Life and Breath

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?” (John 16:31 [ESV])

Imagine you work for a diving company and your job is to teach people how to dive and to lead them on underwater adventures. One day, you forget to check the air in your air tank. You take people for a dive and within ten minutes, while you are deep in the ocean, you realize your air tank is empty. When you realize this, you panic then make excited motions for everyone to surface, but you don’t have enough oxygen to surface without getting decompression sickness; you get the “bends.” Sometimes people die when this happens.

Christians can get the “bends,” too. We forget to check with our source of Life and salvation each day and moment, then live in our own strength. We run into problems and wonder why that happens since we are Christians. The problems come because we walk in our own strength instead of seeking God who is our Source of life and strength.

As Christians, we know salvation from God came at a moment in time. Many of us remember the date on which we asked Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. Salvation is not only in the past but is also in our present and future. Only God can save us, and He gives us the power to continue to be saved from sin today and have the hope of eternity with Him. Still, many of us say to ourselves, “Okay, I’m saved, now I can go about my life. God’s got me.” God saved us from hell, but we must work out our salvation. We must put shoes on it and live it out. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:23-24,

If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. [ESV]

Jesus equated obedience to Him and the Father as love. He said if you love Me, you will obey Me. In John 8:31-32, Jesus told the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” [ESV]

These statements by Jesus are often starkly different to how we live our lives. We think we’ve been saved, so let’s get on with the business of living. When decisions need to be made, we consider ourselves able to make those choices either from our own intellect or the counsel of friends, professionals, or the internet. “Why bother God with everyday needs. I’ve got it,” we may say within ourselves. Or, another possibility is that we’ve heard from God, had a vision, and proceeded to work as He led us, then we just got into the task to which God told us to work and broke off communication with Him. We don’t talk to Him daily about the work, praying over it for guidance, safety, and provision. We get into the rote task of just doing the work. This, too, is not working out our salvation, as Paul spoke of it in Philippians 2:12-13. In this passage, Paul said,

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. [ESV]

Keeping God’s word, that is obeying Him, shows our love for Him. When we get lost in the myriad tasks of living, we forget to seek Him and His will, and instead do the next best thing we know. When we do that, we show our limited love of God. If instead we keep God’s word, we put shoes on our faith in God and work out our salvation. The purpose of working out our salvation is to grow more in our relationship with God, become more Christlike, and show/tell others about Jesus. Paul said to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We realize our salvation only comes from God through Jesus. It doesn’t come from ourselves. We recognize God’s might, sovereignty, and mercy. We come before Him in awe and reverence of who He is. On top of this, we realize what we can’t ever do. We cannot save ourselves, but we can grow in our relationship with God and show our love to Him by obeying Him and living out His love and salvation so the people of the world can know about Him. This is working out our salvation.

Today, the questions for us Christians are: Do you love God? Do you obey Him? Do you seek Him daily to grow your relationship with Him and to live each moment of your day in His strength and power and with His wisdom and understanding doing His will? Alternatively, did you believe in God for salvation, but then only speak to Him in dire emergencies? Did you listen to Him tell you what to do, what ministry He wanted you to join Him in, then not turn to Him for daily guidance? That creates burn-out and frustration with the people to whom you are ministering. Possibly you are thinking, “Those people are ungrateful; they don’t try to help themselves by learning what I am teaching them. They just want me to keep giving and helping but do nothing for themselves.” Stop. Consider what you are thinking or saying. That is not God’s attitude. You’ve forgotten to go to the Source of your vision, resources, guidance, and love. Instead of having the mind of Christ, you follow the thoughts of your own mind. Consider what Paul said of the mind of Christ in Philippians 2:5-11. He said Jesus was humble. He emptied Himself by becoming a servant in the likeness of man. Jesus was obedient to God even to the point of dying on a cross. Is that the mind you have? Do you love the Father so much you would obey Him in anything? Do you hear His voice in prayer, Bible study, and preaching? Have you humbled yourself to do God’s will?

Loving God, obeying Him, and having the mind of Christ come from working out your salvation. Without seeking to love God daily, living will lead you to get the “bends” like scuba divers can get. You can’t have breath without Life, and you can’t have Life without breath. God gave and gives us life and breath. One without the other is not living; it’s gasping for breath. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known my Father also.” (John 14:6-7a [ESV])

All Christians should be working out their salvation. If you aren’t, you need to ask yourself if you truly know Jesus and the Father.

Loving God leads to working out your salvation.

Working out your salvation means loving God.

 You can’t have one without the other.

If you are not a Christian, today you can make that decision. Recognize Jesus is the Son of God who came to die the death penalty for your sins. Confess your sins and repent of them. Ask Jesus to forgive you. Give Him your life to be your Savior and Lord. If you made this decision today, contact me through messaging or through the contact form on my website. I want to pray for you and connect you with a Bible-based church, if possible.

