Straight paths through crooked roads

Matthew 23:23 is Christ's summary of our faith in God.

In one verse, Matthew 23:23 Jesus Christ states in one sentence the logic of the kingdom of God.  I have yet to hear a minister of the Gospel preach on this message.  However, its importance today is that in this simple statement all of Christian logic can be understood.  There are three parts.  First, there is the truth, the wisdom, the judgement, the justice.  Second, there is the compassion, the mercy.  Third, there is the faith, the faithfulness.  But, these three elements are not compartmentalized, they are interactive.

Let's use the NIV as general reference to give us our context.  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill, and cummin.  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness.  You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former."

The first focus falls on the justice.  Justice can be represented many ways but all of them rest on the truth.  The old King James translation uses the word judgement.  This again must rest on truth.  In the book of Proverbs, Solomon refers to wisdom as being the basis upon which the Creator made the universe.  That wisdom is truth.  The truth does not lie.  The rocks do not lie to the water.  Air does not lie to the rocks.  Elements do not lie in order to be allowed to enter a molecule.  Judgement and justice are relationships between truths and God and people.  Stated more clearly, God is truth.  Jesus Christ said, "I am the truth..."  And, all the just laws are based upon truth that can be located outside of our own selves. 

Furthermore, because true laws are just, they become understanding to us.  When we understand God's truth, it is a source of life and health to us.  God calls us to holiness based on truth not because of some arrogant attitude but because He is calling us to wholeness with Him and in relationship to other people.

This brings us to the second element:  compassion.  Just laws are compassionate in nature in that they provide safety and welfare to those who are subject to the authority of the laws.  When the disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabboth, picking up kernels to eat along the way, the Pharisees accused them before Jesus of working on the Sabboth.  His reply was that the Sabboth was made for man, not man for the Sabboth.  In other words, the spirit of the law is to benefit those subject to it. 

The book of Romans is written by a man under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  This man, Paul, was a man of the law, standing on his own perception of truth back when he was still Saul of Tarsus, putting Christians into prison for their faith.  But, on the road to Damascus, Christ revealed himself to Saul and said, "why are you persecuting me?"  Now Christ was already crucified, buried, resurrected, and ascendend into heaven.  Saul could have no direct effect on Christ except that the heart of the Savior was impacted by the cruelty to His beloved believers. Christ's compassion for His own brought Saul to redemption and to understand that the law he had studied had no power to redeem a person, only to condemn a person.  The law was not wrong, but it had no power to help the person with a sinful nature to obey it. 

Thus, Paul discovered the "law of faith" provided by the compassionate sacrifice of the only Person to ever obey the entire law.  It is because Christ obeyed the entire law that He becomes our refuge for forgiveness for our breaking the law.  Thus, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."  (Romans 8:1 and 2, NIV) By the motivation of the Holy Spirit, the believer is now enabled with a new mind of Christ to embrace the wholeness of the law that was impossible before.

And, compassion is exercised not to excuse people from obeying the law but to enable them to change their rebellious deeds and return to the healthy laws they should have been exercising in the first place.  The 51st  Psalm, all of it, should be the required reading of every penitent sinner. 

Compassion is central to the nature of the love of God.  His love is sacrificial with the result that God offers His love to a rebellious world with the understanding that only a relatively few people will return it.

We are made in the image of God and that image is what the compassion of God seeks to redeem to His original purpose so that we can once again be related to each other Spirit to spirit.  His compassion seeks to reach out to others through His Christians. 

We are to be the vessels of truth and compassion.  To do that, we must place our faith in the truth and the compassion of God in order to receive it in Jesus Christ.  Then, we are called to be faithful to exercise them by the motivation of the Holy Spirit within us and to trust the Holy Spirit to annoint that ministry to others to bring an end result of redemption in people's lives.

It is the active and authentic faith of a believer in the authority of the truth and the compassion of the Savior that gives him and her Godly power in relationship to life

Redemption is not to just save from hell but to save for fellowship with our God.

