Walking With Jesus

When Our Fear Hurts Others

“Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached Me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead My people Israel out of Egypt. But Moses protested to God, ‘Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?’” (Exodus 3:9-11a NLT)

Do you understand that God has hand-picked you to reach the people in your spheres of influence for Him? If you’re willing to look closely, virtually everything you’ve experienced in life has equipped you to be the perfect person for the job. There’s often only one thing that stands between them and heaven – your fear!

Remember why Moses left Egypt? He killed an Egyptian who was attacking a Hebrew slave. Moses was geared up and ready to be God’s one-man Army to deliver his people until he found out Pharoah had a price on his head. He had the right idea, just the wrong timing and methodology. But the fear he felt that caused him to hightail it out of Egypt the first time, that had laid dormant for 40 years, was now, once again, rearing its ugly head, standing in his way of responding positively to God’s call.

What is it for you? What’s the trigger for your fear that Satan is using to help keep you from fully depending on God to use you to carry out His purposes? May I be honest? I’ve walked with the Lord for more than 60 years and have shared His message literally hundreds of times, yet I still get nervous. It’s natural to get in our own way, but what keeps me on track is thinking about being in heaven and learning no one else shared the Gospel with someone the Lord laid on my heart to share, so they’re not there.

We would do anything humanly possible to rescue our spouse, child, or grandchild from harm’s way, why won’t we open our mouth and tell them how to be rescued from the grip of Satan? When our fear stands between us and a loved one’s salvation, that’s a problem. And yes, of course, they have to personally make that choice, that’s not on us, but God has equipped us to give them the right tools to make the right choice.

One problem I’ve encountered in sharing my faith is making the Gospel more complicated that it is. With every new book I read or idea the Lord gives me I feel compelled to cram a little bit of that into what I’m trying to share with someone. But what happens? I muddy the water! I lose focus in sharing what needs to be shared, and what I so want to be clear, becomes confusing.

One way I’ve sought to avoid that is by thinking through and writing out what the Lord gives me. While every person is unique and may have a “hot” button when it comes to something we share, we must trust the Lord to reveal that; otherwise, we go “fishing” and convolute what needs to be very simple.

We’re sinners in need of a Savior, but our sin blocks our access to God. So, God opened a way to Himself by allowing His sinless Son to offer His own body on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sin, giving us access to God’s throne of forgiveness based on the gift of grace offered by Jesus. We receive the gift of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.

The greatest Gospel “presentation” is a heart on fire for the Savior. If you love Jesus and your heart’s cry is to see your lost loved ones and friends, come to Him, ask the Lord to give you courage to do what Moses did – simply obey God one step at a time. Fear is a vapor that disappears once we commit to following the Lord’s lead.

Trust Him. He’s with you and will speak through you in ways you haven’t yet imagined He would.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Pessimism

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.” (Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT)

In a recent Breakpoint article John Stonestreet wrote: “Ellen Meara, health policy professor at Dartmouth, told The Washington Post, ‘There’s something more fundamental about how people are feeling at some level. … People are feeling worse about themselves and their futures, and that’s leading them to do things that are self-destructive.’”

Have you noticed it? In stores and restaurants, even just passing people in my neighborhood, I’m looking into people’s faces, but it’s like nobody’s home. An emptiness, loneliness, lack of life is becoming, not only evident, but glaringly undeniable. What’s happening? Could it be pessimism?

G.K. Chesterton wrote in The Everlasting Man, “Pessimism is not in being tired of evil but in being tired of good. Despair does not lie in being weary of suffering, but in being weary of joy. It is when for some reason or other the good things in a society no longer work that the society begins to decline; when its food does not feed, when its cures do not cure, when its blessings refuse to bless.”

Or as journalist Andrew Sullivan summed up in a piece written about the national opioid epidemic: “America, having pioneered the modern way of life, is now in the midst of trying to escape it.”

