Whose Good Are You Looking After?

Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. [1 Corinthians 10.24]

It's the most basic Christian principle - it is indeed what Jesus modeled by example. Is it any wonder then that Christianity would be strategically targeted to violate this principle?

Not until a person sees past the hype of marketing and the underlying nefariously engineered social norm of self-gratification constructed by it, will that person even begin to mirror Christ in putting others first.

Self-focus is the worst pandemic the world has ever experienced. This (ironically self-inflicted) plague of self-worship is virtually undetected as such and even ignorantly celebrated by most. Sadly, even those who feign to be believers are caught up in the rhetoric of self-centeredness evidenced in quoting Biblically baseless cliche's like, "You have to help yourself before you can help others," and the likes.

Jesus never suggested or taught self-preservation. To the contrary, Jesus repeatedly reminded his followers to pursue the selflessness of their cross!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

Ignoring it does not change the fact: Jesus' use of the word "if" excludes anyone from being His follower who does not take up their cross. A person who spends his or her life living in self-preservation is NOT a follower of Christ (feel free to argue with Jesus, but not me - I didn't make the rule). 

Not all is gloom and doom though. Jesus did give us some hope that there might be some progression to our success in taking up our cross... Look at how Luke reports another instance of Jesus' demand:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

The word "daily" should tip us off that we have a fresh opportunity each and every day to take up our cross. In other words, if I failed yesterday, I can still pursue my cross today. However, this will not happen if I stubbornly hold to the world's mantra of "taking care of myself first." Paul the apostle did not hold back his Spirit-led opinion on the subject:

If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. [Galatians 6.3]

 Not surprisingly, in the same letter to the Galatians, Paul made the following statement:

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [Galatians 2.20]

Jesus embraced His Cross and told us to embrace ours just the same. And, it is all to the same end: to put others first. The ONLY thing we cannot do that Jesus did is go to hell on behalf of others and emerge alive and victorious - only Jesus could do that (and He did!). 

The world will not teach or promote what is said here. The "money" is in promoting "self" because, with only a little encouragement (marketing), most will spare no expense to look after themselves (whether in adornment with possessions or preservation of life itself). True Christians will prove this wrong. People who "think" they are Christians however will fall for the ideas of self-preservation, self-help, self-empowerment, etcetera... and nothing could please Satan more...

So, here's the question for today: Are you looking for your cross today, or avoiding it? Whose good are you looking after?

Father, may I have sense enough to quit all the "self" stuff of the world and of Satan. May I demonstrate "Jesus" by choosing my cross over my "self" in every possible way. So be it!

Who Owns You?

God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. [1 Corinthians 7.23]

Although I have written on this passage in the past, it seems only prudent to address it once again today relative to the particular light that has been shed on my articles this year regarding debt, insurance, medicine and technology being idols.

As has been observed in previous articles and is stated here, debt, insurance, medicine and technology - all very useful and seemingly beneficial to society today - have become unrelenting slave masters.

Let's point out the quick difference between working for someone and being a slave to someone: working for someone is a choice while being a slave to someone is not. 

Who owns you?

Although food and shelter are fantastic motivators to work, most of us can certainly live on less than we eat today and reside in less than we dwell in today. That choice is ours. However, once debt, insurance, medicine and technology get involved, we no longer have a choice about making their demanding payments - we now live on their terms! In a word, that is slavery.

God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. [1 Corinthians 7.23]

Father, as this year of reading the OYCB gets closer to its end, this short article today serves to remind me that I must remain on alert and make calculated decisions to avoid being enslaved by the world because I am Yours and You paid a high price for me. So be it.

The Message Of The Cross

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” [1 Corinthians 1.18-19]

Oh wow, wow, wow...

The "message of the cross" is an interesting phrase. At first glance, we are inclined to think this is only about Jesus. However, in light of all God's Word (in other words, "in context") the cross is not only about Jesus, but about US who believe!

If we are indeed "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2.20), then the message of the cross has EVERYTHING to do with US! And, not only that, Jesus was adamant on the subject:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

The cross is to be as much our life and goal as it was Jesus' life and goal.

The most powerful thing Jesus did as a human was the Cross. The most powerful thing WE can do as humans is our cross. We simply must not miss the cross!

It was on the Cross that Jesus demonstrated the full Armor of God (see the articles So You Understand? and Forgive Us!). It was there, in His greatest weakness that the manifold power of God had its most profound display.

