Holiness . . . don't leave home without it!

 

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 No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than His holiness. — Matthew Henry

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Dear Friends, financial and prayer partners,

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8).

We Christians often mistake purity of mind and thought as the center of spirituality. The Scripture, however, informs us that impurity does not begin in the mind but in the heart which represents the desires and affections of man. True, as a man thinks, so is he; but thinking in the impure sense means condescending to the baser emotions and dwelling upon these desires.

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” Matthew 15:18-20

Here, we are told that purity is to be found in the “heart”—the seat of our desires and affections; whereas, as the “spirit” represents our higher faculties—including our ability to make decisions. Now, it may come as a surprise to some that desires in and of themselves are not necessarily evil. There is, for instance, nothing dirty about sex, unless we make it so—adultery being a prime example. On a more material level, we might say that there is nothing wrong with money; however, that does not give us an excuse to rob, steal, or kill to get it—which, of course, some do.

On a more personal level, allow me to illustrate a case in my own life. I don’t suppose there is a man alive that hasn’t had an impure thought, particularly after puberty. Once I remember after struggling through one such episode, I knelt and began to pray—but for what? I hadn’t given in, or committed any actual sin but I just felt like I needed to wash my soul clean. So, I began to pray—but how? So, I paused and then said, “Lord, forgive me for being human!”

And, of course, that is just the point, being human can get all of us into a lot of trouble. That is why Paul wrote that we must “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).”

Notice Paul said that that is a task we must do. We must take charge of how and what we think about. Pray is not the answer, unless you and I are willing to be responsible for what we think.

Recently, I have been doing some extensive studies in Greek Orthodoxy spirituality, and, I must say, I’ve learned a lot from these Christian brothers, particular the ascetic monks. Naturally, over the centuries these brethren have developed a highly organized method of cleansing their thought life from all the impurities we commonly associate with just being human. I won’t go into all of these, however, I will mention just one—that is what they call “the negative or evil logismoi (i.e., thought form).

No evil though comes to us in the naked form—that is, it does not say to us, I want you to go out and commit adultery, or steal, or whatever. No, the though comes to us in pretty clothes, all dressed up for the occasion. Paul calls these aspect an ‘angel of light.’ So, as with the forbidden fruit in the garden there is tremendous appeal—it excites the imagination, makes us desire to at least entertain the thought. Once it gains that foothold, then it begins to engage our passions until we eventually give in.

James makes this abundantly clear when he writes—

. . . each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14-15)
 

Now, it stands to reason, doesn't it, that the soil in which sin grows is nourished by our own cravings— that is our lustful desires. Now, a word of caution, we often associate the word lust with that of a sexual nature; however, when the Bible speaks of lusts it covers all of our inordinate desires. These we must bring, as Paul says, as previously mentioned, “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).”

How? Well, I can't think of a better way than to just say "No." The 'no' must be said at the onstart, immediately, time is of the essence, evil has a way of taking root immediately, and once rooted it is next to impossible to stop the growth.

What I am saying in essence, in case you have not already got it, is that spirituality is more a matter of making a choice not to entertain even the appearance of evil, than it is a matter of fasting and prayer. God doesn't tempt you, nor should we expect Him to eradicate our evil desires unless we are willing to take full responsibility for them, including a willful decision by us to make an about face and shun even the thought of disobedience.

In a word, His thoughts must become our thoughts. It is for sure that—

Whoever says, “I abide in Christ,” ought to walk just as he walked. (1 John 2:6)
 

May God give us the wisdom to take these words to heart and act accordingly in our spiritual journey each step of the way.

Blessings—

Jim_/

The Divine 'Yes' . . .

 

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 No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than His holiness. — Matthew Henry

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2 Corinthians 1:20

 

Ask the average person what the word holiness means and chances are you'll get a blank stare. The truth is that the word means different things to different people. God, though, has only one thing in mind; that is, surrender. Not just any surrender will do, however. We must fall in love with God. I like to think of this as romancing the Divine. Although unlike erotic love, this love does not wax and wane with each phase of the moon.

