The truth is...

Truth is an interesting word. Partially because we're living in an age where truth is... slightly variable. Our culture is teaching us that it's not okay to speak the truth because it can be considered to be offensive to others. It's not so much that it's offensive, but it makes people see that their actions may be... wrong, and people do not like to think about the implications of their actions.

Now, there's a right way and a wrong way to tell the truth. You can yell at someone that refuses to change their ways screaming "You're going to hell!!!" at the top of your lungs. You can yell "That is a sin against God!!" all you want. All it will do is insight an argument.

Jesus had this way of simply telling people the truth. He didn't do it with a sense of arrogance. He simply stated a fact.

When this rich young man came to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to be saved, Jesus cut to the heart of the matter as only he could and told him to sell everything that he had, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus (Matt 19:20-22). He told the man the truth. Your trust will not be in me because you have a fall your riches to fall back on. If you want to follow me, then trust me. When faced with the truth, he had to decide what his next steps would be!

When Jesus met the woman at the well, Jesus asked the woman to get her husband. She replied that she didn't have a husband. Without judgement, Jesus said "you're right, you've had 5 husbands and the man you're living with now isn't your husband." (John 4:17-19)

The interesting thing is, Jesus didn't run up to people and start telling them truths. it happened naturally in the course of the conversation. Maybe we should take a lesson from that. Maybe, we should make ourselves available to those who are lost. Listen to their story, then as God's Holy Spirit convicts us, we should share the truth with them. Not in a judging or condescending way... but in a way that says "I understand, I struggle with sin too." Then... they may want to know how we deal with it... because the truth is - they need something to hope in.

I've met people that chase relationships because they think there's happiness in it... if they can only find the right person. The truth is, they are looking for love, and that unconditional love can only come from a loving heavenly Father.

I've met people who drink to lose their inhibitions in order to have fun. The truth is, they are trying to hide their sadness, and they are afraid of a love that can only come from being vulnerable.

I've met people that through themselves into their work. The truth is, that's the only place people will acknowledge them and appreciate that. They need to understand that they are accepted and being accepted, they can accept others.

Let's spend the week listening to others and telling the truth in love.

Will power will only take you so far...

Will power is an amazing thing. It can be used for both good and bad. People can use their will power positively to work out every day, or not eat fatty foods. People can use their will power in negative ways to reduce the amount of food that they eat until it becomes anorexia. People can also use their will power to care about other people or be a morally good person. Others use their will power to stop talking with people.

You really can accomplish a lot of things if you put your mind to it.

Of course, there are a couple things that you can't do by will power alone.

You cannot convince God that you are a good person by will power alone. We are all marred with sin, and the only way to be reconciled with God is by accepting the sacrifice that God made on our behalf - the substitutionary death of His son on the cross for our sins.

 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. (John 1:12-13)

You have to accept Him. He then gives the right to be adopted into His family. It's not by birthright, human passion - or will power. You can't devise a plan for it. Salvation is one of those things that you have to accept as a free gift from God.

Of course, if you can't "save yourself"... is it possible to live a holy life by your own power?

 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

Let us struggle this week to not try to do Christianity be self control. Let's rely on God and see how things change!

Is it in you?

When I was in junior high school I tried to run track. I wasn't really fast, so they put me in distance races. At practice, we would have to run a 3 mile loop. I absolutely hated it. I hated it because I wasn't ready for it. The first mile would be easy. Then I would hit this thing called "the wall." The wall is this "block" that runners hit where they don't think they can go any further. Their body is fatigued, and you just cannot go another step.

The thing about "the wall" that most experienced runners know is that if you can press through, you'll get your second wind. You'll be able to continue to press forward.

This metaphor carries over into other aspects of life. Math has a wall. Learning an instrument has a wall. Sticking to a budget has a wall. Eating healthy has a wall. The only way to be successful is to endure and press through!

The Apostle Paul realized that.

 24You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! 25Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever. 26I don't run without a goal. And I don't box by beating my fists in the air. 27I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others. 1 Cor 9:24-27 Contemporary English Version

One of the reasons why runners press through to the end is because they realize that if they stop... they may never be able to get over that hurdle and finish the race. He also understands that what we are running towards is an eternity with our savior. As a result, he keeps this in mind. He presses forward.

