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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Philippians 2: From Selfish Ambition to Humility

From Selfish Ambition to Humility

We really can get off track when it comes to our walk in the Spirit with the Lord. In Philippians 2:3-5, Paul gives another solid direction for the church to follow. This is nothing new, just a new way for the church to hear. Paul says "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit..." How often do we act selfishly towards other and speak over them as if what we have to say is more important? Or When we drive and our destination is so much more important than everyone else's that we cut people off and don't let them in? What if we reverse that and started letting people finish talking or drove more lovingly. He continues "...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." That is such a great way to look at humility. One might say, "But why would I do that?" That question itself is selfish in this context. It is asking "what can I get out of it?" It isn't about you. Our mind should be focused on how can I serve others instead of how can I be served. There is nothing wrong with taking a break and getting re-energized to serve the Lord (even God rested on the Sabbath). But if we are often focused on what we are getting from people, then our focus is off in life. Think like Jesus.

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Luke 6:1-5- Lord of the Sabbath

Lord of the Sabbath

Many times I have heard that Christianity is about rules, regulations and religious rituals that have no meaning and make no sense. In many instances, Jesus thought similarly about being Jewish in his day.

In Luke 6:1-5, we have another example of the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus into saying something that was wrong. Jesus often paid no attention to rules that were set forth by man's foolishness in order to supplant God's will. 

One of the Ten Commandments is to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8-11). Pharisees took that to an exponential level and literally would not even do what was right ion God's eyes because they thought they were doing the right thing. But often, Pharisees were not as concerned with God's will as they were their appearance to others and displaying their self-righteousness. They were trying to call out Jesus for rubbing in his hands the seeds he had picked to eat. Really? Seriously?! That is what you criticize??

The Pharisees made a list of what you could and could not do on the Sabbath. But, the will of God cannot be contained in do's and dont's. Yes, we have the Ten Commandments, but those are not the only commands God or Jesus gave through the entire Bible. Following God's will is bigger than a list.

Jesus said that he was "Lord of the Sabbath." This was one of his claims to being God in the flesh. As Jesus lived, we got to see his miracles and his heart through his actions. The great part about him saying that he was "Lord of the Sabbath" was that on another Sabbath, he healed a man with a withered hand (Luke 6:6-11). Would God really have you wait until the next day if you could serve Him or people on the Sabbath?

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Wednesday Wake Up #4

Is Being A Good Person Good Enough?

I have heard that far too many people who refer to themselves as Christians think that in order to get to Heaven they just need to be a "good person." That thinking makes me question what a good person really is. I know "good people"  but there are times that they have done bad things. Then again, I have known "bad" people who have done good things.

Is a good person someone who always volunteers at shelters for the homeless and visits sick people in hospitals? Are bad people only the ones who break major laws? What about people who lie; are they bad? What about white lies? Aren't those okay?

There are so many questions and ways to try to figure out who is good and who is bad, but God is not concerned with who is good or bad, He wants you to put Him first in all things (see Matthew 6:33). Everything? Yes! Everything!

If we go back to the 10 Commandments, we see that the first commands are all about God and us honoring Him by having no other gods before Him, have no false idols (worship nothing other than God), do not take the Lord's name in vain and last, we are to keep the Sabbath (take a day off from working as God did when making the universe). Those are not the last four commandments, but the first four. God told Moses to relay that message and keep his commands about our relationship to Him FIRST. The second set are all about our relationships with people.

Jesus had an encounter with a young rich man in Matthew 19:16-26. The young rich man wanted to know how to get to Heaven. He thought that since he kept all the commandments then he would be able to spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven. Jesus in the end told the man to sell all of his possessions. The man couldn't do it and went away sad because he had great possessions. We learn from this, that no matter how great of a person you have been in your own eyes, God knows more. God wants you to dedicate yourself to Him and His will. When confronted with that many of us will just walk away.

More on that on Friday....


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Mark 3:4 and 3:35- God's Will Above All

God's Will Above All

Here we are on the Sabbath and the Pharisees are trying to hold the law over Jesus and show him what he is doing is wrong according to the law. Jesus, as always, was far more focused on not what the law was, but what would be pleasing to God. A man with a withered hand had come into the synagogue on the Sabbath. The Pharisees looked at Jesus to see if he would break the Sabbath by doing "work." Jesus asked them if it was lawful to good or harm, save a life or kill on the Sabbath. No one had an answer and Jesus took the man's hand and healed him.

It was not about how man saw it, but how God will see it.

Later, in Mark 31-35, Jesus explains to us, that our relation to one another is not based in genes and DNA, but in relation to the will of God. Jesus was told that his mother and brothers were outside. He looked around at the people in front of him and referred to them as his mother, sisters and brothers as long as they were doing the will of God. One could speculate he said that because he knew that there were followers that did not think he was in his right mind (verse 20-21). People thought that Jesus was possessed by a demon. 

Jesus was so focused on doing the will of God, that it made no matter what people said about him or to him. the will of God was primary. And doing that will of God is what keeps us in relation to Jesus.

 
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