Idols

LORD,

please don’t let—

possessions carry me away,

popularity seduce me,

fame take over me,

ingenuity allure me,

knowledge control me,

or power overtake me.

LORD,

help me not to—

allow pride to capture me,

be seized with covetousness,

exalt my arrogance,

glorify my lusts,

or let cockiness rise up in me. 

LORD,

do not let me—

yield to anxiety,

submit to worry,

bow down to my fears,

or allow depression be my master.

LORD, I would not be totally comfortable if You sat on the throne of my heart and there may be an occasionally uprising. However, there is no one like You and beside You there is no other. So LORD, if You sat on the throne of my heart, I’d really be honored.

Count it all Joy

When something bad or something unexpected happens to us, what are our first thoughts or the first words out of our mouths? Is it, “Why me?” “Why now?” “I don’t have time for this!” “This couldn’t have happened at the worst time?” “I can’t believe this?” “Lord, have mercy on me!” “Lord, save me!” or “Lord, deliver me?” Or are our words, “It’s all good!” “Praise God!” “Thank You, Jesus!” “God, You’re so wonderful!”

Does the second set of words sound weird? If we heard someone say these words would it make us want to say, “Are you crazy?” or “Are you out of your mind?” This is what I’ve said to James after I read, “Count it all joy whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:3) because this is not normal behavior.

Yet, over and over, Scripture pairs suffering and rejoicing together. After the apostles were flogged, they went away rejoicing (Acts 5:40-41). Peter tells us to rejoice in our sufferings (I Peter 4:13). And Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad…” (Matthew 5:11-12).

“Rejoicing” in a difficult or an unfortunate situation doesn’t make sense unless we understand what God is trying to do in our lives, but James gave us one reason. James said, “…because the testing of your faith develops perseverance [and] perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:3-4).

Trials should not be an exercise in hopelessness and futility. God’s intent is to develop us to become godly people. God predestined us to be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). How can we develop spiritually if God doesn’t give us a gymnasium where we can workout? In other words, how can we become like Jesus if we don’t go through the same challenges that Jesus went through?

If this concept still doesn’t make sense and if it is too big for us to wrap our minds around this idea, James continues, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

Talk about a complete package deal! God not only gives us the goal, but He also gives us all the resources to accomplish His dream. Isn’t this a reason for revelry and celebration?

The Passion of the Christ

A Believer went to see Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” The Believer was so moved by it, that when he saw his Christian friend, he insisted that the Christian see it. The Christian’s response was, “If I have the opportunity, I’ll watch it.” Again the Believer persisted, “You have to watch it!” The Christian said, “Why? I know the story.” The Believer responded, “Because this movie will draw you closer to God—it will make you more spiritual.” The Christian said, “No, it won’t.” Astonished and frustrated, the Believer said, “How can you say that without having seen the movie?” The Christian answered, “You saw the movie and it didn’t transform your life.”

There are a lot of people who are moved emotionally when they hear the Gospel message and then they profess their belief in God and in His Son Jesus. But the Scriptures tell us that even the devils believe and tremble (James 2:19) and like the demons, our response is often not life changing.

According to Paul, the Gospel message has power (I Corinthians 2:1-4). The Greek word for power that Paul uses is dunamis, from which we get our word, dynamite. This definition is helpful in giving us a glimpse into what Paul is thinking.

First, the Gospel has drawing power. Jesus said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). The Gospel stops people from the direction they aregoing and moves them into the direction of the cross.

The Gospel has convicting power. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached the Gospel message. Those who were listening “were cut to the heart” and their response was, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)

The Gospel has resurrection power. Paul says, “…just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection…” (Romans 6:4-5).

The Gospel has saving power. In I Corinthians 15:1-2, Paul says, “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.” Finally, the Gospel has transforming power. Paul says, “In Christ all the fullness of the Diety lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men, but with the circumcision done by Christ…” (Colossians 2:9-11).

There is so much more that the Bible says about the Gospel. If all of Scripture revolves around the Gospel, but it doesn’t capture our minds and hearts, shouldn’t this compel us to dig deeper into Scripture to find out why it’s called, “Good News?”

