Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 64

Feeling, Not Just Knowing, God’s Love

Across the country there are millions of people who have a faith. People who’ve been brought up to believe Jesus died and rose. They’ve gone to church, but they have no living experience of God’s love. We need Paul’s prayer found in 2 Thessalonians:  

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s patience. (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

This is a prayer for Christians. He’s writing to the church. It’s a prayer that God will do something in us who believe but who don’t always feel God loves us.

I want to use this prayer to open the door of your mind and heart to something more than you may have already experienced. Here are Christians going through great difficulties, and Paul says: “My prayer for you is that God will direct your hearts into the love of Christ.” That means it’s possible to endure persecution and not to feel the love of Christ. It’s possible to go through seminary and not to feel the love of Christ. It’s possible to worship in the seats of an evangelical church like this for 20 years and to not feel the love of Christ.

I don’t want to be there! And neither do you. People who are not Christians endure great pain and carry great sorrows. They do it by gritting their teeth. They do it in Britain with a stiff upper lip.

Paul is saying to these believers, “I want something better for you. I want your soul to be filled with the love of God.” Let me give you some real life examples of the love of God flooding a person’s soul, so that you will be encouraged to pray for more of this yourself.

Four Testimonies about God’s Love
1. John Wesley

Wesley was a pastor. He had preached on two continents—in England and in Georgia, here in the States. Something happened to him on the 24th of May, 1738, while he was listening to a man read the preface to Luther’s work on Romans in Aldersgate Street in London. Here is Wesley’s description of what happened to him:

About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given to me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.[i]

What is so amazing about this is that this man had been preaching in church for years, but now he tasted the love of God. He had a new sense of its sweetness. His life and ministry was transformed.

2. Jonathan Edwards

In 1737, Edwards rode out into the woods for time of prayer:

I had a view, that was for me extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God… and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love.[ii]

He went out into the woods, tied up his horse, and saw the love of Christ in a way that he had not seen it before. He had a “view” of it, and he got a glimpse of it. Its sweetness came home to his soul

3. Dwight L. Moody

In 1871, Moody’s church building was destroyed in the Chicago fire. He went to New York to seek financial help:

I began to cry as never before for a greater blessing from God. The hunger increased… I kept on crying all the time that God would fill me with his Spirit.

Well, one day in the city of New York – oh! What a day, I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it. It is almost too sacred an experience to name… I can only say, God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand.[iii]

His soul was so overwhelmed by the love of God that he said, “I can’t take it anymore.”

4. Blaise Pascal

One of the most intense descriptions of this kind of experience comes from Blaise Pascal, a Roman Catholic. It would be easy for some of us to dismiss experiences where people feel God’s love by saying that there are certain, more emotional, types of people who alone have these experiences. But Pascal was a mathematician and a scientist, so his story is particularly interesting.

Pascal had an extraordinary experience of the love of God that lasted for about two hours. He wrote some scribbled notes of what happened to him, and then he sewed them into the inside of his coat where others found them after his death:

This day of grace 1654

From about half past ten at night, to about half after midnight

Fire!

God of Abraham, God of Isaac God of Jacob

Not of the philosophers and scholars.

Security, feeling, joy, peace

God of Jesus Christ…

Greatness of the human soul…

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy…

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ

May I never be separated from him.[iv]

What happened to him? His heart was “directed into the love of God and the patience of Christ.”

Ask God Paul’s Prayer

Some of you carry a lot of baggage on the topic of God’s love. Perhaps, when you think of God, you picture him with a frown on his face. Or, you think of God as cold, aloof, harsh, and demanding. These thoughts may have deep roots in your mind.

When Paul writes, “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s patience”, it is meant as a prayer, so use it. Make it your own. The Scriptures tell us what we should pray for.  So ask God, and go on asking, until like the snow that melted in the warmth this week, your heart begins to thaw in the warmth of the love of God.

[This post was adapted from Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Love of God and the Patience of Christ,” from the series Staying the Course When You’re Tired of the Battle.][Photo credit: Unsplash]

____

[i] Wesley, cited in D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Joy Unspeakable,” p.79, Doubleday, 2000
http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Unspeakable-Martyn-Lloyd-Jones/dp/0877884412/
[ii] Ibid., p. 79
[iii] Ibid., p. 80
[iv] Ibid., p. 106

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: A Mom’s Story

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It is also the month my baby boy was diagnosed with leukemia. Many years have passed since that day when the words son and cancer were connected. Yet the distance of time hasn’t stopped the experience from invading my thoughts. For a brief moment between warm September days and cool October nights, I actually smell the memory. Just recently, I exited our powder room, and the distinct scent of hospital and diapers came out of nowhere.

