My last post ended with the idea that our commitment to Jesus is like a wedding vow. Below is a poem I wrote several years ago about living out your wedding vow.
With the words “I do”
Purity opens up rooms previously locked
Infatuation is unbridled
Encouraged to explore those rooms.
Intimacy and Innocence discover
God’s incredible gift
“The two become one flesh.”
With time, Familiarity replaces Infatuation.
Conflict and Criticalness threaten to destroy everything;
“To Honour, to Love and to Cherish” will conquer the threats.
Their children, Communication and Forgiveness
Heal powerfully all wounds
Humour and Playfulness soften the scars
Godly Love matures and binds “the two” even closer.
Health encourages Friendship and Fun
Sickness may strike,
Turning Joy to blackness
Hope seems to have fled
God reminds “A cord of three strands is not
quickly broken”,
Faced together, Sickness strengthens the cords
Hope has simply changed direction
Joy is found in the Important,
Discarding the trivialness of before.
“In Sickness and in Health” the Godly Love increases.
Most people in “Christian” circles associate the term Christian with those who are part of the kingdom of heaven.Christians go to heaven... right?
(Mt 18:3)And [Jesus] said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Entering the kingdom of heaven requires change. Jesus says in order to go to heaven, you must change – not just a little, but enough to recognize a child-like spirit.This is not my teaching, but that of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.I know of many people who call themselves Christians that are just like everyone else in our culture.They certainly don't have the child-like heart to imitate their “Daddy.” Many of them know little more about God than that Jesus is the way out of hell and into heaven.They don't have the innocence of childhood as they continue to swear and tell dirty jokes, as they cheat on their taxes or on their spouses, as they speed on the highway and speed past a beggar on the street, as they gossip and judge, as they fill up on TV and movies that are full of the messages of selfishness and sin that is now rampant in our culture,as they spend more on entertainment than they give back to God, as they spend more to feed their pet than on taking care of the needy, as they live in a huge house while so many on the other side of the world have nowhere to live and no food to eat.Have these “Christians” really changed? Would Jesus say they have become like little children?If there is no visible change in behaviour, has there really been a change at all?
The term “Christian” was first used as a derogatory name that meant “little Christ.”Jesus was very different from anyone who had gone before Him.For these early followers to be called “little Christs,” they must have changed from who they were before coming to know Jesus.Their behaviour was so radically different from those around them, and so similar to what people had seen in Jesus,that they earned the name Christian.So, Christians as defined in the Bible are clearly going to heaven.But claiming to be a“Christian”in North America today does not guarantee anything, including heaven.
Jesus taught that a person MUST CHANGE to enter heaven.
I can hear the argument already – change takes time.True, change is an ongoing and life-long process.However, if you truly have a relationship with the Living God – He won't let you stay the same.I have seen a radical almost instantaneous change in many people when they decide to commit their lives to Christ. That is what Jesus is talking about here. Change does not earn your way into heaven, only the blood of Jesus on the cross can do that.Rather, obvious ongoing change is a testimony that you are already in the kingdom of heaven and are being transformed by the Living God.On the other hand, the lack of change is evidence that you are not yet in the kingdom of heaven. God has brought this to your attention, because He longs for you to join Him in heaven!It all starts with commitment.Make a commitment to give yourself fully to Jesus Christ, and He will make sure the rest of the details come together. This is much more than asking Him to forgive you and be your Savior.It is much more like a marriage vow.
A person can be certain of entrance into the kingdom of heaven only if their life is marked by change – change from the inside out. Jesus declares that there must be a “Before and After” story for there to be a happy ending in heaven.
Once again we are reminded that the Lord delights in His people – He delights in us!God wants us to celebrate Him and His delight in us!Praise Him in song and dance!Yes – move your body in praise of the One who made such an amazing wonderful body! Make music to the Lord with whatever instrument you have.Praise him at church and on your bed, and everywhere in between!We have a Maker and He loves us!Rejoice in this honour!
When you fall in love--when you love someone with all your heart-- you try to learn everything you can about that person. You want to know what he/she likes, what makes him/her happy. Then you act on what you have learned. The same is true when we love God with all our heart. In Eph 5:10, the Apostle Paul urges us to find out what pleases the Lord. So lets dig into God's Word to explore this topic
(Heb 12:2)Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We normally look at this Scripture to find encouragement to endure our own trials. However, I want to look at this Scripture from a different angle. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the pain, trauma, and shame of the cross for “the joy set before him.” I am making the connection that if we know what brings joy to Jesus, we will discover what pleases Him. Have you ever thought about what that “joy” might have been? The Apostle John gives us a glimpse of Jesus' future and our future in the book of Revelation. In that glimpse we can see something that gives Jesus great joy.
