Jesus is a Choice

You have to make a choice.

We had an awesome event at our church this weekend which reached out to a group of people who don't typically set foot in a church. The core message of this event, and indeed the core message of Christianity, was salvation through Jesus and Jesus alone. This salvation, the forgiveness of sin and granting of fellowship with God, is a gift. The only catch is the catch common to all gifts.

You have to accept it.

When a gift is offered, you have a choice. You can accept it, or reject it. A gift can be received or refused. Being offered a gift does not make it yours. It is not yours until you take it and make it yours. Until then, until you make that conscious decision to possess what has been offered, you don't really have it. It doesn't belong to you until you say it does. Until you make that choice.

Salvation through Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God is such a gift. It's there, offered to everyone, but you have a choice to make.

Will you accept it, or not.

Following Jesus is a choice.

Receiving Jesus Christ is the first step, the first, and most important, choice to be made, but it doesn't stop there. Once you have chosen to accept Jesus, then you have to choose to follow Him. While accepting Jesus is a one time thing, following Him isn't. Following Him is a series of choices you will make for the rest of your life. Every day, every hour, you will be presented with choices to make. Will you follow Jesus, or won't you.

How will you respond to the temptations around you? Will you use your time and resources to further God's work, or to satisfy your own desires? How will you treat that person who goads you to anger? Will you forgive when wronged? Will you be merciful? Gracious? Loving? Will you hold your friends accountable, and allow yourself to be held to the same standard?

Accepting Jesus is once for all, an event, a point in time. Following Him is a journey for life. It is a choice you make every waking moment of every day.

Every choice has a consequence.

Following Jesus is always the right choice. The way to follow Jesus is to obey His commands, to do what He, through His Word, says to do. Without fail, doing God's will is always the right choice to make.

We have been led to believe that doing the right thing will always lead to a reward. I believe that is true, but not as we might expect. We have been taught, trained, indoctrinated with the belief that gratification needs to be instantaneous. In other words, when we do the right thing, we expect to be rewarded immediately. As soon as we do what we're supposed to do, we expect a trophy and a pat on the back.

God doesn't work that way.

God's reward system isn't focused on this life. Do I believe that God sometimes rewards us in this life for being obedient? Yes, I do.  Do I believe He always does? No. Our reward is not here. The prize we are to be pursuing, the treasure we are to be storing up, the gratification we are to receive is not here, but there. In heaven. In the presence of our God and Father. It is there we will receive our eternal reward.

Bad choices have consequences as well. That doesn't necessarily mean that if you don't follow God you will fail in this life. Look around. There are a lot of "successful" people who don't have a clue or give a second thought to God. That doesn't mean God is rewarding them. That doesn't mean their disobedience doesn't have consequences. Once again, our reward, and our lack thereof, isn't centered here. This life is temporary. The next is eternal.

We do not, however, always skate away scot-free here, either. God does respond in our lives today according to our behavior. He does reward those who are faithful and punish those who are wicked. We may, or may not, recognize it, but it happens. Those people who succeed in life without God--how successful might they be with Him? Those mishaps in life that seem to come from nowhere--might they not be the very hand of God reprimanding His wayward sheep?

We won't always know, but of this you can be sure: Every choice has a consequence.

What choices will you make today?

Your Story Isn't Done

I don't know what you've done in life.

Maybe you've done great things already. Maybe you've reached all your goals, achieved your ambitions, lived your dreams and completed your bucket list. Maybe you don't know what to do now, having done all you wanted. Maybe life has gotten small for you, with no new challenges, no new goals, no new purpose.

Or maybe you don't think you've done anything. Maybe you don't think you can, or ever will do anything. Every goal seems out of reach, every ambition impossible, every dream nothing more than that, and your bucket list impossibly long. Maybe you don't know what to do because you don't know how to do anything. Maybe life seems too big to you, with too many challenges, too many goals, and no purpose.

Either way, your story isn't done.

As long as you are upright and taking in air, your story isn't over. You haven't done it all. There are still things to be accomplished, places to see, people to touch and change and help. It is an incredibly big world out there; if you can't find anything new to do, you haven't looked hard enough. Your story is still being written. Don't let it get boring at the end.

Some of the best stories start with humble beginnings. The hero who rises unexpectedly from the depths of poverty and despair. The heroine who climbs from the pits of darkness to shine light onto the world. The do-nothing who one day woke up and changed everything. It is an awfully big world out there, but you don't have to conquer it all at once. Your story is still being written. Don't let a slow start keep you from an incredible ending.

