Monster in the closet?

Remember when you were about 5 years of age how real that monster in the closet was in the dark in the middle of the night? When you woke up at midnight, with consciousness came fear. The blankets became your security as you pulled them close. But, still that shadow cast on the wall assumed 3-D proportions and terror swept over you. After a few moments you released it all with a half-scream that barely made it out of your throat – “Mom!” And, oh what relief when she turned on the light and said, “What’s the matter?”  The monster ran off into some dark corner to remain hidden until another mid-night visit.

I’m 56 and there are still some monsters that try to terrorize me. No, they don’t live in the dark of the bedroom closet. They live in the recesses of my mind and whisper their torment into the edge of my consciousness. “You’re a complete failure, incompetent. You should quit now before you fall on your face.” is the hiss I hear from one. Another crawls out to whisper, “That pain in your side, it’s cancer. You’re going to suffer just like your Dad.”  Are they just part of my mind, suppressed thoughts that manage to find a way around the firewalls every now and then? Or, are they whispers from the demon realm, tormenters dispatched by the Devil, that attempt to paralyze me with fear and doubt?  Both! Fear are born in our minds as we process our experiences. And Scripture reveals the schemes of the Enemy who tried to discourage us with fear.

Don’t tell me that good and godly people never experience fear. The Psalm of David, a man who knew the Lord well, wrote of the monstrous fear that stalked him. "Open your ears, God, to my prayer; don’t pretend you don’t hear me knocking. Come close and whisper your answer. I really need you. I shudder at the mean voice, quail before the evil eye, As they pile on the guilt, stockpile angry slander. My insides are turned inside out; specters of death have me down. I shake with fear, I shudder from head to foot. “Who will give me wings,” I ask— “wings like a dove?” Get me out of here on dove wings; I want some peace and quiet. I want a walk in the country." (Psalm 55:1-7, The Message)

Children of God, need not be victimized by the monsters! When they appear, and they will, just like a little child who is secure in his parents’ love will cry out for Mom or Dad, we cry out to our Abba, our Heavenly Father. We find security in His Promise, the monsters are banished by His Presence. "God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, NIV)

Sometimes we must face our fears, name them, drag them out into the Light, so they are cut down to size and conquered. That’s Paul did on a couple of different occasions. When he was subjected to severe persecution, he wryly says, “What’s the worst that can happen to me? I could die!” Then, he says, "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." (Romans 14:8, NIV)  "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, NIV)  That’s not the sigh of resignation. That is the song of security in Christ.

Are there monstrous fears threatening you this day, disciple?  Here’s a word from the Word. Live in the promise. "My dear friends, don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world. . . . My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world.  . . .  There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love." (1 John 4:1,4,18, The Message)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27, NIV)  -- Jesus

Exposed as a fraud

He’s a fraud, his claims of heroism in Vietnam inflated tales invented because he liked the praise they brought his way. The man did not just exaggerate his war stories at a backyard picnic! He got a United States Senator to champion his claim to a Medal of Honor. He rode at the head of parades, spoke to veterans, and enjoyed local prominence. He did serve and with honor.  Now he has lost all honor and been convicted of making fraudulent claims. Reading the story in our newspaper left me sad for him and wondering about contentment in my own life.

We all are tempted to measure ourselves against the achievements of other people. When we see them receiving awards for the things they do, we begin to believe that personal worth is connected to recognition. Certificates, medals, letters, and applause become more and more important as a way to say “I matter. Look at me, I exist.”  Excellence is good and the Bible teaches us to reach for it in every part of our lives.  However, when we start to equate worth with work, we lose our way. There is always someone who can do the same work that we do faster, better, or for more people. And, if we compare, we will be left feeling worthless.

For a Christian, true worth grows out of the sure knowledge that he is beloved by his Father.  The Bible says, "he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6, KJV) Unlike our world that loves those who beautiful, brave, and bright; God loves us all! I love the letter to the Ephesians because in it we learn of the amazing, lavish love of the Father described in one superlative after another. The Scripture says that when that love is the soil in which we are planted, God’s fullness grows from our lives. "Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3:17-19, NLT)

Are you craving recognition?