How can a person be happy in relationship with Jesus Christ when the person continues to enjoy the very sin that he or she was saved from?  John 14:1-21 is a bedrock of strength and understanding in the purpose and plan of God for our daily lives with Him.  Jesus Christ begins in the first verse to explain that the relationship God has in mind for us is one of trust in Him.  Christ goes on to explain that not only is He preparing our eternal home for us, but that He is coming back for us so that we can have fellowship with Him and the Father. 

In other scriptures, God asks us the question, "How can two walk together unless they be agreed?"  Our redemption means that we are to be returned to our original purpose of fellowship as Adam and Eve had once enjoyed before their "fall".  Sin had come between God and people.  We understand this from the Word of God in Genesis. 

People today respond to the message of grace in Jesus Christ so that their sins can be forgiven.  People understand a need to not only escape from hell but also to be relieved of guilt.  Once the guilt is overcome, however, people do not want to give up the pleasures they had enjoyed before being forgiven for them.  This presents a dilemma. 

How can a person be happy in relationship with Jesus Christ that forgives the very same sin the person still chooses to enjoy?  Sin does have an element of pleasure or it would not be a human behavior.  However, sin also results in eventual sorrow and even death.  This means not only spiritual separation from the Spirit of God, but also destruction of lives here on earth.  To continue to engage in sin after redemption results also, for the Christian, in ongoing personal inner conflict.  This conflict may grow to such levels that the Christian is presented with the choice of losing their relationship with Christ or giving up the sin with both its pleasure and its sorrow.

This should be a no-brainer answer.  But, addictions are very difficult to overcome.  It may mean that a Christian has an ongoing struggle.  Some sinful tendencies may be cleansed in a moment by the touch of the Holy Spirit.  Others may seem like chains that can only be broken one link at a time.  So, break them one link at a time, destroying one aspect of the sin's process at a time, if necessary.  After all, Who's idea was it that a person could be forgiven of the same sin time after time.  But, forgiveness is not to be used to excuse sin, but to overcome it. 

The answer to the dilemma is to ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from not only the sin but from the desire to sin.  Ask the Holy Spirit to set us apart from the sinful desires in this world.  See John 14:1-21.  Also, read Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8.

Remeber, God is faithful to finish the work He has begun in you.

The great gift of Christmas

Hello,

There is a great gift.  It is the gift our Savior gives to us when we see the birth of the Holy Spirit into the lives of our children.  Isn't it a miracle to observe the same Holy Spirit that brings forgiveness and joy to us bringing the same forgiveness and joy in our young? 

If you will read Acts, the eleventh chapter, verses 5 through 18, you will find the story of Peter's vision from the Holy Spirit directing him to the house of gentiles.  At the same time gentiles were directed to Peter to bring him to their house.  The Holy Spirit said to the gentiles, "Send to Joppa, and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here, and he shall speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household."  The Holy Spirit imparted a gift to them all, including the children of the household.

It is the will of God for our children to be saved.  We can count on the willingness and activity of the Holy Spirit to bring them into fellowship with their Savior. What a gift it would be to both you and to your children if you were to pray, believing that the Holy Spirit would speak to the hearts of your children.  Then, to sit down with them privately, and ask them if they would pray and ask Jesus Christ to forgive them of their sins, ask Him to help them live by His Word, and Jesus to come into their heart. 

Have you done this already?  Very good.  Have you had a private and gentle chat with them lately to find out how you can pray for them as they grow in their walk with the Savior?  As the Holy Spirit is our Companion, so we are the companions of our children in the role of parent.  As the Holy Spirit is alive in both us and them, there can be spiritual communication between the two of you.  You are not only parent and child but also brother or sister in Christ.

It is comforting to read the old story of the coming of Christ.  We are reminded that Christ is the Father's gift to us and that is why there is the tradition of giving gifts at Christmas time.  It is not simply the baby in the manger that is the gift, it is the completion of His mission to redeem us, to return us to the original purpose for which you and I were created: fellowship with Him.  We are the gift of the Son to the Father. 