(Rev 19:6-9a) Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
Then the angel said to me, “Write: blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”
(Rev 21:2-7) I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’
What was Jesus thinking about as He endured the cross? He was thinking about you and me, and the many others who would choose Him over all the other enticements and relationships in this world! He was looking forward to living together with us in a time and place where sin will no longer have any power to separate us. He created us for perfect, pure fellowship with Him, and He endured torture of body and soul, coming forth victorious from the tomb in order to destroy the wall of sin that was separating us from that fellowship with Him! More than any works we can do, more than our best efforts to rid our lives of sin, more than our songs and prayers -- what pleases Jesus is when our hearts crave Him above all else! When we lose sight of this truth, our works can become legalistic, our avoidance of sin can be self-help strategies, and our songs and prayers become stale.
I have been busy taking care of my brother, who had surgery and is now facing some complications. I have not written a new post, but I thought I would share one of my favorite prayers with you.
In the last post, we looked at John 8:31-32.I indicated that this time we would look at the freedom Jesus promises.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
When you read that, you may be thinking – “slavery was abolished in my country a long time ago, and I am not a prisoner, so I don’t need to be set free.”That is what those who were listening thought.Let’s continue in John 8:33
They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.How can you say that we shall be set free?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.Do you need to be set free?Perhaps you are thinking “I’m not much of a sinner; I haven’t murdered anyone, I haven’t cheated on my spouse, I don’t cheat on my taxes.I don’t have anything to be set free from.”Well, the Apostle Paul addresses this attitude in the book of Romans.Let’s take a look at chapter 3 verses 10 and 23.
As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who seeks God.All have turned away, they have together become worthless”… For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
There isn’t any room for misunderstanding.Paul makes it extremely clear that every one of us is a sinner.Every one of us needs a Saviour!
We started this discussion in John chapter 8, where Jesus tells us that we learn the truth of salvation by holding to His teachings!How well do you know His teachings?It is pretty hard to hold to something you are not familiar with.I have a 15 year-old son who periodically gets itchy to learn about driving. He has a Driver’s Handbook and I’ve seen him reading it a few times.When he turns 16 do you think he will get his driver’s license just because he wants to drive and he has looked at the manual from time to time? NO WAY! In order to get a license he needs to hold to the rules and laws that are given in that driver’s handbook.He needs to know and follow those laws in every driving situation.In a similar way, we need to know and follow Jesus’ teachings in every aspect of our lives in order to find the freedom He promises.
Do you have any idea what Jesus considered the greatest sin?Was it murder – there are many Christians who spend a lot of time and money to eliminate the crime of abortion because it is murder.What about sex outside of marriage? Many young couples who get “caught” through a pregnancy are treated like they have committed the worst sin.What about homosexuality?The way many Christians campaign against it, you would think it must be the worst of all sins.The apostle Matthew records a very long denunciation of one group of people.Jesus tells this group, “Woe to you,” seven times.He calls them “snakes and vipers.”Who was he talking to?It wasn’t murderers, nor those with sexual sins.He was speaking to the most religious people in all of Judea!
I am assuming that most of the people reading this blog consider themselves religious.Read Matthew 23, and examine your own life to see if Jesus is speaking to you.
·Is Christianity a burden you bear because you are supposed to or is it a delight to know the God who created you?
·Do you serve others in order to get attention or praise?
·Are you more concerned about what people think of you than what God thinks of you?
·Do you hold to some religious traditions faithfully, even though they contradict the Word of God?
·Is the style of worship or music more important to you than unity within God’s church?
·Do you pride yourself in your financial giving, yet fail to give Jesus your heart?
·Are you different at church than when you are home or at work?
·Do you live in North American luxury without any effort to spread that wealth to the millions of people who are living in a mud huts, starving to death?
·Is church more about the latest fashions, or the quality of the preaching than about your relationship with the Saviour and His people?
·Do you read every good spiritual book out there and participate in many Bible studies, acquiring great knowledge about God and Jesus, yet your life looks no different from those who don’t know Jesus?
·Do you spend all your time with people who think and act like you, rather than sharing Jesus’ message of freedom with those who know they need it?
