Let Put Christ Back into Christians -- Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5:13-16


"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (NKJV).

Earlier this week, a FB image came across my phone that has so resonated with me, something I’ve been thinking about ever since I saw it. I wish that I’d saved it (I didn’t), but it said something like: "Instead of putting Christ back into Christmas, how about putting Christ back into Christians?" Even now, as I’m sitting at my desk on Christmas morning, I want to cry when I think about this. How about putting Christ back into Christians . . . into me . . . into you . . . into the others I know who claim His name? Rather than being so concerned that those around us refuse to change their outlook, their culture, their practices to oblige our beliefs and our comfort, what if we were more concerned about being light and salt, rather than being accommodated?

What is salt and what does it do?

If you’ve cooked at all, you know that salt is called for in many recipes. Often it’s just a pinch or dash, but it helps in so many ways. Salt increases the amount of time it takes for water to boil. It brings out the flavor in other foods. It preserves and enhances. According to one Internet site, salt (combined with water) is absolutely essential for almost all bodily functions, even at a cellular level.

How does salt work? Salt is made up of two elements: sodium and chlorine. Sodium alone is volatile and chlorine is toxic, but combined together (as sodium chloride or salt), they become one of the four main electrolytes that conduct electricity through our bodies and cause our cells to generate muscle contractions and nerve impulses. Salt is basically the power conduit behind the microscopic generators within our bodies.

As Christians, we are the conduit between the Holy Spirit and this world (including all the people in it). While God is obviously powerful enough to do what He wants on His own, He has chosen the Church through which to work out His will in the world. Through prayer and through the operation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, God has empowered us to be the salt through which He will pour out His love and His blessings. And while God continues on a more impersonal way to bring "rain on the just and the unjust," it is directly through the Church acting as salt in the world that His love, mercy, and grace are poured out on individuals.

What is light and what does it do?

If you’ve ever sat in a dark room and then turned on a light, you know intimately that light brings about an amazing change in the environment. Think about being in a situation where all the light suddenly goes out (a power outrage, walking into a cave, being on an amusement park ride that suddenly goes into the dark). Often even our sense of balance, our sense of orientation, fails when we cannot see what is around us. But once the light is turned on, we are able to see the beauty and the dangers around us.

Often in the early morning or late evening hours, the sun peaks out from the horizon. Storm clouds that looked menacing often moments before are suddenly washed with beautiful lighted colors. That which seemed evil and threatening is changed into beauty beyond imagination with the influence of the light. God’s love, shining through the heart of a believer into another person, can change the course of a life from despair to hope, from impossibility to miracle. This is the power that we hold in our spirits, the very Spirit of the Living God, Who wants, more than anything else, to bring salvation—to bring complete restoration—to each person who was ever born, who will ever live.

When we talk about being salt and light, it is so far more amazing than trying to culturize those around us into some kind of pseudo-Christianity. It is about making such a difference that what is hard becomes soft, what is failure becomes success, what is broken becomes whole, and what is sin becomes righteousness. When we actually allow Christ into our lives, when we become Christ-ones, the miracle of God’s mercy and love becomes real to a dying world, not just in an abstract sense, but in a real sense one-on-one with those around us. When we begin to love as Christ loves, sacrificially, laying down our own comforts, our own cultural expectations, our own demands, our own rights; when we live as Christ lives, putting the lives of others ahead of our own; when we reach out as Christ reaches out, to those who are rejected, those who are angry, those who are addicted, those who are different from us; when we become Christ-ones, we will no longer have to concern ourselves with putting Christ back into Christmas. Christ will be there because we are there. But, to be honest, it will no longer matter because our own focus will be on what Christ really wants . . . for us to reach out to those around us as salt and light . . . in this world to serve, not to be served . . . in this world to love, not to be loved . . . in this world to be Christ-ones in all the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit.

　

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

Are We among Those "Falling Away?" -- 2 Thess. 2:1-4

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4


Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. NKJ

In 2007, I started this study, this very article. Seven years ago. And as I was reading it again, in anticipation of finishing my study of 2 Thessalonians, I realized two things: One, this article in itself wasn’t really finished, and two, things haven’t gotten any better. Why is that? As a Church, what are we waiting for?

Paul instructs the Thessalonians not to be focused or fixed on the second coming of Christ. "We ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled . . . as though the day of Christ had come." Even in Paul’s day, Christians had doubts about their own salvation, about their place in the kingdom, even perhaps about God’s faithfulness. Paul doesn’t tell them "just to have faith," but rather instructs them in the knowledge of the truth.

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV).



Our faith as Christians is based on the truth, not just based on faith itself. We have faith in God, in His holy and perfect character, in His promises, in His Word. Paul understood this and instructs the Thessalonians not to be "shaken in mind or troubled." Why? Because God can be trusted! He knows that we cannot bring about the completion of our salvation by ourselves, but are wholly dependent upon Him to save us. We need to trust Him and to trust His mercy and love.

However, Paul then tells the Thessalonians the signs of the return of Christ, which include "the falling away." "Unless the falling away comes first . . ." More than focusing upon the timing of the rapture or the Second Coming, as Christians we should be focusing upon the fact that there will be many who consider themselves Christians but who have left the true faith. Matthew Henry:
"A general apostasy, there would come a falling away first, v. 3. By this apostasy we are not to understand a defection in the state, or from civil government, but in spiritual or religious matters, from sound doctrine, instituted worship and church government, and a holy life. The apostle speaks of some very great apostasy, not only of some converted Jews or Gentiles, but such as should be very general, though gradual, and should give occasion to the revelation of rise of antichrist, that man of sin."¹


Notice the things that Matthew Henry lists as characteristics of "falling away:"

• defection from sound doctrine

• defection from instituted worship and church government

• defection from a holy life

These are significant because these are what we are seeing in America today. I think we as Christians often deceive ourselves by thinking that in order to "defect" from the faith, we have to turn our backs upon God and reject Him and that this is somehow a one-time act that we would never do! However, Satan is wily and clever. His insidious attacks often don’t come frontally, but through devious means, appealing to the cracks in our spiritual armor. Defection from the faith often comes in a form of righteousness. In Matthew 23, the Lord Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they had chosen an outward form of righteousness, rather than an inward change of heart.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:27-28 NRSV).

The Pharisees didn’t deliberately turn away from God. In fact, they truly believed they were following Him! Their defection was subtle and over a long period of time. It may be that we are also on the path to defection if we are not careful to listen to the Word, to study it carefully, and to live it out in our own lives.


Defection from sound doctrine

Sound doctrine is that which agrees with the whole of scripture, rather than taking pieces of scripture out and basing beliefs on it. There are many unsound doctrines wafting about in America. We, as believers, must be careful to analyze what is being taught and compare it to scripture. The sources of "learning" come at us from all sides: from books, from the Internet, from social media.

Rather than grasping at the latest book, we need to grasp at the Bible and understand that publishers—even Christian publishers—are in it for the money! They will publish what sells, not necessarily what is spiritually good for us. Even worse, most of what is available on the Internet or through social media hasn’t been vetted. That means that there is no one to fact-check, to make sure that what is being said or that the conclusions being made are valid. We need to constantly be suspicious of what we see and hear, particularly if it rings true in our own hearts! Our hearts are deceitful and Satan will use our emotions and our intuition to trick and blind us. We must constantly question ourselves and what we are drawn to. Much of what we believe as American Christians is wrong! We need to start being aggressive with ourselves and totally open to the Spirit, not just for the working of the gifts, but for the revealing of sin!


