• “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Most of us will not be called on to put our lives on the line for others, but it happens every day in hundreds of ways throughout the world. The person who dives into icy water to save someone from drowning, the soldier who throws  his body on a grenade to protect his buddies, the fireman who rushes into a blazing building to save a child, a bystander that confronts a gang to extricate
an innocent person from their midst.  These are all real-life examples of people who put someone else’s safety above their own.  We like to think that we are all like this, willing to put

 thoughts of self out of the way for a moment in time, so that we can save another.

When I was attending Redwood School in Grants Pass, probably in fourth or fifth grade, the circus came to town.  As I sat in class I noticed the flag hanging in the front of the room and the small spear-like pole with a sharp tip which supported it.  I happened to be wearing my cub scout uniform that day, so I was in an especially gallant mood and started daydreaming about a lion escaping from the circus and terrorizing the school.  I saw myself jump on a desk, scale a bookcase, and pull the flag pole from its holder.  I took the flag off the pole and folded it neatly like any good soldier, oops, scout, would.  I took the pole outside and approached the lion.  Remembering lion fighting from several Tarzan shows I had seen, I held the lion at bay with the small spear.  When it became apparent the lion was going to charge, I broke the spear over my knee and jammed the longer part of the spear in the lion’s open mouth!  About that time the teacher interrupted my heroics by asking me a question.  I hadn’t heard  the question, since I was busily saving 400 kids and teachers, so I could not answer. My teacher then made the mistake of saying that since I was apparently thinking about something other than Columbus, maybe I would like to share it with the class.  That was probably a mistake on her part. Since I was saving the school, I said sure, and hustled up front to tell the tale standing straight and tall in my Cub Scout uniform.  The story went over really well with the whole class and opened the door for me to tell stories the rest of the year when we had a little extra time in class.  I don’t think was the outcome my teacher had hoped for.

Why, you might be asking, did I take this trip down memory lane and kidnap you along the way?  Well, besides the fact that I am telling a story of me saving the entire school, I am using it to illustrate that we have probably all dreamed of helping others with some heroic act during our lifetime (some of us might still be doing it!).  Seldom, however, do we picture ourselves doing something in a cowardly way. We never see ourselves as the chicken scrambling faster than his three little brothers just fresh out of the shell; or the whimpering child lying in the middle of the floor in the midst of danger sucking our thumb like a newborn, or on a sinking ship pointing out a fake Clint Eastwood to a little old lady so we can steal her life jacket.  No, we seldom say we want to grow up to be a coward someday.  But courage is so lacking today.  So many tend to wilt under the smallest of pressure.  We don’t like to take stands unless they are safe and we don’t speak up unless we are preaching to the choir.  Plainly speaking, in most cases, we are a bunch of weenies.

We are so concerned with our own happiness, our own wants, our own pleasures that even if we have a chance to help someone else, we probably won’t even notice him.  Eyes that are turned inward will seldom be aware of the things that are outward.  We like to believe that we would step up if needed- that we would the one in the crowd that would rush to the crashed car or the crumpled woman or the fleeing purse snatcher.  But the truth of the matter is that we have trouble even handling the smallest of deed needs- the person who needs an encouraging word, the neighbor who desperately needs prayer, the co-worker who needs to hear about Jesus, the friend who is caught up in sin, are all challenges that we seem to struggle with as much as pulling a tiny tot from the path of the oncoming train.  Thankfully, Christ did not hesitate to step it up for us.  He went to the cross knowing the pain that He would bear, but did it anyway.  He knew that He would be beaten beyond recognition, but He did it anyway.  He knew that he would face an excruciating physical death and the weight of all our sins in just a few hours span, but He did it anyway.  Why? So that we would not have to.  He went where we deserved to go, so we would not have to.  He went so that we could, in turn, have courage to do what is right- to stand in the face of great odds- to never give up and to sacrifice for others regardless of the cost.

One of the saddest but compelling stories from WWII was about a group of about 20 prisoners under an especially cruel guard. Each day they would be required to take a shovel and go out into the prison yard and dig. At the end of each day the prisoners would come back to their barracks and line up their shovels against the wall for the guard to count. On this particular day when the guard counted, he only counted 19 shovels. “Who lost their shovel?” the guard shouted. “If the man who lost his shovel does not step forward I’m going to kill five of you at a time until he does step forward!”

It was at this point that a young 19-year-old POW stepped forward taking the blame for having lost his shovel. The evil, blood-thirsty guard immediately took out his revolver put it to the boy’s head and pulled the trigger killing him instantly. As the teenager’s dead body lay crumpled on the ground his fellow prisoners were aghast because of what had just happened.  But they didn’t know the half of it.

By mistake or on purpose, no one really knows for sure, the guard had miscounted the shovels. Twenty shovels were leaning against that barracks wall.  That 19-year-old POW knew that when he stepped forward, he was offering his life as a sacrifice for his fellow prisoners, but he did it anyway.  Nineteen years old, hundreds of miles from home, dying for something he did not do, to save men who would not be able to thank him, just a few weeks before the war’s end.  Some would call that stupid.  I would call that Christ-like.

