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Check Your Dipstick

From the Abundance of the Heart

Just think of your heart as the reservoir and your tongue as the dipstick. If you want to figure out what’s in the tank, or how much is there, just listen to what you say and you’ll get a pretty accurate picture of the true you. If you don’t like what your words consistently reveal, remember that mouth control begins with a heart transplant. And if you need a new heart, you’re in luck: the Great Physician is available for supernatural surgery.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Matthew 12:34 & 36

How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.

Just think of your heart as the reservoir and your tongue as the dipstick. If you want to figure out what is in the tank, or how much is there, just listen to what you say and you’ll get a pretty accurate picture of the true you.

The Bible uses the term “heart” to describe the inner person. The word “mind” could easily be substituted for “heart”, but it is more than that. The heart is not only your thinking part, it is your attitudes, desires, dreams, ambitions, personality—the invisible stuff that gives life to your skin and bones and makes you uniquely you. The heart is the inner capacity to know, love and respond to God.

The tongue, or what you say, simply reveals what already exists in your heart. Your words are critically important, and as Jesus said, you will be held to account for them, even the off-the-cuff ones. Yet it is not so much the words you speak, it’s what is behind them that is truly important. That is why you can’t simply discipline your tongue—though that is not a bad idea. It is your heart that needs to be transformed. If you don’t, your speech will ultimately betray what is on the inside.

A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue springs from an insecure heart; a boasting tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue comes from an impure heart; a person who is critical all the time has a bitter heart. On the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a joyful heart. One who speaks gently has a loving heart. Someone who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

So what’s the solution to managing your mouth? I like what Lloyd Ogilvie, former Chaplain of the United States Senate says, “you’ve got to heart your tongue.”

That means, to begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart. Mouth control begins with a heart transplant. Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!” Painting the outside of the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well. I can change the outside, turn over a new leaf, but what I really need is a new life or a fresh start. I need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician.

How do I get one? David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Maybe you ought to pray that prayer right now, because God is in the heart transplant business. Ezekiel 36:26 says of God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then once God gives you a new heart, ask him for help every day. You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it alone. Your life is a living proof of that. That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us. In Psalm 141:3, the psalmist prays, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize and pray every morning: “God, muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret.” If you ask God for help, he will.

Finally, master your mouth by disciplined thinking. James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In other words, engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear. Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking. Control your speaking and you’ll control your whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by consistently and prayerfully filling your mind with the Word of God.

What goes into your mind, gets into your heart, and what gets into your heart, comes out of your mouth. So don’t just watch your mouth—for sure, do that—but “above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”(Proverbs 4:23)

Thrive: Memorize Psalm 141:3, “Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.” Then pray this prayer morning, noon and night for the next seven days: “God, muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret, but only things that will please you!”

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Thank God for Narrowness

Intolerant and Exclusive When it Comes to Eternal Life

Time and again Jesus claimed that only he possessed the authority to grant eternal life, and it was only for those who followed him exclusively. He left no other options. For anyone who takes the time to actually read Jesus’ own words, the truth couldn’t be clearer: He is unequivocal about the way to eternal life. Does that sound narrow? It most definitely is! So is a runway, and landing exclusively on that narrow landing strip is the only way to get your airplane safely to its destination. When it is the only way, thank God for narrowness!

Enduring Truth // Focus: Luke 13:24

Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.

Christianity is often accused these days of being a narrow and intolerant religion. Guilty as charged! You can come up with no other verdict. After all, just look at the overwhelming verbal evidence offered by its founder, Jesus Christ. Here are just a few of his outrageous claims from the Gospel of John:

“For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40, NLT)

“Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day.” (John 6:53-54, The Message)

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.” (John 10:7-9, NLT)

“I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die.” (John 11:25-26, CEV)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:16, NLT)

We could fill page after page with Jesus’ claims about himself and the exclusive authority he possessed to grant eternal life only to those who follow him solely. For anyone who takes the time to actually read Jesus’ own words, the truth is abundantly evident: Jesus is unequivocally exclusive, narrow and intolerant about the way to eternal life. Of course, he loves and died for the whole world (John 3:16). And of course he didn’t stand on a street corner condemning those who refused to believe in him. (John 3:17) Yet the unavoidable truth about Jesus is that he was very clear that there was one, and only one way, to forgiveness of sin and life forever with the Father.

