To Want to Want What You Ought to Want to Want

     We know that as Christians, there is a lot that is required of us. We know that we are to love God, love others, give generously, be caring, be kind, and on and on and on. There is a long and beautiful list of character traits and behavioral markers that are supposed to accompany the Christian life. Maybe you know one of those great older men and women of God, the ones who you see in church every Sunday and who just seem to ooze godliness? How do those people get that way? Were they just born perfect? Obviously not. We know that no human has ever been born perfect (aside from Christ) but it can be hard to imagine one of these older saints as ever having been like, well, the rest of us.

     I know in my own life I'm burdened by a few things that are hard for me to get past. I did not have many friends growing up and some of the few that I had left me in rather unkind ways. I've developed a very insular personality that tends to exclude others and not rely on people. This extends to the level of not caring much for other people and finding it difficult to care much at all for people who aren't in my immediate circles. I'm sure many of you have similar issues. Maybe you have a rough manner of speech or are overly cynical or perhaps you're naturally lazy; all of these and more are things that we know we should work on, but how do we do that?

     Let's go even farther. We are commanded to love God and love others, right? How does that work? Does God expect us to just summon up some lovin' and spread it around? I've known people who have a hard time loving their family members let alone total strangers! And loving God? Now that's a hard concept! I mean sure, it's easy to be grateful to God or even to fear God, but how do you 'love' someone who is so different than you and is in fact the all powerful creator and sustainer of all existence?

     The answer lies in understanding that God is not just the prescriber of our laws but their fulfillment as well. He not only gives us commands but empowers us to obey those commands. If we know that we are not naturally loving or careful or kind, then we have to ask God for that change. You will find -I promise- that as you pray and seek God in His word and ask for His help, you will notice change in your life! Oddly enough the same goes for loving God. The Bible tells us that we are all naturally “God-haters”, lovers of self, and rebellious. If we want to truly love God and others, we need to ask God for that love that we can then give away. It may seem weird or even insulting to ask God for help in loving Him but how else do we get anything that we need if not by His providence? God wants us to ask for His help in the things He has commanded us to do; He loves to show us that He is who He says He is!

     We can get pretty upset when we don't measure up to the Bible (which, may I remind you, is always.) It can seem self defeating and hopeless, an impossible pursuit. As long as we live it will be difficult and I will be the first to say that there will be hard times, but how could we expect to fulfill His commands on our own when we can't even breathe without God's intervention? Go to God in prayer and ask for Him to give you love for Himself. Ask for a love for others or for a cleaner mouth or a softer heart or a more dedicated spirit. Ask Him for the things that you need for you will find them no where else.

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”

(1 John 3:22-23)

The Ghost in My Pocket

     Have you ever stopped to wonder what it means to commune with God? Have you pondered how we can have any meaningful relation with a being so far beyond us? Beyond even that, He already knows everything so how can our relationship progress? Aren't our relationships built on shared experiences and a growing knowledge of each other that is built over time? This is true of our earthly relationships but the way in which we interact with our heavenly Father is, shall we say, a bit different.

“I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.”

(Psalms 17:6)

     First off, yes, God does already know everything. This of course includes what we are thinking and feeling and everything we are going to say. The relationship we have with Him grows not by a greater understanding on His part but of one on ours. As we seek the Father in His Word and through prayer it draws us closer to Him. I imagine that God gets much joy in those moments when we see some new and glorious aspect of Him for the first time, or when some biblical truth finally makes sense to us. God's understanding of us is perfect and always has been, but we will never stop learning more about His infinite character; there will always be some new aspect to His personality or some fresh insight into His being to excite us.

“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love has been brought to full expression through us. And God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us.”

(1 John 4:12-13)

     More interesting still is the fact that unlike our earthly relationships, God is literally within us. The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of every Christian, strengthening and guiding us along our journey. The Bible tells us that He communicates to the Father on our behalf, communicating better than we can the things we need from Him. God has placed Himself within us which means -among other things- that God experiences our lives right along with us. This is a wondrous thing because it means that God doesn't understand us simply because He is all knowing, but because He feels what we feel! The Holy Spirit acts not as a helper that pokes us along but as a force from within. He accompanies us and lends us strength through every moment of every day. He is there when we wake and when we sleep, when we pray and when we read, when we face challenges and when we accomplish much, He is there when we rejoice and when we cry. Our relationship with Him is guided by Him from without and within making His understanding perfect in all ways.

