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Tell About Your First Love 1/3/99 "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." (Rev 2:2-6) Jesus had only one thing against the church at Ephesus; they had left their first love, Jesus. Most versions use the word "left", but the NIV says that they had forsaken their first love. Both the Strong's and Thayer's Greek definitions express the root word as something much stronger - to send their love away. As I was thinking about this, I was wondering just what it would mean to send Jesus away. I was also wondering how many people never fall in love with Jesus in the first place because we don't demonstrate our love for Him. How should we show Jesus that we love Him? The first thing that comes to mind is the interaction between Peter and Jesus by the Sea of Tiberias after His resurrection. "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?' 'Yes, Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.' Again Jesus said, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me?' He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Take care of my sheep.' The third time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, 'Do you love me?' He said, 'Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep.'" (John 21:15-17) Jesus wanted Peter to care for His people. Taking care of and feeding Jesus' people isn't only a matter of looking out for their spiritual and physical needs; it is a matter of loving them as we serve. When we love people, in particular other Christians, we are loving Jesus. "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matt 25:40) "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) The Ephesians had worked hard and had persevered against the opposition to the Gospel. They didn't tolerate wicked men and they tested the doctrines of false teachers. They hated the practice of the Nicolaitans. All these are remarkable feats for which Jesus commended them. However, these things can be done in a very legalistic church where the Love of Christ is not seen, but instead only strictness, which eventually will cause a church to die. Jesus threatened to remove their lampstand from its place, meaning that the church would no longer exist. Personally, I think it is much easier to have all the correct doctrines, etc, than it is to live them out in love of Jesus and His people. However, John called us show our love by our actions. "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." (I Jn 3:18) Is it possible that we forsake our first love of Jesus when we keep other Christians at arms length and don't let them into our lives or reach out to them? This may be true because we are trying hard to avoid the other end of the spectrum where people excuse any and every doctrine and behavior because they are "loving" each other. We need to strike a balance so that we don't preach a love that allows license, yet we need to maintain obedience to Jesus that isn't a cold, life-sapping strictness. How do we let people who have not yet met Jesus know that we love Him? The people that we know in our work place, neighborhoods and families should be able to see that we love Jesus by the way we treat them and other believers. But, how do we express that love to the occasional stranger that we have an opportunity to share Jesus with? This ties back into being doctrinally correct. I personally find it very important to give people a full picture of the Gospel so that they aren't going to profess a faith in Jesus based on an inaccurate or incomplete knowledge of Jesus and what salvation means. In doing that, I often emphasize the basics:
The one thing that I often neglect is the fact that when we put our faith in Jesus for our salvation, we then start a personal relationship with Jesus. This is a love relationship that can't be described in the same way as human relationships. It reminds me of the words in the song "In The Garden". "He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me that I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other will ever know." There is no human relationship that gives us the joy that we can know when we belong to Jesus and we abide in Him. However, we seldom tell people about this aspect of the Christian walk when sharing the Gospel because we fear that they will accept Jesus as a friend without understanding their sinfulness and their need to turn to Him as Savior. Then, as soon as trouble comes they fall away. We are afraid that they will be like the ones in the parable of the farmer who went out to sow his seed. "The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." (Matt 13:20-21) It seems to me that we need to be able to integrate this relationship into our presentation of the Gospel in order for people to know what it will be like once we have turned to Him in faith. We do have the opportunity to share our personal testimony when we present the Gospel, but this often turns out to be an explanation of our life before Christ and how we came to know Him without explaining our relationship. If we don't explain the relationship they can have with Jesus, we are in danger of starting people off in their faith just like the Ephesians ended up. They were doing all the right things, but it appears that they no longer had the joy and love that they had when they first heard and accepted the Gospel. They were doctrinally correct, had suffered for Jesus and were zealous for God, but they could also be described as people who had been baptized in pickle juice. Who wants to embrace a faith like that? Our relationship with Jesus can be marked with peace, joy, comfort and friendship. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27) "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11) "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Cor 1:3-4) "You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:14) It is my desire that we all are able to sing "In The Garden", not just reciting the words, but experiencing the love of Jesus in our lives every day and being able to share that with others. And, may this occur in good seasons as well as in bad so that we may echo the words of Habakkuk. "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (Hab 3:17-19) In Jesus, Ray Ruppert "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Pet 5:8-9) You have probably heard the saying that Satan's cleverest deception is to get people to believe that he doesn't exist. I believe this is true, because to fight in a war, you need to know your enemy. If you don't even realize that your enemy exists, you will exert your efforts in the wrong direction. In spiritual warfare, we may be hurting people that we love or expressing unloving attitudes toward the people we want reach for Jesus if we are not aware of Satan's schemes. "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph 6:11-12) We need to remember that we are not in a war against people, but we are ultimately fighting for the souls of people who are locked in the stronghold of Satan's grip. The second cleverest deception that Satan has fostered is that he doesn't have time do bother us "ordinary" Christians as there are too many Christians in the world and he is focusing his attention on those who are doing greater things for Jesus. I'd like to pop this little bubble because I think a lot of people have bought into it since they don't know exactly how powerful Satan is. In explaining Satan's power I don't want to diminish the power that we have as Christians, but when we don't know our enemy's power, we are blind to his ability to wage war and therefore will not even fight back. So first, remember; "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (I Jn 4:4) Since we have the power of Jesus in us, let's use it. Satan isn't omnipotent, as is our God; however he is much more powerful than we might suspect. Consider the time when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. "Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple." (Matt 4:5) "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor." (Matt 4:8) How do you suppose Satan managed to do these things? Were they visions that he gave Jesus or did he actually take Jesus physically to the top of the temple and the mountain? Either by visions or physically transporting Jesus, Satan's power is clearly demonstrated. Even one of Satan's henchmen has dramatic power as described in the book of Revelation. "And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men." (Rev 13:13) Even the angels of God are careful since they know his power. "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" (Jude 1:9) While we can get a glimpse of Satan's power in the Bible, we don't have enough detail to determine any limitations on his abilities other than he must still submit to the authority of God. Take an earthly example, the power of a computer. A computer can have thousands of terminals attached to it and process the commands at each one to make it appear as if each one was attached to its own computer. This ability of the computer to handle many terminals at the same time is called TSO, time share option, which gives a very small amount of processing time to each user then switches to the next. The computer is simply millions of times faster than we are so it appears that we have the computer to ourselves. Isn't it also possible that a fallen angel who operates in the spiritual realm as well as the physical could to a little time share option of his own to appear to be in many places at the same time? Should we make sweeping statements that Satan is too busy to be concerned with us as individuals? Even if he doesn't have that much power, he still has legions of cohorts who are more than willing to accomplish similar results as the head honcho does. "Then Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' 'My name is Legion,' he replied, 'for we are many.'" (Mark 5:9) I think that we should seriously consider that Satan, or at least a member of his legions can and will take every opportunity to put obstacles in our way. One of Satan's favorite places to wage his war is in our minds. Paul told us that part of spiritual warfare is to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:3-5) James showed us what happens when we allow our own evil desires (which usually starts out as thoughts) to go unabated. "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:13-15) You may have read about or known people who have heard "voices" telling them to do hideous things. I have had thoughts pass through my mind that can only be classified as bizarre and I don't think I am alone in this. I remember driving across the Lake Washington floating bridge when it still had two way traffic on it and having "suggestions or impulses" appear in my mind to swerve into the oncoming lane. I don't believe that these thoughts or suggestions originate in my own mind but are planted by Satan. However, it is my own will to choose to entertain them and then, as James described, to act upon them and thereby sin. As far as I am concerned, just the entertainment of them is sin. The original thought is not a sin, it is a temptation that we can resist by taking captive our thoughts. Jesus made it clear that thoughts that are played out in our mind are sin. (Matt 5:28) I remember watching a TV documentary in which doctors were operating on a man's brain. They inserted a probe in various places so that they could map out his brain. They would put an electrical charge on the probe and the man, who was conscious, was asked what sensations he had. He responded by saying that he had heard music or had some memory brought back from the past. There are many things that can trigger our memories, such as sights, sounds and smells. Scientists also know which parts of our brains are used for communication, which parts handle logic and which parts control muscles. If scientists know these parts of our brain, wouldn't it be logical to think that Satan also knows where these parts of our brain are? Unless, of course, scientists are much smarter than Satan is. I think that Satan is able to plant thoughts in our minds, even when we belong to Jesus, because we are still physical beings. Each of us has things in our past that we would rather forget. These are images that we have put into our own minds through reading and viewing things we should not have read or viewed, or they are things that we didn't have any control over. It is very likely that Satan has our minds mapped and he can trigger these things from the past when he sees an opportunity. Since Satan is probably much more powerful than we imagine or would like to give him credit for, it is very likely that he can also interpret the electrical patterns in our brains and even know or guess what we are thinking. That is why these thoughts can pop up in our minds when we least expect it. We need to handle these memories in the same way that we handle the thoughts that are planted in our minds by him. This information is useless unless we do something with it, and we do have the authority to wage spiritual warfare and win. "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." (Luke 10:17-19) Jesus has already given us the authority and power over the enemy. It is up to us to use that authority and resist Satan. We are promised in James that when we resist Satan he will flee from us. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) But please also note that we must first submit ourselves to God. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, resisting the devil will do you no good. Read Acts 19:13-16 to see the results of spiritual battle without having Jesus in you. I have been using the following steps for most of my life as a Christian to purge and take captive thoughts as well as to overcome all sorts of temptations that have come before me over which I have no control. Try these steps out and see if you do not also find them useful in your spiritual warfare.
