It's obvious that the Bible seeks only to direct, not to eliminate, fear. "Fear God," scripture everywhere counsels. "Yes, I tell you, fear him!" Jesus taught in Luke 12:5. In Colossians 3:22 and I Peter 2:17, the apostles Paul and Peter affirmed the Master's teaching. That creates a respect for God that motivates us to use, not hide, the gifts he's given Matthew 25:25. It emboldens us to persevering faithfulness, even when we fear the discipleship load and opposition from unbelievers.
Jesus counseled against fear, worry and tears...and always with a reason:
Against every fear, God's assurance. Against all human anxieties, God's peace. Against our tears, God's removal of all that cause them. With such encouragement, why would we be afraid except for short periods? And how could we EVER develop a FEAR pattern of life and its circumstances?
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For example, when his people feared God, it exempted them from other fears.
All of these are a few of more examples of God at work in the lives of his people when they fear him enough to render them fearless, whatever the challenge faced. The Greek word phobos translates into English as either fear or afraid. It appears at least 158 times in the New Testament:
For example, when we experience danger.
For example, when we have selfish motives.
In her autobiography, Mary Higgins Clark admitted that she and husband Warren had no practical skills in improving their house. Nevertheless, to be economical they decided to paint and wallpaper the house.
His result:
Her result:
Both of their results in their kids:
A fault no Christian has to plead. God's family—that is, each congregation in particular, and God's total church generally—has been equipped with people of complementary skills, giftedness, talents. Paul discussed in Romans 12:3-8 the gifts needed to complete each Christian's purpose outlined in Romans 12:1-2. I Corinthians 12:1-31 repeated the subject in more detail. No one is more interested than God in each church, and the universal body of Christ, succeeding. After all, he's Owner, the Builder, the Supervisor, the Administrator, etc. of the Church, whether in family congregations or world-wide assemblies. Churches may fail for any number of reasons, but NEVER because he failed to equip it for success. What part could we each play in that success? What gift could we each contribute? What role could we each fill...to assure our church's success? Called "Black Jack" Pershing for his successful leadership of black troops in the Indian wars and Cuba, General John maintained such a fixed, serious mien that a friend once said, "he could no more laugh than a stone image". Life History, U.S., Vol. 10, p. 17
Well...Christians can no more succeed on their own in the spiritual life than newborn infants can walk, run a 100 yard dash or learn simple math. We don't pretend we CAN serve Jesus adequately. We DEPEND entirely on the Holy Spirit to achieve in us even the most rudimentary spiritual task, and certainly any significant role in serving Jesus. We have found what General Pershing didn't: the Overcoming Lord Jesus Christ. General Pershing couldn't change his personality. We can't change ours either, but whatever ours is, we can be altered from sinful to forgiven, from weak to strong, from being overcome to being overcomers. Because...our King...adored as an infant, Master of life in ministry, Victor over death in resurrection, Sovereign over all of God's enemies in history and SOLEMN FRIEND of every believer in every generation...remains our spiritual resource. Nothing is impossible for Jesus. Not even emboldening weak into powerful disciples who serve him adequately, sufficiently and overcomingly. The Church Growth Movement diverted from "Christ did it all for Himself First" to "he met human needs first". After all, didn't he come as Savior to save us from sin? Yes, but re-read the previous blog to see the Priority he established in life and ministry.
When we put God's Word first in ministry, in worship, in life, we never have to change priorities. The church never has to be updated to meet the basic need of the unsaved. That's the fault of those who contrive to make the church more relevant by making it more like culture so it will "interest" the lost. When we put human needs first as the means of recruiting interest in God, we never develop programming enough to equal the burgeoning needs people have. Indeed, after 40 years of changing programming...all we achieved as Christian leaders is: to turn our worship services into entertainment venues, much like Las Vegas or Broadway. We feature musicians whom we exalt to celebrity-status—and music, which we exalt as the MAJOR influence in people's lives. While ignoring preaching of Gospel texts that has always been God's method of reaching the lost, edifying the saved and empowering the church to community influence in raising morals, condemning sin and exalting Christ's righteousness. How could we decide to put human need first when God in Christ put his OWN GLORY, POWER and AUTHORITY FIRST in every decision he made, even statement he made, every claim he made? Read and re-read until we believe and practice EXODUS 29:43b, "and the place will be consecrated by my glory", says the LORD. Pledged followers of Jesus Christ, believing he's our model, his claims our belief, his methods our perfection, never decide to shift from HIS Priority to our mistaken perspectives and the desire of those lost in sin to find an easier way to Heaven. Christians have become so accustomed to the Graces, Mercies and Compassions of Jesus that we feel he DID ALL HE DID for us, especially if we as individuals had been the only one to receive them..."he thought of me above all," as the song says.