This same gift is given to our children who have accepted Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.  Therefore, it is our purpose to continue to express the life of the Holy Spirit within us to our young.  It is our duty to them to be the expression of God's wisdom, mercy, and faithfulness to them, by the strength of the working of the Holy Spirit within us day by day.

Merry Christmas

Jesus Christ is worth it all: Mark 8: 34 through 38

An old man came to the podium.  It was a chapel service in a Christian college.  A young man was in the student audience and thought to himself, "What can this old man say to me that is worth hearing?"  The old man began his message, "Jesus Christ is worth it all." 

I have never heard a better challenge to our souls.  As  young person hearing such words I would have  to consider the costs and benefits of committing my life to Christ, to present myself a living sacrifice to Him.  Is it indeed a reasonable thing to do?  Yes, it is.  Why?  Well, consider the words of Jesus Christ Himself to His disciples.

I have been young and now am old.  Never have I heard a more faithful saying than we find in Mark 8: 34 through 38.  Let the Holy Spirit speak to us through this passage (NASB) "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  For whosoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His father with the holy angels."

Contrast the words of Christ with these philosophical words found on a popular bumper sticker:  "He who dies with the most toys wins."  This is a statement of spiritual bankruptcy.  However, it is a common sentiment.  Physical things are the only things many people wish to consider because they leave the person in control of his own decisions and free from the control of the Word of God.  What this fails to see the is the spiritual reality of Satan because evil is a spiritual force that drives physical urges which can be seen.

We are the victims of a conspiracy of Satan and his human minions who have perpetuated a huge lie: "Humanity is the essence of truth and is the highest good. There is no god worth considering.  We ourselves are the beginning and the end of all that needs to be considered." 

However, in our own experiences it is not difficult for us to observe godless people pursuing physical things and enjoying themselves as long as health endures.  Unfortunately, many people spend more time thinking about where they will spend two weeks of vacation than they do about where they will spend eternity.  Then, when they are confronted of the reality of the end of life, they become desparite.

Clarence Darrow, the founder of the ACLU, invited three clergymen to come to his room where he was dying.  He confessed to them that he had said many things against belief in God but that he found at the end of life that he could have been wrong.  Now, he was asking them to intercede in his behalf before God. (Reference here is made to an address by Dr. James Kennedy relating these details.)

However, the rewards of Christ come long before the end of life.  To be happy we need to love others who love us in return, we need to find fulfillment in doing something worthwhile with our lives, we need to find hope for the future.  (These ideas are remembered from a message by Billy Graham during a crusade for Christ.)  The means to find happiness in each of these areas are found in the principles of the Gospel of Christ and would require multiple messages on each of them separately. 

The essence of all of these sources of happiness are found in the Person of the Holy Spirit Who lives in the Christian.  It is a source of daily joy to find how the Lord can fulfill us as we meet daily challenges.  We who have taken up the cross of Christ find that we sacrifice our selfishness in order to gain the benefit of blessings of wholesome relationships, productive professional and home life, and reason to believe that the future will after all be rewarding.

Just let it be said that the Bible calls us to "prefer one another" before we seek our own good.  As people humble themselves enough to give up trying to win an argument and replace that with seeking to find the answer to the problems between them.  And, in the midst of hurt feelings, we can find refuge and healing in finding the love of God to share with others.  It is a victory every time we do so.

Let it be said that the principles of wisdom, compassion, and faithfulness called for by Christ (see Matthew 23:23) can be applied to our professional and home challenges.  If we obey scripture, others will find us productive, dependable, and worthy of reward.

One of the most rewarding things of all is to see the reality of the Holy Spirit coming to life in new generations of young people.  It is sheer joy to see the expression of the Holy Spirit coming out of the voices and actions of young people.  It is a testament to the glory of God to see Him revealed in the souls of the young.  It is a monument of hope.

