Walking With Jesus

A Few Hours with My Mentor (Part 2)

“There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.” (Proverbs 14:12 NLT)

By God’s grace I was able to spend about four and a half hours with my mentor last week. Yesterday I shared some of his thoughts that spoke to me, and today I’d like to share a few more.

He said: “Don’t get on the wrong horse, you don’t know where it might lead you.” In this world, it’s ironic, but we often “mount horses” or follow “paths” that to us “seem” right but end up leading us into heartbreak and tragedy. Jesus said, “follow Me!” He will never lead you astray. He is always a pathway to life.

Closely related to what he said above: “Not every conductor is God’s. Make sure you’re on the right train.” Couple that with: “You can’t go wrong as long as you’re listening to His voice.”

Jim asked a question: “What is all you sold your soul to obtain worth on the day you stand before Jesus?” That’s a question that has staggering implications for many people in America today. We sell ourselves for what will perish, while ignoring our only opportunity to build treasure in heaven. It’s mind-boggling, but we “buy” Satan’s lies hook, line, and sinker. God’s Spirit alone can draw us away from the temptations of this world into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus.

Then we spent several minutes considering something that the Lord whispered: “Take a pause.” Traffic in my city is scary. A couple of guys were traveling over 100 mph on a city street when they plowed into a minivan, killing a family of six. Everyone’s in a hurry, but why? The mind-numbing reality is – that used to be me!

God’s message to my mentor spoke to me, not only in terms of my driving, but my living. It caused me to think of the many times when Jesus was “interrupted” in the course of His day by people who needed Him for an emergency in their lives. And you know what? He always had time! Maybe it’s time we “took a pause!” Slowed down and paid attention to who and what is going on around us.

Some of Jim’s words were “musings” as he pondered the fact that his life was nearing completion. He said, for example: “The love of God is greater than all the things of the world.” If we know Jesus, the closer we get to heaven, the less appealing are the things of this world.

He said: “‘God so loved the world’ is just as powerful today to the one who is listening as it’s ever been.” Couple that with: “The things we want to hide are often the very things God can use most powerfully if we’ll let Him.” I thought of how ashamed and broken I was because of my divorce, which caused me to have to resign my position as Associate Pastor with Brother Jim. Yet, there have been multiple times God has used my failure to bless and help others.

He said: “Stay with Christ.” He said this in the context of our conversation regarding how many people leave the church, and stray from the Lord, because of the teaching of wrong doctrine. He said: “We’re letting the tail wag the dog when we put doctrines ahead of Christ.” When people get red faced, with the veins in their neck bulging, trying to win an argument about a doctrine, that’s not honoring to Christ, and it’s certainly not going to win anyone to Jesus.

One more: “Sin is sin – there aren’t big sins and little sins – and sin separates us from God.” We want to tell a little “white” lie, whatever that is. A lie is a lie. Lust is lust. Gossip is gossip, etc. Let’s call sin what it is and forsake it for Christ’s sake – and ours!

Blessings, Ed 😊

A Few Hours with My Mentor

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you.’” (Matthew 8:4 NLT)

Last week I was privileged to spend a few hours with my mentor and friend who recently turned 90 years old. His dementia is worsening, but while we were together, he seemed very in tune with what the Lord was saying to him. Today I’d like to share a few things he said that struck responsive chords in my heart. I hope they do for you as well.

Jim, my mentor, said: “Jesus went to where the people were. He didn’t seek the crowds but was ever searching for those individuals He knew needed Him.” The above verse is an example. Though a large crowd was following Him, He stopped when a man with leprosy approached Him. That’s still true today. You may feel as alienated as a person with leprosy, but Jesus is seeking you, desiring to draw you to Himself. He wants to heal and give you wholeness and completeness in Him that you’ve never dreamed possible.

Then Jim said: “Don’t dwell on the pots and pans, focus on what’s cooking.” Jesus lived a focused life. He was on mission to seek and to save the lost. He wasn’t bothered by the “pot or pan” that housed the soul He so desperately desired to bring to Him, He zeroed in on the heart that needed to be redeemed and brought home to the Father. He is always drawn to the need that is “cooking” in a person’s heart.

