Are You Living in What You Believe?

I was reminded this morning about a quote by Erwin McManus, "Freedom is not a return to Paradise Lost, but to a promised land that we must win." A reminder of the struggle that we endure. Some motivation for life today.

McManus is bringing to our recollection the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Headed towards the Promised Land, believing that they would receive a land flowing with milk and honey, they were shocked to find that the land was inhabited by giants and fortified cities. The result was a shrinking back in fear that cost Israel a generation of people more willing to wander in the wilderness rather than possess what they had been promised. Which brings me to today's post. "WAKE UP AND LIVE!" There is no room to shrink back.

Are you living in what you believe? Have you come to experience the joy, peace, love, and abundant life that you read about in the Scriptures? What is your experience within the life of faith? Of course we have been set free. I'm not questioning that fact. But at the same time there are still some battles raging in our lives. As it was in the case of Israel, there are times that the food of slavery seems like a better meal than the manna of faith. We find ourselves shrinking back from the life that we have been promised. Unwilling to engage the enemies of our own imagination. Don't get me wrong here. There were giants in the land, but giants did not inhabit every corner. Not only that, but what about the promise of God? What about the God who had just delivered them from the oppression of Egypt (and did so in a way that could not be denied)? Is our difficulty in possessing what God has promised greater than what it took to bring us out of bondage?

Jesus' finished work was for all of humanity. However, it would take a while to turn the world upside down. The truth of the Gospel had to be shared. Disciples had to be discipled. Lives were lost. The followers of the Way were persecuted. At times it seemed as though the darkness would snuff out the light, but thanks be to God for the steadfastness of the Early Church. For the men and women who chose to believe that in the midst of great difficulty they would rise victorious.

Believing in the promises of God demands that we walk in them. That we move forward. That we continue to trust with unwavering confidence in the goodness of God. There will be times this will be more difficult than others. Not all enemies of the Kingdom of God run the other way. Many of them will stand their ground and fight. However, we must remember that we live from victory. We are overcomers in the midst of the battle. We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. He did not promise us bread and give us stones. The joy of the Lord that we are meant to enter into is ours to possess. But it does not mean there will not be a fight.

The Holy Spirit inside of us ensures that we have everything we need for life and godliness.
Wake Up and Live!
Don't allow circumstances to dictate your experience of the Lord. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you have to run back to the safety of religion or an old way of life. Every time you trust in the promises of God you have chosen life, and every time you see the promises realized the stronger your faith becomes.

There is so much more life that we are meant to experience. So much more abundance that we are meant to walk in. So many more promises of God that are meant to be realized. Why would we ever shrink back? The journey is worth it. Every step. Every battle. Every victory. Are you willing to fight for what is rightly yours? If so, remember this: We do not fight against flesh and blood but against everything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God in our lives. The enemy wants you to believe you are defeated. Your Heavenly Father wants you to believe you are victorious. Who are you going to believe?

Almost Free (revisiting an old sermon)

Colossians 2:20-23, "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations — 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used) — according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."

Several years ago, someone sent me an online test that was meant to evaluate a person’s worldview. After answering several questions you would be able to see just how biblical your worldview was in respect to their rankings. This type of questioning intrigued me so I decided to participate. Honestly, I was interested as to how I would rank against the person who sent me the test as I figured that their score would be much higher than mine. While I felt that I had a strong biblical worldview, I was sure that theirs would be much stronger. This person lived a life of separation in how they raised their kids, what they participated in, etc. In other words, they were much more “conservative” in their approach to the Bible. When I finished the test I was shocked to find out that my biblical worldview was much higher than the other person. It wasn’t 100% but it wasn’t far off.

This experience taught me a valuable lesson: You cannot always judge a book by its cover. Just because an individual seems more godly because of their lifestyle, it does not mean that they have a more biblical approach to life. How is that possible? It’s possible because some of our actions can be tied to the wrong mindset. This type of thinking is what led Paul to write the church at Colossae. They had come to faith in Christ through the ministry of Paul’s disciples. Although he had not personally visited the church there, he felt the necessity to write to them concerning the faith. In particular, he wanted to deal with some mindsets that had entered the church. Sophisty – a type of philosophy with roots in Judaism and a Greek worldview had persuaded many of the believers to live a life of Asceticism (describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various worldly pleasures, often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals. They practiced asceticism not because the practices themselves are virtuous, but as an aid in the pursuit of salvation or liberation).

Greeks commonly divided all things into an invisible spirit world, generally considered good and sacred, and a visible material world, generally considered frivolous and profane. A version of Christianity shaped within this religious environment would tend to understand devotion to Christ as a negative response to earth's elements--that is, as an ascetic lifestyle, which demands strict injunctions against the earth's elements. The results of this type of thinking? Legalism, Pride, Devaluing of other believers, etc. Verses 20-23 teaches us why a life with the wrong mindset cannot produce true godliness.

So...HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? How is it possible that we can be set free and yet find ourselves being controlled in other areas? How can we be free in one part of our lives but not in the whole? The answer is quite simple: While we may be free from the power and penalty of sin, we have not allowed ourselves to be set free from religion.

This is why verse 6 is such a key in understanding how to live in the grace and power of God.
Paul’s instructions to a church: “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him...”
THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE IN THE GRACE OF GOD IS TO:

1) Walk in Christ [2:6-7]
- rooted in Him
- built up in Him
- established in Him

2) Put off the Old Self [3:1-9]
- the former way of life

3) Put on the New Self [3:10]
- which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator
*This is where we learn to live from our testimony rather than our history!!!