Defection from instituted worship and church government

More and more independent churches are arising. A lot of it stems from the corruption from within denominations. But this speaks more to the governing of church from within a congregation! Are we governing ourselves? Do our pastors know who we are spiritually? Most of us would say no. Our pastors barely know our names! And that isn’t healthy church government.

Scripture talks about church discipline, that type of governance where we are so concerned about our sin and the sin of others that we follow scripture to the letter. That kind of discipline is rarely practiced any more . . . out of fear! The fear that we will offend someone, the fear that we will lose parishioners, the fear that we will be seen as unloving or intolerant. And yet church discipline is a part of scripture.

Additionally, many Christians have defected from church life altogether. (I did, for a time.) We give all sorts of reasons that sound good, but the fact is that we are called to be together regularly in worship. If we have defected from the Church, we have defected from Christ, regardless of how valid our reasons seem to be. We need each other! We need to stand together.


Defection from a holy life

Scripture is replete with admonitions over and over of how we should live. And yet, the mantra of Americans is "we’re all sinners, so we shouldn’t really strive not to sin." I doubt that any of the apostles would have agreed with that (wrong) doctrine. The fact is, the self-indulgent life (Well, let’s call a spade a spade) is exactly what may keep us out of heaven. Scripture speaks strongly against the practicing sinner.

What does a practicing sinner look like? Read Galatians 5.

"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (v. 19-21 NKJV).

", . . and the like"! The list isn’t inclusive. Rather it is an exemplary list. Paul previously says that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another" (v. 17). Anything that goes against the fruit of the Spirit for any reason is a lust of the flesh and can lead to practicing, habitual sin that will keep us out of heaven.

The practicing believer is living out the fruit of the Spirit. Are we kind? Are we patient? Are we faithful and loving? Do we give all things in prayer to God or do we, instead, flood the Internet with our "concerns" about the people we believe are evil (the people our Lord Jesus died for)? We need to become convicted about who we are and what we do regularly in the "name" of Christ.

The question we need to ask ourselves is whether or not we are part of those who are falling away. Likely as American Christians the answer should be closer to "yes" than "no." And if that’s the case, we have a lot of spiritual work to do.

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. 

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

But Do We Actually Pray? -- 1 Timothy 1:12-16

1 Timothy 1:12-16


"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." (NKJV)

This has been an exhausting year for all that has happened, both personally and around the world. While I think that knowing what happens around the world allows us, as Christians, to pray more effectively (if we choose to pray), it also can drain us emotionally. There is so much wrong in the world! It’s overwhelming. It’s even overwhelming trying to figure out how to respond because the tendency of humankind is to categorize events and people: right and wrong, good and bad, black and white. And yet, in most (if not all) situations, there isn’t that kind of definitive line. All of us are sinners. All of us are loved by God Who provided salvation for us. There is no enemy except the power of darkness. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV).

In fact, it’s interesting. Paul teaches, in 1 Timothy, that we are to pray for those in authority over us. "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2:1-4, NKJV). Paul admonishes believers to pray for those in authority over them, but the reason is truly revealing: because God desires everyone to be saved! We are to pray for the salvation of those who persecute us, for those in authority, for those who are rulers over us.

I have to confess that I don’t pray like this and I should. It’s so much easier to complain, to whine, to discredit, to speak against them than to pray for them. And yet Paul taught that regardless of how evil those around him (or above him) were, he was the chief sinner. It doesn’t matter how evil the leaders of our nation or our bosses or those we believe are in control are. Our own sins are no less evil. And their evil sins cannot send them more into hell; only their unbelief.

It is clear that there are forces and powers moving in the world that are totally beyond our ability to control or even understand. We can even try to escape them through many means . . . moving away, changing jobs, becoming more "self" sufficient, or protesting and rioting. Everything that we do that isn’t outlined in scripture, however, is a sin. And every sin moves us further away from God. We conquer our enemies by praying for them. We fight against evil by living the fruit of the Spirit.

In Ephesians 6, Paul outlines our weapons of spiritual warfare:

"Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV).

Every piece of spiritual armor, save one, is defensive. Protecting our hearts with truth. Protecting our lives with righteousness. Protecting where we walk with the gospel of peace (peace with God). Protecting our minds with salvation. Protecting it all with faith. The only offensive piece of armor is the sword of the Spirit which is scripture itself. And we are to do what with that sword? We are to pray! We are to be watchful that we do pray!

Knowledge won’t help us.

Change of scenery or situation won’t protect us.

Even voting or rioting or protecting won’t make a difference.

Our only recourse is to pray. It is the first and best thing to do, and ultimately, it is the only thing we can do! After prayer, the Spirit will reveal what, if anything, we should do and all that will be within the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). The Lord will never ask us to do anything outside of this list of His own dear character traits. These are the things which move us more into the center of His will and which will empower our ministry as we preach the gospel to all those around us.

Paul counted himself as the chief of sinners. He understood that only one sin separates us from God; the rest of our sins are just "stuff" that comes out of that one sin, unbelief. Those around us who are lost in darkness—whether they are those in power or just those living or working near us—have sins that are no greater or no more damning than this one sin of unbelief. And these are also those for whom our dear Lord Jesus died! Rather than becoming lost in the desolation that permeates our nation and our world, we should stand up, strong in the power of the Spirit, and begin to pray like a Church that’s truly saved and truly believes that the Lord Jesus died for all! Let’s become a strong army for the Lord and leave the rest in His care.

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

How Big Is God? -- Hebrews 8:1-2

Hebrews 8:1-2


"Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man." (NKJV)

"The true tabernacle." There was a tabernacle built by the Jews, told about in the early books of the Old Testament. It was a real building built with real materials.

That’s not the point. The point isn’t that there is a dichotomy of true and false. The point is the source of our beliefs . . . what we believe is actually happening. Of course, we do all kinds of things here in our lives on earth. We create things. We build things. We own things. We control things. . . . Or we think we do. The fact is, any sense of being in control, of creating, of owning, is a fallacy because we are nothing apart from God.

"God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight. He shrouds his throne with his clouds. He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundaries for day and night. The foundations of heaven tremble at his rebuke. By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster. His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent. These are some of the minor things he does, merely a whisper of his power" (Job 26:7-14 NLT).

He hung the earth on nothing. He created the horizon. He set the boundaries for day and night. He made the heavens beautiful. THESE ARE SOME OF THE MINOR THINGS HE DOES, merely a whisper of His power.

We are nothing apart from God. Our belief that we are in control, that we make a difference, that we can have a life apart of from Him is simply an illusion.

The problem is that it’s difficult to get a handle on this kind of immensity. God is so enormous, so powerful, so all-encompassing that to think that big makes our brains hurt. So we often try to reduce Him to something we can get our minds and hearts around. In doing so, we fail Him and we fail ourselves, because we need a big God. We have big problems and we need a God Whose power and Whose love is big enough to both take care of those problems and to care about us day after day after day.

