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Blessed We Are!

For March 13, 2019
Some of those who heard the Lord Jesus Christ proclaim the Beatitudes had been disappointed. For it was ancient Palestine around the beginning of the last millennium.  Although Rome was the world power, there were rumors of a promised Messiah who would establish His eternal Kingdom with Jerusalem at its center. But there was yet no Messiah—and no new kingdom emerging—or so they thought.

There were many recognized leaders of the day. One in particular, Jesus of Nazareth, gathered a significant following of anxious people who heard Him promise the following:

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:3-12 (KJV)

Those who were disgruntled and disappointed by these words, expected Jesus tell how He was going to subdue the Romans and establish an earthly kingdom.

Unfortunately, many are still unmoved by His message today because they fail to realize that our Lord’s reign is invisible now (as He reigns in the hearts of His subjects), but it shall be visible later—when He returns!

Thanks be to God for those who heard the Lord’s piercing words and were spiritually transformed by them—as many of us have been today. They, like us, understand and embrace His eight fundamental blessings of Kingdom Citizenship:

    • The “poor in spirit” or those who turn from their pride and humbly seek the Lord Jesus Christ for their reconciliation to God are given eternal access to the Kingdom of Heaven.
    • Those who are truly penitent, who “mourn” over their helplessness (as sinners in need of a Savior) shall find the Lord to be the only means of true and lasting comfort.
    • Those who are the “meek,” who emulate Christ’s selflessness (especially when facing opposition; knowing that vengeance is the Lord’s, and He will vindicate) shall inherit the earth.
    • The Lord Himself shall completely satisfy the cravings of those who “hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness” in their lives, families, churches, communities, and world.
    • Mercy begets mercy. Those who graciously extend mercy to others are assured to receive God’s mercy and grace. Here, we can be merciful because the Lord has been merciful to us.
    • Those who demonstrate sincere desires and motives, who consistently show they have hearts that are pure (no malevolence or duplicity). These people shall see God face to face.
    • The Children of God always seek to preserve peace by living in harmony with others. This is because Jesus, the Prince of Peace lives inside them in the person of the Holy Spirit, who performs the Lord’s perfect peace through them as His “peace makers.”
    • Ill-treatment is a common plight to all humans. But those who inherit the Kingdom of Heaven having been “persecuted for righteousness sake” share an experience comparable to that of the ancient prophets. So when we face rejection, criticism, or isolation because of our Christian testimony, we can rejoice and be exceedingly glad because our reward in Heaven is great!

As Christians, we are the subjects of the Lord’s universal, yet invisible Kingdom where Jesus Christ reigns as both Savior and Lord. As such, we are the living proof of His marvelous plan of redemption. Thus, our faith in Christ and labors for His Kingdom’s benefit are never futile or wasted.

We are the joint heirs in whom the Lord has entrusted the New Birth. This priceless heirloom, which we acquire by faith in Christ alone and share in common, confirms our identity as His followers, allows us to live morally responsible and spiritually astute, and enhances and preserves a civil, global society both now and forever. What a wonderful Savior!

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We Are One

For March 7, 2019
The Bible depicts a time in history, immediately before the Lord Jesus Christ’s return, when a callous disregard for the incredible, intrinsic value of other human beings, coupled with wanton lasciviousness and random, escalating violence would be commonplace.

It has been shown that ours is a segregated society where class and culture are often the mitigating factors deciding how and where we choose to live. Unfortunately, where we choose to worship is often scrutinized in this manner as well. Here, we allow sin to separate us into divisive factions that resort to violence to settle the most harmless of disputes.

Even worse, many professing Christians attempt to exchange our radical yet fundamental Kingdom principles for world-centered ideals at the expense of our extraordinary Christian witness.

Two of the more insidious examples are status and prejudice, which deceive us into making false assumptions about and/or imposing unreasonable, arbitrary restrictions on others.

