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God-Controlled

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 2
Meditation: Matthew 2:5, 15, 18, 23

“For thus it is written in the prophets…”

Shift Your Focus… The birth and life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world, was not the product of random events. It was the direct result of prophetic fulfillment. Thus the phrase linking Christ’s life to Old Testament prophecy is repeated four times here in this second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.

Those details of Jesus’ life had been laid out in the mind of God from eternity past and had been written down in the inspired utterances of the prophets of old hundreds of years before Christ was born. The fulfillment of scores of prophecies in minute detail of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus leaves us with a pretty amazing track record of prophetic accuracy…leaving no doubt that those detailing his second coming will most certainly be fulfilled, too.

There is nothing random about God; nothing is left up to chance. The God of the Bible is the sovereign Lord of the universe, and is ruling over the details of history to bring about his perfect plan. What may seem like happenstance or coincidence, God has foreordained, caused, or permitted in his perfect will. Coincidence is simply a sovereign act of God for which he chooses to remain unseen; a miracle for which he prefers anonymity.

God is in control of all things, and that includes your life. David wrote in Psalm 139:16,

You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

God’s Word invites you to live with amazing confidence today, knowing that he is in control of all things, including even the smallest details of your life. Therefore you can say, “all things will work together for my good and his glory.”

“We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.” ~John Newton

Prayer… Lord, I will live confidently and expectantly this day, and this year, knowing that my life is a part of your greater plan. May the details of my life serve your purposes perfectly and bring great glory to your name.

 

 

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The God Who Will Not Be Denied

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 1
Meditation: Matthew 1:22-23

“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”

Shift Your Focus… As you read through Matthew 1, you are immediately hit with a list of names, which, for the most part, are probably meaningless to you. You may be tempted just to skip past these names, but I want to challenge you not to do that.

You see, each name in this genealogical list, just like in your own family history, tells a story. And that story reveals God’s activity in fulfilling his divine purpose to bring about the birth of his Son and our Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus did not just suddenly appear in history without context—his birth was the result of God’s eternal plan.

Not only do these names show us how God was fulfilling his sovereign purpose, they show us how he was fulfilling his divine promise. Jesus was born as a result of a promise God had made hundreds of years before, first to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: 15), then to Abraham (Genesis 12:3) and to King David in I Chronicles 17:11-14,

“And it shall be, David, that when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.”

Furthermore, these names not only tell the story of God’s purpose and God’s promise, but they tell us the story of God’s grace in using fallen human beings as the conduit through whom his Son would be born. In this listing of the Messiah’s progenitors are some unlikely and undeserving people—Tamar, a Gentile woman who slept with her father-in-law; Rahab, a Gentile prostitute; Ruth, a Gentile woman from the hated Moabite nation; Bathsheba, who is listed as the “wife of Uriah the Hittite”, the woman with whom King David had an adulterous affair.

It is nothing less than amazing that God would use people you wouldn’t expect to be the human conduit through which he would fulfill his purposes and his promises. And if God would use people like them, he will use people like you and me. That is the grace of God!

This opening chapter here in Matthew’s Gospel that begins with all these strange and boring names tells us the amazing story of how our purposeful, faithful and gracious God went to extreme lengths to reach us and redeem us with his love. He didn’t send his love through a written message, or a public service announcement, or a sign in the heavens. He sent himself! He sent his love through a baby born in a manger, who was called Immanuel—which means, “God is now with us.”

He is the God who will fulfill all of his purposes. He is the God who will fulfill each of his promises. He is the God who will reveal his grace to unlikely, undeserving people. He is the God who will be with us. He is Immanuel!

“Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.”  ~Dag Hammarskjold

Prayer… Lord, because you are with me, this is going to be a great day.  Come what may, today your purposes will not be thwarted, your promises will not be broken, and your grace will not be withheld from my life.  So I want to thank you in advance for what you will do for me, in me, and through me today.

 

 

 

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The Power of Confession

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: James 5
Meditation: James 5:16

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

Shift Your Focus… I don’t think James is promoting the idea that you stand up in front of the congregation and blurt out all your sins from the past week—bad words, dirty thoughts, rotten attitudes and dark deeds. While that might be quite entertaining to the rest of the folks sitting in the pews, it probably wouldn’t have the intended results James had in mind.

I suspect James is speaking of being in accountable relationships, perhaps a small group of some kind where the conditions have been cultivated for redemptive confession to take place. That is why I am a firm believer that every Christian needs a small group of two to four (perhaps a few more, but no more that eight) where relationships have developed enough that this kind of open sharing can take place.

That kind of group does not happen overnight.  It takes time.  It takes a track record of confidentiality. It takes the absolute certainly that your fellow group members will have your back. It has to be a safe place. It must be a place where you know that the others have your best interests in mind. And it needs to be a place where you give your spiritual partners permission to look deeply into your soul, ask you penetrating questions, and hold your feet to the fire for your spiritual walk.

