What is Your Excuse
I just got done watching a video of Ken Davis speaking at a Liberty University convocation. He was using Moses and the burning bush as his main topic. I would like to share some thoughts I had while watching the video. If you would like to watch the video click this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeB…. As I was watching the video I found myself agreeing with a lot of the excuses that Moses was giving to God at the burning bush.
In Exodus 3:1-4:17 we find the account of Moses and the burning bush:
The Burning Bush
3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lordappeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”[a] And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord,[b] the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.[c] 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it;after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Moses Given Powerful Signs
4 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2 TheLord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.”[d] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous[e] like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.17 And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”
This is quite a daunting long passage, but there is a lot to study in it. I am hoping to hit the high points. I will be looking at the parts that spoke the most to me. I feel it is important that I share the context and not just a few verses here and there. As I read through this passage I find there are many points that I have acted like Moses did. In reading the passage we find many times when God gives a command, Moses comes up with an excuse. I find myself doing that many times in my own life.
In Verse 11 of Chapter 3 we see God giving a command. Which is God saying “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” And what did Moses say “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt?” God told Moses to go do something. So what did Moses do, come up with the excuse that he was a “nobody.” Moses wasn’t this amazing, spectacular person and no one would listen to him. So, what was God’s response “But I will be with you.” God wasn’t looking for an amazing, spectacular person. He was looking for someone who was willing to do what He commanded.
In the beginning of Exodus Chapter 4 we find Moses coming up with another excuse. God had just finished explaining who He was and what He was going to do for the people of Israel, but Moses still wasn’t sure. So Moses said “But behold, they will not believer me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” From verse 2 to 9 of this chapter God gives 3 signs that Moses is to give the people of Israel if they don’t believe that Moses was sent by God. Again God was showing to Moses that Moses was not going alone. Moses was going to have God standing next to him the whole time.
In Verse 10 of Exodus Chapter 4 we find Moses again coming up with another excuse. God has just got done explaining to him and showing him signs of His power. In verse 10 we find Moses speaking again “Oh, my LORD, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and tongue.” Again we see a similar excuse to the first one Moses gave. I guess he thought if he repeated himself God might listen to him. So what was God’s response “Who has mad man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Wow, this sounds amazing. God is promising to go with Moses and give him everything to say.
So what did Moses say “Oh, my LORD, please send someone else.” Now you are thinking WHAT!? After all that God promised, Moses still didn’t want to go. So what did God do He decided to make Moses’s brother Aaron the spokesman. Moses was to take what God said and share it with Aaron so Aaron could speak to the children of Israel. In a way Moses lost out on receiving complete honor from the LORD. Now Moses had to share the honor with his brother Aaron.
There are so many times in my life God is leading me to do something for Him and all I can do is find excuses. Many times I have used this same excuse. I am not this amazing, spectacular person. I am not a good speaker. I don’t do very well in sharing my testimony. I am just a simple guy who enjoys a simple life. All God is asking of me is that I will trust that He will be there doing the work. All I have to do is step out in faith and trust that God will be there with me.
I have all these excuses, but God comes along and shows me all how I have had an impact in the world. There have been many times in Port Alsworth while walking around town or at community events I have had kids get very excited to see me. This to me is God’s way of showing that I have had an impact in someones life. The excuses that I give may be true, but they aren’t there to stop me from doing what God commands. They are failures that I have, so that God gets the glory when I have an impact on someones life.
God doesn’t let our excuses get in the way. He takes our excuses and uses them to bring Him glory. God isn’t looking for us to use some amazing talent for Him, He wants us to obey His command. He may ask us to use an amazing talent to serve Him or He may ask us to do something that we have no experience in at all. Either way He will be there with us the whole time. In the end God is the one who deserves all the glory for our obedience of His commands.
Why Suicide?
Many times when I am reading the news from online I see various articles about someone who recently committed suicide. There are various reasons why people might commit suicide. Among the younger generation I hear about many who commit suicide after being bullied. Other reasons given might be not getting what they want, escaping from their past, tired of fighting an illness, a broken relationship, brain damage, and others I can’t think of right now. There are times that the people closest to the person who commits suicide are surprised. The person who was hurting was able to hide their feelings very well. I would like to look at a couple of men from the Bible and how they were able to face tough times in their lives. Also, I’m going to share about a tough time in my life that led me to the temptation of taking my life.
