Grace and peace... part 2

The Lord has been putting grace on my heart a bunch recently and then last night I had the privilege of leading a small group on the topic of "peace". So I figured "Hey, I'm going to write a blog post on 'grace and peace'" only to remember that I JUST wrote one a few weeks ago. Well I have more thoughts on these two loaded words.

First of all- the Lord has been putting grace on my heart a lot the last few days. Do you ever just stop and consider the significance of grace in our lives? And how without it... we wouldn't be here? "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith..." (Eph 2:8-9) The Grace of God is ridiculous. Ludicrous. It doesn't make sense. It isn't fair. We will never do anything to deserve it. And yet it saves us. Makes us whole again. Redeems us. Reconciles us.

If we take a few minutes to consider the effect of grace in our lives, I am 100% confident that we will live out the Greatest Commandments infinitely better. How so?

If someone were to make an amazing sacrifice for you (say, giving His only Son to take your place so that He might reveal His beauty and glory to the world and allow us to know Him), would you not love Him and devote your life to Him? Would you not be beside yourself with seeking ways to please Him out of love? I'm not talking about trying to repay a debt- I'm talking about loving them because their sacrifice revealed something about their character that you can't get over. Have you ever met someone and then left feeling like "WOW. That person is unbelievable." and then you can't sit still (internally) until you just tell someone/everyone about them?! Maybe it was their generosity, or their humility, or their "sweetness" or their genuineness. Multiply all of those things times 1,000,000 and you'll *begin* to approach how awesome God is.

Grace also will cause us to "love our neighbors as ourselves" much better because, the more we consider how glorious and abundant the grace of God is in our lives, the less and less we will find the sins of others to be, especially the sins against us. When we consider the glory that we are rejecting on a daily basis, we will recognize that the faint reflection that our friends are rejecting in us (when they trespass against us) doesn't even come close to comparing to our rejection of the Lord. Then grace will abound in our lives to the world around us and people will see Jesus in us and yearn for Him. Isn't THIS what we want? To point all people to the Awesome Creator?

And "peace". Matthew 5:9 says "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." What is super-cool about this verse is that, while on the surface it looks like just a call to put out 'fires' in relationships and ensure that people around you aren't fighting, Jesus is (according to the ESV Study Bible) actually referencing the Hebrew word "Shalom", which means "total well-being both personally and communally". So when He is calling us to be "peacemakers", I believe it's also (more) along the lines of us encouraging and inspiring others into that "shalom" peace- the wholeness we can have through the redemption of Christ. And if everyone is experiencing that "shalom" with God, with themselves, and with others, there won't be any fights or 'fires' to put out!

On top of that, Paul writes that if we "present our requests before God" by "prayer and thanksgiving", the "peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7) Francis Chan writes about this in his book Forgotten God. He says that too many Christians today want 'just enough peace' to make it through the day- just enough peace to get to that deadline at work, to get through this stressful situation. But God promises that we'll have peace that "surpasses all understanding". Notice he didn't write "your understanding" or "some understanding" but "all understanding"- a peace that is so insane and extraordinary that people will look at our lives and say 'your God, He is Lord.' Is this peace being exhibited in your life? If it's not, ever stop and wonder why that is the case?

Let's live out and radiate grace and peace to the world, so that all will see that "Jesus our God is great and mighty to be praised"- 'With Everything', Hillsong United.

Truly, His glory is my reward.

Luke

Adoption

What a past few weeks it has been! Lots of lessons learned and many things that make God famous.

One of the lessons learned: eating penne covered in Alfredo sauce and then trying to work out within a few hours afterwards does not usually turn out too well. By the grace of God, the penne stayed in my stomach, but while jogging on the treadmill I felt like death. People might wonder what Ephesians 2 means when it says we were "dead in our trespasses" (2:5)... I think I experienced a literal feeling of that last night.

