People are not Easy to Love (no. 11)

“I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please Him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you. In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh’. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what He wants is good, satisfying, and able to succeed” (Romans (Rom) 12:1-2 CJB). A problem that defies ages is the problem of conformity with the olam hazeh, the present world, rather than living apart for Him. Christians have been conforming when they were out of favor with the systems of the world, they continued to conform when they were in favor with the systems of the world, and they will continue to conform as the pendulum swings out of favor with the systems of the world again. People are not easy to love because they fight against becoming transformed.

God wants goodness, satisfaction, and success for our lives. Working in alignment with His Kingdom gives us those gifts. We can live a life of goodness for our family, our community, and His Kingdom. We can be satisfied and content in what He provides for our lives materially and spiritually. We can become successful in modeling His Way in this world as Ambassadors of His Kingdom. BUT all those gifts come from letting go of conformity with the world and being set apart for Him.

And that is the ongoing struggle that is readily obvious in the churches and outside the churches, conformity. Christians are fitting in more and more with the current culture. Christians are unrecognizable from the disciples and apostles of the early church. Christians became mainstream and evolved their structures to fit the systems of the world. And at what cost? Maybe the cost was suffering for what is right.

Peter wrote to the dispersed people living apart in His day, “For who will hurt you if you become zealots for what is good? But even if you do suffer for being righteous, you are blessed! Moreover, don’t fear what they fear or be disturbed, but treat the Messiah as holy, as Lord in your hearts; while remaining always ready to give a reasoned answer to anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you — yet with humility and fear, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are spoken against, those who abuse the good behavior flowing from your union with the Messiah may be put to shame. For if God has in fact willed that you should suffer, it is better that you suffer for doing what is good than for doing what is evil” (1 Kefa (1 Pe) 3:13-17 CJB). There is a lot of fear in conformity. When I started this journey over three years ago, it was fueled by fear. Fear is not a place to build a life, a family, or a community. So, that journey that started out of fear could not survive out of fear. My journey had to change away from fear of something and into love of something. BUT, too often, fear is the easiest emotion on which to latch and trust.

Turn on any news broadcast and you will find fear. Read any mainstream blog and you will find fear. Look around Christian media and you will find a lot of that same fear. Are we to be afraid? Are we to conform to the fear that pervades this world? I don’t see that anywhere in The Bible. I don’t feel fear in the promises of God. I don’t experience fear in His Spirit. BUT still that fear abounds and abides in the hearts of many within and without a church. “Moreover, don’t fear what they fear or be disturbed, but treat the Messiah as holy, as Lord in your hearts . . .”, yet we often are afraid of the same things as our secular colleagues. Is that a beacon of goodness, satisfaction, and success? Is it just more of the same? How can I be an example of His Kingdom when I am still conformed to the world?

Simply I can’t. I need to set my focus on His ability to eradicate fear. I didn’t get back into following Him to be afraid. I got back into Him because He takes away fear. He is enthroned. He is in charge. He rules. And if He doesn’t rule, then what is the point? Kenneth Wuest said, “Stop assuming an outward expression which is patterned after this world." And fear is a great way to show we aren’t any different than anyone else. When Jesus arrives on the scene and His good news journey begins, there is a lot of warning to not be afraid. Maybe we should take those warnings from the gospels and use them to help conform to a life without fear?

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

People are not Easy to Love (no. 10)

“But you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, recalling the people from whom you learned it; and recalling too how from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can give you the wisdom that leads to deliverance through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah. All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy (2 Ti) 3:14-17 CJB). Reading His Word is a great place to begin understanding Him. BUT we need to write His Words into our hearts, “'Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead; teach them carefully to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up; and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates — so that you and your children will live long on the land Adonai swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth” (D'varim (Deu) 11:18-21 CJB).

Sometimes people are not easy to love because they know a lot about The Bible BUT they fail to know Him.

There is no substitute for meeting someone. Relationships that are built without spending time learning about the other person fail. Western culture is showing signs of these problems daily. Marriages ending divorce, families becoming estranged, and friends losing touch are just a few of the secular symptoms of lacking depth in relationships. Another failure occurs in spiritual walks when folks end up leaving churches because of problems with their human relationships there. I was one of those folks for the longest time. I let the relationships of others get in the way of my relationship with Him. I was looking around at the quality of their relationships rather than working on mine with Him. And that was the main stumbling block that set me backward for so many years. After almost a year back in church, the one thing that changed was not all the other people there or the quality of their relationships. The most important thing that changed was my relationship with Him.

And now I can live that example that I always wanted because I take the time to learn about Him. I actually read The Bible for an understanding now rather than rely on pastors to teach me once or twice or three times a week. I actually pray more than just when I go to church. I awaken myself talking to Him and continue that conversation throughout the day until I lay down my head to bed in the evening. I can’t have a relationship built on a weekly or monthly or annually occurring event. I need to build that relationship in study, conversation, and trust. My relationship has helped shine light into the darkness of a world that is sorely missing solid relationships, “We don’t preach ourselves, but rather the lordship of Jesus Christ, for we are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let brilliant light shine out of darkness’, is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6 CJB). And the more I spend my time around His light, the easier it is to reflect that light and model His light for others. As I gaze into His face by studying His time here, I can better become like Him. Like I can understand my wife after so many years of living and building together, I can understand Him by working on living and building a life with Him as well.

Sometimes we make things difficult on ourselves by pretending to know things we don’t really know. BUT God gives us all a unique opportunity to truly know Him by taking the time to build a relationship. From the first page until the last, He is looking to build with us. Walking with Him and not just storing up lore makes us all easier to love.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH