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Everything Goes Back To Normal

Don’t Get Stuck on a Spiritual High

SYNOPSIS: Never fixate on a spiritual high. Resist the urge to erect a shelter on a mountaintop experience. Don’t rate your current and future Christian experience against those “glory days” of yesteryear. Simply see those experiences for what they are: Fuel for the assignment ahead. Then get back to normal. Climb down off your mountaintop experience and get back in the game. Lost people are still lost down there in the real world and the proclamation of God’s kingdom from your lips and through your life is still the only way they will be found.

Don't get hung up on spiritual highs.

Moments With God // Mark 9:9

As they went back down the mountain…

In Mark 9:2-13 we come across one of the most fascinating and mysterious stories about Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain, and there before their very eyes, for a few moments at least, his humanity morphs into the dazzling brilliance of his divine being. And if that weren’t enough to knock their sandals off, Moses and Elijah, Israel’s two greatest historical and theological figures, suddenly show up and begin to encourage Jesus about his upcoming death.

As you would expect of Peter, the unpredictable disciple offers to set up shop for this impromptu triumvirate: “Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mark 9:5)

At that, a cloud covers Jesus and his heavenly guests, the Voice speaks a word of Divine authentication from the heavens, Jesus is suddenly left standing with Peter, James, and John, and everything goes back to normal.

Everything goes back to normal!

That’s when Jesus leads them “back down the mountain” to the real world.

Here’s the deal: God never intends for us to fixate on “spiritual highs”; we are not to build tabernacles around them or make memorials out of them. They are simply means to an end, the fuel to empower us for another spiritual assignment. Jesus didn’t have this encounter with Moses and Elijah just so he could feel special. The same account of the transfiguration in Luke 9:31 (NLT) tells us that these two Old Testament prophets came to encourage Jesus about his upcoming departure—literally, in the original text, his “exodus.” He was about to face the greatest assignment of all—the cross. This mountaintop experience was meant as fuel—encouragement, strength, a reminder of his life’s purpose—for his impending death for the sins of the world.

Don’t get me wrong: I am not down on “spiritual highs.” They are wonderful—and necessary. Just don’t fixate on them. Resist the urge to erect a shelter and live in their warm afterglow. Don’t rate the rest of your Christian experience against them. Don’t build the entire meaning of your existence upon them. Simply see them for what they are: Fuel for the assignment ahead.

Then get back to normal. Climb down off your mountaintop experience and get back in the game. Lost people are still lost down there in the real world and the proclamation of God’s kingdom from your lips and the demonstration of it through your life is still the only way they will be found.

Take A Moment: Is there a “spiritual high” from your past (an ecstatic experience, a fruitful time of ministry, a wonderful season in an amazing church family, a dramatic period of spiritual growth under a gifted spiritual leader) against which you tend to measure current experience? Stop doing that! It’s idolatrous, actually. Repent of worshiping experience and instead ask God to show you how he intends for that “high” to fuel you for the kingdom assignment ahead.

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Nothing To Hide, Nothing To Fear

Pursue Personal Integrity

SYNOPSIS: The person who values and practices integrity will live with confidence, no matter what! They can expect to live under the blessing and favor of God. They will be unburdened from the pending doom of discovery. And at the end of their days, they will be able to look back with satisfaction on a life of no regrets. Integrity! It’s not always the easy way. It’s not always the way that will bring popularity and promotion. But in the end, it is the only life that can stand before the All-knowing Judge.

Nothing to Fear

Moments With God // Proverbs 10:9

Honesty lives confident and carefree, but Shifty is sure to be exposed.

Like my mom, your mom probably reminded you from time to time that “honesty is the best policy.” That value was drilled into in us from the very beginning in our homes. And over the years, whether we were living it out or suffering the consequences of violating it, we found that practicing honesty always resulted in what was best for us. Honesty wasn’t always the easy road to travel; in fact, sometimes being honest had some unpleasant short-term consequences. But in the long run, telling the truth always proved to be right.

The Watchman Examiner once reported that when Senator Henry Clay was about to introduce a potentially unpopular bill in back in the 1800’s, a friend said, “If you do, Clay, it will kill your chance for the presidency.” Clay asked, “but is the measure right?” And on being assured it was right, Clay said, “I would rather be right than be president.” I

That is the kind of character we all admire and long for in our leaders.

Proverbs calls that being a person of integrity. Integrity is a word that is talked about a great deal in our society, but just what is it? The dictionary defines it as fidelity to moral principles; honesty; soundness; completeness. A great working definition of integrity is who you are when no one is looking. The British poet Thomas Babington Macaulay noted, “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do, if he knew he would never be found out.”