Another gem: “What would you say if you didn’t care what anyone thought except Jesus?” How often we skirt the proverbial issue when speaking with someone, fearing we’ll offend or be turned away. Why does that matter? It’s never about us. When speaking to someone about Jesus, He’s the point, not our feelings. So what if someone gets upset with us? If we can plant a seed in a Christ-honoring way, and someone gets upset in the process, that’s their issue, not ours.

And another: “Satan knows what appeals to us. Why can’t we learn from him and exalt Jesus in such a way that people are drawn to Him?” What do you think that might look like? Satan appeals to our pride, our lustful flesh, our desire for “things,” none of which satisfies long term. What we’re all looking for is something that will last; something that will satisfy our soul; something that won’t disappoint. Jesus is the perfect answer to all those needs.

You may not like or understand this, but Jim said: “God never blesses stupidity.” Honestly, I believe he was saying that out of a lifetime of experiences that included some profound “stupidity.” Stupid means to be dull in mind. I’m not sure I know anyone who hasn’t had moments or seasons when they were dull in mind. I know I have. The Lord will save us from ourselves, including some very embarrassing and “dull” moments, if we’ll let Him.

I’ll share one more, then pick up with a few more tomorrow.

Jim said “lament,” then asked the question: “where did that come from?” Jim was a pastor for many years. He’s traveled all over the country and in different parts of the world preaching and teaching. His life has been full and fruitful, so to hear him say, as he reflected upon his 50+ years of ministry, that he had lament, set us on a course of asking some hard questions.

We served together in two churches over the years, so I knew what kind of man he was. He loved and served well, not only in the church, but in his family. Each of his four children and some of their children and their children attended his birthday celebration. He is a man who loved deeply and who was loved deeply. So, to hear him say he had lament seemed very strange.

My takeaway was, each of us, regardless of how well we live and serve, can always see areas where we failed to be all we believed God wanted us to be. That’s why grace is so vitally important in our lives, not only between us and God, but between us and others.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Marvel and Majesty of God’s Love

“No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39 NLT)

If you’re a believer in and follower of the Lord Jesus, you have personally experienced the marvel and majesty of God’s love. Volumes have been written in an effort to describe God’s love. Countless songs have been sung seeking to give expression to its effects on those who have received it.

The reality is, God IS love and anyone who knows God becomes a vessel through whom His love can flow. John was clear when he wrote: “Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7b-8 NLT)

John isn’t speaking about an emotion, a good feeling that comes and goes. The love of which he speaks in the above verse becomes a way of life. It’s a uniquely spiritual affection, not only for God, but for others, especially in the family of God. It’s not behavior as much as an attitude that fuels a lifestyle devoted to not simply acting in loving ways but being a loving person.

In 1 John 4:20 John writes: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?”

Honestly, understanding God’s love can be confusing on some levels. For example, because love originates with God, ANY expression of love comes from God, even if the person who acts in a loving way isn’t a born again believer. Being loving isn’t what saves us, it’s the fruit of God’s love given full expression in Jesus when He died in our place on the Cross.

There’s nothing we can do to make God love us more and there’s nothing we can do to make God love us less. He loves us period! But it’s critical to understand that God’s love for us doesn’t determine our fate as humans. Some believe that since God will love them whether or not they choose a life of sin and disobedience, that it really doesn’t matter how they live. But love and relationship are two very different issues.

Because God is love His heart desires a relationship with us, but if we refuse, He will love us even if we choose to continue in our sins. Peter reminds us that God doesn’t want anyone to be lost (2 Peter 3:9), but He will not force anyone to be saved. God’s love has done everything possible to make a way for people to be saved, but ultimately, it’s up to us. We choose heaven or hell, not God. We alone choose to allow His Spirit to fill and enable us to grow in His love and live meaningful and purposeful lives.

God is a gentleman and will not violate our free will and force us to do anything, even love Him. The Bible is clear that God is patient, giving as many as possible the opportunity to be saved, but one day it will be eternally too late. Please don’t wait. Please don’t believe your goodness is going to be enough to merit entrance into heaven.

