Love One Another

There are a lot of angry voices in the world. In the news, in politics, social media - you hear them everywhere. Many of these voices claim to be followers of Jesus. It can be so confusing. Fortunately, Jesus told us how we can spot a real follower of his. This is what Jesus said: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 (CSB) The idea here is: love is something one does - it can be seen. These loving actions are a true marker of a follower of Jesus.

 

In the letter that James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in the New Testament, he says explicitly that this is so. James wrote: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that —and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” (James 2:14-22 NIV)

 

The apostle John agrees with James when he wrote: “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6 NIV)

 

What then did Jesus command? How did Jesus live? The apostle John in his gospel gives us the answers to these questions. John wrote that Jesus said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:10-12 NIV) You can spot a true Christian if they are a loving person who follows Jesus – who is learning to love like Jesus loved. This is how Jesus lived.

 

Love grows in a Christian like a fruit. It may start small, but it certainly grows. I encourage all Christians to obey Jesus’ command to love one another, growing this fruit. And I encourage all those who are seeking the real and living God to look for Christians who love like Jesus commanded. They can help you know the Truth.

Faith or Presumption?

There is a real difference between faith and presumption. But if it was really easy to tell the difference, a lot fewer people would make the common mistake of thinking that they are acting by faith when instead they are acting in presumption.

When Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw himself off the temple, the devil used scripture to make his point. It was certainly true that if Jesus fell off that pinnacle, the angels of God would lift him up so he wouldn’t have been hurt. But Jesus’ response was that scripture says that we are not to tempt the Lord,  even by our use of scripture. What did Jesus mean by this?

 

Just because God promised protection doesn’t give us the right to go and recklessly put ourselves in harm’s way, forcing God to back up his promise. What kind of relationship with God would that be? One of us loving God? Or one of arrogance, trying to force God’s hand?

 

There is a verse at the end of Mark that reads, Mark 16:17-18 (ESV) “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” I want to focus in on the part that reads “they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them”.

 

There have been groups of Christians, because of these verses, who have had poisonous snakes and poison in their worship services. They say something like, the Bible says it, I believe it, and it’s so. Yes, it’s so, but like Satan’s temptation of Jesus, just because it is scripture doesn’t give us the freedom to try to bully God. That would be acting presumptuously. The intent of that verse is fulfilled in situations like the one Paul found himself in in Acts 28:2-6. There Paul was putting some wood on a fire and a poisonous viper bit him on the hand. The locals thought he would die, but nothing happened. So they wondered, who could Paul be? Thus Paul was able to preach the gospel to them.

 

These promises of protection - like Psalms 91:3 (ESV) “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence” - are there to encourage us in times like today. But to act presumptuously would be unwise. For the scripture also says, ”The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Proverbs 22:3 (ESV) Proverbs 27:12 says the same thing.

 

So let’s act in faith, trusting God for our safety and deliverance, not being fearful or panicky. This honors God. So does acting prudently in the face of danger, danger like the COVID-19 virus.

Christlikeness

When my wife and I began to have children my wife was always looking at our kids and trying to determine who in our families they looked like. This child had my forehead, and that child had her mother’s lips. I couldn’t see it at first like my wife could, but as the children grew older, I began to see what my wife was seeing. It was our family look, our family identity. Years later anyone could tell that we were a family because we looked and did things like each other.

 At the very beginning of the Bible God says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” The next verse reads, “So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” (Genesis 1:26-27 CSB) One of God’s desires in creating humanity was to have us look like him.

 

Jesus is God’s son. The apostle Paul tells us explicitly that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”. (Colossians 1:15) Jesus himself said “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) God’s purpose in creating humanity was fulfilled by Jesus. Jesus did everything that God had ever wanted in humanity. Now, the question is, how do we come to look like Jesus? What would be our family resemblance?