The word integrity comes from the word integer, which refers to a whole number. It is being a whole person. It means there is a congruence between what you say you believe and how you actually live. It is the marriage of what you say and what you do.

Proverbs 10:9 says that living as a person of integrity carries with it the priceless benefit of security: “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” Or, as the Message says, “Honesty lives confident and carefree.” When you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

Integrity…honesty…wholeness! What a tremendous way to live. The person who values and practices integrity will live with confidence, no matter what! They can expect to live under the blessing and favor of God. They will be unburdened from the pending doom of discovery. And at the end of their days, they will be able to look back with satisfaction on a life of no regrets.

Integrity! It’s not always the easy way. It’s not always the way that will bring popularity and promotion. But in the end, it is the only life that can stand before the All-knowing Judge.

Take A Moment: Be honest! Is there anything you would change about you — attitudes, thoughts, actions — if it was exposed to the light of public view? Why not go ahead and tackle those things before they’re exposed on the Day of Accounting!

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Shelter

Rest in the Shadow of the Almighty

SYNOPSIS: Have you ever watched a hen gather her chicks under her wings in a downpour? When the clouds burst, momma will spread her wings and the chicks will run to her, and in one fell swoop, she will gather all those babies under her wings and hunker down in the storm. The chicks literally disappear as she absorbs the onslaught. In your time of storm, God longs for you to find shelter in the shadow of his wings as he absorbs your storm! But here’s the deal: To survive the storm, you’ve got to run to him! So if you’re in a storm right now, if I were you, I’d start running!

New Article: Shelter

Moments With God // Psalm 91:1,4

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

My wife and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary several years ago on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kauai. It was in July, and we were on the rainier side of this lush island, and man was it raining. Several times throughout the day the clouds would burst and the downpour would send both man and beast running for cover.

We had a ground-floor condo for the week that opened up into the grassy interior of the resort, and throughout the week, we noticed a hen and her brood of about five or six baby chicks that roamed the resort, and to our delight, often took their leisure on our patio. Free-range chickens in paradise—what a life!

On one occasion when the downpour hit, we were in the room and the hen was right outside our sliding glass doors. When the clouds burst, it looked as if a fire hose had been turned on; it was unbelievable. Then the most amazing thing happened: those baby chicks made a beeline for momma hen. I didn’t know chickens could run that fast. And momma hen spread her wings like she had done it a million times before, and in one fell swoop, gathered all the babies under her wings and hunkered down in the storm. The chicks literally disappeared from sight for about ten minutes, while mother hen absorbed the maelstrom.

As we watched this touching scene in amazement, my wife and I simultaneously commented on these tender verses from Psalm 91: “under his wings you will find refuge.” As moved as we were by the mother hen’s love for her chicks, we were awestruck and undone by the Heavenly Father’s tender but protective love of his helpless kids—chicks like us.

What an awesome thing that we belong to a God who longs for us to find shelter in the time of storm under the shadow of his wings! And what love the Father has for us that he should send his only Son to absorb the storm of sin and protect us from the righteous wrath of the One who cannot tolerate that sin.

And the Son, Jesus Christ, still longs to gather us under his wings, as a hen gathers her brood: “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…” (Matt 23:27)

Our loving God longs to gather you, but here’s the deal: You’ve got to run to him!

Take A Moment: Got a storm? Start running!

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Unsolicited Advice

Proceed With Caution

SYNOPSIS: When it comes to dispensing advice, proceed with caution. Don’t rush to “counsel” people when you haven’t been invited into their lives. The truth is, some people are neither ready to receive your input. Your recommendations, even though well-intentioned, will fall on deaf ears, or worse yet, be seen as intrusive. If you’re one of those who just can’t seem to keep your opinion to yourself, Hannah Whitehall Smith offers this wise counsel: “The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.”

Unsolicited Advice

Moments With God // Proverbs 9:7-8

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

Some people in this world have an irresistible urge to give unsolicited advice. Sometimes the advice is good and helpful to the person on the receiving end of it, but it usually falls into the it’s-none-of-your-business category. If you are one of those who just can’t seem to keep your opinion to yourself, Solomon has some great advice here in Proverbs 9,

“If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you’ll get slapped in the face; confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. So don’t waste your time on a scoffer; all you’ll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life, that’s different—they’ll love you for it!

Save your breath for the wise—they’ll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they’ll profit from it. (Proverbs 9:7-9, The Message)

In other words, when it comes to dispensing advice, proceed with caution. Don’t rush to counsel or admonish people when you haven’t been invited into their lives. The truth is, there are some people who are neither ready to receive your input nor willing to follow your suggestions. Your recommendations and challenges to them, even though well-intentioned, will fall on deaf ears, or worse yet, be seen as intrusive.

