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Thoughts on the Boston Terror

Satan is a master of disguise. Scripture says he even masquerades as an angel of light. Particularly in American society, he has perfected the art of subtlety and sophistication. But he is still the devil—and eventually his nature to kill, steal and destroy comes out in stunningly unadulterated evil.

“The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy.” (John 10:10)

It’s like the old parable of the scorpion and the frog:

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?”

The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”

The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”

Replies the scorpion: “Its my nature…”

Evil, destruction and terror is Satan’s stock in trade.  Eventually he has to reveal himself that way—it’s his nature.  So we should not be surprised at such things; in fact, we probably should ask, “why does this evil not happen more often?”

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (I Peter 4:12)

But the good news for believers is, while evil may prevail in this present moment—even rearing its ugly head in acts of senseless terror, as we witnessed this past week in the Boston Marathon bombing—Jesus will step in one day soon to set things aright. In the meantime, especially at moments like this, we must lean into what Jesus himself promised,

“I have told you all this so that you may find your peace in me. You will find trouble in the world—but, never lose heart, I have conquered the world!” (John 16;33, Phillips)

Don’t forget: Satan is always going to be Satan.  But God is always going to be God!

“When the Author walks onto the stage, the play is over.” ~C.S. Lewis

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Proof That God Was Here

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 8
Meditation: Matthew 8:26

So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Shift Your Focus… When Jesus finished his inaugural sermon—the Sermon on the Mount—he came down off the mountain and got busy doing the things the Savior of the World had to do. In launching his ministry among the Jews as their Messiah, his claims to Divine status had to be authenticated.

And authenticate he did! He taught the people as no one had ever done before. The closing comments in chapter 7 as Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mountain, Matthew describes hearers that were truly awestruck with Jesus’ teaching—it was done with a power and authority they had never witnessed before.

Surely this was proof that God was here.

After that, Jesus cleansed a leper (8:1-4) — a hopeless, disgusting condition that brought humiliation and isolation to the sufferer, a person’s worst nightmare. Jesus actually touched this man who had not enjoyed even the most basic human contact in who knows how long, and the man was immediately healed.

Truly this was proof that God was here.

Then Jesus reached out to a non-Jew, a spiritual and social “no-no” in that day, and with a simple verbal command, a Roman centurion’s paralyzed servant, who wasn’t even physically present, was healed (verses 5-13). Jesus then healed Peter’s mother-in-law as well as a host of other infirmed and afflicted people (verses 14-17). Some of those whom he healed were severely tormented by evil spirits, and with the word of his mouth, Jesus delivered each one of them and banished the demons from tormenting them further (verses 16,28-34).

To be sure, this was proof that God was here.

But perhaps the most dramatic exercise of his Divine authority was the calming of the storm (verses 23-27). As Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, a fierce storm arose and the men literally feared for their lives, while Jesus slept in the boat. Then, with as much ease as it takes to brush a piece of lint off your sleeve, Jesus arose and rebuked the storm, and it subsided.

At this, the disciples, who had heard his spell-binding teaching, had witnessed his miracles of healing, had seen demons flee like little squealing school girls from his presence, dropped their jaws in amazement: even the physical universe submitted to his commands. Beyond any doubt, Jesus was Lord and Savior of the world!

Truly this was the living proof of a loving God.

So here’s the deal: If Jesus’ words are Divinely authoritative, if no physical malady can withstand his healing touch, if demons wither in his presence, if even the storms of this world have to obey him, then why can’t you be confident in the face of any problem in your life right now? What is keeping you from putting full faith and exercising full obedience in Jesus Christ? What further proof do you need that a loving God has come to you in the person of Jesus Christ?

In light of who he is and what he can do, why not do today what the centurion did 2,000 years ago: Give him your complete trust and full devotion. How awesome it would be if Jesus could say of you:

“I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere.”
(Matthew 8:10, The Message)

What more do you need?  You have the proof in Jesus that God was here!

“I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.”  ~Augustine

Prayer… O Lord, I want to trust you with the trust of that Roman centurion.  You are Lord over disease, demons, and even the elements of the physical world, and you deserve to be the Lord of my life.  This day, remove any doubts, fears and reluctances so that I might give you my complete trust and my full devotion.

