August 6, 2017

Mountain-top experiences are amazing! Few things in life are better than being on a spiritual high!

But, unfortunately we don't dwell on the mountain we live at ground level. So, how do I stay high on Jesus after I come down from the spiritual high?

In my previous post, I gave the answer:

When the feelings wane you replace those feelings with faithfulness!

See, what often happens when the feelings go away the enemy whispers that the experience has gone away, too. He will tell you that what happened to you wasn't real and he will try to make you feel foolish. If you believe that and give into that he knows he can then cause you to be overcome with evil (aka - old habits, thought patterns and behaviors).

In Romans 12, Paul writes, "Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good."

That's his version of my statement, "Replace feelings with faithfulness."

So, what does faithfulness look like? The rest of that chapter gives one of the most clear and practical explanations of faithfulness ever given!

Give it a careful and prayerful read.

"So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.Bless  your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good."

That, my friends is what faithfulness looks like!

That is what faithful people do! And they do it everyday day no matter how they feel or what is happening in their life!

That is how you can stay high on Jesus after you come down from the mountain-top!

Living faithfully is hard while feeling good on the mountain-top is easy. But faithfulness lasts while feelings come and go!

In fact, there will be times when doing the faithful things will not feel good at all! But in those difficult times when doing good feels bad remember that JESUS IS FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOU!

August 5, 2017

"About eight days after saying this, he climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking. While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.” When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days of what they had seen." Luke 9:28-36

Just eight days after declaring that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, Peter gets an eyewitness verification of Jesus' identity. He, James and John, got a first-hand look at the divinity and the glory of Jesus!

And not only did the get to see the Glorified Jesus but he saw Moses and Elijah, too! This was indeed a mountain-top experience!

How amazing would that be?

Can you imagine?

I have experienced some mountain-top moments in my life. No doubt you have, too. Hopefully, this week was one of those mountain-top experiences for you!

When I was a teenager and a young adult camp meetings were still in vogue. Powerful evangelists would come to a campground tabernacle accompanied by talented musicians and the Holy Spirit would fall. My life was profoundly affected during those meetings.

But, the week would end and I would return to the problems that awaited in my everyday life. The emotions and euphoria would fade and I was face to face with overwhelming realities again.

Like Peter, I wished I could build a place where I could remain on the mountain-top.

So, how do you remain high on Jesus when you have to come down the mountain?

That IS the question isn't it?

I will have more to say on this in my next post but here's the short answer:

When the feelings are gone replace them with faithfulness.

I know, it's easier said than done but it can be done!

Just think about it, it took faithful obedience to allow God to do the work in your heart that released those powerful emotions in the first place. Feelings always follow faith. That is a fact! So, when the feelings wane stay faithful and the feelings will return!

Walking with God requires faithfulness! Feelings are optional!

How do you stay high on Jesus after you come down from the mountain-top?

Replace feelings with faithfulness!







                                                                                                                                           

August 4, 2017

"Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them." Matthew 22:38-40

Everyone is passionate about something.

What are you passionate about?

Is what you are passionate about worthy of your passion?

And the big question - is what you are most passionate about getting in the way of what you should be most passionate about?

What do you call it when what you are more passionate about prevents you from being most passionate about God?

Idolatry. 

Being passionate about Barbara and our marriage is very important to me. It occupies a high priority in my life. But pursuing that passion cannot get in the way of pursuing my passion for God. 

Barbara may be an angel but I can't allow her to be an idol.

On the contrary, I have discovered when my passion for God is supreme my passion for her is most pure and fulfilling.

The same is true of my children or my grandchildren.

There was a time in my life when baseball was the thing I was most passionate about. I pursued it with more energy and focus than I pursued God. During that period I would have to admit it was my idol.

Again, interestingly enough, when I confessed that and repented of my idolatry I found myself becoming a better ball player and enjoying it more!

The same has been true of golf from time to time.

A good question to ask from time to time, "Is this thing I am living for worth dying for?"

Passion is a powerful force.

Misdirected passion is powerfully destructive.

Only God is worthy of my most intense passion. Anyone or anything less leads to idolatry, dissatisfaction, disillusionment and eventually death.

Only God is worthy of your passion.

Pray with me, "God, I thank you for the passionate love you have for me. As I start this day, cast down any idols in my life and forgive me for my idolatry. I repent of my misplaced passion and ask you to place your Godly passion in my heart. Be my first love today, Heavenly Father."

August 3, 2017

"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:38-40

Day one of our awesome youth camp is in the books! I am so excited about the event, the vision that inspired it, the planning and organization that made it happen and the impressive level of leadership that is guiding it!

Thank you for jumping in to volunteer resources and prayer in support of this event!

One other thing that excites me is the selection of the theme "Beyond the Call of Duty". While this is based on a well-known and highly successful video game series it is also on point with the Great Commandment!

How's that, you ask?

The video game places the player into simulated combat situations where he has to fight a variety of enemy combatants where it is kill or be killed. Fighting for life and winning each battle IS the call of duty for every soldier!