 

One defining characteristic of God is that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) So those who love look like God. Love is a defining characteristic for those in God’s family. Like with all family characteristics, they are received from the parents. In this case the parent is God himself. Like the Apostle John wrote, that to all who received Jesus by believing in him, God gave the right for them to be children of God. (John 1:12-13) By receiving Jesus as God’s Son and endeavoring to do what Jesus taught, a person begins to live a life of love.

 

Learning how to love is a life-long journey. It is made much easier by doing to others what Jesus has done to you. The more you know of God’s love for you, the more you are able to love others. The Apostle John wrote that we love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19) 

 

Jesus once told a parable that relates to this about a guy who was going to go an a journey and gave his servants different amounts of money to invest. When he got back he was going to reward them based on how well they invested what they were given. Everyone did real well except for the person who received the least amount. That person was afraid to lose the money and had hid it in the ground – he did not receive a reward. Jesus’ point was this: invest into others what God has invested in you. Has God forgiven you? Forgive others. Has God been patient with you? Be patient with others. Has God helped you? Help others. Do this and you will grow in love, the family resemblance.

A Change of Heart

 A story is told of a mother who brought her son into church one Sunday. The boy stood on the pew and the mother asked the little boy to sit down. “Please sit down,” she asked. “No,” answered the boy. More firmly the Mom said, “Please – sit – down.” “No!” said the boy. Exasperated, the Mom pushed the boy down into a sitting position with a loud “SIT DOWN!” The boy looked angrily at his Mom and said, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!” 

We don’t want to be like that little boy, looking like an obedient child, sitting so nicely, but in his heart he is actually completely different. What can change our hearts? True repentance.

 

Jesus once told a series of three parables, recorded in Luke chapter 15, about repentance. Seems that there were certain folks who took exception to Jesus’ continued relationship with people who were known to be of a low moral character. They did not see that these people had repented. Jesus explained the situation to his accusers in these parables. They apparently did not know what repentance really was.

 

Jesus spoke of a shepherd who had 100 sheep when one wandered away and became lost. The shepherd found the lost sheep and brought it home. In the parable, Jesus equates the shepherd finding the lost sheep as the moment of repentance. What did the sheep do to repent? Nothing.

 

Then Jesus tells another similar parable of a woman who had 10 coins and lost one of them. She searched and searched until she found it. Jesus again equated the finding of the coin with true repentance. What did the coin do to repent? Nothing.

 

Knowing that this could be confusing, Jesus tells a third parable to clarify his point. It is often called the parable of prodigal son. In this tale, the younger son insults his father, demands his inheritance before the father dies, and goes off and spends it all on wild living. After he has spent it all, he can’t make enough money to even feed himself. He decides then to ask his Dad if he could just be an employee, no longer worthy to be his son.

 

His Dad sees the boy coming from a long way away and runs to him, hugging and kissing him, calling him his son. At this point the boy stopped, and, realizing that he father really did love him, asked for forgiveness. Nothing was said about becoming an employee. Here was the point of repentance: the boy believed his father and accepted his father’s love. This is repentance. What did the boy do? Nothing, really. He just came and asked for forgiveness. The relationship between a father and wayward son was restored. The father initiated, and the son accepted, his father’s restoring love.

 

The associates of Jesus had reestablished their relationship with Father God by believing in Jesus. They were “sitting down on the inside”. They had repented by receiving Jesus, by accepting God’s love. Like the sheep and the coin, the boy was lost and then found. We too can be found by God when we receive Jesus and His love. This is the heart of true repentance: a change of heart about Jesus. This is how we become a child of God.

Alpha and Omega

 Many of us have heard the term “Alpha and Omega” applied to God. It usually means that God is in the beginning and the end of all things – that God himself is the Beginning and the End. While I do believe that this is true, I once had an experience that placed this divine designation in a different light.

 My mother usually came from Michigan to visit me and my family in Oregon every summer. We would all go together to the beach in Lincoln City for a week. Each year we looked forward to this time with great anticipation. We were in the process of making plans again for our special time, when my mother informed me that she would not be able to come this summer. She was seriously ill from cancer and could not make the trip.

