Dying to Self 3

“I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself up for me.
I do not nullify the grace of God,
for if righteousness comes through the Law,
then Christ died needlessly.”
Galatians 2:20-21

“Dying to self”.  Not much fun!  But necessary because self is the antithesis of Christ as Lord.  Lordship is who is in control?  Who is making the decisions?  Who are you going to follow? It is so easy to live to self!  Money and possessions and self-gratification and self-expression are the gods of our age.  But the Son of God loved me.  He loved you.  So much that He died not only that we might live forever in heaven with Him, but that we might experience abundant life here on earth.  A life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  And above all, a relationship with God the Father.

The fruit of crucifying self is the joy and peace of walking with and enjoying the fellowship of the Creator God much like Adam and Eve did in the garden.  What does crucifying self look like?  Well, it is spending time with God through prayer and Bible reading.  It is obeying His voice even when it is inconvenient or we don’t understand.  It is accepting the hardships of life with joy and patience.  It is serving God through the church and individually, always looking for an opportunity to minister to others through the word of God.  It is doing the task that God has given you with abandon rejoicing in His gifts and talents.  It is  a life of thanksgiving to God for His love and sacrifice and for the abilities and opportunities that He brings your way.  Crucifying self is living a pure and godly life.  Choosing activities that would not shame you should Christ be there.  It is denying the self-indulgence of material possessions and accepting all things that come your way with thanksgiving.

Dying to self becomes a habit.  It is a way of life.  It does no look like the world.  It does not necessarily look like other Christians.  It is your special walk with the Savior lived out minute by minute.  It is not a list of do’s and don’t’s.  It is a relationship.  It is forgiving and accepting and looking forward with great anticipation.  It is relinquishing the right you have to your dreams and your expectations and your desires and rejoicing in whatever God has for you – be it great riches and happiness or be it pain and suffering.  It is an inward peace no matter the circumstances.  It is trusting in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

Dying to Self 2

This is a continuation of the excerpt from the book:  Dawn of Liberty by Michael Pillips

“Only after independence is yielded will individuality truly emerge.”

“How do you do that?”

“I suppose it’s something everyone has to discover the mechanics of himself.  The bible talks about ‘dying to self’ and ‘putting the self to death,’ but those phrases have never really been that helpful to me.  I’ve been a Christian all my life, but my self is not dead and never will be in this life.  It is loud and obnoxious and constantly interfering with my desire to live a godly life by putting in its two cents worth about what I should do and how I ought to behave.  Its voice is independence – telling me I have a right to be my own master, which is a lie.  I have no such right at all.  No one does.  It is one of the great lies of the universe that independence is a a good thing and that we have a right to it.  If I gave in to all the garbage and nonsense my independent self tells me, I’d be a mess and not worth a plug nickel as a Christian.”

“Do you ever do selfish things?”

Tad laughed, “of course,” he said.  “I give in to my self and hold selfish attitudes all the time.  But usually without realizing it at first.  Once I see that independence has gotten the upper hand and has suckered me again, I do my best to oust him from control.  That’s a struggle in itself because in a sense you are fighting against yourself – one part of you is fighting against another part of you for control.  And even when you do succeed in getting rid of him temporarily, he’ll always be back.”

“If what you call your self is so alive and vocal, then what do you do? I’d think the struggle would be too exhausting.”

“My way of looking at it is this: I don’t give my self a vote in my affairs.  I accept that independence is going to make a pest of itself.  But it has no vote.  It’s not a member of the board of directors of my life. It may come in and talk and fuss and try to sway the board’s vote.  And as I said, I may listen from time to time.  I’m as self-motivated as the next man.  But when time for a decision comes, I have to do my best to kick it out of the room.”

 

Dying to Self

Not a verse today, but an excerpt from a book Dawn of Liberty by Michael Phillips (excellent series called the Secret of the Rose).

 

“What about my yoke is easy and my burden light?”

“After we’ve utterly relinquished self, that is true.  But as long as we continue to try to hold on to a piece of our own independence, we’re going to be in for a pretty rough time of it.”