Two weeks after my baby was diagnosed, my four-year-old boy received the same diagnosis. Our grief turned to overwhelming fear. How could this happen? What’s the treatment? Will they survive? I had so many questions. I felt forgotten by the God I always had known to be faithful and good.

Our Help

But faithful and good he was to us as we walked through those dark, troubling days. He placed a verse in our hearts from the moment of diagnosis:

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8)

The Lord was our help in the midst of sorrow and pain. As our church wrapped their loving arms around us and served us for countless months, God showed he was with us. He was with us for every spinal tap, every surgery, every CAT scan. He was with my two healthy children during the many days and nights I could not. When my youngest child needed a bone marrow transplant, God was with us. God provided a perfect match—our daughter.

He was with us and he was our help. No doubt.

Our Survival

When I share this story with people, I can see the anxiety on their faces. Inevitably, they stop me and ask: Did your sons survive?

The word survive is a powerful one. It means to continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger or hardship. To survive is to sustain what’s most valuable to us—life.

That’s why death is so hard. We all know a day is coming when we will exhale our last bit of oxygen. We try to eat well, exercise well, and age well. But a day is coming when death will end our striving to survive. We try not to think about it because it makes life feel meaningless. We have so many questions.

Oh dear ones, God has the answers. But first we must ask ourselves a few questions: We need to know what is wrong with us, how it’s treated, and if we can survive:

1. What is wrong with us?

We all have a disease called sin. Like cancer, sin causes death. Unlike cancer, sin is brought on by our own rebellion. The Bible gives us our diagnosis: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick, who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jeremiah shows us that we naturally rebel against God’s will and way for our lives. Our sin not only alienates us from God, but also leads us to death. Paul tells us, “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

All of humanity is born in sin due to Adam’s fall, but we are not victims. We choose sin over God and bring the curse of death upon ourselves.

We must address sin with greater severity than we treat cancer! The first time I met our pediatric oncologist, he walked into the ICU, introduced himself, and stated the facts quickly and clearly: Our baby had an aggressive cancer. Very few survived. Chemo would begin immediately.

We sat in silence; I could not even look at him, I was so taken back at his cold tone. I thought, You are an awful doctor. You just gave me horrible news. I don’t like you or the news. But no matter how he delivered the news, it was still true. The cancer needed to be treated.

In the Bible, when God states the facts of our sin many of us react the way I did. Offended. We don’t want to hear sin leads to death and hell. We don’t want to hear we are under God’s judgment. But no matter how we receive the news, all of it is still true. Our sin needs to be treated.

2. What is the treatment?

Our oncologist turned out to be a kind, sympathetic, and wise doctor. Once the horrible news sunk in, we realized we needed him. We sat down with him and eagerly listened to his plan to treat and cure our boys. We held on to his every word, because this was a matter of life and death.

God calls us to do the same—listen to his plan for he is a wise and loving God. Give ear to the way he will save us. The Bible teaches this is a matter of eternal life and death.

Listen to this good news found in the Bible: Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life. He was righteous in God’s eye—free from the sin that the rest of humanity chooses. Jesus’s mission was to save sinners, and reconcile them in the eyes of God. He showed them the way, and said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John: 14:6).

People hated him for claiming he was God’s Son, offended that he called out their sin, and enraged that he spoke authoritatively on life and death. So on one dark day they beat him, placed a crown of thorns on his head, and nailed him to a cross to die.

And yet, this was God’s plan all along. Hundreds of years before Jesus’s birth, Isaiah prophesied Jesus’ death. All those years ago he explained what it all meant:

He was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Believers, hold on to those beautiful words: Peace. Healed. Healed from the eternally-threatening disease of sin.

The news gets better. Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the grave, breaking the power of sin and death. Jesus is alive, and he is the Savior of the world. He offers this saving substitution—his righteousness for our sin—for all those who believe in him and call him Lord.

3. Can we survive?

My boys survived leukemia. We are so very thankful. And more than this, they live happy lives without fear of cancer returning. And this is similar to Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross. We can completely trust that God’s salvation will completely work, with spiritual riches beyond words. Through repentance of our sins and faith in Jesus Christ, we become God’s own children, his holy people.

Even though my boys survived leukemia, I know they will still face death someday. My prayer is that they—my children and my grandchildren—will be death-survivors by trusting Jesus who has conquered sin and death. I want us to enjoy eternity together with God, not just a few short years on this earth. Oh how I pray my children know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Be Aware

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is a good thing. It helps us find a cure to an ugly disease that can kill even our youngest. More importantly, dear reader, please be more acutely aware of the greatest disease in all of us, sin. Face it. Then turn your eyes, mind, and heart to Jesus. He can be your Sustainer of life, your Savior, and your eternal healer and help.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

Three Ways We Act Like A Child (Spiritually)

A chunk of my childhood was spent watching the practically-perfect nanny Mary Poppins sing her way through the Banks family’s London home, spreading joy with every note. As a child cheerfully dancing to Mary Poppins I didn’t realize that one day I would also have the honor of being a nanny. Nor did I realize all the lessons God would teach me in the process.