Going back to the introduction of this post, there was a real result of that message.  The young man heard that message as a challenge to give everything he was to Christ and Christ would return rewards many times over.  So, the young man took up his cross and followed Christ as a messenger of the Gospel.  I heard the young man tell this story on Trinity Broadcasting Network.  I'm sorry to say that I do not remember his name.  But he has become known world wide as an evangelist who literally carries a cross in his speaking engagements.  The result of that young man responding to the old man's message was the salvation of many, many souls.

There is a real result for you and for me to respond to the words:  Jesus Christ is worth it all.  The result is "Jesus Christ in you, the hope of glory".  (Colossians 1:27).  Join me in a prayer to our almighty God, the Savior and Lover of our souls:  "I choose to offer myself as a living sacrifice to You my God.  Please transform my mind and heart into the image of Christ my Savior and Lord.  I bring in captivity every thought and feeling to You and ask that You fill me in return with the motivation of the Holy Spirit day by day beginning right now.  In the true name of Jesus Christ I ask this, Amen."

Loving the unlovely: Gospel of John 13: 34, 35

     Marriage partners, children, co-workers, neighbors, church members:  certainly among all of these you can find someone who is unlovely in some way who has made your life a bit more difficult.  Even we ourselves just might fall into that category from time to time.  Finding someone who fits the "unlovely" description is easy.  How to love them may not be so easy.  Actually, it is rather easy to say that we must love others with the love of Christ.  Easier said than done is more like it. 

     How do I love someone who doesn't deserve it?  How do I have affection for someone who harms me?  What if I love them and they throw it back in my face?  What if they are lying to me?  Why should I?  You can add your own situation to this list.  I'm sure you will be able to find some reason not yet mentioned.

     Let's begin by knowing what we are talking about.  Then, we can understand why this is important to us as well as to the other person.  Finally, we can talk about the forms that love can take which you may not have yet considered.

     In John 13: 34 and 35 Christ is speaking about love between Christians, specifically, His disciples.  At the time He said this they were at the "last supper".  Judas Iscariot the betrayer was still in the room.  Other disciples had been arguing about who among the disciples was the greatest.  As a group, they were quite unlovely.  Yet, Christ says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another , even as I have loved you that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another."  (New Amercan Standard)

     The love here is translated from the Greek "agapao" the verb and "agape" the noun.  This type of "love can be known only from the actions it prompts....is not drawn out by any excellency in its objects....is an exercise of the Divine will in deliberate choice made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself."  "Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian....Christian love has God for its primary object and exercises itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments....Self-will, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God....Christian love....is not an impulse from feelings....nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered.  Love seeks the welfare of all."  (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words)

     The very basis of loving others beyond our own ability to genuinely love means that we must leave the reasons why humans love one another.  Our imperfect nature falls short of what we need to relate to other people.  That is one reason we need redemption.  That is, we need to be returned to the original reason God made us:  to have fellowship with Him on a level that mere humanity cannot attain.  As mere humans we can love others who are a part of us, such as our children, or our family.  Even that can be beyond us at times.  We can love others who share our same interests as friends.  We can love those to whom we are attracted.  However, there always seems to be some barrier, some stumbling block to our fulfillment in all of these loves.

     Our human love can even be a source of great pain, rejection, and hopelessness.  We need a love that can overcome these barriers, heal the tear in our souls, give us comfort and strength, renew our determination to win, not the argument, but victory over the problem that caused the argument.  That is the function of agape love from God.  Read the definition and descriptions of agape again.  See what carrying out agapao in a living way means. 

  Exercising the agape love which is God's gift to EVERY Christian by the Holy Spirit means first to humble ourselves before God and to ask Him to heal our every wound in our heart.  We can do this by reading His word and letting it settle in our hearts.  Check out these verses:  John 3:16; Romans 5:8; John 14:21; I Thessalonians 3:12; I Corinthians 16: 14; 2 Peter 1:7; I John 4:8, 9, and 10; Galatians 5:22; John 14:15, 21; 2 Corinthians  5:14; 1 John 2:5; 5:3, 2 John 6.  Romans 15:2 and 13: 8-10; I Corinthians 13 and Colossians 3: 12-14.