God’s word says in Isaiah 64:6: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous (good) deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” Our only hope is to be forgiven and wrapped in the righteous and spotless robes of our Savior Jesus. To trust in your own goodness is to believe you can swim the ocean under water in a single breath. Salvation from sin is a gift of God, available to all who will receive it.

God loves you more than you can possibly imagine, and He will forgive and give you a new life in Him regardless of what you’ve done or been, if you’re willing to seek His forgiveness. There is nothing that can separate you from His love and nothing He won’t forgive if you’re willing to ask.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Can God Trust You?

“And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16:11 NLT)

The Bible has many references to the necessity of trusting God, but have you ever thought about how important it is that God can trust us? God doesn’t use us based on our goodness – we have none apart from Him – He uses us based on our faithfulness. He uses those He can trust.

Though we’ve looked at faith and faithfulness in previous posts, if God’s trust in us is based on our faithfulness, it may be important to take another look. “Faith – ful – ness” implies an ever increasing growth of our faith in God. Faith grows out of dependence, so, to the extent our daily lives depend on God’s presence and power at work in and through us, to that extent we will become more trustworthy in God’s sight. Why is that so vital?

In Psalm 139 the Psalmist asked the Lord to search him, to test his thoughts and see if there was anything offensive in him. It’s not an accident the Psalmist asked those things of God. When we ignore issues in our life that are offensive to God, they separate us from Him and the key ingredient in that process is our thought life.

Sin begins in our mind, in our thoughts. Our behavior is always guided by what we ponder in our mind. What we think about comes about! If we focus on things of this world, we become more “worldly,” but if we concentrate our thoughts on that which honors and draws us more closely to our Savior, we become in ever increasing measure, like Jesus.

And please don’t miss this – focusing our thoughts on the things of this world is not, in and of itself, sinful or displeasing to the Lord. Being concerned about being a good husband or wife; loving our children well; doing our best in our job; or being intentional about loving our neighbors – those things can honor and please the Lord. But on whom are we depending to enable us to be and do those things?

Dependence grows out of humility. We must recognize that we are nothing and can do nothing apart from the Holy Spirit’s strength and guidance. The moment we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, that’s the moment we begin to pull away from the security of the Lord’s presence. Someone said: “Humility isn’t thinking less of ourselves, it’s thinking of ourselves less.” The longer I live and serve the Lord, the more fully His thoughts fill my mind.

Think about the person(s) you most trust. What are the characteristics that allow you to trust them? Honesty? Dependability? Reliability? Closeness? Love? There are others, but think about how those qualities are reflected in your relationship with Jesus. Obviously, we can’t hide anything from the Lord, but why would we want to unless whatever it is draws us away from Him.

Why is God’s ability to trust us so important? How can He accomplish anything significant in and through us without trusting that we’ll give Him full credit? How can we make His name great and spread His love and glorious goodness if the underlying reason we’re doing it is to point people to us and how great we are?

Just as God loves a cheerful giver, He loves a cheerful server. When we grow in our dependence upon Him and serve out of the overflow of His goodness, our heart rejoices in all that He does in and through us, not for our honor or fame, but His. That’s when God can trust us with more opportunities to point people to Him.

Blessings, Ed

How Does Our Faith Grow?

“Turning to those who were following Him, He said, ‘I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’” (Matthew 8:10b NLT)

Hebrews 11 is filled with faith “heroes,” but Jesus says of a Roman Officer in the verse above that He’d not seen faith like what was exhibited in this Gentile (non-Jewish) soldier. What was so unique about this man’s faith? What can we learn that will help our faith increase?

This Roman Officer had obviously heard of Jesus, so he came to Him. That’s the first and most significant step of faith anyone can take. If our goal is eternal life, that begins the moment we meet Jesus and lasts throughout eternity, we must come to Jesus. Why? Because ONLY JESUS bears the name above all names. The name at which every knee will one day bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Peter in his message given in Acts 4:12 says: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Obviously, we can’t literally come into the physical presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords, but we, nonetheless, can come to Him confidently with the help of His Spirit who illuminates His presence in our heart and mind. Meeting Jesus and bowing at His feet in submission to His authority and majesty begins our faith walk, but once we’ve placed our full trust in Jesus, how does our faith grow?

