Whom will you serve?

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)
Jesus emphatically said, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Paul the apostle writes to the church in Rome, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right.” Bob Dylan reminds,
“You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody….”

There is no way around it. Whether atheist or agnostic, priest or convict, rich or poor we are all prisoners of our sin nature or freemen through the blood of Jesus Christ and bound to his ways. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commands.” (John 14:15)

You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody's landlord you might even own banks.
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

The choice laid out is clear either we are slaves to our flesh or we choose to obey the commands of God. The difference, however, is that now through the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit received when we (with faith) ask Jesus. We are now able to cast off the chains of sin that held us captive and become slaves of His righteousness recalling the promise, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14)
The question now before you and me now that we are free from sin, how will we use our freedom? Will we love the Lord with all that is in us? Will we love our neighbor as our self? Will we tell others? Will we make disciples? Or like the dog will we return to our former sins? (Proverbs 26:11)

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be working in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
“Gotta Serve Somebody,” Bob Dylan

Father, help us to understand that what the Son sets free is free indeed. We are free to tell the world through our actions and our character that we no longer are slaves to sin but rather servants of the most High God, to the glory of Your Name! Let us never forget. Amen.

Nothing hidden from God

"May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)

Psalm 19 is one of the greatest declarations of the sovereignty of God in the Bible. David writes the words to the Choirmaster of the great ancient hymn,

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above] proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.” (v 1-3)

Nothing is hidden from God, our words our thoughts and even the meditations (intentions) of our hearts are in full view of our Creator and our Father. Jesus reminds us of this in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5-7), that God’s law extends to the intent of the heart and sin is committed in the meditation of the heart whether or not that intent becomes action.

David did not need to have Jesus tell him this truth. He understood that God was with him always and he knew his very thoughts. In yet another hymn David writes, “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me….Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.” (Psalm 139:1-4) Who can escape from God’s omnipotence and omnipresence?
This fact should give us both fear and comfort. Fear that our Savior is one who our very thoughts should at all times revere and comfort in knowing that he loves us so much that he gave His Son as a sacrifice for the sins of our hearts before we were born. It is out of fear and reverence that we should strive in His grace to be more like Jesus and less like ourselves with each passing day. And as we continue to understand more fully how important and impactful our words and actions are the attitudes of our hearts will continue align more closely with the words of Jesus as he spoke to the crowd, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Father thank you for your word and your ever-presence around us. Pour out your grace upon us as we are humbled by Your holiness and offended by the words that proceed from our mouths out of impure hearts. Cleanse us all in the blood of Jesus as we grow in thought, word and deed. In Jesus name we pray and in the power of the Holy Spirit we learn.

Is your tongue a gateway for good or evil?

Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. Prov 13: 3 NIV
In his commentary on this verse Adam Clarke writes, “The government of the tongue is a rare but useful talent.” How true and yet how rare is it that mankind takes this wisdom of God through the pen of Solomon to heart. The bible virtually screams the value and danger of improperly governed speech. According to one count, there are 46 verses that warn the believer about gossip and lying alone and from Genesis to Revelation the Holy Spirit cautions of the tongue’s ability to hurt whether it be through complaining (Num 11:1); lying (Ex 20:16, Titus 2:3, Prov 12:22); profanity (James 5:12); or disrespect toward parents (Pro 20:20; Deu 27:16). The issue of improper speech is clearly very important to God, but why?

When the devil led Jesus “up to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, he tempted Jesus by saying “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours,” (Luke 4: 5-7) Jesus responded from Deuteronomy chapter 6, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” It is interesting in this dialog that Jesus did not deny the devil’s claim about his authority rather he chose to confine his response to what He knew from God’s word, “Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you…” (Deut 6:13-14) And although he did not include 6:13 in his response, I believe the Spirit is saying here that the devil has been given some latitude by God to continue at work in our day and our speech, may be a gateway into our lives whether for good or evil depending upon how we choose our words.
The scripture here says, “take your oaths in (God’s) name, do not follow other gods.” This fits quite well with what Solomon tells us about speaking rashly. When we do so we fail to speak in accordance with God’s requirement and we leave ourselves wide open to the ruin found in “other gods.”
Father your word reminds us, “out of the abundance of our heart’s our mouths speak.” Help us therefore through your Holy Spirit to keep our new hearts clean so that we remain vigilant of our tongues and the speech that pours forth from them. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Amen!

