Posted on Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Dustbin of History

Here’s a quick reminder to help you keep a healthy perspective on life: What you see—it is temporary. It is here today and gone tomorrow, inexorably headed for the dustbin of history! I didn’t say it is unimportant—that may or may not be the case—but, for sure, it is temporary. It will all, even the really expensive stuff, sooner or later, return to the dust from which it came. Spiritually wise people will fight to keep that perspective regarding the stuff of life.

The Journey: Luke 21:5-6

Some of his disciples began talking about the majestic stonework of the Temple and the memorial decorations on the walls. But Jesus said, “The time is coming when all these things will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

Here’s a quick reminder to help you keep a healthy perspective on life: What you see—it is temporary; it is here today, gone tomorrow and inexorably headed for the dustbin of history!

I didn’t say it is unimportant—that may or may not be the case—but, for sure, it is temporary. It will all, even the really expensive stuff, sooner or later, return to the dust from which it came.

The disciples were pretty infatuated with the beauty and magnificence of Herod’s Temple, and rightly so, from a human perspective. It was a wonder to behold. But Jesus gave them a dose of reality by reminding them that every square inch of it would soon return to the dust from which it had been created.

Jesus didn’t say that the temple was unimportant. In fact, he had driven out the moneychangers who were corrupting that very place. (Matthew 21:12-13) He was upset that they had turned what should have been a house of prayer into a den of thieves. Jesus wasn’t down on this marvelous place of worship. He just knew that in the larger scheme of things, it was only temporary.

So also are all the things that give you comfort and security: Your home, car, clothes, jewelry, and all the other stuff that you spend your hard earned money on just to one day put in a garage sale. Not necessarily unimportant, mind you—just temporary.

Spiritually wise people will fight to keep that perspective regarding the stuff of life. They will remember, as Jesus said, that not only earth, but even the heavens as we know them will one day pass away. The only things that will remain are the things that he has proclaimed: “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.” (Luke 21:33)

That’s why Jesus warned us not to get too caught up in the things of life: “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing” — the pursuit of happiness … “drunkenness” — the pursuit of pleasure … “and by the worries of this life” — the pursuit of comfort. (Luke 21:34)

The temporary stuff of this life will prove to be “a trap” (Luke 21:35) if we don’t ruthlessly maintain an eternal perspective: “Watch therefore, and pray…” (verse 36).

Friend, it would be wise for you to remember what the Master said as you go about your day today. Your stuff is temporary; only what is of faith is eternal. Perhaps a good prayer for you to whisper throughout this day would be the one suggested by Bernard, Archbishop of Vienne: “Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.” Perhaps that will keep you suspicious that most of what the world will tell you that you’ve just got to have now will produce nothing that will follow you into eternity.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, keep me focused on the things of your eternal kingdom today, and not on the pursuit of the temporary stuff that vies for my attention.

Posted on Monday, October 28, 2019

Ridiculous Generosity

It’s More Blessed to Give Than to Receive—Really!

Your generosity includes money and material, obviously, but it’s about a mindset more than anything. It’s also about being ridiculously generous with love, encouragement, forgiveness, time and everything else you possess materially and non-materially. And one of the many benefits of being ridiculously generous with your life in all its dimensions is that it frees you up on the inside. Studies show that generosity is tied to less stress, lower depression, a better marriage and higher happiness. Bottom line: Be generous—riduculously!

The Journey: Luke 21:1-4

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Blog Disclaimer: I’m not posting this because I need your money. Neither does God—he less than me. But we both want your soul to be freer than it is. That is why you find an amazing amount of teaching in the Bible—both Old and New Testaments—on the subject of money and wealth. And Jesus—wow, did he talk about it a lot.

Including the story of the poor widow woman putting her offering into the temple treasury. Interestingly, Jesus was watching her like a hawk—which would be a faux pas of the highest order in church culture today. But without apology, he was watching her, and others, and offering a running commentary on the amounts that each giver was giving. And his conclusion was that those with much more wealth to give were nowhere near as generous as she with her pitifully small offering of two insignificant coins because she gave out of her poverty all that she had.

So why so much attention given in this particular event, and in general, why so much attention throughout the scriptures on money and material possessions? The answer is simple: God owns it all, and he wants you to be worshipful with it by giving a portion of it back to him, and generous with it toward others by sharing it. The bottom line to the Bible’s teaching on money is that we are called to be ridiculously generous with it.

