Faithfulness, works, sin, compliance, obedience

Faithfulness is not the same thing as works.

Faithfulness is turning to God and not continuing in our sinful ways. Faithfulness is a result of belief. It is a result of the inherent grattitude that exists in someone who believes in and loves the Lord. Faithfulness is also called repentance, and it is not meant to be heavy and burdensome if we are a new creation looking to surrender our life to Christ.

If repentance is burdensome, then it is because of a lack of faith and trust in the Lord. Now, please understand that I don’t condemn you for not yet having adequate faith to overcome every temptation and trial that you are facing. That isn’t my position or my argument. No, I’m here to encourage you that we are meant to grow closer to Christ,  faith by faith, grace by grace,  and trial by trial. I’m pointing you to the only gate that you can enter into, not telling you that you cannot enter.

Faithfulness is our due as a RESULT of God’s mighty work IN US. It is Abraham’s faith that was counted as righteousness. Faithfulness is not measured in a pile of physical evidence. Faithfulness is the truth about what our heart desires.

Works are easy to quantify,  just like sin is easy to quantify,  because it is visible and recognizable. And yes, a faithful life of a genuine child of God should generate a shift in the balance of works and sin in someone’s life. That’s what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces in a life, because a life turned to God and walking in His ways will produce a very different fruit than a life of rebellion.

However, works can be faked in pride instead of grattitude. And the appearance of less sin can be faked with outward compliance instead of heartfelt obedience. Compliance and obedience are NOT the same. Nor do they come from the same source,  have the same intentions,  or achieve the same end results. 

“Why do you choose to obey?”

The truthful answer to this short, sharp, probing question should be of value to each one of us. If we flippantry say, “I don’t have to obey” — that should tell us who our true master is. If it convicts us over something we have done recently that was disobedient — that should encourage us to confession,  repentance, drawing closer to the Lord, and remembering the price paid. If we swell with great plans of our ministerial works and testimonies of our obedience — be careful because pride comes before a fall. If our answer draws us back to wonder and awe, with no excuse for our ownobedience other than He has birthed it in us through a heart of gratitude for what is undeserved but nevertheless received — go, share this Good News, faithful and true messenger! 

Sometimes He Wrecks Me…

​Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. – 1 Kings 22:48 ESV

We can read to find that Solomon’s shops had returned in safety and prosperity,  but Jehosephat’s vessels never reached the land of gold. The protective care of God prospers one and frustrates the desires of another – in the same business and at the very same spot. Even so, our Great Ruler is as good and wise in the one instance as at the other. I’m reminded by Job that He is the LORD that gives, and the LORD that takes away. 
LORD, give us grace and peace in this verse that we receive and that is not stolen away by the enemy — so that we bless you both for ships broken at Ezion-geber as well as for vessels filled with temporal blessings. Trusting in you, we will not envy the more successful,  and we won’t grumble over our losses as if we’ve been singled out and tried in some way we foolishly think is “special and unique way tand not common to all men”. Remind us that when our path goes the way of Jehosephat, that we are precious in the Lord’s sight, even though our schemes may end in disappointment. 
Is there some greater lesson that you will bring to light through our situation,  LORD? Isn’t there some revelation that can be found in the workings of our God? Is there a secret that has until the time of revelation remained forgotten,  hidden in the shadows from the light that makes all things known in due time?  Of course! 
The secret, forgotten cause of Jehosephat’s loss is something that we ought to pay attention to, because it is the root of a tremendous amount of suffering in the LORD’s people both then and now. It was an alliance with a sinful family,  it was his fellowship with sinners. In 2 Chronicles 20:37, we are told that the LORD sent a prophet to declare,  “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” 
Yes, this was a Fatherly chastisement and a prophetic blessing, because in the verse following his losses, we see Jehosephat refusing to allow his servants to sail in the same vessels with servants of the wicked king Ahaziah.

And what do we see as evidence of Ahaziah’s wickedness? 
And what was the evil of his mother and father? 

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord , more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord , the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. – 1 Kings 16:30‭-‬33 ESV

LORD, teach us to trust you even in those moments when you wreck our plans so that you might wreck our hearts so they are broken for your will and purpose. LORD, remind us the difference between serving, loving, and ministering to the lost and becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. LORD, remind us to go out to offer the Good News of healing, salvation, true blessings, life, and freedom from the sin that binds so many who are still in slavery while maintaining close fellowship with those who are spiritually understanding — both humble and bold in rightly divided unit of Truth and Love (which are not opposed but are in fact the same). Amen.

The Challenge

​Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.  Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. – Proverbs 9:8‭-‬10 ESV

I know that the wages of sin is death. And I know the types of sinning unto death that the Word of God warns us that those living that way shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. And I know that if I see someone sinning unto death and do not warn them, that their blood is on my hands. So what am I to do? Turn my back on the scoffer and answer for his blood on my hands – or suffer him hating me because I have shared the truth? 