     Finally, we come to Jesus; God in flesh who not only died for our sins but lived for us as well. Often overlooked is the fact that Christ lived a perfect life on our behalf just as much as He died on our behalf. He lived through a human life -day by day- just like we have to, in order that it may be known that He fully understands. Beyond that His perfect life is accounted to us, exchanging our sinful lives for His perfect one. In God's plan He has made sure that our relationship with Him will have no gaps, no breaches in the wall.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another; to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”

(Romans 7:4)

     It may seem strange to have a real relationship with someone that we never see or hear or touch, but in truth, our relationship with God is the most real thing we will ever experience. He is with us from birth till death, in every moment and every experience. He's more than an invisible friend or a comforting thought; more than something we bring out to impress our friends or sure up our courage during difficult times. He is not a ghost in our pocket, He is the companion of our soul.

To See and Believe

You say I haven't faith to see,

the light of God alive in me.

You say I lack a truer heart

and belief that sets a soul apart.

You say if I would only pray,

throw all I think I know away,

and use my heart and not my head,

I'd find myself now Spirit lead!

I'd speak the language angels use,

the Holy Ghost would be my muse!

I could raise the dead and heal the sick,

God's power cutting to the quick.

You say that every sinner's heart

would be redeemed, a brand new start.

If only they could see God's power

they'd all repent this very hour.

and yet,

The Bible tells it differently.

There's evidence for all to see!

In this world created, though torn with strife

and in the power of a new-made life.

I've seen the power of God above,

I've seen His unimaginable love.

It's not in gifts of tounges or health.

It's in the Word and in myself

The power of God is plainly shown

in Christ and how His death alone,

has paid for every sinner's soul,

a sacrifice to make men whole.

If men won't listen to His Word,

if they reject what they have heard,

no cosmic show will bring them down,

to submit themselves to Jesus' crown.

I need no other evidence,

the gospel will suffice.

For my soul was bonded once to hell,

and Jesus paid the price.

by. Jonathan E. Schaefer

10/17/2014

I Believe in Miracles

     I think its safe to say that most everyone's favorite passages in the Bible are the ones concerned with miracles, and why not? We love to hear the old stories of Israel's crossing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan river, of the dead brought to life, the sick healed, of talking donkeys, floating ax heads and a stopped sun. We love to be reminded that God is powerful and has absolute control over the universe. Can this interest go too far though? What does the Bible tell us about the miraculous and how can we apply it today?

     Firstly, and I know I'm not making any friends with some when I say this, miracles are pretty much gone in our modern age. I am well aware that there is a large and active community of people who spend a lot of energy seeking after miracles and believe that they are a part of any legitimate ministry and in the life of the body of Christ. The problem with that idea is that it ignores the fact that miracles were never normative. There was never a period when when every Tom, Dick, and Harry were throwing around sings and wonders. Miracles were always purposeful and specific, never random or whimsical. Look to the Old Testament, miracles were strictly confined to those few men who were designated as prophets sent from God and the miracles they performed were secondary acts meant to attest to the validity of their teaching; serving as a beacon to guide people to the prophet's words (really God's words). Miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea were partly pragmatic and meant to prove God's power to His people (and Egypt for that matter) and to facilitate God's plan of freeing Israel from their bondage as well as -again- serving as evidence that Moses was God's man in that day.

“Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!" Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."

(1 Kings 17:22-24)(emphasis mine)

     Cut to the New Testament. Many years have passed and God is moving His redemptive plan on to the next phase and so this means that miracles now serve the purpose of...attesting to the validity of prophets and teachers. Nothing changed! Jesus' own miracles were there to prove His God-hood, and the apostles were able to perform the miracles they performed to once again prove their status as the chosen teachers of God. If every believer at the time were going around raising the dead or healing the sick don't you think that somewhere in the all the New Testament books we would read about...any of them? Over the course of the book of Acts we see the recounting of miracles dwindle and disappear well before the end of the book. The only miraculous events we see happening to your everyday early church member is speaking in tongues, but those are Red Sea miracles, pragmatic ones that served to prove that those people were indeed saved by God and a part of His church. Especially in the case of the gentile believers as without a sign the Jewish brethren may not have accepted them given their long separation and dislike. We read that signs are not meant for those who believe, but to show proof to those who don't, and that the best gifts are teaching and understanding and prophecy (which is just the taking of God's words to His people, the words we have now of course are found in the Bible).

“Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.”

(1 Corinthians 14:22)

     Modern day “miracles” seem only to work to show how spiritual the person performing them is, to prove they have reached that next plain of spirituality. In fact they have more to do with ancient Gnosticism (where it was believed secret truths would be revealed to the spiritual elite) than Biblical Christianity. The miraculous is never held up as something to be continually desired or searched for, in fact the Bible often praises those who do not require a sign and condemns those who do!

“Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; "and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed.”

(Matthew 16:1-4)

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”

(Hebrews 11:1-2)

“Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

(John 20:29)

     Let me finish this admittedly brief discussion of miracles by saying that I do believe in them and I even believe that if God wills they can exist in this day. The problem is not that God has changed or that He no longer acts at all, it's that the ones who claim these miracles have so much about them that does not mesh with scripture. Silly 'miracles', wrong use of them, inaccurate prophecy, bad theology, horrible doctrine, and more. Not everyone in this movement is an extreme case, let me be clear that I don't meant to say that. I only mean to refocus our attention on the Bible and remind everyone that the given Word -alone- is our source of truth. Every thought, idea , and experience has to be brought to that measure and cast aside if it does not pass the test. We don't need to be excited and impressed to be faithful, we know ourselves and we ought to know God. We know who we would be without God. The power of that changed life is more than enough.

Those Who Persevere

     Perseverance of the Saints. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's one of the primary doctrines of Christianity and one that offers great hope to us all. Unfortunately it is also a doctrine that is widely misunderstood. The idea behind the doctrine is God's people cannot lose their salvation, sadly it has been used and abused by quite a few preachers.

“This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”

(2 Timothy 2:11-12)

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 'And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

(John 8:31-32)

     Let's look at the problem. The common saying used these days is the well known “Once saved always saved.” Now to be honest there is nothing said by that phrase that isn't true. If we are really and truly saved by God we cannot be taken from Him. The problem lies in the path that saying takes to get there. When you say “once saved always saved” the thought behind it is that nothing I do will make me go to hell. Again, nothing being said is technically wrong but it SO the wrong attitude! The attitude expressed here is that I don't have to worry, I don't have to try, and I don't have to care at all, because I'm set. I've got my fire insurance, I prayed my little prayer, I went to the front of the church and that is all I need right? Wrong! There is so much more to Christianity and so much more to perseverance than that! It may sound like nit-picking but we have to remember that the words we use have power and the meaning and attitude behind them has a ripple effect as it moves away from us. What we meant to say will probably not be what the fiftieth person to hear it hears.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. "I and My Father are one."

(John 10:27-30)

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain.”

(1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Romans 8:38-39)

     Now for the truth. What is meant by perseverance of the saints is that those who are truly God's will endure until the end. We will stumble and fall, we will sin and sorrow, but we will never full leave God's side. We will outlast temptation and make it to the end of this long road, we will meet our Father at the highways end. God's power keeps us going and the only real sign of a true believer is endurance. We will see fruit from their efforts and we will see growth indeed but so much of this can be mimicked by hard work and human effort. Remember that God rules over everything and nothing surprises Him. He knew from the moment you came to Him -from the moment of creation really- every sin you have and will ever commit. When He forgives your sin He forgives ALL of it, what could you do to lose that salvation that doesn't fall under “all?” You could do nothing to save yourself. We cannot earn our salvation and thus we cannot disqualify it either. The true saints of God will continue!

     Take this to heart, Christian, if you mire in worry and doubt. Are you working to get closer to God? Does your sin burden you? Do you always come back and repent no matter how far you stray? That presence in your soul, that burden on your heart is most likely the Spirit of God dwelling in you and keeping you! Don't fear doubts, face them! Don't get lazy and don't give up, God will empower those who are His own to last to the end! Our work doesn't save us, but as James points out it acts as the evidence of a changed life. So work out your salvation as the Bible says, seek God, ask for strength and don't sit on your laurels and assume that your prayer saved you. For it is the changed life and new hunger for God and His path for you that signifies your salvation.

