DOES IT REALLY MATTER HOW WE LIVE?

We have all heard this question asked at some point, but what is the answer? Can Christians live any way that they choose because Christ died for all sins, past, present, and future, or are we, as Christians, called to live lives that are holy?

The only way to answer such a question is to look at the Bible. I looked up the word “holy” in a concordance (a book that lists all of the occurrences of a specific word in the Bible) and here is what I found.

“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” 
~Leviticus 11:44-45

“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” 
~Leviticus 19:2

“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” 
~Leviticus 20:26

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'” 
~1 Peter 1:14-16

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”
~Ephesians 1:4

The entire book of James deals with showing/proving our faith by our works.

As I was recently studying through the book of Ephesians, I found that is has quite a bit to say about holiness as well. Chapter 2 tells us that we are hopeless and helpless without Christ, but because of Christ, we can do good and be holy. Chapters 4 and 5 give many examples of what holy living looks like.

Do you see a pattern in these verses? The Israelites were given the law to show that they were different, that they belonged to God, that they had been set apart. These laws were intended to make them holy because GOD IS HOLY. I found the same things was commanded of Christians in the New Testament. Peter said, “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

So, does it really matter how we live? Absolutely! It matters because God commands it. It matters because it is how we prove that we have faith. It matters because God is holy and we are made in His image, to reflect His holiness. Does that mean that God has always wanted us to be holy? Read Ephesians 2. Verse 10 say we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” God created man to do good works, to be holy. Chapter 1 verse 4 says God desired man to be holy and blameless. “before the foundation of the world.” It has always been His intention for man to live a holy life.

Once we have come to the conclusion that we should live holy lives, how do we do that? We plead with God to help us. We cannot do it by our own strength and power, but with God, nothing is impossible. If God wants you to do something, He will give you the strength to do it. You may have to ask for this strength daily, but God has promised to always be with us and He will give us that strength daily.

Seven Things We Can Pray For Lost People

A few weeks ago, Pastor Howard preached a sermon called "Having a Heart for Lost People."  In this sermon, he gave us a list of things that we can pray for people that we know are lost.  I wanted to share that list here on the blog for those who may not have heard the sermon and as a reminder for those of us who did hear it.

Seven Things We Can Pray For Lost People

1. That God would convict them of their sin.
        "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" John 16:8
   
2.  That their eyes would be opened to the truth.
        "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4
   
3. That laborers would be sent to them.
        "therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:38
   
4. That their hearts would soften to the Gospel.
        "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12
   
5. That they would be protected from the enemy.
        "do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." John 17:15
   
6. That they would have no peace until they get saved.
        "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27
   
7. That God would draw them to Himself.
        "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." John 6:44

I hope that this will help you as you pray for your family and friends who do not know Christ.

More on the Love of God

While I was writing the previous blog post about the love of God, there were a couple of songs that came to mind.  I thought that I would share them with you this week.

The first one is The Love of God written by Frederick M. Lehman.  The final verse of this song was actually an almost thousand year old Jewish hymn that was sung before the reading of the Ten Commandments at Jewish festivals.  When Lehman heard the words of this Jewish hymn quoted, he was moved to adapt it into a hymn.  He sat down on a lemon box and wrote the first two verses and the chorus on a scrap of paper with a pencil stub.

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

(The information about this hymn came from Hymns – Inspiring Stories about 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen & Ardythe Petersen)

The second song that came to mind while I was dwelling on the love of God was one written by George Amon Webster.  Webster sang and played the piano for the Cathedral Quartet during the 1970's.  His most well-known song is called He Loves Me.  Here are the words and a video where you can watch the Cathedrals sing this song.