I nanny two babies full time; a 3-year-old girl and a 16-month-old boy, and in these tiny humans, I see myself. Needy, growing, hungry, searching for love and significance, and in desperate need of grace. Though I usually leave work physically and emotionally spent and covered in bits of food, it is with a greater appreciation for God’s steadfast love, tenderness, and unending patience with us.

Taking care of children is almost a moment-by-moment revelation of my spiritual reality as God’s child. And though there are many more, here are three ways I’m prone to act like a spiritual child:

1. We resist what we most need.

Judging from the screams and enormous crocodile tears, one would think I’m taking the 16-month-old for amputation rather than changing his diaper using extra soft wipes.

Sometimes being cleaned feels like torture. Sometimes medicine is refused. Or, sometimes nutrient-rich food is thrown on the floor with demands of cookies and ice cream loudly voiced.

We know the feeling, don’t we? We too fight against spiritual edification because it causes us to act. It’s inconvenient. We like things the way they are, even if it is a bit messy. We’re comfortable here. We know what to expect.

Change is a vulnerable process. It’s uncomfortable, and, if we’re being honest, our thoughts and actions reveal we sometimes doubt we need sanctification. We’d much rather continue to live in our delusion that our current spiritual maturity is the best scenario for us, thank you very much.

But when we resist God’s ways, we’re resisting joy. When we forfeit his teachings, we’re forfeiting our peace. And when we resist his Word, we’re resisting his very heart.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11)

2. We hate waiting.

Our sin-begotten aversion to what’s ultimately best for us is the soil in which entitlement, discontentment, and impatience grow. And, wow, are we born impatient.

Microwaves produce “instant” food for everyone in the world except, it seems, a one-year-old. To him, putting his food in the microwave might as well be sending it to the moon. It does not matter that his breakfast always arrives in front of him one minute and 30 seconds later. It only matters that he caught a glimpse of the food, it went in the box of delays and dashed dreams, and he must therefore now resign himself to what seems to be a lifetime of starvation.

No matter how old we are, waiting exposes our lack of control and insufficiency. It reveals our desire to sit on God’s throne and gives us a window into our depraved, entitled, sin-sick hearts that crave supremacy and self-sovereignty. Waiting is a sermon of our limitations, designed to lead us beyond ourselves and our circumstances to the limitless God who knows the end from the beginning and purposes every waiting scenario to help us hunger for more of him.

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no one has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

3. We forget who’s the boss.

The 3-year-old is feisty and hilarious, strong-willed and stubborn. When this little human believes she is sovereign, she resists authority, seeks negotiation instead of obedience, or simply flat-out rejects submission.

For a few weeks it seemed almost a moment-by-moment process where every tantrum and refusal to obey had to be met with a quiet question: “Who is the boss?”

After a few days that question, though never enthusiastically received, began to push a restart button in the heart of the then-2-year-old before me. Her face would typically contort into some sort of defiant frustration, but would soon melt into resignation: “You are,” she would whisper.

“And how are you doing with listening to the boss?”

“Not good,” she would mumble.

“Okay, let’s stop and pray and ask God for grace. We can’t obey without his help.”

While independence is a gift, it must be harnessed for our good and for our eternal joy. If not properly channeled, independence breeds self-sovereignty and leads straight to destruction (Proverbs 14:12).

Recently while reading Leviticus, I noticed the pattern of God sealing every command with, “I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 11:45). It seems we humans have always needed a reminder of who the Boss is.

When we remember our Boss, we stop negotiating terms and conditions and instead embrace obedience, even when it doesn’t make sense, because we know the character of the One orchestrating every detail of this life (Isaiah 46:8-11). For Jesus is not only our Savior, but our Lord to whom we must submit and obey:

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:10)

A Note to Parents and Caretakers

Christ did not give us the law because he hated us but because he loved us and knew our joy would not be complete without submission (John 15:8-11). Likewise, the goal in child rearing is not external excellence or perfected behavior, but eternal joy through heart-regeneration. We fight for their eternal joy by lovingly enforcing boundaries, training our littlest neighbors to trust authority so that one day they may place their trust fully in the Highest Authority.

These precious image bearers of the holy, holy, holy God must know they are loved and secure regardless of actions and behavior––but they must also be graciously reminded who the boss is. Just like us.