It isn’t easy when you are sharing the whole Word of God with those who are still in love with their sin and who are more interested in a skewed idea of God’s grace that leaves them powerless to resist temptation or see sin overcome in their lives. Many times their self defenses will go up as they cling to their sin. They might loudly accuse you of being a hypocrite as they war against you in every way they can find. This can be their way of justifying to themselves why it is better to cling to sin than to surrender that part of their life to His will, saying,  “we all fall short” as a proclamation that they expect no change in their lives — instead of as a proclamation acknowledging that we didn’t earn this born again, new creation walk under our own power — so we give Him all the glory. 

 
There are too many who seem to be quite content to use the idea of grace as a license for their own continuation in conscious sin that the Word of God says is NOT God’s will. The mental gymnastics even go as far as some saying,  but that isn’t me, that’s my flesh and the more that I try to obey the law, the more my flesh is going to break it. As if self-control wasn’t even part of the equation. As if resisting evil wasn’t serving God. As if they believe that it is evil and burdensome to serve the LORD.

I am sharing Truth. Do you love me for it or hate me for it? Do you fear God?

This Word of God cuts me deep. But not too kill me, but to heal me. 

I still am working out my salvation with fear and trembling — not because I don’t trust God, but because I know that my heart is quite deceitful and that my pride can even find a way to turn praising the LORD into something that I might try to take credit for. I know what I deserve,  but I trust what He promises. He should get all the credit for anything good and it should be quite evident that the mess isn’t His, but is mine. 

God has blessed this mess, and He is at work changing it. One surgery at a time. Thank you, Jesus! 

Truth 

One cannot love the Truth and love Lawlessness.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. – 2 Thessalonians 2:9‭-‬12 ESV

These Have No Root

​And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. – Luke 8:13 ESV

LORD, I pray in my spirit — and in as much truth and love as I can muster, against any deceitfulness of heart and flesh and desire, resisting all distraction and confusion brought forth by the enemy — so that I will search myself deeply by the light of this text. Amen. 

Everyone Wants “Freedom”

What is our idea of “freedom”?

What (or who) do we want to be free from?

Free to follow faithfully in His will? Or free to live “as we truly want to” with no concern as to God’s will?

If we answer truthfully — don’t we testify to who is God, who is ruler, who is LORD in our life — whether we are dead in our transgressions or a born again, new creation, with Christ alive in us?

Does our answer call us to repent? To praise God for a new heart and new desires? Or to remain unmoved, unchanged, untouched?

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:15‭-‬23 ESV

It will achieve whatever it is sent to do..

God’s Word says that it will go forth and will achieve whatever He sends it to do. 
We share it. We sow the seed of the Word of God. And it is a sharp sword that cuts to the heart of things even hidden deep beneath the surface – not to leave us wounded and dying but to cut out the disease. Yes, children of God, the Word of God is a refining fire that heals and seals life and healing where death once reigned. But there really are servants of a different master – and the Word of God serves it’s purpose there as well – either leading to repentance or warning of the pending destruction. 
So it it is hot or cold, sanitizing or refreshing, to those who would hear — but is useless in the ears of those who are deaf to the Spirit of Truth. Hear the Word of God.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven 

and do not return there but water the earth, 

making it bring forth and sprout, 

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,  

so shall MY WORD be THAT GOES OUT FROM MY MOUTH; 

IT SHALL NOT RETURN to me EMPTY, 

but IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH THAT WHICH I PURPOSE, 

AND SHALL SUCCEED IN THE THING FOR WHICH I SENT IT.

 – Isaiah 55:10‭-‬11 ESV

Hear, my son, and accept my words, 

that the years of your life may be many.  

I have taught you the way of wisdom; 

I have led you in the paths of uprightness.  

When you walk, your step will not be hampered, 

and if you run, you will not stumble.

Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; 

guard her, for she is your life.  

Do not enter the path of the wicked, 

and do not walk in the way of the evil.

Avoid it; do not go on it; 

turn away from it and pass on.  

For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; 

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.  

For they eat the bread of wickedness 

and drink the wine of violence.  

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, 

which shines brighter and brighter until full day.  

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; 

they do not know over what they stumble.  

My son, be attentive to my words; 

incline your ear to my sayings.  

Let them not escape from your sight; 

keep them within your heart.  

For they are life to those who find them, 

and healing to all their flesh.

 – Proverbs 4:10‭-‬22 ESV

A Handful of Dirt

A handful of dirt. 

How common and without any real value or worth. 

Even when taken in the hand and shaped into something – it isn’t until it serves it’s purpose that it’s value is realized. 

And can the dirt be so proud of its value above other dirt? Or only stand in fear and awe that the hand of the creator has used it for His purposes? Can it look at another hand full of dirt and criticize it for what it has been fashioned into when the dirt is the same, but the creation is of the hand of God, not the work of the dirt itself.

Why then do we so quickly exalt ourselves and look down on others? 

Pride.

