Giving you notice, “Focused on Christ”?

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are one earth.Colossians 3:2

Lately the voice of religiosity has been yakking to me loud and clear; most times during different bible studies and general conversation as I join Jesus on His Mission. You see the term is used to refer to excessive involvement that goes beyond the norm for a person maybe of a similar faith. But it causes me to ask the question often in class, how are we different than the world? 

My question is not based on milk but a reminder, we are not of this World! Usually I get a legalistic Sunday school Confirmation lecture from those true believers. They sound so instructive that centers around a promotion of religion, Not based on “Christian religion” which is “the faithful observance of the teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles.” Is anyone Listening? Let’s be gracious to one another using wisdom with love is my cry: “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters” Romans 14:1.

Sadly, there are those who feel so strongly about non-essential doctrines that they will run others out of their fellowship, not even allowing the expression of another viewpoint (making them become silent). Critical spirits are no fun to be around; neither are they fun to possess. That, too, is legalism. Many legalistic believers today make the error of demanding unqualified observance to their own biblical understandings and even to their own traditions and rituals. For example, there are those who feel that to be spiritual one must simply avoid saying how and I, because you forget to include the Holy Spirit (you fill in the blank, etc.). The truth is that avoiding these thingamajigs is no guarantee of spirituality.

So, Is it an individual belief or the content of the actual religion? Though a bit different, legalism is somewhat akin to it and the,” Band does not know it is playing, the same song over and over”. You see have we become creatures of habit both Christians and non-Christians using this,” religiosity” to refer to those who have replaced their God with their religion.

Now I am very watchful here and remind my selves that we do not know the thoughts and intentions of others. While we need to be courteous to one another and patient of disagreement over disputable matters, we cannot accept heresy. We are exhorted to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints Jude 3. If we remember these guidelines and apply them in love and mercy, we will be safe from both legalism and heresy. 

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” 1 John 4:1.

In some of my bible classes we listen to the teacher’s explanation of the why’s (defining that as sin) of the worlds when you ask,” how do we stay focused on Christ”. But for us like minded Christians, religiosity occurs when we focus on church activity, rules that often go beyond actual biblical commands, tradition, and pet doctrines rather than on relationships with God.

Even those who follow Christ can find it tough to stay fixated on Christ. This is when our teachings from the Bible offer to help us stay focused? In Matthew 13, Jesus gives the parable of the sower that includes insight in this area. In explaining the parable, He shares, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” You see the cares of this world and desire for wealth can cause people to no longer be focused on Christ.

So, what can Christians do to steer clear of religiosity? Being active, obedience to God’s commands, traditions, and doctrinal discussions are not wrong. It is a matter of heart. When our motivation to obey or to be involved in religious activity is opposite of who we belong to, who we are, our purpose in life involves looking good to others to earn our salvation, rather than to love God and bless Him, we have bought into the religiosity of “me”.

Focus daily on the truth of the Gospel-that we are sinners saved by grace into a life-giving relationship with our Creator Ephesians 2:8-10; John 10:10. Then we need to join Jesus on his mission wholeheartedly and practice the following: seeking the kingdom, hearing Jesus, doing good in the community and pray as He changes us completely, making us new 2 Corinthians 5:17;1 Peter 1:3 

Why is it so hard to see the world for what it is: a sin-filled place of desperate need. The darker the world is to us, the more clearly the light of Christ will stand out. It’s not hard to focus on a light in a darkened room. “We . . . have the prophetic message as absolutely trustworthy, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” 2 Peter 1:19. Those who stay focused on Christ will find their perspective on worldly things changing. We need to stop wallowing, whining, and complaining and grab onto God’s joy. Just like salvation, joy is a free and perfect gift from Him, and we must reach out and accept that gift focusing on Christ and his eternal Kingdom.

“I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief”. Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

As Helen Lemmel says in her hymn, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, / Look full in His wonderful face, / And the things of earth will grow strangely dim / In the light of His glory and grace.”

