Category: PASSION Reflections

How To Persevere

On By BrianIn Virtue Miscellaneous

God wants us to persevere in trials.  God wants us to persevere in doing good.  So how can we persevere?  Four words from God’s Word:

  • Grace (II Corinthians 12:9) – His grace will be sufficient for us.  In our moments (or days) of weakness, he is our strength.  We are insufficient to persevere on our own, but we can persevere as we lean on his grace and strength.
  • Group (Hebrews 10:24-25) – We need one another to spur us on to do good.  We need one another to encourage us through the trials.  We were not designed to run this race alone.  We need a group of believers to help us persevere.
  • Gaze (Hebrews 12:1-2) – We run this race with endurance as we look to Jesus.  We are to look to the Lord who can help us (Psalm 121:1-2).  Our gaze is not on the group who can fail us, but on the One who will never fail us.  Our trust is in him.  Our cry is to him.  We can persevere as we keep our gaze on Jesus.
  • Goal (Philippians 3:14) – Paul persevered as he remembered and pressed on for the goal.  Jesus persevered as he remembered the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2).  When we grow weary and tired, we remember the goal, the prize, the finish line.  We remember the joys of heaven, our great inheritance.  We remember our sure hope of being with the Lord forever.  We can persevere as we remember the goal.

How might you need to apply these four words to your life today?

Called To Persevere

On By BrianIn Virtue Miscellaneous

God calls us to persevere.  In Hebrews 12:1-3, he tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  Jesus “endured the cross” and “endured from sinners such hostility against himself” – and we too are to persevere in our trials.  And not for no reason.

Jesus endured for our good, to purchase our salvation.  And we are to endure that we might do what is good.  God tells us in Galatians 6:9-10, that we should “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Each day we have opportunities to do good, so we must persevere daily through the trials and struggles to do the good God gives us to do.

We are told not to give up, so we must persevere until the end.  We can retire from our jobs, but we cannot retire from doing good, serving Christ, seeking his kingdom.  We are to persevere until our final breath.

God wants us to persevere through our trials to daily do the good he gives us to do until the end. Are you persevering through your trials?  Are you doing the good God has given you to do?

May God help us to persevere in this way.  In the next post, we will look at how.

Why We Rest

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections1 Comment

A couple of days ago I looked at why we work.  But we need to balance our work with rest.  So today I want to consider why we rest:

  • To follow the creation pattern.  Genesis 1-2 tells us that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh.  He also created day (when we work) and night (when we rest).  Built into the very fabric of creation is this pattern of work and rest.
  • To recharge.  God wasn’t tired when he rested on the seventh day.  But we get tired.  Work is toilsome, and we need time to recharge.  Every day, we spend about eight hours sleeping because we need to recharge.  Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually we get tired.  So we need to rest to recharge.
  • To rejoice in our work.  After creation, God looked at all he had made and he deemed it very good (Genesis 1:31).  He found pleasure in it.  We should follow his example and stop working long enough to find joy in what we have accomplished.
  • To refocus our trust.  If we are trusting in ourselves or our work, we will find it difficult to rest.  There is always more to be done.  But if we trust in God, we can stop and rest, remembering that he will take care of us.  Psalm 127:2 tells us: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”  We need not be anxious about our work.  If we trust God, we can lay down at night and sleep.  We can rest.
  • To grow in relationships.  If we love God and people, we will rest from our work so we can focus on God and people.  We will rest so we can spend time with God in His Word, and prayer, and praise.  We will rest so we can spend time with family and friends talking, and laughing, and sharing, and playing together.  We need to rest to have time to build loving relationships.

There are lots of tired frazzled people in our world.  But Christians should be different.  God calls us to take time to rest.

Why We Work

On By BrianIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

Most of us spend much of lives working.  So why do we work?  The Bible gives us several reasons to work:

  • To fulfill our purpose.  God created us to work.  God made Adam and gave him the task of working and keeping the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15).  Part of why we are here is to do the work God created for us to do.  We work to fulfill our purpose.
  • To provide for ourselves.  II Thessalonians 3:10-12 says each of us should earn our own living, and that if we don’t work, we shouldn’t eat.  So we work to provide for ourselves so we can live and eat and stay warm.  By extension, we work to provide for our families so they too can live and eat and stay warm.  We work to provide for ourselves.
  • To help those in need.  Ephesians 4:28 tells us to labor so that we may have something to share with those in need.  Based on the passage under the last point, I don’t think it is talking about lazy people who won’t work (and hence shouldn’t eat).  Rather, I take those in need to be people who can’t work due perhaps to a disability, health, or age.  Or someone who has lost a job or a source of income, and though they are trying to provide for themselves, it isn’t currently enough.  All that to say, we need discernment to know who is really in need.  And we need to recognize that one reason God gives many of us the health and ability to work is so we can help those who can’t.  We work to help those in need.
  • To love God.  Work is an important application of the Great Command.  If I love God with all of my mind and strength, I will use the mind and strength God has given me to do the work he has given me to do.  Wasting my mind and strength does not show love to God.  We work to show our love for God.
  • To love people.  Work is also an important application to the second great command.  If I love my family, I will work to provide for them.  If I love those in need I will work to help them.  If I love my employer, I will serve him faithfully.  If I love the customers and clients, I will provide the products and services they need.  If I love my family, I will do the necessary chores around the house.  We work to show our love for people.

