The Gift

Jesus Is My Saviour Now. What Does That Mean? part2

The Bible is God’s Word and is spiritually inspired. The Bible is a work of literature with the power to drastically change a person, and I really needed to change. Let’s look at Matthew 16:24,25.

Matthew 16:24,25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” [NIV]

 You are probably wondering what this section of verses has to do with the importance of the Bible. Bare with me and I will explain what it means to me. I think many people look at this statement Jesus made and cringe. Is he asking me to die? I didn’t become a Christian to be a martyr. No, I don’t think that is what Jesus is saying; though I do believe we should be glad to lay down our life for Jesus. It is like the difference between adding a new room to your house and simply buying a completely different house. You can’t simply make Jesus an addition to your life. You must make Jesus your life. I know that we all get comfortable in our old houses, but the new one is so much better. What are we going to use for the foundation of this new home? God’s Word! If you don’t want Jesus’ sacrifice to be in vain you must use this gift to it’s fullest. Lose your life! Move out and move in to a better life with the foundation of God‘s Word. (see Luke 6:46-49) It was hard for me as well. I had to lose friends who wouldn’t join me on my journey, I couldn’t frequent some of the old hang out spots, and there were definitely activities I couldn’t participate in anymore. Trust me when I say that I got over it when I finally felt the new life growing within me and around me. The Bible is one of the ways God speaks to us. So don’t ignore God to your own demise. (see Hebrews 10:39 it’s one of my favorite verses) That brings us to the final piece of the gift of communion with God. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Helper. The Holy Spirit will help you to discern between good and evil, truth and lies, wisdom and foolishness, as well as giving you the power to perform God’s will. Acts 1:8 is a very simple statement and I love how it tells us the most basic truths about the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 breaks it down Barney style.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

      You are a believer in Jesus Christ and therefore will receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and then you will use this power to perform the will of God. The will of God, of course, is to bring his creation back to it’s natural state of communion with him. Which brings us to one of the most wonderful tasks that the Holy Spirit helps us with. You could read the Bible and look over a simple verse like this and never think much about the great meaning it has. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern the wisdom hidden within God’s Word. In Luke 8:8 Jesus finishes telling the parable of the sower and then calls out to the crowd, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Then in verse 10 Jesus is speaking to the apostles and quotes the prophecy from Isaiah 6:9, “ ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ While we are in sin we are spiritually dead, and can not perceive the wisdom of God. When we show God our love for him by following his teachings he will come to live with us (see John 14:23, 26). The Spirit of God will live within us and teach us. We once saw the Bible as superstition and confusing Confucius sayings because we were cut off from God by our sin. Try reading God’s Word as a child of Christ. You will find yourself saying, “I never noticed that before. Wow! This stuff is starting to make sense.” Discerning God’s Word is probably the least awe inspiring task the Holy Spirit helps us with, but I personally believe it to be the most important. The Holy Spirit will advise us, protect us, comfort us, and give us the power to perform miracles for God. I’ll talk more about the Holy Spirit later, but for now I want you to see how the Holy Spirit helps you to have your newfound friendship with our Creator.  We were originally created for the purpose of fellowship with God and became separated by the original sin. Someone asked me once why God would cause himself so much trouble by letting us have choices? My reasoning was that God could not truly have an intimate relationship with someone who was forced to worship him. God chose to love us and he wants his love to be returned by choice, because in his infinite wisdom he knows real love can’t be forced. Now we can come to have peace and fellowship with our Creator as it was intended. He gave himself in the most heart wrenching sacrifice of love to redeem us from the darkness that is separation from him. We should seek our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ constantly and not take our eyes off of him, because that is what it means to be a Christian.

Jesus Is My Saviour Now. What Does That Mean?

