Stay Alert

The Apostle Paul experienced many trials during his 30 years as a follower of Jesus. Some trials were the mistreatment by people, some attacks by spiritual forces of darkness, and some were both. Paul was wise regarding these trials, tribulations and suffering. In one of his letters to the church in Corinth he encouraged the church to forgive a wayward member “so that Satan will not outsmart us.” (2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT) Paul knew that unforgiveness, grudges, and bitterness play into the hands of Satan and his desire to “kill, steal and destroy.” (John 10:10 NLT) Paul continued his instructions, reminding the church that “We are familiar with his [Satan’s} evil schemes.” (2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT) Satan and the kingdom of darkness have evil schemes to destroy people’s lives and to destroy Jesus’ work on earth. Paul and the Corinthian believers might have been “familiar with his evil schemes”, but I’m not sure that believers in the 21st century are. Let me clue you in or remind you of some of Satan’s evil schemes. Keep people from forgiving each other. If Satan can keep people from forgiving, unforgiveness grows unabated and eventually the fruit of bitterness ripens and sends out bitter seeds to everyone the bitter person encounters. Divide people so they can be conquered. If Satan can divide a person’s heart, divide them from their family, church family, and community; complete domination is not far behind! A primary strategy of war has always been to divide and conquer. Jesus taught “a kingdom divided cannot stand.” Induce fear. People who allow fear to creep in and grow become paralyzed. People living in the grips of fear make bad choices, push other people out of their lives, and hide in guilt, shame, and panic. Provoke anger. Satan will use any and every means possible to provoke people to anger. He uses, disappointment, hurt, confusion, frustration, and alarm. Anger gives the enemy a “foothold” to climb the wall of protection around a person’s life. (Ephesians 4:27 NLT) There are plenty of other “evil schemes” that Satan uses. The Apostle Peter reminded the early believers to pay attention to what is going on in their lives. “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT) Stay alert my friend! The enemy is marching at double speed to produce havoc in people’s lives. Stay alert!

Always Full of Grace and Truth

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (ESV) The Apostle John’s description of Jesus is profound. Jesus, “full of grace and truth.” He did not balance grace and truth. He didn’t measure out truth to make it palatable. He didn’t measure out grace. He is always “FULL” of truth. He is always “FULL” of grace. “Truth without grace is mean. Grace without truth is meaningless. Truth and grace is medicine.” Chris Hodges Jesus isn’t looking for followers full of truth but short on grace. Neither is he looking for followers full of grace but short on truth. Jesus is looking for followers who are “full of truth and grace.” Most people know the term intervention. An intervention is when family members, friends and others team together to help a person struggling with addiction, or destructive choices and lifestyle. An intervention is an act of grace and truth. Loved ones intervene by presenting the truth about choices, habits and addictions. They intervene because they love the one they are challenging. If they didn’t love, they wouldn’t speak the truth. They speak the truth, often painfully, because they love. The needs of society, the choices people are making, the ideas that are taking over mainstream thought and practice require that the church live “full of grace” and “full of truth.” Jesus has assigned his followers a mission. The Apostle Paul describes Jesus’ mission this way: God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (NLT) Jesus’ mission of using His followers to reconcile people to God will only happen when His followers live and die “full of grace and truth.” Jesus, start with me. I want to live and die “full of grace and truth” pleading with people to “Come back to God!” Amen

Courage, Peace and Strength are like Adrenaline

Have you ever looked at someone going through one of life’s storms and wondered, “How can they have such peace?” or “Why haven’t they fallen apart?” God promises His followers that He will be with them in the trials and storms of life. God promises grace and peace when people need it, not before. “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2 NLT) “When …” not before and not in the same way after. When you go through the deep waters, rivers of difficulty or the fire of oppression, then He will be with you. We see others in deep waters, rivers of difficulty and fires of oppression, and we doubt we could respond likewise. We see others from our position on dry ground, in shallow waters, or free from fires and assume we could not respond the way others respond. NOT TRUE. If you are walking with Jesus, if you are feeding on His grace and love, if you are calling on Jesus in prayer, when you go through deep waters, difficult rivers or fires of oppression, you will experience grace and peace, courage and strength. You might not need it now, so you don’t have it. When you need it, it will be there for you. All of us have experienced a rush of adrenaline during a frightening or stressful situation. One moment our heart is beating normally and the next it is pounding in our chest. Adrenaline is pumped into the body, when it is needed. When life is calm, adrenaline is a trickle. When life is stressful, adrenaline increases to meet the need. The grace, courage, peace and strength are like adrenaline, you’ll get it when you need it! Jesus will walk with you and provide the needed grace. Trust him and do not be afraid.

Moving Towards Greater Levels of Obedience

Eugene Peterson, the author of the paraphrase Bible “The Message,” described following Jesus as “a long obedience in the same direction.” I love his description “a long obedience.” Following Jesus is not a quick race, that starts and in a flash is over. Following Jesus is a long journey. Everyone’s journey is unique in the twists and turns and in length. The idea of “a long obedience in the same direction” connects with me because of my distance running. Every run is different. Every marathon or ½ marathon is different. They each have their challenges. Each one is a “long distance in the same direction.” Your journey with Jesus differs from mine. The obstacles and attitudes you face differ from mine. Only you can travel your journey with Jesus. Others will cheer you on. Others will journey alongside you, some faster and some slower, but your journey is yours alone. One similarity of every journey with Jesus is the journey is always “a long obedience in the same direction.” Every journey includes suffering. No journey with Jesus is void of suffering and pain. We can learn about “long obedience in the same direction,” by looking at Jesus. “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8 NLT) Jesus learned obedience when he submitted to the accusations, lies, suspicious attitudes, doubt of others, and rejection. He learned obedience when he submitted to execution on the cross. He famously said to his Father, “Is there some other way? Not my will but yours.” Paraphrase: I don’t want to go through this, but I will obey. Obedience is hard. “A long obedience in the same direction” is even harder! Don’t get discouraged. If you have to walk on your journey instead of run, walk. If you have to crawl instead of walk, crawl. Keep going in the same direction. Travel towards Jesus. Travel towards greater levels of obedience.