Learning Sonship

One of the greatest difficulties in Christian thinking is how to live as a son/daughter of God rather than a servant. It seems as though we understand how to return to the Father as the prodigal son (let me be like one of your hired servants), but really struggle with wearing the robe and the ring.

It seems to me that I'm continually learning that my relationship with God has nothing to do with what I do but who I am. Think about it: Jesus took the time to teach us the story that is commonly referred to as the "Prodigal Son." In this story we read about a young man who wasted his inheritance, became broken/destitute, and determined to return to his father to live with him as a slave. Thankfully, the father had other things in mind. "Let me live as one of your hired servants" has a nice ring to it but falls way short of where the Father wants to take us. It is His determined purpose that each of us reign as sons and daughters in His kingdom.

It's when we come into this understanding that we must ask ourselves a question: Do I want to build a brilliant working relationship with God or do I want to know what it means to live in friendship? Far too many are building a working relationship but possess a lousy friendship with God. Abraham was called the friend of God. David earned the title of one who was a man after God's own heart. Each of these men lived under a different covenant than what we get to live in.

Jesus paid an incredible price to bring us into relationship. You may not feel as though you deserve Him, but He deserves you. And what you and I need to come to grips with is that He isn't simply looking for servants. He's looking for those who would LOVE the Lord with all their heart, soul, and strength. Jesus never said that God was looking for servants but that God is seeking out worshipers. Is that you?

I happen to think that most of Christianity works from the mindset that says: "Well...I messed up. I'm not very good at sonship so if God could just use me as one of His servants then maybe everything will be o.k." But if we understand the story of the "prodigal" then we must realize that the Father is always waiting to restore us within this relationship. He's always seeking to give us everything that is a part of the kingdom. He has dealt with our sin once and for all at the cross. Now He is dealing with us according to righteousness. Yes...there are times that we blow it as His children. Let's go ahead and deal with that. The good news is that we still have access to a throne of grace where we can obtain grace and mercy. How is that possible? It is possible through the atoning death of Jesus Christ.

Jesus turned to His disciples one day and said, "I no longer call you servants but friends." He went on to explain that a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. But it has been given to each and every one of us to know what the Master is doing in the kingdom. We have been declared joint-heirs with Christ. Can you see how the relationship has changed. We are more than servants of the Most High. We are children of the King!!!

So...you blow it from time to time. Don't wallow around in it. Learn to pick yourself up from where you are and go to the Father. He's always waiting for us to return to Him. Grace gives you the ability to say "Abba, I blew it. I really want to live for you." He's not standing there to condemn you because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. He's longing to restore you. He wants you to know the joy that is His. He wants you to walk in the abundant life that He has promised. He wants you to be aware of the righteousness that is yours in Christ. You can actually get up, dust yourself off by His grace, and walk as a child that belongs to the Father.

Learn to live as a son/daughter of God. Don't try to build a relationship with the Father through your ministry or service to God because it falls way shore of what the Father wants to do in your life. Learn to establish this relationship upon His grace, His unconditional love, and His redemptive purpose. Discover what it means to be fully forgiven, completely righteous, and unconditionally loved. Live from that mindset. And enjoy your place in the Father's heart.

Giving Thanks

Aaahhh...the week of Thanksgiving! This is one of my favorite times of the year. I'm thankful for all that God has done in my life, all that He has allowed me to be a part of, and all of His incredible blessings. Hope you don't mind, but I posted a picture from my recent trip to New Mexico as one of the things for which I am truly thankful.

God's Word teaches us the importance of one generation declaring the praises of God over the next. This isn't that difficult when we learn to live a lifestyle of thanksgiving. I want my children to hear continual praises come from my mouth. I want them to see me operate from a heart of thanksgiving. In this way, they will be able to recognize God's goodness in every part of life. Psalm 145:7 says, "They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness." I want this verse to speak about my life.

I am truly thankful for my life. God's blessings upon my family continue to increase. He continually gives me favor, overwhelms me with His unconditional love, and sustains me through His abundant grace and mercy.

