Greetings,
There are some common phrases we use that make little to no sense at all. Like when someone finds something that was lost, and then says, “It's always the last place you look.” Of course, it was the last place you looked. You don’t continue looking once you’ve found it. How about the good old, “You can't have your cake and eat it too.” What else are you supposed to do with “your cake”? Some say, “You think so?” after a person said what they think. Or, “Needless to say” and then go on to say what was obviously “needless.”
Just like we use some of these statements without a second thought, we often hear statements that don't hold up when analyzed through the lens of God's word. The number one thing that I hear is the validation of a person’s feelings over scripture. They may say something along the lines of, “I just have to do what feels right for me.” For the believer, this thought flies in the face of Jeremiah 17:9 which says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Much of the time what “feels” best is exactly the opposite of what God calls us to do. For the unbeliever, this belief might be all they have to measure by and the greater issue at hand is not this belief, but the need for a savior.
I've also heard people say things like, "marriage should solve my loneliness or solve my porn issue." Matthew 11:28 says, “come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Nowhere in all of scripture is there a time where God tells us that marriage will solve anything. Marriage is meant to be a picture of the beauty of the relationship between God and mankind. It is sacred and a partnership. A believer should be aiming to individually, “trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” Proverbs 3:5-6. Unfortunately, many people trust in their own thoughts, beliefs, or other people more than they trust in the Lord. On the other hand, an unbeliever isn’t particularly concerned with porn issues or purity in a biblical sense. Their greatest need is a savior.
Another lie often believed is, “I deserve to be happy." In reality, the only thing that any of us deserve is the punishment that Jesus took on our behalf. Isaiah 53:5 says, “he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Without Christ, we have absolutely no hope. It is only by His sacrifice that we can stand before a Holy and just God. We do not get what we deserve because of the awesome blessing of Christ taking what we deserve on our behalf. The youngest of believers should understand this principle as it is foundational to our Christian faith. The unbeliever should eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die (Ecclesiastes 8:15). Without a belief that we are in need of a savior, we are left to our own merit and strength--and no matter how righteous, holy, and pure we think we are, it is woefully insufficient to be allowed into the presence of the perfect majesty of God Almighty!
The challenge to the mature believer is: if a person says things like this that reveal beliefs that are contrary to scripture, is it loving to let it slide? Is it Christlike to move along without challenging the mindset that leads to these comments? As we grow in our sanctification, the challenge is to love all with the love of Christ. Jesus Christ gives us the perfect picture of loving in grace and truth.
It is a natural response of anyone living outside the will of God to feel judged by someone that may confront a faulty belief. It is the humble responsibility of a mature believer to confront these things in humility and with proper self-examination. We should live with the humility to remove the log from our own eye, so that we can see clearly to remove the spec from our neighbors’ eye (Matthew 7:2-5). The imperative in this passage is not simply “don’t judge people.” We are to confront untruth, first having properly humbled ourselves and examined our own lives. As ministers of reconciliation, we should challenge other believers in truth and love. It is “sharpening one another as iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17). However, trying to sharpen an unbeliever will only cut them and give them a bad experience with a believer. We are only to deal with a believer’s speck.
As we grow in fellowship as the body of Christ, I pray that we can be bold enough to confront sin, humbly and in love, and also be wise enough to hear some challenging things from our brothers and sisters in Christ. All of us have blind spots in our lives and need the body of Christ to be faithful to tell us when we are believing something that isn’t in line with the infallible, unchanging word of God.
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
I love fruit. I see pineapple and I am drawn to it like a moth to light. I love a lot of varieties of fruit. However, there are a few types of fruit that I do not care for at all. I don’t like palm fruit or papaya, and although I have never placed any on my tongue, I am certain to avoid a fruit called durian. It smells like someone left the gas stove on and the natural gas has dangerously filled the room.
In Matthew 7:16, Jesus tells his disciples that they will recognize them (false teachers) by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? When Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruit,” what does He mean by “fruit”?
When we see a vineyard, we expect to see grapes in the right season. I wouldn’t be able to point out a fig tree from a lineup of fruit trees, but I would still expect a fig tree to produce figs. A farmer who notices one of his fruit trees or vines is not bearing any fruit will cut it down. It is useless. Of course we wouldn’t go to a thistle field and expect to gather fruit. Thorn bushes can never produce fruit because of their nature. It is impossible. They have no capacity to produce anything but thorns.
Matthew 12:33 ~ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.” What comes from our life is either good or bad. High quality or low quality.
Fruit is all over scripture. In Psalm 1 we see that, "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers."
In Galatians 5:22-23, we see the measuring rod of the Christian: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
When others look at your life, how does the fruit look? More importantly, when the Lord examines your fruit, is it fruit grown in faith and trust because of your delight in the Lord? Will He see the bountiful and beautiful fruit of the Lord or is it fake fruit made by human hands in an attempt to look like good fruit? Or maybe the fruit is small, hard to find, or rotten. Maybe there is no fruit at all. In that case, the only remedy is to go through a pruning process and get as close to the true vine, Jesus, as possible and let His fruit grow through you in delight.
There is no way to synthesize fruit in your life. The only way to produce beautiful and blessed fruit is to stop trying to make your own fruit and rest in the Lord. Let Him produce His fruit through you.
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
“Most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:14
My prayer is that I would be bold and so confident in the Lord that I would be willing to do whatever the Lord calls me to do, regardless of how crazy or risky or uncomfortable it is. I am happy to be considered a fool for Christ as long as it is Christ that shines through me and not me. It is human nature to seek your own glory. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us to a place of humility where it is not about us, but about His glory. Paul was willing to suffer for Christ often because it was through his suffering that others were motivated and became bold in their faith as well. As a leader, he recognized that he must sacrifice much in order for those that he influenced to sacrifice a little.
It should be the desire of every believer to seek to bring glory to God in whatever we do. You don’t have to suffer imprisonment, persecution, or ridicule to empower people around you to live boldly. You simply must be willing to do the things that we are called to do as believers, regardless of the consequences. Telling a stranger the gospel is bold and most people don’t enjoy it, but it impacts those around us. We think, if they are brave enough to proclaim the gospel publicly, then maybe I can tell my friend or family about Jesus.
In about 24 hours, I will be on a plane traveling to a land that I have never been to. I will be landing in a culture that I don’t understand with a worldview that is unique and a history that is filled with trauma. I will be listening to a language that is beyond foreign to me. I am not nervous about the trip, but I am curious. I am wondering how God is going to use me to help the people of Cambodia. I am optimistic that this trip will be amazing and I will see the Lord work in amazing ways even though I feel poorly equipped to minister to the people in this culture. I am confident because Tim and Leslie, the great people that I am traveling with, have been there several times before me. I know that our friends Joseph and Kay Kong are already there and that they will be there to welcome us. I can be confident in the Lord because of their testimony and past suffering for Christ that encourages me to be able to do what I feel God is calling us to do in this foreign land.
Paul’s confidence wasn’t based upon people who went before him. He was confident that the Lord is present everywhere and His Spirit had already paved a way for him to minister. As a leader he was willing to be the first to blaze the trail for others to follow. My prayer for our fellowship is that we are full of people willing to blaze the trail and lead others by our example of obedience to Christ. I believe it will be by our faith that others will be willing to follow Christ and become more bold to speak the word without fear.
I will be praying for each of you as I am gone for the next couple of weeks.
Love ya,
Chris