The Bible gives us many reasons to work.  Why do you work?  Are you working to fulfill your purpose, provide for yourself, help those in need, and show love to God and people?

Embracing God’s Sexual Boundaries

On By BrianIn Family/Single Life

In Genesis 2 and Matthew 19, God defines marriage as being between a man and a woman who leave their parents, join together, and become one flesh.  This becoming one flesh is understood to be directly related to the act of sex.  I Corinthians 6:15-16 make this clear.  In this passage, Paul tells the Christians not to participate with a prostitute, because in doing so they become one flesh with her.  Sex, or becoming one flesh with another, is to occur only in marriage.  This is God’s sexual boundary.

Paul goes on in verse 18 to tell the Christians to flee sexual immorality; that is, any sex outside of God’s boundary.  And he gives three reasons to flee: sexual immorality desecrates the body of Christ (v15-16), degrades one’s own body (v18), and in doing so desecrates God’s temple (v19-20).  We need to take this seriously.

None of this should need to be said.  But we need to be reminded because we live in a world where people hitch up for one night stands, dating couples sleep together, and unmarried couples live together.  But God has called Christians to be different.  We are to be holy as he is holy.  We are to hold to his boundaries.

And that means more than just abstinence.  Colossians 3:5 tells us:

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

God’s boundaries mean we don’t want to possess another person (covet them).  It means we don’t lust after them (evil desires and passions).  It means we don’t act on those lusts (impurity).  All of these things, as well as sexual immorality, must be put to death.

That means single people must guard their minds and hearts from coveting and lust.  They must say no to these temptations.  Rather than see how close to the edge they can get without committing sexual immorality, they must put it to death long before it gets to that point.  They must embrace God’s sexual boundaries.  They must keep themselves pure.

That means people with homosexual tendencies must guard their minds and hearts from coveting and lust.  They too must say no to these temptations, as well as temptations further down the path.  They must embrace God’s sexual boundaries.  They must keep themselves pure.

That means that married people must guard their minds and hearts.  Should their eye or mind or heart start to drift toward someone other than their spouse, they must put that temptation to death.  They too must embrace God’s sexual boundaries.  They must keep themselves pure.

No matter what position in life we find ourselves, we must flee sexual immorality.  We must embrace God’s sexual boundaries.  We must be holy as God is holy.

Embrace God’s Definition of Marriage

On By BrianIn Family/Single Life1 Comment

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh.
– Genesis 2:24

At the very beginning, God the Creator defines marriage as one man and one woman who leave their parents, hold fast to each other, and become one flesh.  In Matthew 19:5, Jesus reaffirms this definition.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years, you know that there is a growing movement to redefine marriage as being between any two people, including two men or two women.  Other countries have legalized so called same sex marriage.  Certain states in our own country have done so, and other states are considering it at the next election.  Many believe the Supreme Court will take up the issue in their next term.

As we consider the possibility that our country may soon legally define marriage as between any two people, it is important for us to recognize three distinctions:

  • Legal vs. Right – Our government determines what is legal, but God determines what is right…and wrong.  So if our government should legalize so called same sex marriage, that still won’t make it right.
  • Legal vs Real – Again our government determines what is legal, but God defines what is real.  He created reality and he defines it.  He defines reality so that if I hold my pen in the air and let it go, my pen will drop.  I can reject the law of gravity, but it is still real, and I am still bound to it.  He defined real marriage between a man and a woman.  I can reject his definition, but it is still real, and I am still bound to it.
  • Legal vs True – Our government determines what is legal, but God determines what is true – that which agrees with reality.  I have a cat.  I can call it a dog, but that doesn’t make it true, because it doesn’t agree with reality.  We can call two men or two women married, but that doesn’t make it true, because it doesn’t agree with reality.

As Christians we need to hold to God’s definition of marriage.  No matter what our culture or government thinks, we must hold to the teachings of our Savior.  We must hold to the definition of our Creator.  We must hold to Biblical truth.  We must hold to what is right, real, and true.  We must believe it and live it, no matter how unpopular it may be.

Some will say that this position is not loving.  But we must remember that love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (I Corinthians 13:6).  It is not loving to legalize something that is not right.  It is not loving to create a legal fiction and tell people they are married when they really aren’t.  If we love people, we must hold to the God’s definition of marriage, the only right, real, and true definition there is.