 

 

 

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The True Measurement of Vital Spirituality

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 7
Meditation: Matthew 7:16

“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

Shift Your Focus… When I was growing up, I remember hearing the pastor of our church, who happened to be my dad, exhort our small congregation with these words of wisdom: “The Bible says we’re not supposed to judge other people, but it doesn’t say we shouldn’t be inspecting their fruit.”  In light of what Jesus taught here in Matthew 7, he was standing on solid theological ground.

Now the world has used Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged”, as a sledgehammer against Christians who take a stand on the cultural issues of our day, but Jesus never intended his words to intimidate believers into moral silence. The truth is, we have been called to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) both to wayward Christians as well as lost people who are headed for a Christless eternity. Who better to stand on the wall as moral and spiritual watchman than an authentic Christ-follower?

Our calling as ambassadors for Christ is to compel people to righteousness, but we are to do so without being self-righteous and moralistic. If we fail at that, truly our judgmentalism becomes a turn off to everyone—sinners, saints and even God himself. And while we have failed at that on occasion, past failure is no reason to abdicate a role that is critical to the salvation of the lost.

Now as it relates to Matthew 7, what we need to understand is that when Jesus spoke against judging in verses 1-8, he was specifically taking a stand against what had become the national pastime in Israel: evaluating the spirituality of others by their outward observance of the Mosaic law and their acts of religious piety. The fact is, Jesus said in verses 21-23 that there will be those who were pretty good at being religious and who will be able to claim an amazing track record of good deeds, but will still be refused entrance into the eternal kingdom when they stand before God. Thinking religious piety was their meal ticket to heaven, they will be shocked and dismayed to discover that their good deeds didn’t get them “in” with God—only grace can do that.

So in that regard, we are not to be judgmental, as the Jews had become. We are, however, to evaluate the spiritual quality of those who claim to know Christ by inspecting the fruit being produced from their lives.  We are to “know them by their fruit.”  What is “knowable” fruit in the life of Christian?

  • The fruit of repentance: John the Baptist called attention to that in Matthew 3:8. This is the first fruit we can observe in a God-honoring life—a complete turn around from sinful patterns to the pursuit of God’s righteousness.
  • The fruit of abiding in Christ: Jesus addressed this in John 15, saying that when a believer is fundamentally connected to him, the True Vine, there will be much fruit that brings great joy to the believer and much glory to God the Father.
  • The fruit of resourcing the work of the Gospel: In Romans 15:14-29 Paul speaks of the fruit that comes when we give to God’s work: redeemed souls and relieved suffering.
  • The fruit of the Spirit: The most revealing fruit of authentic faith and growth in Christ is the fruit the indwelling Spirit produces in the believer—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
  • The fruit of the light: Ephesians 5:8-12 speaks of observable fruit in a believer that consists of goodness, righteousness and truth.
  • The fruit of praise:  Our lips are to offer up the sacrifice of praise that glorifies God through Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 13:14-16)

For sure, we must avoid the spiritual pitfall of becoming judgmental. Nothing destroys Kingdom life quite like that. But if we are going to protect God’s family from false believers and fake teachers, if we are going to exhort and admonish one another on toward growth in grace and the character of Christ, and if we are going to call a lost world to a loving God, we can’t shy away from inspecting the fruit once in a while.

And a good place to start is by inspecting your own!  That in itself will most definitely keep you from being judgmental.

“Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” ~Martin Luther

Prayer… O Holy Spirit, I offer my life to you today. Work the work of God in me so that I will bear much of your fruit!

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Prayer That Pleases God

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 6
Meditation: Matthew 6:5

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.” (Matthew 6:5, NLT)

Shift Your Focus… In Jesus’ day, prayer had been hijacked.  The culprits were the religious leaders and the Pharisee—Jesus called them “hypocrites”. They had turned the simple and wonderful practice of talking to God into a ritualized, formalized, mechanized and stylized event. As a result, something meant to connect people with God had turned into a intimidating, joyless experience since few people were eloquent enough to pull off the impressive public prayers demanded by the spiritual elite.

This misuse and abuse of prayer disgusted Jesus, the master of prayer. So in a teaching moment that was both scathing, yet soothing at the same time, he sat the record straight as to what the kind of prayer that truly pleases God really looked like.

First of all, Jesus taught that God-pleasing prayer is authentic.  Jesus said in verse 5, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.”  The hypocrites—the Pharisees and religious leaders—were pretentious. Their motive for praying was to impress the crowds, but they were anything but real. God wasn’t, and isn’t, impressed by the style or the content of our prayers. He’s moved by our honesty—even if it is not too articulate and especially when it is heartfelt.  Jesus is saying that God wants his children to just “get real” before him.