Now generosity includes money and material, obviously, but it’s about a mindset more than anything. It’s also about being ridiculously generous with love, encouragement, forgiveness, time and everything else you possess materially and non-materially. And one of the many benefits of being ridiculously generous with your life in all its dimensions is that it frees you up on the inside. Studies show that generosity is tied to less stress, lower depression, a better marriage and higher happiness.

Jesus knew that way before the social psychologists came along. That’s why he said, “it’s more blessed to give than receive.” (Acts 20:35) That is why he made an example for all time of this generous widow. She got it, and she was blessed of God more than most with extreme wealth.

The Greek word for “blessed” is markarios. Not only blessed, it meant hilariously happy. Hopefully she knew that in this life, but for sure, the poor widow is hilarious happy for all eternity in heaven—and ridiculously wealthy.

Want inner health and happiness now? Be generous! Want to be ridiculously wealthy when it counts—in heaven. Be generous now!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, help me to loosen my death grip on money, so my money doesn’t have a death grip on me. Strengthen me to be ridiculously generous toward the things you are about.

Posted on Friday, October 25, 2019

Refreshing Authenticity

Being the Real Deal is the Most Persuasive Argument

The most powerful weapon against inauthentic religiosity is the simple authenticity of your own spirituality. When you walk in Christlike power, authority and humility, you won’t have to go out of your way to condemn anyone. Simply being the real deal will be enough.

The Journey: Luke 20:46-47

“Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished.”

On a fairly regular basis, concerned believers will approach me with questions about certain nationally known religious figures—televangelists, TV preachers, well-known Christian authors. Usually the concerns center around their opulent lifestyles, their over-the-top theatrics, or the “lightweight” message they preach. And their concern is legitimate. As the English philosopher and writer, Isaac Taylor suggested, “Suspect everything that is prosperous unless it promotes piety and charity and humility.” But the hope behind these believers’ concern with celebrity preachers is that I will side with their sense of outrage and condemnation.

Jesus had a string of run-ins with spiritual celebrities in his day. Although their theology was not of the health and wealth variety that you see so much today—theirs was harsh, condemning, legalistic and intolerant—the outcome was much the same: Over-the-top showiness and money-grubbing.

In Jesus’ case, he didn’t go out of his way to condemn them; they were going out of their way to condemn him. But when confronted, Jesus spoke openly and honestly of the spiritual damage they were doing and of the harsh judgment that awaited them. As a result, they hated Jesus and looked for every opportunity to have him killed.

The simple authenticity of Jesus’ spirituality—his power, authority and humility—was a threat to their carefully crafted religious celebrity. That’s why there was such hatred and hostility toward Jesus. Jesus was the real deal—and they suffered by comparison in the eyes of a spiritually discerning public.

Which brings me to a point about today’s “Christian” celebrities. There is nothing wrong with having respectful debate regarding their ways, or sharing an informed opinion when asked. But the most powerful weapon against inauthentic religiosity is the simple authenticity of your own spirituality. When you walk in Christlike power, authority and humility, you won’t have to go out of your way to condemn anyone. Simply being the real deal will be enough.

I’ve been told that when U.S. treasury agents are trained to spot counterfeit money, they don’t spend their time looking at phony bills. They study the real deal. They become so familiar with the truth that the fake becomes readily apparent.

Just be the real deal—nothing more is required.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, strip me of pretentious, self-absorbed showiness and make me the real deal. I am open to your refinement, and willingly surrender my ego and agenda to you. As painful as that may be, enable me to walk in authentic power, spiritual authority, and true humility.

Posted on Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Beating Death to Death

So far, the death rate is hovering around 100%, but there is a day coming when death will be beaten to death. Jesus said it, promised it, and proved he had the authority to deliver on that promise by rising from death’s grip. Death is the last of God’s enemies—and ours—to be done away with, but that day will come when the children of the resurrection are no longer required to feel its sting.

The Journey: Luke 20:36

“And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.”

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15, NLT)

Did you catch that? “Death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire” from which there is no escape. At long last, that which sin conceived in the Garden of Eden is forever buried at the Great White Throne judgment, and the children of God are finally and fully free to enjoy life unending—a return to the original plan of God before the fall of man. There will never again be a mournful tear shed or a restless night of worry over sickness unto death or a bedside vigil or a funeral service:

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:3-4, NLT)

Wishful thinking? Pie-in-the-sky preaching? The opiate of hope? Not a chance! This is bedrock theology, promised by the Resurrection and the Life himself:

“Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.” (Revelation 20:5-7)

That day is coming, friend, perhaps sooner rather than later, when death will be beaten to death. And since you’re a child of God—and of the resurrection—you have a lot to be happy about today!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, you have promised eternal life to all who trust in your Son. I believe in Jesus; he is the resurrection and the life. So today, I gratefully reclaim your promise of life without end.