First I want to look at the prophet Elijah. Elijah had a tough life. Most of the time he was facing people who wanted nothing to do with God. He had the job of pointing out the sins of a whole nation. At one point we see that he is at a very low point in his life. In I Kings 19 we see were Elijah is ready to give up on life. Just before this he had defeated the prophets of baal. After hearing of that Elijah had defeated the prophets of baal, Queen Jezebel is ready to kill Elijah. I am guessing this probably isn’t the first time someone has threatened to kill Elijah, but this time Elijah gets really depressed while running for his life.
In I Kings 19:4b we find this “And he (Elijah) asked that he might die, saying ‘It is enough; now O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’” He is Elijah a prophet of the LORD asking God to take his life away from him. Elijah thinks that he no longer has anything to live for. It seems like Elijah was tired and wanted to get rid of his problems. The easiest way he thought was to end his life here on earth. One thing I do notice is that Elijah realized that God is in control through this whole situation. Elijah did not try to take his own life, he asked God to take it. God had a greater plan for Elijah so He wouldn’t let Elijah get off so easy.
Even though Elijah may have been ready to end his life he still acknowledges that God is in control. Elijah didn’t come telling God that he was going to take his life, he asked God to take his life. In looking at this to me it shows that Elijah was putting his life into God’s hands. Elijah was ready to give up on his life, but God wasn’t. God still had a plan for him and God kept Elijah from taking his own life. During this depressing time in his life Elijah turns to God even with the wrong motives, and God works it out for good.
Another man to consider is King David. He is known as “a man after God’s own heart.” Yet we see that he lived a tumultuous life. When reading through the Psalms there are many of them that sound like David is in the middle of depression while he is writing them. One I noticed was Psalm 3 according to the title it was written while David was running from his son Absalom. I would guess that this was a depressing time for David as his son and his own advisors turned against him.
Psalm 3 says: O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; 2 many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah[a] 3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. 4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. 6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. 7 Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah
Throughout this Psalm I see that David is going through a tough time, but he has put his trust in God. He is not depending on his own strength, but the strength of the LORD. When his own son had betrayed his trust the only place he turns in to the LORD. Now that doesn’t mean that he had times of struggling. I am guessing that the times of struggling caused him to turn to the LORD. The important thing that I see is that David turned to the LORD to find strength through this time of struggle. He didn’t try to do it on his own.
Sometimes I wonder why someone would want to take their own life and then I remember the struggles I had. About 6 years ago I had a time in my life where I struggled with depression. There was a situation in my life where I was fighting with God. There was something I wanted, but God was specifically telling me “NO.” I didn’t want to listen and powered forward. As I forged ahead in my own strength I continued to spiral down into depression. It got to the point, one day that I was ready to take my own life. The moment I had those thoughts, God spoke to me. He said to me “No, you will not take your life. I love you and have a plan for your life.” At that point I submitted my desires to God and trusted that He had a plan for me. My life didn’t change overnight it was a long struggle, but with God’s help I have been able to persevere the last few years.
In the end what I see helps to prevent suicide is to put our full hope and trust in Jesus Christ. If we put our hope in things we can see here on earth we will fail. In Romans 8:24-25 “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Our only hope as Christians is to hope in Christ. If we try to trust in anything here on earth we will struggle. If we see another person struggling we should be their friend. We may not be able to speak into their life, but just being there can speak to them. Pray for them and maybe at some point you can offer them the hope that is in your life.
If you are struggling in life and think it is time to end your life, look to Jesus for strength. If you don’t know how find someone nearby who does know how. Ask others to pray for you as you fight through the struggle. Pray and ask God to help you through your struggles. Those of you who have friends who are struggling pray for your friends. Be there for them. You don’t have to have all the answers just be there to listen. For everyone who reads this above all else put your hope and trust in the LORD Jesus Christ and him only.
Men of God
In this note I am going to hopefully address some questions that has been rolling around in my head. “What does a man of God look like?” Not physical appearance, but what characteristics make up his life. “When should we expect boys to become men of God?” Is there an age or is it something that should be expected from the time they become Christians? “ How do we train up these boys to be Men of God?”
