Wednesday Morning Devotional

One More Last Chance

“In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up…”  — Luke 16: 23

For the first time in I don’t know when, I haven’t been in my home church for two consecutive Sundays.  This past Sunday, since we were on vacation, my wife and I just went driving around looking for somewhere to attend.  We saw a sign at an old school Baptist church that said they were having a southern gospel quartet.  It was fantastic! 

Just like I remember from my “traditional Baptist” days the preacher stood before the congregation at the end of it all and gave “the invitation.”  He asked us all to check our hearts and see if there is anything in there that didn’t need to be there.  He asked us if we were right…if we were saved.  I, of course, examined my heart and decided I didn’t need to be saved for the 137^th time…though it is hard for me to resist the chance to be absolutely sure.  So the quartet sang a couple verses of “Just as I am” and nobody went forward.

I couldn’t help but think about that rich man in Luke chapter 16.  What would he give to have that opportunity that I just experienced?  When you read the story, you find that he knew who Father Abraham was.  Was this knowledge that God forced into his mind upon death?  Or, did this guy know about Father Abraham because he had heard from the preachers of the day and basically knew what was recorded in those holy scrolls?  I think he knew.  But just like so many believe today, he thought he had tomorrow.  Eventually, he ran out of tomorrows and verse 23 says “in hell.” 

What would he have done if he could have left hell after over 2,000 years and attended that old school church service?  I believe we all know that he would have ran down there, fallen on his knees, and begged for mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  

So, maybe you are reading your last chance.  Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  Have you repented of your sins?  If you have, just breathe a prayer of thanks to the Lord.  If you haven’t…REPENT!!!  True repentance means you are sorry enough to be humble and admit that you need saving.  It also involves being sorry enough to actually change the way that you live.  I can guarantee you that the once rich man would do all of these things if he were given another chance.

Will you?

Later

Adam

Because You Did This

Your sins are forgiven, you will not die.  But because you did this, the child born to you shall die.  — The prophet Nathan to King David in 2 Samuel 12:14

Do you believe that once you are saved that you are always saved?  Do you believe that if you commit a sin after you are saved that you are on your way back to Hell?  Welcome to the two extremes of Christianity.  One extreme is full of grace, the other extreme is full of judgment.  I could take a bunch of verses from the Bible and present a pretty good argument either way.  So, which one is right?  Honestly…I don’t know.

But, here is what I do know.  Like nearly everything else in dealing with God, it is the motive of the person’s heart that tells the whole story.  When I first became saved, I loved hearing “once saved always saved.”  This gave me a license to live any way that I wanted.  I had found a technical “loophole” in the Bible.  I had done Romans 10:9.  I confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart that Jesus was Lord…I was “saved.”  I had the box checked in God’s grade book that allowed a person into Heaven.  If someone asked me if I was saved, I told them the truth…”I said the prayer!”

After a year or two of that, I visited another church with my friend.  I heard the term “backsliding.”  I learned in about 30 minutes that I was on my way back to Hell.  This was terrifying to me.  If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…I started to be wise that day.  Over the course of the next year or so, I became a “rule keeper.”  Although I wasn’t a very good one, I needed to keep God’s rules so I could go to Heaven.  When I sinned, even did the slightest thing wrong, I needed to say the words “God, will you forgive me?”  As soon as I said the words, I was finally back in right standing with God…until I did it again.  Then, I was on my way back to Hell because there was sin in my life.  This pattern repeated over and over.  I really wanted to be right with God, but sin just seemed to be inevitable.  It seemed to be looming around every corner every day.  I was so legalistic that I remember going to a rock concert of one of my favorite bands of the day.  I was convicted the whole time I was there.  As soon as it was over, I said “forgive me Lord” and honestly thought that He wrote my name back in the book of Life.  For those 3 hours I was rocking out, had I died…I would have gone to Hell.  Had Jesus come back…I would have been “left behind.“  But, as it was, I had found a way to do what I wanted, then use the “God’s forgiveness” loophole to be right back in a right standing with Him.

I hope you see the absurdity in this.  The whole problem was that I wanted a right “standing” with God…not a right relationship.  I didn’t really know God.  I only knew what others had said about Him.  I didn’t read my Bible for myself, I only listened to others tell me about what they had learned.  I made no attempt to love God, but I made every attempt to use God however I could to make me feel better about myself.  I used Him to make me feel more comfortable about what I was doing at the moment.  I also used Him to make me feel better about where I would spend eternity.  As long as I said “forgive me for that Lord,” He was obligated to do so…therefore, I was good to go.

