1. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 (ESV)
2. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:9-11 (ESV)
3.Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:1-2 (ESV)
4. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (ESV)
5. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:9-21 (ESV)
6. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:4-7 (ESV)
7. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 (ESV)
8. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)
9. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Galatians 6:2-3 (ESV)
10. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)
11. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32 (ESV)
12. As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)
13. The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; Psalm 37:21 (ESV)
14. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-12 (ESV)
15. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12 (ESV)
To begin, we're going to read through some of the laws
of the Old Testament.
When
a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be
in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be
unclean until the evening. And
everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean.
Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. And whoever touches her bed
shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the
evening. And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes
and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Whether it is the
bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until
the evening. And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon
him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be
unclean. (Leviticus 15:19-24 ESV).
In reading the Old Testament laws, we encounter a lot of strange laws. Often, we, as
Christians, like to ignore that the Old Testament has these weird and crazy
laws. But you know what? Atheists don't ignore them. Nonbelievers don't ignore
them. Typically, when you are talking with them about Christianity, these
ridiculous laws from the Old Testament are things that come up.
So how do we handle these laws in the Old Testament?
Let's read a few more.
Six
days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of
solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to
death. (Exodus 35:2 ESV).
Anyone
do some work on Saturday?
I actually put together a bunk bed on Saturday. Should I be put to death? I
went out to eat. Should the hostess, waitress, and cooks be put to death?
Absolutely
not. We don't follow the law any more. If we did, we would be putting a lot of
people to death.
For
no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a
mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured
hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an
itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. (Leviticus 21:18-20 ESV).
None
of those people are allowed in the assembly the Lord. If we still followed this
principle, we would exclude people with those issues from coming to church. But
we don't do that.
The
Old Testament has a lot of crazy laws. How do we deal with them? What do we do
with the law?
The
Seventh Day Adventists still believe that we should hold to the law. You will
notice that they still honor the Sabbath.
Some
Christians still believe that we should celebrate the Old Testament festivals.
I see some benefit in doing that. I spent one year at our church celebrating
each one, yet Christians don't have to honor the ordinances of the law.
The
most popular method, that we are more likely guilty of, is that we pick and
choose which laws we want to keep and which laws we want to ignore. We
disregard those laws we think are silly. We keep those laws we like. Who wants
to be the crushed testicle or menstrual checker when people come to church
anyway? Nobody wants to do those things, so we ignore it. But this is really a
totally dishonest way to deal with the law. What is the process for picking and
choosing anyway?
Our
arbitrary method doesn't really make any sense. We accept the laws we like and
reject the ones that seem a little weird. When we pick and choose laws, we get
to decide what is important and what isn't. This isn't the way we should go
about it.
In
all this talk about the law, I want us to understand that the law was very
important. With that said, we can go to the New Testament for guidance on how
to handle the law.
So
then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be
justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer
under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God,
through faith. (Galatians 3:24-26 ESV).
The
law was our guardian until Christ came.
If
you were living in the world before the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt and
Moses was given the law, you would recognize that it was a vicious world. Maybe
no more vicious than some of the places in our world today. Places that would
benefit from the law just like the Hebrews benefitted from the law.
When
you encounter a teaching like "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,"
it helps to understand the world that teaching was given to. God gave them that
teaching to prevent people from chopping off someone's head for stealing
something. It was limiting retaliation and would stop the process of escalating
violence. The maximum punishment for a crime could not be greater than the
crime.
The
law played a great role until Christ came. It was important. It kept humanity
in check. It was intended to shape the people into being the people God wanted
them to be, but it didn't always work. The people didn't follow the law the way
God intended.
Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and
earth pass away, not an iota,not a dot,
will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one
of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20 ESV).
Jesus
is teaching that the law is ending. But it's ending with its intended
completion. Not abruptly or prematurely. The "all is accomplished" in
Jesus.
The
Scribes and Pharisees were people really good at following the law. They would
seek to complete the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit of the law.
That isn't just something unique to their times; we see it a lot in our
society. Take bankers for instance. Not our local bankers building our main
streets and financing our homes. I'm talking the stories we see in the news. Many
of those big bankers will follow the letter of the law, yet they will find a
way to avoid the intended purpose of the law.