The Power and Purpose of Prayer

     Why do we pray? Much doubt is being cast on the importance and usefulness of prayer these days, leaving many to wonder why pray at all? It can be a hard thing to pray continually. You'll find that a million different distractions will creep up on you and you may even fall asleep as you kneel on the floor with your eyes closed tight. So why do it? Why fight against the current of popular opinion? Because to do so and reject prayer would be disastrous to our spiritual lives.

     I've heard it said that praying is pointless because God already knows everything anyway and He already has His plan and since God already knows everything about us we can't build that relationship. Of course this is all true but it's missing a crucial point. We are commanded to pray and God has told us that prayer is effective.

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

(James 5:16)

Furthermore, God does know us perfectly already but we barely know Him! The relationship we are building is not based on mutual lack of understanding but on the fact that we are woefully ignorant of our creator. Prayer is not merely time spent mumbling in the dark but time spent conversing with our heavenly Father. We're talking to Dad. 

     Similarly we don't have to keep our prayers constantly wordy and fancy, we don't have to use flowing speech and grandiose words. We can simply seek Him and talk to Him, tell Him about your day and what is bothering you. He is listening. Especially helpful is the knowledge that we don't need to perfectly articulate what we need for two reasons: God does already know our needs, and the Holy Spirit speaks on our behalf.

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

(Romans 8:26)

     As you pray, as you make it a habit of your life, you will see it's benefits. Prayer not only works in this world -though we may not see or understand how- it draws us closer to God and to each other. We need to keep God in our thoughts, keeping a “constant state of prayer”, carrying Him with us always and going to Him specifically whenever we can. Prayer defines a Christian in a way, unlike other religions of the world we are not simply repeating verses or chanting lines or paying homage, we are talking directly to God. After all, this faith we have is more than simply a duty or responsibility or a requirement, it is a relationship with our creator and savior. So don't give up on prayer, don't let it slip aside because you don't have time or don't know what to say. God is waiting to hear from you, don't make Him wait too long.

What Does it Matter Who God Is?

      How much does the truth matter?  Does it matter exactly what you believe about God?  Can't we all just have our own differing perspectives and still get along?  Well, yes and no.  We can get along with each other because as Christians we are told in scripture to live at peace with all men (Romans 12:18), but that does not mean that the truth doesn't matter.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it is crucial that the opinion you hold to is correct.

One of the great things about Christianity is that it allows for so much wiggle room.  It makes it possible for people to have opinions and disagree on things without breaking fellowship.  We don't all have to have every little peg pushed firmly into every little hole to be Christians, but we do have to believe in Christ.  That's where the problem lies.  We can allow for variance of perspective and thought on much of what we believe but we absolutely must have our theology correct or we're simply not Christians.  That may sound harsh but remember, I'm not saying that everyone has to believe what -I- believe or what -that guy- believes, what I'm saying is that we all have to believe what God tells us and luckily the Bible is often quite clear; and when it doesn't confirm something definitively it usually shuts down the false thoughts rather completely.

If we believe in a Father that is not The Father, or a Jesus that is not The Son, or a Spirit that is not The Spirit than we are not believing in the Father, the Son, or the Spirit.  We may as well be worshiping golden cows in our living rooms.  Look at the early centuries of the church.  They fought against heresy so much that modern day scholars try and tell us they were just pushing down opposition and enforcing their own views; when really they were just stating more specifically what everyone already believed but perhaps hadn't put down succinctly until that point.  For example they debated the modelists who believed that God existed only as one but who showed Himself in three 'modes', namely as Father, Son, and Spirit but never at the same time and they were not distinct persons.  It became quite popular but the Bible again kills it due to several instances of all three persons of the Trinity appearing together; most notably at the baptism of Jesus (see Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22).

This isn't going to be a full description and defense of the Trinity, perhaps another time.  The point I'm making is that truth matters and if we're not worshiping in truth we're not worshiping properly.  God is not who we want Him to be, nor is He so vague that we cannot know Him with certainty.  We hear the old phrase used for Christian peace all the time “major on the majors and minor on the minors, namely that we shouldn't push so hard on the less specific things in scripture.  But how much time do we spend on the first half of that phrase, on majoring on the majors?  We need to study, to debate, even to argue with the people around us -always in love- but with the knowledge that how someone defines God will point them either toward or away from the one true God of the universe.

Recommended Reading:

The Nicene Creed

The Athanasian Creed

The Apostles Creed