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. [1 Corinthians 1.24-25]

Likewise, the most profound display of God's power in our lives is (or will be) on our cross! This is precisely why Paul could later make such a bold statement in his second letter to the Corinthians:

That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. [2 Corinthians 12.10]

Here, Paul was speaking particularly of a physical infirmity he had asked God to remove, but God reminded Paul that his human weakness (like Jesus demonstrated on the Cross) was where the undeniable power of God would manifest. God reminded Paul that it was in the realm of Grace (demonstrated through the epitome of the world's estimation of weakness - the Cross) that the power of God would be seen. The weakness of Jesus' Cross manifested God's power! The weakness of our cross manifests God's power!

Regarding the cross, Jesus also said this:

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. [Matthew 10.38]

The cross is not the end of it though! In pure Biblical fact, the cross is the means to the power of God. Human strength has nothing to do with the power of God - the cross (both Jesus' and ours) assures us of that. It is on the cross that the power of God is on display, and, if we will see it, it is therefore on the cross where the Armor of God is most boldly on display.

The "message of the cross" is truly THE MESSAGE! The cross is where God's power transcends every human idea of power. Jesus' call to His followers to "take up their cross" is a call to God's power - God's Armor - through human weakness and vulnerability. And, yes, faith is very much involved! The greatest human stance in God's strength and power is demonstrated in the greatest human weakness - the complete weakness and vulnerability of the cross. It is there, clothed with the full Armor of God (that looks like weakness to the world), that the believer will reap God's resurrection power just as Jesus did! It simply does not get any more powerful than that!

And, that is why "The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!" "Strength from weakness" does not compute to the world.

Father, Your Word is amazing. May I not shrink back from my cross, but seek it out every day, for it is there that Your Word, Your power, Your plan, Jesus, is seen in me!

Consider The Call (Count The Cost)

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. [1 Thessalonians 5.23-24]

If there is doubt about God's will for holiness in our lives, we find confirmation through Paul's words of instruction to the Church at Thessalonica.

But, there is more...

Paul lumps together spirit and soul and body as he declares blamelessness upon the whole. What does this mean? It means "without sin." It means forgiven. And therefore, it means redeemed, healed, and restored. The Good News really is good news!

Paul also uses the words "call," "calls," and "called" in his writings. All three are found in today's OYCB reading. 

What is God's call? 

God's call is found in Jesus' words, repeated more than once, to His disciples and followers:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

The phrase "take up your cross" is a summation of all that Christ requires of our lives beyond faith to be saved. Although God's extension of grace to us to be saved is free (we can do nothing to deserve it), the cost of following Christ is notably high. So high in fact is the call of Christ that it requires as much from us as it did from Him: our lives given up completely so as to propagate the Good News of forgiveness of sins for all who repent. 

Jesus was never unclear about the seriousness of following Him:

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. [Luke 14.28-33]

Unironically, this passage immediately follows a second time in Luke's Gospel that Jesus made the demand, "take up your cross..."

And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. [Luke 14.27]

Jesus made His call crystal clear and indicated elsewhere that those who answered the call would not be the majority!

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]

In fact, Jesus was so focused on "the call" that He went so far as to say the following:

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22.14]

Getting "the call" does not "get us in." What we do with the call is what gets us in. Sorry, Jesus' words, not mine.

If we are to be found pleasing to God, it will be in the faith that our life and efforts mean nothing, but that "Christ in us" (as can only be demonstrated on our own cross) is everything. If a person really believes in something, they are more than willing to die for it. That's what Jesus did, and that's what Jesus demands of us. That's what the cross is all about.

As heavy as this all sounds, we saw in Paul's letter to the Galatians just a few days ago:

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. [Galatians 5.13-15]

Until we see our cross as our freedom, we are likely to pass our lives on earth futilely wallowing in religion (in self focus) rather than pleasing God (in sacrificial focus on others) - all to the end of being passed over when the "choosing" begins (Matthew 22.14 above). Again, not my words, but straight from Jesus' mouth.

There is no time like the present to ask the Holy Spirit to make this real to us. Our self-will needs to be broken (crucified, made "dead") so that the life of Jesus might resurrect in us. This is critical, and not at all optional. We cannot do it ourselves. Paul said it best in the opening scripture above: 

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. [1 Thessalonians 5.23-24]

Let's pray...

Father, forgive me for holding onto my life when Your Word clearly tells me to not just let it go, but to crucify it. Come, Holy Spirit and convict me for my self infatuation. I surrender my ways up to You so that Your way - Your calling - my cross - might be my freedom to help others on this journey of life. As You are faithful, may I be found faithful. So be it.

