Tag Archives: Philippians

Not perfect but still learning

Posted on July 25, 2016 by | Comments Off on Not perfect but still learning

not perfectNot perfect but still learning is a statement that defines my walk with the Lord. I’m under no false belief that since I became a Christian in 2006 that somehow I am perfect. Certainly, I am not the same person I was before I received Jesus’ free gift of salvation. I am also not the person I will be when I am in Heaven with my Lord and Savior, Jesus. What I am is a sinner saved by grace who is learning about my relationship with God. I am still learning my place within the family, and my place within the local church.

Following the leading of the Holy Spirit

I’m not one who lives for the spotlight and am quite content to be behind the scenes. A couple of months back, I was asked to lead the Sunday School introduction. Within the Salvation Army, this is commonly called prelims or preliminaries. As I began to pray about what the Lord would have me do, the idea hit me.  I would create a character that really doesn’t care what others think of him. He would be goofy, strong-minded, but in love with his Lord and Savior. So, with a name suggestion from my father-in-law, Professor Bib Lical was born. Since then, he has become a much-loved character by both adults and children. He uses science and the scientific method to show the nature of our faith, the wonders of creation, and the grace of God.

For some reason, this character, in spite of his funny appearance, clumsy manners, and really bad accent, has a way of getting to the heart of what the Holy Spirit leads him to say. As I’m delivering the preliminary thought, I often watch the faces of old and young as the message the Holy Spirit is leading me to share is heard by all. Then there are times, as it was this past Sunday, where I feel that the Holy Spirit is speaking through him directly to me as if I am the only person in the room.

A teaching moment by the Holy Spirit to me

This past week the Lord laid on my heart to illustrate how many of us approach prayer. I began with the familiar verse, Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). After having this verse read by a member of the congregation, I put some flower seeds in the hand of my assistant. I asked them to plant the seeds, then ask the seeds to grow. When that didn’t work, I asked the young man to yell at the seeds. Much to the laughs and giggles of everyone in the room, the seeds never sprouted and we didn’t see blooms.

We then shared the next verse, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking (Matthew 6:7). I asked the assistant then to beg the seeds – five times – using the same words each time. Yes, it was funny. Some of the young people laughed. But it was at this point the Holy Spirit began working directly within my heart.

At the point of life I am at, I still have issues with worry. Last October, as I have previously shared, I surrendered to the Lord’s call on my life and am working towards entering the full-time ministry within the Salvation Army. It is a long process and while I do pray each day that the Lord will bring me to the point where I am actively serving His will, I still worry. I worry that I won’t be good enough. I worry that I won’t make it through the application process. I worry that my past will hold me back. I worry that I won’t be able to serve. I also worry that I will be rejected by those who makes the decisions as to whom is allowed to attend the required training.

Yet, in the middle of all this worry and fear, I was in front of people teaching what the Lord laid on my heart – “be careful for nothing…” in other words, God tells all of us not to be anxious – and as I was sharing this with those who were there, He was reminding me as well. I, too, needed to hear His message not to worry, to have faith, and to put my trust in Him.

God’s message is always common sense

I ended this particular lesson this last Sunday with the verse, I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry (Psalms 40:1). Since yesterday, I’ve really thought about the lessons the Lord taught me about my own prayer life. Oh, it is so easy to pray about something and then worry about it. Yet the Bible tells us that God wants us to pray about whatever is on our heart. We are then to adopt an attitude of thanksgiving, believing that God will answer our prayer: Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2). There are countless verses where Jesus tells us that God knows our needs, we are more valuable than sparrows, and we need to have faith. Yet, for many of us, we come to the Lord filled with worry and doubts.

We come to our prayer time filled with expectations of unfulfilled prayers and doubts. We lift our voices to the Lord without an attitude of thanks or faith that He will answer. We let our doubts and fears get the better of us. We effectively shut down our prayer life and wonder why we don’t hear from God. We wonder why He doesn’t answer our prayers. But when we pray, we do everything the opposite of the way the Bible instructs us to do. So, as I begin this week, I’m asking the Lord to help me develop a new attitude of prayer; one that is more according to the will of God than filled with worry and doubt. 