This
is why we have so many lawyers. Our society is filled with people who will
follow the letter of the law while ignoring the purpose of the law. We need
lawyers because laws need to be interpreted. People can find ways to wiggle
around the letter of the law. And the unfortunate truth is that law can never
stop abuse. We could write laws for nearly everything, yet some corrupt person
would find a way to follow that law while avoiding the intended purpose of the
law. In that case we just write a new law, and another corrupt person would
come along and find a way to skirt that law.
We
write law after law to create a just society, but we cannot prevent evil people
from circumventing the law. Evil people will abuse the law while good people
will honor the spirit of the law.
This
is what we see with the Pharisess and the Scribes. They would follow the letter
of the law. For example, the law told them to honor their parents, but they
claim that they have fulfilled that law without honoring their parents because
the honor due to their parents has been given to God. (Matthew 15:1-9).There are always ways for people with
corrupted hearts to avoid following the laws they don't want to follow. The
Pharisees and Scribes found legal ways around all the things that God intended
for them to do.
We're
not really all that different.
That's
the problem with laws. If we think Christianity is a group of laws that we have
to follow, then we will figure out ways to legally get around those laws. We
will fulfill the law to the minimum to enable ourselves to do whatever we want
to do with the rest of our lives.
Christianity
is not a bunch of laws. Jesus came to fulfill the law and bring the law to its
intended ending. He came to bring something better.
In
speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is
becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13 ESV).
According
to the writer of Hebrews, the old law is obsolete. But the zeitgeist of modern
Christendom makes us feel uncomfortable saying exactly this. The writer of
Hebrews is stating that we don't have to follow the law any more. Repeating
this Scripture in the wrong circles will get you strange looks. I once had
someone get very stern and irate with me over stating this very thing. There is
something in our Christian culture in America that makes us not want to be
freed from the law. Due to this, we are uncomfortable saying exactly what
Scripture says. The law is obsolete. We are no longer under it.
One
of my little daughters who is just learning to write wrote me a little note and
handed it to me. It read, "I love mom and daddy." Love is the
opposite of law. We wouldn't need laws in our society if everyone loved each
other. Nearly every law is there to prevent people from behaving in ways that
are not loving to each other.
We
no longer have the law. And if we are looking at it purely at what we are now
obligated to do, we have it worse in a way. We now have the Holy Spirit guiding
our life. In some morphed albeit true sense, this means that we have more laws to
follow.
The Holy Spirit knows what you should be doing this afternoon, and He is going
to prompt you. You need to do that prompting. The Holy Spirit knows what you
should say to encourage your friend, and He is going to prompt you. You need to
follow through on that. The Holy Spirit knows what you should tell your spouse,
and He is going to prompt you. We must ask ourselves, "Are we willing to
listen?" "Are we willing to follow?"
There
is a guy in our church who was given a to-do list by his wife. And his wife
posted on Facebook, "Made honey-do list for my hubby today to accomplish
after his dentist appointment this morning. And he did everything on the list
and more."
To-do
lists are good. The husband in my church excelled with the to-do list from his
wife. He jokingly said that he did it because he just wanted to eat.
Like
the husbands joke, we often want to follow the law to just get the benefits
that the law brings. The Pharisees followed the law because they wanted to be
God's people. We sometimes follow the law to prevent ourselves from going to
hell. We want benefits. And because we are just looking for benefits, we miss
out on the blessing of actually being God's children.
God
wants us to be more than just people who follow the law. He wants us to be in a
relationship with Him. We would do well to remember that at all times.
I
can't give you a list of things to do to please God like the woman in my church
gave to her husband. Isn't this a great message? You've spent all this time
reading to get to this point, and now I am telling you that I am not going to
tell you what to do. I can't give you a list of do's and don'ts.
Many
denominations make handbooks with lists of do's and don'ts. But there is always
another thing that could be added to their books because we are unable make a conclusive
and authoritative list of do's and don'ts. If that is what God wanted, He would
have given us a handbook Himself.
With
that said, I will give you a list of things that could help you improve your
relationship with God. But don't make them laws. If you make them laws to be
completed, you will miss the point. A list makes it easy to go through,
accomplish the task, check off the list, and act like we are right with God.
God doesn't want you to do a list; He wants your life.