The Conundrum of sin

***Conundrum – “an intricate and difficult problem” (Miriam Webster.com)

Mankind’s confrontation with sin through the centuries has been the subject of countless debates, the endpoint of millions of relationships, and the downfall of many of our most famous. Our prison systems and graveyards are filled with men and women who have struggled and lost to sin. Psychologists, pastors and parents are bombarded with endless concerns and every week billions flock to churches, synagogues and mosques seeking answers.

Some, like Ayn Rand, see no issue with sin declaring it “virtuous and necessary” for mankind to be fulfilled, “Man’s fall, according to your teachers, was that he gained the virtues required to live. These virtues, by their standard, are his Sin. His evil, they charge, is that he’s man. His guilt, they charge, is that he lives.” Others, such as Pastor Ravi Zacharias, who answer to Higher Authority, see sin in the light of God’s holiness:

“…good, says Zacharias, is the original of which evil (sin) is the counterfeit….Evil is an aberration.”

And most, including the Apostle Paul himself, acknowledge their struggle with sin passionately crying out with Paul in their collective hearts, “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate….. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:15-24)

In fact, a war has raged within us since time began and if we are truly honest with ourselves, all of us struggle with something on a periodic basis. To follower of Jesus Christ, sin is a conundrum (a very difficult problem) which often leaves us “on our heels,” dumbfounded and longing for resolution.

From a secular and physical perspective, it appears easier not to follow God’s law and continue living life as one pleases. Why would any rational person want to be “saved,” yet live permanently engaged in a war between mind and body, trying to live within God’s standards of holiness? Isn’t it folly, living in a constant state of struggle, while unbelieving by-standers are poised for the believer’s inevitable fall waiting to cry “hypocrite” at the first sign of misbehavior? To the non-Christian these questions are valid; however, the natural man is unable to see God’s salvation and justification often choosing to see a God who cannot keep his children from immoral conduct!

It is true, a believer will struggle to resist temptation, but he or she should find peace in the knowledge and assurance of Jesus’ completed work on the cross for the forgiveness of all (past, present and future) transgressions. Paul writes to the Church in Rome, “…For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly….but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5: 6-8) Burdened by the weight of our sinfulness and in humility we all come to Jesus amidst transgression to receive the free gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Immediately forgiven, the believer steps onto a faith journey in which the Holy Spirit reveals his sins (drugs, alcohol, pornography, gossip, greed, envy, and the like) along the way. As sins are discovered and outwardly confessed the believer continues on a path of recovery and healing called sanctification. (James 5:16)

Throughout the journey the new believer is planted firmly on the horns of sin’s dilemma, his Christian mind speaking, “I am a slave to God’s Law,” while his human nature cries out, “I am a slave to what feels good.” Our sins are unknown to us unless God reveals them through His Word. Once revealed sins are dealt with through humility and confession as when we first believed. Considering our fallen nature, a Christian is at risk of falling into old habits along our faith journey (Psalm 51:5; Psalm 58:8; Ecc 7:20; Jer 17:9; 1 John 1:8). We walk a thin line between former self and new creation. When we take our eyes off Jesus on this tightrope we tend to stray from our path. Paul aptly reminds us however that eliminating sin in our lives is never by our own effort, “so that no one may boast. (Eph 2: 8-9) Actually, the centrality of our walk of faith and our resolution to the conundrum of sin is humility and complete dependence on Christ. Pride caused Satan’s fall and the subsequent fall of mankind, when we listened to the lie and consumed the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3). Jesus reminds:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

(Matt 5: 3-5)

We are blessed and free of sin’s unrelenting pull only when we humble ourselves before a merciful God and say, “I am a sinner and I need the blood of Jesus to make me whole.” Only then will our difficult problem be solved and only then will you and I be able to reach out to our lost and hurting friends and neighbors and lovingly say, “I know someone who can help you with that.” “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” and praise God, His grace is sufficient to save us from ourselves.

Blessings!

