Safetypinlove

When Jesus shows up and confronts us it doesn’t need to be at Church. It doesn’t have to be some great altar experience where we come face to face with our Savior. Sometimes rather it’s in very unconventional and out of the ordinary places that Jesus uses to deal with us. Saul (or Paul) was walking down a dusty road minding his own business when Jesus got ahold of him. (Acts 9:3) In Mark 5:1-20, a demon-possessed man was hanging out among the tombs when Jesus encountered him. Matthew was just sitting at his workplace when Jesus approached him. (Matthew 9:9-13) And then there was Nicodemus who snuck around in the middle of the night to meet with Jesus. (John 3:1-21) The place Jesus chooses to confront you doesn’t make a bit of difference… it can be in the quiet of your bedroom, a Mega Church Conference, or a dark parking lot…but what does make a difference, is your response to His voice.

Human nature is inherently corrupt, enslaved, and controlled by sin. And as so, is hostile to God…refusing to submit, obey, or even acknowledge His existence or Laws. But here Paul is showing the difference between the old & new mindset of a Believer. That our mind can be transformed from weak to strong, from troubled to calm, from degraded to eternally saved. Just by allowing our mind to be changed by the Holy Spirit as we are united to Christ.

Another way to look at this Scripture is, ‘I will not cause pain & suffering without allowing something new to be born from it.’ (And all the mothers out there who’ve gone through Labor and Delivery respond with a resounding, “Amen!” ) But we see this also in John 12:24 when Jesus used the illustration of the kernel of wheat falling to the ground and dying for new life to happen to show how His pain and suffering would open the door to Salvation. And so, this verse in Isaiah can encourage us two ways…God always finishes what He starts, and that every painful trial we go through can bring renewed faith, revived trust, and rejuvenated hope in God.

They’re the type of person that if you see them coming you turn on your heel and walk away, not wanting to get sucked into a negative conversation about other people. For what starts out as an innocent chat quickly digresses into a rant as they defame & smear other’s reputation with gossip, hearsay, and slander. But their greatest joy & validation only comes if and when you take the bait and join in the trash-fest with them. But many places in the Bible we are told not to spread malicious and slanderous speech. (Colossians 3:8, Titus 3:2) So what can we do in these situations? We can refuse to malign others by speaking only positive things about them. This usually stops the person dead in their tracks because you’re not willing to join in. I know, because I’ve used this tactic many times on this type of person.

Here, John shows the difference between the Spirit of Truth and that of deception. Those who confess Jesus Christ as the Messiah are from God, while those who will not out of pride & selfish ambition are not from God. This divide is very evident…either you are from God or from the world. In II Peter 2:1-3, the Apostle Peter also wrote about all the false prophets & teachers among the brethren…denying the One whom they falsely claim to serve…and all the while spinning their own interpretation of the Word from a very temporal and worldly viewpoint. Sounds a lot like today and the Progressive Church Movement, doesn’t it?

The Lord made it quite clear…we are to defend with integrity the rights of those who receive it least. What that means is we are to apply God’s Word to social problems rather than turning a blind eye to them. It also means confronting head on the oppression, apathy, and exploitation of groups that are too easily mistreated – the widow, the orphan, the poor. God loves all people (Deuteronomy 10:18) and demands for us to provide for their care with kindness & love. (Deuteronomy 24:17-22) After all, they are all our brothers & sisters in the Lord, and if not for the grace of God, you yourself could easily be in one of these groups.

God is the God of the miraculous, the wonderful, and the extraordinary. BUT He is also the God of the mundane, the simple, and the ordinary. And if you think about it, that’s most of the time… because our lives are usually made up of the common everyday grind. Thus, we need to realize that Yes, God is not only part of those mountainous & remarkable times…but He’s also just as caring, concerned, and committed to us in the practical workaday details of each day.

This is one of the hardest things to do in the life of a Christian. We desperately want only the best for someone…and we think we have the power & persuasion to change them. But the sad reality is, we can’t change people, only God can. Yet we persist. And this can very easily morph into enabling that person. What starts out as making excuses in order to support this person, changes over time into allowing & justifying problematic and self-destructive behaviors under the guise that we’re helping them. A very wise Pastor once told me, “You can be responsible to someone, but not for them.” And as difficult as it may seem, there’ll come times when we’ll have to lay that person at the foot of the Cross and allow God to work.

Praising ourselves is the height of pride and godlessness…but giving glory to God brings great confidence. Psalm 62:5 shows this when it says, “Find rest, O my soul in God alone; my hope comes from Him.” The Psalmist David “commanded” his soul to praise the Lord. (Psalm 103:1) That’s because if we wait until we feel like it, it’ll only happen when we deem & desire to do so. In Psalm 103, David is not only encouraging himself to praise God, but others by his example. Believers bless or glorify God because He has already blessed them. We are to praise Him because He has empowered us to live an abundant life in His Presence. Praising God has nothing to do with our feelings or emotions…but everything to do with who God is.

The Holy Spirit works to illuminate the Scriptures for our benefit. Psalm 119:105 tells us that God’s Word is a “lamp to my feet and a light to my path”, and the Holy Spirit’s job is to shed even more light on this original light. He enables us to hear, receive, and properly understand the true message of God’s Word. But in order to receive this illumination of the Scriptures we have to be in the Scriptures…whether it be mediating on verses we’ve already memorized, reading the Bible, or listening to a sermon that we may know God better.