It’s strange that I haven’t made this connection before now, but I absolutely love to worship the Lord with my spiritual family. What a contrast to the faces of gloom and despair I see from day to day. Joy, genuine, heart-felt celebration of the life of the living God made manifest in and through His Holy Spirit as He pours Himself into each of us. Perhaps there’s never in history been a more vital time for children of God to align themselves with a vibrant fellowship of God’s people. This is not a time to do life alone.

It’s not: “Let’s trudge disheartened through life as best we can, dreading every second!” It’s “Let’s open our hearts to Jesus and celebrate His life in us by joyfully and enthusiastically joining with our brothers and sisters in lifting praise and adoration to our Savior!” Worship is an antidote to pessimism because it gets our eyes off ourselves and helps us to focus on Who is really in control of our destiny.

John Stonestreet continued: “It may be that, faced as we are with decreasing life spans, a life of purposeful, selfless faithfulness could have an incredible impact. The greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to love God with our whole selves—hearts, souls, minds, and strength—and to love our neighbors as ourselves. As we obey, we turn both upward and outward. The upward turn both reveals and offers purpose. The outward turn offers a joy that is far better than momentary pleasures.

We’ve never lived in a more needy time. People are wasting away as surely as the children of Israel in the wilderness. Discouragement, fear, and fatigue plague not just the US, but the planet. Why? Because for years we’ve done nothing short of push God out of our lives. Demanding to do life “our way,” and now it’s as if the Lord is looking down upon us, smiling and saying, “How’s that working out for you?”

We, God’s children, are the “salt” and “light” of the Lord. Listen child of God, no one is going to do for the people in your spheres of influence what only you can do. There are lost, lonely people in whom you can create a thirst for God, for whom you can shine the light of redemption, pointing them to their only hope of true life.

Please don’t buy into the world’s “gloom and doom!” Be instead a light on the proverbial hill showing the way out of pessimism and doubt into the glorious light of life found only in Jesus.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Best Part of Heaven (Part 2)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2a NLT)

Do you realize that every faith step you take is in the footprints of your Savior? In the verse above the word translated “initiates” means: “one that takes the lead in any thing and thus affords an example, a predecessor in a matter, pioneer; the author.” And the word translated “perfects” means: “one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith.”

A Difficult Road “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”

Jesus is the one who begins and ends all faith; He’s the initiator and finisher of not only the faith journey He walked, but the journeys of each person who places their trust in Him. He’s designed the “trail” of faith that each of us will walk and has walked it before us to make sure it’s exactly what we’ll need for us to become everything He’s designed us to become.

Please pay attention to the details of your journey. Remember that “accident?” That slip on the ice? The time the guy ran the stop sign and plowed into you? When you were so low and a person you didn’t know spoke words of encouragement to you, then “disappeared?” When you gave money to that lonely, forlorn looking person?

The beauty of heaven will be that we’ll finally see, from start to finish, what Jesus has seen all along. We’ll be able to see the completed puzzle and the magnificent “picture” the Lord has painted with the details of our life’s journey. The questions we’ve had will all be answered, and we’ll wonder why we ever had them in the first place.

But another exciting aspect of our homecoming will be the many faces that line the balconies of heaven celebrating our arrival. Why the celebration? Because each one will have a unique story of how our lives have intersected theirs in a positive way for Jesus. A kind word, a thoughtful gesture, a listening ear, a helping hand, something the Lord prompted us to do that we may have quickly forgotten, but He didn’t, and neither did they.

Through the Lord’s influence in our life, almost like a snapshot, the Lord revealed Himself to someone we encountered on our journey. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to enable them to add to the other “pictures” He’d given them that together gave them the courage they needed to yield their life and allegiance to Him.

We can’t imagine if we tried the number of “unknown” people the Lord has used our lives to influence positively for Him. You may think because you’re not a Pastor or leader your life hasn’t been used very effectively. Think again, my friend! Every detail of your life has meaning – for good or evil! The devil is in the details, but, thankfully, so is the Lord.