Now…I realize I didn‘t have a clue.  When David committed his sin with Bathsheba, he was far away from God.  God used the prophet Nathan to reel David back in.  David asked for forgiveness.  Then, Nathan told him he was forgiven.  But, look at the rest of the verse…because you did this, the child born to you shall die.  Whoa!  That’s not fair…what did the child do?  David should be the one who dies!  Right?  I mean, he did the crime…he should pay the fine or do the time!

What hurts me now more than anything is how I treated my Lord and Savior for many years.  I sinned…a lot, and yes I knew better.  It wasn’t “making mistakes,“ it was committing sin.  Some were out of ignorance…most were out of good ’ole blatant disobedience.  There I was thinking “He’ll just forgive me!”  The good news was I was right.  The bad news is that somebody had to pay the price for those sins.  Even though I wasn’t listening, God was telling me the same thing He told David…”Adam, your sins are forgiven.  But because you did this…My one and only Son…Jesus Christ…died.”

Lord, with all my heart I don’t want to hurt you anymore.  Help me love you, really love you until I draw my last breath.

Later

Adam

Ruined to Sin

Mark 10:46-52

Psalm 19:13

In Mark 10, there is a story of a blind man.  He knew Jesus was passing by which means he knew he had a window of opportunity. He cried out to Jesus ”Have mercy on me!”  Everyone was telling him to “be quiet” and ”hush!”  ”Don’t bother Jesus!”  But, Jesus heard his cry!  Jesus said “come!”  Then everyone changed their tune, they said “cheer up, He’s calling you”  Then, Jesus did something I used to think was kind of strange, he said ”what do you want?”  WHAT?!?!  The guys is blind!  YOU, Jesus, of ALL people know he wants to SEE!  Especially since he’s heard that you‘ve done it for other people!

Why in the world do you think Jesus asked the question when he knew the answer?

I think He did it because he wanted the blind man to really think for one last moment what the consequences would be when he received his sight.  You may think “consequences?????”  Yes, consequences.  That blind man had to have become “comfortable” in the darkness.  He was probably used to counting steps to get to places and running through his familiar daily routines.  Things were about to change for him…Big Time!  Then, after careful contemplation, he made up his mind.  He said ”I want to SEE!”  Then, Jesus gave him his wish.  That blind man opened his eyes and saw for the very first time in his life!  He was no longer bound by the darkness.

Many, many, many, many…maybe MOST people that call themselves “Christians” are bound by the darkness.  Most people have their daily and weekly  “routines” that they like to follow, much like the blind man, but they never draw us closer to Him and they never point anyone else toward Him!  We never break free into a life in which we “see” God working in our lives!  We also never “see” sin for the absolute vile, wicked thing that it really is.  Sin just becomes…not that big of a deal.

What if Jesus were to ask us the same question?  “What is it you want me to do for you?”  What if you said “I want to see as you see!”  Now that, my friend,  is a dangerous answer.  You can’t pray that without things changing!  Just like when you go see a 1:00 p.m. movie and you get comfortable in the dark, then you walk outside…WHOA…your eyes are going to have to do some adjusting!

All of a sudden, you must tell others about Him!  What if we all get to watch at the Great White Throne Judgment and you see a friend or relative standing there before Jesus.  You see Jesus tell them “depart from me, I never knew you!”  They look at you and say “you KNEW about this?  Why in the World  didn’t you TELL ME!?”  How would that make you feel?  You need to “see” that now, for only now can something be done about it!

All of a sudden, you must live right!  You don’t have time to waste doing things you know are wrong!  You must drink in His Word and Pray and have as much of His presence in your life as possible because it’s like water…you just have to have it!

All of a sudden, you are ruined to sin.  What I mean is, others may be able to get high on drugs and see pink elephants and stars and all sorts of other crazy things that are just “funny!”  But, since your eyes are opened, if you do it, you “see” Jesus coming back and you see yourself being left behind and you find that you just have to find an altar and kneel and BEG His forgiveness so you can be made CLEAN and WHOLE once more!

Today, tell God you want to SEE!  Tell Him you want to be CLEAN!  Tell Him there is nothing more important than being right with Him!  Ask Him to RUIN YOU TO SIN that you may be found blameless on the day of His coming!

Listen…I know I sound all crazy and hardcore!  Reading back over this…even I think I’m a little bit crazy!  But, I’m telling you…I can’t imagine life any other way!  I’m not better than anybody.  But, I am better OFF than most because I have experienced the benefits of following Him!

I just don’t think anybody reading this has the time that I had to be complacent.  I Thank God that He was so patient with me and gave me years to drag my feet and not take Him and His Word seriously.

Nobody has that luxury anymore.  He’s coming…and He’s coming SOON!

Are you ready?

