Author Archives

    Ray Noah

    Founder and President of the Petros Network, a church planting and humanitarian non-profit working in the developing world.

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    Proof Of Love

    Reflect:
    Romans 5:8

    “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

    Romans 5:8 is one of the standard verses included in most Scripture memory systems. And what a verse it is! It conveys one of the most incredible truths in the entire Bible. But, like all popular verses that we tend to memorize apart from the larger context in which they are found, this one deserve to be understood in it’s broader story—which we find in Romans 5:1-11. In this passage, Paul, like a skilled lawyer, makes a powerful and persuasive theological argument, which in a nutshell, is described in Romans 5:1-2:

    “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

    What Paul is arguing is that we have peace with God, not just inner calm and serenity, but literally, the mutual hostility between God and man has ended because of God’s grace, his unmerited favor. That peace was unilaterally brokered through God’s love, which justified us—a once-and-for-all legal settlement—by Christ’s sacrificial death. And all we did was to accept God’s offer of peace through faith!

    Now that was a mouthful. Maybe it seemed a little clunky and convoluted. Perhaps it was a little much to wrap you mind around. But after reading and reflecting on it over and over, I find that it is quite funny. Not funny in the sense of ridiculous—although getting credited with righteousness before God through Christ’s account is a pretty ridiculous equation. Not just funny in the sense of foolish—although the idea of being right with God apart from good works and human effort is the height of foolishness to the human mind. And not just funny in the sense of odd—although it is certainly odd that God would go to such great links to prove his love by loving that which was completely unlovable—as Romans 5:8 declares.

    No, I’m talking funny in the sense that what God has done for you and me is so undeserved, and we are such unlikely candidates for his grace, that the only response we can rightly offer in return is to fall on our knees, undone by love, overflowing with gratitude and giddy with joy!

    These first eleven verses are so amazingly profound that no commentary I or anyone else can offer will really do them justice. So I want to recommend that you simply read and re-read them until the Spirit who inspired them illuminates them to you in a fresh way and brings you into a true and deeper understanding of what it took to justify you, and what it means for you to stand in peace and grace in God’s presence.

    I have a sense that when you really begin to understand this—although I’m not sure you will ever really and fully “get” what God has done for us—you will probably fall on your knees in inexplicable laughter, or dumbfounded silence or unrestrained tears—because all those responses are appropriate when you grasp even to the slightest degree the amazing grace and the deep love of God for you—and the incredible, ridiculous lengths he went to prove it.

    If you are ever in one of those moments where you need proof of God’s love, just go back and look at the cross. I think you’ll find all the proof you need.

    “Mercy for the sinner, help in the hardest place, everything for nothing, that is grace!” ~C.C. Beatty

    Reflect & Apply: Meditate on Romans 5:1-11 once a day for the next seven days (you might want to use different versions on different days). Ask God to give you a fresh understanding of the richness of these verses.

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    Exceeding Expectations

    Reflect:
    Matthew 5:1-6:4

    “Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” ~Matthew 5:48

    Perfection, according to Jesus, is at the top of the list of kingdom requirements for you and me. That is what he said at the end of Matthew 5: Be perfect, just like God.

    You really need to spend more than one sitting to absorb all that Jesus said here in this chapter. This has been called the “Sermon on the Mount”, and it extends clear through chapter 7. Truly, it is the greatest sermon ever preached. Rather than speaking to massive throngs of seekers, Jesus huddled with his disciples and began to explain for them what life in the kingdom of God was to be about.

    As you read through Christ’s teachings, you begin to realize that rather than backing down from the rigid, legalistic, impossible, burdensome demands of Jewish law, Jesus was actually calling his followers to a much higher standard. He wasn’t asking for less, he was asking for more. He was revealing what God really required for anyone who wanted to be one of his true children.

    Over time, the religious leaders of the Jewish people had boiled down the law of God to a long list of do’s and don’ts. Eventually, the spirit of the law had been lost and rigid, loveless, legal applications had taken its place. The result was that along the way, the people of God, the Jews, wandered from what was meant to produce an intimate love relationship with their God and had settled instead for a religious system that measured spirituality through outward acts of piety.

    But, as Jesus taught, the Jews had missed the point. Which, by the way, is just as easy for us to do in our walk with God. The spiritual drift is always away from loving intimacy with the Father toward measurable acts of religiosity: Church attendance, tithing, serving in a ministry, not doing this, doing that…

    Jesus’ bottom line in all of these teachings in Matthew 5 (as well as in chapters 6 and 7) is that God wants not your outward acts of piety and prideful obedience to the minutiae of some religious legal system—he wants your heart. He wants a heart that is fully engaged, fully devoted, and fully in love with him.

