Category: Uncategorized (Page 16 of 35)

“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13

Sometimes we openly and deliberately defy God. Other times we try to resist him in passive ways, giving God the silent treatment as we refuse to pray, worship, or even talk about him. Another strategy we sometimes use for resisting God may be the worst of all. We pretend to be following God. We merely go through the motions, looking okay on the outside, fooling even the most keen observers and maybe even fooling ourselves.

We can do that same thing in many other areas of our lives. We may dutifully go through the motions of fulfilling our spouse’s demands, our boss’s demands, our kid’s demands, while inwardly resenting the burdens placed on us. We may technically do the tasks that are put upon us, but inwardly we’re not doing them willingly. When we have this attitude toward God it is doubly bad because, for one, He cannot be fooled and two, pretending leads our lives into destruction.
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There is a story about a little boy who is told to stand in the corner by his mother. He defiantly sits in the corner. He is mother tells him to stand up. He stands, but yells back over his shoulder, “I may be standing on the outside, but I’m sitting on the inside.” When we look like we are taking a stand for God, but are actually “sitting on the inside,” we can’t fool anyone for long. Eventually the charade will catch up with us. Sincerity of heart has always and will always be how God views our actions. When our kids were kids (some of you remember), we didn’t like it if a task was assigned and they rolled their eyes. Rolling the eyes is a show of dissatisfaction with the task at hand. Too often we roll our eyes at God when doing work for Him.

If we appear to be participating wholeheartedly in the things of God, but it’s mostly for appearances, we will not grow. We will be eventually hit by something that requires “realness.” If we have spent all our time learning to fake it, we will be unprepared for times of actual spiritual need. A counterfeit bill might get by before it is tested, but once it is tested it is worthless. The same goes for us. If we sing in worship or participate in a Bible study, but our participation is a pretense having to do with what we should do rather than what we want to do we will eventually be found out- usually under fire. We have counterfeited honoring God and it will not stand true scrutiny.

When I was young, my brother, sister and I used to put records on and fake like we were singing and put on concerts for our parents and other family members. We sounded just like the Beatles or Dave Clark Five or a hundred other groups. When I tried out for choir in sixth grade, I think I was the only one not to make it. Acting like a singer did not make me a singer. Acting like a servant of God does not make us servants of God. Being a servant of God does. One of the scary aspects of “religion” is that we can easily “fake it.” But we are not in a religion, but a relationship. That is harder to fake.

It is possible to go through the motions in church for years while carefully keeping God at arm’s length. The result is usually a religiosity that lacks a real relationship. Without that relationship there is no joy, no peace, no satisfaction. Eventually, they say, “all pretenders will be separated from true contenders.” I think that is true. Remember, we are called to contend for the faith. We can’t do that by pretending.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid.” Romans 6:14-15

It is hard to believe that people who receive a wonderful gift would misuse that gift, but it happens all the time. This is especially true with the gift of grace from our Father which provides us with eternal life and gives us power over sin. No sooner than the doctrine of grace was revealed, it came under attack. It was and is hard for prideful man to believe that he can do nothing to earn his salvation. The concept that our salvation is totally based on the shed blood of Christ and that we cannot add anything to that sacrifice on our own behalf is unacceptable by many. That is why so many cults and “isms” require works as part of their salvation. But the scriptures are clear- it is a free gift.

If I came up to you and said I had a gift for you and then gave you a price you would have to pay for it, it would no longer be a gift. The covenant that God has made with us is kept on the strength of who He is, not on what we can pay. We can never pay enough. The price is too high. As hard as that is to understand, we need to get a hold of that if we are going to experience grace.

But even when people get beyond the difficult concept that salvation is free, they must face more struggles, because our sinful nature will take any wonderful gift of God and try to pervert it. Examples of what God has given us that we twist around are many, but just a few examples are intimacy, humor, nature, and science. None of those things are invented, they are all discoveries of what God has already built into our universe. Unfortunately, we often find a way to pervert them to fit our own sinful desires. We do the same thing when we discover the free and unbreakable gift of salvation. We try to pervert it.