This is the time for laying a foundation that has eternal implications. Parents and fellow caretakers, we have an opportunity to point our babies to the Source of all truth, goodness, security, and joy, but we must first take our hearts there, for we can lead no one further than we ourselves have gone.

We are not sufficient for the task, as is God’s wondrous design. For he alone supplies the energy, mercy, and help necessary. Therefore, he alone receives the credit due his holy name. As we care for others, may we be reminded of Christ’s steadfast care for us and our desperate need for it.

May he be exalted and your joy be full.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

Four Reasons You Should Be a Member of Your Church

There are certain parts of the Christian life that most believers are quick to affirm and agree upon. Regular worship, giving of our resources to ministry and the needy, personal Bible reading and prayer, global missions, and so on. You won’t find much uncertainty about the importance of these things. However, when it comes to church membership, some people are skeptical.

One person wonders, “Isn’t that just a formality? I mean, I’m here every week, I’m in a small group, I give…Why fill out an application, take a class, and meet with a pastor only to keep doing the things I’m already doing?”

Another might ask, “Should we really be pushing ‘membership’? After all, I don’t see any command in Scripture that says, ‘You shall become a church member.’ We don’t want to add to the Bible, right?”

I’ve heard these questions. Honestly, I’ve asked these questions myself. But I want to suggest that church membership isn’t simply a formality, nor is it a category foreign to the New Testament. I want to suggest, whatever process it takes in your local church, that membership really matters.

Here are four reasons why:

1. Membership matters for pastors.

…shepherd the flock of God that is among you. (1 Peter 5:2)

This verse calls pastors to shepherd their “flock.” Shepherding is a weighty task, requiring great care, with eternal implications (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). As a pastor myself, it’s essential that I answer the question, “Who makes up the flock of God I am accountable for?” Is it everyone that comes though the church doors? Is it everyone in our town or city? Every person I ever encounter?

How do we define “the flock”? The best way I know to answer that question is to look at my church’s membership list. These are the believers who have committed themselves to our local church. These are the believers I am most responsible to serve.

God has not called pastors to shepherd every person who checked out our church last Christmas, or every person we meet at the local coffee shop, or every person who follows us on Twitter (hallelujah!). God has called us to shepherd the flock among us. Church membership clarifies who those people are.

2. Membership matters for community.

It’s not only pastors who have a God-given responsibility to care for the local church; every believer has a part in this as well. All throughout the New Testament we see commands to care for one another:

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2, emphasis added)

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, emphasis added)

How do we define “one another”? Is God commanding us to bear the burdens of everyone everywhere? That sounds crushing! Is God asking us to personally meet with and encourage every person we ever meet? That sounds exhausting!

Once again, this is where church membership helps us. Membership defines our local church community, and gives us a specific group of people whom God has called us to bear with and build up until the day Christ returns.

By committing to membership, we say to the other members of our church, “I am committed to you, and I trust that you are committed to me.” Far from being a mere formality, membership actually bolsters genuine community.

3. Membership matters for assurance.

Many Christians wrestle with questions of assurance. “How can I know that I’m really saved?” “How can I know that my faith is genuine?”

I want to be clear: Jesus Christ is the bedrock of all true Christian assurance. We do not look to the strength of our faith, the quality of our holiness, or our status as a church member as the ultimate reason for assurance of salvation; We look to Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we trust Philippians 1:6, which says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Jesus saved us, he is working in us, and he will finish what he has started. He is the foundation of our assurance.

However, with Christ as our foundation, we can build and bolster our assurance in many ways. Exercising faith strengthens assurance. Pursuing holiness strengthens assurance. And church membership strengthens assurance.

When a church welcomes you into membership, they are affirming your testimony. They’re saying, “We see the grace of God in Jesus Christ at work in you,” and that will increase your assurance.

4. Membership matters for Jesus.

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (Ephesians 5:25)

We must always remember this: Jesus is not indifferent about the church. Jesus died for the church. He gave his life to redeem a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation on the planet (Revelation 7:9). The church is his body (1 Corinthians 12:27). The church is his bride (2 Corinthians 11:2).

We cannot overstate the level of Christ’s commitment to the church. So why would we ever think lightly about our own commitment?

When we take the formal step of belonging to a church in membership, we affirm the truth that we belong to Christ and his people, and we dedicate ourselves to caring for the people Jesus loves, which brings him great honor.

Do You Belong?

So Christian, do you belong to your church? Have you taken this important step of demonstrating Christ-like commitment to his people?

If not, let me give you a simple encouragement: Join your local church to help your pastor, to enhance your church community, to bolster your assurance, and to honor Christ.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

Key Connections (September 21, 2018)

Here are your key connections from this past week!

