Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Love Will Always Be God's Standard
We can never exhaust the topic of love and so I am sending you this article to continue to draw our hearts to that which never fails. Also be sure to view the video and song I posted previously. The notes from our last meeting are forthcoming. Be blessed today!
----Nancy
"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."—Mother Theresa
A friend recently sent this quote to me and it encouraged me to love beyond the measure that I have been.
Relationships can be the most wonderful blessings in our lives, while at the same time they can be the hardest challenges that we will ever face. Why? It is because we are all people whose human nature has been affected by sin. Although we were created in the image of Christ, we daily have the limitations of dealing with our fallen nature that still causes us to stumble in the areas of love. Since love is the key element in all relationships, our stumbling in this area can bring great pain to others as well as ourselves. The ability to love is both our greatest gift as well as our greatest area of shortcoming.
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.—Leviticus 19:18
Do not "bear a grudge" because it will begin to create a "filter" of offense that you view that person through from that point onward. If you continue in your offense (grudge) you will begin to view even the most pure and innocent things as defiled. What began as a possible misunderstanding, or insensitive act, morphs into a breach of love and relationship. This is one of the enemy's favorite tactics within relationships.
We must love others as we love ourselves; how we desire to be loved is how we have to love others. I wish that I could say that I have "loved well" in most of the relationships in my life, but it has been one of my biggest failures. Though it is my greatest desire, it is also my greatest challenge. Will I love beyond my own hurt or will I abandon love at the point of hurt? We must all make a choice to love beyond our own point of pain or we will never have lasting relationships.
Be quick to love and slow to take offense. Offense will become the "fence" in your relationship, causing improper boundaries beginning at the point of pain or misunderstanding. Love in the midst of hurt will cause you to risk being honest with the person who caused you pain. Of course, there are times that we risk and are disappointed because the person does not respond to our love, but even if that happens, it is better to choose the path of love than the path of offense. If your gesture of love is rejected, know that Jesus will be right there with His unlimited love to heal your wound. You can still pray for and bless the one who has hurt you.
My response was: "If you walk closely with me, I can assure you that I will hurt you – not on purpose, but because I am still learning how to love."
If we love, we will be hurt. But if we are hurt we have to love all the more. Have you ever heard a wedding vow that promised never to hurt the other? It is a sure thing that if you get married and live day after day with another person, at some point one of you will fall short of perfect love and hurt the other. In fact, it will most likely happen sooner than later!
My husband is preparing to perform two weddings this year: one for our niece this summer and one for our daughter in the fall. I was looking through different wedding vows and I really liked the one that included these words:
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Believe me, I am writing this article to myself as well as to anyone who reads it! It is far easier for me to react in my pain than to respond in love when someone hurts me or acts unjustly. I have always wanted to be one of those people who filters life's situations through "reason" first and then emotion, but for me this takes great discipline. Emotion is my first filter! I always want to add to the verse in Isaiah 1:18 that says, "Come now, and let us reason together." It would be easier for me if it said, "Come again later and we can reason together after I have had a good cry!" Some of you can probably relate to this. Even if we fail at first and react in our pain, we must then go back and respond in love.
Simple words? These are the hardest words, the most difficult strategy ever given to us. It has been a great challenge for mankind since the beginning of time. A new teaching or new way to organize teams would have been easy compared to this directive. God knew that this is what we needed to learn more than anything else. The goal was love – not growing a ministry or being able to achieve 24-hour prayer teams...the one thing on God's heart was love.
It has been the same with the teens we work with. The kids that we are looking at bringing into our home are not teens with church backgrounds and loving families. They are kids that have seen things that would break your heart; kids who are more familiar with darkness than with light; kids that know how to hate and don't trust love. But God's strategy is "Love well!"
He has not told us to first give them strict rules, force them to listen to Christian music, stop cursing...He tells us to love them. The amazing thing is that it has worked. When people experience nurturing love they begin to change and want more love and more light. Their behaviors change because love drives out darkness. Jesus did not avoid being with those in darkness; He brought love into the darkness which created light. We can hate the darkness and love the one stumbling about in it. Remember, a small amount of darkness exposed to great light merely disappears, but a small amount of light in the midst of great darkness still gives sight. Rather than spending all our time confronting darkness, we simply bring in light.
I remember one instance where a young man in our home became very angry and began cursing and saying vile things to the other members of our household. My husband and I paused long enough to silently ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in dealing with this, and the Lord's instruction to me was: "Go and hold him." I went over to him and put my arms around him and began to tell him who he really is. I began to speak the truth of who God created him to be in the midst of his anger. I never even entertained or addressed all of the vile things that he was saying (he knew deep inside that they were wrong). Within moments this young man collapsed into our arms weeping and repenting. He had never had anyone love him beyond the pain he was hurling at them; nor had anyone loved him beyond his own pain. Love changed him!
It is easy to love those who love you, but to love those who are persecuting you or causing you pain is far more difficult. Whether it is within the church walls or outside of the church walls, within family or in front of a mere acquaintance, with a spouse or with a co-worker – love will always be God's standard. Some will respond to your love and some will reject your love, but if you continue in love the Bible says that "love never fails."
As the old song goes, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love...it's the only thing that there's just too little of..." Let us love as God loves. Let us encourage one another to love. Pray for me to love well and I will pray for you.
More Love,
Kathi Pelton
Compassion Arise
Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net
----Nancy
Love will Always be God's Standard
A friend recently sent this quote to me and it encouraged me to love beyond the measure that I have been.
Relationships can be the most wonderful blessings in our lives, while at the same time they can be the hardest challenges that we will ever face. Why? It is because we are all people whose human nature has been affected by sin. Although we were created in the image of Christ, we daily have the limitations of dealing with our fallen nature that still causes us to stumble in the areas of love. Since love is the key element in all relationships, our stumbling in this area can bring great pain to others as well as ourselves. The ability to love is both our greatest gift as well as our greatest area of shortcoming.
Don't Let Your Love Become Offended
We have all been hurt when we were not loved well. We all have also hurt others when we did not love well. I cannot think of too many times in my life when I was having relational conflict that it was all one-sided. Usually I find that both parties have stumbled in the area of pure love and both have experienced pain. If you experience pain in a relationship, it is very important to quickly share your heart with that person so that they can either have the chance to apologize, or in turn explain how you may have misunderstood their words or actions (intentions). If you do not, pain can quickly become offense, which can turn into anger.Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.—Leviticus 19:18
Do not "bear a grudge" because it will begin to create a "filter" of offense that you view that person through from that point onward. If you continue in your offense (grudge) you will begin to view even the most pure and innocent things as defiled. What began as a possible misunderstanding, or insensitive act, morphs into a breach of love and relationship. This is one of the enemy's favorite tactics within relationships.
We must love others as we love ourselves; how we desire to be loved is how we have to love others. I wish that I could say that I have "loved well" in most of the relationships in my life, but it has been one of my biggest failures. Though it is my greatest desire, it is also my greatest challenge. Will I love beyond my own hurt or will I abandon love at the point of hurt? We must all make a choice to love beyond our own point of pain or we will never have lasting relationships.
Be quick to love and slow to take offense. Offense will become the "fence" in your relationship, causing improper boundaries beginning at the point of pain or misunderstanding. Love in the midst of hurt will cause you to risk being honest with the person who caused you pain. Of course, there are times that we risk and are disappointed because the person does not respond to our love, but even if that happens, it is better to choose the path of love than the path of offense. If your gesture of love is rejected, know that Jesus will be right there with His unlimited love to heal your wound. You can still pray for and bless the one who has hurt you.
Love Hurts and Love Heals
I once had a friend who was considering joining our ministry team say to me: "I just need to know that you will not hurt me."My response was: "If you walk closely with me, I can assure you that I will hurt you – not on purpose, but because I am still learning how to love."
If we love, we will be hurt. But if we are hurt we have to love all the more. Have you ever heard a wedding vow that promised never to hurt the other? It is a sure thing that if you get married and live day after day with another person, at some point one of you will fall short of perfect love and hurt the other. In fact, it will most likely happen sooner than later!
My husband is preparing to perform two weddings this year: one for our niece this summer and one for our daughter in the fall. I was looking through different wedding vows and I really liked the one that included these words:
I promise to love you in strength and weakness, to share the good times and the hard times with you, to love you in your achievements and your failures, to celebrate life with you forevermore.Will we love one another in our strengths and weaknesses, our good times and hard times, our achievements and failures, and celebrate the fullness of life together? If we are to succeed at anything in life it must be this. First Corinthians 13 is our road map to pure love, but before telling us "what love is," it first says this:
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Believe me, I am writing this article to myself as well as to anyone who reads it! It is far easier for me to react in my pain than to respond in love when someone hurts me or acts unjustly. I have always wanted to be one of those people who filters life's situations through "reason" first and then emotion, but for me this takes great discipline. Emotion is my first filter! I always want to add to the verse in Isaiah 1:18 that says, "Come now, and let us reason together." It would be easier for me if it said, "Come again later and we can reason together after I have had a good cry!" Some of you can probably relate to this. Even if we fail at first and react in our pain, we must then go back and respond in love.
Love Changes Us
My husband and I are in the process of preparing to open homes for troubled teens. Whenever we have ministered to teens, the Lord always tells us the same thing, "Love well!" This has been the theme of our lives and ministry. When we were the directors of a house of prayer for a number of years, we would go before the Lord at the beginning of each new year and ask Him for wisdom and strategy for that coming year. We hoped for some great revelation or teaching of how to pray or how to teach on prayer or even on how to grow the ministry...but each year we only heard two simple words, "Love well!"Simple words? These are the hardest words, the most difficult strategy ever given to us. It has been a great challenge for mankind since the beginning of time. A new teaching or new way to organize teams would have been easy compared to this directive. God knew that this is what we needed to learn more than anything else. The goal was love – not growing a ministry or being able to achieve 24-hour prayer teams...the one thing on God's heart was love.
It has been the same with the teens we work with. The kids that we are looking at bringing into our home are not teens with church backgrounds and loving families. They are kids that have seen things that would break your heart; kids who are more familiar with darkness than with light; kids that know how to hate and don't trust love. But God's strategy is "Love well!"
He has not told us to first give them strict rules, force them to listen to Christian music, stop cursing...He tells us to love them. The amazing thing is that it has worked. When people experience nurturing love they begin to change and want more love and more light. Their behaviors change because love drives out darkness. Jesus did not avoid being with those in darkness; He brought love into the darkness which created light. We can hate the darkness and love the one stumbling about in it. Remember, a small amount of darkness exposed to great light merely disappears, but a small amount of light in the midst of great darkness still gives sight. Rather than spending all our time confronting darkness, we simply bring in light.
I remember one instance where a young man in our home became very angry and began cursing and saying vile things to the other members of our household. My husband and I paused long enough to silently ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in dealing with this, and the Lord's instruction to me was: "Go and hold him." I went over to him and put my arms around him and began to tell him who he really is. I began to speak the truth of who God created him to be in the midst of his anger. I never even entertained or addressed all of the vile things that he was saying (he knew deep inside that they were wrong). Within moments this young man collapsed into our arms weeping and repenting. He had never had anyone love him beyond the pain he was hurling at them; nor had anyone loved him beyond his own pain. Love changed him!
You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.—Matthew 5:43-48It is easy to love those who love you, but to love those who are persecuting you or causing you pain is far more difficult. Whether it is within the church walls or outside of the church walls, within family or in front of a mere acquaintance, with a spouse or with a co-worker – love will always be God's standard. Some will respond to your love and some will reject your love, but if you continue in love the Bible says that "love never fails."
As the old song goes, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love...it's the only thing that there's just too little of..." Let us love as God loves. Let us encourage one another to love. Pray for me to love well and I will pray for you.
More Love,
Kathi Pelton
Compassion Arise
Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
PUTTING ON LOVE
Of all the things that we are to "put on" or "clothe ourselves with," love is the most most important and the most difficult. If we were to examine every conflict on a personal level right up to a national and international level, by the definition provided for us in the Bible, we will see that the lack of love was at the root of it all. Standing back and trying to be an objective observer in this moment, it is clear that if love is the greatest, between faith and hope, and if loving God and people are the two greatest commandments upon which all of the law of God is based, then it is easy to see why love is so attacked by Satan and his minions. Not fully comprehending the meaning of love as the Lord's defines love is also a method of deceit used by the enemy. How many songs do we know or hear or continue to be written that speak of all you need is love? In today's society, love has come to mean tolerance for everyone's beliefs, Godless or not. Afterall, this is America and we are free to believe or choose anything that makes us happy. This is the democratic way. It is a matter of human rights. Yet, God is not a Democrat or Republican, nor is He even an American (or any other nationality or ideology.) He is the Supreme Author of all creation with definitions that He will judge all mankind upon, whether we believe in Him or not.
Now, when one hears the word judge, immediately a negative connotation arises in the mind but this is not necessarily so, when one considers all the situations that required a judgment of some kind. Competitions come to mind. Those who followed the rules and excelled in their efforts were judged to be winners. Putting a more positive spin on the word, this is more of what the judgments of God can be compared to. If He is the Creator and He makes the rules, then those who follow those rules win the prize. Similar words have been used in the Bible to make this very point. Judgments are only negative when the rules have not been followed and there is a penalty or disqualification. (I know it's very simplistic but why must it be complicated?) So the meaning and correct application of love comes under the rules of the Supreme Authority and His judgments, to reward or to punish (not a favorite word of those who don't understand God's ways.)
Back to love and the way of love, the Word of God describes God as love itself. He is all-loving and devoted to all of creation but shows Himself to those who obey His precepts (2 Chronicles 16:9). So without full obedience to God's way, love and its demonstration is incomplete and without truth in its application. It is no wonder that when we began to discuss what it means to put on love, the conversations were filled with all the difficulties we experience in fulfilling God's plan for love. Let's start with the very commandment to love God : Mark 12:30-31, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” Jesus was quoting from the Law of Moses given in Deuteronomy, Chapter 6. He was teaching that the heart of pleasing God is loving God through obedience to His Word. Jesus is the living example of ultimate obedience through His death on the cross. It is important to point out that the love of God preceeds the love of people. How we love people stems from how God says we are to love people. If the second commandment is placed in first order than, loving people will stem from how we think people should be loved. Not that this is bad or will not be a benefit to others but it will be imperfect and, as can be seen in our society, will leave God's will and plan out of the equation altogether. There are many popular causes today that do good to others but do not carry with it the first order of pleasing God.
All this I've said to establish that love is from God, about God and for God and is the foundation upon which our conversation at our February meeting was based. The scriptures to which the instruction to put on love were given are Colossians 3 and 1 Thessalonians 5 and of course, the classic chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. So to what love is 1 Corinthians 13 referring? (Of course, reading it is necessary and it takes but a minute!) All agreed that it was a higher love than we all had, but to which each aspired. It was a standard to achieve and so even by the definition of the Greek word, agape, it was the love that is God's standard to which we compare all actions. Does our love resemble this standard? Why do we make excuses for not loving and why is love (agape) so hard? These were the questions which fueled our conversation and the realities of our human failures to love came into great debate. Stories were shared about painful circumstances, on-going family issues, personality clashes, domestic issues and more.
After everyone shared as she felt necessary (some sat quietly and listened since no one is required to share anything at all if they do not care to), the most important question was asked so that we could understand after all was said and done, what is God's way for love. The question is, "WHY MUST WE LOVE (AGAPE)? Remembering the command to love God first, He sets the standard for the answer: Because Christ who IS GOD IN THE FLESH, loved us while we were sinners and died for us. He sacrificed ALL OF WHO HE WAS to redeem humanity. He forgave us ALL of our sins and He says WE MUST DO THE SAME FOR EACH OTHER. Because He forgave us and how He forgives us is what we are to offer others and nothing less. (Matthew 6:14 and Matthew 18:21-35) The ability to do this or anything that God says is a must is based soley upon agreeing with God's Word and believing that God sent His Savior for us since we could not save ourselves. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ brings new birth which makes us children of God and gives us the ability to call God our Father and begin to understand spiritual truth, which includes how to love God and others.
It took us most of the evening's alotted meeting time to get to the place where we were ready to discuss HOW to put on love. Without a foundation of why, how is not possible. How do we get what we know to be right and true into our hearts and outward expressions? The first way to begin is to examine the inner conversation that is going on within yourself. Are you angry, fearful, defensive, discouraged or possess any other negative thoughts toward yourself and others? It is always a good thing to start to realize what's driving our lives and if it's negative. Begin to ask God to forgive you as you have not aligned yourself with His Word and begin to do so. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you. Fill yourself daily with God's thoughts. When you do, you will begin to have a new inner conversation with yourself. His Words take up residence in your heart, mind and soul life. Then your choices to behave in a loving manner toward people will be seen outwardly.
Many times we have to make a choice to behave differently than what we are feeling on the inside. This is another aspect of putting on love. Our decision is then motivated by our desire to please God above all, even above ourselves, and sometimes, it is a decision that is humbling to our flesh. Given the choice, avoid the emotional response of self-preservation due to hurt feelngs and choose kindness and mercy and forgiveness. It is better to be humble than to be right. God exalts the humble and avoids the proud. Once again, we are confronted with certain definitions that we do not always apply to our actions. Sometimes it is better to avoid an argument than to defend our opinion, because many times the defense of that opinion stems from pride which can take deeper root into our hearts. This, again, challenges the American way of thinking which allows us all to express whatever opinion, even at the expense of another or that which is contrary to the love of God. Jesus was the ultimate example of humility when they hurled false accusations against Him just prior to His crucifixion. He did not defend Himself but forgave all of His accusors and executioners.
How much we will agree to put on love will depend upon the revelation of how much we have been forgiven! We cannot begin the on going process of love until we really begin to understand that sin separates us from God. He has a standard of absolutes that are rejected by society so sin is not acknowledged today as sin, but that in no way changes what it is. (If you really don't know what sin is, I suggest that you read a list of what God calls sin in Galatians 5, Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 and the Bible is filled with instructions about what pleases and displeases God.) When I know what displeases God is what I am feeling, I have the choice to respond to what God has made new in my life by His forgiveness. When I choose what pleases Him because of how much it cost Him to give me this ability to choose, I do so because I don't want to fail Him. My heart wants to bring Him joy and so love becomes my decision rather than my feeling, but miraculously, the more I choose to love, the more genuine love I begin to feel for others. The more I extend forgiveness, the more I am able to forgive in any circumstance, however difficult. When I personalize what Jesus took to the cross with Him, my sins, and those sins caused the Father to totally look away from Him while He hung there, then I gain the revelation of His great love and how much we've been forgiven. Had not Christ been rejected for my sins then I would have to bear them and be rejected by the Father, except for me and you, it would mean eternal separation, which is hell.
Loving God first is what fuels our ability to put on His character. Pride will re-define love to mean good deeds and outward behaviors which can also be spiritual without reflecting the character of God in our lives. Putting on love is what we do as an act of worship to God because of who He is and what He has done for us.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at my home. Email me if you wish to attend: nancy@gatewaycitychurch.net Part II of Putting on Love: Falling in Love with Jesus/The Fire of His Love
Now, when one hears the word judge, immediately a negative connotation arises in the mind but this is not necessarily so, when one considers all the situations that required a judgment of some kind. Competitions come to mind. Those who followed the rules and excelled in their efforts were judged to be winners. Putting a more positive spin on the word, this is more of what the judgments of God can be compared to. If He is the Creator and He makes the rules, then those who follow those rules win the prize. Similar words have been used in the Bible to make this very point. Judgments are only negative when the rules have not been followed and there is a penalty or disqualification. (I know it's very simplistic but why must it be complicated?) So the meaning and correct application of love comes under the rules of the Supreme Authority and His judgments, to reward or to punish (not a favorite word of those who don't understand God's ways.)
Back to love and the way of love, the Word of God describes God as love itself. He is all-loving and devoted to all of creation but shows Himself to those who obey His precepts (2 Chronicles 16:9). So without full obedience to God's way, love and its demonstration is incomplete and without truth in its application. It is no wonder that when we began to discuss what it means to put on love, the conversations were filled with all the difficulties we experience in fulfilling God's plan for love. Let's start with the very commandment to love God : Mark 12:30-31, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.” Jesus was quoting from the Law of Moses given in Deuteronomy, Chapter 6. He was teaching that the heart of pleasing God is loving God through obedience to His Word. Jesus is the living example of ultimate obedience through His death on the cross. It is important to point out that the love of God preceeds the love of people. How we love people stems from how God says we are to love people. If the second commandment is placed in first order than, loving people will stem from how we think people should be loved. Not that this is bad or will not be a benefit to others but it will be imperfect and, as can be seen in our society, will leave God's will and plan out of the equation altogether. There are many popular causes today that do good to others but do not carry with it the first order of pleasing God.
All this I've said to establish that love is from God, about God and for God and is the foundation upon which our conversation at our February meeting was based. The scriptures to which the instruction to put on love were given are Colossians 3 and 1 Thessalonians 5 and of course, the classic chapter of 1 Corinthians 13. So to what love is 1 Corinthians 13 referring? (Of course, reading it is necessary and it takes but a minute!) All agreed that it was a higher love than we all had, but to which each aspired. It was a standard to achieve and so even by the definition of the Greek word, agape, it was the love that is God's standard to which we compare all actions. Does our love resemble this standard? Why do we make excuses for not loving and why is love (agape) so hard? These were the questions which fueled our conversation and the realities of our human failures to love came into great debate. Stories were shared about painful circumstances, on-going family issues, personality clashes, domestic issues and more.
After everyone shared as she felt necessary (some sat quietly and listened since no one is required to share anything at all if they do not care to), the most important question was asked so that we could understand after all was said and done, what is God's way for love. The question is, "WHY MUST WE LOVE (AGAPE)? Remembering the command to love God first, He sets the standard for the answer: Because Christ who IS GOD IN THE FLESH, loved us while we were sinners and died for us. He sacrificed ALL OF WHO HE WAS to redeem humanity. He forgave us ALL of our sins and He says WE MUST DO THE SAME FOR EACH OTHER. Because He forgave us and how He forgives us is what we are to offer others and nothing less. (Matthew 6:14 and Matthew 18:21-35) The ability to do this or anything that God says is a must is based soley upon agreeing with God's Word and believing that God sent His Savior for us since we could not save ourselves. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ brings new birth which makes us children of God and gives us the ability to call God our Father and begin to understand spiritual truth, which includes how to love God and others.
It took us most of the evening's alotted meeting time to get to the place where we were ready to discuss HOW to put on love. Without a foundation of why, how is not possible. How do we get what we know to be right and true into our hearts and outward expressions? The first way to begin is to examine the inner conversation that is going on within yourself. Are you angry, fearful, defensive, discouraged or possess any other negative thoughts toward yourself and others? It is always a good thing to start to realize what's driving our lives and if it's negative. Begin to ask God to forgive you as you have not aligned yourself with His Word and begin to do so. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you. Fill yourself daily with God's thoughts. When you do, you will begin to have a new inner conversation with yourself. His Words take up residence in your heart, mind and soul life. Then your choices to behave in a loving manner toward people will be seen outwardly.
Many times we have to make a choice to behave differently than what we are feeling on the inside. This is another aspect of putting on love. Our decision is then motivated by our desire to please God above all, even above ourselves, and sometimes, it is a decision that is humbling to our flesh. Given the choice, avoid the emotional response of self-preservation due to hurt feelngs and choose kindness and mercy and forgiveness. It is better to be humble than to be right. God exalts the humble and avoids the proud. Once again, we are confronted with certain definitions that we do not always apply to our actions. Sometimes it is better to avoid an argument than to defend our opinion, because many times the defense of that opinion stems from pride which can take deeper root into our hearts. This, again, challenges the American way of thinking which allows us all to express whatever opinion, even at the expense of another or that which is contrary to the love of God. Jesus was the ultimate example of humility when they hurled false accusations against Him just prior to His crucifixion. He did not defend Himself but forgave all of His accusors and executioners.
How much we will agree to put on love will depend upon the revelation of how much we have been forgiven! We cannot begin the on going process of love until we really begin to understand that sin separates us from God. He has a standard of absolutes that are rejected by society so sin is not acknowledged today as sin, but that in no way changes what it is. (If you really don't know what sin is, I suggest that you read a list of what God calls sin in Galatians 5, Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 and the Bible is filled with instructions about what pleases and displeases God.) When I know what displeases God is what I am feeling, I have the choice to respond to what God has made new in my life by His forgiveness. When I choose what pleases Him because of how much it cost Him to give me this ability to choose, I do so because I don't want to fail Him. My heart wants to bring Him joy and so love becomes my decision rather than my feeling, but miraculously, the more I choose to love, the more genuine love I begin to feel for others. The more I extend forgiveness, the more I am able to forgive in any circumstance, however difficult. When I personalize what Jesus took to the cross with Him, my sins, and those sins caused the Father to totally look away from Him while He hung there, then I gain the revelation of His great love and how much we've been forgiven. Had not Christ been rejected for my sins then I would have to bear them and be rejected by the Father, except for me and you, it would mean eternal separation, which is hell.
Loving God first is what fuels our ability to put on His character. Pride will re-define love to mean good deeds and outward behaviors which can also be spiritual without reflecting the character of God in our lives. Putting on love is what we do as an act of worship to God because of who He is and what He has done for us.
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at my home. Email me if you wish to attend: nancy@gatewaycitychurch.net Part II of Putting on Love: Falling in Love with Jesus/The Fire of His Love
Friday, January 28, 2011
RAGS TO RICHES
This was the topic of discussion for the first meeting of the new year, held on January 6, 2011. About a year or so back, I was leading worship in a Sunday service and it was an obvious struggle for people to enter in and get past all the cares and concerns that they came in with. From my perspective, there was no real joy in the room or freedom that occurs when one is fully engaged with the object of our worship - the Lord. I don't like the "cheerleader" style of worship but something had to be said or done to bring the people up and out of themselves. At that moment, I could hear the Lord speaking to me about wearing rags, that when we come into His presence in this sad and pre-occupied manner, we are actually wearing rags for clothing. It dawned on me then that none of us would ever get up in the morning and purposely put on rags and go to work or come to church but in fact that's exactly what we've done when we enter into worship without joy or victory or true praise. It's the same as dressing in rags! So that verse of scripture must be applied from Isaiah 61:3, that we must PUT ON the garment of praise.
Praise is more than lip service. The Lord is always worthy of praise based on who He is and what He has done in Christ and not how we feel at any given moment. The Hebrew text in Isaiah actually means to wear praise or wrap or cover ourselves, leaving no opening through which hostile elements can penetrate. This garment of praise repels and replaces the heavy spirit. Are you oppressed by fear or doubt? PUT ON the garment of praise, the Word says. In Psalm 50:23, whoever offers praise glorifes the Lord and it is to the one who praises and watches his conduct that the Lord will offer His salvation. Let me offer one more scripture on praise to set the tone of the depth of discussion we had at this meeting. Hebrews 13:15 says to offer the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice denotes that something must die. As Christ died so that we may live, the same principle applies to our walk. Death brings forth life. We must die to self, in other words, we must kill our pride and offer praises instead. Pride keeps us from praising at all times. Pride keeps our focus on ourselves and our problems and our fears and doubts. That's why praise is a sacrifice. Pride is being put to death! Pride is filthy as RAGS!
The discussion held went in an interesting direction. Rather than the reasons why we should praise, which are always centered around the great love and sacrifce of Christ, we discussed the weapon of praise. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 states that we have powerful weapons at our disposal that will defeat the works of darkness that pushes to control our flesh. Praise is one such weapon. Wear praise like a garment and it dispels a spirit of heaviness. Let your mind absorb that a minute. What you feel that prevents you from praising may take the form of sorrow, doubts, fears, worries, angers, etc., but they are actually spirit in nature and cannot be dispelled by natural or physical means. We are not fighting things in the natural yet we behave as if all of our troubles can be cured by therapy, medication, shopping, drugs, alcohol, etc. While some of these are harmful and others are not, and I am certainly not in contention with the good that can come of therapy and medication, these should not be the first response to our life's problems, especially if we call ourselves Christians. Leaving God either out of the equation or making Him the last resort is not how Christ meant for His Church to behave. He said that we would receive power. The Holy Spirit was given to empower us to be like Christ in character and deed and further His earthly ministry. The question is, have we been trying to remove our heaviness or deal with life's problems in the natural when all along it's a spiritual battle?
We must have "sight" beyond the visible or natural world into the invisible or supernatural world. Praise produces sight which works with faith. It is impossible to please God without faith and if we praise in faith something in the spiritual realm is birthed. Sight beyond this world that can see the future glory comes from praising the Lord. A new perspective is formed about one's circumstances. Paul, the Apostle, calls his own troubles light and momentary because faith working through praise produces hope and perseverence in all that the Lord has promised. Praise operates by faith in God's abilities, His victory and His power. It does not operate by our feelings. When praise is offered always and continually it is effective as a weapon because it trains the mind to worship God first. Remember the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, MIND, and strength. As we offer our bodies as living sacrifices (there's that word "sacrifce:" again!) we are transformed in our mind, the way we think, the emphasis we place on earthly things. Praise takes us up to that realm where God is. The reward of a renewed mind is the promise of the fullness of Christ. What is the fullness of Christ? All honor, power and authority belong to Him and by His own words, the Lord Jesus commissioned His Church to move in His fullness, doing greater things than even He did. This is powerful stuff and then you realize that we have been living beneath our calling and potential and if we would begin with a simple act of faith by praising God always, what power is unlocked!
It makes perfect sense that Satan wants to keep us from this because we would be such threats to his kingdom. Praise ambushes the enemies plans, plain and simple! The classic biblical historical occurrence of this truth is found in 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. Imagine the scene. An army of several nations of surrounding enemies has gathered and you are outnumbered. The only natural outcome is your own defeat. What would you do? This king "inquired of the Lord." HE PRAYED FOR GOD'S DELIVERANCE!!! This is the key. He did not try to take matters into his own hands. He didn't retreat or give up. HE PRAYED AND GOD HEARD HIS PRAYERS with one of the greatest deliverances ever! They totally relied on God. They praised, worshipped and WON! (It's a fabulous story that you must read for yourself and not just once. I read and re-read it because my faith is stirred each time!) Faith, humility, obedience and praise = VICTORY!
This great deliverance came about by a decision. To trust in God is a decision. To praise Him is a decision. "I will bless the Lord at all times...." Give my next statement some very serious thought. The goodness of God is the why of praise and we can affirm that praising God is not about our feelings. So not praising God can easily and subtley become a refusal to enter into praise. Oh, we don't see it that way exactly in the moment because we will self-justify but whittle it down and fears, doubts, pride keeps us from praising. There are always things we will do first before we trust in God. That's been the problem all along...keeping the Lordship of Christ first. The chapter of scripture that formed this lesson (Isaiah 61) was the very scriptures quoted by Jesus when He introduced Himself to the Jews as the long-awaited Messiah. He stated who He was and why He came and what He brings with Him, and best of all, what WE, THE CHURCH, will do because He has come! When we do not praise God first and always we are actually denying who we are and what we are called to be. Praise identifies us with God and who He is and becomes a witness to the world of the one we love and serve. Very strongly put, not praising God identifies us with those who hate the Lord. Jesus made reference to those who will call out to Him to enter the Kingdom and He will say I never knew you. He was teaching the people about a true heart of obedience not just following the law. Praising Him is an act of obedience, a decision to use His game plan to win the battles of life and enter His kingdom.
Satan doesn't want you to praise because he knows how powerful a weapon it actually is and he doesn't want you to know it. Are you going to let him win? I've quoted several important scriptures here and believe me, there are many more. The Word of God gives us the way of praise and the why of praise. NO WORD...NO PRAISE! Know His Word. Love His Word and grow deeper in knowing, loving and obeying Him!!
Our next meeting of the Young Women's Mentoring Fellowship is scheduled for Thursday, February 3 from 7:30 - 9:30 pm at my home. Email me if you would like to attend: nancy@gatewaycitychurch.net
Praise is more than lip service. The Lord is always worthy of praise based on who He is and what He has done in Christ and not how we feel at any given moment. The Hebrew text in Isaiah actually means to wear praise or wrap or cover ourselves, leaving no opening through which hostile elements can penetrate. This garment of praise repels and replaces the heavy spirit. Are you oppressed by fear or doubt? PUT ON the garment of praise, the Word says. In Psalm 50:23, whoever offers praise glorifes the Lord and it is to the one who praises and watches his conduct that the Lord will offer His salvation. Let me offer one more scripture on praise to set the tone of the depth of discussion we had at this meeting. Hebrews 13:15 says to offer the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice denotes that something must die. As Christ died so that we may live, the same principle applies to our walk. Death brings forth life. We must die to self, in other words, we must kill our pride and offer praises instead. Pride keeps us from praising at all times. Pride keeps our focus on ourselves and our problems and our fears and doubts. That's why praise is a sacrifice. Pride is being put to death! Pride is filthy as RAGS!