The primary way our faith grows is through feeding upon His holy Word, the Bible. Systematically, habitually, and with intentionality read God’s words. If you’re new to the faith, begin in the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Why? Because foundationally, the most important lesson you need to learn is that Jesus is God poured into human flesh. That’s how John begins his Gospel. There are uniqueness’s in John’s account that identify and confirm Jesus’ divinity. Why is that so important?

Because if Jesus isn’t God, as He claimed to be, then we can’t believe anything else He said or claimed. Our theology must be grounded and rooted in Jesus – who He is, why He came to earth, and what His expectations of us are. After you finish John, go back to Matthew, the first book in the New Testament, and read straight through the New Testament to Revelation, including reading John again.

You want to get grounded in what the New Testament says before you dive into the Old Testament. Jesus is the “thread” that weaves the whole Bible together. The Old Testament won’t make much sense until you understand who the main “Character” is.

The second key ingredient to growing strong faith is seeing the necessity of the tests God puts you through. God put a severe test in the Roman Officer’s life, which is what led him to Jesus in the first place. Tests are designed to keep us close to Jesus.

Pastor Rick Warren writes: “Faith is like a muscle. You don’t grow muscle without some sort of resistance. The only way you grow a muscle is by stretching it, testing it, and putting weight on it. The same is true with faith. You don’t grow faith just by sitting around and saying, ‘Oh, I want more faith.’ Faith needs to be tested. So God allows circumstances in your life to build your faith muscle.”

Testing is different from temptation. Temptation is Satan’s attempt to get us to disobey and fail God. Testing is God’s way to help us grow strong spiritual muscles so we can learn to continually defeat Satan and His evil efforts to pull us away from God.

Tests come in many ways, but the goal is to trust God to walk with us through them. Faith increases as you learn to see the hand of God in every circumstance of your life, both good and what you often interpret as bad. Remember Paul’s words in Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Notice “everything.” That includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. God is great and good and loves you as if you were His only child. He’s got your back.

That’s how our faith grows!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Loving Like Jesus

“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NLT)

Thinking about loving like Jesus is a little bit like wanting to take a train to the moon – It ain’t happenin’! At least not yet. One day, when we get to heaven, the Bible says we’ll see as we’ve been seen, and I don’t believe it’s a stretch to believe we’ll be able to love as we’ve been loved.

In the meantime, do we just discount efforts to love like Jesus because it’s humanly impossible? The reality is that even being a child of God is humanly impossible, but by God’s grace He allows us that wonderful privilege. How does He do that? By His Spirit living within us. That’s the same way He enables us to love like Jesus here on earth. So, what might that look like?

Susanna Wesley is known as the “Mother of Methodism” because she was the mother of John and Charles Wesley, but “Mother” Wesley gave birth to 19 children. Someone once asked her: “Of all your children, which one do you love the most?” She thought for a moment then responded: “I suppose the one who needs me most.”

Jesus loves us as if we were His only child. What can we learn from that? Loving like Jesus means we love:

WITH INTENTIONALITY – So often when I’m with someone my mind wanders but loving with intentionality means to focus on that person as if they were the only other person on earth, because in that moment they are.
WITH FOCUSED ATTENTION – When you think about Jesus’ interaction with people in the Bible He listened carefully and responded in ways that were specific to that person. Think of the woman at the well or blind Bartimaeus or Nicodemus or the woman caught in “the very act of adultery” or – and the list goes on and on. With the Spirit’s help we can learn to be more attentive to those we’re seeking to love like Jesus loved. I’ve often asked the Lord to love my precious wife through me as though she were His wife. You’ll have to ask her how that’s working out 😊.
WITH GENEROSITY – Jesus’ love always allowed people to leave His presence with more than when they came to Him. Think of the Disciples. Think of the ones He healed. Think even of the children whom He hugged and jostled their hair with His hand. May we contribute to the lives of those with whom we have contact in such a way they feel enriched when they leave us.
WITH KINDNESS – In Matthew 15 there is a story about a Gentile (non-Jewish) woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon. She came to Jesus seeking His help, but the disciples asked Jesus to send her away because of her persistent begging. Jesus spoke to her in a way that, at first, seemed to be condescending and unkind. But in my mind’s eye, His smile and countenance conveyed to her His love and acceptance, so much so the Bible says “she came and worshipped Him, pleading…” Her daughter was healed, and she left Jesus, I’m convinced, never to be the same again. May the people with whom we have contact, especially in our families, leave our presence knowing they are accepted and cherished.
SACRIFICIALLY – Jesus’ love cost Him His life. Love that costs us nothing is of little or no value. Our time is the most precious commodity we can give. We can earn more money, but when we give of our time it’s gone, never to be regained. My prayer is that the persons in whom I/we invest my/our time will sense how much we value them and what a blessing it is to have them in our life.