So, “What does a man of God look like?” What characteristics make up his life and being? I have thought a lot about these questions. I don’t think I have come up with a complete answer to this question. Well lets look at some scripture to see what God has to say.
1 Timothy 3:1-13 3 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer[a] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
Qualifications for Deacons
8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,[c] not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 Their wives likewise must[d] be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:22-24 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Matthew 22:37-40 37 And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
In these three passages I have shared there are more than a lifetime of characteristics to work on. By our own strength we would never achieve any of them. Through Christ we would be able to get close. After looking through the book of Matthew I had to chose just one passage. There were so many passages the Christ taught how we should be living our lives.
Some of you may look at the passage from Timothy and say “ This is only for the leaders of the church.” Well, if we as men are not striving towards those characteristics how are we going to have leaders in the church? Even if we are not a current leader in the church we need to be striving towards those characteristics. If every man who is a believer was striving towards those characteristics of a leader, then we wouldn’t have a problem finding leaders. As I have seen from being involved in various churches it can be difficult to find qualified leaders. So, if we are wanting qualified leaders then we need to be training the younger men in our churches to look towards the characteristics found in 1 Timothy 3:1-13.
In Galatians 5:22-24 we find the fruit of the Spirit. This passage is given to all believers, but I believe in order to be a Man of God they are essential characteristics. Simply written they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self control. These are not characteristics that will come naturally to us men. The only way we will see these characteristics is through living our lives through Christ’s strength. The world is going to be constantly pressuring us to do the exact opposite. Some of the characteristics don’t sound very “manly.” Such as love, kindness, and gentleness. They may not sound “manly”, but God wants each believer to have them as a part of our lives. So, maybe it’s time to drop our “manliness” and be Men of God.
The passage from Matthew 22 pretty much sums up what a Man of God should look like. A man who loves God with every fiber of his being and loves others before himself is the ideal man of God. If we aren’t striving towards accomplishing these two tasks, then we will fail at all the other characteristics. Our foundation for being Men of God needs to be built on loving God and loving others. If our foundation isn’t built on loving God and others then we won’t have anything to build on.
Now that we have looked into some of the characteristics of a Man of God. I want to address “When do we become Men of God?” I think there is a common misconception that when we get married and have children, that is when we become a Man of God. This is a horrible idea. If we wait until that point in our life we could be waiting our whole life or we will have created some bad habits that will hinder us from becoming a true Man of God. I believe that if we want our boys and young men to grow up to be men of God, then we need to start training them as soon as they are following Christ.
For example in my life I did not commit my life to Christ until I was an adult. I committed my life to Christ at the age of 23. It was about 3 years later when one of my many mentors (Tom Dorsch) said to me “Joel, if you aren’t a Man of God now. What makes you thing you will be one later in life?” I really didn’t think much about what he said at the time. As I have been growing in my walk with the Lord I have realized how much truth there is in what he said. If we are not training our boys and young men to be Men of God from the time they commit their lives to Christ, how do we expect them to work on it later in life. The sooner we start training them, the better.
Now how do we start training up Men of God? I think the best way to train them is by example. Those of you who are fathers should be living a Godly life that your sons can follow. Those of us who don’t have any children need to be living Godly lives that all can see and can follow. We need to be living lives as Godly men whether we have sons or not. I know when I was younger I was looking up to my brothers and their friends as examples. So, basically find a younger man and invest in their life to help them grow into a stronger Man of God.
As always I hope this has made sense. It has taken me roughly 2 hours to write. Most of the time was gathering my thoughts in order so I could write them down. I hope it has been found useful and truthful. These questions have been rolling around back in my brain for a while. I hope you all enjoyed reading it.
Watchmen: Keeping the Armor On
Well, over the last few days and weeks I have been mulling over various scripture passages. One passage is from the Old Testament and the other is from the New Testament. As I have been mulling over these passages, I have taken them as separate. The more I have thought about them, the more I realize that they actually go together. As I present them I will be doing it in opposite order than how I read them.
First I want to look at Ezekiel 3:17-21.