 

We were devastated from this news. I knew I had to go back to Michigan to see my mother before she died. I thought to myself, “If my Mom can’t come to the beach, I’ll bring the beach to her.” She loved the beach, the sand and water. “I’ll go to the beach and dig up some sand and bring back a bottle of the sea water for her.”

 

When I arrived at the beach to collect my gift, it was storming; wind and rain drenched me. I went over to some rocks and filled up my water bottle. As I was getting a little teary eyed, thinking of how much my mother loved the ocean, I turned to look at the sand. The sand is ALL blackened from a recent oil spill. I’m soaked, emotional, and really needing to quickly find some clean sand.

 

I notice a patch of sand near the beach grass. It has an odd orange spot within it. I wonder, what is that? Walking over to the clear bit of sand, the orange spot begins to come into focus through my water spattered glasses. I get on my knees and the orange spot resolves into a toy shovel, probably left behind by some child. I use it to conveniently fill my bag with sand. It occurs to me that God has provided a tool for me so I can put the sand into the bag without having to use my hands. How kind!

 

But then my heart breaks. “Why is it,” I pray out loud, “I can see you in the small things, like this shovel, but it is so hard for me to see you in the big things, like my mother dying of cancer?”

 

A thought, right then, came to me: “If I am in the little things, I am also in the big. I’m the Alpha and Omega.” This concept instantly brought me peace. I could trust that God had not abandoned my mother in her time of need. The picture was bigger than I could see from where I stood.

 

Yes, my mother died of cancer a short while later. We buried the sand and water with her. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega -- the Beginning and the End -- who is in the Small and in the Big.

Fruit In Old Age

I have always wondered about that part of scripture where Jesus curses the fig tree for not having fruit, even though it was not the season for bearing fruit. Here is that passage of scripture:

Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 (NIV) The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

Why did Jesus curse this fig tree? Maybe it was just a setup to show the power of believing? Since every time in the Gospels when this incident is recorded Jesus uses it to teach the power of faith, this could make sense. Except that it still doesn’t answer my question, why did Jesus do this? Why was it right for him to expect fruit on a tree in the off season?

Psalm 92:12-15 gives us a clue. “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."”

In this passage the righteous old folks will still bear fruit and be fresh and green. Yet old age is not the normal time to bear fruit. Having children is for the young. Older folks begin to wither since God has bound all things over to decay. How then do they do have fruit at the wrong time? By proclaiming that the Lord is upright and that there is no wickedness in him.

How do they know this? They have lived a full life. They have seen good and evil. How did they prevent their hearts from bitterness from seeing all the evil that happens to people and that may even have happened to them? They knew God as their Rock. They have come to trust Him and His word. The confessed the truth about God in worship and praise. They have seen and declared that there is no wickedness in the Lord their God.

Their fruit is a supernatural fruit that does not depend on the anything natural. Jesus was looking for supernatural fruit. This is why, I think, that Jesus had a right to expect fruit. He wasn’t looking for naturally generated figs, but supernaturally generated figs. The fruit God is looking for from us is not the kind we can produce on our own, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us. 

Anger

 If you watch the news, listen to your friends (or former friends!), wander around Facebook, or any social media, something is bound to give you an opportunity to be angry. Seems as if our entire social environment is purposely feeding people’s anger, flaming it into a bonfire of rage. It doesn’t matter whether you are Indigenous or non-native, democrat, independent, or republican, white or black, there’s plenty of real things happening to get the heat to rise.

 

So, what do we do with all this anger? Years ago I had severe lower back pain. The doctors could find no physical cause that would produce the level of pain I experienced. After a while, I discovered I was very angry, yet I wouldn’t admit this to myself. Why? Because I was angry with God. How could I, as a Christian, justify my being angry with God? I couldn’t, so I sublimated my anger. I hid it from myself, yet the physical effects still happened. My lower back tightened, causing real pain. Eventually I found, by admitting to myself that I was angry with God, that my pain went away. It wasn’t the anger in itself that caused my pain, it was the denial of my anger that did that deed.