If we were to prioritize things in our lives, how high up would our concern for others be.  Paul tells us to,  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Philippians 2:3-4  When we follow our own selfish desires to the detriment of others, and then say we are brave enough save someone else, we are fooling ourselves.

We are like the man who is asked, “If you had two houses, would you give one to the poor?”

The man replies, “Yes.”

The man is asked, “If you had four cars, would give two to the poor?”

Again he replies, “Yes.”

He is finally is asked, “If you had two shirts, would you give one to the poor?”

The man quickly says, “No.”

“You will give houses and cars, but won’t give shirts. Why not?” he is asked.

“Because I have two shirts,” he replies.

We can say that we will do all kinds of things, but the truth of what we would do in tough times is probably previewed in the way we live our daily lives.  If we live our lives for ourselves in times of leisure how can we say would sacrifice in times of danger?  It is like the man who says he would die to protect his family, but can’t take the time to talk to his kids about their day.  It doesn’t make sense. If we are Christ-like, our world will not revolve around us, but Christ.  And as our world revolves around Him we will notice others needs before our own. And finally, we will be able live a life that is not obsessed with “numero uno.”  And finally we will find the contentment we have always searched for.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This portion of scripture is known quite well to the Jewish people as Shema which means “hear” in Hebrew. It is very important in Jewish family tradition.  It should be equally important to us, especially in these times when young people are being hijacked from the faith daily. But the Jews look at this passage much differently than we do, so to appropriately apply the verse to us today, we must first understand the verse.The Jews use the phrase “the Lord is one” to prove that Jesus can’t be God, but they don’t realize that this phrase actually supports our belief that Jesus is God.  We are not worshipping three Gods in God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, but one God.  In Corinthians 8:6 it says, “yet for us there is one God.”  This is important because the rest of the verses are teaching us to pass this truth down (along with the others in the Word) to those who are younger, so that they can continue to hand the truths down to those who are younger than they.  It does us no good to pass down misinformation about the Word to our younger generations.  When I was coaching I always felt it was harder to undo something wrong that players had been taught than to  take players who knew nothing and teach them what was correct.  If we are going to teach, we should teach truth.

Our first step in continuing a line of knowledge about God down through time is take seriously the admonition to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  If we do not love the Lord completely and without reservation, our endorsement of Him will be suspect.  If we never speak of Him or pray to Him or converse with Him and then turn around and say that He is the most important person in our lives, few will believe it, especially those who are younger.  The most important step in sharing Him is loving Him with all our being. A model is a representation of the real thing.  We are supposed to be models of Christ.  Young people around us are getting their impression of who Christ is by who we are.  I had a portly oldgrandpa tell me once, “we are supposed to be role models, not just models with rolls.”  That is true.

The things of God then must be “impressed in our hearts,” not just present in our heads.  They must be etched deep within us. Our knowledge of God is not enough; it must be deeply seated in our soul.  It must be the inescapable truth that we base our lives on and then we can “impress them on our children.”  We cannot impress on others what is not impressed on us.  It would be like trying to mold jello without a mould.  When the verse mentions children, it might be speaking primarily of our own children if we have them, but it also means secondarily any children we have influence over.  It can mean nephews, nieces, grandchildren, neighbors, or even children of acquaintances.  We need to take every opportunity to share the “hope which lies within us.”

When do we share?  I think Moses covered pretty much all the time when he said, “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  So in the home and out of the home, at your leisure and on the job, we are to look for chances pass our love of the wonderful Triune God on to the younger set.  It only took two generations for the people of Israel to have forgotten the wonderful miracles in the desert.  How much more quickly can a love of God disappear when it is not accompanied by incredible signs and wonders, if we don’t “intentionally” keep it alive?

As the Jews always seemed to do, they took the line, “tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” quite literally.  Many would wear phylacteries which were small boxes containing scriptures on their hands and foreheads.  Jesus condemned this ostentatious display of false religiosity.  The phrase above meant that our love for God and our desire to pass that love on to others should not be hidden, but should be apparent in everything we do. Somewhere between a hidden love for Christ and a thirty pound cross some wear to look spiritual is the truth of what God wants from us.  God wants a love for Christ that can’t be hidden, but not a love that slaps people it their faces with its heavy-handed hypocrisy.  Ironically, the anti-christ will someday test loyalty with marks on the forehead or hands, Christ never asks that of us.  For Him, it’s what’s inside that counts.

The Jews took the words, “Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” literally again, and it led to the Jewish practice of the mezuzah which was nailing a small container holding a passage of Scripture to a doorpost. But we must remember that hanging scripture on the wall does not make our houses Christ-homes any more than wearing a Christian t-shirt fills us with Christ. It is all about the trueness of what lies within.  The verse above has been the flagship verse for hundreds of children’s ministries and even more so, families. 

That is all well and good, but sayings on a wall do not make God’s truth reality.  We cannot pass on what we do not know.  What this verse is really telling us is, love the Word, learn the Word, live the Word and share the Word, especially to the young we have contact with.  Children are like wet cement waiting to have an impression left in them.  If we don’t leave the impression, something else or someone else will. If we love God, we must pass it on. If we do not pass Him along, He will go the route of the false gods of the past and his reality will be lost until He returns again to an unsuspecting world.  We must do all we can to protect our younger generation from that.

