Identify With Them

God, in His All-Knowingness, did not have to come as God-Man, as Jesus Christ - to know what humanity goes through, but God is all about the extra, about the abundant, about going so many more extra miles that it is ridiculous to count - God visited anyway.

Because humanity categorizes things, Christianity is labeled a religion. However, Christianity is more than rules and regulations - lived properly, Christianity is a relationship with God through His Son, Christ Jesus. 

And why not believe in Jesus Christ? His love- plan was to humble Himself or dress Himself with humanity, His own creation, not some other animal and not only not use all the All-Power He had at His disposal as God, but some translations say "emptied Himself" to become the best example of the servant of Father God. Paul in his letter to the believers in Philippi stated it like this - 

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:5-8)

His image demanded a human likeness, not just male and not just female, but male and female, together with God as a solid triune unit. Genesis 1:27 supports this by stating - "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." 

The God-Man would experience every kind of tempting circumstance or situation in life that would cause sin or rebellion against the precepts of God and NOT sin once. Hebrews 4:15 states - "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin."

Then, after a few years of teaching about The Way, Jesus would sacrifice his life, not for the teachings/lessons but for the lives of "whosoever would believe in Him" as their personal Lord and Savior.

The promise that comes with accepting Christ as one's personal Savior is two-fold: 

1. Jesus promises to return (John 14:2-3) and
2. Jesus promises trouble/hardship in the meanwhile (Luke 12:51-53; John 16:33).

Jesus stated His promise to return in John by saying, "My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:2-3)

Jesus stated the promise for trouble and hardship in Luke and John when He said,

"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’" (Luke 12:51-53)

"‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’" (John 16:33)

Life will not all of the sudden become a "bed-of-roses" for anyone who accepts Christ as their Savior. However, Jesus assures every believer that the Holy Spirit will be the Christian's Advocate, Counselor and guide living inside them as the wait for Christ's return continues.

Until Christ's return, Christians are to love others as Jesus loved. Show compassion. Find common ground to identify with people. This is simple when examining the same kind of scars and/or afflictions we share.

Jesus kept His healed scars. The remnants from the Crown of Thorns, bruising, gash, nail-prints and scars are not only proof for His own accomplishment of His finished Plan but the scars are the identifying markers of our Savior's suffering for us.

After the Resurrection, Jesus presented Himself before the disciples, specifically He addressed Thomas - "Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’" (John 20:27) The victory is complete but the scars are still present. His scars are visual proof of the price paid for every humanly identifying circumstance and situation that would cause one to sin. The scars of believers are not for ugly disfigurement but for a gloriously helpful testimony in aiding others going through the same life difficulty. 

Thank you Lord that you became us, scared humanity, to experience our life according to your perfect standards and perfectly lived that life that we would never accomplish. And praise you Jesus that we now have the honor and privilege to come alongside others and Identify With Them. 

On The Second Day

On every Sunday, but especially Easter weekend, Christians celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Good Friday is the redemption from sin through Christ's suffering and sacrificial death upon the cross. Resurrection Sunday celebrates that Christ took back His life and defeated death, Hell and the grave so that believers in Him have the complete victory. The payment was made for everyone with Christ's life-blood on Friday and He arose on Sunday morning or the morning of the third day, so what was Jesus doing on The Second Day? Jesus was working, ministering, and loving in the underworld of the afterlife on The Second Day. 

Paul, in his letter to the believers in Ephesus, quotes Psalm 68:18 in describing where Jesus was and what He did on The Second Day.

"This is why it says: 'When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.'

(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)" - Ephesians 4:8-10

This Ephesian passage is one source that Christians receive the location of Hades somewhere in the deepest parts of the earth. Researching the original Greek for "lower, earthly regions", katoteros is the word used for "lower" and means inferior (locally, of Hades). The "earthly regions" phrase tell us this is an actual place beneath our feet. What was Jesus doing there? He was taking captivity captive or setting those that were captive there free.

1 Peter 3:18-20 actually gives us a mental picture of how Christ did this.

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built."

Here we have a little more detail. Seemingly, those who died from the days of Noah until Christ's days are the ones mentioned here as being ministered unto. And Peter echoes this notion in his next chapter 1 Peter 4:6 where he states –

“For this reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.”