Why did He go to Calvary?
Why was His life’s blood shed for me?
Why did He suffer as no man has ever done?
There’s just one reason–I am the one
He loves me, He loves me
Jesus loves me
He loves me, He loves me
Jesus loves me

When I’m sad, He loves me
Even when I’m bad, He loves
When it seems no one cares for me
I talk to Jesus, He loves me

The Love of God

For the past week or two I have been studying the book of Hosea and dwelling on the steadfast love of God.  When I think about how far away from God Israel had gone and how much God still loved them and held off punishing them, I'm amazed.  I cannot imagine still loving someone and showing them mercy after all that they put Him through, but then, I'm not God and that is a good thing.

The story of Hosea is a great parable of God's never-ending love.  Hosea was a prophet who warned the people to turn back to God.  One day, God spoke to him and told him to take a specific woman to be his wife.  God knew that this woman would not be faithful to Hosea in their marriage, but he told Hosea to marry her anyway.  Things seemed to be pretty good at first, and they even had a son.  But soon, Gomer became unfaithful and Hosea knew it, yet he did not turn her away or divorce her.  He took care of her and even raised her next two children who most likely were fathered by another man.

Before long, Gomer's discontentment led her to leave Hosea.  She had found something better, or so she thought, and was happy until she ended up as a slave who was being sold to the highest bidder.  Then, no one wanted her...except Hosea.  He came and bought her for a very low price, but bought her nonetheless.  You see, Hosea still loved Gomer and had never divorced her, even though she had left him and turned her back on him.

God's relationship with Israel started out good, but soon they began to stray from Him and started to look for other gods to serve.  As they walked away, God sent prophets to warn them of what would happen if they didn't turn back to Him, but they would not listen.  God put off punishment as long as He could, but when it could wait no longer, He allowed them to be taken captive by some of the other nations.  It was only then, once they had hit rock bottom, that they remembered God and turned back to Him. And because God is a loving God, He brought them out of captivity and back to their homeland.

Just like Israel, we sometimes stray from God and do not give Him the love that we should.  We allow other things in our lives to become higher priorities than God.  We neglect to spend time with Him each day, we start missing church services, and maybe even get to the point where we do not think about Him very often.  No matter what we do to hurt Him, God still loves us and is waiting for us to turn back to Him and love Him the way we should.  Sometimes God has to punish us because we are too stubborn to realize we need Him without being reprimanded, but even then, He is waiting for us with open arms.  All we have to do is call out to Him in repentance.

Book Review: A Place of Quiet Rest

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Well, I should read the Bible daily, but I just don't have time."  Or maybe you are like me and you have been guilty of going through the motions of a daily quiet time, but not paying attention enough to actually gain anything from it.  Perhaps you have never even considered the need to spend time with God each day.

Whichever one of these categories you fall into, or even if you don't fall into any of these, this book is for you.  A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss takes a look at what it means to truly have a daily devotional time with God.  It begins by outlining the importance of spending time with God each day, and giving some biblical examples of people who walked with God.

The second part of the book lists some of the common excuses that we give for not having a daily quiet time and gives some helpful suggestions on how to combat these excuses.

Lastly, DeMoss discusses the benefits of having a daily devotional time.  At the end of each chapter, there are personal accounts from several well-known Christian leaders about their daily quiet times.  There are also questions and sometimes exercises at the end of each chapter to help the reader assess his own devotional life and apply the principles that are being taught.

Reading this book really changed the way I "do" devotions.  I was very encouraged and challenged by what I read.  As I spend time with God each day, I am becoming more and more aware of what a privilege it is to be able to meet with God on a daily basis and I am developing a greater desire to always make this time a priority.  Because of what I have learned personally, I am recommending this book to any Christian who is seeking to know God more.

Fruit of the Spirit--Self-control

As we finish up our study of the Fruit of the Spirit, we are going to look at self-control.  I really feel like this is an attribute that is lacking in our culture today.  We are taught to do what makes us happy no matter what the consequences.  I believe that this is a lie from the devil.  Let's look one last time at our passage in Galatians and at a few more passages where the Bible talks about self-control.
  