Really an untrue statement. This writer has preached and written for years that, whether as God the Father in the Old Testament or God the Son in the New, Jesus Christ acted first purely for himself. As owner of the Kingdom, Christ had a concern for it beyond all interest Christians can have in it. His Reputation is at stake. His Authority. His Integrity. His Ownership. His Sovereignty. Why did Jesus cast out demons every time he confronted them? NOT to free the demoniac. THAT was the result, not the reason, for their expulsion. No...the reason was to reduce Satan to the charlatan he naturally was, not the master of humanity he claimed to be. He could exist only as God allowed it. When God withdrew permission, Satan necessarily collapsed in terror. Why did Jesus submit to death on the cross? To save believers from sin, we proudly shout. Well...again...the result of his death, not the first reason for it. Hebrews 2:14 explains: "to destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil." In other words, in the clash of spiritual wills, Jesus the Original Power, blasted the pretensions of Satan, the created power. The same principle applies in every decision, statement or claim Jesus made. He did it all to serve God, and served God perfectly. Now...here the believer can boast, without restraint. The wonder of the only...make that ONLY...religious Power exercised by the ONLY GOD, who Acted Solely for himself in history, is THAT ALL...not part, but ALL...not most...but ALL he did for himself had and has only the most beatific results for humanity. Cornelius Vanderbilt built railroads that turned him from successful businessman into a multi-millionaire. His fiercely-combative nature left little room for mercy. In one business conflict he threatened to ruin a competitor since it would take too long to sue him. Yet, on his death bed he died murmuring a hymn of being a poor and needy sinner seeking mercy. Life History U.S., Vol. 5, p. 17. A life-long mindset to dominate others vanished and led him to beg favor from the God he couldn't dominate. That's a mindset changing from benefactor to supplicant.
Speaking of mindset determining decisions, in the increasingly heated rhetoric of the 1850's, the existence of slavery so dominated southern thinking it left no room for compromise. Whatever revisionists say, every other difference between the sections could be arbitrated. But not the refusal of the North to accept slavery, and of the South to surrender it. As Lincoln said in his eloquent Second Inaugural Address, "Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish." A spiritual lesson lurks in the point. Our basic spiritual mindset determines how far we go when Jesus calls for obedience; how fervently we speak UP when hearing him attacked; how generously we respond to the kingdom's financial needs; how willingly we volunteer when the church needs servants, etc. If we understand how MUCH God has forgiven us, we're far more committed to Jesus than if we think we're not bad sinners Luke 8:39-48. It's that simple, and we shouldn't make it more complex just so we can justify our little faith that produces less commitment to Christ. The growth of railroads west of the Mississippi in pre-Civil War America heralded the 1869 Golden Spike Ceremony in Promontory, Utah Territory. The inability of Northern and Southern legislators between 1850-1860 to resolve the increasingly bitter debate over slavery forecast WAR as the arbiter. The inability of anxious, intense negotiations by international diplomats between 1938-1940 to quench Hitler's thirst for "living space" in Europe led to the VIOLENCE ending in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In both cases, hard words pumped hard feelings into military force. But at the time, few foresaw the future of then-present events.
Humanity boasted of its technology in the railroad boom. While shameless skeptics in humanity derided God for not preventing the killing. Though the very men they elected to resolve differences among people could only blunder a divided America into a 600,000 man casualty list and the world into a 50-60 million human-dead catastrophe list. They could not, would not and did not RISE to the Crisis which they had been elected to resolve. The same dichotomy exists in humanity today: we take credit for any good that happens and blame God for any harm, or hate, or poverty, or disease that afflicts the race. Many think that God's Sole Purpose is as Our Custodian: sweeping up our disasters so we can create more! "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them" Psalm 2:4. He will not accept the arrogance that boasts of our pitiful successes while denying HIS GLORY and HIS SON. Since June 20 is Father's Day Sunday, consider how Joseph, step-father of Jesus, serves as a model for Christian men in every generation. (The following is an excerpt from the writer's book Their Own Best Defense.)
First, Joseph served God as a righteous man. In that male-dominated society, his righteousness found reasons to acquit, not condemn, Mary. While feeling she had betrayed him, he held steadfastly to God's mercy. Hollywood moviemakers unfailingly equate righteous with meanness, intolerance, anger—unless referring to an eastern religion monk or a Roman Catholic priest. Second, righteousness established God's priority in his life. When hearing of Mary's pregnancy, he decided to distance himself from her, without harming her. Appreciate that he didn't say, "I know what God says, but I love this girl." Appreciate that he did, "I love this girl, but I know what God says." The former prioritized his feelings for Mary. The latter prioritized his faith in God. Third, once apprised of the truth by God, and instructed to protect Mary by sheltering her in his house, he instantly obeyed. Though in the public's mind it seemed to convict him of complicity with Mary. Read at your leisure three occasions where God commanded Joseph to action, and he instantly obeyed: Matthew 1:20, 2:13, 2:19. Joseph's greatest legacy to disciples is his instant obedience to God. Do we offer Joseph's readiness, whatever God says? |
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