On a different note, I have been loving two songs lately: "I Need a Doctor" by Dr. Dre, Eminem and Skylar Grey and "Your Great Name" by Natalie Grant. Two phenomenally different songs, yes. But check out these words:

"All I know is you came to me when I was at my lowest

You picked me up, breathed new life in me. I owe my life to you...

But I can never repay you, what you did for me was way more."

Can you tell which song that comes from? It comes from Eminem rapping about Dr. Dre, but (to me, at least) it can easily be taken as us crying out to God. The Psalms have similar verses to this- "He picked me up out of the miry pit... set my feet upon a rock. He put a new song in my lips, a song of praise to our God." (Psalm 40:2-3) Do I agree with everything that Eminem says in the song? Of course not. But I love Skylar Grey's voice, I'm a big fan of Eminem and I hope that we can all see that there is some Truth in his songs. God has gifted Eminem in a way that very few others have been gifted and I pray that one day He would see the Truth and start laying tracks with more of a focus on the true King and hope he can have in Jesus.

As far as Natalie Grant's song goes, the chorus says "Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and man You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your great Name"! When I hear this song, the Lord burdens my heart for the cause of the Name of Christ and I pray that God would empower me to inspire and encourage others to revere and treasure this precious and powerful Name. Read Philippians 2:5-11 for a glimpse of what this Name really means.

I was studying Galatians 4 this morning and the Lord really stirred my heart about the concept of us being "adopted as sons (and daughters)". Check out verses 1-7:

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

So the passage starts out by talking about being "heirs" (continuing from chapter 3, which says that if we are children of Abraham through the blessed Offspring- faith in Jesus- we are also "heirs"). In the ancient times, apparently, until you obtained your inheritance, you were "no different than a slave"- still under the instruction of "guardians and managers" until Daddy said it was time. You didn't have too much freedom to do what you wanted to- maybe even less than a slave! But the difference is that you were destined to inherit, whereas the slave was not.

We were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. Consider this word, for Paul chose it wisely: "enslaved". This doesn't just mean "commanded by" or "influenced by". It means we were OWNED by these principles, with no hope for freedom unless someone purchased our freedom from our master. Now comes the good news: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

God's timing is perfect. This is a phrase that often gives me hope and is also full of truth- God could have sent His Son to rescue the Israelites from exile, or from the reign of any of their terrible kings, or during the '400 years of silence', but the fullness of time had not yet come. God was preparing the world to receive His Son and He sent Him at the perfect time.

Now comes the idea of adoption. I feel like many of us often look at this idea (found 5 times in the New Testament- all in Paul's letters) and just skim over it. "Adoption- that's a nice thought". Or we say a quick 'thanks' prayer to God for adoption. I believe that a main reason for this is that many of us don't really know what it means to be adopted. 'Adoption is a nice thing that some people are 'called to',' we say, but inwardly we usually think of the cost and the burdens we think it might bring.

Try asking a child who was orphaned from infancy and spent their entire youth without a family... then, at the age of 14 or 15, a very loving, caring family adopted them and brought them into their house. They received them as their own, treating them just like a biological child and loving them with the agape love of God. What do you think adoption means to that child?

I believe the child would say: "belonging", "acceptance", "hope", "love" and "joy" among other things. Guess what? This is what God does for us. We who have grown up in a family, be them very loving or not, have a tough time comprehending this idea of "adoption" because we've never had to face the realities of living without a family. But that's what we were like before Christ. Before His Spirit entered our hearts, we were enslaved to the principles of the world, without hope of a promising future. But God sent His Son to redeem us and bring us into His family to be adopted as His own. To go from a slave to the world to belonging to God is an amazing transformation that I oftentimes take for granted.

But God didn't stop there. He could have just said "adoption is enough... they're a part of the family". But He put His Spirit in our hearts that is crying "Abba! Father!" You know who else calls the Father "Abba"? Jesus Christ in Mark 14:36. Does this not blow your mind?! We are not only welcomed into His family, but we can call Him "Father". And He not only allows us to call Him by the same name Jesus calls Him (His "only begotten Son"- John 3:16), He puts His Spirit inside of us so that we are compelled to call Him by it! What love of the Father!

