The Only Way

Beaten with rods.  Whipped relentlessly.  Pierced by thorns around His head.  The Holy One of God - the King, the Son of the Most High, the Almighty - was tortured beyond comprehension.  The All-powerful Messiah's body was unable to bear the weight of the cross on which He was to die.  Eventually He was hung on it, amidst ridicule and mockery.  He died one of the most shameful, painful deaths that anyone could ever die.  But it was the only way to save humanity from their sins.

Or was it?

Sin came into the world so easily; through one man (see Romans 5).  Was all hope lost after the first sin, though?  Was God powerless against the sin that entered the earth through Adam?  Of course not!  He made a promise, even then, that He would send a Savior to the world (Genesis 3:15).

But He didn't have to make that promise.  He could have just obliterated Satan the moment Satan turned against Him, and purged the earth of sin on the spot.  He could have purified the earth with a gush of Heavenly fury.  But why didn't He?

He did it for us.  But most of all, He did it for His own glory.

God could have put everything back to the way it was.  But He's so much greater than that.  His plan of salvation is one of tragedy, but of hope; of defeat, but of victory; of agony, but of joy.  It's difficult for us, on earth, to understand God's beauty, holiness, and magnificence without first knowing the ugliness, imperfection, and woefulness of sin.  That's why Jesus died: so we could know Him, and know His incomparable, incredible beauty.

But more than this, Jesus died so that He could be glorified.  "Father, the hour has come," He prayed.  "Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you" (John 17:1b).  God is glorified in our lives when we choose Him over everything else and worship Him for who He is.  Knowing that we would better savor Him and His majesty after first knowing the worthlessness of sin, He chose to write the best, most heroic story imaginable, so that we could experience His joy to the utmost (See John 15:11, 16:20-22).

Jesus didn't have to die.  But He did.  He could have wiped out sin completely.  But He didn't.  Instead, He chose to lay His own life down (John 10:18).  He chose to endure the cross, to endure the beatings, to endure the whippings, to endure the mockery, to endure the blood, to endure the aching, and to endure the shame.  And He did it all for His glory.  He did it all for us.

Arguing with the Manual Writer

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Many think that the Bible is just a book of encouragement, merely a collection of stories, or simply a bunch of rules.  However, these are all false conceptions of the Word of God.  Yes, the Bible can be encouraging.  Yes, it contains stories of men and women of history and even has rules.  But as Christians, we know that it's infinitely, unfathomably more.

Think about just how amazing it is that we have the Bible.  It's God's very Word!  By His words, the universe came into being.  With His words, He calmed storms and healed a myriad of sick people - both physically and spiritually.  And on top of that, He has given that Word to us!  The question is, though: do we act like it?

I've heard some say that the Bible is a Christian manual.  While the metaphor misses some essential elements of scripture, there is some truth in it.  Life, you could say, is sort of like building a bicycle.  Why would you attempt to build one without consulting the manual for guidance?  I've never heard statements such as these:

"Yeah, but this manual doesn't apply to my bike."
"I know it says that, but with this bike, I'm sure it would work better this way."
"But if the manual writer were in my situation, he would see that it doesn't work."
"Well he didn't really mean that when he wrote it, what he really meant was this."

See how silly that is?  Yet we, whether intentionally or unintentionally, constantly use these excuses in our lives.  The great "Manual Writer" of life knows and has revealed to us, among other things, the best way to live life.  He created life itself, so how could my plan or idea possibly top His?  I can't see the end, but He can see the end, the beginning, and everything in between.

It is crucial that we line up our lifestyles with the Will of God, according to His Word.  If an aspect of your life is contrary to His word, change it!  Who are we to argue with the Author of life?  It's as foolish as arguing with the manual writer.

Deaf to the Spirit

In the last post, I talked about the necessity of being wholly God's, and used 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 to explain its extreme importance and greatness:

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

In this post, we're going to look at the same verse, but in a slightly different light.  Again, contextually speaking, Paul is writing primarily about the sexual immorality of the church of Corinth, but there is another universal truth that we must understand: we are each the temple of the Holy Spirit.

In Old Testament times, the dwelling place of Emmanuel (meaning "God with us") was between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  He literally had a tent (the tabernacle), just like the rest of the Israelites.  He dwelt with them.

When Christ laid down His life, however, something changed.  The veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom, symbolizing that we can enter into God's presence without an intermediary.  He no longer dwells in temples made with hands (Acts 7:48), and is not longer simply with us.  He is in us.  How amazing it is to know that the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Alpha and Omega, and the Savior of mankind would choose to dwell in us!