    If you will offer God that kind of heart, then your obedience will go way beyond what the law requires, and you will experience the blessed life of belonging to the Real Kingdom, not just a religious kingdom.

    And you will be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is.

    “The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy.” ~Martin Luther

    Reflect and Apply: Has the Heavenly Father arrested you heart? Have you invited him to create a new heart in you—one that longs for him and his rule more than even life itself? That is the heart that is perfect before him!

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    Tempted

    Reflect:
    Matthew 3:13-17, 4:1-17

    “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God…’” ~Matthew 4:1-3

    Isn’t it interesting—profound, really—that Satan knew who Jesus was, that he was God the Son, yet tempted him anyway?

    Satan once resided as Lucifer, chief of all the angels, in the presence of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So when Jesus became the incarnate Son of God, Satan knew perfectly well of his divine nature. Rather than backing off, however, Satan unleashed a torrent of enticements designed to derail the plan of God and get Jesus off his game. And if the very Son of God would have to endure an onslaught of Satanic temptations, so will you.

    It is also of interest that Satan didn’t tempt Jesus with obvious evil. Three times he attempted to entice Jesus to sin with subtle, sane, and spiritual sounding goodies. The devil is the master of subtlety. He didn’t come to Jesus dressed in a red suit and pointed tail, pitchfork in hand, luring Jesus to commit murder or to steal a bag full of money. No, this temptation was to gain what seemed good by sacrificing what was best.

    It is highly likely that the temptations you will face today will be subtle as well. Satan’s stock-in-trade is deception, which is what makes temptation so effective. Jesus called him “the father of lies”, and he’s gotten pretty good at it over the millennia. So in particular, watch out for the enticements that will be just slightly off center from God’s will. Don’t accept good at the expense of God’s best.

    In one sense, the temptations that will hit you today will be perfectly sane. Jesus had fasted for forty days and was at the limit of what a human body could endure. He was hungry, and Satan simply suggested that Jesus use his God-prerogatives to satisfy a physical necessity.

    Jesus was called to be the Messiah of the Jews. What better way to jumpstart his ministry than by hang-gliding from the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem—without a hang-glider. What a great way to show off his God-powers and impress the people he was called to lead.

    Ultimately, Jesus was called to be the Lord and Savior of the world. Why not fast-track that plan by allowing Satan to hand deliver all the nations of the world to him in an instant. No fuss, no muss.

    The problem was, each of these temptations called for Jesus to depend on himself to get his needs met rather than trusting in God’s provision, timing and plan. That is perhaps the most foundational and most common sin of all—to trust in anything or anyone other than God to get your needs and wants met.

    It is likely that you will be hit with temptation in the same way today. It will be subtle. It will seem sane. And probably, it will sound pretty spiritual as well—remember, each temptation Satan dangled before Jesus was prefaced with Scripture.

    So be on guard today—sin is crouching at your door. But it is not inevitable that you will succumb to it. Jesus didn’t—which means that you don’t have to either. Jesus knew the Word and will of God better than Satan, and so do you. That’s one of the blessings of reading and praying the Scripture each day, as you are doing.

    Likewise, since Jesus overcame his battle with temptation, he stands at the ready to help you in your battle. So just ask him for his help—he is more than willing to come alongside you. Hebrews 2:17-18 teaches us,

    “For this reason Jesus had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

    So when sin comes knocking at your door today, just send Jesus to answer it!

    “My temptations have been my Masters in Divinity.” ~Martin Luther

    Reflect and Apply: John Quincy Adams said, “Every temptation is an opportunity of our getting nearer to God.” If you are facing a strong temptation, leverage it to draw near to God. Here is a prayer you might consider offering: “Father in heaven, your name is holy. May your kingdom come and your will be done in my life today, just as it is in heaven. Provide what I need. Forgive all my sins—and strengthen me with your grace to forgive those who disappoint me. And steer me away from temptation, and from the Evil One, so that at the end of this day, through my life, all of the glory will be turned back to you.”

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    God-Focused Worship

    Reflect:
    John 4:23-24

    “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

    The Samaritan woman Jesus encountered at the well of Sychar was suffering from what I call “designer deity syndrome”. This was a fairly common syndrome among worshipers not only in Jesus’ day, but it is in ours as well. It occurs when we attempt to come to God on our terms rather than his; when we make worship more about us, and what we like, than about God, and what he likes; when, in effect, we recreate God in our image rather than approaching him as beings created in his image.