Keeping the race metaphor, at towards the end of his life Paul tells Timothy,

 6Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. 7I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. 8So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power. 1 Timothy 4:4-6 Contemporary English Version

It's like a Gatorade commercial for Christians. Paul stands there having given everything he has. He has left it all on the field. He has been faithful to the faith... and God is standing there with the proverbial Gatorade to refresh him and give him his reward.

So... that's my struggle for this weekend. Press through. Push towards God. Just because it seems tough, don't give up. No Excuses. Bring it. Be tough. The beauty is, when I get tired, the shed blood of Jesus Christ  is there to refresh me. I have a high priest who knows that I have gone through and He will give me strength.

14We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him. 15Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help. Hebrews 14:14-16 Contemporary English Version

Turning 40

There are certain milestones in life that people look forward to. Turning 18 is the first step to adulthood. You can vote, you're either about to graduate high school, or you have graduated. Turning 21 is the next big step because in your mind... you've made it, you are an official adult. 30 is big because you're no longer in your 20's,  there's an expectation that you should be able to take care of  yourself by now.

40, although people say it's the new 30 are only saying that because they're starting to be faced with their own mortality. For most, it's the first time in their life when they start noticing little aches and pains. They might not move as quickly as they did previously. Even for people who are in top shape start noticing little pockets of flab that aren't so easy to get rid of.

50, that's when the doctor really starts wanting to run tests... and you begin to wonder if the bad eating choices that you've made in your life are really going to catch up with you. You are fully aware of your own mortality and you prepare to fight for longevity.

Christianity, doesn't have these milestones. You can accept Christ in your youth, be "totally on fire for God" (as they use to say in the olden days) and then you can drift away. You can come realize that you've drifted away, then come back again. A lot of times, people drift away, and they don't even realize it. And once they are away, they are either ashamed to go back, or really aren't sure how to find God again.

Have you ever felt like the guy in the picture? In the picture, the guy in the picture is actually in Africa. The street that he's on literally has no name! It's a bad feeling to not know where you are or how to get back home.

Let's have a little spiritual check up! Let me ask you a few questions.

• How's your heart? The Bible warns us not to harden our hearts against what God would have us do. How do you respond to the Word of God?
• How is your blood pressure? The Bible tells us that we have been bought with a price, and that price is the blood of God. Are you living life like you've been cleansed from sin, or do you make excuses?
• How is your temperature? Or rather... how is your lifestyle? Is it balanced? Is it moderate? Is it excessive? Have things replaced your time with God?
• How are your reflexes? When God prompts you to move... do you move? If you have a chance to share what you believe, do you do it with cat like reflexes... or do you hesitate?
• How is your vision? God says that the steps of the righteous are ordered by Him. Can you see the way or are you stumbling around in the dark?

I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that there is no little pill that can improve your spiritual health. The good news is that a little exercise will help... spiritual exercises. Turn off the t.v., radio, computer. Put the book down. Spend some time in prayer and in your Bible every day. Re-read the "stories" from when you were a child. Get excited about what God is saying and doing.

See you again next year for another annual checkup.

Who? Me?

We live in a very interesting time. For the first time in history, it's not anybody's fault! It's not my fault that I am slightly overweight... it's Burger King, and McDonald's fault. It's not your fault that your kids are disobedient... it's the fault of television and the teachers in the school. It's not her fault that she's has an eating disorder... it's the fault of the media who tells us that only thin women are beautiful. It's not his fault that he acted out violently at school... it's the music that he was listening to.

See? It's no ones fault!

That was sarcasm... someone close to me told me that I was very sarcastic. Sorry... not my fault. It's this messed up world we live in.

You don't have to read the Bible very far to understand that the "it's not my fault" excuse doesn't go very far with God. In the 3rd chapter of Genesis, Adam is faced with a moral dilemma. He disobeyed the will of God by eating a fruit that God told him not to eat. When asked what happened, Adam yelled out "It's the woman YOU put here with me. SHE gave me the fruit and I ate it." (Genesis 3:12)

God asked Eve and she said "it's not my fault! - the SNAKE tricked me, and I ate the fruit!" (Genesis 3:13)

Adam and Eve chose to disobey, and in 30 seconds blamed God, the other person, and a snake. Very quickly, God explained that this... was unacceptable, and held each one of them personally responsible.