Too often, though, we take for granted the fact that we have the Spirit of Almighty God in our hearts.  Our perception of Him becomes that of a deity who allows us to live our own lives without interference unless we ask him to help us out, rather than that of a personal God who is constantly seeking to speak to us and mold us into who He wants us to be.  In reality, too many of us are deaf to the Spirit.

How do you live your life?  In the choices you make, entertainment you enjoy, things that fill your conversation, and in your day-to-day behavior with your family and friends, do you live like Christ is watching, guiding, and shaping your life? or do you do your own thing, as if He's distant and just "there for you?"

The more we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, the more our lives will resemble Christ and His love.  The more we allow ourselves to become distracted with our own plans, lives, and desires, the more we deafen ourselves to the Spirit.  Let us live every moment remembering that the One Who holds the universe chooses to live and work in our hearts.

To Be Wholly His

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

It is undoubted that our generation of Christians has become the epitome of lukewarmness. We have become so much like the world, either in a compromising state of spiritual laziness or in a vain attempt to make Christianity look easy-going and free-spirited, that we have made it nearly impossible for unbelievers to see us as any different. What's even worse is that we often praise this as being an accomplishment! 

We have become comfortably content with our lifestyles and have bought into the lie that if we go to church multiple times a week, read some scripture each day, save our first kiss until our wedding day, and maybe pray a tearful prayer every so often, we are spiritual giants. While it is true that, in comparison to most youth today, this is fairly impressive (in fact, those are all very good things), there's something wrong. If this is all that separates us from the world, we have missed the whole point. And the point is simple: we are not our own.

Now, although 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 is contextually speaking about sexual immorality in the church of Corinth, Paul is using an ever-present Christian truth: that we do not belong to ourselves (see also Romans 6). Our bodies, souls, and spirits are no longer ours; they are wholly, utterly, and uncompromisingly Christ's.

Are you fully surrendering yourself to Christ? That's not rhetorical. It is absolutely vital that you answer that question for yourself with the utmost honesty. If you want to know if you are fully giving yourself to Him, answer these questions for yourself:

What do I think about the most?

What do my friends and I talk about most frequently?

Do I yearn to read God's Word and to talk to Him?

Do I obey and delight in His commandments?

If someone were to see my every action and hear my every word and thought, would they see a Christian living solely for Christ, or would my life be muddied with worldly behaviors and influences?

Let me be the first to say that I am far from passing that test. Even so, I choose to give my life completely to Him, and to surrender my paths to Him and allow Him to change my ways and make me into the image of His Son. And the more I do that, the more my thoughts become centered on Him, the more I desire to spend time in His Word, and the more I can be His servant and vessel.

Watching my generation and some of my closest friends, many of whom were once close to Christ, become swept away into a compromising state of lukewarmness hurts me deeply. Christ didn't die to save a part of us. He died to save all of us. I don't want to be my own. I want my every thought, my every word, my every action - my everything - to be wholly His.

You Can Do This! ... Or Can You?

     In Christian society today, one thing that is most desired by the Church is inspiration.  We want to be inspired in our walk with Christ, to be encouraged to keep going, and challenged to be better.  In fact, inspiration, although there are a number of different ways we use the word, is extremely necessary for our faith.

     However, over the number of weeks, I've noticed something increasingly dangerous about this.  On social media sites, we often like to share motivational pictures or quotes that we think are nice.  This too is good, but it's not necessarily this that is particularly bothersome.  The danger in our "inspiration" these days is what we choose to inspire us.

     You see, many "motivational" quotes that we use actually encourage us - often without our realizing it - to not rely on God.  Statements such as "You're strong enough for this," "You can do whatever you set your mind to," and "Don't do things for others' approval, do things for yourself," actually reject Christian principles.  While they often have slivers of truth, we need to be careful what we're actually saying.

     The main way I see "inspirational" quotes like this contradict Christian beliefs is in their purely humanistic base.  Where in the Bible does it say that we are strong enough, we can do what we set our minds to, or that we should act for our own benefit, without clearly and explicitly explaining that the omnipotent God is the source of this strength?

     The point is this: we need to be well aware of what we say when we try to spread encouragement and inspire others to trust God.  Are quotes such as these bad?  Not necessarily, but they do give a false - or at the very least, incomplete - message about our human capabilities versus God's almighty power.

     We, as the Church, need to understand that "inspiration" is not patting our brothers and sisters on the back and telling them that they have the power to get themselves through any of life's situations.  We simply don't.  Our inspiration has to come from the basis of our Creator's unlimited power, and our feeble weakness.  The inspiration is not found in ourselves; it's found in clinging to the One who has promised to work everything out for good for us (Romans 8:28).