In other words, here we can falsely assume that someone’s faith in God is invalid because they do not share our culture. Or we can choose to disassociate with certain people because they do not share our social/economic status and/or political affiliation (and/or vice versa); even though we profess Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior.

Unfortunately, there are some communities that have Christian churches on every street corner within a one-mile radius, and yet they share similar doctrines, liturgy, and rituals. How can we testify to the world that we are one body in Christ and yet maintain our divisiveness as though we were soldiers guarding a military base in enemy territory?

My brothers and sisters, this should not be when the Bible depicts a way of living that juxtaposes the hostile tendencies of this fallen world: How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! Psalm 133:1 (NIV)

Imagine living in a world where we not only demonstrated benevolence towards others, but we also valued each other equally. This would create an environment where we practice civility, respect, care, support, and goodwill towards each other consistently. That would be wonderful!

The Lord introduced such a magnificent Kingdom to a sinful, clandestine world almost two thousand years ago where His people are one—even as He is one with the Father. (John 17:22) Today, this glorious Kingdom remains a radical, counter-culture to a fallen world as it values unity and harmony among all its citizens regardless of culture or class.

He made us one with God through His vicarious death and triumphant resurrection. As result, the Bible teaches that we are united in Christ and serve the one true God:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:3-6 NIV)

While the world promotes and celebrates factions and dissension, we Christians promote and celebrate peace and harmony. We understand we share the same identity and lineage as we are created in the image of God, and we share the same ancestry: Adam and Eve.

As such, since our ancestors fell, we understand that none of us are righteous before God in our own merit. Thus, we all share the same fundamental need for a Savior who will impart His amazing grace to us as we place our faith in Him.

More than ever before, this world needs to be reminded of the unifying message our Lord and Savior offers all people everywhere. Not only do we have this capacity, but we also have the responsibility to offer this world a glimpse of Heaven with its rich diversity of people united in Christ.

In this way, we can show that we are the blood-washed and blood-bought Saints who are one in Christ in Heaven forever, just as we are one in Christ on earth today. Now that we know that we are precious in His sight, let us view one another through His gracious and forgiving eyes.

 

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We Have Another Comforter Today

For March 5, 2019
The Holy Spirit or the Comforter shares God’s full essence and deity. Terms like the Spirit of Christ, Spirit of God, Spirit of Truth, Holy Spirit, and Holy Ghost are synonymous. Although the Holy Spirit is a person, He has been described using the pronoun “it.”

Thus, consequential notions: “it” can be manipulated by human whim; “it” comes or goes, or “it” can be turned on or off—like an electric current—are not consistent with our Lord’s description of the Comforter  (Greek: parakletos) in John 14:16-18 (KJV):

I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jesus promises He will be inside us; abiding with us forever. In His description, He uses the Greek word: Paraclete: one who is “called to one’s side” or “called to someone’s aid,” which conveys the idea of Helper and Advocate.1

Additional characteristics worth noting about the Comforter are:

    • He is Christ’s representative, keeping company with us and living inside us to reveal the Lord’s grace and glory each day.
    • As Advocate, He provides us with the means of identification and association with the Lord Jesus Christ; distinguishing us from those who are not associated with the Lord.
    • He is the Spirit of Truth whom the world will not understand or receive.
    • As Teacher, He constantly reminds us of the Lord’s incomparable teachings, and He enables us to share those wonderful truths with others for their benefit.
    • As Helper, He empowers us to emulate the Lord’s impeccable lifestyle so that He is glorified in what we say, think, and do.
    • As Spirit of God, He permeates our hearts and minds with abiding peace, joy, and strength to sustain us through those difficult times all of us will face.
    • As Sprit of Christ, He helps us to fix our minds on Christ as we confidently await His glorious and imminent return.

The Holy Spirit of God—the Comforter—draws us to Christ, brings us to life (quickens us), secures our identity with Christ (seals us in Christ), guides us, makes us one in Christ, and He prepares us for Heaven.