I remember watching an interesting show a few years back and it stuck with me. Bear Grylls is a well-known outdoors adventurer and had his own show. Bear would take out a celebrity guest each week and they would spend two days in some remote area, facing the elements, experiencing some wild challenges, and living off the land.  They actually faced some pretty dangerous situations, as well.

I was amazed at the similarity between each of the guests from one week to the next.  All of them  had very good careers and the money and fame that so many seem to wish for.  But each one talked about how unfulfilling that life was by itself.  I don’t know what it is about the outdoors, especially when there are stressful situations involved, but people seem to open up a little more about their lives.  I remember especially the episode with Deion Sanders, the speedy, flashy, brash all-pro super-bowl winning football player of the Dallas Cowboys. He talked about sitting in the motel room after winning the Super Bowl and wondering why there was still an emptiness. He went on to say that he had to turn his life over to The Lord because there was nothing that the world could offer that would fill that void within him.

The apostle Paul told Timothy that life need cannot be met by anything the world has to offer. That has been proven out time and time again by thousands upon thousands of people who seemingly have it all, but still need something more. The verse below is a talking about money, but by extension, it could be talking about fame and power. They all come from the same shaker.

“But those who want to get rich (famous, powerful) fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money (fame, power) is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”  1 Timothy 6:9-10

All people search for fulfillment in their lives.  Unfortunately, even some who know Christ still look for the things of the world for that fulfillment. Christ can give our lives meaning like nothing else can.  That relationship is the only thing that can fill that void that we are born with. Jobs, relationships, hobbies, family are all important, but they are not shaped like the hole that lies within all of us and are never meant to fill it.

When we consider the incredible efforts we make to find fulfillment, there seems to be a common thread of error that frustrates the search.  Our desires hinge on self.  We want fulfillment in ourselves and for ourselves. But according to God’s Word true fulfillment can only take place if we desire to seek God’s will in our lives. Matthew tells us, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33) When we attempt to serve self rather than God an irreconcilable conflict sets in because God has a purpose for all of us and we will never find fulfillment when we choose desires that are outside of His purpose. No matter how much we have; no matter how much we do; no matter how much we know; if we live for self satisfaction, we will never be satisfied.  If we live for God then we are not battling against Him, but are empowered by Him.

Every few months I pull out a favorite poem of mine just as a reminder of God’s grace. It is by an unknown confederate soldier.  It epitomizes a life that has the fulfillment we all seek.  The life that is not all smooth, but has meaning.  The life we all want even though we may not know that is what we want.

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve. I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy. I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.  I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.  I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for but got everything I had I hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all people, most richly blessed.

A life with Christ should not be sullied by trying to make it meaningful with meaningless endeavors.  Our lives can be meaningful beyond measure if we let God have His way in our lives. 

Then and only then, will we see why we are here, what we can do, and how wonderful life can be.  …and that’s the truth.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”    Philippians 4:6-7

I believe the Bible gives us preventative tools more than curative tools.  Unfortunately we too often use the words in the Word only when things get really bad and we are throwing darts at the problem-solving dart board.  God happens to be on the board with a host of other possible cures.  We wait until the flames are licking at our heals, head for the fire extinguishers and if the closest one happens to be prayer, we pull it down and pull the pin.  In this passage the Apostle Paul writes that we should present all things to Him, not just all big things.  After all, most of our big worries started as smaller ones.  We just usually don’t worry about praying until we start sweating a lot.  Typically, we try to handle things on our own first and then when our alternatives are all exhausted, we turn to God.  After all, why bring God in to sweat the small things?  He has enough on His plate.

Don’t ask me how, but God is the magnificent multitasker. We can’t overwhelm Him or bother Him. The instruction Paul gives us here is to take any request, concern, or worry to our Father, who is willing to listen and to give us peace.  Paul knew what he was talking about.  He wrote most of the New Testament not knowing whether the next day would be his last.  Essentially every day he spent in prison was on death row.  At someone’s instruction or even whim, he might have been taken out and executed. This eventually happened, but in the meantime, Paul wrote some of the most uplifting, encouraging, and beautiful words ever penned.  So as he wrote to the Philippians “to be anxious for nothing” and by extension is telling us “to be anxious for nothing,” he was illustrating the principle in his own life.

How do we present our concerns for ourselves or others to the Lord?  By prayer with thanksgiving.  If we present with thanksgiving, that reveals our trust in the Father.  We are thanking Him for whatever He will do, knowing that His will is perfect.  We don’t know what God will do.  Some prayers He cannot answer the way we might hope because there is an overall plan that cannot be thwarted  or it goes against His nature.  Some say that God can do anything, but that is not true.  He cannot lie or go against His nature. He cannot make a triangle with four sides, because that goes against His natural law. But within His plans there are many things that can be, and will be, adjusted according to our asking.  There are two major camps of thoughts out there when it comes to prayer, but I think both of them miss the point of the Philippians verse.  One group says the God is sovereign and everything  is planned out, so we puny humans have no say because we cannot change God’s mind.  The other group puts man in charge and if we request something, God must deliver because if we ask, He is bound by promise, to give us what we want.  In other words, on one side God is in charge and we don’t matter and in the other man is charge and God just waits for our instruction.  If these scenerios seem a little too simplified, they are, but they are, in essence, what many believe.  I believe neither of these extremes.