Think about it. Don’t you have friends or acquaintances who are so needy that after awhile they simply wear on you? They can’t seem to get it together. Life is so overwhelming and nothing we do to try to help seems to make a dent in their inability to deal with their problems. I think we sometimes believe we look that way to God. We have so many problems, so many heartaches, so many sins. Why would He continue to love, continue to provide, continue to forgive? And so, we kind of drop away from intimacy with Him, thinking that if we just drift along, He will still take care of us, but then we don’t have to be reminded daily of how inept we truly are.

The fact is, the Father wants us to come to Him with every need. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves and His love pours out on us, wanting to provide, wanting to care for us, wanting to forgive our sins. He chose to provide forgiveness even before we even knew we needed it! "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 NKJV). How much more that we are now His adopted children does He want to reach out His hand and take care of us. But He won’t intrude where He’s not invited. He waits each day for us to come to Him. Today would be a great day to come into His presence, rest in His love, and learn just how powerful and wonderful He really is.

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

Jesus Is No Middle Manager -- Hebrews 7:24-28

Hebrews 7:24-28


"But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever." (NKJV)

The best middle managers are those who can wisely and adroitly balance implementing their bosses’ mandates and represent the interests of the employees to those bosses. Usually middle managers are good at one or the other of these two skills. Either they are good at telling the employees what to do (and representing the bosses) or they are good at representing the employees to the bosses. Lindsay Cross, in her blog, represents the reality of this difficulty perfectly:

"There’s simply no way to win. If you follow orders from upper management, your team will be angry. If you stand with your employees, the executives will not be pleased. When the whole thing is said and done, one side will leave feeling less than fulfilled. That’s the reality of the situation" (http://www.thegrindstone.com/2012/06/14/office-politics/managing-men-the-balancing-act-of-middle-management-157/#ixzz3GxtBVcDC).

My guess is that many of us think of the Lord Jesus as some kind of middle manager. He stands between the Father and us, trying (not too successfully) to get us to "be good" and then groveling in front of the Father to love and accept these people mired in sin.

That is such a powerless and inaccurate way of looking at what is actually happening in heaven!

I’ve been reading through Leviticus. For me, it’s a hard book to get through, all rules and regulations . . . and lots and lots of blood. "Sprinkle the blood here." "Pour the blood here." I can’t imagine the kind of life the priests in the Old Testament had to live surrounded by hot, rotting blood. The smell must have been horrible. In fact, if you read the book—really read it—you’ll find that the altar wasn’t shiny and new at all, but covered with dried blood. Blood and ashes. A much better description of the consequences of sin than the Hollywood fantasies. What God required (as a representation of the sacrifice the Lord Jesus would make for us) wasn’t pretty or sanitized. It was awful!

And it was necessary . . . because sin isn’t pretty. We desperately needed (and still need) a Savior. The Father knows this and He provided One out of Himself! He provided His only begotten Son.

The Lord Jesus became our Savior, but more than that, He became our High Priest. The High Priest was someone who would take the person’s sacrifice, place it on the altar, kill it, drain all its blood, and then destroy it with fire. The representation was that the sin was then destroyed, after the pouring out of the life blood of the sacrifice. This is what the Lord Jesus has done for us! But even as He is our High Priest, He also became our sacrifice. He was killed, drained of blood, and then destroyed by death. And now He—the perfect sacrifice—is standing before the Father, interceding for us.

The Lord Jesus—God Himself—is pleading with Himself for us. Do you see what’s happening? God so loves us that He provided a sacrifice—Himself—and then intercedes with Himself on our behalf. He knew that there was no one else in all creation who would be able to fully provide salvation in this way for us. And so He became the provision!

The Lord Jesus is no middle manager, ineffectively trying to balance the interests of upper management with the employees. Rather, the Lord Jesus is the upper management (in fact, the owner) representing both the interests of the Trinity to us and then representing us to Himself. How marvelous is that! God has become our representative to Himself! He became our sacrifice. He has become our High Priest, and He is our Savior.

"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it" (Hebrews 4:16 NLT).

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. 

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

God Delights in Our Lives When . . . (Hebrews 7:18-19)

Hebrews 7:18-19


"For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God." (NKJV)

Everything my mom told me about old age is true.

Not that I count myself old (though I’m approaching that age when I could access Social Security if I choose to do so), but I find myself having passed the age when my biological mother died and coming close to the age when my own dear mother went to be with the Lord. I’m certainly older than dirt (or so I tell my students)! And I’m finding that a great many things that my mom and my aunts shared with me as they approached the end of their lives are definitely true.

First, I don’t feel old. Oh, my body has creaks and groans and certainly isn’t as amiable to the punishment of various activities as it was a few years ago. And there are a few gray hairs peaking out amid the brown. Of course, the inevitable wrinkles and age spots have appeared. But overall, I don’t feel old. I hang out with a lot of folks younger than me (mostly because they’re much more interested in the things of life than many folks my age and older) and I keep active . . . very active!

Secondly, I’m finding that I’m living differently. Now, most of you are going to jump to the conclusion that I’m talking about how I eat and exercise . . . and I’m not! Oh, of course, I’ve changed my diet (and will continue to do so) and I stay physically active. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about how I’m realizing how little I actually understand about life itself and how it works. I’m understanding that, the older I get, the less I really know about being a Christian and serving the Lord. The more I’m becoming dependent upon prayer and trust in the Lord Jesus to guide my decisions.

I can remember when I was much younger, how I would make a certain decision, convinced on how others around me would respond . . . and then shocked when their responses were different than I had imagined they would be! Through my life I have often felt like a pin ball in a pin ball machine, simply bouncing off life (and other people) from one situation to another, trying to make the best decisions I could and simply not controlling at all what happened to me or those around me.

Totally out of control and not understanding why.

We often fail to understand why life is the way it is because we fail to understand that God has a plan for us that is far bigger, far broader, far more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. And that plan is about bringing us "a better hope."

It is this "better hope" that the writer to the Hebrews begins to discuss in chapter 7 and continues on with in chapter 11:

"And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (v. 39-40 NKJV).

In the beginning . . . once upon a time . . . God chose for Himself a people (eventually) called the Israelites (or the Jews). He gave them laws which established their culture and religious practices and which set them apart—by lifestyle—from their neighboring countries. And it was from this people that the promised Savior would come. The Jews had lived in these specific ways for over fifteen hundred years, through many generations, when the Lord Jesus was born. And although they had strayed from obedience to God, their culture was such that they really couldn’t imagine not living the way they had lived all that time.

And then the Savior came. And with Him came "an annulling of the former commandment." Everything they had imagined had changed. They felt, I’m sure, like pin balls being pushed around in a pin ball machine. What once had made sense now didn’t.

But here’s the thing: God didn’t change what He had done. He simply had (and always has had) a different perspective. It wasn’t that the rules had changed, but rather than people, in our limited capacity to see the future or to understand the past, just didn’t get it. The Jews just didn’t understand what God was doing. And what He was doing was making a way for everyone to be saved, not just the Jews. God was making a way so that all of us could be made perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ.