I remember the initial excitement of accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior. I had so much to do; so much to learn! I have to go pick out a Bible appropriate for me! I have to go to church three days a week, and tell everyone I talk to about the good news! After about two months of  being told by everyone, including my new Christian brothers and sisters, if I could please talk about something else I started becoming discouraged. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good mentor to look after my Christian growth. We will talk about the importance of that later. So here I was having the most exciting time of my life and no one seemed to care. So I stopped talking about it. I kept my spiritual activities to myself. That was my first mistake as a Christian; soon to be followed by many more. In my first year of salvation I gradually stopped going to church and my Bible became dusty. It seemed I was doomed to stay in the first stage of salvation. The Father had other plans, however. Praise the Lord! I now know what it means to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you? When I try to ask people why they can’t receive Jesus I often get the reply that they think they are too bad. I ask them, “do you believe in Jesus?” They often reply, “I believe that he existed.” In all seriousness, I have never run into a person who hasn’t heard of Jesus. People are stubborn and want proof. Well, when I ask these people why they believe and have not received they give me the lame rationalization that they are the worst people in the world. They think I am mister goody and they are the devils children. Well there is not a rationalization anyone can give you that you can’t find a rebuttal for in God’s Word. In Romans 3:23 Paul tells us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. We also find this inclusion of ALL people in what I would consider to be one of the most famous verses in the Gospels. John 3:16 doesn’t say that God sent Jesus to save just Wilbur and Dexter. John 3:16 says  that our loving Creator sent his Son to save us ALL. As Christians we can have faith in the fact that Jesus took our sins so that we may have freedom from the destructive power of sin. So don’t let the lie that you can’t be redeemed affect you. Know as a new creature before your God that you have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [NIV] So if I am truly saved I won’t Sin anymore, right? No, I am not perfect and neither are you only God is. Yet, if we look at John 8: 34-36,

John 8:34-36 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” [NIV]

 we find that there is hope for us. Jesus tells us that we are slaves to sin. Well what rights have slaves ever had? None, of course, but the Son of God can free us. We are no longer held by the pain of guilt that held us back before. Now we can work towards our sanctification. Many of us however will learn this and think we can sin away as long as we repent. I continued to drink for many years after I accepted Jesus. I would argue that the Bible doesn’t say you can’t drink and that even Jesus drank wine. Just imagine me making my argument with very slurred speech while looking like I very badly needed to take a seat. I’m personally disgusted with those memories of myself. I could never picture Jesus acting the way I did. In John 12:46 Jesus says that he came into the world as a light so that no one who believes in him should walk in the dark. I was trying to save the batteries of my spotlight. I was stumbling around in the dark stubbing my toes and still didn’t have the wits to turn on my light. Don’t wait! Turn on your light, because it’s amazingly bright and will help you out a lot. We are no longer slaves to sin, but sin is all we know so we must learn a new way. God’s Word is your instruction manual. So I beg you to read it. I know we all make mistakes as we grow as Christians, but the less mistakes you make the more comfortable you’ll be. I wish someone had helped me. I now know just how simple it is. In John 14:12 Jesus tells us that anyone who has faith in him will do what he did on the Earth and even greater things. So don’t just ask yourself what Jesus would do. Look in the Bible and see what he does, because you’re a Christian, and your goal is to be like Christ.  One of the very first gifts you receive from God when you give your life to Jesus is the gift of communion. You can now do what you are made for. The Lord gives us three important gifts that allow us to communicate with him. He gives us the gift of God’s Word, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of prayer. Some might not think prayer is a gift, but Jesus gave us the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:5-13, Luke 11:2-4). God didn’t have to give us his telephone number, he could of just told us to wait for his call. We should have God on speed dial, yet many of us discount the power of prayer or rationalize about it because we are thinking about the world. I have heard myself say things like, “God knows what I need, I speak to him when I have time.” I’m in shock just looking at such a statement, but it came out of my mouth. Then I would complain about why I can’t get ahead in the world. The fact is that when I look at another person I can generally tell if they need something, and I am sure you can as well. Would you help them if they didn’t ask? A few years ago I would have watched them flounder in despair until they asked for help. God of course is not like that, and in my own growth I have learned that. Now I would offer my help and tell them not to be scared to ask for more help if they need it. If you don’t ask it’s your own fault. That’s my opinion. The Father will continue to gently try to teach us with long suffering patience. God knows what you need, however any healthy relationship needs communication by confirmation. My wife knows that I am probably hungry after a long day at work so she makes dinner. Now how good do you think the foods going to taste if I never confirm that I need dinner and appreciate her for providing this need? Believe me when I say that any hardship I have suffered as a Christian was brought upon me by my own stubbornness. Earlier I mentioned John 14:12. Let us look at the entire comment made by Jesus.

