June 17, 2010

"This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." Genesis 6:9

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." Jesus made this interesting statement as He was warning His disciples about the end times. This powerful statement reflects two crucial truths: God can only take so much wickedness and evil before He rains down judgment, what does He require of us to escape that judgment?

In a sea of gross darkness, fueled by the activities of malevolent spirits, Noah stood out like a beacon of light. He wasn't just nicer or more kind or a little less evil than the rest, he was a righteous dude!

It is instructive to know what Noah did to gain the favor of God and be chosen to save the entire human race. Genesis 6 gives three insights into that answer:

1) Righteousness

What does it mean to be righteous? In short, it means being right with God. It means making your decisions based on what is the right thing to do. It means resisting what is wrong. This rightness or righteousness is characterized by the statement in verse 22 - "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."

What is the key to righteousness? Obedience.

Not only was that right, it was entirely necessary for someone who would spend the next century building a boat in the middle of the desert preparing for something that had never happened before.

Are you committed to doing the right thing? Are you living in obedience to God?

2) Reputation

Not only was Noah well thought of by God - as important as that is - but he had the confidence of his friends and neighbors.

Not only was that admirable, that was necessary for someone who was about to embark on a major project to rescue an entire race!

I think one thing that is noteworthy about his reputation is that having a good reputation was not Noah's main concern. While you should care about your reputation it should not be the driving force in your life. If you worry too much about looking good to others, your motives will be tainted and your decisions will be selfish. Noah developed a good reputation as a result of being right with God.

How is your reputation among those you live with? How are you known at work? Does your reputation reflect well on God? Is God's love and grace reflected through you?

3) Relationship

Noah was righteous and of a good reputation because of his relationship with God. He walked with God. In a day when everyone else was running away from God, Noah was running with Him.

Today, as we face what could be these last days Jesus referred to, relationship with God is easier and more rewarding that it was for Noah. Why? Because of Jesus! Because of the Holy Spirit! We have both available to us, Noah didn't.

Are you walking with God through your relationship with Jesus by the Holy Spirit? Your righteousnes and your reputation will flow out of your relationship with God. How is your walk with Him?

Noah found favor with God and changed the course of history.

How will history record your rightness, your reputation and your relationships.

June 16, 2010

"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD." Genesis 6:8

One of the most dramatic moments in the amazing account of the Creation is when God had completed His masterpiece, looked it over, and pronounced it "good". A perfect God had combined His creative genius with His incredible power and spoke the universe into existence.

So, how bad would it have to get for God to change His mind about the "goodness" of this creation?

Real bad. Check this out:

"5The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." Genesis 6:5-7

What an amazing portion of Scripture! It reveals a God Who had found such delight in His creation now grieving over what it had become. What He had created for His pleasure now brought Him great pain. Think about that! Think about how destructive sin is! Think about how it breaks the heart of God!

This condition could not continue. Something had to be done to make this right! How would that happen?

God had it in His mind to destroy everything and start over. But amid the degradation and disgrace there was one beacon of hope - Noah, a righteous man.

You have to understand the circumstances surrounding this statement - "Noah found favor with God" - to fully appreciate what "favor" means. To grasp grace you must understand the alternative of disgrace.

In a world filled with men who were disgracing themselves, Noah found grace. Grace refers to God's "unmerited favor" offered to us. This means that God is looking for reasons to extend His kindness and goodness toward us and Noah's righteousness brought favor on him at a time when God was ready to destroy everyone and start over.

Consider the powerful difference one person can make when God's favor rests upon them.

Over the next few posts I want to explore the attitudes and actions of Noah that brought God's favor upon his life.

But this morning I want to ask you, "Is your life bringing God's grace or His disgrace upon you, upon your family? Are you living in a way that brings God pain?"

June 15, 2010

"But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:25-27

The third theme in chapter one is that of serving. How you serve is a reflection of what you believe.

What does it mean to serve?

James gives us a couple of insights.

True religion, is faith that serves God and others who are in need.

The key to serving God is obedience. You must listen to the Word and learn the Word so you can live the Word. Until you live it you don't believe it. Until you live it you haven't learned it.

In order to obey God you must deal with the sin that is revealed in your life from looking into the Bible - a moral mirror. That is where obedience begins. You can't disregard the Word and dismiss the conviction of the Holy Spirit and expect to serve God. Getting right with God takes your focus off of you and gets you focused on what matters to God.

What matters to God is helping the helpless people Whom He loves. He mentions a couple of them - widows and orphans.

Faith works out through service. Faith exercises obedience by caring for those God cares about. There are needs all around you that you could meet if you were to get your eyes off of yourself and your suffering. Obedience opens your heart to God and your eyes to the needs of others.

How is your religion? Are you living what you say you believe? Is there unconfessed sin in your life? Are there some sinful attitudes or unhealthy habits you are nurturing in your spirit?

If you are not living your faith you don't really have a faith. Your religion is worthless.

June 14, 2010

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

A second big theme of the first chapter of James is your approach to the Scriptures.


I think there are three common approaches to the Word.

Some read the Bible for inspiration. When they need a little emotional boost or a spiritual lift they pull the Book from the shelf and read some verses.

The Scritpures certainly ARE inspiritational, just consider the Psalms, for example, but they are far more than that. If you are just reading them for inspiritation you are short-changing yourself.