I believe that God is sovereign, because He is.  I believe prayer matters, because He says it does.  So the truth is our human understanding cannot understand what seems to be two diametrically opposed truths.  Since God never lies, these truths must be merged in such a way that both are true.  I believe there is a way that is actually understandable (somewhat) by our limited minds, but to go into that here would take much longer than a simple devotion (although I know some of these are very long!).  In one of the books that the apostle John gave us, he wraps up the sovereign nature of God and God’s desire to hear and meet our needs in one verse, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16)  See, God is in control, but He still listens to our requests.

The second part of today’s Philippians verse is so beautiful.  He will give us a  peace that passes all understanding.  When we go through trials God can give us the peace of knowing that He is there and that nothing escapes His sight.  The peace He gives is what the world can’t give.  All the self-help books, Dr. Phils and Oprahs can’t give that peace. True peace can only come through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is wonderful that the verse says He shall shall keep our hearts and minds. People today will say to follow our hearts or trust in our minds. But God’s peace shall keep them both at rest so that we may walk in truth not guided by them, but by the Word. In an earlier devotion I wrote that we cannot trust our hearts or minds because they will lead us astray, but instead we must be led by God’s Word.  With His peace through His truth we can be assured that we are not walking on our own whims or thoughts, but instead trusting in our Shepherd to “lead us by still waters.” (Psalm 23:2 ).

We need not worry because He is there for us.  The song says, “don’t worry, be happy,” but more fittingly is God’s Word that says, “Don’t worry, be content.”  I may not be happy about all things, but I can be at peace with all things because God says He will supply that peace- and I believe Him.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  (Romans 8:1)

In this verse, we find two descriptions of the same person — a person that is in Christ Jesus. Those of us who are in Christ Jesus are first described by our position and then by our practice. We have no condemnation against us, Paul says, and we walk after the Spirit instead of the flesh.  The position is up to Christ to fulfill, the practice is up to us.  Fortunately for us, God is much better at keeping His word than we are.

Because God is completely holy, there is nothing we can do that can impress God.  Even our greatest deeds and will fall well short of the perfection that God requires.   On our own, we stand guilty before a virtuous judge who must deliver judgement in a way that matches his total sinlessness.  It might seem by the verse above that we determine our condemnation (or lack of it) by not walking in the flesh.  In other words, it might look like we earn our “freedom” by being good people.

It is not that we are “good enough” to merit favor, but that those of us who are in Christ have had our punishment transferred to Jesus, so that we are without condemnation. Romans 8:9 says “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.”  So we who believe on Jesus Christ have the assurance that Christ has taken our place and has placed us in Him through the indwelling Spirit. Christ is our substitute, so, in spite of our great shortcomings, we are without condemnation, not because of what we do, but because of what Christ has done.  Christ’s perfect sacrifice on our behalf has wiped our criminal record clean.

How then should we, the pardoned, live? We should follow the leadership of the Spirit of God. As Paul later explains in the same chapter, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14)  We no longer need to follow the dictates of our corrupted nature or of the sinful world; we can march to the beat of a spiritual Drummer, following the footsteps of our perfect Savior.

What a privilege and joy it is to be in Christ!  Our desire, like Paul’s, should therefore be to “be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).  Finally, we can walk free of the condemnation that is born into us and would remain in us if we did not accept Christ’s substitutional sacrifice on our behalf.

My favorite song for quite some time was “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns.  The chorus goes like this:

“Not because of who I am, But because of what You’ve done.

“Not because of what I’ve done, But because of who You are.”

It summarizes for me why we are so blessed in Christ.  If you listen to all the lyrics of that song it captures the unbelievable act of love that has led us out of bondage.

PS   you can find the song lyrics here-   

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/castingcrowns/whoami.html

and the song here:

If you get a chance to listen, I think you will love it.

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”   (1 Corinthians 10:12,13)

We are tempted every day.  Our whole marketing system is based on temptation.  Every sales pitch places a seed of dissatisfaction which then dangles a tempting solution in front of us.  Temptation is something that we must always be on the alert for or it will catch us with our guard down.  It is especially effective on those who think they are beyond temptation.  Those who think they are exempt are those who are most likely to take a fall.  The builders of the Titanic were not prepared for disaster, because they didn’t think disaster could befall them.  The tragedy was that they were not prepared for tragedy, and it resulted in an even greater tragedy.

The thought that we will be faced with temptation might be depressing, but today’s verse can prepare us and encourage us for what will be the inevitable.  Of course, being tempted is not the same as falling to temptation.  Jesus was tempted in the desert and in the garden and he remained strong. What he did with the temptation is what we are to do.  We are not to succumb to it, but defeat it.  It is a war within us, but it is a war that can be won.

