Saved By His Light

"The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear?" Psalm 27:1a

Thank God for His light!

Thank God for being the Light!

As John wrote, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." I John 1:5-7

Thank God for enabling us to walk in His light!

Living in the Light gives security and safety. Praise God for that.

But notice the Psalmist doesn't stop there. The Lord is not just our Light but He is our Salvation!

In this context, He saves us with His light!

As much as we fear the outer darkness and the dangers it conceals, but there is an inner darkness that is equally frightening. That darkness is sinfulness. That sinfulness separates from God. Once separated from God, there is no light and the darkness returns. When the darkness returns so does the fear.

So, the Lord really IS our Light and Salvation. By His power and presence He can protect us from the outer darkness that causes you to fear. And by His shed blood and His Spirit He can deliver us from the inner darkness that causes fear about eternity.

Are you trapped in fear?

Are you fearful over the darkness in your heart?

Are fearful about your eternal future?

Have you received His salvation?

Are you walking in His light?

September 28, 2017

“When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.” Psalm 126:1

Sometimes we fall captive to what my friend, John Maxwell calls, “destination disease”. That may have been the case here in the 126th Psalm. Sure, they had suffered 70 years of being held captive by the Babylonians but I think the greater captivity was in their spirit where they longed for the days when they could worship God in a certain way at a certain place.

It seems they had forgotten that though they were restricted to a foreign land, their God wasn’t. He was longing to meet them right where they were. It seems they failed to remember that Abraham had worshipped God in his travels and Moses had worshipped God in the desert. They failed to miss His presence because their experience with Him was mired in the past.

Because of this “destination disease” they almost missed the wonderful new thing that God was doing! As they longed for God to restore them back to the sacred soil of Jerusalem to rebuild their Temple, God sent a captor to take their captor captive! Cyrus the Great and his Persian army overwhelmed the Babylonians and God put it on his heart to “restore the fortunes of Zion”!

Are you suffering from “destination disease”? Are you held captive to notions that worship has to happen in a certain way at a certain place? Are you holding God captive to your traditions and your comfort zone? Are you missing a new thing God is doing because you are locked into the old? Are you waiting for Him to show up or are you seeking to find Him where He is?

God has called us to freedom! God has sent Jesus to take our captor captive! Even when the circumstances of life take us places we don’t want to be , we should live in spiritual freedom! We should meet Him where we are! We should not look for God in old places and retreat to comfort zones, we should expect God to do knew and wonderful things for us!

Tradition can be a wonderful thing but it can also inflict us with “destination disease”. Be thankful as you remember what God has done in past places and in past ways, but also realize that He is doing something new! Remember the past and respect the past but don’t retreat there! 

Live in His freedom! 

Live in His freshness! Right now! 

Right where you are!

Love Is The Heart

"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 8:37-39

Love is the heart of the Great Commandment and it is also the heart of the Great Commission! 

Love leads to life-change! And not just superficial change but a fundamental spiritual transformation. Love has that power because love is committed, and love is courageous, and love is confrontational and it is consistent. 

The Apostle Paul understood compelling love - "But I want to share one more powerful aspect of love - love is compelling! If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." II Corinthians 5:13-15

I'm sure you are familiar with the saying, "You do for love what you wouldn't do for money." That is another way of expressing the compelling power of love.

It is the love of God that compelled Him to speak creation into existence to sustain His prized creation, Adam.

It is the love of God that compelled Him to extend mercy and grace toward Adam and Eve after they abused His love by their self-centered love.

It is the love of God that compelled Him to send His only begotten Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for the sins of the world.

It was the love of Jesus that compelled Him to empty Himself, leave Heaven and come to earth as a baby in a feed trough.

And, it was the love of Jesus that compelled Him to surrender to an agonizing death on the cross to atone for the sins of the world.

When you have received the love of God through Christ by faith, you will be compelled to share His love with those you love. If you are not compelled by His love you should make sure you really have it. 

His love is compelling!

September 26. 2017

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Luke 9:20

Do you find it curious that Jesus is asking them if they know Who He is after they have walked with Him and worked with Him for almost three years now?

Further, consider when He asked this probing question. They had recently went out on a mission in His name healing people and driving out demons! The day before they had miraculously fed thousands of people with one simple lunch!

Is it possible to do all those amazing feats and still not know Who Jesus is?

Apparently.

Consider what Jesus said on another occasion:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23

Chilling isn't it? Jesus makes it plain that you can do amazing things in His name but not necessarily know Him.

Could it be that discipleship is not so much about what you do are as what you are? Could it be that discipleship is about intimately understanding Who Jesus is? It makes sense that there is a difference between knowing Jesus and knowing about Him.

That is a HUGE difference! That is THE difference - relationship vs. religion. Religion is based on the belief that you can "do" and "not do" yourself into believing. But Jesus pokes a whole through that notion! He wants to live in relationship with you and desires to live His life out through you. Your doing for Christ results from being in Christ.

If your focus is on what you do or don't do for Christ, you are not a disciple. Even if you are doing miracles and deliverances. It is about "being" not "doing". True discipleship is knowing Jesus and living in intimate relationship with Him.

The suffix "ship" denotes a state of being. We will be exploring how being in Christ should shape your life.

Are you in Christ today? 

Do you know Him? 

Don't settle for just doing.