     Second, we can ask God to forgive the other person first, then asking His help to forgive them ourselves.  Pray and say something like this:  "Please Lord, do not hold anything against them on my account;  help me, Lord, as I now choose forgive them just as You have forgiven me.  Lord, help me to give them the very agape love which You supply to me.  I choose to be Your channel of love to them."

     Third, act on that agape love motivation.  Take some specific steps to enact that choice to love.  Don't look for a feeling of affection within yourself.  Look for the motivation of the Holy Spirit to move you to action. 

     Now, leave the reaction of the other person up to them and to God.  You have done your part to fulfill Christ's love commandment to us.  He will now do His part.  You have just fulfilled a commandment from His word.  He has said that His word will not return to Him void.  So, you have just partnered with God in sharing His agape love.  This fulfills us in Him and establishes His kingdom on this earth.

     How's that for turning hurts into healings; turning discouragement into joy; finding genuine victory in Christ? 

Going where you are welcome

     It has been said that Jesus went out of His way to find the woman at the well.  As she approached the well at noon she never could have known how she would find a place of such warm welcome.  She probably went at noon to avoid other women who did not approve of her.  When she came to the well a stranger was there.  He was not a Samaratan but a Jew who was not even supposed to speak to her.  What a surprise she was about to find!

     In the fourth chapter of the gospel of John, in the first 42 verses, you will find the account of the Samaratan woman at the well.  Many important passages the apostle John would find important to include in his gospel would take only a few verses.  But, John found this incident worthy of a detailed description.  Indeed it is for many reasons.  Many lessons can be drawn from this story.  One of which is that it is not a parable.  It is a real life event that was likely told to John by Christ Himself. 

     The basic principle I hope to relate to you from this passage is that God Himself wishes to provide for you and for me a place where we are welcome.  Just to be welcomed by our Creator, the One Who died for us, Who was resurrected for us, Whose Holy Spirit is our spiritual friend, is a blessing that will overcome circumstances, failure, the agony of pain. 

     To go through the trials of this life requires strength which comes from joy that only our Savior can provide.  When the woman at the well came, she was prepared to labor to gain some water in a bucket.  Very soon she had been transported by Christ to asking for living water which would be coming from within her. 

      You see, the Savior had been looking for this common woman to give to her what he did not offer to Herod.  When Herod asked to see some miracle as though it were some form of entertainment, Christ would not even say a word in Herod's presence.  That spirit of arrogance in Herod was unwelcome to Christ.  There was no welcome for this powerful ruler in that situation.  But, this woman who was a sinner, who had been with five men, and at that time she was living with a man who was not her husband, who was as poor as could be, who had no political power whatsoever, but who had a contrite heart was welcome in the presence of the Savior.      

     King David had said in the 51st Psalm that the sacrifice pleasing to God was a contrite heart.  Jesus said in this 4th chapter of John that the Father sought worshipppers.  Indeed, Christ knew of her contrite heart, of her spirit ready to worship.  He had not only gone looking for her, when the incident was over, He told His disciples that meeting her was nourishment to Him.  It had been the will of His Father for Him to talk with her.

     If we will humble ourselves and seek Him in prayer and the Word of God on a consistent basis, we will find ourselves welcomed into the presence of our Savior on a daily basis.  There we will find joy and power in the companionship of the Holy Spirit.  It is good to go where we are welcome.

The Christ Life: trading in less for more

Col. 1:27

     Can you identify with this statement?  "The Holy Spirit is the very best part of who I am."  I have seen His annointing work in me.  I knew it wasn't me.  It was Him working within me.  It was glorious."

     If this statement fits your experience, then perhaps you may decide that the following statements are also helpful in shaping the future of your ministry to others.

     So, if I choose to turn in my desires and issues for His desires and issues to work in me, for His motivations to become my motivations, then this is how I can be effective in ministry while I am compensated for giving up my desires.  Because I am willing to give up my poor excuse for personal satisfaction for the overwhelming fulfillment of seeing His results, I can stop being defensive.  Because I no longer have selfish issues to defend, I can now work at solving problems without hurting my pride in doing so.