Galatians 5:22-23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)

At the end of 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is comparing the Christian life to a footrace and he points out that an athlete has self-control in all things, which is very important for their training.  Then he goes on to say that we should exhibit self-control all the more because we are racing for an imperishable reward.

Proverbs 25:28 says, "A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." (ESV)  If we do not have self-control, our defenses are down and we have no protection.

In Titus 2:11-12, Paul says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age."  As those who have received salvation we are to "renounce ungodliness and worldly passions," to turn our backs on them, and to live godly lives in an upright manner with self-control.  Paul gives a command for self-control again in 2 Peter 1.

When something is mentioned over and over again, that usually means it is important.  Self-control is vital to our testimony as a Christian.  If we did not reign in our fleshly desires, we would look just like the world and we would be disobeying God.  I'm not just talking about the big things such as adultery, fornication, murder, etc., but what about being self-controlled enough to get out of bed in time for church on Sunday or being self-disciplined enough to spend time with God each day.

In day to day life we make many choices that show self-control.  We go to work because we want the paycheck or to keep our jobs.  We choose to make healthier eating choices, so that we don't have to go to the doctor as often.  We choose to pay our bills rather than do the fun things so that we can have electricity, water, heat, and air conditioning.  None of these things do we naturally desire to do, but we do them because we know that we don't want to have to face the consequences of not doing them.  

In our spiritual lives, being self-controlled when it comes to sin will keep us from facing the consequences of regret, complications, and separation from God.  If we are not cultivating our relationship with God, it will feel like there is a giant chasm that is keeping us apart from Him.  Will you seek to avoid a rift between you and God by choosing to live a self-controlled life with the help of the Holy Spirit?

Fruit of the Spirit--Gentleness

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)

The next to the last Fruit of the Spirit is gentleness or meekness.  Meekness means being lowly or humble.  As we are thinking about Christmas, I am reminded of the meek and humble being that our Savior had.  He was born in a place that housed animals and the first people to hear of His birth were shepherds.  Shepherds were social and religious outcasts who were looked down on by the rest of society, yet God chose them to be the ones to spread the Good News of Jesus' birth.

Since Jesus is our example, let's look at a few examples of how He was meek while he was on earth.  He was submissive to His earthly parents while He was under their care and He submitted to the will of God when He went to the cross.  He was considerate of those whom He ministered to by healing them and by taking time to teach them.  He did not ignore their needs, He met them.  He was also teachable.  When Jesus was twelve, He went to Jerusalem with His parents for the Passover.  When they returned after leaving Him there, they found Jesus "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions." (Luke 2:46)  I'm not saying that Jesus did not already know all that these men were talking about, in fact, the next verse says, "And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers."  I do think that this passage sets an example for us to have a teachable heart as a part of our meek spirit.

So what about you?  Are you submissive to God and to those He has put in authority over you?  Are you considerate of others in all of your interactions with them?  Do you have a heart that is teachable, that is just waiting for God to show you something that He wants you to learn?  Remember, meekness is not something we can master on our own.  We must have the help of the Holy Spirit working in our lives to accomplish this task.  Why not pray today and ask for the Holy Spirit to help you be a person of meekness?

Fruit of the Spirit--Faithfulness

Do you remember the story of Job?  He lost everything--his wealth, his health, and even his children, but "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." (Job 1:22 ESV)  Even though everything was taken away from him, he was still faithful to God.

The next Fruit of the Spirit that we are going to look at is faithfulness. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)

1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful."  A steward is a representative of a ruling monarch.  In the case of Paul's writing in this verse, a steward is a representative of God, which means Christians.  It is required that Christians be faithful in all that they do.

So what is faithfulness?  Faithfulness is being trustworthy, loyal, or steadfast.  No matter what happens, a faithful person is still loyal.  Many times we get angry at God or feel hurt by Him when bad things happen.  God does not want us to do this, he wants us to respond by faithfully trusting that He knows what is best for us.  He wants us to remain loyal to Him in the bad times and allow Him to do something good in our lives through the sorrow.  Check out these verses that talk about faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Psalm 36:5
"Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds."