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for[a] his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. 20 Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice,and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”
In verse 17 God calls Ezekiel to be watchman for the house of Israel. At first the sounds great like it is a cool, important job, but it doesn’t com without some guidelines. In verses 18 and 20 God gives a warning to Ezekiel. The warning is: If Ezekiel doesn’t warn the wicked of their impending doom than God will hold Ezekiel accountable for their death. We also see in verses 19 and 21 what happens when Ezekiel does what God commands. If Ezekiel warns the wicked of their wickedness then God will not hold him accountable.
This passage has been tumbling around in my brain a lot. There are many different questions that have been making their way through my mind. One that has been on my brain a lot is: Does this passage apply to Christians today? Another one that I just thought of is: How can God hold Ezekiel accountable for the wicked person’s death if he doesn’t warn them?
First I would like to address the second question. After reading this passage at first it seems harsh that God would hold Ezekiel accountable to the death of the wicked. Looking at it from God’s perspective it makes sense. God had given a command to Ezekiel to speak any warning that he heard from God. So, what Ezekiel doesn’t warn the wicked he in turn sins against God. It seems to me that God is punishing Ezekiel by holding him accountable for the life of those that he did not warn.
Now onto the first question. As we can see this passage was given directly to Ezekiel and not to believers in general. I think we can draw a parallel between what Ezekiel was facing in his world and what Christians are facing in our current world. Ezekiel was taken captive from a Nation (Judah) that at one time had been a great nation and part of a greater nation that had fallen away from following God. In a way it is similar to what our nation is going through. Our nation is still around, but failing quickly.
The second part of the title refers back a few weeks perhaps a month ago to a sermon I heard. The main topic of the sermon had to do with King David and how he responded to his sin with Bathsheba. In leading up to the main point the speaker made the point; that as believers we are to keep our spiritual armor on all the time. There are many times that at the end of a work day when we get home we let our guard down. We take our armor off so we can be more comfortable.
Lets look at Ephesians 6:10-20 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
The point was made during the sermon that this armor is bulking and uncomfortable so we will take it off so we can bask in comfort. After a long hard day we just want to kick back, put our feet up and relax. It is in these moments that satan will attack and do his best to distract us. In order to resist him we need to keep our armor on and be ready for what he might try to do to us. Keeping the armor on can be awkward, tiring, uncomfortable, and just plain hard. It will be that way if we try to do it on our own. In Christ strength we can keep our armor on.
The longer I mulled over these passages the more I realized that they go together. To be an effective watchman you need to have armor on. Satan will want to distract us from our post as watchman. He doesn’t want us leading his followers to Christ. In order to be faithful in our post as Watchmen we need to be faithful in putting on and keeping on the Armor of God. At any time satan will do his best distract us and destroy us.
I hope this note has made sense to you. I was doing my best to take my thoughts and write them out. Many times my brain was running a 100 mph. If my brain wasn’t so cluttered I might have been more clear in my writing. I hope you have enjoyed reading it and if you have questions just let me know.
Fear
I have decided to write some more. I have picked the topic of fear, because I see fear in my life and in many others. At times I think our culture/country is driven by fear. I see fear invading those in our churches. Some may be wondering what is wrong with fear. I don’t think there is anything wrong with fear in certain situations. It isn’t wrong to fear certain things, but it is wrong if we let fear control our lives. I will be covering fear in more than one note.
First off I want to define fear. According to Websters dictionary Fear has many meanings:
- 1a : an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger b (1) : an instance of this emotion (2) : a state marked by this emotion
- 2: anxious concern :solicitude
- 3: profound reverence and awe especially toward God
- 4: reason for alarm :danger
The fear I want to address is more along the lines of definitions 1,2,and 4. There are many different things that we can fear. For example living here in the rural Alaska there can be a fear of wild animals, like bears. This is actually a healthy fear. You don’t want to let you guard down around bears. Other fears could be fear of heights, fear of the dark, fear of losing loved ones, fearing death, fear of downward spiral of our country, fear of loneliness, fearing the terrorist groups in the world, fear of satan and his demons, and more that I can’t think of right now. I would like to take a few of these and maybe address them a bit. I may not get to all of them in this note.
