To serve and protect

“The thin blue line” is a reference to police who form a boundary between lawless chaos and a safe, peaceful society. Though our law enforcement is not a perfect system, I am grateful to those men and women who keep the bad guys from taking over! While I am not always thrilled to see a police cruiser pull up behind my car, I know that ultimately it is the charge of that law officer to serve and protect.

Disciple, you and I have a similar commission in this world, to work to counteract and restrain evil. Do you know this is your high and holy calling? Jesus describes the functional nature of our mission by calling us ‘salt and light.’ In His time, salt was much more than a flavoring of food. In that pre-refrigeration age it was a critical preservative. Christians are to serve that function in the world today. Don’t just think of great movements involving millions of like-minded believers. Individually, we can have a noticeable effect, and we should! In the dark world, our love of God will make the Way plain for others.

Does your family know you as a person of prayer, a person of wisdom to whom they can turn for solid counsel, as a person of compassion on whom they can lean in the hard times? Do your daily decisions reveal a quality of life that compels those with whom you work to say ‘thank God’ for you? Isn’t that what Jesus means when He says, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden… let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."? (Matthew 5:14,16, NLT)

Ask yourself, would the people that I live with be worse off if I did not exist? Am I functioning as ‘salt and light’?

It’s an honor to serve and protect! Just as police officers feel a justifiable sense of honor and privilege, wearing their badge of public trust with a sense of obligation, so should we. We don’t have to announce our good works with trumpets. Indeed, Jesus forbade it. We just live to give, loving in big and small ways, asking the Spirit of God to work quietly and persistently through us to push back the influence of evil.

Here’s a word from the Word. Keep it in your conscious mind today and let it challenge every word and action.
" In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. … I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere." (Ephesians 4:1, The Message) "I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd." (Ephesians 4:17, The Message) "Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside." (Ephesians 4:22-23, The Message) "Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents." (Ephesians 5:1, The Message)

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Jesus, use me and O Lord, don't refuse me,
For surely there's a work that I can do;
And even tho' it's humble, Lord,
Help my will to crumble,
Tho' the cost be great I'll work for You.

Dear Lord, I'll be a witness,
If You will help my weakness.
I know that I'm not worthy, Lord, of Thee.
By eyes of faith I see Thee,
Upon the cross of Calv'ry;
Dear Lord, I cry let me Thy servant be.

Jesus Use Me
Campbell, Jack / Campbell, Billy
© 1956 Gospel Publishing House (Assigned to Lorenz Corporation, 1998)

CCLI License No. 810055

Resurrection Life?

Quitters are everywhere! People quit their job, abandon a diet, leave their marriage, even walk away from Christ every day. Americans strongly believe in being happy and because we are such a rich culture that provides a wide array of options for individual choice, we are always moving on. “I’m just not happy,” is reason enough for many to make some of the most serious choices for change. Sticking with a tough situation just because it is ‘the right thing to do,’ is not a universally admired decision. Some might even consider it silly if there is an option to escape.

The New Testament has a well-known quitter. His leaving merits just a line in one of Paul’s letters: "Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world." (2 Timothy 4:10, NKJV) The life of a Christian missionary got to Demas. He decided that living on a frugal budget, enduring rejection in every city, even risking arrest just wasn’t his cup ‘o tea anymore. We get a glimpse at the real problem; he lost sight of eternity and loved the here and now!

Genuine Christianity, not the brand sold in many churches today, makes absolutely no sense without the Resurrection and the promise of Heaven. We have a pseudo-faith preached today that allows us to live without holiness and think we are hanging onto our eternal hope. This Gospel is about a Jesus who exists to make our dreams come true, who will keep us safe and happy all through life while making few demands. The real Gospel is about moving into a new kingdom, putting one’s life under the rule of the Lord of Life, serving His aims. It means we keep our covenants, do not enmesh ourselves in the culture to the point that we are indistinguishable from it.

Why would I deny myself pleasure? As long as ‘nobody is being hurt,’ why wouldn’t I follow my bliss, do what makes me happy? Here’s why- because my life now extends into eternity. I will stand before the Master to give an accounting for the way I lived, the choices I made, the words I said. He will ask me about the investments of time, money, and love that I made. Even more significantly, any small sacrifice I’ve made along the way for Jesus’ sake, will find a rich reward!