The movie Casualties of War tells the true story of a squad of soldiers which fought in the Vietnam War. The lead role in the film is Private Erikson who’s is played by Michael J. Fox. The other men in the squadron begin to be involved in a string of atrocities, the latest against a Vietnamese girl. As Erickson struggles with what has happened, he says to the other men in his squad, “Just because each of us might at any second be blown away, we’re acting like we can do anything we want, as though it doesn’t matter what we do. I’m thinking it’s just the opposite. Because we might be dead in the next split second, maybe we gotta be extra careful what we do. Because maybe it matters more. Maybe it matters more than we ever know.”

Some people mistakenly see grace as a license to sin, just like the men in this story who saw the possibility of death as a reason to commit sinful acts. There is nothing that justifies sin, especially not grace. What is a gift for us cost God beyond comprehension. To take advantage of that gift lessens the incredible sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.

In today’s verse Paul had to correct the way many in Rome were approaching salvation. They were accepting God so that they could live like the devil! “After all,” they were saying, “if salvation is free and it can’t be lost, why worry about the way we act? In fact, the more we sin, the more it illustrates God’s grace! Right?” Wrong. Paul tells us in Romans that we cannot take evil advantage of God’s grace. Earlier in Romans 6:1-2 Paul says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

We are new creatures, why would we live like the old? In fact, in every epistle Paul illustrates the dangers of Christians living sinfully and his warnings are strong and to the point. We will lose comfort, joy, peace, and many other wonderful blessings that accompany knowing Christ. In fact, in Corinthians, he makes it clear that we can even lose our lives.

So grace is good, sin is bad, and just because we experience grace, we should not sin to celebrate. Sin does not celebrate or illustrate God’s grace. Sin diminishes what God has done in our lives and mocks the incredible sacrifice that Christ has made for us. He became sin for us so that we could live outside of sin, so by His power, that’s what we should do.

“Don’t say, “I will avenge this evil! ” Wait on the Lord, and He will rescue you.”  Proverbs 20:22

Yes, I will admit it.  John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson and all those manly actors I grew up with were popular with me for many reasons, but one of the main reasons was that they usually gave the bad guy what he deserved.  No evil man with an eye patch and bad teeth would terrorize the farm family as long as those guys were around.  Their revenge wasn’t immediate (usually about 2 1/2 hours for a movie and an hour for TV), but eventually the bad guys got their just rewards.  Occasionally, our heroes even took ’em alive!

There is a side of me, probably of all us, that likes to sip on the tall drink of revenge once in a while. But these movies are scripted and the good and bad guys are just following the lead of the pen that created them.  In real life revenge is not nearly so sweet.  That is why God warns against it in Proverbs and many other places in the Word.  There are several reason for that, but to name just a few: God knows exactly what is going on and will handle it correctly, we don’t know exactly what is going on and will usually handle it poorly, and “revenge” seldom gives us the satisfaction we expect it will.

Let’s take the first two together.  No matter how close we are to the situation (I am getting bullied in the school yard, ouch, memories) and I can’t stand it. I plot a nerdy revenge that humiliates the bully so much that he drops out of school and joins the job corps where he soon is kicked out for bullying.  Seems like a good plan carried out well.  But I cannot see inside of the bully; I cannot see the future for this bully; I cannot see the ramifications for my actions; I can’t see anything beyond my own desire to “get even.” All I know is that it feels good for a while… for a while.  That brings us to the third point. Anything that is contrary to God’s Word will never work.  It just won’t.  Jesus said to love those who hate you (by the way, that is not the doormat argument that we should lie down and let others wipe their feet on us), and (to creatively combine two different verses) it will heap hot coals upon their heads.  What doesn’t seem to work is when we really heap hot coals upon their heads. Because we know The Lord we just can’t stay excited about seeing anyone charred and pathetic- it somehow loses it thrill very quickly.