The smile you gave to the person in the grocery; the kind word you spoke to the checkout person; the bottle of water you offered to the person working at your house; your willingness to step up to help cover for a co-worker with a sick child…! The scenarios are literally endless of the ways the Lord has used your influence to bless someone for His sake. And that’s not to mention the many times you prayed before a meal at a restaurant, invited someone to church, or shared what you thought at the time was a miserable attempt to share the Gospel. Little is much when God is in it!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Best Part of Heaven

“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)

How do you really know anyone? You can watch every movie in which a famous actor(ess) has a role, read every book or article written about them, watch every interview, maybe even speak with someone who knows them well, but does that constitute a relationship with them? Of course not, but isn’t that the way many so called “Christians” seek to have a relationship with Jesus?

How do we learn to love and enjoy a friendship with anyone? “Yeh, but Jesus is invisible! How do you have intimacy with someone you can’t see?” Paul writes in Ephesians 1:18 in the KJV that the “eyes of our understanding be enlightened that we may know the hope of His calling.” Read Paul’s words with your ear pressed to the chest of the Savior. Listen as the Lord speaks so eloquently and personally through His servant.

Paul was the proverbial “late bloomer,” in terms of his Apostolic charge, he never spent time with Jesus when He was in a physical body, so, how did He know Him so well? How do you learn to know anyone? He spent endless hours reading His words and listening to his Savior’s heart. Intimacy, true, spiritual closeness, grows out of uninterrupted time together.

To know Jesus is to see Him with the eyes of your heart; to hear His voice through His Word; to walk with Him through the lives of the original disciples, but, if you’re not careful, you can still miss Him if you don’t recognize His voice speaking directly to you! His heart is to communicate with you, for you to know Him, not just know about Him.

It’s one thing to thrill at Peter’s faith as he responds to Jesus’ invitation to get out of the boat and walk to Him on the water: it’s quite another when He is directing His invitation to you or me. See, here’s the deal: Jesus is just as alive today as He’s ever been – He’s still speaking, teaching, inviting us into His involvement in the lives of people on planet earth on His behalf.

He’s still equipping, empowering, and enabling His disciples to see Him as clearly and to follow Him as nearly today as when He called His first disciples. It was all fresh and new then, so He allowed His early followers to literally walk with Him, to see Him with physical eyes. Yes, of course, it took a lot of faith and courage to follow Him then, but not any more than what it takes for us today.

In my mind’s eye I envision meeting John and Peter, James, and Matthew and all the rest and sharing with them how grateful I am for their faith, but also for their failures. But I can envision their interest in asking us about our missions. “I remember the time early in your walk with Jesus when…” “We were so proud of you for standing strong when…” “We wept with you when you failed, but celebrated with you when you regained your balance and once again stood strong for the Savior’s sake.”

The best part of heaven for me will be the first glimpse of my Lord and Master and being able to enjoy worshipping, serving, and honoring Him in ways I’m unable to now. I want to run with Him across a lake and listen to Him laughing out loud when He’s telling stories about something only I would recognize. I dream of basking in the joy of His presence, knowing I’ll never be separated from Him.

Will it be days, months, years before we one day pinch ourselves and realize: “Yes, hallelujah! It’s real! Heaven is real and all the doubt, fear, worry, and questions are all answered with a resounding YES and AMEN!”

But there’s so much more to this story. We’ll pick it up in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Fundamentals

“When Jesus heard this, He was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’” (Luke 7:9 NLT)

What is the essential ingredient without which no one will see God? According to Hebrews 11:6 it’s faith! Why is faith so foundational to all the other things we need to know and do if we’re going to follow Jesus? At its root faith is the conviction that something is true.

Years ago, I watched a movie that followed two groups of people who were trying to get to a certain destination, but they had to trek through the snow and ice that was several feet deep. As the first group came to a crevasse about 10-15 feet wide, ironically, there were two ways to cross, but they were carrying things that caused them to fear the snow bridges wouldn’t bear the weight.