Revelation 19:11
"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war."

These verses tell us that God is faithful and His faithfulness is great.  We are reminded in Hebrews 13 that God has promised to "never leave you nor forsake you."  In a day and time when it is difficult to find anyone that you can trust, isn't it comforting to know that God is ever-faithful?  I believe we have mentioned it before, but Christians are supposed to be reflecting the image and character of God, so that means that we are to be faithful--loyal, steadfast, trustworthy--in all that we do, not just in our relationship with Christ, but also as we relate to one another.

Fruit of the Spirit--Goodness

As we continue to dig into the Fruit of the Spirit, I will be mainly recapping what Pastor Howard has presented in his sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit.  Let's look at the passage in Galatians again.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)

The word goodness in this verse means moral excellence or being filled with integrity.  Someone who follows God's laws and always does the right thing even when it is difficult is a good person.  It is not telling "little white lies" or bending the rules to fit to our own desires, but doing what God tells us in His Word and reflecting the goodness of God in our lives.

Now here is the problem.  Goodness means always doing good.  I don't know about you, but I'm not perfect.  Not by a  long shot.  In fact, Romans 7:18 says " For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out."  Paul says that there is no good in the flesh.  Well, how in the world are we supposed produce the fruit of goodness?

The Bible talks a lot about the goodness of God, but I'm just going to mention one verse.

Psalm 31:19
"Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!" (ESV)

If you read the context of this verse you find that the psalmist is talking about God.  God has goodness in abundance.  If we as Christians are supposed to be reflecting the glory of God, then I think that means we are supposed to reflect His character.  One of which is goodness.  But since there is no good in the flesh, we must depend upon the work of the Holy Spirit in us to produce goodness.  2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 says "Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would...fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and...that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you..."  God is the only one who can produce the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives and we must constantly seek His help to be fruitful Christians.

Thankfulness

Before November ends, I wanted to share a few thoughts that I have had concerning thankfulness.  Every year around Thanksgiving, we focus on all the things that we are thankful for--a place to live, food to eat, a car that gets us where we need to go, clothes, family, friends, salvation, and on and on.  And this is a great thing, but the truth is that we should focus on being thankful all year long, not just at one special time a year.

As I was reading my Bible the other day, I came across some interesting verses in Paul's letter to the Romans.  In chapter 16, as Paul is giving his personal greetings, he says this, "Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well." (verses 3-4)

As I read those verses I thought about what they meant.  Obviously, Paul was thankful for those who saved his life, but I had never thought about the Gentiles being thankful as well.  Had Prisca (or Priscilla) and Aquila not saved Paul's life, he would have never gone and told the Gentiles about Christ.  Have you ever given thanks for those who had an influence in the life of the person who led you to Christ?  If their Mother or Father, Pastor or Sunday School Teacher, or Friend or Neighbor had never told them about Christ, would you ever have been told about Him?  That is such a neat thought to me.  My dad was the one who lead me to Christ and I have always been thankful that I was raised in a Christian home, but I never thought to say thanks for the fact that my father was raised in a Christian home or for the person that lead him to Christ.

Many times throughout Paul writings, he tells those he is writing to that he thanks God for them constantly in his prayers.  Even though November is coming to a close, let's try together to be always thankful not just for the things God has given us, but also for the people that God has put in our life and the lives of those around us to lead us to Christ and to help us to grow as Christians through encouragement and direction.

Fruit of the Spirit--Kindness

Luke 10:25-37

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (ESV)

I'm sure you have heard this Bible story before, but instead of focusing on the fact that anyone in need is your neighbor, I want to focus on the kindness that was shown by the Samaritan, which is our next fruit of the Spirit.
 