You see, disciple, I am convinced that my destiny is not merely a grave plot in a grassy field; it is a home in the Presence of God. Can you understand this passage which comes from a long discussion about the promise of the Resurrection? "I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame." (1 Corinthians 15:31-34, NIV)

Take some time to evaluate the way you are living under the light of eternity. Don’t just look at the big things. How did you spend your weekend? What did you watch on TV? What are you reading? Where are you finding your friends? Whose advice are you seeking? A holy life, one that is given fully to Christ Jesus is not an easy one, "but thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:57-58, NIV)

Pseudo-sophisticate

The voices coming from my radio were so full of acid I thought they might dissolve the speakers! They mocked all things good and godly with foul language and expressions of pity for those who they considered too stupid to really understand the world as it is. They think that they sit high above ordinary mortals. They have nothing but disdain for common human emotions like love, everyday endeavors to pursue a kinder world , and any desire of hope for tomorrow. The well-known personality leading the conversation is thought by many to be sophisticated, worldly-wise, and a man of our times. I believe on the inside he is a foolish, insecure little boy who lacks the maturity to form real intimate attachments and to appreciate true beauty.

Which wisdom guides you, disciple?
Are you worldly wise or wise in the ways of God?

The Word tells us that those who seek God’s way, find life at its best. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3, NIV)

A tired cynicism that sighs, “Oh, simple one, just give up and go with the flow,” is not true wisdom! The captive of sensuality who lives his motto: “Eat, drink, and be merry,” lacks real insight. We are called higher, to live simply, lovingly, in the fear of the Lord which is " the foundation of true knowledge!" (Proverbs 1:7, NLT) To feel genuine emotion: to laugh with joy, to love purely, to hope in the face of impossible odds, to trust God when all evidence argues for self-sufficiency is not silly, stupid, nor childish. It is to live wisely!

Here’s a word from the Word.
"Don’t let the heathen get by with their sneers: “Where’s your God? Is he out to lunch?”
Go public and show the godless world that they can’t kill your servants and get by with it.
Give groaning prisoners a hearing; pardon those on death row from their doom—you can do it!
Give our jeering neighbors what they’ve got coming to them;
let their God-taunts boomerang and knock them flat.
Then we, your people, the ones you love and care for, will thank you over and over and over.
We’ll tell everyone we meet how wonderful you are, how praiseworthy you are!"
(Psalm 79:10-13, The Message)

What’s noteworthy about you?

When people think of you, what do they think next? Bev, my wife, elicits thoughts of children and a classroom full of learning centers that are designed to encourage little brains to develop. She’s all about teaching first graders and she takes great delight in opening little minds to the wonder of reading! I cannot think of a person I know personally who loves music more than my friend, Jake, whose name is synonymous in my mind with guitars and beautiful sounds. It is true that each of us is known differently by people who see us in various roles and places. Yet, I hope that in the list of things noteworthy about you and me is the love of Christ and His Church is not far from the top!
Paul, writing to Timothy, says "You … certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance." (2 Timothy 3:10, NLT) Very near the end of his life, Paul could honestly say to one of the men who knew him best - “Tim, you know I’m not about acquiring wealth. Applause and acceptance doesn’t matter at all to me. I’m been consistent and it’s clear Who and what drives me on.” There are people for whom I cannot name an overarching purpose. They dabbled for a while in art, were passionate about a ministry for a time ‘til the novelty wore off, then; they were on to a scheme to make money. The lack of a singular purpose, or the unwillingness to keep at it when it was disappointing or hard to do so, has made their lives remarkably without effect on the world.

Paul also wrote: "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!" (Philippians 3:10-11, NLT) That expression of purpose was not a resignation to fate, nor was it a reluctant sigh from an old tired man. After 20 or so years on the road, after some incredibly painful experiences of rejection and persecution, he was still pursuing a deeper intimacy with the One he served. As the 2nd letter to Timothy shows, he never lost his focus! There are glimpses in his letters of discouragement, of pain, of great weariness. It’s not hard to imagine days when Paul told his friends in ministry, “I’m going back to Tarsus to make tents and live a quiet life in obscurity.” But, a good night’s rest and a meeting with the Holy Spirit at work brought him back to living ‘on purpose’ rather than by default.

When your life is in the final chapters, what will be noteworthy about you?
Will it be what you owned, who you knew, where you lived, or what you did – or will it be how you knew and served Jesus in that unique way that He made possible with your circumstances, your personality, and your spiritual gifts? In his best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, opens with these lines; “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. … You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.”

Here’s a word from the Word. Own it! "One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)

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All I once held dear,
Built my life upon,
All this world reveres,
And wars to own,
All I once thought gain
I have counted loss;
Spent and worthless now,
Compared to this.
Now my heart's desire
Is to know You more,
To be found in You,
And known as Yours,
To possess by faith
What I could not earn;
All surpassing gift of righteousness.

Oh to know the power of Your risen life,
And to know You in Your sufferings,
To become like You
In Your death, my Lord;
So with You to live, and never die.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You,
There is no greater thing!
You're my all, You're the best,
You're my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You, Lord.

Knowing You
Kendrick, Graham

© 1993 Make Way Music (Admin. by Music Services)

CCLI License No. 810055