What did Jesus proclaim? Jesus declared the power of His saving blood for the redemption of all humanity - past, present and future! I can hear an imprisoned spirit saying at that moment, "How are we going to see this salvation manifested?" Then Jesus might have replied, "You will ascend with me to Paradise after I take back my life from death, Hades and the grave and show my enemies defeated." Much similar to what He said to the thief on the cross.

Paul and Timothy continue this in their letter to the believers in Colossae and include this image of the Triumphant Christ.

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." - Colossians 2:13-15

"The word 'triumph' is taken from the Greek word triambeuo, which is a technical word used to describe a general or an emperor returning home from a grand victory in the enemy's territory. Specifically, the word "triumph" was used to describe the emperor's triumphal parade when he returned home.

When a returning emperor or general came striding through the gates on his big, powerful, and beautiful horse, he was accompanied by his fellow victorious warriors, who also appeared glorious after their triumphant battle. As the parade followed, the weaponry and treasures seized from the enemy's territory were grandly displayed for all to see.

The grand finale to this triumphal procession was the foreign ruler himself. This ruler had been beaten and bound in chains and was now being forced to walk in disgrace, shame, dishonor, embarrassment and humiliation as crowds of people came to celebrate his defeat and to get a 'peek' at a once-powerful but now totally defeated opponent.

So when Colossians 2:15 declares that Jesus triumphed over evil powers, it is explicitly declaring that Jesus took the enemy apart piece by piece as He thoroughly 'spoiled principalities and powers'." (p.75, Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Rick Renner)

Because Christ not only overcame the world, but also overcame the prince of this world, Satan, his minions, death and the grave - the believer’s enemy is the walking dead and/or walking defeated. Because of Christ’s compassion even in Hades and His triumph over all, Christians can have a peaceful, victorious and hope-filled day, every day, especially when they feel they are experiencing their own second day of sorts. 

Just because the price was paid by Jesus on the cross did not mean Christ stopped working. Jesus still continues to love and show favor to His own. Sometimes, our second day is mercifully short and other instances prove to be so long we wonder if this too shall pass. The Lord will never leave you during your "second day experiences", He will visit you and minister to you to obtain the victory. And I believe a big key to keeping despair, fear and discouragement away is to remain busy with the Lord's work.

Thank the Lord for His sacrifice on Friday. Thank the Lord for His overwhelming victory on Sunday morning. But I take time to thank Him for the continued love and outreach, even On The Second Day.

Grieving The Holy Spirit

Before Christ suffered and died for everyone, John recorded Jesus saying, concerning the time when He would leave, 

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--" (Jn. 14:16). 

The Greek word for "another" in this verse is the word allos. "It means one of the very same kind; same character; same everything; or a duplicate." (Renner, Sparkling Gems, p.195)

"Just as Jesus is the exact image of the Father in every way, now Jesus unmistakably tells the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will exactly represent Jesus in every word. That's why the word allos is used to make this point. It leaves no room for doubt that the Holy Spirit will be exactly like Jesus." (Renner, p.196)

"Jesus did only what the Heavenly Father would do, and now the Holy Spirit will do only what Jesus would do. As Jesus' Representative on earth, the Holy Spirit never acts on His own or out of character with the life of Jesus Christ." (Renner, p.196)

"You see, the Spirit of God was sent to bring us the life of Jesus. Just as Jesus told Philip, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father,' now He is telling us, 'If you have the Holy Spirit, it will be just as if you have Me."

"I've often heard Christians ask, 'I wonder what it must have been like to walk with Jesus. Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk with Him and to hear His voice and talk to Him?' But believers who ask these kinds of questions don't understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If they did, they'd know that having the Holy Spirit with them is just like having Jesus right at their side!" (Renner, p.195)

"You and I must stop looking backward and grieving over what we missed by not living two thousand years ago. Instead, we must learn to let the Holy Spirit lead and guide us, just as He did in the Early Church. Jesus' physical absence didn't stop the early believers from performing miracles, raising the dead, casting out demons, healing the sick, or bringing multitudes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Because the Holy Spirit was with them, the ministry of Jesus continued uninterrupted in their midst." (Renner, p.196)

This relationship with the Holy Spirit should not be taken for granted nor abused. His love for us has been depicted as passionate as a husband should be for his wife and as disciplinary as a good parent in times that warrant it. This is why Paul firmly instructs the believers in Ephesus and down through the years - 

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." -Ephesians 4:30

What does it mean to grieve someone? To grieve someone over something means to go against a set standard, law or teaching for personal gain, knowing that the action is wrong and will hurt the other person.