Later

My Lord and My God “ ____________ said to Him “my Lord and my God!”  — John 20:28 I left that blank on purpose.  If you look it up in the Bible, it is Thomas, someone we have somehow unfairly labeled a “doubter,” that goes in the blank.  I left it blank because I want you to read it and put in your own name.  Have you ever called Jesus your Lord and your God?  I’m trying to remember when He became both to me. The best I can recollect, God was simply “God” from ages 0 to 16.  Because I grew up in church, I can’t think of a time where I didn’t believe that God existed.  However, that knowledge alone didn’t save me.  Plenty of people believe in God.  Unfortunately, that knowledge alone does not save them.  It doesn’t save Satan, so it doesn’t save us.  In the book of James, he sounds almost sarcastic about it:  “You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that…and shudder.”  (2:19) In June of 1991, Jesus became “my God.”  I actually said the prayer…”Lord, will you forgive me of my sins?  Will you come into my heart and live in me?  I know you died for me.  I also know you rose again.  Help me live for you.”  This should have absolutely transformed my life.  Unfortunately, I didn’t let it.  This was right before my Junior and Senior year of high school.  Jesus would remain “my God” until I finished college.  When I look back, Jesus tried to spare me a lot of hurt during those years.  He became “my God” at what should have been just the right time.  I had never had sex, I had never cussed, and I had never hung out with the wrong crowd.  I would do them all over the next 5 to 10 years following my “salvation. “ Why?  I went to church!  I said the prayer!  What went wrong? I wish I could remember the date…I don’t even remember the year.  I’ve even probably tried to put a date on it and wrote it in one of my past WMDs.  I just remember that there was a period of time where everything, absolutely everything pointed toward making Jesus MY Lord.  I do remember how it all got started.  I had been ignoring “my God” for quite some time.  I used to wake up with my alarm clock radio tuned to 93.3 the Planet…the local hard rock station.  Somehow, it got knocked back to 89.3 “His Radio.”  So my alarm clock goes off and I wake up to the words “You have got to get yourself in the Word! You must drink in the Word of God!”  That might not have been the exact words…but I still remember the gist after all these years.  Later that day I purposefully turned to His Radio and heard a song that said Jesus was the best thing in life.  Over the next few weeks, stuff like this happened over and over.  A random flyer came in the mail inviting me to go to a revival at church I had never heard of before.  I “happened” to mention it to one of my buddies and he said that was where his mom and dad were going to church.  We attended the revival and I was convicted like crazy.  I went home…I was all alone.  I knelt by my bed and told Jesus I was sorry for the way I had treated Him.  I asked Him to help me not just believe this stuff…but actually do it.  He had finally become…”My Lord.” Satan doesn’t mind if you believe in God.  He doesn’t even mind if you call Him “my God.”  He doesn’t care if you have “Christian” listed under “Religious views” on Facebook.  What he does not want is for Jesus to be Lord of your life.  If Jesus is Lord, you actually make an attempt to live for Him.  I can’t even tell you how the fury of Hell comes at you when you truly make Jesus Lord.  If you don’t believe me, go tell your friends that you are thinking that you don’t want to have sex again (or at all) until you get married.  Tell them you aren’t going to look at pornography anymore because Jesus says it is Adultery.  Tell your friends you want to start phasing out the junk you listen to and only listen to stuff that lifts up and honors the name of the Lord.  When gossip is being started and people are encouraging you to fight…tell them you want to be a peacemaker like Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 5.  The point is…you will get grilled!!! You will be laughed at and it will be ridiculously hard to make those commitments and keep that kind of stand.  Why?  Because Satan knows that a true follower of Christ is the only person that can truly make an eternal difference. Who is Jesus to you?  Is He just “God” who exists out there somewhere?  Is He “your God?”  If He is your God you probably go to church, read your Bible every once in a while, listen to Christian radio every once in a while…even have the fish on your car.  Or…is He the Lord of your life?  He calls the shots…no matter what it costs you. You are going to live by faith in Him and His Word knowing…KNOWING that He only has your best interest in mind. If He isn’t your Lord…please make Him your Lord today! Later Adam

The Lord

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  — Psalm 23:1

I don’t know how many times I’ve read or quoted this verse.  I hate to admit this, but I think up until very recently I have always focused on the last part…I shall not want.  I remember the first time I read it probably 15 years ago.  I thought “why would you not want the Lord?”  I honestly thought it was the Lord that the writer didn’t want.  Of course, eventually I read the rest of the Psalm and I began to understand that it meant that the Lord would provide for my every need and I will never be found wanting for anything as long as I allow Him to lead me as my shepherd.  He always has my best interest in mind.  Now that I think about this, it is interesting that there are basically two groups of people in the world.  There are those who allow the Lord to be their shepherd, these people generally see themselves as more than blessed and are content.  Then there are those who wander off and are constantly searching for better…something more.  I’ve been in both groups…I like the Lord being my Shepherd!