Take a moment today to consider this and then pray a prayer of thanks to God for His adoption and His Spirit inside of us.

"Hungry souls receive grace at the sound of Your Great Name. The fatherless they find their rest at the sound of Your Great Name." -Natalie Grant

Forgive me for taking this for granted, Father. Worthy is the Lamb.

For the sake of His Name...

Luke

Grace and Peace...

Before I write about grace and peace, please direct your thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan and everywhere else affected... an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit that triggered a tsunami just a few hours ago. Check the BBC for an unreal video of the tsunami that shows buildings, cars, trees and the like getting swept away as if they weighed nothing. Put yourself in the shoes of the people who have just lost homes, jobs and family members in the blink of an eye, and then pray for them with that heart. God- may Your Name be exalted in this situation and may all see that You are worthy to be praised...

I began studying Galatians this morning and am SO excited to see how God is going to enlighten me and teach me more about Himself through this wonderful book of the Bible. Here are the first five verses (ESV):

"Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

I love how Paul introduces himself- reassuring the Galatian church that he is an apostle appointed and sent "through Jesus Christ and God the Father", not by men (as the Paul-haters were trying to argue). If you read on in verses 6-10, Paul calls out the people who were turning to a "different gospel", and just so they didn't have to ask 'which is the real gospel?', Paul tells them in the introduction: "Jesus... gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." This is the gospel that he had preached and continued to- and the gospel that we should hold fast to for all our lives for the greatest glory of God.

What really stood out to me this morning, though, was the part of his greeting that you can find in almost every one of his letters: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ..." I once read that "grace" and "peace" were the two greatest things that Paul could wish upon the churches (for reasons that slip my memory at this time). The book What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey is a phenomenal read that changed by perspective on grace. Yancey challenges the body of Christ, essentially saying that we do a much better job at showing "ungrace" than "grace" (ungrace being the opposite of grace- shunning people, being too judgmental, etc), which is the opposite of what we're called to do.

He opens the book by telling the story of a prostitute in a major US city that a man encountered. She told the man through sobs and tears that she was looking for food so that she and her two year-old daughter could eat. She also admitted that she was renting out her daughter for prostitution to support her drug habit. The man asked her if she had gone to a church for help, and she replied "Church? Why would I go there? I already feel terrible and they would only make me feel worse."

Let's be honest here- how many of us, upon hearing how she treats her child, inwardly thought "that woman ought to be tried and sent to jail! Bring in Social Services to rescue the child! What a terrible person..." without even caring for the woman, who had sunk to such a low place that she was using her daughter in that way. No person naturally would do such a thing- they have to be in a rock-bottom place in life to even consider it.

Now think of how terrible our situation would be if God treated us like that when we are in our wretched, sinful states. I'm not trying to absolve the woman of the terrible thing she's doing, but our first instinct should not be to throw the 'dogs' at the woman, but to show grace, like God has done for us. PLEASE read the book, as I'm confident it will change your perspective on grace...

But back to Paul and his greeting. A thought that the Lord put on my heart is that the majority of the Church not only does a poor job of showing grace to those who don't know the Lord... we do a poor job at showing grace to each other. Unity in the Body of Christ, which Paul writes strongly about multiple times in the Bible (see 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4), is one of our greatest weaknesses, and "grace" and "peace" are two of the biggest components lacking!

Think of how split and divided the Body of Christ looks to people all around the world (with all of our sects and denominations), especially in comparison to the unity of other major religions. Now think of how different the Church worldwide would look if we prayed earnestly for God to magnify His grace in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Think of what the Church would look like if we pursued peace in our relationships instead of treating relationships with a 'my way or the highway' mentality.

My challenge to all of us is to do just that: pray for the "glorious grace of God" (Eph. 1:6) to be displayed in the relationships of all believers worldwide, and for a "peace that transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7) to make Him famous in our relationships with our brothers and sisters. Paul recognized the importance of these components to the Body of Christ, which is why he began the majority of his letters with this greeting. He also understood that the utmost importance was for God to get the glory- "to whom be the glory forever and ever." Let us not pursue this for our own fame, for we won't get very far at all. Let's do it for the sake of His Name.

Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ...

Luke

Real Church

Remember how I talked about one of the best weekends of my life a few weeks ago? Well- last night was another one of those times...

To make a long (and wonderful) story short, I had the privilege of taking part in the International Christian Fellowship here at VCU, a God-centered Christian Fellowship with believers of all backgrounds who gathered to love Jesus and exalt Him together. There was passionate, fervent prayer, simple yet powerful times of musical worship, Spirit-led teaching, worshipful offering, and welcoming community and fellowship. I believe that last night I got a glimpse of what real church is supposed to be like- not just a once-a-week meeting, but this once-a-week meeting was a celebration of what the Church should look like all the time.

What was different about this group? These people cared for each other. They loved each other deeply but did it in a way that held each other accountable (one of the leaders was training three Freshman guys in physical fitness and, in return, they did a Bible study with him. "Good trade", he said). Were there nominal believers that came 'just because'? Of course. But the majority were people hungry for the Truth and were willing to give up their entire Friday night (and I mean entire: many came at 6:30 and probably didn't leave until after 10:30/11) to exalt Jesus together.

I am truly not the same because of participating in the Fellowship last night. Even though the first worship set lasted 35+ minutes, a part of me felt that it wasn't long enough. And the prayer time before the meeting was for 45 minutes... but many, if not all of us could have gone much, much longer. During that time of prayer, the Lord put Psalm 63 on my heart and it got me thinking...

Psalm 63

"O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You;

my soul thirsts for You;

my flesh faints for You,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary,

beholding Your power and glory.

Because Your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise You.

So I will bless You as long as I live;

in Your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips,

when I remember You upon my bed,

and meditate on You in the watches of the night;

for You have been my help,

and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life

shall go down into the depths of the earth;

they shall be given over to the power of the sword;

they shall be a portion for the jackals.

But the king shall rejoice in God;

all who swear by Him shall exult,

for the mouths of liars will be stopped."

I really want to focus on the first verses, although the entire Psalm is phenomenal, which is why I posted all of it.

Just check out the first line: "O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You...." How many of us can say that with integrity? "O God, YOU are my God". If you look at it from the perspective of "well, I have no other deities that I choose to worship- not Buddha, not Allah, not Scientology... yeah- He's my God", then that would make sense. But I don't think that's what David is saying. David is saying, "God, YOU are my God- not my kingdom, not my family, not my wealth, not my fame... YOU are my God." Can we truly say that about our lives? Is God on the throne of our lives constantly, ruling and reigning, leading and guiding us? Do we plan our schedules and lives around God, or try to fit Him into them?

I'm not trying to suggest that I live this out perfectly (cause I'm very far from it), but let's shoot for this! What's a good test to see if this is our heart?

"...earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh faints for You, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

Can you say that about your life? I believe we should all pray for hearts like David, to desire God like you would desire water "in a dry and weary land where there is no water." This isn't the only way to know that God is the King of your heart and life, but it sure is a good sign to show that this is the case.

Let's agree with David that God's "steadfast love is better than life" and "remember" how amazing He is as often as possible. Make Him THE priority of Your life and let Him order the rest.

Thanks, God, for ICF and how it challenged me, encouraged me and inspired me. May we all strive for hearts like David's in Psalm 63 for the exaltation of Your Name...

Grace and peace...

Luke

Highs and Lows

This has been an interesting past seven days for me. I had one of the greatest weekends of my life on many levels, followed by a mid-week 'low' due to being burdened by different things, then a phenomenal 'high' full of the joy of the Lord that has now brought me back to my usual norm (loving life in Christ). It's a roller coaster that I'm not used to riding, but I am eternally grateful for some of the lessons that I've learned and am excited to share them.