Does that sound narrow? It most definitely is—but so is a runway, and landing exclusively on it is the only way to get the airplane you are on safely to its destination. When it is the only way, thank God for narrowness and intolerance!

Thrive: Have you ever taken the time to pray the most important prayer—really, the one prayer that empowers all other prayers—to acknowledge that Jesus is both Lord and Savior, to confess your sins and ask him to forgive you, and invite him into your life as your one and only Master and Commander? If not, I hope you will do that right now!

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God, Chalk One Up in the Kingdom Win Column Through Me

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

Victorious Christianity isn’t rocket science, is it! It’s actually quite simple: Trust in God + Passionate Supplication = Answered Prayer. Answered Prayer x Answered Prayer = The Victorious Christian Life. When we so order our lives to do the will of God, we have every right—in fact, we have an invitation from God himself—to come before him in bold, expectant prayer, and his promise is to answer us when we call on him. When you string a bunch of those experiences together, you have the makings of an inspiring witness of a life surrendered to and used by God. That’s the kind of life I want to live. How about you?

A Simple Prayer for a Victorious Life:

God, enlarge my capacity to trust, because you answer the prayers of those who honor you with complete confidence. Then, because I have ruthlessly relied on you and because you have powerfully provided for me, may this day be one that can be chalked up in the win column for your kingdom.
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God’s Open Letter To America

God Stands Ready to Judge Us, or Help Us, Depending on Our Heart Response

Choose your issue: social justice, the refugee crises, identity politics, the death of truth and the rise of moral relativism, protests in the streets, lawlessness, national anger, cultural decline, neighbor hating neighbor over politics—no matter what belief system you side with, no matter what life philosophy you choose to live by, most of us are worried about our nation. With heavy hearts, many of us believe we are watching the self-immolation of America. We are at a point where God stands ready to judge us—or help us—depending on the heart response that we offer him. If the worsening conditions of our country lead us to repent and return to him, then he is prepared to meet us with his provision of peace for our land.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Exodus 23:1-9

Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

America is living in an incredibly divisive, mean-spirited political environment, with no signs of letting up. Racial disharmony, hatred, name-calling, government gridlock, lawsuits, violent protests, destroyed friendships over political positions, national anxiety and general nastiness continue to pound our nation, and many of us are seriously worried about our stability and longevity as the last best hope of earth, as Abraham Lincoln put it. We are in trouble, and only we can fix it, with God’s help. We must create a grassroots, organic, internal movement that will call a stop to our national cannibalism and return us to the common ground that has made us the envy of the world, imperfect as we have been, for hundreds of years.

The blame for our mess is not to be laid at any one person’s feet—not at President Trump, or Obama, or Bush or Clinton. The blame is not one political party or another—it is not the Republicans or the Democrats. It is not the media’s fault. Secularists or academicians are not to blame. Nor is it right wing nut jobs, shrill Christians or blue hairs from the Tea Party. The problem isn’t leftists, socialists, open borderists or anarchists.

The fault is ours. We have met the enemy—and he is us. Let me be clear: you and I are to blame.

If you don’t believe me, read Exodus 23. God gets up in our grill in this chapter and shows us issue after issue where we have not just gone off the rails; we have annihilated his holy law and have deeply offended his righteous character. In very unmistakable language, he turns into an equal opportunity offender and goes after us on issue after issue:

  • Dishonesty, dissembling, fake news, and flat out lying: “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.” (Exodus 23:1)
  • Pandering for popular appeal, blind loyalty to a political leader, media bias and pushing a false narrative for political power: “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.” (Exodus 23:2-3)
  • Nastiness, the politics of personal destruction, name calling, and argumentum ad hominem: “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.” (Exodus 23:4-5)
  • Social justice, inequality, racism, profiling, judicial activism and a legal system that is biased in favor of the wealthy: “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.” (Exodus 23:6-8)
  • Immigration reform, open borders, religious discrimination and the mounting refugee crisis: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

Did God leave anything out? I don’t think so. There is no cultural issue currently dividing us that God’s Word hasn’t already addressed. And when you look at what he has declared with an open mind and a tender heart, you realize that we are all guilty before a holy God who sees through our sophisticated philosophies and convoluted arguments with utter moral clarity. And he stands ready to judge us, or help us, depending on the heart response that we offer him.