We are all sinners.Those of us who are religious are often guilty of the greatest sin – knowing about Jesus without knowing Him and living differently because of that relationship. Jesus identified that as hypocrisy.Hypocrisy is the number one reason that many people far from God want nothing to do with Christianity. I’ve had to take a hard look at some of these in my own life this week.Let’s stop pointing at others because of the obvious sin in their lives, and start pointing to the sin in our own lives.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:9)
Freedom comes from holding to Jesus’ teachings and through confession of the sin that IS in our lives!
What sins do you need to confess and give to Jesus so that you can receive His freedom?
I want to continue to discuss the word “disciple.”In John 8:31-32 we read…
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
First I want to point out that Jesus is talking to people who already believed in Him.They had faith in Jesus.They had put their trust in Jesus.That belief was not enough to satisfy Jesus. Having faith in Jesus was not enough to classify someone as one of His disciples. He tells these believers that you must “hold to my teaching” if you truly want to be my disciples.
So what does “hold to my teaching” mean?The Greek word translated “hold” is the word meno.According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary meno means “to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):—abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry.”
We are to stay in relationship with Jesus’ teachings.
We are to abide or continue in Jesus’ instructions.
We are to remain always in the Bible.
I don’t think hearing the Bible once a week at church is what Jesus is talking about.I don’t think He is even talking about memorizing the Scriptures.Abiding, continuing, enduring, holding – these all convey the idea that “holding” to Jesus’ teachings requires ongoing effort.We need to remain in Jesus’ teachings in every aspect of our lives.We need to hang on to His Word through every situation we encounter.
So, when Jesus’ teachings are with us in every aspect of life, He calls us His “disciples.”That is the word used most frequently in the Bible to denote those who follow Jesus.Then He offers an incredible promise to those who are His disciples.We “will know the truth and the truth will set [us] free.” Thus, by holding to Jesus teachings, we learn the truth that brings freedom.In verses 34-37, Jesus clarifies that He offers freedom from sin.
In the next post I will look at that offer of freedom more closely.But I will close with the impact of Jesus’ teachings on my life.I have held onto Jesus’ teachings for over 25 years.As I have abided in Jesus, He has set me free from lying, envy, low self-esteem, perfectionism, self-righteousness, and much of the darkness that comes with depression.I’m not saying these are never in my life, but they certainly no longer control me.(There are also still areas that I have not experienced complete freedom.)What about you?What has Jesus freed you from?
Have you ever heard a preacher say something like “I’m preaching this message to myself as much as to you”?In the past that has confused me. The successful motivational speakers speak from a place of authority and accomplishment.They share their version of the way to success. I have thought of that humble pastor who includes himself in his audience, “perhaps he should wait until he has this figured out in his own life before he shares it with us.”
Well, I now understand.God has given me a challenging message to present to others.However, if I wait until I have completely responded to the message to share it with you – you would never hear the message at all.We are all on a journey with Jesus.Not one of us has it all together.Rather, we are all broken and sinful – myself just as much as anyone else.
This week God has revealed within me the heart of a Pharisee.I have the right message.I do a lot of things for Jesus.I know the Bible really well.However, am I really living completely for Jesus?Is He my One true love? Or is my “commitment” really just habit?
The church I am a part of is going through a six week study about beingcompletely committed followers of Jesus.I watched the “Not a Fan” movie at home with my 15 year-old son this afternoon. This was my second time seeing the movie. The tears started flowing and they would not stop.I want to be used by God to bring a message to the world, but I’m not sure the reasons of my heart are pure.Am I fired up because I have a message from God or because I have a relationship With God?
When we were first told about the “Not a Fan” Bible study, I had jealousy in my heart.I could tell that much of the study had a similar message to the one I believe God has called me to share. I couldn’t understand why God bothered to give me the task of taking this message to others, when it had already been done by a pastor of a huge church with a professional movie and DVD series.I’m realizing now that the jealousy was there because I was more excited about having a message from God than I was about having a personal, intimate relationship with Him.
Jesus prayed in the upper room the night of His betrayal.In His prayer, He includes these words. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”(Jn 17:3) Life is not about how much I know. Life is not about what I do.Life is about knowing the One true God and His Son Jesus Christ. I have some relationship work to do this week.