Do you find yourself tempted to pretend, exaggerate, or lay claims to spiritual achievements of which you have only read?

Don’t be a fraud! Be authentic, content to be who you are yet growing in grace, with new things emerging in your life and character all the time.

The amazing fact of grace is this simple yet profound truth:  there is nothing I can do today that would make God love me more than He does right now.

We are ‘in Christ.’  By faith, we receive from Him acceptance before God, the love and care of our Father, and the promise of abundance in life now, and unending life when we die. Nobody who knows this kind of worth is ever seriously tempted to be a fraud. Why would they need to pretend when they own such love?

Here’s the word from the Word.  "Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . .  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love." (Romans 8:34-38, NLT)

Vitamins Cause Cancer?

There it was on the news. Men who take vitamin E increase their risk of a certain kind of cancer. The evening before the report was that women who take a multi-vitamin supplement die at a younger age. But, I always thought that vitamins made me healthy. Who do I believe?  It turns out there is much more to these reports than the headlines indicate. So much of our ‘information’ comes at us in little factoids and short news bites that reduce complex studies with many conditions to a few words that capture our attention. A more careful reading of the whole story often reveals that the headline can point to a wrong conclusion.  In our hurry-up world, full of words and noise, we are tempted to try to reduce everything to a quick summary. We want to understand but often don’t take the time that is necessary to think it through.

Is your faith in Christ built around factoids and headlines? Are you a true student of the Scripture? Forming our convictions about God and Christ only from short devotional articles, anecdotes, and generalized assumptions is a serious error. The flimsy faith created on such a foundation will collapse when the going gets rough. Paul urges us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12, NIV)  In other words, make the effort to understand your faith and apply it to every situation.  That is easier said than done!

By way of example, I point to my own life. For years I have preached the resurrection, the promise of life beyond the grave, which I believe whole-heartedly. Yet, when my mother died, I had to go deeper, to work through owning the Scripture’s promise in a personal and new way. Standing at the bare patch of ground that marks her grave yesterday, I wrestled with the promise. What I can see with natural eyes tells me that death is final. Her grave appears to be mute proof of the end. But, there is the testimony of Christ, the declaration that because He lives, we will live also. As I study that, meditate on it, and make it my own; it changes me from the inside out. The process is hard and will continue for some time, I am sure.

Here is a challenge to us all. "Stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them. Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior." (2 Timothy 2:14-16, NLT) Instead of rushing to the quick conclusion or trying to reduce complex truth to slogans, develop a mind that thinks it through, that patiently examines the facts, shines the light on every angle, and seeks the Spirit’s wisdom. Use caution when choosing your teachers. Some are more interested in sounding good than being truthful. Your applause to some is more important than your transformation.

Our word from the Word is a passage from the Gospel, Jesus’ own invitation. “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”  (Matthew 7:24-27, The Message)

My hope is built on nothing less,

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand

All other ground is sinking sand.

-      William Bradbury

Will God overlook it?

America’s troubles are far from over. A darkness lies ahead of us that will make today’s troubles look like good times. Just so you know, I dislike writing things like that even more than you dislike reading it. God judged His people in the past for lesser sins than those of this land. And, thus, I know He will allow judgment to come again. America has sown seeds of her own destruction- greed, materialism, injustice, exploitation of the poor, lewdness, sexual promiscuity - and God’s law is that “you reap the harvest of the seeds you plant.”

Even the church in America has largely lost her way. America is full of religion that uses Christian rhetoric but if you look more deeply, it is obvious that those churches are filled with people who have little or no understanding of Christian principles. In my lifetime work as a pastor of a local church, I have never found my calling more complex than I do at this time. Even those who claim to be disciples are heavily influenced by our culture, with many Christians living unconsciously with a deep divide between their spiritual life and their day to day decisions. One author observes ever so insightfully that churches are filled with ‘Christian atheists.’ Craig Groeschel writes that “For as long as I can remember, I’ve believed in God, but I haven’t always lived like He exists.”

Isaiah was moved by the Holy Spirit to declare this to his nation:  "See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers. Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag. Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine. Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows. Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, “I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes! I will raise my fist against you. I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities. Then I will give you good judges again and wise counselors like you used to have. Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice and the Faithful City.” Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness. But rebels and sinners will be completely destroyed, and those who desert the Lord will be consumed." (Isaiah 1:21-32, NLT) How fitting for this time in America!