Family: Love or Disintegration?

On By BrianIn Family/Single Life

We see the disintegration of the family all around us: divorcing couples, rebellious children, absent fathers, abusive parents, siblings who haven’t spoken to each other in years.  As we look around, things are not what they should be.

And we all contribute to the disintegration of God’s design for the family.  We do it with our words when they are unkind, hurtful, mean, and cutting.  We do it with our attitudes when they are angry, bitter, resentful, or grumpy.

At the end of all this disintegration is simply a failure to love.  We are too often selfish people living as though it is all about us.  But God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  And our closest neighbors are our own families.  We need to truly love our families, and this love must be:

  • Other-centered – Jesus came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28).  And we are to look not only to our own interests, but to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).  And this includes our families.  We need to look to the needs of our families instead of focusing on ourselves.  We need to go beyond feeling (because sometimes we won’t feel like loving), and choose to love even when it is hard.  Our love for our families must be other-centered.
  • Faithful – Jesus came and loved his disciples until the very end (John 13:1).  True love never ends (I Corinthians 13:8).  Our love for our families must be faithful; it must be lasting.  Husband for wife, wife for husband, parents for children, children for parents.  Our love for our families must be faithful.
  • Sacrificial – Jesus loved us so much he sacrificed himself for our us, and we are to have that same love for others (Ephesians 5:2).  That means we must be willing to sacrifice our wants, our time, our agendas, our hopes, our dreams for the good of our families.  Our love for our families must be sacrificial.

In the midst of all the disintegration, it is this other-centered, faithful, sacrificial love that will bind our families together.

Are you showing this kind of love for your family?

Waterfalls

On By BrianIn God & His Glory

Creation points to God; it declares its Creator.  Waterfalls, as part of creation, point to God.

Waterfalls point to God’s beauty.  The cascading water sparkling in the light is a reflection of God’s beauty.

Waterfalls point to God’s power.  The deafening roar of the thundering water speaks of God’s great power.

Waterfalls also point to God’s infiniteness.  Each waterfall is different – different heights, different widths, different angles of descent, different rocks, different cascades.  I’ve never seen two waterfalls the same.  Each one is a new sight to behold.  And so it is with God.  There is always a new beauty to behold, a new manifestation of his power.  We will never exhaust the depths of God.

Know Me Better

On By BrianIn God & His Glory1 Comment

In Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol, Scrooge wakes up to the coming of the Ghost of Christmas Present.  He peaks out of his bed curtains to see a large jolly man with a never-ending chuckle and an incredible feast of food.  The Ghost calls out to Scrooge, “Come in, and know me better, man!”

I believe this is a wonderful picture of God.  God is big and full of joy, and his blessings surround him.  And he calls to us, “Come, and know me better!”

Growing in the Truth

On By BrianIn Habit of Scripture

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” – John 17:17

We live in a world of opinions, lies, half-truths, and competing truths.  But Jesus reminds us where to find truth – in the Word of God.  The Bible is truth.  It is our standard.  It is the measure by which we determine what is true and false in our world.  The question for us is always: does this idea or thought that I am hearing or thinking line up with the Bible?  The truth of the Bible gives us direction in the confusion of opinions around us, a star to follow that cuts through the smog of false ideas and pretend truths.  Biblical truth also shows us how to grow up in Jesus, how to be mature Christians.

Jesus says that we are sanctified by the truth.  “Sanctify” conveys the idea of being set apart.  We are to be set apart in the truth of the Bible.  We are to live according to the truth.  Sanctify also means to make holy.  Sanctification is the process of God making us holy, of growing up in Jesus to be mature Christians.  And this happens as our lives line up with the truth.  Which leads to three responses:

  • First, we need to learn the truth.  We can’t line our lives up with the truth if we don’t know it.  As such we must be committed to digging into the Word.  We are to meditate on God’s Word day and night (Psalm 1:2).  We are to store up portions of God’s Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).  We should gather regularly with God’s people to hear the word taught and preached.  We must immerse ourselves in God’s Word that we might learn the truth.
  • Second, we must believe the truth.  We must join the Psalmist who says, “I trust in your word” (Psalm 119:42).  We must believe what we learn, conforming our thinking to the Book.  We simply can’t say, “This is what the Bible says, but I think….”  What we think is simply wrong if it doesn’t match the Bible.  We must submit ourselves completely to the truth revealed by God in his Word.  We must believe the truth.
  • Third, we must live the truth.  As we learn it and believe it, we must conform not only our thinking but also our lives to the truth.  James 1:22-25 speaks of the foolishness of hearing the Word but not doing it.  We live in a world of information overload, and we hear so much that we never do anything about.  But our approach to the Bible must be different.  As we read it, mediate on it, memorize it, study it, and hear it preached, we must make every effort to do what it says.  We must live the truth.

What will you do with the truth today?