God says He sees what is going on and will rescue us.  It may not seem like it and we are so prone to jump ahead of God and to deal with things like our western heroes did (a flurry of bullets and a half-sneering smile), and if we had script writers all might turn out well.  But we don’t.  Our story is life and we should put it in the hands of the author of life.  That temporary satisfaction we get by getting a few licks in on some deserving villain will subside quickly and surprisingly our good feelings will give way to other ones.  Revenge is a temporary fix because we are not quite the fixers God is.  So the next time we feel inclined to say, “Do you feel lucky, Punk.  Well, do ya?”  We might be better to say, “You got this one, God. Let me know how it goes. I’ll be in wardrobe changing my attitude.”

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love. “ — 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

I wrote this devotion based on our last B3 meeting that looked at spiritual connections with today’s superheroes. We know that the world is fascinated with superheroes. From Superman’s strength to Captain America’s unwavering moral compass, people admire characters who fight for justice, protect the weak, and make sacrifices for the greater good. But what if the qualities we admire in these heroes are actually pointing us to something greater—God’s calling for our own lives?

While we may not have capes, super speed, or indestructible shields, God has equipped us with everything we need to be real-life heroes—men of faith who stand for righteousness, defend truth, and fight against the spiritual forces of darkness.

If we look closely, we will see that almost all of the commendable traits of the superheroes  are Biblical in nature.  In some cases coincidentally and in other cases intentionally. Let’s take a look at a few.

Strength and power are Godly attributes and though the world sees strength in physical power, true strength can come in many different forms. There is a power source that sometimes the world ignores.  Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Samson was one of the strongest men in the Bible (probably in history). But his real strength wasn’t in his muscles but in his obedience to God. When he disobeyed God his strength left him. He was still Samson, but not the Samson he was meant to be. Like us, we are strongest when we surrender to the power of God which comes from reliance on the Holy Spirit.  Relying on God is not a show of weakness, but of strength.

Courage and boldness are also traits found in most superheroes.  When Captain America steps into battle no matter the odds he illustrates the same kinds actions that Christians are called to exhibit.  I often say that my father had fewer decisions to make than anyone I have ever known. That was because to make decisions, you have to have choices.  When it came to doing right, my father did not have to fret over his decision because he had so few choices.  Choosing what was wrong was not an option, no matter where it led.  Doing right was just right. . That takes courage.  An example of spiritual courage is standing for Christ even when it’s unpopular.  One of the most popular and well-known Bible passages can be found in Joshua 1:9 . It is addressed to one of the great heroes of the Old Testament Joshua.  “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  This can be a rallying cry for all us who are “in Christ.

David, a young shepherd, took down a giant because he knew God was his strength.  David did not wear the armor of the world, but only the armor of God. The giant had all the greatest armor the world could provide, but as all things of the world this armor is no match for the armor that we have access to in God’s great armory- His Word.

Other important traits of today’s superheroes are integrity and righteousness.  Superman is a symbol of unwavering moral integrity, always doing what’s right.  Superman is fictional and is just written that way by a team of writers.  They create the person of Superman.  But a team of writers, whose pens were carried along by the Holy Spirit, wrote not of a fictional person but of a  larger than life figure, Christ. They did not create His story, they just relayed it.

We see in proverbs 11:13 how important integrity is. “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” Daniel was one of those true life heroes who refused to compromise, even when it meant being on the local lion menu. He refused to protect himself with a compromise in integrity.  We might not be impressed because we know the end of the story…. but remember, he didn’t.  A real hero stands for righteousness, no matter the cost.

We also see that many superheroes make  great sacrifices to save others by putting their own lives at risk even unto death.  But their heroism is not real because they are not real.  No superhero really dies or gets hurt because they can be all better in the next edition.  But in real life we do die… we do hurt.  And there is a superhero who made  the greatest sacrifice of all for all.  That was Jesus-  and He was and is …real.  Jesus put the needs of the whole world above His own  and lived out the words found in John 15:13.  “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” But not only that, He even died for his enemies. Even fictional heroes don’t do that.  But Jesus, the true Savior, gave His life for everyone, so that anyone who accepts His sacrifice can  have eternal victory over death.

