August 1, 2014 Audio Balance

Audio Balance

Matthew 12:36-37 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

ON occasion as my wife and I travel by car, I struggle to hear the radio, so I ask her to turn up the volume. In response, she queries the condition of my hearing because the sound is almost too loud for her. Thankfully, nothing’s wrong with our ears, but the speakers on my side of the car are off. The audio is out of balance. Barb kindly adjusts the balance (I can’t see the controls.), and we both listen in balance.

     Our faith walk with Jesus can get out of audio balance when people hear us speak in faith and watch us act out of faith. Or we may act faithfully on the outside, but our words may be faithless—critical and unforgiving.

     Jesus says that our audio must be in balance with our video. What we speak, we must do. What we do, we must speak. Another word for this is integrity.

     We all know how the culture charges the church with being hypocrites. It is a harsh and often unfair accusation. But it is also too often a true charge. We confess Christ; yet, studies show evangelical Christians are as guilty of worldly living as the non-confessing population. What kind of testimony is this to our Lord? It is a testimony that minimizes and discredits him. Why would anyone be interested in a Christ-follower if it means nothing changes?

     We must live in the integrity of our faith. Integrity is about being salt and light to the world, about worship and about your eternal salvation.

LIFE Link: Balance your audio with your video.

July 31, 2014 Treasures

Treasures

Matt 12:35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. (ESV)

WHAT kinds of things do you treasure? Are they good things that help you and others? Or might they be things that harm you and others?

     Jesus speaks to us about treasuring the good things of God. One of the ways scripture succinctly lists those good things is Paul list of Spirit treasures: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23) These words are often quoted, but I believe they take on even more power when you see them in light of Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  

21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

     Paul warns against treasuring evil because he knows Jesus has warned. Sadly, most of us treasure these evil things to some degree. I think most of us can pick out two or three of that list that we keep around and put into use. We may, for example, treasure fits of rage instead of treasuring patience. We could treasure envy instead of treasuring goodness. You get the point.

     Jesus knows that as a result of sin, our hearts are treasure chests of evil. He has come to empty our hearts of what we treasure and fill them anew in faith that we will treasure the fruits of God’s Spirit.

LIFE Link: Treasure God.

July 30, 2014 Not Warm

No Warm

Matthew 12:33-34 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

WE are influenced early in our lives with pictures of Jesus as a warm, fuzzy friend. Many visual expressions of Jesus evoke a feeling of, “I want to be with that man.” We have such a drawing on the wall of our home.

     I think these are very appropriate pictures of the ultimate place Jesus wants us to be with him. Any God who would come from heaven’s throne to die for his wretched creation leaves no doubt of his intentions. Indeed, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

     It is in this statement Jesus defines his “temperature” toward you. Jesus is not warm or in the middle of the road as he confronts sin. Sin is death and destruction. All outward signs of sin point to the horrible consequences of hell. Jesus hotly contends for those he loves. He burns with anger against such hypocrisy the Pharisees displayed. He calls them out: “Be good or be bad. You can’t be in-between. Don’t pretend you are good when you’re rotten. Don’t tell the world one thing and do something different. You’re a bunch of guys bent on destruction. Who you are shows up in the rotten fruit your words bear to the world.”

     Jesus wasn’t warm, he was and his hot for you. He did not, could not, will not tolerate lukewarm or cool responses to him. We need to be hot for Jesus.

LIFE Link: Jesus’ great passion.

July 29, 2014 Bottom Line

Bottom Line

Matthew 12:31-32 “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

The central focus of Jesus’ constant exchanges with the Pharisees is the question, “Is Jesus of God or not?”  The Pharisees readily rejected Jesus’ divine nature. They stuck to the blasphemy of their sin-limited thoughts.

     The word “blasphemy” comes from a Greek meaning “to speak stupid things against”. We understand Jesus then to say, “every sin and stupid thing spoken will be forgiven men, but the stupid things spoken against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”

     How would you feel if someone told you that you are speaking stupidly? No wonder Jesus’ words enraged the Pharisees. He directly attacked their prideful knowledge! That’s hard for learned men to hear.

     That’s also hard for us to hear. We pridefully hold to our opinions, too often standing on the edge of Jesus’ words, thinking perhaps they are “stupid”. Oh, we don’t say it, but can we really believe all he tells us—the promises, the hope, the forgiveness, and even the love?

     Yes, our faith gets weak, and we’d rather trust worldly pleasures than Jesus. Jesus knew such things would happen, and he says he will forgive those sins. But he does draw a bottom line.

     That line is the unforgivable sin that speaks, “It’s stupid to believe the Spirit and the Son are of God.”  

LIFE Link: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

July 28, 2014 For Jesus

For Jesus

Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

HAVE you met someone and decided, “I will be neither for her nor against her. I will acknowledge her, but I will not try very hard to get to know her. I’ll even speak well of her, but I will not take time to be with her.”

     It’s likely you’ve made some decisions similar to that regarding people you know. You have nothing against them, nor do you have anything especially in favor of them. You acknowledge them. But you never have a real relationship with them.

     Many people treat Jesus in this way. They say they believe in him and even acknowledge his teachings as good things to know. Even those of us in the church speak of Jesus as Lord, Savior and friend. But do we truly pursue him to have a real relationship with him? Or do we keep him in a neutral place in our lives, not sure we want to truly be for him?

     Jesus says that it is not possible. Being “for” Jesus, you diligently and purposefully seek him to get to know him. Sometimes Jesus’ words are very hard for us to hear. They convict us. They cause us to see our sin. As a result we don’t want to be for Jesus.

     But we must remember how God has repeatedly and historically demonstrated his great passion for you. There is no arm’s length, lukewarm relationship with such a God, who is so eternally, passionately for you. Let him put his arms around you. Feel his loving desire for you. Live fully for him in response to his deep, high, wide and long love.  

LIFE Link: There is only one way you can be with Jesus.