The original Greek word for "grieve" is Lupete whose root word Lupe means pain or grief within an intimate/close relationship of two.

Another way a scholar has said Ephesians 4:30 is - "Stop deeply wounding and causing such extreme emotional pain to the Spirit of God, by whom you have been sealed until the day of your redemption." (p.10, Sparkling Gems From The Greek, Renner)

Crucial to living in harmony with the Holy Spirit and not grieving the Holy Spirit as Ephesians 4:30 speaks about are at least two strategies to implement - 

1. View yourself as a "mobile-temple" of God.
2. At least try to do what is good, pleasing and is God's perfect will.

The Scripture that supports believers as a "mobile-temple" is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19 

 

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"

Temple life, therefore, should be lived daily as to make your physical person and personality attractive while making your faith desirable. You might be an attractive bee, so-to-speak, but the honey others are drawn by is the sweetness of your strong faith in God.

The second point, to try, is important also. Some believers after accepting Christ as Savior, do not even try to find out what is good, pleasing and God's perfect will - then follow it and/or stay in it.

Paul instructs the believers in Rome and down through the ages on this line of thought in Romans 12:2 by saying,

1. Do not conform to the world
2. Transform (to God's thoughts, actions and words)
3. By...Renewing (Remodeling, through God's help) of your mind or thought-life.

Everything starts with believers saying, "No." to what we know, according to Scripture, is of the world. From this decision God requires Christians to transform or change or remodel not only our actions and words, but our thoughts before they become actions and words.

Within the parent/child relationship analogy, the child grieves the parent, the parent reveals the hurt and wrong to the child, there is discipline administered and the parent may remove him/herself from the area and situation for a while.

Likewise, when we grieve the Holy Spirit, God reveals how we have hurt Him, disciplines us and may remove His favor from our lives for a while. We are still His Son or Daughter. He is just grieved until restored through sincere confession, apology and asking for help in that area. 

"Why don't you start opening your heart to the work of the Spirit today? Remember, if you have the Holy Spirit working alongside you, it's just like having Jesus right there at your side!" (Renner, p.196)

This is what it means to not be living in harmony with the Holy Spirit. Therefore I challenge all of my brothers and sisters in Christ to avoid Grieving The Holy Spirit.

Seeing Jesus And Speaking Jesus

When traveling to certain cities in the U.S., like Knoxville, Tennessee and Chapel Hill, North Carolina - about all you see and hear are things related to the college of that city and their latest endeavors. In Knoxville, almost all you see is the orange and white of the Tennessee Volunteers and talk of their progress in football, basketball and other sports. Same goes for Chapel Hill, except you have the color of Carolina or sky blue and white at every turn and talk on every corner of their past, present and future.

I look forward to the day when everywhere one turns we see Jesus and speak Jesus. The pure manifestation of that desire, according to Scripture, is New Jerusalem on the New Earth. Believers will receive a great taste of that concept during the Millennial Reign of Christ. But we can begin practicing right now looking at life with Christ-like perspective and start placing Jesus in our everyday descriptive speech as well.

How the believer does that is to run all his/her  decisions through the filter of the Holy Spirit. Before your words are formed, before your words demand action - submit your thoughts and plans to God's will. 

Psalm 119:105 says,

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

This calls out God's Word to be used as our Life Instruction Manual. The "lamp experiences", are the issues right around our feet, the ones near us we need help with. The "light experiences", the issues out on the path ahead, in the future, those are instances needing long-term vision.

Until the Rapture, until the Millennial Reign of Christ, until the New Heavens, New Earth and New Jerusalem are revealed - believers have God's Word and His Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26) as guides. Therefore, let us practice at Seeing Jesus And Speaking Jesus.

In Your Celebrating

Of all people, Christians should be joyous. If ever there was something and someone to be ecstatic about in life, the salvation that Christ provides is cause for celebration.

Now-a-days, where is the Christian's true spirit of celebration in Christ? And not just because of His saving grace but because of what Christ has done, is doing and has promised to accomplish in their lives. I witness the enthusiasm, excitement and joy in human celebrations that Christians should be matching and exceeding in their own lives. 

Humanity excels at celebrating in wins within sports and even more-so celebrating great plays within a game itself. We celebrate holidays, whether government or religious in nature with great passion. We celebrate birthdays and goals we have met to great ends.