On a smaller scale, it’s the same for each of us. Life often doesn’t turn out the way we’d hoped or planned. Even when we make the best decisions possible, circumstances change abruptly and in a way that we couldn’t have even conceived . . . and all our plans and hopes go crashing. We can study and learn. We can think and consider. We can carefully make what seems like a totally wise decision . . . only to find ourselves facing complete chaos at the other end. How does that happen? It’s because God has a better plan for us.

There is a way to live in the midst of all of this:

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. . . The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. . . . The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand" (Psalm 37:3-6, 18, 23-24 NKJV).

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way." God delights in our lives when we allow HIM to order our days. And how much better would that be? To allow God to determine what we do, where we go, how we will live? He knows the beginning from the end and He delights in our lives when we allow Him to order our steps. What an amazing truth! When we allow God complete control over everything in our lives, "there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God."

　

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

Heaven Will Be Amazing! -- Amos 9:13-15

Amos 9:13-15


The Lord says, "The time is coming when there will be all kinds of food. People will still be harvesting crops when it’s time to plow again. People will still be taking the juice from grapes when it’s time to plant again. Wine will drip from the mountains and pour from the hills. I will bring my people Israel back from captivity; they will build the ruined cities again, and they will live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them; they will plant gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant my people on their land, and they will not be pulled out again from the land which I have given them," says the Lord your God. (NCV)

I was reading an article the other day written by a hospice chaplain. The crux of the article was that, once we die, we will be without our bodies . . . and we will miss them.

"Too often, it's only as a patient realizes that he or she will lose their body that they finally appreciate how truly wonderful it is. . . . It isn't just health that [the dying] wish they had appreciated. It's the very experience of being in a body, something you likely take for granted until faced with the reality that you won't have a body soon. No matter what you believe happens after death, be it an afterlife, reincarnation or nothing at all, the fact remains: You will no longer be able to experience this world in this body, ever again." (From http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/16/health/dying-regret-body-hate/index.html).

And reading this article, I realized how wrong our doctrine is about death, how wrong our doctrine is about heaven, and how wrong our doctrine is about God Himself!

We—pastors, teachers, elders, Christians—need to talk more about what’s happening after this life. We need to read and learn and share about how flat this life really is compared to what it will be like to live eternally in God’s presence. We need to begin to focus on the reality of true life and stop hanging onto that which is temporarily and rather poorly functioning.

Paul Billheimer, in his book Destined for the Throne (a book every believer should read), claims that the sole and only purpose for creation was to create a Bride for the Son, a Bride that would rule and reign and be active in eternity forever with the Trinity forever, a Trinity that teems with creative power and desires, a Trinity that is resting from activity simply because They are waiting for their Bride, the Church:

"From the very beginning it was God’s plan and purpose that out of the riven side of His Son should come an Eternal Companion to sit by His side upon the throne of the universe, to share with Him His sovereign power and authority over His eternal kingdom. . . . This royalty and rulership is no hollow, empty, figurative, symbolic, or emblematic thing. It is not a figment of the imagination. The Church, the Bride, the Eternal Companion is to sit with Him on His throne. . . . We are joint heirs with Christ."

I think that we are defeated by this life because we fail to actually see what is coming. We default to dreaming about some kind of "future" here on this earth because our church leaders haven’t told us about how actually amazing and fantastic our lives will be in heaven. I think we have often become Christians because we don’t want hell rather than striving full energy toward an eternity that is more fabulous than we ever could imagine. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV).

The fact is, we will have bodies, but they will be bodies so much far superior to the ones we have now! Don’t you want a new body? A body that’s not subject to temptations or sickness or dying? Do you know that everyone is in the process of dying? This life is a terminal disease. Oh, we try to stave it off with eating certain things or exercising or medicines or surgeries. We try to look younger or act younger in the hope of pushing death further away. But the fact is, if we breath long enough, we will die from it. Breathing is a terminal act because at some point, we will stop breathing. "It is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27 NLT). We are destined to die. We are born dying. We wake up each day dying. This life is a dying proposition. And as such, we should understand the nature of these temporary bodies:

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies. Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:1-8 NLT).

Father God, even after His horrible judgment on the sinful Israelites, then promised that, once they had repented, He would bring them home, but not to the home they had known before. He was (and is) going to bring them home to a land that would never stop providing for them, a land that was so plentiful that need and work and want wouldn’t ever happen anymore. This is the God Who loves us! This is the God Who has promised us heavenly bodies, bodies that will be so far more superior than the ones we have. This is the fantastic, amazing, wonderful future that He has planned for us. Isn’t anything worth this? Is there anything you would still want to hang onto if it meant you would miss out on this kind of future? To describe heaven is to take every stupendously amazing and wonderful thing you have ever experienced, wrap them all up into one experience, and then know all that can’t begin to compare to one instant of what we have waiting for us. Father God is going to permanently plant us into His creation, but no longer as subjects. We will be reigning with Him, co-Rulers, as close as we can be to Him without becoming God. He has opened up His heart and His Throne for us! How can we not be looking forward to this?

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

God Cares What We Do - Amos 8:4-6

Amos 8:4-6


"Listen to me, you who walk on helpless people, you who are trying to destroy the poor people of this country, saying, ‘When will the New Moon festival be over so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath be over so we can bring out wheat to sell? We can charge them more and give them less, and we can change the scales to cheat the people. We will buy poor people for silver, and needy people for the price of a pair of sandals. We will even sell the wheat that was swept up from the floor.’ The Lord has sworn by His name, the Pride of Jacob, ‘I will never forget everything that these people did.’" (NCV)

Yesterday, I bought a piece of wood. I needed it for a specific project and I needed it a certain size. The piece of wood I selected was advertised as being 4" high, but when I got it home and measured it, it was only 3-1/2" high (too small for the project I was doing). When I contacted the store, they explained to me that common measurements in lumber are now not what is advertised. For example, a 2x4 (which is supposed to be 2" by 4") is now 1-3/4" by 3-3/4". Of course, living in America I can tell you exactly why this has happened. It has happened because they can advertise it as the same product, charge more for it, and get more pieces of lumber out of the same tree because the pieces are now smaller. Companies do it all the time. They make the packaging slightly smaller and then raise the price slightly. It’s all about the profit margin. It’s all about making money.

The problem is that for rich people, it doesn’t matter. Even for those in the upper middle class, it’s still possible to maintain the same basic lifestyle. Just adjust a little. But if you are poor, if you are already doing without and without and without, having to try to figure out how to feed the same number of people with less food for more money is very difficult. And this kind of profit-making angers the Lord! "We can charge them more and give them less." The Lord says, "I will never forget everything that these people did."

There are two important aspects of this passage for believers. The first is that we have poor people around us. It doesn’t matter that they are poor because of bad decisions or poor lifestyles. The fact of the matter is that they are poor. They are having to do without, sometimes, the very basic things of life which can include food and housing. Maybe they are addicts who have embraced trying to hide from the pain of life. Maybe they are divorced and have lost the life they knew in the process of the marriage failure. Maybe they are simply the second or third or fourth generation of welfare recipients who don’t know anything else other than to get pregnant and apply for benefits.

It doesn’t matter!