“What do you mean, relinquish self? Doesn’t God want us to be ourselves?  Didn’t he give us an individuality?”

“Yes and no. If by individuality you mean your uniqueness, your personality and temperament, and all the gifts and attributes that god put into you in order that you might reflect his divine nature, then there is nothing he desires so much as that we emerge in that individuality and personhood.  But I use the word self differently.”

“What do you mean by it, then?”

“That part of us that is motivated only by self-interest.  Call it independence if you like – they’re the same thing.  The self that resides down inside each one of us is dead set against God’s interests.  Independence  is its own god.  That’s the self that has to be relinquished.  When the self is denied decision-making power and control, then the true individuality that God gave us is able to emerge -  but not before.  In other words, I would say that no, God does not want us to be ourselves, at least not in the way we mean it.  He wants to kill the self, not give it a comfortable home in which to go its own independent way.  Only after independence is yielded will individuality truly emerge.”

 

More tomorrow or Monday!

 

God is Good, But...

Tough subject today.  Hang in there.

First the good part.  I read Psalm 86 today and came up with a list of God’s attributes:

God is…
Good
Ready to forgive
Abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon you
Great
The doer of wondrous deeds
One who will answer
The God whom all the nations will worship
The deliverer
Merciful
Gracious
My helper
My comfort

Now the hard part:  what do you do if your experience does not seem to line up with this list of God’s attributes?

I have been there. If God is so good then why…? First of all it is a matter of perspective.  We live in Satan’s world of garbage.  When you live in a garbage pit, you will get garbage on you! 

Secondly, though is the principle of “Deeper In”. When Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went with Him.  He left them and went deeper in with Peter, James, and John and asked them to remain there and pray for Him.  “And He went a little beyond them…” (Matt.26:39).  Jesus had to go to the Father by Himself and lay all things at the Father’s feet and be willing to lay His life down for mankind.  We know that “Jesus is the Answer”!  but when that does not seem enough, then we, too, must go deeper in and spend time in prayer before the Father with a heart willing to lay all things at His feet and being willing to bear whatever cross that He asks of us.  There at the altar of worship you will find peace and God’s goodness and comfort and His deliverance.  He may not deliver you from the circumstance, but He will deliver you from self and the demands that self makes.  You will find His mercy and grace so overwhelmingly that your circumstances will be put into perspective.  It is not hard to bear the cross that God has required of you if you endure it for the joy that is beyond.  And you get that eternal perspective in deep worship and denial of self.

My prayer for each of you is that you go “Deeper in” and experience the joy of Christ and comfort of His word and presence.  I would love to pray a life of ease and peace, but I know that this will not happen, especially if you stay on the front lines in the battle against Satan.  When your heart despairs, go deeper in.  Jesus is the answer and He is enough!

Book suggestion: When God Weeps: Why Our Suffering Matters to the Almighty by Joni Earkickson-Tada and Steve Estes

 

Your King is Coming

Sorry, I am so sporadic right now.  Sundays and Mondays we drive and set up the trailer.  Then Thursday we set up for the show and Fridays and Saturdays are conference days.  Next week we actually do 3 show in 9 days.  Pray for strength and stamina for both Tracy and me!

I am loving Zechariah!  He prophesied for Israel during the Babylonian exile, but he also prophesied of the Messiah and the end times.

Listen to Zechariah 6:12-13:
“Behold, a man whose name is Branch,
for He will branch out from where He is;
and He will build the temple of the Lord. 
Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord,
and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. 
Thus, He will be a priest on His throne,
and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”

Jesus is that Branch!  When He returns He will be both King and Priest.  There is no other who can meet the requirements of one of these offices, let alone both!  He alone is the heir to the throne and He alone is the perfect High Priest!  In chapter 8, the Lord says that He will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.  Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.  This has not happened yet, but is still to come!  “…and they shall be My people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.”!  Can you envision it?  Close your eyes and run through the heavenly city as a child full of joy, heading for your Lord and King and Father, God!  With great peace and joy and happiness and love will you come to be with Him.  He will be in our midst and we will worship Him! 8:19b says,

“The fast…will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.”  We are included in these promises as the adopted sons and daughters of the King.  We become grafted into the Branch of Israel.  We do not replace the children of Israel, but we become brothers and sisters along with them when we accept Jesus as Lord and God as Father!  These promises are ours! 

