Never give up praying. And when you pray, keep alert and be thankful. Colossians 4:2 CEV https://bible.com/bible/392/col.4.2.CEV
Don’t give up!
Is This You?
A recent survey by the George Barna Group found that the church in the USA has been massively weakened by a heresy that is both appealing and anti-christian.
The heresy goes by the name of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD). That’s a mouthful so let’s break it down a little before examining the specifics.
- Moralistic means the belief that being a “good” person is the most important virtue.
- Therapeutic means that God wants me to be happy and feel good about my life
- Deism is a philosophy that originated in the 18th Century and acknowledges there is a Creator, but He is distant from the world and not interested in our personal affairs.
We can see how this would be a common point of view amongst many people who believe that God wants us to be happy and to be good, and that He won’t judge us. In fact this is at many points the exact opposite of the gospel.
Continue readingReflection on Matthew 15:1-14
Scripture
“These people honour me with their lips
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man- made ideas as commands from God.”
Observation
Some Pharisees criticise Jesus because His disciples ignore the traditions about ceremonial hand washing prior to eating.
Jesus replies by asking them why they violate God’s law with their own traditions. He goes on to quote Isaiah who condemned people for honouring God with their lips, but having cold hearts towards Him.
Jesus tells the crowd to ignore the Pharisees. They are blind leaders of the blind. The Father will uproot them because they were not planted by Him.
Application
Hypocrisy is a real temptation for everyone who seeks to follow the Lord.
It is also very easy to accuse other people of hypocrisy, and people do make that kind of smear all the time about christians. We need to make sure that our hearts are indeed right with the Lord.
God does not judge those who sincerely love Him but don’t always get it right. That applies to all of us!
What angers God as much as anything else is self-righteous hypocrisy. This is where we pat ourselves on the back for being much better than other people, while covering up our own sins.
What God wants is a heart that is soft towards Him, a heart of love for the Lord. Such a person, He will not reject.
Prayer
Thank you Father for the assurance that I do not have to be perfect, just humble towards you and other people. Give me grace Lord to rise above hypocrisy. Amen.
Through Him we are free
Quote for the Day
Wisdom builds with eternity in mind. Bill Johnson
All who call
All who call out to the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13 CEV https://bible.com/bible/392/rom.10.13.CEV
Ephesians 4:19
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:19. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 4:19
“Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual last for more.”
Paul is continuing his description of those Gentiles who have not been saved .
This section started with an appeal to the Christians at Ephesus to not be like the Gentiles in their thinking. He is now describing how their misguided thinking becomes a lifestyle of sin and depravity.
Paul is not saying that every Gentile is living a lifestyle of sexual sin, but he is making a strong point that when we are apart from Christ, our standards and values are very different to God’s standards. In the same ways, cultures that turn away from God rapidly descend to self- centeredness and sexual immorality.
Paul says that the Gentiles have lost all sensitivity. They have become calloused and hard in their conscience.
When we consistently choose to sin and follow our own desires, the voice of our consciences, and even of the Holy Spirit, become unimportant. We make a decision to disobey God and soon we find ourselves committing acts that we once would have thought beyond our capability, and enjoying them.
An example can be pornography, although the principle applies to any area of sin. Many people feel guilty when they start looking at less explicit videos or pictures. They ignore their conscience and soon are looking at degradation they could never have imagined. While their conscience may still be calling them away from these things, they suppress that to enjoy the experience. Before long, some people are moving beyond the immoral to the forms of pornography such as child abuse.
Whenever we harden our hearts, or allow ourselves to lose sensitivity to sin, then we are on a slippery slope of depravity. Without Christ, we are all depraved and hostage to our fleshly desires.
The Gentiles, Paul says, have given themselves over to sensuality. Sensuality, as the name implies, is the pleasing of our senses, our natural fleshly desires. “If it feels good, do it,” is the mantra from the 1970’s that summarises sensuality .
We have seen this played out in the Western nations over the last two decades in particular. People are keen to have experiences that appeal to the senses. Another thought that expresses this is, “life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but the events that take your breath away.”
So we spend billions of dollars on travel, in exotic food, and so on We have TV shows that tell us where we can go for those breathtaking moments that live with us forever. We have endless cooking and home renovation shows to reproduce breathtaking moments (i.e. sensuality) in our homes.