Keep writing.

That's the secret to finishing a story. You just keep writing. Some days are easy, others are incredibly hard. Either way, you have to write.

The story of your life is no different. Some days your story will seem to write itself. Everything falls into place just as it should. Plots don't fall apart, characters do what they're supposed to do, and every setting is like a tropical paradise. Other days, nothing works. Plots go haywire, characters go insane, and your once beautiful setting suffers through a hurricane.

Keep writing.

Keep plugging away. Keep living and doing and dreaming and hoping and never, ever give up. Your story isn't over. No matter how much, or how little you think you've done, there is always more. Incredible things can happen, will happen, if you just keep going. You don't stop because you think you're done--you're not. You don't quit because you think it's hopeless--it's not. Your story isn't over until it's over.

And then it's just beginning.

You Can't Fool God

How to tell fake from real.

There are an estimated $70 million worth of counterfeit bills circulating in the world today. They come in a variety of forms, some of them quite convincing, others not so much. Governments fight against this fraud in a variety of ways. One way is to train people to recognize a fake when they see it.

The problem is, there are so many different ways counterfeiters disguise their worthless pieces of paper from the genuine article, no one could possibly recognize them all. New variations arrive every day. So how do the people trained to spot a fake keep up?

They don't have to.

All they have to do is know what the real thing looks and feels like. They study real money so thoroughly, know it so intimately, that anything else stands out like a sore thumb. If you know the real thing, you don't have to know what a fake looks like. Anything that isn't real is fake.

God knows what's real.

God knows when a person is really His follower. He knows who's genuine, and who's counterfeit. No matter how good a fake may look, God is never fooled.

You see, God knows people so well--not just what is on the outside, but what is inside--that He never falls for a ruse. Even if people do such a good job at pretending to follow God that they believe it themselves, He knows the difference. You can't fool God. Ever.

You might fool me.

I bet some people have. I bet--in fact, I'm quite confident--there are people out there whom I've met that have convinced me they are Christians when in fact they are not. They are imposters. Fakes. Counterfeits. They're no more Christian than my dog is human. Sometimes I'm pretty sure my dog thinks he's human, but he's not. He's not even a very good pretender.

Some people are. Some people are really, really good at pretending to be something they're not. So good, in fact, that they fool me and everyone around them. Maybe even a wife, a pastor, their best friend. Maybe even themselves.

But they'll never fool God.

What happens to the fakes?

Fake money, once identified, is destroyed. It's collected, shredded, and repurposed. Some is used as compost, some becomes insulation for houses, some becomes potting soil, and some get turned into fuel pellets and thrown in the fire.

What happens when God identifies a faker? Our merciful God, patient and loving, doesn't immediately remove a counterfeit. He calls them to Himself, giving them a chance to truly accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and become the real thing. He doesn't want any to perish. He desires for all to be His real and genuine sons and daughters.

Those who don't, who resist His call and go on pretending? Their time is limited. One day we all die. Maybe tomorrow, maybe 50 years from now, but it's going to happen. We either cross that threshold bearing the seal of God, or we don't. We're real, or we're fake. We're worthy of eternal life with God, or worthless and fit only for the fire. Not based on what we pretended to be, but based on what we truly are, what God knows to be true. We're saved, or we're damned.

It's that simple.

You can't fool God.

Your good deeds, your shiny exterior, your polished words don't mean squat to God. You can even call out His name every day, pretending to be something you're not. He's not fooled. Matthew 7:21 records these words of Jesus:  Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only He who does the will of my Father. Many will appeal to Him, and claim all the good deeds they did in His name. His response? Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers."

You can't fool God. You either know Him, and He knows you, or you don't. You do His will--what He wants, when He wants, and most importantly why He wants--or you're faking it. You're a pretender. A fake. Counterfeit.

He knows the difference.

So here's the question: Which one are you?

 

 

If God is God, then Why . . .

We've heard it before . . . 

I don't believe in God because . . . I prayed to God, and He didn't answer.

Yes, He did. Maybe it wasn't the answer you wanted, but He answered. We don't always get what we want because what we want isn't always best, even if we think it is. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me (Matthew 26:39). Jesus did not want to go to the cross. He did not want to suffer. He prayed to God to not make Him do it.