John 14:12-14 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. [NIV]

 I mentioned verse 12 earlier because I wanted to show you that Jesus was an example and he expects us to follow that example, however there is more to be learned from this comment. In verses 13 and 14 Jesus tells us how the Heavenly telecommunications system is set up and gives us the phone number to our Father in Heaven. It may have taken me some time to realize it, hence why we continually read our Bibles, but the portion in verse 12 is very important to the communication system set up by our Savior in verses 13 and 14. Faith is the key to answered prayer. Just think about what it is that makes you have faith in someone. I have found that the more I know about my wife and understand the place she holds in life the more faith I have in her. For example, I know my kids are well cared for and safe with my wife. I have faith that the safety of my children is a fact when they are with my wife. If you want to have more faith in Jesus you need to learn more about him. So increase your faith and increase the power of your prayer. Don’t discount the importance of prayer, because prayer is how your Christian life started.

Recovering from Sin

It’s too easy to just simply walk around as an acceptor of grace. The fallen ones will attempt to slow your progress, and the Holy Spirit will attempt to kick start it. All action whether positive or negative is still your choice. I’m pretty sure that I spend most of my energy sinning without thinking about it, and the rest of my energy trying to remember what I should be trying to do. I excel at accomplishing unproductive activities as well as my absolute favorite; which is to finish only half of a task that will benefit someone else. Just in case you were wondering, I have been a Christian for about ten years, I have read the entire canonized bible numerous times, and consider Apologetics to be a little hobby of mine. So imagine how confused a new Christian is about this whole thing. Assuming you have taken Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you need to have patience with yourself first. Recovery takes time and faith. I began with Hebrews 10:39 as my mantra. It helped me a lot when I felt backed in a corner. I highly recommend using supportive verses for all the big tasks in your life. You mean God’s Word!? Of course I do!

Hebrews 10:39 We are not of those who believe unto perdition, but of those who believe unto the saving of the soul. (NKJV)

Now I began by praying and seeking the face of my Lord daily. It won’t take much time for you to run into things that block your path. Many people will ask for a quick removal of all the obstacles in their way. They will say, “ you can do it Jesus, because your all powerful and I believe in you.” So they cuss and mistreat others while they wait for God to make them a better person. I realized one day that I was shunning my own self-responsibility. Hasn’t Jesus done enough by taking the shackles off? Not only did he take the shackles off; he gave you the keys and the map to the jail. Get moving! Don’t expect everything to happen at once and don’t try to take on several large tasks at once. The whole process of your sanctification is going to be a lifelong personal inventory. Take the journey a piece at a time and don’t move to the next task until you are absolutely finished with the current one. You don’t have to worry about being on the wrong task if you prioritize by what blocks your view of God the most.

Test Subject

Now, I know by this point you are wondering where such ideas have been tested. I don’t blame you. In fact you should maintain an ideal that requires you test everything. False teachings wonder around among us everywhere. You can weed them out by questioning what doesn’t seem right to you; without fear of confrontation. Any one who is offended by a question and unwilling to concede if proven incorrect; probably knew they were wrong and had unclean intentions to begin with. So who is the test subject in all the experience I am writing about? ME! I, at one point, was merely saved by the grace of God. I was struggling with many more issues than I am now. Some of the highlights or personal victories given to me by faith in Jesus Christ is freedom from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, lying, cheating, stealing, cruelty and much more. I still have much more to work on, but I will guarantee you this; if my self ten years ago met me today he wouldn’t recognize me. Some of my ideas may sound pretty bold. I welcome you to see that the ideas evolved from personal success and are easily defended in the Word of God. For example? Are you prepared to be amazed at some revolutionary thought? I believe that rehabilitation centers only serve as a constructive environment for a forced detox of the body and without an enduring faith and trust in Jesus Christ no man developed program including A.A. or N.A. will ever free you from those vices. Here they come screaming that they have a disease and I agree with them. There is a disease called Sin! I was interned in a treatment facility and attended Alcoholics Anonymous as well as Narcotics Anonymous meetings religiously. What good did it do? None. I was a member of a group of weaklings. Harsh words? The truth is always harsh, and it hurt me when it hit me, but it set me free. John 8: 31-32 So Jesus said to the jews who had believed him, “if you continue in My word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Why would I put my faith in a man-made program and expect success when the Creator has given us a divine rehabilitation program. I only succeeded in defeating Sin when I put my faith in the strength of God, not man. 