A
lot of the times, in order to please the people in the church who want to be
minimal Christians, the church compromises and gives list. Instead of the
people in church giving God their whole lives, churches are filled with people
just doing the minimum it takes to appear Christian. But the harsh truth is
that if we aren't giving God our whole life, then we really aren't Christians.
I
was listening to a sermon where the preacher was talking about the kingdom of
God. He was stating that the kingdom of God is this for you, and this for
someone else, and this for the next someone else. You will get healing. You
will get better. You will be able to cope with life. Generally, these things
are true, but we flirt with a dangerous line we turn the gospel into just a
benefit for us to receive.
The
gospel can only bring its benefits when you truly surrender your life to Jesus.
It's not a benefit if you just want benefits. It is a benefit when you truly
surrender.
It's like when you love your wife. If you bring home flowers for some
manipulative reason and she found it out, the flowers wouldn't count. But if
you brought flowers home just to show her that you love her - not for any
ulterior motives whatsoever, then they have their worth.
It's
the same thing with God, except He knows our heart and can't be deceived. If we
do what the law teaches and don't give Him our heart, it doesn't work. We may
want the blessings of being God's children, but if we don't give Him our heart,
then those blessing will not come.
Being
right with God is not about checking off a list. So with that big disclaimer, here
is the list I mentioned a little bit ago.
First,
read your Bible daily. Reading the Bible helps you get in tune with what God
wants for your life. The Bible is the inspired word of God. We encounter God
through reading His inspired words. We must be careful though. We shouldn't go
to the Bible to just get a list of things to do. Instead we should go to the
Bible to learn about who God is and encounter Him. When we learn about who God
is and combine that with listening to the Holy Spirit in our life, we will be
the people God wants us to be. All too often, we just don't get into the Bible.
Or we study the Bible to make it say what we want it to say rather than allow
it to transform who we are.
Second,
pray daily. Actually, we need to go beyond just praying daily and begin to
learn to live a life of praying constantly. It's easier said than done. It's
having a conversation with God. Not just us talking, but us listening. It's
living in His presence. It's building a relationship with the Creator of the
universe who for some mysterious reason loves us. Being a Christian isn't about
following some laws; it's about being God's follower and, in many ways, His
friend.
Third,
do what you feel prompted to do. Actually live out the life God is leading you
to. Especially the crazy things. God is leading you do things. I guarantee
that. The more you listen to God, the more you hear His voice, the more you
will be led to do the things God wants you to do. All too often, we just ignore
what God wants us to.
I
had a great high school baseball coach. He would take time to correct me when I
would be doing something wrong. He would see my mistakes and take me aside to
tell me how to improve. I would be pitching and do something wrong, so he would
tell me what to change. One of those times that he pulled me aside he said,
"You know, I spend a lot of time correcting you, Regan, because I believe
that you can be better. I don't spend time correcting [and he pointed at a
teammate] because he's not going to be better." God spends a lot of time
prompting us. But if we aren't listening, it will be as if He isn't prompting
us. We will not become any better. The less we listen to the promptings we
hear, the more we shut off the pathways to hearing Him.
It's like a person who has had a stroke. They have to work on rewiring
everything so that they can once again do all the things that they previously
did. They have to develop different neural pathways to laboriously do the
things that once came easily to them. Sometimes we are like that with God. We
have hardened ourselves to His promptings so much that we no longer hear His
voice. He doesn't give up on us though. He will continually try to get past the
hardness of our hearts. He is always willing to guide us, but it is up to us to
listen to God and be the people that He wants us to be.
Fourth,
sacrificially love others. I have found that best way to get to know God is to
be His hands and feet in loving others. Take going on a mission trip. When we
go on a mission trip and spend a whole week focused on loving others, God
honors that. He interacts with us in great ways. But that experience of God doesn't
need to be relegated to the mission field; we should be living our lives like
that daily. Turn your regular life into a mission field.
Fifth,
get plugged into real relationships with others in the church. The one thing
that can happen when we get together that can't happen when we are on our own
is encouragement. That should be a key element of the gathering together. When
I preach a sermon, the point of my preaching is to encourage people to be who
God wants us to be. When I write an article like this one, the purpose is to
encourage you, the reader, to be who God wants you to be.
As a teacher, I want to encourage people to be all that God destined them to be.