God never put requirements on His love for us. In fact, "God shows His great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NCV). We often repeat this verse, sometimes so easily, and yet we need to understand what it really means. "While we were still sinners." While we were rebelling against God. While we were His enemies! It is at this point that Christ died for us. The Father didn’t require us to clean up our act or even understand how we were supposed to be living. Christ just died and then came to meet us right where we were, in all of our hopelessness and sin. God expects us to reach out to those around us in the same way, right where they are! If they could "clean up," it’s likely they would. But they can’t, so they need us to come alongside and help, to support, to provide, to encourage, to pray. They need us because we are the Hands and Face of Jesus in the world. And we need to do this because these are the precious ones for whom the Lord Jesus died. He died for them! We need to be willing to reach out in love like He did.

The second aspect is that God cares about what we do, not just about what we believe. I’ve heard it said, from a number of people just before they run boldly into sin, that God sees their heart, somehow trying to justify that what they do isn’t nearly as important as what they believe. The fact is, what we do is a direct demonstration of what we believe. What we do comes from the beliefs within our hearts."Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matthew 15:19 NCV). The heart (what we believe) is directly related to our actions. In fact, it is impossible to sin unless that sin begins in our hearts!

So does God know our hearts? Absolutely! He knows that we love sex more than we love Him. He knows that we love pleasure more than we love Him. He knows that we love recreation more than we love Him. He knows that we love money more than we love Him. And anything that stands between us and God is a sin.

Amos clearly describes God’s words as God condemned, not what the Israelites believed (thought their belief structure was obviously skewed), but what they were doing! Our so-called belief structures can never be justification for our choosing sin. Our belief structures actually begin the sin. So if we think that we love God, we need to think again. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 John 5:3 NCV). Loving God is demonstrated in our choosing to obey Him, rather than embracing sin. We are either loving Him or loving sin. We are either moving toward Him or moving away from Him. There is no middle ground.

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

God Will Bring Punishment -- Amos 8:1-3

Amos 8:1-3


"This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. He said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ I said, ‘A basket of summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me, ‘An end has come for my people Israel, because I will not overlook their sins anymore. On that day the palace songs will become funeral songs,’ says the Lord God. ‘There will be dead bodies thrown everywhere! Silence!’"

It has happened, frequently, within human history that two divergent paths have crossed, two very different plans, with one plan abruptly and brutally changing the other.

On December 7, 1941, a lazy Sunday morning, families got ready for church. Doctors and nurses left for what they believed would be an easy shift. A few naval officers prepared for a round of golf. The sun shone warmly on the city of Honolulu. All in all, there was nothing to indicate that this Sunday wouldn’t be like any other. However, a thousand miles away, Japanese carriers and pilots had totally different plans. They prepared for attack, for a battle that they hoped would cripple the American naval fleet long enough for Germany and Japan together to conquer most of the world. Two different plans. One abrupt, brutal convergence.

Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, people in New York woke up to their alarm clocks, turned on their TV’s to glance at CNN, grabbed a quick bagel and took off on the subways for work. Streets were teeming—as they always are in New York—with workers, tourists, and shoppers. The day was sunny, but cool, no clouds in the sky. Just a beautiful brisk New York fall day. But in two other cities, men were boarding planes, not to arrive in New York for business or pleasure, but with the purpose of destroying lives and buildings. Their hope was to bring about the collapse of the American economy. Two different plans. One abrupt, brutal convergence.

The twelve tribes of Israel had been in existence since they went to Egypt to escape the terrible famine that had hit Egypt and the surrounding countries. That was simply years and years and years ago. Since then, so much had happened. The Jews were in Egypt for 400 years, then God miraculously freed them. Forty years wandering in the desert and then coming home to the Promised Land. A time of being ruled by judges and prophets and then the time of the kings. Eventually, the country was split into two: Judah and Israel. And through it all, the people of Israel had survived. They were firmly entrenched in the land. They had homes and culture, thriving enterprise and trade with other countries. They had even been chastised by the Lord—many times—and yet nothing truly devastating had actually happened to them. Throughout it all, they had survived as a people.

There was no way that life as they had known it simply wouldn’t go on.

What the Israelites didn’t believe—refused to believe—was that God’s warning of destruction would be carried out. God wasn’t going to be thwarted. And within a generation, the nation of Israel would cease to exist completely, never again to become a whole nation. The ten tribes that made up Israel would be scattered, only to be brought together again in the very last days of humanity.

God will not be mocked. He is the Builder and Destroyer of nations. "All of you must yield to the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule, and no one rules now without that power from God" (Romans 13:1 NCV). God establishes nations and He pulls them down. If we fail to believe that, we may then fail to believe that He has the power to wield punishment upon us for our sin. The Israelites had talked themselves into believing that they were the "chosen" of God and, as such, God would never actually destroy them as He had threatened. And because they failed to believe His warnings—His many, many warnings—they continued in their sin.

There are Christians today (and I only call them Christians because that is how they self-identify) that believe they can continue in their sins, that God is so loving and so gracious that He will forgive even when they willingly choose to disobey Him. I have heard them say, "God knows my heart," and yet they have already determined to commit fornication or lying or deception or any number of sins.

Yes, God does know our hearts, and He knows when we love ourselves and our creature pleasures more than Him. He knows when we plan to satisfy our own lusts rather than to embrace the self-control of the Holy Spirit. He knows when we use grace as an excuse to sin again . . . and again . . . and again.

And He is not pleased!

God is ever loving, ever merciful, and ever forgiving. But that forgiveness comes with a price that we must pay. We must confess our sins! "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 NKJV). To confess—homolegeo—means "to confess by way of admitting oneself guilty of what one is accused of, the result of inward conviction, such confession being the effect of deep conviction of facts" (Vine’s G3670, emphasis mine).

We cannot confess without being deeply convicted of the wrongness of our sin. And we cannot be deeply convicted of that wrongness without opening up our conscience to the fact that God has called us as His children to do other than what we have chosen to do. In other words, we must repent! We must turn around; we must in the future make different choices. We must begin to move toward God. Every sin is a step away from Him. If we want to be forgiven, we must want to move toward Him, to put aside our sin and determine never to do it again.

The fact remains . . . when we sin, God is not pleased! And He will not withhold His punishment from us forever. Even in His love, "the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes those He accepts as His children" (Hebrews 12:6 NLT). He will warn . . . and warn . . . and warn . . . and then He will punish because He loves us. He will bring about that kind of abrupt change in our lives that was seen by America at Pearl Harbor and on 9-11. This is the kind of abrupt change that was experienced by the Israelites because they refused to obey Him. Their country was destroyed!

We are hearing the warnings. And as we hear them—from sermons and books, from preachers and prophets, and from the Spirit Himself—it is time to turn away from our sin and to move, one step at a time, toward our Loving Father. It is time to want to please Him!

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

Christianity a Moral Code? -- Hebrews 5 & 6

Hebrews 5:12-14, 6:1-3, 9-12


"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. . . . But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (NKJV)

"Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Christianity is not a moral code.

I think that we, as the Church, have done ourselves, God, and society a grave injustice by presenting Christianity as a moral code by which people could choose to live their lives. By doing this, not only have we misrepresented what Christianity actually is, but we have tried to insist that everyone actually embrace Christianity as a type of morality when, in fact, it is totally and completely impossible to live as a Christian without being a Christian. The writer of Hebrews wrote:

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV).