Change Of Environment

You have to start by changing your environment. If someone tells you there is a bomb next door you probably won’t respond by saying, “hey, let’s go take a look.” So why would you go into a bar if your a Christian? A bomb only serves one purpose and that is to blow things to pieces, likewise, the general purpose of a bar is to drink alcohol.  

   1 Corinthians 10:13 states: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it. (CSB)

 The door to the bar is a good escape. In fact, most temptations have a partition of some type that you must open in order to experience it. Some temptations have multiple partitions between you and them. Cigarette smoking for example had what I believed to be an impossible to break choke hold on me. Now I live my life daily and very rarely even see a cigarette. I don’t smoke so I don’t go to the smoking areas, and I don’t even join them to visit. If they want to talk to me then they can come to where the air is clean. The cigarettes, are in a store usually in a corner or hidden above a register. I personally was amazed at how far I used to go out of my way to smoke. I won’t go in to the details here, but I am sure the other smokers know what I am talking about. The first step to beginning our sanctification is changing our location in the world. You have to evaluate what is not cohesive to your life with Christ. Paul the Apostle mentions fleeing from various Sins. (1Timothy 6:11, 1Corinthians 6:18, and 10:14 for example) Having had many successes myself and praying for many more I can attest to the validity of this concept. If you do an assessment and find it won’t help your spiritual growth then it needs to change as soon as you can change it. Find another job, get another house, make new friends...... Take it a step at a time and read God’s Word and pray daily.

Change Is Good

Change is good simply because it causes growth. When we become too comfortable we as humans have a tendency to cease any movement that may cause a disturbance in our comfort. In John 3:8, Jesus says, “The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” I have read over that verse so many times and only thought of it in the context of what Jesus was attempting to explain to Nicodemus and never thought of the knowledge concealed in the speech of Jesus. How truthful this statement is in representing the Christian’s essence. After so many years of seeking my Savior I have become nearly unrecognizable to those who were familiar with me in the past. Those who meet me now are tempted to refute my testimony based upon my current behavior. They really can’t see where I have come from. I finally see now that my path as God’s child is truly concealed from me and I have to practice faith. To be ready to follow instructions at a moments notice is very difficult on a person’s faith because we want to have control, however in order to prosper in God’s will we must be willing to give ourselves to His will. When we do give ourselves up to Him our plans cannot be known by our enemies and we are allowed to peacefully go about God’s business knowing that the enemy cannot catch us when we rely on our Creator’s grace. I would like for you to think about the nature of the wind. It constantly changes, you can never pinpoint it’s origins, you never know where it’s travels will end, It can be gentle, and it can be powerful.

This Means war!

If you ever have those days, weeks, maybe years where you feel like there is a war going on for your life; you are not wrong. Your feelings, I assure you, are correct. I feel like I have currently been in a spiritual battle where the enemy was in my face. I don’t laugh about it anymore. It is no joke Christian Warrior! Prepare yourself for opposition when you attempt to spread the Gospel and find personal spiritual growth. Peter speaks of the spiritual war very pointedly. In 1 Peter 5:8-10 He says, “Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world. Now the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.” There are times when I find myself thinking I, in my opinion, have suffered enough. When I wake from my delusion of great persecution I remember the level of suffering Jesus went through. That usually shuts my ungrateful attitude down. My point is that there is spiritual warfare going on, your part of it, your fellow Christians share your struggles, you would be blessed to suffer like Jesus did, and you will enjoy a great victory with Christ as long as you stand firm in your faith. Let us pray daily that we never forget that we are perfectly perfected in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Who Are You Trying To Impress?