Grace Is Not A License To Sin

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. [1 Thessalonians 4.1-8]

While not a "saved" soul reading this will likely disagree with all that is said here, I want to discuss, as briefly as possible, a little statement contained in this passage: "the Lord avenges all such sins."

What sins? Sins of a sexual nature.

We all know and are familiar with the phrase, "Sex sells." With only a little thought about the matter, one can easily see that sex is a bottom-line motivating factor in an enormous amount of what we are being sold or encouraged to participate in today. Even perverted sex is being displayed as normal these days. In fact, sexual sin has even gained protected legal status in much of the world.

It would be an understatement to say that sex is not widely promoted. Should it not then concern us that Paul made the statement above? "The Lord avenges all such sins."

While there are many factors that seem to contribute to unrequited "faith," should it not be considered that gross widespread sexual sin could, as Paul stated, invoke the Lord's avengement (which would result in fruitless faith)? We must remember that Paul made this statement very much in the Age of Grace which so many people claim has freed us from every curse.

And, at this point, we come back to holiness. Paul said it above, God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. If we do not live holy lives, Paul said, again, "the Lord avenges all such sins."

I'm sorry, but no amount of faith overcomes willful and repeated disobedience to God. Genuine faith is accompanied by the works of the Holy Spirit. Sexual sin (exploiting sex outside the parameters of self-control God set for it, beginning, but not ending with, marriage) is NOT the work of the Holy Spirit. If it's not the work of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing therefore to do with faith. If it is not of faith (that works by love), it does not please God. If it does not please God, "the Lord avenges all such sins" even in the Age of Grace. Grace is not a license to sin.

Yes, we have the ability to repent and confess our sins in the name of Jesus (in faith that Jesus suffered for our sins) and, yes, grace applies. However, "repent" introduces a concept that preempts further sin: the concept of turning away from sin and pursuing it no further. If we do not turn away from sin and pursue it no further, then we have not repented. If we have not repented, no amount of confession and invocation of Jesus' name brings grace. If there is no grace, "the Lord avenges all such sins."

All I am suggesting here is that if it seems the heavens are closed to our prayers and therefore, our "faith," it is worth considering that perhaps we should review our ways and the genuineness of our repentance. Not all sins are sexual, but all sins involve self-control.

For the record, there is one place where self-control is no longer necessary. Once (and only after) we have submitted to our cross as Jesus submitted to His Cross (and unapologetically told us to do), self control is no longer a factor because the cross restrains us. Consequently, the ONLY sure place to enjoy the absolute fullness of God's grace and unrestricted faith is on our cross. It is there, on our cross, that we are most like Jesus.

Father, there is so much to process here. Grace, faith, repentance, self-control, and our cross. Help each of us to get it right as we process all these words and their meaning in our lives. May we be found living holy lives even as it requires us to look and act entirely different than what the world promotes.

Am I Telling The Truth?

That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. [Acts 17.10-12]

Am I telling the truth?

How would you know? You would only know the same way the people of Berea did: you would search the Scriptures day after day to see...

The days of "ignorant believers" is drawing to a close. End times are upon us, and only those few who know the Word of God - who know Jesus (because He is the Word) - will effectively navigate the difficult and narrow way of the Kingdom. This is a warning - not from me, but from Jesus:

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]

It is time for a revival of God's Word in His people. God's Word is Jesus, and Jesus is our life. Jesus' life was death on the Cross, and our lives, in Him, are to meet the same end. But we will never be able to even conceive the cross for ourselves unless we are in Christ (the Word) and He (the Word) is in us. Knowing about Jesus and His Cross will not sustain us - but intimately knowing Jesus, the Living Word of God, will narrow our vision and make our feet sure on the difficult way to God - because He (Jesus, the Word) is the Way! And, His Way is the Cross!

Am I telling the truth? YOU TELL ME! YOU, learn the Word - know the Word - saturate yourself with the Word ...and believe! Really believe! Not just go to church! The Word must take #1 priority in your life because the Word is Jesus!

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! [John 5.39]

Father, may anyone who reads anything I write not be so careless and foolish to believe anything I say except what they know to be the Truth because they know Your Word! So be it!

Freedom Is A Nice Word

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. [Galatians 5.13-15]

Being a "Christian" has, over the years, been made out to be a lot of things. Sadly, the least of these has been to be like Christ in His greatest accomplishment - the one He just happened to unequivocally demand - that we take up our cross and follow Him (like Him - in His name).