    That was the problem with the worship of the Samaritans. They had corrupted worship to fit their own needs to the point Jesus said, “You don’t even know what you’re worshipping.” (John 4:22) They had become Burger King worshipers. Do you remember the old Burger King advertisement? “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us. Have it your way.” That little jingle is fitting for what we modern day “Samaritans” are doing with our experience of worship.

    We love a customized church experience. We expect worship services to be tailor-made just for us. We expect the praise, programs and preaching to satisfy our preferences. We want church designed to meet our needs, music tuned to our exact tastes, preachers crafted to our specifications, messages that mesmerize, and a made to order God—a “Burger King God” who says, “Have it your way”.

    Some time ago, Los Angeles Magazine ran an article called “God For Sale”. The author said, “It is no surprise that when today’s affluent young professionals return to church they want to do it only on their own terms. But what is amazing is how far the churches are going to oblige them.” Newsweek Magazine added, “They’ve developed a pick and choose Christianity in which individuals take what they want and pass over what does not fit their spiritual goals…”

    That is what I would call “designer god syndrome”.

    Nothing can be further from the “spirit and truth” worshiper of John 4:24 that Jesus said God the Father is seeking. When it comes to God, and the way you worship him, why don’t you say to him, “Have it your way!” That is God-focused worship—which by definition, is the only way to worship.

    If you will learn what it means to do that, you will drink water from an altogether different kind of well–-and as Jesus promised, you will never thirst again!

    “Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One worshiped” ~Jack Hayford

    Reflect & Apply: If you have been guilty of engaging in “Designer Deity Worship”, perhaps this would be an appropriate prayer to offer right now: “Father, free me from designer deity syndrome. Forgive me for making worship more about me than about what pleases you. Teach me to truly worship you in Spirit and in Truth.”

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    A Baptism By Fire

    Reflect:
    Luke 3:1-20

    “John answered, saying to all, ‘I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’” ~Luke 3:16

    John the Baptist launched his ministry as the forerunner to the Messiah with preaching the likes of which people had never heard before. His messages were so confrontational and penetrating that the crowds were convicted to the core of their being. People from every dimension of Jewish society began to repent and return to the God of Israel. Israel was in the midst of a great revival.

    This spiritual awakening was so powerful that people began to wonder if John himself was the long-awaited Messiah. But John quickly put those rumors to rest by letting them know that his ministry was simply to lead people to repentance in preparation for the Messiah. It would be the Messiah’s ministry that would empower them with the very Spirit of God.

    The Message version of Luke’s account offers this rendition:

    “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

    The ministry of the Messiah was not simply to announce and launch the Kingdom of God on Planet Earth. Rather, it was to so immerse his followers in the Holy Spirit that they themselves would embody the words and carry out the works of Jesus, and as King’s agents, extend his Kingdom “to the uttermost parts of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

    Now the real question for those of us reading these words today is this: Is the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire something you just read about historically, or is it an experience that is personal and fresh in your life today?

    The truth is, despite all the misgivings and discomfort modern Christians may have about this baptism with the Holy Spirit, we cannot simply erase this important dimension of Christ’s ministry from the pages of Scripture. To paraphrase D.L. Moody, to remove the work of the Holy Spirit from the Bible is like using a sundial by moonlight.

    Jesus is still the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is still the one who empowers believers to do words and works of Jesus.

    And Paul’s question to the Ephesians in Acts 19:2 is as critically important for you today as it was for them nearly 2,000 years ago: “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?”

    If you haven’t, perhaps you should spend some time with the Great Baptizer and ask him for the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus himself has said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth … how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (John 14:16-17, Luke 11:13)

    “If Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the Spirit they will turn to the wine of the flesh…Christ died for our hearts and the Holy Spirit wants to come and satisfy them.” ~A.W. Tozer

    Reflect and Apply: Ask the Lord to give you a fresh baptism of the Spirit and fire. Ask him to cleanse and empower you so you can embody his words and carry out his works in your world.

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    Something To Ponder

    Reflect:
    Luke 2:1-40

    “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” ~Luke 2:19

    “Mary pondered these things in her heart.” That statement has always intrigued me, and I am not exactly sure what it means. It is stated again at the end of the chapter in Luke 2:51 as the author gives us a glimpse into the life of Jesus as a growing boy at about the age of 12.

    We don’t know a great deal about Jesus’ early life beyond what we read here, but to say the least, it must have been quite interesting for Mary to be the mother of God. I think it is safe to say that, on the one hand, Jesus was like any other baby who needed to be changed, cried when he was hungry, developed a cute little personality as the months passed by, and became an inquisitive little boy.