People fail at point one because they deny the battle. People fail at point two because they don't recognize they are facing a temptation. People fail at point three because they think they have to rebuke Satan out loud or they think it's silly or unnecessary. People fail at point four because they haven't memorized scripture. People fail at point five because they don't give God the glory. May you draw on the power and authority that Jesus has given you to win your spiritual battles this week. In Jesus, Ray Ruppert Spiritual Warfare - The Other Enemy Last week, after you read through my comments titled " Spiritual Warfare - The Enemy", you may have said to yourself, "I don't have those kinds of temptations. Shoot, it's even worse, it's not until after I've been wallowing around in sin that I realize I have strayed and then I'm convicted." Many of us seem to have sins that we are unable to conquer. These are habits or patterns that are not pleasing to God. We have said over and over that we were not going to do it but we do. "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing." (Rom 7:19) This battle is not a battle of temptation because we are way past the temptation and deep in the sin. Satan doesn't have to plant a thought to get it going because we habitually do it anyway. This enemy is referred to as the sinful nature in the NIV translation. In many other versions it simply says the "flesh". Unger's Dictionary describes this as follows: FLESH (8) Mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God; accordingly it includes in the soul whatever is weak, low, debased, tending to ungodliness and vice (see <Rom. 8:3,5-9; 2 Cor. 7:5; Gal 5:16; Eph 2:3>) (from New Unger's Bible Dictionary) (originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (C) 1988.) This is a big problem because our sinful nature is dead if we are Christians. "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." (Gal 5:24) However, Paul also recognizes that even though it has been crucified, we still cater to it. "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." (Gal 5:13) This is one of those paradoxes that we find in the Bible. Even though our sinful nature is dead, it can still be served. There are several reasons that we don't gain control over these ungodly habits, but first we must remember our position in Jesus if we do belong to Him. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Rom 8:1-2) There is hope and power in knowing this, because we know we don't have to be slaves to the sinful nature. One reason we have problems is that we have been disobeying Jesus in small ways as well as in the biggies. Many people are unable to keep New Years resolutions because they produce a long list of great changes. When they are unable to meet some of their lofty objectives, they scrap the whole list and end up in the same state as when they started. "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" (Matt 25:21) Ask the Lord to reveal to you the first thing that He wants you to make right. I say make right because this may be something that you need to do rather than stopping some sinful activity. At one time, the Lord let me know that I had to make restitution for things that I had stolen before I became a Christian. Until I did that, my fellowship with the Lord was stymied and I was not going to grow any more. Perhaps you need to ask someone to forgive you, or to release the bitterness or grudge that you have against someone. These things can be a foothold for the devil and keeps your sinful nature active. As we complete these tasks, we will be strengthened in our faith and will be able to overcome the ungodly habits as well. Another reason that we don't experience victory over the flesh is self-condemnation. We usually don't have any problem with the sins of our past that we committed before we became Christians because we have left them at the foot of the cross. However the sins that we have committed as Christians are particularly odious to us because we knew better and have brought shame on our Lord. Rather than accepting the forgiveness for these as well, we keep feeling guilty and are unable to conquer our evil habits. At this point we are in a weakened spiritual state and don't even try to work on the habits because we are sure we will fail and God doesn't love us any more and we wouldn't want Jesus to come back because He would be ashamed of us and we might as well eat worms and die - oh sigh. This is a downward spiral that can turn into depression and even suicide. We need to turn from this and trust God's Word. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I Jn 1:9) He will purify us from all unrighteousness, not just the things we did before we became Christians, but even those that we commit each day, big or little. Start out each day knowing that you are clean and forgiven. Also remember that when we stand before our Lord, He will not bring up our failures. "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 1:24-25) Jesus will present us before the Father without fault and with great joy! Probably the worst reason for our inability to conquer sin is that at the time we are doing it, we like it. There is something in the sin that gives us a payback. I'm told that some people overeat because eating is a comforting experience. When they are sad or depressed, they eat. In the same way each sin has some kind of payback that draws us into it. The problem with this is that sin always demands more and more to give the same payback. "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." (Eph 4:19) This verse describes what occurs when we continually yield to sin in our lives. It finally destroys with that lust for more and more. People who lie usually do so to avoid the consequences of accepting responsibility for their actions or to keep from saying something that will draw attention to themselves. They often do this because they are more concerned with what people will say or do rather than their desire to please of God. To overcome this aspect of habitual sin, we must identify what the payback is. Ask the Lord to show you why you continually fall into this sin. On the heels of liking sin comes our excusing and rationalizing it. The worst example of this is done when we redefine what sin is. Couples living together outside of wedlock rationalize their blatant sin by saying that they love each other and don't need a piece of paper to make their relationship good before God. People who blow up and lose their temper say that they are only venting their anger and it is not good to hold it in. There probably isn't a sin on the books that hasn't been rationalized by someone. This usually requires us to either have a very poor knowledge of scripture, or to twist it to meet our own needs. We have two choices: "... which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Pet 3:16b) or "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15) Sometimes, we are just plain lazy about our sin. We do it and it doesn't seem to be so bad and on top of that, stopping would mean exerting some self-discipline. This is somewhat like the person who couldn't stop the habit of buying and looking at pornography. He passed the dirty bookstore every day going to work and would be tempted when he looked in the window, would yield and go in to buy something. His counselor suggested that he exercise self-discipline and take another route to work. This failed because he was unwilling to get up five minutes earlier. "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." (1 Cor 9:25) Without training in spiritual fitness, we become spiritually soft, flabby and an easy target for continued sin. Some of us simply don't know how to break a habit. The following are some things that can be done to line our actions up with God's will.
May you have victory over the flesh this week as well as over the devil. In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert One of the things that we can have as a Christian is contentment, however it seems that it is seldom mentioned or attained. The primary reason is that the world has defined what it is to be content and most of us have bought into it. Solomon expressed the world's desire and lack of contentment well. "There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless-- a miserable business!" (Eccl 4:8) The world's ideas of contentment teach us that we shouldn't be alone and we must have a family. Notice the emphasis on having a son, which hopefully includes a marriage. The world tells us that we can't do without marriage. It also tells us that our work should always be a source of satisfaction and contentment. If we can't find it in these, then the world tells us we need to turn to the enjoyment of life, providing for ourselves every pleasure imaginable. "I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless." (Eccl 2:1) Note the tone of despair in the last sentence of these two verses. When people set earthly goals to achieve their contentment, one of two things happen. They may achieve their goal and discover that it didn't give them the contentment and fulfillment they want, so they set a new goal. As they go through life, they keep setting and meeting goals without finding the contentment they want so much. The end of this is despair, which for some, leads to suicide. The other thing that can happen is that they fail to reach the goals and they too face despair. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines; it doesn't seem like family gave him contentment so he attempted to find it in pleasure and work. Did Solomon find contentment there? I don't think so, though he started well, the Bible records the ending of Solomon's life. "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been." (I King 11:4) It is sad to think that the one who asked God to give him wisdom to govern Israel drifted away looking for meaning in all the wrong places. Earlier, Solomon had expressed a key to contentment. "The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble." (Prov 19:23) Instead of maintaining his relationship with the Lord, he let the world and its definitions of contentment lead him away from the Lord. I would caution you, though, that this verse doesn't promise a trouble free life, but that when the troubles come, the important things will be untouched; that is, we will be able to go through them without losing our relationship with the Lord and our contentment. How should we proceed in seeking contentment? For most of us, being content with our wealth is one that we probably have the most trouble with since the Bible speaks more about it than the other subjects. Our attitude towards wealth can also be applied to other areas where we are discontent. "Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-- be content with your pay."" (Luke 3:14) How many of us can say we are content with our pay? Do we work two jobs or have side businesses, not because we need it, but because we have been given a dream that we want to fulfill? Are we discontent with other circumstances in life? We need to identify those areas where we aren't satisfied, even though our Sovereign Lord is in control of all situations and our position in life. In this verse, discontent leads to extortion and other evils. In the book of Philippians, Paul told us that he had come to the point of being content in all situations. "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." (Phil 4:11-12) The only problem that I had with this verse is that he had said he had learned the secret. Bummer, I didn't see anywhere in these verses the explanation of the secret. Ah, but never fear, when Paul wrote to Timothy, he explained the secret. The secret is still the same as it was when Solomon stated it in the proverb above. Paul said it again making it more specific and to the point. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1 Tim 6:6-11) These verses speak for themselves. If we are pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness, we will find that we will be content. Jesus said ""Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt 6:19-21) This is a principle that can apply to all the allures of the world as well as riches. It doesn't matter if the things that we have become obsessed with are riches, work, family (or lack of) or pleasure. One aspect of becoming content is to focus on storing up treasures in heaven rather than focusing on all the things that the world tells us to store up here. How do we do that? The following verses describe some of the ways. "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?" (Matt 5:44-46) We can love and pray for those who are opposed to the Gospel of Jesus, for those who give us grief over our stand for Jesus. We can be light in a dark and depraved world showing people how we should relate even to our enemies. "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." (Matt 10:42) We can care for the little ones in our church during one of the worship services. We can look out for the interests of other believers whenever we can. We can feed the hungry and those who are less fortunate. "Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets." (Luke 6:22-23) We can stand for Jesus when it means risking our jobs, our lives or even when people simply taunt us for our faith, calling us "self righteous" or a "holy Joe". It means not compromising when the world wants us to join in its ways and subtle distractions that lead people away from God. "If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me." (1 Cor 9:17) We can minister to others though the Word of God. (Of course that means we need to be immersed in His Word first.) "Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." (Eph 6:6-8) "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Col 3:23-24) We can do our jobs not for the rewards of riches, but for the reward of serving Jesus. We can do our jobs with excellence, not because we want to get a raise, but because we are working for Jesus. This means changing our motivation for our work. Isn't it interesting that we will receive a reward from Jesus when we do what we are already doing, but change the reason? "He (Moses) regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward." (Heb 11:26) We will be rewarded because we haven't put the world's goals above God's. May you become even more in love with Jesus this week and seek His kingdom first and trust that He is in total control of all situations. May you find contentment is serving Him and knowing that you are in His will. May the world not distract you with its goals. In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert There is a problem in the church today; we are not heavenly minded. There is an old saying that we all know too well, "He's so heavenly minded he's no earthly good." This is a negative comment that many use to intimidate us and keep us from shining. "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..." (Phil 2:14-15). As we live in this world, attempting to be pure and blameless, people will try all kinds of ways to stop our witness. My contention is that unless we are heavenly minded, we will be no earthly good. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us to be heavenly minded. "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Col 3:1-3) The reason we are to set our minds on things above is because we have been raised with Christ. Jesus died for us and ransomed us. When we become Christians we are identified with Him so closely that in God's eyes, we were raised from the dead with Jesus. Since Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, we are seated there with Him. Think about that for a minute. Jesus lives in us, yet He is also seated at the right hand of God, and our life is hidden with Christ in God. Now that should give us reason to set our minds on heavenly things. What is the alternative to setting our minds on heavenly things? "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Rom 8:5) Our choice is to have our mind set on heavenly things, things that the Holy Spirit desires us to think about, or the things of our sinful nature. The more we dwell on the thing of the world and how to satisfy our own wants, the more it becomes a part of us. Many motivational speakers and systems for getting rich teach us to envision our goals and spend a significant amount of time focusing on the goal so that it will be accomplished. I even heard of a golfer who would always envision the flight of the ball arching into the air and landing where he wanted it. Contrast that to spending our time thinking about what God wants us to do as well as spending time in prayer asking Him to show us His goals for our life as well as equipping us to do it. "To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted." (Titus 1:15) It looks like an impure and corrupt life is one alternative. There are appropriate times and places for skepticism; however, some people are always imagining the worst of others. If we don't have our minds on heavenly things, we can fall into this trap where everything appears to be impure. Another alternative is to keep the same mind we had before we accepted Jesus. "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior." (Col 1:21) Before we became Christians, we were actually enemies with God in our minds. I doubt that people who have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior would agree with this because many claim to love God, but the Bible is clear on this. If we don't renew our minds and set them on heavenly things, our minds are still in the same place that they were before we became Christians. There is also a clear correlation in this verse between our behavior and our minds. What we think in our minds eventually works out in our actions. That is why it so important to be heavenly minded so that godly behavior will result. When our behavior is godly we will be doing the things God wants us to, which will result in significant earthly good. If we don't actively keep our minds on heavenly things, they may wander and lead us in paths that we shouldn't tread as people who claim Jesus as their Lord. "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." (2 Cor 11:3) In context, Paul was concerned that people would come to the Corinthians and present them with a different Jesus and they would fall for it. When we are in the Word and keeping our minds on heavenly things, we will be able to tell whether or not what we hear on TV, read in books or even hear from the pulpit is the truth. "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." (1 Pet 4:7) One way that we can be heavenly minded is to be clear minded. When we clog our thoughts with the ways of the world and the things that we want to acquire, we can't be clear minded. How many times have you been trying to pray and your mind drifts off on other things? I know it sure happens to me. Being heavenly minded requires self-control; it doesn't come naturally. "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Pet 1:13) Isn't it interesting that Peter told us to prepare our minds for action by setting our hope (setting our minds) on the grace to be given us when Jesus will appear again? In the book of Philippians, Paul contrasted people who had their minds on earthly things and Christians. "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Phil 3:18-21) He reminded us where our citizenship is, and most importantly, that we are eagerly awaiting the time when we will be with Jesus for eternity. Paul asked a couple of ladies at Philippi to start getting along with each other and asked his friend to help them settle their problems. (Phil 4:2-3) In Phil 4:4-9, he gave some practical advice, some of which includes ways of setting our minds on heavenly things. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things." (Phil 4:8) Part of being heavenly minded is thinking about these things. Can you imagine two people quarreling and at the same time thinking thoughts as described in this verse? What are some of the true things we can think of?
This week, may you be Heavenly minded and earthly good, because God is good and He is living in you! In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-- it leads only to evil." (Ps 37:1-8) I found some more of those commands in these verses that we don't like. The first is a command to not do what seems to come naturally to us as Christians whenever we read the newspaper or watch TV. We fret. Wherever we turn, we see people who are opposed to the way of Jesus and His followers who want to help others join the Christian family. As we see those Darwin fish with legs on the back of cars; as we read statement made in the paper calling Christians part of the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy"; as we hear of teachers going to conferences to learn how to squelch the affects of Christian parents in the public schools, something wells up in us that makes us want do something to counteract the rise of evil in the land. It may be small things like the Darwin fish or larger things like abortion, but we fret about them. The Lord can use these emotions that build up to make a difference, or the devil can use them to lead us into fretting, anger and eventually, evil. The other command in verse one is not to be envious of those who do wrong. Our problem in this area occurs when we see people who obviously don't know the Lord enjoying the good things in life and prospering. We wonder why it is that the Lord allows this to happen while many of His people throughout the world are suffering and being persecuted. Even while we are thinking this and know better, we would like to be prosperous and have some of the comforts that they have. There is something that appeals to us as we watch the "upper crust" lounge in luxury in fancy resorts or huge houses with servants. If we have had the fortune to have some of these luxuries, we know it feels good and we think - if only I had..., or if I didn't give so much to the church I could... But what is the Lord telling us in these verses? First of all, we shouldn't be envious because of the end of evil people (or anyone who isn't a Christian). They may have a very fruitful and enjoyable life, but they will wither away, die and enter into eternity only to suffer and never see the Lord. Most of the rest of this Psalm speaks of their demise. We need to develop an eternal perspective when we are tempted to be envious of others or when we have to make important decisions in our lives. Fortunately, the Lord also gave us directions on how to keep from fretting about or becoming envious of the wicked. The first thing requires a passive and an active position. The passive part is that we must trust in the Lord. Without trusting that God is in control, we feel that we need to do something about the situation, even if it beyond our control. This is the root of fretting - wanting to do something about a situation that is outside of our responsibility or control. But David told us to trust in the Lord. One of the best examples of a deep abiding trust comes from the book of Daniel when his friends were given a choice to worship a statue or be thrown into the fiery furnace. "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."" (Dan 3:16-18) They didn't try to defend themselves, but trusted God. The most interesting thing in their reply is that they were not presumptuous. They knew God had the ability to save them, but they didn't presume to know His will - whether or not He would save them. They knew what their position was, and they were not going to cave in to pressures to join the crowd. They were willing to die rather than bow down. Perhaps one of the reasons that evil is on the rise in our country is because we don't trust the Lord enough to speak out for righteousness when we have opportunity and simply say "No." This brings us to the active part of our response to evil - do good. To do good, we need to dwell in the land and our benefit will be to enjoy safe pasture. When we dwell in the land, we are to live and become a part of the community, even though we are strangers in an alien land. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." (1 Pet 3:15-17) Enjoying safe pasture doesn't guarantee that we won't suffer or be persecuted. In my mind, it is being in the center of God's will and being at peace because we have the Prince of Peace living in us. Wouldn't it thrill you to have someone ask you about the hope that you have because you have peace in your heart? Next, we need to delight ourselves in the Lord. I've mentioned this before so I won't go into detail. Simply put, when Jesus is the delight of our life, above all other things, He will give us the desires of our heart because those desires will be the same as His desires and plans for our life. This requires us to commit our ways to the Lord and trust that He guides us through all of life's storms and we will know the proper response to evil in the land. We will know if we are to become involved directly in boycotts, writing letters, supporting godly organizations or indirectly by witnessing to the lost and praying. As a side note, anyone who advocates or uses violence in an attempt to hinder or stop evil certainly isn't delighting themselves in the Lord, since they must overlook our instructions in the New Testament. "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody." (Rom 12:17) They don't understand that the war we wage can't be won in the physical realm. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:3-5) As we commit our ways to Him and trust Him, the Lord will make our righteousness and our just causes shine. It won't be by our efforts, especially when those efforts are done in the ways of the world instead of His ways. There is a catch, of course, we must wait patiently for Him. We can't take matters into our own hands or start fretting again when it looks like He is taking too long. David warns us that men will succeed in their ways and carry out their wicked schemes. We won't win every battle, so we have to remember that the war is much greater than the battles we see or are involved in, which will help us to be patient. We can only be patient when we are trusting that our great and mighty God is indeed sovereign. If we don't completely trust or firmly believe in His sovereignty, then we will become angry, wrathful and fret. The ugly part of this is that our eyes come off of the Lord and we focus on others or ourselves. We may blame ourselves or we blame others and become angry toward them. By the way, this doesn't just apply to the gross injustices that we see in the world but also to our perceptions of smaller ones. Examples are: When someone else gets promoted (and we don't), when someone is fired and we think it wasn't right or when family relationships are sour (summed up in the words of Tommy Smothers, "Mom always liked you best."). When the anger builds or the fretting comes, remember who is in control of all situations and trust Him. When we react with the grace and kindness that Jesus has demonstrated to us, the world will see His righteousness and justice shining and His cause will be advanced instead of leading to more evil. May we keep our eyes on Jesus, not fret this week and do the good He wants. In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert Our God is a holy God! This attribute of God's character is probably the single most important of them all. "Holiness is one of the essential attributes of the divine nature. It is, on the one hand, entire freedom from moral evil and, on the other, absolute moral perfection. ... By the holiness of God, it is not implied that He is subject to some law or standard of moral excellence external to Himself, but that all moral law and perfection have their eternal and unchangeable basis in His own nature." (from New Unger's Bible Dictionary) Can you imagine what the universe would be like if God were not 100% holy? I work as a computer programmer so I can relate to flaws (unholiness) and what happens when those flaws occur even so rarely that it wouldn't seem to make a difference. As an example, take a shipment tracking and accounting system that is supposed to be able to track a package from sender to receiver and bill the sender only when the package arrives on time. If this system has a problem that would keep it from billing the customer once out of every 10,000 shipments (99.99% pure like ivory soap), and the company shipped one million packages a day, then the company would lose revenue for 100 packages a day or 36,500 a year. If each package cost an average of $10 to ship, the company would lose $365,000 a year. Or put it into chemical terms, only a few parts per million of arsenic in your drinking water turns it into a deadly poison. If God were not 100% pure and holy, the universe as it is could not exist. An unholy god would not have been consistent in his creation, resulting in anomalies that would make the universe a bizarre and unpredictable place, more like science fiction than the ordered creation that it is. God is omnipotent and if He ever used His power for evil, the effects would reach throughout the universe. (If you have ever seen "Q" on Star Trek you know what I mean.) If He were not holy, we couldn't trust Him to do what is right in every situation. This unholy god would be a capricious god and we would never be able to determine what he desired of us, even when he told us. God determines what is holy (morally excellent) and what is not. When the Lord was giving His law to the nation of Israel in the desert, He gave only one reason for establishing these laws. "The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.'" (Lev 19:1-2) He said, "because I, the Lord your God, am holy" or a similar phrase in several other verses (Lev 11:44,45; 20:26; 21:8; 22:32). His desire for us is to be Holy so that our universe (as is His), our families, our businesses, our schools and our churches will be ordered and working in the way that is the very best for us and those around us. When we have unholiness in our lives, with our limited power, we wreak havoc in our own lives and that of others in the same way that an unholy god would cause havoc in the universe. "And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isa 6:3,5) God's glory is a result of His holiness or is so entwined with it that they are often mentioned together. It is His glory that shows us that we are not worthy and unclean as Isaiah proclaimed. In our everyday lives, we don't think a lot about holiness; we just carry on our business or we may be concerned about it when we face some moral decision. If we were to see God in His glory, we would know what holiness is. We would join Isaiah and fall on our faces as His holiness and glory would reveal every sin in our lives. Thanks be to Jesus, because we can approach our God clothed in Jesus' holiness, for our own would never allow us close. Isaiah spoke of the time when all Israel would be able to approach God. "Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the house of Jacob: "No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale. When they see among them their children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel." (Isa 29:22-23) God knew that we would never be able to live up to His holiness, so He provided the way. He said that keeping His name holy would be accomplished by the work of His hands. We must not confuse God's desire for us to be holy and His command for us to be holy as something we can do ourselves. We are very fortunate to be able to live in the age of grace, to be able to live holy lives because we have Jesus living in us, to have His holiness and not that of our own. Otherwise, we would be trying to be holy by following the law as the Israelites were instructed. We all know that it can't be done, which points us back to Jesus, who was able to live a holy life and imparted His holiness to us by sacrificing Himself. ""'I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel." (Ezek 39:7) God is very serious about His holiness, as His name is associated with holiness. The nation of Israel claimed to be the people of God, unique because God had made to known to them His ordinances, delivered them from Egypt, brought them through the desert and gave them their land. No other people could make a claim to be God's own people. By their actions and disobedience, the Israelites profaned the name of God instead of holding it up as holy. Other nations looked at the Israelites and basically said, "If God is holy and His people act this way, then I want no part of God." God warned them repeatedly to clean up their act and turn back to Him because they were an affront to His holiness. Finally, God sent both Israel and Judah into captivity for He couldn't put up with their unholy actions that brought reproach upon His own holiness. When Sampson's mother and father were visited by the Angel of the Lord, his father was sure the he was going to die. "'We are doomed to die!' he said to his wife. 'We have seen God!'" (Judg 13:22) When Peter and his friends filled their boats to overflowing with fish, Peter understood that he was unworthy to be in the presence of Jesus. "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"" (Luke 5:8) These men knew they were not holy and that they had been in the presence of holiness. It alarmed them and made them fearful for their lives. We should be alarmed about having the Holy Spirit live in us when we are not being holy. Even though we are forgiven and have the holiness of Jesus, we are not yet perfect in applying it to our lives, as our Lord desires us. When we don't, we can expect discipline, just as Israel should have expected it. "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Heb 12:10, 14) Even though we are declared holy because of Jesus' sacrifice for us, we still need to "make every effort" to be holy. Until we are freed from these bodies and are in heaven with Jesus, we need to demonstrate His holiness in our lives. If we don't work on it, then we are very likely to slip and profane God's name since we bear the name of Christian. If we are not living holy lives, we are very likely to pay for it since God holds us accountable to be witnesses to the rest of the world regarding His holiness. "For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Pet 4:17) We don't want to be like Israel and Judah; otherwise, He may cut our lives short if His discipline doesn't turn us around. The church in Corinth was having this problem. They were living unholy lives and knew it. They were partaking in communion without confessing their sin and repenting. The result was death and sickness. "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep." (1 Cor 11:29-30) Let us examine ourselves, not in the light of what we think is holy, but in the light of His perfect holiness so that we may bring honor and glory to His holy name. One day we (all who confess the name of Jesus) will all be around the throne of Jesus and our God and will be able to join in praising Him and His holiness. "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'" (Rev 4:8) We can only get a small glimpse of His holiness now, but then, we will all know what true holiness is. We will all fall on our faces before His throne and say, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Rev 4:11) May His holiness inspire you to live a holy life this week! In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert We have all heard people say that we should not judge one another, because that's what the Bible teaches. The ones who say this the loudest are the ones who also say that we must be tolerant of their lifestyles and moral convictions. This is nothing new; the first record of this in the Bible occurred in Sodom. "'Get out of our way,' they replied. And they said, 'This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them.' They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door." (Gen 19:9) In this case Lot was trying to keep the townspeople from raping the two strangers (angels) who were staying with him that night. Whenever we attempt to hold up what is right (according to the Bible) before people who are against it, we will have the same charges thrown against us. As I see it, there are two types of judgment that we need to consider. The first is a non-personal judgement. In other words, we are speaking about or judging an activity, law, moral standard or even a doctrine without relating it specifically to a person. The second is when we are considering the behavior of a specific person. I think the Bible is clear on how we should proceed in such things. In the first case, there is nothing for us to judge. When the Word of God tells us an activity or moral standard is wrong, that is the end of the subject. If we are looking at doctrine, we need to examine it to make sure that it conforms to what the Bible teaches. That may take a lot of study, but we will be greatly rewarded in the end because we will have spent time in His Word. When Paul was preaching the Gospel, he encountered much opposition to his doctrines, but those who studied found it to be true. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11) It is important to know what God has already said on these subjects because we may have to stake our lives, jobs or families on them. It would seem logical, having made up our minds what is right or wrong, that applying it to another individual's behavior would not be controversial. However, it is precisely at this point that we often have the most difficulty. A lot of things start getting in the way, such as our desire to be accepted. If we express our thoughts or confront the person, we may lose a friend or cause problems on the job. Sometimes, we have done the same things and we don't want it exposed even if it is in the past and God has forgiven us. Moses had this problem when he tried to break up a fight between two of his kinsmen. "The man said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?' Then Moses was afraid and thought, 'What I did must have become known.'" (Exod 2:14) The Old Testament seems to be quiet about the matter of personal judging but provides instruction about public judges. However, the warning to those judges is something we need to heed on this subject. "He told them, 'Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict.'" (2 Chr 19:6) We need to be very careful when we confront a person with wrong behavior because we are representing the Lord. Many people misquote or misinterpret Jesus either when they don't want us to speak against their behavior or when they don't want to confront someone with improper behavior. "'Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.'" (Matt 7:1-2) Jesus was not telling us that we shouldn't judge, but that when we do judge, we are declaring to all that we know what is right and wrong. If we know right from wrong, then do wrong ourselves, we have no excuse for our behavior when we face the Lord in judgment. Paul clarified this in Romans. "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?" (Rom 2:1-3) The problem with Jesus' words is that we stop short when quoting Him. Reading the next three verses would have made it much clearer in the first place. "'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.'" (Matt 7:3-5) Verse five tells us to make sure we have our own problems and behavior in order before we start helping others. Jesus was addressing hypocrites when he made his statements, not Christians who are properly motivated and aware of their own faults. Another problem area is snap judgments. Too often we make our decisions when we don't have all the evidence. Jesus was constantly being criticized and judged by the religious leaders and at times, by the crowds. His gave us a very good warning to heed. "'Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.'" (John 7:24) Before we confront someone with wrong behavior, we should make sure we know the truth. The Bible is clear that we need to take two or more witnesses if a one-on-one confrontation does not yield results. I was once involved in a situation where two people were accusing a third of immoral behavior. Only one of the two was a witness and had no other evidence to back up the claim. What was sad was that these two accusers thought that by coming together they were fulfilling the command in Matt 18:16 but instead had misread it. (But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses'.) They believed the church should reprimand the accused, who denied the behavior. The church couldn't do anything since there was only one witness. Another problem area is disputable matters. These are the things that are not clearly defined in the Bible. Going back to my beginning comments, if we have done our homework, we should be able to decide if something is disputable or not. Unfortunately, tradition usually takes precedence when it isn't clear whether a matter is disputable or not. Traditions can even make things become disputable when they shouldn't be. Paul made it clear that we are to do one of two things when faced with disputable matters. "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters." (Rom 14:1) We need to accept the person and not judge them. That means we don't bug them about it. I had a friend who believed it was a sin to buy a Sunday newspaper because it caused people to work on Sunday, therefore breaking the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. He didn't bug other people about it and make them feel like they were lesser Christians if they did buy a Sunday paper. "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." (Rom 14:13) The other thing we need to do about disputable matters is to stop taking advantage of the liberty we have in Christ. If I attended a church where I was the only one getting a Sunday paper, I would have to stop it in order not to offend and put doubt in the way of others in the congregation. This may be the harder road to travel because we have to give up what we feel is quite all right and may be acceptable to other believers as well. Had more of us taken this position, myself included, the Church would probably be a lot stronger today. I am very much afraid that we have put stumbling blocks in our brothers' way that have caused weaker Christians, and youngsters especially, to compromise their walk with the Lord. "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." (Rom 12:3) We have thought ourselves as mature, but have not judged ourselves correctly when we make our brothers stumble. Finally, there are times when we do need to make judgments about a person's behavior. The first judgment we need to make is whether or not a person is a Christian. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to play God and try to determine if a person is going to hell or not. I'm saying that we need to decide how we are going to approach a person who has behavior problems in light of God's Word. If a person is Christian with bad behavior, we are going to confront them as Jesus specified. "'If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.'" (Matt 18:15-17) Paul didn't shrink back from making judgments about a person's behavior. He knew it was important for the purity of the Church to deal quickly with problems. "Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present." (1 Cor 5:3) "But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.'" (1 Cor 5:11-13) It is our responsibility to make judgments about other Christians so that the Body of Christ will remain pure. If the person is not a Christian, then we need to heed Paul's words and not judge those outside of the Church. A non-Christian can do nothing but live a sinful lifestyle; it is their nature. We can't go around telling un-believers to clean up their act and live like Christians, otherwise we would be implying that works could save them. If we have a majority of Christians in our society, we may be able to pass laws that the others must follow, but we haven't changed their nature. If we have judged that a person is not a Christian and is engaged in a behavior that is particularly disgusting to us, then we have only one way in which to confront that person. (I am assuming that the behavior is legal.) We need to share the Gospel with them so that they can be saved. If they only clean up their act because we have convinced them that it is wrong, and don't lead them to faith in our Savior, their eternity will not be changed. We also need to remember that anytime we make a judgement to help someone in their walk with the Lord, our goal is not to lord it over them, but to restore them or help them mature. We need to remember that we too have sinned and we need to show them the compassion and mercy that Jesus has shown us. "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!" (James 2:12-13) We may also be confronted someday for our errors. May you blessed this week and judge rightly. In Jesus, Ray Ruppert Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-- a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear." (Matt 13:3-9) "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (Matt 13:18-23) Last week I sent an email about judging others. This week, we can use the parable of the sower to help judge ourselves. It is amazing to me, that for many years, I had heard the Word of God read each Sunday when I went to church. In my church, there was never an explanation of the Word, but it was faithfully read because that was the tradition. I would venture to say that most people in my church didn't understand the Word. Jesus says that it is because "the evil one" comes and snatches it away. "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor 4:4) When we share the good news about Jesus Christ with people, we need to be prepared to witness to people who are blinded. They may listen but have no idea what we are talking about. Satan has used many methods in the past to keep people from coming to Jesus. One method that seems to work the best is to convince people that sin isn't a problem in their lives. He gets us to compare ourselves with other people. When we find people that are more evil than ourselves, he helps us to make the assumption that God must judge on the curve and that on the average, we are better than most. Did you see how Satan snatched the truth from people with that one? The truth is that even one sin is enough to condemn us. "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2:10) If we think we are ok or that what we do will earn our way into heaven, then we don't see the need for a Savior and Jesus' sacrificial death to pay for our sins just doesn't make sense. Thus, the seed bounces on the path and the birds get it. Hearing the gospel without a response doesn't save anyone. If you have heard the gospel, but have never admitted your need for a Savior, then judge yourself rightly and turn to Jesus as your Savior. I have met people who have heard the Word of God and understood what it means. They are really thrilled to realize that Jesus died on the cross, paying the punishment for their sins and to give them the right to eternal life with God forever and ever. One person in particular prayed to accept Jesus shortly after an LSD trip (not LDS). She started reading the Bible and looking for Christian fellowship. Her husband didn't like that one bit! He eventually gave her an ultimatum to knock off the Jesus stuff or to kiss him good-bye. She got rid of her Bible and went back to the same life style that she had before "accepting" Jesus. "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:10) Jesus warned us that we would be persecuted for our faith in Him. The second group of people in the parable is like the lady I knew. The persecutions don't have to be life threatening to get people to abandon their faith; they only have to be aimed at our weak spots. We owe it to people to let them know that placing their faith in Jesus isn't going to solve all their problems, and in fact, it may add to their problems. Otherwise they may think that they are saved and in truth, they are not. Some say that these people are saved, others would argue that they are not saved because they have fallen away proving that they never really accepted Jesus. That isn't for me to judge, some may be saved and other may not be, only the Lord knows. However, we need to think through the things that could happen to us because of our faith in Jesus. What would it take for us to stop living like a Christian, to stop reading God's Word, to stop praying, to stop going to church? Daniel was faced with an edict that said that anyone who prayed to any god except the king would be thrown into the lion's den. "Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before." (Dan 6:10) Would we be like Daniel and continue in our walk with the Lord, or would we "make adjustments" so that we wouldn't get into trouble? The third group in the parable starts hitting closer to home. The worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth keep many people from doing anything productive with their faith in Jesus. Jesus addressed the worries of life in Matt 6:24-34. He warned us that we can't server two masters and that we shouldn't worry about what to eat, what to wear or how long we will live because our Father knows we need these things and will take care of us. We may not worry about these things, but there are other cares that can consume us. It is called busyness. We all have known people who are so busy with the things of life that they don't have time to read the Bible, pray or go to church on Sunday. They may not be worrying, but their priorities are not where Jesus intended. Martha had the same problem, and Jesus rebuked her for it. "But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."" (Luke 10:40-42) Martha was busy with "church" work and it interfered with her relationship with Jesus and her sister. If we get into the habit of ignoring the basics of Christian life when things are prosperous for us, what do you think we will do when persecution or even simple tough times arises? Will we be able to suddenly develop a walk with Jesus that will get us through the tribulation and trials or will we end up like those in the second group? Some of us may dismiss the "deceitfulness of wealth" because we don't feel like we are wealthy; maybe a little bit of comparison will help. Instead of comparing ourselves with those around us, we should compare ourselves with those in other countries where we could feed a family for a month with one of our day's wages. During the last presidential election, many people voted for Clinton because they believed that they were better off financially at that time than they were before he was elected the first time. Honesty and morality were not as important to them as their pocketbook. If we make decisions in our life based only on how it will affect our finances, we have put money above our Lord. If this continues, the United States should change the motto on our money from "In God We Trust" to "We have Money, Who Needs God". We need to take a long hard look at our lives and find out how the thorns are choking out our ability to produce a crop. The last group is the one that produces a crop. A Christian crop can be one of two things, fruit of the Spirit or a crop of reproduction. If we are disciples of Jesus we should be producing both. Our character should be reflecting the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Gal 5:22-23) As we live every day of our lives at work, school or home, can people see this fruit? Reproduction doesn't only mean leading people to salvation in Jesus, but all kinds of Christian service. "The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor." (1 Cor 3:8) Are we serving the body of Christ in any meaningful way or are we only taking from the body and not helping it grow? To be fully in the last group of hearers of the Word, we need to be using our God given gifts and seeing the fruit. Maybe what we need to determine is whether or not we are producing the amount of fruit that God has planned for us and what He expects. "To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey." (Matt 25:15) This is one area where we need to judge ourselves and not each other. We know our abilities and if we are walking closely with Him, we know what He wants us to be doing. This week, let's take a good hard look at ourselves and determine which group we are in and what we need to do to either move on or to be sure we are producing the crop He wants. In Jesus, Ray Ruppert "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (Ps 1:1-6) The blessings of the Christian life are many when we walk in the way that the Lord desires. While some claim that these blessings are always manifested in physical prosperity, I am reminded that a truly blessed person is one who recognizes that spiritual blessings are far more important than worldly ones, which fade away. "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." (Eph 1:3) When we stand before our Lord in eternity, the few years that we have spent here on earth and the physical things that the Lord has blessed us with will pale with the awesome knowledge that our salvation is the most important blessing in all eternity. "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." (Eph 1:18-21) Another blessing that we now have is His incomparably great power that is at work within us. If we reflect upon that power and appropriate it into our lives, we will experience victory over sin. Isn't this much more of a blessing than wealth or honor? If we walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, we will not be exercising the blessing that we have and instead have a spiritually bankrupt life. We often look at the nation of Israel and compare their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land with our release from the bondage of sin and journey to heaven. They often got into trouble, especially when they followed wicked counsel. "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people." (Num 31:16) Balaam introduced sexual immorality into the midst of Israel. The same wicked advice is being given to us every day. Today, there are more people living together outside of marriage and there is more sexual activity outside of marriage than at any other time in our country's history. Since the introduction of "Playboy" magazine, pornography has become accepted and a part of our society. Based on human nature, statistical research and the admission of many who have been involved in illicit relationships and pornographic fantasies, the church has also been seduced by the error of Balaam. We should not let our brothers and sisters or the world think that these are also the norm for Christians. Let's use God's power in our lives to overcome these sins. After Rehoboam became the king of Israel, he faced a challenge from the northern part of the kingdom. He accepted the advice of his own generation rather than that of the elders of the nation. "The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, 'My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'" (I King 12:13-14) We need to be careful about the counsel we receive for situations in life and especially on personal relationships. I read "Dear Abby" very often and have noted that her counsel has changed over the years. She used to support basic Judeo-Christian ethics. Her advice today has changed so that it is always politically correct. I don't remember the circumstances of a particular letter, but Abby asked readers to give their opinion on something that could have been answered easily from a Biblical standpoint. Morality according to Abby is decided on the majority of readers' opinion instead of the truth of God. How do we make our decisions? Do we have many counselors and do we evaluate their counsel by the Word of God? We have been blessed with God's Word, let's use it judge the advice we get. Would you say that a person who knows God's word but fails to do it is mocking God? Or would you consider someone who always blames God for everything that goes wrong in his life a mocker of God? Perhaps a person who simply expects God to answer every prayer exactly the way he wants is a mocker, because he certainly doesn't understand how God works. "But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy." (2 Chr 36:16) Regardless of how we mock God, I think it is clear that we will be forfeiting the blessing that we already have when we are careless with His Word or allow misconceptions of God to guide us in our relationship with Him instead of diligently searching to know Him better. David was probably one person who delighted in the Word of the Lord more than any other recorded in the Bible. If you have any doubts, just read all 176 verses of Psalm 119. Almost every verse mentions in one form or another God's word, His statutes, decrees, promises, precepts, commands or law. Since Jesus is God's Word, (Jn 1:1,14) delighting in His Word is delighting in Jesus. At one point, Jesus had just spoken some very strong words that turned many people off. He turned to the apostles and asked if they wanted to leave also. "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.'" (John 6:68) Peter's words stir me every time I read them. I may not meditate on God's Word day and night, but Jesus does have the words of eternal life and there is no one else by whom we must be saved. It sure makes sense to pay attention to them and to study and make them a part of our lives. It is the best way to avoid following the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners and the seat of mockers. Not only that, it pleases the Lord. When we are firmly planted in God's word, we are like the tree described in Psalm 1:3. We will be producing fruit in our character and in our lives. We may not be prospering as the "name and claim it" preachers describe, but we will be prospering in our walk with the Lord and our service to Him. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." (Matt 19:29-30) As long as we hold on to the world's view of prosperity and try to be first, we will end up last; but as much as we give up of the world's way, we will be ahead in the kingdom of God. We will prosper! We will have treasures in heaven that will outshine all the gold, jewels and riches of this world. I really like the promise that our leaf will not wither in Psalm 1:3. A leaf withers when the tree becomes dry or when the sap stops running. It also withers when the leaf is not connected to the root, either because it was knocked off, or the branch is broken off. When tribulations occur in our lives we will not wither as long as we are connected to our life source, Jesus. "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4) Let us draw near to Jesus and know His love and care for us, especially when we go through the tough times in life. I'm not going to say a whole lot about the wicked being blown away like chaff. I'd much rather they all repent so that they, too, would be able to join in the prosperity of eternity with us. However, there are many who will choose the broad road that leads to destruction. The final judgment will reveal exactly who they were trusting in. "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Rev 20:12, 15) It looks like all our deeds are written in these books. Since it only takes one sin to fall short of the glory of God, these books will condemn every person on the earth. Thanks be to the Lord Jesus; God doesn't even look in this book for us who have surrendered our lives to Jesus because our names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Finally, the Lord watches over us; the wicked can't claim that promise. "You hem me in-- behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." (Ps 139:5-6) Have you thought about how the Lord looks after us? I have had conversations about free will and how that fits with God's sovereignty and it can get baffling. In this verse, the Lord is telling us that He guides us and directs our paths, so how can we still have free will if He hems us in? It boggles my mind to try to understand that. No wonder the psalmist says that this knowledge is too wonderful, too lofty for him to attain. Being blessed is knowing and being confident that He does look out for us so that we need not worry or become anxious about the things that are happening to us or the weird things going on in the world. May you be blessed this week as you meditate on His word and know and act upon His spiritual blessings in the heavenly realms. In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert When you think about God, our Father, what comes to your mind? If you are like many people, you may have some mental image of what He looks like. If you ponder about His character, some of His attributes may be more prominent to you than others. As God revealed Himself in the Bible from the beginning of time until Jesus revealed Him to us and even now, people have misunderstood Him. In Psalm 50:16-20 God describes the wicked and their evil ways. He then makes an unusual statement in verse 21. "These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face." (Ps 50:21) The phrase "you thought I was altogether like you" reveals the problem that we have when we try to imagine what God is like. We were made in His image; therefore we think that He must be like us. We forget that sin has corrupted the image of God that He designed into us. That's the way sin works. It uses human logic, which has been flawed by sin, to make conclusions that keep us from being able to see what God is really like. If God had not revealed Himself to us through the Bible and Jesus, we would never be able to truly understand Him or have any concept of what He is like. Many of us believe that God overlooks or winks at sin. If we don't say it verbally, we say it by our actions. We may believe that He hates and punishes the really bad stuff but not the things that we can't really help but to do. And, of course, we keep changing the definition of what the really bad stuff is. One of the reasons we think this way is because we look around and see the wicked prospering and evil people in control of governments and business. This is a direct attack on God's righteousness. God has always waited and given people a chance to repent before bringing His judgment upon them. He warned Israel and Judah many times through His prophets before He finally brought judgment on these nations, sending them into captivity. When His judgments were delayed, the people misunderstood Him and thought that His threats (promises) were empty. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9) We mistake His patience for tolerance of sin. We also imagine a God who is limited in His ability to see what is happening on earth. This questions God's omnipresence, whether or not He is truly in all places at all times. We wrongly conclude that since we can hide our sins from other people, we can hide them from God also. "'Am I only a God nearby,' declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD." (Jer 23:23-24) People don't like the thought of a God who watches them all the time because it interferes with their lifestyle. However, God not only sees when we are in the wrong, but He sees when we are walking in His ways. "For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2 Chr 16:9a) When our hearts are committed to Him, it brings us confidence and strength to continue in His ways. Evolution has affected the way we think about God as well and attacks God's omnipotence. In a way, it states that God had only enough power to create the universe by a big bang and had to leave it to evolve by natural means. It is either that or God has much more on His mind than looking out for individuals. In one way or another, we imagine that God is too busy to pay attention to us. Oh, how far from the truth that is. "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name." (Ps 147:4) Doesn't it make sense, that if God can create and name every star in the universe, that He knows us as well? "Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll-- are they not in your record?" (Ps 56:8) David, by the Holy Spirit, asserts that not only does He know us as individuals, but also he knows our every heartache and pain. He knows and records our tears. One day, He will personally wipe away every tear. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev 21:4) A verse that we like to quote is that "God is love", yet each person has a different concept of what true love is. When we complain that a God of love would not let a small child die or take a husband from a newlywed, we don't understand God's love for us. As fallible human beings, we do many things out of "love" that ultimately end tragically. An example is our method of disciplining our children. For many years we have heard the advice of scholarly people claiming that spanking a child will not teach them to be non-violent and that a loving parent would never hit their child. The end result is a generation of spoiled kids with no self-control and a concept of God that can't understand how God could act the way He does. God knows us much better than we know ourselves and He knows all of history, past and future. When things come into our lives that test our faith, they are always from a loving God who has our best interests at heart. "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Heb 12:10) He wants us to be holy so that we will be able to be with Him forever. "... without holiness no one will see the Lord." (Heb 12:14) He knows that eternity is much more important than the creature comforts of this world, which we don't want to deny our families. We also deny God's righteousness and justice and we display an ignorance of God's love. In the middle of the famous love chapter, we find one verse that is overlooked or misunderstood. "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." (1 Cor 13:6) When sinful people reject the love of God by rejecting Jesus Christ as the only remedy for their sin, God can't delight in this evil for it was His love that provided the sacrifice of His one and only Son. God is love, but His love isn't distorted by sin the way our concept of love is. The Bible tells us that God is our Father. I don't know what your father was like, but if I had imagined God the Father as being anything like my father, God would have to be psychotic and paranoid. Fortunately, I didn't learn about God the Father by observing my father. Yet many people do just that. They may have deep emotional scars that make them distrustful of anyone in a position of authority or they may simply have imagined God to be as fallible as their own father had been. As a result, they can't imagine trusting God for anything, least of all eternal life. Others, who have trusted Jesus for salvation, still can't trust God as their Father. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus describes what the Father is like. Contrary to what most of us would do, He lets His wandering son go and squander his money, ending up in a pigsty. We wouldn't do that because we believe a loving father would rescue his son from the horrible situation, just as we can't imagine how God allows suffering in the world. When the son does return, the Father restores him to his position and completely forgives him. If our fathers were not as forgiving or we misunderstood their punishment when we misbehaved, we have a hard time understanding how God the Father can forgive us, even though we know He has. The result is that we often carry around a load of guilt or we go through life trying to be perfect because we expect our Heavenly Father to be pleased only by our works and not by our faith. This is emphasized by the reaction of the older brother who complained that he had been working faithfully and hadn't received anything from his father. Please don't imagine that God the Father is anything like any human father for there never was nor will there ever be a perfect father on earth. When Jesus came, he showed us what the Father is like. "Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:9) We also claim that God isn't fair. Again, when bad things happen to us, or even when good things happen to others and not us, we say that God isn't fair. If you have ever thought or said this, you are right, God isn't fair! If God were fair, we would be in big trouble. "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lam 3:22-23) If God treated us as we deserved, we would all be gone. Instead, He sent His own Son to die for our sins. Jesus had no sin and didn't deserve to die. By faith, we have eternal life, which is not what we deserve. That is the ultimate in unfairness! This week, when we think about God, let's try to find out how many ways we have imagined Him like ourselves. Then let's find out the truth from His word and seek to draw closer to the true God. In Jesus, Ray Ruppert Jesus told us the parable of the Ten Virgins in response to His disciples' question "'Tell us,' they said, 'when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'" (Matt 24:3b) Of course, He said a lot more in chapter 24 about His second coming, before He told the parable. He also told of a faithful and an unfaithful servant at the end of chapter 24. Chapter 25 finishes with another parable about talents and then the separation of the sheep and the goats at the end of the age. These two chapters are speaking primarily about the return of Jesus and the end of the age and how we should behave in light of that information. "'At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.'" (Matt 25:1-13) Last week a person approached me who asked me if it was bad that he wasn't looking forward to Jesus' second coming. He went on to explain that he wanted time to have kids, see them grow and quite a few other "I wants". This person professes to be a born again Christian. I also knew another person who had a lot of trouble with Jesus' coming back. This second person later revealed that any profession of Christ had been done only to please others. As I thought about it, many people have a lot of wants that they would like to see accomplished in this life before Jesus comes back. I have always thought that what a person thinks or feels about the second coming of Jesus reveals a lot about their spiritual state. I was about to say it reveals their spiritual maturity, but I have known very immature, brand new babes in Christ who were extremely excited about the return of Jesus. I have to be careful with my comments about this parable because I can't make assumptions about the symbol of the oil and have the outcome of the virgins consistent with other scripture. If the oil represents the Holy Spirit, as many have said, then the inconsistency is that both foolish and wise virgins have lamps that burn, which would mean they were all saved and should be able to come into the wedding supper. The foolish virgins are able to buy oil and the Holy Spirit can't be bought. "Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20) If oil were the Holy Spirit, then they would have been able to enter the wedding supper after they had "bought" it, but the Bridegroom clearly rejected them. The same kind of logic can be applied to the lamps. Jesus told us to let our light shine and that is a representation of His presence in our life. If the foolish virgins had the light of Jesus in their lives, the outcome would not have been as it was either, or would it? Jesus purposely told parables, I think, because everything in it doesn't have to align perfectly to convey His message. It isn't intended to teach a doctrine, but rather to demonstrate or draw a word picture of a truth. Therefore, what is important in this parable is not what the oil represents, but that at the time of Jesus' second coming, there will be two kinds of people expecting Him, the wise and the foolish. The foolish virgins are not the unsaved people of the world, because the unsaved of the world aren't waiting for His return and could care less. The foolish virgins are people who are in the church. They fully expect to be raptured right along with the rest of the church, otherwise, they would not have been going out with the other virgins to meet the Bridegroom. This opens the door for some possible types of people. They could be like those in the church in Laodicea. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Rev 3:15-16) The Laodicians were going through the motions of being Christians but didn't have a relationship with Jesus. This can be seen by the fact that they, like the foolish virgins, are on the wrong side of the door. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Rev 3:20) They didn't have a relationship with Jesus and most likely have never professed to having accepted Jesus as Savior. They are doing a lot of church things because that is what is excepted of them to be part of the club. If the church said they were going to get their lamps to meet the Bridegroom, they would grab lamps and join them but probably wouldn't really want to. They aren't saved and will miss the wedding supper of the Lamb. If they were asked if they were eagerly expecting Jesus' return, they would reply "No" because grabbing a lamp and going out would be an inconvenience that would interfere with what they really wanted to do. The second possibility is that the foolish virgins are people who have professed Jesus as their Savior, but are like those in the parable of the sower who have never produced fruit. Even though they have claimed that Jesus is their Savior, they have never had a relationship with Him, which is why the Bridegroom replies to them that He doesn't know them. They think they are saved and will, like those in the previous paragraph, grab their lamps because it is something they are supposed to do. Since they are not producing fruit because of the care of the world, they too would be inconvenienced by Jesus' return. We would say that they, too, are not saved. A third possibility is that these are people who have confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior and are producing fruit. However, they have a problem. They aren't really prepared for Jesus' return because they have sin in their life. They don't want Jesus to come back because they are embarrassed by their sin, but not enough to repent. These aren't the things that we all work on day after day, but knowing, purposeful sins. These are the kinds of things that make headlines when a pillar of the church is caught doing them. Without elaborating on these things, many of us are or have been engaged in the same things. If they are still doing these things when Jesus comes back, they will miss the rapture and have to go through the tribulation. I'm not stating that this is the true meaning of these five foolish virgins - I'm just tossing out some food for thought about what it means to be watching and ready for His return. If I believed that a person could lose their salvation, they would fit in this group. My predisposition to believing that once a person is saved, they are always saved makes this last possibility difficult for me to believe. "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way-- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 1:4-8) These verses describe the way the wise virgins probably lived their lives. Other Christians could always give thanks to God for the way His grace is being lived out in their lives. They are enriched in their speaking rather than keeping the crude and worldly language that they had before accepting Jesus. They are growing in the knowledge of Jesus and God. They desire to read and understand more of God and His will for them. These things confirm their conversion. They don't lack spiritual gifts to accomplish what God has planned for them in ministry and living life in a holy and blameless way before others. They are depending and drawing on Christ's strength to conquer those sins that have the foolish virgins bound. They are eager to see Jesus come back again, even when they do mess up and sin because sin is not their desire. They have full assurance that when Jesus comes back, it will be a joyous time for them. "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 1:24-25) They are more than willing to give all the glory to Jesus. If you aren't eager to see Jesus' return, it is a good thing because it reveals something is very wrong with your relationship with Jesus. Examine the reasons why you aren't. You may need to confess your sin and turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Maybe He isn't your Lord because you are disobedient in most of your life and you need to surrender your will to Him. Maybe you have a sin that you are unwilling to give up - repent! This week may we all keep watch and eagerly expect the return of Jesus. May our desire to see Him draw others to Him as well. In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert There are many people who want to know God. They work to please Him and find that they still aren't any closer to Him than when they first started. Jesus explained that He is the way to God and that He will satisfy our thirst for God. "Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" (John 4:13-14) "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive." (John 7:37-39a) Jesus not only satisfies our thirst, but He promises that this living water will flow from within us so that we also may offer living water to others. As John clarified in this last verse, the living water Jesus was talking about is the Holy Spirit whom we receive when we are born again and become Christians. I read an email that stated that Jesus had quoted from outside the Bible when He said that streams of living water would flow from with us. This prompted me to look at the many references in the Old Testament to see which ones Jesus had referred to. These references lead me to believe that Jesus was referring to many verses rather than quoting any single one. As I read them, I was impressed with the prophecy of God's promises for salvation and life in the Holy Spirit. "In that day you will say: 'I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.' With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isa 12:1-3) God is angry with those who are not saved and continually turn away from Him. Because He is angry, it doesn't mean that He doesn't love us. When we do finally turn to Him for salvation, He saves us because His anger has already been turned away by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. When we receive His salvation, we trust Him and there is no longer fear, for He becomes our strength. We praise Him! We can joyfully go to Him at any time and draw on His power through the Holy Spirit. One of the streams of living water that goes forth from us is joy, and it may be expressed in song. "See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land." (Isa 32:1-2) When Jesus our King is reigning in our hearts, it will be reflected in our lives as we walk in His righteousness and deal justly with others as well. People should be able to turn to us in times of trouble as we comfort and help one another when the storms of life rage and battle against us. Through the Holy Spirit, we can offer them the only thing that gives true and eternal relief from thirst, salvation in Jesus Christ. "No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water." (Isa 32:5-6) Like the person who was saying that Jesus was quoting outside of the Bible, the fool spreads errors concerning the Lord. In this particular case, he had claimed that the Magi who came to worship Jesus were Zoroastrian Priests and that their "holy writings" had prophesied the star and told them which gifts to bring. From there he moved on to his claim that Jesus had quoted outside of the Bible. He also claims "The Bible also records the fulfillment of other very significant prophecies contained in the Zoroastrian Scriptures, which prophecies are not in the Bible--only the record of the fulfillment." His goal in bringing these things up is to get people who are weak in their faith to start believing that there are other religions whose scriptures are also the word of God. However, other scriptures do not point to Jesus as our Savior and they deny that He is God. When people turn to these other writings, they continue to be hungry, empty and thirsty. The fool speaks his folly and tries to bring as many as he can into his camp. This is what happens when the Holy Spirit, the living water, is missing, because salvation is also missing. We need to have some awareness of writings other than the Bible and we should be knowledgeable about the canonization of the Bible because people can twist the facts making us think that other writings are also God's word. A good Bible Dictionary can also help in this area. This person also claimed that the Dead Sea Scrolls were Christian scriptures and that because fragments of the book of Enoch were found there, that all Christians were familiar with Enoch. The Dead Sea Scrolls actually belonged to a Jewish sect called the Essenes and contained many books other than copies of most of the books in the Old Testament. "It should be noted that biblical manuscripts accounted for only a fraction of the scroll fragments; e.g., some forty thousand fragments of an unknown number of manuscripts turned up in Cave 4." (from New Unger's Bible Dictionary) Many people are fascinated with the Dead Sea Scrolls because of these other writings. I sure hope nobody looks in my library and thinks that I ascribe to Star Trek the same authority as the Bible. Sooner or later, these other writings will introduce you to a god other than the God of the Bible. There is great danger in this because this is what happened to Israel and Judah. They turned to other gods. "O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." (Jer 17:13-14) They will be written in the dust because that's what a person becomes when they don't have the living water - dust. But God's promise is that when we turn to Him, He will heal us from the dryness and save us. We will then be able to praise Him and Him alone. I remember a story about a missionary who went to Persia and found an isolated community of people who had very little contact with the outside world for ages. The missionary talked with the people for a long time, but they stubbornly held that their God was the one and only God. As they talked with each other, they slowly came to realize that Jehovah (the Great I Am), the God of the Bible and the people's God both claimed to be the Creator, the one and only God and the God who had caused the flood. The people had little more information about their God because they had come to their land thousands of years ago, after the flood. The missionary was then able to show how God had revealed His name to Moses, and working through the Bible, He had finally revealed Himself in the person of Jesus. These people received Jesus as Lord and Savior when they heard this good news. This is the difference between those who claim to have scriptures that lead to God, but in reality, lead to another god, and those who have a knowledge of God, but simply haven't been lead to Jesus yet. When they hear of Jesus, they accept Him. "Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him." (John 5:22-23) I have seen many people in cults and other religions say that they love God, but when presented with Jesus, they reject Him. This is the proof that they love the wrong god. "The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side." (Ezek 47:1-2) Ezekiel described a future temple, whether it was symbolic or one that would be in the millennium reign of Christ, I don't know. But it described water starting as almost a trickle that then became a river. The water brings life to the desert and also to the salt sea where it ends. Perhaps, if it was symbolic, then he was referring to us. "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" (1 Cor 3:16) Just as this river is described in Ezekiel, we can bring life to others. We can share the life changing message of Jesus with others and bring life to them. This person whom I mentioned earlier had also attended a Catholic church which had preached that "All baptized Catholics have the responsibility to share in the healing work--the reconciling of mankind to God." He then went to many in the congregation and asked them how this applied to them. They didn't have a clue, however, he expected that they should have been applying this to their lives. Since I don't believe this person has the Holy Spirit living in him, he can't understand why people can hear sermons week after week and not have it make a difference in their lives. He doesn't understand the relationship between salvation and receiving Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He doesn't understand that people can go through all the motions of religious life without receiving Jesus and the Holy Spirit. "He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.'"(Rev 21:6) Most people who are religious are trying to work their way to a point where they will be acceptable to God. Unfortunately for them, Jesus has already done the work and we can't find acceptance in God's eyes until we accept Jesus. There is no cost to us, because we could never pay the price. We need to be careful about those who are spreading false gospels and trying to lead us, through other "scriptures," to "god". The Bible describes them as wolves in sheep's clothing. "'Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?'" (Matt 7:15-16) This person also went to a Korean church for six weeks and after each service approached members of the church "to ask their help with application of the message for our lives." After this time, he was told that he could not speak to anyone other than the pastor. Now, this person had a belief in the Zoroastrian Scriptures and said, "I visit many churches and places of worship." Based on this and other information I received in the email, I would applaud the Korean pastor for being alert to a wolf posing as a true seeker. I would also expect that as he approached people, he was causing contention and disharmony in the church (fruits of thorns and thistles). I have had to deal with people like this who come into a Bible study and pretend to be interested in helping the group understand "truth" while in fact, they are looking for an opportunity to lead them into error. This week may we let the Holy Spirit produce for us rivers of living water to save and nourish others and may we be alert to those would divert us or even delay us. In Jesus,
Ray Ruppert If you would like to know how to surrender your life to Jesus, click on Eternal Net on the left.
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