The counsel my father often gave to me paralleled Solomon’s was, “Son, don’t go sticking your nose into others people’s business.” That turned out to be pretty good advice. When I’ve heeded that advice, I’ve never regretted it. When I’ve ignored it and pushed my way into business that was not my own, I’ve regretted it as a foolish and unnecessarily painful act.

So what is Solomon proposing? That we just sit back and let people mess up their lives without saying a word? Doesn’t love demand that we sometimes confront, even when we know it won’t be well-received? What is God’s wisdom for us in this matter?

The Bible does teach us that we need to be ready to speak truth into the lives of people God has caused to cross our paths. We have been called to encourage, exhort, challenge, admonish, rebuke, instruct and hold people accountable for their actions. That is the assignment we are sometimes given, and if we want to have the best shot at speaking difficult truth to those who need to hear what we have to say, consider the following checklist for difficult conversations:

  • Know your target
  • Be careful with your timing
  • Pay attention to your limits
  • Check your own motives
  • Speak out of authentic love

If any one of those indicator lights is blinking red, pull up! If it’s all systems go, then bring your advice in for landing. And one more thing: good luck!

Take A Moment: Think back to a time when someone spoke a difficult and necessary word into your life. Take a moment to write them a note of thanks—it was probably pretty hard on them, too.

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Missions Multiplies Your Influence

Understanding How You Can Get On Mission With God

For decades, it’s been reasoned that having a corporate or a personal mission statement is critical to success. But for the Christ-follower or the Christian organization, nothing could be further from the truth. We shouldn’t be asking “what’s my mission,” but what’s God’s mission, and how can I get on mission with God.

Missions Multiplies Your Influence

And just what is God’s mission? Nothing less than his glorious rule over a redeemed creation. That means our mission is to proclaim God’s free offer of saving grace through his Son to lost people near and far, inviting them into his loving rule. Especially people who’ve never heard the Good News—the unreached—because where a person is born shouldn’t limit their access to Jesus.

So if we’re to live on mission, then getting the Good News to the unreached must become a driving conviction. I say “driving conviction” because our sin nature is self-focused. We do our best to avoid the determination and discomfort that being missional requires. But when you think about it, being on missions with God is actually self-serving.

You see, missions is the best way to get what you, me, and everybody desires: impact. You best multiply your life impact by being missional.

Your greatest impact will be wherever you do missions.

When you PRAY, GIVE, and GO missionally—to Asia, Africa, South America—people’s response to Christ in those places is your influence over there.

In a real sense, missions is simply you exporting your spiritual DNA to people afar.

The Apostle Paul described it that way when he spoke of the Galatian church he planted in Galatians 4:19,

“I feel as if I’m in labor pains for you…and they’ll continue until Christ is fully formed in you.”

The church in Galatia had Paul’s spiritual DNA! Linda and I came into that revelation a few years ago when we personally sponsored a church planter in Uganda. Watch the video below to hear the full story!

Do you want to live a life of eternal impact? Then live on mission.

Through your praying for, giving to, and going on mission, people will receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus. And throughout eternity, they will thank you for being the conduit of God’s amazing grace to them.

Your missional impact now will yield ever-increasing eternal return on investment.

Friends, this is how you can change the world and impact souls for all eternity.

Learn how you can make an eternal investment today at petrosnetwork.org.

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Just As If I’d Never Sinned

This Is THE Good News

SYNOPSIS: Justification—just as if I had never sinned! The Good News revealed in the New Testament is that through “faith” in Jesus Christ’s person, and his work on the cross, sinners can now stand before the holy and righteous God “justified”—just as if they had never sinned. That is really good news! And you received this free gift of God’s grace by faith alone—not by your own works of righteousness or inherent merit. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You stand before God just as if you had never sinned. I don’t know about you, but the only response I have to such amazing and undeserved love is to offer the rest of my life as one unending thanksgiving offering to God.

Just as if i'd never sinned

Moments With God // Romans 3:23-24

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

As a young man, I heard a simple preacher offer this definition of justification: It is just as if I’d never sinned! When you study what the Apostle Paul meant by the word, it turns out that is a pretty good explanation of a highly complex theological construct.

Paul uses the verb, justified, and words derived from its root, thirty times in Romans alone. Obviously, this is an important theme with Paul and the critical core of our Christian faith. Along with “gospel” and “faith” (see chapter 1), this is our theology. The “good news” revealed in the New Testament is that through “faith” in Jesus Christ’s person, and his work on the cross, sinners can now stand before the holy and righteous God “justified”—just as if they had never sinned.