It is up to you to live the life that God wants you to live. No amount of
listening to teaching will do that. You have to be the one learning to listen
to His voice, and then act on it. God is going to tell you what He wants you to
do with your life. God is going to tell me what He wants to do with my life. Typically,
he isn't going to tell me what He wants you to do with your life. My role as a
pastor is to encourage you to listen to God and be who God wants you to be with
your life.
No
church will be a healthy church unless the people in the church are focused on
listening to the Holy Spirit and doing what the Spirit wants them to do with
their lives. A church will not receive the blessing that God wants to give it
unless that church is trying to be who God wants them to be. Likewise, a person
will not receive the blessing that God wants to give them unless that person is
trying to be who God wants them to be.
But
let's be honest, sometimes the encouragement of church leaders or brothers and
sisters in Jesus must take the form of correction. This isn't always fun.
Sometimes, we may be going off on the wrong path and need guidance.
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 ESV).
As
a teacher, when I deliver Scripture, it should be accomplishing some of these
four things. Being part of a church helps us to stay grounded and remain
encouraged. But we must remember that the biggest component to being who God
wants us to be is listening to the Holy Spirit guide and prompt us in our daily
lives.
These
five tips are just some practices that I have found useful in being who God
wants me to be. I hope that you will find them useful in being who God wants
you to be.
Your
relationship with God is what matters.
There
is a story from a guy named Parker Palmer as told by Dr. Marcus Borg.
It's
a story about a three-year-old girl who was the only child in her family. But
now her mom is pregnant, and this three-year-old girl is very excited about
having a baby in the house. The day comes where the mother-to-be delivered, and
the mom and dad go off to the hospital. A couple of days later come home with a
new baby brother. And the little girl is just delighted.
But
after they've been home for a couple of hours, the little girl tells her
parents that she wants to be with the baby in the baby's room, alone, with the
door shut. She's absolutely insistent about the door being shut. It kind of
gives her folks the willies, you know? They know she's a good little girl, but
they've heard about sibling rivalry and all of this.
Then
they remember that they've recently installed an intercom system [think of an
old-style monitor if you don't know what an intercom system is] in preparation
for the arrival of the new baby, and they realize that they can let their
little girl do this, and if they hear the slightest weird thing happening, they
can be in there in a flash.
So they let their little girl go into the room.
They close the door behind her. They race to the listening post. They hear her
footsteps move across the room. They imagine her now standing over the baby's
crib, and then they hear her say to her two-day-old baby brother, "Tell me
about God. I've almost forgotten."
The idea is that we have all come from God. The
story implies that the young three-year-old could remember being in God's
presence, but that feeling was dwindling. The question we are all faced with is
whether we are going to continue to grow closer to God throughout our lives or
are we going to drift away. The choice is ours, and we can develop the
practices of growth or the practices of drift in our life by what we invest our
time in. The way we grow closer is to learn to listen to the Spirit and act
upon who He is guiding us to be.
Christian culture will continue to try and convince
us that the way to do that is through following laws. It's wrong. Laws are not
going to get you closer to God. You could be the most moral person around, yet
you could be just as far away from God as the most immoral person you know. God
wants you to be close to Him. He wants you to be in a relationship with Him. He
wants you to be His. There are no laws that if we followed would bring that
about. It only comes through a willing heart, a willingness to listen, a
willingness to let that Spirit lead you, a willingness to act on His
promptings, and a willingness to be different when God wants you to be
different. That's what God wants in our lives.
May we grow closer to God through our lives. May
we not stray into an unhealthy dependence upon laws. May we learn to listen to
Him every day of our life.
The law has been fulfilled. The law has been made obsolete. The Holy Spirit
has been given to us in its place. May we learn to listen to Him.
**
Some Bible passages for further reading.
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall 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: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (ESV)
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. John 15:12-14 (ESV)
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:9-10 (ESV)
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1 John 3:23-24 (ESV)
And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 2 John 1:5-6 (ESV)
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. James 2:8 (ESV)
Prophecy in the Bible is one of the most misunderstood genres. It is popular to view prophecy as an exercise in predicting the future. People will try to decipher all of the hidden meanings in Daniel, Revelation, or some other book. But the purpose of Biblical prophecy was typically focused on transforming the original audience into who God wanted them to be.
Let's look at a few Bible stories to see how prophecy worked.