In this way, our victory over the Enemy in this life, and our victory over death in the next are certain. What a wonderful Savior!

 

 

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True Love is Possible Today

For February 25, 2019
The word love conveys a number of meanings, although it essentially names an emotional attraction towards someone or something. We can love our jobs, houses, cars, classical music, pizza, baseball, and that old pair of comfortable jeans. This is not a new phenomenon since the Greeks distinguished parental love (Greek: storge) from fraternal love (Greek: phileo) from the passion between lovers (Greek: eros) as well.

But, Jesus Christ established a new form of love when He commanded His followers, in John 13:34-35, to love (Greek: agape) each other unselfishly—just as He loves us—so that others will know we belong to Him. This is the highest form of authentic, eternal, selfless, pure love that only comes from God. Such altruistic love; this “true love,” is completely free of selfishness; for death is the ultimate demonstration of true love, which the Lord Jesus Christ willingly performed for us at Calvary in order to redeem us.

In our human strength alone, we are incapable of expressing it because we want to know “What’s in it for us?” before we respond. Our attempts at expressing such “true love” have failed miserably since they often produce an exploitative, self-gratifying human expression directed towards a well-defined, homogenous group that has the ability to reciprocate in kind. Here, we seek to please ourselves while those people who are in need of our love in the form of human kindness and beneficence continue to go without our intervention.

It is easy to love people who reciprocate our benevolence and to avoid people who reject us. Relationships fail when we choose not to express the love that covers a multitude of offenses. Conflicts arise when we do not consider how the other person’s needs, wants and aspirations are just as important as our own.

The miracle of true love enables Christians to express genuine, meaningful affection towards other people—without regard to race, culture or class—so that even our enemies can benefit as the Lord teaches in Matthew 5:43-48:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Although difficult, we Christians can find the ability to express His love as we yield to His Spirit, who instinctively responds to others through us in ways that serve their best interests. His Spirit inside of us loves through us without selfish motives or thoughts of recognition or repayment.

When we express this Christ-centered, Spirit-driven love, we live rightly in the eyes of God and humanity. In God’s eyes, we are His children and fully capable of experiencing and emulating His glory. In the eyes of humanity, we are a brilliant reflection of God’s practical and tangible love, which emphatically proves that we belong to His Son, Jesus Christ.

True love enables us to extend mercy and forgiveness to the vile and unforgivable. We emulate God’s perfect love when we forgive others for intentional wrongdoings, show mercy instead of judgment even when we are wronged, and extend good will towards others especially when it is not expedient or it opposes conventional wisdom and/or public opinion to the contrary.

True love gives substance to our Christian witness and makes it more than mere rhetoric. We should never think that it is strange to experience and express a rare, pure, divine, and practical true love, because our Lord practiced it, and He is faithful to complete His perfect work in us and through us.

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We Can Produce Good Fruit

For February 16, 2019
In this age of specialization, one has to have an exceptional level of specialized knowledge and/or skill to be considered competent in his or her profession. Yet there are those occasions when even the most adept of us can experience feelings of doubt and insecurity when challenged to perform a new task or assignment; despite having the ability and training to perform the task more than adequately.

In those moments of uncertainty, we can resemble the Moses featured in Exodus 3, who exhausted every excuse not to deliver the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage when he and the Lord  were discussing his splendid qualifications at the burning bush. Because even after having successfully completing the assignment, feelings of inadequacy may emerge and cause us to pause–wondering if we performed everything to specification–instead of a celebrating our accomplishment.

To remedy any possibility of doubt in our quality of Christian service, Our Lord Jesus Christ used a fruit analogy to deliver this memorable lesson on Christian competence and service:

A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:43-45 (NLT)

In many ways I’m sad to say, I am old enough to remember when honesty and integrity stood for something. Now, lying, cheating, and stealing have become commonplace and accepted behavioral standards—even for some professing Christians—around the world. Yet I believe these duplicitous people are like a troubled sea, and there is neither rest nor peace for them as Isaiah 57:20–21 declares.

