Hebrews 13: What Pleases God?

What Pleases God?

In Hebrews 13:1-5 there are some issues pointed out that we as Christ followers will forever face as we are human and prone to mistakes and bad decisions no matter how much we follow Christ. We are told to continue loving like brothers, be hospitable to strangers, show love to prisoners (imprisoned for the sake of the gospel aka persecuted), honor marriages and be free from the love of money.When we love like brothers that means like someone is family and we treat them with the same love that we would family members. When we are hospitable to strangers (people we don't know including foreigners) we could even be entertaining angels. When we remember those fellow believers in prison by writing them letters and visiting them then we are showing them Christ like love as Jesus loved those imprisoned by their own sin or that of others, so we should do the same especially to those imprisoned for being Christ followers. Honoring marriages is another big one as we make commitments to God and our spouses in relation to what is scriptural. We are to keep our lives free from the love of money. We need to use money, but not love it as we cannot serve 2 masters. And through all of this we also must remember that God will never leave us or forsake us. We must stay true to His commands and direction.

 

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Wednesday Wake Up #32

The Accusers

There will be people in your life, when you are doing God's will, that will tell you that you are doing the wrong thing. They will tell you what they think and hold you accountable to their views that you do not subscribe to. Many of us will take these situations and get angry and want to defend ourselves. You don't have to do that. Doing so turns the focus from you doing God's will to protecting your image. If you are doing God's will then their attacks are irrelevant. 

Take Jesus for example. Have you read the story about the man with the withered hand in Luke 6:6-11? Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on a Sabbath and the Pharisees were waiting to see if he would heal the man in the synagogue that had a withered hand. They wanted to accuse him of not doing what was right according to the law as it is written, not in the spirit of the law. The Spirit is what leads you do what is right in God's name. The "rule" or "law" says one thing and the Spirit of the law is do things with love for God and then for others. The accusers will try to tell you to follow the law (don't work on the Sabbath) and ignore the Spirit of the law (do things that honor God at all times).

We read in Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." That means it serves you well in God's eyes to do what is right in God's eyes as you withstand the accusers that tell you that you are not doing. When they tell you that you are wrong for something, look to God's will to validate what you do as the words of men will try to cut you down. 

 
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Acts 26: Paul's Defense with Truth from His Story

Paul's Defense with Truth from His Story

King Agrippa let's Paul defend himself (again) and Paul tells his story. Before Paul starts telling his story, there is one thing he does twice that many of us would not do in this situation. He humbles himself. In verse 2, he says he considers himself fortunate to be in front of King Agrippa. And in verse 3, Paul once again expresses his humility by saying "I beg you to listen to me patiently." Paul would have every human right to be ticked off and yell and scream, but not once have we seen him during this ordeal lose his temper even after he was punched in Acts 23:1-5.

In verses 4-11, Paul retells his story of being a Pharisee and persecuting Christians and tried to make them blaspheme all to oppose the name of Jesus. Once again, Paul does something that many of us would not do. Paul "tells on himself." It wasn't that people didn't know what he had already done to oppose the name of Jesus, but he was humble (there is that word again) in seeking favor in the eyes of the court. Basically he is saying I did these horrible things as a Pharisee, but what you are accusing me of things that I did not do as a Christian (Christ follower).

In verses 12-23, Paul tells of his conversion. He says how the voice of God asked why Saul (Paul's former name) was persecuting him. He continues by further explaining that he was arrested and plotted against to be killed because he was telling people to repent and turn to God. His final words in his defense to Agrippa speak of unity in regards to the word being spread to Jews and Gentiles. Those words also acknowledge the Holy Spirit's involvement when Paul needed help. 

In verse 24, Festus tells Paul that his great learning is driving him out of his mind. The funny thing is, Festus did not really say anything with what he said. It is almost like he is a shock jock just saying something to incite the crowd. Paul almost converts Agrippa to become a Christian. He asks Agrippa is he believes the prophets. He asks this because if he were to ask Agrippa about Jesus, he might get defensive with his answer where when asked about the prophets he is more likely to welcome conversation. Paul says that aside from his chains he would want for all to be like him, having freedom in Christ. When they were done speaking, Agrippa and those sitting with him stated that he had done nothing wrong and could have been set free had he not appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:27-32).