So to be superheroes in a world desperate for them, we need the armor of God.  If we are to be protected from the onslaught of the enemies in battlefield called earth we need to put on the full armor of God found in  Ephesians 6:10-18.  There we are told to armor up   because we don’t want to go into battle naked. When we used to play basketball , we sometimes split up into shirts and skins. In the battle that is raging around us, we don’t want to be skins.

The enemy on this battle doesn’t attack with laser beams or supervillains- he attacks through temptation, doubt, and fear.  So we must armor up for that.

To be a hero for Christ, we  must wear:

✅ The Belt of Truth – Stand on God’s Word, not the world’s lies.

✅ The Breastplate of Righteousness – Live with integrity.

✅ The Shoes of Peace – Bring the gospel wherever you go.

✅ The Shield of Faith – Defend against attacks of doubt.

✅ The Helmet of Salvation – Remember, your identity is in Christ.

✅ The Sword of the Spirit – Use God’s Word as your weapon.

Our challenge is to be a hero for God.  We don’t need superpowers to be a hero. We need faith, obedience, righteousnss, and courage. The world is desperate for men who will stand firm, fight for truth, and live boldly for Jesus.  Through God’s strength we can be that kind of person. Captain America once said, when he was about to battle an enemy that was said to be god, “There is  only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure He doesn’t dress like that.”   God does not dress like anything in this world, and he provides us the armor necessary to fight our battles.  Let’s be people who don’t just admire heroes—let’s become one by following the greatest Hero of all: Jesus Christ.   Then we never have to be skins again on the battlefield of this world.

“Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.”  Philippians 3:17

Years ago Charles Barkley, NBA star, was admonished for some behavior because he was a role model for kids.  He very famously snapped back, “I ain’t no role model.”  Well, he was wrong.  He might have said that he wasn’t a “good” role model, but he could not say he wasn’t “a” role model.  He was in a position of responsibility, but one he did not take very seriously.  He was castigated for living in denial of his role, as he should have been, but we should not jump too quickly on the “beat Charles like a drum” band wagon, especially if we deny that we are role models as well.

Yep, we are all role models and in fact, we ourselves have had role models.  Every day we influence someone and every day we are influenced by someone.  Role modeling is part of our walk whether we like it or not.  We can be like Charles Barkley and deny it, but that doesn’t change it.  We may not like it, because that puts some responsibility on our shoulders, but like it or not, we cannot escape it.

We usually think of role modeling when it comes to children.  Yesterday I heard some sad news about children and the internet and “smart” phones.   The statistics about kids giving out personal information to strangers, the number of hours spent playing games, the kinds of sites frequented, and the dangerous effects from spending so much time on electronic devices was sobering.  The conclusion of the study was that “smart phones” and the like were substituting for the normal activities that kids used to be involved in.

Playing outdoors, reading books, playing games, talking around the table, going for rides, eating meals together and other typical family activities of the past have been replaced by individualized time spent on electronic devices.  The final line of the report was most striking, however.  It said (I am paraphrasing) that all of this behavior of kids was learned mostly from parents.  It said that most kids who spent all their time on electronic devices had parents who lived very similar lives. 

It went on to say that the parent’s example was the most important part of the child’s development.  In other words, parents set the tone for the entire family by establishing behavior by example, not words.  If the parents wanted readers, they needed to read themselves.  If they wanted their kids to talk, they needed to talk themselves.  If they wanted their kids to pray, they needed to pray themselves. The conclusion was undeniable. Parents, through example, have the greatest influence on their kids. To extrapolate even further, everyone’s actions have great influence on those around them. We all have the power to influence- the key is, how do we use it?

When I was coaching, I often read a poem to the players to remind them of their responsibility to others. It was always in any playbook or website I put together.  If I was coaching girls, I put “she” in the poem and if boys, I put “he” in the poem.  Here is a copy of it like I would have read to my football players.