     I can now see people at their point of need without asking myself, "What can I get out of this situation?"  I can now see any person who is looking for help from my ministry not as opportunity for my personal benefit but rather as though they were the woman at the well described in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John.  That is, she is the object of God's love, the object of His search, the fulfullment of Christ Himself.  So, those who look to me for ministry are not looking at me as such.  They are looking for what Christ will do through me.  As He reveals Himself in me, He is glorified in the benefit He gives to them through me.  And, my ministry will be once again God working through me by His annointing of the Holy Spirit.

     I will be able to say that I personally share the same meat as my Savior-to do the will of His Father, and mine.  What is true of Jesus Christ has become true of Jesus Christ within me - it is no longer my personal glory diminished by my human weaknesses, but His glory which He bestows to me as well as to those to whom I minister.  What is that glory?  It is Him.  The unity He prayed for in the Garden of Gethsemene has become fulfilled in ministry the way He intended.

     There is then no problem that can stand before the Savior within me.  We can work through them to the other side of them.  Christ within us is the hope of glory.  But, that glory is not simply a thing to be desired as though it were fame.  It is not fame.  It is the beauty and the love fulfilled by His presence in our interaction with others.

     Most important, this is not a platitude.  God's glory will heal souls, relieve people of chains of habits, heal bodies, change lives including their futures, reconcile marriages, guide children, give wisdom for financial decisions, give a refuge of love beyond human boundaries, provide positive things to accomplish to fulfill a lifetime, and give hope for the future 

Help for the discouraged believer, part 3 (overcoming self-righteousness)

     Reasons for discouragement of Christian believers are many. Now we look at the discouragement provided by other Christians themselves. 

     Each Christian has a personal testimony.  So does Jesus Christ Himself.  His personal testimony can be said to be the scriptures.  But it can also be said that more people read Christians in their daily lives than there are those who read the scriptures.  Thus, the personal testimony of Jesus Christ Himself is open to criticism because of the imperfections of Christians who represent Him. 

     We can easily find examples of drunkards who have given their lives to Christ, then fallen away from their walk to return to the bottle.  It’s not hard to find examples of Christian pastors who have been unfaithful with their wives or with church money. 

     Perhaps the issue is not only that Christians who hold themselves out to be better than others do fail like the rest of us but also, perhaps, is the sense of betrayal.  That is to say, this person led me to believe in Christ as the answer, but this answer failed him or her, so why would it not fail me as well? 

     It is not too difficult however to understand the remedy for this source of discouragement in the sense that the believer can understand that there is a difference between Him as a perfect Savior and imperfect people who believe in Him.  It is not difficult to understand the concept of faith in Him rather than in the strength of individual Christians.  To understand, however, is not the same as to accomplish. 

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

     To accomplish the remedy requires the active work of the Holy Spirit to heal the wound in the spirit of the believer who was offended.  Critical to this matter is the issue of self-righteousness.  Some Christians are fond of saying that they are the “righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”.  That may be a scriptural saying, but it comes across to some as saying that, “I am more righteous than you are, so do what I say in order to have a correct relationship to God.” 

     It is vital to let others know that the only righteousness we have is that which is provided for us by the redemption of the Savior.  Any righteousness we exhibit comes from being motivated by the Holy Spirit. Any reward we may achieve will result from the decisions of God, not us.  Therefore, we have no pedestal to stand upon.  We have no basis for looking down on anyone.  We are all equally provided with redemption value.  (You may wish to refer to the article on that subject.)  The same sacrifice Christ made for us He made for all.  We can only look others face to face, eye to eye, on the same level.