Jonah went to Nineveh and prophesied that God would destroy their city in forty days. The people of Nineveh responded by believing in God, fasting, and repenting. The story goes on to say, "When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it" (Jonah 3:10 ESV). God relented from his prophetic declaration to destroy the city because the people changed.
Or another story.
When the Israelites built the Golden Calf, God told Moses that He was going to unleash His wrath on the Israelites and consume them. Moses responded by pleading with the Lord: "Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people"(Exodus 32:12 ESV). The story continues, "And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people"(Exodus 32:14 ESV). The Lord once again relented from a disaster that He declared He would bring about. This time, the punishment was averted by the prayers of a righteous man and not the repentance of the people, but there is no way to get around the prophetic declaration of the Lord did not happen.
And another story.
Jeremiah went to the rulers of the house of Judah at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim and gave a prophecy that actually showed them and shows us how prophecies from God actually work. There is an explicit condition stated in this prophesy unlike the unspoken condition we saw in the two previous stories. Jeremiah proclaimed to them, "Mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you" (Jeremiah 26:13 ESV). God overtly told them that He would not inflict the punishment that He pronounced on them if they would change, turn back to Him, and obey Him. They were not destined to the fate of the prophesied disaster of being conquered by Babylon. God followed His initial prophecy of punishment with a prophecy of hope.
This statement of hope is an unspoken idea that is contained within every prophecy of punishment. God always responds graciously to sincere repentance.
With this in mind, the way we view prophecy throughout Scripture should change. The purpose of prophecy is not for us to get hung up on the future predicting nature of prophecies. That exercise leads to massive speculation and fruitlessness. We need to focus on the life-changing nature of prophecies.
Jonah was sent to declare God's wrath on Nineveh so that they would repent and begin to follow God. Jeremiah did the same with the royal court of Judah; however, they did not repent and they were inflicted with the prophesied punishment. Both prophecies had a conditional nature to them. Prophecies need to be viewed as instructional messages from God.
We could say that God's prophecy of punishment on the Israelites at the time of the Golden Calf and the Ninevites during the time of Jonah were failed prophecies because the declared punishment didn't occur. But they were actually successful prophecies because they brought about repentance.
The failed prophecy is the one that actually happened. Jeremiah prophesied punishment upon Judah if they didn't obey God. The goal was obedience, not punishment, yet they remained rebellious and received the prophesied punishment. This was a failed prophecy. Not because the events predicted came about but because the word of Jeremiah did not bring about faithfulness.
God's plan doesn't change, but the path to His plan adjusts based upon
the faithfulness or faithlessness of people. Who will He use? Who will
He punish? Will He relent His disaster? Will He unleash His blessings?
Which brings me to a question to ponder. Will I turn to God, be faithful, obey Him, and let Him use me to bring about His will?
Words of wisdom from a young boy. God
understands your pain. Just run to Him. Roger Simms had just
left the military and was hitchhiking home when a shiny, black, luxury car
pulled over and the passenger door opened. Sliding into the leather-covered
front seat, he was greeted by a friendly distinguished older gentleman. "Hello, son. Are you on leave?"
"Discharged," answered Roger,
"and I'm going home." "You're in luck if you're going to
Chicago," smiled the man. "My home is on the way," said
Roger. "Do you live there, Mister?" "Yes, I have a business there."
And with that, they were on their way. After talking about everything under the
sun, Roger felt a strong compulsion to witness to Mr. Hanover about Christ. But
witnessing to a wealthy businessman who obviously had everything was a scary
prospect. Witnessing to anyone, as you know, can be tough to work up the
courage to do. Roger put it off, but as he neared his destination, he knew it
was now or never.
"Mr. Hanover," he began,
"I'd like to talk to you about something very important." Then he
explained the way of salvation and asked Mr. Hanover if he would like to
receive Christ as his Savior. To Roger's astonishment, the big car pulled to
the side of the road and the gentleman began to cry, affirming that he did in
fact want to accept Christ. He thanked Roger for talking to him, then dropped
him at his house and travelled on to Chicago. Five years went by, and Roger Simms
married and started a business of his own. One day, while on a business trip to
Chicago, he sought out the offices of Hanover Enterprises. It would be impossible
to see Mr. Hanover, the receptionist informed him, but he might speak with Mrs.