Morality is defined as "the quality of being in accord with standards or right or good conduct; a system of ideas of right and wrong conduct, a system of moral principles" (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Moral+codes). Christianity isn’t—cannot be—about doing what is right or wrong. It never has been. Christianity has always been about pleasing God, about seeking God, about moving toward Him.

Since the 1960's, there has been a movement within the American Church to separate Christianity from religion and to claim that it is a relationship. There is validity in that. Christianity is about knowing God. But, I think this "knowing" is often far different than what has been exhibited within the American Church. If we truly had the kind of relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that is described in scripture, our lives—in fact the entire Church—would look much, much different. This is the apostle Paul’s description of "knowing" Christ, of having a relationship with Him:

"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:8-12 NKJV).

I count all thing loss; I have suffered the loss of all things
I may gain Christ and be found in Him
I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
I may know the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death
This kind of knowing looks vastly different than the kind of "No Jesus, No Peace – Know Jesus, Know Peace" t-shirt logo mentality that we see from so many Christians. Paul didn’t just discuss giving up this life to cling to the Lord Jesus; he actually experienced it! He literally shed his former life and every advantage that he had in order to become a new person in Christ, not just a new person figuratively (or as we sometimes say, "spiritually"), but he literally became a new person without most of the trappings of his old life.

Paul describes his relationship with God as "the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." The word translated here "excellence" is hyperecho and means superiority or the surpassing thing. Paul compared what he had on this earth with the relationship he could have with the Lord Jesus and concluded that having a relationship with Jesus was far superior to anything that he, Paul, could possibly have here on earth.

Let’s take a look at what that actually meant in real life. This is who Paul was before he became a believer:

"If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:4-6 NKJV).

Prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus, the only way to God in the entire world was through the Judaism, the Jewish religious system established in the Old Testament. Paul is saying that he was perfect in that religious system. In fact, not only was he perfect, but he was a leader in it. He had lived and done everything required in the Old Testament to become the perfect Jew, so much so, that he had gained great power and authority within the Judaic leadership. With this came wealth, influence, andthe promise of future prominence. And he gave all this up because he found a relationship with the Lord Jesus to be far superior in every way.

Paul didn’t embrace Christianity because it had a good moral code; he embraced Christianity because knowing Jesus was far superior than any moral code could ever be. The Greek word used for "know" in this passage is ginosko and is the Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman (Strong’s G1097). In our society, we have hardened ourselves against the reality of the intimacy of sexual relations so that we can make it less than it is. But God Himself choose this word picture to communicate His desire for a relationship with us to communicate the kind of naked trust that we would need to have to know Him! When we choose to know Jesus, it isn’t a logo-on-a-t-shirt kind of relationship. It’s an intimacy where we become aware that He knows every corner of our lives, even the hidden, darkest secrets that we would like to forget. He knows our weaknesses, our faults, our doubts, our indecisions.

Knowing the Lord Jesus and the power of His resurrection is the act of trusting Him so completely that we are convinced that He will continue to love us even when we are unlovable, that He will continue to save us because we cannot save ourselves, that He will continue to give us His best because our best is just awful. And because knowing Him is what Christianity is about, Christianity cannot be a moral code. It cannot be a religion. It has to be a relationship, one in which we throw ourselves full weight upon God’s mercy, trusting Him to be Who He says He is in the Bible. Christianity has to be the process of moving toward God, one day at a time, one step at a time, faltering sometimes, but then allowing Him to pick us up, set us on the path toward Him, and move us toward Him again.

Christianity has to be that process of moving toward God through the power of Christ’s resurrection. As a Church we must discard any idea of a Christian moral code and begin to truly live in the power of the Holy Spirit. The American Church is dying because we have reduced it to what it was never intended to be. Revival—new life—will only come when we, as a Church, embrace who God always intended we should be—those who are daily moving toward Him in the power of His resurrection!

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

The Third Option -- Hebrews 5 & 6

Hebrews 5:12-14, 6:1-3, 9-12


"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. . . . But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (NKJV)


"Solid food belongs to those who are of full age"

There is no end of discussion, arguing and strife these days in Evangelical America about homosexuality and whether or not the LGBTQ community should be allowed to marry. Christians in the wedding industry are refusing to participate in gay marriages and gays are suing Christians for equal rights under consumer laws. Pastors, churches, and denominations are being torn apart by deciding whether or not they support gay marriage. The lines are being drawn and Christians are taking up sides against other Christians, one side believing that gays should be able to legally marry and the other side just as firm that gay marriage is a sin. It seems like believers are being asked to choose sides, to be either for or against. For many of us, the arguments are confusing and we don’t know how to respond, particularly if we have LGBTQ friends or family members.

Perhaps there is a third choice. Perhaps there is a third option that we, as a Church, haven’t considered . . . and which we should consider. Perhaps there is an option where we can still pour out the love of the Lord Jesus to the gays and lesbians and transgenders around us. Perhaps there is an option where we can still be the light of the world, where we can still reach out with the love that took Jesus to Calvary. Perhaps there is an option that we haven’t considered.

What does the Bible say?

"I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person’" (1 Corinthians 5:9-13 NKJV).

The New Century Version says it thus:

"I wrote you in my earlier letter not to associate with those who sin sexually. But I did not mean you should not associate with those of this world who sin sexually, or with the greedy, or robbers, or those who worship idols. To get away from them you would have to leave this world. I am writing to tell you that you must not associate with those who call themselves believers in Christ but who sin sexually, or are greedy, or worship idols, or abuse others with words, or get drunk, or cheat people. Do not even eat with people like that. It is not my business to judge those who are not part of the church. God will judge them. But you must judge the people who are part of the church. The Scripture says, ‘You must get rid of the evil person among you.’"

The Bible tells us "Do you not judge those who are inside?" (The NCV version explicitly says, "But you must judge the people who are part of the church.") By "inside," Paul is specifically and clearly talking about believers, those "inside" the Church. We are to judge them, not in the sense of what their eternal outcome will be, but whether or not they have chosen to live a life of practicing, habitual sin. If a person is a Christian and is sexually immoral (fornicators, adulterers, pedophiles, or homosexuals), covetous, an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, or an extortioner (and is that list inclusive?), then we are not to even eat with such a person. Did you even know this passage was in the Bible? When the writer of the Hebrews talks about spiritual maturity and the ability to discern good and evil, that ability is based on the experience of so knowing the Word of God that we know what it is in it and know how to exercise the tenets of the Bible in our everyday lives.

So what does this passage tell us about interacting with the LGBTQ community?

First, it tells us that there are two groups of people in our lives: those who are unsaved and those who are saved. If someone is gay, lesbian, transgendered or questioning/queer and not saved, we are to interact with them. We are not to segregate ourselves from them because we are to be in the world! We are the light and salt. We are to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). We aren’t, at this point, to even worry about whether or not they are sinners. Of course they are sinners! They are unsaved and unsaved people are slaves to sin.

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? . . . For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness." (Romans 6:16, 20 NKJV).

Sinners (the unsaved) are slaves to sin; therefore, even when they choose "good," it is still sin because they are slaves to sin. And because they are slaves to sin—because they are unsaved—they are going to hell.

