Jesus had a simple message.

Jesus had a pretty simple message.

"There is only One God."

"He made you, loves you, has a purpose for you which involves worshipping Him and glorifying Him in what you were made to do."

"You can't experience any of that because of the sin problem in your being."

"Only I can free you from that sin problem.  I am that One true God."

"You need to make a personal response to this offer that involves repentance."

Last week we looked at Mark 1:16 - 2:12 and noticed that while Jesus is out proclaiming His Word, there are at least three hurdles that always seem to come against His simple message.

The first is the Enemie's attempts to distract and control the conversation.  We see that a lot these days.  Opponents or resistors of the Gospel want to distract from the simple message by changing the focus with distracting and misleading questions.  It happened to Jesus too.  The solution:  Steal back the focus by directing with the right questions and keep control of the conversation.  You can always do this with respect and recognition of the other issues brought up, to be addressed later.

The second is the immaturity of believers who want to focus on the works over the message.  There will always be those who get excited about how God does what He does and will try to highlight the work over the message.  This often leads to some type of standard or subjective process that is presented as a mandatory experience.  It happened to Jesus too.  The Solution:  Let the Bible interpret experience and point back to the message.  Experiences are real, obviously!  But sometimes, we can interpret those experiences the wrong way - which leads to a distortion or manipulation of the Masters original message.  Keep it simple.  Stick with what He said.

The third hurdle is simply the work of "elite" christians who attempt to make grace and forgiveness something that is dispensed through their methods or their disciplined traditions.  Jesus encountered this almost every step of His journey.  His solution was His message.  His mode of delivery was one of unprecedented authority wrapped in a package of unprecedented humility.

It is amazing to note that when we look for spiritual leaders in this day and age, we are always looking for those who look like the worlds best business leaders.  I truly wonder if most churches would hire Jesus today.  I wonder what kind of hurdles He would experience if He came into my local Church fellowship?   I wonder what hurdles He would experience if He came to yours.

Jesus had a pretty simple message.  Question is, do we simply want Jesus and His message?

With you for His glory,

The Age of Inspiration

I wonder as I survey the landscape of "Christian" ministry in the west:  Have we traded inspiration for dedication?

I notice inspirational quotes on church signs.  I see people post 50 character statements on social media trying to inspire faith.  I see people eager to pass out as many gospel tracts as possible and pick up the latest version of Our Daily Bread for daily quick fixes of inspirational living.  In an age of immediacy, we all want our quick fix's of inspiration to motivate us through our day.

The problem as I see it, is that we aren't actually becoming more devoted to Christ, but more devoted to our ideas of ministry.

I know a lot of wonderful Christians who are fighting the good fight OF THE FAITH.  A lot of people forget about that last phrase in 1 Timothy 6:12.  Those devoted to Christ are fighting the fight of faith!  That means trusting what God says to do in every situation and enduring so as to see God's good, perfect, and pleasing work at the end of the circumstance.  That is fighting the good fight of the faith.

On the other side, I see a lot of people today who talk Christianeze and politely interact with their surroundings, but when real life conflict /hurt/tragedy/happens, the only option they can see is to act like unsaved people and handle problems like unsaved people - thus defaming Jesus publicly through their witness.  No one gets to see what God can do if His people would simply obey His guidance.

Their inspiration did not lead to dedication.  Perhaps we need to stop looking at the Christian Church to inspire us, and humble ourselves again to be shepherded into becoming disciples of the actual Biblical Christ.  I have found that He often looks very different than the 60 second Jesus we want to make us feel good about ourselves.

Are you looking for only inspiration in your life, or are you looking for the ONE TRUE THING to be devoted to as HE has asked for it?

With you for His glory,

Do You Have Freedom or Something Else?

How do you know if you are experiencing true freedom in Christ?

I want to make this as black and white as possible (because Scripture does) for those who struggle with bondage, or for those who are trapped in bondage and need the light of Scripture to shine on your shackles and open for you the way to true freedom and joy in Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing."
Galatians 2:20-21

There is freedom in the Gospel.  If you live under the weight of shame and guilt for past sins, you probably haven't experienced the Freedom that Christ offers you through reconciliation.  Think about that word, "reconciliation".  We have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ.  It is the Grace of God that sets us free to live to Him.  Are we sinners?  Yes!  Are we perfect yet? No!  Can we move forward in the grace of God anyway?  Yes!

"Clearly, no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The Righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."'
Galatians 3:11-12

Shame that condemns is produced by illegitimate guilt brought on by a guilty conscience or ignorance.  Legitimate guilt comes from God for the purpose of producing repentance.  True repentance produces fruit in accordance with Scripture:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  These are evidenced in the midst of adversity when their manifestation is demanded by Scripture, and distinguished from false fruits that disappear when adversity strikes.  There is no guilt or shame here, because against such things there is no law (*vs. 23).  True freedom brings real fruit, which in turn brings more freedom.  False fruit brings false condemnation, which leads to more bondage.

"Before this faith, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."
Galatians 3:23-25

If your life is an attempt to regulate behavior and eradicate sin by administration of the law, then you are not free.  "Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"  (Galatians 3:5)

You either believe what Scripture says, or you don't.  If you do, you live in the freedom of Grace.  If you don't, then you live in the bondage of the law and you are not saved.  If you live according to the law and claim to be saved, you are living a lie.  Repent.  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and let Him lift you up.  Stop trying to lift yourself up.    What is it that Scripture says?

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this (faith) is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God, not a result of works, that no one may boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9

Faith is believing that God has completed the work and that He is working in you  (and others = not your responsibility to transform) toward His intended purposes and will not let you go.  True faith produces true guilt over sin.  True guilt produces repentance.  True repentance produces fruit.  True fruit changes you from the inside out.

If you live under the weight of shame for sin, cry out for freedom.  You don't have to live with it.  CHRIST DID NOT DIE FOR NOTHING!

If you are busy pointing out the failures of other people, you probably haven't experienced true salvation, because that is not how the redeemed love.  If you are busy trying to replace sinful urges with "better" activities, then you probably haven't experienced salvation, because activities don't replace urges, new urges do.  If you are busy trying to sterilize your life from evil, then you probably don't understand what Christ has done and what is His to do and what very little is yours, because the redeemed focus on and think on what is good, lovely, noble, trustworthy, praiseworthy, etc.  Nothing you do can bring about salvation or force salvation upon others.  If you think this might be you, pray for freedom.  Read Galatians, and praise God for His mercies and faithfulness.  I look forward to seeing you and hearing you experience true freedom in Christ!

With you for His glory