Choose your issue: social justice, the refugee crises, identity politics, the death of truth in favor or moral relativism, protests in the streets, lawlessness, national anger, cultural decline, neighbor hating neighbor over politics—no matter what political system you side with, no matter what life philosophy you choose to live by, most of us are worried about our nation. And with good cause, many of us believe we are watching the self-immolation of America. No matter who you are or what you believe, with an open mind and tender heart, take to heart what God has said as you read Exodus 23. As you do, give God the right to convict you of your guilt as a lawbreaker—his immutable, universal moral law.

And make no mistake: you are a lawbreaker. So am I. If not the letter of the law, we have murdered the spirit of the law in our hearts and minds. And may your acknowledgement of guilt lead you to repentance.

What can we do to save America? It might sound simplistic, but I believe it starts with personal confession and repentance. Then comes obedience to God’s law, not man’s opinion or political preferences or cultural philosophies. And when we follow God’s way, he makes some wonderful promises of what life will be like as he leads us into a time of peace and prosperity—which you can read about in Exodus 23:20-33. Among other blessings, our repentance and obedience will be met with his provision of peace: “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” (Exodus 23:20)

If enough of us do that—repent and obey—we can save America. We really can!

Thrive: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

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Living Proof

No Resurrection—No Christianity

It’s that simple: if you don’t believe in the resurrection, then you don’t believe the core tenet of Christianity. Let me say it another way: if you reject the resurrection then your belief system is not Christian. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave is so critical to Christianity, and by it, to finding the path to eternal life, that Jesus himself spent a good amount of time after his resurrection offering many proofs that he was indeed alive. He wants you to know that you know that he rose from the dead. So if you are still having doubts about that yet find yourself wanting to believe, then simply bring your doubts to Jesus and pray this simple prayer found in Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” And he will!

Enduring Truth // Luke 24:15

As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them.

A lot of people say, “I believe in Jesus. I think he was a great teacher…in fact I’d say he was God’s Son. But I’m not too sure about this resurrection thing…I mean really, it’s kind of unbelievable. It’s probably just a myth, anyway.”

According to a recent poll, 85% of Americans claim Christianity as their personal faith, yet of those, an astonishing 35% believe that though crucified, Jesus never had a physical resurrection. No resurrection! The Risen Lord is the heart and soul of Christianity. The Apostle Paul said Jesus rising from the tomb on the third day isn’t just a creative little addendum to the Easter story, it is central and essential to authentic faith. He pointed out if Christians are not going to stake their lives and their eternal future on the reality of the resurrection, then they are wasting their time being Christian.

Large numbers of people are fascinated with Jesus; they respect him; they even love him in a way. Yet they are uncomfortable with the resurrection and uncertain that it really happened. However, buried deep within their hearts is a longing for the resurrection to be true. They need Jesus’ resurrection to be real—even if human logic has buried the possibility of someone rising from death—because they, too, hope for resurrection when they reach the end of their lives.

They are no different, really, than the people in first century Palestine who had placed their hopes in Jesus. They, too, had bought into his proclamation of eternal life, only to have their hopes dashed when Jesus was crucified on the cross and buried forever in a cold, hopeless garden tomb.

Or so they thought! Stories began to immediately circulate that Jesus had risen from the dead. At first his followers didn’t believe it—who in his right mind would?—until Jesus himself began to appear to them, offering not just hearsay evidence, but irrefutable evidence that he was alive—living proof. That’s right, Jesus himself showed up and blew the doors of disbelief right off their jailhouse of doubt, forever freeing them to the settled truth that he was alive and that resurrection was now the new end of life order for all who placed their faith in him.

Jesus himself showed up! (Luke 24:15, 36) In the accounts of five different New Testament writers, the Risen Christ made thirteen separate appearances to a total of 557 witnesses—people who saw Jesus alive with their own eyes. At the time Paul wrote his piece about the resurrection, some thirty or so years later, he pointed out that most of those 500 plus eye-witnesses were still alive, so all any skeptic had to do was just go ask one of them for their personal account. (1 Corinthians 15:6)

Acts 1:3 says, “During the forty days after his crucifixion, Jesus appeared to these people many times with convincing proofs that he was actually alive.” Jesus himself showed up. He wanted people to know that he was alive—that resurrection was the new order of the day.

