August 9, 2013

“........and lean not on your own understanding” – “Do not be wise in your own eyes” Proverbs 3:5b; 7a

A man flew into Chicago & hired a taxi to take him downtown. As he was riding along they came to a red light & the driver went right on through the red light.

The man said, "Hey, the light was red. You’re supposed to stop." The driver said, "Yeah, I know, but my brother does it all the time."

Soon they came to a second red light & again he went right straight through. The passenger said, "You’re going to get us killed. That light was red. Why didn’t you stop?"

The driver said, "Don’t worry about it. My brother does it all the time."

Then they came to a green light & he stopped. The man said, "The light is green.

Now is the time to go. Why don’t you go on through?"

The driver answered, "I know it’s green. But you never know when my brother may be coming through."

By nature every one of us is wired to self-destruct. Lawlessness is our default position and left unchecked we will do ourselves in.

“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?”Jeremiah 17:9

^“As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”Romans 3:10-12

So, the fact is, if you don’t ask God to help you die to yourself your self will destroy you!

The concept of “dying to self” is found throughout the New Testament. It expresses the true essence of the Christian life, in which we take up our cross and follow Christ. Dying to self is part of being born again; the old self dies and the new self comes to life (John 3:3-7). Not only are Christians born again when we come to salvation, but we also continue dying to self as part of the process of sanctification. As such, dying to self is both a one-time event and a lifelong process.

Jesus spoke repeatedly to His disciples about taking up their cross (an instrument of death) and following Him. He made it clear that if any would follow Him, they must deny themselves which means giving up their lives—spiritually, symbolically and even physically if necessary. This was a prerequisite for being a follower of Christ, who proclaimed that trying to save our earthly lives would result in our losing our lives in the kingdom. But those who would give up their lives for His sake would find eternal life (Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35). Indeed, Jesus even went so far as to say that those who are unwilling to sacrifice their lives for Him cannot be His disciples (Luke 14:27).

The rite of baptism expresses the commitment of the believer to die to the old sinful way of life (Romans 6:4-8) and be reborn to a new life in Christ. In Christian baptism, the action of being immersed in the water symbolizes dying and being buried with Christ. The action of coming out of the water pictures Christ’s resurrection.

Paul explains to the Galatians the process of dying to self as one in which he has been “crucified with Christ,” and now Paul no longer lives, but Christ lives in him. Paul’s old life, with its propensity to sin and follow the ways of the world, is dead, and the new Paul is the dwelling place of Christ who lives in and through him. This does not mean that when we “die to self” we become inactive or insensible, nor do we feel ourselves to be dead. Rather, dying to self means that the things of the old life are put to death, most especially the sinful ways and lifestyles we once engaged in. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires” - Galatians 5:24. Where we once pursued selfish pleasures, we now pursue, with equal passion, that which pleases God.

Dying to self is never portrayed in Scripture as something optional in the Christian life. It is the reality of the new birth; no one can come to Christ unless they are willing to see their old lives crucified with Christ and begin to live anew in obedience to Him. Jesus describes lukewarm followers who try to live partly in the old life and partly in the new as those whom He will spit out (Rev. 3:15-16). Those lukewarm followers characterized the church of Laodicea as well as many churches today. Being “lukewarm” is a symptom of unwillingness to die to self and live for Christ. Death to self is not an option for Christians; it is a choice that leads to eternal life.

If you want to be holy devote yourself wholly to God and die to your sinful self.

August 8, 2013

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” Proverbs 3:5-7

 

Once upon a time in a nice little forest, there lived an orphaned bunny and an orphaned snake. Coincidentally, both were blind from birth.

 

As the bunny was hopping through the forest one day and the snake was slithering around, the bunny tripped over the snake and fell down.

 

"I'm sorry," said the bunny to the snake, "but I've been blind since birth. I can't see where I'm going. More than that, since I'm an orphan, I don't even know what I am."