 

The Bible has a lot to say about anger. Two verses come immediately to mind. One is Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIV) - “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Another is James 1:19-20 (NIV) - My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

 

Additionally, the Psalms often are concerned with anger, and much of it is about God’s anger. In the Psalms, God’s anger with evil and wicked people is explored in depth. Yet with God, anger is not about being offended or wanting to retaliate, but about justice. When God acts on his anger, justice is carried out.

 

Our anger does not make God nervous. Nor does it surprise him or cause him to reject us. We don’t need to hide our anger from God. God’s way of dealing with His anger was the cross. Jesus, God incarnate, took upon himself on the cross all the evil humanity has done. Jesus gave his life to forgive all those who angered him. So when we pray, expressing our anger to God, God has the opportunity to help us see things the way he does.

 

When the writers of the Psalms are angry, they turn to God for justice. To leave God out of the equation when we are angry is to experience anger with no hope for justice. This kind of anger progresses to bitterness, hopelessness, and violence. When you are angry, communicate to God about it in prayer. Then wait for God to help you see how to respond out of concern for the people who angered you, instead of getting revenge.

Playing the Music

 Playing the Music

 

I was asked a difficult question this week by a man who was seeking understanding. He asked me, “What is the biggest problem the church has in communicating its message to our society?” I was stunned for a moment trying to think of my answer. I then remembered something I had read recently (I don’t know where), which was an excellent summary of this issue.

 

My answer went something like this: Bach was a great composer. His music was some of the best that was ever written. Yet when someone who is not yet skilled tries to play a Bach cello sonata, it doesn’t sound very good. If your only exposure to Bach’s music was through people who couldn’t yet play it very well, you might conclude that Bach wasn’t a very good composer. The problem wasn’t the music, but how it was being played. So too the church’s problem in communicating its message to our society is not a problem with the message, but how it is played.

 

The church’s message, its music if you will, is the greatest and most beautiful ever written. But it is also, like many of Bach’s compositions, very difficult to play well. Our music has lines like “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16) Or “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) The church’s ability to communicate this first line has to do with how well they play the second.

 

Like all music, to play it well takes practice. One has to put in the effort to master the material. It is not enough to just know which note follows which, although that is very important. To play music well, it has to become part of you. Your focus is on the music itself, not the mechanics of playing.

 

When Christians learn to love well, our message can then be heard. We won’t obscure it with a mechanical rendition, or by faking what we have not yet mastered. There needs to be examples from those who play the message well, so the rest of us can know how it should sound.

 

Fortunately, such examples exist. Jesus Himself is the message, and an example of how the message is to be played or communicated. The apostle Paul encouraged us Christians to “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Romans 15:7) When we do this, Jesus, and Jesus’ message, is heard clearly. The music is being played well.

 

So to those who are not Christians, I want you to remember that the music of Christ’s message is much deeper and more beautiful than anyone of us can ever play it. Hopefully, from time to time, you see glimpses of the grandeur of the music God wrote through Jesus. I invite you to come and learn, and become a person who truly loves God and people. 

Near Misses

One of the more difficult things to respond to are near misses. What I mean by this can be understood by a story I sometimes tell. One of my daughters as a 2 year old picked up a phrase from our neighbor. The phrase was "Jesus Christ". Now the words were fine - the problem was the inflection. Our neighbor often swore using the Lord's name. Our innocent daughter imitated it exactly! It took us a while to separate the phrase from the inflection for our dear daughter.

A lot of teaching I hear today, as well as in the past, is good but the emphasis or proportion is wrong. It is out of balance with the rest of scripture. In order to develop a biblical teaching ALL the verses that relate that concept must be considered. Now, that is a lot of work and takes a lot of time - years in fact. It is much easier to find some verses that say what you want to say and then just teach it. Except that distorts the biblical message.