Hanover. Roger was led into a poshly-decorated office where a woman sat at a
huge oak desk. She extended her hand. "You knew my
husband?" Roger explained how Mr. Hanover had been
kind enough to give him a ride home. A look of interest crossed her face.
"Can you tell me what date that was?" "It was May 7th five years
ago," said Roger, "the day I was discharged from the army." "And did anything unusual happen on
your ride?" Roger hesitated. Had his witness been a
source of contention which resulted in a marital breakup? But he must be
truthful. "Your husband accepted the Lord that day. I explained the gospel
to him, and we pulled to the side of the road and prayed together." The woman began to sob. Finally she
composed herself and explained: "I prayed for my husband for years, and I
believed God would save him. But just after he let you out of his car, he
passed away in a horrible head-on collision. I thought God had let me down, and
I stopped living for the Lord five years ago because I blamed Him for not
keeping His word."
I could not verify whether that story is true - it could just be a modern parable, but it
illustrates the point that all too often, in our despair we give up on God. Yet
we should not give up when we need Him most. I see it all too often. People
give up on God just at that point when God is needed most. They will quit coming to church when the church would provide the help, encouragement, and healing needed to transition through the situation. We, humans, have an unhealthy tendency to cut off those who
challenge the way we live. And yet when we despair and stray, we need to
be challenged to live differently.
We cannot abandon the truth that God knows our pain. He knows our
struggles. And through it all, we need to remind ourselves that God still loves
us. Our suffering does not mean that God loves us any less.
God knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him.
Find peace in Him.
You will find the comfort He provides
when you keep focused on Him. It cannot be found anywhere else. It can't be
found at the bottom of a bottle. It can't be found in another movie. It can't
be found on Facebook. God can get to you during all of those activities because He
will pursue you where you are and wants you to know that He still loves you. But the solution
to our despair can't be found anywhere except in Him and in His people.
As the little boy said, " God understands your pain. Just run to
Him."
And that is just what the Israelites did in the book of Exodus.
I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in
Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their
sufferings,and
I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring
them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and
honey. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me,
and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.Come, I
will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel,
out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:9-10 (ESV).
God
heard their cries. The Israelites were crying out to the Lord because of the
oppression of their taskmasters. Instead of fleeing from God for allowing them
to be tormented, they cried out to God in their anguish. They believed in an
all-powerful God who could save them despite their situation saying otherwise. And
we see that God heard their cries and delivered them out of Egypt.
The principle that God hears our cries, that he knows our pain, is something taught
throughout Scripture. We do not serve a distant God, who doesn't understand
what we are going through. We serve a close God, who dwells in our hearts. Even
when we are suffering, we can rest assured that God knows our pain.
And
He doesn't just know our pain, he knows what it's like to go through it.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also
weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he
said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to
him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could
not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from
dying?” John 11:33-37 (ESV).
I'm not one to say that Jesus causes our illnesses and pain. But
He is one who sympathizes with us.
He
knew the great miracle that He was about to do in bringing Lazarus back from the
dead, but He still wept when he saw the sorrow of those He loved. He's not a cold, distant, and heartless God; He's caring and close.
It's
one of those mysteries. How does God sympathize with us in our pain if He is
the one who could miraculously stop our pain?
The
only answer that I can go to for comfort is the idea that God knows more than
me. He knows that what I am going through, if it is allowed to persist, will
shape me more into who He wants me to be. This physical body is passing, and
the spiritual will remain. From His perspective, being spiritually who
He wants us to be, who He designed us to be, is the most important thing. And
from my perspective, it sometimes isn't. It is so difficult for me to overcome
my physical impulses at times. That stubbed toe seems more significant than my
spiritual self at that moment. That unending pain. That sexual desire. The
materialism and pleasure. I want it all. The physical things of this world all
seem more important than my spiritual self-development when I am not right with
God. But that is because I fail to totally surrender everything to Jesus.
But
I can find peace in this. When things happen around me to cause me to despair, God
knows what I'm going through. And He can stop it. But for some reason He often
doesn't. When a deranged shooter marches into a kindergarten classroom and God doesn't stop it, I become confused. And I will just have to trust in his reasoning rather than mine, knowing that His ways are greater than my ways, that His plan is better than my
plan, and that His knowledge of the situation is better than our knowledge of
the situation. If I keep focused on Him,
I will find the comfort He provides, and I will find myself where He wants me
to be, doing what He wants me to do, while being who He wants me to be.