Trouble is that some “Christians” treat God like a paramour, or as a series of on-again off-again trysts. Same lover, just different moods of intensity. Any commitment is therefore tentative depending on what they can get out of the relationship. We’re not talking about lukewarm Laodicea here—there’s nothing apathetic about the kind of love expressed by these casual lovers. It is either hot or cold. Occasionally they are all fired up, ready to tie the knot –let’s head for Vegas, an Elvis wedding will be just fine! On other occasions they’re just not quite sure—after all there are other options out there. This is not the only party in town. I just might shop around a bit.

And, of course, they do. Loving God is just one among other fun things to; and, after all, He is pretty demanding. Not sure I want to put up with the hassle, is the attitude.

Well, this is where the rub comes in. Holiness is a marriage; and like any good marriage the only condition is love. There are no other rules. And, love means surrender. Total surrender. We are not glances around for an escape hatch. There’s no turning back. We’re in it for the long haul.

Well, I suppose the next question in order is ‘What does that type of surrender look like?’ There is only one answer for that, and that is ‘We always say yes!’

E. Stanley Jones sees this as the logical response to the ‘Divine Yes.’ In other words, in the words of Scripture—

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Now, hold on for a second, this is not a verse to read casually; this is one that we must meditate on.

Think of it this way, God has demonstrated the fullness of His love to us in and through His Son. That ‘Yes’ was total and final. John 3:16 declares that. There is no greater love than this, or greater commitment, either. His final “I do” you might say, and as with any good marriage it has stood the test of time. Through thick and thin He has been there for us.

Now, the beautiful thing about God’s ‘I do’ is that absolutely nothing can or ever will separate us from that love. That’s His promise (Romans 8:39).

It does not matter how bad or unfaithful you are or have been He still loves you. But, as with any love relationship there must be a reciprocal response to make it work. You and I, too, must love God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37), too.

This love, speaking of the human side, is made plain when we totally commit ourselves to the Lordship of Christ, realizing that since He knows what is best for us, He will always keep our best interest at heart because He love us! Fortunately, also, He has the wherewithal—the power to prove it, and the desire to make it happen.

This is made possible because of His great love for us; and when we surrender in love we are sanctified—that is, set aside in holiness, His holiness.

Now, may the Holy One of the true Israel bless you each step of the journey,
  
Jim_/

Christian agnostics . . . is that possible?

The story is told of a budding philosopher who set out on a search for truth, during the process he discovered Christianity. There were many aspect of this new discover that he liked; however, being the honest man that he was, he was not sure about some of the deeper mysteries of the religion, so he decide to wait before he embraced it full on. Unfortunately one day as he set about to meditate on this new religion in order to unravel some of the knots of doubts in this new discovery, he was shot with an arrow filled with a slow action poison. None-the-less, he resolved to get all of his questioned answered before he signed on. So, he continued in his pursuit. As he edged closer and closer to declaring himself a fully committed Christian convert the poison finally took his life.

At the time of his funeral a great debate broke out among his fellow philosophers as to whether or not he such be buried a Christian or an agnostic. Finally it was decided to bury him as an agnostic Christian, and so it was, and perhaps rightly so from their perspective.

The point is, Christianity is not a philosophy and, in my opinion, those that approach it as such are in for a great disappointment. I will also goes so far as to say that it is totally impossible to prove any of the claims of Christianity through the use of philosophy. I say this because all philosophy is open ended—there is always room for doubt; therefore, certainty is out.

Scripture speaks of this phenomenon when Paul writes to Timothy with criticism of those that are always learning but never come to any understanding, that is to say, any conclusion [2 Tim. 3:7].

Now, back to our story. Life in a sense is as if we have all be shot with a poison arrow at that time of our conception which slowly but surely works its way through our system until we eventually die. There is no escape either, as Alan Seeger's poem, I Have a Rendezvous with Death, so aptly reminds us. The sad fact is that most live their lives as it they have ever and a day to make up their minds on such an important subject as what happens when we face the Grim Reaper, and what can I do to assure a safe passage into something better?