I am reading a civil war series by the great historian Shelby Foote. He tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. “Captain, give me a gun!” he shouted. “This fight ain’t got no rear!” The fight against temptation has no rear, no matter where we go it rages on and we must be aware and we must prepare.

First of all, Paul tells us in today’s verse that whatever we are tempted with, it is common to man. As much as we would like to say our situation is different, it is not.  We will not be the first to be tempted in that way and we will not be the last. Satan uses the feeling that our situation is different, to lure us in.  We arrive at the conclusion that our situation is unique, that no one else can possibly understand our plight. We believe that no one else has the excuses that we have to explain our behavior.  But excuses  are not reasons. If our spouse puts on a couple of pounds, it does not make it legitimate to look around at others a little more slowly.   There is a story about a man and wife who were walking through the mall and a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by.  The man’s eyes followed her.  Without looking up from the item she was examining, the wife asked, “Was the stare worth the trouble you’re in?”  Never is giving into temptation worth the trouble it will get us into.  If we realize we are not alone in temptation, we will be strengthened and will also feel more free to ask others for help in the dilemma.  Remember, we are not alone in our struggles.

Secondly, God is faithful. The Greek word, “pistos” which is translated as “faithful” in the verse above means “worthy to be believed, trustworthy.”  So God is trustworthy. We can believe that He will do what He says He will.  There may be many ways to fight the battle of temptation, but one of the best might be cowardice.  Not cowardice in the way we usually interpret it, but cowardice in that we flee from temptation just like Joseph did. When we flee from it, we should not leave a forwarding address. Instead, we need to enlist God in our battle of temptation. If we think we are strong enough to handle it on our own, we will fail. Only with God’s help can we win.  He sits immediately behind us waiting to be pulled to the front to take on the enemy with His power and strength. It is tag-team match and once we let Him in the ring, He will not tag out to us. He is there to stay.

The third thing we should notice from today’s verse is that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear. God knows us better than we know us.  He knows how much testing we can take.  It is said that when we are in the oven, God watches us with one hand on the temperature gauge and one hand on the timer.  He knows how much we can take and how long we can take it.  He will never give us more than we can bear.  Sometimes we might break, but that is not because it it too much, but because we fought too little.  We are all temptable, but only when we allow ourselves to fall for the con, will we become contemptable.

Fourth, with every temptation, God will provide a way out. We have an escape route for every conceivable temptation we could ever possibly experience. Sometimes He has provided an escape that we don’t even know about.  He saves us in spite of ourselves. In other cases, he will have an exit door with a flashing sign above it making the escape very clear.  There is an old joke I have used several times in my long career.   If someone says he has broken his arm in two places.  I tell them not to go to those places.  One of the best things we can do to keep God from having to give us exits, is not to go certain places in the first place. Avoiding temptation is our way of making God’s job easier.  It is easier to suppress the first desire than to fulfill all those which follow it.

The most encouraging thing is that God is on our side. He wants us to walkin victory over sin and temptation, and he is there, ready and willing to assist us. We will be tempted, but we need not lose.  God will guide us, help us and protect us if we allow Him to. He has withstood temptations and He will stand with us against them, as well.

Recently I listened to an “unconversion” story. A man, whose name is Paul, accepted (or felt he did) Christ when he was 16, married a woman who was a Christian (or felt she was) when in their 20’s, got involved in the church, went through some marital problems, rejected their faith, and became atheists. It was a sad story, but one I am sure happens with some frequency and for the same reasons that Paul mentioned as he told his story. I would say that it boiled down to two main reasons for him. The main reason was that he had never met anyone who seemed to live as though he or she had a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. Secondly, he just could not reconcile the idea of a loving God and the violence that exists in the world and in the Bible. Both are common objections, but today I would like to share some thoughts on the first. The second will come up unexpectedly in a future devotion, I am sure.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

The Apostle Paul left us this admonition in Romans and it leaves little doubt that our lives should change once we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Paul from the story I was listening to said that he had never met a “transformed” Christian.  He believed that there were good Christians and bad Christians, good atheists and bad atheists, and a whole bunch of good and bad people in between. He said he had never seen a Christian who lived like he or she had a personal relationship with the great God of the Bible. He had never seen “miracles” that could not be naturally explained or seen lives that were radically different because of a spiritual relationship with Christ. Even though he had spent almost 30 years in the church, he had always had his doubts and finally gave up on ever finding convincing evidence that Christianity had any advantages over any other life choice.

It was sad to listen to him. It was sad for him because so much of what he experienced was not my experiences in the church.  But I was also sad because at times I understood what he was saying.  If, as Christians, we do have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe, our lives should be radically different, not only from what they used to be before we knew Christ, but from the rest of the world. Too often- they are not. When the Apostle Paul addressed the Christians in Rome he was encouraging them to not only act different but to be different. Conforming and transforming are totally different concepts and until we, as believers, get a hold of this principle of a Christ-filled life, many more will leave the faith for lack of evidence in individuals who call themselves Christians.