I’m writing this particular devotional because I always do with Psalm 23:1 exactly what I did in the first paragraph.  I always talk about the end of it…I shall not want.  I talk about how I was discontent, now I’m content.  I talk about how life is a million times better for ME.  The part of the verse I should be focused on is “The Lord.”  Who is the Lord?  Well, He is God the Father in the Old Testament.  He is God the Son in the 4 gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  He is God the Holy Spirit from Acts through Titus.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord in the book of the Revelation given to John.  He is the one who loves me so much that He gave His life for me.  My default destination was Hell.  I didn’t have to do anything to be placed on that road…I was already condemned.  He loved me so much that He took away my condemnation and gave me righteousness.  I didn’t have to try to do right and earn it…my Lord went ahead and gave it to me.  Yes, the LORD…He is my shepherd!

I read a little bit about good shepherds and bad shepherds.  Bad shepherds really shouldn’t even be shepherds.  They don’t really care about the sheep.  The sheep are simply their source of income and are treated accordingly.  If one gets sick, they would just as soon kill it immediately to keep the others from getting sick.  They don’t watch out to make sure that they only eat from green pastures.  Instead, they let them stay in one place and destroy the ground and eat until they destroy the roots and they get sick from worms in the ground.  They let them drink from whatever water source is available, not the still waters that good shepherds lead them to.  They are very harsh and very mean to the sheep.  It is obvious that the sheep are not loved.  Isn’t this the picture of Satan?  It’s pretty easy to tell who he is leading.  People by the millions in America are drinking from the fountains of sex and drugs. Many get sexually transmitted diseases, and drugs cause so many to deteriorate extremely fast.  Many land in our prison systems…and their shepherd doesn’t even care.  I watch kids every day throw their education away simply because their shepherd says “do what you want.“  Their shepherd could not care less about their future.  Satan, the bad shepherd, never has the best interest of his flock in mind.

On the other hand, good shepherds keep watch over the flock.  They are constantly looking ahead.  They are consistently checking for disease, fighting off enemies, making sure the sheep are never in fear and making sure that they are healthy.  He wants them to lie down in green pastures.  There is none of this making SOME grass available, the good Shepherd wants to lead you to the BEST pasture.  There is none of this drinking from nasty water that will make you sick…only the still water that truly satisfies.  There is none of this wandering off and letting the enemies that want to devour the sheep have their way.  The good Shepherd will go and find that sheep, and if he happens to see the enemy…He destroys that enemy.  The happiest, most content and most caring people that I know proudly say “The Lord…He is my Shepherd.”

There are two roads.  One of these roads leads to destruction.  If you have never made a decision to make Jesus, the good Shepherd, Lord of your life…you are already on that road.  All you have to do to walk the path to Hell…is nothing.  It is very easy because there is one rule and one rule only… “do what you want.”  The other road, the narrow one, has restrictions.  If you really think about the restrictions, they are designed to keep you healthy and content.  The restrictions are not so the good Shepherd can boast how big and bad He is, though He is, but because He truly loves His flock and wants to lead them in the path of righteousness.

For every person that truly puts their trust in Him, verse 6 is coming.  Not only can this life be free of disease.  Not only can you be wholly and completely cared for.  Not only can you have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  Not only can you be content with what you have and love God with all your heart…soon and very soon verse 6 is coming!

I will dwell in the house of the Lord…forever!

Which shepherd are you following?

Later

Adam

Every Other Religion is Wrong

I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.  — John 14:6

Doesn’t that title just sound bad?  I mean, there are a lot of religions out there.  There is Hinduism, Islaam, Buddhism, Judaism, Atheism, Satanism, and a whole lot of other isms.  Each and every one attempt to “elevate” you to a higher status in the next world or life.  Well, except for atheism…it claims there is nothing to live for beyond this life and you are simply responsible for yourself.  Other than that one, they all have specific rules that if kept well enough gets you “in.”  So here I am sitting at my computer telling you that according to my religion…all of those other religions are wrong.  So, what makes Christianity so different?  I’m glad you asked.

All other religions (and “religion” in general) place the emphasis on YOU and what YOU do.  Christianity places its emphasis on Jesus Christ and what HE did.  Don’t get me wrong, we try very hard with all of our denominations to make it a religion.  Let’s face it, here in the south, if you smoke cigarettes, drink beer, or even buy lottery tickets…there is no way you are saved and on you are on your way to the fiery flames of Hell.  Heaven help you if you choose to go to a non-Christian concert.  I think hardcore Christians call them “secular.“  Even if you do go to a “Christian” concert and the band doesn’t specifically say the word “Jesus” in the lyrics of one of their songs, they are “worldly” and you just participated in heresy.  Yes, we try very hard to make it very hard to get to Heaven.  But, the Bible doesn’t say it’s hard…it says that it is narrow (Matthew 7:14).