Some read the Bible for information. There certainly is a ton of great information in the Scriptures. Think about it - there is historical information. Much of what we know about the rise of human culture we know from the Bible. The Bible contains amazing stories about heroes and villans, about wars and conquests and some steamy love stories. If you want to know about the origin and early history of the Church, it is all contained between the covers of this Book. But it offers more than just information.

A few read it for implementation. THAT is what James recommends for you. The Bible is a living Word. For the Bible to be truth and transforming it must be lived out in the lives of believers. Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life must be allowed to flesh out the power of His truth through you.

James admonishes you to "do" the Word not just "hear" it. How about you? What is your approach to His Word?

Are you reading it for inspiration?

Are you reading it for information?

Or are you reading it so you can implement it and allow its power to transform you - and others through you?

June 13, 2010

When I assumed my first ministry assignment at Princeton Wesleyan Church in Illinois, I spent a year preaching through the Book of James. I figured the theme of the Book - "practical Christianity" - might be a good place to start. It was a pretty safe bet!

This Summer I am trying to do it in 10 week with Father's Day, July 4 and giving my assistant an opportunity to speak. This is proving to be a bigger challenge than I thought. So much good stuff and so little time!

Having completed Chapter One this morning, let me see if I can summarize that Chapter in a timely and coherent manner.

In Chapter One I identify three big themes: Your attitude during suffering, your approach to Scripture and your actions in serving.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

How do you take joy in suffering? Is this some form of masochism?

I give you three reasons to rejoice in suffering. First, rejoice in the confidence that God is in charge of your trials and testing and He promises that He is faithful to make sure you are not tested beyond your endurance and that He will provide a way of escape. Also, He promises that everything works out for good to those who love and serve God.

Another cause for rejoicing is that tests and trails bring you to greater commitment. Here James admonishes you to commit to His wisdom. When things get tough you tend to be guided by your pain or to seek His wisdom and insight. He promises that if you ask for wisdom He will shower it upon us. Fully commiting to Him and placing our trust in His wisdom will definitely bring us joy.

Thirdly, you can rejoice in character of God and the knowledge that His character will be developed in you as you trust Him through your suffering.

That is how you develop the right attitude during suffering.

No one wants to suffer. But, it sure helps to know that your suffering is profiting you and your pain is not being wasted. Consider what Jesus' suffering gained you and rejoice in what your suffering can secure for you - an Him!

June 12, 2010

"Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." James 1:23-24

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-i8zKJaHMA

How do you determine your reality?

The evil queen in the Snow White story depended on a magic mirror to get her truth. She did that because she agreed with what she heard from it. It told her what she wanted to hear.

One day she had to hear something hard - the real truth. She didn't handle it well. She did what people do when they don't want their fantasy to be disturbed, they destroy whatever dares to challenge them - usually that is another person.

Let me ask you something, do you have a magic mirror?

Seriously, do you? Of course, I am not talking about a literal magic mirror - we ARE dealing with truth and reality here!

But, if we are not careful we can be lured into a comfortable habit of hearing what we want to hear and believing convenient lies. Denial is not just a river in Egypt!

Unless we are willing to open God's Word and expose ourselves to Biblical teaching and preaching - we will live in our little self-constructed fantasy world. We will listen to our magic mirror and find comfort in the lies. We will find ourselves feeling threatened by people who question us or challenge our reality. They have to be brought down or destroyed to discredit their truth and preserve our reality.

Here in our text, James suggests an alternative to our magic mirror. He calls us to look into the mirror of God's Word and to measure our reality against His.

It is hard to discover you are not the fairest of them all - until you disover HE IS! And you can be like Him!

Is it time to trade in your magic mirror and get real?

June 11, 2010

"Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." James 1:23-24

Mirrors have something in common with truth. Can you guess what it is?

Both can be very cruel.

Sometimes I don't like what I see when I look in the mirror. But, if I want to know how I look I need to do it. The only way I can improve how I look is to get a realistic view of myself so that I can repair the damage.

My alternative is to try to image how I look or to wish I looked a certain way and let that fanatasy guide how I view myself. While I might fool myself with those false notions I would not fool anyone else. They would honestly see what I refuse to see.

Anyone who really cares about their appearance will stand before the mirror to get the truth and then adjust to that reality. Healthy well-adjusted people do that.

If that makes sense to you then you will understand what James is saying when he compares the Word of God to a mirror. Not a mirror to reflect our outward appearance but a mirror to reflect the condition of our spirit. That is not any easier. But, it is necessary for spiritual health.

Mirrors and Bibles are necessary tools for anyone who wants to live a healthy and successful life. The reason that is true is because each of them keep us in touch with reality. That is the purpose of faith. Faith brings us in touch with what is real in life - and beyond. The great irony here is that in order for us to connect with the spiritual and eternal reality that is God, we must be willing to deal with the truths that we can see and know.

I think the struggle is being willing to move into God's reality rather than stubbornly trying to shape God around our notions of what it real.

God is the Arbiter of what it real and what is true. He reveals that to us through His Word, the Bible. And that requires us to daily present ourselves before His Word to allow it to reflect our weakness or sins.

Each of us have a choice. We can live in the ugly fantasy world of our foolish pride and rebellion. Or we can humble ourselves before the truth of His Word and make the hard adjustments required to align with His eternal realities.

What is real to you depends on what you decide is true. If God is true then He should determine what is real in your life. If He isn't, then it is up to you to shape your own reality. The only way to really know is to a hard look in the mirror of His Word.