Jesus Obeyed His Parents (David Mathis, Desiring God)

How did Christ submit to his parents? And why, given that Mathis points out he was “more competent in the faith than his parents”? What does it mean for the average Christian today?

Pastor, Don’t Be A Secondhander (Darren Carlson, The Gospel Coalition)

Darren Carlson discusses the temptations a preacher may face, including the temptation to steal and plagiarize ideas: “It’s common for pastors to copy sermons. In my preaching lab during seminary, three people delivered the same sermon. We steal and deceive while portraying ourselves as having studied and been molded by the passage.” He then encourages pastors to preach from firsthand, not secondhand, experience.

2 Reasons Christians Lose Their Joy (And What to Do About It) (Tim Chester, Crossway)

Are you looking for a good, new Christian book? Crossway’s blog recently published an adaption from Reforming Joy: Paul, the Reformers, and the Church Today by Tim Chester. Check it out!

At All Costs (Ami Atkins Wickiser, Risen Motherhood)

We headed toward the stairs, a frequent and familiar routine… I was present in the moment with my baby. Stepping up, my slipper caught a rough joint in the wood, and the world flipped in slow motion. We tumbled toward the wooden landing with no possible way to prevent the fall.

How to Not Lose Heart in Difficult Times (Colin Smith, Unlocking the Bible)

Colin Smith discusses 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 to get at the question of how we keep up courage during difficult times. So, prepared to be encouraged! It is amazing how we can find lasting encouragement in the Bible!

How to Not Lose Heart in Difficult Times

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Difficult Times

The world is scarred by increasingly ominous conflicts. We watch the news and wonder, What in the world is going to happen next? It’s easy to lose heart. 

Then there is the huge moral shift that has taken place in our culture from a basis in God and his Word to a basis in us and our desires. It’s easy to lose heart.  

We see a growing drift in many churches toward becoming more about us than about God, more about gathering a crowd than about honoring the Lord. It’s easy to lose heart.  

Then there are personal burdens so many of us carry. Some are enduring long struggles over health–the endless round of treatments and the draining effects of wondering, Is this ever going to get better? Some are enduring great difficulties with loved ones–life at home has been soured. You don’t rest. It’s hard to find peace.  

Some of you would say, “My life is not what I want it to be. This isn’t what I signed up for! I never thought I would find myself here!”

Don’t Lose Heart!

So we do not lose heart… (2 Corinthians 4:16)

If you’re like me, you might read these words and say, “Really? Well, tell me how! How am I supposed to live in a world like this and not lose heart? How can I face the pressures that are all around me and not be overwhelmed with discouragement?” 

The verses that follow are the answer to these questions. The answer to how we can live in this world and not lose heart is headlined in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, and then the answer is delivered in full in 2 Corinthians 5. 

The headline is delivered in three contrasts: 

1. Outer Self and Inner Self

We don’t lose heart because are dealing with the outer self: All the pressures and stressors that are part of life in this body. But Paul reminds us that the “inner self is being renewed day by day.”

2. Present Affliction and Eternal Glory

We don’t lose heart because we face only this present affliction. That covers all the circumstances of your life that bring pressure to bear on you. But Paul reminds us that the eternal glory which is coming is “beyond all comparison.”   

3. Seen and Unseen

We face the raw discouragement of what is seen: The world so often in conflict, the church so often in compromise. It’s not surprising that so many get discouraged. But we don’t lose hope, because Paul reminds us to consider not what we see around us but “the things that are unseen…[for] the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Remember This

Therefore, when you experience conflict against the outer self, when you face present affliction, when you are discouraged by what you see, remember this: Our inner self is being renewed. There is an eternal weight of glory that will far outweigh all of this. We endure by fixing our eyes on what is unseen.  

So, what are these unseen things that we are to fix our eyes on? What is this glory and how does it help us in what we face this week? How exactly can our inner life be renewed day by day? All of these questions are answered in 2 Corinthians 5:

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:1-7)

[This article is an adaptation of Pastor Colin’s sermon, “Prepared For Something Better,” from the series Don’t Lose Heart][Photo Credit: Unsplash]

Seven Marks of a Godly Servant

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. (Matthew 20:25-27)

While the specific ways in which we serve will differ in time, place, and position, there are things that all God’s servants have in common.

A Servant Is Humble

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 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. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)

Just before his death, Jesus decided to give his followers a clear picture of the attitude they should have. He took off his outer garments, got a basin, and washed their feet.

The 12 pairs of feet Jesus washed belonged to hairy men who walked rough roads shared with all manner of livestock, in a time before regular road cleaning or daily showers. Cleaning them would be the job of a servant, and a lowly one at that. The disciples resisted the idea that their master and teacher should stoop to such a thankless task, but Jesus persisted.