I'm thankful for 16 years of marriage to an amazing woman of God.
I'm thankful for 2 healthy and beautiful children.
I'm thankful for the PBC Family who have allowed me to share my heart with them over these past 10 years.
I'm thankful for the PBC Team that I work alongside of every day.
I'm thankful for the harvesting of a mule deer this year in New Mexico.
I'm thankful for the turkey that I see marching across the field outside my study window.
I'm thankful for my health, God's prosperity over my life, and the journey that He has taken my own over the past year.
I'm thankful for the revelation of who I am in Christ.
I'm thankful for the Word of God that continues to teach me of God's goodness.
I'm thankful!!!

PBC will be having our annual Thanksgiving Eve Service - Tonight - 7:00pm.
This is one of the most intimate services we hold throughout the whole year. It's a time of giving thanks, worship, and sharing in the Lord's Supper. I hope you can join us.

Take some time today to consider all that you have to be thankful for in life. Make thanksgiving a lifestyle rather than just letting sit on the calendar for one day out of the year. Declare His praises over another generation.

May the Lord's greatest blessings be yours. ~ Neal

Love Really Works

This will be my last blog for at least a week. I hope to make it a good one.

1 Corinthians 8:9, "But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak."

Since becoming a believer in 1991, there has been a lot to learn. I was fortunate to have people around me who could teach me the fundamentals and stir up a desire to go deeper with the Lord. And for much of those formative years, I did not stray too far away from the belief system of my pastor, teachers, and friends. Today, however, that is not necessarily the case. Maturing in the Lord allows us to think for ourselves, be guided by the Spirit of God, and even to change our minds.

In an age of denominations, this is hard for many people to understand. They struggle with those who have differing views of scripture (notice that I didn't say opposing views!). I have heard many different pastors actually refer to people in other types of churches as unbelievers or cult members. It's crazy to think that we have become so narrow minded that we cannot disagree without somebody losing their salvation.

Not only is there a struggle because of the denomination mindset, but a struggle when it comes to how we flesh out our faith. What does our faith look like in our personal walk with the Lord. Some of the "hot button" issues: Music, Bible Translations, Clothing, Personal Appearance (tattoos, piercings, hair), Personal Habits (tobacco products, alcoholic beverages), etc. It's amazing the different views that you will find among the Body of Christ. What does the Bible teach us about these things? How do we know what is right or wrong? How do we handle those who are different in their views?

This may shock a lot of people but the Bible doesn't have a lot to say about many of these "issues." In fact, most of what people believe doesn't come from the Bible as much as it does from those who handed them down. What the Bible does teach us is that we have incredible freedom in the Lord. But with that freedom comes responsibility. Most importantly, we have a great responsibility to those around us.

Paul taught the church to be careful that there freedom doesn't put a stumbling block in front of the weak. The "weak" that he refers to are those who may not be as free in certain areas as you are. The only problem is that too many people have resorted to legalism to keep the members of the Body in check. Legalism is not the answer. Love is.

We are told to love the Lord with everything. Then we are told to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we walk in love with the Lord and others, we discover a grace that protects our relationships. As one who walks in love, I want to ensure that I protect those who are weak in the faith. I would never want someone to stumble over my freedom. However, there is also freedom to enjoy the things that the Spirit of God allows.

Colossians 2:21-23 gives us incredible understanding to what I'm trying to say: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Notice what Paul is saying here. He is saying that trying to control people through commands may look nice but it does nothing to change the behavior of an individual. Not only does it not control their behavior, it does nothing to ensure they walk in righteousness.

How do we handle these issues? LOVE
How do we react to those who are different in their views? LOVE
How do we maintain fellowship? LOVE
How does God handle them? LOVE

Love really works!

Righteousness Through Relationship

2 Corinthians 5:21, "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." There's no two ways about it: Our righteousness is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must learn to live as those who have been declared righteous.