Lord, I made a decision to follow You, but sometimes I end up thinking of answers for myself and looking to guidance from within myself. I consider I am smart enough to do what You ask, and I forget to seek You for guidance even on the miniscule decisions that need to be made. I’ve not been working out my salvation. I’ve not been loving You through obedience to You. Forgive me for forgetting You or for putting You on the sidelines of my life. I need You every moment of each day otherwise I am not living; I’m just gasping for air. Lord, help me work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Help me remember You and to seek Your will in all things. Use me to tell someone about You and to help them in Your name. Forgive me of my sins of independence and making myself more important that You. You are sovereign God, the One who knows all things, has all power, and does good in all things. I am sinful and do not. I am not You. Lord, here’s my life again; I give it back to You. Amen.

Love and Denial

“But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33 [NLT])

After Jesus called and appointed His disciples, He explained to them that the world, even their families, would be against them. He said this would occur because people mocked Him, their Teacher, and would persecute and kill Him. What a way to begin an appointment service; “You will go out and you will be hurt.” How many of us would choose to accept an appointment for a job when the officiant says these words? Jesus spent verses 11-39 telling the disciples who their antagonists would be. He probably surprised them when He said even their own families would be against them.

Stated amid these warnings during their appointment, Jesus arrived at His “or else” statement. Verse thirty-three says, “But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” [NLT] So often when we read the word “deny”, we think of it as an overt action. Denial in our minds means blatantly to state with our mouths we are not followers of someone. Peter blatantly and overtly denied three times that he was a follower of Jesus after Jesus’ arrest in Matthew 26:33-35.

Each of us understands this meaning for denying something. Yet, there is another way to deny Jesus. A person can choose not to preach, teach, or say what God told him or her to say or do. This denial is covert. Only God and the person are aware of this denial. Maybe God told you to speak to the woman who just experienced the death of a child. Possibly, He told you to substitute teach a Sunday School class. Perhaps God told you to tell the cashier at the store about Jesus, but you kept your mouth closed when you were in the store. This covert denial shows you do not recognize God as Lord of your life. It shows you do not love the Lord more than yourself.

The inaction of covert denial, when God told you to say or do something, is denying God and is rebellion against Him just as much as overt denial. Any rebellion against God is sin. So often we think if no one else knows, then that thing we did or didn’t do isn’t sin because God doesn’t know either, right? In reality, God is everywhere present at the same time. We cannot hide ourselves, thoughts, actions, inactions, or words from Him.

Between you and God right now, admit to yourself you have sinned against Him by covertly not saying or doing what He told you to say or do. Admit this to God and genuinely repent of this denial, this sin, against Him. Ask Him to forgive you and to strengthen you in your faith and in your love for Him. Thank Him for His love, patience, and forgiveness and ask Him to grow you so you love Him perfectly.

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” (John 14:21 [NLT])

“If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” (John 15:10 [NLT])

Either God is LORD of your life, or you are.

Denying God shows you love yourself more than you love God.

“Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24 [ESV])

Who is Lord of your life?

Hearing

Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears." 1 Samuel 3:10

When reading the passage from which this verse comes, the question comes to mind, do we really hear from God? From that question come two offshoot questions. One, do we take time intentionally to seek to hear from God? Two, do we do what God tells us?

The latter question is very important. In the Jewish mindset, hearing requires not just listening, but reaction to what is heard - obedience or disobedience from stubbornness. How often do we listen to God, but then say, "Nah, that can't be God telling me to do that? He knows I can't do those types of things," or "He knows I'm afraid to do that." Another statement we might make is, "Did God really tell me to do that?" Each of these come when we want to refuse to "hear" God, listening and obeying Him. It boils down to one question, “Do I love God more than I love myself?” We might say, "Of course! I am a Christian, you know." Yet even Christians can refuse to do what God tells them to do.

Of course, the first question related to this topic is, "Do I take time intentionally to hear from God?" The answer to this question should be an assumed, "Yes", but in reality, each of us very often say, "No." Sometimes the "No" comes from never having been taught to seek God and His will. Other times it comes because we get "too busy" with our lives to have time for God. Others of us will answer, "I read His Bible every day and pray when I need something." None of these replies is an adequate reason for not "hearing" God. No reason is a "just" reason or excuse for not seeking God and hearing Him if a person truly is a Christian.

Today, search yourself. Are you hearing from God? Or, are you just listening and not obeying? Possibly, you are not making the time or are questioning God's reasoning. Another reason could be you aren't intentionally seeking God when you do you "required" daily reading and prayer. What is your excuse for not seeking God, and hearing and obeying Him? We should learn to say, as Eli taught Samuel, "Speak, Lord, your servant hears."