A friend of mine made a profound statement yesterday. She said in her prayer time, God impressed the following thought in her mind - "If more people were honest about their sin, I would have more followers."

What I believe God is saying is, if we realize that we have a sin problem and that we are powerless to overcome the sin in our life, we would realize that we need a savior.

So... that's my challenge for the day. I am going to stop making excuses. I understand that I need a savior, and that in every area of my life, if I am going to overcome wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, gluttony, I can only do that with the help of a Holy God who cares for me and sent His only son so we could overcome... but only through His son, Jesus the Messiah. (John 16:33)

Like Father, like son...

When my oldest son was about 4 years old, we use to do something called “store training.” I would take him into a toy store and give him specific instructions. “We will stay here as long as you obey this one rule. Don’t pick anything up. If you want to see something, ask and I will give it to you. Then put it down when I ask you to.”

We would stay in the toy store walking up and down the aisles for hours. I always thought it was funny because he would try to walk like me. If I clasped my hands behind my back… he would do the same. If I put my hands in my pockets… he would do the same.

The whole purpose behind the trips to the toy store was to teach him that obedience would be rewarded and that disobedience had consequences. Even at 4 years old, I tried to teach him these truths from a biblical perspective. Obey your heavenly Father and you will escape the consequences of sin.

This was on my mind because I’ve been reading 1st and 2nd Kings for the past few weeks. There are a few key phrases that are mentioned about each one of the kings – one of the phrases that was heartbreaking you see too many times is “He followed in the ways of his father.” Usually, this was talking about the son making the same mistakes as his father.

We are impacted by the things that our parents did. Our lives our truly governed by what we saw when we were growing up, and many of us make the same mistakes that our parents made!

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way. There were several kings who broke the cycle. They heard the true word of God and they changed the way that they ruled. They decided that they were going to follow the word of God instead!

No one is perfect. Our parents weren’t. We aren’t. But we can break the cycle and not repeat the same mistakes that we have in the past. Habits can be broken. Lives can be changed.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone’ a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. (2 Corinthians 5:16-18)

God has entrusted each of us with the responsibility of helping people understand that even though their paternal father or step-father may have messed up, we don’t have to live that same way. Even if our maternal mother or step-mother may have made mistakes – we don’t have to carry that burden.

For people that accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior… we can view them as Christ views them… accepted. Not because of anything that they have done, but because Jesus died for their sins and they are no longer under the curse of sin, but have a new life. (Galatians 3:13-14)

Today… let us struggle to stop seeing ourselves through the eyes of our earthly parents. Let us live like people who are loved by our heavenly Father, and let’s share this love with others so they too can be adopted into this family.

Hope... is closer than you think

We live in a world where there is no hope and where people who hope... hope for the wrong things. I know people that hope that they will fall in love one day. I know others hope that the economy will one day become better. People hope... The idea of hope has been on my mind due to a news article that I read earlier this week. The article was about 2 people in Italy that set themselves on fire because they had lost hope. I don't think I have ever seen this much hopelessness.

Christians have hope. The funny thing is that people look at us like we are crazy because we say we believe in Jesus, the son of God. We believe that God loved the whole world - that he gave his only son so that anyone that believes will not perish, but will have everlasting life (John 3:16) We believe that Jesus, the son of God, died for us and was raised again. Because he was raised again, we will be with Him in eternity... if we accept this free gift.

4-5But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God's wonderful kindness is what saves you. 6God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. 7God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. Ephesians 2:5-7 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

We can embrace this hope because we remember how our life was before we obtained this great salvation. Because Jesus freed us from serving sin - we know that He is true to His word and that we will be in heaven with Him one day.

Do I understand it? Quite honestly, no. Do I believe it? Yes... 100%.

Because I believe this, I worship God and serve him as Lord of my life. I always am ready to share with others why I hope and what I hope for. Never in a way that condemns people if they don't understand, but in a loving, patient, kind way. Although this sounds cliche, it's because "I may be the only Jesus they see."

I am not saying that I am equal to Jesus, at all. But I do want to live my life in such a way that when you see me, you see the grace of God shining through and you understand that my life is only possible by the work that Jesus did on the cross, and for that reason, I willingly submit and serve the Living God.

Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT

As we go into the week, let us remember where our hope lies... and when we see others who are hopeless, be mindful because that may be our chance to share the saving love of God with someone who needs something to hope in.