 

"It's O.K.," replied the snake, "because I'm blind and orphaned too; and I don't know what I am either."

 

The snake paused and then said, "I've got an idea. I'll slither all over you and figure out what you are!"

 

So the snake slithered over the bunny and then said, "Well, you're covered with soft fur, you have long ears, your nose twitches, and you have a soft cottony tail. So I'd say you're a bunny rabbit."

 

"Thank you," said the bunny, "and now let me paw all over you and figure out what you are!"

 

So the bunny pawed over the snake and then said, "Well, you're very smooth and slick, you have a forked tongue, no backbone, and no strength. I'd say you must be a Liberal.

 

Adam and Eve were created by a Perfect God to be perfect and were placed in a perfect place!

 

God’s will was for this perfect pair to walk with Him and work with Him to tend this perfect paradise and reproduce a perfect race.

 

One selfish act of disobedience ruined all of that in a moment and though man lost his perfection in that moment he did not lose his desire for perfection.

 

So, for generations humanity has been haunted by the frustration of a Paradise lost and a perfection lost. Many have given up on the notion of perfection and consider it an impossible dream while others devote themselves to the dream of developing an earthly utopia.

 

It is quite obvious that, like the rabbit and the snake, we have been blinded to who we are and what we can become in Christ.

 

There IS a perfection that is possible and available! It is called holiness and it can be imparted to you by God’s Spirit through the redemptive work of Christ!

 

Holiness requires a consecration. You must set yourself apart wholly to a Holy God through Christ.

 

Holiness requires a crucifixion. You must die to yourself by crucifying the old, sinful nature.

 

Holiness requires a cleansing. You must plead the cleansing of your sinful nature by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Holiness requires an infilling. After the consecration and the crucifying and the cleaning you can then be filled with the Holy Spirit of God!

That’s holiness!

 

It takes some backbone to become holy – but it’s possible!                                      

 

 

August 7, 2013

Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you?" Psalm 71:19

Indeed, who is like our God?
 

In my Bible reading I am in the Psalms for the O.T. portion and in Romans for the N.T. part. That is some good reading!
 

But, as I was reading this morning I kept coming back to verse 19 of the 71st Psalm. Sitting here at my desk and looking out at a clear blue cloudless sky, I am blessed by the knowledge that His righteousness reaches to the sky - and beyond! Even the vast universe is inadequate to contain His righteousness.
 

For someone who often gets it wrong it is comforting to remember His righteousness. He is always right! He can always show me the right way! He can even redeem the wrong I do and bring good from it!

For someone who has had wrong things happen to him, it is a blessing to know that his righteousness can make wrong things right.
 

In a world where so much seems to be wrong and where evil appears to be exponentially expanding, it is reassuring to know that His goodness is more powerful than all the badness that surrounds us. His rightness will have the last word in a world of wrong.
 

I want to take a personal privilege to testify to one of the right things God has done in my life. Today is the 38th birthday of my oldest son, Matthew. He is a great blessing to me.
 

Growing up without a dad, I wanted to have a son that I could be a father to. For awhile it looked like that might not happen. But they were wrong and God was right. He made a way for us to adopt a brand new baby boy. 
 

He was born on August 7, 1975 and we brought him home on August 10. We named him Matthew, which means "gift from God". Indeed he was - and is! For 38 years now he has been a source of great joy and pride. I couldn't have asked for a better son. God did it right!
 

Matthew deserved a better dad, but for the things I did right, I give glory to the God whose righteousness "reaches to the sky". For the things I did wrong, His grace and power have made them right. How did he do that? Today, Matt is a great dad to his four girls and his son. He is the dad I wished I would have been. I am sure he learned from the mistakes I made. He will raise his son, to be an even better man.
 

Matt lives in the Minneapolis area and I don't get to see him nearly enough, but through the miracle of electronics, we stay close. He is a good husband and a successful business man. He's doing a lot of things right!
 

