God's Standard Never Changes

I recently shared a message with the church I serve as pastor on Matthew 25:31-46. In this passage, Jesus tells about an event that will take place in the future. It is a wonderful event for those who have faithfully followed Christ. It is also a traumatic event for those who haven’t.

Jesus says that those who are welcomed into heaven are not just those who say that they are followers but show it by their actions. He gives some pretty specific ways that people either demonstrate their faith or don’t.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. (Matthew 25:35-36)

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. (Matthew 25:42-43)

Jesus said that the demonstration of our faith will determine whether we are in or out. This is not to be mistaken as salvation by merits. The Bible is clear that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10).  But that faith is also one that will show itself to be true through actions in our lives (James 2:14-26).

I found this scene that Jesus talks about in Matthew 25 very sobering. We can talk a big game about believing in Jesus and being associated with Him. The truth is (from His mouth) the proof is in the fruit. We can say whatever we want, but it is only true when you can back it up.

I had wondered why this was the only place where this was talked about in such detail… that is until I read Job 31.

In Job 31, one can see this man who was having a “rough week” making a final appeal about why the trouble he was experiencing was not a result of sin in his life. In his appeal, Job exclaims…

if I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused eyes if the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow), if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep… (Job 31:16-20)

The sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler (Job 31:32)

After reading this chapter, my mind was blown. There it was in plain sight. The ways in which Jesus said that true faith is demonstrated was done by Job in his life.

God’s standards never change.  The Bible tells us that He is an unchanging God (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17).  When it comes to His standards, we should not be surprised when He says that those standards do not change either. God still demands that His followers be those who are transformed by the love of God to the point where it effects their actions.

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Stuck in the Mud

Well it happened this morning. I had gotten up early to go into town and check out the condition of the baseball field that we had practice scheduled for. It has rained off and on the past two days. I knew that our team could use one more practice before games start next week. Sadly, the field was too wet still to practice.

As I tried to leave, I made my way through what I thought was some gravel… It wasn’t gravel. It was this gravelish slosh that was about 3ft deep. My Ford Explorer is not a 4-wheel drive… So you can guess what happened.

stuck!

Yep… I was stuck. The more I tried to get loose, the deeper I went. As I sat there in disbelief that I could be duped this badly, I began thinking about something else.

There are so many people that are “stuck” in the middle of sin. Many times we think that we can overcome the things that get us off track so easily. All we have to do is “work hard enough.” This couldn’t be further from the truth.

As I sat there and looked at my situation, I quickly began to realize that there was no way that I was getting myself out of this. I couldn’t smooth-talk my way out… I couldn’t “work harder” and get out. I was completely helpless on my own.

In Ephesians 2, Paul shared some great truths with us. First, we are completely helpless in our natural situation (Epheisans 2:1-3). There is no “will-powering” your way out of sin. It does not make one sick; it makes you dead. Dead people cannot do anything.

 

Secondly, we need outside help, and God has provided that (Epheisans 2:4-5). While we were helpless, God provided our need through His only Son, Jesus. God didn’t have to help. He would not be any less holy or great if He chose to let humanity experience the full judgment for their sin. He chose by His grace to show mercy.

Third, Paul shares that only God can set us where we need to be – and where we want (Epheisans 2:6). Paul shares that not only does God give life to the sin-killed soul, but He sets him/her with Him in heavenly places.

“Only Jesus buys slaves and makes them heirs.” — @ThabitiAnyabwil #T4G2016

As I realized my helpless situation, I found myself humbled to reach out for help. Strangely enough, one of our young couples lives about a block or so away from my stuck position. As I called the guy and asked for help, I was truly grateful that our relationship was not just a Sunday morning thing.  God has placed people in our lives to be the conduit of His grace and mercy many times. It is important that you build and invest in those relationships because you never know when you will find yourself in need of a helping hand.

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"Rooted Recap"

Tonight was our student ministry's discipleship time that we call "Rooted". This is a time of no fluff. We sit down, pray, and break open God's word together. We have been going through a series on the armor of God from Ephesians 6. We are calling it "basic training."

Tonight's topic was the shield of faith spoken of in Ephesians 6:16 which says...

"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (NIV).

I really enjoyed studying for this message. There is so much good stuff in this verse that I found it hard to keeping it to a respectable length. The main thought that I think God was wanting us to deal with is this issue of faith. The faith that Paul was writing about was more of a verb than a noun. We can say that we have put our faith into Jesus Christ all we want, but what do the actions of our life say every day?

When there is an issue that comes up in our life or decision that we have to make, where do we go to first? Our friends? Our family? Our pride? Facebook/Twitter? I would hope that as a follower of Jesus, that we would run to Him first. Now I'll be the first to admit that I don't run to Jesus first with everything in my life. I wish that I could say that I do, but I can't and be truthful. To say that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our life is to say that He is in control... He calls the shots... He directs the path. When we go to Jesus first, we are showing the world around us that He is the one that our faith rests in solely.

We find that when we properly put our faith in Christ, it acts as a shield that not only protects us from the pointed tips of Satan's darts, but it extinguishes them! This means that it will save those around us a lot of heartache because they are not getting plastered by the flaming tar from those arrows.

May those of us who claim the name of Jesus and say that our faith is in Him be found true. May the words of our hands and feet show that Jesus is truly first and calling the shots in our lives. It's easy to say that our faith is in Jesus; it's a whole different thing to show it by our actions.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this passage of Scripture, my thoughts, or anything else so please feel free to leave a comment.

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Fighting the Old Man

This morning, I had a great time as I broke open my bible and sat down to see what God would have for me today. I found myself in Colossians 3:1-11 (via intervarsity daily bible study). This passage was so awesome and timely for me. It was speaking about the battle between the "old nature" and our "new nature in Christ." I don't know about you, but I find myself frequently in this battle. I was particularly drawn to one of the questions that had me thinking about "how can we set our mind on things above rather than earthly things?" As I pondered this and examined the Scriptures, I came up with four things that help in this fight...

1. Focus our hearts and minds on Christ. It is easy to just let our minds and attention wonder to and fro. If we are going to win this battle though, we must keep our minds and attention pointed to the cross and the empty tomb. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we find victory.


2. Spend time with God in prayer and His word. I find myself teaching students many times that you can tell what you love by how much time you spend with it. If we are going to win the battle against the flesh, we must take up the weapons that God has given to us (Ephesians 6:17-18).


3. Yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit that lives within us. When we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, He placed within us part of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us to live a godly life. For victory in this life, we must be in tune (not going against) what the Holy Spirit is directing in our lives. He is seeking to bring glory to God through our lives. Will we let Him?


4. Be alert to the temptations all around us. Peter warns us that the devil is roaming around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). At every turn of our lives, temptations stand there to knock us off of the path that God has for us. We must be alert and remember that we are in a war. No soldier just hap-hazardously walks around. They are constantly on the lookout for attacks. So must we be.

The main thing that stuck out to me from this time with God this morning was that I cannot just go about my day and life in any fashion. If I live life "naturally", then I will venture away from my Creator and Lord. My flesh still seeks its own way. I have to live life on purpose and alert - for the glory of God!

What are some other tools (from Scripture) that you use in the daily battle against the flesh?

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