Honestly, I’m glad that it is narrow.  I’m glad that the directions to Heaven are very specific.  I mean, if I were telling you how to get to my house, wouldn’t you want specific directions?  But, if you say “I believe all roads lead to your house.  Therefore, I’m not going North on Highway 11 like you asked me to, I’m going to go South.”  Well, that is your choice, but here is one thing I do know…you will not make it to my house unless you turn around.  The claim of Christianity is the same way.  If you place your complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ…you will make it to Heaven.

Now, my last and favorite reason for believing Christianity is that it is the only one where the main “God” invites you to be crazy in love with Him.  There are two main rules…neither of which are “don’t cuss” or “don’t smoke.”  The two main rules are:  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  We are simply invited to love Him and love others.  I have only one reason for believing this is correct:  Ever since I started doing these two things…I have joy in my heart, I feel God several times a week, I am unafraid of death, and I am content.  These two simple things have changed my heart, mind, and life!

Every person that takes the time to read this must decide who they are going to serve.  Will you serve the gods and religions of this world?  Or, will you serve the Lord Jesus Christ?  These are really the only two choices.   When you make a statement like I’ve made in the title of this WMD, it unleashes a lot of fury.  It is immediately labeled “intolerant.”  Honestly…it is!  But, the argument is not yours or mine to defend.  I didn’t say that Jesus was the only way to Heaven…Jesus Himself did! I have just chosen to believe Him and follow Him.  I am betting my entire life that what He said is true.

Are you?

Later

Adam

Grace, Grace…God’s Grace

But Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — 2 Peter 2:3

This one word had divided a lot of churches.  I realize now that I was really blessed to experience just about every denomination out there.  When I really got hungry for more of the Lord, I used to just drive to random churches and see what their services were like.  Even though many of them never taught on the subject of grace, I know now how they defined it and what it meant to them.  I can have a conversation with another Christian now and know exactly what grace means to them…let me explain.

The first church I regularly attended treated God’s grace as if it were just something that existed.  You could tell that God was revered as Holy.  Unfortunately, there was just never any real emphasis on knowing Him.  There was never any real dependence on Him in everyday life.  It was like they were only depending on Jesus for salvation to make it to Heaven.  As long as you showed up, believed in Him, and regularly took the elements of communion, His grace was sufficient.  God was going to be graceful to me and I was going to make it to Heaven.  The only problem that I have with that now is the fact that there was never any GROWING in grace.

After about 10 years of that I went to another church.  Grace was defined as “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.”  Basically, I was taught that I get all of the good stuff God offers because of what Christ did for me.  I heard time after time about this grace…and I liked it.  God had me no matter what.  I never heard anything about “denying myself,” or “in this world, I will have trouble,”  but I was saved and that was that.  Looking back, this type of teaching gave me a license to sin.  I was like the kid asking for a $20, spending it quickly, then asking for another.  I would sin, then casually ask for forgiveness, then sin again.  It was like I had found the “loophole” that as long as I asked for forgiveness, God was obligated to forgive me.

Then came the Mack truck.  The third church made it impossible to be a Christian.  I was a backslidden sinner on my way to Hell.  If God in my mind used to be a permissive parent…He was now someone who didn’t mind giving you a “whoopin” and certainly didn’t mind holding you by one leg and threatening to drop you into the fiery flames of Hell.  Let me tell you…this made me up my game.  I tried so much harder to be a Christian.  The only problem was that I was trying to be this particular denomination’s brand of Christian.  There was grace, but it was conditional grace.  I had to earn it by my righteous living.  Lord knows I tried, but I just felt like I came up short every time.

So, when I thought that grace was so freely given, I sinned freely.  When I thought that grace was earned through perfection, I found out that I couldn’t live up to it.  Before you think that I’m bashing particular denominations, I’m not.  I’m only trying to tell you how my childhood and teenaged mind comprehended what was going on.  I understand grace now.  But, I got my understanding by reading the gospels for myself and seeing how Jesus Christ treated people.  He didn’t stone the woman “caught in the act” of adultery.  He gave her a chance.  He didn’t give me what I deserved in my late teens to early twenties…He gave me grace.  Best of all, He allowed me to grow in grace.

I ended up adding a lot of things to the GRACE acronym.  It also became God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense.  It became God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense.  It became so much more.  As I have grown in grace over the years, I have gone through quite a transition.  At first, grace allowed me to “control” and maintain my sinful life.  Then, I tried to earn grace through righteous living…I just couldn’t earn it no matter how hard I tried or how bad I wanted to.  But, there was the problem…I was HAVING to live it.  No wonder God allowed me to be so frustrated…He didn’t want me HAVING to live it, He wanted me WANTING to live it.