On the CRU site (formerly Campus Crusade) there is a wonderful page of testimonies  (http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/my-story-a-life-changed.html) from people who have had their lives changed by Christ. Some of the stories are incredibly moving and others very dramatic, but all tell of lives left behind in exchange for new ones. The Paul in our story would say that he doesn’t deny that some people change, but that the same things happen in all kinds of religions, clubs, and groups. He believes that Christianity doesn’t have a corner on the “changed life” market. His belief is that if someone is changed by Christ and someone is changed by being in the Lion’s Club there should be a difference between the two. One involves the great Creator and the other involves a bunch of guys that do good deeds for needy children. Yet, he says, being involved in groups seems to be as an effective life changer as being a Christian. He is right- in part. There should be a difference between Christians and the rest of the world. I disagree, however, that no one lives that transformed life. I know many people who illustrate a renewed life, but Paul is right- it is not as typical as it should be.

There is a saying that states, “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”  There is a positive selfishness that needs to take place in our relationship with Christ. In all cases but one we should put others first. However, in our Christian walk we should not be examining the walk of others before our own. It was once said that a sermon is the “wise words of God for the fellow sitting next to me.” Before we make complaints about those around us who do not live a godly life, we should look within ourselves to see if we are living the lives we should be living. I sympathize with Paul. He is right to say there are many people who profess Christ but do not illustrate Christ. However, he is wrong when he says that there are no people who illustrate Christ in their lives. The Christ transformation should not be just barely noticeable, but striking. Should the adjectives godly, loving, kind, and generous jump the forefront of people’s minds when they try to describe us? Do the words “very spiritual” find their way into the conversation on our behalf? They probably should… we are in league with the Creator of the universe. He desires a personal relationship with us. There is no other relationship like it. We should live lives that reflect that incredible uniqueness.

In 1987 George Gallup, famous pollster, found the following: “There’s little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the unchurched. There’s as much pilferage and dishonesty among the churched as the unchurched. And I’m afraid that applies pretty much across the board: religion, per se, is not really life changing. People cite it as important, for instance, in overcoming depression–but it doesn’t have primacy in determining behavior.” This sad conclusion is probably even worse now. In essence, what Gallup’s findings show is that the churched are as unethical as unchurched, but seem to feel less stressed about it. It is not only our feelings that should change when we are indwelled by Christ, but also our behavior. After all, it is our behavior that others see, not our feelings.

Unfortunately, Paul (not to be confused with the Apostle Paul) did not see enough differences in the behavior of Christians to keep him in the faith. Of course, the differences he should have really looked for should have been inside himself, not others. But we cannot deny the fact that views people have of Christians will influence the views people have of Christ. Our verse for today gives instruction on how our lives can change after we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Conforming means to take on the appearance of another and transforming is an inside change that is not dependent on surroundings. Only when indwelled with the Holy Spirit can we discern the good, acceptable, perfect will of God. That is how transformation takes place. If we accept Christ but live our lives separate from Him, we will not look like Him and Paul’s criticisms of the Christian faith will seem valid.

I have witnessed transformed lives and have read hundreds of stories of those who have testimonies of God’s life-changing powers in their lives. On the flip side, I have also heard horror stories of people who purport to have Christ and live like the devil. How can it be that in some parts of this world there are Christians on their knees receiving the sword because they will not deny Jesus, and in other parts of the world there are Christians who avoid any behavior associated with Him. The Apostle Paul tell us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Why should we live like an old dying creature when we have become a new living one? Let us live lives that will not hinder the spread of the gospel.

I grew up in the sixties when being a radical was honorable pursuit to many. That kind of radicalism had ends that were very debatable. We need radicals today. We need those who will radically display the transformation that Christ can make in people’s lives. Raymond Williams, who was a writer-thinker and certainly not spiritual once said, “To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing.” Without him realizing it, he spoke to the Christian experience. We live in a world that is permeated with despair. Christ gives hope and our portrayal of that hope is instrumental in its spread. Today as we go through our day, we might ask ourselves, “Do my actions coincide with my position? Do people want what I have or do they see me and continue their search?” No one will confuse the butterfly with the caterpillar from which it came. No one should confuse our new life with the old one from which we came. John said it best, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:6) Let’s watch our walk today.

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:16-17)

There is a pretty widespread belief out there that Christians can’t and don’t have any fun. The typical picture of Christians is a group of people who live lives of do nots and go through each and every day like they are sucking on lemons.

But that perception is wrong and if there are Christians who live that way, they would be hard pressed to find Biblical evidence that justifies their lack of enjoyment. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that God does not want us to enjoy our lives. If we read the Bible objectively, thoroughly, consistently, that is not the picture we will get. Jesus did not say “follow me and I will make you miserable, you will hate getting up in the morning, you will never laugh or have fun, and your entire existence will be being unhappy and I want you to make sure that those who know you are unhappy as well.”  I am pretty sure that is not what the Bible says and it is frustrating to see it interpreted that way. To put all the verses together in one verse, God actually tells that He will “give us life and give it to us more abundantly.”  That sounds like fun to me.

