2014

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It was true that the person had been wronged, but the situation still did not feel right. There we were in a group of ministry leaders. All had suffered because of opposition from ministry coworkers or supervisors (some of them pastors), and each wanted to tell his or her story. The conversation deteriorated pretty quickly into what you might call an episode of “Who can top this complaint?”

Ephesians 4:29 was needed:
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Ephesians 4 begins will an exhortation to walk (i.e., pattern your life) in a manner worthy of the calling you have received to be a follower of Christ. Your thoughts and actions should be characterized by the humble, gentle, and patient character of Christ.  He redeemed you for such a life, and the power of the Holy Spirit enables such a life.

As I think back on the conversation between the ministry leaders, I know that my attitude was more that of self-righteousness, as well as a weird sense of vengeance by which my complaint would somehow “punish” the person that had harmed me years ago. None of us was innocent. Lord, forgive us.

The good news is that thought we failed to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, God in his mercy does not revoke that calling. Because of Christ, we are not slaves to corrupting talk; his sacrifice broke the chains. His Spirit enables a new and different life.

Lord, touch my tongue that today my words may give grace to those who hear me.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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March 10, 2014

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]This week I was thinking about spiritual warfare with demons. I read an article about a missionary whose family experienced demonic oppression – and it gave me the willies. I later saw an ad for a movie about paranormal activity – and I shuddered inside. I’m afraid of that kind of conflict with evil. I fear that I will fail. I fear that my faith will be too weak. Then I read Scotty Smith’s devotional thoughts on Romans 7:22-25, and I remembered that intense spiritual warfare is a regular part of the Christian life. Paul writes: “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” The battle with my sin nature is constant, yet I rarely view it as intense spiritual warfare like that described by the missionary or pictured in “devil movies.” Too often, mine is a tame battle because I only half-heartedly want to put away sin. Or, I don’t see my sin as something repugnant to God – my evil is a lesser evil. Though daily struggles with the remnants of my sin nature are more subtle, those battles are still a manifestation of spiritual warfare. Paul’s words apply to me: “O wretched man that I am!” Yet by God’s mercy, I also know Paul’s Deliver: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1). Christ has taken my wretchedness and given me his righteousness. My daily battle is to appropriate by faith what Christ has done – the demons are defeated in my life. I also trust that God’s Spirit conforms me to the image of my Deliverer. That practice of trusting in the work of Christ is not easy. Like a demon, my rebellious nature wants to live independently from God. Yet, God’s love subdues me, and his Spirit enables me to put off evil and pursue good. For the believer, battling demons is a part of the Christian life. Yet, in the battle, the believer is never alone, not is he left to his own strength. Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]