Although many try to discredit the purpose and importance of producing good fruit, God never has. His eternal purpose is to create offspring who will do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him each day. (Micah 6:8) Also, Jesus declares that He is the light of the world, and anyone who follows Him will not walk in darkness; we will have the light of life instead. (John 8:12) Thus, He affirms His moral competence and that of His followers.

As the Lord demonstrated, strength is not always defined by how much physical force we can exert on others. Respectable moral character also defines it.  As the Lord’s branches, we can yield moral fruit consistently, just as He declares, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Our faith-driven, Spirit-powered, and Christ-centered life of moral excellence produces lasting good fruit that contrasts the prevalent, sinful bad fruit of those who celebrate pretense and reward dishonesty. We share a compelling Christian witness to those we encounter in our personal and social lives.

Our personal lives are spent not trying to please or impress others in sanctimonious exhibitionism. Instead, we covenant with the Lord daily by choosing to walk after His Spirit and not our sinful impulses. Our moral strength flows from the power of the Holy Spirit within us so that the “who we are when no one is watching us” can interact with God, others, and ourselves safely and appropriately.

In other words, without Christ, we were villainous; with Christ, we are virtuous. Before Christ, we practiced deceit; after Christ, we practice sincerity. Once duplicitous, now we act and speak with integrity at all levels. With His Spirit-driven distinguishable lifestyle, we now can keep our word, speak the truth in love, and ask for help when needed.

Also, we seek spiritual, emotional, and psychological harmony by growing in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and others as the Lord did. (Luke 2:52) Confiding in a pastor, a trusted mature Christian friend, or in a qualified professional can be invaluable to us as we seek to attain spiritual and moral balance. 2

Now on those occasions when we experience temptation and fall into sin, we do not mask our immorality with blame and excuses. Instead, we ask God for forgiveness, reconcile with the offended person (or persons), and practice an improved moral and spiritual lifestyle.

In addition, we strive for emotional security and are not afraid, threatened, or intimidated by the status, abilities, accomplishments, or possessions of others. Envy has no place in our hearts when we interact with other people. Because we understand that it is the Lord who causes people to rise or fall, and we should not waver from trusting His infinite wisdom and providence.

Here, we are never proud, boastful, or haughty over our position, abilities, and possessions, we view ourselves as God’s stewards. He blessed us with resources so that we can be a blessing to others, and He has every right to expect us to be faithful in our stewardship.

We also protect, preserve, and strengthen our bodies through adequate rest, exercise, and diet. We reduce unhealthy levels of stress, abstain from drug and alcohol abuse, and engage in physical activities that honor Christ. We also provide a positive witness to others as good winners or losers because He is at the center of everything we do.

Since our goal is to grow closer to the Lord, passivity is not an option for us. We strive for spiritual maturity by saying no to sin, Satan, and self, while saying yes to fasting, praying, reading God’s Word, attending church, and serving others.

Socially speaking, our good fruit will advance the cause of others as we treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve. We treat all people with sincerity, honor, and respect, regardless of class or gender, and we interact with them without expressing bigotry and prejudicial lawlessness; because we understand that God created all people everywhere in His image–as equals.

Once aliens, we were reconciled to God when He called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Using His example as our model, we can extend ourselves to others to form and nurture meaningful working and learning relationships that will honor God while improving our social condition. Thus, we obey the laws of the land, and we submit to and pray for our civic leaders regardless of party affiliation

Good fruit is the byproduct of our reverence toward God and His penetrating Spirit within. We can live out a pure religion that is undefiled before God and keep ourselves unspotted from the world while refraining from practicing a sinful lifestyle. Such embodies our Lord’s work in us, and His will for us.

Most of all we love God, and we want to do all we can to please him; because it is the right thing to do.

Continue producing good fruit.

 

 

 

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