How often do you find yourself running to a religious mindset or a lifestyle that keeps people from seeing the real you?
How quickly do you lay down your freedom because of the fear of what others may think?
Have you allowed yourself to be rooted, built up, and established in Christ?
Don't you think it's time to be completely FREE?

Your spirituality is not measured by the things you give up but by how fully you trust in the finished work of Christ. Enjoy the journey!

End of an Age or the End of the World?

While reading 1 Corinthians 10 this morning a verse of Scripture flew off of the pages (not literally) and stuck in my head. I've literally thought about it all morning. It's a verse that is sure to cause some controversy with a few people, but I'm a huge fan of understanding Biblical text for how it was written and why it was written. Look at it for yourself: "Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come."- 1 Corinthians 10:11

This picture may be a bit of an exaggeration (maybe even an over-exaggeration). However, it brings us to a very serious discussion. I think in my lifetime that I have lived though anywhere from 2-4 legitimate claims of end of the world scenarios. Some of the more popular ones being Y2K and the end of the Mayan Calendar. And these two were just within mainstream circles. This doesn't take into account the claims that have come from different Christian authors/pastors. One of the more recent claims coming from John Hagee and the whole Blood Moons theory. Much of this stemming from misunderstandings and poor translations.

If you were to read 1 Corinthians 10:11 in the KJV you will find that the verse speaks of the end of the world. This held true in many other translations of the Bible in the years to follow. Now I don't want to get into a debate about Bible translations, but if you were to look at some of the more literal translations of the Bible you will find that the word that was translated as "world" is properly translated as "age." Which makes a HUGE difference. So the question remains (for those who have come to embrace the mistranslation and poor theology that accompanies it) are we talking about the end of an age or the end of the world?

This problem is found elsewhere. And the problem is when you take the Greek word "aion" and translate it as world. Strong himself (Strong's Concordance) stated that this word is properly translated as an age. By implication we can speak of the Mosaic Age, the Age of the Law, the Old Testament Age, or the Temple Age. Regardless of the implication, we understand that Paul was speaking about ages that have come to pass to introduce the believers into a new age. An age that is not necessarily defined by specific timelines but by what is happening in the earth. Sure, we can talk about dispensations but the reality is that human history has gone through many ages.

For instance, we can say that in Christ that the age of shadows has come to an end. Is that not what the writer of Hebrews was trying to state? The law having a shadow of good things to come but Jesus being the substance? That in Christ we have a winding up of all the former ages and the beginning of something new and greater. We find this same difficulty in Matthew 24 when the disciples ask Jesus about the end of the age - mistranslated as world in many popular Bibles. You may ask: "Why is this important?" To which I would reply, "How is it not?"

To see these verses as an end of the world scenario has left many people with a fatalistic mindset. It has created a generation of doom and gloomers. Men and women who see the world waxing worse until complete destruction has come. I wonder where we would be in much of our thinking had the King James translators used "age" rather than "world?" The examples that Paul listed are to remind us to not fall into idolatry and to be aware of the age in which we live. There's nothing wrong with that. But to see everything as a sign of imminent destruction is.

The Early Church had an expectation of RESTORATION not destruction. They looked for the signs that Jesus spoke of in anticipation of birth pains not death gurgles. Birth pains are not fun, but they don't bring death, they bring life. Even with the apocalyptic imagery in the Revelation, in the end we see the arrival of a New Heaven and a New Earth. It may be the end of the world as we know it (a figure of speech) but it does not mean that it is the end of the world (total destruction).

When Jesus shared these prophetic things with His disciples he would say "Do Not Be Afraid." Which is drastically different than the preachers of today. The Early Church believed they were the generation to see the end of an age and the beginning of a new glorious age. Which they did. An age that you and I get to enjoy each and every day of our lives. Because they believed this, the church remained steadfast. They trusted the Lord in the midst of wars and rumors of wars. They held onto their faith in the midst of persecution, trials, and great difficulty. They counted Jesus as faithful until the end, and embraced the promise that He would be with them until the end of the age (not world).

I understand that we live in tumultuous times. The fear of terrorism, the problems we have seen with racial tensions, and the shooting of police officers has each of us looking at life differently. But with that being said, it does not mean it's the end of the world. It just means that there is plenty of work to do, plenty of the Gospel that needs to be shared, and plenty of love for one another that needs to be given. I'm not fatalistic about our future. In fact, I'm hopeful. I believe that the Good News that we proclaim about a loving God who has given His Son for us literally changes lives. I believe that the Kingdom of God within us is meant to manifest itself among us. I believe that love is stronger than hate, and that the truth will set us free. This doesn't mean that we will not see difficult days or that we will never face persecution. What it means is that we need to hold fast to the faith of Christ and trust the work of His Holy Spirit within us. It also means that we can enjoy the journey of being conformed into the image of the Son.

For every difficulty you see in the world, just know that the Father has the opposite in store. Wherever we see division, the Holy Spirit is working towards unity. Wherever we find hate, the Spirit wants to bring love. Wherever there is war, we can hope for peace. The Spirit of God is actively at work in us in complete opposition to the spirit at work in the world. May His Kingdom Come!