The revival we need is not a return to some ‘perfect yesteryear.’ My desire for spiritual renewal is not rooted in nostalgia. We must take care not to slide into the sin of the Pharisees who became obsessed with trying to live such a good life that they missed the Perfect Man when He came to live among them. The place of renewal is not in more control, longer church services, or louder harangues about holiness. We find life only when we humbly come to the Cross of Christ and die, even to our pretentions of righteousness. As we meditate on the Cross, we are made right with God. Realizing His holiness, we join Isaiah in his cry, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5, NIV)

Will the Church rise from the ashes of her corrupt state to lead men and woman to a place before Almighty God where they can find healing and wholeness in repentance or will we let ourselves be satisfied with a ‘form of godliness while denying its power?’ This I know: God has always had a people to bear His Name. He has always called a remnant, a little leftover group, from which He has sparked revival. "Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 37:31-32, NIV)

He cannot overlook the sins of our time, but we can hold fast to Him, and find safety like Noah did in that great flood. Are you hungry for holiness? Does a deep desire to know the living God live in you?  Hear the challenge from Peter that tells us "the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator." (1 Peter 4:17-19, NKJV)

Oh God, bring revival and start that work in me. Amen

Soulless Religion

Two things I find unappealing – lukewarm coffee and flat soda pop.  On a hot day, an iced coffee is delicious, and what can replace a steaming hot cup of coffee on a chill winter morn? Flat soda? Well, just pour it down the drain. It’s nothing without the fizz.  People without passion are a tragedy, too. Who cannot feel a deep sadness for a person who hates his job, who lives in a loveless marriage, who shuffles through life just putting one foot in front of the other through one gray day after another? Then, there are those who know why they are alive, who drink deeply from the cup of life be it filled with sorrow or ecstasy.  They love whole-heartedly, laugh readily, weep appropriately. They do not just exist, they live!

Are you a Christian practicing a soulless religion, doing your duty, maintaining your morality, serving in some ministry – but all without any passion for Jesus Christ? Are you working your way to Heaven and missing the joy of the journey? Here’s what Jesus says about that kind of disciple. “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit." (Revelation 3:15-16, The Message)  Yes, that is what He says to a church that was upright and hard-working!  His further appeal to them is that they return to Him, that they stop trying so hard and allow Him to clothe them with His rich garments of grace. And then, He makes this offer: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20, NIV)  How long has it been since you just sat down, waiting on Jesus, and heard what He had to say to you?

Soulless religion gains traction in our lives when the focus of our faith moves from His majesty to our good works. It’s a subtle deception of pride that says, “I’ll prove to God and myself how good I am, how much I deserve to be in His Church.”  At first, our hard work feels good. It lets us take pride in ourselves because we can look around at so many who are doing little or nothing for God. But, like an addictive drug, it takes more and more to feel the high. Soon we’re on a treadmill of religion, running faster and faster, exhausted by our efforts, graceless, unloving, and joyless; the very antithesis of an authentic Christian.  At that point, many Christians choose the wrong ‘cure.’ Instead of returning to their first love, they settle for an apathetic practice of religion that replaces the ‘first love’ enthusiasm of a true disciple.

Isaiah heard God’s Spirit. The Lord’s lament about His people who had forsaken Him is like a song of a spurned lover. As you read this word from the Word today, pray for understanding. If the description fits, don’t go ‘do more.’  Stop. Look. Listen. Wait. Find your First Love.

"Beautiful Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman’s shelter in a vineyard, like a lean-to in a cucumber field after the harvest, like a helpless city under siege. …

“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings … I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts … I want no more of your pious meetings. I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!

When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims. Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat." (Isaiah 1:8-19, NLT)

__________________

Father, I wait for You today.
Forgive me for thinking I could earn your favor.

Captivate my heart and mind with your Beauty.

Restore the passion of true worship to my songs, my prayers.

Let me live with love, joy, peace in full fruit,

The evidence of your Spirit-life working in me.
Jesus, my Vine, keep this branch connected

To the Life source that You are.

Amen.