Every form of sexual deviance is now accepted as normal, and even better than normal marital relations.
We move from sensuality to impurity or uncleanness. There are some things which God has declared to be unclean, that is, not suitable for people who have been made holy by the blood of Christ.
This idea of impurity is not laid down in law like in the Old Testament. It does not relate to what we eat or wear, but to who we are.
What the world says is good does not necessarily line up with what God says is good for us, or suitable for us.
Things that take us away from Him become idols, and are therefore impure. We can find forgiveness for these things, but it is much better to stay in the place of blessing .
Contrary to the world, any form of sexual expression outside of marriage (that is, one man plus one woman united for life) is wrong.
The taking of a life in murder, through slavery, or abortion is wrong.
Putting our trust in the acquisition of material goods is wrong.
We need to ensure that we live in humble dependence on God, trusting Him to meet our needs, and believing that the Bible is God’s word for us. Our values and our conduct must be so different to the world or “the Gentiles.”
Finally ,Paul says there they constantly lust for more. Pursuing the way of the flesh gives a person a thrill that leads to a lust for more of the same.
If you were going to be unfaithful to your wife, why stop at one affair, one lover, or even just women?
Our imaginations can always develop scenarios or pictures or fantasies of how this particular pleasure could be even better.
If you step off God’s path, why even go in the same direction? That is the logic of sensual pleasure- all for the body, and the body alone. Don’t stop with tentative sins. Sin boldly. ”You might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb.”
So who can save the people of the world from this hideous pathway of sin? Thanks be to God- it is Jesus Christ who has paid for our redemption and who calls us back to Him.
Key points in this verse:
- The Gentiles, or unredeemed people of the world, have given themselves to a lifestyle of sin .
- Christians are not to be like this.
- When we sin, our conscience is can be hardened towards God.
- Worshipping the senses can lead to uncleanness.
- Sin tends to take us deeper than we might have thought possible
- Only Christ can take us off this treadmill of hunger for more sin.
Keys To Healing
One of the confusing aspects of healing ministry is the reason why some people are not healed. After all, Jesus healed everyone who came to Him, so why does this not happen today? It is easy to be discouraged by these apparent failures when we should rejoice in the fact that many are healed.
We have been conditioned by our technological culture to believe that there should be techniques , procedures or methods for every problem. Sickness can be dealt with by a pill or a needle- just follow the directions on the bottle. Of course we ignore the side effects and the cases where this approach fails, because of our faith in medical science.
This is not to disparage medical science. Our lives are immeasurably better because of the insights and knowledge of the medical and scientific professions.
Christians need to take a different approach. If our faith in doctors and medicines is greater than our faith in God, then we have made medicine an idol.
My thinking on this subject has been provoked by a question somebody asked at a recent cell group study of Psalm 91. Here is Psalm 91 in the Passion Translation:
When you abide under the shadow of Shaddai,
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.
2 He’s the hope that holds me and the stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great confidence.
3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy,
and he will protect you from false accusation and any deadly curse.
4 His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you.
You can run under his covering of majesty and hide.
His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm.
5 You will never worry about an attack of demonic forces at night
nor have to fear a spirit of darkness coming against you.
6 Don’t fear a thing!
Whether by night or by day, demonic danger will not trouble you,
nor will the powers of evil be launched against you.
7 Even in a time of disaster, with thousands and thousands being killed,
you will remain unscathed and unharmed.
8 You will be a spectator as the wicked perish in judgement,
for they will be paid back for what they have done!
9–10 When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High,
our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm.
How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?
11 God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go,
defending you from all harm.
12 If you walk into a trap, they’ll be there for you
and keep you from stumbling.
13 You’ll even walk unharmed among the fiercest powers of darkness,
trampling every one of them beneath your feet!
14 For here is what the Lord has spoken to me:
“Because you loved me, delighted in me, and have been loyal to my name,
I will greatly protect you.
15 I will answer your cry for help every time you pray,
and you will feel my presence
in your time of trouble.
I will deliver you and bring you honour.
16 I will satisfy you with a full life and with all that I do for you.
For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”
The question was this: are these promises absolute or not? We talked for some time about all the reasons why people do not get healed and we made excuses for God.
When we see texts like this which are absolute promises of peace, healing and protection, we have to either compromise the text (“God didn’t really mean this”) or explain away the reasons why it doesn’t apply in a particular situation.