The downfall of many Christians as well as non-Christians has to do with who they are trying to please. I have heard heart wrenching stories of faith lost because the Church in it’s infinite wisdom didn’t realize the harm it was causing, and the Christian didn’t see their misplaced faith. I like to say that I am not a Christian because I go to Church, but that I go to Church because I am a Christian. Not for a single moment in any day do I seek the approval of another human for their own sake, but for Jesus Christ’s sake. The ultimate approval of my savior is my goal in life. If you see me trying to please another human you can bet that I have the ulterior motive of pleasing God. (see Romans 15:1-7) Christians can’t have soft shells. I assure you that if you feel life is getting to easy then you’re probably in enemy territory. If you are constantly seeking to please God then you will also please the people that he wants you to please. Often people lose their faith when the Church wrongly labels them and makes them feel outcast. Well, there are millions of Church congregations. Find the one that suits you. We also have to realize as Christians that we are all imperfect and our brothers and sisters are called upon to help us grow through fellowship. This fellowship would likely include candid conversation about our behavior. Don’t get all offended because someone else noticed that you are a sinner. You are! If you opened up you may realize that they have or had the same problem and want to help. Paul tells us in Galatians 1:10 For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. The point I am trying to make is that I find it personally frustrating that people allow their faith to be controlled by the opinions and actions of others. Our Savior very clearly tells us that his opinion is the only one that matters and the only wisdom that we can safely put our faith in. Please God by going to Church because you are a Christian. Don’t put your faith in the human element of the Church.

Grace and Faith

Grace is a gift of unmeasured value and like any other priceless treasure people have been fighting about it for centuries. Many Christians, bless their hearts, walk around in deep boundless faith simply accepting what they are told rather than investigating. In many cases the arguments are actually started by individuals who are looking at things through a narrow window of perspective. Our Heavenly Father is a being of infinite knowledge. How could we possibly think that his wisdom could be discerned in a quick and thoughtless fashion? I have realized as I grew spiritually that in todays world of deceit I needed to have a more thorough view of Christianity. I needed to be able to defend my faith for my family, myself, and my fellow Christians. I would beg of you as a Christian or as someone examining the faith to not do God’s word the dishonor of a light hearted inspection. We must look at the history surrounding the authors of the canonized Bible, the early church, and the church councils. Every piece of information ever reviewed eventually finds itself supporting the Grace of God. It is only when you try to take fragments that you get confusion and misdirection. The controversy of Grace is in my sights at this immediate moment. I prayed and researched to come to my conclusions and I hope that you will appreciate them. Is your salvation secure? There are many different arguments about our salvation. Some think that we can never lose our salvation once it is obtained, some think you can lose it. Some think you can lose your salvation and obtain it again. The list of human ideas just goes on and on. Well, it is my practice to look to the past to see if a problem or argument has happened before. Because I believe that no problem should be revisited unless there is new evidence to be examined. Something resolved should stay resolved. The most noted argument in the early church about salvation starts with a difference of opinion between John Calvin and Jacob Arminius. Of course neither of them was alive to disagree face to face. Their theologies differed and their followers warred about those differences. The lines were drawn and sides were chosen and the argument nearly caused a civil war in the Netherlands. A council was held to decide the correctness of the two theological views. The council, called the Synod of Dordrecht, decided in favor of the Calvinist view and wrote and ratified the Canons of Dordt. The Canons contained the five points of the Arminian view as stated in the Remonstrance of 1610, as well as, the five counterpoints that are now called, “the Five Points of Calvinism”. Let’s see what we can learn from this encounter and the supporting scripture. I have often found that in order to fully understand something you must know what raw materials formed it and how it was put together. Man is from his birth depraved. He is incapable of living up to the moral standard that tugs at his soul. He is incomplete. take a moment and think about the many different passions that men have embraced in order to fulfill a void that many of us admit to having. Some say they are fine and aren’t missing anything and I say if they are not Christ seeking individuals they are liars.