Therein lies the difference.  People who really understand grace and have grown in it WANT to live right.  John 14:15 says “if you love me you will obey my commands.”  I understand now that this means that people who really love Him WANT to obey Him…not have to.  Why do so many flip that verse around and attempt to obey His commands to get God to love them?

If you really look at all of the world religions.  They all say “DO THIS” and it will ultimately work out well for you.  Christianity is the only one that breaks this trend.  Christianity says “DONE FOR YOU!”  Yes, while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ did all of the work to make it possible for us to be free from sin and live with Him forever.

That…is Grace!

Later

Adam

Subgroups

“By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:35

Just about every group has a subgroup.  In math, take the group of numbers {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}.  Within that group there is a group of primes {2, 3, 5, 7}.  Within that group there is very special number {2} which is the only number that can be classified as an even prime number.  In America, there are Americans.  Then there are the subgroups;  white Americans, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans…I could probably do this for quite a while.  Within those groups, there are Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus…and once again…no way I could list all the different beliefs.

Today, since I am a Christian, I want to talk about a subgroup of Christians.  “Christian” is a very useless term.  All it really means is that you in some form or another affiliate yourself with Christ.  Judas was a “Christian.”  Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 were “Christians.”  In John 6:66 a whole bunch of “Christians” quit on Jesus.

One of the main reasons the term is useless is because it isn’t defined in the Bible.  In fact, if it is used, it is used as a derogatory term.  Acts 11:26 says “disciples were first called “Christians” at Antioch.    People just saw this subgroup of people that were willing to give all their “extra” away.  If they had 3 coats, they would find the poor and give two of them away.  In many cases, they would even go without a coat if it meant helping someone in need.  This subgroup of people was selling everything they had and giving it away.  They were taking in the lame and the blind into their own homes and getting them off the street.  They were taking “defective” babies that had been left for dead at the trash dump and bringing them into their own homes and caring for them.  The rest of the population had never seen anything like that before.  Therefore, there was no term that could be used that really described them…therefore, they came up with the derogatory term “Christian.”  It would be very much like calling a smart person a “nerd.”  Or, a computer person a “geek.”  “Geek” used to be a derogatory term…now Best Buy has made it okay.  That is kind of what happened to the word Christian, it was meant to hurt at first, but now it has become so acceptable that nearly EVERYONE puts it on the “Religious Views” of their Facebook page.

Now, within the extremely large group of people that say they are “Christians,” there are subgroups.  I know this sounds awful, but there is a subgroup of “Christians” that is going to Hell when they die.  How do I know?  Read Matthew 7:21-23.  Jesus flat out says it doesn’t matter what you call yourself, it doesn’t matter what you say…it matters what you do.  He told a group of people who would have most assuredly called themselves “Christians” that they were evildoers and it was time to depart from His presence.  Maybe this is why Ephesians 5:15 says “be very careful how you live — not as unwise but as wise.”

If you took 100 random self-professed Christians, I would guess that 90 of them would look and behave exactly like the world.  I certainly was in that group for a lot of years.  I was “saved,” and became a “Christian” at 16 years old.  Yet, I still drank alcohol underage…just like the people who didn’t claim to be a Christian.  I still had sex outside of marriage…just like the people who didn’t claim to be a Christian.  I didn’t read the Bible…just like the people who didn’t claim to be a Christian.  I cussed, I went to parties, I gossiped about other people, I was unforgiving towards others…yep…just like the people who didn’t claim to be a Christian.

I had to learn for myself that there was a subgroup of these “Christians” that really took this stuff seriously.  There was a group in which Jesus actually made a difference in their lives on Monday through Saturday.  This subgroup of Christians has a name…they are called Disciples.  The word disciple comes from the word discipline…a word which 99 percent of Americans hate.  But, it means that there exists a group of Christians that have systematically disciplined themselves with God’s help to cut out all of the “acts of the flesh” listed in Galatians 5.  They don’t have sex outside of marriage, they don’t go into fits of rage, they don’t hate, they aren’t selfish, and they don’t participate in drunkenness…just to name a few.  Just so you know, I singled those out, because they were all stuff that I did as a self-professed “Christian.”

I have seen this subgroup in action.  There are actually students, a very small subgroup, who go into the classroom for one reason…to honor the Lord.  This means they are going to follow every school rule down to the last detail.  They are going to do their work “as unto the Lord.”  Do they like the work any more than the non-Christian…NO!  But, they are doing it for a different purpose.

There are Christian couples who refuse to move in together before they get married.  They even refuse to be sexually active before they get married.  Does it mean they don’t want to?  Of course not.  They just want to SHOW honor to the Lord and His commandments.

There are Christians who ask for forgiveness when they do wrong.  There is none of this “I’m sorry for ______, BUT YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE ______________.”  They simply say they are sorry for their part and leave the rest to the Lord.  They do it right.

