Are you a salty Christian?

Recently someone was criticizing the Christian Church as a waste of resources, serving no visible purpose.  The observation made me think about our mission in this world. The church doesn’t always get it right, sometimes does lose her way when flawed human beings forget God. But, it isn’t all that difficult to imagine what kind of world it would be without the persistent influence for good that comes from people and places that are committed to the love of the Lord.  Evil is always lurking and where it is without restraint, terrible suffering follows.

Jesus described the functional nature of His church this way:  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." (Matthew 5:13-15, NIV) In the ancient world salt was a critical preservative ingredient for food supplies. Just a little salt prevented decay. In the dark of night, even a tiny light makes a big difference.

Christ’s church ‘salts’ the world with love that pushes back hatred, with pursuit of justice that defends the weak, with hope that replaces despair! Do Christians do those things perfectly? I wish! Churches get corrupt, Christians lose their ‘saltiness.’  And yet, even with the awful chapters of Christian history (about which we must be honest), we simply cannot imagine what the world would be apart from the message of Jesus.

Want to be a salty Christian? 

• Be a person of prayer, regularly tuning your heart to the voice of the Spirit, lifting your vision to eternal perspectives. 
• Be a person of wisdom, drawing on the Spirit to demonstrate a life of principle, being able to offer solid counsel.
• Be a person of compassion who sees need and liberally offers support to those who fall on hard times.
• Be a hopeful person, who knows that this life is short, but whose true life is anchored in the salvation of Christ Jesus.

Pray that there will be such a measurable influence, such a quality of life in you, that others will say ‘thank God’ when they think of you. I believe that is Jesus meant 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)

If we are filled with the Spirit, overflowing with ‘living water’ we won’t have to announce our good works or demand recognition in order to have the influence God desires. We will be content to do the work He’s called us to do; quietly, persistently, and effectively.

Here’s a word from the Word. God help us to receive it, believe it, and live it.
" 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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Unstoppable God
(He is! And He empowers you.)

Heaven thundered

And the world was born

Life begins and ends

In the dust You formed

Faith commanded

And the mountains moved

Fear is losing ground

To our hope in You

Unstoppable God

Let Your glory go on and on

Impossible things

In Your name they shall be done (oh)

Freedom conquered

All our chains undone

Sin defeated

Jesus has overcome

Mercy triumphed

When the third day dawned

Darkness was denied

When the stone was gone

Nothing shall be impossible

Your kingdom reigns unstoppable

We'll shout Your praise forevermore

Jesus our God unstoppable

Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Wade Joye

© 2014 Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

CCLI License # 810055

Do your words mean much?

Yesterday I signed an agreement, a contract. My name, a scribble a line on a pieice of paper, indicates a promise, representing my intentions. Barring catastrophe, I will keep my word! Doing what I say, when I say I will do it, to the best of my ability is a strong value for me.  Doing an on-time job, with excellence, is admirable in my eyes!

God seeks faithfulness in us. He is not much impressed with pious words that are not backed up by real obedience. Jesus told a story about two sons to help us to understand this.  “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. Which of the two was obeying his father?” They replied, “The first, of course.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I assure you, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do." (Matthew 21:28-31, NLT)    

It’s a strange sort of story, isn’t it? One son appears the rebel, but he repents and reveals a heart tender towards his father. The other looks like the good son but his heart is corrupt, full of self-will!

Friend, do your Monday actions match your Sunday songs?  
Do you sometimes wrestle with the Lord’s will but yield to Him to do what He asks?

The richest experience of the Spirit is found when surrender Self, prioritizing the call of God to do what He asks – when it is convenient and when it is costly, when we feel like and when we don’t, when it is exciting and when it is ‘just the right thing to do.’   Don’t be surprised by the fact that sometimes prayer, scripture intake, and service are not all that thrilling. Real life has many days when we do what needs to be done regardless of how we feel in the moment. 

Chasing novel spiritual experiences will make us basically worthless to the Kingdom of God!  Jesus’ words at the end of that story are shocking. He says that the most flagrant sinners whose hearts turn to God in true repentance discover the rewards of the Kingdom!

I want to be clear about something.  Faithfulness in service is not the same as trying to earn our salvation by good works! We are saved by the grace of God, shown in Christ Jesus. But, our grace awakening will have observable consequence in life that goes beyond saying “I’m saved.” We are restored to our Father, learn to delight in what He desires, and surrender our hands and heart to His service.