      Inspiration is critical to a Christian's life.  We need to be encouraged - but we need to be encouraged in Christ our Savior!  Next time you want to share encouragement with someone, do so not in the trust of humanity's weak and constantly failing nature, but instead in the might of our Father's everlasting right hand.

A Dream or a Nightmare

I'm sure you've heard it before: "Follow your dreams."  It's the message we tell kids, teens, and even adults.  And it certainly is a nice phrase!  It inspires people to reach high, press on, and accomplish big feats.  So what's wrong with it?  Essentially, nothing's wrong with following a dream.  The only problem is... the dreams are wrong.  That's right!  Our dreams are just plain wrong.

Wait a minute.  Who am I to make the judgment that someone's dream is wrong?!  What about the people that dream to become motivational speakers? authors? presidents?!  Although these are certainly very commendable vocations, they are completely and utterly wrong if they do not involve one crucial element: Jesus Christ.

You see, when children are asked the age-old question "What do you want to be when you grow up," the reply is usually something vocational, but seldom involves God.  And if someone's dream does not involve God, we run into a wide variety of problems.  Essentially, the problem is simple: they're our dreams.

Now, let me stop and say right now that I am certainly not - at all - against someone pursuing a career, nor am I even against someone having a dream!  I certainly have dreams of my own, and I am pursuing a career.  Where we go wrong with, however, is that we don't let God have His place in them.  His place being, of course, everything.

Basically, we get the order reversed when it comes to our dreams.  Instead of trying to fit God into our dreams, we need to start with a pursuit of God, and let our dreams follow suit.  We shouldn't follow our dreams, we should follow God, and our dreams will follow Him as well.

According to Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."  The question is: who's planning your way?  Are you, or is God?  If you plan your way, you'll only find disappointment.  But if you follow the Lord's plan, He'll establish your steps with His Mighty and Abundant Hand.

Life's Kinda Like a Tree

     Throughout the Bible, analogies are used frequently.  They help us to apply what we see to our spiritual journey, and explain deep truths in ways that are easy to understand.  Among the dozens of analogies used in Scripture, we can find quite a few that have to do with plants.

     Plants, you ask?  Yes, plants!  They're nothing out of the ordinary, yet the Lord uses something so common to point out things He wants us to see.  From the Psalms to Paul's letter to the Galatians, let's take a look at three ways God uses plants to teach us about aspects of our faith:

     The first of these is Galatians 5:22-23, or as we would better know it, the "Fruit of the Spirit."  Okay, okay, so this passage isn't exactly talking about fruit from a tree.  In these verses, "fruit" simply means "a result" or "payment," so essentially this could be called "the result of what happens when you walk in the Spirit."  However, the common title is, in my opinion, much more exciting.

     But if this passage isn't about edible fruit, why am I using it?  You see, edible fruit is, in a sense, the "result" of the life of a tree.  So, let's look at the fruit of the spirit in the same way; many times, people try to get to heaven by being good - by having love, joy, peace, and so on.  This, however, is not the right way to do things.  It's called morality.

     How silly it would be to try to make a tree by stapling a bunch of apples to some branches?  It wouldn't make any sense at all!  The tree must come first, and then the fruit will come as a result; not the other way around.  This brings us to our next analogy, found in John chapter 15.

     In this passage, Jesus tells us that He is the Vine.  For this example, however, let's say he's the "trunk."  Christ calls us the branches.  He says "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

     We see here that Jesus Christ is the "trunk" (so to speak) from which we, as the branches, must grow.  Notice that it isn't until after He makes this point clear that fruit even comes into the conversation.  Again, the order remains the same: Christ comes first, and the fruit comes afterwards.  Bearing fruit is not the most important thing on the list; letting Christ be the foundation of your life is essential.

     With this, we move on to our last scripture: Psalm 1.  In it is an explanation of the man who delights in the law of the Lord.  Basically, this man has Christ as his foundation.  The plant analogy comes in verse 3: "He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."

     Thus, by what we've learned from the previous scriptures, our life becomes a tree.  Christ is the trunk, we are the branches, and our actions (and our character) are the fruit.  This seems like a simple enough point, but it is critical that we understand it.  We, as corrupt humans, cannot be the center of things, nor can our good intentions.  Only Christ can do that.  This order simply cannot be emphasized enough.

     This has been a fairly long post, but believe me, we have not even scratched the surface.  There are dozens and dozens of other points that could be made from the passages I used.  I encourage you to discover them for yourself.  You will find a plethora of wisdom in just a single verse!