We Can Fix This

While on training for my new job, my boss came up to me and asked me, “When are you taking a break?” But as I started to say, “I’m not sure…” I noticed how he was looking at me. I quickly looked at the clock, which read 11:34. I quickly altered my answer and said, “11:30.” My boss smiled at me as if to say, “Good answer.”

The reason I responded the way I did was because I’ve been in situations like this before. At my previous job, I ran into a situation that I deemed as “unfixable.” I told my boss that we did not have the materials or the resources to fix the problem at hand. My boss responded, “You’re a smart guy. We can fix this.”

I could have said, “I’m not that smart—give me a clue” or “I don’t know how to fix this. How are we going to fix this?” But from the tone of his voice, I discerned that this wasn’t the response he was looking for. All I could muster up was, “okay.” I think that this is what he meant when he said, “You’re a smart guy” because the answer satisfied him.

I am so glad that my relationship with God is not like the relationship I have with my bosses. In life I am faced with many impossible circumstances and I don’t have the resources or ability to figure things out, much less to “fix” anything. With God, I am not left alone, don’t have to deal with “trick questions,” and don’t have to guess and try to read between the lines when God says or asks something.

Whether I go to God with a concern or a complaint, I am reminded of what He has said. Two of them are:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. –Ephesians 1:3-4

And,

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” —II Peter 1:3-4

To put it more simply, the two things that I hear from God are, “What did I say?” and “Trust Me.”

A Confession

As I was growing up, I had the opportunity to learn about God and to know His ways. But even in my young life, I understood that loving God and following Him meant that I was going to have to die and that’s the reason why I resisted the idea of becoming a Christian.

The Scriptures tell us that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). What I heard the Bible telling me was that I had to be consumed or obsessed with God. Everything about my life had to be centered on God—my whole universe had to revolve around God.

Along with this Scripture, I heard Jesus continually saying things like, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). I understood Jesus to be saying that loving God and following Him meant I’d be His prisoner and I couldn’t live my own life. If I couldn’t do what I wanted, when I wanted, or how I wanted to do something, I thought I may as well be dead. So I took my life and chose a path away from Jesus.

This doesn’t mean that I chose to live a bad life. And even though I didn’t do anything horrible in life, like murdering someone or committing a felony, I found that I was isolated and alone. I also found that life was meaningless, empty, unfulfilling, and unsatisfying without God. Ironically, I felt dead.

Later on, I learned that a life apart from God is one that is not only a life that is estranged from God, but it is also a life that is in rebellion to God and a life that is dead in sin. The more that I read and hear about this, the more I realize that I am like an adult child who understands how much pain, grief, sorrow, and suffering I caused my parents in my wayward youth. But now that I have I surrendered my life to God—to love Him and follow Him, life has not been the same—Life’s been good!

Having said this, I still don’t love God fully. I still have my moments and I still fight with God because God says some hard things. A lot of times I think that He’s too demanding and He expects too much. Other times I think that He’s unreasonable and just doesn’t understand. There are still times that I still am in rebellion to Him—I’ve got a t-shirt that has a picture of a child with folded arms and the words, “I won’t do it!” under it. And like my t-shirt, sometimes when I hear His word, I still fold my arms and say, “No, I won’t do it!” And there are other times when I can’t even like myself, I wonder, “How in the world can God love me?”

But no matter what my mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual state, the LORD has a way of bringing me back to the foot of the cross and reminds me of His heart as seen in the face of Jesus. This is where Jesus continually speaks to me. One of those things is what He said to the Church at Ephesus. “You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent...” (Revelation 2:4-5a)

The Apostle Paul adds, “…Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that [Jesus] died for us all, we also believe that we have died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead they will live for [Jesus], who died and was raised for them” (II Corinthians 5:14-15, NLT).

Then I hear John saying, “We love because He first loved us” (I John 4:19).

Finally, I hear John say, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the Children of God! And that is what we are!” (I John 3:1)

Having heard these words, I find myself confessing with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. [I] believe and know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).