When you consider the historical, physical, visual and the transformational proof of the resurrection—verifiable evidence—you are forced to decide about Jesus: He is either Lord of all or he is not Lord at all. He is either the risen Christ or he was an incredible liar. Either Christianity is based on truth that you should order your life by or it needs to be discarded as unreliable and swept forever into the dustbin of history.

The evidence says the resurrection is reliable fact; we can be confident in that. Jesus especially wants you to be convinced!

Thrive: Do you find yourself wanting to believe in the resurrection, but still having your doubts? Bring your doubts to Jesus and pray this simple prayer found in Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

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God, Help Me to Get Off My Spiritual Duff

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

The writer of Proverbs used some pretty strong language in describing a lazy person. In the various Bible translations, he pictures a lazy-bones as someone who commits vandalism (The Message), a troublemaker (Contemporary English Version), one who commits suicide (Amplified), a destructive personality (Good News), and a great waster (21st Century King James). He is not simply someone who has a little issue with diligence, he’s got a major league problem with Creator God! The Bible says he is as bad as someone who destroys something valuable—perhaps because he is destroying the opportunities that God has placed before him to steward his talents, to produce beauty, to add value to this world, and to leverage his one and only life into something that glorifies the Creator.

A Simple Prayer for Getting Off My Spiritual Duff:

God, help me today to do everything in my power to take advantage of everything you’ve done in your power to make me a fully empowered child of the King!
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Bible Worship

The Very Real Danger of Bibliolatry

The goal of Bible study is not to gain greater knowledge of Scripture, or to grow spiritually, or to simply be able to check off that item on your daily list of things to do. It is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. By “knowing” I am not referring to an intellectual event, but the intimate exchange of one’s life with the Almighty whereby love is deepened, obedience is practiced, and faith is expanded. That is when searching the Scripture leads to eternal life.

Enduring Truth // John 5:39-40

You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

I can think of no simpler yet more powerful practice for greater spiritual growth and intimacy with God than daily Bible study. The truth is, if you don’t have a regular quiet time with God—which would include not only reading, but also meditation and prayer—you will fail to thrive spiritually. It is a simple as that.

Yet Bible reading, journaling and Scripture memory alone aren’t enough. In fact, there is a very real danger lurking in the practice of a daily quiet time that will lead to even greater distance from God than not reading at all: Love of Scripture without love of God. That is what we might call bibliolatry.

Bibliolatry occurs when we acquire biblical knowledge without spiritual discernment; when our study of the Word is not commensurate to our obedience of the Word; when our love for Scripture exceeds our love for God, and correspondingly, love for our fellow man; when pride in our practice of Bible reading leads to a false sense of righteousness; and when the spiritual discipline of quiet time becomes a work of law rather than an offering of grace. When that occurs, in effect, we are worshiping the Bible rather than the God of the Bible.

There are far too many “Christians” who read the Bible little, if at all. That is an unfortunate blight on the modern church. Yet there is another segment of believers, much smaller, but in deeper spiritual danger, who have been lulled into a sort of spiritual smugness because they fancy themselves as “people of the Word” or because, as they happily proclaim, the church they attend really “teaches” the Word.

Knowing the Bible isn’t enough. Satan knows the Bible as well as anyone. He can quote it at will. Daily reading and Scripture memory aren’t enough. Nicodemus (see John 3) had that down pat. Going to a church that teaches the Word verse-by-verse isn’t enough. There are people in those churches who are lost and don’t even know it.

Hearing, reading, and believing the Bible aren’t enough. Believing in Jesus is. Jesus said, “Whoever believes the Son has eternal life.” (John 3:36)

The goal of Bible study is not to grain greater knowledge of Scripture, or to grow spiritually, or to simply be able to check off that item on your daily list of things to do. It is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. By “knowing” I am not referring to an intellectual event, but the intimate exchange of one’s life with the Almighty whereby love is deepened, obedience is practiced, and faith is expanded.

That is when searching the Scripture leads to eternal life.

Thrive: Offer this prayer today: Lord, may my study of your Word always lead me to greater intimacy, obedience and love. May I not simply grow more knowledgeable of the Bible—may I grow more knowledgeable of you.