Finally, 9:9-10
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you…”

God's Agape Love

“You have heard that it was said,
'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you”
Matthew 5:43

There are five words in Greek used to describe love. The first word is “mania” which is a love of lust or obsession - a love of possessions. "Eros” is emotional love or the feeling of love. “Philos” is brotherly or friendship love. “Storgy”, also known as motherly love, is the love for a dependent, and finally “agape” is love that requires no return of anything but is a love that is a choice regardless of the circumstances.

God loves us with agape love! Unlike Eros or Philos, Agape creates a straight line that neither fades nor grows in its perfect form (which of course only exists from God outward). You can see why in the King James Version, “Agape” was usually translated as “charity.”  It is a love freely given, and freely committed to.

  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (NOAB).

This is a love that is not contingent on the circumstances around the one offering agape love or the one receiving it. Why should we love our enemies with this Agape love? Mathew 5:46-47 says “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (NOAB).  One reason we should love our enemy is so that it will set us apart from the other sinful people and so they can see that we are different. Now if look back to Mathew 5:43b, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (NOAB).  We can add onto the last discovery  another reason that God has us loved with Agape love is because we are no better than any other because Jesus died and rose for both the righteous and unrighteous. So why should we act like we are better than those who harm us? Jesus was harmed by our sins, yet what did He do? That’s right! He died and paid the ultimate debt for the very people who put Him on the cross! He paid the debt for you and me! God loved me with agape love and has given me the power and ability and command to love others this same way.

(Above taken from a papr that Ethan Halydier wrote for his New Testament class.)

Our Amazing Daddy!

“Do not call anyone on earth your father;
for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”
Matthew 23:9

This verse is not directed at young children who have an earthly Daddy as their model, their authority, their protectorate.  No, rather it is to men.  Jesus is saying not to put another human being in the position of model, authority, or protectorate.  The next verse goes on to say, “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.” We are not to even call other men our leaders.  God the Father is to be our leader in all things and in all ways.  He will guide us if we trust in Him. 

 No matter whether your earthly father was godly and a good Dad or ungodly and a bad Dad, as an adult, as a born again Christian, you have been adopted into the Kingdom of God and He is now your Father.  He is the perfect model of love, forgiveness, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control.  He is the perfect leader and guide because He knows the end and all things from the beginning!  Our heavenly Father is a Father who loves His children.  He delights in you and wants to be with you.  He enjoys your company and wants to comfort you.  Visual yourself in the arms of our Great God Father.  Let Him put His arms around you.  Sit in His lap or at His feet.  Walk with Him.  He is worthy and He loves you.

 

Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #10

“So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
Matthew 18:14

God loves babies!!!  They are so cute and cuddly!  He loves children.  (“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Matt. 18:10) He loves them so much that He has assigned them each an angel to watch over them!  Our heavenly Father is compassionate and loving!  He desires that each of us join Him in heaven. “The Lord is  not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  Does He lack power then to overlook sin and bring each of us to Himself?  Yes, because it is against His very nature.  Or He would not have had to sacrifice His only Son.  God is holy and cannot dwell with unclean or holy things.  He loved us so much that He wanted to make us holy so that we could be with Him for all of eternity.  And that holiness is available to everyone!  One must repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and He will be saved.  God desires that we all do exactly that. 

Does that make God a judgmental God because not everyone will come to know Him?  Not at all.  Judgment has already been passed because we are of Satan’s family (John 8:44).  We are born sinners.  We must be adopted into God’s family (Colossians 1:13).  Only when we are born again into God’s family does God legally also declare us not guilty.  We are no longer sinners, but saints!  And saints go to heaven!  Does that mean we will never sin again?  No, but we have the right as children of God to be forgiven and renewed.  God is not looking forward to the judgment day because He gets perverse satisfaction out of sending people to hell.  He is looking forward to the judgment because then He will welcome His children home forever!