Did God answer? Yes. Was it what Jesus asked for? No. Did that mean Jesus didn't believe in God anymore? Not hardly.

I don't believe in God because . . . my mother is sick, or my son died so young, or I want a baby so badly and God hasn't given me one, or . . .

People do get sick. People do die, some way too soon. Some cannot have children, no matter how badly they want them. None of this is new. These very issues are found in the Bible. David's young son died. Sarah and Abraham couldn't have children until they were quite old. Untold numbers of people in the Bible got sick; some recovered, others didn't.

Does that mean God doesn't exist? Did people in Biblical times deny His existence because life was, and is, hard? Sometimes, yes. Those that did died broken, hopeless, and lost. Those who looked to Him for strength and comfort found a peace that surpasses all understanding. The peace of those who believed in God proved His existence just as, ironically, did the brokenness of those who did not.

I don't believe in God because . . . a truly loving God wouldn't let bad things happen, He wouldn't let people suffer, He wouldn't let evil exist. 

You know what, that's true. A truly loving God won't let bad things happen anymore, He won't let people suffer, and He will not allow evil to exist. When the time is right, He will abolish all these things, which are the effects of sin. When that happens, when sin is taken completely away, there will be no suffering, sadness, or sickness.

So why does He wait? Because when He does that, whoever does not believe in Him will be lost forever. When sin is abolished, all those who are not forgiven of their sins through Jesus Christ have no opportunity to be saved. God does not wish for anyone to be lost, and thus He is patient. That means we suffer temporarily to have the opportunity for eternal rejoicing. It's really not such a bad deal.

The list goes on and on.

People have an endless litany of reasons why they don't believe in God, or accept God for who He is. They want solid and tangible answers to their doubts, irrefutable proof that God is and that He is who He says He is. The problem is, they refuse to accept what is right before them. They refuse to see the reality of God in that they have life, in the intricacy of Creation, in the truth of the Bible, in the very fact that they are mad at a God they deny exists.

What they really want is a god of their own making, a god who is what they want him to be. They do not want God of the Bible; they want the god of their choosing. A god who does their bidding, who runs the world as they see fit, who thinks and acts and speaks as they do. They don't want God. They want a god like them. In other words, they want to be their own god.

Acceptance of God requires that we denounce our false ideas of our own deity. To accept God for who He is means accepting ourselves for who we are, and some just can't go there. They cannot accept the truth about themselves, therefore they cannot accept the truth of God.

What is that truth? We are small, and He is big. We know nothing, He knows all. We don't have the foggiest idea how the universe works, He counts the hairs on our heads and clothes the lilies in the fields. He knows the names of the one hundred billion stars in each of the one hundred billion galaxies because He created each one. He knows the number of the grains of sand in all the seas. He is God, and we are not.

The problem is not with God. It is with us. We are flawed, not God. Our denial of that takes nothing away from reality and truth. We can disagree with a law or a truth all we want, but our refusal to accept what is real and true changes not a thing. Let's say that you decided to deny that gravity exists, then went and jumped off a building. Would your denial of what is change what would happen? Not in the least.

So it is with God. Accept Him or deny Him, it won't change who He is in the slightest.

God is big enough to handle our questions.

Everyone questions God, and has questions about God. If we didn't, we'd never sin, because if we accepted everything about God we'd accept that His way is always the best way and we'd never go against it. But all sin (Romans 3:23). God is big enough to handle that. God had an answer for that before the founding of the world.

Jesus. Jesus is that answer.

God is made neither bigger nor smaller by our faith or our doubts. The essence of who God is remains unchanged from before we existed, and will remain unchanged for all of eternity. God knows what questions you have, and how you will answer them, and yet He lets you choose. He's big enough to let everyone make their own choice, to believe or disbelieve according to their own will. A smaller god would force people to follow him, deny freewill, implant faith as the default program everyone operated on.

My God is not a small God. He's big. Big enough for any why question I, or you, may have.

Why?

If God is God, then why . . . ? I don't know. I can't know. Neither can you. His ways are not our ways, His understanding is not our understanding. The answer comes down to a matter of faith. You trust Him, or you don't.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith does not have all the answers. By definition, faith has questions, blank spots, unknowns. That is what is meant by what we do not see. What we do not see are the questions to which we have no answers. We are either certain of those things, trust God to take care of what we do not see (faith), or we are not.