Examine youself Church

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Cor 13:5 Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, closes his letter with what I believe a very challenging statement to “examine yourselves, to see (if) you are in the faith…” When I read this and considered what it said I was troubled in my spirit as I understood the gravity of what the apostle said. Many questions came to mind: Is Paul really challenging our salvation here? Is he saying that salvation is more than saying a prayer and believing in Jesus? What does the evidence of our commitment to faith in Jesus look like? How do I know I am saved? How can I “examine” myself? I believe Paul is talking directly to believers who have grown comfortable in their decision to follow Christ. They were convicted of their sins perhaps during a sermon at church or by the words of an evangelist at a conference. They went forward and prayed the “Sinner’s prayer.” Since then, however, their lives look the same as they did before their “decision for Christ.” Today’s church is filled with men and women who consider themselves believers but who’s lives look like the secular world. The divorce rate among Christians is just as high as the rest of society, Men in the church still struggle with pornography and infidelity. Women in the church continue to gossip under the cover of “we have to know so that we can pray for you.” Teen believers continue to struggle with sexual sin, drug and alcohol abuse, and class consciousness. Most American Christians, do not know the gospel, do not study the bible on a consistent basis and do not regularly pray. It seems as if our decision to follow Christ has not changed our lives much, weakening our effectiveness as “kings and priests” and rendering us powerless to spread the gospel. Perhaps we should all heed Paul’s advice and examine our commitment to Christ in the light of our personal conduct. John’s first letter to his disciples and followers, provides some excellent “test questions” for believers who desire to examine their faith. “If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth….” (1 John 1:6) Are you walking in darkness (sin) yet claim to follow Christ who is light? What sins that you know are wrong do you regularly (perhaps deliberately) commit? True faith in Christ requires that you “hate” sin. There must therefore be repentance when you are convicted of your sins and begin to walk with the Lord. You should be transformed as you draw closer to God through prayer, daily study of His word and repentance of sin as God reveals it to you. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) “There is no one righteous, not even one...” (Rom 3:10), we are all guilty of sin. If you think you are innocent you’re wrong. Confess your faults one to another and be healed. (James 5:16) “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2: 3-4) John states it simply, if we are followers of Jesus, we must read, understand and obey what God commands. If we are deliberately disobeying God, we are walking in darkness. “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” (1 John 2:9) Are you holding a grudge against a fellow brother or sister in Christ? Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Jesus raised the bar from physical murder to hatred in the heart. If you are gossiping or holding something against a fellow believer, you are hurting him or her and you are murdering them in the eyes of the Lord. We must love one another as Christ loved us. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) Is your bank account, IRA, house, car, girlfriend, television, or favorite sports team more important to you than God? Do you spend more time waxing your car a week than you do studying the bible or having fellowship with other believers? Do you put watching sports over going to church? If you answered yes to any of these, you may want to consider your salvation again. God must be the most important thing to us over even family. If we love Him, put Him first. The last days are upon us and we must be in relationship with God. Soon the end will be upon us and like the “thief in the night,” Jesus’ return will be upon us and the rapture of the church will leave us behind. Brothers and sisters when the master returns be sure that you are honoring him with your life and not doing something that you would be ashamed of.

Ground zero mosque; America's Babylonian invasion

“The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger.…This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight... And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction. They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination… Now therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence': Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.” (Jeremiah 32: 29-44)

Most Americans are deeply grieved and some outspokenly angry at the thought of New York City government discussing the building of a mosque at the site of the World Trade Center massacre (Ground Zero). The cowardice and complete disregard for the wishes of the majority of Americans by these elected and appointed officials is both appalling and disgusting. Building any symbol of Islam on the graves of fallen Americans is tantamount to celebrating the conquest of the “Great Satan” (America) by the god of Islam. This unconscionable action will embolden Muslims to continue their acts of terror and further reduce our level of security. In the physical realm, one would conclude in that government officials from “Ground Zero to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave” are either extremely corrupt or incredibly stupid. However, we believers must understand that God works in the supernatural and is already at work fulfilling His plans made manifest in what we see and hear with our natural eyes and ears.