 

Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #9

“But when they hand you over,
do not worry about how or what you are to say;
for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.
For it is not you who speak,
but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
Matthew 10:19-20

Our Heavenly Father will not forsake us in time of trouble.  He will be with us to the end and He will give us the words to speak to be a testimony of Him to the world.  My worse nightmare is of the endtimes and of having to choose between life without God and death.  But I need not be afraid!  God promises that He will be right there with me at any such time.  I see this through the testimony of those who have been martyred in times past.  God’s grace and presence was evident in their words, their actions, their grace and mercy, and they went right into the Father’s arms and into paradise.

God will give us strength and the words to speak.  I think of the testimony of some Christian missionaries who were in China during the Boxer Revolution.  Christians and foreigners were being sought out and killed.  A whole family along with other workers at one compound were lined up in front of a firing squad.  The parents told their small children to shut their eyes and sing “Jesus Loves Me” and that the next thing they would know was that they would be in Jesus’ arms.  They all died with praise and testimony of Jesus’ love on their lips. 

There are stories of martyrs of the early church who were burned at the stake singing and praising God.  If God did that for them, He will do the same for us.  He will not forsake us in time of trouble, and He will be there to take us into His arms!  Be bold.  Speak truth.  Walk a life of testimony through the Holy Spirit.  God will lead and guide.  Trust Him.

 

Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #8

“Do not worry then saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 
For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for you heavenly Father know that you need all these things.”
Matthew 6:32-33

God shows Himself as a Heavenly Father who provides for His children.  I do not go in for the “name it and claim it” gospel.  But I do believe that God will provide for us the necessary things of life such as food and clothing.  Sometimes He surprises us with so much more as well!  But not because we demand it, but because He loves us.  There was a time that I wondered how God would meet the needs of our growing family.  Well, we never went without a meal or fashionable clothes.  The clothes often came through donation bags of hand me downs, but we were grateful for each item and tried to pass them on when the boys had outgrown them.  We look back over the past 28 years of marriage and even though we moved often, we always had a roof over our heads and wonderful places to live with friends and opportunities galore!  That was the Father’s hand.

Luke 11:11-13 says, “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?   Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?   If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”  Notice the gift that Luke says that we claim from our Heavenly Father.  Yes, He will provide our necessities, but what He most desperately wants to give is Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit.  As sons and daughters we have access to the Holy Spirit, but are we relating to Him?  Are we depending upon Him for our needs.  It is the Holy Spirit that teaches, trains, gives reproof and correction.  He convicts us and teaches us.  Through Him we are transformed through the Word of God. 

Is your heart crying out for  more stuff?  Or is your heart crying out for more God?  Our Father is a giving God. “ He will provide all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19  But be sure that you are asking for things that last and praising Him for His good provision here on earth.

 

Attribues of Our Heavenly Father #7

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 
But if you do not forgive others,
then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
Matthew 6:14-15

God the Father is a forgiving God.  These verses can be a little confusing though because there is a condition on that forgiveness.  But it is because of God’s great mercy that the condition is there.  Because God sacrificed His Son to forgive me, I should be so filled up with gratitude and thankfulness that it overflows to others.  This happens when I realize the depth of my transgressions, my pride, me depravity.  I have never murdered anyone but it took the same blood to forgive my pride and arrogance and self-reliance that it takes to forgive a murderer.  It took a desperately wicked and deeply inhumane death by an innocent man to pay for my sins so that I could be God’s daughter.  My sins were deeper than my actions, they were my identity – I was born a sinner.  To completely be renewed through the blood of Christ, I too, must die to the old nature and be born again.  Part of the new nature is a forgiving spirit.  So forgiving others is an outpouring of who I am in Christ.  If I am truly forgiven, then I will innately forgive others.  It is a sign of my rebirth, not a condition put upon the old nature that can’t be met.