The discussion held went in an interesting direction. Rather than the reasons why we should praise, which are always centered around the great love and sacrifce of Christ, we discussed the weapon of praise. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 states that we have powerful weapons at our disposal that will defeat the works of darkness that pushes to control our flesh. Praise is one such weapon. Wear praise like a garment and it dispels a spirit of heaviness. Let your mind absorb that a minute. What you feel that prevents you from praising may take the form of sorrow, doubts, fears, worries, angers, etc., but they are actually spirit in nature and cannot be dispelled by natural or physical means. We are not fighting things in the natural yet we behave as if all of our troubles can be cured by therapy, medication, shopping, drugs, alcohol, etc. While some of these are harmful and others are not, and I am certainly not in contention with the good that can come of therapy and medication, these should not be the first response to our life's problems, especially if we call ourselves Christians. Leaving God either out of the equation or making Him the last resort is not how Christ meant for His Church to behave. He said that we would receive power. The Holy Spirit was given to empower us to be like Christ in character and deed and further His earthly ministry. The question is, have we been trying to remove our heaviness or deal with life's problems in the natural when all along it's a spiritual battle?
We must have "sight" beyond the visible or natural world into the invisible or supernatural world. Praise produces sight which works with faith. It is impossible to please God without faith and if we praise in faith something in the spiritual realm is birthed. Sight beyond this world that can see the future glory comes from praising the Lord. A new perspective is formed about one's circumstances. Paul, the Apostle, calls his own troubles light and momentary because faith working through praise produces hope and perseverence in all that the Lord has promised. Praise operates by faith in God's abilities, His victory and His power. It does not operate by our feelings. When praise is offered always and continually it is effective as a weapon because it trains the mind to worship God first. Remember the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, MIND, and strength. As we offer our bodies as living sacrifices (there's that word "sacrifce:" again!) we are transformed in our mind, the way we think, the emphasis we place on earthly things. Praise takes us up to that realm where God is. The reward of a renewed mind is the promise of the fullness of Christ. What is the fullness of Christ? All honor, power and authority belong to Him and by His own words, the Lord Jesus commissioned His Church to move in His fullness, doing greater things than even He did. This is powerful stuff and then you realize that we have been living beneath our calling and potential and if we would begin with a simple act of faith by praising God always, what power is unlocked!
It makes perfect sense that Satan wants to keep us from this because we would be such threats to his kingdom. Praise ambushes the enemies plans, plain and simple! The classic biblical historical occurrence of this truth is found in 2 Chronicles, Chapter 20. Imagine the scene. An army of several nations of surrounding enemies has gathered and you are outnumbered. The only natural outcome is your own defeat. What would you do? This king "inquired of the Lord." HE PRAYED FOR GOD'S DELIVERANCE!!! This is the key. He did not try to take matters into his own hands. He didn't retreat or give up. HE PRAYED AND GOD HEARD HIS PRAYERS with one of the greatest deliverances ever! They totally relied on God. They praised, worshipped and WON! (It's a fabulous story that you must read for yourself and not just once. I read and re-read it because my faith is stirred each time!) Faith, humility, obedience and praise = VICTORY!
This great deliverance came about by a decision. To trust in God is a decision. To praise Him is a decision. "I will bless the Lord at all times...." Give my next statement some very serious thought. The goodness of God is the why of praise and we can affirm that praising God is not about our feelings. So not praising God can easily and subtley become a refusal to enter into praise. Oh, we don't see it that way exactly in the moment because we will self-justify but whittle it down and fears, doubts, pride keeps us from praising. There are always things we will do first before we trust in God. That's been the problem all along...keeping the Lordship of Christ first. The chapter of scripture that formed this lesson (Isaiah 61) was the very scriptures quoted by Jesus when He introduced Himself to the Jews as the long-awaited Messiah. He stated who He was and why He came and what He brings with Him, and best of all, what WE, THE CHURCH, will do because He has come! When we do not praise God first and always we are actually denying who we are and what we are called to be. Praise identifies us with God and who He is and becomes a witness to the world of the one we love and serve. Very strongly put, not praising God identifies us with those who hate the Lord. Jesus made reference to those who will call out to Him to enter the Kingdom and He will say I never knew you. He was teaching the people about a true heart of obedience not just following the law. Praising Him is an act of obedience, a decision to use His game plan to win the battles of life and enter His kingdom.
Satan doesn't want you to praise because he knows how powerful a weapon it actually is and he doesn't want you to know it. Are you going to let him win? I've quoted several important scriptures here and believe me, there are many more. The Word of God gives us the way of praise and the why of praise. NO WORD...NO PRAISE! Know His Word. Love His Word and grow deeper in knowing, loving and obeying Him!!
Our next meeting of the Young Women's Mentoring Fellowship is scheduled for Thursday, February 3 from 7:30 - 9:30 pm at my home. Email me if you would like to attend: nancy@gatewaycitychurch.net
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Women of Christmas
Since this is a young women's fellowship, I thought is appropriate to take a look at the women who took part in the events of the birth of Christ. There were 3 women: Mary, the chosen mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, her older cousin and mother of John the Baptist and Anna, a widow who spent her life serving in the temple.
Let's look at each of these women in the chronology of the biblical text. Elizabeth was a devout woman, wife of the priest, Zechariah, now advanced in years and childless. Culturally in those days, barrenness was a reproach and it meant that God may be judging you. However, both Elizabeth and Zechariah were righteous in God's eyes and the Lord was using these circumstances to do something wonderful in their lives. How many times do we see negative circumstances in our lives and feel a reproach rather than pray for God to do something miraculous? So the angel of the Lord visits Zechariah while he is serving in the temple. The angel tells him that Elizabeth will have a son and he doesn't believe him so his powers of speech are taken from him. Elizabeth does become pregnant. Her reproach is gone and she glorifies God. Obediently, she names the child John. Zechariah , now humbled, signals his agreement and he regains his speech and now glorifies God in a beautiful prophetic song.