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis and emphasis mine)

In this story, we have a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho on a road that was often traveled.  Before he reached his destination, he was attacked by robbers and left for dead.  The robbers took all that he had, including his clothes and beat him to the point where he could not leave on his own.  They were brutal!  As he was lying on the side of the road, in pain and agony, a priest walks by, but instead of helping this fellow Jew, he goes out of his way to walk past on the other side of the road.  Then a Levite, who would have been in the priestly family, but not actually a priest, walked by.  He also did what the priest did; he went out of his way to walk by on the other side of the road.  Both of these men were Jews, just like the traveler, but neither was willing to help him.  Then a Samaritan walked by.  We know that the Samaritans were often hated by the Jews, because they were not full-blooded Jews, but were of both Jewish and Gentile decent.  Here was a man who had no reason to think that this man would have done the same for him, yet he had compassion on the traveler.  He kindly treated the man's wounds, put the man on his own donkey, which meant he walked the rest of the way himself, and paid for him to stay at an inn and be cared for once they reached the city!  I can only say that this is a true picture of the kindness that God wants us to show to others.

Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

When was the last time you went out of your way to help someone who was in need of some kindness?  It is almost never convenient for us to do an act of kindness, but we are still command to do so.  God is kind to us in many ways every day.  He gives us peace, hope, comfort, joy, and on and on; He guides us to walk in His ways; He is always there to listen to us when we pray; and He protects us from Satan.  Why are we not more kind to those around us by doing what we can to treat them the way God treats us?  Let's try together this week to be more kind in our dealing with others. 

Fruit of the Spirit--Patience

Instant messaging, instant meals, next day shipping, everything in life seems to be about instant gratification.  We are not expected to wait for anything.  I believe that it is these kinds of things that have resulted in a general lack of patience in our society.  We get frustrated when we have to wait in line at the store.  We are easily upset when there is a delay in traffic.  If our pizza delivery guy is late, we vow to never order from that restaurant again.

When we look back at our verses that list the Fruit of the Spirit, we see that the next fruit is patience.  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (or patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV, parenthesis mine)  Patience is a virtue that many of us struggle with on a daily basis.  Let's take a look at the importance of patience throughout the Bible.

In the Old Testament, we see many instances where God showed great patience with the children of Israel.  God always gave them many chances to turn back to Him before He punished them.  Each time they began to turn from Him, God patiently disciplined them and tried to direct them back to Himself.

In the same way, God pursued us to make us His children.  2 Peter 3:9 says, " The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."(ESV)  Many of us did not immediately answer when the Holy Spirit was working in our hearts to help us see our need for salvation or when God was calling us to serve Him in some way or another, but He patiently continued to work until we obeyed.  And when we mess up and don't do the things that we know we should, God patiently chastises us and waits for us to repent and come back to Him.  Isn't it amazing that such a holy God is so patient with us?

In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul instructs the church to "admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all." (verse 14)  This should come as no surprise.  If God is patient with us, why wouldn't He expect us to be patient with one another?  There really should be no end to our patience with others.  After all, when we are measured against God's holiness, we fall way short, yet God is patient with us when we fail.  Why aren't we more patient with others when they mess up or get on our nerves?

Another verse in the Bible talks about waiting with patience.  James 5:7-8 says, " Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."  Here we see that we are supposed to be patiently waiting for the coming of the Lord.  I think if we remember that this is the end goal, we might find it easier to be patient with everyday matters.  A few extra minutes in line or on the road isn't anything worth getting bent out of shape over compared to what we are truly waiting for.  Hebrews 6 talks about the promise God made so Abraham and how sure it was because it was made by God.  Verse 15 says, "And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise."  We need to take the example of Abraham and be patiently waiting for God's promise of Heaven to be fulfilled.

So my challenge to you today is to focus on patiently waiting for "the coming of the Lord."  And while you are waiting, be patient with one another as well, remembering that God is patient with you and wants you to be like Him.

The Fruit of the Spirit--Peace

 As we continue looking at the Fruit of the Spirit, let's look at our passage in Galatians again.