Forgiveness is an act of worship.  It is a volitional choice to let go of hurts and to live life victoriously.  My emotions don’t always stand in agreement with my decisions, so forgiveness is a journey of getting the emotions to line up with the decision!  It takes reminding our emotions over and over again of the truth of the choice of forgiveness and then an act of praise to God for His forgiveness and the ability to forgive.  So, you see, this is not a condition for salvation, but a statement of what a saved person will do.

So, God the Father is forgiving.  He is the epitome of forgiveness.  He demands that we forgive others because we are to be like our Heavenly Father in holiness.  He even gives us the power to forgive!

 

Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #6

“And when you are praying, do  not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do,
for they suppose that they will be hard for their many words. 
So do not be like them;
for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6:7-8

The Gentiles were trying to manipulate and appease their gods with their many words and their acts of sacrifice.  God, Yahweh, does not require sacrifice beyond Jesus Christ.  He hears us when we call.  And He knows what we need before we even ask.  God is saying that it is not about a list, but rather about a relationship.

He continues to teach that we are to pray the Lord’s prayer: 

“Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen”

We are to offer praise that God is our Father recognizing and acknowledging that relationship and His power and His plan and our place.  We can ask for our needs and ask forgiveness.  We can ask for protection from Satan, and we are to remember that all power and glory belongs to God.

If we do these few things we will be in right relationship with God.  These prayers can take a lifetime to work out, however!  Daily we must rely on God’s Fatherhood and faithfulness and provision and protection.  We must daily acknowledge His Lordship in our lives and the power that He has to lead and guide us .  Daily we must remember His promise of victory and His coming again.  And, daily, we must live in faith that our Heavenly Father is Who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do!

He is your Heavenly Father and He cares for you!

Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #5

“Will you  not from this time cry to Me, My Father, You are the guide of my youth?” Jeremiah 3:4

God is there.  He wants to hear from you.  He wants you to turn to Him and repent and let Him guide you.  We have the awesome privilege of being able to cry out to God and know that He hears us.  He is a Father that is available and accessible.  When I need Him, He is there.  He surrounds me (Ps. 139).  He is a Father that is deeply involved in our lives.  He knows a word before it is on my tongue!  That’s involved!  He knows the numbers of hair on my head!  That’s involved especially as much as I shed hair!  He considers my way and wants to guide me. 

God’s guidance is not control.   It is not a puppet master moving a marionette.  It is a Father who knows what is ahead, knows the path that will keep us safe, and He guides us to a relationship with Him.  He gives us choices on that path.   He delights in the individual choices that we make.  I  do not believe that God has a plan “A” for my life and if I make a wrong choice I am stuck with a lesser plan “B”.  No, we are in relationship with God.  Just as my children chose their own clothes when they were young and I would delight in watching their personalities evolve through their choices, so God gives us freedom of choice in many things.  He does sometimes have a specific mission for us and can move us toward His goal, but we must choose.  He helps us to never turn to the right or to the left in moral issues through His word and His gentle Spirit.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

 

Attributes of Our Heavenly Father #4

I pray that you had a good Easter.  He is risen!!!

God is holy.

 

“Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and I have set your apart from the peoples to be Mine.”  Leviticus 20:26

Our Heavenly Father is holy and has set you apart to be holy as well.  Yes, we are saved by grace, but we should then choose to walk in holiness as our position of children of the King calls for.  We are to be different from the world.  And that is hard!  We are to keep our speech clean, our bodies moral, our thought life pure.  The New Testament backs this up with 1 Corinthians 10: 31- “Whether, then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  And2 Corinthians 4:2 – “but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”  And again in Titus 2:11-13 –“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…”

To be holy as God is holy is to be separate, set apart, different and hopeful and joyful and loving and kind.  To live righteously and godly.  “To watch over your heart with all diligence…” (Proverbs 4:23.

Encourage one another.  Point one another to the cross and to Christ’s return.  Don’t let the things of this world get ahold on you.  Hold onto things loosely, praising God for each good gift but using it for His kingdom.  In this is great joy and peace and contentment and relationship with God the Father.