I don’t know where you land in all of this.  Like I’ve said many times, I’m still a work in progress. But, with all my heart, I want to love and honor my Lord and Savior.  I want people, if they had access to every bit of every minute of my life, to know…not that I’m a “Christian,” but that I’m a disciple.

All who are reading this, let’s do better than settle for being “Christian.”  Let’s not be mere hearers of the Word…

Let’s be disciples!

Later

Adam

The God Who Wasn’t There

We know we have come to know him if we obey his commands.  The man who says “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.  This is how we know we are in him.  — 1 John 2:3-5

I recently watched this documentary called “The God Who Wasn’t There.”  In no way do I suggest that you watch this…it is highly NOT recommended.  Great…I just made you want to watch it.  Anyway, it is about this dude who grew up in a Christian home and attended a Christian school.  He “accepted” the Lord at that school.  For whatever reason, he decided that God wasn’t there, and Christianity is simply another form of many other ancient religions and should be treated no differently.  He spends about 45 minutes trying to convince the viewer that he or she is absolutely foolish to believe in Jesus.  He implies that all Christians are “blood thirsty” because it seems that our preference of Jesus is of Him bloody, beaten and crucified.  Apparently, since he thinks that is weird, the whole world should think that is weird.  He, of course, gets a whole bunch of his “smart” buddies to side with him and bash all of us “small minded,” “unthinking” Christians.

He concludes the documentary by filming the little chapel and showing the seat where he got “saved.”  He moves the camera further back on the pews and talks about how he moved back the more he became “backslidden.”  He mentioned he had been “saved” at least four or five times in that little chapel.  He talked of Matthew 12:31 where it says “blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”  He turns the camera on himself and whispers “I deny you Holy Spirit!”  Then the words “I am not afraid” comes on the screen and it goes off.

Now, here’s why I tell you this.  Watching this actually poisoned my mind for a bit.  There were times that doubt struck me big time…this guy was no dummy, he had done a lot of work and research to make his points look good.  I went to the Lord in prayer and I went to my Bible to repair all the damage I did by watching the hour long documentary.  God showed me a couple of things.

First, the guy never talked about what he was living for now.  If he was going to walk away from Christianity, what did he replace it with?  Apparently, he chooses to replace it with a whole lot of  time and effort trying to convince people that it isn’t true.  Unfortunately for him, 1 Peter 1:25 says “the word of the Lord stands forever.”  I felt sorry for the guy for the first time.  In a hundred years he will be long forgotten, but there will be a Bible in most people’s homes.  Yes, the word of the Lord stands forever!

Lastly, God asked me “Adam, if you left…where would you go?”  I thought of how Jesus asked his disciples “do you want to quit, too?” in John 6:67.  Peter said in the next verse “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.   We believe and know that you are the holy one of God.”

To answer that question, I only needed to look at what I’ve lived for in the past.  At one time, I lived for sex, drugs, and rock and roll…well, minus the drugs except for alcohol (I was pretty afraid when they brought out hardcore stuff).  I found that stuff to always leave me “bored” when there was no party, no girlfriend, or no place to play music.  I found that I was always wanting more…someplace else, someplace better.  Then, I remember how I sunk my heart into stuff.  I loved golf stuff, guitar stuff, entertainment stuff…just stuff.  Every time I accumulated a new piece of equipment, I was so happy for a little bit.  Then, I would see the ad for something shinier and better.  If I walked away from my Lord today, is this the junk that I would go back to?  I found absolutely no real satisfaction in that stuff.

The truth is, I like serving the Lord.  It took a while.  It took a whole lot of self denial.  It took a whole lot of obeying His commands even though I didn’t understand (or want to) at the time.  It took a whole lot of failure.  It took a whole lot of me not thinking I was good enough and Him picking me up and saying “try again.”  I am still quite a work in progress.  But, I KNOW Him!  What a cool thing to be able to say!   I can say that because I obey His commands.  Do I fail sometimes?  Yep.  Do I get it right all the time?  Nope.  But, here is the difference.  As a beginning Christian, I HAD to follow His commands.  I thought God was fierce, mean, and oppressive…much like documentary dude did.  I thought He was waiting for me to mess up so He could strike me with lightning, or cancer, or something else really bad…mainly God was just looking for a reason to dangle me over the fires of Hell.  But, now that I’ve been in this thing whole heartedly for several years…I WANT to serve Him.  I WANT to keep His commands.  Everything I have ever given up for Him has only been returned with 10 times a greater blessing for me.  He has been so good to me!