Harsh words, but true. So now consider this: Is homosexuality more of a sin than lying or watching nude scenes on television or yelling at one’s children in anger? In other words, is there some sin which will send the unsaved person more to hell than any other sin? Think about it. It’s kind of ridiculous, actually, for us to think that there are categories of sins that make one sinner worse than another sinner. Being unsaved is being unsaved and being unsaved will send a person to hell. Mark 16 goes on to say:

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16 NKJV).

We are to be in the world in order to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." To every creature, to every person. How can we "preach" the gospel if we aren’t among them, loving them, befriending them, caring for them? And how can we care for them if we are spending so much time reviling them? Why would they even want to listen to us? Why refuse to bake a wedding cake or take wedding pictures? These are opportunities to "preach the gospel!" They’re there, in our business establishment, in our store! And the gospel is the Good News! You see, we absolutely shouldn’t worry about their sexual orientation. There are "good heteros" going to hell! Sexual orientation doesn’t condemn you. Failing to believe the gospel, failing to trust Jesus for your salvation, that condemns you. We need to be preaching the good news that Jesus loves each and every one of them so much that He died for them.

So why are Christians so angry at the LGBTQ community, so afraid of them?

Because, for Christians, homosexuality (in any form) is a sin! Clear and simple. And those who claim to be Christian and yet are practicing (living and doing) homosexuality should be totally and absolutely excluded from our churches and from our lives. BUT (and this is a huge "but"), so should anyone who is sexually immoral, anyone who is greedy, anyone who worships idols, anyone who abuses someone else (with words or with physical violence), anyone who gets drunk or high, anyone who cheats people or steals. All of these people need to be put summarily out of the church until they repent and give up their sinful lives. Scripture clearly says this! And yet, we know that there are even pastors who have sinned sexually (more than once) and continue to pastor. We know there are elders and people of influence who continue within the church because the leadership wants and needs their financial backing and yet these are people who regularly, through their business practices, extort and cheat people, who abuse workers (either in the US or abroad) by paying substandard wages, who are slum lords and make fortunes on the backs of the poor. We know that there are people who regularly attend church and are welcomed who on Friday and Saturday get drunker than skunk, who are addicted to legal prescription medication, who abuse (verbally or physically) their spouses, who can’t live without their televisions and smart phones . . . and the list goes on and on. And if we were to segregate ourselves from these people—WHICH THE SCRIPTURE SAYS WE ARE TO DO—the churches might actually be empty! Why? Because, in many cases, these people are US!

Those in the LBGTQ community see Christians are more than hypocritical because we refuse to take care of the sins within our own community and within our own lives. And yet we so easily condemn them! Why are we so helpless to take care of our own sins and yet so empowered to condemn the unsaved around us? Because it’s easier to point a finger than change our lifestyles. Because it’s easier to condemn than to repent.

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:3-5 NKJV).

We don’t need the gay community to call us hypocrites. The Lord Jesus Himself has already done that! The Church in America continues to call for revival, but until we are ready to repent ourselves, revival won’t come. Until we are ready to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the plank in our own eyes, the Lord isn’t going to move one inch in response to our prayers about the speck in the eyes of those around us.

There is another reason why evangelical Christians are so angry at the LGBTQ community. We are afraid for our children! We are afraid that LGBTQ teachers, actors, television shows, authors, and others of influence will convince our children that gay sex isn’t wrong. We’re afraid that our own children might even become gay.

And again, the onus of this can’t be laid at the doorstep of the LGBTQ community, but rather, we must lay it at the door of the Church. If we were doing what we should be doing about our children, this wouldn’t be our fear because we would know that these sinful people would never have access to our children until our children were grown and mature. Why? Because we would pull our children out of public school. We would turn off our televisions and devices. We would screen the reading material in our homes. We would actually parent our kids, rather than just supervise them. Our churches would reorient their financial priorities and create Christian schools without tuition for Christian families. Our church leadership would begin to understand that the future of the Church lies in our children and would provide comprehensive programs for them, rather than babysitting entertainment during the church service so that mom and dad don’t have to be bothered with their kids at least two hours a week.

We would get serious about being Christian families!

But instead, it’s so much easier to lay the blame at the feet of the unsaved who can’t do anything other than what they’re doing because they are slaves to sin! It’s easier to blame them then to look at ourselves. It’s easier to complain than to change. It’s easier to drink milk than to eat solid food. "But solid food belongs to those who are of full age." Are we working toward becoming more mature? Are we moving toward God or away from Him? Is there anyone in the America Church who is spiritually mature? Is there anyone who even wants to be?

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

Worship as a Sign of Spiritual Maturity -- Hebrews 5 & 6

Hebrews 5:12-14, 6:1-3, 9-12


"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. . . . But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (NKJV)

"Those who are of full age."

Our life choices—our ability to discern which behavior and choices are good and which are evil—show our spiritual maturity, whether we are babes or mature believers. Additionally, so does our worship, not so much the how we worship, but the why we worship.


Baby Worship

When we first become a Christian, we realize that we now have the power, authority, and right to enter into the presence of the Almighty God and talk to Him. Not only that, but we have the right to present Him with our petitions.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6 NKJV).

"Let your requests be made known to God." We have the right to come into God’s presence and ask Him for anything. It doesn’t mean He will always grant it (Thank goodness!), but it does mean that He will always listen to us. As new Christians, as babes in the faith, this is often an amazing revelation. But if we don’t grow up in the faith, we can become bogged down with this kind of relationship with the Lord. We begin to worship Him for what He can do, particularly what He can do for us. We begin to focus on the fact that He provides, He heals, He restores, He empowers, He leads, He makes the way, He blesses, He takes care of us. And He does do all that!

The problem is, when we focus on what God can do for us, the relationship begins to tilt, to become something other than what it should be. It becomes about what He can do for us, rather than about Him. Worship shouldn’t stay at this level. We need to mature.


Higher Worship

As we mature, the focus of our relationship with God begins to be about what He has done, rather than what He will do. He is the Creator of the universe (He created us). He is the Alpha and Omega (He planned the beginning and the end of everything). He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (He has worked out the steps of our lives). He is the Savior (He has saved us). So, rather than asking God to do, do, do for us, we begin to focus on what He has already done. We are grateful for how He was taking care of us, even before we knew Him, even before we were born.

Again, all this is true and all this is right, but again, this is an immature worship pattern.


Highest Worship

I think that highest worship comes when it doesn’t matter what God did or what He might do. In thinking about this, the Lord’s been taking me back to an account in Daniel.

In the Old Testament, there came a time after the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah that the Jewish people were so rebellious, so sinful, that the Lord allowed for them to be conquered. During that process, many Jewish people were relocated from their original homes to homes and cities of their conquerors, usually as slaves. When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, he took to his country a group of young Jewish boys. These boys had, up until this point, been planning out their lives as any boy would in the Jewish culture. They may be been betrothed (or thinking about it). They may have been apprenticed and learning a trade. They may have even been building their own homes, planning for the time when they would marry and be recognized as men in their communities. Abruptly, war came crashing in and they were taken as the spoils of war to a foreign country, a country where the language, culture, and daily life practices were totally different than what they were used to. For three of these young men—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—the change was all-inclusive. These young men were "good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand" (Daniel 1:4), so they were taken as slaves to the king’s palace. They were redressed, re-educated, and even had their names changed to Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-Nego. It is very likely that they were also made into eunuchs.