God Bless You and This Ministry!

“Allow the Wind of God to Transform You”

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Gal 5:22

I use to often wonder what this means, “The fruit of the Spirit” was it a statement about the moral strength developed by the power of the Spirit? The nine-character qualities are a unity, a perfectly formed Christlike character. Paul in this verse has expressed his desire to see Christ formed in the Galatian believers (4:19). Now he describes what they will be like when that formation is complete. These character qualities are not a new list of laws or moral codes that must be kept; they are the result of living and being led by the wind of the Spirit.

Have you ever put your hand in front of a fan when it was turned on? Did you feel or see a little gentle wind? Thinking to myself! who feels or sees puffs of air from a fan? Wind is invisible. You know you feel it but how can you prove it’s really there to someone who doesn’t believe you? Could a pinwheel in front of a fan help? Putting the pinwheel in front of the fan now you can see that there is a wind because it turns the pinwheel.

Wind cannot be seen, but its effects can be felt and heard — just like the Holy Spirit. The only way you can “see” the wind outside is by what it moves-trees, windsocks, or flags, for instance. When they are moving you know there’s a wind. Did you know that the original name for the Holy Spirit was wind? That’s right. The old Hebrew word for spirit means wind. We cannot see Him, but we can feel the effects of His presence and His power. On the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:2 says, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” If we look at the comparison of wind to the Holy Spirit in this verse we see what can be learned about why the Spirit came in this manner on the Day of Pentecost and what this means to you and me.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you are bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We read in the New Testament that when Jesus left earth and the Holy Spirit came there was a mighty wind. We also know that when you believe in Jesus and accept him as your Savior, his Holy Spirit lives inside of you. I hope you feel God’s Holy Spirit close to you, loving and helping you. One of the hardest things to do is let others see God in us. How can you and I prove that Jesus is inside of us, that his Holy Spirit is blowing through us? It’s like the problem we had to prove there was a breeze coming from the fan. The moving pinwheel showed there was a breeze. Our actions prove that God’s Holy Spirit is in us. He makes us kind, considerate, joyful, and patient, and will also give us many other good qualities. Even though others can’t see God, when they see these good qualities in us they will be seeing God at work. 

But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20)

Obedience to God is how the filling of the Spirit is maintained. Ephesians 5:18 commands that we be filled with the Spirit; however, it is not praying for the filling of the Holy Spirit that accomplishes the filling. Only our obedience to God's commands allows the Spirit freedom to work within us. Because we are still infected with sin, it is impossible to be filled with the Spirit all of the time. When we sin, we should immediately confess it to God and renew our commitment to being Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.

Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

Let’s shamelessly speak out that we will not be satisfied until a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit has blown upon us to give divine life and pleasing energy. Without this life, we can only do what human power can do, but when the Spirit blows His marvelous wind upon us, suddenly I/you am empowered to do what we could have never done before. Daily — right now joining Jesus on his mission — I am opening myself to challenge you to join in on the rushing mighty wind of the Holy Spirit.  Acknowledging that we are ready recipient’s, and we are readily receiving a fresh intentional awareness of this divine wind to empower us for God’s service.

God Bless You and This Ministry!

“Power of the Noise”

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Col. 3:17

How much of your life has been spent on performing persistent habits of fitting in for “an insinuated definition of legitimacy”? Lately I have been thinking to what end? Do you have to agree even in wordless silent during the rhetoric of self-righteousness? Especially in those things that give temporary displeasure, release or seem to be the right thing to do while listening to something you agree with but know it’s not loving your neighbor. You see as I have gotten older, I have struggled with the Pharisee spirit in the form of judgment with-In the Christian bubble. Thankfully, a real encounter, as I join Jesus on his mission changed that. 

 “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”, Matthew 5:43-44

While people might not be “Pharisees” anymore, the Pharisee spirit still exists. Sadly, it’s the number one reason why so many people want nothing to do with Jesus or His followers.