So I find myself often in the spot where what someone is teaching or asserting is sort-of right but out of balance or proportion. Fortunately I need not respond to it all. But when I do, it is as difficult as getting my young daughter to stop saying "Jesus Christ" with a very wrong tone of voice.

Learning to Love

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When Malana was pregnant with our first child, she became really ill with “morning sickness”. You know, the kind that lasts all day and goes on for 7-8 months. She discovered she was pregnant soon after the second month of our marriage.

I was working making office furniture that was usually covered with a plastic laminate. In order to clean off the excess contact cement I washed my hands and everything else with lacquer thinner. Now this lacquer thinner would get into my breath and would take a while for it to completely dissipate.

Since we were newly married Malana was going to be the perfect wife and greet me with a kiss as I came home and came in the front door. But these days that I worked with the contact cement were becoming more common, and, when she greeted me at the door with a kiss, she would get a biff whiff of lacquer thinner. Her poor unsettled stomach couldn’t withstand the shock and she would run to the bathroom and vomit.

This went on for some time. I would go to work, come home, get greeted at the door with a kiss, and Malana would run to the bathroom and vomit. Besides all this, the smells of food being cooked were too strong and she felt lousy all the time. Not much got done while I was away at work.

Soon afterwards I went outside to the back porch, lifted up my hands, and complained to God. “God”, I said. “This is awful. This isn’t what I though marriage would be. What am I to do?”

There have been few times in my life where God so quickly answered. He spoke clearly in my heart in a voice that allowed for no wiggle room. He said, “Go back in there and love her!”

Well, that made sense to me. The Bible does say after all the husbands are to love their wives. So I went back I there and loved her.

But nothing changed. She still greeted me at the door with a kiss and ran to the bathroom to vomit. I still needed to do most of the cooking and stuff. After two weeks I got tired of it all and went again out to the back porch to pray.

“What should I do now Lord?” I asked. “I loved her but nothing has changed.” No sooner was my complaint out of my mouth than I heard again the voice of the Lord, the voice that breaks cedars, speaking in my heart. He said, ever so clearly, “Go back in there and love her!”

Then it dawned on me. I was to love her because I was to love her, not for the changes I thought it might make. She was deserving of love, always.

Testing Prophecy

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Paul exhorted us to test all things and to hold fast to the good. Because of the context it is clear that Paul wanted us to test prophecy given by fellow believers. Jesus also wanted us to test the prophets, even those in sheep’s clothing. Additionally, it appears that this testing could be extended to all Spirit ministry. The purpose of this testing was for the believer to be able to tell the difference between what has truly come from the Spirit of God and what has not. This testing is so that we will be able to separate the good from every form of evil, preventing our deception.

Why be so concerned about deception? Jesus and his apostles taught us that in the last days deception would be the main danger. When we are deceived we believe a lie, but are not aware of it. Since belief is the basis for all action and relationships, wrong beliefs result in destructive actions and relationships. Ultimately we will be judged on what we have believed as evidenced by our actions. True beliefs lead us into a love relationship with God and others while false beliefs do not. Deception then is a means by which our healthy relationships with God and others are broken.

Because of this we can see how important it is that we are not deceived. Now it is true that not all false beliefs are equally dangerous. Believing that Jesus is not our savior is far more dangerous than believing in, say, a limited atonement. (I can feel a discussion brewing!) There are areas in which differences of opinion are not necessarily debilitating and there are other areas that will destroy our relationship with God. It is important that we maintain a sense of proportion.

How then can we tell whether or not some spiritual activity is from the Holy Spirit or not? We will have to have some authority guide us here. We will have to be taught. Why do I say this? How would any of us know the answer to this question, for sure? Who has the right to say anything about this but those who undoubtedly have known this Spirit? This is why I propose scripture, the Old and New Testaments. No one in scripture has our cultural biases. And for my money, they are ones who undoubtedly knew the Holy Spirit.