One guy, who was the “expert,” used his pole to poke each one and determined one was safe and the other one wasn’t. So, one by one they crossed the “safe” bridge, but as the last person cleared, it fell, leaving only the one the expert deemed unsafe.

When the second group came and saw the people who had crossed standing on the other side, they wrongly assumed they had used the only bridge there. Despite their pleadings to the contrary, one of their group started over the other bridge and fell to his death. What was the problem? They put their faith in the wrong person.

That’s what millions of people do everyday with Jesus. They hear or read the Gospel proclaiming Jesus as the only way to heaven, but they assess their situation and conclude they have more faith in their way than His, so, ultimately, they “fall” to their eternal death.

Dr. Billy Graham wrote: “The unbelieving world should see our testimony lived out daily because it just may point them to the Savior.” Our lives can be a window to enable others to see and understand, not only who Jesus is, but why He died on the Cross in our place. The Cross is the bridge across which we can enter into the holy presence of our forgiving Father.

However, as John Stott wrote: “Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.” Foundationally, we need to understand God didn’t create the need for the Cross, we did. If we’d followed God’s directives from the beginning, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die, but because as human beings we place more faith in lies than we do in Truth, we struggle to believe the Truth when we see it embodied in human flesh, whether being lived out in the Bible or in and through those of us who bear His holy Name.

Further, salvation isn’t created or continued by us, it is solely dependent on faith in Christ alone from start to finish. That’s why Thabiti Anyabwile’s words ring so true: “Claiming to be saved without following Jesus is demonic nonsense.”

Faith isn’t simply the pathway to salvation in Christ, it’s the proverbial “house” in which we continue to live as long as there is breath in our lungs. There is no growth or development in our walk with Jesus unless and until we yield our life and allegiance to Him.

Our faith won’t bear the weight of our sin if it’s focused on our own heart or life; otherwise, why would Jesus have died? If you haven’t placed your full trust in Christ for your eternal salvation, please click this link to Ron Hutchcraft’s Bridge Illustration and get it settled today.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Do You Long to Go to Heaven?

“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14 NLT)

If the evangelization of the world was up to you, how would you do it? What about reaching those in your country? Your state? Your county? Your city? Your neighborhood? Your family?

Too often we get so overwhelmed by the vastness of world evangelization we lose sight of the plan Jesus put into motion before He left this earth. Remember Matthew 28:18-20? “Jesus came and told His disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

Couple those verses with Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus anticipated that we would need a plan, a strategy, if we were going to share the Good News with everyone on the planet. What was His plan? Start small, with those in your “Jerusalem,” then reach further and further from home. But in order to do that what MUST we have? The very two things Jesus gave us! Authority and power! Why are those so vital? We have no authority to tell anyone about Jesus unless and until we know Him and receive the authority only He can give us as His followers.

In Mark 6:6a-7 we read: “Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. And He called His twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits.” Why is that important? He was modeling what He was going to ask them to do, then giving them His authority and power to enable them to do it. It’s no different for us today.

God has commissioned and empowered each of us to reach someone for Him. He’s called us to do what only we can do, having been equipped with the tools that only He can give. Sharing your faith isn’t about you, it’s only and always about Him. And He never asks of us what He hasn’t modeled before us.

If we’re God’s child, with every conversation, regardless of who it is, we’re doing one of three things: we’re planting Gospel seeds, watering them, or harvesting the seeds we or someone else have planted. We talk about what we love! It may be sports, cooking, bowling, vacationing, our family, or Jesus, but we can’t help ourselves, we’re going to talk about what means the most to us.

Sharing your faith is going to be hard until you realize it’s only sharing with someone else what is most important in your life. We share about our spouse, kids, grandkids, our pastor, group leader, whoever we love and care about, not because we “have to,” but because we can’t help ourselves, it just comes naturally.