At the heart of the issue, we need to move our thinking away from a mechanical or technological mode (do this and that will happen) to a relational mode in which we understand that God is drawing us deeper into Him, and He will use physical, emotional and spiritual healing as part of a process.
Here are three important keys to healing:
1. Promise
All through the Bible we see promises about protection, healing, provision and so on. Sometimes these promises are very clear, and other times we can infer them from the narratives.
What we often overlook is that the promises come with conditions, “If you do this, I will do that.” In our eagerness to seize on isolated texts that seem to guarantee some benefit, we often fail to look back at the conditions that are set out. In other words, we have to do our part.
Psalm 91 offers us all kinds of wonderful promises, including the promise that even if thousands die around us we will not be harmed, and that no infection can touch us.
But look at the first two verses:
When you abide under the shadow of Shaddai,
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.
He’s the hope that holds me and the stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great confidence.
There is the condition. We have to make God our refuge. When we turn to Him, rely on Him, trust Him for safety, then we can receive the promises.
When you are sick, where do you first turn to? Is it call the doctor, rush to the Emergency Department? Or do you turn to the Lord?
When you are feeling overwhelmed by life, do you trust alcohol or drugs ? Or is the Lord your refuge at that time?
To receive the promises of Psalm 91, we must make the Lord our sanctuary.
2. Power
Many of us have limited levels of faith. We believe that God can do some things but not others. We may think He can heal a cold but not cancer. Not that we say that of course.
We may believe that God will heal some people but not others. Or that healing and miracles happened in a fairy tale era called “Bible times.”
God has the power to heal today. Sickness was never a part of God’s plan for the world. It is caused by the general corruption of sin, but this does not mean God is unable to heal.
God is able and willing to heal. Faith means putting our trust in this fact.
3. Partnership
We need to understand that God works out His purposes In us in co-operation with us. We might know the promises of God and believe that He can heal but still fail to receive healing.
There are times when we might receive a sudden or miraculous healing, but often the Lord is asking us to do something as well. For example, when I was praying about my chronic issues with high blood pressure, I came under a strong conviction that I must lose weight. In other words, God is promising healing for me, but He wants me to take responsibility for my lifestyle .
Part of our quest for healing, particularly for chronic conditions is that we may need to do something that contributes to our continuing health.
We should not be surprised by this when we consider how often Jesus asked people to do something such as wash at a pool or go to the priests as a part of their healing process.
Notice that for each person there may be a different requirement. For me it is weight loss. For another person it might be that they have to forgive someone, give up drinking or something else. The point is that we must listen to the Holy Spirit to discern if there are things He is asking us to do in their healing journey.
It is important to see that healing (or good health) is not an end in itself. God pours out blessings upon us to encourage us to go deeper with Him. His goal is always relationship with us, and healing may be a by-product of that.
To live in the shadow of the Most High means that we live every day in close contact with Him. As we learn to do that those promises pf Psalm 91, including health and protection, will flow in us and through us to others.
Reflection on Matthew 14:22-36
Scripture
Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
Observation
After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus sends the disciples away on a boat and He dismisses the rest of the crowd to go home. Then He goes up to the mountains to pray.
On the lake, the disciples are overtaken by a storm. Jesus comes to them walking on the water. At first, they think it is a ghost, but Jesus tells them not to be afraid.
Peter calls out, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus does this, and Peter walks towards Him on the water. Peter wavers in his faith and begins to sink, but Jesus rescues Him.
They continue on, and when the people of Gennesaret recognise Jesus, they bring all their sick to be healed.
Application
Fear sneaks up on us from all directions, and it is easy to be overwhelmed if we let it get to us.
When I was in Theological College, I used to become physically sick every weekend. After ruling out physical causes, I realised that it was all due to anxiety. Naming the root cause and confessing it stopped the weekend sickness.
Psalm 91 says that if we dwell in the shelter of the Most High God, we will find rest. He promises to rescue us so that no fear, dread or anxiety can overcome us.
“Do not be afraid” is a command. “Fear not” is how the older translations put it. It is a command that we redirect our attention away from the threat and towards the Saviour, from the thing that we fear and to the God who is our hope and our redeemer.
Prayer
Father, I confess my fear to you today. I come to you, my refuge and fortress, and I put my trust in you. Amen.