     Unfortunately, it is all too easy for Christians to fall in to the trap of self-righteousness.  Some time after receiving Christ as Savior and Lord, after learning some level of self-control, it is easy to assume ownership of our own righteousness.  We feel as though we have earned it through our own efforts.  While it is true that some credit is due, that credit is to come from the Lord as honor, not from ourselves as pride.  When we reward ourselves with our own “trophies” of self-righteous congratulations, others see this and are disgusted with it. 

     Sad to say, it is also all too common for pastors or deacons or other spiritual leaders to assume a spiritual arrogance.  When some relatively new believer comes to them to express some new thing the Holy Spirit has revealed to them in scripture, the leader fails to encourage the believer with a compliment on their discovery.  Instead, the leader  may say something like, “Oh, yes, you are talking about this.  I covered that in a sermon some time ago.”  Or they may say in so many words, “I already know that.  What you are talking about is a rather simple matter.”

     Leaders often to discern their own carnal failures.  Gluttony is a sin just like fornication.  Gluttony shows a lack of self control just as does the watching of pornography.  But, gluttony does not seem so great a transgression for some reason.  Look at the number of overweight religious leaders and you would think that it was not sin at all.

     Anger is another common source of the testimonial failure of Christians. Perhaps we feel that our anger is often justified.  However, anger is not a fruit of the Spirit.  Anger should not be common policy among Christian leaders.  The fruits of the Spirit should be.  They are all too often lacking.

Help for the discouraged believer, part 2

Romans 8: 12, 13, 14, 15

     The fundamental need of the Christian is to live by the motivation of the Holy Spirit.  Because once we have been born again we are faced with a dilemma.  We now have the Holy Spirit living within us but we also have the drives of our selfish human nature. 

     When we think, feel, speak, and do things that are purposely in tune with God’s Word, and by the motivation of the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves rising above what we would have been without God in our lives.  We are more kind, we are more patient, we try harder, we overcome old bad habits, in short, we come to find that the Holy Spirit within us is the very best part of who we are.

     When we instead follow the promptings of our basic human nature (some call it the carnal nature) we find ourselves failing in relationship to God.  Our attitudes become hardened toward the Holy Spirit.  We find ourselves using bad language, being selfish, falling for old temptations.  This results in fear of losing our salvation on one hand and a feeling of becoming slaves again to our old life.  Scary stuff.

     If we follow in this negative path, we are forced to continually repent, to ask forgiveness, sometimes go forward at a church meeting ”alter call”.  One very helpful exercise is to read the 51^st Psalm and use it as an actual prayer for forgiveness.  But, to constantly be in need of such repentance is emotionally painful.  We hate to have to ask forgiveness again and again.

     Two ideas are helpful toward a solution.  First, ask yourself, “Who was it that said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?’” (It was Peter in Matthew 18:21.  And what did Jesus reply?  “I do not say to you, up to seven times but up to seventy times seven.”  Matthew 18:22.  Since seven is the number representing God, and since the implication of Jesus seems not to be 490 (7x70) but rather an infinite number of times, then God seems more willing to forgive us than we are to ask Him for forgiveness. 

     This first helpful idea comes down to this:  since forgiveness is for the purpose of putting our sins behind us and moving forward in the way we should have been going in the first place, and since God is willing to forgive the same thing multiple times, then our habitual sins can be forgiven and we can overcome them by putting them further and further behind us in a progression of not only times of repentance but times of overcoming. 

     This is not hypocrisy.  It is good faith effort to overcome the chains of sin.  It is the process of maturing in humility and faith.

     The second helpful idea is that overcoming sin is not a process of achievement.  Our strength to achieve holiness is a pitiful joke.  Overcoming sin is a process of replacement.  That is to say, we voluntarily ask the Holy Spirit to replace our motivations with His. We do this by reading the Word of God.  We memorize portions of it that seem to carry the greatest blessing for us.  This becomes our way of thinking.  His Spirit reminds us of these life giving words as we face circumstances through the day.  He gives us the power to overcome temptations and to use His Word as wisdom for decisions.