Don't be surprised if a valley follows a mountain-top experience.
It's so easy to get caught up in the "high" that you lose sight of reality. You might try to stay grounded in what life is usually like so that the descent isn't too great, but you never can. Nor should you- it would lessen the joy you have in the mountain-top experience!

Having spent a few hours climbing Mt. Chimborazo, one of the highest mountains in the world, I know what it is to have a literal mountain-top experience (see the above picture, taken on Mt. Chimborazo). It's an unbelievable experience! You can see for miles and miles and you can't help but be overwhelmed by the greatness of God in His creation.

But something else that happens at 16000+ feet above sea level is that you start losing your sanity. The air is very thin and you can't climb more than 100 feet without needing a break. Unfortunately, I've found that this tends to happen in our spiritual "mountain-top experiences". We go from saying "God, YOU are amazing. Why in the world would You ever choose to use me? How is it possible?" to saying "God, You have made ME amazing... thanks for Your awesome creativity and power." to saying "Wow- I'm amazing. God is good." It is in these mountain-top experiences that we need to be tremendously careful that we keep our eyes "fixed on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2) and humbly recognize that apart from Him we "can do nothing" (John 15:5).

In the valley we can rediscover the greatness of God... with the right perspective.
I have had some excellent conversations about how amazing God is these past seven days with believers and non-believers. One of the topics that has come up is the tough times of life. In my life, I've found that sometimes God strips away all of the worthless things to help me see that all I need is Him- He's my greatest joy and desire. But what if you are already maintaining this correct perspective before the valley and during the valley?

Is it just of God to allow us to descend into a valley even when we're already focused on him? Let's look to the Old Testament Scriptures for our answer:

Job- honest, God-fearing man who repented not just for himself but for his children on a regular basis (Job 1). Even when the Lord took away nearly all of what was most precious to him, he still said "Blessed be the name of the Lord" (1:21). He stayed faithful to God, but when his friends and he questioned God's justice and reason in allowing this valley to happen, check out a part of the Lord's response in chapters 38-41:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action (*or Gird your loins) like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?... (38:1-5)

Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? (38:12-13)

Is it wrong to question God? Pray about that and see what God speaks to your heart, but understand that there's a chance the LORD's response to your questioning will be something similar to what Job received.

The person from whom we should draw inspiration during our time in the valleys is King David. Here are a few examples of his attitude during valleys:

"I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD." (Ps. 40:1-3)

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. ...by day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is within me, a prayer to the God of my life." (Ps. 42:6a, 8).

"Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is not foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. ...Answer me, O LORD , for Your steadfast love is good; according to Your abundant mercy, turn to me.... I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify Him with thanksgiving. ...When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive." (Ps. 69:1-2, 16, 30, 32)

See a pattern here? Though David finds himself in quite a few valleys (many by his own doing), his focus stays on the Lord and He doesn't cease to hope in Him, trust in Him and give Him praise and adoration. He also remembers the Lord's faithfulness from the past and this adds to his hope and trust in the Lord. While we're walking through "the valley of the shadow of death", we should "fear no evil, for You are with me." (Psalm 23)

It's also comforting to know that the Lord truly desires the BEST for His children. Isn't that mind-boggling? Although we don't deserve even the smallest act of love or kindness from our Heavenly Father, He still works for our best according to what He knows is best. Check out Romans 8:28- "all things" work together for good for those who love Him and are called to His purposes. And what about Matthew 7:7-11, where it is described how if a son asks his father for something, won't his father give him "good things"? The craziest part of it all is that He knows that the best thing for us is Himself, so the greatest thing He can do for us is give us is Himself. But we'll tackle that in more detail another time...

Finally, we all have different mountain-tops and different valleys, but let's try to take them all with a right perspective: this week, fifty-seven Somali refugees drowned trying to flee the fighting of their home country when their boat capsized. My "valley" doesn't begin to compare to the valley of the sole survivor who lost his wife and three children and had to swim an entire day to reach the coast of Yemen.

In the same waters, four believers who were sailing the world and distributing Bibles were killed by Somali pirates. The burdens and "suffering" I feel don't begin to hold weight in comparison to the burden and suffering of the families who lost parents and grandparents.