Think about what had happened. Everything about their lives was abruptly and violently changed with no hope of it ever going back to the "way it was", and yet these young men continued to worship God. They found favor with the king and were given positions of trust and influence. Until one day. The king decided to make a huge idol and require everyone to worship it. These young men remained true to their faith and refused. The penalty was to be thrown into a furnace and burned alive. Here is their response:

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up’" (Daniel 3:16-18 NKJV).

"God will deliver us, but even if He doesn’t, we won’t disobey Him. We will continue to worship only Him."

God had allowed everything to be taken from these young men. These men didn’t have the comfort of "Jesus as their Savior" for the Lord Jesus had not yet come. They didn’t have the comfort of a Bible by their bedsides to read daily for the only scriptures existed in scrolls that were likely still in the synagogues in Judah. They only had the knowledge that God is trustworthy and that He is Who He says He is. They trusted God’s character and worshiped Him as God, not a Provider or Savior, but simply as God. It didn’t matter whether or not God showed Himself to be worthy of worship. They already knew that He was (worthy of worship).

These three young men are only three of a multitude of people, others of which are described in Hebrews 11:

"Through their faith they defeated kingdoms. They did what was right, received God’s promises, and shut the mouths of lions. They stopped great fires and were saved from being killed with swords. They were weak, and yet were made strong. They were powerful in battle and defeated other armies. Women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others were tortured and refused to accept their freedom so they could be raised from the dead to a better life. Some were laughed at and beaten. Others were put in chains and thrown into prison. They were stoned to death, they were cut in half, and they were killed with swords. Some wore the skins of sheep and goats. They were poor, abused, and treated badly. The world was not good enough for them! They wandered in desert and mountains, living in caves and holes in the earth. All these people are known for their faith, but none of them received what God had promised." (Hebrews 11:33-39 NCV).

"None of them received what God had promised." They worshiped Him because of Who He is, not because of what He had done or what He might do. They knew God and they would worship Him, regardless of what might happen to them in this life. Worship that we give to the Lord, not because of what He does or has done, but simply because of Who He is, this is the highest form of worship that we can give.

You see, worship needs to become not about the stuff, about getting "blessings" today because the stuff here doesn’t matter.

"Now we hope for the blessings God has for His children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:3 NCV).

When we worship God for what He has done or what we want Him to do for us, we are very often wanting the blessings that aren’t in heaven. We want the blessings on earth that can be destroyed, that can be spoiled, that can lose their beauty. We need rather to turn our hearts to those things which are lasting, which are eternal—to that One who is everlasting and will never fade or leave or die. We need to learn to get our eyes off the "stuff of the moment" and be content just in His presence. Paul had learned this when he wrote:

"I have learned to be satisfied [content] with the things that I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength" (Philippians 4:11b-13 NCV).

When our worship stops being about what God "needs" to do for us and instead becomes about who we can become because of Who He is, then our worship starts to demonstrate the maturity of our faith. When we stop focusing on us and start focusing on Him, we begin to grow up in the Lord.

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com

Becoming Skilled -- Hebrews 5 & 6

Hebrews 5:12-14, 6:1-3, 9-12


"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. . . . But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (NKJV)

"Unskilled in the word of righteousness."

The word "unskilled" here is apeiros and it means inexperienced and ignorant. Not having learned and not having put into practice.

There are, I think, three kinds of Christians: those who are both ignorant and inexperienced; those who are well-versed in scripture, but who put very little of it into practice (except with their mouths); and those who are spiritually mature.

There is no excuse in this day and age to be ignorant of the Bible, but there are many who are. There are many who limit their instruction in the things of God to Sunday mornings, and then, not every Sunday morning, but only some. And I will admit, it is so easy to allow your life to become occupied—even controlled—by the things around us. We are surrounded with calls to satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Frequently, we are even told it is good for us! "Do this for yourself." "Take care of yourself before you take care of anyone else." "Love yourself so that you can love others." Add to that all the commercials and advertisements for things we are told we have to have and it’s easy to see how it would be hard to focus just on the Lord. There are so many distractions!

Regardless, there are also many tools available for us to learn about the Bible. There are, first of all, many English translations. There are even paraphrases for beginning Christians (though these versions should be discarded after the first year or so as they are not reliable for building good doctrinal foundations). While there are translations that are better than others, it’s better to start with something than to become logged down in the process. Pick up a Bible. Begin reading. Begin learning.

There are also many study helps, sometimes perhaps too many. It can become overwhelming! In Matthew 7:15-20, the Lord Jesus Himself tells us how to choose our teachers. This also means how to choose the authors that we read. He tells us that we can tell false prophets by their fruit. This word, fruit or karpos, is the same word as that used in Galatians 5. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit (or the fruit of their lives). We cannot tell false prophets by the results of their labor because even Satan can produce success, numbers, and fame. We have to tell false prophets (or teachers) by how they live. Wow! That means, we cannot usually trust published books unless the authors are dead. Why? Because their private lives aren’t exposed. But if we attend a smaller church, it may be possible to judge the life of the pastor and determine whether or not we should follow him or her. You can also sometimes tell the life of an author by what they write. If what they write is uncomfortable and challenges the lusts of the flesh, you may be able to trust them. Or if you know someone who knows them personally, you can find out if they are a trustworthy teacher. (Some good "dead guys" to read include A. W. Tozer, Alan Redpath, and John Wesley.)

Once you begin this journey of studying the Bible and have a fairly decent understanding of at least what’s in the Book, you will also need to begin a study of the basic doctrines. There are many study helps, as well as websites, to help you with this. Pray as you go and the Lord will lead you. Carefully watch the lives of the leaders of various groups who espouse to certain doctrines and it will help you decide what you want to believe. Be open to changing your doctrinal stance as you grow spiritually. Remember that "being" a Christian is a process, a journey, not a one-time event. That means that the Spirit will grow you, and as you grow, you will likely change how you think about certain doctrines.

However, none of this will do you any good if all you do is study and learn. The other part of apeiros is inexperienced. If you don’t apply what you learn—if you don’t allow the Word to change your behavior and your choices—you will remain apeiros; you will remain a baby in Christ. It’s not enough to read. You have to spend time in meditation and prayer, allowing the Spirit to convict you of the sins you’ve committed against others and to show you the patterns of sin in your life. Once you see those, you need to ask the Lord how you should change. Don’t expect Him to hit you on the head; the Lord never forces us to move toward Him! He calls, He compels, but He doesn’t force. We have to want to move toward Him, to become more like Christ! The Word will clearly show us our sin and what our life is supposed to be like, but we have to want to make the changes.

"Have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil"

These "senses" are more than just the five of taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touching. This is our sense of right and wrong, our judgment, our conscience. We can exercise our conscience or we can deaden it. If we embrace lust and sin enough, our conscience becomes dead to the evil with which we are filling our lives. If we embrace the Word and the Spirit, our conscience becomes alive and we become immediately convicted when we sin! The more we embrace the Word and the teaching of the Spirit, the more sensitive our conscience becomes. The more we quickly confess sin, the more quickly we are able to discern when we do sin. We need to become top spiritual athletes, those who train our souls and spirits to do the hard things of God. We need to grow up!

© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.

For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com