You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:13-17)

If Jesus humbled himself in this way—and even further in his death—then we also should be humble in all we do for him and others.

A Servant Prepares

Rather, train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come … Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. (1 Timothy 4:7b-8; 15)

When you’re hiring someone to make important repairs or improvements to your house or car, you want someone who’s spent hours learning and perfecting their craft, and is respected in their field. You wouldn’t take on someone with no experience.

However, that is exactly what Jesus does. He is taking on complete novices with no real experience in the work of God whatsoever. Provisionally, through Scripture, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the ministry of the Church, God offers on-the-job training.

Jesus completed the work of salvation for us on the cross, brings us into it, gives us the Holy Spirit as our counselor, and sets us about his business. He has finished the work of our salvation, but he still calls us to work for his kingdom. Therefore, with gratitude and love, we train to be the most effective servants possible.

A Servant Perseveres

Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes … If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! (Luke 12:35-37a; 38)

The work we’ve been given is long and tiring, receives little thanks or recognition, and may seem to count for little while it’s being done. Continuing in such work is a challenge none of us is up to on our own.

But we are not on our own. The Master gives us others to work beside, a glorious future to work toward, and a promise that our work is not in vain. Most importantly, he give us himself, working in us and through us, so that we may be truly ready for whenever he comes.

A Servant Serves Where Needed

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them…I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19; 22b-23)

Jesus walked hundreds of miles, and likely often slept on the ground. He was pawed at by people, got dirty, had to deal with the bickering of his coworkers. He washed his follower’s grimy, smelly feet.

Jesus did what was needed to advance the Gospel. While pursuing that end, there was no task beneath him.

Likewise, Christ’s followers should have no limits to their willingness to serve; whether that means going abroad or going into the not-so-nice part of town; giving to missions or giving up free time; changing a tire or changing a diaper.

A Servant Serves (or Not) As God Directs

David wanted to serve and honor God by building God a wonderful and permanent house. He drew up building schematics, made plans for all the details of the Temple, and even talked to the priests and Levites to make sure everyone was on the same page. Even with all the preparation he had done, and all the other ways he had served God, 1 Chronicles 28 shows that the Lord did not allow David to build the temple. It was for Solomon, David’s son, to build it. David, as God’s obedient servant, accepted this and made as much ready for Solomon as he could.

Sometimes the Lord says no to our plans to serve. Maybe there’s someone more qualified, or we are already serving in other places. Maybe we don’t know why. But we trust and obey God, knowing that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

A Servant Expects to Suffer

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. (Matthew 10:24-25)

As Jesus’s light shines through us, people who love darkness (John 3:19) will become convicted and uncomfortable in the light of his glory, and will hate and ridicule us. If we truly seek to serve Jesus, it’s only a matter of time before we must share in a portion of his suffering.

But we take heart that someday Jesus will stand in victory, and we who acknowledged him before men will stand with him.

A Servant Is Not Ashamed

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

The work we do we do is for Jesus, by the Father’s command, through the power of his Holy Spirit. We have the privilege to carry the gospel—that Jesus died to pardon sins and rose to conquer death—to the world.

It is a joyous work we’ve been given, and we look to the day when our Master returns and says to each of us, “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).

What other characteristics mark a true servant of Christ?
[This is a repost of an article previously published on Unlocking the Bible][Photo Credit: Unsplash]

Seven Bitter Fruits of Sin

In this post, we’ll look at the mystery of sin in the life of an unbeliever. What does this secret power look like in the life of your unbelieving friend, relative, or neighbor? This person does not see anything of the splendor of the Christ and does not yet have the life of Christ in his or her soul. 

This is of huge importance. What you believe about sin will shape your convictions about missions and evangelism. How we engage in this work, and what we think needs to be done, will in large measure be shaped by what we believe the human problem really is. 

Someone once told me he was witnessing to a colleague at work. He said, “You know, Colin, this guy lives like the devil, but he is good at heart.” I said, “Well now, wait a minute. How can he be good at heart if he lives like the devil? Surely if he lives like the devil, there must be something wrong with his heart!”  

Sin is not to be overlooked in someone’s life. If sin is not addressed, it produces seven bitter fruits:

Seven Bitter Fruits of Sin   
1. Deception 

Every sort of evil that deceives…  (2 Thessalonians 2:10) 

Notice what the Scripture says: “evil… deceives.” Satan makes sin look attractive. This is the nature of sin; it always does that. 

Some sin will disgust you. You will wonder to yourself, “How could anyone do that?” But some forms of sin will be attractive to you. That is where Satan deceives, and it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden.  