Here is a word from the Word. “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’ " (Matthew 7:21-23, The Message)

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Abba, help me to align my rhetoric with my actions.

Reveal hypocrisy to me, places where I say things I do not do,

Situations where I make promises I do not keep.

Give me a long view of life that reaches to eternity,

A willingness to wait for the rewards of faithfulness promised.

May I find real joy in knowing that I am living in obedience,

Quietly persisting in service, without seeking applause.

I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen

At the end of optimism

Optimism is sold as the answer to dealing with life. There is much to said for being positive, for looking for the best. Who doesn’t love that song from Little Orphan Annie - "The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun." People like that are a gift to the rest of us!  But, there are limits to the ability of optimism to carry us through hard times. When Bev was diagnosed with cancer, we needed more than a positive outlook. When she died, no amount of optimism could change the reality of beginning a new life alone. At the end of optimism, we find faith.

Optimism is built around the potential of human will. “I can do this. I will overcome.”  It’s admirable! But, faith is better.  Faith trusts in a purposeful God. At first glance, faith seems to resemble optimism. In fact, they are very different.  Optimism depends on a change of circumstance that I work hard to produce. Faith knows that there is an Unseen Hand that is “working in all things to accomplish something for the good of those who love Him!” (Romans 8:28)  Many Christian confuse optimism with faith, making bold assertions about what God will do in their situation.  Christians must never think that if they say enough positive things, or if they force themselves to 'believe' what they say with conviction, that they can obligate God to do what they want.  They are sadly mistaken, headed for a collision with reality. 

Faith understands that “God is God, I am not.”

Perhaps it seems that I do not believe in the power of prayer.  Ah, I do! But prayer that is simply an expression of a positive mind, is not the same as prayer that seeks God and rests in His purpose.  God invites us to ask with confidence and to relinquish control of life to Him. Genuine faith always involves large quantities of humility, remembering that God sees what we can’t even begin to imagine.    

Consider this …

Did Job suffer as he did because he did not pray with faith?   No!   He suffered according to the will of God for purposes that he did not know and could not grasp, and yet that faithful man did not turn on the Lord.   Yes, he questioned.  Yes, he even challenged God to explain Himself, but he quickly became humble and confessed that God was Lord of all saying, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15, NKJV)   

Did Paul go through hard times because he lacked faith?  To suggest that is absurd.   He reminds us that the sufferings he endured actually served to bring him to greater dependence on God!  “It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9, The Message)

Peter tells us "those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19, NIV)

Build great faith!  

Get to know God - in prayer, through meditation, from the pages of the Scripture, in worship.   Go beyond having a god (small 'g' intended!) that you keep around like a good luck charm, a deity you bring out to ward off 'bad luck.'   That's the stuff of religion, the empty tradition of human based 'worship.'  Give your life to Him. Learn to be delighted by the truth that you are His; to be used by Him, to serve His purposes.   Faith allows us to go from good to great in His service.  Faith lets us abandon our plans and demands to discover the adventure of being part of what God is doing.  There, in His will, is supreme joy that supersedes our situations.

Our word from the Word invites us to know the heart of faith: a totally God-focused, surrendered, trusting life.  As you read these inspired words, ask the Spirit to breathe faith in your soul. 

"I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then 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. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen."  (Ephesians 3:14-21, NLT)

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Just Be Held

(a Casting Crowns song that strengthens my faith)

Hold it all together ev'rybody needs you strong

But life hits you out of nowhere

And barely leaves you holding on

And when you're tired of fighting

Chained by your control

There's freedom in surrender

Lay it down and let it go

So when you're on your knees

And answers seem so far away

You're not alone

Stop holding on and just be held

Your world's not falling apart

It's falling into place

I'm on the throne stop holding on and just be held

Just be held just be held

If your eyes are on the storm

You'll wonder if I love you still

But if your eyes are on the cross

You'll know I always have and I always will

And not a tear is wasted

In time you'll understand

I'm painting beauty with the ashes

Your life is in My hands

Lift your hands lift your eyes

In the storm is where you'll find Me

And where you are I'll hold your heart

I'll hold your heart

Come to Me find your rest

In the arms of a God who won't let go

Just be held

Just be held

Bernie Herms | Mark Hall | Matthew West

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Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

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