Just
the other day, I walked downstairs into the living room. Elsi scurried over to
me to have me pick her up. I did. But I couldn't hold her long because I was
working and had to get back to work. So I sat her back down, and she bawled.
She felt rejected by me. She felt abandoned by me. And the truth of the matter
is that she was. Not in a mean sense - I had my reasons -, but I had to leave
her to do other work.
But
God is different than me. He is there with us - in our pain, joy, triumphs,
sadness. In our greatest moments and our darkest valleys - He never leaves us.
He isn't like me - where he can only be at one place at one time doing only one
thing. He's everywhere. He's there in your room, trying to give you comfort
while you're weeping on the bed, at the same time he's with the parents in the
emergency room whose child is dying, while at the same time he is with that
teenager choosing to experiment with drugs for the first time because he's
trying to find meaning. And he is even in a classroom where great man-made tragedy strikes.
Even if the tragedy is a result of making stupid decisions, like Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent, who was scheduled
to start last Sunday, yet Saturday morning he found himself wrapping up a night of
partying and drinking on the town. He made the stupid decision of getting
behind the wheel drunk. Followed that decision with another stupid one of
speeding. This all led to him crashing and killing his passenger, teammate and
friend since college. Josh had this to say from prison, where he is sitting on
intoxication manslaughter chargers while his good friend is dead.
“I am devastated and filled with grief. Filled with grief for
the loss of my close friend...I am also grief-stricken for his family,
friends (who knew) him. I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every
day.”
We have all done stupid things and paid consequences for them. Some of us more
than others. But even when the tragedy is by our own doing, and we want to beat
ourselves up because we think that we are only getting what we deserve, God is
there, and He knows your pain. God's presence, unlike mine, is not finite. He
is not limited to only being in one place at one time. He doesn't leave you
because He needs to get back to "more important things." He stays
with you during your deepest trials, even if they're self-inflicted.
God
knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him. Find
comfort in Him.
Once
we realize this, we can live out the tough teachings of Scripture.
Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those
who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.
Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own
sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is
honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you,
live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to
the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if
your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink;
for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:14-21 (ESV).
Unfortunately, most
of our worst times in life are inflicted on us, not by ourselves, but by
others. Sometimes it is just circumstances, but often there is an enemy
involved. Someone who is not looking out for our best interests. Someone who
actually might be trying to harm us.
Loving that person is contrary to our instincts. Paul teaches us to feed our
hungry enemy. Give something to drink to our thirsty enemy. Overcome evil by
doing good. Bless those who attack us and say bad things about us. We can only
be empowered to do this when we truly believe that God will enact vengeance
when it is needed. That everything is in God's hands. That He is even with us during
our pain. Nothing goes unnoticed by God.
God knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him. Find
comfort in Him.
Solomon Rosenberg, his wife and their 2 sons were arrested,
together with Rosenburg's mother and father for the "terrible" crime
of being Jews. They were placed in a Nazi concentration camp.
It was a labour camp, and the rules were simple.
"As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you
become too weak to do your work, then you will be exterminated."
Rosenberg watched as his mother and father were marched off to their deaths. He
knew that the next would be his youngest son, David - because David had always
been a frail child.
Every evening, Rosenberg came back into the barracks after each day of hard
labour and searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would
huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces.
He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and
praying. He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true."
Joshua turned and said, "It is true, Dad. Today David was not strong
enough to do his work. So they came for him."
"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg.
"Oh Dad,"
he said, "When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried. So Mum
said, 'There is nothing to be afraid of, David,' and she took his hand and went
with him."
That illustrates a mother’s love-- a love so strong that it chooses to give up
life so her child can be comforted." (Story taken from Sermon Central).
Our hearts yell, "Why? Why did God allow this to happen?" And I don't
have an answer.
But then our hearts also hear the echo of true love in this story. That love of
the mother for her child. It's beautiful. It's like a shiny coin in the midst
of a tarnished pile.
A young
preacher heard about a sudden and tragic death of a teenager in a car accident.
He rushed to the home of the parents only to find them standing in the front
yard next to their car. They had just arrived home from the hospital.
He didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. They hugged and cried together.
After an hour he left… never uttering a word.
He felt he had failed until several weeks later he received a card from the
couple thanking him for the comfort he gave them that day. They thanked him for
not saying anything but for just being there and sharing their grief."
We wish pain and suffering didn't happen, but it does. I wish I could tell you
that if you give your life over to Jesus, you would no longer have to experience
any pain. But you will. I wish I could protect all of you from nights of
despair and times of trouble. But I can't.
But I can tell you this promise. God is always there for you. God
knows your pain. Don't give up on Him. Don't despair. Run to Him. Find comfort
in Him. He is always there for you. Keep your eyes on Him.
As our friend Mitch McVicker and his mentor Rich Mullins wrote,
I will never doubt His promise
Though I doubt my heart
I doubt my eyes
My Deliverer is coming
My Deliverer is standing by
I want to leave you with this song. The lyrics are a little
fuzzy as they were recorded on a cassette player in an old, abandoned country
church, only nine days before Rich Mullins died in a car wreck that also nearly
took Mitch's life. Just days before his sudden death, Rich recorded a demo tape
of the next album he wanted to do. An album that would be all about the life of
Jesus. The music was redone, but the vocals in this song are taken from that
tape.
On May 26, 2012, Lady Gaga twittered, "There is nothing Holy about Hatred."
Except God did hate. Jesus even hated. So either Lady Gaga is right and the Bible is wrong. Or maybe Lady Gaga is not a good source to get one's worldview from.
So what should we hate? Because if we are honest with ourselves, everyone hates things. Even those who claim they don't hate anything, hate. Those who want peace and love hate war. Those who preach tolerance hate intolerance.
And what should we be hated for? Because let's face it, people are going to hate us. We just need to make sure that we are hated for all the right reasons.
Unfortunately, Christians often hate the wrong things and/or go about being against them in the wrong way. This discredits the message of Jesus and the work of the kingdom. But God's kingdom can and will overcome. The key is that we work toward being the people God wants us to be and continually strive to reflect his glory here on earth as it is in heaven.
Each one of us will make mistakes. That's what grace is for. We are all hypocrites in some way. If that wasn't true, the cross would not be needed.
There is no reason for any of us to think we are better than anyone else because we are all fallen sinners.
Living in the realization that we are all faulty and failed individuals, God will still receive glory when we are repentant sinners striving to bring about His will.
At other times we see people who unleash venom attacking one person after another. Whoever that venom is directed toward, harboring and releasing that hatred is not good for them or the people around them. Whether you agree with Lady Gaga or the Bible, it doesn't fit in either worldview as holy.
This post is written to distinguish that sort of rabid, venomous hatred from the hatred expressed by God that should also be expressed by His people.
When we feel that we have been wronged, we will find hatred creeping up. This is not the hatred we should nurture and foster. At times like those, we will find ourselves at a crossroads where we can choose whether to follow God, including his difficult teaching to love our enemies, and live in his grace toward others, even those we disagree with, or whether we will cling to our culture of divisiveness and lash back with personal attacks on the person who we feel has wronged us.
We each have many choices to make as we continue the process of being transformed from our fallen self into the person God has destined us to be. God has so much in store for each of us. The question is whether we will surrender ourselves to His will and pursue His kingdom, or whether we will pursue our own will and our own kingdom no matter how noble our personal will appears to be.
There is a hatred that is never holy. But then there is righteous hate. Let us strive to hate the things God hates and live the lives that God has planned for us to bring Him glory. Despite what Lady Gaga states, that is a hatred that is holy.
Bible Verses Expressing God's Hatred
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” Malachi 2:16 (NAS)
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:21-24 (ESV)
You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates.
Deut 16:21-22 (ESV)
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Zech 8:16-17 (ESV)
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’
Jer 44:2-4 (ESV)
He [Jesus] looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart. Mark 3:5 (ESV).
Be Hated For Doing Good
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
(1 Peter 2:11-12)
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
(1 Peter 2:15-16)
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
(1 Peter 3:17-18)
The World Will Hate Christians
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
(1 John 3:13 ESV)
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
John 15:18-19 (ESV)
We Should Join In God's Hatred
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
(Proverbs 8:13)
"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
(Amos 5:21-24)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
(1 John 2:15-17)