Galatians 5:22-23

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (NKJV)

Since we have already covered joy in a previous post, which you can find here, we will take a look at peace today.  The Bible has quite a bit to say about peace, but to keep this blog from being too long I am choosing to look at two aspects of peace in particular--Peace in the midst of troubles and Peace with fellow believers.

First, I want to look at Peace in the midst of troubles.  Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (this and all other verses are from the ESV unless otherwise noted)  I have to admit, I have had my fair share of anxiety, but when I read this verse I find that there is no reason to hold onto this anxiety.  Paul says not to worry about ANYTHING.  That seems like quite a tall order, doesn't it?  But here is the key, pray about EVERYTHING.  When you are worried about your job, pray about it.  When you are anxious over the actions of your children, pray about it.  When your future is uncertain, pray about it.  Then what?  Verse 7 says, "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  It cannot be explained or understood, it just happens.  God gives peace to your troubled heart through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Trust me, it works.  I have been there.  I would like to tell you that my first response any time I am anxious is to pray, but that is not the case.  However, as soon as I do talk to God about my problem and begin to leave it in His hands, His peace washes over me.  It is a wonderful, yet unexplainable feeling.  You should try it sometime!

John 16 also promises peace.  In this chapter, Christ was preparing His disciples for His death by telling them that He would not always be with them.  At the very end on the chapter he tells them why He has told them these things. "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (v 33)  There are many problems that we face in this world that cause us to worry, but Jesus has already overcome this sinful world.  That is why we can have peace in the midst of tribulation, because we have the hope of Heaven because Christ has already overcome.

The second aspect of peace is Peace among ourselves.  Time and time again Paul writes in his letters to the different church that they should live peaceably with one another.

"So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding."  Romans 14:19

"Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you."  2 Corinthians 13:11

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."  Colossians 3:15

"Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."  Hebrews 12:14

One of the marks of a true Christian who is following the Fruit of the Spirit is that he tries to be at peace with those around him.  How can we expect to point others to Christ, if they cannot feel welcome at our church because we are always fighting and arguing with one another?  We are different people and we will not always agree with one another, but we must strive to settle those disagreements and restore peace.  We all belong to God and should all be working to become more like Him and to lead others to Him.  That means that ultimately our goals are the same and that we should make it a point to be united with one another.

Are you living at peace with your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Are you praying about your anxiety and allowing God to give you His peace that is beyond understanding?  If not I want to encourage you to spend some time in prayer today, asking God to help you in this area of your life.

Book Review: Twelve Extraordinary Women

I just finished reading John MacArthur's book Twelve Extraordinary Women and I wanted to do a review on it.  I enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to anyone.  The writing is very clear and concise, which makes it easily understandable for just about anyone.

MacArthur takes a look at twelve women in the Bible who lived extraordinary lives because "their faith and their hopes were absolutely and resolutely Christ-centered." (page 199)  It really wasn't because they were anything other than ordinary women, but God used them in extraordinary ways because they chose to follow Him above all else.

This book looks at the lives of women like Sarah who followed her husband so willingly, but was not without mistakes.  Her choice to offer Hagar to Abraham was getting ahead of God's plan, but God still used her to bring about the birth of a great nation.

There is also a chapter on Rahab who was a pagan prostitute, but when she was presented with the love of God, she chose to follow Him and ended up marrying into the genealogy of Christ.  She completely turned away from her sinful past and joined the Israelites, which was only possible because of her obedience.

I have always been fascinated by the story of Ruth, which is also studied in this book.  She, like Rahab was from a pagan nation, but after her husband died, she chose to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, and serve the true God.  You also see her obedience to Naomi which lead to her becoming part of the bloodline of Christ as well.  There is more to Boaz, her eventual husband, than meets the eye, but you will have to read the book to find out what is so special about him.

Another one of my favorites is Anna, the Prophetess.  She lived at the Temple and served God day and night.  She was there when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple shortly after He was born, and she was able to see the Messiah with her own eyes, which was something she had hoped for for many years.  In Anna, we see great dedication to the service of God.  She was married for only seven years when her husband died and she never remarried.  She was now over eighty years old and still serving God faithfully.