Pray for those experiencing valleys all around the world. Trust in the providence of God and walk through the valley in confidence of the hope that the Lord knows what is best for us (Himself) and is working "all things" to this end for His greatest glory. And remember the immortal words of Marvin Gaye, there "ain't no mountain high enough... ain't no valley low enough... ain't no river wide enough" to keep Him from getting to us "babe".

In His strength alone...

Luke

War Time

Growing up, I was in a children's church called "C4C" or "Champions For Christ" that was a TON of fun. We had lots of games and we would win prizes, etc., while learning about the Bible and Jesus, etc. Unfortunately, I can't remember very much from it other than one thing that has stuck with me until today: whenever the leader would say "what time is it?!" All the kids would shout: "GAME TIME!" They would do this a few times to get us riled up and then we would play games.

To this day, whenever someone even softly asks the question "what time is it?" my initial response (always internally, sometimes verbally) is "GAME TIME!", and in my studies this morning I'm reminded that we should carry this attitude with us into the Christian life, with a twist: our response to "what time is it?" should be "WAR TIME".

Here's the first passage: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (ESV)

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."

What power in the Word of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, in case you didn't know this already, we are in a battle. A spiritual battle. Every day we're faced with choices- am I going to glorify God and exalt Him in this task/decision/conversation/etc? Or am I going to please the flesh and live for myself? Whether it be schoolwork, time management, relationships, work, the fight for joy, etc., we must not take this battle lightly. Why not, you ask?

Because the devil doesn't take it lightly. 1 Peter 5:8 says "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Paul calls us to put on the "whole armor of God" to resist the devil's schemes and advances (Ephesians 6:11). He is stoked to get at us and tear us apart. It's a testament to the immeasurable greatness of Christ in our lives that we are NOT bombarded every second with the devil's schemes (Piper). Think you can resist them on your own? Think again. One of the best, if not the greatest, way the devil fights us is by disunifying us. Yup- I just said "disunifying", which is not being recognized as a word by blogger (and probably isn't).

Paul stresses the importance of unity in the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12... yet we seem "whatever" towards it. The devil loves to use deceit, also- check out this passage in 2 Corinthians 11 (verses 3 and 4):

"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough."

Does this not describe the Church today, especially in America? The idea of "another Jesus" might sound outrageous to you, but how many of us have minimized Jesus to fit into our own little box? John Wagler of Commonwealth Chapel loves talking about this, and it's also found in the book "Radical" by David Platt. We take the Jesus described in the Bible and try to figure Him out and understand Him per our own terms. Don't like that part about Jesus? Don't think about it or worry about it.

Want to read about the real Jesus? Here are just a few passages to check out:

Philippians 2:5-11; 3:21

Colossians 1:15-21

Revelations 19:11-16

Yup. That's the Jesus Christ the Messiah we're called to exalt and live for. Why should we live for Him? Because He is WORTHY of being lived for and worshiped. If He never did anything for us He would still be worthy of worship, just because of who He is.

Paul describes the Corinthian church in these terms: "...if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus other than the one we proclaimed... you put up with it readily enough." He's saying, 'come on, guys- there is NO FIGHT in you. You don't test the words to see if they're true... you just go with them because they sound good.' When we listen to people, even the greatest of speakers, preachers, pastors, etc., we should pray for discerning ears and hearts. Acts speaks highly of the Bereans in 17:10-12, saying that they "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." They didn't just take Paul at his word, but tested it against the Scriptures to make certain it was true.

I pray that you will take any words that I write here on this blog and test them against the Scriptures, because I am far from faultless in my writing (much less my speaking, teaching, etc). My prayer is always that the Lord would write through me and that those who read it would have open hearts and minds to see what He has to say to them.