 

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Christmas and the true gift of the season

Posted on December 24, 2015 by | Comments Off on Christmas and the true gift of the season

christmasChristmas is the time of year that brings out the best and the worst in people. As I’ve shared before, I didn’t grow up in a Christian household; Christmas was the day where we opened presents and ate a lot of food. Growing up, I never understood what drove people to spend lots of money and time buying gifts of all sorts and sizes. Just this last week I read an article that said most Americans are spending between $400 to $800 in gifts, mostly on credit, for this Christmas. The same article stated that most Americans will be paying on Christmas gifts until September of next year.

Many of the local stores where I live began their Christmas decorating season in October; by the day after Thanksgiving, celebrated as Black Friday, items of all shapes and sizes went on sale in anticipation of Christmas wish lists. In many of the stores, this past Monday witnessed a change in displays that now promote Valentine’s Day items. Earlier this week I decided to share with the readers of this blog what I think has been missing from Christmas for some time.

Christmas with sincerity

Within the gospel of Matthew Jesus told his disciples, But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37). The apostle James wrote, A double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8) and the apostle Paul wrote, That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ (Philippians 1:10). Paul also wrote to the Christians in Corinth, Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8). As Christians, we are urged to be sincere in everything that we do but there are times when even the strongest in the faith will simply go through the motions at this time of the year. If Christians cannot find something wonderful – the celebration and observation of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, then how can we expect those who are lost to understand the importance of this day?

I do understand how easy it is to become distracted by the demands of what we have come to know as Christmas. The demands for the perfect gift, for the perfect holiday meal, and even the perfect Christmas cards to lists of people we believe will expect a card from us have come to replace the true meaning of this special day. In fact, for a while, I simply went through the motions of Christmas; for all outward appearances I was simply doing what was expected. However, the Lord knew my heart and knew that instead of being sincere, everything I was doing for Christmas was a façade. What I was doing was not a reflection of what was in my heart. This is not bringing honor or demonstrating our reverence towards Christ but towards the expectations of mankind. James wrote, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded (James 4:8) in testimony of how God truly wants us to be honest with ourselves, with Him, and with those around us. He also promises that if we strive to be closer to Him that He will meet us.

Christmas with the love of Christ

We’ve all heard that song, Mary, did you know? and it has gotten to the point that it is one of my least favorite Christmas songs. For Mary to be favored among all women, I am pretty sure that when the angel told her who she was carrying in her womb, she knew from the teachings from the Old Testament prophets she bore the Messiah, the Redeemer of all mankind. Now with that out of the way, knowing what He would endure in His life, He still was born according to His Father’s will. As an infant, laying in the manger that night, He knew He would teach and demonstrate Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). When we look at the world around us with its humanist messages, the pain and sickness, the loneliness, we see a world that is in need of the love of Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17) as a testimony that as Christians, we need to be grounded in the love of Christ. This means we need to be ready to demonstrate Christ’s love toward ourselves in everything we do for others. We must love without the expectation of anything in return. And our Christmas giving must be modeled after God’s greatest gift to us – a sacrificial giving without counting the cost.

Christmas must return to being Christ-centered

This seems like an obvious observation. However, as simple as it is this truth is, it is often overlooked. All it takes is to flip through the many new television Christmas specials and it becomes painfully obvious how the celebration of the birth of Jesus is being relegated to an event of little to no importance (and yes, I do know that Jesus was most likely not born on December 25th, but that is NOT the purpose of this particular post). Even the Hallmark Channel has chosen to incorporate themes of budding romances, family, and “Christmas” miracles in their newer movies but leave out the miracle of the Virgin birth. As I was watching television last night, I saw advertisements for various Christmas programming that brought this verse to my mind: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24). For me, it boils down to this – if I say I am going to celebrate Christmas for the sake of worshiping and honoring Jesus’ birth, then He needs to be the center of that worship. As I think of that first Christmas, when God gave the world His Son, as a lowly infant born in a manger, God sent the very best He had. God gave Jesus to pay for our sins out of the depths of His love for mankind. In fact, even Jesus reminded us of this during the conversation with Nicodemus: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:16-17).