Secondly, Jesus taught that God-pleasing prayer is intimate.  Verse 6 says, “when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.” The use of the name “Father” isn’t a mistake.  Jesus is painting an altogether different picture of what God intended prayer to be than what man had turned it into. Jesus is referring to a childlike quality and posture that the prayer is to take before the Father. That’s because God-pleasing prayer is really a parent-child exchange. It is simply being with a Father who longs to be close to his kids.

Finally, Jesus taught that God-pleasing prayer is simple.  He said in verse 7, “don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.” I can’t help but think if Jesus was here today to teach us about prayer, he would instruct us in the KISS method:  Keep it simple, sweetheart!

Jesus is calling us out of the legalistic, joyless, intimidation of misunderstood and malpracticed prayer to an authentic, intimate, simple day-by-day, moment-by-moment practice of the presence of God. That is the kind of prayer that pleases God more than anything. “When you pray” like that, the Father opens up all of heaven to you!

“Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.” ~Billy Graham

Prayer…  Papa God, I love you. Meet my needs today. Keep me from sin. Make me an instrument for your glory. I praise you, I trust you and I thank you. Amen.

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The Maximum Daily Requirements

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 5
Meditation: Matthew 5:48

“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Shift Your Focus… If you are like me, you were probably spiritually exhausted after reading through the list of “kingdom requirements” Jesus laid out for his followers in Matthew 5. And if you were thinking that Jesus had set the bar pretty high, you came to the very last verse and realized that it wasn’t just high, he set the bar impossibly high by capping the chapter with these words: “Be perfect, just like God.”  So much for the “my yoke is easy and my burden is light” stuff we were hoping for from Jesus!

It doesn’t take very long in reading through Christ’s teachings in this and the following two chapters that comprise the Sermon on the Mount before you realize Jesus isn’t backing down from the rigid, legalistic, impossible, burdensome demands of Jewish law, he’s actually calling his followers to a much higher standard.  He’s not asking for less, he’s expecting more. He’s revealing what the Father really requires of those who want to enter the kingdom life and live as a true child of God.

The problem in Jesus’s day was that 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, Jesus taught, the Jews had missed the point by a mile.

By the way, that didn’t just happen in Jesus’s day. It is just as easy for people—for you and me—to do today in our day 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 5-7 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.

Obviously that can’t happen through a wooden observance of the law.  The law was meant to drive us to the cross where we can drink from the grace and mercy of God—something the law could never do. And once we have been submerged in the deep, deep love of God revealed by the cross of Christ, that love drives us back to a different kind of law, the law of Christ (revealed here in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the New Testament), where we can be sanctified.  What a beautiful truth: The cross of Christ saves us once and for all; the law of Christ sanctifies us day by day!

As we offer our saving, sanctifying God a fully devoted heart and a totally surrendered life, then our obedience takes us—and keeps us—where the law couldn’t through it’s requirements: By his grace, perfection—just as our Father in heaven is perfect.

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

Prayer… Father God, arrest my heart.  Create in me a new heart—one that longs for you more than even life itself.  May it be perfect before you!  God, I invite you to finally, fully, and forever take over my life.

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Satan’s Number One Strategy

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 4
Meditation: Matthew 4:1-3

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3)

Shift Your Focus…From the Word of God in general, from human experience—mine and other people I’ve witnessed over the years—and from this story in particular, I could make a pretty strong case that doubt is the number one strategy Satan uses in our lives to disrupt, weaken and ultimately destroy our faith in God.  If he can get us to question the goodness and sufficiency of God and his Word, then our spirituality will be dead in the water.

Every time the devil came at Jesus with a temptation, the very first word was “if” — “if you are the Son of God…if you will kneel and worship me…”  (Matthew 4:3,5,9) Behind Satan’s enticements was the goal of getting Jesus to question God’s care and competence as well as his identity as the cherished Son of God.

That is exactly what Satan will do to you—most likely even today.  He will cause a question to arise in your mind as to the reliability of God’s Word, the dependability of God’s love, the sufficiency of God’s supply, and the truthfulness of your unmovable place as a cherished child of God.  Just like clockwork, the “if” question will be sown as a seed of doubt in your spirit before the day is out.