Vanity.

Self worship.

The opposite of loving service. 

Or do you lay claim to your own works? 

Will you be satisfied with what you have “earned for yourself”?

Or accept the truth about the value of “your works”?

Will you fall on your face like a dog before it’s master — asking for food from your master — because you have no power to make food for yourself? 

Will you recognize the free gifts — of the hand of God upon your life and His breath in your lungs  — as His doing and His alone, so that He might receive ALL the Glory, and so that you might not rob Him by claiming it for yourself? 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. – Romans 12:3 ESV

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:7 ESV

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19 ESV

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.  I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. – 1 Corinthians 15:40‭, ‬42‭-‬58 ESV

Training, Preparation, Perseverence

for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.  Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. – 1 Timothy 4:8‭-‬16 ESV
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9‭-‬11 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. – Romans 6:1‭-‬6 ESV

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:15‭-‬23 ESV

The Stench of Death

This morning, I woke up to the strong smell of death filling our camper. 

It was 4:50AM and I needed to get ready quickly to make it in time for our Tuesday morning 5:30AM Bible study group at the Dutch Plate in Campobello, SC. I was already tired and struggling against the temptation to just roll over and go back to sleep,  because I am not a morning person at all. So in my half awake state, I realized that I was faced with a dilemna. 

I could ignore it all and go back to sleep, because that was what my tired body was begging me to do – “Ignore the smell and forget the plans and just stay under the warmth of the covers this morning” my body offered (as a quite compelling argument). Or I could overlook the smell, leave my wife and daughter still in it,  while I stick to my normal schedule so that the men might not wonder why I didn’t make it to study this morning – “You just shared a message about taking the next step when you face tension or challenge. You were just challenged this past week when friends missed small group and missed joining us for church. Aren’t you such a hypocrite letting the challenges of your own day get in the way of your planned time set apart with these men studying God’s Word?” guilt tried to whisper in my ear.  Or I could get up and actually take care of the problem at hand — go out into the 40 degree cold and dark to investigate the undercarriage of the camper, empty the sewage tanks, check in all the traps for dead mice, rummage through the various possible dead rodent hiding places, etc.

As I texted Brannon, our pastor, to let him know that I wouldn’t be making it to study this morning — in a final, last ditch effort, my body reminded me that I could even use the excuse of the smell keeping me from attending as a justification to just go back to sleep. The struggle is real, folks!

And I can be honest with you when I say that at that very moment of half awaken ed wonderings, I wasn’t sure whether I needed to be at Bible study more than hunting down the source of the stink – but I knew that going back to sleep was not the right answer.  Yet the temptation remained. So I prayed,  and these lyrics from a song resonated in my mind from out of nowhere,  “I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.”

No, I didn’t go back to sleep. I sent that text to Brannon, “Awful smell of death filling the camper. Need to find the source and take care of it this morning. Love yall.” And I realized that the text itself could preach a whole sermon. When we have a stench of death in our lives, it’s time to take care of it. Not sleep. Not avoid. Not ignore. Not procrastinate.

I wonder how many times we have gone to church or a Bible study or whatever we had going on that was ABOUT God, but we’ve had a lingering stench of death and sin in our lives that has not even been addressed WITH God? 

And if left unchecked overtime, how might it eventually convince us to stay in bed and not do anything about it and to forsake serving and fellowship with others as well as with the LORD?

Even if you’re sitting in the stench of your own mess right now and can’t stand the smell any longer — if you know that you’re sitting in that poopy diaper you’ve created for yourself and you are reaping the consequences of your mistakes and your foolishness — good! Praise God, at least you aren’t still completely asleep! At least you aren’t ignoring it and going on with “business as usual” as if nothing is wrong. 

There is one who will clean you up. There is one who will show you a new way. There is one who wants to teach you His will so that you’re surrounded by the sweet aroma of life growing out from what once was death. His name is Jesus, and He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Don’t buckle to the demands of what your body, your flesh, craves and desires — even if you have before,  I understand your struggle, friend! That doesn’t mean that you aren’t acceptable just because your flesh still wars against the Spirit – but there is a better life than remaining powerless in defeat to what is acceptable. 

Don’t sway to the influence of the world, over how others might perceive you, over your reputation,  letting your prose guide you along that dangerous ledge right before your great fall! It may be good for others to see your example, but there is something far better than your example or reputation when you realize that all your works are filthy rags before a perfect, holy, and righteous God.

See what needs to be done. Speak with your Father in Heaven and know His perfect will. Recognize the stench that needs to be found out in your heart that is hindering you and those around you, and see it cut out and cast away by the sharp sword of the Word of God that is weilded in the healing hand of your merciful Savior.
May the LORD bless you and keep you, and shine His face upon you. May He establish your way and shepherd you safely into the narrow gate, along the narrow path, through both valleys and mountaintops, through the seasons of death, new life, growth, and harvest,  as we continge this journey on our way home into His arms. Amen.