Do you have a group like that? If you don’t, ask God to bring people into your life with whom you can develop that kind of community. Then do the hard work of cultivating openness and accountability with them. I have done that now for years, and would not even begin to think of doing life any other way. It is one of the activities of my week that keeps me spiritually grounded.

They (whoever “they” are) say that confession is good for the soul. That is true, but it’s good for the whole, too—the whole person. Confession and repentance will lead not only to cleansing of your heart, it will bring release to your mind and perhaps be the catalyst that speeds healing to your body. James 1:16 says,

“If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.” (CEV)

Confession takes courage.  On one level, it means to admit something that won’t put you in the best light and it could even put the regard with which people hold you at risk.  Yet it is one of the most powerful agents of redemptive lift available to you.  Thank God for confession.

“The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”  ~Augustine

Prayer… Lord, thank you for the people that you have brought into my life who are not afraid to look me in the eye and ask me penetrating questions about the condition of my heart.  Give them the constant courage, penetrating insight, and abundant grace that I need from them to stay spiritual healthy.

We invite you to learn more about Redemptive Lift and the Redemptive Lift Cycle by visiting Petros Network at petrosnetwork.org. 

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The “If” Factor

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: James 4
Meditation: James 4:15

“Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”

Shift Your Focus… The greatest challenge we face in our lives these days isn’t terrorism from without or secularism from within; it’s not high taxes or soaring gas prices or sinking financial markets or an uncertain income stream; it’s not gay marriage or activist judges or a biased press.

It is not anything but the clear and present danger of a life independent of God. I am not talking about the unbeliever, mind you.  I am speaking of Christians who live, in effect, as practical atheists.

So how is it that a believer gets into that predicament? James says it happens when we make our plans without God.  Notice in James 4:13 that there is not a single mention of God in how some Christians plan for the future:  “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

It’s the mistake of knowing what you want and how to get it, but never checking it out with God first.  Now James isn’t down on planning.  Rather, he is talking about presuming. It is to presume that God will be okay with your plans without asking him first. It’s great to have dreams and goals—as long as you include God and establish them prayerfully. Not to plan with God as your first and foremost consideration is to commit the sin of self-sufficiency.

The great Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote prolifically on the horrors of the Russian Revolution, where 60 million Russians died, and he attributed this nightmare to one simple fact:  “Men have forgotten God.” This is what James is talking about.  You can know God yet overlook him in your daily life.  It’s possible to love Him but leave him out of the picture when it comes to planning your career or running your business or pursuing your education.  In effect, when you forget God and fail to consult with him, even about the daily ordinariness of your life, you become a practical atheist.

So what’s the solution?  Very simply, include God in your planning.  In buying a home…purchasing a car…making a career move…hiring an employee…beginning to date…ending a relationship, first find out what has God said about it. Verse 15 says, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”

Take note of the word “if”.  Did you know that right in the middle of LIFE is IF? The starting point in bringing your life into line with the will of God is to put everything through the filter of that one big IF:  If this is what God wants!

If you leave God out of the equation and live as a practical atheist, life will be IF-E for you at best.  At worst, life will be a living “L”!

Proverbs 16:3 and 9 reminds us that, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed… In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 3:6 says, “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.”

So I would encourage you to stop praying, “God bless what I’m doing” and start praying, “God, show me what you’re blessing, and that is what I will do.”

That’s the surest way to keep “life” all together.

“Our God has boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small. Our expectations are too limited.”  ~A.B. Simpson

Prayer… Lord, your will—no more, no less.  That’s what I desire!

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Watch Your Words!

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: James 3
Meditation: James 3:2

“If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.”

Shift Your Focus… When James uses the word “perfect,” he doesn’t mean sinless. The word “perfect” literally means mature and healthy. And according to James, your tongue is what gauges both your spiritual maturity and spiritual health. Just think of your tongue as a spiritual dipstick, measuring the level of your spiritual vitality.

Your words direct where you go; they can destroy what you have. But most of all, they disclose who you are—the real you!  As Jesus explained in Matthew 12:34, “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Simple put, your words simply display what you already are.

If you’ve got a problem with your tongue, it’s much more serious that you think: What you really have is a heart problem. A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue means an insecure heart; a boastful tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue has an impure heart; a critical tongue reveals 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 if you have a tongue issue, what you really need to do is deal with your heart problems. How might you do that?

To begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart. Mouth control begins with a heart transplant. Ezekiel 18:31says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!”

Painting the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well. You can change the outside, try to turn over a new leaf, but what you really need is a new life. You need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician

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.” 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.

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 living proof of that. That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us. The psalmist prayed in Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize, then 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, develop the discipline of thinking before you speak. Back in James 1:19, we were told, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In other words, you must 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 you whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by 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.

There are 800,000 words in the English language, 300,000 are technical terms. The average person knows 10,000 words and uses 5,000 different words in everyday speech.