In the sixth century before Christ the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned and eventually killed for proclaiming what God had revealed to him regarding the people of Israel. God’s message to Jeremiah was simple: unless both king and people reformed their morals and returned to the true worship of God as taught by Moses, Jerusalem would be destroyed and its people killed or exiled at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians who were already laying siege to Jerusalem. God was using an enemy to bring his people back to Him. Fast forward twenty six centuries and the parallels between the Babylonian invasion of Israel and the Muslim invasion of America are striking. Could our present troubles be God’s judgment is at work again in the Big Apple? (Hmmm, forbidden fruit… how interesting) We will not know for sure what God is up to in our present natural state until we have the vantage point of our hindsight, however, we can now open our bibles and see how we should conduct ourselves in accordance with God’s will by looking at the book of the prophet Daniel.

Following the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC many of the conquered Jewish people were exiled to Babylon to serve as slaves to the conquering kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, thought to be a young boy of twelve years, was taken captive brought to serve in the king’s palace. (Daniel 1:3-4) Daniel was of “nobility” and “without physical defect.” He and his fellow captives were taken into Nebuchadnezzar’s service because of their “aptitude for learning.”

As is common when one nation conquers another, the Babylonians immediately began to indoctrinate the best minds of Jewish society into their culture. “The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service.” (Daniel 1:5) However, Daniel “resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” (Daniel 1:8) Daniel knew that in this difficult situation his faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph would sustain him. He refused to relinquish the Truth for a pagan religion. Daniel’s example is a lesson that God has provided as many will face similar circumstances under the rule of an atheistic socialist government likely influenced by pockets of Sharia law that will certainly infiltrate our statutes.

Christians must understand what Daniel faced and how he stood firm in his faith and the Truth of God’s word despite the specter of death that he faced daily. Whether escape from lions, or a smelting furnace, Daniel and his friends faced constant persecution and ridicule at the hands of pagan captors but did not forsake their God. This brothers and sisters must be our model of faith in the months and years to come as our “promised land” is systematically destroyed at the hand of our enemies. Perhaps God will help us turn things around in time to save her, but unless believers repent and seek His face, our chances to this observer seem dim. We all must choose to stand with God and the certainty of our salvation through Christ or be “numbered with the transgressors,” at the end of days.

Jesus said to his disciples, “you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake…and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10: 17-22) Friends, this does not sound like a picnic! Jesus has warned us all in advance. The time of easy religious acceptance and Christianity without real sacrifice is quickly coming to an end in this country. We must begin to exercise our “spiritual muscles” through daily prayer and bible study, corporate worship and fellowship with Holy Spirit-filled believers. We need God and we need each other to help us remain strong.
Jesus reassured them saying, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10: 19-20) God through the Holy Spirit will help us, if we remain strong and trust.

The best way to trust when times are tough is to trust when times are less challenging. Today will be the least challenging day you will face at least in the near future. Each day for a while will be more difficult to develop a trust in the Holy Spirit as the times will grow increasingly difficult. Please start now!

Who is your shepherd?

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me...." John 10:14



I am convinced after 51 years of living that the Bible's multiple references to sheep, shepherds and flocks is not just a wonderful metaphor that brings truth to the widest possible audience; it serves to simplify our often confused and complex human nature. Like a sheep we by our nature are followers. Each of us tends to gravitate toward others with like interests, and in many cases we find ourselves blindly following the crowd at the risk of injury, ruined relationships or even death.

In John's gospel, Jesus refers to himself as the "good shepherd." By Jesus differentiating himself in this manner, he is warning us there may be other "not so good" shepherds along our journey. As believers, it is our responsibility to learn the masters voice. We must know what the Bible says so that we know when the "good shepherd" leads. Jesus said, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the middle of wolves: be you therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Matthew 10:16 He warned then that in our lifetime we would be tested and tried by those who looked like shepherds but whose motivation is to harm the flock.
If we love Him we will know Him and not be deceived by "other shepherds" when they call.

My prayer. Forgive us Lord, for those times when we strayed from the pasture and into harm. Thank you for being the "good shepherd" who cares for and loves his sheep. Thank you Lord for leading us beside still waters and for anointing our heads with oil. And, though we must dine at a table you have prepared in the midst of those who desire to destroy us, you always provide comfort, guidance and protection for your flock. I give you praise and glory in all things and humbly thank you for leading me even when I failed to follow, in Jesus name I pray. Amen!