Throughout time people have had to deal with the problem of who speaks authoritatively for God. Prophecy is where someone speaks for God as God directs, often in the first person singular. (Rev19:10, 22:6-9; Amos3:8) People who wanted to know the truth have always had to choose between those who spoke for God and those who claimed to speak for God. How were they able to distinguish between the two? What happened in the past and what can we learn from them?

The first situation that comes to mind is when Noah tried unsuccessfully to warn the world of the impending flood. Only his family listened. Even with the evidence of all these animals coming to the ark in pairs, people didn’t listen. No one had ever seen what Noah was talking about. Noah spoke of rain, floods, worldwide judgment, and cataclysm of a degree never before known. Besides, people didn’t want to repent. So Noah got no converts. Was Noah’s message from God? Yes. But people couldn’t tell because their hearts were hardened. They wanted their own way regardless. Noah’s message was right and he persisted with it for 120 years. He built an ark and gathered the animals (maybe even miraculously) and his family, demonstrating his sincerity. Still, his message went unheeded.

This shows us several things. The first is just because the message is strange and no one is listening does not prove that the message is not from God. It also shows that the reason we are not listening may have more to do with our hard heart than some flaw in the message. Herein is a key to knowing the voice of God û the receptivity of our heart. Do we really want to hear from God, or do we only want God to confirm our own opinions? Unless we are open to correction we will have a very hard time hearing from God. Does this mean that when God speaks he only speaks correction? Of course not. But unless we are open to whatever God might say, we will have trouble hearing. Unless we hear, we cannot decide whether the message is from God or not.

Since Moses was afraid that the people would not believe that God had met with him, God gave him confirmatory signs. This method was used throughout the Bible. Jesus, the prophets, the apostles all had miraculous signs to confirm that their message was from God. Yet signs were never given total confirmatory power. In other words, signs could confirm the message, but the message had to conform to the standard already given. Signs alone, or signs with a suspicious message, confirmed nothing. Signs alone cannot accredit the messenger. But signs can confirm that the message, when the message was consistent with previous messages from God, is indeed from God. (Dt 13:1-3, 18:21-22)

Why the need for signs if the message was consistent with previous messages from God? Sometimes it is because the people who are being communicated with have not understood the previous messages. Take for instance the coming in of the Gentiles into the people of God. It took many signs from the Spirit of God to lead Peter to the house of Cornelius. It also took a mighty demonstration of the presence of the Spirit in the lives of those Gentiles for the Jewish believers to accept the Gentiles and baptize them. Even then Peter was called to task by the leadership in Jerusalem. His answer was simple. Who am I to resist God?

Sometimes signs are used when the message challenges our accepted beliefs. If it weren’t for the signs, we would not reconsider our beliefs. Yet signs do not have the strength to change our beliefs on their own. The message must be, as the Bereans noted, consistent with what God has communicated before in the scriptures.

Jesus also taught us to Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matt 7:15-20 NIV So we can tell if the Spirit is working through someone by their fruit. This presupposes a few things. One is that we know this person life well enough to test for fruit. The second is that we know what good fruit looks (tastes?) like. Knowing the person who ministers by the Spirit is essential.

I suggest that the fruit Jesus mentions is the same as the fruit that Paul lists in Gal 5:22 as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. So also in Eph 5:9 the "fruit of light" is found in "all that is good and right and true." Contrasted with this are "the unfruitful works of darkness" (v. 11), the "fruitless trees" of subversive teachers in Jude 12. One of the characteristics of the "wisdom from above" is that it is "full of mercy and good fruits" (Jas 3:17, 2 Pet 1:8). In order to see such things we need to actually know that person. The more a person is disassociated with the local church the harder it is to assess fruit, and the easier it is to hide bad fruit.