Twelve Extraordinary Women takes an in depth look into the lives of many women, such as these.  MacArthur studies the culture surrounding the women, which helps to shed light on their lives in a more complete way than their stories alone could do.  This book is challenging to us as Christians, in that it shows us how we should be living and tries to help us to apply the honorable characteristics of these women in our own lives.  MacArthur has also written two other books along the same lines, Twelve Ordinary Men and Twelve Unlikely Heroes.  I hope to have the time to read both of these in the near future as well.

The Fruit of the Spirit--Love

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Howard talked a little bit about the Fruit of the Spirit and how Christians should be producing this kind of fruit in their lives.  I thought it would be good for us to take a closer look at each individual fruit and what it should look like in our lives.  So let's start by listing the Fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (NKJV)

LOVE

When I think about love, my mind automatically goes to 1 Corinthians 13.  Let's look at part of that chapter and see what it has to tell us about love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (ESV)

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

I want to break this apart and look at each characteristic of love.  Love is patient and kind.  I won't go into too much detail on these because they will be covered as other Fruits of the Spirit, but someone who loves does not get easily frustrated with others.  He responds kindly to those he comes in contact with.  

Love does not envy and is neither proud nor arrogant.  Covetousness or envy is something that is spoken against in the Ten Commandments.  A person who loves is content with what he has and doesn't desire the things or accomplishments of others.  He is also humble and doesn't go around talking about himself and what he has done.  He knows that all of his accomplishments are due to the help of God.  He does not think himself better than others.

Love is not rude.  That means that he shows due respect to others because everyone deserves to be treated with respect.  I think rudeness also includes course speech.  A person who loves others will be careful to make sure that his words and actions show his respect for others.

Love does not have to have his own way.  A loving person accepts the fact that his idea isn't always the best, that other people's opinions matter.  Love is not irritable or resentful.  Once again, I think this goes back to respecting others and their opinions.  A person who loves others is not irritated by those who do not agree with him, but is willing to work with that person anyway.  He does not hold a grudge.  He forgives and moves on not keeping a count of the ways others have done him wrong.

Love is not joyful of wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth.  The loving person is happy when he sees others do right and speak the truth, not when they lie or do things they know are wrong.  He is grieved by sin.

The Amplified Bible translates verse 7 this way, " Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]."  Nothing can break down true love, it gives everyone the benefit of the doubt,  its hope does not waver, and it can endure anything.  I think this verse is a beautiful picture of Christ and His love for us.  God continues to love us, even when we fail.  He gives us the benefit of the doubt when we repent that we will truly turn away for our sin.  When Christ died on the cross for our sins, he endured great suffering and agony all because he loved us.  How can anything we could ever face in life compare to the sorrows He suffered on Calvary, yet He endured because of love.  Romans 8:38-39 say this, " For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

That is the kind of love we should be striving for.  We should love others with the love of Christ.  What are some areas where you could use a little bit of work when it comes to loving others?  Ask God to help you work on these areas of your life.  Remember, you can't do it on your own, but all things are possible with God! (Matt 19:26)

35 Reasons Not to Sin

I came across this blog a while back that included a list of reasons not to sin.  It is definitely food for thought.  I had never thought about it in these terms, but these reasons made sense.  I will link to the blog here, but I will also copy the information below.  Think about these reasons and see what they mean for your life.

35 Reasons Not To Sin

• Because a little sin leads to more sin.
• Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
• Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
• Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
• Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
• Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
• Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
• Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
• Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
• Because my sin saddens the godly.
• Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
• Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
• Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
• Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
• Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
• Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
• Because my sin may influence others to sin.
• Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
• Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
• Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
• Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
• Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
• Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
• Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
• Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
• Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
• Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
• Because my sin is adultery with the world.
• Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
• Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
• Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
• Because to sin is not to love Christ.
• Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
• Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it’s own.
• Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.