2. Perishing 

Evil that deceives those who are perishing. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)  

Notice the present tense. There is a theme that runs right through the life of a person who is without Jesus Christ. There is an unraveling of life that is going on now, a taking down, a becoming less. This is a process that has already begun. By nature we are perishing.  

3. Refusal to Love the Truth 

They perish because they refused to love the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:10) 

These people heard the truth and they refused to believe it. But the real issue here is that they refused to love it. The heart governs the life more than the head. The greatest barrier to faith lies not in the doubts of the mind but in the desires of the heart.  

Long ago, I heard the story of an atheist who visited an old church. On one wall were written the words of the creed. On the other wall were written the words of the Ten Commandments.  

The atheist looked at the creed and he said to the pastor, “This I cannot believe.” The pastor pointed to the commandments on the other wall and said, “Are you sure it isn’t these you will not obey?” The root of unbelief lies not in the head but in the heart. 

4. Delight in Wickedness 

All will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:12)  

“Delight[ing] in wickedness” is the explanation of “not believ[ing] the truth.” Where the heart loves wickedness, the mind cannot embrace the truth. It’s impossible! Jesus said, “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from… God?” (John 5:44). 

5. Powerful Delusion 

For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion. (2 Thessalonians 2:11) 

The reason is that they refused to love the truth. This is looking down the line of what happens when a person persists in resisting and pushing Christ away. Here are folks who’ve heard the truth and they’ve refused it.  

You cannot get away from God’s activity here, “God sends…” God gives them what they desire. They do not want the truth, and so now they’re unable to receive it.  

I want to press home on all who’ve not yet received Christ. I want to warn you against the danger of continuing to refuse him. As you hear the Word, some of you are putting off a response to Jesus, “I’ll become a Christian later. I’ll respond to God in my own time.” 

You feel him reaching out to you and you’re pushing him away. Every time you hear the Word of God something happens in your soul. The Word of God you hear today will make you softer or it will make you more resistant to Christ. It never leaves you the same.  

6. Faith in the lie 

God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:11) 

“The lie” goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Satan said, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). We are tempted by this lie often. We hear ourselves say, “You’re a good person. You don’t need Christ’s sacrifice. You can work it out yourself.” 

When a man feels that he is the captain and commander of his own life, that he is his own god, his own law and that he can stand on the merits of his own goodness, you know that he has swallowed the lie. He is living under a powerful delusion.  

7. Condemnation 

All will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:12)  

This is a terrible word. Don’t you shudder when you read the word, “condemnation?” We rejoice in the word that says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  

But the reason that has meaning for us is found right here: “All will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12). To those who have resisted the claims of the Savior, who have not loved the truth, but have believed the lie, Christ will say, “Depart from me I never knew you” (Matthew 7:3). 

Then Jesus used an awful phrase, “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30). Did you know that Jesus said that phrase seven times? I do not want that for you. Those who pray for you do not want that for you. 

Our Need for a Savior

That’s why we need a Savior. That’s why Jesus Christ has come into the world. This is what we need saving from—the mystery of sin that is at work in every human life. 

So I invite you to come to Christ today, not to push him away. Tell him, “I need you, Jesus, to do for me what I now know I cannot do for myself.” Ask him, “Lord, will you breathe your life into me? Will you open my eyes to your glory? Will you change this heart that loves sin and resists you? Do this miracle of grace in me!” 

And I give you this promise from Jesus himself. He said, “Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away” (John 6:37). 

[This article is an adaptation of Pastor Colin’s sermon, “The Lord Jesus Christ: Coming in Glory,” from the series Staying the Course When You’re Tired of the Battle ] [Photo Credit: Unsplash]

Good News for Stressed People

If you’re stressed out, raise your hand.

My hand is raised, and I know I’m not alone. Millions of Americans—Christians included—would say the same. I often don’t know stress is affecting me; I’m usually fine one moment, and crying the next. And as much as I want to blame stress, making myself a victim of its pressures, I know I need to take a deeper look at my heart.

What’s at the root of our stress, beneath the circumstances that seem to cause it? And how does God’s Word speak to our struggle with it?

Moses’ Heavy Burden

Moses found himself in a difficult position after the Exodus. God had delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, bringing them miraculously through the Red Sea and into freedom. Moses and the people had beheld God’s great glory and power in the destruction of their enemies and the provision of divine rescue. They saw him do what they could never do for themselves.

After crossing the waters, the people continued to see God provide, as he sent manna to nourish their hungry bodies and water from a rock to quench their thirst. God also provided wisdom and justice for the Israelites through Moses, who would “judge the people…from morning till evening” (Exodus 18:13). But there was a problem—

When Moses’ father-in-law [Jethro] saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” (v. 14)

Jethro was concerned for Moses, and rightfully so. The Bible doesn’t tell us that Moses was “stressed out,” per se, but there were either indications of this, or Jethro had the foresight to see the coming effects of what Moses was doing.