As Blaise Pascal, the great French mathematician and philosopher once remarked—

“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”

So, if we have the notion that we will ever have enough faith to answer all our questions, my answer is that no you never will; however, you can have enough trust to navigate the course of this thing we call life, and die with the full confidence that you have done your best and that you are comfortable with the choice to leave the rest up to God.

Worry . . . a sure ticket to failure.

By faith I understand that change is just not in God’s nature—that, however, I cannot say about everything else around me. Therefore I can sing with confidence that—

My hope is built on nothing less

 Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

 I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

 But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

 
Why? Because I know that—

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

 

And that—

 All other ground is sinking sand…

So, It is by faith that we stand firm, unchanging, yet ever pressing towards the final the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). What a contradiction, some would say. Yet that is not the case; because ultimately Jesus is that Rock that never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)

He is, of course, also the living Word, all else fades with time. The spoken word is but a shadow, elusive, at best a metaphor or perhaps a sign; and, as such, that word can only point to the real Word who never changes, and is always present—

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:25).

Imagine, we not only have an ever present living faith, but also a Rock on which to anchor that faith. Somehow, however, we always seem to manage to forget that all the promises of that unchanging faith are “Yes” and “Amen” in Him (Corinthians 1:20). These are His solid, unchanging promises, among which is that we should not worry for instance about finances, and that we should—

Keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have, because God has said that He we will never leave us; nor will He ever forsake us (Hebrew 13:5).

Yet, we worry.

He promises us a new body, and demonstrated that He is fully capable of providing that when He arose from the grave.

Yet, we worry.

We fret and worry that we will be alone, particularly in old age; although Isaiah says He has promised that—

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you (Isaiah 46:4).

Yet, we worry.

Worry is fundamentally a faithless exercise. Not only is it that, it is also a lie. A lie that we tell ourselves. Jesus has assuredly says—

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34)

So, in light of these promises why should we lie to ourselves, and doubt His promises?

The journey is ours, yet we walk not alone. He walks alongside us each step of the way, and whispers at each step, “Do not worry … God will supply your every need, according to His riches in Glory.”

Blessings,

Jim_/

How's God's grace, working for you?

In my last correspondence, I mention that it was my belief that salvation is a process, rather than a kind of quickie—similar, I would say to a Las Vegas marriage. Just say the right words, go through the act, and whoopee! — we’re married with all the rights pertaining thereunto. Commitment? Yes, for sure; but you know a man can be tempted, but I’ll not cross those bridges until I get there. Right now, I’m in love. Surprisingly, some of these marriages do work out, but the majority don’t.

Conversion can be that way. I like to think of this as what I call “decisional regeneration.” A person accepts Christ, say at a highly emotional revival meeting when some preacher scares the daylights out of them, and then offers a remedy. Just step forward, brother. God is here to meet you at the altar. Accept him as your personal savior, and the rest is as good as history because there is absolutely no way you can ever lose your salvation. Once saved, always saved. It in the Bible. Believe it. That all you need.

Now, permit me the privilege of not splitting the fine hairs between Calvinism and Arminianism, and just simply say this—neither side believe that just mouthing the words, or going through the actions will ever save anyone. Both sides agree that the proof is in the walk; that is, what takes place afterwards.

Now, I can’t speak for the Calvinists, because that is simply not my tradition or theological position, but I can speak from my perspective. And, from my perspective, I think the Bible makes it perfectly clear that good works is all part of the package. No, good works cannot save us, only God can do that. I’ll take you one step farther, too, neither can your baptism, nor by reciting some creed. Only God can save you; and He will. But, you must do your part.

Perhaps, I can best illustrate it this way: I taught at two fine institutions--one, North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the other in North Dakota called Trinity. In both of the schools, each had a student to die before graduation, one in a car accident, and the other with cancer. Neither had completed their course work; however, when graduation time came both were awarded their degrees posthumously. They had been faithful to the best of their abilities right up to the end, and were rewarded as such. Had either of them dropped out or flunked, neither would have received the degree, but since, however, such was not the case, both were posthumously granted the degrees.