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Luke 21:34- Watch Yourselves

Watch Yourselves!

This chapter outlines several things from sacrificial giving (giving that really makes you sacrifice) to the destruction of the temple, wars and persecution and Christ's return. But something else struck me. Jesus gave us a warning. It is easy to miss if you are just reading and maybe even distracted, but I wanted to point it out. 

In verse 34, Jesus says to "watch yourselves." He tells us to watch our hearts so that they are not filled with "dissipation, drunkenness and cares of this world."

Jesus know that if our heart isn't aligned with him, then it is aligned elsewhere, like the world. The world then and now often says things like "everything in moderation." Folks, not everything is legal and not everything is good for you even if it is legal. Jesus is warning us to not let culture be our guide. Culture changes, but the word of God stands firm. 

For those that know of my former employment, you will remember that I was a bouncer/security guard for bars. A bar's focus is to sell alcohol to you. Some to many places will even sell it to you even after you have had enough. The world celebrates this lifestyle, but the world doesn't show you what happens to your liver and other organs from years of that lifestyle. The world doesn't show you the broken homes and lost souls that come from spending too much time drinking and not enough time with Jesus.

Jesus warns us of being hungover (surfeiting/carousing/dissipation) from alcohol and in other words, being hung over form the world's way. When you are hung over you have had too much alcohol and the body begins to shut down. Have you ever seen someone pass out from too much alcohol? Maybe it has happened to you. That is the body's way of rejecting more consumption. But, with the world's way and culture we don't get that feeling like with alcohol, it just overtakes you and then you look up one day wondering how you got there. You may even try to make excuses for why it is okay to be where you are, but where you haven't been was aligned with Christ in obedience with God's will.

This blog post was not to bash bars or my former employment, but to shine light on a culture that is dictated by reformed ways of thinking that separate you from God's path. How culture thinks today will not be that way tomorrow. Stand firm with God's word.


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Mark 8:34-38- Deny Yourself

Deny Yourself

In reading through Mark 8, a few verses jumped out to me. But, there is one section that really strikes a chord with me. Jesus said many things through his time on earth, but we misconstrue, twist and manipulate what he said. Maybe we do it for personal gain or we do it because we are just confused.

In verses 31-32, Jesus foretells his death and resurrection, and then in verse 34, Jesus goes on to tell people that they must "deny themselves" and "take up their cross and follow" him. If you are to deny yourself, as Christ meant it, it means you are concerned with what God wants from you, not what man wants from you. Man's ways are flawed as they seek personal gain and self promotion (take a look at selfies and social media). If you are to deny yourself, you are not looking to fulfill your motives, you are looking to fulfill God's desires.

Taking up the cross was not an act that was applauded, it was a death sentence. You had to carry the very thing that was going to be used to kill you for your crimes. Jesus carried his cross but was not guilty of any crime. Are you willing to be mocked and ridiculed and falsely accused and persecuted and bullied for following Christ?

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Friday Focus #1

Pray for Who?

On Wednesday, we dove into understanding we need to have capital F type of faith in our capital G God in regards to our prayer life. We can pray for nice clothes and a bigger house and better job, which all are focused on us. But what about the prayers for others? Not just our friends and our family members and loved ones. Anyone can pray for that. I'm pretty sure everyone who prays for people includes praying for people that they car for. Now, let's take it a step further. Loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. What would would we do that? Because Jesus said so.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus covered a lot of topics from the Beatitudes, being salt and light of the earth, Christ fulfilling the law, anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation....and loving our enemies.

I don't know with whom you have anger towards. Is it an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend. What about a parent? Maybe it is a sibling?? Are there any co-workers or employers or supervisor that you are mad at and get angry with every time you think about them or see them? It doesn't matter who it is, you can pray for them. No one says you have to be best friend with everyone, but we can pray for those that we have problems with. Pray for them to be healed from whatever the issue is. Pray for yourself to be healed from the relational strain. A lot of times we don't want to admit that we ever did anything wrong.

We can also pray for those who persecute us. They attack us because of our race, religion or political beliefs. Pray for them to see you for who you are and not just under an affiliation. One of the most loving things you can do is get to know someone for who they are see past any prejudicial barriers.

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