     Read Romans 8:15, 16.   (New American Standard) “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out ‘Abba, Father’.  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

What can be done for the discouraged believers: three beginning answers

     There are millions of folks who once came forward and received Jesus Christ as Savior but for some reason or another are missing from the body of Christ.  Three questions:  what can be done to prevent this from happening?  What can be done to bring some back?  What are reasons why this happened in the first place?

Why do some that make a decision for Christ fall away?

     Last question gets answered first.  Faulty decisions may come from faulty assumptions. Those who come forward may do so for many reasons, but selfish motivations are based upon pride.  The Holy Spirit does not offer regeneration of a soul on that basis.  Humility before God is the one prerequisite for genuine salvation. Thus, a message that offers anything other than salvation by undeserved favor for forgiveness of condemning sin by a Savior accepted totally on spiritually provided faith is a misguided message that will foster misguided responses. 

The best candidate for return to fellowship with Christ is the one…

Middle question comes next:  the person who has fallen away and is most likely to come back is not the one who made a faulty decision in the first place.  Rather, it is the person who made a good faith commitment to begin with but who became discouraged in their faith due to some sort of difficulty.   The person who has a pet sin that causes repeated failures can become hardened to repentance.  The person who has a tragedy and becomes angry with God may gradually wonder away and try to find other spiritual answers. These dilemmas require a considerable ministry of the Holy Spirit and may require a long time to accomplish. 

Discouraged by habitual sin

For the person who has been discouraged by failure to maintain a standard of holiness, the following may be helpful.  Remind the person that hypocrisy means an intentional reserving of a personal sin.  Hypocrisy is not an unintended weakness.  After all, who was it that said a person should forgive his brother 77 times 7?  That’s right, Jesus Christ Himself.  One who truly repents of a sin but repeats it later and strives to overcome the weakness and with the help of the Holy Spirit, is not a hypocrite.  Take a look at Romans chapter 7.  Then, take an extra special look at Romans 8: 1 and 2.  Encourage the person to walk in those two verses.  There is much more that could be said and will be said in later  posts on the subject of the discouraged believer.

Discouraged by tragedy

     For the person who has been discouraged by tragedy, the following may be helpful.  Admit that the most difficult thing to explain is why bad things happen to good people.  However, two huge encouragements should be these.  First, there is another side to this troubled emotional period.  Even if the root cause remains, our adjustments and reactions to it can be guided by the Holy Spirit so that His healing becomes applied to our heart.  We can be battered by winds and waves but the water need not get inside and sink our boat.  We can reach another shore.

     Second, there may be a greater good, a greater strength, a greater purpose that may become apparent only after we have been able to gain a perspective from another point of view.  Once, a young man who had cerebral palsy but held a positive spirit told me he was going to visit a young lady who suffered the same disability that he did.  He told me that she had become discouraged by the crippling effect of her disease.  I asked him, “Well, there’s nothing crippled about her soul, is there?”  He smiled and said, “No.”  He told me that he thought that idea might be helpful for her.  It was a different perspective.  It might help her deal with other issues that faced her.

An ounce of prevention from discouragement in faith

     Faith in God is first of all a relationship, not an achievement.  Discouragement comes when we fail to achieve or fail to relate. However, the relationship was created by an invitation to us from the Holy Spirit.  He has not rescinded the offer.  We have perhaps become unfaithful, distracted, weary, tempted, and so on.  But His offer still stands.  Therefore, grace is still new every morning.  Repent each evening before going to bed and the faith will be operating for you before breakfast.

     God does ask us to strive for righteousness with Him.  However, the strength to achieve this is supernatural because the righteousness is His not ours.  We gain it by becoming more like Christ, not by redeeming ourselves.  He has already accomplished that.  The walk is one with Him, next to Him, not to get to Him.  We need to achieve by relying upon Him, not by proving ourselves to Him. 

So much more to say, but…

     Got to close now.  There are other reasons for discouragement.  Some of these will be covered in another writing on the subject of the discouraged believer.  For now, just remember, read the whole of Romans chapter 8.  The Holy Spirit will minister to you if only you read it in humility and prayerfully before Him.