J.C. Ryle wrote: “Happy indeed is that Church whose members not only desire to reach heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them.” If you’re excited about going to heaven, you’re going to talk about it with others. So, what if you’re not talking about heaven or Jesus or your church with others, besides your saved friends?

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Evidence That Demands a Verdict

“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? (Philippians 2:1 NLT)

My wife and I enjoy watching crime dramas on TV. Blue Bloods is our favorite, and as we watch an episode, we find ourselves making predictions as to who did what and why. Presumably, in every crime there is a corresponding reason, which often leads to the person who committed the crime.

The goal is to gather overwhelming evidence that will identify the right suspects that will lead to the right person who committed the crime. Joyce Meyer said: “If you are accused of being a Christian, there should be enough evidence to convict you.” What evidence in your life and mine would be good enough to convict us of being a Jesus follower?

Related to that question: “If someone isn’t a Jesus follower, what overwhelming evidence might they need to see in order to move them in the direction of following Him?” My experience is that there are some who are just closed to ANY information regarding becoming a Jesus follower. And notice I steer away from the overused term “Christian,” because it’s become so distorted, people who now live vile and ungodly lifestyles still refer to themselves as “Christian.”

Dr. Steven J. Lawson wrote: “No one can be saved until they know they are lost. No one believes the good news until they know the bad news.” If you follow Jesus today, what led you to believe? And please don’t say: “I’ve always believed!” That may be true, but you haven’t always been a Jesus follower. How do I know that?

It’s like saying “I’ve always been married.” Maybe it feels like that sometimes, but the truth is, if you’re married it happened on a specific day and time. It required a set of vows that you exchanged promising to be faithful, and so forth. Similarly, if you can’t point to a specific event, not necessarily a specific day and time, but a point in your life when you invited Jesus to become the Lord of your life, you probably haven’t.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of “conformers” to Christian teaching that don’t know the Christ. They’re so busy doing the work of the Lord they’ve forgotten (or have never truly known) the Lord of the work. Andy Mineo wrote: “You live different when you know you’ve been forgiven.” There’s a hunger, not only to serve God, but to know Him, to live and move and have your being in Him.

There develops a deep conviction that literally believes, “apart from Me you can do nothing!” A lifestyle that is seeking to become more like Jesus isn’t forced or faked. There’re no counterfeit believers, at least not in God’s mind. We’ve heard and understood the bad news and have turned control of our lives over to the Lord without reservation. Does that mean we never sin or make a mistake in judgment? No, but that’s our goal.

It should be evident in the way we live and love that Jesus is the Ruler and Owner of our lives. When He’s in control there is undeniable evidence that we belong to Him. How so? He’s the priority (see Matthew 6:33) in our habits, that ultimately will reflect His leadership; in our relationships; in our finances; in our work; in our attitudes; in our time management; in our worship; in our humility; in our unflinching devotion to Jesus in everything we do, say and think.

This is the evidence that demands the verdict in those who view our lives, that we know, love, and are following Jesus. They may not come to the Lord by watching our lives, but hopefully, it will open an opportunity for us to speak with them about Him.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Gratitude

“Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. ‘Call the child’s mother!’ he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, ‘Here, take your son!” She fell at his feet and bowed before him, overwhelmed with gratitude. Then she took her son in her arms and carried him downstairs.” (2 Kings 4:36-37 NLT)

While pastoring I met a man who had been a pastor but had been asked to step down. I don’t remember the details, but he was angry about having to leave the church he’d planted and in which he’d invested so much effort. Additionally, while pastoring, he and his wife had adopted two special needs children and they’d been a handful. It was a noble thing to do, but it was as if he expected special treatment from God because of it.

He asked me one day why God seemed to ignore his prayers, why no matter how earnestly he begged God for help, He seemed silent. Assuring him I would speak with the Lord about it, he went on his way. A few days later the Lord spoke very clearly to me about my friend’s concerns, so, the next time I saw him I told him what the Lord had told me – he needed to express more gratitude for all the Lord had done for him.