I would suggest that, perhaps God operates similarly. So, as the journey continues; so does our commitment.

Yours for a better journey!


JimR_/

How are your choices working for you?

Life is all about choices, isn’t it?

Who we marry. What career we choose. Even, how we dress ourselves. In each case a choice must be made, if we wish to progress in life. To choose to not choose is still a choice, isn’t it?

Why must we make these choices?

Well, the simple (and the right) explanation is that this is the way God has structured the world. Now, granted, sometimes our choices are limited; but, nonetheless, a limited choice is nevertheless a choice. The same principle applies when we have no choice—as when we are terminally ill, or permanently crippled, we still have a choice to accept the inevitable with grace, or to grow bitter and resentful.

Even Jesus himself had to make choices —first as God, and later as a human being. Paul reminds of this in Philippians 2:7 where he writes that—

“[Jesus] emptied himself and took on the very nature of a servant.” (Phil. 2:7)

 

For most of us, switching roles as Christ did, is something that we can hardly comprehend. I guess about the closest that we can come to the scenario is found in a work of fiction written by Mark Twain, called The Prince and the Pauper.

Briefly, the story is about a prince who discovers he has a look alike that just happens to be a young pauper, a boy that hangs around the palace gates. They become friends, and switch roles. Years go by, as the prince roams the country side, and lives the hard life of a pauper. Eventually, the king dies and the prince returns to claim the throne. Which, after a bit of drama, he did; and everyone lived happily thereafter.

Although, there are obvious inadequacies in the similarities between the Prince and the Pauper and Jesus’ decisive role, nonetheless, we get the picture.

His was a choice. Not a self-serving choice, but one of sacrifice, and yes, humility.  

The truth is, the courts of Heaven were his, rightfully his to be sure. Yet, he chose to empty himself, put aside those rights and serve and suffer as a simple servant.

Since Jesus was human, his life in many ways parellels ours; and there comes a point in all of our lives when the stakes are high, and we, too, must choose between what is rightfully ours and that of becoming a servant.

Unfortunately, often we confuse the necessities of life—that which is ‘rightfully ours’ with the pleasures of life, and our needs subtly morph into greed; and unlike old wine, greed does not improve with age. 

Now, mind you, greed comes in all shapes and forms. The most severe form - and harmful at that - is documented in a series on A&E called “The Hoarders,” which portrays the real-life struggles and treatment of people who suffer from compulsive hoarding.

‘That’s not greed’ I hear someone protest, that’s a mental illness. True, but chances are it did not start out that way, it developed over time. And, furthermore, if it is not a choice they make—compulsive or not; why then do they respond to counseling intervention? Really in some ways these poor souls are no worse off than billionaires cutting billion dollar contracts and amassing manipulative fortunes that can even make congress dance to their tune. Nothing satisfies them. There’s never enough. Nothing wrong with wealth, mind you. But, we will, however, be judged on how well we manage our resources. ‘To whom must is given, much is required’ is as true today as it was the day Jesus spoke the words.

So, life is all about choices, isn’t it? These decisions never stop, either. Choices will lead the way through life, either for the good or the bad.

God judges our decisions, too. Contrary to the attitude that most of us take, He is pretty serious about it, too. Jesus said,

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matthew 12:36 (KJV)

 

May God give us both the courage and the wisdom to make the right choices in life. In that regards, we often criticize the wantonness of youth, and loath the mistakes of others, forgetting that we, too, must give account for every idle word, or gossip snidbit, or couch potato hour that we spend surfing the internet or flicking through the channels on television.

There's work to be done, if you are physically able, and then there is still no excuse. Prayer is always an availble opportunity. Not only will it draw us closer to God, but it will mellow our attitudes, and make us a whole lot easier to get along with in the long run.

The choice is ours.
 JimR/-

Booked and ready to go.
Continue to pray!

Will good works get you into Heaven, or only bad works keep you out?