While Elizabeth was in her six month, her cousin, a young girl of about 15 years old, Mary, also receives a visitation from the angel Gabriel. She is chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. She asks questions about how this could be but her questions were not like Zechariah's. Zechariah didn't believe the words of the angel, while Mary did. (I want to also venture an opinion here. Zechariah was a priest, a religious leader and rabbi. His knowledge should have led him to the miraculous that is revealed in the scriptures but it didn't. He reasoned only in the natural not the supernatural and he should have known better. God struck him dumb because of a religious spirit that needed to be reproved. Mary, on the other hand was a young, uneducated girl and her question was viewed as innocent, since she was chosen because of her devout heart before the Lord. Her response proved out her heart: Be it unto to me accordingly to your Word!)
When Mary and Elizabeth met each other, they gave glory to God for what was happening to both of them. The contrast of circumstances is interesting to me. Elizabeth was married and barren and now everyone rejoices with her for the impending birth of her baby, which is a miracle. Mary, on the other hand, is betrothed but still a virgin and her future husband knows he is not the father of her child and so her life must have been filled with ridicule and innuendo and filled with reproach from her community. No one understood the scripture in Isaiah and so the rejection of the Messiah by his own people begins with Mary's condition. Only a very few people see the supernatural hand of God in this event. Elizabeth declares that she and Mary are blessed for believing the Lord's promises and then Mary declares a prophetic song and speaks into the generations of the glory of the Messiah. The power of the Holy Spirit comes upon this simple, uneducated vessel of honor and elevates her understanding into the future generations!!
There's one more woman I want to look at as significant to circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. That's Anna. Only 4 sentences were recorded about Anna in the entire New Testament. She spent her entire widowhood of over 60 years, serving in the temple and worshipping and praying and fasting night and day. And at the very moment that Joseph and Mary brought the infant Jesus to the temple on the eighth day, Anna recognized who He was. Her spiritual eyes were sharp because of her devotion and sacrifices before God. Her heart was waiting for the Lord's promises to be fulfilled.
Each one of these women had special characteristics that brought the favor of God upon them: they were devout in heart, righteous by observance of the Law (Word) and they were women of faith (obedient) . Faith is not mental ascent to a set of rules or hoping that something will happen. Faith is believing which is obeying. There is no faith without obedience. This is what the book of Hebrews instructs, that it is impossible to please God without faith. The entire chapter 11 lists the Hall of Fame of Faith. Everyone obeyed God who was considered a great man or woman of God.
We could live a blessed life with faith. Our hearts would be at peace and our eternity secure. But something changed the lives of these women and others in the history of God's dealing with mankind. God's greater plan had to be fulfilled and He chooses to use those whose hearts are right in His sight. He didn't use the strongest or the richest or the most influential. He used an uneducated adolescent virgin, a barren elderly woman and a widow , and they were women, which speaks loudly that God places a high value on the place of a woman in His Kingdom plans. As the seasons of time unfold, everyday drawing us closer to the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God and His restoration of complete authority over the earth, He seeks out those whose hearts are loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9) to show Himself mighty! These loyal women now received a supernatural visitation from Almighty God. He puts His Spirit on them and in them and allows them the privilege of being part of the plan. They now know Him in a new experience - through the miraculous. No longer do they rely on the writings of their forefathers. They now KNOW that God is mighty on behalf of His people. He is not finished performing His Word.
This is what we must come to know today as well. God is not finished yet. The pages of the Book are still being fulfilled. God is the same. He does not change so raise up your expectation and seek Him for more than merely surviving or attaining just the material blessings of this world. He will perform His Word in every loyal heart He can find. He is seeking for the seeker. We must be women of faith and that faith brings visitation which brings miracles. Jesus' return to rule the earth is closer than ever. And He asked a question, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:1-8) What will your answer to this question be? Rise to the challenge and say "Yes, Lord!" Do this knowing that the Lord is working His power through your willingness and not through your strength!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Getting Dressed - The Emperor's New Clothes (What are We Really Wearing?)
I had not read this short story, The Emperor's New Clothes, by Hans Christian Andersen in many years, but its title popped into my head when thinking about future lessons and all the avenues that can be approached on the subject of Getting Dressed. Reading it again did affirm that the thought was no coincidence. To summarize, this emperor loved nothing in the world more than dressing up and showing off. One day 2 men arrived in the city with a convincing story about their abilities to weave the finest cloth of a material that was invisible to those who were unfit for their office or very stupid. The emperor heard of these men and their wonderful fabric and commissioned them to make him a new suit of clothes so he could marvel at himself and obtain such knowledge about those around him. He gave large sums of money to produce this cloth, which these men, of course, kept for themselves and produced nothing. No one who was sent to check up on the progress of this work told the actual truth, that they saw nothing, because they feared being considered stupid or unfit for their office. So everyone lied to the emperor, proclaiming how wonderful and beautiful the fabric was. The day for the street procession came and the emperor, who also saw nothing but dare not admit this to anyone, "suited up" and began to walk through the streets. Everyone in the street declared how wonderful the emperor's new suit of clothes was even though they saw nothing, until a little child finally spoke the truth that the emperor was naked! Those watching also began to exclaim the same and the emperor realized that it was true and continued the procession admitting nothing but knowing he had been swindled and humiliated.
So what's the moral of this story? I believe it speaks to issues of pride and vanity. Perhaps this is obvious on the part of the emperor but it's also true of those around him who feared speaking the truth to him or be considered stupid or unfit. How many times in life do we do the same thing - keep up appearances and avoid truth. Many times we convince ourselves that our behavior is acceptable. Do we really know when pride is operating in our lives? Are we training ourselves to recognize and reject it?
The scripture tell us that knowledge puffs up. Pride is the original sin that says I am equal to God and His knowledge. Pride says I am entitled to feel the way I do when someone hurts me; Pride says I can say what I want to say to anyone because it's the truth; Pride says that my way is the best way and maybe even the only way. Pride always asserts the individuals rights and always has a defense of self. Pride always takes credit and looks for the affirmation of people. Pride does not take correction well or at all.
Another question comes to mind. Why would someone believe these strangers? They appear on the scene, make unusual claims about their abilities and everyone believes them. Reading this, it seems that it couldn't happen to me or you but in actuality it happens to us more than we'd care to admit. This story mirrors our daily lives in so many ways. We go through our days thinking we are fully clothed but in actuality we are naked. When we live beneath the promises of God, always struggling with sin, never walking with a new heart and mind, then we are naked! Satan weaves lies everyday, making something appear true. For example, when we have pains or sickness in our bodies, our first thoughts usually are to go to the doctor and get it checked out and accept his diagnosis and remedy. Sickness is a product of the fall of man and Jesus restored us to God even in our physical bodies yet we usually believe what we feel before we believe the promise of God for healing, deliverance and miracles. I have begun to challenge these feelings in my own life. I have seen God heal my body when I ask him to do so first! (I am not discouraging anyone from going to the doctor but I am invoking the work of the cross of Jesus Christ and the Word of God as the greater authority over my body.) There is enough evidence in the Word of God for the miraculous to operate when we expect God to do the impossible. His commission to us is to preach, heal and deliver people. But the miraculous has been weakened by the influence of a liar!