Of course, the noise of life seems to be a great gift suitable at the time during a controversy discussion. But is this a happy experience or a Pharisee joyful thing. I’m starting to think that the modern world has transformed the person who listens with “Love” into a minion soul as folks use the “Power of the Noise”. How well they sound with fatal arrogance, pride of being right as the Pharisee; modernity exalts the man who is drunk with images and noisy slogans, while killing the heart of a man” with words focusing on what they hate than what they love.

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!    Everything is meaningless. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
    the more knowledge, the more grief”

 Ecclesiastes 1:2;18

Am I the lesser man who listen’s? How much do we listen? Am I dying? I’ve been guilty of this many time myself. I’m writing this because we as Christians are better than this; just a thought, what would happen if we took a twinkling to reflect and ask ourselves if we are being “little Christs” or if we’ve really got it wrong with our defensive words. 

A word is much like toothpaste. Once you let it out you can’t take it back. But if you could try taking a tube of toothpaste and squeeze quite a large quantity out onto a plate and put it back into the tube wouldn’t this be a problem. My question, can’t you just stuff it back in? Well, now I know I’ve asked you to do the impossible but once toothpaste is out of the tube you can’t put it back.

Words are much like this tooth paste. Once we let them out of our mouths we really can’t take them back. This means we should be careful of the words we let out of our mouths. But do we? Even though this means we should be careful of the words we let out of our mouths sometimes the words we use are when we are angry, emotional are during times of prideful debate.

For instance, some of the things we say may be true but are hurtful and are not very nice and we don’t really mean what we say. It’s at times like this that we ask the person we have hurt to forgive us. But even if the person forgives us he or she will have a hard time forgetting what we said. There is nothing you or I can do to completely take back something terrible we have said. It’s like too much toothpaste being squeezed from the tube!

Words are not simply sounds caused by air passing through our larynx. Words have real power. God spoke the world into being by the power of His words Hebrews 11:3, and we are in His image in part because of the power we have with words. Words do more than convey information. The power of our words can actually destroy one’s spirit, even stir up hatred and violence. They not only exacerbate wounds but inflict them directly. Of all the creatures on this planet, only man has the ability to communicate through the spoken word. The power to use words is a unique and powerful gift from God.

There is only One who can control the tongue. Only by God’s Spirit living within us can we hope to gain control over our tongues. He convicts us when we sin with our lips, and that conviction drives us to repent and pray for more filling of the Spirit so we can avoid further sin. As we cling to Him and yield to Him in obedience, He controls us more and more, including our tongues.

What is to be done? Being able to say words and communicate thoughts and ideas is a marvelous gift from God. Let’s not misuse this wonderful ability by speaking words that hurt people. While many people have quit smoking or drinking by the power of the human will, the problem of the heart and tongue cannot be solved by human will power. It takes the power of the resurrected Christ within us to control the tongue, and that power is available only to those who turn their lives over to Him. As with so many things in life, “with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. Matthew 19:26

The only way to get rid of the “Power of the Noise “spirit, is repentance: A total U-turn of the heart!

• Begin self-reflection and examination on a daily basis.
• Measure yourself to the life of Christ, not just in holiness and righteousness, but in love, mercy, selflessness, humility, service, and wisdom.
• When you see an opportunity to speak into someone’s life, speak into THEIR life; not defensive about them to everyone else. But in Truth!
• Acknowledge that you cannot read someone’s heart and looks can be deceiving.
• Ask for forgiveness from the people you have wronged.
• Accept correction when reprimanded and apply the truth to your life.
• Be slow to speak and slow to wrath.
• Remember that it’s okay to mess up sometimes as long as you learn and grow.
• Most importantly, have a personal relationship with Jesus every day.

“From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit”. Proverbs 18:20-21

God Bless You and This Ministry!

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