Now don’t miss the beauty of this! Our justification, which was a legal concept, by the way, happened only by what Jesus did on the cross. There he paid the penalty that you legally owed as one who had transgressed God’s law. Not only were you pardoned from receiving the just punishment reserved for all lawbreakers, but your guilt was also removed as well. Not only were you set free, you were totally cleansed—your sin record was expunged. You now stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

Now how can that be? Well, part of the justification package included that not only were you pardoned from punishment and declared not guilty, but you were also literally infused with Christ’s very own righteousness—“everything Jesus” was imputed, literally and spiritually, to you. But that’s not all! As beautiful as that is, it is even more stunningly beautiful that to be imputed with Christ’s righteousness meant that Jesus had to have both your sins and your sin nature imputed to him on the cross—“he became sin on your behalf so that you could become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21)

All of that was legally necessary for you to be made right with God. You owed a legal debt that you could not pay to the Judge of all creation. He loved you so much he sent his one and only Son—perfectly sinless—to pay the full legal price for your redemption by becoming sin and taking the punishment into his own being as he hung on the cross and shed his blood.

And you receive this free gift of God’s grace by faith (saving trust) alone—not by your own works of righteousness or inherent merit. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You stand before God just as if you had never sinned.

I don’t know about you, but the only response I have to such amazing and undeserved love is to offer the rest of my life as one unending thanksgiving offering to God.

Take A Moment: Memorize Romans 3:10 and 3:23-24: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’ … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Now, meditate on the contrasting horror of universal sin and the hope of eternal redemption that Paul speaks of here in Romans 3. Then write out a prayer of gratitude to God for the undeserved righteousness that was imputed to you through Christ’s work on the cross. If you are open to it, post your prayer as a comment on this blog.

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Nobody’s Fool

The Source of Real Life

SYNOPSIS: Nobody sets out in life to be a fool. No kid ever says, “You know, when I grow up, I want to be an idiot!” As far as I know, there has never been a college student who majored in stupidity (although some parents may wonder). We are just not geared that way. That’s why there’s a booming market for self-help books and personal coaching and success seminars. But wisdom doesn’t reside in do-it-yourself manuals or personal coaching programs or in the classroom or in the university library. The true book of wisdom, the Bible, says wisdom starts with “the fear of the Lord” — a recognition that wisdom comes from God. He is true wisdom, the source of all wisdom, and will give wisdom to all who fear him: “For the Lord gives wisdom.” (Proverbs 2:6) You’d be nobody’s fool to ask God today to give you some of it!

Fear of the Lord

Moments With God // Proverbs 8:1, 5

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? … You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding.

Nobody sets out in life to be a fool. No kid ever says, “You know, when I grow up, I want to be an idiot!” As far as I know, there has never been a college student who majored in stupidity (although some parents may wonder).

We are just not geared that way. Have you noticed the booming market for self-help books and personal coaching? Just about everybody wants to improve their lot in life and will spend countless hours and untold dollars to educate themselves to have a better shot at successful living.

But wisdom doesn’t reside in do-it-yourself manuals or personal coaching programs. Wisdom isn’t even found in the classroom or in the university library. The true book of wisdom, the Bible, says that wisdom starts with “the fear of the Lord.” That is the key. Solomon says the beginning of the process for gaining knowledge, living wisely, and being successful begins with fearing God.

So just what does that mean? Well, what it doesn’t mean is to huddle in the corner in abject terror of the Almighty. Only those who have no relationship with God do that. Only those who have a jaded or limited view of God live in that kind of fear. Only those who are, in fact, enemies of God, are the ones who rightly cower in terror.

The fear that Solomon as scripture defines it simply means loving reverence for God. It refers to the respect that manifests itself in submission to God’s will, obedience to God’s Word, awe of God’s great power, and love for who God is. That is what it means to fear the Lord. That kind of healthy fear:

  • Leads us to grow in knowledge—the absorption of God’s Word.
  • Keeps us from living as a fool—one who is morally deficient and lives with no regard for God.
  • Allows us to develop wisdom—the correct application of Biblical truth.
  • Causes us to appreciate discipline—that which moves us to say no to temporal pleasures and immediate gratification in order to grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

And the fear of the Lord leads to life itself. That’s what Proverbs 8:35 says,

For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.

Do you desire to be a wise person? Understand, then, that the attainment of wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. And the fear of the Lord recognizes that wisdom comes from God. God is true wisdom and the source of all wisdom. And God will give wisdom to all who fear him. Proverbs 2:6 says,

For the Lord gives wisdom.

So, why not ask him today for some of it!

Take A Moment: Commit Proverbs 8:35-36 to memory: “For whoever finds Wisdom finds life and receives favor from the LORD. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”