If the prophetic word is consistent with scripture and is being communicated through a person of good fruit, it passes the initial test. All of this needs to done through a relationship with the Holy Spirit. You might remember when Agabus warned Paul of the binding he would receive by the Gentiles in Jerusalem. Paul wasn’t hard of hearing, he knew that what was said was true. He also knew the Lord was sending him and that he was willing to suffer for the Name. How the prophetic word given to Paul was to be interpreted by Paul, not others to whom this word was not addressed. So how the word is to be applied needs discernment.

Paul warns the Thessalonians not to put out the Spirits fire by looking down on prophecy. Instead they were to test everything and hold on to the good. Prophecy is one way that God mediates his presence though his people. If there is a need for anything now, it is for God to lovingly intervene in peoples lives. Prophecy is one way God does this. Lets avoid evil by not putting out the Spirits fire.

Fulfilling of Prophetic Words

One of the important things that came out of this visit to Kamchatka for me was the realization that many people did not know how God fulfills His prophetic word to them. Many people thought that the prophecy was a snapshot of the future given to them by God that will, indeed must, come to pass. They felt that no matter what they did this word must be fulfilled. Additionally, when in the prophetic message it was stated that they would do something in the future they would begin to prepare to fulfill it in their own strength. Thus they would try to fulfill things that God said He would do for them in a way similar to Abraham and Sarah having Ishmael before Isaac. Then when things didn't work out they way they expected they would lose faith in Jesus.

This was a shock to me. I realized that 

I had not taught enough on this topic. It hurt to see a few people who, through such a misunderstanding of the way God worked, damaged and even sometimes abandoned their faith. The prophetic word can be so uplifting, generating faith and hope, that to see some hurt by this misunderstanding brought grief to my spirit.

I was able to do some teaching on this topic, going from Jonah the "false prophet" - after all, the people repented and so did the Lord - through some of my life experiences to our father Abraham's positive and negative actions in his walk of faith.

In the end, Jesus told us that the reason He tells us something before it happens so that when it does happen we will believe. Believe what? Believe that out God is able, even more than able, to fulfill every word He speaks to us. By the fulfillment we will see God's handiwork in our every day lives. Our responsibility is to believe the word He speaks to us and trust Him no matter what. By the fulfillment of the prophetic word we get to know our God that much better. He tells us in advance so that we will believe.

For This Reason

Recently Malana and I were thinking about that verse in 1 John 3:8 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." NIV When we thought about what the devil's work was, our conversation went back to the very beginning in the garden where Satan tempted Eve. We noticed that the snake's tactic was to drive a wedge between Eve and God by smearing God saying that God was trying to hold something back from them. His tactic was to get Eve to mistrust God. Then when the mistrust was in place Eve was already in sin. Concerning sin Paul wrote that "everything that does not come from faith is sin". (Rom 14:23 NIV) So the devil's work is primarily get us to mistrust God.

Shortly after this conversation Malana was in the car by herself complaining to the Lord that she was getting very frustrated with the Lord because He didn't seem to be answering some specific prayers she had prayed. She then said, and I quote, "I don't know if I can trust you anymore."

Of course when she said this our previous conversation came back to her mind and she realized that the driving this wedge of mistrust between her and the Lord was the devil's work. Eureka! She discerned what was actually happening: she was being tempted by the devil to mistrust God!

So Malana and I have something to say to you all: Never mistrust the Lord. Don't give in to the devil's work. Jesus is worthy of all our trust. He came and suffered humanity's judgment so we could be freed from our bondage to death. By this He has demonstrated to us the depth of His compassion and love for us all. He took the responsibility of mankind's sin, though He was without sin, and gave to us His very life.

Through faith he now lives in us. We are now eating of the tree of life. Never go back but continually trust our Lord - for He is Worthy!

