Denial by any other name is still denial!

C...Some months ago, I had a PSA test. Due to family history of prostate cancer, I have been diligent in checking the numbers. My number had more than doubled in 6 months! What would you and I think if the doctor decided to keep the results a secret because he did not want to cause me any hurt or pain? You and I both would be looking for a new doctor!

John 8:31–36…They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

Talk about missing the point!?

These guys were in so much denial they had amnesia concerning their own history! Conquering’s and enslavement started in 722 BC with the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, next the Medo Persians, then the Greeks, (Alexander was not great to Israel!)  and they were now under the Romans.

More importantly,  Jesus was not referring to physical freedom only, which I will look at in the next Devo.

The anathema of the flesh is, to be honest concerning our failures! I cannot speak for you, but my flesh can use my imagination to come up with some pretty incredible excuses for my behavior. It was bad enough as a kid, but became much worse after marriage!

That is one of the incredible opportunity’s marriage brings! A live-in accountability partner! That accountability will bring encouragement and, if you let it, honesty. Not always easy nor always fun, but one of the most powerful character-building tools God uses.

True Freedom requires genuine honesty. It is a dichotomy, deeply humbling and painful. At the same time freeing and bringing peace.

Christmas season is a great time to allow the Holy Spirit to open up the book of your life and help you find where you are in your journey. He can cut deep, and it can hurt, but like the surgeon, the cutting is to heal and make whole.

The So What: Make time this season to sit with a pad of paper or laptop and write down where you think you are right now in your life. Then ask yourself, where do I want to be in 5 years? Find some friends that you can connect with regularly and keep each other accountable. That is called - Discipleship.

There’s believing… and there’s Believing!

 

I remember being told do not lick ice on poles, I said I believed…but then I learned to Believe the hard way! 



John 8:31–36 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine...

When Jesus walked the earth, there were those that believed, yet grasped onto their life and plans. Many spend hours, wasted I believe, debating if Salvation took place or not. For me, that is far above my pay grade.

There were those that grasped Jesus so tightly they could not hold on to anything else. They let go of their control and plans, intently seeking God to lead them into the life He desired for them. 

Both groups exist today. Salvation takes place when an individual admits that their sin has separated them from God, no work can overcome that separation, they believe Jesus came, lived, died and rose again to pay for their sin and offer them eternal life. They ask God to forgive them and trust in what Jesus’s work accomplished. At that moment they become a child of God.

Can they do that, yet seem to live as an unbeliever. Many say no and come up with “Loss of salvation” as an answer. So, because we did not keep our commitment, God will not keep His! I find that so unscriptural. God is not a man that He should lie! God states that even if we forsake Him, He will never forsake us. 

Scripture clearly shows there are believers that live carnally – according to the power of their flesh – if this were not true, the judgement seat of Christ would not exist.  

1 Corinthians 3:11–15 For no man can lay a foundation other than…Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident…If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 

I have been at the deathbed of folks who claimed to be believers, but their lives did not clearly show it. They die as hard as unbelievers, scared and no peace because they themselves are unsure. Tragic, yes…but I will continue to bow to God and let Him decide if they are truly His.

The So What: Why not end that fear? It is wise to make sure when it concerns eternal issues. Have peace and allow this verse to speak for your life: Jas 2:18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Boasting the right way!

I had two friends, let me call them Joe & Bob. They loved “HO” model Trains. One of them worked hard washing cars, mowing lawns, etc. and bought parts a little at a time. After a year Joe and his dad built a full layout. It was incredible and took up most of the room it was placed in. We all loved visiting and watching the various ways it would work. Then Bob invited us to his house, his setup dwarfed Joe’s! His dad bought it ready-made, had it delivered and set up. I remember as Bob boasted about his town and train, I thought to myself…well, let me not lie…I thought “I wish my dad would get me one like this!”…but then I thought, “Big Whoop”! Anyone can buy it…but to build it with your own sweat, that is something worth boasting about!

Ephesians 2:8–9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

καυχάομαι kaucháomai; - To boast, glory, exult, both in a good and bad sense.

One of the priorities I made as a parent was to teach my kids the “Two R’s”. Religion vs. Relationship! This passage is so important because humans are driven by the enemy and their own flesh to believe their works can bring them into relationship with their Creator. What is so great about this passage is the man who wrote it was a Pharisee which was a very high position in a religious system. Paul had perfected his works thinking that would WORK to secure eternity with God.

When he came to the end of himself and was broken, he humbly accepted God’s grace. Later in life, he could boast in a healthy way. Glorying in what God had done and how God used him to share God’s unending love to all that want it.

The essence of Christmas is God’s gift of His son to fallen men. No matter what cultural ways Christmas is celebrated, i.e. presents, ribbons, decorations, lights and a tree, the birth of Christ is the center and should remain the focus.

How appropriately that the celebration includes a tree, because that is where the gift led to.

A tree where the Godman was put to death, because of jealousy of men, BUT in reality, because God So Loved US, that He sent His Son to pay our debt.  

If your Christmas is centered on anything else, you have missed the point, and more importantly, are missing the relationship and fellowship the Creator of the universe desires to have with you.

The So What: Stop moving, take a breath, and ponder that an Awesome, Almighty, Being desires to share His life with you forever. Have you ever consciously told God you desire to accept His gift and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and make you a child of God? He has done everything…except that! He gives you the freedom to receive or reject Him.