Posted on Monday, October 21, 2019

How’s Business?

You and I are here on Planet Earth to carry out business for the King. He has given us kingdom resources—influence, money, creativity, and vision. He has privileged us with opportunities to leverage every fiber of what we are and every last ounce of all that we have in a way that will produce in time the stuff of eternity: Fame for the King, souls for his kingdom, and a foretaste of the abundant life (even if it is imperfectly and temporally expressed). That’s our business—nothing more than that; nothing less will do. So that begs the question: How’s business?

The Journey: Luke 19:13

“Invest this for me while I am gone.”

This is the simplest explanation of what Christians are supposed to be doing between their salvation and their entry into the eternal kingdom, either by death or by virtue of Christ’s return: Investing!

The old King James Version says it like this: “Occupy till I come.” The New King James Version translates it: “Do business till I come.” Invest, occupy, do business—I like all of those. That is what Christians are supposed to be doing with their time, energy and treasures—investing and producing an eternal profit in the business of the kingdom. There is nothing more important—and more pleasurable—than that.

The problem is, we Christians tend to forget that we are not here on Planet Earth for our own benefit. Along the way, we lose sight of the fact that the perfectly good oxygen we are taking in is not simply for our own pleasure. The time and space we are occupying is not merely for our own temporal purposes—that would be a cosmic waste!

No, you and I are here on assignment for the King. He has given us kingdom resources—influence, money, creativity, and vision. He has privileged us with opportunities to leverage every fiber of what we are and every last ounce of all that we have in a way that will produce now the stuff of eternity: Fame for the King, souls for his kingdom, and a foretaste of the abundant life (even if it is imperfectly and temporally expressed).

That is our business—nothing more than that; nothing less will do.

So that begs the question: How’s business?

For too many Christians, their kingdom business is in a recession. Not because the economy is bad, but because they have lost sight of the core purpose of their business and the irresistibility of their Product. Rather, they have retreated to a preserve-what-we-have mode and are not expanding into a market of unlimited potential. In an era long ago, the reformer Martin Luther soberly described it this way,

“The idea that the service to God should have only to do with a church altar, singing, reading, sacrifice, and the like is without doubt but the worst trick of the devil. How could the devil have led us more effectively astray than by the narrow conception that service to God takes place only in a church and by the works done therein…The whole world could abound with the services to the Lord; services – not only in churches but also in the home, kitchen, workshop, field.”

The world is still our market, and we’ve got an unstoppable, irresistible business with unlimited potential to change the world. And the time has never been better to expand it.

So again, here is the question: How’s business?

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, thank you for calling me into your kingdom business. Now today, give me a fresh baptism of passion and power to advance it in a way that will delight your heart.

Posted on Friday, October 18, 2019

What Drives You Crazy Drove Jesus To The Cross

When you watch the evening news and see people in foreign lands or in the streets of your own city who are acting out in hostility to your Christianity, who display behavior that is morally repugnant to your faith, who would rather kill you than allow you to live, you are seeing the very kinds of people Jesus came to seek and save. They matter to God. Jesus came to seek and save them just as much as he came to seek and save you. And since Father, Son and Holy Spirit see people that way, there ought to be a big difference in how you see them, too. Just remember, the people who drive you crazy drove Jesus to the cross.

The Journey: Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

“Finding lost people!” Those three words pretty well sum up Jesus’ purpose in life. That very phrase would have likely been his mission statement if those statements had been around in Jesus’ day. Finding people who were spiritually lost was first and foremost the foundational conviction that led Jesus, the Son of God, Second Person of the Eternal Trinity, to leave his throne in glory, come to earth as a man, and die the horrific death of the cross.

Beyond the ability of human language to adequately describe the love that fueled this passion, simply put, lost people mattered to Jesus. And lost people mattered to his Father. John 3:16, the most compelling of all the verses of the Bible, reminds us of this driving conviction of God’s being: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Obviously, the truth of Luke 19:10 and John 3:16 is so vitally important because you and I are the eternal beneficiaries of Jesus’ passionate pursuit and God’s unstoppable love for lost people. But as indescribably wonderful as that is, there is more to it. You see, since lost people matter so dearly to Father and Son (and Spirit, too—see Luke 4:18), they ought to matter deeply to us as well. This is so fundamentally critical because knowing how the Godhead perceives people ought to make a difference in how you think of and respond to them.