In addition, some believers have been desensitized to the miracle of sunrises and sunsets. Today, a miracle from God that eliminates a life-issue seems to be the only fostering of celebration of God in our lives. Some of us believers have forgotten God in our celebrating.

Did you realize that even though Jesus was portrayed as a serious Savior, one acquainted with grief - The Messiah was a party-goer? 
Isaiah 53:3 says, Jesus would be "despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain." Yet in addition to this description of Christ Jesus we can find celebration surrounding Him in many instances of His life.

Right off the bat, we can observe a celebratory atmosphere at the birth of Christ. An angel appears to declare the good news to shepherds near-by and then the excitement is so great, more of the angelic host split the night sky to sing and/or holler God’s Good News! Wise men show up bearing gifts. A star/angel stops overhead for a supernatural lightshow. The birth might have been humble, in a manger, but it did not go unnoticed by earth or Heaven – there was a party.

As a young adult, do you remember what Jesus’ first miracle was? He mastered the elements, because He is Master of the Elements and turned water into wine. Do you remember where He was? At a wedding party! And Jesus’ life would flow like that – invitations from one household to another – first a visit and party at Zacchaeus’s and the next He is at Peter’s establishment fellowshipping.

Talk about a party, imagine a small stadium of people showing up on a grassy hillside desiring to hear the awesome teaching of Jesus. When Jesus realizes 5,000+ people have probably missed a couple of meals to listen to Him He proceeds to create, probably the biggest Fish Fry the world has ever seen from just two fish and some bread. Everybody was fed with some left over! Great teaching. Great fellowship. Great food! What a party!

I love Jesus! He was and is about some food, family and fellowship! In Luke 22:15 Jesus says, “And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’” This particular meal and fellowship time could be looked upon as a more somber gathering, but for what it symbolized to the disciples and us - our salvation – what a meeting!

Christ has even created emotions within angels so that at the repentance of one person, the angels throw a praise party. In Luke 15:7, 10 we can observe "Heaven" rejoicing in verse 7 and we see "angels" rejoicing in verse 10.

There is one more party that Jesus Himself is making preparations for that will trump all parties before it – The Heavenly Party. In John 14:2-3, Jesus promised, 

“There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly.” (Living Bible Translation) 

What a guarantee! And that is some kind of prep time! It has been 2,000+ years since Jesus said these words. I don’t know if I can imagine my dwelling place, but it sure is a joy trying. You add to this a Heavenly Banquet for the Bride of Christ, Jesus and His invited guests and once again you have a party! (Revelation 19:6-9) You have the best party yet. A Divine party with perfect food, perfect fellowship and perfect family relations. All this and an awesome future ahead with probably more celebrations because of knowing our Savior, Jesus, The Party God.

Our time here on earth before our move to Heaven is great practice for not only how to handle issues with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit as our guide but how to make sure we don't forget God and include Jesus in all celebrations.

The main Scripture in my mind to keep before believers concerning any celebratory material is found in James 1:17 - 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." 

And two handles I will attach to this verse to help in keeping this perspective alive - thanksgiving and praise.

Anytime Christians are blessed, be it a meal to a salvation within the family that has been prayed for, for many years - as the Psalmist instructs, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." (Psalm 100:4) - bring God into the picture, include Him who is worthy in your Celebrating.

Mustard Seed Faith

In Matthew 17:14-21, a father brought his son to the disciples for healing an epileptic demon. They could not heal the boy. When the disciples questioned Jesus about it saying, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" Jesus replied, "Because you have so little faith." Then Jesus proceeded to tell them their faith was even smaller than a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds in the plant kingdom. He said,

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Thank the Lord, God works with a scalable, developing faith. However, I hear the Lord saying - it would help tremendously if you at least had faith, the size of a mustard seed.

Any level of faith seems to be able to adjust whatever issue the believer is facing. Zero faith level to a mark before mustard seed faith level will grant you differing results (i.e. able to move a bush-sized-problems faith), because as Christ says, "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed" the believer can move mountain-sized life-challenges with God.

The next step in the maturity of a believer in his/her faith walk with God would be to imagine what greater faith could accomplish and allow for God to develop it. The size of an athlete's muscles training in the gym start small but develop as they are tested and toned. The same is true of the believer's faith. The size of mustard-size-seed-faith will grow as it is watered, fed and tested.

