Shall We Sin?

Ephesians 4:17-19, describes the lifestyle of those who had rejected the teachings about Jesus.

- Their thinking was confused

- Their understanding was clouded

- They were excluded from the blessings of God because of their ignorance.

- They were hard headed

- They became callous and as a result engaged in every form of “sensuality” and “impurity”

These are also characteristics of people today. They reject God because they are unwilling to give up their… sexual misconduct, alcoholism, drug use and other forms of “sensuality” and “impurity”.

Even so called Christians confuse themselves by believing the lie that it is OK to sin every once in a while and God’s grace will cover whatever sins that we might occasionally engage in. God calls for us to hate sin and ruthlessly eliminate it from our lives. We are in fact to transform ourselves into the very picture of Jesus Christ.

Don’t let our society confuse you about how to live. Look with clarity into God’s revealed word and receive all his blessings.

Spiritual Cripple or Spiritual Giant?

On the occasion of Jesus taking the Last Supper with the twelve disciples, Jesus informs Peter that Satan has asked for permission to “test” Peter. Jesus granted that permission and told Peter that he would not pass the “test”. That, in fact, despite Peters assertion that he was willing to die for Jesus or be imprisoned with him, Peter would do neither of those things but would, In fact, deny that he even knew Jesus. Jesus, additionally, informed Peter that even though he was going to fail… his faith did not need to fail and he had prayed to God that it would not. Furthermore he charged Peter with strengthening the other disciples after his failure. A few points… Satan saw a weakness in Peter and wanted the opportunity to exploit it. Jesus granted that because he knew Peter would be made stronger for it. Sometimes failure can lead to a loss of faith. Satan wins twice; he wins by creating an episode for failure and he wins when we become so despondent by our failure that our faith becomes crippled. And then we need a spiritual ”handicapped parking sticker”. There are three medicines for faith problems that Jesus employed 1) He predicted Peter’s failure. That’s huge. If someone wiser can identify the results of unrighteous behavior for an individual, the individual can look back on those words and think “if only I had listened”. 2) Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. Christians should be active in their prayer on behalf of others. It worked for Peter and it can work for your loved ones. 3) Jesus gave Peter a job to do… strengthen the other disciples. Wait a minute, wasn’t Peter the one who needed to be strengthened? Yes he was but we are made stronger when we are helping others. Know someone whose faith has been crippled? Get them back to work for God. Work makes us strong. Sitting on our rear ends makes us weak. Satan’s tests can make us stronger even if we fail them. They did for Peter and Jesus allowed those tests because he needed for Peter to be stronger. He needs for us to be stronger too.

Good Neighbors: Borrowing and Lending

I’ve reaches the age where I don’t really like to borrow things from people. Oh, I’m a good lender… and if you borrow from me I’ll make you feel like I’m your best friend… but me borrowing… that’s a different story.

Today I was riding my lawnmower and noticed that it was gouging my yard. I didn’t really want to go buy another lawn mower so I called my friend Juan. Juan repairs small engines and he and I have developed a friendship. He’s one of the few people I will borrow from. So I called Juan and told him about my problem and asked him if he had a riding lawnmower I could rent. Juan replied, “I’ve got one you can use”. That’s Juan-talk for he won’t take any money.

I mowed my two acres with Juan’s riding mower and when I was finished I blew all the dust off of it, sprayed it down with a pressure washer and filled the gas tank up all the way. I’m returning that mower better than I received it. That’s being a good neighbor. Be a good neighbor when you borrow something. Don’t return borrowed equipment back with only one drop of gasoline left in it and so caked with dirt you can’t recognize it.

I know Juan won’t take money from me but I’ll tell him something like… “take your wife out to eat on me” or if that doesn’t work I’ll give him some flea products for his dogs (he’s got 14 of them). Good friends take care of each other.

Problems with the Disciples

Jesus had a big problem… his disciples. He had chosen them, lived with them, instructed them and prepared them for the day when they would be without him but even on the brink of his crucifixion they still a nagging issue that plagued them. Let’s look at the record to see what the issue was. The day after Jesus was Transfigured on the mountain the disciples were arguing with each other about which one of them was the greatest. To be fair, Jesus might have played a role in that. After all he invited only Peter, James and John to go up on the mountain with him. Nevertheless, Jesus on this occasion taught the disciples that if they truly wanted to be great they would have to be servants to each other. It didn’t really sink in. A few days later two of the Transfiguration attendants, James and John, approached Jesus and asked for the two highest of positions in Jesus’ Kingdom… to sit at his right and left sides. When the other disciples heard about this they became very indignant. Jesus again calmed the storm by stating that if they wanted to be great they had to serve each other. Still it didn’t really sink in. At the Last Supper when Jesus informed them that one of them would betray him they started wondering who it might be and then that discussion morphed into a discussion on… you guessed it… who would be the greatest… Division and acrimony between the disciples just days before he would be crucified. Again Jesus answered with his same answer. If you want to be great then you must learn to be servants. But then Jesus did something truly magnificent. He got on his hands and knees and washed twelve pair of feet. What words alone had not been able previously to accomplish was accomplished now with words reinforced by action. Never again would the disciples argue about who was the greatest. Finally Jesus was able to pray to the Father that his disciples would have a oneness with each other that mimicked the oneness between Jesus the Son and God the Father. A oneness that would be the primary evidence that Jesus came from God. Imagine, if the disciples had been continually trying to one up each other and to exert authority over each other, what the church would look like. Thank God for his transforming message and its effect on his Apostles.