May we say, as Eli did, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.” (1 Samuel 3:18 [ESV])

Lord, I know you are great, awesome, all-knowing, and the only God. Still, sometimes I put myself before You. If I am totally honest, often I put myself as first in my life and You as second or third. Lord, forgive me for not truly seeking You. If I had sought You, I would have not only listened, but obeyed what You said. I feared You would ask me to do something too hard for me. I got so caught up in my life, I didn’t give you time. I am stubborn; please forgive me. Help me to desire You more than my next breath. Lord, help me to seek You alone and to love you completely so I not only listen to You, but I obey You. Lord, grow me to be like Jesus “who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 [ESV]) Lord, I do love You. Help my love for You to be complete. Amen.

Trusting Relationship

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24 [NASB])

We may have read this verse of Scripture in the past or for the first time just now. Each time you may have wondered what that really means. “Surely Jesus didn’t mean we had to carry a cross around,” we say. “Surely Jesus didn’t mean we couldn’t work or have a family or have a home,” we think. With this verse, Jesus told His followers then and through eternity, to be His disciples, the ones who follow Him, we must deny all rights to our self to Him. We must trust God so much that we will do His will no matter what He asks of us. The cross is the pain of following God’s will. Jesus didn’t wake one morning and say, “I must have nails put into my hands.” The purpose of the cross for Jesus was to do His Father’s will, to provide salvation for all who would believe in Him as the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

We may think, “I can’t do that. How can I trust God, Who I cannot see, to take care of me and give me what I want and need?” That question is the apex of the problem for people. First, all we want is not what we need. It places our desires for more ahead of God and shows our discontent for what God has given us. We want more, more, more like a child in a toy store. That question shows we have not given ourselves wholly to God. Maybe you truly gave your heart to Jesus in your past, but when you ask this question, you show you have not grown in your knowledge or relationship with God. You show you do not trust Him to lead your life to “green pastures” like David wrote in Psalm 23. Now is the time to resolve that dilemma. We each individually must decide if we truly will be followers of Jesus. Doing that will mean giving up our right to ourselves and trusting God in everything and for everything. Trusting in God is the key. If you cannot do this, then you should wonder if you truly have been saved.

The second part of this ultimate question, “How can I trust God to take care of me,” shows our lack of faith in God’s love and power. If you cannot trust God for this, then can you truly say you’ve truly trusted Jesus for your salvation. God’s love is the backbone, the reason, for the salvation He provides. If you do not believe in God’s love, you do not trust God saves or can save you from your sins and the ultimate penalty of sins, death. This last thing, being saved from death, or your lack of trust that God can save you from death, shows you do not believe He has the power to save you from what every person you’ve ever known or heard about has experienced, ceasing to be alive on earth.

Trust is the key for both parts of the first question. Without trust, faith, in God’s power to forgive our sins, provide for our needs, and save us from death and sin, and in His love, you cannot deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. You have no power to deny yourself. You have no strength of conviction to carry a cross for God’s purposes, and you show you are not willing to follow Jesus. Trust in Jesus, in God, is the only thing we need to do to receive salvation from our sins and from death. If you cannot believe in Jesus as God’s Son for salvation, you cannot do what Jesus said His followers must do in Matthew 16:24.

Do you really trust God? Do you trust His love for you, and His power to forgive your sins and give you eternal life? If you can truthfully say yes to these questions, then you truly are a follower of Jesus. So, what keeps you from doing what Jesus told His followers to do? What keeps you from doing God’s will with your life, that is “taking up your cross and following Him (Jesus)”? Be honest with yourself. Examine your heart, mind, and spirit. What keeps you from giving God your whole being-heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Without living for Jesus, your boat has no compass. You motor or paddle around aimlessly until your strength or the gas in the motors is gone. That’s it and life is done. Nothing more remains for you. Living for Jesus gives you a compass and purpose. Your purpose is to follow Jesus, to deny yourself, take up your cross (doing God’s will), and following Him.

Don’t live without a compass.

Trust in God. You will have a purpose.

In that day, everyone in the land of Judah will sing this song:

Our city is strong!

We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation.

Open the gates to all who are righteous; allow the faithful to enter.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!

Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD God is the eternal Rock.

(Isaiah 26:1-4 [NLT])

Lord, I thought I believed in You. I thought I trusted in You. But now I read your Word and think about it, I realize I have not entrusted my whole life to You. Please, Lord, forgive me for holding back and for not taking up my cross and following You. Forgive me for living life on my terms and only trusting You for that moment I decided to be saved. I realize, I never allowed You to have my heart and life. Lord, I give them now to You. Take all of me, my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Grow me to be more like You and use me for Your purposes. Use me for whatever You will. I will deny myself, take up my cross, and follow You. Amen.