Each growth opportunity carries with it another deeper understanding of God. However, as believers mature in age and wisdom - exercising their veteran faith by declaring God's promises in His Word - realize God always holds the trump card in every situation; God always has a disclaimer for every issue or problem we experience - God says in every situation, "I have the right, authority and power to alter The Plan."

Many believers have been in the situation where an awesome answer from God is needed and prayed for by not just you and family but friends and the whole church. In addition, Scripture is quoted over the situation and oil is physically placed on the person, place or thing. 

All of this is done with great faith, a faith greater than a mustard seed, only to see the person die or the situation fail. This is a prime example of the altered plan. At least it was altered in our eyes. The whole situation could have been for others and not the individual, only God knows. And of course that is where the rub comes in, we don't know the details, not even a small hint. So, we continue to live by faith and not by sight and trust God's disclaimer because of His track record, His faithfulness.

As believers live by faith, Christians are at different points on the faith-sizing scale and mountains come in a variety of sizes also. Therefore, comparing one's own faith level anybody else's is not advisable. Is it right to want to be as effective and influential as Dr. Billy Graham was? Of course. Just don't seek his faith-walk, that was his. God has each Christian on a personal faith-growth plan and is working with them intimately to develop that faith. 

Faith and its size demands a Personal Plan from God for our lives, not an immediate "Blanket Covering" of the same faith level for all Christians. However, all must start at the beginning with improvement encouraged by Jesus to His disciples and believers down through the ages to at least have Mustard Seed Faith.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, decisions, decisions - I have to pull the trigger on many things daily and accept the consequences. I don't want the mountains, I do not even desire the molehills for the size and types of problems they bring. I would much prefer living in peace, as a flat-lander with my decisions.

Knowledge on matters of interest and necessity is no issue for me. Wisdom, on the other hand, could be with me or not. This is my challenge going forward and my strong encouragement to you forever - make sure wisdom is always part of the decision-making process. A person can have all the facts about a situation, but if he/she does not use wisdom to discern how to use those facts, they remain non-applicable.

Interesting, the view some of us take of mountains and molehills. I am experiencing a seismic-sized-situation in my life and the roots stem back to a decision made thirty plus years ago. Some people would claim if the challenges that the mountains bring did not come then we could not "exercise" or develop our "climbing legs" for future mountains. Remember, mountains come from a build-up of dirt and seismic events over time and accepting it along the way.

Molehills are a different animal. They are plural - many. They cause a mess and create an underground, underlying network of tunnels or connections from one hole or issue to the other. The bad habits and ill-advised tolerances in our lives are examples of molehills with their network of connected tunnels that lead to other problems.

For the Christian, let us examine what the Scripture says on these topics of decision-making, mountains and molehills.

Jesus speaks about not worrying where your next meal will come from or about your attire if you trust in God as life-provider in Matthew 6:25-34.

In Matthew 17:14-21, the disciples tried to cure a boy of an epileptic demon. When the disciples question Jesus about it saying, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" Jesus replied, "Because you have so little faith." Then proceeded to tell them their faith was even smaller than a mustard seed. He said,

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Thank the Lord, God works with a scalable, developing faith. However, I hear the Lord saying - it would help tremendously if you at least had faith, the size of a mustard seed.

The key to all decisions and decision-making is what would Jesus do? This is not a reliance on a crutch phrase or trendy saying. This question places our focus, our attention squarely where it needs to be - on Christ, first. 

The Old Testament has dibs on this idea through the writer of Proverbs or wise sayings. Proverbs 16:3 states - 

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and He will establish your plans." 

Then the one many believers know, Proverbs 3:5-6 says, 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight."

The answer Jesus gives to the worrying in Matthew 6:25-34 is to "seek first His kingdom and righteousness", then all the things we have been worrying about will be redeemed.

Seeking Him first must have as its foundation - faith. As mentioned before Jesus says that even if your faith is as small as a "mustard seed", we can move mountain issues. Imagine if we allowed God to grow our mustard-seed-faith, the kind of obstacles, challenges and decisions believers, with God, could overcome. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes this by saying,

"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

As the Journey song goes - "Don't Stop Believing".

As stated before, just because I have the knowledge, the key to better decision-making, doesn't mean I will seek out wisdom to help me implement it, but I should, especially for every major Decision, Decision, Decision.