The number one defense against Satan’s strategy to destroy your faith is trust—ruthless trust.  Each occasion in which Jesus was hit with the big “if” was met with a return to what was unquestionable, unshakable and immovable—the Word of God.  Jesus’ answer to the assault on his faith?  “Scripture says…” (Matthew 4:4,7,10)  Jesus stood on the promises of Scripture, knowing that obedience to it was the only way to God’s provision (“man shall not live by bread alone”), true spiritual muscle (“jump off” and prove your divine power), and ceaseless kingdom authority (“all the kingdoms of the world will be yours”).

Trust—ruthless trust. No assault from the enemy can penetrate it, and no temptation, regardless of the power of its enticement, can hold a candle against it.  So no matter what, lean into God’s Word today—there is nothing in all creation as reliable.  Trust in God’s character—his care and competence have never been proven impotent.  Wait patiently for his provision—it will never lack the satisfaction you truly need.

Analyze the things that are tempting you today.  Find out how they assault your trust in the reliability of God’s Word, the sufficiency of God’s provision and the immutability of your position as a cherished child of God.  Once you do that, you will see what temptation promises as nothing more than a false infinite—something that in the light of day cannot hold a candle to what God has in store for those who ruthlessly trust him.

By the way, when you respond to temptation with ruthless trust, not only do you punch Satan in the nose, but you give a priceless gift to God. I love what Brennan Manning says in his book, Ruthless Trust,

“The splendor of a human heart which trusts that it is loved gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the sight of ten thousand butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom.  Trust is our gift back to God, and he finds it so enchanting that Jesus died for love of it.”

So throughout the day today, look up, smile, and trust!

“Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic.” ~Brennan Manning

Prayer… 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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Moving From Forgiveness To Fruitfulness

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 3
Meditation: Matthew 3:11

“I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11, NLT)

Shift Your Focus… Some people get stuck at God’s pardon from sin and never move beyond it to God’s power.  They never move past forgiveness to join God in the great reclamation project of redeeming mankind and restoring creation to his rule.

Now don’t get me wrong, forgiveness is a wonderful thing.  What a gift of mercy and grace to be cleansed from sin and pardoned from guilt, but that is just the beginning!  God wants to do so much more in us and through our lives than just forgive us and remove our guilt.

Unfortunately, some Christian’s don’t get that and are content to live just righteously enough to stay out of hell. In a sense, they live on the edge of the promised land of power in the holding pen of pardon.  What low expectations!

John the Baptist’s work in preparation for the arrival of Jesus was simply to call people to repentance of sins.  To prove their willingness and demonstrate their obedience, John baptized them in water.  That was a very significant marker in the life of the believer; a public statement to the initial commitment they had made in response to God’s invitation to salvation.  So important was this act that Jesus himself submitted to it (Matthew 3:15, NLT), and then told his disciples that their commission was to lead other people into it (Matthew 28:19, NLT).

But John didn’t stop with baptism unto repentance. He preached that Jesus would take people to the next step; Jesus would take them way beyond by baptizing them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  In other words, Jesus would baptize his followers with the very same power that enabled him to be the Agent of creation, the Lord of life, the Savior of the world, the Master over sin, sickness, death, all the powers of the unseen realm and all of the physical elements of the seen world, and the King of Kings for all eternity.  Yes, Jesus would impart to all who would follow him that very same power in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

It would be through the person of the Holy Spirit, fully dwelling in the believer that Jesus would empower his followers to do the same works he performed and proclaim the same words he preached, calling the rest of un-redeemed mankind to repentance and restoration as God’s very own children.  Furthermore, through the same empowering of the Spirit, Jesus would baptize with fire. Fire represented cleansing, purity and judgment in the Bible.  The baptism of fire that Jesus would bring would purify God’s people to be his very own family, and would bring those who refused under the righteous judgment of God at the proper time.

Now isn’t that so much more than just forgiveness?  Isn’t that far better than simply life in the holding pen of pardon?  Jesus has a life of purpose for you far beyond what your university degree or your current career or your bank account or anything else can give you.  Through the Holy Spirit, he will empower you to do God’s work on Planet Earth!

That sounds so much more exciting to me than merely living my life just so I avoid hell.  I don’t know about you, but I want Jesus to baptize me again today in the Holy Spirit’s power and fire.  I want to be emboldened and purified to do God’s work for him today on this planet.

How about you?

“There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.”  ~D.L. Moody

Prayer… Jesus, you said, “how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”  So I am asking for a fresh baptism today! You are the Baptizer; inundate me with the Holy Spirit!