Look at our verse for today in James, it doesn’t say that God

is trying to keep us from good things. He is actually the source of all good things. According to the dictionary, fun is “a source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure.”  There is a misnomer out there about what fun is.

There is the idea that fun is a static thing that remains the same throughout our life.  But our view of what is enjoyable changes as we change regardless whether we are Christians or not. Take the partying college student who sees fun as getting blasted, throwing water balloons off the dorm roof, while mooning passers-by. He may not think that is as fun when he is thirty years old with his own business and is raising two children.  Does that mean he doesn’t have fun anymore?  It means that the definition of fun for him has changed.

People try to paint a singular picture of fun that often includes activities that they think Christians wouldn’t be involved in, so thus, Christians don’t have fun. The opposite is actually true.  God created friendship and smiling and laughter.  Why would he not want us to enjoy them? People like people who seem to enjoy themselves, so does God want us to be people that no one wants to be around? Holiday Inn, when looking for 500 people to fill positions for a new facility, interviewed 5,000 candidates. The interviewers automatically excluded all candidates who smiled fewer than four times during the interview. If Holiday Inn wants to see smiling people, why wouldn’t God want that!

When we become Christians we change and our viewpoint of enjoyment, amusement, and pleasure will change. We no longer have to accept the world’s definition of fun.  For the first time, we can have real enjoyment in our lives, the way it was created to be experienced. Recently a big time celebrity excused his very public affair by saying God wanted him to be happy. This man purports to be a Christian so has brought God in as a co-conspirator in the affair. Our fun does not need to be outside God’s perimeters.  There is plenty of fun to be had within God’s framework.  God never wants to steal our fun, He wants us to experience the real thing, not the vaporous fun the world often supplies.  When we become Christians, we won’t stay the same. Like the middle-aged man who is living his life to the fullest and looks back on his escapades of the past and just shakes his head, we will often do that when we start truly living the Christian life.

David tells us, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more.” (Psalm 16:11)  That sounds like fun to me.  Pleasures forever more doesn’t sound like a life full of lemon-sucking and blah, blah, blah every day.

I have never been accused by anyone of never having fun, but I have been accused of not having their kind of fun. That is a different thing. When we let others define what our happiness, enjoyment, and satisfaction should look like, we are letting them define us as people. Six weeks before he died, a reporter asked Elvis Presley, “Elvis, when you first started playing music, you said you wanted to be rich, famous and happy. Are you happy?”

He replied with a line from one of his songs, “I’m so lonely I could die.”   He had lived the good life, according to the world.  He should have been happy, yet he was not. People look for happiness, when they should be looking for contentment. They look for fun in sin rather than fun in holiness. I know a lot of Christians and a lot of them have a lot of fun. They do cool activities, they goof around, they tell great jokes, and they enjoy life. Are there activities that would be hard to justify as Christians? Are there endeavors that we probably can’t tweak to fit the Christian life?  Sure, but if our idea of fun is snorting cocaine or running around with the neighbors wife, our definition of fun needs to be reexamined.

Many do not know what constitutes happiness but are killing themselves to reach it.  If our goal is happiness, we will never reach it.  But if our goal is to “strive first for the kingdom of God, then all things (happiness and fun included) will be added… unto us.”  A minnow flopping on a flat rock cannot be happy because it is outside where it should be.  We cannot be happy flopping around on the flat rock of this world when we should be in the deep waters of God’s love.  Fun is being free to be who we can be, not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of God. Believe me, if we think our cup is full but it is of the world’s happiness, satan will surely jog our elbow.  If our cup is full of God’s contentment, He will steady us and we won’t spill a drop.

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God . . . “  2 Timothy 1:8

In this verse Paul is speaking to his young co-worker in the faith, Timothy. Timothy was ministering in the very pagan city of Ephesus. He was young and surrounded by hosts of non-believers. Paul is writing Timothy from prison and is asking him not be ashamed of Jesus, Paul himself, or the gospel. It seems harsh to use the word ashamed since Timothy was the Paul’s “son in the faith” and had faced persecution with Paul many times for the sake of Christ.  How could Timothy be ashamed of the faith that he so stubbornly defended?

Many of us are surrounded by unbelievers in our daily lives.  Some of the people are more than unbelievers; they may be anti-believers. Some may be indifferent and others may be hostile.  Some might be complacent and others might be combative.  Regardless, it might be difficult to make our spiritual beliefs known to those around us due to the perceived or real responses we might receive. Being outspoken about our faith can lead to all kinds of reactions, good and bad, and sometimes silence seems to be the most prudent policy.

Timothy might have been tempted to be ashamed of his position in Christ for the sake of comfort. Being ashamed does not necessarily mean that he actively

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rejected his faith, but that he remained incognito in the faith. Sometimes what is left unsaid is as much a statement about the place Christ plays in our life as what is said.  In Timothy’s case (and ours) he was defending a man who was dead, yet was said to be alive. He said (as we do) that this same man wanted to have a relationship with everyone on earth. He described this invisible man (again, like we must) as the forgiver of sins and the giver of life.  Paul may have known that Timothy was wondering if it was best expose himself with this incredible story to the ridicule and incredulity of many. Paul knew that thousands (including us) would face this same dilemma down through the ages.  That is why Paul wrote to Timothy (and us) to stay strong in the faith.