First off the fear of death. Dying is not something that most people look forward too. Even as Christians the physical aspects of death can be very frightening. There are many different ways to die and some can be very painful. This fear is normal. There are those who don’t know Christ and the fear goes beyond just the physical aspects. There is the uncertainty of what comes after our life on earth. This fear is not okay and can affect different areas of your life. In order to not have the fear of what comes after our physical death we look to Christ and His death and resurrection.
As this happens to be Easter Sunday it is appropriate that I talk about Christ’s resurrection. It was through His resurrection from the dead that He defeated sin and death. I Corinthians 15:22 “ For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” In the preceding verses Paul is addressing those that were claiming that Christ had not been raised from the dead. If that was the case then death would still hold power over us. Paul pointed out earlier that there were many witnesses to Christ being alive. I say all this to make the point that Christ being raised from the dead has given us power over eternal death.
Well that is all that my brain can take tonight. I looked briefly at death. I am sure there is much more that could be said about the subject of death. My conclusion is that it is ok to be frightened by the physical pain that could possibly come with death. Mainly if death comes in an instant. As Christians we are free from fear of eternal death through Christ’s resurrection. He has defeated death and HE IS ALIVE!
First Love
Many people when they see this title will think “Ah, he found someone and is going to get married now.” Well I am going a little different way with this title. As a Christian we are called to love someone else first. It isn’t ourselves, our family, our possesions, our job, our ministry, or anything here on earth. Our first love is supposed to be Jesus Christ.
Well I guess I will have to start somewhere near the beginning of my life. I was born many, many years ago (1983). I grew up going to church and lived “a good Christian life” from about middle elementary years on. I never had a fire or love of reading God’s word and learning about Him. I was living the life, because it felt good. As I traveled on through high school and college God started to work in my life. God was working mainly through Christians that I met and worked with.
A few months after college God got a hold of my life(April 29th, 2007) and started to turn me around. It has been a long and slow process most of the way. I have had to learn that I don’t know everything about the Bible that I thought I did. I don’t know everything about living my life for Christ. I have had many struggles in life. Many more than I had before I came to Christ. Over the last few years as I have been growing in my faith I have been convicted more and more about where my identity is supposed to be.
I have tried to put my identity in many worldly things. I tried friends. I’ve tried relationships. I tried putting my identity in work, which God promptly took that away from me. Slowly but surely He has been showing me that my identity can only be in Him if I am to be successful in life. I think a major way to put my identity in Him is by having Him as my first love.
Putting God first in out lives isn’t easy and it isn’t natural. Our natural instinct is to put ourselves first. It is also easy as a Christian to put other “good things” as first in our lives. We can put family, our ministry, our church, reaching out to others, preaching the gospel, making disciples, etc. All of these are very good things, but they are not the best thing to be first in our life. God has be first. You might ask “Why?”
Well John 15:11 states if pretty well “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Also, John 15:5 “I am the vine you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” From the beginning John 15 Jesus is talking about us as believers abiding in Him and being apart of the vine. Then in verse 11 He gives us a promise if we abide with Him (put Him first/He is our first love). If we have Jesus as our first love, then His love will be in us and our joy will be made full.
This has ended up being longer than I intended. I started writing so I could get to this point. As of recent I have noticed that I don’t have the joy in my life that Jesus was talking about in John 15. I have heard some friends talking about joy and how they found joy in Christ. I have seen it lived out in some people’s lives. (Kacy you are one that I have noticed) I have a desire to have a joy that just shines through and is infectious. I think one aspect of our lives that can dim that joy is unconfessed sin or being bitter towards someone.
My desire in my life is to have Christ as my first love to be abiding in Him so that my joy may be complete. That is easier said that done. It will require a lot of prayer and asking the Lord to help me through the process. I won’t be able to do it on my own. I will need Christ’s strength to get through it. It might require swallowing pride and confessing sin to other people. I would ask if you read this far that you would be praying for me as I work through this process.
I hope that this has been an encouragement to those of you who read this. It went a totally different direction that I intended it too. I would say that there are many Christians especially here in the US that have lost they joy. Which more than likely means they don’t have Christ as their first love. My prayer is that God would be working in each of our lives so that His Joy will shine through.
A Trek through the Wilderness 