My sister-in-law, Janine, is a woman I respect and admire tremendously.She has a heart of gold, does an amazing job parenting her two kids, and has a successful music career in classical voice. She checked out my blog and provided the comment below. I decided to share her comment and my response, because I understand that many (or maybe most) of the people reading this blog may be coming from a similar place.
"Hi Cindy, You are making some very good points. I went to a Women in Faith weekend this fall and my small group is reading "Laugh your way to grace"; both of these pointed out how great it is to include humor in our relationships with others, and that humor can help us to bring in more disciples as well. You might consider adding funny anecdotes, even funny things that your kids say, experiences you've had, etc. It makes it more informal and for me, more inviting. Just a thought. Keep on keeping on! Have a terrific week!"
That is fantastic advice.However I have a couple of problems with delivering that here in this blog.First, Janine’s husband (my brother) got his share and mine of the humor in the family, leaving me with a very serious disposition.Second, the message God has put on my heart is not a funny one.
So, here is the story behind this blog.Over the past few years the challenges in my life became too much for me to handle, so I now am blessed with opportunities for respite – a chance to get away from the challenges and refresh and recharge.This summer I was enjoying some respite at the home of my dear friend Lisa, in Hamilton.We have been very close friends for over 20 years.While there, God burdened my heart with the following Scripture.
“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he 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 perform many miracles?Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.Away from me you evildoers!' (Mt 7:21-23)
There isn’t anything humorous about this message. Jesus says that MANY who believe in Him will be turned away from heaven.Not a few, not some, but MANY. These believers include people who have performed miracles in his Name and have driven out demons.These believers were religious, and yet Jesus tells them He never knew them.
Many people that believe they are going to heaven will die only to discover they were wrong.God wants this message delivered to those whom He loves, so they can respond to the true message of salvation – but so many messengers are interested in making the gospel inviting at the cost of not delivering God’s full message.
As my heart began to comprehend God’s pain over this truth, His message continued. I received a constant flood of Scriptures, which I was madly trying to type fast enough to keep up with the torrent.I was still up at in the morning typing away.This is not at all normal for me. I have struggled with chronic fatigue for 15 years -- I am never awake at in the morning.
I came home from Hamilton with only the beginnings of God's commission on my computer.Less than 2 days later, I had broken my right ankle by simply stepping wrong. All my plans for the summer were smashed because I was unable to drive – including plans to visit Janine and family.God gave me sign after sign that He was giving me time to finish compiling the message. He had put on my heart.I shared my experience with my small group, and they asked to be included in it.Over the next several months I shared the message (basically an organized chain of Scriptures) with my small group.All of us experienced wonderful and exciting transformation from what we learned and shared together.
This blog is a stepping stone to sharing that message with a wider audience. This blog is not really designed to meet the needs of non-believers.It isn’t seeker-friendly or terribly inviting.However, what I present here comes directly from the Scriptures.I pray that you will be able to know with certainty whether you are on the wide road or the narrow road – based on the full message of the gospel.Do you have religion or do you really have Jesus?On Judgment day are you certain He will know you?What do you base that on – a quick prayer, a family history of being Christians, a legalistic obedience?This blog, and more so the book I am writing, will present the whole truth of what the Bible says about this topic. I am not the judge, just the messenger. I will post some Scriptures about grace and the peace and joy that come when you understand and respond to the entire message of the gospel. However, there are already a lot of messengers sharing those messages.
I don't know why God gave me this call, but I believe to the depths of my soul that He did give it to me. I have learned about spiritual gifts over the past few years.Twoyears ago, God made it clear that He has given me a gift with His Word.I have memory problems in every area of my life, yet I can remember His Word.During every Bible study or small group God gives me relevant Scriptures to share. I have used deep Bible study to address my clinical depression, long before I knew anyone who knew anything about spiritual healing. I used to be incredibly arrogant, thinking this gift was by my own study and effort, but I now humbly acknowledge that it is a spiritual gift from God.At this time, He has called me to use this gift in a very specific way to build up the body of Christ.
In the first three centuries of the Christian church, the church grew by leaps and bounds, in spite of terrible persecution. The early Christians (disciples) multiplied even though they knew they could be killed for their faith.Today Christians in Communist and Muslim countries follow Jesus in spite of imprisonment and torture.The numbers are growing in spite of a message that guarantees incredible difficulties.In North America the Gospel is presented in comfortable and inviting ways with little or no mention of hardship.Our North American churches are dwindling and closing their doors as people leave in droves.Something I encourage you to think about.