Timothy may have also been tempted to be ashamed of Paul because he was sitting in prison and was on the outs with the higher-ups of Roman Empire.  It is easier to sometimes ignore the plights of our fellow believers than to recognize and support them, thus giving away our position. Paul urges Timothy to understand that

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anyone who stands on the promises of God will face discomfort.  If we believe that we might face discomfort by identifying with the persecuted, we might stay silent about our faith.  Paul instructs against shamed silence when we see others who are being ridiculed or persecuted for their faith in Christ.

Lastly,  Paul warns Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel. The gospel of the Bible is offensive to the world. First of all, it is exclusive and that is a concept that is not accepted today. To say that there is only one way to be saved is contrary to the all-important tolerance of today’s world. Secondly, it flies in the face of the belief that we can earn our salvation. Finally, it exposes our sinful condition and need for forgiveness. The gospel is a touchy subject and many feel it is  better to avoid it completely than to experience derision and ridicule from others.

If we are not willing to stand up for Jesus, our fellow believers,

and the gospel of Christ, it may mean we are ashamed of the gospel. Total silence may indicate, at the least, partial shame. If we believe that the Bible holds the keys to eternal life and vast blessings here on earth, why be reluctant to share it?  Around the world right now many are being lined up and killed for their faith; here we might be fired upon with insults.  That is a big difference.

We need to ask ourselves this.  If someone we knew suddenly wanted to know who Jesus was, would they think of asking us?  If we have remained in the shadows with our faith, probably not. If we have made our love for Him known, probably so.

Fear not, be not silent, be not ashamed, “for if God is with us, who can be against us.”

“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds, for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.”  Isaiah 55:8,9

I like to think of myself as okay. Not great, but at least okay. I am probably not the only one who likes to think that way. It is comforting, I guess, to look around and believe that there are a lot of people worse than we are. But today I was looking at these verses in Isaiah and I realize that the word “your”  in these verses was talking about me. Not the other guy, but me. My deeds are not like God’s deeds. My ways are not God’s ways. In all ways, His ways are superior to my ways.

This reality can be fairly depressing if we ponder it. We fall short in all ways. Not just some of us, but all of us! Well, it would be depressing if the story stopped there. But God does not stop there and leave us with no hope.  Almost every part of the Bible is about hope. It tells us how we can triumph in spite of our misguided ways. The Bible gives us hope in a world of hopelessness. Psalm 46:1 says that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble,” which is so much more comforting than “I am my own refuge and strength and I can rely on myself in times of trouble.” Since my ways are not God’s ways, to rely on myself is a losing proposition.

A while backI took back a couple of inferior rafts that I had bought for camping. I upgraded to one (not two cheap ones, but one good one) that actually floats. I thought it would be a good investment, especially for whoever is in the middle of the river in it. (Never go cheap on eye surgeons or rafts.) Our ways are like those rafts. They are inferior and regardless of how fast or slow the leak is, our ways will eventually “leak.”  Like the rafts, we cannot patch them on our own. We can try to fix things up, but it will never work. I had to get a new raft, just like we have to become new creatures. We can’t patch up the old, we must become new. That can only be done through Christ.

I like to think some of my ways are good. But no matter how good I think they are, if they are mine, they are not the ways of God. What I need to do is to know God well enough to know His ways. When I start becoming more like Him, my ways will start to come in line with His ways. Some of us will go through life trying to patch one thing up after another. We leave God sitting over to the side, waiting for us, while we patch hole after hole, only to have the next one spring up. When we do that, we are just kicking the can down the road. The fix will be temporary. The only permanent fix is to give ourselves over to Christ and allow Him to make things new. By the time some of us are old we are floating in a pathetic raft barely staying afloat made up of more patches than original raft.  We paddle around wondering why we are so stressed, while a brand new one with our name awaits just in reach.

Many people want to try to do their own thing and try to align God with them. That would be like coming back to camp and instead of pulling ourselves to shore, we try to pull the shore to us. The shore, like God, is fixed. We must be the ones that move. If God’s ways are superior to ours, why should He come to us. It is logical that we go to Him. Unfortunately, the common practice is for us to do our own thing and then try to say that is God’s way as well.

On one of our camping trips with the kids and grandkids was out in the river and my raft started sinking. I realized that I was probably going to go down with both ends of the raft above my head closing  like a giant clam.  Between screams for help,  I thought how much better it would have been to have a raft that holds air. Now I have one because I purchased one. The good news is that if we want to get rid of our inferior ways, we don’t have to make a purchase.  Our new ways have been paid for in full, and all we need to do is pick them up. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians was the same prayer we should pray for ourselves. “(I) am asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give (me) spiritual wisdom and insight so that (I) might grow in (my) knowledge of (Him).  (I) pray that (my) heart will be flooded with light so that (I) can understand the confident hope He has given to those He has called—His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance.”  Now that’s how you fix a leaky raft.