1 Timothy 1:15 

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" —and I am the worst of them.

The Apostles knew our hopeless state and they did not waste time philosophizing about it. They called us sinners unworthy of the face of God.

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Some Christians would like to empower themselves by believing their free will allowed them to choose God. Our will is not equal to or greater than God’s. In our original condition we are unable to select or deny something we can’t even grasp. Without the GRACE of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice you cannot even know God. This is an invitation only party. Just as the author of 1 John tells us, “ we love, because he first loved us.” Then there is the ever famous John 3:16 telling us how the Father loved us enough to sacrifice the Son. If you believe you are great enough to have chosen Jesus then you might want to fall on your knees and get a different perspective.

John 10:26-28

26 But you don't believe because you are not My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish —ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand.

I know of no instance in the world’s existence where man chose God. Only Jesus Christ is doing the choosing. So open your eyes, ears and heart and pray that you are one of his sheep. In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus tries to explain that no man can reach heaven without being born again of water and the spirit. Jesus was pointing out that with his gift of grace we are saved and that no amount of groveling or works could change us. Salvation is a work done in us by God. So we seek Jesus Christ, publicly proclaim our faith in Jesus through baptism, and the Holy Spirit enters us. We as saved Christians can resist at that point if we choose. However our bad choices will distress the Holy Spirit in turn causing painful guilt in ourselves. Through these labor pains the Holy Spirit reforms the Christian into a regenerated, sanctified child of God. When someone says that you can lose your salvation they are implying that God’s grace is not sufficient. The work is done by God. He knows that we are weak and gives us the strength to persevere so that we can overcome temptation. I really believe that there are too many interpretations of the scripture. Read Romans chapter 8 and think about it. Read several different translations if that helps and don’t interpret it, rather, take it at face value.

Why We Need The Church

The church, over the many centuries of it’s existence, as an institution has done nearly as many bad things as it has good. So I know that some of you won’t want to hear what I have to say, because I am now one of them. However, for many of my Christian years I was an expert church hopper. I never committed my name to their books for fear that I would get trapped in the evil institution of organized religion. I fell into the enemies trap. As Christians we need other Christians. (Hebrews 10:24-26) Of course Satan wants you to believe you don’t need church! If you go to church you may get the advantage of learning something from a more experienced Christian. It’s called being discipled, and it is the training model given by Jesus and (Matthew 28:19) you can’t get it without gathering with other Christians. Jesus commanded us to partake in communion when we gather. (1Corinthians 11:23-25) God commanded his people to raise up their children in the way. (Deuteronomy 6:5-7) We were also instructed to gather in fellowship so that we might encourage each other.     (1John 1:6-8) The world is very obviously not a Christian place and if you are in the world you are not in Christ. I was a hard person to convince myself. Common sense should tell anyone that your not going to grow spiritually if you don’t participate in church. To put it simply; you are not obeying God.

Dust Off That Bible

Christians often wonder why they get to a certain point and start finding their spiritual growth has nearly stopped. What do we do? What has happened? The key item in our Christianity must be either missing or unused. The scriptures fuel our spiritual growth like no other item. As Christians in a hostile environment we are surrounded by numerous opposing views. We must retrain our minds in order to maintain our ongoing regeneration. Now, I am not going to throw scripture at you to implore you to believe that the Bible tells you that you need the Bible. You can use almost anything without an instruction manual given enough time and or injuries. Just reminding you that some things are more dangerous than others. I can tell you that I am an incorrigible corrupt reject of society. It is by grace that I am even believed to be a decent person. You could find hundreds who I have scarred and done wrong to. Those people would tell you a story of a despicable person. The people who have known me for most of my life and still speak with me say something different. What makes me a new man? God’s word makes me a new man. Right at this moment I feel angry, alone, and faithless. Perhaps, I should dust off my Bible like I have in every trial in the past. I see it on the shelf. It has sat there for over a month while I shook my fist at God. My anger keeps me from the Word. Go and pick it up is what the Spirit tells me. Knock the dust off of it and find your healing.