As followers of Christ, whether we be young or old, we are in a battle of our lives. In the Kingdom of God His call IS our duty and every Christian soldier must engage!

This being absolutely true begs the question, "What is our call?" Since the call is our duty we must understand His call so we understand our duty! 

For a Christian the first duty is to lose Himself in the 

love of God. "Love God with all your heart". While it is our it is our duty it shouldn't feel like a duty.

Jesus said,  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

His call is for you to lose yourself in the love of God through your obedient relationship with Jesus, His Son! That is your duty!

Will you report for duty today?

The Job Of A Dedicated Parent

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

85% of people who make a commitment to Christ make the decision by the age of 18, or they never will. (The Foster Letter 5/25/08)

That is why it is urgent for you to dedicate your child to God and dedicate yourself to "training up your child in the way he should go".

If you visit a home that is inhabited by an infant or toddler you will notice it has been retrofitted with plastic plugs in the electrical outlets to keep the baby from seeing what happens when he places his little fingers in them. When they opened their pantry door, there was a small plastic “baby gate” nailed into place, keeping the baby from getting to items that might be harmful for a small child. When you tried to open their cabinet doors, there were small hooks in place to keep the baby from being able to open those doors and reach more harmful things.

If you happen to drive somewhere with this couple you will notice they have a special baby seat to buckle him in, in case he would try to move about. You can't roll down the windows because they  are “child proof”, in case the baby tries to reach through them and become hurt. When you arrive at your destination, you can’t open the car doors because they have “child proof” locks that only the driver could unlock. Everywhere you look, everything about their lives is dedicated, not only to protecting the baby from others, but from protecting the baby from himself.

I was a cute little baby - well, not so little (10 lb). So were you! I was blessed with three healthy, beautiful babies and eleven little grandbabies! But despite how cute they are or we were - we are ugly on the inside! We are wired for selfishness and self-destruction and must be protected from ourselves.

The Bible states it bluntly - “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9

So, the job of a dedicated parent is to "train" their child not to be controlled by his sinful self-destructive nature but to dedicate that child to God so God can change his inner nature. The goal of a dedicated parent is to "train" a child until he dedicates himself to God.

Are you dedicated to that task?

Have you dedicated your children?

Will you?

We promise to do our best at FredWes to assist you and support you in the process of shaping your child into a disciple of Jesus. That is priority one of our Children, Middle School and Youth Ministries at FredWes!

That's why we invested considerable time, energy and money to do V. B. S. last week and it is why we do the same with our first ever local Youth Camp which begins this evening!

Let's remain passionate about raising up a next generation more committed to Jesus than we are!

August 1, 2017

"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess  my transgressions to the Lord”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin." Psalm 32:5

In my marriage ceremonies I always include a phrase that says, "And always remember that marriage is the union of two good forgivers."

Not only does it sound neat it is a realization that when two imperfect people join their lives together there needs to be a way to compensate for the those imperfections. Mutual forgiveness is the only way it will work.

The central theme of Psalm 32 is, "Forgiveness is good because sin is bad."

Because you are a sinner you need a God Who is a forgiver. You have One!

Not only is God a good forgiver but His forgiving is greater than your sinning!

You can look at that one of two ways. You could see it as a license to live carelessly and be casual about sin since you can't out- sin His forgiveness! I don't recommend that. Nor does God.

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey —whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:10-16

Or, you can humble yourself under the grace and goodness of a Forgiving God and let that forgiveness bring you into an intimate personal faith relationship with Him! What could be better than a sinner having the joy of living with a Forgiver?!

You are a sinner and He is a forgiver. Sinners need forgivers! It sounds like a match made in heaven!

 

July 31, 2017

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." Romans 12:16

This section of Romans 12 mentions three aspects of this peace:

Giving grace not holding grudges, V. 14

Empathizing with other's emotions, V. 15

Humility helps with harmony, V. 16

These spiritual characteristics are significant be cause they promote peace and unity within a church fellowship. But even more so because they show evidence that you have found spiritual peace within.

The fact that you can extend grace to someone who has hurt you shows a spiritual maturity that comes only from the Holy Spirit.

And being able to celebrate the joys of others as sincerely as you celebrate your own and being able to bear the pain of others is a sure sign of spiritual maturity.

Unless you have arrived at a point of peace and contentment in the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to live like this.

Humility is the third quality of a spiritual person. For the next several posts we are going to think about humility and come to a better understanding of why it is so important within a fellowship of believers.

My favorite definition of humility comes from Dr. Elton Trueblood, the great Quaker scholar and theologian. He wrote, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, humility is not thinking of yourself at all."

If humility is anything, it is certainly removing your self interest from the spiritual equations of your life. It is being delivered from the natural human inclination to ask, "What's in it for me?" Humility is "seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness". Humility is factoring how you can benefit your brother or your sister.

Humility is a clear indication that your "flesh" has been crucified and that His love rules in your heart.

How do you measure on the humility scale?

Have you removed your self interest to the perimeter of your life?

Are your actions showing evidence that you "love God with all your heart and all your soul and your neighbor as yourself?"

Will you humbly assess your heart today?