September 25, 2017

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”Luke 9:20

One of my more embarrassing moments in high school was when I let a moment of frustration cause me to forget who I was. My coach reminded me - loudly and in front of everyone.

I was playing baseball for the Warsaw Community High School Tigers. WCHS is a well regarded high school in Indiana for its excellence in academics and in athletics. When you make one of their teams they rightly expect you to represent that level of excellence.

On this day I was having a good game at the plate. I was seeing the ball well and hitting it. But when I came to bat this time I got fooled on a pitch and tried to hold up on my swing. Instead of checking my swing I hit the ball, resulting in a weak little dribbler to the second basement who scooped it up and threw me out at first. Upset at myself I slammed my batting helmet into the ground as I ran across the base. It landed loudly and bounced high and looked bad. I looked bad. I made the team look bad.

My coach just happened to be coaching first base and when I turned around to grab my helmet and retreat to the dugout he was waiting for me and he was not happy. Getting up into my face he earnestly informed me what I already knew - I had embarrassed myself and the team. Warsaw Tigers don't behave that way. He was right. I was humiliated.

Sometimes some clarification is necessary. When we forget who we are we forget how we should be.

Studying this portion of Scripture I noticed that before Jesus issued His call to discipleship He first asked for some clarification, "Who do you say I am?"

Appropriate, eh?

How can you answer the call to discipleship if you are not completely clear on Who He is? Why would you want to commit your life and surrender yourself to Someone you are not clear about?

In this portion of Scripture Jesus not only gives clarification to Who He is but He gives clarification to who you and I should be and in so doing, He clarifys discipleship. Jesus tells us that being a disciple has two components:

SAY IT - disciples declare and confess that Jesus is the Son of the God - the Messiah - the Savior - the Lamb of God - the Lord of all!

SHOW IT - disciples demonstrate the Lordship of Christ by how they live. Disciples daily deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him every day in every way!

Disciples are clear about Who He is and they are clear on who they need to be. The know Him and they show Him. As a result, all who watch their lives become clear about Who Jesus is!

Are you clear about your calling? 

Are you making Him clear by how you live? 

Are there things you need to clear up?

September 24, 2017

"Then He said to them all: "If anyone would come after me......." Luke 9:23a

I am so encouraged to read the call of Jesus to those who would desire to be disciples!

Notice whom He addesses:

"He said to them ALL".

"If anyone will......"

Anyone can be a follower of Jesus Christ. You don't have to be wealthy or well educated or well adjusted. You just have to be willing! Consider this story from Brooklyn Tabernacle, a great church in metropolitan New York City:

Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York. He tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the edge. It was a wonderful service with many people coming forward. The counselors were talking with these people. As I was sitting there I looked up the middle aisle, and there in about the third row was a man who looked about fifty, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying, “Could I talk to you?” We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, “What a way to end a Sunday. I’ve had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here’s a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine.” He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him. I asked him, “What’s your name?” “David.” “How long have you been on the street?” “Six years.” “How old are you?” “Thirty-two.” He looked fifty- hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. “Where did you sleep last night, David?” “Abandoned truck.” I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking; I’ll give him some money. I won’t even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don’t give money to people. We take them to get something to eat. I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.” I completely forgot about David, and I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. See how easy it is? I could make the excuse I was tired. There is no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling what God feels. But oh, did that change! David just stood there. He didn’t know what was happening. I pleaded with God, “God, forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I’m so sorry. Here I am with my message and my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh, God!” Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep deeper, and David began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. He fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other. The smell of His person became a beautiful aroma. Here is what I thought the Lord made real to me: If you don’t love this smell, I can’t use you, because this is why I called you where you are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell. Christ changed David’s life. He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. We got him a place to live. We hired him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in 6 days. He spent that Thanksgiving at my house. He also spent Christmas at my house. When we were exchanging presents, he pulled out a little thing and he said, “This is for you.” It was a little white hanky. It was the only thing he could afford. A year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. The minute he took the mic and began to speak, I said, “The man is a preacher.” This past Easter we ordained David. He is an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey. And I was so close to saying, “Here, take this; I’m a busy preacher.” We can get so full of ourselves.

The call to discipleship is to "all" or to "anyone who will". 

That means even people like David can follow Jesus! 

Or, people like you and me.

September 23, 2017

"Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple" Luke 9:23

Have you noticed how many "ship" words there are in our Christian faith?

For example, "discipleship", "worship", "fellowship", "stewardship" or "lordship".

What is that about?

The suffix "ship" means "a state of being". So, when we use these words we are talking about being a disciple, or being a worshipper, being in fellowship, or being a steward, or being under the lordship of Christ.

Too often we think of being a Christ-follower in terms of what we have to do or not do. But Jesus gives the call to being. "whoever wants to be my disciple". If discipleship was about doing then religion would work. You and I would be able to do certain things and become a disciple. But we know that is not the case. Discipleship comes out of a relationship, not a religion. To be a disciple we must live in an intimate relationship - a state of being - and He will do through us what pleases Him. Our doing grows out of our being.

That is why I am going to devote this month to exploring this concept of "Getting Into 'Ship' Shape". I hope you will find it helpful and encouraging - and maybe a little challenging or conviction!

I will be covering these topics: "Worship Is Stewardship"; "Fellowship Is Stewardship"; and "Discipleship Is Stewardship". Hopefully I can broaden and deepen your concept of what it means TO BE a follower of Christ!