If you will allow God’s Word to dominate your mind, your 5,000 everyday words will begin to reveal a truly mature, healthy person and you will be a powerful instrument of bringing glory to God and blessing to those around you.

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” ~Mother Teresa

Prayer… Lord, help me to use every single word today to bring glory and honor to you and life to those around me.

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The Unfortunate Disconnect of Faith and Action

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: James 2
Meditation: James 2:14,17

 

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  … Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Shift Your Focus… Let me offer my translation of what James is saying:  “Prove your faith by living it out, because faith without action is no faith at all!”

Church-goers in our culture really need to listen up to James’ words, because there’s a great deal of belief that’s not matched by behavior these days. Our talk is not commensurate with our walk. As James would say, there’s an unfortunate disconnect between faith and action. And this disconnect is the source of much unhappiness, frustration, and even stress for believers.

For instances, we value generosity, but hoard our wealth. We believe in God, but decreasingly participate in worship. We tout the sanctity of marriage and family values, yet the divorce rate is skyrocketing. We sing of peace on earth, yet there’s more hostility in our homes than ever.

Sociologists refer to this disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live as incongruent values. In chapter 1, James spelled out the sad consequences of living with these incongruent values:

  • Self-deception:  “…and so deceive yourselves.”  (James 2:22)
  • Dissatisfaction:  “…like the man who looks at his face in the mirror…and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (James 2:23)
  • Bondage:  “…the law that gives freedom…”  (James 2:25)
  • Spiritual Poverty:  He won’t be “blessed in what he does.” (James 2:25)
  • Irrelevance:  “…his religion is worthless.” (James 2:26)

What James is describing is a pointless faith; a lot of knowledge but little implementation.  That’s a big problem in the church today.  We’re like Dead Sea saints: A lot of inflow but no outflow. And like the real Dead Sea, the result is a stagnant, stinky body of water. Nothing is more disgusting to God and dissatisfying to people who live it than dead faith…an inflow of God’s riches with little or no outflow.

Authentic, saving, God-pleasing faith is not just something you say or feel or believe, it is something you do! Now just to be clear, our faith is not determined by what we do. But it is demonstrated by what we do.  Faith is taking what you know to be true, what is of utmost and eternal value to you, and living it out in every fiber of your existence.

When you offer that kind of life of faith to God, he says to you, “you will be accepted and pleasing to me…and I will bless you life!” (James 1:25-27)

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

Prayer… Dear God, help me to live out my faith in my moment-by-moment life!

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What Pain Produces

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: James 1
Meditation: James 1:2

“When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”

Shift Your Focus… Benjamin Franklin said, “those things that hurt, instruct.” In review of the growth in your life, you have probably found that to be true, as I have. The best lessons in life have come from the things we wouldn’t have chosen for ourselves: a failure on a test, the break-up of a romance, the loss of a job, the denial of a dream.

Of course, at every one of life’s speedbumps there is a choice either to get bitter or to get better. It all depends on our response to these difficulties. If we choose the better route of patiently and joyfully enduring our trials, here are a few of the God-ordained growth outcomes that James mentions:

  • Maturity—James 1:2-4: Patiently and redemptively enduring trials takes us through a cycle from pain to patience to perfection.
  • Wisdom— James 1:5-8: Painful trials always cause us to scratch our heads and seek guidance for a way forward. For the believer, this is always an opportunity to go to God—through prayer, by his Word, and through his people—to ask for wisdom. And God will always give it in liberal amounts.
  • True Riches— James 1:9-11: Trials have a way of reminding both poor and rich that wealth and material things are fleeting, but our relationship with God isn’t. When everything else fades from view, the true richness of belonging to God is all the more appreciated.
  • Eternal Reward— James 1:12-15: Patience in suffering will be rewarded with the crown of life on the day we stand in eternity before God. This life will soon pass, and eternal life will begin. Enduring suffering for a season—even if it is an entire season of life—will seem like a blip on the radar a billion years into our eternal life. Bad happens to me so that good things can happen in me so that eternal things can happen through me.
  • Sundry Gifts— James 1:16-18: Suffering redemptively also has a way of helping us to appreciate the variety of God’s gifts that we might otherwise overlook. We become much more sensitive to life, and thus, much more grateful to God.

Suffering is never much fun. No one in his or her right mind would purposely choose it. But when pain finds us, if we dedicate ourselves to going through it redemptively, the reward will be the joy of our spiritual transformation.

“There are some graces in your life that would never have been discovered if it were not for the trials.  Do you not know that faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter?  …Afflictions are often the black folds in which God sets the jewels of his children’s graces, to make them shine better…God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered and that we may be certain of their existence….real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials.”  ~Charles Spurgeon

Prayer… Lord, thank you for those things that I have suffered. They have hurt, but better yet, they have instructed. They have helped. They have caused me to move closer to you. And you have stood by me through them all, sustaining and strengthening me. I am forever grateful.