There are little eyes upon you and they’re watching night and day.

There are little ears that quickly take in every word you say.

There are little hands all eager to do anything you do;

And a little boy who’s dreaming of the day he’ll be like you.

You’re the little fellow’s idol, you’re the wisest of the wise.

In his little mind about you no suspicions ever rise.

He believes in you devoutly, holds to all you say and do; and

He will say and do in your way, when he’s grown up just like you.

There’s a wide-eyed little fellow who believes you’re always right;

and his eyes are always opened, and he watches day and night.

You are setting an example every day in all you do;

For the little boy who’s waiting, to grow up to be like you.

Although there are a lot of similar poems, sayings, and songs I could quote (and did quote) about our influence on kids, the fact of the matter is, we are all models of some kind to everyone around us.  The kids on my team were not only influential on those younger than them, but their peers and elders as well.  We are models to our children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces, but also on our young neighbors, peers, and elders (in my case, there aren’t as many of the elder types any more).  We are, just like Charles Barkley discovered, role models no matter what we want to think.  As Christians we have an added burden.  We represent Christ; we belong to a team; we are not on our own any more.

If people know we are Christians they we scrutinize our actions even more closely.  In some cases, they will feel free to imitate them, believing they must be OK because, supposedly, we are OK.  Jesus taught us to be “flavoring” to the world.  In Mark 9:50 He said, “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” The way we live should be like salt is to food: it adds flavor, it preserves, and it causes thirst. We add flavor by making godly choices. We preserve by always speaking the truth in love. We cause thirst for God by living out a life of faith before the world.  If we don’t add flavor, don’t preserve the truth, or don’t cause a thirst for God, we are still modeling behavior, just the wrong kind.

We know that we have been influenced by others in our lifetime. In fact, we are still being influenced by others.  Who do we allow to shape us?  Some in our circle are good and helpful, others dangerous and harmful.  One day a farmer grabbed his shot gun to shoot at a flock of pesky crows. Unfortunately, he didn’t see his sociable pet parrot that had joined the crows. After firing a few shots, he walked over to the fallen birds and was surprised to find his parrot badly ruffled with a broken wing. When the farmer’s children saw the injured bird, they asked, “Dad, what happened?” The farmer simply replied, “Bad company.”  First Corinthians 15:33 says that “bad company corrupts good morals” and yet we sometimes “hang” with those who are not beneficial to positive behavior.  We will experience the same  consequences of those we flock with.   If that is the case, we will soon be the person that others should not “hang” with as well.

Proverbs puts it pretty bluntly, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Prov. 13:20  So we are influencers and we are the influenced.  Both positions require discretion.  In one we must examine our own actions in the other the actions of others.  As influencers of our children and others, we should not be like the Pharisees.  Look how Jesus spoke of their influence:  “therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds”  Matt. 23:5.  In other words, though their words might be correct, don’t follow their deeds.  Do we talk bigger than our actions?  The bottom line is that should neither be Pharisees nor follow Pharisees.

Paul told the believers in Thessalonica that he had, through his actions, become a role model for their behavior.  He and his companions had proven themselves as men of God by their consistent dedication to the truth.  Can we look at our those around us and say we are setting an example of how to be and that they should try to be more like us.  Regardless of whether we say it or not- they will be, so what we are should be what we hope they will be.

Proverbs says that “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth” (Prov. 22:1).  A good name is not so easy to earn, but very easy to destroy.  Our character should gain us a hearing to proclaim the gospel to others, not shut the doors.  It is not easy to be a role model like Paul.  Next to Christ, he was what we should strive to be not only for ourselves, but for others. He lived out his faith, so that anyone watching his life would be able to tell there was something wonderful inside him.

If we want to be influenced by others in a positive way, we should surround ourselves with people with people who care about their actions.  If we want to be people of positive influence, we should care about our own actions. It won’t be easy, but Hebrew’s 12:1 says “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Let’s run the race well, knowing that we are being watched and many around us will try to run it just like us.