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.” (vv. 17-18)

Wearing Ourselves Out

Do you resonate with this account? Perhaps your intentions are good, but you’re wearing yourself out because you’ve taken on too much and not asked for help. Or perhaps you’re obeying God by simply doing what he’s asked of you, but circumstances have become heavy with tension, complications, or hardship.

Like Moses, we’ve seen God’s great works throughout biblical history; more than Moses, we’ve beheld God’s greatest work in delivering us from sin and death through Christ. Yet, like Moses, we may be carrying heavy burdens, unable “to do it alone.”

Jethro’s response to Moses reveals three important truths about stress that we should take to heart:

Stress invites us to examine ourselves and our circumstances. “What you are doing is not good,” he said. By “not good,” Jethro isn’t saying that what Moses is doing is bad, but that there’s a more sustainable way to do it. Though our actions are honoring to God, stress might tell us that the means by which we act may need to be reevaluated.

Stress has reverberating effects. Then Jethro says, “You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out.” Stress not only affects you and me, but the people around us. A work process begins to fall apart; family interactions suffer; our spouse receives the worst of us. Stress isn’t held in a vacuum.

Stress points to a self-sufficient attitude. “The thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.” A buildup of stress can come from a desire for control. We act independent of God and others because admitting our need for help exposes our weakness, and we don’t like to feel weak. We’d rather be stressed while trying to defy our limits than recognize them in humility.

Jethro’s Solution

Jethro doesn’t stop with diagnosing Moses’ problem. Instead, he offers a wise solution:

…look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe…And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. (vv. 21-22)

Jethro offers Moses a game-plan for addressing the people’s needs while upholding his role as judge. More important than this, Jethro’s plan addresses the root of his son-in-law’s heavy burden by offering good news for his weariness: “If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace” (v. 23).

Stressed brother or sister, take God’s Word to heart today:

Good News for Stressed People

“God will direct you.” You are not in control. The weight of the world doesn’t fall on you. God alone reigns and rules over all things, and everything belongs to him. Stress results when we pridefully try to handle circumstances in our own strength, or direct our course with a certain outcome in mind. But Jesus’ lordship has freed us from this trap; we can trust God to provide for our days because we’ve seen his provision for our souls through Jesus Christ.

“You will be able to endure.” Stress lies to us that we’re on our own—but no one is able to endure this way for long. Scripture tells us the truth: Through Christ’s strength, we can do what God calls us to do, and because of Christ’s sufficiency, we can stop at the end of the day and rest. Trusting in both Jesus’ strength and sufficiency will give us the power to persevere and the peace to pause.

“All this people also will go to their place in peace.” What’s the result of trusting Christ’s lordship and enduring in his strength? Peace. And not only for us, but for those around us. When we are convinced that Jesus reigns as Lord on the throne of the universe and our lives, that nothing escapes or surprises him, and that he’ll guide and strengthen our way, the fruit of such trust is his peace.

Stress may threaten to wear us out and steal our peace, but we know we “are not able to do it alone.” We can rest that we aren’t in control, and that we worship and serve a living Savior and risen Lord who is.

What a relief!

Key Connections (September 14, 2018)

Here are your key connections for the week!

Innocent As To What Is Evil (Adam Kareus, For The Church)

Adam Kareus writes a short article on the “simple little phrase… [that] rocked me to my core.”

Contentment Is Great Gain (Meghan Hill, enCourage)

An article adapted from a book by Meghan Hill in which she discusses three things that contentment does for us. Take a look:

It is certainly not easy to be content—to trust that God is good even when we face rain clouds or radiation treatment. But when we have a right understanding of our own dependence on God and are satisfied with his provision for our needs, God promises we will gain a reward more valuable than anything else we might lack.

Six Prayers for the Half-Hearted (Marshall Segal, Desiring God)

Marshall Segal pulls from a variety of biblical authors to offer these six wonderful prayers for the half-hearted. Check it out! When was the last time you saw Zephaniah quoted in a blog post?

I Want That to Be Said of Me (David Platt, Radical)

Find out the verse that made David Platt respond by saying: “I read that description at the end of that verse, and my heart just says, ‘I want that to be true of me.'”

Christianity Isn’t About Avoiding Trouble (Colin Smith, Unlocking the Bible)

Jesus speaks clearly about wars and rumors of wars, about famines, and about earthquakes. This is your world, he says to those who are listening, this is the reality in which you live your life. This will be part of your experience. And this is precisely why you need me.