Reasons 3 & 4

I want to quickly touch on numbers 3 and 4 of our pastor's reasons to read the Bible.

3.  So I will not sin. (Ps 119:11)
"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

Bible reading is a great place to start when it comes to not sinning against God. Knowing God and His ways, and seeing Him for who He truly is should keep us from sinning against Him, shouldn't it? So how come it didn't work out that way for David when it came to Bathsheba? I think the answer lies in Ps 119:10:
"With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!"
Verse 11 must be understood in light of verse 10. It is not just storing up God's Word that keeps us from sin, it is storing up His Word because of our great love for Him. Without that part, it is just a legalistic trap that will only make us think more of ourselves than we ought.

4.  So I can find comfort. (Ps 119:52)
"When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O LORD."

Yes, there are times when I find comfort in reading the word of God. And yet, there are times when I find it down right uncomfortable too. Especially some of those red-letter words of Christ. I find comfort in a Savior who loves me and gave Himself for me. But I get a bit squeemish when He calls me to carry my cross and die to myself. Rules I can live with. But if reading the Bible doesn't make me a bit uncomfortable at times, I question if I am reading it right.

No Harmful Side-Effects!

Ephesians 2:14-16

¹⁴For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Caution: May cause drowsiness.

Many medications come with warnings about possible side-effects. While the main purpose of a drug might be to relieve a headache or some other problem, in some people it also has other effects. Sometimes these are positive but usually negative.

Jesus is our peace. He has made us both one. Who is the both, and how are we one? I believe the both are the circumcised (Jews) and the uncircumcised (Gentiles). The dividing wall of hostility was the law. The Jews had it, the Gentiles didn't. Because of the law, the Jews could not even associate with the Gentiles. They were unclean. Christ's death on the cross did away with the law.

If the law could have given us righteousness, it would have remained in effect, and there would have been no need for Jesus to die on the cross. But the purpose of the law was to show us our unrighteousness. So we needed a remedy, which Jesus provided on the cross. His main purpose, I believe, was to glorify God by providing the perfect sacrifice for our sins. But there were also side-effects. As a result of His death, the law was done away with, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile destroyed. (Gal 3:28)

I imagine this was a tough one for the Jews. It required a radical shift in their thoughts. But to embrace this was to embrace the world. It was as if God had opened for them a door that had been shut for centuries. Maybe that was a scary door to open. But Jesus did it. He got rid of the reason for the hostility.

I think this is one that we need to apply more broadly today. As we look at others in our world who are different. Could be drug-addicts, Muslims, racial or gender issues, but Christ has broken down the dividing wall an calls us to reach out to all. What are the side-effects the cross has had on you?

Romans 1:5

Romans 1:5 "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."


I have decided that I will get a little more devotional in writing for a while. No particular pattern, but I will attempt to stay on a "Gospel" theme.
 
I decided to start with Paul, and just 5 verses into Romans and what a verse. So much packed into one verse.

• Through Him I did not do it, it was done through Christ. He did what not even Moses (the law) and Samuel (the priesthood, man) could do, He stood before God and God took notice. (Jeremiah 15:1-2) I must forever recognize my dependence on Christ alone.
• and for his name's sake I am not at the center of God's world, He is at the center of His world, and for that I am so thankful. Imagine putting the imperfect and making it the cause of all that God does. That would make his actions imperfect. But He is at the center of all that He does, and all He does is right. And when I put Him at the center of all that I do, then I am right. This is not legalism, putting obedience or law at the center, but putting Him at the center, worshipping Him, loving Him, responding to Him.
• we have received grace We have been gifted by God to know Him and to love him. Another word for grace is favor. The same word the angels spoke to Mary when they told her she would be the mother of the Christ. As Christians, we are also highly favored by God, that He has revealed Himself to us through His Son. This is an honor that we do not deserve, but one which we must respond to. When we see that the favor of God rests upons us, should we not also respond as Mary did, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 2:38)
• and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles With grace comes responsibility. When Mary saw the favor that God had given her, she also accepted the task He placed before her with a humble, obedient attitude. When Saul met the Lord on the road to Damascus, his life was forever changed by the recognition of God's grace and favor. God does not save us to a life of ease and comfort, He does not save us for our own sake, but does it for His sake. And the lives that we then must live should also be for His sake. (Isaiah 43:25) Perhaps this is the reason Jesus told His disciples the importance of counting the cost of discipleship. (Matthew 16:24) The thought of picking up a cross surely must have been vile and digusting to His audience. But what better way to get the message of humility and acceptance of a task across that to make it a task that is so burdensome one could not take it on without dependance on God?
• to the obedience that comes from faith. Not just obedience, or not obedience for the sake of obedience, but the obedience from faith that God has placed his grace and favor upon us, and we respond out of reverence and awe rather than a sense of obligation and duty.

That is the message of the Gospel, that God's favor can once again rest on man, not because of what man has done to earn that favor, but because of Christ alone. He did it and we respond in faith. We respond to seeing His favor resting on us, we respond by accepting the call that He has laid out, a call to deny self, pick up our cross, and follow Christ.

Come to the Happy Place!

I have been listening to some Francis Chan lately. For such a mild tone, he speaks powerful words.

One of the things that struck me most was the church as a "Happy Place." A place where we invite people in, make them feel comfortable, and tell them how much God will bless them if they give their life to him.

Or to put it bluntly, we lie.

It is not that God won't bless them, but it is the perception of HOW He will bless them that is missleading.

Jesus spent a lot of his ministry shooing people away. Saying things like, "If you want to follow me you have to pick up your cross" surely did not appeal to the masses. Or walking the extra mile, or turning the other cheek...

Why do we seem to preach from the same verses over and over to the neglect of the cost and the cross?

We offer an invitiation to the Happy Place, smile and extend a hand and tell them they are now "one of us." But what if I don't want to be one of them?

To quote Keith Green, "I want to, I need to, be more like Jesus." I don't want to go to the Happy Place, take me to the cross. The cross is where I can worship Him, where I can cry over His death and my sin. The cross is where I am broken in to pieces and healed by the Master. The cross is my redemption, and it is not a happy place.

...and tonight's secret ingredient is...

Galatians 6:14 "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Have you ever seen that cooking show where the man unveils the secret ingredient? "...and tonights secret ingredient is...SUSHI!" Then the competitors must create a dish or meal around the secret ingredient? Imagine if one of the competitors went to work, creating a fantastic meal, but did not include any sushi. So when he stood before the judges at the end, what should he expect? Perhaps he might argue that he didn't really care for sushi. I doubt that would change their decision.

And when we stand in judgment, what will we say if we have ignored the cross. Do you really think God will accept something like, "But I really don't care for the cross. That whole Mel Gibson thing was so gross. But I got everything else right."

Without the cross, nothing else is right. Nothing.