When we allow ourselves to believe Satan's lies we are as naked as the emperor! Nakedness spiritually is allowing sin to rule over your life. Christians are instructed to examine ourselves against God's Word (2 Corinthians 13:5) and to make the necessary adjustments to conform our lives to the will of the Father. Our response to sin should be shame but we live in a society that is redefining truth. Shame of sin should provoke us to repentence but the liar's voice is saying that there is no sin or offense in lust, greed, promiscuity, homosexuality, witchcraft, coveteousness, anger, lying, foul language, course joking and the like. When we justify our behavior we are weaving an invisible garment, all the while believing we are fully dressed. Ask yourself this question: Have I used the Word of God only to get a word of encouragement or an answer to a personal petition or have I allowed the Word to bring correction into my life. The only way we know what pleases God is in His Word. Our opinion means nothing. The opinion of others means nothing. God speaks for HIMSELF! Everyone must look into God's Word and correct themselves according to it or else walk around naked!
The emperor paid lots of money to obtain something that did not cover him. How much have you and I paid into this world that produces nothing for our spiritual growth? We have been buying from the wrong source! Jesus said, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love, rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent." (Rev. 3:18-19)
What is this white garment we are to wear but Christ Himself! The very work of the cross must be put on! We cannot cover ourselves. We never could! When Adam and Eve sinned, the fig leaves couldn't cover the shame of nakedness that was upon them so God covered them with the skins of animals. That covering was a foreshadowing of the the Cross. God in Christ shed His blood for the sins of mankind. He alone can cover nakedness. The list of clear instructions of what is pleasing to God is right there under our noses, ready to give us life and health. Can you see it? If not, put the salve of humility and repentence on your eyes and your vision will come into focus! Little children, with simple faith can see clearly. Jesus made a strong point about children and their level of faith. We must become like a child!
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 8 from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. for a Christmas party and brief seasonal message on our theme of Getting Dressed. Those who are planning to attend should bring a grab bag gift for exchange valued not more than $20.00 and also a tray of hors d'oeuvres of any kind. We will have a smorgasbord of finger foods! We welcome first timers to this holiday get together. Please email me at nancy@gatewaycitychurch.net to let me know that you will be coming.
So what's the moral of this story? I believe it speaks to issues of pride and vanity. Perhaps this is obvious on the part of the emperor but it's also true of those around him who feared speaking the truth to him or be considered stupid or unfit. How many times in life do we do the same thing - keep up appearances and avoid truth. Many times we convince ourselves that our behavior is acceptable. Do we really know when pride is operating in our lives? Are we training ourselves to recognize and reject it?
The scripture tell us that knowledge puffs up. Pride is the original sin that says I am equal to God and His knowledge. Pride says I am entitled to feel the way I do when someone hurts me; Pride says I can say what I want to say to anyone because it's the truth; Pride says that my way is the best way and maybe even the only way. Pride always asserts the individuals rights and always has a defense of self. Pride always takes credit and looks for the affirmation of people. Pride does not take correction well or at all.
Another question comes to mind. Why would someone believe these strangers? They appear on the scene, make unusual claims about their abilities and everyone believes them. Reading this, it seems that it couldn't happen to me or you but in actuality it happens to us more than we'd care to admit. This story mirrors our daily lives in so many ways. We go through our days thinking we are fully clothed but in actuality we are naked. When we live beneath the promises of God, always struggling with sin, never walking with a new heart and mind, then we are naked! Satan weaves lies everyday, making something appear true. For example, when we have pains or sickness in our bodies, our first thoughts usually are to go to the doctor and get it checked out and accept his diagnosis and remedy. Sickness is a product of the fall of man and Jesus restored us to God even in our physical bodies yet we usually believe what we feel before we believe the promise of God for healing, deliverance and miracles. I have begun to challenge these feelings in my own life. I have seen God heal my body when I ask him to do so first! (I am not discouraging anyone from going to the doctor but I am invoking the work of the cross of Jesus Christ and the Word of God as the greater authority over my body.) There is enough evidence in the Word of God for the miraculous to operate when we expect God to do the impossible. His commission to us is to preach, heal and deliver people. But the miraculous has been weakened by the influence of a liar!
When we allow ourselves to believe Satan's lies we are as naked as the emperor! Nakedness spiritually is allowing sin to rule over your life. Christians are instructed to examine ourselves against God's Word (2 Corinthians 13:5) and to make the necessary adjustments to conform our lives to the will of the Father. Our response to sin should be shame but we live in a society that is redefining truth. Shame of sin should provoke us to repentence but the liar's voice is saying that there is no sin or offense in lust, greed, promiscuity, homosexuality, witchcraft, coveteousness, anger, lying, foul language, course joking and the like. When we justify our behavior we are weaving an invisible garment, all the while believing we are fully dressed. Ask yourself this question: Have I used the Word of God only to get a word of encouragement or an answer to a personal petition or have I allowed the Word to bring correction into my life. The only way we know what pleases God is in His Word. Our opinion means nothing. The opinion of others means nothing. God speaks for HIMSELF! Everyone must look into God's Word and correct themselves according to it or else walk around naked!
The emperor paid lots of money to obtain something that did not cover him. How much have you and I paid into this world that produces nothing for our spiritual growth? We have been buying from the wrong source! Jesus said, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love, rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent." (Rev. 3:18-19)
What is this white garment we are to wear but Christ Himself! The very work of the cross must be put on! We cannot cover ourselves. We never could! When Adam and Eve sinned, the fig leaves couldn't cover the shame of nakedness that was upon them so God covered them with the skins of animals. That covering was a foreshadowing of the the Cross. God in Christ shed His blood for the sins of mankind. He alone can cover nakedness. The list of clear instructions of what is pleasing to God is right there under our noses, ready to give us life and health. Can you see it? If not, put the salve of humility and repentence on your eyes and your vision will come into focus! Little children, with simple faith can see clearly. Jesus made a strong point about children and their level of faith. We must become like a child!
Our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 8 from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. for a Christmas party and brief seasonal message on our theme of Getting Dressed. Those who are planning to attend should bring a grab bag gift for exchange valued not more than $20.00 and also a tray of hors d'oeuvres of any kind. We will have a smorgasbord of finger foods! We welcome first timers to this holiday get together. Please email me at nancy@gatewaycitychurch.net to let me know that you will be coming.
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