In other words, as you go about your day today, you cannot look into the eyes of another human being without seeing a soul so loved by God that he willingly gave his only Son to die for their redemption. When the unbeliever sitting in the cubicle next to you or in the locker beside yours or in the unkempt house across the street from you is rubbing you the wrong way, just remember that they matter to God as much as you do! When you watch the evening news and see people in foreign lands or in the streets of your own city who are acting out in hostility to your Christianity, who display behavior that is morally repugnant to your faith, who would rather kill you than allow you to live, you are seeing the very kinds of people Jesus came to seek and save.

They matter to God. Jesus came to seek and save them just as much as he came to seek and save you. And since Father, Son and Holy Spirit see people that way, there ought to be a big difference in how you see them, too.

Just remember, the people who drive you crazy drove Jesus to the cross.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I confess that lost people don’t matter to me like they do to you. Please forgive me, and truly take over my life until I bleed with a compassion that leads me to see all people as you do.

Posted on Wednesday, October 16, 2019

What Do You Want?

God is not a reluctant deity, but a heavenly Father who is more than willing to respond to the needs of his children. But they must ask! The Puritan preacher Thomas Watson once remarked, “The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.” Asking in prayer is the rule of the kingdom. So what do you need today that would be best if God provided it? Ask!

The Journey: Luke 18:41

Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”

Jesus begins this chapter by telling his disciples a parable that they should always pray and never give up. (Luke 18:1) The big idea that Jesus wanted us to get is that God is not a reluctant deity, but a heavenly Father who is more than willing to respond to the needs of his children.

But they must ask! Thomas Watson remarked, “The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.” Asking in prayer is the rule of the kingdom, because it both demonstrates and produces several critical factors in the Father-child relationship that faith enables:

Dependence upon God (Luke 18:7-8, NLT)
Humility before God (Luke 18:14, NLT)
Childlike trust in God (Luke 18:17, NLT)
Full surrender to God (Luke 18:29-30, NLT)
The relentless pursuit of God (Luke 18:39, NLT).

All of those faith factors are precious in the sight of God. For that reason, the God who knows what we need before we even ask, and who desires more than we can imagine to give us what we desire, waits for us to exercise our faith—and ask.

That is why Jesus asked the question in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Jesus wasn’t talking about saving faith; he was speaking of the exercise of faith by those who have it. Perhaps he was looking prophetically through the passage of time to the present age when we depend on just about everybody and everything else other than our Father to take care of our needs. If we have a headache, is our first response to ask God to heal it, or to go to our medicine cabinet for a pill? If we have a beef with a neighbor, is our first response to go to God in prayer, or call a lawyer? If we are facing a financial challenge, is our first response to be obediently generous toward God, or do we pull in our resources for that rainy day? Do we ask, and keep on asking? Do we pray and not give up? Do we keep exercising our faith—demonstrating our dependence, showing our humility, practicing our trust, offering our surrender, refusing to turn aside—by returning to God again and again for his supply?

Or do we far too easily and much too quickly find an alternative answer to our need?

The God who knows our needs has established it that we must ask. That is why in Luke 18:41 Jesus asked the question of the blind man, “what do you want?”, when the answer was in plain sight. Obviously, the man was blind; couldn’t Jesus see that? Of course he could; the man’s utter blindness was plainly visible to Jesus.

But Jesus knew that asking was the rule of the kingdom. Jesus knew that doling out healing as a cheap entitlement would never catalyze a growing faith. Jesus knew that engaging the man’s faith by asking this question would prompt him to exercise something in the moment that would energize the growth of faith for the rest of his life. Jesus knew that putting action to faith now would allow him see something far greater, longer lasting, and more eternally beneficial than mere sight: That God longs to “grant justice to his chosen people quickly” when they have faith enough to ask. (Luke 18:8, NLT)

“What do you want?” Jesus asks of you. Why don’t you tell him? It will demonstrate your faith—even cause it to grow. Furthermore, it will do you a world of good now, and in the long run, it will serve you well.

What do you need today that would be best if God provided it? Ask!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I ask for your unmerited favor today as I go about the task you have assigned me. Bless me beyond measure. Give me greater influence. Cause me to be living proof to a lost world of a loving Father.