Being unsure how he would respond, at first, I was reluctant, but mustered the courage to tell him exactly what the Lord had told me. He walked away in silence. It was a few months later he came to me with a big smile, telling me how helpful what I told him had been. He hugged me and thanked me for my input. I assured him I deserved no credit, as I’d done nothing but pass along what the Lord said, but he went on and on about how that simple suggestion had literally changed his life.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

I thought of that scenario when I read this quote by Chris Brown: “You can’t be grateful for what you feel entitled to.” How many times we lose our way, not because we’ve fallen into sin, but because we’ve failed to be grateful for all the ways the Lord has protected, guided, filled, empowered, and used us to His glory without so much as a “Thank You, Lord!”

It’s almost as if our attitude is: “Okay, I’ve put in my time, where’s my check? I did the work, I put forth the effort, where’s my reward?” But it doesn’t work that way with the Lord. Remember the words of Jesus in Luke 17:9? “And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

All gratitude and praise belong to the Lord. We’re His slaves, not His master. Thom Rainer wrote: “Anyone who believes they are entitled to something from God, know the adversary has put that thought in you, not the Holy Spirit.” Serving Jesus isn’t an obligation we fulfil, it’s a privilege and honor we rejoice in having.

Our reward for serving the Lord is the joy of a job well done; it’s the smile on His face when He says: “Well done, My good and faithful servant!” If you don’t yet know the Lord this may be foreign to you, but it’s not unlike how we’re to love our wife. If she asks us to do something, or better still, if we see something we can do that will please her and save her from having to do it, we shouldn’t be looking for thanks, the smile on her beautiful face should tell us everything we need to know.

Gratitude is an act of worship as we kneel at the feet of our Savior thanking Him for the gift of His forgiveness. If gratitude isn’t driving your service, what is?

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Independence Day

“Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, ‘You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31-32 NLT)

In the USA July 4^th is the day we commemorate the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified on July 4th, 1776, but to me, especially as it relates to our freedom in Christ, independence and freedom aren’t necessarily one and the same. How so?

As I understand what the Bible teaches, our freedom in Christ doesn’t lead us into independence from Jesus, who is the embodiment of all Truth, it leads us into increasing measures of dependence upon Him. Our freedom in Christ isn’t given in order that we might do as we please, but as He pleases. With His blood He purchased our independence from sin.

Our goal in our walk with Jesus is to become more like Him, so we deny ourselves the right to do what pleases us. And yes, of course, ultimately our will and God’s should be one and the same; our desires should parallel God’s desires for us, but the reality is, as long as we’re in these bodies of clay, we have free will to do whatever we decide to do, whether it’s in line with what God’s will is or not. That’s why Jesus uses that little word “if!”

And we wouldn’t want it any other way. God doesn’t want us to be puppets on a string that He can manipulate and coordinate our every move. He desires us, in ever increasing measure, to so desire Him that what we want is only and always what He wants for us. Why would we want that? Because no one knows us better and loves us more than our heavenly Father. He never lies and He knows how to give good gifts to His kids.

Our “natural man,” possessor of our sinful bent, who desires nothing of God and everything of self; whose favorite radio station is WIIFM (What’s In It For Me), and whose every intention is to do what pleases ME, not God, is our constant companion in this life on earth. So, how do we tame this “beast” and learn to yield our allegiance moment by moment to Jesus?

First, by God’s grace and through the vital ministry of His Holy Spirit, we need to declare our “old self” dead and gone. It begins when we repent of – turn away from – our sin, and are baptized as an outward, visible symbol of an inward and otherwise invisible transaction between us and God. In Romans 6 Paul explains our death to sin and how vividly that death is illustrated in Baptism.

We’re buried in our watery grave, then resurrected to new life, putting to death our old self, and declaring our freedom and allegiance to Christ alone, by faith alone. But, unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story. On many levels, it’s only the beginning.