Yes...I know you have heard me say this before. No...I don't plan on changing the message. It's for my own good (and yours as well) that we spend some time dwelling on this important fact. Seeking to establish my own righteousness in this relationship is to fall away from the grace of God. (See Paul's letter to the Galatians)

Romans 3:22, "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." How we begin this relationship with the Lord is how we continue in it. It is through our faith in Jesus Christ that we are made right with God and it is through our faith in Jesus that we walk in righteousness. Paul also asked the church in Galatia "How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" {Galatians 3:3} CAN'T HAPPEN!!!

God doesn't want our focus on becoming righteous or even maintaining our righteousness. Our focus is to be upon His kingdom. And I have seen a lot of believers waste a lot of energy trying to become what God has already declared them to be. Can you see how limited our vision has become? When we learn to rest in the grace of God then all of our effort at living a life of righteousness becomes empowered by that grace. Righteousness will actually flow from the life of God within us. We will bear the fruit of righteousness. I will even go as far to say that righteousness is something that we cannot produce apart from the Spirit of God at work in our lives.

So how can I be sure that I am living in righteousness? The way that you can ensure that you are living in righteousness is to live according to the Spirit of God within you. When we allow Him to guide us into all truth - calling to remembrance all that Christ has spoken - we will walk in the truth of God's Word. With that being said, it's important that we develop a sensitivity to the Spirit of God. Without an awareness of what the Spirit of God is doing within us will lead us to a form of godliness without power. And this my friend is the beginning of religion.

The life of the follower of Jesus Christ must be rooted in faith righteousness. It becomes the foundation upon which we build the rest of the relationship. If my foundation is upon my own effort to be right with God, what happens when I fail? I destroy the foundation. And if I am continually destroying the foundation, then my whole existence as a believer is one of rebuilding rather than moving forward.

Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God." As long as we struggle in the area of the foundation, we can never move on to maturity. Over the past year I have been doing a lot of teaching to help people get the understanding of the foundation. Why? Because I still have people who are just now getting it. The good news: When they finally get it - look out!!!

As we learn to live in relationship with the Lord, then we will learn to live righteous in the world.

Zeroed in on the Kingdom

I'm in preparation for a hunting trip to New Mexico. These are exciting days! The trip will present many firsts for me: stalking mule deer, encountering the high altitude, and possible long range shooting. Be sure of this: the gun will be ready.

The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of variables that I cannot control. Most hunters understand at least these two things: We cannot control the weather & We cannot control how the deer move. What I can control: Making sure the gun is zeroed.

This is one of the most important aspects of hunting. Interestingly enough, it's the one are that a lot of hunters neglect. Almost there may work for 50-100 yard shots but if you have to "reach out and touch something", you have to ensure that the gun will be true. I have been reading up on the ballistics, trying to understand the bullet drop at different yards, and I have been shooting the gun. Knowing that the gun is zeroed in at a particular distance gives me an anchor point for everything else.

Being zeroed in is crucial to ensuring that the gun is accurate. This same philosophy is true in our lives. As followers of Jesus Christ, we must have our lives zeroed in on the kingdom of God. We make Him the center of everything. He becomes the mark (if you will). If you want to live victoriously in the Christian life, you have to know your anchor point.

Scripture teaches us this very thing:
Philippians 3:14 - Paul tells us that he pressed toward the mark of the upward call of Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 - Teaches us to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Matthew 6:33 - Exhorts us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

All of these verses show us the importance of being completely focused in life. The Kingdom of God becomes the mark of our lives. We press toward it, we keep our focus in it, and we seek after it. Everything else is secondary. There may be times when certain aspects of my life seem very far away. But if I'm zeroed in on the kingdom, I can make adjustments. It doesn't matter which way the wind blows - I can adjust - because I'm zeroed in. Get the picture?

Take some time every morning to tell the Lord that you will keep His kingdom in focus throughout the day. Don't wait until your in the midst of a mess to try and focus. In the middle of the hunt is a horrible time to find out that your sights are off. Be prepared for every situation by keeping your eyes on Jesus.

Got your mark?