May God’s love flow in and through us in such powerful ways that the lives of the people whom we love will be forever blessed, strengthened, and motivated to know and love Jesus with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength to His honor and eternal fame.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Living Like This Was Your Last Day!

“Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord, hear my urgent cry.” (Psalm 86:6 NLT)

What’s “the MOST” important thing you must do today? This isn’t a “trick” question. It will vary from person to person, but categorically, how do you make decisions? Then how do you prioritize them, so the most important ones get your undivided attention and get accomplished?

Much of the time we’re tyrannized by the “urgent,” to the displacement of the important. The AC goes out and it’s 115 degrees outside; the car breaks down; the toilet overflows; the baby won’t stop crying – I get it, the list is virtually endless. But one day none of that will matter. Why not? Because you won’t be around to care.

What if you got a word from the Lord and He said: “Today’s the day!” And the way most of us roll, we’re prone to ask: “What day is that Lord?” “THE day!” He responds. “Oh,” we say with amazement, “THAT day!”

It’s uncommon, but in Scripture the Lord sometimes let people know the end of their lives was coming soon. The Apostle Paul talked about the end of his “race” being at hand. The Prophet Elijah made a very dramatic exit from this earth to be with God. My granddad knew. There are others, but what if you knew this was going to be your last day on planet earth? What might you do differently?

Perhaps you think that’s a little far-fetched, but we need to realize that we have no promise of tomorrow. This could be the day of the Lord’s return, or it may just be the day for us to bid farewell to our life on earth. It’s definitely coming, why not think about it and make sure we’re ready?

King David, author of the verse above, continued his prayer by saying: “Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. With all my heart I will praise You, O Lord my God. I will give glory to Your name forever, for Your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.” (Psalm 86: 11-13 NLT)

Let’s draw a few things from these verses that will help us be prepared for our last day, whether it’s today or years down the road.

First, Learn God’s ways. Let the Holy Spirit give you the priorities for each day. How will He teach you? Primarily through His Word. There’s no substitute for reading and studying the Bible if you want to learn God’s ways.

Second, Live according to God’s truth. You won’t know God’s truth unless and until you make reading and studying the Bible a daily priority. Additionally, connect with a Christ-centered, Bible believing church fellowship and watch the lives of those who are “walking the walk.” The Apostle Paul said: “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

Third, Grant me purity of heart. That’s a desire that God gives us, but we can never accomplish by ourselves. Only God can give us purity of heart, but it’s something we should pursue every day through prayer and submission to the Holy Spirit’s leadership.

Fourth, Give glory to God for all He’s done for you. To me, ingratitude is among my greatest sins. When I fail to be grateful for all God means to me and all He’s given to me, it’s as if I’m taking credit for those things myself. If Jesus has rescued us from our sins and filled us with His Holy Spirit, our life should exude gratitude to Him and love for others.

When these things are among our daily habits, we can echo the words in Revelation 22:20b: “Even so, Lord Jesus come!”

Regardless of what day it is, we’re “packed” and ready to go to our new home in heaven!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Is Divorce the Answer?

“’For I hate divorce!’ says the Lord, the God of Israel.” (Malachi 2:16a NLT)

Our goal as Jesus followers is to follow God and His choices for us, not seek to have Him agree with our choices. What are we to follow? In short, His paths of righteousness. What does that mean? Righteousness simply means to live in a right way that is honoring to God; to follow Jesus’ righteous example. What might that look like?