Matthew James Snyder, I bless you on your 38th birthday! I love you very much! And I bless the God, who in His great rightness, gave you to me!

August 6, 2013

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:28-39
 

I happen to be old enough to remember when cakes were baked from scratch. No, I am not older than Betty Crocker! But I have watched my mother put together a cake batter by mixing a bunch of ingredients that if eaten individually were awful - raw eggs, vanilla extract, flour, butter, etc. But somehow, when they were added together and beaten with a Sunbeam Mix-Master and placed in a hot over for 45 minutes - SOMETHING CHANGED! When it came out of the oven it was a delicious desert! And that was BEFORE the frosting!
 

When I read Romans 8:28 I hearken back to my mother mixing the batter. Individually bad tasting ingredients poured into a bowl, beaten up, shoved into a hot oven, and transformed into something tasty!
 

"All things work together for good" - the verse tells us. It does not say that "good things work together" it tells us that "all things" work together. That means that some unpleasant things and some bad things that happen to us can work out for good through the power of God. He has the wisdom and the power to make a masterpiece from our misery.
 

Do you believe that?
 

What is that masterpiece? What finished product does he desire? "He predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son". 
 

Wow!

Would it be worth it to you to experience some difficulties and unpleasant experiences if it would shape you into the image of Christ?
 

That sounds like a "good thing" to me!

What are some other "good things"?

1) God Is For You!
 

Of all the people you would love to have on your side - God is the main One because if He is for you - who can be against you?
 

2) Inseparable Relationship With God!

Talk about security! You cannot be more secure than knowing that you cannot be separted from God. NOTHING can come between you and Him - not DEATH, not DEMONS, not POWERS - NOTHING can separate you from Him! So for anything to get to you it must come through HIM!

3) You Will Be More Than A Conqueror!
 

What is more that a conqueror? What does that look like?

It is one thing to conquer, it is quite another thing to keep conquering and live as a conqueror. And God promises to make you "MORE than conquerors"! I like that! The only thing better than a win is a winning streak!

God wants to put you on a winning streak! How does that sound?

 

Perhaps life is pouring a lot of unpleasant stuff into your life right now. Maybe you are under the Mix-Master at the moment. Has your life been shoved in the oven and the temperature dialed up?
 

Be encouraged! God is stirring your life to produce something more beautiful than you have ever imagined!
 

And for frosting, He will throw in some Christ-likeness!

August 5, 2013

Barbara and I were walking in downtown Fredericksburg awhile ago. We often do that. But on this day a beautiful Monarch butterfly caught our attention. He was flittering freely from place to place without a care in the world. He seemed to be following us so we got to observe him for several blocks.

We commented on how his life had changed. Once he had been a creepy crawling earthbound worm. Now he had wings!

He had been fundamentally changed by a tranformation of his nature allowing him to shed his "wormness" and sprout wings!

That is akin to the fundamental type of change that the Apostle Paul is talking about in Romans. It is that sort of drastic transformation that is required to deliver you from your sinful nature. You can no more rise to the level of your potential in God than the caterpillar could before his miraculous change.

The good news is that it is possible! If God can do that for an insect, He can certainly do it for you!

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." Romans 8:1-11

A worm crawls because he has to. It is his nature.

You sin because it is your nature. You aren't a sinner because you sin, you sin because you are a sinner.

But, by the same supernatural power that transforms a worm to a butterfly, you can be delivered from your sinful nature!

Are you tired of your "wormness"? Ready to soar?

August 4, 2013

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." Romans 7:14-23
 

A funny thing happens when I am preparing to hit my tee shot and looking down the fairway I see a water hazard. If my last thought is, "Don't hit it in the water!" Guess where the ball goes?
 

It is the same thing that happens when someone tells you, "Don't do that!" It makes you want to do it!
 