Paul speaks of freedom in today's OYCB reading. Oh, we've assumed our life of freedom in Christ is to speak the name of Jesus over our finances and our health. We've been bold in declaring the name of Jesus when threatened by personal harm. But where is the name of Jesus and His freedom when it comes to laying down our dreams, desires and aspirations so that someone else might experience theirs?

Freedom is a nice word, but perhaps we need to rethink it.

We should not think for a minute that, "we cannot help others until we help ourselves." Nothing in the Bible or the life of Jesus even begins to promote freedom as self-centeredness! The Cross stands in glaring defiance of such nonsense! If Jesus had adopted the deceptive idea that He must first love Himself so He could better love others, He would have necessarily freed Himself from going to the Cross!

To be clear, faith is not opportunistic. Faith was not given for us to get what we want - but instead for us to get what God wants (we might want to think about this for just a minute - or a lifetime). Although there are undeniable blessings that are promised upon the life of one who walks in faith, the genuine, Jesus-like walk of faith is a walk for someone else's benefit, not our own! Faith works (expresses itself) by love (Galatians 5.6) and Jesus defined God's kind of love like this:

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. [John 15.13]

We have indeed been called to live in freedom. We have been called to live in Christ. We have been called to live in faith. The freedom we have been given in Christ is freedom from the relentless taskmaster of "self" (including "doing all the right things" - obeying the Law of Moses). We have been given freedom to quite literally (and like Jesus) ignore ourselves and our own needs so that others might benefit.

The Church today preaches and teaches all around this subject but never really "cuts to the chase." We love the "faith scriptures" to get our new car or even pay our electric bill, but if it comes down to us doing without so someone else might have theirs... <<<crickets>>>

Harsh? No, but I will tell you what harsh is: "harsh" is a self-inflicted bondage to eternity in hell because we refused to freely give Jesus full control of our lives! "Harsh" is binding ourself each day to the task of seeking the "best version of me" instead of binding ourselves to the freedom of our cross! "Harsh" is "loving ourselves" on earth only to find that the deception of doing so eternally invalidated heaven's freedom for us, regardless how many times we went to church!

Jesus' demand to love your neighbor as yourself, echoed by Paul above, was in fact not harsh but designed to deliver us from "harsh!" But as Paul teaches the Galatians and elsewhere, faith in Christ is required. Faith in Christ is freedom.

The freedom given by Jesus is, first and foremost, freedom from "self." In the context of Paul's letter to the Galatians, that freedom from "self" was not being bound to the Law of Moses, circumcision, and the likes, but as Paul mentioned, that freedom from "self" included not serving (loving) ourselves as a matter of priority, but loving others.

Okay, okay, I get it... I suppose we can take this way too far... Right? I am sure Jesus was just a anomaly and didn't literally mean we should actually "die" to anything in demanding we "take up our cross..." right? Right? Right? Come on, ...right??????????????????????

Besides, if anything said here is even remotely correct, the Church as we know it today is seriously off-course. And, we know that just couldn't be the case... right?

I don't really know where this is going... But I know this, it has me cornered. And, I dare say, it has others cornered too. What do we do?

First, we allow the conviction of the Holy Spirit inspire action (as opposed to condemnation that just festers and does nothing). We repent of thinking for even a moment that we can hang on to anything in and of our lives. We ask Jesus to show us our cross, and we spend every waking moment climbing on that cross as it benefits others so that we might have the fullest testimony possible of Jesus Christ to them. We encourage others to do the same, maybe even helping to shoulder their cross. Mmm. This is salvation - this is the work of the Holy Spirit - this is freedom. Whatever it is that we have been doing up until now... well, it speaks for itself... The goal is Jesus - and this is what Jesus said and did:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,  and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” [Luke 4.8-19]

The most damning thing we can do is nothing. Even though trusting in Christ makes one perfect in God's sight in heaven, it's still a mess here on earth, We are like babies and adolescents - we make messes of things - and the bigger and older we get, the larger the messes. The point I am making is this: if we are running to our cross and we crash and burn, at least the skid marks will prove the direction we were going! Are we running to the freedom of the cross? Or something else?

Father, I know You are working on me. May I be found yielded and pliable. Better still, I don't want to just bend... I want to break. I want my will broken, not bent. I don't want my will reformed, but replaced. I don't ask that You bless "my" direction, but that I be blessed in "Your" direction. I want Jesus to be my life and my life to be Jesus. Help me, please. I know there is not much more time...