We will never, in this life, answer every Why, no matter if we believe in God or not. Will denying God bring back your loved one? Will contesting Him give you a child? Will refusing His will heal you? Will your questions be answered because you say there is no God?

No. Because God is the answer. The answer to the question of If God is God, then why . . . is because God is God. Because He knows. Because He does. Because He is and we are not.

Because God is God, and there is no other.

That is why.

God Will Answer

How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. (Isaiah 30:19)

God is listening.

I don't know what it is, but you have a prayer. Something that concerns, hurts, haunts, or even consumes you. A request. A petition. A cry for help.  A deep need. A burning desire. Maybe health, or perhaps money. It might be a relationship, or a situation. Perhaps a child, or even a parent. It might be about you or someone else, but we all have a prayer.

God is listening.

Tell Him.

Others may know your prayer, or maybe it's a burden you bear alone. You may have already lifted it up to God, or perhaps you don't know how. You might think God doesn't care, or won't hear you. Maybe you think your prayer isn't worthy of God's attention.

It is.

God is listening.

Tell Him.

God hears us. He hears us when we speak out loud, and every thought we think. He knows when we are talking to ourselves, and when we pray to Him. There is a difference, and God knows. He knows the desires of our hearts, and when those desires are lifted to Him, He hears. He listens. He answers.

Tell Him.

He will answer.

Maybe you think it is weakness to ask for help. I ask you this: Who is weaker? One who asks for help, or one who fails alone? God does not despise weakness. God loves us in our weaknesses, for it is then that He is shown to be strong.

Tell Him.

He cares.

He is gracious. When you cry for help, He will hear you. He will answer. Whatever it is, whether joy or sorrow, pain or rejoicing, want or need, big or small . . .

Tell Him.

He is listening.

What Really Lights Your Fire?

Is there something that really gets you excited?

You know, a passion, a love--something that revs your motor and stokes the furnace inside you? Most of us have something. Sports. Hunting. Fishing. Politics. Social issues. Religion. Knowledge. Something. We're all different, and so we have different passions.

Those passions, those flames in our lives, are a big part of who we are. They in large ways define us, the people we like to be around, and of course, what we do. Where we spend our time, money, and energy. Who we are can be fairly well determined by what we love, and vice-versa.

So what is it that gets you going?

Think about it. What can you think about right now that bumps your pulse up just a little, makes you want to jump up and do it, makes you wish you were there?

Now the big question.

Is it good?

Should it be a passion?

If our passions largely define us, then we better make darn sure they're right and good. We'd better be sure they're leading us down a wrong path. Sports as a passion is not wrong in and of itself, but if you hang out with a bunch of friends and get drunk every time you watch a football game, do a gut check. Is that really good? Are you hurting yourself or someone else? Are you helping yourself or someone else?

Would God approve? I believe God is pleased to watch us enjoy ourselves in the creation He has given us. I don't think He is pleased when we abuse the pleasures we've been given. I believe God gives us passions, desires--bents, if you like the King's English. He also gives us wisdom and self control. We're supposed to use all three, not just one.

Is your passion good or bad? What really determines that is what it does for you and to you. If it takes you away from God, it's bad. If it brings you closer to Him, it's good. Can you get closer to God out on a lake fishing? Sure. If you spend some time reflecting on Him and recognize all things come from Him. Can it take you away from Him? Yep. It's not as much about what you do, but how and why you do it.

What really lights your fire?

And more importantly, how does it affect your relationship with God? If it brings you closer to Him, enjoy it and God will be pleased. If, on the other hand, it takes you away from God, run. Throw water on that fire and get out of there!

No matter how much you think you enjoy it, you'll end up getting burned in the end.




 

Are You Ready For A Crisis?

A crisis is coming your way--or at least it should be.

Here's something I've learned recently, with the help of the study, Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby. When God speaks and we listen, we should experience a crisis. This took me by surprise initially, and I had to read on and think about it before I came to the conclusion that I agreed.

My initial struggle was with the word "crisis." That word has a negative connotation for me. When I think crisis, I think danger, disaster, calamity. I think bad. That is not the full meaning of the word, however. A crisis, by definition, is a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. It is the first part of this definition which the Blackabys refer to when they talk about what they call a crisis of belief.

Their point is that when God speaks, and we hear Him, we are at a critical point of decision, a time of intense difficulty--a crisis--which is this: What do we believe about God? Do we believe God will do what He has told us, or do we believe that He cannot or will not? Because if it is truly God speaking to us, telling us to do (or not do) something, chances are what He wants is going to be bigger than we are. Something we cannot do on our own. Something that requires faith.