It isn’t about the presents under the tree or how much the Christmas meal is going to cost. It is about gathering with family and friends to celebrate, to honor, and to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus, at the time we have set aside to honor His birth. Anything beyond our worshiping and honoring of Him simply distracts from the spirit of this holy day.

Are you going through the motions this Christmas and you know your efforts aren’t sincere? Refocus your mind and heart on Jesus. Let everything you do be out of your love of Jesus and not because others expect you to do them. God sent His Son to mankind not because it was expected but because He loved us that much. Make a conscious effort to draw the attentions of this Christmas season to Him in all that you do and if you’re like me, this will bring back the joys of Christmas and the celebration of Christ’s birth.

From my house and family to yours, have a Merry Christmas and remember that Jesus is the reason for this special season.

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Learning from the life of the apostle Paul

Posted on January 26, 2015 by | Comments Off on Learning from the life of the apostle Paul

apostle paulThe life of the apostle Paul serves as a model for Christians who want to develop a deeper and more sincere walk with the Lord. Paul’s writings are rich with insight that encourages, corrects, and teaches the basics of our Christian faith. The imagery used by the apostle Paul allows him to explain even the most difficult concepts in a manner where those who seriously desire a more fulfilling relationship with the Lord. Continuing from the most recent post, “The Greatest Race of Our Life“, we shared how that great follower of Christ had to come to the same point we all do – he had to recognize he was a sinner, he had to repent of his sins, and had to accept Jesus as his personal savior before he could be called into the ministry by the Lord.

Teaching Timothy what he knew

As Paul knew he was facing death, he wrote to Timothy, a younger-in-the-faith young man who had surrendered his life to serving the Lord. He had been called as a preacher, and Paul had taken Timothy under his tutorship to train him for the role in ministry that the Lord had set before him. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote: I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (2 Timothy 4:1-8). Even during the lifetime of the apostle Paul, false teachings were already beginning to creep into Christianity.

In his letter to the Christians living in Jerusalem, the apostle Paul wrote, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Paul chose his words to use a common item as a type of imagery to explain the power of the Word of God.  Paul chose to use this imagery for a couple of reasons, the first being that basic swordsmanship is a difficult skill to master. To become a true master of the sword, one had to know the parts, where the center of balance was, and had to spend considerable time familiarizing themselves with their weapon. The Roman soldiers of Paul’s era were true expert swordsmen and because of their training, could easily take on two to three less-experienced swordsmen. The Roman soldier’s knowledge of swordsmanship allowed the Roman Empire to expand and control much of the known world.

Paul’s own discipleship

The apostle Paul chose to use the sword’s imagery because as a Christian and a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul could not be used by the Lord until he had mastered a basic understanding of the scriptures available and the teachings of Christ that were passed on by oral tradition during his days.  The book of Acts does provide the following account of the discipleship of Paul: But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.   And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus (Acts 9:15-19). Paul, out of obedience to the Lord, presented himself to Ananias, was baptized in obedience, and spend time in Damascus learning from the disciples – the same men that had walked alongside of the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. Paul was not immediately sent out on a great missionary journey, or called to complete some great spiritual quest. The Lord, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, led him to a place where he, too, could become a disciple of Christ.

Paul, after his salvation and dedication to follow God’s plan for his life, was like any young Christian that has just come to know the Lord. We notice that before Paul could proceed further in his Christian walk, he was baptized. Baptism does not save, and outside the four Gospels, there is no clearer picture of this than the book of Acts: And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him (Acts 8:36-38). Baptism, as seen in this example, is the first step of discipleship. There’s nothing magical about it, it does not save. It symbolizes openly the change that has happened in our heart. We are publically identifying – without shame or reservation – the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. A Christian who is not baptized will not be able to complete the mission God has called them to do, or will not progress in their Christian life any further than a “Babe in Christ” until this is done.

Continued on next page.

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