The Discipleship Model

Somehow in the life and lessons of Jesus the model that he portrays gets lost. I am not saying all Christians have missed this concept. I am just saying that; myself and many others could have greatly benefited from a genuine discipleship. Not only is this modeled by Jesus Christ, but it is fairly common throughout society where the passing of knowledge is needed. The protege, apprentice, trainee, learner, cadet, pupil, or disciple is nothing new. In this modern information age people have stopped teaching each other in informal settings. Humans believe in the search for self awareness. The kind that you can find without being forced to have a meaningful relationship with others. What good could happen in this world if we could not just share our goods; but our knowledge, time, and emotional support? The first thing Jesus did upon finishing the Father’s training was to seek a specific group of men to train as well. (Matthew 4:17-22) The exact circumstances of the first calling of disciples varies from source to source, however all agree that upon Jesus return from the desert he began preaching and gathering disciples. Jesus did not announce his greatness and then tell everyone what was right according to him. This is unfortunately what happened to the Medieval Church. When the Roman Empire fell the public centers of learning it funded fell as well. Literacy was only for the wealthy and devout clergyman. The Church saw the power they held and it took many years and much bloodshed before Martin Luther was able to present a printed Bible in a common language. While the knowledge is accessible for self examination it does not mean the model Jesus gave us is no longer needed. He did not just give knowledge; He gave an example to follow. Any mature Christian watching a young Christian floundering in despair should be ashamed of themselves. Where is your example? Jesus didn’t pick twelve men and hope they noticed how he dealt with things. He said, “follow me.” Of course then you have to decide who to disciple. Our instinct would lead us to the easy ones to disciple. “I could be friends with that person,” is what we say to ourselves. (Matthew 9:9-13) The Priests were puzzled by Jesus choice of disciples. From their viewpoint it would make more sense for him to be hanging around them. Jesus chose his disciples by need not want or comfort. In his own words, “the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. I came here for the sinners not the righteous.” Some will say, “ I’m not against this discipleship thing. Anyone who wants to be discipled is welcome to come to me.” Well, here is the truth as I see it in the Word of God. In the parable of the sower Jesus spoke of the man who grasped the message and the harvest from his one seed brought forth a multitude of fruit. How do you think that happens? (Matthew 13:23) In Jesus’ ministry he allowed anyone who wanted to learn from him to follow him. They came to be disciples and Jesus was more than happy to share what he knew. (John 6:66-70) He spoke openly with the Twelve He chose and when the lessons he taught got too hard for the others he turned to the Twelve and said, “Don’t you want to leave?”  When they said no, Jesus replied, “That’s why I chose you twelve.....” It’s time for more guidance from our elders. With the exception of God’s own hand I have had a pilgrimage devoid of guidance. How many have we lost because we didn’t follow them through maturity as a follower of Christ? 

The Truly Fearless Ones

In the book of Acts we are given a vision of men who were divinely driven, because who could explain such bold and fearless behavior? Some would say that there are men who face discouragement and death all the time. For these men it was everyday and then to be happy about it on top of everything. Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin and refused an order to stop speaking the name of Jesus Christ. Stephen rebuked the Pharisees and praised God as they stoned him to death. Paul and Barnabas were beaten and jailed and when the Lord released them they chose to stay and minister the Grace of Jesus to the jailer and his family. But, what was there for them to really fear? Not death! I am sure that Paul would have welcomed death after being stoned and thrown from a cliff. God wasn’t done with him. The Apostles had an intimate knowledge of what their purpose really was. They sought the return of Jesus. They worked to prepare for the coming kingdom of the Lord. They all knew that there was no place for fear in the heart of a Christian. It would have been devastating for them if they had not pushed the boundaries and been put to a martyrs death. Step forward today and you find those who are afraid to wake the bear crying out for the new kingdom. If we do not regain our hope and our fearlessness I would imagine it won’t come until a more devoted generation comes to put in the work.