Over time God will strengthen our hearts, enabling us to “hear” His voice and to desire His will more than we desire our own will. Having followed the Lord for many years, I ONLY want what He wants for me. Why? Because I’ve learned that what He wants for me is by far greater than what I want for myself. He’s taught me to recognize His voice above the voices of my own heart or those of the world, enabling me to grow in my likeness of Him, as opposed to conforming to the likeness of the world.

What does this have to do with divorce? Quite a lot actually. While the government has sought in increasing measure to make divorce easier, God’s Word, the standard by which Jesus followers are to model our lives, has never changed. God’s plan from the beginning was one man and one woman committed to one another for life. The results of our not listening and obeying that command have been catastrophic.

Chuck Colson said: “People who divorce are more likely to die from stroke, heart disease, cancer, and hypertension. Kids from broken homes are more likely to fail in school, abuse drugs and alcohol, commit crimes, and have children out of wedlock.” And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Think of the witness it is for struggling couples to see Christian couples they respect and believe are living for Jesus, walk away from their marriage and family. Pastors are now among the categories of professions most likely to divorce. There’s virtually no difference in the statistics of those who attend church or those who do not, related to divorce. How can that be?

Why am I so passionate about staying married and removing divorce as an option for Christian couples? Because I’ve been divorced. I know the pain, heartache, and suffering that accompanies watching your spouse of more than twenty years walk out the door, knowing she’s headed into the arms of another man. I understand how it affects the children as they lose their once solid Christian footing, searching for answers in all the wrong places.

Satan will make you believe you have no option, and, honestly, maybe you don’t, but a very high percentage of the time you do have a better choice than divorce. When you boil it all down, the leading cause of divorce is demanding our own way and ignoring God’s way.

May I let you in on a secret? There’s no such thing as “no fault” divorce. Someone is always to blame, and it’s usually shared by both participants. And please don’t misunderstand. There are times when, for the safety of a spouse and/or children, divorce must happen. But before you pursue a divorce, seek counsel from godly people, separate for a specific amount of time and/or for a designated purpose – i.e. to go through rehab; seek treatment for emotional, physical, or other specific concerns that must be addressed in order to give your marriage opportunity to heal.

Nothing I’ve ever experienced has had such long-term effects on my life and the lives of my children. Please remove the “D” word from your vocabulary and, unless there are very unusual circumstances, determine that divorce is not the answer for you and your spouse.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Fruitfulness Grows Out of Faithfulness

“For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:4b NLT)

What is fruitfulness? Which plants bear fruit? Healthy plants, right? What is required for a plant to become and remain healthy? I understand this is an oversimplification, but they need to develop a strong root system. How does that happen? They need good soil and a mixture of sunshine and water. How does that translate for us?

Fruitfulness for a believer grows out of faithfulness. Unlike a plant, we choose our own “soil.” We decide what our eyes will view, what our ears will hear, and how we will live our life. We choose which habits we’ll develop, which friends we will have, and which path we will walk.

Jesus made it clear that a branch (a life) cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, then added, so there could be no misunderstanding what He meant: “…and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.” So, the logical question then becomes: “What does it mean to ‘remain’ in Jesus?”

Realizing this could go in a lot of directions, let me be clear that my purpose is not to open a theological debate. What I would like to accomplish is for those of us who are walking with Jesus to find ways to evaluate our own life, then move in directions that will lead to greater effectiveness and fruitfulness as God’s child.

To that end, let’s look at a few ideas. One would think that longevity would by default lead to maturity, but that, unfortunately, isn’t always the case. There are Jesus followers who claim to have followed the Lord for 30, 40 or more years, but what they’ve been doing is repeating year one 30, 40 or more times.

Rather than growing, their treading spiritual waters and refusing to become fruitful because they refuse to “remain” in Christ. How do I know that? Primarily because I witnessed it in my own life. As a new believer I knew I was ignorant of the Bible and spiritual tools that would help me grow in my likeness of Jesus, so I soaked up anything and everything that I could to help me grow and become fruitful.