    On the other hand, he was the Son of God. Angels attended his birth, shepherds came to worship him, wise men from afar brought him expensive gifts, prophets prophesied over him during the customary temple ceremonies, and he carried on a spirited dialogue with the intelligentsia of his day during a family visit to the temple.

    I am sure that most mothers and fathers would have bragged incessantly and shamelessly to the neighbors about their son’s many outstanding qualities and unusual experiences. But not Mary; she simply treasured all these things that were said about Jesus and all the things that Jesus did as he grew, and pondered them in her heart. In other words, she gave them a lot of thought; she kept them between herself and her Lord.

    That is not such not a bad idea, wouldn’t you say? We probably ought to do that a lot more often. Rather than blurting out everything that happens to you or that happens in you, perhaps you ought to just meditate on those experiences and keep them between the Lord and you.

    When someone comes to you with a “word from the Lord”; when you have a dream that seems to have an unusual spiritual dimension to it; when you have an extraordinary encounter with God, and you are not quite sure how to respond to these experiences, why not just treasure them and ponder them in your heart. Keep them between you and your Lord and just watch over time to see how God uses them.

    I have a feeling that this, in part, is how we grow deeper in our spiritual lives. Likewise, I would not be too surprised to find out that when we give in to our need to blurt out all of these holy things to anyone within earshot, we have spent the entire capital of that experience, and it will go no further than that.

    Some of the things that may happen in your life this week will be of a truly rich nature. Ask God for the wisdom to discern if that experience is of the kind that should simply be treasured and pondered in your heart.

    “How pleasant, how delightful, to sit alone and in silence, to converse with God, and so to enjoy the only chief good, in whom all good things are found!” ~Thomas A. Kempis

    Reflect and Apply: Ask the Lord to teach you to understand the difference between the things that need to be shared and those experiences that are so rich that they are meant only to be shared between you and the Lord.

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    Get It Together

    Reflect:
    Ephesians 4:3

    “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

    What is unity? I’m not so sure I know what it is, but I sure know when it ain’t! Biblical unity is oneness of purpose. It’s simply putting my own agenda—preferences, opinions, demands, expectations—on the back burner to allow God’s purpose for his family, the church, to be my first and consuming passion.

    That doesn’t mean you and I won’t have different opinions, desires or preferred ways of doing things; it just means those differences are not going to become issues that divide and distract us.

    Unity is not uniformity. In fact, in Ephesians 4:7-12 Paul talks about the variety of spiritual gifts given to us as individuals. That means there is great variety and diversity in the body of Christ—by Divine design. But in the diversity of those gifts, as well as diversity of personalities and passions, God gave leadership gifts to certain people (Ephesians 4:11) to coach and coax that diversity into singleness of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). Why? So we can reach,

    “Complete unity…and the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)

    Now how do we get to that kind of unity? In Ephesians 4:2-3 we are asked to cultivate six virtues: Humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in love, effort and peace.

    If spiritual oneness is going to be a reality in your fellowship and mine, it will have to be a place where I make it my job descriptions to live out those six virtues so compellingly and attractively that I become the primary source of a unity pandemic.

    Now make no mistake: That will not be easy. That is why Paul said that we must exert to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit…” Unity doesn’t come easily. The drift is always toward division—it is easy to float into that eddy. It takes effort and endurance to go against the current to stay in harmony with one another.

    The word effort means to be diligent, to be zealous, to make haste to do something, in this case, being eager and fully dedicated to maintain the unity of the Spirit. It refers to a holy zeal to guard our Christian unity. Why do we need holy zeal? Because Satan’s number one goal is to divide you and me. That’s why each of us needs to take the responsibility for the spiritual unity of our church.

    Without these six virtues, it really does no good to talk about unity. But, as we see in Ephesians 4:16, when these virtues of unity—humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in love, effort, and peace—are lived out in our fellowship, “The body will build itself up in love as each part does its work.“

    And other than the salvation of a lost soul, I would argue there is nothing more precious to God than seeing his family completely, indestructibly united in love. That is why Jesus spent a goodly part of his last hours praying desperately for it (John 17:20-23). He knew that without unity, we would fall apart. But if we could get it together, Jesus knew that nothing could stop us. Vance Havner once said,

    “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic.”

    If we get together in unity in our church, we’ll stop traffic in our community. And that’s God’s desire for us.

    “Believers all belong to the same Lord, and are thus one with each other. Therefore anything that denies our oneness with each other denies our oneness with Him.” ~John MacArthur

    Reflect & Apply: What part is the Holy Spirit prompting you to take on in efforting unity in your fellowship? Read and reflect on Romans 12:17-19, then go do what you must do!