The Harvest - Bible study notes

3.      The Harvest

a.      The harvest is the end of the age,

Matthew 13:39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

b.      Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Gal 6:7

c.       James 2:12-13 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

d.      A Harvest of wickedness 

Revelation 14:17-19 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.

e.      A Harvest of righteousness  Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

f.        Harvest of souls for God 

Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." NIV

Jesus Our Savior

Jesus Our Savior

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you,which you received and on which you have taken your stand.By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2

        When I first became a Christian many people told me that believing in God was a crutch.  Real independent people could look at things and say ‘We can fix it’ or ‘I can deal with it’.  The ‘idea’ of God was a crutch for the weak.  Our response to this was often to say, ”If God is a crutch, give me two!”  The fact that Jesus is my savior is becoming a fact that encourages me nearly every day.

          Jesus our savior. We need saving. Why? Why do we need someone to save us? From what?  From our sins, our human nature.  Have you ever read the book The Lord of the Flies ?  Under this veneer of ‘civilization’ lurks a Hitler, a Pol Pot, all done in the name of order.  Philosophers have told us that to survive as a species we must have a despot in control.  Naturally speaking they are right.  One problem.  Who picks who is in charge?  All systems fail at this point. Everyone who has tried to escape their nature knows what I am talking about.  Ever try to stop sinning?  Hurting someone by your behavior?  If you have, you know you need help.  Ever try to figure out God?  Have you had a broken relationship with God?  Jesus provided for our salvation on every level. Do we need a Savior? Look at the world! Can man solve the problems? One day we will be offered a solution, but without Jesus. It will be a deception. The only way man will bring peace is by killing off the opposition until only one is left. Sin is like that.

          The Father sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world.  Yet it is evident that not all are saved, but only those who believe.  This saving must be received.  Remember all those verses in the Gospels where Jesus said “Your faith has saved you”?  Like the 10 lepers who were all healed.  Only the one who returned to give glory to God was made whole.

          Why do we need a savior? Because we cannot save ourselves.  We are unable to know God unless He reveals himself. He can only be 'seen' by those who humble themselves, admit their sin, are honest about themselves before God and man, admitting that we need saving.  “To the humble who know their littleness, call on God with contrite hearts, and follow his will (Ps. 24:5; 34:6; 119:155), God grants his general help and salvation.”

          OT theme: false gods cannot save – go to your block of wood, see if it will save you.  Is 43:11-12, 44:6-20  “He who carves the Buddha does not worship it.”

Verses:

• Jeremiah 14:8 O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress,
• Isaiah 63:8-9 He said, “Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me”; and so he became their Savior. 9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
• 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
• 2 Samuel 22:3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent men you save me.
• Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.
• Psalm 106:10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
• Psalm 107:13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
• Romans 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
• Psalm 39:8 Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.
• Psalm 72:13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
• Psalm 89:48 What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave?
• Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
• Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
• Luke 1:77 (John) to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,

So what do we need to be saved from?  Sin, distress, enemies, death, God’s wrath, for starters.  Saved from sin, what does this mean?  We hurt people when we sin.  God can save us from that by first of all teaching us about forgiveness and then by the fruit of the Spirit leading us in a life away from sin.

Distress?  Why not shorten it to a more common word: stress.  Anyone have a problem with stress?  Jesus can save you from stress.  How you might ask?  Through faith in Him and His promises.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Nothing.  Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.  I remember the time where I was in great distress because I could not break off a relationship where the young lady had obviously and repeatedly told me that the relationship was over.  I was in deeper than I could handle by counseling or self discipline.  God shouted the words “Give her up” inside me and it was over.  I was delivered.

Enemies?  War?  Many Christians have been martyred through the centuries.  The peace the Lord gives is not the kind of peace that the world tries to pass off as peace. Their peace is purely circumstantial.  Ours can never be shaken.  We know that death and all these bad things that happen to people here on earth is not the end of the story.  Our story will not end with the cessation of our mortal bodies.  Our view is much bigger than one confined to this transitory temporal world. 

The fact that Jesus is our savior needs to impact us more than just when we first were saved.  Jesus wasn’t our savior for only one day.  He is our savior, today and every day!

For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2

If now is the day of salvation, this means that God is our savior today.  What do you need?  Are you in distress?  Have enemies?  Are ill?  Believe on the Lord, He is your savior.