I guess I say all that to say this:  If you aren’t serving God, who, or what are you serving?  You can serve yourself, you can serve vengeance, you can serve sex, you can serve stuff, you can serve money…you can serve all kinds of temporary stuff that will leave you fulfilled for a very short time.  But even if you had all of that stuff in unlimited supply…would it really satisfy you?  Now that he has forsaken the Lord, is documentary dude really satisfied?  It is obvious that he is still searching…BIG time!  But as for me….

As for me and my house…oh yeah…we will serve Lord!

Later

Adam

What’s so Good about Good Friday?

(Suggested Reading for the rest of Holy Week)

Wednesday:  Matthew 26, 27, and 28

Thursday:  Mark 14, 15, and 16

Friday:  Luke 22, 23, and 24

Saturday:  John 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21

Sunday:  Go find you an Easter service.

A couple thousand years ago really early on the inaugural Good Friday morning, we find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying.  He’s praying intensely for His “cup” to be taken from Him.  He’s so stressed He is literally sweating blood.  He realizes that there is no other way to be reunited with mankind.  He fully submits His will to His Father’s will.  The matter is settled, and it’s time.  For years and years, I thought He was stressed about the beating He was about to take and the six hours He was about to spend on that cross…I was wrong!

He is taken to “court” and “tried.”   I put those in quotations because it was not a legal court session and the trial was far from fair.  He is being accused of blasphemy because He has claimed to be God.  Despite all of the evidence that He is who He says He is, He is “convicted.”  He is sent to Pilate, the Roman Governor.  The Jewish priests cannot legally carry out an execution so they must appeal to the Roman government.  Pilate quickly realizes they are just jealous and Jesus hasn’t done a thing wrong.  Upon telling the crowd this, they begin to yell “crucify Him!”  Afraid of losing His position (the higher -ups didn’t like dissention among the people), Pilate gets a bright idea that could keep his political position secure AND save the life of Jesus.  He decides to have Jesus flogged.

In that day and age, a prisoner got flogged OR crucified…never both.  Pilate thought he could make the crowd feel sorry for Jesus by having Him beaten to near death.  There was no pity.  The crowd still wanted Him crucified.  Pilate washes his hands in front of the people and says “I am free from His blood, let His blood be on you.”  They actually say “let His blood be on US and OUR CHILDREN.”

Around 8:00 A.M, He is made to carry His cross to Golgotha.  He can’t make it.  None of the other prisoners took a Roman scourging that morning…Jesus did.  The cross was too much to bear so they allowed a man named Simon to do it.  What a special privilege that man had to help save the soul of you and me!

At exactly 9:00, He was nailed to the cross and was lifted up.  Three hours pass by.

At exactly 12:00 it got really dark.  For the first time EVER we hear our Lord and Savior question His Father.  He says “Why have you forsaken me?”  For the first time EVER Jesus did not feel the presence of His Father.  The Father had ALWAYS been with Him, but at this moment He was no longer present.  THIS was the moment that Jesus had dreaded back in the garden.  NOT the beating, NOT the cross, but THIS moment.  His “cup” that had always been filled with the Holy Spirit was now emptied, and being filled with YOUR SIN and MY SIN!  For three solid hours all He did was have sin poured out on Him.  For three solid hours blood dripped off His hands and feet and covered every single one of those sins.  No wonder the Father couldn’t look upon Him, He was full of Sin…Not His own, yours and mine!  We can never know just how bad our sin hurt Him.  But in comparison, He didn‘t complain about the cat o nine tails ripping his flesh off.  He didn’t complain about the crown of thorns being thrust into his skull.  He didn‘t complain about being spit upon and mocked.  He didn’t even complain about the nails that held him to the cross.  But the sin hurt.  It hurt Him so bad that he let us know…“now THIS…hurts!!!”  Even now when we choose to sin, that single act of disobedience transcends time and hurts him even more.  He took it all.  Everything you have done…everything you will do!  He paid it all.  For YOU, and for ME!

At 3:00 He said the three words that every single one of us better be so thankful for…“It is finished!” The only perfect man that ever lived died.  Therefore, the perfect sacrifice was made.  Sin was conquered.  Anyone who asked from that day forward could now receive forgiveness and be reconciled to God our Father!

What’s so good about Good Friday?  He gave His life that I might live.  He gave His life just to give each and every one of us the CHANCE at abundant life.  What have you done with that chance?

Today is the day of salvation!  If you have never asked for your sins to be placed on Jesus during those three hours that Good Friday afternoon…do it today!  You have a choice.  You can pay for your own sin which will result in eternal separation from God, or you can place your sin on Him and have it already paid!

If you never have, give your heart and life to Him today. Put your trust in Him by doing these three things:

1.  Admit to Him that you are a sinner

2.  Ask Him to forgive you for your sins and come into your life.

3.  Grow in Him by spending time with Him every day.  Start your relationship with Him today!

Happy Easter!

Adam