May, I ask you a question, “How does one receive salvation, justification, the new birth, and eternal life. Is it—

• By believing in Christ (John 3:16; Acts 16:31)?
• By repentance (Acts 2:38; 2 Peter 3:9)?
• By baptism (John 3:5; 1 Peter 3:21; Titus 3:5)?
• By the work of the Spirit (John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 3:6)?
• By declaring with our mouths (Luke 12:8; Romans 10:9)?
• By coming to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4; Hebrews 10:26)?
• By works (Romans 2:6, 7; James 2:24)?
• By grace (Acts 15:11; Ephesians 2:8)?
• By His blood (Romans 5:9; Hebrews 9:22)?
• By His righteousness (Romans 5:17; 2 Peter 1:1)?
• By His Cross (Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 2:14)?

Under normal circumstances, can any of these Scriptural ways be eliminated? If so, which ones? Can we be saved without faith? Without God’s grace? Without repentance? (Now, here’s the real test) Without baptism? Without the Holy Spirit?

I would suggest that the wise disciple would make sure all of these points are covered. Yes, and even including water baptism—regardless of what your theology of baptism is, how dare you neglect it? 

Yet, I find an appalling disregard to the urgency of baptism, or a concerted effort by the average parishioner to become fully engaged in the good work of the Church. Sunday school classes are left teacher less, nurseries are poorly attended, and, of course, on and on the list could go.

My question is this? Whatever happened to the good old days, when we were told that works did matter? 

Works, according to Scripture, can either affirm us, or condemn us (Romans 2:5-11; Ephesians 2:10).

For we know, as 2 Corinthians 5:10 reminds us,

"[We] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad," 

Further, we also know that Christ said to John the Revelator,

"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done," which definitely describe a future judgment according to man's works. (Revelation 22:12,)

So, works matter. Consider faith as a many sided virtue, part of which is understanding, commitment, and obedience, and all of which is bathed in love.

I say this because to properly exercise faith we must understand what are committed to, and then why we have placed our faith in that something or someone. Faith is therefore commitment, an intelligent commitment in obedience.

Obedience, as well as commitment, implies conformity. We must conform to the requirements of our commitment. If, for instance, we seek employment, and then find it, we commitment to the requirements thereof with the expectation that we will be rewarded at the end of the day or for the period that we have agreed to work. 

That’s faith. Not blind faith, but faith with expectations. Why, the expectations? Well, simply because we trust the one who hired us to pay us when our work is done.

Now, there are many parts of this analogy that can lead us off on a thousand rabbit trails, but the central point is that faith is much broader than a simple mental assent, or to accept as it were a job, then expect to be rewarded for our laziness for not getting the job done.

No, committed faith, saving faith is willing to hold up its end of the bargain. For the child of God, a worker in His vineyard, we must be faithful to expect a reward in the end. 

The rules of engagement are perfectly clear that—

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)

Now, that is a pretty stern message to the lazy Christian, who feels that they can just coast into their Heavenly reward without exerting any or hardly any effort at all. And, the truth of the matter is that no one is exempt. 

So, we must all work, for there will come a day, when no man shall work. (John 9:4)

In closing, I would like to ask: Could it be that we need to seek out a new paradigm for salvation in the ultimate sense? Could it be that our salvation is incrementally a process that begins at conversion but continues step by step through out life, and is only completed we are ushered through the Gates of Heaven? That is not to say that if death should suddenly interrupt the process that we would be barred eternally from Heaven; but it is to say that the task does not end with a simple "I do." As in any marriage, we, too, have our responsibilites.

Now, for a brief analogy which I think will be helpful in understand what I have just written in the above paragraph.

I taught at two fine institutions--one, North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the other in North Dakota called Trinity. In both of the schools, each had a student to die before graduation, one in a car accident, and the other with cancer. Neither had completed their course work; however, when graduation time came both were awarded their degrees posthumously. They had been faithful to the best of their abilities right up to the end, and were rewarded as such. Had either of them dropped out or flunked, neither would have received the degree, but since such was not the case, but both granted the degree.

I would suggest that, perhaps God operates similarly. So, as the journey continues; so does our commitment.

Blessings!

JimR_/