That is the nature Paul describes in Romans 7. He makes the argument that knowing the law causes you to break the law because the law says what you can't do. The does and don'ts in the law runs afoul with your rebellious sinful nature. His basic argument is "the law can't save anyone." It can't save the pagan (7:7-14), nor can it save the one trying to live by the law (7:15-22), nor can it even save the man with a new nature (7:23-25).
 

This explains why you or I cannot save ourselves. We cannot manage sin. We cannot regulate sin or control sin. We cannot escape the power of sin.
 

Paul describes it this way, "You are married to sin. Like a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives, so you are bound to sin as long as it lives in you."
 

Says who? Says the law!

 

Living with sin is like living in a bad marriage. You can't be happy and you can't get out. The Christian can be the most miserable because there are two natures warring within. He is double-minded and unstable.
 

So, what's the answer? Death of that tyrant is the only way out.

How many times have you heard someone try to justify their own goodness by claiming that they "keep the commandments"? Maybe you have said that.
 

How many religious people try to save themselves by doing good works? The hope is to tip the moral scales in their favor by doing more good things than bad things. Is that you?
 

A desperate problem requires drastic action. Your sin nature has to die. The spiritual nature must live and grow. Nothing else will work but complete surrender to the Holy Spirit of God.
 

Are you ready to empty yourself to be filled with Him?

August 3, 2013

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."  Proverbs 22:6

 

Wisdom dictates that Christian parents are to "train" their children "in the way" they should go and if they do the child will not depart from "the way" when he is older.

 

What a great promise!

 

We have been studying the various meanings of the word "train" in the rearing of children and we identified for important concepts - "define", "direct", "discipline" and "dedicate". In today's post I have shared a Biblical example of each concept.

 

DEFINE - Joshua

 

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the godswhich your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!  And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15

 

When many of God's people were forsaking Him and pursuing idols, Joshua stood and defined what the Joshua family was going to do! They were going to serve the Lord!  From that day forward the children of Joshua knew where they stood and what would be expected of them.

 

That would mean obeying God and keeping His Commands. That meant Joshua and his family would despise idols and offer sacrifices to the Holy God Jehovah.

 

DIRECT - Noah

 

"For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”  And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.  Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,  two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.  And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark."  Genesis 7:4-13

 

It is hard to imagine that there was just one man in the whole world who was faithful to God, but that was the case! Noah, alone, found grace in the eyes of the Lord and he stayed in God's grace because he followed God's directions to build an ark!

 

For the 120 years it took to build the ark, Noah was preaching repentance to his neighbors and directing his family to assist him in this massive life-saving project. Noah was directed by God and then directed his family according to God's will. Together, "they worked out their salvation with fear and trembling."

 

DISCIPLINE - God

 

'For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.  And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”If  you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?  But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.  Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?  For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."  Hebrews 12:4-11

 

The example of discipline is the greatest Father all, Heavenly Father!

 

If the most loving Father EVER doesn't hesitate to discipline His children, shouldn't you?

 

DEDICATE - Hannah

 

"So Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord establish His word.” Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young.  Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, “O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord.  For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him.  Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there." I Samuel 1:24-28

 

This dear lady is the best example I can think of when I consider this issue of dedicating a child to the Lord.

 

When God had mercy on this barren woman and granted her a son, she did as she  had promised and gave this son (Samuel) to the Lord.

 

Many of you have dedicated your children to the Lord but you didn't literally take them and hand them over to the preacher for life. Hannah did!

 

Hold your children precious but don't shy away from standing for what you know to be right!

 

Parents, you have your orders! "Train up" your child(ren) in God's way and according to His Word!

 

Define for them what it means to be a Christian in your household!

 

Direct them and their decisions based on the Word of God!

 

Discipline them to say "yes" to what God desires for you and "no" to your own sinful desires.

 

Dedicate them to the worship, the service and the intercessory prayer ministry of God!

 

Do you need to "wise up" in your parenting? Are you willing to follow this "training" regimen for your life and lead your children in that way as well?