It is this crisis, this point where we have to trust God or not trust God, that we should be experiencing when He speaks to us. Not a crisis of salvation, but one of trust. Not necessarily a question if God can, but if God will. Not a question of what God wants, but are we willing to trust Him to do it.

A crisis doesn't have to be a long, drawn-out affair.

Often times, these crises (that's the plural of crisis, believe it or not!) are short lived. All we have to do is remember what God has done for us in the past, and we believe. God has been faithful in the past, and so we can assume He will be faithful in the future. In just that short of time, the crisis passes, and we choose our way.

Other times, we (wrongly) decide that what God has told us is impossible. We can't do it. We can't depend on God to do it for us. We have a better way, a better idea, something more realistic. Just as quickly, we've chosen our path to follow, albeit a path that takes us out of God's will.

There are, of course, those times when this crisis of belief is of such magnitude, the struggle so hard, that it takes days, weeks, even years to overcome. Sometimes we struggle mightily with the opposing forces of God's will, our sinful nature, and the enemy. These are the battles which really feel like a crisis, though in truth it is the daily skirmishes which define our faith.

Are you ready for a crisis?

If you are listening for God to speak to you, be ready to face a time of difficulty, perhaps even a time of trouble and danger. Know that when God speaks, your first inclination may very well be not to believe that it is truly Him, or that He really means what He says. Be ready to face doubt, temptation, fear. Prepare to be challenged.

God's will is not a trifling matter. His ways are not our ways. His understanding is not our understanding. His timing is not our timing. Believing those things, and trusting Him through them all, is not an easy thing, nor should it be. It is a spiritual battle we face, and a warrior's way is not an easy one.

Learn to listen and recognize God's voice. Know when He speaks, and recognize that the war waging within you is not a sign of weakness, but an opportunity to grow in your faith. This crisis of belief is not bad, nor should it be unwanted. We should welcome it, overcome it, and believe that our God is truly who He says He is.

Don't Feed The Mouth That Bites You

We all have a sinful nature.

All of us. Every. Single. One. It doesn't matter if you are a born again Christian or not, you still have a sinful nature. That part inside you which rebels against God and all that He wants. Call it our natural selves, if you will. We all have it, and it's hungry. What it feeds on is us. It's a parasite that will devour it's host until both are destroyed.

Don't feed it.

What do I mean by that? You've probably heard some version of the story where there are two dogs inside of every man, fighting to control him. Which one will win? The one who's fed the most.

How do you feed your sinful nature? Oh, you know, don't you? Of course you do. The things you know you shouldn't do, but you like to do--those are square meals for your sinful nature. "Little white lies," "this won't hurt anybody," and "nobody will ever know" are perfect snacks. Knowingly and openly defying God's will is a gourmet banquet.

Your sinful nature feeds on sin. Like raw meat to a wild dog, the more you feed it, the more it wants. The braver it gets. The more likely it is to attack you. You cannot tame it. You cannot make it your friend. The more you feed it, the more it wants to eat you.

Starve it.

The sinful nature has more or less control over us depending on, among other things, how much we feed it. The more we sin, the stronger our sinful nature. Naturally, the opposite is true as well; the less we feed it, the weaker it gets. We know this to be true because the more we sin, the harder it is to resist sin. That's because our sinful nature has become stronger, taken more control of us.

Stop feeding it!

Stop playing with sin. If you look at sinful things, read sinful things, listen to sinful things, you are feeding your sinful nature. You choose whether your actions are righteous or evil. You choose what words come out of your mouth. You choose how you treat other people, where you allow your mind to roam, what you do, or don't do. It's up to you.

Your sinful nature is the mouth that bites you.

We sometimes hear, "The Devil made me do it." That's not true. Satan cannot make you do anything. He can tempt. He can mislead. He can lie, and manipulate and whisper and even scare, but he cannot force. It is you who chooses to sin or not. Your sinful nature is the mouth that bites you, and it has no trouble biting the hand that feeds it.

Choose wisely who you feed.

The opposing force within us to our sinful nature is our spiritual selves, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As sin feeds our sinful nature, God feeds our spiritual selves through His Word, prayer, Christian fellowship, obedience, faith, love . . . all things which are good.

You decide which self to feed--sin or spirit.

Which one do you want to control you?