Going back to the first passage, recognize that we cannot fight this battle with the flesh, because it's not of the flesh. We need to equip ourselves with the "divine power" spoken of in verse 4. If you were going to fight as a gladiator in the Coliseum at Rome, wouldn't you want only the best armor and weapons before you go to battle? In the same way, we need to be equipping ourselves with spiritual weapons of warfare that are readily available: growing in the Lord through studying, memorizing, treasuring and praying through His Word, being discipled and discipling, fellowshipping with other believers, and loving God and loving others, among other things...

So, in summary, we're in a battle. The Corinthian church was described as "[putting] up with" the false teaching "readily enough", and I fear that we as a Church today are doing the same thing. We're not discerning the Truth but accepting what we hear as truth (if we like it) and then minimizing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to a finite "Jesus" that we can comprehend. We need to recognize the battle, recognize that "apart from Jesus, we can do nothing", equip ourselves by investing in Him, and then fight the good fight in His strength so that He alone gets the glory.

What time is it? War time. Are you pumped and ready to fight for the glory of Christ in your life? Regardless if you are or not, the devil is more than ready to fight against it. Let's battle because He is worthy.

1 Peter 4:11

Luke

Praying for the hallowing of His Name

I have found myself thinking of 'profound things' in terms of "my next blog will be about..." and then fail to write a blog about them. Oh well.

I have been tremendously blessed by the power of prayer recently. The Desiring God conference (www.desiringgod.org) had the theme of prayer this year and speakers such as Jerry Rankin, Francis Chan and John Piper gave great messages concerning prayer. Chan's was especially interesting because he talked a lot about how the Lord has answered many prayers in his life.

John 14 is a passage that I have been trying to memorize and verses 12-14 read as so: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my Name, I will do it."

Many believers love to take just verse 14 ("If you ask me anything...") and try to use God as our personal genie, when clearly, in the verses that precede it, God is saying that this is just so that "the Father may be glorified in the Son." When you pray, do you have this in mind?

Consider when you pray for others... it's not wrong to pray for someone's healing or for the Lord to provide them with a job if they're unemployed, etc. But in praying for someone, don't you want to be praying for their best?! God struck me with this thought: in my prayers for others, I should be praying for their eternal benefit, not just their temporal pleasure. If someone's sick, James 5 gives instructions on how to pray to get healthy... but why not also pray (primarily) that they may know Christ better in their suffering? Isn't this what our ultimate goal is- to worship and know Christ in every part of our lives? Or is the ultimate goal to 'live long and prosper'?

I had to question myself- when I pray for my friends and family, how am I praying? For their eternal benefit- that being that they may worship God more fully so that His glory is revealed even more through their lives? Or for their temporal pleasure- that they might be happy and far from sickness, suffering, and trials? That's not how we were taught to pray (Matthew 6):

"Our Father 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever amen." (The last part is included in some manuscripts but often recited in churches today)

Be careful to distinguish that "deliver us from evil" does NOT mean "deliver us from suffering and trials". And the first line is SO important, as John Piper points out in one of his messages:

"I am urging you from the Lord’s prayer that you go to God for bread, and for healing of relationships, and for the overcoming of besetting sins, and for the doing of God’s will, and for the seeking of God’s kingdom—all of it, all the time for the sake of knowing and hallowing, reverencing, honoring, valuing, treasuring God’s name (God’s being, God himself) above all things."

So we should go to God for all of our needs "for the sake of knowing and hallowing... treasuring God's name above all things". And this is accomplished when we pray for others in a way that eternally benefits them- for the sake of the Name of Christ.

Note: please understand that I'm not trying to bash praying for another's health. I have prayed that prayer many times myself and I believe God does want us to give all of our desires, fears, concerns, worries, etc to Him (Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 1:6-7). But I hope that when we pray for their health, we pray with a Christ-centered mindset, keeping in mind that our ultimate goal in life isn't to have a long, prosperous life full of temporal pleasures. That shouldn't even be our secondary or tertiary or last goal in life. We have been created to worship and exalt the Most High King and so we should pray for our friends and family, much more ourselves, in a way that seeks to accomplish this purpose.

For the sake of His Name...

Luke