But as the proverbial “sprouts” became evident, I became very pleased with myself and essentially shot myself in my spiritual foot. Once I got some basics all I wanted to do was search the Scriptures to “prove” my understanding was “right.” I wasn’t learning new truth, I was rehashing old truth in fresh ways, but coming to the same conclusions. To what end? I wasn’t growing. I wasn’t “remaining.” I wasn’t abiding in Jesus.

J.D. Greear wrote: “Fruitfulness matters, but the only road there is through consistent faithfulness.” To remain means to continue, to dwell, or to endure. It means to not plow the same field over and over again. It means to patiently wait until God does the work in us as we diligently learn new ways to obey, by submitting to His authority in our lives.

Spiritual fruit doesn’t come from us. We’re branches. We bear the fruit only to the extent we remain connected to the Vine, Jesus. What does that look like? It looks like total devotion to who Jesus is and what He wants to accomplish in and through us. We must do some fruit “inspection,” not in other people’s lives, but in our own.

As I view my life I need to ask myself some questions. For example: How much of a priority is worship – both individually and corporately? How close do I feel to God? Why? Is my daily schedule ordered around God’s priorities or mine? Do I have at least one other person with whom I’m sharing my life in Christ? Does another person truly know my heart, in terms of my desires, my sins, my goals as a believer? We’re a branch among many branches. We’re connected to others if we’re in Christ or we’re not in Christ. There’s no such thing as a “Lone Ranger” believer. A single “branch” has no life apart from Jesus.

Are you “in Christ” or are you a dead branch? Only you can answer that question. Fruitfulness grows out of faithfulness, not complacency.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Beauty of Marriage

“But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:2 NLT)

Marriage can be difficult and is not for everyone. The Apostle Paul encourages believers not to marry if they can abstain from sexual immorality, but at the time of Paul’s writing and today, with so much immorality, it’s hard to not sin sexually if you’re not married. Even if you are married, lust is such a driving force, it can still be an issue.

The picture used by Jesus to describe His relationship with His people, His Church universal, is that of a beautiful bride adorned for her husband. It was God’s idea in the beginning for one man to be married to one woman for life. For a man and woman to devote their whole lives to one another in faithful pursuit of oneness, the likes of which can be accomplished in no other relationship than Christ and His Bride.

No one hates divorce more than Jesus and those of us who have been divorced.

When I was pastoring, nothing amused me more than when a previously married couple would ask me to marry them and say: “We don’t need any counseling. We know the ‘ropes,’ we’ve both been married before.” It was as if they were saying: “We know all about marriage, that’s why we both failed so well with our first partner.”

Could that have anything to do with why statistically the likelihood of a successful second marriage is so much lower than a first-time marriage? Before my present wife and I were married, I read a statistic that said it takes about eight years for a previously married couple to work through all their baggage they drag into their second marriage. My wife and I have been married 28 years, and we’re still sorting baggage. 😊

Though we’ve had many issues, I believe we’ve finally found our “sweet spot.” We’ve finally come to a place where we genuinely value the treasure we’ve become to one another.

When the Apostle Paul was describing what he aspired his relationship with Jesus to look like he said: “I want to know Christ…” (Philippians 3:10a) The word Paul used that’s translated “know” is the same word that’s used in Genesis 4:4 when it says Adam “knew” Eve and they had a child. It’s a term of intimacy, closeness that can only be achieved between two people who are deeply committed to one another. Whose hearts beat with longing to be in the other’s presence, sharing life together come what may.

You can’t have a perfect marriage with two imperfect people, but when you begin to focus on what’s right in each other rather than on what’s wrong, it becomes a lot happier. Keeping a singular focus helps also. What does that mean? It means stop looking outside your relationship with your spouse to find what should only be found in and with your spouse. And I’m not speaking simply of sex; I’m speaking of delight.

It’s amazing how much pleasure I find in my wife when I accept her as God’s gift to me. God doesn’t make mistakes, we do. God creates oneness. We create division. God’s desire is holiness. We desire happiness.

What am I saying? The beauty of marriage will only surface when God is first in your heart and your spouse is a very close second. His plan has always been for the two to become one flesh – committed to living for His honor together!

Blessings, Ed 😊