British Evangelist Oswald Chambers said it well when he wrote: “Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.” It’s easy in the excitement and emotion of our new life with Jesus, surrounded by friends and family supporting us, to coast right over the claws of our sinful self relentlessly seeking to drag us back into sin. But when the emotion subsides and the reality of the uphill battle we’re facing sets in, we can easily lose our way.

While baptism is typically a one-time act, submission to God’s authority over us and our declaration of “dependence” upon the Holy Spirit’s leading are ongoing, sometimes moment-by-moment acts. The good news is, we’re never alone in our battle. That’s why in the prayer the Lord taught His disciples it says: “Give us THIS day!” And sometimes it’s “This MOMENT! Even this SECOND!” to do and be everything Christ died to enable us to do and be.

The Lord is faithful to never give us more than we can handle, but it’s always a two-way process – He’s always faithful to give us everything we need to be everything He desires us to be, but we must be open to receiving His timely help. Dependence isn’t given once for all time, but in every second we seek it.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Story Are You Telling Yourself?

“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” (Romans 8:5-6 NLT)

Everyone has a story we secretly tell ourselves that either motivates us to move to Christ, or stifles whatever He’s trying to do in and through us. What’s your story? Are you excited to know and love Jesus, or is it painful for you to even think seriously about Him? Perhaps your story doesn’t leave room to even consider God’s existence.

Whatever our story, many times it relates to something we experienced in a positive or negative way at some critical point in our life. Often when we think of turning points in our life’s journey, a face or faces will appear on the screen of our mind. A parent who was critical, demeaning, angry, mean, impossible to please, who always tore you down, or a relative or family “friend” who introduced you to things that traumatized, frightened, or hardened you to the things of God.

On the other hand, perhaps your parent(s) and or significant adults in your life were good, kind, caring, godly, living out Christlikeness in easy to embrace ways, leading you to learn of Jesus at an early age and long to follow and obey Him. You knew from your earliest remembrance that you were loved, welcomed, desired, and an integral part of a loving family.

How ever your life was impacted and whatever the resultant story that has led you to become the person you are today, if you look in the mirror and you don’t like who’s looking back, I have some great news – there’s still hope for you! Perhaps, like me and untold others, you’ve done something in your life and the story you tell yourself is that you don’t deserve forgiveness; you don’t deserve to live a healthy, whole, forgiven life, but gratefully, that’s not the story of the Savior, Jesus.

In my weaker moments the devil will still remind me that I’m nothing worthwhile and don’t deserve the good things God has given me and done for me. Far too many times across the years of my life I’ve sabotaged my own success by believing the lies of Satan and acting in ways that resulted in what I had come to expect, not what God desired for me.

I’ve learned that there’s sometimes a delicate balance between what’s true and what’s not; what’s healthy and what’s not; what’s beneficial and what’s destructive. Satan can mask himself as “an angel of light,” leading us to think and do things that are not in line with God’s will for us. How we live is in direct correlation to how we think.

Whatever dominates our thoughts will direct our paths. If our story exalts Jesus or leaves Him out altogether it will be revealed in how we live; who we demean and who we honor, not the least of whom will be the person in the mirror.

Is your story filled with hope, forgiveness, aspiration, joy, anticipation, and love for God and others, or is it filled with self-disgust, anguish, regret, disappointment, and hopelessness? It’s hard to see light when your heart and mind are filled with darkness.

Here’s the bottom line: If your story isn’t telling you to run to Jesus, it’s a lie! The wonder and majesty isn’t that you can accept and embrace Jesus, it’s that He will accept and embrace you!

Jesus is offering you Himself today, and all you need to do is say “YES!” Check out this link to Ron Hutchcraft’s Bridge to God, so you can know for sure the story you’ll be telling yourself from now on will be one of hope and new life in Christ!

Blessings, Ed 😊